Do you trust God?

Hey,
It's been a while since I've actually published anything here. I've sat down quite a few time and begun writing something, but it just never got finished for one reason or another. But. I finally got this one up!

This past year has been unique for me in quite a few ways. But there has also been a consistent theme, God working on me to trust Him and release control of my life to Him. I think I can sum it up as the difference between "trusting God" and Trusting God.

Trusting God can be a cliche concept in our modern Christian culture. You hear it in prayer, you hear it in conversation, and you hear it from the pulpit. And I think that, at an intellectual level, most Christians "trust God." But I feel like so many less Christians actually practice what they believe. I know in my life, while in my head, I would say that I trust God in a lot of ways, the way I live my life says something different. And while it may not seem like a big deal in the little areas of life, it really can make a difference when when the storms of life hit. That's when you figure out if you built you're life on the sand of "trusting God" or the firm foundation of Trusting God. Jerry Bridges defines trust as "Trust is not a passive state of mind. It is a vigorous act of the soul by which we choose to lay hold on the promises of God and cling to them despite the adversity that at times seeks to overwhelms us." Trust isn't something you can "set and forget." It's something that has to be constantly monitored. It requires effort on our part. God will always be there, and He can handle any and everything we give to Him.

A few months back i heard a sermon on Matthew 14, where Jesus walks on the water. And paraphrasing the story, Peter sees Him, and says "If that is you Lord, tell me to walk on the water too you!" So Jesus does. And Peter walks on the water. But it doesn't end there. Think about a lake, and think of it first thing in the morning when its like glass. Not a ripple to be seen. Think how easy it would be for Jesus to say to you, "Walk to me on this water", boom, you step on it and you are on your way! But, this lake was anything but glass, it says the boat was getting pounded by waves and the wind was against them. We're talking STORM here! So there Peter is, walking on the water in this crazy storm, and he starts looking around. He sees huge waves, the sails of the boat snapping and tugging, being beat by the wind. And he becomes scared.... well duh! I, like Peter am not perfect, and when the storms of life are around me, I tend to look at them instead of Jesus too. But, Peter knows who is help is in times of trouble, when he begins to sink he calls for Jesus. And Jesus takes his hand, and they walk back to the boat together in the midst of the storm. And that's the other thing, God isn't going to always calm the storms of out life, but He'll always be there to walk through them with us if we are willing to let Him

But that's the catch. We have to give it to Him. God will very rarely come just take our problems from us. He's there. He's willing. He's able. But it take us giving it to Him. Now that may sound like He doesn't care. Which is completely opposite. He's cares more then we can imagine. And because of how much He cares he DOESN'T get involved unless we are willing to release it.

Think about a car. There can only be one driver. Imagine if there were two steering wheels, two gas pedals, two brakes, and two drivers all only controlling one car? It would be a disaster! In the same way with our life, God and I can't both be in control at the same time. It just doesn't work.

This where God has been working on me. At one point I specifically remember Him asking me, "Do you trust me to be in control of this situation" and I said yes. Three times he asked me that, each time I said yes, I wanted Him in control, I wanted Him driving that car. Shortly after He took that situation and changed the direction that the car was driving. And honestly I still don't know where the car is headed. and a few times I've come really close to wrestling the steering wheel out of His hands. But I know this. I know that He is a good God. I know that He loves me more then anyone ever can or ever will I know that he wants whats best for my life more then I do. And if I can trust Him, He will take me to places I can never dream of.

As the title of this blog says "God+Me=God" but that only works if you add God   

PS, these are a couple of awesome worship songs that I have been listening to a lot:
Good Good Father - Chris Tomlin
Head to the Heart - United Pursuit

His Hand

Do you feel stuck
With nowhere to go
Do you feel 
Like you have nothing to show
Your life is racing by
Like you're at a nascar race
And nobody's noticing 
The tears on your face
Do you feel like you've slipped
Right out of His hand
You're lost 
And abandoned
And you've got no plan

But He's here's 
For you
He's walking right beside you 
'Cause He's been there too
There isn't a struggle that he hasn't faced
He looked death in the eye and he finished the race
And He gunna be with you 
Right through to the end. 
So if you're lost and abandoned
And you've got no plan
Reach up beside you
Cause He's holding out
His hand

You or God?

The story of Joseph and his getting some into slavery is often taught as a story about how God "works all things together for good for those who love him." Which is true. But there is another story line that is sometimes is missed. And that is the story of Joseph's trust in God. But not only his faith but how God grew him through trials. Because I don't think before he was sold into slavery he was the most humble guy. I mean he shared two separate dreams about how his family will bow down to him. Being one of the youngest of a large family I get it. I get the idea of wanting to be greater then my older siblings. But I think that God wanted to teach Joseph something. I think he wanted him to experience a lack of control and to rely completely on God. Cause Jacob (his dad) was a pretty wealthy guy. And we see in Gen 37:3 that "Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons". And even gave him a coat of many colors. He probably had a couple of servants and probably got whatever he wanted from his dad. And as we look at the story, he isn't the one who is out watching the sheep, its his older brothers. He is at home. So this is a little bit of speculation, but I think that Joseph might have been pretty conceited, and a little full of himself. And you know what that means... "God opposed the proud but gives grace to the humble." Now I'm not saying that Joseph was this horrible, awful person who God was going to teach a lesson too. No, that's not the point. He is the point I am trying to make. From our estimation Joseph was a God fearing man. And God wanted to do something great with him. But as will all great people in the bible, God needed them to experience the need. The need for HIM to be the center and their sole reliance. When Joseph went out to check on his brothers, God wasn't like "oh hey i have an idea to humble Joseph" It wasn't a coincidence that Reuben convinced them to not kill him immediately, but to put him in a pit. And it wasn't a coincidence that a caravan just happen to pass them by giving the brothers an opportunity to sell him into slavery. Now this is where the story hinges. Joseph has a choice. He could have been bitter at his brothers, and at God for putting him in that situation. And he had a lot of time to think about it. It was about a 200+ mile journey to get to Egypt from Canaan.
Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, bought him from the Ishmaelites, who had taken him down there. The LORD was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. Gen 39:1-2
We see what choice the Joseph made. He allowed this time to be a refining time for him. And to allow God to work within him, and when God is working in us he causes up to prosper. Cause God's plans are so much better then anything we can come up with on our own.

Who is going to run your life? You or God?
Your choice...

Frequency, Equalization, and Gardening

As a lot of you know I enjoy running sound. And while I wouldn't call myself great I think I can hold my own. So in the last year or so I have finally figured out just how EQ works in a sound system and how to make it do what you want it to do. So just so that everyone can understand where I am going with this let me give a quick overview of sound frequency. Basically we can hear sound that range from approx 60hz all the way up to approx 16Khz. If you want to know more about it check out this chart:

So back to why I am explaining all this. So the friend of mine who ended up really teaching me about EQ and how to properly use it explained to me a method of "Subtraction EQ." This method is where you find the frequencies that are bad, feeding back, or are not not supposed to be there and taking them out to just leave the good, clean sound of whatever is being played. 

So this week up at camp we were studying John 15:1-17 in our bible studies. That's the passage that talks about abiding in Christ and how He is the vine and we are the branches. And in verse 2 Jesus is talking and says "Every branch that bears fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit." So I was thinking about pruning and I was thinking about subtraction EQ. And I was thinking about how those 2 things were pretty similar when you boiled it down. God takes those areas of our life that are bad, distracting, or are not supposed to be there and cuts them off in the same way that when I heard a bad sound I take it out of the sound mix. Its that refining process that Peter talks about: 

In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
~ 1 Peter 1:6-9   

Depraved Indifferance

I found out about an interested law today. It is called Depraved Indifferance. 

"To constitute depraved indifference, the defendant's conduct must be 'so wanton, so deficient in a moral sense of concern, so lacking in regard for the life or lives of others, and so blameworthy as to warrant the same criminal liability as that which the law imposes upon a person who intentionally causes a crime. " ~Legal Definition

"DEPRAVED INDIFFERENCE TO HUMAN LIFE refers to a
person’s state of mind in recklessly engaging in conduct which
creates a grave risk of death. A person has a depraved
indifference to human life when that person has an utter disregard
for the value of human life – a willingness to act, not because he
or she means to cause grievous harm [to the person who is
killed], but because he or she simply does not care whether or not
grievous harm will result. In other words, a person who is
depravedly indifferent is not just willing to take a grossly
unreasonable risk to human life - - that person does not care how
the risk turns out. Depraved indifference to human life reflects
a wicked, evil or inhuman state of mind, as manifested by brutal,
heinous and despicable acts. It is evinced by conduct that is
wanton, deficient in a moral sense of concern, devoid of regard for 

the life or lives of others, and so blameworthy as to justify the
same criminal liability that the law imposes on a person who intentionally kills." 

~New York Courts

I think Eric Ludy sums it up well:

The Mask

Very few see you without it
It’s something you always put on
It has gotten so natural
We fool ourselves into thinking nothing’s wrong

Deception is the true name of the game
We call it putting a good foot forward
All we are doing is the “right thing”
Thats not true and we know it

What is that symbol of we we are thought to be
Got ripped off showing what we truly are
Could we put the pieces back together fast enough
So that nobody would ever notice

or

Would be allow the One
Who so wants us just to be real
To pick up the pieces of a shattered life
Which is filth to begin with

and to

Mold us
Transform us
Renew us
Restore us

would we

Slowly allow Him to shape us
Not into what we think we should be
Be who He has made us to be
A reflection

Of Himself

Its not about who you are
Its not about what you are
Its not about where you are
Its not about why you are
Its not about how you are

It is about who you are in Him
It is about what you are in Him

It is about where you are in Him

It is about why you are in Him

It is about how you are in Him

In Him
All things are made new

So take off the mask

Let God make you who He wants you to be

Foundations

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”

So what is your foundation built on? I think we find out what it is really built on when the storms of life hit. Maybe we built on "Money." Or "Success", "Popularity", or the ever popular "Good Deeds." Some of those may be able to handle some rough seas. Maybe even a small storm. But what about the Hurricanes that hit? And trust me, everyone gets a few of those.  Those foundations will NOT stand. 

He only is my rock and my salvation, My stronghold; I shall not be shaken.

There is only ONE foundation that will NEVER move. It can take any storm. Whatever life throws its way, it is always dependable. And the Rock is Jesus Christ. 

But how do you make that your foundation? It's easy. Just use the "Blueprint In Building Life  Excellently" **

Follow that and allow God to do the work and its a foolproof plan for a successful foundation







**Also know as the BIBLE