My Treasure

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"The man who has God for his treasure has all things in One. Many ordinary treasures may be denied him, or if he is allowed to have them, the enjoyment of them will be so tempered that they will never be necessary to his happiness. Or if he must see them go, one after one, he will scarcely feel a sense of loss, for having the Source of all things he has in One all satisfaction, all pleasure, all delight. Whatever he may lose, he has actually lost nothing, for he now has it all in One, and he has it purely, legitimately and forever." A.W. Tozer
All i need is You. None but Jesus. You're everything to me. We have sang these songs before, but is it actually true that Jesus is all that you need? If you we're to sell all your possessions, donate all your money to the poor, and some how lose your family and friends, Would you still be content? Would it be enough to have Christ, and Christ alone? Would you truly be satisfied?
"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" Phil 3:7-8

"I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength." Phil 4:11-13

What good is it to gain the whole world and yet forfeit your very soul? What good is it to have everything but Jesus? In truth one would actually have nothing. It would be better to have Christ in your life, than living with all the money, possessions and material of this world. There is no hope, no salvation, no life, no forgiveness, no redemption, no healing, no comfort, and no true love apart from God.

Life is absolutely worthless, meaningless, empty and dark apart from knowing Jesus as Lord and Savior. And yet we who claim to be Christians often have one foot on the rock and the other on the sand. We still catch ourselves building on the wrong foundations, investing our happiness in things that dont last, and trusting in our worldly pleasures that will never truly satisfy. We go searching to fill and satisfy ourselves in all the wrong places. We turn to addictions, relationships, entertainment, possessions, comfort, securities, jobs, friends, technologies, medicines, material wealth, sports, hobbies, and false religions.

Running on our own strength is like performing on dry batteries. We get drained out, we lose hope, and lack the power to fulfill our hearts. But when we plug into an infinite source and strength of God, He charges us up and reminds us how wonderful He is. He demonstrates His love, He meets with us personally, He rescues us from sin, solves all our stressful problems, empowers us with His Spirit and satisfies all our needs. He alone is good and He alone is worthy of all praise.

Is Jesus truly my treasure? Is a heart after God truly my core desire? These are the questions that i ask myself. Because if Christ can become the center of my life, then it should be no problem to love, it should be easy to make time for Him daily, it should become a great joy to pray constantly, it should be automatic to have a heart of worship, and it would grow my love deeper and deeper for Him. Having Christ the center of my heart would transform my entire life and behavior. Christ at the very core matures faith into a joyful obedience and deep trust. Lifting God up high in our lives makes it easier to say no to sin and yes to righteousness.

Nearness is likeness. The closer we draw to Him, the closer we'll start to look like Him. The more we desire Him, the more we'll start to live for Him. God's desires should not only override our own, but should also become our heart's desire.

If Christ were all that I lived for, and i humbled myself and allowed God to have His complete way with me, then i would see the super charged Holy Spirit living in full power in my life. The Holy Spirit is a gushing spring that outflows love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control. But even if i were sin and miss the mark in obedience, then I would also know that my God would catch me, being full of nothing but comfort, forgiveness, love and grace. Just one touch of Jesus is enough to be changed for an entire lifetime. A close love relationship with Jesus lasts forever until eternity.

Like any other treasure, we must go searching to find it. And when we do find this marvelous treasure, we must ask ourselves "Is it really worth selling everything else i have?" God is an infinite provider, healer, and comforter, but we dont nearly take enough time to Ask for His empowering Spirit. Do you truly value and cherish God as your treasure? "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field." Matt 13:44

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Seminary for a WeekI've been in LA for 4 days now. Today (tues) I got to check out the Talbot Theological Seminary. I was greatly impressed by Talbot's teachers and faculty. One of the teachers who was a pastor, gave a great sermon in the weekly chapel's service. Later i got to sit in on a hermeneutics class. I was amazed at how ordinary it would be to have such powerful and spiritually deep teaching everyday at school. A counselor and main pastor of the school also took me out to coffee, and spent half the day just having a good conversation.

I was perhaps most impressed by the student body. In between classes, i saw tons of people reading their Bibles, people studying godly Bible doctrine books, a bunch of people worshiping on the grass, and i overheard people talking about how they were sharing God to their friends just as i was walking to the cafeteria. People in class knew their theology. You could tell that people were just madly in love with God. It was shocking to be surrounded by so many Christian believers wherever i went. Ive always imagined what an everyday life of ppl filled with the Holy Spirit would look like, and this passed my expectations. Now the mission is to get the rest of the world to look like this.

Today (weds) I went to visit Fuller Theological Seminary. I felt like i didnt get to experience the seminary that well because they actually wernt in classes yet, so there wernt any faculty or students on campus. I think both fuller and talbot offer many options in ministry degrees, and have a broad stance on their doctrines and teaching. That can be either a good or bad thing in depending on one's circumstance. I think it may also be dangerous in bringing in experimental classes of psychological spiritual formation that may drift from Biblical teaching. Although i do generally see that they have a passion for deepening their intimacy with God. Today (thurs) I had another great "seminary for a day" experience at the Master's seminary. At first it was pretty intimidating because i was the only person wearing jeans and bball shoes in a crowd of 500 men. Everyone was dressed really formal with coats and ties. I also felt really young because most of them were already married, and plus they had beards. But I was really impressed at how well they lifted the authority and inerrancy of scripture. After class they gave some time to actually pray for each other in class. I can tell that these men really take their sin seriously and see the high importance of pursuing a healthy character in righteousness. It really felt good to be surrounded by men that have a true heart for the lost and have a desire to disciple and preach the Word of God. Of all the seminaries i think these men had the most reverence for God's Word and were most addicted to His spiritual truths.

i do feel like im at an important fork of decisions in my life right now. And it'd be very easy to make my choices based off my own desires and will, but right now im confused if my choice matches up to God's will.