Psalm 40:8

"I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart."

        - Psalm 40:8


       This is a very interesting piece of scripture. It's very simple yet very powerful. "I will do what you tell me; I know your rules, and I will follow them." Why, if we know how amazing and powerful God is, do we not do what he says all the time? When I try to do something on my own, it doesn't always work out. If I tap into God's infinite wisdom and power, it always works out. This one of the basic enigmas of Christianity. Our sinful nature at birth is the cause. If you have ever seen a two year old with a toy, you will know what I'm talking about. If you take the toy away from that child (besides crying), what will he/she do? They will say MINE, MINE, MINE. Why? Did we teach the child to do that? Of course not. We try to teach our children to share. So why are children that young so selfish? It is our nature.

        I have thought about this and studied this for a long time. Why are we the way we are by nature? This was not God's original intention for our lives. At the garden, Adam and Eve bit the apple of knowledge and God punished mankind with the truth of the world; Of the devil, hard work, shame, etc. etc. That's why this very simple passage of scripture is so difficult for a human being to grasp and to follow. We are by nature a sinful, greedy, immature people. I'm just so glad that God always offers us the opportunity to share in his wealth and his eternalness. All we have to do is desire to do His will. That's it! Its so simple, isn't it....

Psalm 51:12

"Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me"

        - Psalm 51:12

        We sometimes forget that we are saved, that we are part of God's wonderful grace and love. I have been lucky enough to see God working in miraculous ways recently. I have a renewed sense of what God is doing and will continue to do. This passage of scripture does speak to me loud and clear though. A "willing spirit" is hard to come by when you are cut off in traffic, or a loved one gets ill. It is great to know, however, that God will grant us the strength to get break through any obstacle if we just have that willing spirit.

Interesting Day

Today at church, the congregation got official word that our pastor is leaving. He feels called to start a church in Russia. This got me thinking about life in general. Life, for the most part, is comfortable. We live our lives while trying to do the least to move from our current position. It's scary to do something new. It's inconvenient. Sometimes it hurts. The outcomes of those tough decisions, however, often reap great rewards. When God calls us to these changes, the rewards are unmeasurable.

I have noticed great times in my life where I have been prompted by God to change. When I hear and respond to His promptings, I am greatly rewarded. When I decided to date again after a long time of being bitter towards women, I was rewarded with my beautiful wife. When I was prompted to move to Orlando, I was blessed with a great job and a nice home. I did not want to move out of my comfort zone in these situations. The world of unknown is such a scary place, but these recent events with our pastor leaving has stirred  up new interest in the topic of change.

Why are we so afraid of change? Most of the time, change is a great thing. It grows us as human beings, it advances our career, increases our knowledge, or gets us closer to God. I know why we are so afraid of change. Complacence is the Devil's greatest ally. If we don't make a difference in the world, who will? There will be no revolutions or journeys of self discovery. No growth. How can we live this way! We can't. That's why I'm so glad God is reminding me today to never stay still. We don't want to move backward, but standing still is just as bad. Now I just need to find out what direction God wants me to go tomorrow.