We Are Bad

I get an email every day giving me a Bible verse for the day, but every Monday I not only get a daily verse, I get a "Weekly Wisdom" email as well. And I really liked this weeks "wisdom." Here it is from www.christnotes.org:



You are more sinful than you can believe, but you are more loved than you can imagine.

Outside of conservative Christian circles, it's not very common for people to believe that they are inherently bad. Instead, people's logic often goes like this: Sure, I occasionally do bad things, but at heart I'm a good person.

Although it may be tempting to give yourself credit as being a good (or, in Biblical lingo, righteous) person at heart, such a view of human nature is at odds with what God reveals in his word. God makes it very clear that every one of us is "bad." We don't just do bad things; we are bad.


The Apostle Paul exclaims that because of our sin every one of us falls short of God's radiant splendor and glory (Romans 3:23). None of us are good—that is, righteous (Romans 3:10).

Our unrighteousness is not due to the fact that we break God's commands. Instead, we are unrighteous because we are "in Adam," to borrow the language of Paul in Romans 5. Even people who did not sin by breaking a command still died because they were by nature sinners (Romans 5:14).

The bad news is that you're sinful by nature. Even if you lived your whole life without breaking a single command of God you'd still reap death. The bad news is probably worse than you may care to admit.

Fortunately, that makes the good news better than you had imagined. Despite your sinful nature, God offers the life of his very son for you (Romans 5:8-10). God doesn't owe you anything, but he gives you everything. That's love.

Your sin is placed on Christ, and Christ's righteousness is placed on you. You gain what he deserved—life—and he gains what you deserved—death. How great is the love God lavishes on us! (1 John 3:1)

Have a great day!

G

Children of God

Almost every day I get a chance to head to the track before practice starts. It's fun because I get to relax and just hang out around the track before the intense workouts begin, but yesterday I got a glimpse of something that spoke to my heart. When I get to the track around 12:45 or 1 o'clock, there are gym classes still going on from Liberty Christian Academy. There are usually kids there once I get to the track because they haven't finished school for the day, but yesterday was different. When I got to the track, there wasn't just one gym class there. There were about three gym classes at once. Just a mob of little children ranging from the big 6th graders, all the way down to the small 3rd graders which one teacher told her class to watch out for because of the size difference. It would be pretty easy to lose one of those little guys or gals, or have one of them get run over. But there was something about this massive collection of children that triggered something in my head. I decided to watch just a few specific kids just to see what they were doing. And it wasn't 3 minutes when I figured out what was so awesome about all of these kids. THEY'RE KIDS! They didn't have a care in the world! They had no cares about what they learned in class that day or all of the homework they have. They were free to run around, play tag, push each other around, roll around on the floor, shoot hoops, throw dodgeball's at each other, or just sit on the floor and relax. They had one goal. By the time they left the gym, they had to release all of their energy.

It reminded me of my youthful days when I could go to game to game, sport to sport, friend house to friends house without being tired. Kid's were crashing into each other, but as soon as they got up they were back to running full throttle, weaving through 3rd graders like a professional driver. It was this energy that was so fascinating and rejuvenating. I wish I had the energy and the ability to just bounce up from a four person pile-up like these little guys. But then God put this verse in my head:

Matthew 18:2-4
"He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

As I looked at those kids, I realized that this is how I need to be. I need to "become like little children." These days it's so easy to get caught up in the future. What am I going to do with my life? Work? Money? Car? Wife? I get my so focused on the grown up parts of life that I forget to be like a child. I don't need to focus on all of those things. Yes I need to be conscious of them and have a plan, but I should be trusting that the Lord will provide me with answers to all those questions that I can't even answer until I get to that point in the road.

So here's to becoming more like children. And it's weird to say that striving to be a man of God includes becoming like a 4th grader. But i'm excited to see where that leads. Here's to becoming more like our little brothers and sisters, cousins, and neighbors!

Have a great day! =)

Frustrated

Practice was a little rough yesterday, both mentally and physically. It wasn't physically hurting or tired out, but I couldn't get my body to perform the way I wanted it to. This post might not relate to many people, but I think you can replace track practice with anything you want.

Shot put is one of the hardest events for me because I stand 5 feet 11 inches tall and about 175 pounds. The average shot putter weighs probably about 100-125 pounds more than that and is more likely to be around 6 feet to 6 feet 4 inches tall. So this already puts me in a hole for starters. But excusing these factors, I still am able to throw pretty far for my size, somedays. Yesterday was not a good day. I found myself trying a new type of throwing technique that will ultimately help me in the end if I can complete the technique correctly. That was not the case yesterday. Instantly I found myself getting angry and frustrated when I really shouldn't have been getting angry, but I'm human and I'm usually pretty good at mimicking body movements. I seem to pick up on things quickly and I can get my body to move in the way I would like it to. I like to say that I have a good proprioceptive sense or kinesiological sense. My favorite kinesiology professor has a theory that this kinesiological sense is our "Sixth sense." Anyways, I seem to have this sixth sense which helps me in the decathlon because learning 10 events can be very exhausting if the techniques are not quickly learned. But I usually have a good sense of how my body is moving, but at practice it seemed like I couldn't get it. So I instantly got frustrated with myself and freaked out a couple of times. But then God put a verse in my head that put everything in perspective. Philippians 4:4-"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" and then I thought about the story of Job and the verse that says "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh. Blessed be the name of the Lord." And then I remembered the Superbowl a couple days ago. The kicker for the Colts praises the Lord and points to Heaven whether he makes the field goal or not. Instantly I thought to myself, "Do I praise God for my bad times? Do I ever thank him for giving me hard times?" You can't have good if you don't have bad. You can't achieve perfection unless you can do wrong.

As these thoughts crashed to the forefront of my mind, I had to stop, thank the Lord for the struggle, and ask him to help me focus, get my mind and attitude right, and to help me with the rest of practice, giving all the glory to Him. What do I do in times of tragedy? breakdown? weakness? Do I call on the Lord? I'm trying to learn how to now. Care to join me?

Lord, I know that today will bring trouble, conflict, adversity in some way, shape, or form. I pray that I will have the strength to stand up against it with a humble heart and a victorious mindset, with my only strength and help coming from you. Teach me to honor you in the hard times, the times I feel like it the least. I love you Lord and I want to show it. Whether it's during the calm of the sea or a raging storm. Rescue me.

"...But take heart; I have overcome the world." John 16:33

Sanctification

If I were to take a test on my Biblical knowledge, I don't know if I would pass. In my early years, I was never the kid who memorized the most verses(except 5 minutes before Sunday school started just to get the candy), or was the star player in "Bible Jeopardy", or the kid with the right answers to the questions. I was the kid who thought I could answer everything with a very vague answer that had "God" in it somewhere. I was the kid that put on the "church mask" on Sunday, and by the time I got to the parking lot, the mask had already been ripped of. And I wish I could have done differently.

Please don't read this and think that I want or need sympathy, I'm just telling you how and who I was. So this morning when I read the word "sanctification," I realized that I didn't have that definition memorized from Wednesday night youth group. But today I realized how powerful that word really is.

In Oswald Chambers devotional "My Utmost For His Highest," he first asked me the question of "are[you] prepared to measure up to what that really means?... Are you prepared to pay the cost of sanctification?" I didn't have an answer.

Chambers writes sanctification means "to secure and to keep all the strength of our body, soul, and spirit for God's purpose alone." So now that I know what sanctification means, I know that I am not prepared for it. I wish I was but I'm trying to prepare daily. I'm haven't been doing well lately with being consistent, but I am refocusing.

Are you prepared to pay the cost of sanctification? I know I'm not, but care to join me in preparing?

I pray that you and I will continue the fight to prepare daily and to stand strong against everything that tells us not too. Stay strong.

G

"You Are"

As I sit here on the bus heading back to school, I came across a song that really hit me. The chorus really touched a nerve in my heart. I’ve been praying earnestly for the desires of my heart to resemble God’s. I want my desires to seek things of love, patience, kindness, selflessness, purity, strength, impartiality, and many other worthy desires. I don’t want to seek materialistic things, personal glorification, pleasure and satisfaction, but rather seek things that God would seek. As one of Hillsong’s songs goes, “Break my heart for what breaks yours.” I want God to enlighten me on things that need focus on. I don’t want to go through my life and get to the end and think, “wow. I was totally missing the point of Christianity. Why didn’t I know this before?” I want God to reveal what breaks His heart. Which makes me think of another song by Brandon Heath, “Give Me Your Eyes” which I think I previously posted about. Check it out if you can. But here is the song by Tenth Avenue North, “You Are.”


CHORUS:

I give you all of me
for all you are,
here I am take me apart,
take me apart


Lord, I pray that you will reveal to me the desires of your heart. I pray that I will seek the truths of your Word that will help me seek the desires pleasing to you. I love you. Help me show it.