Was Dead and Now Alive

I don't have much to say, so I'll just let scripture speak for itself.

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt… nailing it to the cross. Colossians 2:13-14  

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked… But God… even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. Ephesians 2:1-2,5

I've been mulling over this scripture all morning. It's very simple, and beautiful. The only thing that changed between being dead and being alive was Christ's work for us. We don't try harder to be alive, we don't put our heads down and push forward, we accept the work of Christ and seek first His Kingdom.

-matt

A Lonely Candle

The Lord showed me a really encouraging picture this morning at church that I though I'd share. The picture was of a single candle burning in total darkness. Darkness's only objective is to snuff out the candle, but darkness itself has no direct control over the flame. You see, the only thing that can put the candle out is a lack of wick to burn. Without fuel, there can be no flame. If this is the case, the candle, us, has no reason to fear the darkness. There is no reason to let darkness incite fear in us, nor should we allot it to dominate our thoughts or our hearts. If indeed Christ reigns, our focus should be his victory. That enables us to burn bright. We fear no evil, for God is with us.

Practically, there is no reason to worry. Jesus is Lord and in the end will get all the glory he deserves. His truth will keep our candle lit, and as long as we fan the flame with scripture we can stand firm against the darkness. You see darkness can only distract us from feeding the flame. It only gains ground when we allow our flame to falter through ignoring and rejecting Christ.
So don't let fear and darkness have power over you, because Christ has equipped you with all you need to stand strong and thrive when darkness whispers lies, deceit, and wickedness. Check your heart with scripture and don't believe everything you hear, but rather believe what Scripture says. Darkness has no power over the Children of the Light. And that is precisely who we are.

Here's a link to Ben Stuart's sermon this morning, that conveniently enough (Thanks Holy Spirit) dealt with similar topics. Ben Stuart Fall 2012 Series | Sermons | Faithbridge

-matt

Hard Truths that Heal Hard Hearts

I've been traveling through Job this last week and the Scripture that God rocked me with today was way too powerful not to share! You can read the entirety of Job 9-14 here, and I'm going to highlight just a few key verses that really jumped out to me. Seriously, you should stop now and read it... Do it, the Word has so much more power than anything I have to say. Read it yet? I hope so. Here we go.

A Prayer from Paul

Pray this over your churches, small groups, ministries, and organizations:

14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom his whole family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. -Ephesians 3:14-21 

This scripture was so crucial to answered prayers at Impact Retreat in August and has continued to appear in my life this semester. Definitely worth sharing with yall. -matt

Jump Start

I went to my first country music concert last Friday in College Station, and although I am not a fan of country music, the opening act Brian Burke played a song that I just cannot get out of my head for more than a few hours. The song was called Jump Start and it tells the story of someone "looking for a way to jump start [their] heart." The subject turns to lusts and a one night stand to "jump start [his] heart".

The Power of Testimony

This past season of my life has been exciting and challenging for me. I've learned much and continue to be amazed as the Lord reveals to me even the smallest of things. Something that I was reminded of yesterday and wanted to pass on was the power of the testimony of a believer.

I don't believe that I understand just exactly what  a testimony until this past spring.

On Psalm 27

I was looking for some encouragement from the Lord this afternoon and He led me to Psalm 27, and I just wanted to share a bit of that with yall.

The Lord is my light and my salvation —    whom shall I fear?The Lord is the stronghold of my life—    of whom shall I be afraid? (v1)

Take courage in the Lord. This world gives us plenty to worry about and if we're honest, we create a lot of the worries in our lives on our own. God is in control. I know that reminder was much needed for me this afternoon. When David is at his deepest moment of despair he commands his soul to "hope in God". I echo that prayer today. 

Thousands of Years

So far this summer season has brought plenty of adventures into my life. My family grew to 8 in May, my brother attended his new student conference in June, and come July I'll be in Scotland for the first time in almost 17 years. In addition to adventure, there has been a fair share of monotonous school work. I've been trudging through a business law course this summer and its been a doozy. Not only are we responsible for knowing what the law says now, but we have to know how it came to that point. 200 years of business law can get a bit tedious if you can imagine.

Summer Encouragement from Romans 12:12

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer." Such simple and challenging words like these are scattered all over scripture, but it is today I find myself meditating on these few. Simple is probably the furthest from the word I mean to use, perhaps compact would better suit this occasion. No matter how simple these three phrases are to read, I know my life will be spent learning slowly how to master them.

10,000 Years

I woke up this morning with an old Christian classic, Grace Like Rain stuck in my head on repeat. And as all songs that repeat in your head, its never really the entirety of the song is it? Of course not, its just one phrase, or one verse, or if you're unfortunate, the chorus over and over and over again. Back to my story, I had one distinct verse that I couldn't shake out of my mind. The verse goes;

When we've been there ten thousand years

Bright shining as the Son

We've no less days to sing God's praise

Than when we first begun.

Sanctification: The Essentials

God has ordained this mysterious, yet beautiful process that some have called sanctification. God wants to buy us, cleanse us, and transform us. In that order - it's that simple.

"Our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to REDEEM us from all lawlessness and to PURIFY for himself a people for his own possession who are ZEALOUS for good works." - Titus 2:13-14

God Wins the War

I was praying with my SALT which is a group of 4 or 5 Impact prayer team guys that each have their own groups (camps) to pray for and encourage throughout the semester leading up to the Retreat in August. We were praying for the incoming freshmen of the Class of 2016 when someone prayed something to the effect of, "God, we know that Satan might win the battle, but You always win the war." I know I've said that a plethora of times, but it was during this prayer time that something in my Spirit cried out against it.

Psalm 23:5

How good is it that God promises to make our cup overflow?
Psalm 23:5

God's Righteousness

Isaiah is a wonderful book. You should definitely spend some time in it if you haven't recently. A few days ago I was reading in chapter 59 and came across a nugget of theological truth that wowed me...