For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord!

Jeremiah 29:11

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

This past few months I have been thinking about my life where it is now, and thinking that perhaps instead of waiting for God to open a door for me I was instead Chuck Norris style kicking down a locked door, that was never intended to be opened for me at all. The hardest part for me has always been knowing when God is telling me to do something, and when I am just projecting my own wishes on His will. But God says that He knows the plans He has for me. I just keep trying to figure out how I am supposed to know them as well. So after searching for several days on this, I came to the conclusion that first I should find out what God asks of me in scripture, and what He requests of those who claim to follow Him,  and here is what I have found so far. 

1. Fear the Lord your God and walk in all His ways- Deuteronomy 10: 12

2. Love Him and serve the Lord with all my heart, soul and to keep His commands- Deuteronomy 10:13-14

3. Seek the Lord and His strength- Psalm 105: 3-4

4.To know God and to show mercy more than sacrifice- Hosea 6:6

5. To show mercy and compassion to those around me - Zechariah 7: 9-10

6. To Rejoice in the Lord in everything that I put my hand to. -Deuteronomy 12:7

7. Do everything as unto the Lord. -Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men. Or in  Ephesians 6:7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men

These verses are outlined below. But in conclusion I have decided that the more I learn about God and what He is asking me to be, the closer I will be walking with Him and the easier it will be for me to hear His voice. 

I remember as a child when we would go the wrong way or do something we weren't supposed to my mom would yell at us "Hear my voice and obey me at once!" This week I pray that I will be able to hear God's voice and obey Him... regardless of what or how hard what He's asking me to do is.

(Deuteronomy 10:12-14) "And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, {13} "and to keep the commandments of the LORD and His statutes which I command you today for your good? {14} "Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the LORD your God, also the earth with all that is in it.

(Psalms 105:3-4) Glory in His holy name; Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the LORD! {4} Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face evermore!

(Hosea 6:6) For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

(Zechariah 7:9-10) "Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'Execute true justice, Show mercy and compassion Everyone to his brother. {10} Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, The alien or the poor. Let none of you plan evil in his heart Against his brother.'

(Mark 12:29-31) Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is: 'Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. {30} 'And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment. {31} "And the second, like it, is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

Be still and know that He is God

As I read through the bible this week I've spent more time reading, and less time understanding that I normally would. I've had a lot of extra things on my plate this week, and even though most of them pertain to church on Sunday... this week being Easter and all, it seems like the constant business that I'm doing to prepare has in NO way brought me closer to God.

In fact, as I was driving to work today I started to feel like I was suffering from a terrible case of God ADD. Everytime I would try to focus on something God was asking me to think about or focus on, I would be pulled away by one thought or another. Then as I was driving over the top I felt a very strong voice say to me: "Be still and know that I am God". Of course I have read this very many times before from Psalm 46:10, but it felt very real to me. So I determined for the rest of the drive I was going to lay aside my sporatic thoughts, and just focus on what it was that God was asking of me.

I'd like to say that at that moment it was problem solved, but unfortunately inspite of all my good intentions it took me much longer to allow this to sink into my soul. All I pray is that for the remainder of the week I can stop worrying so much about the mundane things that I seem to care so much about and will put my mind where it should be.
Interestingly the latter half of the verse reads: I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. Tonight as I read that I think that He may also want us to exalt(to lift up) Him to the top of our personal lists as well.

The Triumphal Entry

I have been reading up on Palm Sunday all week trying to determine appropriate songs for this years service. As a child Palm Sunday was always one of my favorites. The music was always upbeat and exciting, we would get palm branches and would run around pretending to worship Jesus as he rode in on a donkey. Of course there was never a literal donkey, but the theory was still there.

The trouble is, that this week as I study the passages in the gospels(Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:29-44 and John 12:12-19) I keep thinking about how I would feel if I were Jesus, riding in on a donkey being praised and treated like the King that I was. All the while knowing that those very same people were going to be the ones that in just a few short days would be my betrayers, the people calling to have me crucified, or denying any knowledge of me at all. I thought about what my reaction would be, which would probably not be terribly gracious. Yet somehow in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed (Luke 22:42)   ⁴²Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. 
Or how on the cross looking into the faces of the people that begged for his death and said:
(Luke 23:34)³⁴  “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

How or why we deserve such a Savior is completely unknown to me, but as it says in Romans

Romans 5:7-8 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

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Repent.... ????

The Webster definition of the word Repent

REPENT: to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one's life

When thinking about Brother Lee's sermon on Sunday I got caught up in the 'toe stepping' that I'm sure we all should have and did feel. You see in this generation we have been placated by a picture of Jesus as a peace sign giving hugger who never condemns anyone and walks around with a sign that says: "Go ahead do whatever you want, I got it covered". But reading through the new testament I see just the opposite. Read Luke 11:37-12: 5 or 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 or of course Revelations 21:8 and you will see what I mean. 

When thinking about the people that Jesus' life touched yes he spent time with tax collectors and prostitutes, but when he forgave them, they did not go back to their lifestyles from before. I think that modern 'Christian's' have this attitude that regardless of what we are currently doing, Jesus will forgive us and therefore we don't need to change anything. But II Chronicles says exactly the opposite. It says in Chapter 7:14 ¹⁴ if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

God is waiting for us to :TURN FROM OUR WICKED WAYS. That doesn't just mean the sins that we see other people doing, this is things that we are personally doing as well. And quite frankly I find it quite refreshing to see that we still have people in this world that are willing to 'step on a few toes' in order keep us from continuing to displease God.

Titus 1:16 They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.

Luke 11:37-12:7 (New International Version, ©2011)

Woes on the Pharisees and the Experts in the Law

 ³⁷ When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. ³⁸ But the Pharisee was surprised when he noticed that Jesus did not first wash before the meal. ³⁹ Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. ⁴⁰ You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also?⁴¹ But now as for what is inside you—be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.
   ⁴² “Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.
   ⁴³ “Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and respectful greetings in the marketplaces.
   ⁴⁴ “Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which people walk over without knowing it.”
 ⁴⁵ One of the experts in the law answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also.”
 ⁴⁶ Jesus replied, “And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.
   ⁴⁷ “Woe to you, because you build tombs for the prophets, and it was your ancestors who killed them. ⁴⁸So you testify that you approve of what your ancestors did; they killed the prophets, and you build their tombs.⁴⁹ Because of this, God in his wisdom said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and others they will persecute.’ ⁵⁰ Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world, ⁵¹ from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible for it all.
   ⁵² “Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.”
 ⁵³ When Jesus went outside, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to oppose him fiercely and to besiege him with questions, ⁵⁴ waiting to catch him in something he might say.

Luke 12

Warnings and Encouragements

 ¹ Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: “Be^[a] on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. ² There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. ³ What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.   ⁴ “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. ⁵ But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.