Physical and Spiritual Power of Jesus

     There's a section in the book of Matthew that has been pretty heavy on my heart lately and I would just like to share it with my blog. Ready. Set. Go!

     The section is Matthew chapter 8 verses 1-4. This is the part of Christ's life where He heals the man with leprosy. It's so moving to me when I read this. Here's the passage:

"When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. And behold and leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, 'Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.' And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, 'I will; be clean.' And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him, 'See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded for a proof to them.'"

     Could you imagine how amazing that must have been to see for the people who were watching? Here they are, just walking and following Jesus, and they see Him cure a leper. Boom, just like that. Now, for those of you who don't know what leprosy is, allow me to explain.

     Leprosy is a skin disease that was very common back in the age of Jesus. It was a flesh eating disease that made you a walking abomination. It ate away at your skin, made you unclean, and you were just walking and living trash to everyone else. It was very contagious, so no one would talk to you or even go near you. Leprosy ruined lives back then.

     So imagine this life of the leper. He probably lost his family if he had one. His parents would disown him and leave him. His wife, if he had one, left him so that she wouldn't get infected. If he has children he couldn't see them because their lives would be at stake as well. He probably lost his job as well. This man's life was gone. There was nothing for him. He had no one to love and no one to love him, well, until Jesus came along.

     Jesus did the unspeakable here. He actually touched a leper, and action that could quite possibly ruin His life. What is very important here, is the beginning and the action. The leper came to Jesus, he didn't wait around for Him to come over. Then, he asked if Jesus was willing to cleanse him. He didn't demand it, he waited on Jesus. That takes some humility and courage.

     Then, Jesus touched him. Actually touched him. Now, the Greek translation for "touch" in this verse isn't the kind of touch you might think of. Jesus didn't lightly touch this man or just brush him softly with His hand. The Greek translation for "touch" here translates to "the kind of grip you would need if you were pulling someone up from falling off of a cliff". Jesus didn't touch this man, He gripped him. Jesus squeezed this leper so hard that the leper literally felt the love of Christ in this grip. Jesus gave this man what he had been deprived of for years: love. 

     Physically, Jesus was able to do anything. He casted demons out of people's bodies, He cured illness, and He brought the dead back to life (He also came back to life Himself). If Jesus was capable of doing all of that, imagine the spiritual power He has. He has authority over everything, literally everything, including death. This passage is my favorite about Jesus, it reveals so much about who He was as a person. If Jesus could cleanse a leper, He can cleanse us of our sins, we just need to say, "Lord, if you're willing, you can make me clean." 

Availability of God

     Lately in my life, I've been wondering and, well, sort of struggling with something that's been my "wall" in my faith. I've been thinking to myself, Is God really paying attention to me and all of the small things that I do? I know it may sound dumb to some of you, but it's been on my mind for a while now. When I'm driving by myself somewhere and I just start praying, I begin to ask myself if God really cares enough to listen to my jargon I'm talking about. Isn't there more important things for Him to be focused on other than my little self?

     I know what I've been thinking is wrong, obviously. God is big enough to know and love every single one of us. But it still just makes me curious that there are billions of other Christians around the world that are in so much more need than me that shouldn't God be focused on them and answering their prayers rather than listening to mine?

     By wondering this it's begin to grow stronger in me the real truth about this topic. God is God, He is the end all be all of this universe, and He is big enough to do whatever He wants whenever He wants however He wants. With that being said, He is more than capable of caring and loving all of His children simultaneously. It's just really hard for me to rap my mind around that, and I guess I'm not supposed to fully comprehend God, none of us are.

     I've come to this conclusion: God is everywhere; He's inside of us, living among us, and watching over us. Why wouldn't He too busy to listen to a prayer or 5 million at once? He is God after all. He's always available, and always here to listen to you no matter what the time of day is. He's willing to listen and hear about your dirt and all of the sin you've committed that day, and He's also there to rejoice with you whenever something really great has happened in your life. He is always and forever available to us and will never forsake us.

     "Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Matthew 28:20

     "Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5

The Second Mission and the Hope of Jesus' Return

Hebrews 9:28

     In chapter 9 of the book of Hebrews, the author of the letter states a command that will leave us in hope by saying, "So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him."

The Breakdown

     It was really hard to choose which verse I wanted to study today, but this one just gave me a lesson right away. So we'll break it down to get right to the learning part! "So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many..." So in the beginning the author is referring to Christ as the subject of this verse. He then states that Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. Back in the Old Testament, there were multiple sacrifices of animals on a daily basis just to cleanse one person at a time. The author here is telling us that Jesus wasn't just another type of offering that needed to be offered more than once. Since He was the Messiah, His single sacrifice cleansed the sins of all who have sinned. Everyone. "...will appear a second time..." This is our hope in the verse. The author is not telling us if Jesus appears a second time, or hopefully He appears a second time, but the author says He will appear a second time. That should be absolutely comfortable for us to hear. "...not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him." Next the author goes as far to say exactly what Jesus' mission is going to be in His second coming. The first time Jesus was sent on earth, His goal and mission was to die the death all deserved, and in the process save the souls of all who have sinned. That's not the case this time; this time, Jesus already gave us the task, so now, He's coming back to save those who have been living on this Earth in His name. He will rescue them from the sin and secularity that they've been living in for so long, and bring them to perfect peace. It requires eager waiting, but Hebrews says that He is going to come back for us. All of us.

The Application

     So like I told you, when I very first read this verse, a lesson immediately stuck out to me, so now I'm going to share it with you: patience is the key here, we are told that Jesus is going to come back, so there's no need to question it, the main challenge is going to be waiting for the right time when He does come back for us. We don't need to be skeptical or question whether Jesus really will come for us a second time, it's said all over the Bible that He will, so we can throw that doubt away. What we really need to focus on is trusting that He is currently here with us in Spirit and that when the time is absolutely perfect, He is going to return to save us. Eager patience and endurance is what is going to prepare us to be joyful and full of the Spirit when Christ does return. Hold on steadfastly to this verse, cling to it, it'll be our hope that Jesus returns.

Decisions That Endure Forever

Ecclesiastes 3:14

     Here in chapter three of Ecclesiastes, the Preacher explains what he has drawn from his time on earth, "I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people will fear before him."

The Breakdown

     I feel like this verse speaks so strongly to us, and it is informative when we dive into it. "I perceived that whatever God does endures forever..." Right here it's pretty easy to see that the Preacher (author) says that anything that God decides to do, it lasts forever. In the Old Testament, God decided not to flood the earth again, and so far, that has been everlasting, enduring forever. God also promised a messiah, a savior; then came along Jesus Christ who still endures forever in Heaven with God. God's decisions are permanent, not temporary. "...nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken form it..." God is God, He is the end all be all. There is none equal or higher than Him. He has no editor, no accountability partner. He is everything there needs to be. Nothing and no one can add to or take away from what God has set in stone because, well, He has the last word and He's God. "...God has done it, so that people will fear before him." The Preacher says that the purpose for God's enduring actions and promises are so that people will fear Him. Now, fear isn't the kind of fear we know. Fearing God means respecting Him, honoring Him, acknowledging his sovereignty. So, God does what He does and sets it in stone so that people will acknowledge His glory and honor Him.

The Application

     This verse is a verse calling for humility, the way I see it. Whatever happens here on earth is something God has done, and since what God does endures forever, we can't change it. We need to be accepting and surrender to what He wants so people will see His glory. That's what I get from this verse. I feel like this lesson keeps coming up, but it's true. We can't change what happens here on earth, we honestly can't. So instead of arguing about the eternal, why not just submit to it and show respect and honor to the One who allows us to be here in the first place? Who are we to argue with the Maker? The least we can do is respect what He has decided to do and submit to His will, that way people will see His glory in us and we will serve as beacons of light in our secular world. When we argue, all we do is act the way Satan wants us to, and we will not serve as examples of Christ to people. We cannot argue, it's meaningless. Good ol' C.S. Lewis puts arguing this way: "The problem with arguing with God is that you are arguing with the very Being that gave you the ability to argue." Let's submit to the will of God because we can't change it, and we will be acting in a way Christ wants us to. 

Humbly Admitting We are Not Perfect

Hebrews 8:7

     Here in chapter 8 of Hebrews, the author gives us a reason as to why there is a new covenant by saying, "For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second."

The Breakdown

     This verse serves as a good reminder for us and it also serves as a great explanation for the entire New Testament. "For if that first covenant had been faultless..." The author is giving a scenario, and "what if" moment if you will. He is setting the stage for the explanation. "...there would have been no occasion to look for a second." Summing the whole verse up, the author finishes with a logical statement. No one is perfect, the old law became ineffective. If everyone was perfect based off of the Mosaic law (first covenant), then God wouldn't have needed to send down Jesus (second covenant) to rescue us from our sins. We are human, so we sin. We are not perfect, in any way. I enjoy how the author lets us know that even though humanity was nearing such a hopeless point in time, God still went out of His way to send down His only Son, Jesus (the new covenant), to rescue us from our sins. That is true love.

The Application

     This one is a tough for me to point out, it took me a while to figure out exactly what God is trying to say to me here. He spoke to me though, and this is what I got to say: we are in desperate need of Jesus, no matter what we think. God gave us mercy by giving us Jesus to look two, He didn't have to, so we need to be humble about admitting that we are helpless without Jesus. That is what I have. We all sin, we all fall short of the glory of God, and we all need Jesus Christ to save us. It is foolish and selfish to think that we can make it on our own, because God saw that there needed to be a second covenant, that means that we need o accept that we need it as well. As soon as we are able to acknowledge our sin and that we can't live life on our own without Jesus, the sooner we will be able to live meaningful lives in His presence. Now, don't think this is easy, because it's not. I know for a fact that it is so hard for me to admit that I'm wrong at times, ask my girlfriend. But I need to learn to do that, it's for the good. If we were all perfect and didn't need Jesus, then we would have no purpose to live. Outside of Jesus, we are lost in sin; inside of Jesus, we are made perfect. 

Living With Fulfillment

Ecclesiastes 2:25

     Here in chapter two of Ecclesiastes, the author writes in verse 25, "For apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?"

The Breakdown

     This is such a great verse that I read over in chapter 2 today. I love it, so let's begin! "For apart from him..." The "him" in this verse refers to God, just to clear things up. So right here the author is just stating that whoever is apart from God, whoever is not saved, whoever is living their life absent of God. That is what the author is saying. "...who can eat or who can have enjoyment?" When he says, who can eat? That is the key phrase here. When you eat, you obviously eat to satisfy your hunger. If humans never ate, then we would all starve to death. Eating is something that allows us to live. So when the verse says, "who can eat?", he is really saying who can live? "...who can have enjoyment?" is the next phrase. Here that's just saying how it's practically impossible to have any type of true joy in your life if you are separated from God. If you don't have the Father, then you will never experience true happiness.

The Application

     So here, I feel like this verse is telling me that until i acknowledge God in my life on a daily basis and know that I am only here because of Him, my life will utterly be meaningless. God is the key to meaning in our lives. We are powered off of Him alone! If we ignore Him daily, never talk to Him and never acknowledge His presence in our lives, then we will not have happiness! No joy, no meaning. We will be lost that day and days to come if we don't recognize Him in our lives. The challenge I feel like this verse in Ecclesiastes is giving us is that in order to fully and successfully live life, we need to live life with God, then we will have that sense of fulfillment. We need to feed our spiritual stomachs. That is a perfect metaphor for this. We can't live without eating food. We can't live spiritually without digesting the Word. We need to feed our spirituality by investing in the Word and truly examining it. The Word of God is the only thing that can fill that craving, it is the only Divine Word that can give us insight to God and see what He wants for us. Living according to the Bible is what will allow us to fully live our lives for God, and keep us safe in Him. The Bible will keep us from sin, and sin will keep us from the Bible. We have to be careful with where we spend our time. 

Embrace the Bad

Ecclesiastes 1:3

     Here in the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes, the author writes in verse 3, "What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?"

  The Breakdown  

     Ecclesiastes is a book that can be directed toward the cynical or doubtful or such and such, so I think it would be interesting to study it. Let us begin. The verse is short, so we'll just go through it as one section. When the author says "sun" in the verse, He is referring to anything under Heaven, meaning the earth. Toil would be defined here as trouble, or fighting, or bad situations or circumstances. So what the verse is saying is "What does man get from all of the bad things that he fights with on earth?" In other words, trying to fight the bad circumstances, or trying to argue that what is happening to you is unfair, is pointless. 

     The Application

     The last sentence in the above paragraph almost sums up what the application of this verse is. There is no point in trying to argue or fight the bad that happens to us here on earth. We can't help what happens to us, we are in no control of what is thrown our way in life, only God is. And when God allows hard situations to come our way, it is our duty as Believers to look to Him for support and help. He won't leave us on our own, there is a lesson to be learned in everything that happens to us, whether good or bad. It will be a challenge, but it will pay off in the end. There is no satisfaction or good in arguing what cannot be changed, so embrace the bad and let God show you what He wants to so that something can be learned on our part.

Having Hope We Don't Deserve

     Imagine living a life where you have no hope. No hope that gives you motivation to complete what you are working through. No hope to tell you that you're going to make it, that everything will be okay soon. Imagine having no hope in your life.

     How hard would that be? How how would it be to have to deal with something that you weren't prepared for by yourself? That would be miserable, and practically impossible emotionally. We wouldn't be able to handle that kind of stuff on our own.

     The good news, is that we don't.

     Christianity gives us that hope. We have that light at the end of the tunnel to see and know that everything will get better and that everything will be okay. We have a hope of eternal life in Heaven. We have the hope that there is a God who loves us so much that He is willing to take us in as His own children. We have hope given to us through Jesus Christ, and that is something to be thankful for.

     This post is just a little acknowledgement that we should be thankful for so much that has been given to us. We don't deserve anything that has been given to us, yet God still gave it to us. How thankful should we be just to have a new day approach us every morning? Just to know that how hard things are getting right now, there is is still a God who loves us and in no way wants to hurt us. We have hope.

     I'm working on being thankful myself daily, instead of just when things are good. It's a hard thing to do, but I'm working on it. I'm learning to be grateful for everything, not just the good. We could all give thanks daily too. It's a hard thing to do, but it will be totally worth it in the end. Jesus never told us that it would be easy, He just said that it would be worth it. The least we could do is be thankful.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 - give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

The Image We're SUPPOSED To Be Bearing

     I'd like to share something that again has been on my heart today. It's a situation, not a testimony this time.

     For school, I'm reading a book called Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded by John Scalzi. The book is about John's blog called "Whatever" and all of the hate mail he gets from it. He is a very opinionated man with strong beliefs and morals. He talks about politics, parenting, book writing, and religion. I bolded religion because of his first chapter.

     Since John uses a nasty word, we're going to replace it with the word "butt", okay? The first chapter in this book is called "Jesus Buttheads". That immediately made me go, "Oh great, here we go." As I begin reading this chapter, John is very logical in his sentences. He talks about how he has no hatred for Christians or any believers. But what he hates are the majority. You see, he has the image that all Christians are, well, what the title of the chapter says. He explains how he has been corrected and reprimanded and talked down on by multiple "Christians" because of the way he lives his life. He even goes on to say that because of these actions all Christians are butts. Here are some quotes:

"Whatever the rationale, they're being butts."

"At no point in the Bible does Jesus say 'be a butt in My name'"

"Lots of other Christians seem to get through life without feeling called upon to be a butt in the service of Christ."

     And there's plenty more you can tell. Although he is being irrational by assuming all Christians are this word, it still disappoints me that John has been rubbed the wrong way by people who are supposed to be representing Jesus on this earth.

     It almost makes me irritated that fellow believers have made John feel this way. We are supposed to be Christ-like, not buttheads. And now because of the selfish way some believers have been acting, John has an anger towards all Christians. This makes me mad.

     Come on! We are supposed to be living our lives as Christ would, not as jerks or rude or arrogant or self-glorifying fools! We turned off a talented writer of a man from following Jesus because of our selfishness. This makes me so sad to see this happening. If Christians rubbed one man the wrong way by acting arrogant or prideful, I don't even want to know how many other people have a hatred for Christians because of our selfish acts or our prideful speech. We are no better than ANYONE. NOT ONE! We can't earn the Love we've been given so we have no right to treat others improperly because the Love is not ours to sell! The thin lines that divide the sinner from the saint leave me no pride when it all comes down to grace. Right and wrong are both missing mark. We have no right to treat non-believeers differently than we treat other believers. Sometimes I think that we all need to re-read the Gospels to see exactly what Christ stood for instead of pushing it aside.

I am in no way calling anyone out in this blog. This is just my opinion and my feelings towards a topic that hurts me.

Guarantor of the New Covenant

Hebrews 7:20-22

The author of Hebrews here shows us why the new covenant made with Jesus is superior and true: "And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath, but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him:

'The Lord has sworn

and will not change his mind,

You are a priest forever.'

This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant."

Yes, there's a lot of writing there and probably a lot to digest, but we're gong to get through it! "And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath..." his is just some Old Testament history here. Back in the Old Testament, priests were just chosen as priests. There were no promises made and no oaths said. Yes they were in a higher spiritual position, but there was nothing official about it. The author here writes that unlike most other priests in the past, Jesus actually took an oath when He was chosen as High Priest. "...but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him: 'The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, You are a priest forever.'" Again, the author states that there actually was an oath made between God and Jesus when Jesus was chosen! God sealed the deal with this priest above all others, He actually made an oath saying that Jesus will be the true high priest forever! "This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant." With all of that said, making an oath truly made Jesus the guarantor to all people that this new covenant made by Him with His people is true and will not fail, for He made an oath by it, and Jesus is not one to break promises.

So, what does this really mean? Well, I think of this more as an acknowledgement rather than an action. I encourage all who read this to take some time today and just be thankful and actually think about the efforts Jesus made for you. For all of us. He didn't just come to this earth and then die because it was all in God's plan. He sealed is truth to us through an oath, and gave up His life because He knew that He would be freeing everybody from death's grasp. Just take some time today and be thankful for the lengths our Savior went for us.

Having a Truthful Reputation

James 5:12

James leaves us with a challenge that he says is "above all" when he says, "But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your 'yes' be yes and your 'no' be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation." (ESV)

This is such a great challenge for all of us, it is such a strong command that was first given by Jesus in Matthew 5 in the Sermon on the Mount. Let's start! "But above all, my brothers,..." Clearly James says that what he is about to say is most important above all things he said previously in this chapter. "...do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath..." This is the beginning of the command. He tells us not to swear by anything. That means no "I swear to God" or "I swear on my mother's grave" or "I swear on the Bible." Taking no oaths, making no promises, and not swearing is how James is telling us to live. "...but ket your 'yes' be yes and your 'no' be no..." This is the challenging part. If you look deep enough into it, this right here says that we need to build up a reputation of honestly. We'll go deeper into that later. "...so that you may not fall under condemnation." By letting our yes's and our no's be truly meaningful, then we will avoid being falsely accused of lying or not sticking to our word.

The challenge here is slightly hidden and calls for deeper thought, but here it is: we need to be living an honest life and have been honest in the past so that people accept our word as yes or no, they don'y need to hear us swear by anything. If we have been honest with everyone and have kept to our simple promise of "yes" or "no", then all we have to do is say those words. We need to be honest enough so that people naturally know that we stick to whatever we say. If people question our word or our promises, then we should be worried. We want others to think that "Oh Dominic, he's so honest. Whatever he says he sticks to." Or whoever else. That's our goals guys, we need to be living honest lives so that when we speak about the Gospel, people will know that we are truthful and that our word is good.

The Anchor That Brings Hope

Hebrews 6:18-19

The author of Hebrews gives us our true hope when he describes the type of hope God has given us, saying, "So that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain." (ESV)

That's a lot to digest, but we're going to do it! "So that by two unchangeable things..." Previously the author referred to the covenant with Abraham that God man: God promised to do something and He also took an oath on Himself. The author of Hebrews here is saying that those two things are unchangeable. God's promises cannot be changed and neither can His oaths. He is true to His word. "...in which it is impossible for God to lie..." The author just ensures us on exactly why those two things are unchangeable. He says that it is impossible for God to lie! He can't even lie if He wanted to, He is, what we call, dedicated. "...we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us." When the author refers to the "we who have fled", that's us, the people who are having a hard time during temptation or the people who are going through pain for some other reason. The "hope set before us" is Jesus Christ. He is our hope that God has so generously given us to take for keeps and hold onto when the struggles in life get too hard for us. "We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul..." Jesus Christ is our anchor. Not only that He is a sure and steadfast anchor, meaning He will always be there and cannot be shaken by any type of problem that comes. He is the foundation and the hope of our souls. "...a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain." Here I feel like the author is referring to the Holy Spirit when he says "the inner place behind the curtain", meaning He is with us always by dwelling inside of us. 

So, what exactly are we supposed to do no with this? Well, I feel like the author of Hebrews here just gave us perfectly legitimate reasons as to why we should cling to Jesus in the hard times and never think that God is ignoring us. God's oaths and promises are everlasting and cannot be broken! He has told us many promises in the Bible, all of those are staying true until the end of time! He is no liar, so He is a reliable and healthy source to run to. Just think about the concept of Jesus being the anchor of our souls. He holds us in place, He doesn't let sin shake us up or move us to a new direction, He keeps us where He wants us to be, for the good of the Kingdom. We can't run from Him and we can't make Him let go. He is an unmoving anchor. It's time we start trusting our Lord with our souls, seeing as He already is the foundation of them.

The Testimony of Nature

     I would like to write something that has been on my heart lately as I've been reading about Theology. 

     A friend of mine lent me a book called Coffeehouse Theology. As I've been reading it, I got to the chapter about proving, or, suggesting the evidence that God is in fact real. Keep in mind as you read this that this does not secure the fact that God is real, but gives very reasonable evidence that He indeed does. This evidence is called the Testimony of Nature.

     The Testimony of Nature goes as follows. Take a minute to think about all of wondrous beauty there is on this earth. Think of all of the necessary ingredients needed to build a pine tree. Think of the trillions of gallons of water that there needs to be to keep the ocean flowing. Think of all of those sea creatures that inhabit that very ocean. Now dig deeper and smaller, insect small. Inside a caterpillar, there lies a brain like all of us. Inside that brain, there is 356 muscles that function in order to keep that millimeter wide brain working. Just in one caterpillar!

     Let's take it just one more step deeper. The magnificent creation of human DNA. We as humans have discovered that our entire being and who we are is described in one single strand of DNA. Every single piece of us, that describes us and builds, is inside one strand of DNA. And that single piece of DNA is able to carefully and intelligently wrap itself up into one microscopic dot that is smaller than the period at the end of this sentence. There, that period. Your entire person is built into a strand of DNA smaller than that period. How mind blowing!

     How could any of this be possible with just an accident happening in space? The Big Bang theory is described as an accident between chemicals in space. If those little chemicals accidentally exploding created this earth, are they really capable of creating all of those few things described in the above paragraphs?! How can an accident create those 356 muscles inside a caterpillar's brain? Or the trillions of gallons of water in the ocean? Or the complexity and perfection of our DNA? Only an intelligence far more intelligent than our own could have perfectly created such amazing pieces of artwork. And that intelligence is not a what, but a who!

     I just wanted to share that with you all. I am in no way trying to teach you or press anything on anyone, but I am just trying to get you all to think for a bit and understand this testimony. Just admire how much we don't know and how much we have been given to know.

     "This most beautiful system of the sun, planets and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and domination of an intelligent and powerful Being." -Sir Isaac Newton

We Are Not the Wielders of Time

James 4:16

James calls us out in verse 16 when he says, "As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil."

I believe that this is a tough verse to comprehend at times. It is short, but does carry a powerful meaning. So let us begin. "As it is..." In the beginning of this paragraph, James was previously saying how we shouldn't take our days for granted. So here, when he says that "As it is", he is referring to expecting tomorrow to come without a thought about it. "...you boast in your arrogance." Right here, James tells that as soon as we boast, we are being arrogant. Any type of boasting is a slight revealing of arrogance in our hearts. That is something that is detesting to others as well as God, for her then says "All such boasting is evil." We are showing evil in our hearts when we boast and reveal arrogance. By expecting tomorrow to come and to boast about anything in our lives, we are showing evil and arrogance inside of us.

The meaning here might be obvious now; take nothing for granted, for by doing so, you are being boastful and arrogant. James straight up tells us that when we expect things to work our way and put no thought in God changing our plans, we become arrogant and boastful. We need to be thankful just for the time God is giving us to read this blog. Thankful for the time He has given us to rest our bodies and sleep. Thankful for the mornings and the days He let's us get to a from locations safely in our cars. We need to be thankful for everything. We are not the holders of time nor do we have control over the days given to us, so who are we to expect tomorrow to come and to make plans when we don't even know if we will live though today? We must learn to be humble and be graciously thankful  for what has been given to us by the true wielder of time.