Laying Down Your Life.

Jesus said "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:12-13)

Most people see this as a command to be willing to die for others.
is it? sure. But I think its so much more.

We all know, that we are to be living sacrifices to G-d (see Romans 12) But we are also to be completely self sacrificial in every relationship we have. Laying down our lives.... our needs, our cares, our wants... to be there for others. In every relationship, the obvious ones, marriage and parenthood, and the less obvious ones, our friends, distant relatives and the strangers we encounter everyday.

We seemed to be so focused on getting others to serve us, we never think to serve others.
We are to be like Jesus. He commands us to love as He loved.

I urge you to start thinking about others more than yourself.
We live in a very selfish world... break the cycle and love. Start thinking about what you can do for others, and stop thinking about what you "need" to do for yourself. If you follow G-d, He will take care of you... do you no longer have to care about yourself. Be like Christ... Get rid of your selfish desires, start living G-d's will. Sacrificing, first and foremost to Him and second to His people.

Phillippians 2:1-11

¹If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, ²then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. ³Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. ⁴Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

⁵Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
⁶Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
⁷but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
⁸And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
⁹Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
¹⁰that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

plastic gods

Thoughts on Dating

So these thoughts are from my experience and beliefs, I encourage you to pray and seek what G-d's truth is in the matter, as I continue to do so.

People (myself included) seem to date for two main reasons:

1. They are lonely, and want someone to fill this lonely void they have.
2. They have lustful desires and want to vent said desires.

Let's look closely at these.

1. This lonely void needs to be filled with G-d, not other people. We need a relationship with G-d, our souls cry out for it. To fill this void with a boyfriend or girlfriend is a temporary and unsatisfactory solution to a eternal and very critical problem. Relationships (marriage or friendships) will never work without G-d, we need to be strong in our walk with G-d before we take on the responsibility of taking care of another (like marriage demands). People can not fully help us, they are, like you and me, imperfect and will let us down. Seek relationship with G-d.

2. cuddling, nuzziling, holding hands, kissing, making out. All such things come with the territory of dating. Most people find no problem with any, or most of these. But it's pretty plain to see that they are a vent for lustful desire. Lust is a sinful problem that needs to be overcome, with help from G-d, not vented with others, this will just feed the desire. Jesus said to look at a woman lustfully is to commit adultery. How much more cuddling and making out? You do not know that you will marry this person that you currently like. How many failed relationships have you been in? I urge you to abstain from venting you lustfull desires with what will most likely be someone elses wife/husband. Think about the fact that your future wife may be making out with her boyfriend,and thinkof how that makes you feel.

Paul said all things are permissible but not all things are beneficial (1 corinth10) why do something if it doesn't benefit your walk with G-d? Can you honestly say, that your walk has ever benefited from a dating relationship? I can't.

I've also heard it argued "how can you get to know a person to know if you should marry them, without dating?" I think you can know just as much about close friends as someone your dating. I know more about my best friends than anyone I've dated. And you've got to ask, do you really trust G-d? If you do, you don't need to worry, He will bring your mate to you.

These are just a few of the reasons I've come to beleive that dating is wrong for followers of G-d. Focus on G-d, not on this earth and the desires of your flesh.

1 John 2
15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

Let me know what you think, and feel free ot ask me anything you want.

Dear Dummy

Sometimes I feel like I get little messages from G-d.
I got one earlier and it went something like this...

"Dear dummy,

SHUT-UP.

-Love, G-d"

So let me give a little background as to why I got this message.
I was hanging out and thinking about one of my favorite bands, GISM, a japanese punk group. I was recalling the violent antics of their singer... instead of paraphrasing or something I'm just going to show you an excerpt on their front man from wikipedia...

"G.I.S.M. were widely known for violence present in their lyrics & live shows. Sakevi attacked the singer of Jagatara on national television. On stage, Sakevi would often be dressed on stage wearing a balaclava & bullet belt, waving lit flares in audience members' faces, using microphone stands as clubs, & attacking concert goers as Vietnam War footage was projected behind him. In the past he has attacked photographers for taking pictures of him & has chased audiences with a flamethrower."

So I was thinking about this. and some of you may find me pretty sick for it, but I was thinking... "that's so awesome." Kind of laughing to myself.

Violence is what is to be expected at punk shows, and the thought of a japanese punk front man chasing people with a flamethrower, was a thought I found pretty entertaining. It probably would have been different if it said he maimed a bunch of people... but just chasing them I found to be a great image in my head.

Anyways, I was thinking of it while I was on my way to grab a bible and read a bit while I waited on a download. So I open it up and here's the first thing I read...

Pslam 37:1-9
1 Do not fret because of evil men
or be envious of those who do wrong;

2 for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away.

3 Trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

4 Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

5 Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this:

6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.

7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when men succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.

8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret—it leads only to evil.

9 For evil men will be cut off,
but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.

Message recieved loud and clear.

The Gospel... told in Genesis 5

My friend Sara showed me something that I want to share with everyone who reads this...

Check out Genesis 5 and the names recorded within it.

Here's a translation of those names:

Adam = man

Seth = appointed

Enosh = subject to death

Kenan = sorrowful

Mahalalel = from the presence of God

Jared = one comes down

Enoch = Dedicated

Methuselah = dieing he shall send

Lamech = (to the) Poor and Lowly

Noah = rest and comfort

The whole Gospel story told in name translations in Genesis 5. Pretty neat.
I did a little research to make sure this was accurate and from what I found it seems to be.
But if anyone wants to dig deeper and find out for sure, I urge you to, and I would ask that you would let me know what you find.

Focus on Messiah, Keep your eyes on G-d

An ever growing trend among the church is slowly killing our message to the world.
Popularity, fun, love, acceptance, teaching, blessing, forgiveness, peace, all these things sound great. What can be wrong with them you may ask?

I tell you, without Messiah, without G-d they mean nothing. If you have a building of worship, a church building, and your main goal is to entertain, to get a bigger congregation, to show love and acceptance, to spread peace among the world, then you are in the wrong.

All these things are lies without G-d. True love and true peace can only be found through Messiah. We are to preach Messiah crucified and encourage each other in Yeshua. Forget not the center of our faith, for these things are destructive without the Truth that is YHVH.

Do not be deceived brothers and sisters.
Seek G-d and keep your eyes focused upon Him.

Encouragement

We fight an on going battle in two worlds.
The sinful world and the resurrected life in the Messiah.

Somewhere along the way we gave up. We decided grace from sin was all that we needed.
Forget not, that we are to continue running the race and fighting.
We are commanded to be Holy as He is Holy.
Be separated. The bar is set high and we should not stop and find comfort, but ever run towards G-d's will in faith, a faith that comes through fear and trembling.

Take every thought and action into careful consideration. Your words can destroy lives or bless them, your thoughts can imprison you if you are not careful and your actions may produce devastating reactions.

Don't take any word lightly, but through all things try harder in faith and in prayer, be cautious and prayerful. Don't give up, and don't settle in.
The race is not finished until you can no longer run.

Messiah lives in you, and will help you to run, when your legs become weary.