Lengthy Project

It is finished...


This was the last piece I laid today of our hardwood floors! It was a lengthy project, and in all honesty, there is still more to do but it's all minor! The major work has been completed!

We started this project in the middle of December, and finally, we are nearly completed. I so wanted to finish earlier, but life happens. Christmas vacation, church services, retreats, and basically just life in general had to go on, so finding time to do floors was few and far between, and the result was a several month project.

My point in all of this is to tell you that I feel like we do this a lot in our walk with Christ! We commit to doing something such as reading the bible in a year, or praying more each day, or giving more of our time...and all of a sudden what was supposed to be a quick project turns into an unfinished commitment. What commitments have you made to Christ lately that have been left undone? Whatever they are, I challenge you to finish those commitments. Why? Well, simply put, Christ finished his commitment to us on the cross and said, "it is finished."

Be blessed,
Toes.

James, James, and more James!

I know it has been forever since I have blogged, and by forever, I mean well over a year...but as I have been doing my personal devotionals, and studying God's Word, and praying lately, God has directed me back here...an outlet to share what God is doing in my life, and my prayer is that you will be challenged, and encouraged by it.

For the last several months, with our HS and MS students we have been studying the book of James, and this Sunday morning we will close out our 3 month study on James, and it has been incredibly challenging to me as I have studied James nearly everyday for 90+ days. The common theme God has shown me from this text is simply this: Faith without works is dead. True saving faith will be accompanied by works. Am I saying that we are saved by works? No, not at all. We are saved by grace alone, and its only through what Christ did on the cross that I am able to claim victory over Satan...however, once I claim that victory, there ought to be evidence of that victory in our lives!

We are not saved by our works...they are simply our response to our salvation. When we truly know what God has done for us, and understand the fullness of grace that is represented in the Gospel, our response ought to be to worship Him. We ought to want to produce fruit, to be like Christ, to love one another, to encourage one another, to pray for one another, and to lead others into that same relationship with Christ that we have entered into!

So let me ask you a question that God has asked me daily through my studying of the book of James...is your faith accompanied by works? Is there physical evidence of a saving relationship of Jesus Christ in your life? I challenge you to search your heart, search the scriptures, and truthfully answer that question!

If you haven't ever studied the book of James, I encourage you to do so. Read James everyday for 3 months, and see how God turns your relationship with Him upside down!

Be Blessed,
Toes.

Ahhhh The Long Awaited Gautemala Post....

Ahh, its the long anticipated response to my trip to Gautemala- The reason it has taken me so long to collect my thoughts is because it is so hard to describe what God did through us, and in my own personal life on our trip. I still struggle to put the things I saw, and the things God did into words. There are some things that just can't be described. It was an incredible trip; God did some unbelievable things; and I saw some things I didn't even know existed in this world. There are some things you just have to see.

There were two things that really spoke to me- one was the night with the homeless on Thursday night, and the time we spent at the national cemetary overlooking the City Dump.

First of all, the night with the homeless- what an incredible opportunity to share the love of Christ with the broken, who so desperatly need to be loved. I had the opportunity to share the Gospel with the whole group-- it was an experience. I have never shared through an interperter, or to a bunch of people who were high on glue. However, I have never felt the Spirit of God more. He was so alive in the midst of the junk these people live through. I know 100% that God was in the midst of these men as they were loved as Christ loved them.

Second of all, the city dump- We drove into the Guatemala City cemetary which was a scene in itself- these people create temples for their family memebers who have passed away- one resemebles a tomb in Egypt! However, as we made our way to the edge of the cliff that the cememtary sits on...we looked over the edge and witnessed the most unbelievable thing I have ever seen in my life. As we looked over down into the city dump, we saw a community where 11,000 people call home. 11,000 people call most of the cities trash, their home. They work there, they look for trash they can grab and re-sell. They raise their families there- you hear the boys saying "I want to grow up and be like my daddy who is a scavenger." There biggest aspirations is to grow up and live in the city dump. It was insane. I saw Jesus down there though. I saw people who are loved by our creator, searching for their Savior. I knew, as I stood far up high on a mountain, and looked over- that if my Jesus were there, He would be in the midst of all those lost souls. It was incredible. I saw people store up their trash to watch bulldozers come by and knock it over and clear it out. Everything they had worked for all day, gone in an instant. It was incredible. But through it all, I saw Jesus.

As I was on my way home, I was listening to the new Leeland CD, "Love is on the Move" and the second song is called Follow You. The lyrics sum up my trip:

You lived among the least of these
The weary and the weak
And it would be a tragedy for me to turn away.

All my needs you have supplied.
When I was dead you gave me life.
How could I not give it away so freely?

And i'll follow you into the homes that are broken.
Follow you into the world.
Meet the needs for the poor and the needy God.
Follow you into the World.

Use my hands, use my feet
To make your kingdom come
Through the corners of the earth
Until your work is done
'cause Faith without works is dead
And on the cross your blood was shed
So how could I not give it away so freely?

And i'll follow you into the homes that are broken.
Follow you into the world.
Meet the needs for the poor and the needy God.
Follow you into the World.
(x2)

I give all myself.
I give all myself
I give all myself?.to you.

And I give all myself.
Yes, I give all myself.
And I give all myself?.to you.

And i'll follow you into the homes that are broken
Follow you into the world.
Meet the needs for the poor and the needy God.
Follow you into the World.

:) What an amazing Song. My Jesus, I will follow you wherever you call.

Will you follow Him?

Love yall,
Toes :)

Test!

Trying this out from my phone...working? Hope so!

Numbers 13- Will you love God more tomorrow than today?

This is where we are seeing the leaders of Israel take off and begin to spy out the land of Canaan to see what was going to be given to them.  They scouted for 40 days, and in Numbers 13:25, we see this: 

"²⁵ At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land.

Report on the Exploration

 ²⁶ They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. ²⁷ They gave Moses this account: "We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. ²⁸ But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. ²⁹ The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan."

 ³⁰ Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it."

 ³¹ But the men who had gone up with him said, "We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are." ³²And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, "The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. ³³ We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them."

So these spies come back, and there are two of them that say "we can do this. Let's go." Joshua and Caleb, but the other 10 look around and say, wow these guys are huge. We cannot take them- lets be responsible, we cannot win this thing.  And all of the people followed these 10.  So everyone is discouraged, everyone stopped believing, and in chapter 14 God responds in verse 26. 

"The LORD said to Moses and Aaron: ²⁷ "How long will this wicked community grumble against me? I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites. ²⁸ So tell them, 'As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you the very things I heard you say: ²⁹ In this desert your bodies will fall—every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me. ³⁰ Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. ³¹ As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected. ³² But you—your bodies will fall in this desert. ³³ Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the desert. ³⁴ For forty years—one year for each of the forty days you explored the land—you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.' ³⁵ I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this whole wicked community, which has banded together against me. They will meet their end in this desert; here they will die.So the men Moses had sent to explore the land, who returned and made the whole community grumble against him by spreading a bad report about it- ³⁷ these men responsible for spreading the bad report about the land were struck down and died of a plague before the LORD. ³⁸ Of the men who went to explore the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh survived."

Clearly, the Lord was not pleased. He has never been pleased with us who are cowards. He has never been pleased with people who believe He can't do what He says He can.  

As you read this story, my question to you is, who are you? Are you one of the 10? or Are you Joshua or Caleb? Are one who believes God is so mighty and you are 100% confident that He can do anything He says? Or do you often find yourself struggling to believe in the power of God? Remember when you first accepted Christ, and you knew how powerful God was.  You knew that God was so big, He could do anything.  You were so confident that God could use you.  You were Joshua, you were Caleb.  However, as you've gotten older, and more mature, you've become one of the 10.  You've lost hope. You've become more logical, and less spiritual.  You've become comfortable.  You've become calm, mellow about your faith.  But I believe scripture calls us to be bold, to be courageous, to be INSANE about the Gospel.  I believe too much is at stake for us to be calm, and be scared.  Ya see, my favorite part about this story is that it doesn't end in Numbers. My favorite part comes 45 years later...in Joshua 14. 45 years later and Caleb is still alive just like God said. 

"⁷ I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, ⁸ but my brothers who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt with fear. I, however, followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly. ⁹ So on that day Moses swore to me, 'The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly.' ^{a]" style="font-size: 0.75em; line-height: 0.5em; ">[a]}

 ¹⁰ "Now then, just as the LORD promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the desert. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! ¹¹ I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I'm just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. ¹² Now give me this hill country that the LORD promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the LORD helping me, I will drive them out just as he said."

How amazing is that? This man is 85 years old, and he is more passionate about the Lord today than when he was 40.  He is just as strong, if not stronger than when he is 40.  He stands on the PROMISE of God. It's never been about us. It's always about the PROMISE of God. He will always be with us.  He will always lead us. I want to be one of the two.  I want to be the 85 year old who believes, and loves God more then than now.  I want to be closer to Christ then than now. 

Where are you? Will you love God more when you're 85 than you do today? I hope and pray you do! 

Be Blessed,

Toe's

One life to live.

Today was a crazy day, but I wouldn't have spent it doing anything else.  A wise man once told me, "I've got one life to live, and I'm going to give it all to God." 

The simplicity of that statement amazes me.  It is so simple, yet so life changing.  We do only have one life to live.  For some of us, we are extremely lucky to literally get a second chance at life, but most of us have one life to live, and one life to give.  Ya see, I feel like we get so caught up in the day to day drag of everyday life that we forget to focus on the things in life that truly matter.  We almost treat each day as a "trial run" of life, and then when it starts to count, then I'll start to give everything to God, but for now- I am too busy...how many have said that? We say, for now, I'm going to do it my way...and eventually we will get around to God's way.  

I want to encourage you, as you read this, remember, no one is promised tomorrow, no one is promised their next breath, and so do not take it for granted! Remember, we truly do only have ONE life to live...and ONE life to give to God. What is holding you back from giving everything you have to God? The Bible says in John 10:10, "the Devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy. Jesus says, "I have come to give YOU LIFE, and life to the FULL."  Jesus wants you to take the one life you have been given and return it back to Him as an offering to Him, and He promises us that in return, He will give us life to the FULL.  It's the promise of God. 

The next breath you are about to take is sacred, treat it that way.  The next day you are about to live is precious, treat it that way.  The ONLY life you have is precious and sacred, treat it that way. Praying for you. 

Be Blessed,

Toe's