2 Timothy 1:6-9
This verse says very clearly that God has given us a Spirit of "power, love and self-discipline". This is the Holy Spirit living inside me. Therefore, if the Holy Spirit is living inside me, I must work to have the same qualities as that of the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is within me, working and interceding on my behalf to help me become these ways.
I not only can be these ways, I must be these ways, for this are the characteristics of the Holy Spirit.
Monday, 2 March 2015
A time for everything - Ecclesiastes
God is sovereign. Part of His sovereignty is the fact that He uses each and every situation for His glory and purposes. Even bad situations He will use. This is incredibly comforting and gives tremendous confidence and peace to those of us who place our trust in Him. "What Satan meant for evil, God uses for good."
The world is cursed by sin. This is a devastating reality. The good thing however is that God has overcome the curse of sin. Therefore we can live in complete confidence knowing that He lives within us, is completely sovereign and will use every situation to further His Kingdom, and at the same time, He has great plans for us and wants to bless us.
It is important to accept God's timing and purposes in every season of life. If I don't do this I will be a very bitter person. It is imperative that I live thankful and surrendered to the Lord at all times.
How foolish of me to think that I know what is best for me. How ignorant of me. I must be surrendered to the one who created me and died for me.
Savor the gift of every moment in life. Enjoy it. We have Christ! Enjoy life being surrendered to Him.
The world is cursed by sin. This is a devastating reality. The good thing however is that God has overcome the curse of sin. Therefore we can live in complete confidence knowing that He lives within us, is completely sovereign and will use every situation to further His Kingdom, and at the same time, He has great plans for us and wants to bless us.
It is important to accept God's timing and purposes in every season of life. If I don't do this I will be a very bitter person. It is imperative that I live thankful and surrendered to the Lord at all times.
How foolish of me to think that I know what is best for me. How ignorant of me. I must be surrendered to the one who created me and died for me.
Savor the gift of every moment in life. Enjoy it. We have Christ! Enjoy life being surrendered to Him.
Wednesday, 17 December 2014
Prayer as a tool in war
These thoughts come from chapter 7 in "Killing Lions" by John & Sam Eldredge.
There are many evil forces out to try and devour Christians. This is a Biblical fact. Therefore it is imperative that we pray against these. We need to give them to God's control and authority and speak against any attacks in His perfect name. We are at war, but Jesus is on our side. We need to put Him at the centre of each of our fights, otherwise we don't have a chance. With Him, however, we are guaranteed the victory!
Anything that is not of God - whether it be fear, discouragement, frustration, impatience, anger, etc. - must be given to God and prayed against in the name of Jesus. I am completely niave if I don't realise that these things come as attacks from the evil one. Therefore, I mist always put Jesus at the centre of each of these battles. This is jowni become a warrior for Him. I lean on Him, put Him at the centre of the fight, and allow Him to fight the battle for me. My part is to then resist, saying, "You cannot have my heart fear, temptation, anger, frustration, impatience, etc..".
I never gave enough thought to the fact that all these things are often attacks from Satan. Therefore it is time for me to make like a true warrior and start fighting by doing what has been described above.
A very important part of this is to be daily praying against all evil attacks on behalf of my family. God is with us and will watch over us, but we need to do our part of the battle. That part is to obey Him, seek Him, pray against evil and in doing so resist it.
There are many evil forces out to try and devour Christians. This is a Biblical fact. Therefore it is imperative that we pray against these. We need to give them to God's control and authority and speak against any attacks in His perfect name. We are at war, but Jesus is on our side. We need to put Him at the centre of each of our fights, otherwise we don't have a chance. With Him, however, we are guaranteed the victory!
Anything that is not of God - whether it be fear, discouragement, frustration, impatience, anger, etc. - must be given to God and prayed against in the name of Jesus. I am completely niave if I don't realise that these things come as attacks from the evil one. Therefore, I mist always put Jesus at the centre of each of these battles. This is jowni become a warrior for Him. I lean on Him, put Him at the centre of the fight, and allow Him to fight the battle for me. My part is to then resist, saying, "You cannot have my heart fear, temptation, anger, frustration, impatience, etc..".
I never gave enough thought to the fact that all these things are often attacks from Satan. Therefore it is time for me to make like a true warrior and start fighting by doing what has been described above.
A very important part of this is to be daily praying against all evil attacks on behalf of my family. God is with us and will watch over us, but we need to do our part of the battle. That part is to obey Him, seek Him, pray against evil and in doing so resist it.
Wednesday, 19 November 2014
Stop being so stupid and trying to determine my own way!
When examing the life of Joseph, it is very clear that God blessed Him in major part because He was surrendered to Him. Even in the midst of heartache, pain and unfair treatment, Joseph remained faithfully surrendered to God. He allowed the Lord to bring his way whatever God saw fit. And Joseph was incredibly blessed for it.
I need to learn from this. When I examine my life, all good things have come directly from God and have never come as a result of me forcing the issues. They have come because God has blessed me with them.
A lot of times I have had goals and dreams that have not been fulfilled to which I later realize I am thankful that they weren't. God had a better plan which He brought about. I therefore need to really learn from this. I need to stop trying to force things. Rather I must work hard in all areas of life, striving to worship the Lord, and then allow Him to bring into my life whatever He sees fit. Forcing things are foolish. I must get out of the way and allow the Lord to determine the course of my life for He truly knows what is best for me. He has a perfect track record!!!
I need to learn from this. When I examine my life, all good things have come directly from God and have never come as a result of me forcing the issues. They have come because God has blessed me with them.
A lot of times I have had goals and dreams that have not been fulfilled to which I later realize I am thankful that they weren't. God had a better plan which He brought about. I therefore need to really learn from this. I need to stop trying to force things. Rather I must work hard in all areas of life, striving to worship the Lord, and then allow Him to bring into my life whatever He sees fit. Forcing things are foolish. I must get out of the way and allow the Lord to determine the course of my life for He truly knows what is best for me. He has a perfect track record!!!
Monday, 17 November 2014
Listening to Arguments about Evolution
It was frustrating listening to some arguments in one of Richard Dawkins' books about "proof" for evolution.
-Many of the arguments it seemed could have been flipped around to argue for creation, which to me means they are just rhetoric.
-Evolutionists use this rhetoric, but there rhetoric still leads to them having to have tremendous faith in their beliefs. Christians have faith, but our faith is based off of a God Who was seen and therefore known to have existed - JESUS CHRIST
-the arguments presented only make sense if evolution is true. As these arguments are presented they do seem to make sense, but that is because they do make sense only if evolution is true. However, there are so many problems with evolution, and most importantly, so many proofs for creation, that it is scientifically irresponsible to present evolution as fact.
-Of course if you are assuming something to be true, then the arguments you use to prove it are going to be "true". For instance, if I made up a fictional story, and in that fictional story I came up with a way for how life was created, and I explained in detail all the ways that life was created in my fictional story, I could indeed come up with a plan that seems to make sense. However, that is a fictional story. I made it up. It is the same with the theory of evolution being the means for how the earth and life was created. The story may sound like it makes sense, and the proof/explanations provided in favour of it may seem to make sense, but that does not make it true. This is one way that evolution is actually deceptive. Explaining how evolution could have happened, does not make it true. And Dawkins and other evolutionists explain what could have happened in a way that presents these ideas as "facts", saying that they absolutely happened this way. That is deceptive and scientifically irresponsible.
-Many people say that books like Lee Strobel's "Case for a Creator" is a God of the gaps book, saying that it only fills in gaps of evolution. I think this is a foolish argument. For one, that's what it should do. It should fill in the gaps that evolution has. And secondly, why do people who accept evolution not look at this arguments that are filling in the gaps? These gaps serve to disprove evolution, showing that it cannot be the means for how life was created.
-Many of the arguments it seemed could have been flipped around to argue for creation, which to me means they are just rhetoric.
-Evolutionists use this rhetoric, but there rhetoric still leads to them having to have tremendous faith in their beliefs. Christians have faith, but our faith is based off of a God Who was seen and therefore known to have existed - JESUS CHRIST
-the arguments presented only make sense if evolution is true. As these arguments are presented they do seem to make sense, but that is because they do make sense only if evolution is true. However, there are so many problems with evolution, and most importantly, so many proofs for creation, that it is scientifically irresponsible to present evolution as fact.
-Of course if you are assuming something to be true, then the arguments you use to prove it are going to be "true". For instance, if I made up a fictional story, and in that fictional story I came up with a way for how life was created, and I explained in detail all the ways that life was created in my fictional story, I could indeed come up with a plan that seems to make sense. However, that is a fictional story. I made it up. It is the same with the theory of evolution being the means for how the earth and life was created. The story may sound like it makes sense, and the proof/explanations provided in favour of it may seem to make sense, but that does not make it true. This is one way that evolution is actually deceptive. Explaining how evolution could have happened, does not make it true. And Dawkins and other evolutionists explain what could have happened in a way that presents these ideas as "facts", saying that they absolutely happened this way. That is deceptive and scientifically irresponsible.
-Many people say that books like Lee Strobel's "Case for a Creator" is a God of the gaps book, saying that it only fills in gaps of evolution. I think this is a foolish argument. For one, that's what it should do. It should fill in the gaps that evolution has. And secondly, why do people who accept evolution not look at this arguments that are filling in the gaps? These gaps serve to disprove evolution, showing that it cannot be the means for how life was created.
Sunday, 3 August 2014
Ways God Has Worked In My Life
-Nyack. Looked like I was going to Virginia (Averett College) and God provided me an offer that was almost a full ride, which was unheard of for a player like me. That lead to me growing in my relationship with Him, and brought me to Brie.
-York Region District School Board. I had no idea how to go about getting an LTO, let alone a contract, yet God had me in right place at right time (a teacher had to take a week off at Rogers and I was there for them to ask me if I would do that next week). Then Mr. Brooks class needed a teacher the week after that, which led to an LTO for the rest of the year. Then the Kindergarten LTO the next year. All the while I was learning so much, including how to go about getting LTO's and apply for contracts and what questions to answer in interviews. Then the contract at Rick Hansen opened up, I was able to get it, and then shortly after I got that job it was evident that I had got a contract just in the nick of time, because they went to a seniority hiring method shortly after that. It would have taken a long time for me to gain the seniority to be able to get hired for a contract if it wasn't for God getting me in when He did. When I look at the timeline of things, it is clear that He was simply blessing me, opening door after door for me, even though I wasn't even trying overly hard to get LTO's or contracts. I was too foolish to realize how important it was to do so. I wasn't in a rush, but God definitely had my back! Thank you Jesus!
-Marrying Brie. It was clear to us that God wanted us to get married when we did. Even though we were broke college students, He provided us with jobs that allowed us to pay off our student loans and even save money. It was absolutely incredible!
-Any time I have ever obeyed God and His Word, I have never been disappointed. It has always paid off to do so. I can't see this being a fluke.
-His Word says, "You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all of your heart". I have always found this to be true. I feel His presence. I feel His guidance. He always leads me and guides me when I ask for it. He always leads me down the best paths and works things out when I seek Him and surrender to Him. This is always true. Always consistently true. And along these lines, Romans 8:28 is always proven true in my life. How can this be fluke? A fluke cannot happen 100% of the time. I can't think of any times in my life where this has not been true. Bad things happen, but God is always there leading, guiding and comforting.
-Josiah. The prayer I prayed for the hematoma to be gone right before Brie went in for her ultrasound. He did it! The hematoma was completely gone! A miracle.
-The stories from trustworthy people like Francis Chan about crazy answers to prayers. Prayers for people to be healed and they feel it immediately. Or the time where they needed meat to feed a large amount of people, and the fridges at a nearby grocery store went down and they called them randomly to see if they could take their meat. Amazing stuff!
-The historical evidence from archeological digs that are finding things which corroborate Biblical accounts of places that are referenced in the Bible.
-The scientific evidence of a Creator. The more science probes, the more they are finding proof of "Intelligent Design" aka God. Things such as the "fine tuning principles" which show that if certain aspects of our world and universe were even remotely different - such as force of gravity - it would be very difficult for life to exist. Research shows that the chances of life evolving are so astronomical, it takes more faith to believe in a God who created life, then to believe in this all happening by random chance.
-Many say that the Bible cannot be trusted because it was written by so many different authors and done so a long time after the events happened. It can be proven however that much of the gospels were written quite soon after Jesus died. And at the same time, people were reading these accounts that actually witnessed the events and life of Jesus. If the events were wrong, why did people not speak out about them.
-Over 500 people say Jesus after He rose from the dead. This could not possibly have been a conspiracy. And almost every disciple of Jesus died brutal deaths after being scared and going into hiding when He died.
-Many people think of Christianity as being "cultish". They see it as fantasy. I hate this, because the evidence points to it simply being matter of fact. I want to help people realize that it is not anything mystical or fantasy. It is simply facts, yes with degrees of faith that God requires, but what exciting facts they are. There is a God who loves us! People need to stop getting in their own way and making God's truths seem so hard to believe. The facts show that it really requires less faith than people realize.
-York Region District School Board. I had no idea how to go about getting an LTO, let alone a contract, yet God had me in right place at right time (a teacher had to take a week off at Rogers and I was there for them to ask me if I would do that next week). Then Mr. Brooks class needed a teacher the week after that, which led to an LTO for the rest of the year. Then the Kindergarten LTO the next year. All the while I was learning so much, including how to go about getting LTO's and apply for contracts and what questions to answer in interviews. Then the contract at Rick Hansen opened up, I was able to get it, and then shortly after I got that job it was evident that I had got a contract just in the nick of time, because they went to a seniority hiring method shortly after that. It would have taken a long time for me to gain the seniority to be able to get hired for a contract if it wasn't for God getting me in when He did. When I look at the timeline of things, it is clear that He was simply blessing me, opening door after door for me, even though I wasn't even trying overly hard to get LTO's or contracts. I was too foolish to realize how important it was to do so. I wasn't in a rush, but God definitely had my back! Thank you Jesus!
-Marrying Brie. It was clear to us that God wanted us to get married when we did. Even though we were broke college students, He provided us with jobs that allowed us to pay off our student loans and even save money. It was absolutely incredible!
-Any time I have ever obeyed God and His Word, I have never been disappointed. It has always paid off to do so. I can't see this being a fluke.
-His Word says, "You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all of your heart". I have always found this to be true. I feel His presence. I feel His guidance. He always leads me and guides me when I ask for it. He always leads me down the best paths and works things out when I seek Him and surrender to Him. This is always true. Always consistently true. And along these lines, Romans 8:28 is always proven true in my life. How can this be fluke? A fluke cannot happen 100% of the time. I can't think of any times in my life where this has not been true. Bad things happen, but God is always there leading, guiding and comforting.
-Josiah. The prayer I prayed for the hematoma to be gone right before Brie went in for her ultrasound. He did it! The hematoma was completely gone! A miracle.
-The stories from trustworthy people like Francis Chan about crazy answers to prayers. Prayers for people to be healed and they feel it immediately. Or the time where they needed meat to feed a large amount of people, and the fridges at a nearby grocery store went down and they called them randomly to see if they could take their meat. Amazing stuff!
-The historical evidence from archeological digs that are finding things which corroborate Biblical accounts of places that are referenced in the Bible.
-The scientific evidence of a Creator. The more science probes, the more they are finding proof of "Intelligent Design" aka God. Things such as the "fine tuning principles" which show that if certain aspects of our world and universe were even remotely different - such as force of gravity - it would be very difficult for life to exist. Research shows that the chances of life evolving are so astronomical, it takes more faith to believe in a God who created life, then to believe in this all happening by random chance.
-Many say that the Bible cannot be trusted because it was written by so many different authors and done so a long time after the events happened. It can be proven however that much of the gospels were written quite soon after Jesus died. And at the same time, people were reading these accounts that actually witnessed the events and life of Jesus. If the events were wrong, why did people not speak out about them.
-Over 500 people say Jesus after He rose from the dead. This could not possibly have been a conspiracy. And almost every disciple of Jesus died brutal deaths after being scared and going into hiding when He died.
-Many people think of Christianity as being "cultish". They see it as fantasy. I hate this, because the evidence points to it simply being matter of fact. I want to help people realize that it is not anything mystical or fantasy. It is simply facts, yes with degrees of faith that God requires, but what exciting facts they are. There is a God who loves us! People need to stop getting in their own way and making God's truths seem so hard to believe. The facts show that it really requires less faith than people realize.
Tuesday, 22 July 2014
Empty my hands and let God fill them
Empty hands let him fill with what he wants
God gave clear answer and felt like would go against God to keep pursuing
Attempting to do things myself in life is stupid! I am incapable of providing for myself and accomplishing anything even close to what He can provide and accomplish for me. And He wants to bless me in these ways. I must surrender. I must seek His guidance in all things. I must work hard to do my best in everything - I must do my part. In all of it, however; I must seek Him and allow Him to accomplish through me what He wants to.
I must not trust in my own capacities, I must trust in God and the talents He has blessed me with. David's defeat of Goliath is a tremendous example of this. David is not the hero here - God is. David was trusting in God to help Him. God had given David physical and mental talents, and David had worked hard to develop them, but at the same time He realized that in developing and implementing those talents, he needed the Lord's help to do so.
I believe a prayer that David may have prayed may very well have been, "Lord God, thank you for the talents you have blessed me with. I am going to work my hardest to get as good as possible at these talents, but I need your help to do so. I cannot be successful at getting good at, or accomplish, anything without Your help and blessing. So please Lord help me as I try to get as good as possible and please help me to do it all as worship to you. Please help me to worship you as I work to develop the talents you have blessed me with, and please help me to worship You as I use them. I cannot do ANY of these things without you."
As Christians, we must rely completely on the Lord. I know that non-Christians do accomplish success in this world by relying on their own abilities alone, but I believe that many times God prevents Christians from accomplishing things in these ways. I believe this is the case because He knows that what is best for us is to learn to rely on Him completely in everything, not just some things. Therefore, while some people who don't know Him may accomplish great things on their own strength, we can thank God that He often does not allow us to happen in the lives of us Christians because He loves us and knows that what is best is for us is for us to rely on Him completely for, and in, all things.
God gave clear answer and felt like would go against God to keep pursuing
Attempting to do things myself in life is stupid! I am incapable of providing for myself and accomplishing anything even close to what He can provide and accomplish for me. And He wants to bless me in these ways. I must surrender. I must seek His guidance in all things. I must work hard to do my best in everything - I must do my part. In all of it, however; I must seek Him and allow Him to accomplish through me what He wants to.
I must not trust in my own capacities, I must trust in God and the talents He has blessed me with. David's defeat of Goliath is a tremendous example of this. David is not the hero here - God is. David was trusting in God to help Him. God had given David physical and mental talents, and David had worked hard to develop them, but at the same time He realized that in developing and implementing those talents, he needed the Lord's help to do so.
I believe a prayer that David may have prayed may very well have been, "Lord God, thank you for the talents you have blessed me with. I am going to work my hardest to get as good as possible at these talents, but I need your help to do so. I cannot be successful at getting good at, or accomplish, anything without Your help and blessing. So please Lord help me as I try to get as good as possible and please help me to do it all as worship to you. Please help me to worship you as I work to develop the talents you have blessed me with, and please help me to worship You as I use them. I cannot do ANY of these things without you."
As Christians, we must rely completely on the Lord. I know that non-Christians do accomplish success in this world by relying on their own abilities alone, but I believe that many times God prevents Christians from accomplishing things in these ways. I believe this is the case because He knows that what is best for us is to learn to rely on Him completely in everything, not just some things. Therefore, while some people who don't know Him may accomplish great things on their own strength, we can thank God that He often does not allow us to happen in the lives of us Christians because He loves us and knows that what is best is for us is for us to rely on Him completely for, and in, all things.
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