Moving {Closer} to God

If you only talked to your best friend when something was wrong, would they really be your best friend? What if you only spoke to them when you needed something? Doesn't sound like a very personal relationship, does it? Well sadly, that's how must of us are with Jesus. We only talk to him when we need something from him.

There's a song that played once at the church I used to go to, and it went something like

"You say that you love me,

that you can't live without me,

but then why do you call me,

only when you need me."

You can't have an intimate relationship with someone if that's the only time you talk to them. We have to take that step to push ourselves, to spend time with God regularly. I struggle with that a lot, but God makes everything better. I find peace in him. He is Jehovah-Shalom, meaning "God is peace." (Judges 6:24 NLT) [The Hebrew word for this can be translated either as Jehovah-Shalom or Yahweh-Shalom. I chose Jehovah because I liked the sound better :P]

It's stupid how I stray away from him and try to do things my own way, just to end up crawling back to him days later. But that's how we are. We're corrupt and broken people, and we need God in our lives as much as possible.

And that's not going to happen if you only talk to him when something is wrong.

So I want to challenge you. Sometime this weekend, take some time just to hang out with Jesus. It can be through a devotional book, through reading the bible, lying down and listening to some good Christian music, anything that can get you closer to God. 

Because honestly, he doesn't need us. But we need him. 

So let's make the best of it.

Oh, and if you'd like to read more about the names of God, you can click here. It's where I got the information behind Jehovah/Yahweh-Shalom. :D

Closer by Sanctus Real. It goes great with this post :) Have a great day and God bless!!

Legacy

What kind of legacy are you leaving behind?

How will people remember you when you're gone? What will they see?

Will they see the essence of Christ? Will they see just another one of the crowd?

Will they see light? Or will they see darkness.

Abel left a legacy. And he still speaks, even from the grave. (Hebrews 11:4)

We should be like that. Our life should shine so bright, that even when it ends, it still speaks.

Here on earth, we are ambassadors for Christ.

How can we do that if we live just like everyone else?

We are the LIGHT of the world. Stop trying to cover it up. You have already been chosen.

Your mission, if you choose to accept, is to show the world who Jesus really is.

We cannot to that if we don't love God. 

We need to love him everything--especially our souls, if we want to do this right.

When you idolize a role model, you want to be just like them. You imitate them. 

That's how it should be in our relationship with God. We should love him so much we want to be just like him, 

to be just like Jesus.

Through that is how we'll leave a legacy. Not by how much money we have, or the friends we made, not even solely on our actions. 

It's by who you were, and still are. 

It's by how you see the world. 

It's by your motives, by your thoughts, by how you interacted with others, by your dreams, by how you respond to situations, by your heart, and by your soul.

And in my eyes, all of that means nothing if its not reflecting Christ. 

Our sole purpose in life is to bring glory to God, because he deserves it! 

He created the Earth,  he created what we know as the laws of physics, he created you, me, your family, friends, he made love, happiness, joy,  he created life in general. And there's so much more. 

But we need to live for so much more than just ourselves. We need to live to show the world how great our God is.

That's a real legacy. Making your life a path that leads to Jesus. 

That's how you can be remembered. 

Maybe by following Christ, your life doesn't turn out how you planned it. 

Although I can't tell you the exact outcome, I can tell you that it will be a whole lot better than what you have planned. (1 Corinthians 2:9)

So remember, in this life we represent Jesus. And let's do it right,  

by leaving a true legacy.

Also, here's the song that inspired me to write this post. Legacy- by Sanctus Real. :D

(Lyrics)

What will they say when I'm gone,
In words that are written in stone?
Under my name, what will they claim about me?
 

Oh, I want to leave a legacy to be remembered
More than just a memory that fades away
Because we only, we only get one life
 

Free me, my hands are tied
I'm so tired of wasting time
These endless inventions
Steal my attention from real life
And when its done, when its over

Oh, I want to leave a legacy to be remembered
More than just a memory that fades away
Because we only, we only get one life

And will the world see Christ
When they look at my life?
Oh, will the world see?

Mmm, come on, give me, give me, give me real life
And no more, no more, no more wasting time
Because we only, we only get one life (Just one Life)

Oh, I want to leave a legacy to be remembered
More than just a memory that fades away
Because we only, (Get one shot, at this one life) We only (One moment in time)
Because we only, we only get one life

Have a great day and God bless you guys!

 

Excruciating Love

Warning:

Some content in this post may be

inappropriate for younger

audiences.

ex·cru·ci·at·ing

   /ɪkˈskruʃiˌeɪtɪŋ/ [ik-skroo-shee-ey-ting]

adjective

1. extremely painful; causing intense suffering; unbearably distressing; torturing: an excruciating noise; excruciating pain.

2. exceedingly elaborate or intense; extreme: done with excruciating care.

(Courtesy of Dictionary.com)

Ever since March 13 (the day I created CTGA), I have been very active in online ministry. Lately, I have been discussing Christianity with atheists (this has been going on for about 2-3 months) on a social networking app specifically created for iDevices called Instagram. On Instagram, you simply share photos. Photographers use it to show off their work, I use it to be goofy and sometimes promote the Gospel, and some use it to insult the reality of Jesus. I, like the crazy person I am, target these sites and share the love of Christ while answering their questions. A few days ago I ran into a picture that had on it a quote by an unknown author and it went as follows:

"Jesus hardly made the greatest sacrifice. He knew He would be resurrected anyway,"

I confess, I was actually moved and it made me thinking, and for once in my life, I agreed... for about two seconds. My mind went back to some of the sermons I've heard about the Crucifixion and to some quotes in books, that I've started (but never finished -.-) and it got me thinking "How great was the sacrifice?" I knew the cross had to hurt, but I didn't exactly know how much until one day I stole a book from my dad's office called "The Case for Christ" by Lee Strobel. I was just skimming through the book aimlessly until I ran over a chapter called "Was Jesus' Death a Sham and His Resurrection a Hoax?" I wasn't really pursuing this question but I just thought I'd read the chapter anyway. I read very gruesome details about the cross and how Jesus DEFINITELY died. Today, I want to share with you some of that stuff and how great the sacrifice really was.

Let's start in Gethsemane when Jesus prayed in the garden shortly before His arrest. According to Matthew 26:38, Jesus was depressed- extremely depressed, so depressed it was to the point of dying. He knew what was going to happen the next day. Let me explain some stuff about his depression. Luke 22:44 records that Jesus started to do something quite peculiar in the garden; something we would say is silly. He sweated blood. Many skeptics think that this passage is ludicrous and say it's just imaginary. Well, it turns out that this is an actual medical condition called hematidrosis. It's very rare, and is caused by a high level of psychological stress. If you want more details on it, you may Google it. But there was something else this episode of hematidrosis did, it made the skin fragile and extremely sensitive, keep that in mind.

After Jesus was finally arrested and brought before Pilate, he was whipped. This wasn't no ordinary whipping either; they used this little guy called the Roman whip. This little whip had a few metal balls and a couple bones. The metal balls would take care of making bruises and contusions eventually opening them, and the bones would do the shredding and cuts that would commonly expose the spine. Remember how the skin was extremely fragile and sensitive due to the hematidrosis. The Romans were very brutal, and mercy was a foreign language for them. Often, the Roman soldier would do more than 39 lashes; if he lashed too many times, the victim would surely die. 39 lashes wasn't the limit, it was just the required minimum, and the soldier doing the flogging could lash the victim until he got bored. At the end of 39 lashes, the victim’s bowels would be hanging out from the back and he would lose a ton of blood! History claims that there were very many people who died of the lashing before they were hung on the cross. The least that the flogging would do is put the victim though this thing called hypovolemic shock. What that is, is when you lose a ton of blood and your heart does funky things to pump blood that isn’t there, it causes lightheadedness and thirst. Remember that. Let's just say this; it was exceedingly laborious to walk with a cross on your back, colon hanging out, spine exposed, and a stinging discomfort. He passed out (remember the hypovolemic shock?) and the Romans forced a random stranger named Simon to carry his cross. And now, the real suffering begins.

I introduced you to the word excruciating earlier and now I want to tell you were the word comes from: there was no word in the Greek language that could describe the pain on the cross. They had to create a new word literally meaning out of the cross. Think about that for second. They had made up a word to describe the pain of cross. It was beyond painful, it was beyond torturing, it was excruciating.

Let’s talk about the nails. Many skeptics think that Jesus couldn't have been nailed because most historical art and stories say that the crucified victim was held on the cross by ropes. Archaeology has disproven that. In 1968 archaeologists in Jerusalem found around 30 Jews who died around A.D. 70 one of them was still on a cross and, lo and behold, nails were found in his feet. Now, about the nails, where were they in Jesus' hands? Most believe it was the palms, but due to his weight the nails would rip his hand and he would have fallen off the cross. The nails were most definitely driven into his wrists where there was a little nerve there called the median nerve. The nail would have crushed that nerve. This is where it gets painful; the nerve is the same kind of nerve that we know as the funny bone. So, imagine you have a pair of pliers and you decide to squeeze the funny bone until it crushes. That's what Jesus would've felt in both hands and both feet. Ouch x4. Using simple mathematical equations, we can also determine that Jesus' arms were stretched and that both his arms were dislocated. Hanging there, in order to breathe he would have to lift himself up with his nail driven feet, tearing his foot and scraping his open back against the splintery wood of the cross. Eventually, he would become exhausted and just stop breathing and die, or it could've been by the slow and painful death of asphyxiation. The exact cause is unknown.

Physical pain must have been monolithic, but even worse, the spiritual pain. Jesus hated sin. God’s entire wrath towards sin was poured out on to Christ. Think of your least favorite food, think about spending six hours having that food shoved in your mouth being forced to swallow, and when you got full, it wouldn't stop. The pain and the disgust would be tremendously high. I believe this is similar to what happened to Jesus' spirit on the cross. He carried our lust, our pride, our envy, our idolatry, our lies, our stupidity on a rugged cross!

Now, let’s think about God the Father in this situation. One of the most emotional moments I have had concerning God's sacrifice was one night when my dad (who is a pastor) guest preached at another church. In that sermon, my dad mentioned God's sacrifice and he said this (not exact quote), "If I loved a people who insulted me and I wanted them to know me, I would've sacrificed myself to die, but I would never send my only son". I am his only son, and from my perspective, if my dad asked me to die for people who hated his guts, I would have ran away from home thinking my father had gone crazy. It's absolutely impossible to comprehend, but it was necessary for mankind. But get this, He doesn't need us. He didn't have to do all that stuff at all. But He did. Why on earth He would want to, I really have absolutely no clue. J. I. Packer puts it well:



There is, however, equally great incentive to worship and love God in the thought that, for some unfathomable reason, he wants me as his friend, and desires to be my friend, and has given his Son to die for me in order to realize this purpose. (Knowing God p.42)

We can have unconditional love, but will we go to the point of excruciating love? Why would Jesus go through all that physical and spiritual pain just to make friends with his worst enemies? God is one of the craziest Beings the world will ever know, but I'm very glad I know Him. Let's worship!

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Galatians 6:14 NIV

In Christ,

Paul

The Gospel in 578 Words

What if I came up to you one day and asked  how you were doing with your relationship with God? What if I asked you how hard you were trying? What would your answer be? I hope you don't say you're trying. Why? Because if you are, you've already failed.

In John 5:39-40 Jesus tells the pharisees that they search the scriptures, for they think they will find life in them. But that is not the case. Life is in Jesus. Now let's take a look at these religious men of the day. They would do their best to follow the Law of God because they were deceived and believed that they could get right with God by their own works. That is a thing called religion.

The pharisees were deceitful and mistaken about the true gospel, and so is a lot of our world today. They did not understand that God didn't give the Law so that we could obey it; because we can't. The Law's purpose is that we fail. No one can honestly say that they haven't ever lied, stole, lusted, taken the Name of the Lord in vain and coveted. No one. Not even these "righteous" hardcore religious people.

We are all guilty of breaking the perfect, holy, and just Law of God (Romans 3:23). How then, do we seek and know Him? There is only one way: Jesus Christ (John 14:6). God loves you and me SO much that He gave up everything so that you could be in His family: His only beloved, begotten Son (John 3:16).

We seem to always be underestimating God's standards and thinking we can be made right with Him by our works. If you go to church every Sunday of your life, feed every poor person there is, and never cuss- but don't have Jesus- you still aren't reconciled with the Lord. There is nothing you can do to save yourself (Ephesians 2:8) and there is no way possible to earn grace through works of the Law (Romans 11:6)

If you have seen the viral video Why I Hate Religion but Love Jesus by Jeff Bethke, you will recognize when I quote some lyrics from this awesome poem-

Religion says do, Jesus says done

Religion says slave, Jesus says son

Religion puts you in bondage while Jesus sets you free

Religion makes you blind, but Jesus makes you see.

There is no prayer, no ritual, no practice, no pilgrimage, no life dedicated to an idol, and no good work that can get you into Heaven. Jesus did it all on the cross. Salvation can't be earned; only received. When Jesus was dying for you, He said "It is finished"(John 19:30). That means He did it all. Religion tells us to  be obedient so we can earn God's love, but the truth is that we are called to be obedient because the love of Jesus makes us want to be. Religion says that God will love us when we do something for Him, but Jesus tells us that we are loved now (Romans 5:8).

Remember that 1John 4:19 says that "We love Him because He first loved us", not "He loves us because we first loved Him". Redemption, bought by Jesus Christ, is a free gift. All you have to do is accept His gift that has no cost. Call upon His name and be saved (Romans 10:9). You are an imperfect person loved by a perfect God.

Lemons > Lemonade

Imagine you are walking into my house and you find a lemon and a glass of lemonade on my table. Which one would you choose? We all know that lemons are sour but lemonade is sweet. In this post, I will be writing about how lemons are better than lemonade. I know that sounds crazy, but let me explain.

The use of the word lemons here is a metaphor for trials, tribulations, hardships, difficulties, hurt and all that good-bad stuff. Now we know that lemons are really sour and taste awful, so why would that be better than lemonade? Lemons are healthier than lemonade so that's one advantage. Lemons are good for you, but lemonade is not.

To our foolish eyes, lemons are not good things, but let me tell you about my experience with them. About one year ago, I dated this girl whom I literally idolized. I remember March 5th, 2011, when she broke up with me. I cannot describe the kind of pain I felt. I cried for two hours and I wanted to die. But when struggling with that trial, I realized how broken I was. It was that experience that pulled me closer to God. I dedicated all that I am to the Lord and He took away that feeling of depression. If I had never went through that pain, I wouldn't feel the immense joy that I'm living in today.

Another lemon happened to me when I was on one of those ripstick things (google them if you don't know what they are) and I was going around the neighborhood with my friend Kenny. I got a call from my dad and he told me to come back to my two million dollar house. When I got there, I proceeded in sitting at our table with my other family members. There, my dad announced that he lost his job. At first I wasn't that shocked, but then it got really bad. We had to give up our high life where we could buy anything we wanted. I also had to move away from my awesome neighborhood that contained my really good friends. My family went from being rich to us barely being able to pay rent, and we might have to move into an apartment soon. But to tell the truth, I'm glad my dad lost his job and that I went through this lemon. Now I am more humble than I was, and that's the good that God could bring about through this situation.

I'm going to discuss one last lemon. I'm not really popular at my school. I have about five to ten people who will actually talk to me in a long conversation and show kindness to me. And even those people aren't always very good friends. I know many people are attracted to the idea of being popular, but I'm not. Why? Because I'm able to realized who my true friends are (the people who write this blog with me would be some of them). I know this really isn't a big deal, but sometimes I can hurt. But when it does, I can realize that God is using the pain to bring about His greater glory.

Now let's talk about lemonade. What is lemonade, in this metaphoric sense? Lemonade is any earthly pleasures, such as sex, drugs, partying, and money. But the problem with lemonade is that it's unhealthy for you. It's made with all this sugar that is really bad for us. However, we're attracted to lemonade because of its taste. At first we don't realize that the outcome of it will make us wish we had never given into it.

I remember that I used to bully people by things such as prank texting or prank calling. This is when you lie about who you are when calling or texting someone just for a laugh. I did this because I thought it was funny, but it did hurt people. I remember several instances when it got others really upset. It seemed fun at first, but then it made you feel awful. That's what lemonade does.

Another form of lemonade is lust. Like many guys, I struggle with this too. It seems really appealing at first, but then it fades away. Lust looks to you as if it's going to satisfy you, but it actually isn't worth it. At the moment you realize that you've treated a girl like an object and not the person who was made in God's image, you feel guilt because as a Christian, we know we shouldn't be doing that. The only thing lemonade does is destroy.

For those struggling with lemons, there is hope. Read Romans 5:1-5 and James 1:2-4 to see how good things can come from bad things. A verse that really helped me out was John 16:33 because it assured me that I could overcome the hardship in my life, because Jesus had overcome the world. Remember that Jesus promised that He would be with us always, even in times of trail.

Lemons are better than lemonade because they bring about a greater joy. All lemonade does is destroy you because it is unhealthy. I hope I have demonstrated this well. The outcome of lemons, which is something good, is far, far better than the guilt caused by lemonade. I'd rather stick with a love that lasts forever than a pleasure that lasts for five minutes.

Psalm 139

Okay, we're going to start this up now. 

So anyway, people seem to think God doesn't care about the little things, or their day to day lives. They think God only cares about "godly activities" such as going to Sunday school or giving your tithes. Now don't get me wrong, those are things we need to do, and God cares about that. But he also cares about you as an individual.

In reality, we don't know ourselves as well as we think we do. We end up surprising ourselves daily. But, we never surprise God. He's that friend that knows you better than you know yourself. 

During my youth group on Wednesday, we read Psalms 139, which is what I based this whole post around.

So read it below, and really think about how this applies to you, and how much God cares and knows about you.

 

 

Psalm 139

New International Version (NIV)

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

 ¹ You have searched me, LORD,

   and you know me.

² You know when I sit and when I rise;

   you perceive my thoughts from afar.

³ You discern my going out and my lying down;

   you are familiar with all my ways.

⁴ Before a word is on my tongue

   you, LORD, know it completely.

⁵ You hem me in behind and before,

   and you lay your hand upon me.

⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

   too lofty for me to attain.

 ⁷ Where can I go from your Spirit?

   Where can I flee from your presence?

⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

   if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

   if I settle on the far side of the sea,

¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me,

   your right hand will hold me fast.

¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me

   and the light become night around me,”

¹² even the darkness will not be dark to you;

   the night will shine like the day,

   for darkness is as light to you.

 ¹³ For you created my inmost being;

   you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

   your works are wonderful,

   I know that full well.

¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you

   when I was made in the secret place,

   when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed body;

   all the days ordained for me were written in your book

   before one of them came to be.

¹⁷ How precious to me are your thoughts,^[a] God!

   How vast is the sum of them!

¹⁸ Were I to count them,

   they would outnumber the grains of sand—

   when I awake, I am still with you.

 ¹⁹ If only you, God, would slay the wicked!

   Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!

²⁰ They speak of you with evil intent;

   your adversaries misuse your name.

²¹ Do I not hate those who hate you, LORD,

   and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?

²² I have nothing but hatred for them;

   I count them my enemies.

²³ Search me, God, and know my heart;

   test me and know my anxious thoughts.

²⁴ See if there is any offensive way in me,

   and lead me in the way everlasting.

God is God. He knows everything about you. He knows what you love, what you hate. You he CREATED you, so he definitely knows you without a doubt. He also loved you enough to die for you. 

John 15:13 says "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." (NIV) 

If he loves you that much, don't you think he would care about your day to day life? It makes a lot more sense.

So today, just remember that God 

loves you,  

cares about you, 

and knows everything about you, because he created you. 

There isn't anything you have to hide. He knows. And he loves you anyway.

God bless and have a great day! :D

 

For God so Loved the World; Not Just the Whites

There are different colored cows. Brown cows, white cows, pink cows (in Farmville, at least). And there are many different, but beautiful, skin colors that are caused mainly by the sun, which has some sort of effect on it. But regardless of what color skin we are, we are all equal. The Bible tells us so in 1Corinthians 12:13. Whether we are Jew or Gentile, or in this case, black, white, Hispanic, oriental etc., we are all in the same Spirit.

There is an overwhelming amount of hate and racism in our culture. I have heard many jokes that show disgust to other kinds of people, such as "Why are black people good at basketball? Because their knee grows," or, "How do you find the population of Mexico? Throw a penny down the street and watch how many people chase after it." I have also heard comments saying that Asians don't have souls. Now let me go over how stupid this is. I honestly don't see what's wrong about Africans being good at basketball; that's an excellent thing. Asians were made in God's image also. And stereotyping Hispanics by making fun of their poverty is exactly the same thing as making fun of whites being poor.

Like 1Corinthians 12:13 states, we are all one in Christ. God commands us to love others. In John 14:15, Jesus tells us that if we love Him, we will keep His commands. In John 15:12 and 1John 4:19, we are called to love others as Jesus loves us. We are supposed to show compassion for every single person, including those of other "races". That is an important part of what it means to be a Christian.

Followers of Christ must love others unconditionally. Whether someone is German, Italian, Brazilian, Russian, Korean, or African; love them like Jesus. We are all humans, regardless of race, nationality, or skin color. The color of our skin does not make us superior to anyone else. If we were to say it did, that would be just like saying a red box is supreme to a blue box; that statement is ridiculous because they're both boxes. The same thing applies to the "races". There is only one race-the human race.

John 3:16 says that God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son. Notice the use of the word world. God so loved the world, not God so loved the whites or God so loved the Australians or God so loved the Indians or God so loved the blacks. God so loved us, the world. In His eyes, skin color has no meaning, other than the fact that we are all created by Him which makes our skin color good; we are all His beloved children. Don't forget the name of this blog: agape. Agape is loving someone with no strings attached. And yes, that also includes those of different skin colors. Remember what I said earlier: there is only one race-the human race.

-Matthew

Soul? Love? How is this going to work?

Hello again xP

Okay, so I'm guessing you're up to speed on everything concerning what this blog is about and what our mission is right? If not, go back a couple posts.

But if you do, I bet you're wondering one of two things: (1) what is a soul? and/or (2) how do I love someone with my soul?

Well from my understanding, your soul is basically your core. It's you. It's your personality, how you view the world, your thoughts, etc.

It's not the same as your heart, which (again, from my understanding) is your passions, desires, goals and your emotions. That's just from what I know though.

I could have some details mixed up. :P But yeah.

Now the question is, how do you love Jesus with your soul?

Well, you first need a relationship with him. If he's a stranger to you it's going to be hard to love him in general. And its going to be especially difficult to love him with everyone you are.

The next thing is that you imitate Christ.

If you love someone with your soul, they are like a role model to you. And that's what Jesus should be. We all should want to be just like him.

We've fallen away from that. Christian means "of christ."

We should live in a way that people can tell we follow Jesus, or at least be able to tell that there's something different about us.

A lyric from one of my favorite songs goes

"Moonlight illuminate my night,

let my day's sun-ray

make the people say,

had a vision something's missin'

now they're screaming out loud,

keep my feet on the ground and head in the clouds"

We should imitate Jesus, and live in a way, that people take notice. They take notice and wonder why you're like that, and they aren't. They'll want to find what's missing in their lives. Possibly to the point of coming to Christ.

That is what most of my posts are going to talk about.

(1) Getting to know Jesus, and coming to love him

(2) Making him your role model and imitating him

(3) Continuing to live like him and obey him, and how your actions can affect people in the craziest ways.

I may end up combining 2 and 3, (maybe I'll call it 2.5 xD) but that's basically your preview for what I'm doing. :) Just wanted to do that so you weren't completely lost and/or confused xD

Anyways have a great day and God bless :]