Satisfaction

I was reading in Mark and it struck me that even after Jesus had fed 5,000 people, the disciples doubted that He could feed 4,000 people. The reason it stood out to me is that we do the same thing when it comes to getting satisfaction from God. God satisfies us in so many ways, yet we still find it necessary to go out into the world and try to find satisfaction through it. God's satisfaction is eternal while the worlds is not. I'm guilty of it. I get so satisfied in Jesus then I go out and try to satisfy myself with things in the world. That is so wrong because God made us to have pleasure, but to find that pleasure in Him. What's not to enjoy about God as well? I feel like the world has so corrupted the idea of fun, pleasure, and happiness. All of these things can be found in God yet the world says that they are found in things like sex, money and drugs. The truth is that God is more fun, more pleasing, and makes you happier than anything the world can create. Recently I've been focusing myself more on God and being more centered around glorifying Him. I can tell you that I have never been happier, never been more pleased, and never had more fun than I have had serving Him. Looking back at when I've tried to be pleased by the world, it's amazing how big and important the difference is. The devil definitely takes some truth, and manipulates so it feels right and looks right, but it does not meet up with God's standards, and that one thing makes the difference. Anything that God does not approve of, no matter how close, is sin. Close doesn't cut it with God. The bible says "For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." This is direct from Jesus that close does not cut it. It shouldn't be surprise, going back to the original topic, that God is more satisfying than the world. Obviously God created the world, and satan, so anything created by them will be lesser and not as satisfying. So all in all, true and fulfilling satisfaction is only found in God and I challenge you to look only to God for satisfaction!

I am a Disciple

How I've Seen God Recently

In FCA on Thursday, the group was asked how they have seen God work recently. Not many people answered  and I wanted to answer but I could not get my thoughts to process. So after further thinking this is my answer to that question. I have seen God in so many ways recently. I will start off with how I have seen Him in others around me. As I have gotten older in high school and more of a leader in my youth group, I have come to grow to enjoy watching younger kids along with my peers grow in Christ. It makes me excited to see others get excited about Christ and it also really encourages me to see God working in them as He is working in me. The way I see God also working in my life is through myself and how much He has been teaching me recently. I feel this flame inside of me that keeps growing and I can not keep it inside of me. It makes me want to pour out my relationship with God to others and share with them in this love God has for all of us. God has an overflowing love for me, just as much as he does with you, and I feel like that love is brimming over the capacity of my heart so that I desire to share it with others. The problem then comes, at least with me, is carrying that out. I want to be a leader to the people God has allowed me to lead, but to do that I need to be servant. I realize that it is not me who needs to be first, but God and others, in that order. I feel like I have grown so much even in these past few weeks and that is so God working in me. I challenge you to let your heart to be open to God's work in you. And actively seek God in your everyday life. He is always there. He is always working.

From the Heart

I really am bad at starting these blogs, and I think that half of my blogs have started this way. I just want to just release some tension that's been on my heart for awhile. It's finding the line between good works and strong faith. One thing that has pressed this point is that I'm reading a book called Radical Together by David Platt. In it he describes how there are normally two ends of the spectrum in the church. The one who has faith but no works to show for it and another who has works but is not sure of their salvation. Let me clarify that I am no expert on such things, just speaking my mind. Anyways, Platt says that they are both wrong. The bible clearly says in James that faith without action is dead, but it also says that we can not gain salvation by works. To use Platt's line, we were saved from work to do work. Work is not our means to salvation but it is the byproduct of our faith. If you have true faith, good works will follow. That's not to say that if you don't have good works you are not saved. How this affects me is that it really gets me thinking on how I am letting God working in my life through my faith. I feel like I am involved in so much, but I also feel like I'm not doing anything. One thing I struggle with also is that I don't give my actions or involvements to God, instead I try to do them myself and that never works. The less I am, the more He can become through me. This does not mean that God will not be able to do something without me. But I want to be honored to let God use me. And I feel like we view working for God as a job that has to be done otherwise nothing will be done. When we think this way though, we are making God our servant, which is so wrong in so many ways. As Christians we should really be inclined to think that when we are serving God, it is a privilege and an honor, not a hassle. This all comes down to the where our hearts are though. I really do not know if I can express how much the topic of the heart means to me. I say that because there are so many things in the scripture that show how important your hearts standpoint is. Let me also say this, Christianity is not just a religion, especially not a "If you follow these 5 steps you will get your 'Get in to Heaven Free' card" type of religion. It is a heartfelt religion that has the one and only God in the universe, and He desires a relationship with you. I feel like I'm just rambling on here and I will end this shortly. It all comes down to this, God loves you, He desires for you to know and praise Him, He showed this by sending His son to save all of us unworthy people and even when things seem the hardest, He is still with you. God will not forsake you.