Joyous Thirst

Thanksgiving came and Thanksgiving went and now the focus is on the weeks leading up to Christmas!  For many people this can be the most wonderful time of the year, but can also be the most stressful.  Deadlines need to be hit, there are many social commitments, and on top of that you have to figure out gifting!  With technology today it's amazing how connected we are to each other, yet there seems to be a loss of depth within relationships.  At the end of the day, you can't rely on technology to build and maintain any of your relationships.  Many times when I am driving I'll find myself thinking of my close friends and though we might send messages via social media, or quick texts to each other, there simply is nothing more impactful and building than picking up the phone and calling them to talk.  It takes effort, it takes initiative, and it takes planning.  The same goes for prayer.  A weakness of mine is that I will sometimes "busy" myself ...

I cannot believe this week is Thanksgiving!  I thought for this week's post, I'd take a page out of Joby Martin's book.  A while back, Joby asked everyone to make a gratitude list.  In this list, you simply list out things you are grateful for using your age as the number of things.  I figured this would be a great exercise to do this week. Writing out the things you are grateful for and then giving them all back to God is extremely important.  As I have matured in my faith, I have been able to look back on my life and see that God has had His hand on everything I've been given and every accomplishment.  This week, I hope you look back on your life and give thanks to the God who loves you so much that He gave his only Son up for you....all while knowing your past, present, and future! Here is my list: 1.  Jesus 2.  The Bible 3.  Love and support of family 4.  Close friends 5.  Conviction 6.  Failures 7.  Wins ...

Jesus said: "What goes into someone's mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them." Matthew 15:11 Last week was the midterm elections and as I've seen during my entire voting life, it was ugly.  This post isn't about what side of the political spectrum you sit in, rather this is about how in today's environment I am seeing that people are desensitized to what they are actually saying.  Do you remember an older person ever saying to you or someone "Do you talk to your momma like that?"  Both sides say things that they shouldn't.  Both sides have taken our country's politics to a new low.  Apart from that though, this type of behavior stretches beyond the political spectrum.  It fills our talks at parties, it fills our schools, and yes it is even filling up our churches.   In Matthew, Jesus is talking about that which defiles the body.  Pharisees asked Jesus why His disciples break the tradi...

"For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul."- Mark 8:36 When was the last time you calculated your net worth?  I'm in the process of buying a house and I am going through the steps of giving my information to my bank for the underwriting of the loan.  It's fairly simple on paper:  What are your assets and liabilities?  What do you own vs. what do you owe?   What would it look like if God wanted to underwrite you?  What would you present to Him for the due diligence of your soul?  Many people constantly fall into the trap of "I've done this, or I've been a good person, or I've lead people to becoming a Christian,"  but there is only one thing that God looks at when determining your approval:  JESUS.   God does not measure us like we measure ourselves and others.  How thankful I am that no matter what the weight of your sins on the balance beam scale of your life, Jesus is on the other side...