Seconds - I Am Second

Seconds - I Am Second

Thankfulness

Well duh, what else would you think I write about? This is the obvious topic of this time of year, but I don't want to approach it as anyone normally would. Why are we thankful, rather, why should we be thankful? The answer is God. God is our creator, redeemer, and He sustains us. So let's think about this, we were created, saved, and are supplied daily with things to get through life. These things alone should be causing us to praise God and jump for joy and also to humble ourselves before our Lord and finally get it through our heads that we haven't done anything on our own. But alas, that is not the case because somewhere along the line it become only about us, meaning not about serving God, not about serving others, and not about being humble, but about us and how good we are at things. I do not know about you, but I for some reason can not recall the last time I created a whole entire world, saved it from destruction, and keeps it all going every day. The closest I got to that were army men and the fort I built for them out of Lincoln logs. Anyways, it all comes down to, "Why are we not praising God for what we have all day every day?" (Alle Tag jede Tag for you German speaking readers) All inside jokes aside, why are we not serving the God who is giving me the breath I'm breathing, or the sight your seeing with?  Why are we not using the life HE gives us to serve HIM so that HE will gain the glory HE rightfully deserves? I know one reason why. WE are focused on serving US so that WE will gain the glory that WE think we deserve. I am not condemning no one, I want to make that clear, because the moment I condemn another, I am condemning myself because I am no more righteous than they are because I have sinned so much that the bad would outweigh the good on a scale. But I am so thankful that God made a way for you and I to gain redemption we did not deserve so that our sins are forgiven. And I don't know about you, but I am tired of doing things on my own, for my own glory, and my own praise. To me that is not satisfying, it does not even compare to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ and doing things through Christ, for Christ's glory, so that the name of Christ will be praised. I know that I am really rambling here and switching between things often. But bear with me please. This thanksgiving I want to do something different than the classic, God I thank you for this, God I thank for that. While that is all fine and dandy, I want to act like I am thankful for it, not just say it. I want to make a difference by being different. By living my life as a testimony to my thankfulness. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Be thankful, but I encourage you to act like it and not just say it. In all things, work for the glory of God so that His name is praised. Have a great day!

In My Opinion

Obviously this is a bland title, and that was the point because I really had no other way to put it. So recently I have been thinking about dating relationships and how so often guys are like, super attractive and all the girls fall all over them. Obviously that isn't me, and you may think I'm crazy but I am glad that I am not that way. The reason is that I want to earn a girls affection and respect, not settle for it. I feel like that if I go for a girl who already likes me, there's no challenge and therefore I will take that girl for granted. To clarify things, I am not saying I want a girl to give me the cold shoulder, but what I am saying is that I want a chance. Now you might think me weird, and that's normal, and you also may find this very random, which it is. There is also another, more important aspect to this though. Obviously God loved me before I ever loved Him, but I did not settle for His love. There is no love more greater than His. But I feel like so often, too often, I take His love for granted and go about this world searching for a way to fulfill that desire for love. This comes from me not realizing the importance of the cross and the price Jesus paid for me with His blood. There is no way to earn this love, you just have to accept it.

The Importance of the Cross

The other day I watched a testimony of a man on iamsecond.com (it's awesome) names Jim Munroe. He was saved by a blood transfusion or something like that. And he talked about how similar that is to everyone with Christ. If there was no shedding of His innocent blood, there would be no salvation for sinners. There is a line in a Lecrae song that says "I need a blood donor, I need a transfusion, He's hanging on the cross for me, substitution." Christ died to save us! We are just as responsible for flogging, mocking, and crucifying Jesus as the Roman soldiers who actually did it. At high school I see a lot of things and one thing I see pretty often is people living their lives as if it's theirs to live. I just want to ask them these questions, "Did you create yourself? Did you gain your own salvation? Are you more important than God?" The answer is obviously no, but the way I see people live their lives it seems to me like their answers would be yes. We owe God everything because He has given us everything! If it wasn't for our sin then Christ would not have had to be crucified, but it is because of us that Jesus died. But Jesus did not die without a reason, He died to save us because of the Father's love for us. God does not want us to view this lightly, because I don't know if you have ever lost somebody but from my experiences, it's tough and the separation that Jesus must have felt when He was away from God for even that short amount of time must have been unbearable. This is what makes His death on the cross important. Christ was in extreme pain because of us humans. The reason He did this though was to save us from death. And the only way you can be saved is by trusting in Him and following Him. The application of this is that you shouldn't take your relationship with God lightly, it should be something you grow in daily and something you are putting a lot of time into. Whether that be reading God's word, worshiping Him through prayer, song, or just by the way you live your life, and also by sharing this amazing love God has for us with others. Guys, this is urgent news! Jesus is coming back and we shouldn't be waiting to work for Him. God has us in the place we are now for a reason and we need to share this good news with the world! This should be something we are actively praying about and it is what our minds should be set on doing. We need kingdom focus. 

Another thing God's put on my heart is that there is no in between, no grey area when you follow Jesus. You're either all in, or against Him. So many people think that Jesus was a good man and a good teacher but Jesus wasn't the Christ or as important as we make Him out to be. I was talking with one of my good friends about this and one thing he has heard before and I use it now, Jesus was either a liar, a lunatic or Lord. If you do not believe that Jesus was your savior, then He was not a good teacher for you because what people do not realize is that Jesus was anti-cultural, a rebel, and enemy of the religious structure. People who say that Jesus was a good teacher has either never read His teachings, or has accepted Christ as their savior. There is no in between. I stress this to you who read this because JESUS IS COMING BACK! We have urgent work to do people, lets put this thing in drive and hit the gas! I urge you to take His word into your heart, and for you to grow daily in Christ and to also share the good news in these dreary times! Let's Go!

Why try when you know you will fail?

This question is one that we all face at least at one point in our life and depending on your personality, it could be daily. I was bored in class one day so I decided to make a list of reasons why you should try and what the benefits of trying are. I started out with the obvious one...
1. Everything is possible with God
    This one is self-explanatory, the only thing you have to do is rely on God.
2. You only think it's impossible
    People look up at mountains in life and think that there is no way to climb it, but if you rely on God like I already said, it won't necessarily be easy but it will be possible.
3. You learn about yourself
    When life is easygoing it's easy to be someone you're not, but when life gets hard, it scrapes off all the fake to reveal the real you.
4. You develop patience and perseverance
    If you go through many trials like all humans do, then you will tend to see that rash decisions lead to harsh outcomes. It also makes you push through things to get to the other side and once you do you realize the importance of those too. It's comparable to a running back in football. If he just runs straight into a pile, he will most likely be tackled, but if he waits for the right hole to go through he will be fine. And if he is a few yards from the endzone, he will do everything he can to get that touchdown.
5. You will not know if you do not try
    How do you know something is impossible if you never try it for yourself. And if you hear someone else say it is not possible, that just means for them. It could very well be possible to you.
6. It gives you faith to step out into the unknown
    Be a Peter, do not be afraid to step out on the water, even if you start sinking because the Son of God is right there to save you.
7. It develops mental toughness
    This kind of goes with perseverance, do not give up on something that is even a little possible.
8. It causes you to rely more on God
    I know for me that for me to completely rely on God, I need to be broken and defeated. So if you try something and you fail, it will cause you to rely on God. I'm not saying try it on your own first then go to God, but I am saying that you being broken will allow you to rely on the only one who can save you.
9. It throws laziness and selfishness aside
    If you have to give everything to God to go through a certain trial or anything along those lines, you realize quickly that it is not about you and there is nothing you can do without God's help. So when you try something "impossible," you cannot be selfish and you cannot be lazy, otherwise you will not succeed.
10. Allows you to find purpose
    I have been thinking a lot on purpose lately and coming from what I have come from I can tell you personally that I have found purpose when trying things that once seemed impossible but became possible with God's help.
11. You may not be kept from despair, but shows you to the One who can
    Just because you are relying on God does not mean everything will be perfect. It's quite contrary actually. If you look at Job, you will see that he was a righteous man yet he still had those things happen to him. Through all of that though Job still sought after God and relied on Him.
12. God is good always
    This is one lesson that can be learned because after the death of my dad, my immediate reaction was, "God, why did you let this happen?" Later I realized, through God's guidance, that there is always a bigger picture and it will always will turn out a masterpiece for those who follow Christ alone.

 None of this may make any sense but I pray it does. Have a great day!