Recently the thoughts of having no money have taken over my mind. Distracting me from reading, from listening to sermons, from prayer, and from my school work as well. And until recent events, I thought there might be a chance that I could remain at Moody. However, as my uncle and my grandfather have revealed their will, I will be here at Moody no later than March 6th. I am dropping out due to financial reasons I regret to say, but I have done this and have forgotten about the all-knowing and all-powerful God who can do anything He wants. I felt as though God has taken everything away from me. There is another man in history that has felt the same because it actual happened to him. He goes by Job.

          Job was the richest man. Some, I have heard argue hear at Moody, say he was the richest man on the earth. It says in verse 3

        Job 1:3 ~ “He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east.”

          Job went through, I think, the most horrible series of unfortunate events. Guess what happened to him? Well, Sabbeans took all the oxen and donkeys (whatever those are), fire consumed the sheep (very likely), Chaldeans took the camels (common in SoCal), and on top of all this, a huge set of wind came and killed the rest of his family (happens all the time). This man lost absolutely EVERYTHING and can you guess what his response was? If this was me, I probably would have killed myself, I mean can you imagine? All of it, gone in just a few moments of his life, and he lost it all. Instead, this is what he said in verse 21-

        Job 1:21 ~ “And he said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.’”

          We see here the response of a truly righteous man. How convicted I stand when I compare Job’s response with my own. I need to remember, just as Job did, that the Lord gave me all I have. I also need to remember that He can take it all away too and rightfully so, because it is all His, that means me too. I own nothing, not even myself.

           A valuable lesson I learn from Job here in this chapter. What a Godly example to follow, it is my hope and prayer that all who read my blog would follow it likewise.

          This reminds me of the very first Christian song I sang at church titled “Blessed Be Your Name”. It also happens to be the very first song I had learned on the guitar. You know what the funny thing is? I probably play this song once a week or so and yet I still fall into the same distant land in my spiritual walk with God and forget to sing out to God in trust. God, blessed by Your name!

          Can I be honest for a second? I really don’t want to grow up. I really don’t want to have to get a job and have to pay bills and be responsible. I would gladly accept the invitation to skateboard and play video games all day and have everything provided for me as it once was and ride on through life.

          And yesterday… Yesterday was the day that I realized that life will never be as it once was. I am never going to have another all-nighter playing pokemon with Dillon again, as fun as it was, it’s not going to happen. I am never going to skateboard all day long and worry about nothing with John and Dillon. I am not going to live under my aunt and uncle again and never be in high school again either. But instead now I am in college, and I am on my own. I will never get any of my past back; I will never have the fun I once did as a kid. Never… This was the hidden reality that hit me yesterday, now that I am an adult, I will never have my childhood years again…

          If you have thought about this as Jake and I have, I strongly believe you have too much time on your hands. But now that the thought has already made itself known in your head as well as mine, I want to think about what does not change. And that is God.

          Mal 3:6 ~ “For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.

          What a profound theological truth! God does not change. Nor has he changed before nor will He ever change. We can see by the way it is written that the Lord simply does not change. It doesn’t say, ‘For I the LORD will not change anymore,” nor does it say, “For I the LORD did not change and will now do as I please,” no it says, “For I the Lord do not change.”

          This encourages me in so many ways. Things change all around us, there are unknown realities that can surprise us at any moment in life. Life changes and so does everything except God!

          I can know, without a doubt, for a fact, no questions asked, that I will go to heaven and worship God because I know He doesn’t change and nor does His mind either! Look at this verse,

          Num 23:19 ~ God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

          God does not change His mind on any subject, “He is not like us” the verse says. I love the way the author asks a few rhetorical questions to further his point. I can tell you that I rejoice in what is said here, because I know God is truth and there is no lie in him. Do you know what God has promised me and you? He has promised us that if we have faith in Christ, and if we repent of our sin, that we will have eternal paradise with Him and in His holy glory we will indulge forever. He has promised us will be His children and He will gladly catch us as we were once before falling into the pit of Hell.

          I rejoice in the theological truths shared here, there are no hidden realities with God. He does not change like our life’s circumstances do, therefore our faith should not change according to our circumstances, but rather hold fast to the unchanging God we have.

          Arguably one of the most poetic verses in the book of Psalms, the author paints the picture of a deer. The deer in this visual painting is panting, possibly suggesting he just finished running or is simply dehydrated or even both. The point is the deer is thirsty and there is only one source that can quench the thirst of this thirsty deer and that is water.

          The psalmist makes an interesting comparison, just as the deer is thirsty for water, so he himself is thirsty for God. Now any Christian can say, “Oh yes, this passage! I have had this verse memorized since my youth.” And this may be true. But what I can’t help thinking to myself as I sit by this window with a view of the Willis Tower (previously known as the Sears Tower), what does it mean to be thirsty for God? What does it look like when a man really desires God just as a dear yearns for water from a stream? Well we know what it looks like in a sense; it looks like a deer panting for water. We might have to do some critical thinking here because in order to understand what a man whose soul pants and thirsts for the living God, we must understand what it means to be thirsty just as the dear is thirsty.

          Keep in mind here this is real thirstiness. The deer is panting for some water. This is not the situation where the deer is just taking a sip before it goes to play with the bunnies, the deer is actually thirsty. So we need to ask ourselves, “How do I feel when I am thirsty?” The thoughts that come to my mind are not pleasant to think about. First my mouth gets really dry; ugh that’s the worst feeling. And as it gets dry my saliva gets really thick and gross. And normally, on top of all this, I am hot and sweaty when I am thirsty. I get really tired and I am slow moving. Sometimes I like to pretend I am a dog and stick my tongue out of my mouth too. But being thirsty is no fun thing. For me it’s agonizing and really a state I don’t like to be in. When I am extremely thirsty I would normally do anything for some water, even if it means just a drop. I know it’s kind of gross to place a picture of me in your mind as a sweaty gross guy who has his tongue sticking out like a dog, but in order to understand what it means to thirst for God we have to look at what it means to have real thirst. Just like this fellow below…

          Now we need to think about what happens when we actually get the water, because in order to understand what it means to thirst after God, we need to understand why we thirst after God at all, what happens to us when we actually are quenched with a tall glass of water?

          Let’s get that picture back into our head, extreme thirsty Matt, sweaty and exhausted and gross. When I take that tall glass of water into my hands, and I feel the chilled water that has laced the outside of the glass, and I chug that sucker ’til I am sucking on the ice cubes, I am more fulfilled at that moment and time than ever in my life! Isn’t it true? When our thirst is quenched when we desire it the most, it is the most relieving feeling in the world! Knowing that the satisfaction of icy-cold water is tunneling down into your waterless gut brings a satisfying peace that no other drink could do. That is the feeling we get when our thirst has been quenched.

          So what now? Is the psalmist trying to tell us that we need to fit God in a tall glass of water and drink Him up? Well obviously we can’t do that, so what exactly is going on here? The psalmist is not referring to the actual act of taking water and placing it in our tummies. Rather, he is referring to the ‘desire’ that is compared in this verse. Just was we long for water, just as we yearn for that heavenly substance when we are dehydrated, just as we seek out water to quench us, so we must also long for God, so we must also yearn for the Lord, so we must also seek Him out. This is what it means to thirst for God and this is the contrast shown in this verse. The idea we get from this passage is that we need to desire God and continually depend on him. Can a dear live without water? Well, maybe perhaps a few days, but sooner or later this dear the psalmist is referring to is going to drop because the dear cannot live without water. So it is with God. We need to realize not only should we want to know God, the fact of the matter is, we simply cannot live without Him. He is the constant that keeps us going, He is our driving force as Christians, He is the reason of our very existence and if we are not longing for him as a deer longs for water than we will fall, and we will fall hard.

          The contrast is clear. But let’s not forget the satisfaction that God brings to us when we thirst for Him. Remember just a second ago I said drinking a cold glass of water when you are thirsty is the best feeling in the world? I actually meant second best, being quenched by the Grace of the Almighty God is unbeatable. Those of us who proclaim to have faith in Christ know this because we have tasted the oh-so-sweet promise of salvation. When we thirst after the Lord, He promises to quench our thirst and to bless us. But what does it look like when our thirst is quenched? How does God exactly do that? There is a number of ways he fulfills our yearn for Him, and that is He gives us peace. Not just any peace, but a peace that gives us hope. The psalmist here is going through troubled times and is in distress of what is going on. He, later in the psalm, remembers what he has in God, it says in verses 5b and 11b, “ Hope in God, for I shall yet praise him for the help of His countenance.” Let us remember the hope we have in Christ, the hope of salvation from our sins and eternal prison and hope in a new body and a new home that we call heaven.

          When you get thirsty, go get some water and be quenched. When you desire God, go seek him out and be filled.

V12a “I want you to know, brothers,”

          I love how Paul opens up with this statement. He wants the Church of Philippi to know what is in the next statement, and he uses the word ‘brothers’ to show this is personal. As we have learned from Philippians 1-11 Paul feels the upmost compassion and affection for this Church. He loves them as his own family and he just continues on with that theme as we continue to read on now in verses 12-18.

 V12b “that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel,”

          Paul here is talking about his imprisonment at Rome as we see early in Philippians 1 and Acts 16. The believers at Philippi might have thought that his imprisonment was a negative thing, but Paul rebukes that thinking! Paul tells them that no, it is not bad that I have been put in jail, but instead God has ‘used’ my imprisonment to actually advance the Gospel, it has actually been even more prevalent now that he is in jail! How can someone advance the Gospel while they are in jail?? Paul what are you talking about? He makes it crystal clear on how God has used him here in following words.

V13 “so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.”

          This is where Paul explains how it was not a negative thing that he was a prisoner because the Gospel has been proclaimed! The imperial guard and all that were around him knew that Paul was a Christian. Paul the apostle shows a lifestyle of faith as we see in many references throughout the entire New Testament, and Paul does not fail here either. I mean, the entire imperial guard knew! I am nervous to ask myself if everyone at my work knows I am a Christian. But Paul is not even at work, he is at prison for the very reason of preaching the Gospel, and as we can see he has not stopped.

V14 “And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.”

          Back then it may have been discouraging to see that ultimately the preaching of the Gospel leads to extreme persecution, but Paul makes it clear here that those who have seen him in prison are much ‘more’ bold to preach. We need to remind ourselves that, even though we may be persecuted, God watches over us and keeps his hand upon us as we do his work. Whatever may happen to us when we are doing the Lord’s work, we can know that we have a God who guides our steps and our words and is sovereign. I think Calvin says it better.

“When, however, we see at the same time the hand of the Lord, which makes his people unconquerable, under the infirmity of the Cross, and causes them to triumph, relying upon this, we ought to venture farther than we had been accustomed, having now a pledge of our victory in the persons of our brethren. The knowledge of this ought to overcome our fears, that we may speak boldly in the midst of dangers.” ~John Calvin

          I love how Calvin says that the Lord makes his people ‘unconquerable’! We as Christians cannot lose heart because with God we can fear nothing! Not even death itself! We read in Psalm 23:4-”Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.” God has taken away all fears including the fear of death itself! Who then shall we fear? Paul has answered this question and that is nobody.

V15a “Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry,”

           Paul does in fact know that there are people who do not preach Christ because they want to see people get saved. Rather, they preach the Gospel because they have a ‘rivalry’ against Paul, and the ‘envy’ him. The Greek word Paul uses for envy in this case is phthonos which literally means jealousy. See, these people didn’t care about the Gospel, these people wanted to be known, they did it out of competition. Is this really the reason why we should be preaching the Gospel of Christ? OF COURSE NOT! In fact, we should be not be doing it for ourselves at all, but instead because we love those who are not saved. Paul goes on…

 V15b-18a “but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of rivalry, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then?”

           And that is the key right there, ‘the latter do it out of love.’ We should be evangelizing to the lost because we love them, we should jump into action because we want to see them come to God and worship him! This should be the cause of our proclaiming of the Gospel! This should be the primary reason to echo the words, ‘Repent and have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ!’

           Paul brings the focus back to those who preach the Gospel out of ill will. He reminds us that they are not sincere in their preaching, but rather they do it to ‘afflict’ him while he is imprisoned at Rome. One might ask, “Why would these people not like Paul?” or, “Why would they preach the Gospel if they are doing it for another reason?” But Paul asks a different question, he asks, “What then?” He answers it here at the end of our passage…

V18b “Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.”

          Now Paul is one of the most magnificent apostles in the New Testament and this is why! He completely over looks himself, I mean COMPLETELY ignores himself and answers the most encouraging/awesome answer that is so appropriate for the situation. Even though these people are persecuting him, even though these people want to see him fall in the end, even those these people are looking to Paul’s imprisonment and find happiness, even in the midst of all these horrible things they wish for Paul, he says, “Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.” What a fantastic and amazing answer! Paul can rejoice in his hardest trial as a follower of Christ yet. But why?

          The reason is in his answer. He is rejoicing because the Gospel is proclaimed. Paul’s main goal, if you know anything about Paul, is to preach the Gospel of Christ to the gentiles. Paul’s whole life is focused on the advance of the Gospel of Christ, his ENTIRE life. This should be the mindset of all who follow Christ, and this is what we learn from Paul. I personally stand convicted, and I am sure we all do, because we are focused on other things. Sometimes we are too busy with a job in our life. Sometimes it can be family or spending too much time with friends. And still other times it can be out of sheer laziness. I know for me its school here at Moody Bible Institute. But we cannot let these distractions drag us away from our focus here on earth, and according to Matthew 28 that is to preach the Gospel of Christ. Let’s us have the same mindset of Paul and glorify our Father in Heaven!

          Lets make advancing the Gospel our number one focus!

         I wonder how I would feel if my family back in California sent me a bunch of money and an actual person servant to cater to my needs. It would be nice if they actually sent me money period let alone an actual servant! What if I was in jail, would they send me any money then? Well I sure hope so, and let me tell you I am sure that I would be more than grateful if I was ever sent anything, like a passage. This is exactly what happened to Paul during his first imprisonment. The Church at Phillipi in Macedonia sent him money and even a personal servant to help him in all he does, Epaphroditus. Paul is so thankful for what they have done! He thanks God over and over again as he says in Philippians verses 3-5-

         ^“3I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.”

          Paul’s joy stands out so much, I mean just look at this passage! He says things like, “always in every prayer” and, “for you all making my prayer with joy!” Paul receives a true blessing from these people who were saved during is 2^nd missionary journey. It’s so clear they have a relationship here full of true fellowship and bond work in Christ.

          In verses 3 and 4 Paul is looking at a stand point from the past. He is looking at what at happened and bringing up the things of memories, you can see how he uses that word remembrance in verse 3. This signifies Paul is speaking from what had happened in the time they had first met. We can see that Paul is so thankful for what the Church of Phillipi has done for him. I mean, he says in verse 3 and 4 that every single time he prays he is thanking God for them. How amazing is that?! How many times can I say that every single time that I have prayed I have thanked God for someone, I stand convicted…

         But there is a twist of time in verse 5. We see him bring the time of what he is speaking about to the present. Notice the end of the verse. He says, “From the first day until now.” Paul is not just saying he was blessed but he was and still is blessed. He goes on in verse 6-

         ^“6And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

         This is an extremely theological statement. There are very few theological concepts in the letter of Philippians because it primarily is a thank you letter to the church of Philippi rather than a theological book. We see that Paul is talking about sanctification in Christ, which is the process of becoming more and more like Christ each and every day. It is important that we realize that Paul is reminding this church that they will not lose their foot hold in their faith. He says, “I am sure of this.” But he brings it back to the real focus of the letter in verse 7-

         ⁷It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.

         Again, Paul’s passion and his love for this church is so obvious it stands out like a sore thumb. But why does Paul feel so much for this church? The key is in the second half of the verse, “both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.” These aren’t your ordinary people. Paul doesn’t like them because they smell nice, or because they are morally good people, or because they were also Jews, but because they stood for the Gospel as faithful Christians just as Paul did. Paul knew as he left the church they were going to be strong believers in their providence of Philippi. And years later, after Paul is still praying for them, he is encouraged because while he was in prison, he heard about how they have revived their concern for him when Epaphroditus came as it says in Phil 4:11. Paul opens up, “I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me.” Paul is worshipping God because of their love for him, he is literally thanking God for what they have done for him, and we need to see this more in our own lives.

         “⁸For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.”

          And ask for verse 8… Ummm Paul? I think we get the point! Moving on to verses 9-11-

         ^“9And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment” ¹⁰so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”

         These are what I like to call, the “New Church Exhortations.” Paul is writing to the Church of Philippi nothing they don’t already know, but rather reminders for them as a new church. We have to remember this church is not too old. It was only a few years back that they met Paul and God providentially saved them from their sins and placed that lamp stand there. So Paul reminds them, “love more with knowledge and discernment!” He goes on, “And be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes from Christ.”

         We need to remember that, as Christians, we are all a part of the body of Christ, and we need to be living like this every day with our brothers and sisters in Christ. If we truly live to glorify God, should our minds not be focused on such things? Let’s take heed to Paul’s exhortation to this body he previously met and let us remember we are no different than that body 2000 years ago. We all have the same Spirit in us, lets grow in the same mind, loving more and more with knowledge and all discernment, and making sure we are blameless being filled with the fruit of righteousness all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I cannot believe myself sometimes. I constantly reject wisdom,  which in turn, will eventually lead to my disaster according to Proverbs 1:24-26. It seems lately that I fall into sin so easily that I just give myself away to it without a fight. How can a disgusting, ungrateful, selfish, undeserving sinner like me get into heaven? If God is surely just in His ways, then why am I not burning in hell right now? Why does God not end my lawless deeds this moment so that he won’t have to deal with a stubborn, foolish, idolater like me? The answer is His mercy.

Mercy is when God does not punish us like we deserve. Mercy is when God chooses to not enforce His Holy wrath on us like we deserve. Mercy is the reason I  and you are still breathing right now. If you do not understand that your sin will take you to hell and that you need desperatly to be saved from yourself, then you cannot understand the Gospel of Christ. I was talking with a good friend of mine today. We were discussing how so many people do not understand the seriousness of their sin and how they believe that they can be a good person. This is a fake Gospel that will destroy the cross of Christ.

Repentance is key to our salvation. But repentance is not found in this so called Gospel. Repentance is to say the same thing that God does about sin. And God says that sin is not worthy of heaven. God’s Holiness does not allow Him to be with a sinner, rather, the sinner will die if he is found in the presence of God. Let us recognize our sin and trust in Christ who takes upon the sin of the world and was judged in our place. This is why I rejoice in Christ and desire to live for Him, because he died for me…

God I pray the righteousness of Christ will be upon me. Please forgive me for the sin I commit against you daily. I am unworthy of all that you do in, through, and for me. Please guide me onto your path with your word, may your Holy Spirit contol my ways and convict me and make me humble. Forgive this sinner forever. Amen

Oh it feels good to finally get up in this blog! Just following chapter 12 and using my time wisely, application. But what I want to encourage all of us on is the chapter ‘Prayer and Leadership’.

I thought this chapter was awesome and needs to be considered a great deal. As I was looking over my heart and this topic I found myself convicted because I personally do not spend enough time in prayer. As Oswald Sanders said, “And yet the most advanced leader is conscious of the possibility of endless development in his prayer life.” The only way we can find this endless development is if we are truly devoted to prayer, just like the famous Colossians 4:2-

2Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

This is something that cannot be taken lightly. Prayer is a “… Strenuous spiritual exercise that demands the utmost mental discipline and concentration”(pg 86). Being a leader is a serious task, so prayer needs to be a serious commitment. If we do not take it as serious as portrayed in God’s word, we will be weak in our prayer and get extremely lazy. But as read in this book, we need to give prayer a large section of our day, in all things we do. We see this example in Luke 6:12-

12One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.

Wow! What extreme commitment we find in the Son of God, I don’t know about you guys but an all nighter of prayer and meditation is impossible for me! Or is it? My flesh says its impossible but God gives us the strength. Remember that it is not our flesh in whom we find our strength, but the Spirit that Christ has given us, so lets pray in the Spirit! We cannot rely on ourselves, it would make such things impossible.

Without prayer we will be powerless leaders who are not relying on God but on ourselves, which makes us no leaders at all. We cannot take things such as this in our own hands, but rely on the power and energy of the Holy Spirit. To echo Oswald Sanders again on page 87 near the middle-

“For its superhuman task, prayer demands more than human power. We have the Spirit of power as well as the Spirit of prayer. All the human energy of heart, mind, and will can achieve great human results, but praying in the Holy Spirit releases supernatural resources.”

This chapter was really exciting to read and blessed me a great deal! Hopefully it does this to all of you too, this topic is so serious and we cannot be hypocrites standing up leading as a Shepherd and not relying on THE Shepherd. We do this through prayer and the reading of His word. So lets pray continually in a way that mimics this chapter. I know I bounced around a lot but there was much to say but little time to say it all.

There is indeed an enemy inside us all, and scripture places this enemy as your heart! Yes your very heart is your number one enemy! Your heart is the very thing you should be fighting against daily, and we all should be waking up with the mind set that we are in a war! There are so many passages in Scripture that we can look at but I chose the most familiar passage I know, and that is Jeremiah 17:9- 

 9 The heart is deceitful above all things
       and beyond cure.
       Who can understand it?

As it reads, your heart is deceitful, but not just that it is deceitful ‘above all things’. What God is trying to say here is that your heart is the biggest liar there is! Yes your heart lies to you, do you wanna know how the heart lies to you? Your heart is constantly telling you that sin is more valuable then God’s divination. Your heart is continuisly pulling you towards the thoughts and desires of your flesh. And this is something we all have, and we all need to be aware that this is a true war inside of us that needs to be brought to our attention. Because right now, if you are thinking, “My heart is fine,” or “Oh I have got it under control,” If you are saying things like this, you are already losing the battle! You are already losing that battle because if you look at the end of Jeremiah 17:9 it says the heart is “beyond cure.” What this means is that you will be fighting your heart till the day you die.

As Pastor Bobby loves to say, “Your heart is a CESSPOOL OF WICKEDNESS!!” And if you don’t know what a cess pool it, say there was a suage pipe under ground that ruptured and it began to flow towards the top of the ground. After a while there would be basically a pool of poop, pee, and other stuff that I will not mention, and yes that is exactly what your heart is! Your heart is a pool of sin and lust and adultery and basically this puddle of evil!

So we as Christians need to be aware of this battle and should be doing everything we can to dominate our Hearts through Christ! And the only ways to battle the heart are not physical, but spiritual… Our fighting tools would be what? Probably a shield and a sword but this is spiritual, so what we need is spiritual tools, your spiritual sword is your bible! You can us that to look up scriptures agianst sin and to capture every thought the heart throws at you and make it obediant to Chtist! And your spiritual shield is prayer! You can block temptations when you talk with God and spend some time focused on Him.

We also have this thing at True North called the Spiritual Growth Chart! It is an excellent tool that Pastor Bobby came up with to make sure that we are fighting the battle with our hearts daily and spending time with God! I strongly encourage it because it has helped me so much in my fight against my heart and all of sin! So let us fight that battle every single day and live for the Lord almighty!!!

Moving on to the basis of this blog we, those who call themselves Christians, need to keep up our spiritual immune system and need to continually be fighting sin! There are many passages of scripture that deal with such things, but first I want to take a look at Proverbs 6:10-11

10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
       a little folding of the hands to rest-

 11 and poverty will come on you like a bandit
       and scarcity like an armed man.

According to what Solomon is saying here, if we give in to any temptation to rest or to ‘take it easy’ look at what it says in verse 11, “poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.” And that is only if you give into a little sleep, and a little slumber. Even just a little bit, yes you will be ruined. So speaking from the analogy Pastor Jon was so nice to give earlier, if we were to give in to a little bit of letting our guard down of sin, so we can use the spiritual hand-sanitzer of relaxation or rest, our guard will get week, our spiritual immune system will get soft! When you get soft, you will have nothing to look forward to ‘poverty’ or ‘scarcity’ as described in the passage above.

So instead of getting soft, those who follow Christ Jesus, need to be focused and keeping our spiritual immune system working and striving for one goal, which is God’s glory. Because if we don’t have this focus, this desire, we will get soft, and we will give in to using the hand-sanatizer of temptation and worry.     1Tim 4:8 reads-

 8For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.

In some translations such as NASB, the word “training” can also be translated into the word “discipline”. And I really want to key in on what this word means. The defintion for discipline is activity, exercise, or a regimen that develops or improves a skill, and no where do you find the words ‘lazy’ or ‘slow’ but instead you find such words as ‘exercise’ or ‘improving’ or keeping up with an ‘activity’. This is the only way to become spiritually strong, and keeping you spiritual immune system focused and destroying the sin in your lives, it is to always be enduring and staying focused and always moving towards a goal, because as it says in the passage above, yes physical discipline has some good benefits, but Godly discipline and Godly training of the immune system has value for both lives!  All this talk about working and striving and focusing, but what I we striving for? It makes it very clear in verse 10 of 1 Tim-

10(and for this we labor and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.

We are doing this to reassure that we “have put our hope in the living God!”   We are doing it for God’s glory, and for nothing else. We have put our trust in Him, and out of gratitude we can’t let ourselves just fall into sin so easily, but we need to have one goal, one focus, and one reason, that is for God and God alone. So lets not get soft but stand firm in Christ!

1 Corinthians 10:31~

 31So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

 This is such an amazing thing that God gives us. God gives us the oppertunity to glorify Him in all we do. So no matter what, whether you eat or drink, or are caught up in school work, or anything you can glorify God in all we do! Worship is a lifestyle, and we can worship God in everything if we lift up our bodies as living sacrifices..

Romans 12:1~

1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.

This is just another verse that clearifies this concept up even more. If we offer our bodies and do what God wants and not we want this is an act of worship.  And if you look earlier on in this verse it tells us why we worship, we worship because of God’s mercy, He has shown us grace with Christ on the cross and has given us salvation, and He continues to show us each and every day a new day and breath. No if those aren’t good enough reasons to worship, I dunno what is. 

This gives us the view that God has given us everything. Which means we need to do everything for Him, including school work and everything else. God makes it clear through the biblical message that we can focus and serve Him in all we do. And I would like to thank my friend Evan for reminding me of that. So as followers of Christ, do everything for Him who has given you life, there is no excuse because you can Glorify God in everything! So do it!