Brayden Josiah

I have to say that today has been one of the greatest days of my life.  My wedding day being the first and the birth of my first son Peyton is right there with this one.  I can't explain to you How great our God is.  When you see the birth process and see the end result, I don't see how anyone can ever say there isn't a God.  I thank God for allowing us to be a part of His creation.  

Brayden Josiah was born at 1:11PM  and weighed 7.5lbs and 20 3/4 inches long.  I have always said there was no way to ever love another like I love Peyton, well I definitely know now that isn't true.  There is nothing like the feeling of your own flesh in blood in your arms.  These babies are totally dependant on us to provide for them.  It just reminds me of how much we have to depend on God for everything.  Without Him, we are nothing.  

Just remember today, as God brought a new baby into the world, yet again, the greatness of our God.  It is never too late to come home to a Father who has His arms open wide.  I thank each of you for the many prayers, and ask that God watch over each of you.  I couldn't be more proud of my wife Christina, my son Peyton, and now my son Brayden Josiah!  

The Big Day

Well as I sit here in the hospital room, waiting for our son to make his grand entrance into the world, my heart is overwhelmed with responsibility, with joy, with emotion.  I can't even begin to express what Peyton has meant to us.  He is the joy of our life.   There isn't a day goes by that he doesn't make me smile and just to think in just a few hours, I will have a new bundle of joy.  I have often times stopped to think why would God choose me.  Why would He choose us to be parents of such an awesome creations.  The more I begin to think that God loves us so much that He trust us with His creations just proves the kind of creator we serve.  

God chooses us to be a part of His creation.  Then we have to choose to serve Him or do our own thing.  There is nothing that is more rewarding than serving Him.  I know that I have failed many times, but God has always been faithful to be there when I have not.  Today, I can't imagine the love that it had to take for God to send His son into this world.  A world full of sin.  There are many parts of me that wishes we could totally surround our children from the filth of this world, but then that is why we serve such an awesome God.  

In just a few hours, Brayden Josiah will join our family.  I know that it will impossible to love Him like our creator loves us, but I will do my very best to be the best Dad I can to him and to by little buddy, the big brother, Peyton.  I can only sit here and Thank God for the gift of life, and can only imagine what this new bundle of joy will mean to our lives.  

We have definitely had a whirlwind of days the last few weeks, and I am sure this will be no exception, but I am ready to see all of the new challenges that another gift from God will bring. I can't close this post without saying to all of my family and friends thank you for all your love and prayers.  I pray that each of you renews your relationship with our creator and know that no matter what it is you are going through, God will be here.  I know He is with us now in this room, and He will be with us always.  Nothing we do can ever separate us from the love of God. 

Lord, I thank you on this awesome day in You.  I thank you for the gift of life.  I thank you for guiding us this far, and know that in the next few hours, days, weeks, and months that You will be our strength.  I pray for the delivery, for Christina, for Brayden, for the doctors and nurses.  I know Your hand will be with them.  I thank you for a peace and strength for Christina and that you will help her to endure to the end.  I thank you for this new addition to our family, and pray that You watch over his grand entrance into the world. I pray for the new big brother Peyton, so that he will be able to understand that Brayden will never take his place, but rather have a place just like his.  I pray for family and friends that are traveling here, and pray that you guide them all the way.  Lord, most of all I thank you for saving me so that on a day like today, I know where our strength comes from, our Help comes from You!  Be with us.  I love you Lord.  Amen 

The Source of the Problem

Today as I was reading in Mark chapter 7, I found a very interesting passage of scripture that made me begin to look at my own life. For many years I have heard of talk about the Pharisees of the Bible, and how they were religious, but yet did not follow the full commands of God. Often times they can be seen directly questioning Christ himself. But it wasn't until this morning that I realized have we not at times been Pharisees of sorts? I mean the biggest thing that is known of the Pharisees was there taking their scriptures and applying it to their lives as they saw fit. This passage in Mark really stirred me up though when Jesus in fact responded this to the Pharisees:

Isaiah was right about frauds like you, hit the bulls eye in fact:

These people make a big show of saying the right thing,

but their heart isn't in it.

They act like they are worshipping me,

but they don't mean it.

They just use me as cover

for teaching whatever suits their fancy,

Ditching God's commands,

and taking up the latest fads."

That looks to me like a picture of churches today. How many times have we been guilty of coming to church and did just that, put on a show. Deep down inside knowing it was just that. There was no act of obedience to God, no desire to truly enter into His presence, no heart of worship, just a mere act that was put on to satisfy the people around us. Wow, I can say that I have been guilty as charged. I have had those days where nothing was true and pure and made worship something that God never intended it to be. I have been in churches and heard messages that simply touch the simple things of life that only are pleasing to the ear and never truly deal with the commands of God. I have seen it time and time again how the so called Christians of the world are so far from the ways of God, that others choose never to come to our churches because they see how so called Christians act.

So how then can we say that the Pharisees were wrong and just act like we are OK. I think this scripture should make us look at our own life and make sure that are worship always revolves around Him. If we cannot obey the ways of God, it will be impossible for us to ever truly hear His voice, or for us to even be in His will. I am reminded of the children of Israel when God made a covenant with them, but they refused to follow His commands. It was because of the their disobedience to the covenant that God made with them that they had to go through battles and trials without God's cover. If they would have just listened the first time, God would have been with them always. The same thing is true for us. God has made promises to us and to our families, and we must be willing to follow his commands, and worship Him for who He is, not just act like we are doing so. God desires the praises of His children, and he deserves every second of it. As the children of God, we must be careful not to fall into routines, or try to do things our way, and we must be careful to listen for the voice of God.

God it is my prayer that I never get in a hurry or worship or prayer with You. I pray that I will always remember that worship is not about me at all, it is all about you. May everything that comes out of my mouth glorify you and let bit of pride fall before you. May I do everything in your Name, and never let me fall into the trap of the world in my teachings, my lifestyle, or my worship. Search me, clean me, use me. I thank you for loving us in such a way that you have never given up on us, even when we have tried our own thing. May you be with us this week, as the new life that you have given to us comes into this world. May I be the husband, father, son, brother, and friend you have called me to be. Thank you for the blessings you have shown to me and my family, and may we always remember who the Blesser is and where the blessings come from.

Back to business

Over the past few weeks I have seen God show up in more ways than one.  Without going into extreme detail I can say that the past few weeks have been well crazy.  The key to it all for me is knowing that God still sees and cares about everything going on in our lives.  I think about how many hours that I spend doing this and that and then realize that when the end of the day comes, I am just worn out and feel like doing nothing.  But then I think about the God that we serve.  What if God was like that?   I mean compared to God, our lives our simple.  We deal with work, family, friends, and then whatever extra we can squeeze into to our already busy lives, but God never stops to even take a break.  I mean right now as I write this and spend some quiet time with God, I have His undivided attention.  But what is amazing is that if someone all across the world is doing the very same thing, they also have His undivided attention.  Thankfully, we serve a God that is everything to everyone.  He is whatever we are searching for, He is whatever we are in need of, and He is always there.  In comparison to some of us, what an breath of fresh air.  

As the past few weeks have unfolded, my life and my families have been a whirlwind.  We have somehow managed to move the from a school building to a church (finally after about 3 years), I have managed to enroll myself in more classes ( not sure how that will go), we found out that our son (Brayden Josiah) will be born next Friday (unless God has different plans), and with the help of others, got through our first youth service with only minor scratches.  Even though it seemed as if there was no stopping to what has been a whirlwind of weeks, I find comfort in the fact that I have a God that has been with me every step of the way.  Nothing about this crazy time in my life surprised God.  He knew it all.  He wasn't searching for the how to book or scratching His head on what which way was up, He already knew everything about me.  The awesome thing is my God is past, present, and future all in one.  He knew me and my life before I was even born.  He has plans for me.  

Nothing surprises God.  I have found that whatever I have asked God for over the past few weeks, He has answered.  It hasn't always been like I would have like, but it has been with the loving arms of a parent.  I just wonder, what would happen if all that I did, was in sync with all that He wanted me to do.  What would happen if I truly lived every day like it was my last, and gave God all that He wanted of me?  

Lord, I pray that these thoughts would not be just that.  I pray that I would begin to live everyday in your will.  Let me hear your voice through all the chaos that life will bring.  Always help me to keep you at the center of whatever I am doing, and never let me forget who gave me life in the first place.  Lord I love you and thank you for the past few days and cannot wait to see what You have in store for my future, and the future with my new family!  Amen.   

God Is

Over the past week, I have seen God move in many different ways. I find it very interesting that wherever we go, whatever we do, whatever the need, God is. It isn't really a hard concept to grasp, but many people find this hard to believe. How can God be everywhere, always. Well without going into extreme theology, the best I can expalin it is He just is. We have to realize that God is. Whatever that means to us.

As I study the scriptures I find many pasaages throughout the Bible where God is obviosuly around, and present but the writers and mostly, us, the readers forget that He is there. After studying today, I was reading through several passages, and I know that often times we take several books in the Bible as history, and don't look at them theologically. Or I guess I should say with a purpose in mind.

I have seen God move in to many ways to just forget that He is. But why is it so hard for us to grasp. Why is it that we feel like we have to explain to God all of our needs, instead of approaching Him with the knowledge that He already is everything we need. What is it about our thoughts or misconceptions of Him that makes us think that some things we can hide from God and that if we miss simple things that He won't care. I have been drawn back to worship many times over the past month and I can't help but thinking that God just desires us to be as much in to Him as He is to us. If we could just get a glimpse of how much He truly loves and cares about all of our needs, then we would know that whatever it is, God is.

As one songwriter wrote, God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. What that means to me is there will be times when we just don't feel like worshipping. When we don't feel like praying. When we don't feel like doing what he desires. But we have to remember He will be our guide and our strength because of the simple thought God is. If we could only grasp this simple but complex thought, our lives could be so much easier. We have to realize that God is in the middle of everything and we cannot push Him out of our lives. His only desire is for us to be with Him as much as He is with us.

Lord, I pray today, that I learn to trust the simple fact that You are. If I can learn to lean on that and know that no matter what the circumstance, problem or trial, you have the answer. Let me learn to trust You in all things, and let me have a desire to spend more time with you daily. Take all of me and make me into who you want me to be. Open up doors that no man can open and help me to see all that you have for me and my family. Be with all of my family and friends and

Knowing Him means knowing the Word.

There is no doubt it is impossible to truly know someone without spending time with them. In fact, I can say without confidence to truly know someone, you must spend a lot of time and a lot of listening to find out who that person really is. The thing that concerns me the most is that we know a lot of people, TV shows, sports teams, and everything there is to know about them, but when it comes to knowing God, we don't even know where to begin. Our priorities point to everything except Him. If we would spend half as much time with Him as we do with the things of this world, then we could really know God. But why is it that we all seem to fall short of truly knowing God. I think that is has to begin with spending time in His Word.

I have struggled for years trying to hear the clear voice of God, only to find out that it is right in front of me. I have found myself praying and praying, almost like no one was there, and felt like God wasn't even listening. But the truth was right in from of me was His word, His voice, His promises. I think for us it is very hard to understand God because we can often times view God as just a source of something. A source of strength, a source of finances, a source of hope, love, etc. But He is so much more than that. Yes, He is all of those things and more, but most importantly He is our Heavenly father. His Love for us is so great, that He would go to great lengths just to prove how much he truly cares for us.

Proverbs 4 tells us that our life is at stake. We must listen to the voice of God. We must know it by heart. We must keep it in front of us always. We must ignore the distractions all around us and we must focus on Him. We must leave evil in the past. We must pursue Him. Those are strong words to us. God has a perfect plan for us but we must be willing to put the time required to hear this awesome plan. Time for us in today's busy world is a great sacrifice. But thinking to how much God gave us is it really that much for Him to ask? David once prayed, "I will not sacrifice that which costs me nothing." Wow think about that. This is so true. Why is it that we are willing to give everything that doesn't cost us, but when it really matters, if it costs us something we back away. We must get to the point to where God becomes our only priority, and the rest of life just falls in place.

God has so much for His children. I see us as a fish in a small bowl, living the same boring, ordinary life day after day. We only have allowed ourselves to view the small surroundings that we have come accustomed to. However, the problem is God has so much more for us. It reminds me of the movie Finding Nemo. When Nemo gets out of his surroundings he finds out there is a whole other worlds out there. When he puts his mind to it there is nothing that can stop him of his dream. The same is true with us. We must move out of the bowl that we live in, and move into the mighty depths of the endless ocean God has created us to live in.

God help me to stop being so shallow with You and find what it means to truly be in the relationship with the Father. Forgive me for not using all of the resources You have given to us. Help me learn to understand Your Word better as I continue my pursuit of You. Always help me remember, that there is more out there, and that I must always be looking to expand my often times narrow view of reality. Teach me your ways, and search me. Cleanse me. Help me to be ready to meet you should you come today. Always let me continue the pursuit until You come. Thank you for loving me so much. Amen.

A Meeting with God

I began to wonder this morning as I was reading through my devotion, what would be our response if God said to us that he was going to meet with us. I'm not talking about just listening and hearing our cries, but how would we respond if we had a chance to meet face to face with God. Would there be things that we would do differently? Would we be excited, anxious, or nervous and fearful?

In Exodus Chapter 19 we see Moses getting specific instructions from God to prepare the people for a encounter with God. He tells them to be prepared. He tells them to even scrub their clothes down so that they will be ready to meet God. Then the third day comes and God appears as he promised. He appeared with power and might. Smoke surrounded the people as God came down as fire. And then Moses gets a special in vitiation to come back up the mountain to come yet again face to face with God. How must that have felt for Moses? A man that had a close personal relationship with the God that created Him. God then went on and gave him the instructions on how the people were to live. What we know as the ten commandments.

After God gives the commandments to Moses he goes on to give specific instructions about worshipping Him. He says every place you go and choose to worship, I will be there and bless you. One of the major points of this promise was the sacrifice that was involved. Today, we don't have to sacrifice as they used to, however God is calling each of us to sacrifice things in our lives to get close to Him. We must be willing to give, to sacrifice, in order to draw near to God.

The thing that the sacrifice did for the people, was that it allowed them to become pure. It allowed the cloudy, dark, muddy things of their lives to be cleaned and filtered by God. When we think about what it means to be purified, we can often think of water. Water in its original form has many things that would make the taste, and even appearance be less than desired. The people were told to reverence God and not to get near the mountain. This was to create reverence towards Him. We also must learn to reverence God. We must strip away all uncleanness, all impurities in order for us to come face to face with God. The creates in us a heart of worship that God desires. It is when we get to this clean, pure state, that we will encounter the God that we seek. We must be like the water filter, we must create a pure heart daily. We must give Him all that is within us, we must scrub our clothes, and always be ready to meet God.

God, I know that I have failed you many times. Too many to count, but I thank you that even through my failures, you have allowed me to still come close to You. All I have to do is purify my heart daily. I must decrease, so that You may increase. Help me and others around me daily prepare ourselves to encounter You. To see the power that You have and also the love you have for each of us. Please help me with scheduling time with You daily. I must be a priority in all that I do. It must become more than just a time with You, let me walk in your steps daily, and keep me in your arms, your wings. Help me continue to draw near to You.