Joyous Thirst

"Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.  Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.  Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation." 2 Corinthians 5:16-19. The new year is almost here, and it is hard to believe that 2018 is almost over.  The word "New" is such a refreshing word because it can be associated in so many different ways.  A product can be new and thus maybe have better features than the old.  A perspective can be new, and now you can see growth within someone or something.  A relationship can be new, and this feel...

"And an Angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terribly frightened.  But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:9-11 Christmas is tomorrow, and I am so excited about celebrating the birth of our Lord!  There are so many things and points of view within the scripture that I could write about today, but God really put a verse on my heart last week and I know that I need to share it.  I'll dive into the context of why first:  Last week my men's Bible study group was focusing on Acts 16:25.  To set this up, Paul and Silas have been jailed without really any merit, and when I say jailed, they are shackled and fastened in literally the part of the jail that all the waste runs to.  Acts 16:25 reads: "About midnight...

Not too long ago I bought a house, and as many of you can probably understand, when you buy a house you spend a lot of time on the house.  I have found myself spending a majority of my time either working on the house or thinking about working on it.  I was convicted this morning when a good friend sent me an Instagram message simply asking how my walk was going.  I replied that it in fact hasn't been my key focus.  I've been able to give the excuse of "Oh, I'll get back into deep prayer once my house is complete," or "Work and working on the house has gotten me pretty tired, I better rest and then I'll get back to prayer tomorrow fully rested."  This past week I knew that my walk with God wasn't strong because my prayer life had taken a back seat.  I put it in the back seat and put my house, work, and the whirlwind of the Christmas season up in the front.  I am so thankful that my friend messaged me this and I was met with conviction because it ...

This past week, the men's group that I am a part of got into some great conversation about what makes a person saved.  As a side note, the year is almost up and if you're like me, you need momentum going into the new year to keep your new year resolutions....point being, I think it is very important to have a group of peers that you can all dive into the word together and challenge each other.  Over the past few years, I have found that being a part of a men's group has made way for deeper and more challenging conversations about my faith, and has strengthened it significantly.  So what makes a person saved?  A common baptist saying is "Once saved always saved," but how does one get saved?  In Romans it says: "Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved," and prior to that in verse 9 that "If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."  Well, this soun...

C.S. Lewis writes:  "The moment you have a self, there is the possibility of putting yourself first."  Pride is truly the Anti-God state of mind.  Before I really became a Christian, I can honestly say that I was very proud of my accomplishments and unfortunately held myself to a higher standard compared to others.  I was proud that I won this, or got this promotion, or maybe even worse, I was proud that I didn't do what "that person did."  How many times do we as people measure ourselves against one another?  How often do you compare yourself to another person, or the sin of another? In Proverbs 16:18 "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling."  Here it is, your warning!  It's literally time to check yourself before you wreck yourself!  The Bible says that destruction comes AFTER pride, and that stumbling comes AFTER a haughty spirit. The big question then:  Are you prideful?  If you answer Yes to th...