may 3 : Daniel 9

"Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name."
Daniel is a man known for his wisdom, obedience, and prayer. Its so amazing to see a man this righteous and holy. He was an ordinary man with unordinary faith. In this passage we see that Daniel basically saw God's wrath on Judah and Israel. He saw that God would wipe out much of it to cleanse the land of filth and sin. Daniel knew this, so he prayed. He fasted, dressed in sackcloth, and prayed for God's wrath to be small. He prayed for his entire country. To my amazement and probably to Daniel's also, God listened. He listened to a prayer that was prayed on behalf of his nation. The nation did not even support his prayer. It was a prayer from the heart of Daniel. I can't remember the last time I prayed with faith like that. I pray for the nation once in a while, but I must admit that it is hard for me to believe even as I pray it that it will be answered. It just seems like such a big obstacle. But as it says in the book of James, "pray with faith". Lets have prayers like this guys. Lets see how far we can push our faith =]

april 29 : Daniel 7

"In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed."
It is always cool to see prophesies of Jesus years before Jesus came to the earth. Reading this passage God is very elusive in delivering his message. A lot of times we may misinterpret the meaning of God's messages to us. In this particular case I thought it was pretty weird how Daniel got someone in his dream to interpret his dream for him. He actually asked a usually inanimate object the meaning of his dream. There is no doubt that this son of man that comes from the clouds is Jesus Christ himself. Daniel knew of the coming way before it ever happened. Why would God show this to Daniel? I think that this was shown to Daniel mainly for us. God could have shown Daniel this dream to strengthen him, but I believe God wanted Daniel to share this with us in the future. This constitutes as evidence for Jesus being the Christ that the Jews have so longed and waited for. This is really kool =]

April 28 : Daniel 6

"Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help. So they went to the king and spoke to him about his royal decree: "Did you not publish a decree that during the next thirty days anyone who prays to any god or man except to you, O king, would be thrown into the lions' den?"
Man I love this story. I think its amazing that Daniel was able to stand his ground regardless of the decree set before him. In today's world in America we will not face the threat of being thrown into a lions' den. We just don't have that threat. But we face threats of many kinds on many different levels. I think the biggest threat to me is the doubt that sometimes clouds my faith. Studying in the university setting, especially in the sciences, we are told not to think in the creationists pattern of thought. We are told many different things that, usually, seem to be at odds with the Christian faith. We are left with this sense of doubt. Sometimes we are dragged down by our friends into places, where we did not necessarily want to go in the first place, but now enjoy. But we see from Daniel that he was able to overcome that - even if it meant his death. We can probably assume that Daniel had a great deal of fear during the whole process. But he still stood his ground. And in the end we see that God's name was glorified through it all. How awesome.

April 27 : Daniel 5

"This is what these words mean:
Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.

Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.

Peres: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians."

All I can say is, freaky! I thought this was such a scary chapter. The king basically got told that he was going to pay for his transgressions and die. So the story goes like this. The king took goblets from God's altar and brought it to his party. Then this king got his wives, concubines, and his friends and drank wine from them. Then they worshiped the gods of gold, silver, bronze. After that moment God sent down a big hand that wrote on the wall three words: Mene, Tekel, and Peres. Up above is the meaning of those words. The night Daniel had translated those words God took his life. What I learned from this a few things. First, there is a parallel between this story and that of Jesus'. Just as the king did not know when judgement was coming we too do not know either. I bet the king had no idea that this was going to happen like this. He was living life of sin, and it was then that God decided to take his life. Second, God watches what we do. He saw the king defile God's glory, and God was not happy. Third, we must heed the words of those who are faithful to God. Daniel basically gave a huge warning to the people of Babylon about who they should worship. This king failed to do so and he paid the price of it - even to this day. We must learn from the mistakes of those in the past. Even though they lived so long ago, we can learn a lot here.

April 25 : Daniel 4

"Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from people and ate grass like cattle. His body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird."
As I was reading this chapter I began thinking of how powerful God is. God doesn't care who you are or what your status holds. People who are so powerful that no one would dare rise up against, God rises against. God is so powerful that he humbles whoever he needs to. I think a lot of people in this world are like this. I may be a little like this as well, maybe not as bad as King Nebuchadnezzar, but a little. I think we forget how we came to be who we are now. A lot of times we contribute our successes to our own power and might. Our own intellect and wisdom is what carried us this far. We know this is not true. God is the one who allows a certain thing to pass. God is also the one who gives you what you need when you really need it. It is a sin to not recognize the God who gave it all. We know this as we read this chapter. The King was getting over confident in himself. He worshiped other gods, while acknowledging the God of Daniel, yet he worshiped other Gods. It says in Scripture that God is a jealous God. We must be afraid not to anger him. With our successes let us not boast or find pride, but let us give praise to the Father who gives us opportunities and successes.

April 24 : Daniel 3

"Nebuchadnezzar said to them, "Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up? Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?"
I think its funny how King Nebuchadnezzar said, "what god will be able to rescue from my hand?" He thought of himself greater than any god I think. This King was known to be someone who worshiped many gods. He was a man who trusted in man gods, yet he probably had more faith in himself than any god. The big statue he made of gold that everyone needed to bow down to he probably didn't think it was a true god. He probably wanted people to worship it because he made it, indirectly worshiping him. However this is all speculation on my part. But how many people today have a mindset like this man? Most of may profess that we believe in Jesus' name for salvation. But many people have idols that they do not even know about. Some people believe entirely in themselves. Some people believe in others. Some people believe in materials they own or want to own. Have you ever questioned yourself, "do I have any idols?" Many of these idols are probably hidden behind our own intentions we may not even know. Let us look for these idols and throw them in the furnace.

April 22 : Daniel 2

He changes times and seasons;
he sets up kings and deposes them.
He gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to the discerning.

²² He reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what lies in darkness,
and light dwells with him.

²³ I thank and praise you, O God of my fathers:
You have given me wisdom and power,
you have made known to me what we asked of you,
you have made known to us the dream of the king."

This story is awesome. I think its cool to see a man of God being appointed to a high governmental postion. Its not everyday you see a person placed in a high position because of his faith. In this chapter we see how Daniel gets his recognition. King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that had to be figured out. He gathered up all the wise men, magicians, enchanters, and the alike of Babylon to interpret his dream. If they failed to interpret it they would die. The catch though to this interpretation was that the king would not tell them what the dream was. So bascially these guys were screwed. However, Daniel prayed to God that he would be given the answer. Daniel and his friends from Judah were all considered wise men, so they too would have felt the sword. Imagine how hard Daniel prayed. It says simply that Daniel "prayed", but I bet it was a really hard and fervent prayer. And of course God answers Daniel's prayer. Daniel then goes to the king to tell him his dream and the meaning behind it all. This king was not a God fearing man. He may have been a god fearing man, but not of the living God. So Daniel was bold to declare such a powerful statement up above. When is the last time you stood up for your faith like Daniel did. He was talking to the most powerful man at that time. He had all power in his hands. He did not know God - he was an idol worshiper and had many gods. But from this we can see that Daniel was an agent of change; bold and wise. Lets try to be like Daniel also!

April 21 : Daniel 1

"At the end of the time set by the king to bring them in, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king's service. In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom."
I think most of us are familiar with the story of Daniel and his friends. Its always nice to read about Daniel and how he was used by God. Many Old Testament stories are difficult to relate to, but its a little easier with Daniel. He is someone I want to emulate in my daily living. He was such a devout man. Although he was a lot younger than me during this part of his life than I am now, I still look up to him. First thing I noticed was that he knew what he wanted and how he was going to do it. God gave him the wisdom to be better than everybody else. The reason why they were so much better than the chosen Babylonians was because God was with them. How can these four guys be better than the best of Babylon? It would be reasonable if they were just slightly better, but to be 10 times better is amazing! I wonder how they got to have so much favor with God. I think it will be interesting to read about Daniel and his life. Let us learn and pray to be like Daniel in many ways

April 20 : Psalm 55

But you, O God, will bring down the wicked
into the pit of corruption;
bloodthirsty and deceitful men
will not live out half their days.
But as for me, I trust in you.
Living a wicked life is so easy. I think its human nature to live a wicked life right? But we as Christians must try as hard as we can to stay away from wickedness. Everyday we are bombarded with the things of the world, its so easy. But as David says, the wicked will be thrown into the pit of corruption - hell. We must choose to be faithful to God and trust he will take care of all things. This world tells us to be bloodthirsty. In this capitalistic society we are told that the strong will survive. The sky is the limit - do whatever it takes to get there. If you have to lie here and there to get ahead its permissible. But what I admire about David is that he really tried to be faithful. He wasn't perfect, we know he messed up big time in a couple instances. But what we can tell from his psalms is that he really loved God. He was after all given the name: the man after Gods own heart. Let us try to be like this!

April 19 : Psalm 54

"Save me, O God, by your name;
vindicate me by your might.
Hear my prayer, O God;
listen to the words of my mouth.
For he has delivered me from all my troubles,
and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes."

Now with finals approaching we kind of...need a lot of help from God. Its not that God is only good for this issue, or even that he will help us, but he does help his children from things like these! Right now I am almost on rotations. Rotations is not what scares me, its getting there. I am less than a month away from finishing classes for the rest of my life I guess, but I am afraid of this class. I believe I have been faithful to God this year. Although there were a few bumps here and there I know I grew a great deal. I feel that my greatest adversary right now is this one do-or-die class. Its been giving me a great deal of stress. I hope that God will deliver me from this stress. I know Davids psalm here was meant for something bigger and badder but I hope that I can put my faith in him to take care of me. There are a few of us I know who are about to graduate who are afraid of not making it. For those of us who are worried they can't make it to next semester let us pray for help. Its not going to take only God to magically make things happen, but he wants us to try as hard as we can until its all over. Lets push on guys!

april 17 : psalm 53

Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When God restores the fortunes of his people,
let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!"

Today I did my quiet time on psalm 53. This chapter is about people who turn away from God. You know, what surprised me about this passage was how it was similar to today. What I mean by that is that the world today is turning away from God and saying that God does not exist. In this chapter we see that the people of those days were saying the same thing - that God does not exist. I guess it has been a debate even then when there were many more miracles and supernatural events. But the reason why I like this chapter is that it involves a little bit of revenge and justice. In the latter portion of this chapter we see that God shows his glory by destroying those who opposed him. The ones that said there is no God are the ones who got to see Gods wrath first hand. Today we have many people who say God does not exist, and even worse, blaspheme against the name of God. However, we must not get angry because we know God will serve justice. Let us keep acknowledging God and try to win souls over instead of trying to win this battle all on our own!

april 16 : Matthew 6:19-24

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
In today's society, especially in America, everything is really just about sex and money. You can't escape the lures of these two things being flashed before your eyes. These things are like fishing lures to us. They are shiny and enticing. They are presented to us to make us believe they are real. However like a fishing lure, once caught on the hooks its difficult to escape. This passage was the passage we used for coffee house. I like it a lot because it really talks to us college students. Its really dangerous for us to really want money so badly. The real reason why I went into pharmacy was because of the money. There were other reasons, but the big one was - money. I am beginning to see that the world offers only that, and thats it. God offers so much more. He offers us treasures in Heaven! Not to say that we're going to be buying stuff in heaven with heaven currency. But we will be full of Gods greatness and blessings. How awesome would that be. Let us stay away from the pursuit of money, and focus on the real treasure - God!

april 15 : psalm 52

But I am like an olive tree
flourishing in the house of God;
I trust in God's unfailing love
for ever and ever.

Don't you hate it when you see unholy and unrighteous people have the best luck? In this chapter David talks about a man named Doeg, he just sounds like a punk right? But David describes this man as being all about unrighteousness and stepping all over people to get ahead. David gives the impression that this man has it going for him. I guess in the eyes of the world he is living it up; its as if he's doing something right. We know this can be frustrating when we see it happen close to us. Like when you refuse to cheat on a test or homework because of God, but then your friend cheats and does a lot better than you. Of course there are more worse senarios I or you can come up with, but its all the same. But David talks about what he is going to do - live righteous. The verse ontop describes how David views himself with God even though he may not be "prospering" in this world. He waits on the Lord to rescue him. He says he will remain in God regardless of how enticing unrighteousness may be. Lets do the same

April 15 : Psalm 51

"Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me."
I think a lot of times we base our spiritual state with how much sin we have at that moment. Although faith is not based on the works you do, it is a measure of it. Paul describes to us the fruits of the Spirit. If we cannot discipline our selves we lack something. However there are times where our sins seem bigger than the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The chapter I read today was written by King David after he had committed adultery with Bathsheba. He had a lot of shame and guilt. He probably thought it was so bad that it would keep God away. He says it so clearly here, "Do not cast me from your presence, or take your Holy Spirit from me." However God is the God of forgiveness. How many times have we felt like this? A sin too dirty to look at. However we can pray this same prayer too! David asks God if he can forget this sin of his, to forgive him. David asks also for a pure heart. "A pure heart will see God," said Jesus. How awesome is that. After being tainted with such dirty sin God will forgive a sincere heart. I am not saying that there are no consequences. King David knows about the consequences of his behavior very well. But we are to take the responsibility of our actions and know that Christ has died for that sin.

April 12 : Luke 24

"The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things."
Awesome. For some reason Easter has meant more to me this year than any other year. I think it is because of the Bible studies my small group has been going over this semester. Topics such as legalism, honesty, purity, etc have really helped me. To me Easter is everything to me. It has allowed me to be who I am today. My identity comes from Christ who is risen. Today during Easter service my father was proving the point that the resurrection was real. A lot of arguments can be made, but eyewitnesses are a necessary part of supporting a type of historical event. There were about 500 people who have testified as having seen Jesus after his death. There are number disciples who have died for their belief in Jesus Christ after his death. Why would these people do these things if they found out it was all a hoax. These people became as fervent as ever for the Gospel of Jesus Christ AFTER the resurrection. Was it because it became a reality to them? Maybe seeing Jesus shattered all doubts and allowed them to become fighters for Jesus' name. Man, today was beautful. Today was the day our Lord rised from the dead! What an amazing thing Jesus has done. The truth of Jesus must be told to everyone and everywhere! Let us live for Him.

April 11 : Luke 23

"When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened."
Guys one more day until the day of Jesus' resurrection! Awesome! I kind of wanted to finish the whole chapter but I wanted to save the rest of it until tomorrow. When I read of Peter I find it really cool that he ran out to see for himself the risen Lord. The chapter doesn't mention anyone else who ran out like this. Peter was known to be rash and a little quick to act, but it shows his personality and love he had for Jesus. Him running out there meant that he believed it. If you totally thought someone was lying to you you wouldn't just run out like Peter did. He must have been so excited to see Jesus again. I think I need to learn a thing or two from Peter here. I should learn to be excited to read the Bible or pray because I know he is living now. Jesus conquered the grave! Let us try to be like Peter in this way! Push hard guys!

April 10 : Luke 23

Jesus' Crucifixion.

This day and the day after tomorrow is what our faith is all about. Without the death and resurrection our faith would mean nothing. One is not more important than the other, but both needed to happen. Without death there would obviously be no need for a resurrection. Without a resurrection there would be no difference between the death of a regular man and Jesus'. I remember a pastor once saying, "if there was no resurrection there would be no Christianity." How true is that right? If Jesus were have just died and that's it everything he said and did would mean nothing right? It was prophesied in the Scriptures about this and Jesus had to fulfill this. Let us take a moment and realize the extent of God's necessary gift to us for eternal life. I was talking to BD just now and he said that Easter is a sad day because all he thinks about when he hears of Easter is a bunny with chocolate. But to us who are saved it is the power of God! Who has ever risen from the dead? Nobody but our Lord Jesus Christ. Today is a powerful day to us. Let us live a life that is beautiful and worth the death of Jesus.

April 9 : Luke 22

"This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me."
Today is the day before Jesus was crucified. He was taken into the hands of the Jewish leaders at that time and committed the most hanus crime in the history of mankind. Jesus was betrayed by the very people he came to save. I think it would be most appropriate to spend some time this Friday in remembrance of Him. We forget too often the price that was paid for our souls. Only on Easter do we realize the extend of God's love. During the last supper Jesus formed for us a ritual we do on Easter - drinking wine and eating bread. These two acts are really performed for us to remember Jesus, and what he has done. Jesus wanted this to be a special time. He asked a couple of his disciples to go and find a place where they can have this last supper. He made special arrangements for this final dinner to occur. We see that Jesus was trying to make a point that this was a very monumental time. Lets all take this next day and realize what Jesus has done for us. Lets truly thank Him.

April 8 : Luke 21

"Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man."
Oh man I hope we can escape these dreadful days that are to come. I hope I can escape them or die before the day comes. Do you ever wonder how "scary" it will be when heaven comes down? We must be ready. The first verse here is what most of us struggle with as college students. I think its kind of awkward how Jesus lists drunkenness as 1 of 3 traps he lists - i guess its that bad. If it really is that bad we as college students need to learn how to beat this right? More and more we see the use of alcohol penetrate the walls of the church. We must stand firm against this. But more than the drunkenness I think the anxiety is what will catch most people off guard. In all walks of life anxiety is such a powerful adversary to our spiritual and emotional well being. Anxiety about our faith, about how we appear to people, the doubt, the "waste" of time, etc. Jesus lists these things here because he knew what was going to happen in our days. He warned us more than 2000 years ago - it would be foolish not to listen. Lets try to find these traps in our walk with Christ.

April 7 : Luke 21

"As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. 'I tell you the truth,' he said, 'this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.'"
A lot of Jesus' interactions with people and parables involve money; the rich young man who couldn't give up money, the landowner who is pleased with someone who can double his money, Zacchaeus, and so forth. But from this passage we can tell Jesus really doesn't care about money. What he cares about is the power of money in your life. Jesus hardly cares about the value of money, how much it can buy, but rather the value you have on it. Because we can tell that Jesus does not consider money to be the center of his story we can say that this passage applies to our most valuable asset - money, time, relationships, entertainment, etc. This tells me that we need to give with all we got, no matter how big or small. We gotta give to the extent to where it hurts. For me time is most valuable. I do not like giving my time to other things if its going to hurt me. Even serving in the church I find myself complaining because I don't have time for much anything else. However, I need to learn to give my time as if it were my last like the woman in the story.

April 5 : Luke 20

"Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widows' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely."
Do you see people like this? Who like to flaunt their righteousness in front of everyone so they can receive honor? Sometimes, as hard as it is to admit, I think I may fall in this category. The times where I probably do this I do subconsciously, but sometimes its an intentional thing. Don't get me wrong, I don't think I have it that bad, but sometimes I can see it surface and say hello. I think as leaders in Cornerstone we tend to put out this exterior aura of righteousness because we do not want to lose credibility during Bible studies and such. Sometimes when people come to me for help with certain issues I find that I need the answers just as much as the person who asked the question. I think being real is what we need to learn to do. I think I am real with most everybody at the church, but sometimes I know that it can come off the wrong way. Lets be humble with our position and try to really be encouragements rather than hindrances.

april 4 : Luke 19

''I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away.''
This passage always confused me, and still does. I am reading this passage thinking why is the tone of the story so negative? I guess in a different perspective it has a more brighter tone. However, let me just try to break it down so I can understand it better. First the story begins by a man of noble birth (presumably Jesus) going off to a distant land to be made king of the land. But during the processes people of the land did not want him to be king. But immediately it said, "he was made king, however, and returned home." So what I thought while reading this was this: even though the world does not acknowledge Jesus as Lord, and hates him, he is still God. No matter how hard you do not acknowledge Him as Lord, he still is your Lord. Lets be reminded of the supremacy of Christ.
The second part of this passage looks at how his servants responded to the money that was left for them to increase while the master was gone. One man makes 1 into 10, another 2 into 5, and another saves the money. We can see here that God is pleased with us when we work for His kingdom. If we can do a lot with a little then we will be asked to do more with more. However, the man that did nothing with the money was scolded. Jesus does not want us to be lazy and do nothing for His kingdom.
Application: serve the Kingdom in any way possible so as long as you can handle it. Serve the church by being a leader, co leader, praise leader, food maker, volunteer, helping the poor, cleaning the church, helping your leader, helping your pastor, praying for the sick and needy, the list goes on and on. What can you and I do to better Gods kingdom here on earth?

April 3 : Luke 19

"Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount."
Do you guys remember the sunday school song on Zacchaeus? Zacchaeus was a wee little man a wee little man was he! Although this passage was made into a fun childrens song, is there a much deeper meaning? If you think about it, there must be a much greater implication to this real-life story than a song made for dancing. If you go to the end of this passage we see that Zacchaeus ultimately receives salvation. But why? To everybody else Zacchaeus was nothing but a tax collector, a sinner. He was probably hated on by most people. He probably cheated people because Zacchaeus said he would pay them back quadruple what he stole. He probably did not care for the poor before this encounter because it seems as though he didn't really like to give to them anyways. But why was this act, by Zacchaeus, such an incredible one that it bought him a ticket to heaven? Lets examine it for a second. What we can deduce from this passage as well as the rest of the New Testament is that tax collectors were all about money. Apparently money was their life. Unlike tax collectors today who follow strict rules for collecting...tax, Zacchaeus probably charged a higher interest without legal reason to make some extra cash. But what granted him salvation was the promise that he would give money to the poor and pay back four times to those he stole from. It was because he gave up the one thing that probably meant the most to him. It was worth it for him for the sake of knowing Christ. Jesus emphasized this all the time. If you aren't willing to give up your old life for Christ you aren't deserving of receiving a new one. What do you prize the most?

April 2 : Luke 18

There are so many good principles we can learn from this chapter about prayer. Prayer is complicated. I think its complicated because we make it out to be so simple. Prayers don't get answered, or better yet we don't even believe it will come true. So why do we pray to God about the things we need if God already knows the things we need? If you're praying to get a special position at work and your competitor is also praying for that same position, what happens then? So many bizarre questions we can ask about prayer. However, Jesus gives us a couple principles here. Basically, God wants sincerity. Sincerity can be broken down into a couple other pieces. He wants us to know that God will always serve justice the way he deems appropriate - and of course we all know that to be the best way. Secondly we see that Christ wants us to come with humility when it comes to praying to God. God is God, why come with a sense of pride right? A lot of times when we pray aloud, its almost a competition; the louder you pray the more holy and righteous you are or appear. But God likes someone who can come in front of God and admit his faults and shortcomings. He likes a person who can say, "I am nothing without you, you're all I need." Thirdly, he likes you to have faith - a childlike faith that is. A childlike faith is hard to come by. To say, "God I believe in your word and I believe it all to be truth." When you were little you always thought your parents knew everything. If someone said something contradictory to what your parents said you knew your parents were the ones that were right. Although our parents may be incorrect from time to time our father in heaven is always right, and that we can totally bank on. Fourthly, he wants us to follow after him with complete abandon. Simply put, we can't be holding on to anything when we come to him. We have to follow, chase, and run after the things of God leaving behind the things of this world.
Now that is sincere praise. Can we all do it? Why of course we can. What is impossible to us is possible to God.

April 1 : 1 Timothy 1

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen
I guess we can say that Paul was probably the worst of sinners. I was thinking, who would be someone comparable to Paul today? People like Marilyn Manson or Richard Dawkins, but probably not Hitler, are people similar I guess. Paul was a murderer and a slanderer towards the name of God. However, God chose to save this man and make an example of him - that the grace of God extends further than the eye can see. This is what I got out of the passage tonight: I should not be judge of people around me who I think do not deserve the grace of God. I need to be able to look at everyone with love and compassion because I know God does. God does not discriminate when it comes to giving grace and mercy. The love God has for others is the same kind of love God wants us to have with the people around us. I think a lot of the times we forget this and kind of offer God's grace to those who we think are deserving. We though need to be able to open our eyes and see that everyone has a potential place in God's kingdom.

March 31 : Matthew 6

The Lord's Prayer
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

The title of this passage is most commonly referred to as the the Lord's Prayer. This is kind of a misnomer because it is not a prayer that Jesus would pray or have to pray since he does not need to be forgiven of sins. Instead this is prayer outline given to us by Jesus. Albeit this is not a prayer he probably prayed, it is probably similar to what he prayed. So I wanted to break it down a little. Firstly, Jesus acknowledges God as father. He begins with praise. To say hallowed be your name means that there is no one else like our God. He continues to praise the Father by saying that whatever God wills it will be done on earth. Jesus takes up a big chunk of the prayer by acknowledging first who God is. Then Jesus tells us to ask for forgiveness, but also just as important is our forgiveness of others. Then Jesus basically ends with, "let us stay out of trouble for His glory." We too need to pray like this!

march 30 : james 1

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does."
I think asking for wisdom has been such an important part of my prayers ever since I was young. My mom always told me to pray for wisdom every night. She always said that wisdom is one of the most important things to have in this world because of what it can do for you. If you ask for wisdom from God and he gives it to you, you got the best kind there is. The way we run our lives to how we help others when governed by faithful wisdom can be the difference between a good and fruitful life and an unfruitful sad life. But the hard thing about praying for wisdom is that you have to pray with faith. Praying with faith is hard. I find it difficult to pray with such complete faith. But as this passage says, if we pray with faith God will give it to you. Lets pray for wisdom guys. Wisdom will help your life in so many ways as well as the church.

march 26 : 2 Corinthians 9:6-15

"Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."
So this is how we should give. God loves a cheerful giver. In the beatitudes Jesus explains the principles behind giving. He reminds us that as followers we should be able to give freely with love. We should be able to give without recognition or anything in return. When the rich ruler comes to Jesus to ask what more he can do to inherit the kingdom of heaven Jesus replies to give everything he has to the poor. I kind of thought that we as Christians should give to whoever and whenever...with love. I thought it was kind of impossible to do that you know? Its hard to give up what you want to buy for the sake of someone else. This verse here tells us that we are to give what we want to give. Now, a ordinary heart in this world would translate that as not having to give at all. After all we don't really want to give something of value to us right? Wrong. For Christians it should come out of his heart to give because he loves God. So with that in mind each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give. God loves a cheerful giver. =]

march 24 : Hebrews 6

"During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission."

What we know from Scripture is that Jesus' prayers were heard by God. When he prayed in the mount of Gethsemane he did not pray to an inanimate object nor to a God without ears. Sometimes we question whether or not our prayers are heard. Does God really know the desires of my heart? If he does then why does he not answer them? It seems like God handpicks only those prayers which are worthy. We cannot say for sure why God chooses some to answer and some to dismiss for another time. But from this verse we can know a little bit more of how or why God listens. We look at this verse word by word. At the end we see that Jesus was in 'submission' to God. We all know what that looks like - the obedience of a slave to his master. But the kind of submission required is a 'reverent' one. One that comes naturally because of the Glory of God. We also find that Jesus offered up prayers and petitions. We all do that at times right? But lets see how Jesus offered these up. It says that Jesus cried out loud with tears. When was the last time you or I prayed like this? This shows what? Sincerity in anguish and abandon. We have to pray with such fervency, although not always, when we are in desperate need. Lets learn to pray as Jesus did.

march 22 : Philippians 3

"If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless."
Have you ever felt like this? To look at your resume and think, "wow, I am the bomb." Even within the church we each have a resume we hold on to. Even if not intentionally we are, as leaders, adding more to our resume as we serve in church. For me, I have been a youth group leader my freshman and sophomore years, I was the missions leader at Cornerstone for 2 years, I lead a small group 2 years, I was praise leader a year, and my dad is a pastor (as if I had anything to do with that). I sometimes hold on to the things I have achieved. Academically I hold on to a few a things as well - things not worth mentioning. Very well; what does all this mean for me? Nothing. As Paul writes after he lists his accomplishments that are far far greater than mine, "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith."
Everything we do we do for Christ's name sake. Never should we boast of our accomplishments. Everything we have is nothing compared to what Christ has saved us from. The greatest gift he's given us was death on a cross for the redemption of our damned souls. The love that Christ had and has to offer greatly exceeds all that we can imagine. It is more than what you think it is, it is much more than what your pastor says it is. Are you and I willing to trade everything to gain Christ? Paul sure was willing, had no regrets, and had everything to lose save his faith.

march 21 : Philippians 2

"Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing."
This is why we do the things we do - in order that we may boast on the day of Christ's return that we did not do the things we did for no reason. I guess boasting here is a good thing. I boast of many things, a lot of times its a silent boast in an attempt to be humble. Humility can be such a hard thing to measure. Some people you can just tell they are so boastful or proud. A lot of NBA stars are kind of like that. While there are people like that there are also other people who display humility most of the time. But who can really tell the state of their heart right? But we need a heart like that of Paul's - pure humility. I thinks its so hard to do things without complaining. Arguing is a little easier for me to overcome because I am not that type of person, but complaining is something I am good at. If I were to overcome this I could be closer to shining like that of the stars - to be one of few to hold out the word of life.

march 20 : galatians 6

"Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation. Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule, even to the Israel of God"
From these two verses I again see the issue of legalism being addressed. I did not see this before this year. I didn't know this was such a huge topic in the New Testament. I wish I could have read these things earlier. I can tell from what I have been reading that the Spirit has been leading me to these passages dealing with legalism. Legalism has become such a huge part in my life, it has basically shaped most of my personality and character. I guess there is one question right now that I need to challenge:

Am I a new creation?

I believe this will determine whether you inherit the kingdom of God or not. Someone can appear to be a new creation, but, when searched through and through that person could have been deceiving you - and also himself. I can see myself fooling myself. When legalism becomes a way of life it slowly becomes the only life you know. Circumcision or not; Going to church on sunday or not; Doing your QT's or not; Not Drinking or...not; Not partying or not, what does it matter if the heart is not a new creation? Lets hope that we are or that we are trying to get there. =]

march 19 : galatians 4

Hello everybody. I have been moving around from here to there in the last few days. Hectic. Its nice to finally get some time to do a quiet time. I read from Galatians 4. This chapter was interesting. Paul takes a detour from his usual direct message to that of 'freedom'. We are all free, that is his message to us. Being free means to be free from bondage, the opposite of slavery. He gives us an illustration about freedom using Hagar and Sarah. Isaac was born of a free woman, Sarah, Ishmael was not. If we were born from a free woman, then we are also free. This is an amazing promise to us. We are heirs to a kingdom because we are children of the living God, the king of the universe. But why then are we still held captive to sin, especially us Christians? I think its about attitude, about true faith. We need to recognize our freedom in Christ. And in that we know that we can overcome sin as well, because our God has. I need to learn this as well. I often succumb to the temptations sin sets before me. But if I know that I belong to the living God I too can overcome sin. It won't be easy, but it can be done. I hope that we can fight this battle.

march 17 : galatians 2

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"
My dad and I were talking today during lunch about people who give us trouble. I have my set of people that make my life a little more difficult. My dad also has his fair share of trouble makers. Being rash I showed my dad the anger I had for them. But my dad said to me that what I was thinking about them was wrong. He said, "we have to realize that we all need the same amount of grace as the people we dislike." He said this is what makes us equal with everyone, even though we don't feel like it. This is what Paul was saying here. In this chapter Paul rebukes Peter. Peter, having been one of the Jesus' favorite disciples and greatest advocate for the Christian faith, needed to be told what he was doing was wrong. I think it would be a considerable achievement if I were to fully and completely realize this. We all are saved by grace. We may appear good to other people, or even to ourselves, because we do what is recognized as faith. But we can never think that the law is what saved us. That what we do is what faith is. Faith is accepting the blood of Christ as the essential piece to the puzzle of sin. We need to understand this in ourselves before we try to help anyone else out.

march 16 : philipians 1

To live is Christ and to die is gain. Those are such powerful words spoken by Apostle Paul. I think its so honorable that Paul would say this while he is in prison, for his faith. He was debating between living and not living. He mentions only one reason for his presence on earth: to preach the Gospel. How crazy is that? He is willing to trade his life for the sole purpose of saving other lives that he does not yet know. The kind of devotion he has... Another thing I learned from this passage is that Paul accepted anything that was beneficial to the church. He said a couple times that people were trying to undermine his work. That the reason why people were preaching the Gospel was to spite him. Yet Paul said that he would rejoice in knowing this because ultimately the Gospel is being preached. Cool. You know. In our fellowship we need to understand that we will have differences with people in our leadership team. There may be problems with relationships or what have you. But we need to be in harmony with each other because we know we serve one God together. That together we are all trying to accomplish the same goal. Paul says to the church in Philipians, "whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ." He knew that we would have problems in the church. But he shares with us his wisdom. Lets learn to heed it - especially me.

march 12 : Galatians 5

"The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God."
Do you struggle with any of these? Some of them you may be like, "what the heck, I would never do that!" Others, however, will respond with silence. A few of these I look at and wonder, "will i ever inherit the kingdom of God?" Will you? I think it would be safe to say that everybody at one point in their lives have struggled with one of these things. But I wonder, do they ever, eternally go away? Is it going to always be this tough? The end shows us how we can overcome these things. The 9 fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Paul sums up the whole Bible with this: love. I guess all of the fruits of the Spirit point in one direction. We will be able to overcome our sinful desires and tendencies, not by our own strength, but by the power of God. The fruits of the Spirit are not somethings we can develop our selves, otherwise they would have entitled: The fruits of You. Its not though. Even though it involved you, its really involves the Holy Spirit. If we are struggling in this area it would be best to fight our weaknesses with the one who beat it all. God bless

March 11 : Galatians 3

"You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing—if it really was for nothing? Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard"
Have you ever thought about this? This was Paul speaking - rebuking - the Galatian church. I feel that he speaks to me at this very moment. Its amazing that they call the Bible the Living Word. Its as if God planned this all from the very beginning. He knew where we would stumble. Even these QT's written in blogs, or even QT's undocumented, why do we do them? I think a lot of the times I do them out of obligation. I think that if I do this God will give me an A, or he'll fix something else in my life. Legalism seems to find its way into the core of our faith. Out of love is why we should do the things we do. The other day I found myself being rude to somebody, but I then realized I was acting that way because there were no direct consequences. Its like cheating on a homework, quiz, or test. We think that if nobody knows...nobody knows. But out of love we should stop ourselves, out of love we serve our God.

march 9 : ephesians 3

"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."
Wouldn't it be great to see the love of Christ? To see it in its entirety. How wide is wide? How long is long? How high is high? And how deep is deep? More than just that, it would be greater to be able to 'grasp' it. Paul prayed this for the church in Ephesus. I wonder if the people of that church actually got what Paul prayed for. Everyday living kind of dilutes God's love doesn't it? It does for me. I have 2 exams coming up, one of them is really important for me, the other not so much. Nevertheless I am constantly studying or constantly worrying about it. When I am not eating I am reading. When I am not walking from class I am reading. Its tough you know. Its easy to get distracted from the more important things of life. The reason why I stress, the reason why I do not give my all to the one who gave his all is because I am yet fully able to grasp His love. I will pray this prayer for myself and hope that Cornerstone too will be able to grasp this love. God bless =]

march 8 : matthew 28

The Great Commission.
"Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Jesus has risen, and he is with us now. Without this chapter the teaching of Jesus would be no different than the teachings of prophets of both the Bible and other religions. Without the resurrection of Jesus Jesus would have been just another man, who lived and inevitably died. But Jesus overcame death. He lived again after his death here on Earth. How amazing is that. That is the power of our God. Now what interested me about this chapter is what Jesus tells his followers to do. If you look in the other Gospels its very similar to what was written here. "Go and make disciples of all nations," what Jesus' last command. He said to "Go." How important of a task would this have been to Jesus that this was his last command? Now as a follower of Christ I need to learn this. I dislike the fact that I have to call small group members, pester them to come to church, or make them feel guilty. I dont like that. I always looked at Jesus' ministry and noticed that he never begged people to listen, he never pleaded with people to come and listen to him. I am not saying I am comparable to Jesus, but this was my approach too. I am now thinking I have been doing it wrong. I need to "Go" as Jesus commanded and reach out to people around me, that would be obeying God's commands. I think as leaders of the church it should be our duty to do this - to ask for them to come and listen. =] God bless you guys.

march 7 : Matthew 27

The crucifixion and death of Jesus.
Its ironic that I read this passage today. I just got back from Joe Lee's play titled, "The last days of Judas Iscariot." The play is set in a court room with Judas on trial. Should he be given a chance to go to heaven? Or or his punishment for the unforgiveable sin hell? We can't say for sure where Judas is right now. We do know however that Judas probably is at the latter according to the Scriptures. Its scary. Whats going on through my mind right now is that people are always trying to figure out who God really is. There are plays written on the Bible interpreted by the author - a human. There are many questions we have remaining. The Gospels leave a lot out that we can only imagine. There are a lot of haters who dislike what is written in the Gospels. But I am now more relient on the Spirit to give me answers. I think a lot of people these days look at movies or books written about Jesus' life to give them the answers to their questions. However, the best interpretation comes from the Spirit. Instead of looking at the entertainment industry to give us answers, although entertaining, we should look to the one who can answer our questions. I know this is irrelevant to what I have read today, but for some odd reason this is what I started thinking about while reading this passage. I hope that we can find an interpretation sent from God and not from mere people.

march 6 : matthew 26

"The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."
I can relate to this a lot. I think this passage is one of the more memorable ones to me. Not necessarily that it is full of power or whatnot, but that I am a man in love with sleep. I don't know if I am in love with sleep or am a servant of sleep. When I get tired nothing can stop me from thinking of the next time I get to lie down. I want to sleep. Even now. Its so hard when you have to stay awake for even 10 minutes when you're really really tired right? During class especially. Sometimes I think that its almost impossible to stay awake at times. But what do we see here. Jesus asks his disciples to stay awake at Gethsemane while he goes off to pray. He wanted his disciples to pray also. But of course it being late, and possibly the disciples feeling the effects from an early morning, they get tired. They cannot stay awake, and naturally fall asleep. Jesus comes back upset at them for not being able to pray for even an hour. Then it happens a couple more times. Jesus then says, "The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." How true is that? Whens the last time your tiredness got the best of you when you needed to do your quiet time? Prayer? Scripture reading? Studying? But not eating or playing. Jesus wants us to fight these things that seem so natural. Discipline is difficult to grasp, but when you do I believe Jesus will be proud of you. =]

march 5 : matthew 25

The Parable of the Ten Virgins
Will you be ready? I always thought this was a weird parable. I didn't quite understand the analogy as well as Jesus probably wanted me to. Why are they virgins? Why are there 5 smart ones and 5 dumb ones? But ah... Jesus wants us to be like the wise ones! Ok, so what does Jesus want us to learn from the wise virgins? First, they were prepared for a long wait. The 5 virgins took extra oil along with them while they waited for the bridegroom to come. They knew that they might have to wait for an hour up to a couple days. In parallel to this parable the next parable has a similar message. The wise servants in the parable were the ones who invested the master's money - looking to the future. So this means for me: store up what is good, do what is good, and steer away from the evil pleasures in this world. Second, be ready for Jesus' coming at any moment. The dumb virgins who left to buy, quickly, extra oil lost their spot in the kingdom of Heaven during their transit to and from the store. Jesus will come when you least expect it, but once he does come and you're not on his list, you're eternally not on his list. So lets be like the smart virgins and not the dumb.

march 4 : matthew 24

"At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other."
Man. This is nuts. If you think about what is being said here and you believe it to be truth you can't but marvel at God's glory. Think about it. One random day at a random time you will see as clear as lightning Jesus coming back. Everybody - Caucasian, Asian, Black, Hispanic, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Atheists, young, and old - will fall to their knees in response to the second coming of Christ. All will tremble. The source however of this trembling will be different between believers and all others. We will tremble with joy. A feeling when the the timing is just right, like when your bus comes right when you need it to. But others will tremble out of the uttermost fear. A question of why they hadn't believed will inevitably arise; why they had hated Jesus without reason. Guys, the day is coming. No one knows when this will happen except the one who planned it all from the very beginning - God. Lets be faithful in our walks as we use the Bible and prayer as our crutches.

march 3 : matthew 23

This is such a strong chapter in which Jesus basically calls everyone out on their sins. The more I read this book the more alive it becomes to me. It becomes alive to me in a many ways. First, Jesus speaks with such intelligence that it not only pertains to the lives lived in the past but also the lives lived now and forever. Second, he points out the very sins in my own life. Its as if Jesus is speaking to me about my problems. Throughout this passage Jesus says what the Pharisees are doing wrong, and most often than not he speaks directly to me. The cup that is dirty on the inside but sparkling clean on the outside is a description of me. How easy it is to fall into the same trap the Pharisees fell victim to. Let me show you a clip from this chapter:
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness."
That's some tough stuff right? I almost have to bite my own tongue as I read this. This passage really points out the legalism in our lives. Legalism will kill you as it will also kill me. People of the church are prone to following the laws of legalism, but as Jesus was trying to point out, we need to break free from this in order to break free from the chains of hell.

March 2 : Matthew 22

"The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come."
God invites all of us to come to his wedding banquet. All of us are given a chance, an invitation, to attend God's banquet. The kingdom of heaven according to this passage is available to all who are willing to come. The parable says that those who were invited were not interested in coming. But God invited you. He invited me. We are given a chance to spend eternity with him, but some of us are too blind to see the outstretched arm waiting for us to attend. God sees that people were not interested so he sent out an invitation to those on the streets. He extends his guest list to those who we would not even consider. I think this is a clear message that we should all go and welcome everyone who is willing to listen. When we lead our small groups and be examples on campus we need to welcome those who are interested. Instead of pushing pushing pushing, all we need to do is ask. It is good to push from time to time for those you know who need it. But when we see Jesus in his ministry he never begs for people to come and listen. He sits there and lets them come. The ones who come will be blessed, the ones who do not will not. Lets make an effort to be inviting.

March 1 : matthew 21 again

My Qt was on the latter part of this chapter. We see here Jesus rebuking the Pharisees. I think this rebuking is one of the toughest towards them. Jesus clearly points out how bad they really are. He basically tells them that others, second class citizens, will enter the kingdom of Heaven before them. He gives them two parables in particular that point out the direction the Pharisees are headed. In this passage Jesus says to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him." Thats tough. I am afraid that Jesus will hold us to these same standards as well. We are given so many opportunities, so many chances, so many in-your-face experiences. Yet we fail so many times to see the clear picture - the beauty of Jesus. First as Christians, then as leaders, we need to be able to read this passage and understand the importance of what is taught here. We need to be able to see past the lines and understand the Scriptures for what they were meant to be.

feb 26 : Matthew 21

Early in the morning, as he was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, "May you never bear fruit again!" Immediately the tree withered. Why was Jesus so angry at this fig tree? Was it this fig tree's fault that it did not bear fruit? I thought about this. I guess he was just trying to make a point. If Jesus saw me now, I wonder what he would say to me. The Christian is to bear fruits also - that comes from the Spirit. The kind described by Paul: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. I know that I can see a dozen areas right off the bat where I know I lack. I also see a couple areas where I think I am alright at. But I must be sure these fruits are not from legalism that has clouded my faith, but truly God sent through the Spirit. If Jesus were to come to me now, would he saw of me, " may you never bear fruit again!"? I surely hope not. Would he be disappointed in the way I was handling my life? Would I be able to stand firm while Jesus checked me out of my fruits? I hope that we all can. We need to have these kinds of goals set in our minds. God bless!

Feb 24 : Matthew 20

There are many times in my life where I think I deserve something because of what I have done. Especially when I have been serving in Cornerstone for a long time now. I have been a Christian a long part of my life. I have studied too many times by myself while my friends didn't. Sometimes I am a little, whats the word, demanding. In this passage Jesus tells us about a parable of the workers who work for a master, each working a different amount, but receiving the same amount of pay. Have you ever felt like this? Its understandable in the human perspective for us to feel for the guys who worked so hard the whole day. You would think they deserve more right? Jesus is saying, let God do what he deems right and appropriate. God knows when to give and when not to give. There are reasons to why God does the things he does, without mistake and without err. Its hard for me understand why, even though I try hard, I fail. Even though I think it is so right, it never turns out the way it seems. God owns the world - he owns me. It takes a little bit of faith to understand that. "Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?"

Feb 23 : Matthew 19:16-30

"Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"

This man apparently did most things directed by the Old Testament - specifically from Exodus 20. Do not have any other Gods, no idols, do not say his name in vain, honor the sabbath, honor your father and mother, do not murder, commit adultery, do not steal, lie, or envy. I think what Jesus was getting at in this passage was this - get away from legalism and run after the love of God. A lot of us Christians live this life thinking that if they don't commit the sins listed above they can go to heaven. Their acts and deeds could be faithful to what the law has commanded, but the state of the heart is what dictates entry into the kingdom of Heaven. Now this rich man, the one thing he couldn't give up was money. He was loaded. Doing things out of love would allow him to fulfill what he already had been doing, but moreover it would have allowed him to give to the poor all his possessions. Now I do not know if Jesus literally meant for the rich man to give everything he owned. I believe Jesus was pointing out the fact that the rich man was living legalistically. He did these things not out of love. I wonder now what Jesus would ask of me. Would he ask me to give up pharmacy school? Give up my car. Give up my girlfriend. Give up my family. Give up my life. Would I be able to do it? I don't know. A part of me says I need these things too much. I know I need to be there, to give anything and everything, not for the sake of heaven, but for the sake of love for God.

Feb 22 : Matthew 18:1-9

What does it mean to 'become like this little child"? Jesus answers a question posed by his disciples again in a confusing manner. So then I began thinking about what it is about a young child that makes him the 'greatest' in the kingdom of heaven. I am assuming that children now are a good representation of the children then. I am just imagining, but I think children are relatively pure around 4 or 5 years of age. I was examining a few children at church today because I read this passage before I came to church and was wondering how they are. They really are pure. Even though they start petty fights with their friends - everyone their age is a friend to them - they are pure in a sense that they are 'real'. They do not because its cool, but because it is fun. They depend on their parents so much. They love em. Parents are always keeping an eye on their young kids, but interestingly the child may be keeping an even closer eye on their parents. Its hard to see a proud kid around that age. You hardly see a boy lusting sexually after a hot woman. And they believe wholeheartedly what their parents and teachers say. But the question is, how do you and I become like a child again? Where do we go to take back our childlike faith? I think this is still so new to me that I just need to pray and examine. I hope you guys would do the same. =]

feb 20 : matthew 17

"There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus."

There are a lot of liberal christians in this world. The church today is turning more towards the secular world, and relying more on science to describe a God who is not held down by the laws of nature or culture. Here we see Jesus transfigured. Some christians would say this did not really happen. That everything is figurative. However we know that the Bible is true in everything it says. If this was a metaphor for something else I think Matthew would have written it in a different way. Being a believer in the Scriptures as truth I can understand somewhat the power of Jesus, and ultimately of God. This is amazing! Jesus who was here more than 2000 years ago did this. He was not bound by the laws of pysics, he was truly an amazing God. I was discouraged this week when my dad came back from a presbyterian meeting held in Indiana. A couple big name churches here in Lafayette and West Lafayette left the presbyterian church. They were saying the denomination was turning more and more liberal. Not believing the Bible in its entirety, ordaining homosexual pastors, and the idea of a universal God. What sets us apart from the world our differences with the world, how can we be different when the church is trying to be the same? Lets take the Bible as literal and truly be blessed by the Spirit =]

Feb 18 : Matthew 16

"Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?"
What does that mean to you, to deny yourself? Deny yourself of what? I think the answer is complicated in that there are certain things or ideas you need to deny that is unique to you. Kind of like a tailored suit this passage has a meaning tailored to fit only your size. You have to examine what it is. It cannot be taken lightly. By that I mean you cannot size yourself up to other people and expect there to be a specific standard of guidelines that need to be followed. Your neighbor deals with excessive pride, but you don't. You deal with issues of lust, but he doesn't. None is worse than the other. It doesn't mean you are a better person. It means you have something that you must deny and your neighbor has something else to deny. Both are equal in terms of what Jesus is talking about - both are used as tools by Satan to have you forfeit your soul. Lets think about this =]

Feb 17 : Matthew 15:1-28

"Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man 'unclean'; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him 'unclean.' "
Eat whatever you like! This is what I learned most from this passage. =] jk, but kind of not. The beginning of this passage we see that the pharisees were asking Jesus why his disciples break the law of not washing their hands before they eat. Jesus says that it is not the rules that matter with faith, but the condition of the heart. He says that what we eat we poo, but what we take into our hearts is what shapes us, emotionally. What makes me clean is not the fact that I go to church every Sunday or write a blog everyday but rather what drives it. The heart is like the engine of a car. You can have a great looking car but if the engine is undependable then the whole car is undependable. A great example of something opposite of that is my 1996 black Honda Civic Hatchback DX. That car is not the greatest looking little bugger on the street, but let me tell you, the engine is remarkable. Not once have I had a major problem with it. A/C still works, single complact disc player, non-smoker, no accidents, >112,000. If you're interested I'm still selling it at $2950, cash only. haha jk. But really though - $2950. Ok ok enough joking. But like our lives, a little dent here and little ding there on the outside may appear 'unclean', but if our source of power comes from Truth and the Spirit we are on the right track to race with the best. Is legalism something you deal with on a day to day basis? Is it something you are yet unaware of and need to address? Let us all deal with it appropriately and fix the condition of the heart, not the appearance of our faith.

feb 16 : matthew 5:21-26

"Anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell."
I think we can all relate to this. In another passage is says:

"Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him."

There are some people in my immediate life who I dislike. There were times where this dislike of someone would evolve into a bigger and badder dislike - hate. The sad thing is that these times of dislike and immense dislike were not from my childhood, but rather a time not too long ago. Reading these two passages and those like it reminds me of how much higher I need to grow. Sometimes its so easy to hate someone. Do you know what I mean? I think you probably do. Its sad that we are prone to hate so easily. But sometimes I think, well I don't dislike the individual THAT much, or everyone has someone they dislike. But when you look into the passage the words Raca and Fool are used to describe a person of low intelligence and character, defined respectively. These words are not very strong words, there were worse words than those in Hebrew. So, something as trivial as the word fool, could it be something so displeasing to God that Jesus would tell those who commit this sin to watch out for hell? We must heed this passage and go to those who we need to forgive... I got a lot of cleaning to do.

feb 14 : matthew 14

Jesus feeds 5,000 people.
This is probably the amount of people that followed him to hear him, to be healed, and to love feel love. It is amazing that there was such a great following. Its even more amazing how Jesus cared for each one of them. When it was time for dinner Jesus didn't want to send them home because he knew they came to listen and he wanted them to listen. The disciples wanted them to go back into the city to eat. Jesus however insisted that he perform a miracle to feed them there on the spot. Why? Because Jesus wanted to be with them because they wanted to be with him. When we follow Jesus he likes it! He wants us to keep following him. He knows that we have needs, of course we have the fundamental needs as human beings such as eating, but we also have emotional and spiritual needs as well. I believe Jesus will never send you away hungry, weak, or broken, as long as you follow him. The loneliness you feel, could it be that Jesus is not found amongst your common companions? The lust, the hate, the pride, the jealousy, etc., he will replace all those as you follow him. He will fill the void and the hunger. There will be times though in following him where you will feel scared, alone, and even doubtful - its not going to be the most jolliest or carefree of times. After this we see Jesus walk on water. Peter is called out to walk on the water with Jesus. And what happens, he walks on water, but surely doubt gets the best of him and he starts sinking. Remember, its not as though Peter didn't know Jesus' powers; he saw the miracle, he experienced them first hand. We too will fall from what we believe to be our most spiritual peak. But just as Jesus offered his hand to Peter as he was sinking, he too will offer his hand to us who are falling. Be strong!

feb 12 : matthew 5: 17-20

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven."
I've done my qt on this chapter once before, but I wanted to examine these three verses deeper than I had done before. The biggest argument between the Catholic and Protestant church is the issue of works and deeds. The Old Testament was based largely on the Law. You can or cannot do this, you do this and you will die, a lot of them given reason for but some of them not. But protestants focus more heavily on the teachings of the New Testament where grace is what gives salvation. Jesus did not come to this world to take the Law out of our understanding of faith, he came to redefine what they stand for. He came so that we can have eternal life, if following the Law grants eternal life than there would be no need for a savior. There would have already been a way into Heaven. But the rules of the Bible are so strict. Can anyone possibly follow all of them without breaking them? Following only the Law would leave us with guilt and shame. The reason Jesus came down to earth was because he was the only one capable of following such a strict set of rules and laws without once failing. That is what we are to follow, that is who we are to follow. The following of Jesus, not rules, is what gets us to Heaven. Good deeds will then come alive as a response to the grace of Jesus Christ.

Feb 11 : Matthew 13:24-58

"As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear."
Scary. Jesus talks in the last half of this chapter about the end days when he comes back to collect his people. He describes us like fish being caught in a net. There will be tons of us who are caught. Not all of them will be saved, only the ones who are handpicked and chosen will be given eternal life. Jesus basically tells us how to escape the "gnashing of teeth." Jesus describes himself and the faith as treasure. If you were walking on some random property and you stumbled upon a pirates treasure chest filled with tons and tons of gold hidden under a tree you would desire it so badly right? So badly to the point where you would sell all you had to get it and hold on to it. So too we must learn to be able to be like that. We need to understand that what we have from Christ is of greater value than anything. We must be keen enough to know when something is simply not worth it if it costs a part of our treasure.

feb 10 : matthew 13: 1-23

"Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand."

Many people do not understand why we [Christians] do the things we do. When we read the Bible we come across a different kind of message and interpretation than do those who are not of Christ. Even among fellow Christians we may find ourselves unable to simply understand the message in the Scriptures. Its amazing how true this is. Many times we have been presented with a particular message filled with hope, love, encouragement, faith, power, and more but all we see is ink on paper. There is so much, Jesus says, that is meant for us to understand and receive. We are better off than people of no faith because we do understand to a certain extent, but we must be fervent in our attempts to truly understand God's message. Like the parable given in this passage we see what happens to those who struggle with the worries of this world, the pressures of success, the sense of belonging, or even ignorance, they ultimately fail to see the glory of God. Be strong!

feb 8 : matthew 12

Hello.
"Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit."

I feel like I am an in between tree. Sometimes I bear good fruit, but often times I bear not-so-good fruit. Jesus says that whatever is in our heart will be the source of what comes out as words and action. When the Pharisees were constantly trying to corner Jesus he disregarded them because he said that whatever comes out of them is no good because they are no good. It's so important to put what is good into our hearts. In Psalms it tells us to guard our hearts for it is the wellspring of life. Why guard it? Because it is so easily corrupted. As Jesus was explaining in this passage, what goes in comes out and what does not go in does not come out. Simple right? The movies we watch, the friends of influence, church, books, magazines, and much more enters our naive and malleable hearts. A shape is formed, and from it our character and personality are developed. Let us hope that Jesus would look at us and tell us we have goodness coming out of us, not because we are perfect, righteous, or holy, but passionate, hungry, and full of grace.

feb 8 : matthew 11

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Have you ever caught yourself complaining about how hard it is to serve in Cornerstone? I find myself complaining quite often actually, and frankly, I hate it when I complain. I feel that leading a small group takes too much time and too much effort when I have other things in my life I am worrying about. I feel like we, myself included, get burned out so early on in the semester that the remaining stretch sucks the life right out of us. But this should not be. This job, though difficult, is not meant to make us grumble, crawl, or loath in discontentment, but rather a hiding place of refuge and rest. Wee need to be recharged. Like a battery out of power seeking a fix of energy so we too should seek rest from our Father. We should avoid the grumbling and fix our eyes on the one who promised a yoke easy and a burden light. Ajah Ajah Fighting!

feb 7 : matthew 10

Hello
Man those disciples whom Jesus sent out had it tough during this chapter of Matthew. Jesus basically said go and preach the gospel, but you can't bring a single thing. Now that is faith and trust in God. When Jesus said, "when they arrest you..." I would have been like what? I'm gonna get arrested? But to have the faith where they believed Jesus when he said, "and when you are arrested do not worry about what to say because it will be given to you at that time," is amazing. Now I question myself with this. Do I have what it takes you know? Jesus sent out these disciples probably because he trusted them to do and faithfully fulfill the work. Would Jesus trust me? Now the disciples were not perfect people, nobody really is. They probably had faith and integrity that was enough for Jesus to use. I think that Jesus can use me and you to complete works like this. We are sinners and broken people, but we look to God for strength right? Lets pray that we can be like the disciples and do His work faithfully. =]

Feb 5 : Mark 9:42-50

Hello.
How bad is sin in the eyes of Jesus? In this chapter passage we find out a little bit about his views on sin. Its hard to read this passage because of how aware you are of your own sins; how aware Jesus is of those same sins. When Jesus says that it would be better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell, its downright scary. For guys, like me, I find it hard to keep my eyes clean of lust and sexual sins. My eyes in all its intricate and wonderful capabilities has the capacity to bring damnation to my whole body. This is where Jesus says, "It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell." For those of us who have difficulty biting the tongue, is it not better to have your tongue removed if it is going to award you a ticket to hell? Though we know Jesus wasn't speaking literally with these illustrations we need to consider them with a half literal and half symbolic interpretation. Why? Because sometimes we can't control something even if we know it is destroying our lives. For example, the types of friends we have. I'm not talking about the best friend who is not a Christian. I'm talking about the types of friends who have bad morals and who help lead you astray. We need to cut them out of our lives. The t.v., IF it is causing you to sin, get rid of it - or cable. The computer, same thing. The boyfriend, same thing. I am not close to living the kind of life I am explaining, but I am trying. Lets all try!

feb 4 : matthew 9:1-13

Why do we serve? I sometimes ask myself this question. What do I plan to achieve by serving in Cornerstone? I ask myself that at times because I feel like I am not doing what I had planned or imagined I would be doing when I first started serving. As Jesus came to the earth to be with the sick, the poor, the needy, and yes the sinner - the latter being of primary concern. When Jesus chose to hang with Matthew, the tax collector, he knew the imagine that would follow him. And so it was, people began criticizing Jesus for chilling with the "sinners". People began judging Jesus. What Jesus said was this, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Now, let me ask myself and you again, "why do you serve?" Do we only like to hang out with those who are more Christian like? If we were to hang out with people who were known as the clubbers or people of bad image we would probably feel uncomfortable. But those are the type of people who we need to hang out with. In the earlier chapters of this book Christ talks about us being the salt of this world. Christians judge the meat of this world so sinful. If we take ourselves out of society how then can we be the salt? Salt needs to be put in the meat to preserve it. We need to engage and dive deep into where preservation is needed - like Christ himself. =]

feb 3 : Matthew 8

Hey guys.
I did my qt today on faith. Faith is something that I, and others, claim to have. But having faith that is 100% is close to impossible. There are moments when doubt seems too strong. But faith always seems to find its way back. But from this passage we see powerful faith, a different kind of faith. Now in this chapter we see that the people with faith are asking for something. These people are in need of something. The leprosy case and the centurion, Jesus says they have such strong faith, but does that mean they have 100% faith? Jesus says, "I have not seen faith this great in all of Jerusalem." I do not know how his faith would have been revealed if in a different circumstance. Something I am wondering about. But when asking for something we need to ask with faith. In James it says that someone who prays without faith is like a mist blown in the sea. So we need to pray with faith!

Jan 29 : Matthew 7:13-26

Man this passage spoke to me so deep today. How many people will walk from one side of Heaven's gate to the other? When Jesus says, "and few will find it [Heaven]." Few as in how much Jesus? How narrow of a gate are you talking about? I think what Jesus meant by that was exactly what he said: narrow, few, small, tiny. Are you in that tiny bunch? I sure hope I am. And then Jesus starts talking about good and bad fruit; good and bad people. This is scary because I see a lot of bad fruit I have made. How can someone who is saved produce bad fruit. And there are times when I do believe I make good fruit. But it gets even scarier what Jesus says next, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!" These people who were able to drive out demons, perform miracles, and even prophesy in the name of Jesus will not enter Heaven. I need to reevaluate my life. People who see me work at church may think of me as someone who is totally doing the work for God, but God may see a completely different motive. What I am doing for God may actually succeed even though I am not saved, giving the false impression that I am saved. In the end will Jesus recognize me? What does he think of me now. I need to establish a personal and intimate relationship with my Lord.

jan 28 : matthew 7:1-12

Ask, Seek, Knock.
There have been many times where I have made a request to God but get a reject message. I should go back and think, what have I asked for that made God not want to give it to me? I wanted so badly that new ninja turtle toy, a dreamcast, that girl, but God said "no". There are other times like, "God please don't let me fail", "Please take away my sadness", "Please don't let her die." And God turned those down too. More often than not God answered my prayers, in big and not-so-big ways. But to all those things he's turned down God taught me something, if he has not, he has not - yet. In this passage we see that God loves us enough that he will give us what we need when we need it. If a man can give his son a loaf of bread instead of piece of poisonous mushroom for food God in the same way, and even a lot better, will give you what you need - maybe not want. Need and want are different. Jesus tells us here, "don't worry about what you think you do or don't have, know that God will give you what you need." That is awesome. How many times have we worried about such stupid things. Lets cast our burdens, worries, sorries, wants, needs to our God.

jan 27 : Matthew 6:19-34

Do not worry, be happy!
How many times have we heard from our pastors, our Christian brothers and sisters, and parents, "do not worry."? Many times right? How many times have you told it? I've told it many times. I realize that worrying is a part of human life, just differing in magnitude between people. I love how Jesus talks about the lilies of the field or the birds of the air and how he takes care of each one. He tells us that we are so much more important than either of the two. Currently I am really worried about a therapeutics exam that is coming up the Monday after our retreat. I have heard horror stories about this exam, and people having to retake a year because of this class. I have been worrying a lot about it. But you know, every year I get through it. I am not saying that I am smart, but that I usually get the job done, maybe not perfect, but I still get the job done. After its done I realize that I had an irrational fear. I know that God is giving me strength and brain power to do what I need to do. I believe God is going to use me and I believe God loves me. Seeing that lady bugs wear a nice polka dot suit, I too will be given something beautiful. =] But its not gonna come easy because we still gotta try right? Bless everyone =]

jan 26: matthew 6:1-18

Hello.
Do we as Christians live for rewards? I think a modest Christian would be quick to answer, "no." I believe we do most of our acts - good acts - to please God, but at the same time store up treasures in Heaven. In this passage it tells you not to pray in front of people for the sake of recognition. Do not fast with a somber face, but when fasting dress well and look well so nobody knows. When you give to the needy, don't do it in front of people, but do it in secret. Its hard sometimes when you do something "nice" or "good" to keep it to yourself. Sometimes you really want to share it with the people around you right? I do. But this tells us not to do that. I think within reason its ok to tell people what you are doing. If you are doing it to help motivate someone I think its good. When you are doing a quiet time because you don't want to write a hundred times "I will write my blogs" for everyday of the week you miss, its bad. I hope I can learn to be better about doing things for
God and not for others. To not be afraid of my sins being exposed to people, but that God already knows. Bless you guys.

Jan 25 : Matthew 5:17-48

Sup
In the Bible study my small group covered on Friday I posed the question, "why do we even try to accomplish the goals given in these [beatitudes] if we are not able to be 100% successful?" And that was a response to the first 12 verses. If you read on it gets harder and harder. To love your neighbor enough that when he strikes you don't get mad and you let him do it again. To not look at a woman lustfully ever! To only divorce when she/he is unfaithful to you - and only that. Make sure your yes's are yes's and your no's no's. And then we get the commission of being the agent responsible to keep the world pure. This is such a hard topic to go over in Bible study. I need to have the faith to be able to lead this topic. I need prayer. I love the beatitudes because of how straight forward it is you know? It's simple, yet profound. I just really hope that I can follow the rules given by Jesus to the best of my abilities...

jan 22 : matthew 5

Hello.
Today I covered something i have covered before within the past month. Our small group is having our bible study on this topic so I decided to read from here. I find this chapter to be an amazing chapter because it carries very simple messages yet is extremely difficult to follow. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are those who mourn. The meek. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. The merciful. The pure in heart. The peacemakers. The persecuted. He blesses all of these type of people. This is what I need so desperately. I need to be able to hunger and thirst for righteousness. When is the last time I can say I sincerely hungered and thirsted for something so righteous I searched with all my heart and devotion? When is the last time I tried to remain pure in heart so I can see God? I questioned myself a lot while reading this chapter. Do I have what it takes? Can I really achieve these things? Do I have enough will power? I believe I want to see these things happen. I really do. But my laziness gets the best of me at times. I hope and pray I can find the will to search and act in the most sincerest longing for God.