Openness before God

God said he would take out the stony heart and give his a heart of flesh. When we have a stony heart, we can't feel, our hearts and hardened to God and we can't hear his voice or him calling us. When God gives us a fleshly heart, we feel, we are sensitive to his touch. God says, to us in Psalms to "Trust in the Lord at all time and pour out our hearts before him" We may think, God already knows our hearts, why do we need to tell God what's on heart? But, there is such  a place of brokenness, vulnerability, and intimacy to when you  pour your heart before God. God loves us so much and we forget that. God says, if we delight ourselves in the lord, he will give us the desires of our heart. It's so important as Christians to actively seek after a intimate close relationship with Christ. He says we are his friends. God is MY friend. He shares his heart with me and I with him. I know lately God's been dealing with me. I've become focused on ministry and the work of God, praying about different things and I wasn't seeing the fruit of the prayer, so I began to repress or close my heart to that part of my life, but God said , "No, don't pretend that you don't  have this desire in your heart for me to work in this area, you need to stay vulnerable and open before me. I'm not a man, I don't lie. If I said I will do something, I will do it...in my time. Don't cut off part of your heart to me."
We live in a world, that wants you to be independent and hard. We are told to never trust anyone and we bring this same mistrust and closeness to God. We can't do that. We must trust Christ and pour, pour, pour our hearts before him.

Faith without works is dead

God has been dealing with me about faith lately. Just believing God for him to bring that certain prayer to past. The lord showed me if I really did have faith in him, I should be walking in obedience. Faith is more than just wishing and hoping, but its takes a belief that is God is doing to do what he said. Jesus said in his word,And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. ( Matthew 21:22) My heart is rejoicing because this is God's word. God isn't man that he should lie. ( Number 23:19 He word will come to pass and bring forth fruit in our lives. He isn't slack concerning his promise to us. The word says, " hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?" I feel like the apostles today," Lord increase our faith!" Luke 17:5.
Hebrews 11:8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. The lord showed me this today, reading Abraham testimony, that he had enough faith in the spoken word of God that he obeyed God. So many of us say we have faith, but were is our obedience to what he is asking us to do! I'm praying for a specific unspoken prayer, and God told me if you want me to bring the prayer to past, I need to see your obedience. The scripture says, without faith its impossible to please God and faith without works is dead. I believe that "works" is the obedience. Without obeying God, there is no faith. You can say, all you want, " I believe", "I believe", " I believe", but your not walking in obedience. The scripture says, Abraham  in faith, went out, in obedience to God's voice, not knowing where he was going, but he had faith in God. God, help us to walk in obedience.

Judgement Seat

Where he leads I will follow...bearing my cross

The lyrics to "Where he leads" states I will follow ( Christ) through the water, the gardens, dark Calvary, judgments and then to glory". Paul was a mighty apostle/disciple of God. In his early days he persecuted the Church of Jesus Christ until he had a encounter with the living God and he was forever changed. I know sometimes when I read the word and I see all the testimonies and miracles that God worked through him and I think, "Lord, give me Paul boldness, his courage, his fire, his testimony" But His life didn't just consist of "mountain tops" with Jesus Christ. He followed Jesus through the gardens, the valley and persecutions. In 2 Corinthians 11, talks about everything that Paul suffered for the kingdom of God and everything he's encountered as Christian.
Sometimes we forget that part as Christians, ( I know I do). We want all the heavenly and miraculously experiences with Jesus, but we are hesitant to walk through the Garden of Gethsemane with him. I feel that God has been saying that to me for the last day, "Are you willing?" "Are you willing to walk with me through the Garden Gethsemane" The Garden of Gethsemane was a deep place of agony. The word of God says, that Jesus spirit was so heavy that he felled upon the ground and prayed. He said, "Father take this cup from me,but not my will, but your will be done..." He sweat was like droplets of blood, that's how heavy and burden Jesus was for the sins of the nations. He knew what the will of the father was and he willing and even in his weakness, his heart's cry was, "Not my will, but your will be done".  The Lord is saying to me personally, " I'm going to take you through some deep places while doing the work of God...Are you willing to follow me? Are you willing to take the cup, I'm giving to you? Are you willing to follow me? I don't believe God is just saying this to me, I believe that God is saying this as well to those of us who are listening to the heart of God. We all must bear our cross. ( 27And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:27) We can't say we want Jesus, but yet we aren't bearing our cross, we aren't following after him through the Garden or to the cross.

Reasonable Service

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Romans 12:1
As Christians, we like to think that this life of Christ is extreme, difficult, or out of the ordinary. We seem to think that we are doing God a huge favor just for walking with him. In Romans, Paul says in so many words, I beg you that you give your lives as a daily sacrifice to God. Our lives should be holy, pure, set-apart, ready for God's return. Reasonable service means that, what God is calling us to is fair and sensible request. What more could we do? When God himself gave us his son Jesus Christ to die for the sins of the world. It was my sin, It was your sin, it was the world's sin that nailed him to the cross. Someone had to die, a payment was needed for the transgressions and God gave himself for us.
"13Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." Titus 2:13-14 That is why the standard for us as Christians is to deny ungodliness, and worldly lust and to live soberly and righteously and godly in the present world! Oh God...The scripture says, Looking for that blessed hope of the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior and Jesus Christ! Christ gave himself for us. He gave himself for me! So he can redeem you and I! What more can we do, BUT to give him our lives!! Its our reasonable service....

This world has nothing for me

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. ( Romans 12:2)"Everywhere you go, the world is pressing on every man's mind"- Pastor Don Shoots. I find truth in that statement because just attending a University; you can see how the schools wants the students to conform to their beliefs and idelogies. Even outside of school, you see how every man walks according to his own will or beliefs or the major trend. ( When I say trend; i'm not referring to fashion) Even as Christians and it should not be so. God tells us not to conform to this world. Conform means to comply, bend to standards or what is acceptable in society. God requires for our mind to be renewed in Christ Jesus. Once we have the mind of Christ, we can walk in the perfect will of God and they're wouldn't be such a struggle in this life. Can you imagine? Walking in the pefect will of God? Walking in the perfect plan of God for our lives? The enemy wants our mind to be conformed to this world, so we can be continue to walk in darkness. You may say, How am I walking in darkness? I'm not really sinning. I'm a good person or I don't really do bad things. But, the standard is for us to walk in the perfect will of God. Help us lord. We get caught up our own personal goal or ambitions. We do things in the strength of ourselves. Everything we see is so short-lived. We fail to see the long term vision of what God has called us too. We are to be a people ready for Christ's return. How are we getting ready when we are so consumed with this life. We compromise and expect God to move on our behalf. We aren't focus enough.
Personally, I'm a student at a University, but I'm not committed to school anymore. I use to say God was before school, but my actions put school ahead of God. I know this world has nothing for me.