Too Many Words

A while ago we read a proverb in Sunday school that for some reason has stuck with me for awhile. I guess its mainly because its something I feel like I struggle with and maybe others do too. Recently I have thought about the verse more and how if I head what it says I may get closer to being who I want to be.

Proverbs 17:27-28
The one who has knowledge uses words with restraint, and whoever has understanding is even-tempered. Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent, and discerning if they hold their tongues.
Often times I know that there are things I say that I shouldn't have. I say things when I think of them unless I somehow have the mind to think enough to stop my tongue. This proverb also makes me think about how if I talked less I would be seen as if I was wise. If I didn't say too much, if I didn't voice my opinions so much, if I didn't have the nerve to say what I write on this blog would people think I'm more wise? When do we say something and when do we be silent? When is too much too much?

Now I don't mean to hate or attack those of whom argue or post unimportant or useless stuff on the Internet. However, whether it be on YouTube, twitter, Facebook, or whatever I think we have the tendency to say things we shouldn't. We want to say what we think and want others to think like we do, but is what we think good to say? Does what we think have wisdom in it? The second question is should others think like we do? If we think that others should think like we do because our way is best that is quite conceited if I may say so.

Like the proverb says, one with knowledge is careful of what he says and even if you are one who doesn't always say the best things if you learn to hold your tongue you will be thought of as wise. We should be careful of what we say, where, and when we do because the profound implications of our words can hold or take our reputation for knowledge, wisdom, or respect.

God vs. Sleep

This may be more of a teenager thing, but for me I know there are mornings, most mornings in fact, that when my alarm goes off I don't want to get up because I was up too late the night before. Well it so happens that in the morning is the best time for me to get into God's word and talk to Him.

In the morning my mind is more fresh, can think better, and is less distracted. Also there is nothing like being able to talk to God, the creator of everything, and being able to learn from what He says.

The thing is none of this happens if when my alarm goes off I don't get up, turn my light on, and start to read the Bible. I'm sure most of us have struggled with this at some point. Do we get up and talk to God  or do we get some more "needed" sleep?

A few weeks ago I was struggling with getting up early enough to talk to my maker. Then one day as I was driving it hit me, I'm comparing spending time with God to getting a little bit more sleep. Does it make sense that if I were to make an actual list of what is most important in my life based off of my daily actions God and maybe thirty extra minutes of sleep would be quite close?

I find that fact pathetic. What that pretty much means is based off of my actions I would rather do nothing and sleep a little than spend time with God.

I don't know about you, but I wonder if we all do the same thing, but in different ways. Do we do something of little importance instead of spending time with God? Are we going to do something about that? Is spending time with God and getting to know Him most important in your life? We should realize that spending time with God is profoundly so much more important, live changing, and exciting than spending a few more minutes asleep.

Forest Fires

Ever since you were little you have heard the phrase "Only you can prevent forest fires" which as you know was said by Smokey the bear. Even though that statement is true that doesn't mean that all forest fires are started by humans.

God created the world to have natural forest fires so that the undergrowth and dead trees can be eliminated. That way the forest isn't completely made up of old trees, there is more room for other trees, and there is new healthy growth. Even though it seams that the fire is killing that which is good and just destroying creation, in reality the killing allows for new healthier growth.

Sometimes we must experience the occasional forest fire to learn and grow. What I mean is that sometimes God allows for troubles and trials to come our way like a forest fire so that the bad unhealthy things are killed and new growth can flourish.

For us as human beings sometimes we have our dead trees, our sin that gets in the way and doesn't allow new growth to happen in our lives. God may send that fire or tragedy in our lives to help us kill that sin that is keeping us from growing in Him. We have sin in our lives that looks like the undergrowth it doesn't seem like much of a problem, but when God sends the fire we are able to see that our sin is a problem. We then see that our sin in our lives is keeping new healthy growth from happening.

We shouldn't just try and get through the fires in life we should be looking for ways to grow and learn because of them. We must realize that the fire allows us to see and learn that there are certain sins in our lives that are inhibiting new growth. Are we going to complain and blame God for sending trials or are we going to see that God is trying to teach about something and desire to learn. Are we going to just try and get though the fire alright or are we going to profoundly see that the fire will help us to learn and grow?

What Am I Doing?

So as some of you know my youth group hosted Coastal Rise this fall in concert. However, some of you may have not known that I was actually the one who contacted Coastal Rise and got the process started. Anyways the concert day comes and near the end of the concert my friend came up to me and mentioned how crazy it is that the main singer is only eighteen.

My first thought was "You got to be kidding me!?" but then my next thought was "What am I doing!?"

I mean like he is only eighteen and is performing and singing before many people. He is out there singing and spreading the love of God. And me, what am I doing? In what ways am I doing great things for God?

I guess the place to start is do we care about doing what God has called us to do? Are you willing to do whatever God calls you to do? If we aren't willing to do what God calls us to do and are only willing to follow our own selfish plans and desires we won't get very far and we won't be doing great things for Him. If we are following our own desires God is probably not going to have any part in that desire.

So in reality my question would be better phrased as is God radiating from me? Is Christ's love flowing through and from me to others around? If I am showing Christ's love to others that would be pretty much the same as being the leader of a christian band expressing God's love to the people they play for.

See in when it comes down to it, it doesn't matter how famous we are or how many people we are speaking to, but if we are doing what God desires for us to be doing. If we are always looking at ourselves and how we could do better or do greater things we won't be allowing God to work in His special and perfect ways through us. Yes we should be always wanting to be doing greater things for God, but we must not forget to allow God to do His profound work through us. Just like I talked about in post "God Is Great" We don't have to be great because our God is.

Growing Up

If your like me all throughout growing up I have always looked forward to something. When your in first grade you wish you could be in second, but when you hit second grade you see its not that much different and great so you then look forward to third grade or middle school as the time when the fun begins. However, when you get to middle school all you want to do is get to high school and then once you become a freshman all you want to be is a senior and graduate. But, when you have finally become a senior just like you have desired to be for about four years you get bored and hear about your friends in college having amazing experiences and great fun.

What this ends up being is a never ending cycle of wanting to be older or get somewhere, but when you get there you only find out that the next year is probably much better.

Living in constant anticipation of the future isn't really a good thing because you end up forgetting to live right now at the moment your at. If your always waiting to get to the better older age you will reach it eventually, but it probably won't be as good as you hoped. See if you don't focus on making your life better now adding time to the equation probably won't get you far. So if your always just looking for the better older age and not working on improving your life now it won't be improved when you reach that desired age.

If we are always looking to the future age so much so that we don't enjoy where we are at right now we will end up never reaching the pinnacle of life we are searching for. We will eventually reach the age we want to be at, but then we won't enjoy being that age because we again just turn and look at the next best age to be.

Life doesn't improve all by itself we got to do something to improve it. We got to work hard and put time and effort into our life to make it better instead of just waiting for time to hopefully make it better. We should understand that there are some profound problems that can be caused by not living in the present enough.

Materialism

I have this thing about losing things or forgetting things that extremely annoys me. Like if I lose something and just can't figure out where it is or where it should be it in a way eats at me. Its almost as if I can't rest until I find that item no matter its importance. Just a few weeks ago I lost something quite important to me, but in reality doesn't have too much importance.

This experience made me think about how we live in a world now days of materialism. The world is always saying that stuff is what enriches your life and makes it better. I personally don't like being told that I really don't need the latest and best thing out there because I'm one of those people who desires to have the best or almost best. Those times when I got my new iPod or camera and they come out with a new better version a few months later always annoyed me because I want the new version, but I don't have the money to spend on it and I should be learning to be happy with the good version I have.

All this needing of the best though is quite unhealthy. If I'm obsessed with having these possessions and it takes up much of my thinking time I'm sure there is some sort of "idol" worship going on. The main question to ask regarding your desire to own things is will this benefit those around me, my family, and my spiritual walk with God? Yes there are things we need for ourselves, but when it comes to materialism that is when the things are no longer necessary to us.

The item I lost a few weeks ago I still haven't found and that fact still annoys me a little. However, when I think about it does it really matter? The question we should be asking ourselves is does this item really make that much of a important difference in my life?

The point I'm trying to make here is that stuff is just stuff. Stuff can get torn, stained, lost, and messed up just like our soul. Are we trying to find our stuff that was lost or messed up? Or are we focused more on things that really matter like letting Jesus patch, clean, and fix our messed up souls? Are we more worried about getting back in-touch with what we lost or do we want to get back in touch with God. Are we stuck in materialism that keeps us from seeing what is really actually profoundly important?

Do You Want To Get Well?

One Saturday morning I was at guitar lessons just like I have many Saturdays before. One thing that I really appreciate about my teacher is that to him music isn't just music. Yes it is really good to be able to play amazingly well, but it is also important to know about the lives of the people who wrote the music and what the song signifies. Music isn't just notes put together to make a song to listen to. Music is a way of communicating a thought, idea, or feeling. One thing I have noticed now that I have gotten older is that now my guitar teacher not only takes the time to talk about the non-musical part of music but, about about life and Christianity as well. 

Well this particular Saturday was no exception. My guitar teacher said something about a passage of Scripture that really made check myself and think deeply. My teacher was talking about the passage where Jesus goes to the pool and sees the invalid lying far away from the waters edge unable to get himself to the healing waters.

John 5:1-9

Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

“Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”

Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

It was amazing how Jesus told him to get up and the man did so even though the man had laid there lame for thirty-eight years. His bones where probably weak and his leg muscles where probably nonexistent, but instantly he walked. 

Now that is amazing, but what my guitar teacher picked out of the verses was that Jesus asked the man "Do you want to get well?". Do we want to get well? Do we want help? This man was willing to have a stranger pick him up and move him closer to the pool so that he could get in first and be healed, but Jesus gave him more He healed the man instantly and gave him the strength to walk. 

Do we want to get well? Or even before that question is do we know we are sick? Are we willing to let Jesus help us and heal us? He gives us more than just healing from our sins, He gives love, life, and so much more. We should ask the profoundly simple question, "Do you want to get well?" of ourselves because if we are not well do we really want to be? Are we tired of our sin?