A Father's Pride

Just a couple of days ago I was working from home and I was sitting at the table and my son Jake was doing something that he should not have been doing, so I told him not to and gave him a little more further direction that was a little more detailed than stopping what he was doing. He immediately obeyed me, to the letter, and at that moment I felt an incredible amount of pride.

It was then that I heard the Lord say this, that is how I feel when you obey me...wow talk about a flood of emotions that started flooding through me!!! On the one hand, I was encouraged that the Lord would speak to me at that moment, on the other hand I was incredibly convicted thinking of the many times that I have not obeyed God. It reminded me of the story of Abraham and Isaac, God told Abraham to take his only son Isaac and offer him as a sacrifice, this was no doubt a tough decision to make. The scripture says that Abraham awoke the very next morning and departed to follow God's instructions, that is what God is looking for from us, immediate obedience.

Is there something in your life that God has told you to do or not do?

God Bless,

Nathan

I am NOT perfect!!

God knows exactly what you need when you need it and never fails to speak to you right when you need it and I am so thankful for that!! I am a people-person, I want everyone to like me, I want to be friends with everyone, I hate disappointing people, hate to say things that would make someone mad or that might hurt their feelings. I love people, and this weakness of seeking every one's approval has always gave me the complex that I have to do things PERFECT!

God has really been dealing with me about this here lately and it came to a point last night, as always I was going through the nightly beat myself up ritual...as I was doing this I decided to open my e-mail. I am subscribed to receive Mark Batterson's blog to my e-mail and the last e-mail I received was titled, The Applause of Nail-Scarred Hands. As I began to read I felt like weeping, I felt like God was speaking directly to me, and I realize now, I am not perfect and I don't have to be, I only need to seek after holiness, I only need to seek for the applause of nail-scarred hands!!

As Mark Batterson said, the only applause we are meant to seek is that of nail-scarred hands.

So if you wrestle with this, be encouraged and seek after the only approval that matters, God's!!

God Bless,

Nathan

What if You Treated the Bible Like You do Your Cell-phone

What if we treated our Bible like we do our Cellphone?

What if we carried it around in our purses or our pocket?
What if we turned back to get it if we forgot it?
What if we flipped through it several times a day?
What if we used it to receive messages?
What if we treated it like we couldn’t make it without it?
What if we gave it to kids as gifts?
What if we used it while we traveled?
What if we used it in case of an emergency?

Makes you stop and think…
Where is my Bible?
Where are my priorities?

Unlike your cell-phone your Bible will never be…
Disconnected…
Dead…
Outdated…

Will You Take the Challenge???
Shouldn’t You Treat it Even Better???

The River of Ahava

I was reading in the book of Ezra today and ran across a passage of scripture that caught my attention, in Ezra chapter 8 Ezra is gathering everyone together to fast and pray because their enemies are coming against them, and he has already told the King that God would be all that they need and so he does not want to send for the King's help, he wants to show that God was able to come through for His children.

Great story and Ezra is a great little book in the Bible, read it you'll love it! But the thing that caught my attention was with their enemies looking for a way to destroy them and it seemed like the whole world wanted them to fail, that Ezra took all of these people to the river of Ahava!! What? your not shouting for joy, your not encouraged? Well, let me tell you why you should be, Ahava means to subsist, to subsist means, to exist, to remain alive, to live!! When I read that I was encouraged, Ezra knew that there was a place that He could go and seek the face of God and live! The word says in John 10:10 - The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

So, if you feel like the World is against you and it seems like the enemy is doing all he can to destroy you, that you can go to the river of Ahava, the river of life. It is there that you can find life and that more abundantly!!! God wants you to remember that there is a river that flows and will not be moved and you can receive life from that river!!! Psalms 46:3-5 - Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah. There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.

God Bless,
Nathan

The Heart of the Matter

Kicked off revival this morning @ Life Church, great services, but the message this morning was on how when it is all said and done God just wants us to give Him our heart. Everything flows from your heart, your desires, your dreams, your passions, everything!!! So, when we give ALL of our heart to God, then he truly has ALL of us!!

So, have you given ALL of your heart to God?

God Bless,
Nathan

The Pursuit of Holiness

At the end of '09 and the beginning of the 2010, I have been praying and asking God about what my goals spiritually should be for this year and this one scripture has kept coming back to my mind every time I pray and I believe that I am not the only one that God desires for this to be their goal this year! The passage is Hebrews 12:14 - Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:

For so long when someone says the word "holiness" immediately people think of legalism and an outward standard that defines your level of holiness towards God, and while setting a standard and sticking to it is important, there is one thing that we must remember, EVERYONE has some level of inconsistency in them, but God is the same today, yesterday and forever! So, instead of focusing on the standards that one sets, let us instead actually do what the scripture instructs us to do, and pursue holiness.

The pursuit of holiness is not about something that we do or don't do, and it's not about something that we wear or don't wear, it is about setting ourselves apart to see God. If you are truly setting yourself apart and seeking God diligently, then the outward standards will take care of themselves!

Another reason it is so important to pursue holiness, is because God said to, He said, Be ye holy, for I am holy! Leviticus 20:7 - Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God. So pursue Holiness, God's Holiness!!

God Bless,
Nathan