Recently for my church, I have been teaching the Hudson Taylor story for some of the kids in their classes. It has been an amazing story. I knew the name, but I didn't really know the story until I took some time to read and study it. Hudson Taylor lead an amazing life. He opened the China Inland Mission (now the Overseas Missionary Fellowship), He helped lead Hundreds of Thousands of Chinese people to the Lord, and he not only changed those people's lives, but he influenced hundreds of people's lives as well. People such as: The cricket player - Charles Studd, Missionary to India - Amy Carmichael, Olympic Gold Medalist - Eric Lidell, Twentieth-Century Missionary and Martyr - Jim Elliot, Founder of Bible Study Fellowship - Audrey Wetherell Johnson, as well as International Evangelists - Billy Graham, and Luis Palau. At the age of 5, sitting at the dinner table, Hudson said "When I grow up, I want to be a missionary to China" But did he know what God was going to do in his life? Of course not! He didn't know that someday, a teenager in a small town of Grants Pass, OR would be teaching about him! He didn't know that when he passed away, people would still be accepting Christ as their personal saviour. He didn't know that because of his testimony, many people would give their lives over to God. No, he didn't know, but God did.
He was able to make an impact in many people's lives, but he couldn't do it on his own. God had it all planned out. God knew that he would change many people's lives, God knew that he would be using him in a special way. God knew every detail of his life, and He knows every detail of mine too. All Hudson had to do, was say as Isaiah said in Isaiah 6:8
" Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me."
I don't know what will happen in the future, I don't know whether I will impact many lives, or none, I don't know whether God will use me in a special way, or if I will die in my sleep tonight. But God knows. He has a perfect plan.....a blueprint for my life, and he has it all planned out. All I have to do is say "Here am I; send me" He wants me to trust in Him, serve Him, and follow Him. So often in my life, I lose that trust. I know what I want in my life, and I reach for the stars, I shoot for the goals, I do things my own way. We live in a society that believes "Just do it" or "Have it your way everyday" or "Carpe Diem" (Seize the Day). Of course, I am all for making the most of the time we have, while we have it, but doing it for our own glory? I'm not sure about that!
There are so many things I would like in my life. I wish I could drive, it can be a big discouragement sometimes not to be able to. I wish I could serve my country in the military, I have a great respect for the men and women who fight our country, and if I could, I would seriously consider it. I wish I could go to college, I graduated out of high school last year, but the timing hasn't been right yet. I wish I could get a job, in order to go to college, I need the money to do so, but the opportunity hasn't quite come up yet. I wish I could have a young lady in my life. I know that's every young man's desire, to have a companion, someone to love, and to cherish, but God hasn't provided the right opportunity yet.
The list could go on, and on, and I know as humans, we each could make a list of our own wants and desires. For me, some of those things will never happen, some of those things may happen someday, and possibly, some of those things will never happen. But God has a plan for it all. Sometimes we have to put aside all of our wants and desires and say "Here am I; send me" as Isaiah said. Sometimes we have to put aside our wants and desires and say as Jesus said in the Garden "Not my will but thine be done"
What if Jesus had've changed His mind? What if he would've never come down to the earth? What if he was never born in a manger? What if he had've never died on the cross? I don't know where we would be today! He was willing to give up everything, EVERYTHING to do what God wanted Him to do! He was willing to go wherever God wanted him to go, do whatever God wanted to do, and be the kind of person he wanted Him to be.
I as well think of a wood maker. What if he wanted to make a wooden chest. He plans it out, gets the wood, cuts the wood, nails the wood, stains the wood, carves the wood, and creates a masterpiece. But what if the wood would've said, No, I want to be a chair, or No, I want to be a bed, or No, I want to be a desk. The creator's plans would not have turned out the way he would have intended it. God says in Isaiah 55:8:
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. "
Our ways are not always going to be God's ways, but Proverbs 3:5-6 says:
" Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In ALL THY WAYS acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."
If we acknowledge God, he will guide us every step of the way, and because He has a perfect plan for our lives, He will show us what He wants in our lives. If we follow Him, serve Him, and long to be the kind of person He wants us to be, We could end up like Hudson Taylor did, and impact thousands of lives. God may allow us to follow our dreams, reach for the stars, and shoot for the goals. And in the end, He will bless us. All we have to do is give our life over to Him.
___________________________________________________________
Thanks again for reading, I hope it made sense! For me, when I think of it in my head, it comes out differently in words. Let me know what you think too! Have a great evening!
~Daniel~ :)
Saturday, January 5, 2013
The Ramblings of the New Year
Well, It's been an interesting couple of days! With snow, car rides, back aches, snow chains, and so much more. It's only been a few days into the New Year, and I can say I've already learned a lot! Firstly, I'm happy to say that I've kept up with my jar of blessings. No, I haven't been able to get a jar yet, I'm waiting for all our Animal Crackers to be eaten so I can use that, but nonetheless, I'm keeping a notebook from day to day of special blessings. Once the Animal Crackers are gone, I'll tear them out, cut them up by day, and stick them in there ;) It has been a special blessing to me, thinking about those blessings at the end of the day. I can recall the great things God has provided, and God has done. It'll be really nice to read them all at the end of the year.
I've also learned that my prayer needs work. Of course I don't think it will ever be perfect, but I am always reminded of how powerful prayer can really be! I think back to the past year, and of course, I prayed whenever I could, but my prayer was always focusing around me. Things I was thankful for, things I needed help with, things that I wanted, etc. etc. Now of course, those things aren't bad to pray for, I think God wants to hear about me too, but I often neglected praying for someone else because I was too busy thinking about myself. So I'm learning to work on that as well.
Thirdly, I have been reminded once again that spending time with God can be such a wonderful thing! This morning, I woke up in a terrible attitude, or in other words, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I decided I would keep my mouth shut so I wouldn't take it out on anyone else, but in my head, and my heart, I couldn't help but complain, get upset, and just flat out have a bad attitude. I woke up later than I wanted to, I didn't get a chance to read or pray like I normally would like to, I was preparing for being stuck in the car for a few hours, and due to my parents hurting their backs, I was preparing for my brother and myself packing up the cars, by ourselves, to head home from a few days in the snow. Anyways, I woke up, got changed and washed up, packed up, had breakfast, and got in the car, but to my dismay, I still had a bad attitude! I don't know exactly what it was from, or why I had it, but it was there. I think the devil was using it to his advantage. As I was in the car, I had a few hours to kill. I could listen to some music, listen to a sermon, take a nap, or read. Of course I normally get queasy when I read in the car, but I thought I would give it a try again. I knew I wasn't able to read before, due to waking up late, so I decided I would use the time I had to spend a little time with God. I think it was a good choice! I have been working on reading through different books at a time, and while I am in Deuteronomy, I took a little hiatus from that to work on reading through Hebrews. Today I was in Hebrews 12. Because I had so much time to read, I used the time I had. I read through each verse, slowly, contemplating it, thinking about what it meant, reading the study portion of my Bible to see what they thought, and reading it over, and over, and over. After I read through Hebrews 12, I remembered a chapter, a friend recommended to me. I had read it before, but I can always get something new from the Bible, so I read it again. I then read in Romans 9. I did the same thing, I read each verse, over, and over, and over. I contemplated it, thought about it, and studied it. I ended up reading for almost an hour!!!! Now, I don't say all that to toot my own horn, That's the only time I've ever read that long, but I say all that to say, it was such a refreshing experience! I read things I had never noticed before, I thought about things I had never thought of before, God had given me peace, and my bad attitude was gone! It seemed all bad thoughts went away, all complaining went away, and after thinking for so long, I now have a new idea for another blog post :) We are so priveleged to own a copy of God's word. It's taken some work to put together, but after some effort, time, and inspiration from God, 40 men put together a great letter from Him! There are so many people in the world who have never even seen a page, never heard the name of God, and many will die without doing so, but in this great country we live in, we have the freedom, and privelege of owning several copies of that Bible in our own home. Today was special for me because I could take that great letter, and spend some time with God. I hope to continue to spend time with Him every day.
Not only can we hear from Him, but He allows us to talk to Him as well. We can come to Him anytime, about anything, anywhere, and we can tell him our needs, wants, cares, worries, and the prayers of others too. I own a very special purity ring. It was a Christmas present a few years ago from my parents. I've made a promise to myself, my future wife (whoever it may be), and most importantly to God, that I will stay pure until the night of my marriage. For me, it's a symbol of that promise to myself, and others around me who see it. Anyways, I hardly ever take it off for the fear of losing it. As we were playing in the snow the other night, I took off my gloves, and was brushing some snow off my jacket sleeve. Sadly, my ring went flying! Due to my eyesight, I wasn't able to see exactly where it landed, not to mention, it was dark, and the sun had gone down. I got down to look in the little light that I had, but I couldn't find it. There was nobody nearby either because they were walking the dog down the street, or they were inside, so I called to somebody, but nobody answered. I would've run to get someone to help me, but I didn't want to move because I knew the generic area it was in. That's when I decided to pray. I knew if anyone could help me find it, it would be God. He cares about every little sparrow, every little hair, and every little grain of sand, (Matthew 10:29-31; Luke 12:6-7) so why not my special ring too! I prayed, and asked if it was His will, He would help me find it. As I finished praying, I pulled out my cellphone for a little extra light, I squatted down to try and find it once again, and the very first place I looked, right in between my feet, there it was, lying in the snow.
As I said before, I say none of this to boast about myself, I would be the first to tell you, I am far from perfect. Of course, I try and spend as much time with God as I can, but that doesn't make me any better than anyone else either! I as well know that there wasn't really a main point behind today's blog post, and for all I know, it may not make sense to anybody, but for me, I have learned a lot already in the New Year, and I'm here to say, with the many blessings of life, with reading the Bible, with praying, and with so much more, God has been good! We serve a great God, and while I may have been rambling on a little bit, I look forward to what's in store for the rest of this year!
I still have that good idea for a blog post, but I will save that for another day. I will hopefully write again very soon! Have a great evening!
~Daniel~ :)
I've also learned that my prayer needs work. Of course I don't think it will ever be perfect, but I am always reminded of how powerful prayer can really be! I think back to the past year, and of course, I prayed whenever I could, but my prayer was always focusing around me. Things I was thankful for, things I needed help with, things that I wanted, etc. etc. Now of course, those things aren't bad to pray for, I think God wants to hear about me too, but I often neglected praying for someone else because I was too busy thinking about myself. So I'm learning to work on that as well.
Thirdly, I have been reminded once again that spending time with God can be such a wonderful thing! This morning, I woke up in a terrible attitude, or in other words, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I decided I would keep my mouth shut so I wouldn't take it out on anyone else, but in my head, and my heart, I couldn't help but complain, get upset, and just flat out have a bad attitude. I woke up later than I wanted to, I didn't get a chance to read or pray like I normally would like to, I was preparing for being stuck in the car for a few hours, and due to my parents hurting their backs, I was preparing for my brother and myself packing up the cars, by ourselves, to head home from a few days in the snow. Anyways, I woke up, got changed and washed up, packed up, had breakfast, and got in the car, but to my dismay, I still had a bad attitude! I don't know exactly what it was from, or why I had it, but it was there. I think the devil was using it to his advantage. As I was in the car, I had a few hours to kill. I could listen to some music, listen to a sermon, take a nap, or read. Of course I normally get queasy when I read in the car, but I thought I would give it a try again. I knew I wasn't able to read before, due to waking up late, so I decided I would use the time I had to spend a little time with God. I think it was a good choice! I have been working on reading through different books at a time, and while I am in Deuteronomy, I took a little hiatus from that to work on reading through Hebrews. Today I was in Hebrews 12. Because I had so much time to read, I used the time I had. I read through each verse, slowly, contemplating it, thinking about what it meant, reading the study portion of my Bible to see what they thought, and reading it over, and over, and over. After I read through Hebrews 12, I remembered a chapter, a friend recommended to me. I had read it before, but I can always get something new from the Bible, so I read it again. I then read in Romans 9. I did the same thing, I read each verse, over, and over, and over. I contemplated it, thought about it, and studied it. I ended up reading for almost an hour!!!! Now, I don't say all that to toot my own horn, That's the only time I've ever read that long, but I say all that to say, it was such a refreshing experience! I read things I had never noticed before, I thought about things I had never thought of before, God had given me peace, and my bad attitude was gone! It seemed all bad thoughts went away, all complaining went away, and after thinking for so long, I now have a new idea for another blog post :) We are so priveleged to own a copy of God's word. It's taken some work to put together, but after some effort, time, and inspiration from God, 40 men put together a great letter from Him! There are so many people in the world who have never even seen a page, never heard the name of God, and many will die without doing so, but in this great country we live in, we have the freedom, and privelege of owning several copies of that Bible in our own home. Today was special for me because I could take that great letter, and spend some time with God. I hope to continue to spend time with Him every day.
Not only can we hear from Him, but He allows us to talk to Him as well. We can come to Him anytime, about anything, anywhere, and we can tell him our needs, wants, cares, worries, and the prayers of others too. I own a very special purity ring. It was a Christmas present a few years ago from my parents. I've made a promise to myself, my future wife (whoever it may be), and most importantly to God, that I will stay pure until the night of my marriage. For me, it's a symbol of that promise to myself, and others around me who see it. Anyways, I hardly ever take it off for the fear of losing it. As we were playing in the snow the other night, I took off my gloves, and was brushing some snow off my jacket sleeve. Sadly, my ring went flying! Due to my eyesight, I wasn't able to see exactly where it landed, not to mention, it was dark, and the sun had gone down. I got down to look in the little light that I had, but I couldn't find it. There was nobody nearby either because they were walking the dog down the street, or they were inside, so I called to somebody, but nobody answered. I would've run to get someone to help me, but I didn't want to move because I knew the generic area it was in. That's when I decided to pray. I knew if anyone could help me find it, it would be God. He cares about every little sparrow, every little hair, and every little grain of sand, (Matthew 10:29-31; Luke 12:6-7) so why not my special ring too! I prayed, and asked if it was His will, He would help me find it. As I finished praying, I pulled out my cellphone for a little extra light, I squatted down to try and find it once again, and the very first place I looked, right in between my feet, there it was, lying in the snow.
As I said before, I say none of this to boast about myself, I would be the first to tell you, I am far from perfect. Of course, I try and spend as much time with God as I can, but that doesn't make me any better than anyone else either! I as well know that there wasn't really a main point behind today's blog post, and for all I know, it may not make sense to anybody, but for me, I have learned a lot already in the New Year, and I'm here to say, with the many blessings of life, with reading the Bible, with praying, and with so much more, God has been good! We serve a great God, and while I may have been rambling on a little bit, I look forward to what's in store for the rest of this year!
I still have that good idea for a blog post, but I will save that for another day. I will hopefully write again very soon! Have a great evening!
~Daniel~ :)
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Time Flies By
Another year has come and gone. 2012 has come to an end, and I look forward to another year ahead. As we have counted down to midnight, honked our horn through the neighborhood, lighted fireworks, and wished many Happy New Years, there are family's all over spending time together, there are millions of people in Time Square, dancing and waiting for a crystal ball to fall, there are many couples waiting until midnight to give each other a kiss, there are bottles of champagne and sparkling cider being opened, and people are excited for the journey ahead. There are so many things that can be said about the past year, and so many things I can say about the coming year as well. As I think about the New Year, I read last year's eulogy to 2011, and the title was "Time Goes By", I was then thinking about the title for this one, and I felt "Time Flies By" was appropriate.
I think about the past year. God has been so good! This year has brough along engagements, marriages, babies, deaths, trials, temptations, friends made, friends lost, good times, and bad times. I have had the honor of watching, at least, four kids accept Christ as their person Saviour. I have been able to be a part of another full scale musical (Cinderella) and I have been able to go back to my theatre home, Barnstormers, for another beautiful show (Our Town). I have had the pleasure of being a counselor once again at our church's Jr. Camp, where we had a broken arm, a broken canopy, thunder, rain, memories, friendships, and many decisions made. I have made several friends. I have grorwn in my relationship with several friends. I have had the privelege of becoming a Sunday School teacher, and a bus worker, and I have had the privelege of being a part of those kids lives. I've been to my first Masquerade Ball, I've learned to Waltz, I've had a double birthday party for the first time (Special thanks to Devin Kruse) and God has blessed in more ways than explainable.
Amidst the many wonderful experiences, 2012 has also provided many opportunities to think. The past few years God has provided a central theme for the year, whether it's Romans 8:28, and God working all things together for good, Proverbs 3:5-6, and trusting in God no matter what, or 1 Corinthians 10:31, and glorifying God in every aspect of my life. This year has been quite an interesting year. As you may have seen in some of my past posts, "To Live for the Glory of God", and To Die for the Glory of God this year has brought up a lot about death and life. Whether in sermons I've heard, Questions that have been asked me, Discussions I have had with friends, Working on a play that deals with that subject, and Experiencing other peoples life and death experiences as well. This year has been a great opportunity to think. I have realized, this year, more than ever before, that life is a vapour that appeareth for a little time, and vanishes away (James 4:14). I have realized that whether in life, or in death, I can't take the time I have for granted. God has blessed me with the time I have here on this earth, and if I'm living, I should do it for the glory of God, if I'm dying, I should do it for the glory of God, I should treat every day, every hour, every minute, and every second as if it could be my last. Year after year, as we count down until midnight, I think back to the past New Year, and it seems like it was just yesterday. Time is a vapour! The time we have flies by, and we should take advantage of the time we have, while we still do! Of course plans will change, I know mine did this year! Of course things won't turn out quite like we had planned, I know I speak from experience on that part as well. But the thing that remains constant is this: God is always good! In good times, and bad, He's always blessing, always guiding, and always providing. He knows how long I'll live, He knows when I'll die. He has a perfect plan for my life, and as long as I continue to trust in Him, and follow what He has for me, I can, and will, never go wrong!
I can say this year, I am a different person than I was last year! Mistakes have been made, experiences have been had, things have been thought, lessons have been learned, and God is continuing to teach me, mature me, guide me, and helping me grow. I know I am not perfect, but I pray, that every day, my relationship with Him will continually grow closer, and I pray that every day I will grow to to be the young man He wants me to be.
For the New Year, I'm not sure how I feel about resolutions, as those are meant to be broken, but as for a goals, I do have a few:
This year, I would like to spend a little time with God every day. Whether it's studying the Bible, listening to a sermon, or spending some time in earnest prayer, I want to put all other things aside, even if it's for a few minutes, and spend some quality time with Him. I know it won't be easy, I know it will take some motivation, and determination, but it's something I, sadly, can't say I did this past year.
Next, I would like to focus on the blessings of life. I found this picture on facebook, and I think it's a wonderful idea.
I would like to find a big jar, and start it myself. It won't take but a few minutes every night to sit down and write a little something every day. That as well may take a little motivation and determination, but I'm hoping the outcome will be great!
Thirdly, I would like to write in my blog a little bit more. I know 2012 only had 9 posts in it, so this year, I will try not to worry so much about what people will think, or what I have to say, and I will try and write a little more often.
Fourthly, I would really like to be able to go away to college. I know I have planned on this for a few years now, ever since I have graduated, but my ways are not God's ways, so if it's God's will, I would like to go to college somewhere. Until then, I will pray about it, do some research for it, and
prepare right away.
Fifthly, I would like to find a good job. 2012 brought a few job experiences for me. I worked at Wal-Mart and a contact lense place (OOGP) for about three months, through Express Employment Services, a temp agency. I also had the opportunity to work at Evergreen Federal Bank's Bear Hotel for a week. While those things were great, it seemed very short. So this year, I hope to find something a little better.
Then of course I have my life goals. In my life, I have two of them. Firstly, I want to glorify God in everything. I know God has placed us here on the earth for a reason, so I think we should glorify God through it all. Secondly, I want to make an impact in someone else's life for God. I want God to use me in a special way. My life would be more than worth while if He did that through me.
Now that 2012 is over, I look forward to what God has in store for this coming year! As we were reminiscing a little earlier today of what happened in 2012, I realized that most of those things, good and bad, were never planned out, we didn't expect them, we didn't know they would happen, they just..... happened; We didn't know, But God knew! This year will be full of many of those same things too! This year I could find my favorite song, I could eat my favorite food, I could find the girl of my dreams, I could find a solid job, I could go away to college, I could lose someone very close to me, I could pass away this year, or this could even be the year God comes back to take us all home! With God, anything is possible. Let's just keep trusting Him, Love Him more every day, and grow to be the kind of person He wants us to be, no matter what He has planned for our life.
I hope you all have a very Happy and Blessed New Year! I will hopefully write again very soon!
~Daniel~ :)
I think about the past year. God has been so good! This year has brough along engagements, marriages, babies, deaths, trials, temptations, friends made, friends lost, good times, and bad times. I have had the honor of watching, at least, four kids accept Christ as their person Saviour. I have been able to be a part of another full scale musical (Cinderella) and I have been able to go back to my theatre home, Barnstormers, for another beautiful show (Our Town). I have had the pleasure of being a counselor once again at our church's Jr. Camp, where we had a broken arm, a broken canopy, thunder, rain, memories, friendships, and many decisions made. I have made several friends. I have grorwn in my relationship with several friends. I have had the privelege of becoming a Sunday School teacher, and a bus worker, and I have had the privelege of being a part of those kids lives. I've been to my first Masquerade Ball, I've learned to Waltz, I've had a double birthday party for the first time (Special thanks to Devin Kruse) and God has blessed in more ways than explainable.
Amidst the many wonderful experiences, 2012 has also provided many opportunities to think. The past few years God has provided a central theme for the year, whether it's Romans 8:28, and God working all things together for good, Proverbs 3:5-6, and trusting in God no matter what, or 1 Corinthians 10:31, and glorifying God in every aspect of my life. This year has been quite an interesting year. As you may have seen in some of my past posts, "To Live for the Glory of God", and To Die for the Glory of God this year has brought up a lot about death and life. Whether in sermons I've heard, Questions that have been asked me, Discussions I have had with friends, Working on a play that deals with that subject, and Experiencing other peoples life and death experiences as well. This year has been a great opportunity to think. I have realized, this year, more than ever before, that life is a vapour that appeareth for a little time, and vanishes away (James 4:14). I have realized that whether in life, or in death, I can't take the time I have for granted. God has blessed me with the time I have here on this earth, and if I'm living, I should do it for the glory of God, if I'm dying, I should do it for the glory of God, I should treat every day, every hour, every minute, and every second as if it could be my last. Year after year, as we count down until midnight, I think back to the past New Year, and it seems like it was just yesterday. Time is a vapour! The time we have flies by, and we should take advantage of the time we have, while we still do! Of course plans will change, I know mine did this year! Of course things won't turn out quite like we had planned, I know I speak from experience on that part as well. But the thing that remains constant is this: God is always good! In good times, and bad, He's always blessing, always guiding, and always providing. He knows how long I'll live, He knows when I'll die. He has a perfect plan for my life, and as long as I continue to trust in Him, and follow what He has for me, I can, and will, never go wrong!
I can say this year, I am a different person than I was last year! Mistakes have been made, experiences have been had, things have been thought, lessons have been learned, and God is continuing to teach me, mature me, guide me, and helping me grow. I know I am not perfect, but I pray, that every day, my relationship with Him will continually grow closer, and I pray that every day I will grow to to be the young man He wants me to be.
For the New Year, I'm not sure how I feel about resolutions, as those are meant to be broken, but as for a goals, I do have a few:
This year, I would like to spend a little time with God every day. Whether it's studying the Bible, listening to a sermon, or spending some time in earnest prayer, I want to put all other things aside, even if it's for a few minutes, and spend some quality time with Him. I know it won't be easy, I know it will take some motivation, and determination, but it's something I, sadly, can't say I did this past year.
Next, I would like to focus on the blessings of life. I found this picture on facebook, and I think it's a wonderful idea.
Thirdly, I would like to write in my blog a little bit more. I know 2012 only had 9 posts in it, so this year, I will try not to worry so much about what people will think, or what I have to say, and I will try and write a little more often.
Fourthly, I would really like to be able to go away to college. I know I have planned on this for a few years now, ever since I have graduated, but my ways are not God's ways, so if it's God's will, I would like to go to college somewhere. Until then, I will pray about it, do some research for it, and
prepare right away.
Fifthly, I would like to find a good job. 2012 brought a few job experiences for me. I worked at Wal-Mart and a contact lense place (OOGP) for about three months, through Express Employment Services, a temp agency. I also had the opportunity to work at Evergreen Federal Bank's Bear Hotel for a week. While those things were great, it seemed very short. So this year, I hope to find something a little better.
Then of course I have my life goals. In my life, I have two of them. Firstly, I want to glorify God in everything. I know God has placed us here on the earth for a reason, so I think we should glorify God through it all. Secondly, I want to make an impact in someone else's life for God. I want God to use me in a special way. My life would be more than worth while if He did that through me.
Now that 2012 is over, I look forward to what God has in store for this coming year! As we were reminiscing a little earlier today of what happened in 2012, I realized that most of those things, good and bad, were never planned out, we didn't expect them, we didn't know they would happen, they just..... happened; We didn't know, But God knew! This year will be full of many of those same things too! This year I could find my favorite song, I could eat my favorite food, I could find the girl of my dreams, I could find a solid job, I could go away to college, I could lose someone very close to me, I could pass away this year, or this could even be the year God comes back to take us all home! With God, anything is possible. Let's just keep trusting Him, Love Him more every day, and grow to be the kind of person He wants us to be, no matter what He has planned for our life.
I hope you all have a very Happy and Blessed New Year! I will hopefully write again very soon!
~Daniel~ :)
Monday, December 24, 2012
A Letter to Jesus
Dear Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, Jesus
This time of year, Christmas Cards are sent all over the world sending best wishes of a happy holiday season, peace on earth, and a happy new year. We go shopping, and even though they say it's the "happiest time of the year" people are fighting over presents, and prices, and who will get all the new fangled toys. People complain about the long lines, and you can't even wish the cashier a "Merry Christmas" anymore because you don't want anyone to be "offended". Families come together to eat ham, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and pie. People are sitting around the fire telling stories, or standing around the piano singing carols. They sing of Jingle Bells, Snow, Snowmen coming to life, Reindeer whose noses light up, A Big Jolly man who comes down the chimney to deliver presents to good boys and girls, Silent Nights, Holy Nights, Angels Singing, and Much more! There are nativity scenes portraying a beautiful scene of donkeys and sheep sitting around a glowing baby in a manger. Of course, you know all of this though! We celebrate people's birthdays year after year with parties, balloons, presents, and cake. But how often do we set aside some time, this time of the year, to celerate your birth? You don't get presents, you don't get parties, you don't get balloons, or cake. Instead we focus on the warm fuzzy feeling of the holidays. I am sorry we so often get caught up in the ways of the world. I am sorry we so often think about the holiday instead of thinking about you.
So I just wanted to take a minute from the presents, from the food, from the family, from the carols, and the fuzzy feelings to thank you for everything! Thank you for your life, your death, and your salvation. Thank you for being willing to come down from Heaven, to come to this Earth as a baby. Thank you for being willing to be born of a virgin, and for being willing to be born in a manger. Thank you for making yourself lower, so I could go higher! Thank you for the ministry you lead here on the earth. Thank you for coming to pay the penalty of death for my sins. Thank you for the pain and suffering you placed on yourself for me. Thank you for placing all of my sin on yourself. Thank you for rising again on the third day. Thank you for washing my sins away, and making me free. Thank you for taking a rotten sinner like me, and making me a new person. Thank you for forgiving me, no matter how much I don't deserve it. Thank you for the hope that I have in my life. Thank you that I can know what will happen to me when I die someday. Thank you for your Amazing Grace, and Thank you for your Wonderful Love for me!
I am nobody special, I don't deserve anything special, I am just a normal human being, but you have done something great in my life! Help me to remember that, not only today, not only this time of year, but every day. Help me never to be ashamed of who I am, help me instead to be a light to the world I live in, and help me to grow to be more like you every day.
Once again, I thank you for everything you've done, and everything you do! Happy Birthday, I love you!
Love,
~Daniel~
Thursday, December 13, 2012
To Live for the Glory of God
Life! It is such a precious thing.
I wrote a blog post a few months ago that started out the same way. It's such a simple statement, and how true it can be. Do we ever think about it? Do we ever sit back and think about the life that we live? As I was saying, a few months ago I wrote a blog post that started out the same way, except it had a different focus behind it. I focused on death, As this year is coming closer and closer to the end, I have thought back several times on the year I have had, and over, and over, and over the subject of death has come up. Whether a loved one passing away, or questions being asked of me, or reading something, or even performing in a show that deals with that subject. It's not necessarily a bad thing, I had never thought this much about death before this year, and I think it's a very good thing to think about. It will happen to everybody, and as the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10:31
"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."
I believe we can do EVERYTHING to the glory of God, including dying. I'm not worried about it, and I look forward to the day that God takes me home. But I won't go fully into that again, if you would like to read some of my thoughts, feel free to take a look at my blog post "To Die for the Glory of God"
A very wise friend of mine commented on it, and in return to the post, she thanked me for sharing, and she stated "To die well, we must live well"
For the past few months, I have wanted to write another post, kind of a branching off of that one. With going from one thing to another, I haven't had much time to, but I have thought about it, and here I am once again. This time, I would like to focus on the importance of life.
Of course death is a very important thing, and I believe we should die for the glory of God, but in order to do so, we must first use the time that we have wisely, we can't waste a second, we must use the time that we have to live for the Glory of God
If you have ever walked through a graveyard, and looked at some of the stones, you will notice there is one thing common amongst them all, of course many of them have flags or crosses, many of them have eulogies or verses, many of them have quotes, but the thing that is common amongst them all is the date. They say: 1859 - 1934, 1862 - 1933, 1858 - 1952, and many, many more. They all have a little dash, a few spikes from a chisel, a little line. We don't pay attention to it much, but it represents something so great!
James 4:14 says,
"Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away."
God has given us such a great gift. He's given us that line, those few spikes from the chisel, He's given us the vapour that James talks so clearly about, God has given us.....life! It may not be very long, But how do we spend that life? For me, I want to live my life in a way that would be glorifying to God. When I get to Heaven, I want to be able to stand in front of God, and I want Him to be able to say "Well done my good and faithful servant"
Even though God loves me, and he enjoys the relationship I have with Him, I don't believe he has placed me here on the earth for my own good, It's for His good, and His glory, so as for me, I want to live my life for the Glory of God.
There are so many choices to make in life, there are so many paths to choose, I know that I have had decisions to make in the past, and I will be making all sorts of decisions in the future too, sometimes I make the right ones, and sometimes I make the wrong ones, but in the end, I ask forgiveness and try and learn from my mistakes. As I have thought the past few days, I am at a rough intersection in my life, there are so many roads to choose, so many choices to make: What college to go to, What career to go into, What job to get, How to spend my extra time, Who God wants me to marry in the future, etc. and while it's not always easy, and I can't say I will always follow through with it, I have decided just to trust God, do whatever He wants me to do, go wherever He wants me to go, be the kind of person He wants me to be, and follow Him no matter what. I know He has a perfect plan for my life, I know He has it all figured out, and I know as long as I do that, He won't lead me wrong!
I look at people like Hudson Taylor, Billy Graham, D.L. Moody, Billy Sunday, Fanny Crosby, even Peter, James, John, Luke, Joseph, Moses, David, Daniel, and Jesus himself, all of these people lived extraordinary lives. God used them to do AMAZING things, and all they had to do was give their life over to God. No, of course they weren't perfect (aside from Jesus) but they decided they were going to follow God, they gave everything they had to do whatever God wanted, and they lived their lives to do all for the Glory of God.
That's what I want for my life too. No, maybe God won't use me to change millions of lives. No, maybe He won't call me to do anything extraordinary, and I will be the first to tell you, I am FAR from perfect, but I pray that I won't waste a second. Life is too short! While I look forward to the day God takes me home, however that may be, until then, whatever God has planned for me, in life, in death, in good times, and in bad, I want to Live, Die, and Do All to the Glory of God. That's not a wasted life for me!
___________________________________________________________
Thanks once again for reading! I'm glad I had the opportunity to finally sit down and put these thoughts in words. I hope it made sense! The Lord has been laying it on my heart for a while, and I know in my life I want to live, and die for God's glory! As I said in one of my last blog posts, We shouldn't live every day worried that it could be our last, We should live every day is if it would be. Let us treat every day as if it were our last day. Let's do everything to the glory of God. You'll notice I changed the title of my blog, I think it's fitting for my thoughts, and maybe, someday, if God lays it on my heart, I can elaborate a little more. I will look forward to writing again very soon. Have a blessed day!
~Daniel~
I wrote a blog post a few months ago that started out the same way. It's such a simple statement, and how true it can be. Do we ever think about it? Do we ever sit back and think about the life that we live? As I was saying, a few months ago I wrote a blog post that started out the same way, except it had a different focus behind it. I focused on death, As this year is coming closer and closer to the end, I have thought back several times on the year I have had, and over, and over, and over the subject of death has come up. Whether a loved one passing away, or questions being asked of me, or reading something, or even performing in a show that deals with that subject. It's not necessarily a bad thing, I had never thought this much about death before this year, and I think it's a very good thing to think about. It will happen to everybody, and as the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10:31
"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."
I believe we can do EVERYTHING to the glory of God, including dying. I'm not worried about it, and I look forward to the day that God takes me home. But I won't go fully into that again, if you would like to read some of my thoughts, feel free to take a look at my blog post "To Die for the Glory of God"
A very wise friend of mine commented on it, and in return to the post, she thanked me for sharing, and she stated "To die well, we must live well"
For the past few months, I have wanted to write another post, kind of a branching off of that one. With going from one thing to another, I haven't had much time to, but I have thought about it, and here I am once again. This time, I would like to focus on the importance of life.
Of course death is a very important thing, and I believe we should die for the glory of God, but in order to do so, we must first use the time that we have wisely, we can't waste a second, we must use the time that we have to live for the Glory of God
If you have ever walked through a graveyard, and looked at some of the stones, you will notice there is one thing common amongst them all, of course many of them have flags or crosses, many of them have eulogies or verses, many of them have quotes, but the thing that is common amongst them all is the date. They say: 1859 - 1934, 1862 - 1933, 1858 - 1952, and many, many more. They all have a little dash, a few spikes from a chisel, a little line. We don't pay attention to it much, but it represents something so great!
James 4:14 says,
"Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away."
God has given us such a great gift. He's given us that line, those few spikes from the chisel, He's given us the vapour that James talks so clearly about, God has given us.....life! It may not be very long, But how do we spend that life? For me, I want to live my life in a way that would be glorifying to God. When I get to Heaven, I want to be able to stand in front of God, and I want Him to be able to say "Well done my good and faithful servant"
Even though God loves me, and he enjoys the relationship I have with Him, I don't believe he has placed me here on the earth for my own good, It's for His good, and His glory, so as for me, I want to live my life for the Glory of God.
There are so many choices to make in life, there are so many paths to choose, I know that I have had decisions to make in the past, and I will be making all sorts of decisions in the future too, sometimes I make the right ones, and sometimes I make the wrong ones, but in the end, I ask forgiveness and try and learn from my mistakes. As I have thought the past few days, I am at a rough intersection in my life, there are so many roads to choose, so many choices to make: What college to go to, What career to go into, What job to get, How to spend my extra time, Who God wants me to marry in the future, etc. and while it's not always easy, and I can't say I will always follow through with it, I have decided just to trust God, do whatever He wants me to do, go wherever He wants me to go, be the kind of person He wants me to be, and follow Him no matter what. I know He has a perfect plan for my life, I know He has it all figured out, and I know as long as I do that, He won't lead me wrong!
I look at people like Hudson Taylor, Billy Graham, D.L. Moody, Billy Sunday, Fanny Crosby, even Peter, James, John, Luke, Joseph, Moses, David, Daniel, and Jesus himself, all of these people lived extraordinary lives. God used them to do AMAZING things, and all they had to do was give their life over to God. No, of course they weren't perfect (aside from Jesus) but they decided they were going to follow God, they gave everything they had to do whatever God wanted, and they lived their lives to do all for the Glory of God.
That's what I want for my life too. No, maybe God won't use me to change millions of lives. No, maybe He won't call me to do anything extraordinary, and I will be the first to tell you, I am FAR from perfect, but I pray that I won't waste a second. Life is too short! While I look forward to the day God takes me home, however that may be, until then, whatever God has planned for me, in life, in death, in good times, and in bad, I want to Live, Die, and Do All to the Glory of God. That's not a wasted life for me!
___________________________________________________________
Thanks once again for reading! I'm glad I had the opportunity to finally sit down and put these thoughts in words. I hope it made sense! The Lord has been laying it on my heart for a while, and I know in my life I want to live, and die for God's glory! As I said in one of my last blog posts, We shouldn't live every day worried that it could be our last, We should live every day is if it would be. Let us treat every day as if it were our last day. Let's do everything to the glory of God. You'll notice I changed the title of my blog, I think it's fitting for my thoughts, and maybe, someday, if God lays it on my heart, I can elaborate a little more. I will look forward to writing again very soon. Have a blessed day!
~Daniel~
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Loving your neighbour
It's another late night, Another Subway sandwhich has been eaten, another fantastic rehearsal of "Our Town" has finished, another couple hour long nap in the recliner has been had, and I am awake again. As I look through all of my new facebook statuses of the day, I stumble upon this blog. I can't say I agree with it all, I can't say I condone it all, there is in fact even a little bit of language in it too (as a warning) and at first glance, I can't even say this person himself is a "Christian" (He after all says himself that he's not religious), but he brings up a very good point, and I think the blog is worth reading.
It is kind of a long blog, so if you don't have time to read it all, I will try and sum it up. He talks about a friend of his, that he had talked on the phone with, and his friend is......gay. He says that he lives in a town that homosexuality is still frowned upon, and as a whole, people deny this person. They ignore him, reject him, and shun him because of who he his. The whole message behind the blog is about love, and no matter who the person is, what they are like, or what they believe, we should show love to everyone. This as well has been on my heart a little bit, and after reading Mr. Pearce's blog, it prompted me to write one of my own.
I believe as human beings we should show love to one another, but allow me to take it one step further. As Christians, I believe it is even more so important for us to do so. As Christians, I believe we have a duty.....no, a calling to show others love. The Bible says in Matthew 22:37-40:
"Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."
"As you love yourself"? Really? Think about it, how much do we love ourselves? Sometimes we can too much! We love ourselves a lot! We love ourselves enough to take hours each day cleaning up, getting dressed, making ourselves look nice, etc. (not that this is bad, I do it myself!) Then of course there's all those times that we worry about what other people think of us. There's all those times we make excuses not to do something because we are worried about our self image. I think if we were all honest with ourselves, as human beings, we could all say that we love ourselves a lot! So as we think about others, Jesus said that after loving God with all of our heart soul and mind, as the second GREATEST commandment, we should love our neighbour as we love ourselves. So why don't we live it! Too often we look at people of the world, whether homosexual, gothic, pierced, tattooed, alcoholic, smoker, ______..........Well, I'll let you fill in the blank, We look at those people, and we think "Ooooooo, yuck!" These are the kinds of people that we don't want to be around, these are the kinds of people that we ignore, we avoid, and we shun, but should we? What does the Bible say? Is that how much we love ourself? I don't think so! As Christians, I believe those are the kind of people we should go up to, we should shake their hand, pat them on the back, if you know them well enough, sure, even give them a hug, pray for them and show them a little bit of God's love.
When we were born, we were each born a sinner. Romans 3:23 says:
"For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God"
So are we any different from them? We each are sinners, and I believe that anyone can look at us and could think "Oooooo, yuck!" All of our sins are as filthy rags, and of course, if we know Jesus as our personal saviour, He has washed all of our sins away, but that doesn't make us any better than those who don't! That doesn't mean we have to ignore, avoid, or shun those other people. Of course we as well have to be careful not to get too caught up that we get involved in some of the things of the world, but we should show them God's love, we should pray for them, and we should love them as we love ourselves. I think too often we are quick to jump to conclusions as well. We judge people based on their looks, their sounds, their smells, their actions, and sometimes we don't even know the whole story! The Bible as well says in Matthew 7:1:
"Judge not, that ye be not judged"
We all know that we don't like being judged, so why are we so quick to jump to conclusions with other people? As I said before, we are all sinners, we were all created equal, we are all God's precious creation, so why do we judge other people as filthy rags? We should:
"Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour" Ephesians 5:2
As I have taken it one step further, allow me to take one more minute to take it one more step further. I think about the church. So often we are quick to judge in the church as well. You can step into church, and there are people talking in little groups here, and little groups there. It's often turned into a school yard where there are jocks, cheerleaders, band members, glee club, the popular kids, and the new kids. Everyone is split up into little groups, and people are quick to judge each other. These people think they are better than others, these people have more money than others, these people are more athletic than others, these people are better looking then others. and the list goes on and on and on! To be honest, I get tired of it all! I don't believe that is the way God created the church to be! He wants us all to be a family. He wants us all to love each other equally. He wants us all to live together in unity, and that's the way I believe God meant it to be! Psalm 133:1 says:
"How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity"
People worry about so many silly things. Whether people wear shorts or not, whether people still use hymnbooks or not, what kind of music is listened to, what version of the Bible is used etc. While I think it is important to know what you believe on some of those things, I don't think it's worth judging people over! It's not worth starting fights or quarrels, and I don't think anything is worth ignoring or avoiding anyone for! We should all live in a way that is glorifying to God. In fact, we shouldn't judge other churches either! I think while we may have different beliefs, while we don't know some of the people very well, while we may not like some of the same things, we should still take some time to pray for other churches as well too! While it is good to focus on our core church family, I think it is as well good for churches to come together, to pray for each other, to lift each other up, we should show the world God's love. And as Christians, we should live together in unity.
I'm not trying to beat it over your head. I know as I'm writing, I'm reminding myself as well. I think it's something important to remember. We shouldn't be so quick to judge. God created us all equally, and while some people may seem as filthy rags, that's the way we were/are at one point or another. Instead, we should show other people God's love. As well, We shouldn't worry about silly little things. We shouldn't create our own group and leave others out. God wants us to live in Unity, and we all should live for the same purpose of glorifying God.
~Daniel~
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P.S. Thanks for taking a little time to sit down and read. I hope it all made sense. I always worry about whether my thoughts come out the right way in words, so I hope the main point was able to come across. I would love to hear what you think too! I always enjoy discussion, so feel free to share your thoughts with me too. I apologize that I haven't been able to write recently. It takes some time for me to sit down, think, and write, so I'm not able to do it as much as I would like to, but I am always thinking about it, and I want to be able to do it more often. I still have an idea in my mind that I want to write about, but I feel if I'm going to do it, I want to do it right, so please stay tuned. Thanks again for reading, and hopefully I will write again soon! Have a Blessed day! :)
It is kind of a long blog, so if you don't have time to read it all, I will try and sum it up. He talks about a friend of his, that he had talked on the phone with, and his friend is......gay. He says that he lives in a town that homosexuality is still frowned upon, and as a whole, people deny this person. They ignore him, reject him, and shun him because of who he his. The whole message behind the blog is about love, and no matter who the person is, what they are like, or what they believe, we should show love to everyone. This as well has been on my heart a little bit, and after reading Mr. Pearce's blog, it prompted me to write one of my own.
I believe as human beings we should show love to one another, but allow me to take it one step further. As Christians, I believe it is even more so important for us to do so. As Christians, I believe we have a duty.....no, a calling to show others love. The Bible says in Matthew 22:37-40:
"Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."
"As you love yourself"? Really? Think about it, how much do we love ourselves? Sometimes we can too much! We love ourselves a lot! We love ourselves enough to take hours each day cleaning up, getting dressed, making ourselves look nice, etc. (not that this is bad, I do it myself!) Then of course there's all those times that we worry about what other people think of us. There's all those times we make excuses not to do something because we are worried about our self image. I think if we were all honest with ourselves, as human beings, we could all say that we love ourselves a lot! So as we think about others, Jesus said that after loving God with all of our heart soul and mind, as the second GREATEST commandment, we should love our neighbour as we love ourselves. So why don't we live it! Too often we look at people of the world, whether homosexual, gothic, pierced, tattooed, alcoholic, smoker, ______..........Well, I'll let you fill in the blank, We look at those people, and we think "Ooooooo, yuck!" These are the kinds of people that we don't want to be around, these are the kinds of people that we ignore, we avoid, and we shun, but should we? What does the Bible say? Is that how much we love ourself? I don't think so! As Christians, I believe those are the kind of people we should go up to, we should shake their hand, pat them on the back, if you know them well enough, sure, even give them a hug, pray for them and show them a little bit of God's love.
When we were born, we were each born a sinner. Romans 3:23 says:
"For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God"
So are we any different from them? We each are sinners, and I believe that anyone can look at us and could think "Oooooo, yuck!" All of our sins are as filthy rags, and of course, if we know Jesus as our personal saviour, He has washed all of our sins away, but that doesn't make us any better than those who don't! That doesn't mean we have to ignore, avoid, or shun those other people. Of course we as well have to be careful not to get too caught up that we get involved in some of the things of the world, but we should show them God's love, we should pray for them, and we should love them as we love ourselves. I think too often we are quick to jump to conclusions as well. We judge people based on their looks, their sounds, their smells, their actions, and sometimes we don't even know the whole story! The Bible as well says in Matthew 7:1:
"Judge not, that ye be not judged"
We all know that we don't like being judged, so why are we so quick to jump to conclusions with other people? As I said before, we are all sinners, we were all created equal, we are all God's precious creation, so why do we judge other people as filthy rags? We should:
"Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour" Ephesians 5:2
As I have taken it one step further, allow me to take one more minute to take it one more step further. I think about the church. So often we are quick to judge in the church as well. You can step into church, and there are people talking in little groups here, and little groups there. It's often turned into a school yard where there are jocks, cheerleaders, band members, glee club, the popular kids, and the new kids. Everyone is split up into little groups, and people are quick to judge each other. These people think they are better than others, these people have more money than others, these people are more athletic than others, these people are better looking then others. and the list goes on and on and on! To be honest, I get tired of it all! I don't believe that is the way God created the church to be! He wants us all to be a family. He wants us all to love each other equally. He wants us all to live together in unity, and that's the way I believe God meant it to be! Psalm 133:1 says:
"How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity"
People worry about so many silly things. Whether people wear shorts or not, whether people still use hymnbooks or not, what kind of music is listened to, what version of the Bible is used etc. While I think it is important to know what you believe on some of those things, I don't think it's worth judging people over! It's not worth starting fights or quarrels, and I don't think anything is worth ignoring or avoiding anyone for! We should all live in a way that is glorifying to God. In fact, we shouldn't judge other churches either! I think while we may have different beliefs, while we don't know some of the people very well, while we may not like some of the same things, we should still take some time to pray for other churches as well too! While it is good to focus on our core church family, I think it is as well good for churches to come together, to pray for each other, to lift each other up, we should show the world God's love. And as Christians, we should live together in unity.
I'm not trying to beat it over your head. I know as I'm writing, I'm reminding myself as well. I think it's something important to remember. We shouldn't be so quick to judge. God created us all equally, and while some people may seem as filthy rags, that's the way we were/are at one point or another. Instead, we should show other people God's love. As well, We shouldn't worry about silly little things. We shouldn't create our own group and leave others out. God wants us to live in Unity, and we all should live for the same purpose of glorifying God.
~Daniel~
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P.S. Thanks for taking a little time to sit down and read. I hope it all made sense. I always worry about whether my thoughts come out the right way in words, so I hope the main point was able to come across. I would love to hear what you think too! I always enjoy discussion, so feel free to share your thoughts with me too. I apologize that I haven't been able to write recently. It takes some time for me to sit down, think, and write, so I'm not able to do it as much as I would like to, but I am always thinking about it, and I want to be able to do it more often. I still have an idea in my mind that I want to write about, but I feel if I'm going to do it, I want to do it right, so please stay tuned. Thanks again for reading, and hopefully I will write again soon! Have a Blessed day! :)
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
A Day that will live down in history
Ladies....Gentlemen......My Fellow Americans, Novermber 6th, 2012, is a day that will live down in history. It is a day we will tell our children, our grandchildren, and generations to come. It is a day that will be written in History books, newspapers, and will be shown on TV for years to come. Today was the 2012 Presidential Election.
This year was my first opportunity, and a privelege at that, to vote. As the election has now ended, political ads and calls have simmered down, and facebook is starting to heat up, I read the many different responses. I have read things from people rejoicing, to people mourning, people saying they will move away, to the plea of our country's unity. I must say I have mixed feelings about our election......In fact, I'm almost speechless! I have to say that part of me is surprised, and part of me is not at all.
I can't say I believe we will ever have an election where everyone will be happy. We'll always have people deciding Democrats, or Republicans, Pro-Life or Pro-Choice, Homosexuality, or Straight, Liberalist, or Communist......Well, I think you get the point. There will always be someone taking sides. But when you get to the bottom of things, It doesn't matter what political party you are a part of, there is a power higher than any person that could ever be elected. As wonderful as our country may be, there is a place better than America, and there is a plan greater than any Bill that can ever be passed.
Of course no man is perfect, We will always be able to find something wrong with anyone. So why do we put our trust in the imperfect humans of this world? They are no more perfect than we are! As for me, I know in the end "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus name. On Christ the Solid Rock I stand all other ground is sinking sand".
Will the next four years be easy, I can't say they will! Will we be fixing some mistakes that people past, present, or future may make. Yes, I believe we will! But I know that God is in control.
Psalm 118:6 says:
"The LORD is on my side, I will not fear. What can man do unto me?"
As an American citizen, I believe it is not only my privelege, but my right to vote. And while sometimes I will have to decide between Democrat and Republican, I am happy to know that the Lord is on my side. Whichever wins, I don't have to fear! As President, Man will have to make some decisions, some will be good, and some will not be so good, but God has a perfect plan for each of our lives, He knew who would be president, even before George Washington was born. He knew how our economy would turn out even before Noah was floating his stock. And he knew the plans He had for us before the creation of the world (Jeremiah 29:11)
So why do we worry? Why do we fear? Why do we think the end of the world is drawing near? I know God is in control, and He has a perfect plan, so just try putting your trust in God, instead of putting it in man.
I hope this post made sense. Whether this is the end of our country as we know it, I can't say for sure, whether God will come back in the next four years, He very well could, I know I'm anxious and ready!
Whatever happens, I know these 10 things will always be true:
1. God will still be on His throne
2. Jesus will still be King of kings and Lord of lords.
3. The Bible will still have all the answers to every problem.
But let's not focus on which party won, and which party lost, let's focus on the one that is in control of it all!
"Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God" ~Romans 13:1
So this election, whether you voted for Democrat or Republican, I thank you for being a part of the great country we live in. Our President has now been elected, and whatever the outcome of our country may be, I'm putting my trust in God. I look forward to seeing what He has in store for the future! God Bless!
___________________________________________________________
P.S. I apologize for not writing in a while, I want to write more, and I have a topic in my head that I want to write about next, that is branching off of my last blog post. I just now need to find the time, energy, ideas, and words to put it together. I feel if I'm going to do it, I should do it right! Anyways, Feel free to share your thoughts with me, I'd love to know what you think too. Have a great night!
~Daniel~ :)
This year was my first opportunity, and a privelege at that, to vote. As the election has now ended, political ads and calls have simmered down, and facebook is starting to heat up, I read the many different responses. I have read things from people rejoicing, to people mourning, people saying they will move away, to the plea of our country's unity. I must say I have mixed feelings about our election......In fact, I'm almost speechless! I have to say that part of me is surprised, and part of me is not at all.
I can't say I believe we will ever have an election where everyone will be happy. We'll always have people deciding Democrats, or Republicans, Pro-Life or Pro-Choice, Homosexuality, or Straight, Liberalist, or Communist......Well, I think you get the point. There will always be someone taking sides. But when you get to the bottom of things, It doesn't matter what political party you are a part of, there is a power higher than any person that could ever be elected. As wonderful as our country may be, there is a place better than America, and there is a plan greater than any Bill that can ever be passed.
Of course no man is perfect, We will always be able to find something wrong with anyone. So why do we put our trust in the imperfect humans of this world? They are no more perfect than we are! As for me, I know in the end "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus name. On Christ the Solid Rock I stand all other ground is sinking sand".
Will the next four years be easy, I can't say they will! Will we be fixing some mistakes that people past, present, or future may make. Yes, I believe we will! But I know that God is in control.
Psalm 118:6 says:
"The LORD is on my side, I will not fear. What can man do unto me?"
As an American citizen, I believe it is not only my privelege, but my right to vote. And while sometimes I will have to decide between Democrat and Republican, I am happy to know that the Lord is on my side. Whichever wins, I don't have to fear! As President, Man will have to make some decisions, some will be good, and some will not be so good, but God has a perfect plan for each of our lives, He knew who would be president, even before George Washington was born. He knew how our economy would turn out even before Noah was floating his stock. And he knew the plans He had for us before the creation of the world (Jeremiah 29:11)
So why do we worry? Why do we fear? Why do we think the end of the world is drawing near? I know God is in control, and He has a perfect plan, so just try putting your trust in God, instead of putting it in man.
I hope this post made sense. Whether this is the end of our country as we know it, I can't say for sure, whether God will come back in the next four years, He very well could, I know I'm anxious and ready!
Whatever happens, I know these 10 things will always be true:
1. God will still be on His throne
2. Jesus will still be King of kings and Lord of lords.
3. The Bible will still have all the answers to every problem.
4. The tomb will still be empty.
5. Jesus will still be the only way to heaven.
6. Prayer will still work - it will still make a difference and God will still
5. Jesus will still be the only way to heaven.
6. Prayer will still work - it will still make a difference and God will still
answer prayer.
7. The cross, not the government, will still be our salvation.
8. There will still be room at the cross.
9. Jesus will still save anyone who places their faith and trust in Him.
10. God will still be with us always - He will never leave us or forsake us.
7. The cross, not the government, will still be our salvation.
8. There will still be room at the cross.
9. Jesus will still save anyone who places their faith and trust in Him.
10. God will still be with us always - He will never leave us or forsake us.
"Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God" ~Romans 13:1
So this election, whether you voted for Democrat or Republican, I thank you for being a part of the great country we live in. Our President has now been elected, and whatever the outcome of our country may be, I'm putting my trust in God. I look forward to seeing what He has in store for the future! God Bless!
___________________________________________________________
P.S. I apologize for not writing in a while, I want to write more, and I have a topic in my head that I want to write about next, that is branching off of my last blog post. I just now need to find the time, energy, ideas, and words to put it together. I feel if I'm going to do it, I should do it right! Anyways, Feel free to share your thoughts with me, I'd love to know what you think too. Have a great night!
~Daniel~ :)
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