Pretty Things

Let’s do this. Check out the new song:

We are, we are, we're caught in the in between 
Of who we already are and who we are yet to be 
And we're looking for love but finding we're still in need 
It's only what we have lost will we be allowed to keep 

And we're waiting but our eyes are wandering 
To all this earth holds dear 

Look at all the pretty things 
That steal my heart away 
I can feel I'm fading 
'Cause Lord I love so many things 
That keep me from Your face 
Come and save me 

We run we run to finally be set free 
But we're fighting for what we've already received 

So we're waiting but our eyes are wandering 
To all this earth holds dear 

Look at all the pretty things 
That steal my heart away 
I can feel I'm fading 
'Cause Lord I love so many things 
That keep me from Your face 
Come and save me 

We are we are caught in the in between 
But we're fighting for what we already have received 
We are we are caught in the in between 
But we're fighting for what we already have received 

Look at all the pretty things 
That steal my heart away 
I can feel I'm fading 
'Cause Lord I love so many things 
That keep me from Your face 
Come and save me

I’m going to be honest with you; I let the things of this world get in the way of what I’m truly meant to seek. I’m only human, right? God doesn’t make excuses for me, so I need to stop making excuses for Him. It’s so easy to fall from truth, and it’s such a bittersweet realization.

It’s so tough to come to the understanding that I put something in front of God. My relationship with Him is so much different to any I have on this earth. He is the reason I live, He is the reason I have purpose, and He is the reason I don’t have to put my faith in fading things. But I still fall. God must break down every time one of His creations turns the other way.

What could go through my mind that would deceive me into thinking that this world can give me something better than God? The bigger question is why would God take me back if I come to my senses and ask for grace?

God doesn’t owe me anything. He doesn’t owe anyone anything. By offering us a way to be with Him, He already gave us more than we could ever deserve. If God thought like we do, He would give us one chance and then walk away when we fail once. It’s a good thing He’s not human.

He does save us though, over and over. He will never let us go if we come back to Him. This is the sweet part of the greatest realization I have ever known. God wants us so much that He will forgive us every time we ask for it. Like the prodigal son, I look to the world for the “pretty things” that catch my sinful eye. But when I see how far I’ve fallen, I will always look to the One who gives me strength. He will pick me up, dust me off, and set me back on the path that He knows I should be on.

So I pray, Father God, that I can know what You have given me, and that I will never again turn to the things of this world instead of You.

“’My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’” Luke 15:31-32

Lost

This song is one of my favorites. It’s called Lost by Red. Check it out.

Can I be dreaming once again?
I'm reaching helpless I descend
You're leading deeper through this maze
I'm not afraid

I'm lost in you everywhere I run
Everywhere I turn I'm finding something new
I'm lost in you something I can't fight
I cannot escape
I can spend my life lost in you! Lost in you!

Your whispers fill these empty halls
I'm searching for you as you call
I'm bracing, chasing after you
I need you more

I'm lost in you everywhere I run
Everywhere I turn I'm finding something new
I'm lost in you something I can't fight
I cannot escape
I can spend my life lost in you!

I could never be the same here
Something that I never could erase
I could never look away
I lost myself in you!
It's all over now!

Lost in you! Everywhere I run
Lost in you! Everywhere I run!
Lost in you!
Lost in you!

I get stressed sometimes. I feel like I need to be at a hundred places at once and I don’t have time. I need answers to everything, and if I can’t find one, I’m either not working hard enough, or it just simply doesn’t exist. These are the times that God is telling me to stop and be with Him.

Have you ever just sat there and listened to God? Have you taken comfort in His loving arms or gotten lost in his wonder? There really is no better feeling than to know that He is there, and He will get you through this day because He loves you more than anything you could imagine.

God will never give us more than He knows we can handle. A lot of the time, when I get stressed, it’s because the world is telling me I have too much to do to get it all done. I tear myself down. This is another time that I turn to God for reassurance and hope. I can always hear Him telling me that I will endure and He will be my guiding light.

If we put our trust in God, what can get in our way? God is the Creator of the Universe, so how could I honestly think that I’m better off doing things by myself? He will make me last through this storm. He will stay by my side until it’s over and I can move on to bigger things. No matter where I run, He’ll be watching over me. And when I can finally realize this, I find that I’ve been lost in His love the whole time.

If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Romans 8:31b-32

Just Pray

I’m at a huge point in my faith life. I just got back from an amazing weekend with my Intervarsity friends called Fall Conference where I learned how to be a spiritual mentor, and like all the Fall Conferences I’ve been to, my faith got a huge boost. I feel a sincerity there that is hard to find in everyday life.

This personal fact brought up a question, why not? Why can’t I feel God’s amazing love and grace all the time? I think that my closeness to God is proportional to my prayer life.

I picked up a few books at Fall Conference, one that is a quiet time guide over a year, which is a great way to keep focus which can be very hard to have when I feel like I have so much to do. The other is a book called “Too Busy Not to Pray” by Bill Hybels. He makes some great observations on how an everyday Christian can have an intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father through prayer.

I read a chapter today called Praying Like Jesus. He uses Jesus’ words in Matthew 6 to explain that many people’s view of prayer is skewed. He says, “God doesn’t want us to pile up impressive phrases. He doesn’t want us to use words without thinking of their meaning. He wants us to talk to him as to a friend or father – authentically, reverently, personally, earnestly.” This made me consider my personal prayer life and a need to seek God more intimately.

I spend a lot of time talking to God. This is my definition of prayer. I move around and talk to him like he’s there walking by my side listening to every word I speak. I tell him about my day, what he does for me that I love, and what I need from him to be the man that he wants me to be.

As can be seen, I pray any time. Many Christians only pray at church, and maybe at the dinner table and before sleeping with the “Now I lay me” prayer. It’s unfortunate that so many Christians see prayer as something to do only when we have the words ingrained in our brains. God doesn’t want memorized prayers that we mindlessly speak just to get them out of the way.

God loves you so much. He wants nothing more than to be with you. We need to wake up from our blindness and see that God just wants our sincerity. He wants to hear from you just like your family and friends do. He cares about your hardships and accomplishments. So take some time today to talk to God because he hears you, and he is more than willing to answer back when you take the time to be with him.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

My Letter to God Part 2

Heavenly Father, give me the ability to change the world. Help me to love all of your creation, even when I feel abandoned by them. Show me Your love and help me to understand that You love all people.

Open my eyes to worship You, and by doing so, find the good in everyone, even when I don’t want to. Help me to live as your disciple forever and cry out Your name to the nations. Help me to be humble, just as Christ was when he was here.

Help me to be open and honest with others and be a good listener so that I can see the faith of others.  Work through me so that I can live a Christ-like life by helping others in need. Remind me that You never leave me in want, and that I can come to You with anything.

I thank You for the power of prayer and that I can have conversation with you any time. I praise You that you would wait for me until I understand just how far I’ve fallen and run back to You. Help me to understand that my problems are so small compared to the needs of most, and help me to pray for them.

I worship You for giving me purpose during my time here. Help me not to squander the gifts You’ve given me, but use them to show the world how wonderful you are. Help us to love one another and to understand that our differences are what make us unique rather than enemies.

We praise You, Father, for Your gift of Jesus. We praise You that You love us so much that You would give us a way to be with You. Help me to be an intercessor for the world and come to You at all times rather than just when I need You to pick me up. Your love is what I need Savior, and I praise You for calling me your child and giving me peace and the chance to be with You.

My Letter to God Part 1

Heavenly Father, why is the world so broken? Why is there so much hate and violence? Why do You allow it?

Why do we choose not to love others when we know it’s Your will? Why do we praise You on Sunday and then go back to our sinful ways the rest of the week? Why do we see our faith as something that makes us better than others?

Why do we give up so easily instead of taking the time to work things out? Why do we only think of ourselves when others need us? Why do we complain about such trivial things?

Why do You allow us to talk to You in prayer? Why do you listen to our needs even when we ignore You? Why do we see our problems as more important than anyone else’s?

Why do You give us hope? Why do You give us spiritual gifts so some can use them for the wrong reasons? Why do Christians fight between each other?

What have we done to deserve Jesus? Why do we reject You unless we need You? Why do You choose to love us still?

Grace

I’ve been talking a lot about meeting God and striving to be with Him at all times, but none of it would be possible without grace. As a sinner, I don’t deserve anything from God and yet, He provides. As a human, I fall from God. Because of this fact, I am more than unworthy to be in God’s presence.

God’s love is something we can’t comprehend, and yet, it’s something we attempt to obtain every single day. There would be no reason to try to be a good person if God didn’t extend His grace to us. Without it, we’d all be spending eternity away from Him.

So why does God wait for us? Why does He want to be with us after all we’ve done against Him? It’s because He loves us. It’s that simple. He loves His creation, and will give us as many second chances as it takes for us to come around and take shelter in His loving arms. This is why we need a relationship with Him, He will never abandon us in times of need and He will show us the path to righteousness when we feel like we can’t do anything correctly.

Grace is what drives me to be a better Christ follower. Grace is what defines me because without it, I have nowhere to turn. We need to praise the Father for his unimaginable love and His willingness to give us Jesus who gave us reason to live.

He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

 2 Corinthians 12:9

Confusion

I’m at one of those points in my life where I’m just confused. I think that everyone has one of those days where we wake up and just know that the day is going to take a lot more work to be successful than others. I’ve been so overwhelmed with homework and studying lately that I don’t even have time to stop and evaluate things, and as an engineer in training, I need to be able to analyze my day to really feel good about it.

There are days when I feel great because I finally feel like I have everything under control, and then the next day comes when everything comes crashing down. It seems like it all happens at once, all the stress that I thought I had under control just comes right back. I thought my new trust in God would protect me from all of this.

How many wake up calls do I really need? As many as it takes to get me to WAKE UP. It’s so easy to love God one day, and then fall into the same routine as before. I still trust God and pray all the time, but when everything is going perfectly, it’s too easy. God wants us to work at our faith because it’s continually changing.

When we have days where it seems like nothing is going right, we just need to keep reminding ourselves that God is in control, and He will never give us more than we can handle. I can’t stress this fact enough. God wants to be in a relationship with us so much that He will literally give us reasons to come to Him when it seems like we’re too far away to turn around. God’s love is beyond all that we will ever comprehend during our time here.

I pray that when you’re confused about the future and why everything seems to come apart at once that you can turn your eyes to Jesus and realize that you will come out victorious from this battle. Faith and grace make that more than possible.

"Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.” Isaiah 43:1b-2