"One of Those Days"-Psalm 62:1-2

Ok, so I know last night at youth (if you were there), we talked about having "One of those Days" and how to find rest in God alone. We even read the verse that I put up there that said...
"My soul finds rest in God alone..."

So, today I wake up thinking that Whitney and I were going to get our new refridgerator delivered because in all honesty, Home Depot told us we would so I call the office and tell them I'll be just a little late as I'll be waiting for the new fridge, well guess what...it started out as "One of those Days"...Home Depot called and said that they would not be bringing the fridge because it was damaged and it would take another 3 weeks to get the new one (we have already waited for 3 weeks), so yeah it was not all that much fun...and it was literally going to be "One of those days..."

However, God is so faithful...He got us some money back because of the inconvenience plus we'll also get the new fridge (long story short), Whitney's doctor's appointment went great...all's clear...and another girl that wasn't going to Sage is now going so all in all it turned out to be a great day...I just wanted to tell y'all this because I was SO tested to find my rest in God alone today and God totally challenged me with my own words from last night...How funny He is...Grace and Peace...

BTW...Have any of you had "one of those days" today?...comment and tell us about it here...cool?

"When Do We Marvel?"

When was the last time you marveled? I mean literally stopped to take a breath, looked around and just said WOW!!!

Our reactions today seem to be what others around us want from us...have you ever felt that way? You react to things around you based on those around you?

You see a lot of times we simply don't make the opportunity to marvel at God, at His creation, at His love, at His redemption, Jesus Christ becomes almost commonplace to us, He's no longer the object of our affection, He's the cruise control of our life, making us go forward without any effort or concentration, we can take our eyes and our thoughts and put them other than where they should be, because "He loves me and He'll get me through life..."

Is that all that Jesus is to you? Something to get you through life? or can He be the Lord of your life and the object of your affection and what you marvel at?-Grace and Peace.

"Needing Strength?"-2 Chronicles 16:9

"For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him"-2 Chronicles 16:9

What does that say to you? Go ahead...read it again...I know you want to, read it again.

Now, what does it say? Does it say anything at all to you? Does it mean anything at all to you? Did you actually read it for more than just the words? Did you listen to see if God may be saying something to you through it or was it something you just skimmed through without giving much thought to what it said or meant?

Here's the deal...this verse in particular tells me that God Himself is searching to strengthen us and not just that...He's looking for commitment from us! You see, God isn't some foreign being in a far-off land that we merely hear about or read about, God is ever-present in each of the hearts that are committed to Him, in fact Psalm 46 says this, "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble." Sound familiar?

God is seeking to deliver you, to give you peace, to give you rest, to love you with a never-ending love, the real question is this, WILL YOU LET HIM?

"The Excitement of March Madness"-

It's that time of year again!!! It's March Madness time as the NCAA tournament has already begun as of today!!!...This is the favorite time of year for so many people across the country...waiting with anticipation to see what's going to happen with their favorite college basketball teams to see if they will end up victorious in unarguably the biggest basketball tournament of the year without a doubt. You should see it...people go crazy as each team assembles together in their respective regions to compete with each other toward the goal of a National Championship in arguably one of the most popular sporting events ever, it generates such a crazy buzz all across the country.

Here's Why:
1. There's a chance our favorite team will win it all
2. We always like to see what happens when you assemble the best 65 teams.
3. There's always a chance at a "Cinderella" story of one of the underdog teams from an inferior conference knocking off the larger school teams that are supposed to be dominant.
Finally #4

There will always be the suspense of the competition as you unite for a few weeks with fellow fans of your favorite team and it never matters where they are from, what they look like, what they do for a living, or what their favorite color is, during the NCAA Tournament, WE'RE ALL IN IT TOGETHER!!!!

Sound familiar at all? Isn't that what the body of Christ is supposed to be about? Gathering together for one purpose...WORSHIP OF OUR SAVIOR JESUS!!!! We're supposed to be all together gathered together with our goal of living for Christ in mind and the hope that we will come away victorious in Christ?

Guess What? WE ALREADY HAVE THE VICTORY SO WHY NOT CELEBRATE?

Have you ever thought about that? We already have the victory over sin and death all accomplished by Jesus Christ's sacrifice of Himself on the cross for those who it doesn't matter what they look like, where they are from, what they do for a living, or what their favorite color is, if we're in Christ, WE'RE ALL IN IT TOGETHER, LET'S CELEBRATE!!!-GRACE AND PEACE

"Life Was Never the Same"-John 3:1-3

Have you ever thought about Nicodemus? If not, go read John 3:1-3, and then come back and read this again...ha ha jk.

But think about that for a second, It says that "there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus,"...understand one thing for a second, this man was well educated, well-versed in the Old Testament Law, well-respected among all the other Pharisees and here he was coming to Jesus (who the other Pharisees grew to hate) because he was curious...He recognizes that Jesus was from God and that all the miraculous signs that Jesus had performed were real...which that in and of itself was huge for a guy like this to recognize.

Well it then says that Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." HUH? WHAT? UM...SURE...WHAT IN THE HECK DID HE MEAN BY THAT?

Here Nicodemus was talking to the Son of God who just told him that he had to be born again to enter heaven...was there some underlying meaning to that phrase, was there some truth out there that he didn't know and how could he NOT know it, he was so educated.

The reality is...Nicodemus' life was never the same after that...he had so many questions about that very 18-word phrase...yet he was never to be the same again after that, he had encountered the very person of Jesus and he was changed ETERNALLY, forever, for all time, or however you want to put it, he was never the same again ever!!! My question for you guys.....are you still the same? are you born again?...do you still remember the shock and awe of that?...just a thought to ponder.....Grace and Peace.

"Crucified with Christ..."-Galatians 2:20

"For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me."-Galatians 2:20


Have you ever wondered what the Apostle meant here when he said, "I have been crucified with Christ...?" This is such a great verse in that it has so many messages behind it...One, it says that we who know Christ have been crucified with Him, which means that we identify ourselves with His crucifixion, we identify ourselves with His suffering and shame and we know that it was all for our sake that He did it. It was all on our behalf that Christ was willing to lay His own life down so that we would know not only how much He truly loves us but also that we would know eternal life to come one day. It's awesome to know that Jesus Christ laid down His life for us and was willing to be the sacrifice on our behalf.

Paul then goes on to say... "and I no longer live but Christ lives in me,"...HOW AMAZING...Christ in us, the Hope of Glory, it truly means that Christ is in us in every sense of the word, He dwells within us by His Holy Spirit and it's no longer about us anymore...our life is no longer identified as being "ours" it is now ALL "HIS"

Just want to encourage you guys that this verse speaks volumes to the love that Christ has for us...don't take that for granted-Grace and Peace.

"Do We Crave Him?"

Hey Guys!!! We are back from Mission Arlington and I'll tell you what...WHAT A CRAZY WEEK!!!

We had an absolutely life-changing time this past week at Mission Arlington and we were so blessed to be a part of this past week, seeing lives changed in the name of Christ...Sharing the Gospel of Christ...and not to mention just having the opportunity to spend some time with children that are craving relationships with anyone.

Guys, it leads me to challenge all of us that call ourselves Christians to something...do we crave God like these children crave love? It was heart-breaking to see these children simply wanting some attention from us...they would've done anything they could just to get some time with us and you should've seen their faces light up when we were there...it was awesome!!! But, the question remains...do we crave God the same way? Do we long for Him to be here with us...do we wait with anticipation for the time we get to spend with Him? Do we take advantage of every opportunity to spend as much time with Him as possible while He's with us? I would like to say that I do all these things...the truth though is that I'm the guiltiest of them all when it comes to becoming lazy with my walk with Him...I'm lazy when it comes to spending time with Him and I am nowhere near where I need to be with craving to know Him...How About You? Just a question to ponder...love you guys...Grace and peace.

"The Amazingness of Mission Arlington"

I'll tell y'all what...this mission trip to Mission Arlington was absolutely amazing and there really are no other words to describe it...We had the opportunity today to reach out to over 25 kids with the Gospel message of Christ just before we gave them a ton of snacks (still kinda wondering which one they liked more...jk)...Anyway, we have loved every bit of this mission trip, it has definitely opened the eyes of these students and showed them the love of Christ in a totally new way and just how much He wants to use them right where they are...My encouragement today?...God wants to use you, no prerequisites, no education, no special training...He loves you and it's because of that love that we are to love others, because He loved us, we are to allow the overflow of His love to pour out from us and into the lives of those around us...no matter who it is...Grace and Peace.

"Mission Arlington Day #2"

Hello from Mission Arlington Day #2!!! Today was another amazing day in the life of these students who came to be a part (we miss you guys who couldn't make it) but these guys had a great day today doing a lot of manual labor in the morning and then doing Rainbow Express (Apartment Bible Study) in the afternoon...

I'll tell you one thing...today was an absolutely exhausting day...no doubt about it. We started out at the Mission Arlington Complex cleaning out a storage closet for the Complex itself. Well, let's just be honest...it was not a whole lot of fun, nor was it clean in the least!!! It was without a doubt the grossest closet ever!!! I lost a pair of shorts (because acid from a chemical burned some stains into them), have to get new shoes (because the nasty gunk on the floor got inside and outside on the shoes and let's just say it won't come off), BUT all in all, it was a great project. Totally made for some great teamwork and some great fellowship...it was nasty and disgusting but it was all for the glory of God and when Jesus said it wasn't always going to be easy to serve Him...He wasn't kidding!!!

This afternoon, we had another awesome opportunity to minister to even more children at the Fox Hollow Apartment complex...sad thought though...one of the kids today said that he was having a hard time getting to hang out with us because he knows that we will be gone in 4 days (true, but rough to hear)...but we had an awesome opportunity to hang out and share a message of God's awesome love and power with these kids...it was awesome to tell them of the amazing power of God and how great He is...they totally loved it all and took it all in really well, we got to play basketball with a bunch of them (which they love), got to do some puppet shows (which they also love), got to do some music and other games (always a hit), and just build relationships with these kids which is what I totally picture Jesus doing so our prayer is that He is well-pleased and that it's all to the Glory of God!!!-Grace and Peace.

"Jesus Loves the Little Children"

Hey guys!!! A quick note from Mission Arlington Day #1, we had an absolutely awesome day today, we had the opportunity to hang out with a ton of kids over at a low income apartment complex in Grand Prairie and had an awesome time sharing the love of Jesus Christ with them, it was amazing!!!

The coolest part was getting to see all those kids and see how their faces literally lit up the moment we started talking to them about just doing a Bible Study!!! It was crazy how happy they got when we just hung out with them for a while, makes you wonder if that was what Jesus meant when He said, "Let the little children come to me, and if anyone of you hinder them, it would be better for you to have a hillstone tied around your neck and be thrust into the ocean..." ...pretty harsh words but seeing it in action how much God was just smiling down when we were just hanging out with them, we didn't get too deep in theological discussion or bicker and argue over petty things, we simply loved them where they were and gave them a great time of fellowship...thought for today...just love the little children as Jesus does...here in Arlington at least it has already paid off, maybe we should bring that same love back home....you think?-Grace and Peace.

"The Little Things..."-Proverbs 3:5-6

Do you recognize God in the littlest of things? Better yet, do you acknowledge God in the littlest of things? Tying your shoes, drinking a glass of water, putting on your makeup, reading through a book, walking through the school halls, looking at the sky, taking your first breath every morning, listening to music, watching Secret Life?

The question is, do you acknowledge God in the littlest of things?

Proverbs 3:5-6 states this, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on YOUR OWN understanding, but in ALL your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path."

So, do you acknowledge God in the littlest of things? Is God a part of everything in your life? Just something for you to think about...He desires to be...will you let Him?...He's calling you...will you listen?...He has a Word for you today, will you hear it?...Just wondering.

"God is Light in the Midst of Darkness"-1 John 1:1-6

Have you ever wondered what it would have been like to be there when God created the Heavens and the Earth? (I know...random thought huh?)...Anyway, how cool would it have been to be there and hear the voice of God proclaim, "LET THERE BE LIGHT," and to put His hands down into the dirt when He created Adam and then put him to sleep to make Eve out of him? How crazy a thought that is to think about, that He would simply speak things into existence and they would not only appear there out of literally no where, but that they would be fully functioning beings and created to be in perfect relationship with God. Imagine what it was like for Adam, he appears, he's talking to God and being told of his blessings and his life and what's not recorded was the questions he must've had like, "how did I get here," "what am I here for?" You see, God created all these things simply through His breath but the coolest of them all?...LIGHT!

You see, God Himself was literally the light that He created, that existed before the creation of the world, you see throughout Scripture we read of so many examples of God calling Himself the LIGHT and He shines throughout the darkness of our lives. It's so encouraging to know that God is the light of the world and that He wants to be that Light in our lives individually as well...take courage in that today that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all...Grace and Peace.

"Perfect Love"-John 15:1-9

This is the perfect love between a Father and a Son, the perfect relationship that we can only dream about...however, that relationship is available to us...Jesus says, "I have loved you with the love I have with the Father..now remain in MY Love" How cool...the same love Jesus had with His Father, He shares with us...perfect love, perfect relationship...our challenge?...Remain in that love...if it changes...it's us not Him...remain in His love.

You see, when Jesus speaks these words...He's literal...He means that the same love that He has with God is the same love He wants to love us with if we know Him...Do you know that kind of love...Do you experience that kind of love...if not, here's your chance...Jesus wants to love you...He wants you to know that you are loved and that nothing can take that love away....having a rough day, worried about something, wanting more from life? Remain in His LOVE and our peace will be found in Him...Remember: "Apart from me...you can do nothing."-JESUS

Grace and Peace.

"Follow the Leader"-John 10:22-32

Hey guys!!! Have you ever thought about how many times Jesus calls us Sheep? Have you ever thought about how many times Jesus calls Himself the "Good Shepherd?" It's kinda crazy to think about what Jesus was calling Himself and not only that, but what He was challenging us with as being the Sheep of the Shepherd. Think about Sheep for a second, what do they do? They walk around, eat, sleep, and provide wool, and.....that's about it.

Another thing they do is that they follow the voice of the Shepherd that leads them...they will literally run away from unfamiliar voices and band together to get away from it because they do not know the stranger's voice, yet the coolest part about that is they will run toward and follow the voice of the Shepherd!!! Jesus calls us to follow His voice and to remain as close to Him as possible because He is the One who leads us...He's the One who desires to protect us, and He's the One who provides for our every need. There are so many references to Sheep in the Old and New Testament and there's a reason...we need that familiar voice to lead us and we need to be willing to sprint toward it and follow it with all of our hearts. Are you willing to run away from the voices that are not leading you to something great?...Are you willing to sprint toward Christ who is our Good Shepherd?...He desires us to follow Him with all that we are...LET'S TRY IT!!!-GRACE AND PEACE.

"When He Speaks...People Listen"-Mark 1:21-28

Have you ever heard God speak before? Have you listened? I think so many times as Christians we struggle with hearing the voice of God, we struggle with allowing God's voice to permeate our outer walls of life and busyness and we fail to hear when He wants to speak, it's so hard for us to hear from Him when we hear so many voices going on about us...so the question is...do we listen?

In Mark 1:21-28, Jesus went down to Capernaum and this was a very festive time because it was the time right after the wedding recorded in John 2 and the Passover is about to be there so Jesus went to the temple to teach in the Synagogue.

Well, here in Mark we see that he was teaching and imagine that...people were amazed at His teaching, as it says because... "He taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law."-(Mark 1:22)

The greatest part about this whole story is what happens afterwards and here's a quick run down: A man who was there with an Evil Spirit began to cry out and even proclaimed Him as the "Holy One of God" and then the greatest part...Jesus casts out the demon in him and not only that...He tells the demon to "Be Quiet" and the demon comes out!!!

Isn't it crazy to think about this for a second...I mean here's a guy that didn't just have this demon right then and there, it was probably something he had been hiding and something that the others probably knew there was something about him, yet never wanted to say anything and at just the time where they're amazed at Jesus and His teaching, this guy's demon shows its ugly head. Crazy!

Here's the deal...at the presence of Jesus, this guys life was never the same...at the VOICE of Jesus all of a sudden this demon was irritated and then cast out...what power! what strength! what sheer amazement!!!

Jesus simply speaks and this demon listens!!! It's crazy to think about the power of the voice of God because all too often we think about that "Still small voice" yet we need to recognize that Jesus' voice and words bring power, they bring strength, they bring the ability to change lives...so the question finally comes down from above...CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? GOOD!!!!-Grace and Peace.

"Do We Really Love Each Other?"-John 13:31-38

Have you ever wondered what Jesus meant when He told the disciples, "They will know that you are my disciples by your love for one another...?" I love this phrase by Jesus because this was right about the time that Jesus was predicting His betrayal by Judas to John (the beloved Disciples) and predicting His denial by Peter three times and Jesus' life was seriously fixin (yeah, that's a Texas term...), to get rough, I mean really rough, but He wanted to leave and send them with the ultimate example of what He wanted to leave behind, His love for them so that they would love one another.

Have you ever thought about how hard that must've been for the Disciples to hear? That the man they had grown so close to, shared fellowship with, loved one and were loved by, eaten many meals with, stood up for (Peter...and the sword...let's just say the man who had his ear cut off, probably wasn't the biggest fan of Peter but was a fan of Jesus...wouldn't you be if He put your ear back on?). Anyway, these guys had given up their jobs, their families, their livelihoods, their friends and everything else that was precious and valuable to them to follow this Jesus and now He was leaving them...can you feel the pain they were feeling? OUCH!

But, the coolest part of it all is that Jesus gave them an example, He didn't leave them with nothing, He actually had been showing them since the time He came into the flesh in John 1:14, to the time of His betrayal and even to the time on the cross how to love genuinely. How awesome it was that Jesus had not only talked about it but showed it and challenged them to show it to everyone else...so the question is this, DO WE REALLY LOVE EACH OTHER? He told us the world around us would know Him through our love for one another...Grace and peace.