How Great

Over this past semester, i felt extremely overwhelmed. Ive been tryin to juggle 17credits, Campus Crusades, Epic ministry, bible studies, n while trying to keep up spiritually, mentally, physically, and socially. Brah, my plate is so full, da kine food stay falling off already! I felt like i couldnt invest my 100% into one area. My energy gets split up into all different areas. I constantly have schedule problems, and often hafta be at 2-3 places at one time. I got tired easily. And whenever i was free, i would jus want to knockout. School grades dramatically dropped down hill, connections with friends slowly started to fade, i lost like 15 pounds since summer, i was inconsistent with church n devotions, i had no time for the gym, bball or surf, i encountered some friend conflicts, I wasnt always home to support my mom, and then now God's calling me to more?! I thought adding another high school ministry to the load would jus make my flimsy little plate break. This all built up into one big stress ball and caused me to slowly drift away from God. Finally you break down, you reach your limit, and realize that you cant do everything. You feel like u need cut down in some area, and jus learn to say no to anything more. But den, i found one trick.

K so listen up ppls! heres the big juicy part! This truth is even deeper than the ocean, so i need need need ur sharp attention! No rush, read slow, and really think about these quotes im blogging k? Lately, God revealed some HUGE HUGE HUGE revelations slash convictions of truth to me. I learned a good amount from reading some books and listening to sermons on the radio a lot. And in dis one book, a girl quite simply said..

"If you're in love with Christ on a daily basis, the rest takes care of itself. If your in love with Jesus, you don't have to worry about anything else." -Ichabod Caine

HO SHNIKIES!! All you hafta do is love Jesus!! All you hafta do is love God and the rest will come naturally! We think, "Oh im supposed to pray, Oh i should evangelize, Oh i need to read His word, oh i need to do some good works, Oh i ought to be nice to ppl" But hey.. if ur loving God.. then all that will follow! It no longer becomes what we SHOULD do, or what we NEED to do. It becomes what you WANT to do! And what you LOVE to do! We feel like theres jus so much to do. But really it comes down to, "Hey am i loving Jesus?".

When you love God, admiration, devotion, ministry, praise, evangelism, trust, faith, works, worship, prayer, and humility will all follow. Are u serious?! Is that it?! Yups, all we hafta do is love God. But now how do we truly do that? Well i always go back to how God best demonstrated His love for us.

"We love because he first loved us." (1 John 4:19)

"When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins." (Col 2:13)

"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2Cor 5:21)

And there is no God apart from me,
a righteous God and a Savior;
there is none but me.
"Turn to me and be saved,
all you ends of the earth;
for I am God, and there is no other." (Isa 45:21-22)

Okay most of you already kno da salvation message, and could find dozens of verses on how God pulled us out of death, forgave our sins, and gave us new life. But hey.. didja ever wonder "What if living for Christ, didnt have a eternal reward in heaven? What if there was no heaven, would u still live for Christ?" Driscoll writes..

"After all, even if there were no life after death, the joys of belonging to Jesus during this life would, by themselves, make it worthwhile to be a Christian." -Mark Driscoll

OH SHNAPAZOIDS!! thats so true. Many ppl become Christians not because they want to love Jesus, but because they want the benefits of salvation, and eternal life in heaven. Its like cleaning your room. When i was a little person, my mom used to say "Clean up ur room, and ill give u some money to buy a toy!" Cuz toys are cool. But yeah, in retrospect, it still woulda be worth it to clean my room of all the junk, even if i didnt get a reward at the end. Following after Christ dramatically changes our lives for the better. So we love God for who He is, what He did, and still is doing in our lives. And ya'kno what, I dunno what heaven is really like, but to take a stab at it, id say that in heaven all you'd do is continue to love God even more and more! All you would need, want and desire is being with God face to face. That in Heaven all there is, is God and His perfect love. That jus blows my mind away. hey check out this gnarly psalm..

Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the skies.

Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
your justice like the great deep.
O LORD, you preserve both man and beast.

How priceless is your unfailing love!
Both high and low among men
find refuge in the shadow of your wings. -Ps 36:5-7

Okay, so loving Christ is all we need to do.. But it's still easy to get discouraged, tied down, burdened, overwhelmed, overworked, stressed out, and super busy with obligations/responsibilities and with not enough time. We lose sight of Jesus, and stare down at the vast scary ocean we're walking on, and we start to drown. Satan uses all sorts of ways to distract us from Christ. Remember how satan used all the bad stuff to attack Job, but Job never lost his love n faith in God.

As Christians we all know what its like to get discouraged. We feel like, "dang, im not good Christian, im not doing enough, im not doing a good job." We're not perfect, and were not strong enough, But God is. Listening to a sermon, the pastor said..

"Yeah we all feel like we're a looong way from where we should be.. But hey.. We're a looong way from where we were." -Pastor Poncho

The enemy is the one who deceives, condemns and discourages. God never condemns His saints, He builds up, encourages, strengthens, comforts, and empowers. So dont condemn urself or be discouraged when we fall short. We should have full confidence and assurance in Him, knowing we are a new creation, born again, set free from sin, spotless, cleaned, saved, and perfect in His sight. We are reconciled to God the Father, through God the Son, and by God the Holy Spirit. He loves us no matter what, no matter how many times we screwed up, no matter what background we're from, and no matter how dark our past was. He takes us just the way we are, and gives us new life. So strive towards holiness and righteousness. Spur each other on in love and good deeds.

"being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Phil 1:6)

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1)

"Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful." (Hebrews 10:23)

God sees all our struggles. He knows our thoughts. Before a word is on our tongue, He knows it completely. God knows everything we go through. And He's right there with us, every step of the way. Paul wrote..

"But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me." 1Cor 15:10

This shows that His saving grace, also includes His Empowering Grace. He equips us with the ability to accomplish many things. He enables us to get task done. Paul was a very busy apostle, He had a long list of things to do, many places to go and people to see, and yet he knew that because God was with Him, God would get many things done through Him. Yet it was not I, but God in me. God is our source of strength, and in Him we are made strong.

I can do everything through him who gives me strength. (Phil 4:13)

Then i heard Wayne Cordero give a message about the unseen truth. Truth is absolute. There is only one way. Truth is not an opinion. An opinion is like ur favorite song. But if u asked "How many M'&Ms are in this bag, there is only one correct truth. The truths that are seen are temporary, but the truths that are unseen are eternal. Ok so i see a blue car, i can see a brown cow, i can touch this rock, these seen truths are real. But what about love, souls, spirits, and God? These unseen truths have a deeper importance, because they carry on for eternity. So focus on the things that will affect and live on for eternity.

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (2Cor 4:16-18)

"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14)

God You are sweeter than honey, more ono than a chocolate peanut butter milkshake, stronger than the mountains, better than any riches and what money can offer, more gentle than a butterfly, more fierce than a raging waterfall, more creative than cartoons, better than milk and cookies, more beautiful than music, greater than all the seas, brighter than the sun, and greater than all of human kind. Better than life, and better than everything. For whom do you compare. i would trade everything for you. You are worth every drop of me. Worth more than gold. Worth more than life itself. I want you Lord. I thank you for calling us to just love you. You died for us!? You gave us ur life, and defeated sin for us. You gave it all, to save us. Make us in the likeness of ur Son, Jesus. Teach me to be holy, righteous, pure, obedient, humble, kind, and loving like your Son. Thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit, that intercedes for us, and works for your glory. Protect us from evil, and discouragement. Empower us to accomplish your will. Pick up those who are broken, heal those who are sick, and be with those who are lonely. Help the blind to see, and the deaf to hear. Just one touch of you will change their life forever. Be close to us, deeper than our skin and bones. May our thoughts be your thoughts. And may we apply all that you teach us. We ask for your strength and boldness. Lead us into the harvest, and equip us to fight the good fight. God i know theres tons of ppl who are sad, lost and feel empty. Turn their frowns upside down, and give them joy and gladness that you are a sovereign King. Find those who are lost in darkness. Reach out to ppl, even if they arnt seeking u. Fill people up with your love, so that ur love can not help but overflow. Help us all to focus on You, and always keep you on our minds. Speak to us as we sleep, be on our dreams and give us peace in ur stillness. Watch over families all around the world. Help us to love on each other, but more importantly help us to love you above all. Be with my mother, and heal any sadness she's going through. Be with my father, soften his heart, and help him to acknowledge you in all ways. Help me to become a better son to them, so that they would start to seek you more. Strengthen all my friends, building them up in discipline, self control, courage, integrity, faith and love. Help me to become a better friend, so that the spirit inside them would continue to grow stronger. God lead families out of suffering and pain, and grant your guidance on them. You are always in control, no matter if families are dealing with divorce, illnesses, depressions, death, parenting, rebellion, arguing, addictions, drugs, anger, or any other problems. So i pray that you would heal any grudges, disagreements, or struggles within families. Grant them peace, and teach them your love. Help us to serve the poor, and learn to consider others better than ourselves. Bring a wave of revival over our country, and our world. May Christians unite in the body of Christ, and make a difference for you. I pray that we would pray more! That we would humbly bring everything to ur feet, and give everything we have to bless ur feet. Thank you for being so sovereign, and so strong to all your promises. Thank you for hearing our prayers. Thank you for saving us with ur mighty hand. Thank you for always loving us, and for never changing, for you are always good and your love endures forever. Amen.