The Chase Chapter Seven: Help in the daily battle

I like the little summary of what my life sorta is at the beginning of the chapter, although the story isn't my testimony the points in my life with that story still connect.

Although some of the questions they ask really don't relate to me, about how I think something about the last chapter, I do love the point they make after it.

Part of the rescue from sin is the ability to win your daily battles against it.

Then we get into being alive in God, which is something talked about, but not really discussed. The book to this point has made an emphasis behind being dead to sin.

But now that we are no longer under the influence of sin and its control and under the new influence of Christ, we can start to live a holy life.

'You can't live a holy life on your own. Christianity is not a do-it-yourself thing'.

I love that line, we really can't do it without God.

Then they talk about how we can pull of these victories in our daily battles, through the strength God gives us, and through our perserverance.

Holiness isn't just about following a list of do's- and don'ts it's about learning to listening and obeying God.

God doesn't push us around, but he works through us and gives us strength for our internal battle.

"Brent White" is alive to God and dead to sin.

We all need to put our faith in the word, and practice resisting sin's advances and temptations don't we?

The book makes a great answer on how we should do this.

'You count on the fact that every time your tempted, Christ will give you the strength you need to resist temptation and beat back sin.'

Remember God allows us to be tempted and provides a way out so we can grow to be better Christians.

God gives us the holy spirit to give us the strength to beat sin, and to convict us of it when we make mistakes (which we do, all the time).

The book makes a good point about practicing what you hear and read from the bible. It's one thing to listen to something, but another to act it out.

We need to depend on the holy spirit because we simply can't overcome our sinfulness on our own. The strength the holy spirit is their to help us.

The book gives us two ways to express our dependance on the holy spirit, both which I have been lacking to do lately;

Keep a constant intake of the scripture, and to pray for holiness.

This brightens my outlook on the chase for holiness, knowing that I have help.

-Brent

Business

Not buisness, but business, is that even a word?

Whatever it is in my dictionary.

Have you ever been stressed? If you said no, stop reading.

I'm totally sick, I mean, fever, cough, chest pain, bleeding eyes, the works.

So today was total crap for me, I mean I lasted through A&B block, but after my Magic show, I was totally wiped, I mean I was having hard time breathing, but I pressed on, but at a point of physical and mental health, I was dead, when I got home, I just collaspe on the floor, and woke up to a phone call.

Nothing special, wrong phone number, but I decided to call Ashley Mayer for being a big help today, I mean I don't think I would've been able to pull off that show had it not been with her and others help.

But I'm just wiped as well in my life period. Today was awful, but my life recently has just been really, really chaotic. Karyn you think your stay in Texas was bad with all those misfortunes over and over again, well I basically have been having that happen to me all week, I don't have the strength to keep going.

I want to stay home and sleep tomorrow, but I can't, Chemistry and Socials test on stuff I haven't studied. I want to study but I tried earlier and the thinking part hurt me so much, and stressed me out that when I just wanted to weep in pain, blood came from my eyes. Luckily I have medicine for that, but its just really bad.

The only thing that has kept me going today is the fact that God is with me, he doesn't mind if I complain every step of the way, he keeps his head up looking at all the high points of the day, and someparts of the day he kept reminding me of them, but right now I just want to put my complaints out there, you know, just get them off my chest.

My schedule is chaotic, provincials are coming up, and ha, guess what, I get to be sick as soon as school becomes super difficult. I just hope God's strength really is boundless, because its going to be impossible to do this without him.

Now before you post a comment let me just tell you, this is just a rant about the bad parts of my day.

When things calm down I'll keep posting 'Chase' blogs, but for now, I need to stop, I need to focus on one thing at a time, right now its finals and provincials. I just need to contact Jon somehow and explain this to him..

*sigh* I'm going to bed,

-Brent

PS. Karyn you rock for showing up and giving me support, same goes for all you guys.

^_^ Jen Champ doesn't read my blogs!

New song

I actually chorded this one out, because I wrote it whilst playing guitar.

Live for you - Brent White
Em C G
Oh, Lord I tried it my way, I tried it my way,
D
Not what I thought.
Em C G
I tried it their way, I tried it their way,
D
Not what I expected.

Em C G D
When I was lost you found me, in your open arms.
Em C G D
When I was broken and wounded, you healed me with your loving heart.
Em C G D
When I was tempted by Satan, you lead me on the righteous path.
Em C G D
When I was going to surely die, you took my place upon the cross.


(chorus)
G D Em C
Oh God, I wanna live for you, in everything I do, I'll live for you,
G D Em C
Oh God, I'll live bring you praise, all of my days, I will live for you.

If you want to see the actually chord layout you have to check out the forums.

-Brent

The Chase Chapter Six: The Battle for Holiness

"The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up."
-Romans 7:21

All the first verses to each chapter to "The Chase" were really good, but this one basically talks about our struggle with sin, and how it trips us up. You see I tried for awhile to live a holy life and I was on a spiritual high from it, but as soon as I fell back into my sinful life I had before I was easily trapped by the enemy. Don't worry I'm still pursuing a holy life, but for awhile, I didn't want anything to do with it, because I had tried and failed, and I kept telling myself what was the point in trying something that I'm going to end up messing up anyways?

But then I heard from God, that we don't have to be perfect for him to love us, he loves us just the way we are. I needed to hear it too.

Let's dig further into this chapter shall we.

The fact that we will face sin all of our days on earth is brought up here, and it is a tough struggle to face. A struggle that lasts a life time, not a kind of battle to fight in. But we know the outcome due to our salvation, so we should press against the enemy no matter how tough the battle may seem, we know that thanks to God and his son Christ Jesus the battle of sin controlling our lives is over, we need to now not let it tell us what to do, instead listen and obey to what God says and commands.

I like how this chapter sums up what battle they are talking about. The battle in our heart between 'the nature we have to sin' and 'the desire to live a holy life'.

Even though sin doesn't control us, it is still attacks us, and will control us if we let it.

'We've got to be on watch constantly, because sin is ready to make sure we don't come out ahead. It wants us to fail.'

I like how the book meantions a battle plan of how to win the war against sin.

It first begins with are heart. Our heart to me is basically our focus, but the book talks about your whole being and motives behind your actions as your heart. It says we can't understand our own heart, and agree to a point, but in my opinion we can put motives in our heart, for example the desire to live a holy life is a motive in my heart, even though I can't search it, I want to pursue holiness as a choice.

But anyway, the book talks about how sin can lay dormant in our hearts, and the only way we can know about it (usually it is hiding there without us knowing, b/c we don't classify it as a sin, or we don't think its a problem) is to allow the holy spirit to search our hearts and reveal our hidden sins to us. I know personally the holy spirit has revealed a bunch of sins that I really didn't classify as 'sins'. I have really hard times overcoming some of them, and others are easy to stop.

What the book meations next is allowing God to give you, your desires (his desires, your purpose, your focus.. etc.) and allow him to remove the desires that will result in you lead into sin. We still need to allow him to do so.

The book brings up the fact that we choose to sin, it's from our own desires that we are lead into sinning by our own actions. Not Gods, not Satan's. It's US who sin.

Sin is a crafty enemy and we need to be ready to take it down at any time. That's why memorizing scripture and praying continually is so important, it keeps us in constant connection to God. Like having him on the other line on the telephone whilst talking to someone, and when a desire to sin happens to come along into that conversation, we switch lines and ask God what to do.

I learnt another vital thing from this, don't get caught up into spritual highs and think you can never fall from them, what I mean is, don't think that just b/c your not doing a certain sin that you are invulnerable to sin. We can fall victim to sin anytime, and being cocky will take us off our guard to be tripped up by the enemy.

There was a man who lived in spain in the 17th century, he was the greatest fencer in the whole world, no man could beat him, but he was defeated when he let his ego get in the way of his fight.
He decided he was beating his opponet left, right, and center, but his opponet was using his right hand the whole course of the match, and stopped and said, that if he was so good he could beat him using his other hand, and he would use his other hand as well. Well the man let his ego get the best of him and agreed, not having any practice with his left hand was easily beaten by his left handed opponet.

I sometimes let my ego get in the way of a direct fellowship with God. Without that friendship we won't get some of the nessasary trade resources from our alley God and be beaten by our enemy when we are starved.

Hopefully you get that.

-Brent

Scary moment

I was walking home from Friday youth at Cariboo, and almost home, just as I turn the corner in my alley way, I see this huge dog.

I mean huge, it was a rottweiler bigger than me. It looked fierce.. I was like "oh crap" in my head.

It stood still, as I saw it, it could tell I was afraid of it ( great just what I need, it to smell my fear).

I'm usually not scared of big tough dogs, but ones at night, in a dark alley off a leash with no-one around, changed my outlook of this one.

Then I heard God say to stand still, thinking it was just something I heard on a nature show about black bears, I did it what I was thinking. I stood perfectly still, it still didn't move, this wasn't looking good.

I was going to shout out "God save me" but instead in my head I pretty muttered "In the name of Christ, leave me alone".. then it started to walk toward me, but in a creepy manner, very slowly it walked passed me, never taking it's eyes from my own, like it was staring into my soul.

After it was pretty much far away from me, I started to walk to my house in a calm manner, the whole time thanking God in my head for protecting me.

I turned to look back at the dog, and it was doing the same... creepy..

Anyway I went quickly into my house and breathed a sigh of relief.

Whilst on the toliet ( yes I needed to go really bad, and I'm not ashamed to bring the story to you honestly) I asked God what was the whole point of that test.

God pretty much said that the Dog was like Satan ready to pounce on me. He said b/c I stood still and let God protect me instead of running (which is human nature) I was safe for trusting in me. I could totally picture me trying to outrun that dog and failing horribly, but instead I stood still and let God protect me, even when I was scared out of my mind.

No further comments, as I nearly had a heart attack.

-Brent

The Chase Chapter 5: Change of Kingdoms

Ok seriously, had I read this part of the book before spiriling into a month of depressed defeat, I probably would've had my answers from the get go.

This is an awesome chapter so lets pull out some stuff in it that really spoke to me.

"Does it seem like the same issues and sins always come creeping back into your life?"

Yes

Seriously I love the questions this book asks b/c their realistic. Anyway the book tells us not to get comfortable with our sins, and why? B/c Christ put to death our sins so we would no longer be held back by them.

"We don't have to live like sin is controlling us... unfortunately for most of us, that freedom passes by us and we end up frustrated."

You see, choosing not to sin is exactly that, it's a choice we choose to take. It's not forced upon us, we aren't given no choice but not to (b/c, hello we've been talking about LIVING A HOLY LIFE! ding ding other choice) its a path we choose, far too often to find ourselves walking down. Why?

Why do we sin?

One answer I know, is b/c we enjoy doing it.

The book gives a bunch more, like it's what were raised into being natural. Like follow your parent's habits, we as humans follow the world into sinning, but we shouldn't be making excuses, ultimately we choose to sin, what we need to do is choose not too.

No matter how hard you try though, your old life of sin keeps creeping back though...

Exactly what got me depressed in the first place.

I love how the book describes us moving away from a country where sin is soverign, we don't have to let sin control us anymore, but we do, b/c why?

It's comfortable and what were used to. Other words, it's a habit, and like most habits other habits, its a bad one, we need to stop doing.

We need to rely on God to help us with beating our habit of sinning, and to not get beat down by it over and over, but to run into Christs open arms for help and future strength to win the battles to come.

We need to all spend more time in rehab learning to live in this new life, instead of going back to the comfortable old life. I didn't become a Christian to live an easy life, and if you did, you picked the wrong crowd to hang out with. We will be looked at differently, insulted for doing whats right, and mocked for standing up for what we believe in, by hypocritical society.

"We can wrap up all of this by remembering that God has made a way for us to be holy. Because of what Christ did on the cross, we've been freed from our sin's control and we can now resist it. The responsibility is ours- we must resist sin."

It reminds of a message I once wrote about how faith is established.

Basically I got this vision of me sitting down at the dinner table with God, and it was sorta a pot luck between the two of us. We each had to bring something, both had to bring something unique that the other couldn't bring. One was trust, and that comes from God, the fact we can trust in him, and we have to bring obeidience to go along with his trust, so that the turkey of living a faithful life tastes really good.

But ya, we have to bring our effort, God has already brought his son Jesus to die on the cross, for our freedom of sin. The buck has been passed to us, and don't worry, your going to drop it, but the best part is, God is there to help us pick it up again, just like he is always willing to pass the salt if our corn of obedience is a little dry.

-Brent

The Chase Chapter Four: The holiness of Christ

If I know about Christ's holiness I'll feel secure with him? When I first read this I was like, pfft, whatever, but as I come to see Christ's holiness I can truely trust him as that very best friend who will never let me down.

Why?
Because Christ was perfect, he never sinned, thank goodness too, I mean if Christ was a sinner, I doubt Christianity would have an impact as it has today, people could call us idiots for following a hypocrite. But Christ is not. He never sinned, he is perfect, and b/c of that perfectness he could do something I could never do, die in place of my sins.

I don't thank God enough for that, I think we all do, we tend to remember around easter or Christmas, but I think we need to thank God every morning for being saved.

It's rocking that Christ is perfect, b/c he is like the manual of how to be a christian. Come into a problem at school, "WWJD" and follow what he would do and it will please God.

Jesus' holiness was not just on the outside but in his heart as well, his motives were for God, everything he did was for bringing God glory. What really got me down was failing to be like Christ allowed my emotions get me into a hole of despair that helped Satan take me down. Luckly God was still rooted in me enough for me to call on him and his servants to help me get back on my feet.

God loves me the way I am, so I don't have to be wrapped up in failing God, b/c I'm going to do it alot, and it's just going to keep tripping me up. What I need to do is learn from my mistakes and look to the example of Christs holiness to guide me on what to do next time so I don't keep repeat sinning.

I need to have Christ blueprint of holiness shine in my life, and it requires me to stop being tramatized for making God upset, and to run into his open arms and allow him to guide me out of it, and to continuly show me what to do next.

I'm tired and my spelling went intot eh garbage

-Brent

The Chase Chapter Three: Holiness isn't an option

Because Christ died for me, I can be holy in the presence of God, b/c Jesus took away my sins, it's my salvation that allows me to be holy, but I still need to strive for holiness in everything I do.

Having holiness is needed for fellowship with God. Our salvation is not a get out of hell free card, God freed us so we could be holy. He died for our sins so we could be free from them and be able to acheive holiness. Holiness isn't necessary for Salvation but it should be a product of it. Which is something I seriously need to start taking seriously. If I'm going to be "Christ-like" I better be striving for holiness and turning away from my sins. Even the ones I've fallen into a trap of repetition too. I need to stop being cozy with some of the sins that control my life, there holding me back from true fellowship with God, no wonder I couldn't hear God clearly, I had let these sins control what I hear, and not only that, control my urges, emotions, and thoughts.

I'm glad that I don't have to be perfect, b/c that's pretty much impossible, but I also know that I have to have my heart set on God and chasing after his holiness if I want to bring him anything, including my praise for him.

I'm glad God disciples us, I love it when he slaps me in the face, b/c then my eyes are open and now I can see what I'm doing wrong and how I have to change it. This chapter talks about that, but it states something really good as well. God is with us in are walk to change our lives from sinful baggage we bring into the relationship and to live a life of holiness for him.

And so the chase continues, this time though, I'm going to listen to God and see my temptations from God's view before I sin, that way I can avoid making God upset in the first place.

-Brent

The Chase Chapter Two: The holiness of God

All Christians are called to live a holy life. Why?
Because God is holy, I'm called to live a holy life because God himself is holy and I want to have my character more like God's don't I? Don't you?

I like how this chapter refers to christian chameleons who well, blend in when the going gets tough, or they conform when around their friends, so they look cool. But we are called to stand up and stand out for God, not blend in.

I haven't had a large problem with this in my life, I'm really unique and mostly everyone knows that, but the one thing I've learned is as soon as we stand out, we have more eyes fixed on us, and that makes it far more tougher to live a holy life. Remember we are called to be holy 24/7 in everything we do.

So if God is holy then why do we bother blaming him for being unfair, I know I've done it a few times, but God can't be unfair, he is perfectly just, he's holy for goodness sake. God's clothes are always clean, never stained. Holiness is a part of God, and since we are made in the image of God we should strive to have holiness a part of our essence.

What's even cooler is God never makes mistakes, so you know when your hitting rock bottom, it's because God is allowing you to grow more like him.

:)

"Be holy, because I am holy" says God, means we have to look at sin seriously.

From God's perspective in fact, we know that God loves us, but we also need to know that he hates sin. Our sin, he hates it everytime we sin. We need to strive to do the right thing, even if it doesn't turn out the way we wanted it, it pleases God, which is a fact I tend to forget alot of the time.

We need to stop justifing our sins, even the "little" ones we do, like downloading music off the internet for free, and strive to be different from the crowd, strive to be holy.

I like how the book talks about how God will never put you in a position where the only way out is to sin. I remember a long time ago, Karyn was teaching us about how God can never tempt us of sin, but allows us to be tempted and that he provides a way out.

God calls us to be different b/c he is different.

"Sin isn't just distressing or defeating to ourselves, its displeasing to God."

The holiness of God is a high standard, but it's a perfect one, one that I'm definitly going to chase after and never quit on striving for, even if being holy doesn't turn out the way I want, it pleases God, and that is definitly worth doing.

-Brent

The Chase Chapter One: Holiness is for you.

After reading this first chapter this book really felt like God was laying the words directly on my heart. This was totally my story. I went to the first XLR:8 and actually did obey to what God asked of me, but then the idea of holiness (before I even read this book) showed me how unholy I truely was, and how hypocritical my attitude towards others was. I let it trip be up.

I love the line in this first chapter
"All too often, though, sin gets the upper hand. Obedience, along with holiness, goes out the window."

Seriously, how awesome is that, thats totally for me. I started to let my sin push me away from a life striving for holiness (for my birthright) and fell into a life playing Maple Story all day and everyday.

God expects us to live a holy life, ya I know that first hand, it's something God hit me with hard when I was pursuing his goal for my life and the lives around, we had to work on my character, it had to be more Christ like, and I had and still have real problems with holiness.

But since only God can tell me how to live my life (the right way) sin no longer has command over this vessal for the lord.

I love how the book points out, that we have to make ourselves humble throughout this chase, indicated in the part about the "holier than thou" attitude.

Holiness may seem impossible, in fact it is without God, so therefore I know that I can't say that after achieving it, that I accomplished anything, it was only with God's help that one can acheive holiness, and holiness then can definitly be used as a witness to everyone. It stregthens the body as well as evanglises, it's definitly worth chasing for.

This book is awesome and I'm not even done the first chapter yet.

Then the book talks about how this seemingly impossible task can give you excuses to not even pursue it anymore, haha, I get it God, you can stop now... As you can see that talks to me as well, I let myself fall into that trap first hand.

But this first chapter answers a great question:

What exactly is holiness?
"To be holy is to be morally blamless. It's being separated from sin and set apart for God."

Then they start quoting scripture in this chapter about holiness, a few of these verses I memorized in some of my earlier blogs, neat eh? Anyway I'm going to pull one that really speaks to me;

"Don't lazily slip back into these old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing."

Oh crap... now that definitly is for me, and yes I used crap in a sentence.

Holiness requires not conforming to the world, well thats one thing I'm good at, you ask anyone if I'm normal, and they'll probably laugh in your face, but at least I have good practice of being able to stand out, and how to coupe with people persecution for it and such. Heck I've dealt with it b/c of faith before as well, but what I really need to work on is the humility factor behind that as well.

Then we go into addressing our problems with experiencing holiness.

-Sin hurts God (We don't see sin from God's view but more from our own)
-We've misunderstood living by faith( accepting personal responsibilty for our sin as well)
-Not taking all sin seriously (catagorizing sin)

The first one and third one I have problems with, but mostly the first one, for example giving into temptation feels good for the flesh ( I mean why would we do it in the first place if it didn't make our flesh feel good) but I always seem to forget at the moment of how my sin makes God feel, I always go crap, and apologize, but I take my eyes off the fact of how God took to me sining. If that last sentence made sense then the rest of my blogs will be your friends.

Anyway, this chase for holiness is something I really want to pursue, and need to be held accountable by you all, to keep it up, and please feel free to point out anything I'm doing that would be unholy, I mean I don't want to be walking around wearing a stained shirt all day without knowing it right?

-Brent

Worship the King

I was walking home from walking Ashley home, and I'm glad I did, because I was all like praising God without really realizing it, and I was just singing some songs that came from my heart,

One was about taking a step out in faith, the other was about evanglism, and the one that I liked the most out of random singing, was about the true heart of worship. When I sing worship songs, I always feel oblegated to sing along, but when I truely hear the words speak to me, I try to remain silent, to show God that my worship is not in my singing but in my heart. Where is should be, we bring God pleasure through our worship, but I often think that were too focused on singing good, to really look at the words of a song and see what God's lays on our hearts.

Well anyway, I decided to write down the lyrics, and record the tune of it, but the tune I'm keeping for myself so I don't forget the tune, but anyway, you guys can read these lyrics because I they refocused my heart on true worship, and I think sharing them might help ours in general.

---

Is your worship from the heart?
Or do you sing these words to fit the crowd?
Where is your heart?
Does your worship bring pleasure to the king?
Let me tell you,

Worship is for the Master,
bring your praise
your honest praise to him,
Worship is for the Master,
bring your praise
your honest praise to him,
Worship the King(x4)

These words I sing are not a farce,
I sing them straight from the depths of my heart,
I live my life to bring your praiseI will honour and worship you all my days

Worship is for the Master,
bring your praiseyour honest praise to him,
Worship is for the Master,
bring your praiseyour honest praise to him,
Worship the King(x4)

Take this time, to STOP,
access your heart,
Stop your singing and start your searching,
to bring your praise,your honest praise to him,
Stop your singing and start your searching,
to bring your praise,your honest praise to him,

Is your worship true?
Is it for your God?
Do you sing from your heart?
Just cry out,
Worship is for the Master,
bring your praise
your honest praise to him,
Worship is for the Master,
bring your praise
your honest praise to him,
Worship the King.

Well anyway, I know I'm not a very good song writer, but then again, if I cared about the quality of my song, instead of the quality of my heart while singing, I would've learned nothing from my own song.

-Brent

Hedgemaze

So an analogy God gave me today when talking with Ashley was pretty simple, and it summed up one of the things that was frustrating me to be tripped up by the enemy in the first place.

Picture this, your in a hedge maze and you have to find the exit, because the entrance way you came in closed up. What do you do? All you can see in front of you is hedge after hedge, and pathway that leads to pathway. But now picture this, your soaring like an eagle above the maze, and have a clear view of the whole maze, and know exactly where to go.

Well, thats the difference between our perpespective of our purpose and God's perspective. Well at least mine is. Because I'm idly lost in the hedgemaze. I caught a glismpe of the path to go, but that only got me through the first fork in the maze, and now I'm lost, walking aimlessly through the maze. I want to see things from God's perspective, but I don't, I wish God would give me more insight though, because I'm still running aimlessly through this maze, going through the right fork in the road at some points and yet also going down to dead ends as well.

One more note, that is technically off topic, the XLR:8 Book the Chase, I will be writting about each chapter here, and what I get from this book, in the coming weeks, I've read the first three already, but I want to start over, b/c the book kinda put me into a spiral of self defeat of how unholy I am.

-Brent

Trusting a stranger before trusting a king.

So one of the visions I was talking about, I decided to write down, and I talked with Ashley Mayer about it, well I talked to her about alot of things, but anyway,

So I was still frustrated with God, and how I feel he has just up and abandoned me, (right at this moment, I don't know what to think) and I got this vision that didn't make alot of sense, and if I can remember what all of it meant, I'll talk about it.

So here we go,,

I was walking either to or from the skytrain station at Braid, and I saw a man who was sitting alone on the bench near the bus depot, who you could tell was upset.

I decided to go over and talk with him, find out what was wrong really. I asked if anything was wrong, he just remained silent and didn't speak, looked very gloomy and upset ( the posture of the guy is what gave it away). I asked if I could help him out. He replied "Help, why would I need it?". I started to discuss about how if he opened up and told me what was going on that I could help. "I can deal with this myself" he said. "You've tried walking that path for far too long, and look where it has got you, at a dead end." I replied. He asked why he should trust me. I replied you have to trust a stranger before you can trust a king.

The vision ended there, and I realized that I was really the person sitting on the bench, and the man who walked over to help was Jesus. You see, I have been caught up with my defeat that I just wanted to take the easy route and mope on a bench like the man in this story. It was only before I actually discussed my problems with Ashley Mayer today that I finally could understand this. I tried, fell off the horse, and went back into a routine of doing something easy, like playing Maple Story 6 days straight. But you see, I don't see things from God's perspective, I don't see God face to face, right now, as the king upon the throne, I see him as the stranger who is trying to help me get back on the horse, I tried to shoo him away, but persistance and love eventually got me to begin to open up. We have to trust Jesus as a stranger before we can trust him as a King right? He is the good samartian in this story who gains are trust through love, and as we realize who he truely is, we come to respect him as a King.

Hopefully that makes sense. I think Ashley remembers some of the insights I said when I discussed it with her, b/c I don't remember them all. I might have missed some, oh well.

-Brent

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Hypocrisy

What the? Brent how come you took so long to post? Well I'm going to give you the shortest version of what's been going on, I've been depressed, and being having a large losing conflict with my flesh, its desires, and God's plan for me, and not to meation being stuck to seeing it from a runners perspective through the hedge maze of life (Only Ashley Mayer will understand that part).

So for Christmas, I got a stocking stuffer wrist band that says Disciple on it. It's really neat, but I don't think it should say Disciple, or at least I shouldn't wear it with honesty. My wrist band lately would have the words hypocrite written all over it.

You see, I've had my angry discussions with God lately, and one I don't like having discussions with God b/c I'm super frustrated and my flesh and Satan have being kicking my butt in the struggle between God's plan, and my fleshly desires. But I have had a few interesting visions, insights from God, yes God, even though my flesh has been telling me over and over that they were just thoughts in my head, stupid flesh, I'm going to talk about them whether it likes them or not.

One was actually really had nothing to do with anything I've talked about, or does it, I don't see from the bird's eye view on this one (again Ashley knows what that truely means, and I'm going to be a jerk and not explain it to the rest of you :P).

Anyway, it had to do with Stars, you see Christians are like the stars in the sky. When we are born again, we start off like a small dwarf star, not very bright, nor very big, but when surronded by many other stars these can make the most beautiful of constilations. Anyway, as we grow, so does are light to the world, its our job to shine it, you see our faith is what makes us grow, just like how expanding gases make stars grow, the more the gas spreads, the bigger the star gets, the bigger we expand our faith, the bigger we grow as Christians. Where would I be on this star perspective, well, I've grown alot during this past year, even though my flesh doesn't want me to know that, nor is Satan very happy about it. I would be a very bright star, but the only problem, is I'm a star way to far away from the telescope for you to see. See I've fallen short of God, and it's gotten me down, so I stopped trying, I was lost in my depression and self sorrow, I'm far away from God, just like a star to far away in the night sky. I don't very bright when I'm far away, and I need to strive to be more closer to the Lord so all can see the light of God shine through me.

It's too bad that no matter how far you are from the telescope, God can see you, and see what your doing.

Stars are very different, some go dim before they burnout, some burn brightest in their entire lives before they explode, impacting all the other stars in the galaxy. I want to be the one that burns as bright as it can, it's whole life, the one that impacts the whole world before it goes out. It's not impossible to win the world for Jesus, if you believe it is, stop listening to the enemy. I like the fact that stars also get sun spots, the parts that become dark, they sorta take away the beauty of the star, just like sin stains us as Christians, unlike sun spots though, sin can and will be taken away because of what Jesus did for us. He is the brightest most flawless star of them all, and will never go out.

So I'm going to be posting a bit more about other subjects, especially one about my blogs, and how I need to stop doing them for people to read, but doing them to share the news of what God has spoken to me.

I've stopped memorizing scripture and reading daily passages for now, that doesn't mean I won't read my bible, or memorizing scripture, it just means, I don't need to be held accountable by you guys anymore, I need to not do it b/c I'm oblegated to, but to do it to bring God pleasure. Now I have a house to get back to cleaning.

-Brent

Day Twenty Eight

Scripture Read:
1 John 1
1From the very first day, we were there, taking it all in--we heard it with our own ears, saw it with our own eyes, verified it with our own hands. 2The Word of Life appeared right before our eyes; we saw it happen! And now we're telling you in most sober prose that what we witnessed was, incredibly, this: The infinite Life of God himself took shape before us.
3We saw it, we heard it, and now we're telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. 4Our motive for writing is simply this: We want you to enjoy this, too. Your joy will double our joy!

Walk in the Light
5This, in essence, is the message we heard from Christ and are passing on to you: God is light, pure light; there's not a trace of darkness in him.
6If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we're obviously lying through our teeth--we're not living what we claim. 7But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God's Son, purges all our sin.
8If we claim that we're free of sin, we're only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. 9On the other hand, if we admit our sins--make a clean breast of them--he won't let us down; he'll be true to himself. He'll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. 10If we claim that we've never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God--make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God.

---

What it means to me:
Where's the next installment of Isaiah? Well like I said in my last post, I'm really confused and I'd like to learn about it, instead of trying to stumble in the dark about it.

I like how John talks about the whole, "We have faith, because we have seen". To me that really just implied that he was complimenting Christians in their walk who believe though they have not seen. I have had it revealed to me though, that it means more. It implies to have seen the light of Christ, and not just saying one thing, but also sharing it because of our faith. Short, it talks about evanglising to others if we truely believe. John is sharing this for our strengthing of faith in Christ as so we should share our faith with others to strengthen others.

The next part, is really talking about God's perfectness. He is without sin. He is the sun in the night sky so to speak. Even though at night when we can't see the sun anymore, we know that it is still there, and in the morning it shines bright so we can go about our day without stumbling in the dark. John stresses the point that, just because we are covered in darkness doesn't mean that our actions go unnoticed. Like for example robbing someone's house during the night, they might sleep right through it, but in the morning everyone knows that there has been a break in. If we are going to witness to others we have got to strive to not be covered in darkness ( in otherwords, sin). If we say we are sinless we are lying, for we still sin, everyone sins, only one person in history lived without sin, and that was Jesus. John says, basically, to not be a hypocrite. Don't judge sinners, for you sin as well, also don't say one thing and do the opposite.

John then talks about walking a Christ like life, how it will be covered in the light. Just because you can see what your doing doesn't make it easy though. But at least you arn't stumbling in the dark anymore right?

Because Christ died for me, and for you, we have to oppertunity for eternal life, but we also have to admit our sins. Say your in a dark room with a light switch, and you know the only way you can see the door out of the room is to flick on the light switch that you know is there, you still have to turn it on. Just like we have to choose to except that Christ died for us.

Remember everyone is a sinner, but Christ also died for everyone so that everyone can live eternally if they put to death the sin that has held them back from a life in the light.

---

Memory Verse:
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
1 John 1:9 (NIV)

Belated Day Twenty One, Twenty Two, Twenty Three, Twenty Four, Twenty Five, Twenty Six, Twenty Seven ( Although this is today)

Scripture Read:
Isaiah 1
Quit Your Worship Charades
1The vision that Isaiah son of Amoz saw regarding Judah and Jerusalem during the times of the kings of Judah: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.
2Heaven and earth, you're the jury.
Listen to GOD's case:
"I had children and raised them well,
and they turned on me.
3The ox knows who's boss,
the mule knows the hand that feeds him,
But not Israel.
My people don't know up from down.
4Shame! Misguided GOD-dropouts,
staggering under their guilt-baggage,
Gang of miscreants,
band of vandals--
My people have walked out on me, their GOD,
turned their backs on The Holy of Israel,
walked off and never looked back.
5"Why bother even trying to do anything with you
when you just keep to your bullheaded ways?
You keep beating your heads against brick walls.
Everything within you protests against you.
6From the bottom of your feet to the top of your head,
nothing's working right.
Wounds and bruises and running sores--
untended, unwashed, unbandaged.
7Your country is laid waste,
your cities burned down.
Your land is destroyed by outsiders while you watch,
reduced to rubble by barbarians.
8Daughter Zion is deserted--
like a tumbledown shack on a dead--end street,
Like a tarpaper shanty on the wrong side of the tracks,
like a sinking ship abandoned by the rats.
9If GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies hadn't left us a few survivors,
we'd be as desolate as Sodom, doomed just like Gomorrah.
10"Listen to my Message,
you Sodom-schooled leaders.
Receive God's revelation,
you Gomorrah-schooled people.
11"Why this frenzy of sacrifices?"
GOD's asking.
"Don't you think I've had my fill of burnt sacrifices,
rams and plump grain-fed calves?
Don't you think I've had my fill
of blood from bulls, lambs, and goats?
12When you come before me,
who ever gave you the idea of acting like this,
Running here and there, doing this and that--
all this sheer commotion in the place provided for worship?
13"Quit your worship charades.
I can't stand your trivial religious games:
Monthly conferences, weekly Sabbaths, special meetings--
meetings, meetings, meetings--I can't stand one more!
14Meetings for this, meetings for that. I hate them!
You've worn me out!
I'm sick of your religion, religion, religion,
while you go right on sinning.
15When you put on your next prayer-performance,
I'll be looking the other way.
No matter how long or loud or often you pray,
I'll not be listening.
And do you know why? Because you've been tearing
people to pieces, and your hands are bloody.
16Go home and wash up.
Clean up your act.
Sweep your lives clean of your evildoings
so I don't have to look at them any longer.
Say no to wrong.
17Learn to do good.
Work for justice.
Help the down--and-out.
Stand up for the homeless.
Go to bat for the defenseless.

Let's Argue This Out
18"Come. Sit down. Let's argue this out."
This is GOD's Message:
"If your sins are blood-red,
they'll be snow-white.
If they're red like crimson,
they'll be like wool.
19If you'll willingly obey,
you'll feast like kings.
20But if you're willful and stubborn,
you'll die like dogs."
That's right. GOD says so.

Those Who Walk Out on God
21Oh! Can you believe it? The chaste city
has become a whore!
She was once all justice,
everyone living as good neighbors,
And now they're all
at one another's throats.
22Your coins are all counterfeits.
Your wine is watered down.
23Your leaders are turncoats
who keep company with crooks.
They sell themselves to the highest bidder
and grab anything not nailed down.
They never stand up for the homeless,
never stick up for the defenseless.
24This Decree, therefore, of the Master, GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies,
the Strong One of Israel:
"This is it! I'll get my oppressors off my back.
I'll get back at my enemies.
25I'll give you the back of my hand,
purge the junk from your life, clean you up.
26I'll set honest judges and wise counselors among you
just like it was back in the beginning.
Then you'll be renamed
City-That-Treats-People-Right, the True-Blue City."
27GOD's right ways will put Zion right again.
GOD's right actions will restore her penitents.
28But it's curtains for rebels and GOD-traitors,
a dead end for those who walk out on GOD.
29"Your dalliances in those oak grove shrines
will leave you looking mighty foolish,
All that fooling around in god and goddess gardens
that you thought was the latest thing.
30You'll end up like an oak tree
with all its leaves falling off,
Like an unwatered garden,
withered and brown.
31"The Big Man' will turn out to be dead bark and twigs,
and his "work,' the spark that starts the fire
That exposes man and work both
as nothing but cinders and smoke."

Isaiah 2
Climb God's Mountain

1The Message Isaiah got regarding Judah and Jerusalem:
2There's a day coming
when the mountain of GOD's House
Will be The Mountain--
solid, towering over all mountains.
All nations will river toward it,
people from all over set out for it.
3They'll say, "Come,
let's climb GOD's Mountain,
go to the House of the God of Jacob.
He'll show us the way he works
so we can live the way we're made."
Zion's the source of the revelation.
GOD's Message comes from Jerusalem.
4He'll settle things fairly between nations.
He'll make things right between many peoples.
They'll turn their swords into shovels,
their spears into hoes.
No more will nation fight nation;
they won't play war anymore.
5Come, family of Jacob,
let's live in the light of GOD.
6GOD, you've walked out on your family Jacob
because their world is full of hokey religion,
Philistine witchcraft, and pagan hocus-pocus,
7a world rolling in wealth,
Stuffed with things,
no end to its machines and gadgets,
8And gods--gods of all sorts and sizes.
These people make their own gods and worship what they make.
9A degenerate race, facedown in the gutter.
Don't bother with them! They're not worth forgiving!

Pretentious Egos Brought Down to Earth

10Head for the hills,
hide in the caves
From the terror of GOD,
from his dazzling presence.
11People with a big head are headed for a fall,
pretentious egos brought down a peg.
It's GOD alone at front-and-center
on the Day we're talking about,
12The Day that GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies
is matched against all big-talking rivals,
against all swaggering big names;
13Against all giant sequoias
hugely towering,
and against the expansive chestnut;
14Against Kilimanjaro and Annapurna,
against the ranges of Alps and Andes;
15Against every soaring skyscraper,
against all proud obelisks and statues;
16Against ocean-going luxury liners,
against elegant three-masted schooners.
17The swelled big heads will be punctured bladders,
the pretentious egos brought down to earth,
Leaving GOD alone at front-and-center
on the Day we're talking about.
18And all those sticks and stones
dressed up to look like gods
will be gone for good.
19Clamber into caves in the cliffs,
duck into any hole you can find.
Hide from the terror of GOD,
from his dazzling presence,
When he assumes his full stature on earth,
towering and terrifying.
20On that Day men and women will take
the sticks and stones
They've decked out in gold and silver
to look like gods and then worshiped,
And they will dump them
in any ditch or gully,
21Then run for rock caves
and cliff hideouts
To hide from the terror of GOD,
from his dazzling presence,
When he assumes his full stature on earth,
towering and terrifying.
22Quit scraping and fawning over mere humans,
so full of themselves, so full of hot air!
Can't you see there's nothing to them?

Isaiah 3
Jerusalem on Its Last Legs

1The Master, GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies,
is emptying Jerusalem and Judah
Of all the basic necessities,
plain bread and water to begin with.
2He's withdrawing police and protection,
judges and courts,
pastors and teachers,
3captains and generals,
doctors and nurses,
and, yes, even the repairmen and jacks-of-all--trades.
4He says, "I'll put little kids in charge of the city.
Schoolboys and schoolgirls will order everyone around.
5People will be at each other's throats,
stabbing one another in the back:
Neighbor against neighbor, young against old,
the no-account against the well-respected.
6One brother will grab another and say,
"You look like you've got a head on your shoulders.
Do something!
Get us out of this mess.'
7And he'll say, "Me? Not me! I don't have a clue.
Don't put me in charge of anything.'
8"Jerusalem's on its last legs.
Judah is soon down for the count.
Everything people say and do
is at cross-purposes with GOD,
a slap in my face.
9Brazen in their depravity,
they flout their sins like degenerate Sodom.
Doom to their eternal souls! They've made their bed;
now they'll sleep in it.
10"Reassure the righteous
that their good living will pay off.
11But doom to the wicked! Disaster!
Everything they did will be done to them.
12"Skinny kids terrorize my people.
Silly girls bully them around.
My dear people! Your leaders are taking you down a blind alley.
They're sending you off on a wild goose chase."

A City Brought to Her Knees by Her Sorrows

13GOD enters the courtroom.
He takes his place at the bench to judge his people.
14GOD calls for order in the court,
hauls the leaders of his people into the dock:
"You've played havoc with this country.
Your houses are stuffed with what you've stolen from the poor.
15What is this anyway? Stomping on my people,
grinding the faces of the poor into the dirt?"
That's what the Master,
GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies, says.
16GOD says, "Zion women are stuck-up,
prancing around in their high heels,
Making eyes at all the men in the street,
swinging their hips,
Tossing their hair,
gaudy and garish in cheap jewelry."
17The Master will fix it so those Zion women
will all turn bald--
Scabby, bald--headed women.
The Master will do it.
18The time is coming when the Master will strip them of their fancy baubles-- 19the dangling earrings, anklets and bracelets, 20combs and mirrors and silk scarves, diamond brooches and pearl necklaces, 21the rings on their fingers and the rings on their toes, 22the latest fashions in hats, exotic perfumes and aphrodisiacs, gowns and capes, 23all the world's finest in fabrics and design.
24Instead of wearing seductive scents,
these women are going to smell like rotting cabbages;
Instead of modeling flowing gowns,
they'll be sporting rags;
Instead of their stylish hairdos,
scruffy heads;
Instead of beauty marks,
scabs and scars.
25Your finest fighting men will be killed,
your soldiers left dead on the battlefield.
26The entrance gate to Zion will be clotted
with people mourning their dead--
A city stooped under the weight of her loss,
brought to her knees by her sorrows.

Isaiah 4

1That will be the day when seven women
will gang up on one man, saying,
"We'll take care of ourselves,
get our own food and clothes.
Just give us a child. Make us pregnant
so we'll have something to live for!"

God's Branch

2And that's when GOD's Branch will sprout green and lush. The produce of the country will give Israel's survivors something to be proud of again. Oh, they'll hold their heads high! 3Everyone left behind in Zion, all the discards and rejects in Jerusalem, will be reclassified as "holy"--alive and therefore precious. 4GOD will give Zion's women a good bath. He'll scrub the bloodstained city of its violence and brutality, purge the place with a firestorm of judgment.
5Then GOD will bring back the ancient pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night and mark Mount Zion and everyone in it with his glorious presence, his immense, protective presence, 6shade from the burning sun and shelter from the driving rain.

Isaiah 5
Looking for a Crop of Justice

1I'll sing a ballad to the one I love,
a love ballad about his vineyard:
The one I love had a vineyard,
a fine, well-placed vineyard.
2He hoed the soil and pulled the weeds,
and planted the very best vines.
He built a lookout, built a winepress,
a vineyard to be proud of.
He looked for a vintage yield of grapes,
but for all his pains he got junk grapes.
3"Now listen to what I'm telling you,
you who live in Jerusalem and Judah.
What do you think is going on
between me and my vineyard?
4Can you think of anything I could have done
to my vineyard that I didn't do?
When I expected good grapes,
why did I get bitter grapes?
5"Well now, let me tell you
what I'll do to my vineyard:
I'll tear down its fence
and let it go to ruin.
I'll knock down the gate
and let it be trampled.
6I'll turn it into a patch of weeds, untended, uncared for--
thistles and thorns will take over.
I'll give orders to the clouds:
"Don't rain on that vineyard, ever!'"
7Do you get it? The vineyard of GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies
is the country of Israel.
All the men and women of Judah
are the garden he was so proud of.
He looked for a crop of justice
and saw them murdering each other.
He looked for a harvest of righteousness
and heard only the moans of victims.

You Who Call Evil Good and Good Evil

8Doom to you who buy up all the houses
and grab all the land for yourselves--
Evicting the old owners,
posting NO TRESPASSING signs,
Taking over the country,
leaving everyone homeless and landless.
9I overheard GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies say:
"Those mighty houses will end up empty.
Those extravagant estates will be deserted.
10A ten-acre vineyard will produce a pint of wine,
a fifty-pound sack of seed, a quart of grain."
11Doom to those who get up early
and start drinking booze before breakfast,
Who stay up all hours of the night
drinking themselves into a stupor.
12They make sure their banquets are well-furnished
with harps and flutes and plenty of wine,
But they'll have nothing to do with the work of GOD,
pay no mind to what he is doing.
13Therefore my people will end up in exile
because they don't know the score.
Their "big men" will starve to death
and the common people die of thirst.
14Sheol developed a huge appetite,
swallowing people nonstop!
Big people and little people alike
down that gullet, to say nothing of all the drunks.
15The down--and-out on a par
with the high-and-mighty,
Windbag boasters crumpled,
flaccid as a punctured bladder.
16But by working justice,
GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies will be a mountain.
By working righteousness,
Holy God will show what "holy" is.
17And lambs will graze
as if they owned the place,
Kids and calves
right at home in the ruins.
18Doom to you who use lies to sell evil,
who haul sin to market by the truckload,
19Who say, "What's God waiting for?
Let him get a move on so we can see it.
Whatever The Holy of Israel has cooked up,
we'd like to check it out."
20Doom to you who call evil good
and good evil,
Who put darkness in place of light
and light in place of darkness,
Who substitute bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter!
21Doom to you who think you're so smart,
who hold such a high opinion of yourselves!
22All you're good at is drinking--champion boozers
who collect trophies from drinking bouts
23And then line your pockets with bribes from the guilty
while you violate the rights of the innocent.
24But they won't get by with it. As fire eats stubble
and dry grass goes up in smoke,
Their souls will atrophy,
their achievements crumble into dust,
Because they said no to the revelation
of GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies,
Would have nothing to do
with The Holy of Israel.
25That's why GOD flamed out in anger against his people,
reached out and knocked them down.
The mountains trembled
as their dead bodies piled up in the streets.
But even after that, he was still angry,
his fist still raised, ready to hit them again.
26He raises a flag, signaling a distant nation,
whistles for people at the ends of the earth.
And here they come--
on the run!
27None drag their feet, no one stumbles,
no one sleeps or dawdles.
Shirts are on and pants buckled,
every boot is spit--polished and tied.
28Their arrows are sharp,
bows strung,
The hooves of their horses shod,
chariot wheels greased.
29Roaring like a pride of lions,
the full-throated roars of young lions,
They growl and seize their prey,
dragging it off--no rescue for that one!
30They'll roar and roar and roar on that Day,
like the roar of ocean billows.
Look as long and hard as you like at that land,
you'll see nothing but darkness and trouble.
Every light in the sky
will be blacked out by the clouds.

Isaiah 6
Holy, Holy, Holy!

1In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Master sitting on a throne--high, exalted!-and the train of his robes filled the Temple. 2Angel-seraphs hovered above him, each with six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two their feet, and with two they flew." 3And they called back and forth one to the other,
Holy, Holy, Holy is GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies.
His bright glory fills the whole earth.
4The foundations trembled at the sound of the angel voices, and then the whole house filled with smoke. 5I said,
"Doom! It's Doomsday!
I'm as good as dead!
Every word I've ever spoken is tainted--
blasphemous even!
And the people I live with talk the same way,
using words that corrupt and desecrate.
And here I've looked God in the face!
The King! GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies!"
6Then one of the angel-seraphs flew to me. He held a live coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7He touched my mouth with the coal and said,
"Look. This coal has touched your lips.
Gone your guilt,
your sins wiped out."
8And then I heard the voice of the Master:
"Whom shall I send?
Who will go for us?"
I spoke up,
"I'll go.
Send me!" 9He said, "Go and tell this people:
""Listen hard, but you aren't going to get it;
look hard, but you won't catch on.'
10Make these people blockheads,
with fingers in their ears and blindfolds on their eyes,
So they won't see a thing,
won't hear a word,
So they won't have a clue about what's going on
and, yes, so they won't turn around and be made whole."
11Astonished, I said,
"And Master, how long is this to go on?"
He said, "Until the cities are emptied out,
not a soul left in the cities--
Houses empty of people,
countryside empty of people.
12Until I, GOD, get rid of everyone, sending them off,
the land totally empty.
13And even if some should survive, say a tenth,
the devastation will start up again.
The country will look like pine and oak forest
with every tree cut down--
Every tree a stump, a huge field of stumps.
But there's a holy seed in those stumps."

Isaiah 7
A Virgin Will Bear a Son

1During the time that Ahaz son of Jothan, son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel attacked Jerusalem, but the attack sputtered out. 2When the Davidic government learned that Aram had joined forces with Ephraim (that is, Israel), Ahaz and his people were badly shaken. They shook like trees in the wind.
3Then GOD told Isaiah, "Go and meet Ahaz. Take your son Shear-jashub (A-Remnant-Will-Return) with you. Meet him south of the city at the end of the aqueduct where it empties into the upper pool on the road to the public laundry. 4Tell him, Listen, calm down. Don't be afraid. And don't panic over these two burnt-out cases, Rezin of Aram and the son of Remaliah. They talk big but there's nothing to them. 5Aram, along with Ephraim's son of Remaliah, have plotted to do you harm. They've conspired against you, saying, 6"Let's go to war against Judah, dismember it, take it for ourselves, and set the son of Tabeel up as a puppet king over it.'
7But GOD, the Master, says,
"It won't happen.
Nothing will come of it
8Because the capital of Aram is Damascus
and the king of Damascus is a mere man, Rezin.
As for Ephraim, in sixty-five years
it will be rubble, nothing left of it.
9The capital of Ephraim is Samaria,
and the king of Samaria is the mere son of Remaliah.
If you don't take your stand in faith,
you won't have a leg to stand on." 10GOD spoke again to Ahaz. This time he said, 11"Ask for a sign from your GOD. Ask anything. Be extravagant. Ask for the moon!"
12But Ahaz said, "I'd never do that. I'd never make demands like that on GOD!"
13So Isaiah told him, "Then listen to this, government of David! It's bad enough that you make people tired with your pious, timid hypocrisies, but now you're making God tired. 14So the Master is going to give you a sign anyway. Watch for this: A girl who is presently a virgin will get pregnant. She'll bear a son and name him Immanuel (God-With-Us). 15By the time the child is twelve years old, able to make moral decisions, 16the threat of war will be over. Relax, those two kings that have you so worried will be out of the picture. 17But also be warned: GOD will bring on you and your people and your government a judgment worse than anything since the time the kingdom split, when Ephraim left Judah. The king of Assyria is coming!"
18That's when GOD will whistle for the flies at the headwaters of Egypt's Nile, and whistle for the bees in the land of Assyria. 19They'll come and infest every nook and cranny of this country. There'll be no getting away from them.
20And that's when the Master will take the razor rented from across the Euphrates--the king of Assyria no less!-and shave the hair off your heads and genitals, leaving you shamed, exposed, and denuded. He'll shave off your beards while he's at it.
21It will be a time when survivors will count themselves lucky to have a cow and a couple of sheep. 22At least they'll have plenty of milk! Whoever's left in the land will learn to make do with the simplest foods--curds, say, and honey.
23But that's not the end of it. This country that used to be covered with fine vineyards--thousands of them, worth millions!-will revert to a weed patch. 24Weeds and thorn bushes everywhere! Good for nothing except, perhaps, hunting rabbits. 25Cattle and sheep will forage as best they can in the fields of weeds--but there won't be a trace of all those fertile and well-tended gardens and fields.

---

What it means to me:
Ok, so I chose Isaiah really b/c God told me to read it on Sunday evening but I kinda failed the whole obedience at once thing, by procrastinating and playing video games and writing my chemistry lab instead. So I'm doing it now, sorry this is late Jesus.

Anyway, Isaiah, if you could list some of the most famous people in the old testament, I'm pretty sure Isaiah would be on that list. Anyway, I'm kinda like Isaiah, I get prophetic words from God as well, where I fail, is to share them more with the body, but then again, I don't really feel comfortable with my body of believers.

So ya, Isaiah. Basically God is angry at his chosen people, if your not into the whole Old testament, which really I haven't read all of it, I'm still trying to interpret the New testament, I think I should go over some of this with Cory, but then again, he doesn't read my blogs even though I favorited them on his computer.

So ya, Isaiah, I'm really confused by a bunch of this, I'd really like it if someone went over it with me so I have a better understanding, I'll put memory verses and such afterwards, I want to pick stuff out that speaks to me, but right now it's uber confusing. Help!

-Brent

Day Twenty

Scripture Read:
Ok today is a bit different, since I spent the day reading all of 1 Thessalonians, for day 20 I wanted to just talk about a song I heard a few weeks ago on the radio that really spoke to me.

I'll host the mp3 on one of my servers, so you can look for the link below.

It's the song called "What if" writen by Nicole Nordeman who is a very talented composer.

Basically the words that spoke to me is the lyrics to this song.

"What if you're right and he was just another nice guy?
What if you're right?
What if it's true? They say the cross will only make a fool of you.
And what if it's true?
What if he takes his palace in history, with all the prophets and the kings who taught us love and came in peace, but then the story ends?
What then?

But what if you're wrong?
What if there's more?
What if there's hope you never dreamed of hoping for?
What if you jump?
And just close your eyes?
What if the arms that catch you, catch you by surprise?
What if He's more than enough?
What if it's love?

What if you dig, What if you dig way down deeper than your simple-minded friends?
What if you dig?
What if you find a thousand more unanswered questions inside?
That's all you find.
What if you pick apart the logic and begin to poke the holes?
What if the crown of thorns is no more then folklore that must be told and retold

But what if you're wrong?
What if there's more?
What if there's hope you never dreamed of hoping for?
What if you jump?
And just close your eyes?
What if the arms that catch you, catch you by surprise?
What if He's more than enough?
What if it's love?

You've been running as fast as you can, you’ve been looking for a place you can land, for so long.
But what if you're wrong?
What if you jump?
And just close your eyes?
What if the arms that catch you, catch you by surprise?
What if He's more than enough?
What if it's love?

---

What it means to me:

In this song there are far more What if's for if God isn't real than if he is. That shows two things, the argument that if Jesus truely wasn't the son of God would be supported on a bunch of What if's, and if your going to make the argument that God isn't real by saying to "What if he isn't real?" then you also must ask yourself what if your wrong? To me it's a very powerful song, that also speaks to me.

I don't know about you at all, but if you can comprehend for a second, and take Jesus seriously about the fact that who he said he was is who he is ( not saying that I don't believe), your whole outlook for that second is going to change. Its just so hard to truely get the full grasp of it. This guy was the son of God. God in flesh. On earth, with us, knowing what its like to go through all the crap we deal with and more, and to make a huge sacrifice like he did. Can you honestly say that you can fully comprehend the agony he went through. I think as Christians we don't focus on the realness of Jesus Christ enough and this song basically challenges that. You either believe or you don't, I don't think you can be sitting on the fence about this.

Basically if you can understand what I'm saying here, then post a comment. Heck post a comment anyways. But take some time to imagine the realness of Jesus Christ before you post that comment.

---

Memory Verse:
"Jesus once again addressed them: 'I am the world's Light. No one who follows me stumbles around in the darkness. I provide plenty of light to live in.'"
John 8:12

---

Download File

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-Brent

Day Fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen, Eighteen, and Nineteen

Scripture Read:
1 Thessalonians 1
1I, Paul, together here with Silas and Timothy, send greetings to the church at Thessalonica, Christians assembled by God the Father and by the Master, Jesus Christ. God's amazing grace be with you! God's robust peace!

Convictions of Steel
2Every time we think of you, we thank God for you. Day and night you're in our prayers 3as we call to mind your work of faith, your labor of love, and your patience of hope in following our Master, Jesus Christ, before God our Father. 4It is clear to us, friends, that God not only loves you very much but also has put his hand on you for something special. 5When the Message we preached came to you, it wasn't just words. Something happened in you. The Holy Spirit put steel in your convictions.
You paid careful attention to the way we lived among you, 6and determined to live that way yourselves. In imitating us, you imitated the Master. Although great trouble accompanied the Word, you were able to take great joy from the Holy Spirit!-taking the trouble with the joy, the joy with the trouble.
7Do you know that all over the provinces of both Macedonia and Achaia believers look up to you? 8The word has gotten around. Your lives are echoing the Master's Word, not only in the provinces but all over the place. The news of your faith in God is out. We don't even have to say anything anymore--you're the message! 9People come up and tell us how you received us with open arms, how you deserted the dead idols of your old life so you could embrace and serve God, the true God. 10They marvel at how expectantly you await the arrival of his Son, whom he raised from the dead--Jesus, who rescued us from certain doom.

1 Thessalonians 2
1So, friends, it's obvious that our visit to you was no waste of time. 2We had just been given rough treatment in Philippi, as you know, but that didn't slow us down. We were sure of ourselves in God, and went right ahead and said our piece, presenting God's Message to you, defiant of the opposition.

No Hidden Agendas
3God tested us thoroughly to make sure we were qualified to be trusted with this Message. 4Be assured that when we speak to you we're not after crowd approval--only God approval. Since we've been put through that battery of tests, you're guaranteed that both we and the Message are free of error, mixed motives, or hidden agendas. 5We never used words to butter you up. No one knows that better than you. And God knows we never used words as a smoke screen to take advantage of you.
6Even though we had some standing as Christ's apostles, we never threw our weight around or tried to come across as important, with you or anyone else. 7We weren't aloof with you. We took you just as you were. We were never patronizing, never condescending, but we cared for you the way a mother cares for her children. 8We loved you dearly. Not content to just pass on the Message, we wanted to give you our hearts. And we did.
9You remember us in those days, friends, working our fingers to the bone, up half the night, moonlighting so you wouldn't have the burden of supporting us while we proclaimed God's Message to you. 10You saw with your own eyes how discreet and courteous we were among you, with keen sensitivity to you as fellow believers. And God knows we weren't freeloaders! 11You experienced it all firsthand. With each of you we were like a father with his child, 12holding your hand, whispering encouragement, showing you step-by-step how to live well before God, who called us into his own kingdom, into this delightful life.
13And now we look back on all this and thank God, an artesian well of thanks! When you got the Message of God we preached, you didn't pass it off as just one more human opinion, but you took it to heart as God's true word to you, which it is, God himself at work in you believers!
14Friends, do you realize that you followed in the exact footsteps of the churches of God in Judea, those who were the first to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ? You got the same bad treatment from your countrymen as they did from theirs, the Jews 15who killed the Master Jesus (to say nothing of the prophets) and followed it up by running us out of town. They make themselves offensive to God and everyone else 16by trying to keep us from telling people who've never heard of our God how to be saved. They've made a career of opposing God, and have gotten mighty good at it. But God is fed up, ready to put an end to it. 17Do you have any idea how very homesick we became for you, dear friends? Even though it hadn't been that long and it was only our bodies that were separated from you, not our hearts, we tried our very best to get back to see you. 18You can't imagine how much we missed you! I, Paul, tried over and over to get back, but Satan stymied us each time. 19Who do you think we're going to be proud of when our Master Jesus appears if it's not you? 20You're our pride and joy!

1 Thessalonians 3
1So when we couldn't stand being separated from you any longer and could find no way to visit you ourselves, we stayed in Athens 2and sent Timothy to get you up and about, cheering you on so you wouldn't be discouraged by these hard times. He's a brother and companion in the faith, God's man in spreading the Message, preaching Christ.
3Not that the troubles should come as any surprise to you. You've always known that we're in for this kind of thing. It's part of our calling. 4When we were with you, we made it quite clear that there was trouble ahead. And now that it's happened, you know what it's like. 5That's why I couldn't quit worrying; I had to know for myself how you were doing in the faith. I didn't want the Tempter getting to you and tearing down everything we had built up together.
6But now that Timothy is back, bringing this terrific report on your faith and love, we feel a lot better. It's especially gratifying to know that you continue to think well of us, and that you want to see us as much as we want to see you! 7In the middle of our trouble and hard times here, just knowing how you're doing keeps us going. 8Knowing that your faith is alive keeps us alive.
9What would be an adequate thanksgiving to offer God for all the joy we experience before him because of you? 10We do what we can, praying away, night and day, asking for the bonus of seeing your faces again and doing what we can to help when your faith falters.
11May God our Father himself and our Master Jesus clear the road to you! 12And may the Master pour on the love so it fills your lives and splashes over on everyone around you, just as it does from us to you. 13May you be infused with strength and purity, filled with confidence in the presence of God our Father when our Master Jesus arrives with all his followers.

1 Thessalonians 4
You're God-Taught 1One final word, friends. We ask you--urge is more like it--that you keep on doing what we told you to do to please God, not in a dogged religious plod, but in a living, spirited dance. 2You know the guidelines we laid out for you from the Master Jesus. 3God wants you to live a pure life.
Keep yourselves from sexual promiscuity.
4Learn to appreciate and give dignity to your body, 5not abusing it, as is so common among those who know nothing of God.
6Don't run roughshod over the concerns of your brothers and sisters. Their concerns are God's concerns, and he will take care of them. We've warned you about this before. 7God hasn't invited us into a disorderly, unkempt life but into something holy and beautiful--as beautiful on the inside as the outside.
8If you disregard this advice, you're not offending your neighbors; you're rejecting God, who is making you a gift of his Holy Spirit.
9Regarding life together and getting along with each other, you don't need me to tell you what to do. You're God-taught in these matters. Just love one another! 10You're already good at it; your friends all over the province of Macedonia are the evidence. Keep it up; get better and better at it.
11Stay calm; mind your own business; do your own job. You've heard all this from us before, but a reminder never hurts. 12We want you living in a way that will command the respect of outsiders, not lying around sponging off your friends.

The Master's Coming
13And regarding the question, friends, that has come up about what happens to those already dead and buried, we don't want you in the dark any longer. First off, you must not carry on over them like people who have nothing to look forward to, as if the grave were the last word. 14Since Jesus died and broke loose from the grave, God will most certainly bring back to life those who died in Jesus.
15And then this: We can tell you with complete confidence--we have the Master's word on it--that when the Master comes again to get us, those of us who are still alive will not get a jump on the dead and leave them behind. In actual fact, they'll be ahead of us. 16The Master himself will give the command. Archangel thunder! God's trumpet blast! He'll come down from heaven and the dead in Christ will rise--they'll go first. 17Then the rest of us who are still alive at the time will be caught up with them into the clouds to meet the Master. 18Oh, we'll be walking on air! And then there will be one huge family reunion with the Master. So reassure one another with these words.

1 Thessalonians 5
1I don't think, friends, that I need to deal with the question of when all this is going to happen. 2You know as well as I that the day of the Master's coming can't be posted on our calendars. He won't call ahead and make an appointment any more than a burglar would. 3About the time everybody's walking around complacently, congratulating each other--"We've sure got it made! Now we can take it easy!"-suddenly everything will fall apart. It's going to come as suddenly and inescapably as birth pangs to a pregnant woman.
4But friends, you're not in the dark, so how could you be taken off guard by any of this? 5You're sons of Light, daughters of Day. We live under wide open skies and know where we stand. 6So let's not sleepwalk through life like those others. Let's keep our eyes open and be smart. 7People sleep at night and get drunk at night. 8But not us! Since we're creatures of Day, let's act like it. Walk out into the daylight sober, dressed up in faith, love, and the hope of salvation.
9God didn't set us up for an angry rejection but for salvation by our Master, Jesus Christ. 10He died for us, a death that triggered life. Whether we're awake with the living or asleep with the dead, we're alive with him! 11So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you'll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you're already doing this; just keep on doing it.

The Way He Wants You to Live
12And now, friends, we ask you to honor those leaders who work so hard for you, who have been given the responsibility of urging and guiding you along in your obedience. 13Overwhelm them with appreciation and love!
Get along among yourselves, each of you doing your part. 14Our counsel is that you warn the freeloaders to get a move on. Gently encourage the stragglers, and reach out for the exhausted, pulling them to their feet. Be patient with each person, attentive to individual needs. 15And be careful that when you get on each other's nerves you don't snap at each other. Look for the best in each other, and always do your best to bring it out.
16Be cheerful no matter what; 17pray all the time; 18thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.
19Don't suppress the Spirit, 20and don't stifle those who have a word from the Master. 21On the other hand, don't be gullible. Check out everything, and keep only what's good. 22Throw out anything tainted with evil.
23May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together--spirit, soul, and body--and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. 24The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he'll do it!
25Friends, keep up your prayers for us. 26Greet all the Christians there with a holy embrace. 27And make sure this letter gets read to all the brothers and sisters. Don't leave anyone out.
28The amazing grace of Jesus Christ be with you!

---

What it means to me:
See my original excuse as to why I didn't post was because I couldn't think of anything good next to read and memorize. But then God hit me in the face with the fact that everything in the bible is worth memorizing, especially the genology of Jesus Christ, so don't bother bringing that up.

So Thessalonians. If only all body of believers were like this Church. But were not, and that's why we are all unique and such. But let me point out to you some of the things Paul states that this Church has that are essential for a good church to have.

Faithful, Patient for the Return of the Lord, Loving, Living a Christ like life, perservering through trials ( in this case, having joy), turned from their wicked old lives and much more.

I know I don't have all those qualities, and I know I need to definitly work on some of them.

Paul then talks about how God tests his apostles ( which includes us today) so that we speak the word of God with the truth of God. What that means is the words they taught were didn't have a motive of teaching behind it only a motive of truth. Even if the truth offended those they taught it had to be said, for it came right from God. Makes you want to persevere more trials eh?

Then Paul, whom in the Message translation, seems to lack humility, talks about how we as Christians shouldn't act superior, but rather serve the ones we teach, not to be lazy and act like kings. Well thats what it says to me, but then again this whole section is about that right?

Then in chapter four is where it really applies to me lately. Doing stuff to please God instead of doing it because you have to. God wants us to live a pure life for him, then Paul urges us not to abuse our bodies, which for one I haven't in the mind set of deformity but there are many other ways to abuse your body, like for example letting it control you via you eat when your hungry, go to bed when your tired. ( I won't forget to fast Cory, you can be sure of that).

Also Paul talks about Judging others, and how that matter is best left for God in verse six.
God has called us to live a holy life, so obey the teachings and live them out.

Love everyone, no matter what. For we have been forgiven so we can forgive.

Then we go into a little bit of the rapture which is always good.

We don't have to worry though is the whole point at the end, for we are already in God's family, now we just need to finish the work God has given us to prepare us for eternity.

"And now, friends, we ask you to honor those leaders who work so hard for you, who have been given the responsibility of urging and guiding you along in your obedience. 13Overwhelm them with appreciation and love!
Get along among yourselves, each of you doing your part. 14Our counsel is that you warn the freeloaders to get a move on. Gently encourage the stragglers, and reach out for the exhausted, pulling them to their feet. Be patient with each person, attentive to individual needs. 15And be careful that when you get on each other's nerves you don't snap at each other. Look for the best in each other, and always do your best to bring it out.
16Be cheerful no matter what; 17pray all the time; 18thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.
19Don't suppress the Spirit, 20and don't stifle those who have a word from the Master. 21On the other hand, don't be gullible. Check out everything, and keep only what's good. 22Throw out anything tainted with evil."

Seriously such a great list there of what we need to do.
I don't know about you, but I'm sure as heck going to do what it takes to bring pleasure to my God.

---

Memory Verses:

"For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord."

1 Thessalonians 3:8(NIV)

"Learn to appreciate and give dignity to your body,"

1 Thessalonians 4:4(Msg)

"Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens."

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18

"Throw out anything tainted with evil."

1 Thessalonians 4:22

Day Fourteen

Scripture Read:
2 Peter 3
In the Last Days
1My dear friends, this is now the second time I've written to you, both letters reminders to hold your minds in a state of undistracted attention. 2Keep in mind what the holy prophets said, and the command of our Master and Savior that was passed on by your apostles.
3First off, you need to know that in the last days, mockers are going to have a heyday. Reducing everything to the level of their puny feelings, 4they'll mock, "So what's happened to the promise of his Coming? Our ancestors are dead and buried, and everything's going on just as it has from the first day of creation. Nothing's changed."
5They conveniently forget that long ago all the galaxies and this very planet were brought into existence out of watery chaos by God's word. 6Then God's word brought the chaos back in a flood that destroyed the world. 7The current galaxies and earth are fuel for the final fire. God is poised, ready to speak his word again, ready to give the signal for the judgment and destruction of the desecrating skeptics.

The Day the Sky Will Collapse
8Don't overlook the obvious here, friends. With God, one day is as good as a thousand years, a thousand years as a day. 9God isn't late with his promise as some measure lateness. He is restraining himself on account of you, holding back the End because he doesn't want anyone lost. He's giving everyone space and time to change.
10But when the Day of God's Judgment does come, it will be unannounced, like a thief. The sky will collapse with a thunderous bang, everything disintegrating in a huge conflagration, earth and all its works exposed to the scrutiny of Judgment.
11Since everything here today might well be gone tomorrow, do you see how essential it is to live a holy life? 12Daily expect the Day of God, eager for its arrival. The galaxies will burn up and the elements melt down that day-- 13but we'll hardly notice. We'll be looking the other way, ready for the promised new heavens and the promised new earth, all landscaped with righteousness. 14So, my dear friends, since this is what you have to look forward to, do your very best to be found living at your best, in purity and peace. 15Interpret our Master's patient restraint for what it is: salvation. Our good brother Paul, who was given much wisdom in these matters, 16refers to this in all his letters, and has written you essentially the same thing. Some things Paul writes are difficult to understand. Irresponsible people who don't know what they are talking about twist them every which way. They do it to the rest of the Scriptures, too, destroying themselves as they do it.
17But you, friends, are well-warned. Be on guard lest you lose your footing and get swept off your feet by these lawless and loose-talking teachers. 18Grow in grace and understanding of our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Glory to the Master, now and forever! Yes!

---

What it means to me:
Darn Karyn Baker, chapter three does rock my socks off. So were've got to be ready to be mocked. woot persecution! Bring it Satan. My God word is with me and I shall not fall. The mockery will end, oh yes, it will. "God is poised, ready to speak his word again, ready to give the signal for the judgment and destruction of the desecrating skeptics." I love it, so true. But he is very merciful in giving everyone enough time to change, he wants to win back the world. He's God, he loves us so much, he bled and died for us. Now that is love. God isn't late with his promises, your just impatient, God's timing is God's timing, it's perfect, don't forget that. Your reward is coming, still, the day of judgement will come as a surprise, but to those who believe, it will be like nothing has changed, for if you've been living a Christ like life, you have a grasp of what is in store in heaven. Live for today, in the set that it will be your last, because it could be, the day of judegment could come tomorrow. If it does, this blog probably will go unread, but I'm prepared to face that fact. God is patient with his judgement, be glad and use that time to win another for Jesus.

---

Memory Verse:
"Since everything here today might well be gone tomorrow, do you see how essential it is to live a holy life?"
2 Peter 3:11 (Msg)

Day Twelve and Thirteen

Scripture Read:
2 Peter 1
1I, Simon Peter, am a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ. I write this to you whose experience with God is as life-changing as ours, all due to our God's straight dealing and the intervention of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. 2Grace and peace to you many times over as you deepen in your experience with God and Jesus, our Master.

Don't Put It Off
3Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received! 4We were also given absolutely terrific promises to pass on to you--your tickets to participation in the life of God after you turned your back on a world corrupted by lust.
5So don't lose a minute in building on what you've been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, 6alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, 7warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. 8With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus. 9Without these qualities you can't see what's right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books.
10So, friends, confirm God's invitation to you, his choice of you. Don't put it off; do it now. Do this, and you'll have your life on a firm footing, 11the streets paved and the way wide open into the eternal kingdom of our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The One Light in a Dark Time
12Because the stakes are so high, even though you're up-to-date on all this truth and practice it inside and out, I'm not going to let up for a minute in calling you to attention before it. 13This is the post to which I've been assigned--keeping you alert with frequent reminders--and I'm sticking to it as long as I live. 14I know that I'm to die soon; the Master has made that quite clear to me. 15And so I am especially eager that you have all this down in black and white so that after I die, you'll have it for ready reference.
16We weren't, you know, just wishing on a star when we laid the facts out before you regarding the powerful return of our Master, Jesus Christ. We were there for the preview! We saw it with our own eyes: 17Jesus resplendent with light from God the Father as the voice of Majestic Glory spoke: "This is my Son, marked by my love, focus of all my delight." 18We were there on the holy mountain with him. We heard the voice out of heaven with our very own ears.
19We couldn't be more sure of what we saw and heard--God's glory, God's voice. The prophetic Word was confirmed to us. You'll do well to keep focusing on it. It's the one light you have in a dark time as you wait for daybreak and the rising of the Morning Star in your hearts. 20The main thing to keep in mind here is that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of private opinion. 21And why? Because it's not something concocted in the human heart. Prophecy resulted when the Holy Spirit prompted men and women to speak God's Word.

2 Peter 2
Lying Religious Leaders
1But there were also lying prophets among the people then, just as there will be lying religious teachers among you. They'll smuggle in destructive divisions, pitting you against each other--biting the hand of the One who gave them a chance to have their lives back! They've put themselves on a fast downhill slide to destruction, 2but not before they recruit a crowd of mixed-up followers who can't tell right from wrong.
They give the way of truth a bad name. 3They're only out for themselves. They'll say anything, anything, that sounds good to exploit you. They won't, of course, get by with it. They'll come to a bad end, for God has never just stood by and let that kind of thing go on.
4God didn't let the rebel angels off the hook, but jailed them in hell till Judgment Day. 5Neither did he let the ancient ungodly world off. He wiped it out with a flood, rescuing only eight people--Noah, the sole voice of righteousness, was one of them.
6God decreed destruction for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. A mound of ashes was all that was left--grim warning to anyone bent on an ungodly life. 7But that good man Lot, driven nearly out of his mind by the sexual filth and perversity, was rescued. 8Surrounded by moral rot day after day after day, that righteous man was in constant torment.
9So God knows how to rescue the godly from evil trials. And he knows how to hold the feet of the wicked to the fire until Judgment Day.

Predators on the Prowl
10God is especially incensed against these "teachers" who live by lust, addicted to a filthy existence. They despise interference from true authority, preferring to indulge in self-rule. Insolent egotists, they don't hesitate to speak evil against the most splendid of creatures. 11Even angels, their superiors in every way, wouldn't think of throwing their weight around like that, trying to slander others before God.
12These people are nothing but brute beasts, born in the wild, predators on the prowl. In the very act of bringing down others with their ignorant blasphemies, they themselves will be brought down, losers in the end. 13Their evil will boomerang on them. They're so despicable and addicted to pleasure that they indulge in wild parties, carousing in broad daylight. 14They're obsessed with adultery, compulsive in sin, seducing every vulnerable soul they come upon. Their specialty is greed, and they're experts at it. Dead souls!
15They've left the main road and are directionless, having taken the way of Balaam, son of Beor, the prophet who turned profiteer, a connoisseur of evil. 16But Balaam was stopped in his wayward tracks: A dumb animal spoke in a human voice and prevented the prophet's craziness.
17There's nothing to these people--they're dried-up fountains, storm-scattered clouds, headed for a black hole in hell. 18They are loudmouths, full of hot air, but still they're dangerous. Men and women who have recently escaped from a deviant life are most susceptible to their brand of seduction. 19They promise these newcomers freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption, for if they're addicted to corruption--and they are--they're enslaved.
20If they've escaped from the slum of sin by experiencing our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ, and then slid back into that same old life again, they're worse than if they had never left. 21Better not to have started out on the straight road to God than to start out and then turn back, repudiating the experience and the holy command. 22They prove the point of the proverbs, "A dog goes back to its own vomit," and, "A scrubbed-up pig heads for the mud."

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What it means to me:
Don't procrastinate in developing the gifts God has given you. Peter lists a bunch of other stuff we can develop to have a stronger relationship with our Master. From faith, to sharing our wisdom to others through teaching, God wants to develop the skills we have been given not just for him, but also to help the body of believers. You will reap what you sow afterall. Look to Jesus in the darkest times and you will find peace. He will help you in times of trouble. I'm not saying he's going to make all your problems disappear, no in fact most of out circumstances are needed in order to shape us more like Christ. What I'm saying is, turn to Christ and he will show you how to succeed. The prophetic words you hear, and you will hear prophetic words, trust me, there an example of the first part of this chapter. Where we should teach others the wisdom we've been given, well the prophetic words you hear, can help other believers, don't be selfish, share what God has laid on your heart with your family. I love 1st and 2nd Peter, because it assures me of what waits in heaven, what I should look out for on earth, and what I should be doing while I wait for my reward.

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Memory Verses:
"So, friends, confirm God's invitation to you, his choice of you. Don't put it off; do it now. Do this, and you'll have your life on a firm footing, "
2 Peter 1:10 (Msg)

"It would be better if they had never known the right way to live than to know it and then reject the holy commandments that were given to them."
2 Peter 2:21 (NLT)