One of Those Verses

Sometimes we need a reminder of how valuable Scripture is to us.
Yesterday I was in a meeting where this verse was read.
I have had this verse in my mind ever since; I want to share it with you.

1Pet. 3:18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;

Rick Holland said yesterday that this verse is "pregnant with gospel truth." It is so true!

Enjoy our Savior as you meditate on this verse.

When I grow up I want to be a...

The first time I thought of that question I was probably under 4 years old.
I remember my grandfather, brothers and I were "working" in my grandpa's shed (which was huge) and I remembering thinking, "When I grow up I want to be a carpenter."
A carpenter? Yes, a carpenter.
I would love to tell you that I wanted to be a carpenter because Joseph, Jesus' dad, was a carpenter and thus he, Jesus, probably was in the family business, but no. I wanted to be a carpenter because I loved saws, hammers, and the smell of wood.
Unfortunately, it didn't take long for my dreams to be shattered, 4th grade wood-shop class took care of that. I realized then that I probably would need a desk job or talk to people in order to make money, instead of sanding, cutting and nailing.
I was reminded of that today as I was driving to work. It is funny to think that we usually end up a million miles away from where we first start and yet we end up in the same place that God wants us to be.
I was talking to a friend last week and I was telling him that for us Hollywood does not really apply. We could never think "I missed my chance." We know that we are exactly where God wants us. Somehow our choices and God's sovereignty work in perfect harmony.
You see, the best way I can explain this is: God is a great God, he knows all and somehow all things work together to bring him glory. So...
No... I did not get to be a carpenter, or a doctor, nor an astronaut, nor a soccer player, and I did not get to sail around the world, but wherever I am at, it is the perfect place where he wants us to be.

Busyness and Thoughts

The last 3 weeks have been probably the busiest weeks of my life. Work has picked up, School is still relentless, and everything else around me is still going on.
Last week I began to despair, it was a very tough week, not only in busyness, but also emotionally draining for other reasons. I was sharing this with my beautiful wife and she read to me this very well known passage.

21 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood since the earth was founded?

22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.

23 He brings princes to naught
and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.

24 No sooner are they planted,
no sooner are they sown,
no sooner do they take root in the ground,
than he blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.

25 "To whom will you compare me?
Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One.

26 Lift your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one,
and calls them each by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing.

27 Why do you say, O Jacob,
and complain, O Israel,
"My way is hidden from the LORD;
my cause is disregarded by my God"?

28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.

29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.

30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;

31 but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

In all of my busyness, I had forgotten that God is still the one that sits on the throne. He is the one that gives strength to the weary, he increases the power of the weak.
God is still King!
I know that this is a short post, but I wanted to share this passage of Scripture with you.

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