My GOD is a soveriegn holy God!!!

So, for many years God has been showing me his love...and it has been a very sweet and peaceful time:)...But, I guess I always viewed Jesus as just my close friend that I could sit down and just talk to, like I do to my dear friend Dan. Jesus should and is our dear friend...but we shouldn't belittle God as a life size friend, he is SOOO much BIGGER then that! God has so many different sides, and one of the sides I was missing was how my God is sovereign, holy, BIG, POWERFUL, TOTALLY AWSTRICKING...God, has really been teaching me reverence for Him, and a fear for Him...a good and healthy fear...The kind where you just want to hide your face and "take your sandals off so to speak", for you know you are "standing on holy ground"...It is a reverence that has, made my love for my Jesus, even DEEPER!!!...I was reading the book of Job last month, and I came across a verse that just made me fall over, and go WOW!! lol..."1 The LORD said to Job: 2 "Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him!" 3 Then Job answered the LORD: 4 "I am unworthy--how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. 5 I spoke once, but I have no answer-- twice, but I will say no more." 6 Then the LORD spoke to Job out of the storm: 7 "BRACE YOURSELF LIKE A MAN; I will question you, and you shall answer me. 8 "Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself ? 9 Do you have an arm like God's, and can your voice thunder like his? (Job 40:1-14) ...WOW!!!! it just made me think, how tiny and minuscule I really am...The Universe is ENDLESS !!!!...So big that it makes the earth look like a speck, and here I am a speck living on this speck...yet the Father knows the number of hairs on my head!! Praise Jesus!...He is ALL POWERFUL AND ALL LOVING!!!...So I would encourage you, if you are the person that has the love side of God down, make sure you aren't missing the reverence of God...or maybe you just have the reverence and law down, and you are missing the Love side of God!...I challenge you to check your heart, search out who God is!!! Amen!!!

Random

So, I don't really know what my point is for writing today, but I feel like writing something! ha ha...So, today has been a real melancholy day for me, my heart has been very deep in thought about a few things! I am usually in a very happy light positive mood, so this isn't like me:P ha ha... I have a lot of different emotions today, and my heart is in a yearning mood...So, I have just been redirecting all my thoughts towards our Lord Jesus Christ. Last night, I stayed up most of the night just singing to Jesus in our basement (I didn't want to wake the whole house up lol)...and I have been reading a really nice devotion that is encouraging!! I also went on a run of prayer and praise today...I was running, and praying at the same time, which strange enough, is an awesome way to pray!! lol...I also decided that I wanted to start a journal of my life and my thoughts, and feelings...it will be interesting to look back a year or two, or more (when I am married, I am sure my wife would like to read it to, someday lol:) and see how far I have come...The funny thing is, I hate writing (mainly because I have never been to good with my grammar lol), but surprisingly, it has been very enjoyable. It is like always having a friend to talk to at anytime of the day :). I should have started it years ago :)...Oh, today is also my wonderful Daddy's birthday, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD :)...So ya, I know it was random tonight, sorry readers lol :)

Trusting

A wise lady once told me;P Distance makes the heart fonder...and time makes the wait all the more worth it, when you reach the end. I would have to agree with that, but to add to that, trusting in the Lord is more important, above ALL else...for he knows the plans that he has made for me (us) and he said 'It is good!!!How encouraging are those words:) So I shall wait on the Lord, and not lean on my own understanding!... "In you, LORD my God, I put my trust. (Psalms 25:1)

An update on my life's status!

So, the past few months have been really beneficial to me spiritually...they have not been the easiest or most fun months...but defiantly good training months, for my 'spiritual run' through life!...A few months ago I felt as though the Lord was asking me to let go of EVERYTHING, that I was comfortable with, happy with, familiar with, and just take a walk of faith, and just trust Him (my beloved Daddy) :)...So, I fought it for a while, not wanting to let go of my desires, and the things closest to my heart...but I finally decided that if I didn't do it God's way, that I would never find peace!! So, I went on what seemed like a crazy path to take, and just followed God...holding his hand, through the dark rooms he had me in. He taught me to just trust, don't ask questions, just GO, just TRUST...It was a very lonely time, as I fought him...but after I finally, just followed God, and stopped asking questions the Lord finally reveled to me, that I haven't completely been standing on my own two feet with Him...but rather, letting the support of other people (whom I love WHOLE heartily!!), or the fears of not wanting to loose acceptance from those high influences, I highly esteemed (and still do), form my faith, or be the reason I do this, or don't do this...So the Lord completely took me away from that...to teach me, that He is who I am to lean on, He is the one I should look to for guidance...and those wonderful people in my life, are to be tools to help me do that...BUT not crutches, to cause me to not lean on God... So, thankfully, I am finally understanding what the Lord was trying to teach me, after I finally just trusted!! If only I would have just trusted from the beginning, and listened to what God was trying to teach me, maybe just maybe...it wouldn't have took so long ha ha...So I encourage you, when you feel the Lord telling you to do something...don't ask questions...just hold his hand, and trust that he is leading you safely through the dark rooms...and if you fight him, you just might end up stubbing your toe on something in the room, if you don't just trust!!...Amen :)...

God can use anybody for his glory!!!

So it has been a while since I have written anything, so I thought it was about time (I only have 20 minutes so sorry if the grammar is bad lol!)...These past few weeks or so, life has been really good to me, I have a good job, good friends, a wonderful family, a wonderful God who loves me, etc...but even though my life has been so good, I have felt like I have been having a spiritual low. I think mainly because I am being selfish in life, and not being totally focused on all the good I have been blessed with, instead I have spent the past few weeks feeling sorry for myself, because of all the good things I want to happen to me!!! I have been spending most of my free time, focusing on all the things I want to happen in my life, when really I should be using my time TOTALLY for Christ!....So last night was Bible study night, and I finally told all the guys that I needed prayer to get my heart and eyes TOTALLY back on God! Some of them prayed for me! Then as we were singing to the Lord, I used the worship time to pray, and tell God I want to stop being selfish and do what he wants! So I told him I would do anything for him!...So on my way home I was driving and praying, and I wanted to get home to bed (cuz I had to get up this morning kind of early)...but God had other plans lol...I felt the Lord tell me that If I really was wanting to do things totally for him, that I needed to share Christ with somebody that night...he placed on my heart, that I should go to Buttermilk park and just pray...I saw 6 guys my age under age drinking in the park (it was like 11 at night), so I prayed for them...and I felt led to go out there and share Jesus with them...unfortunately, fear got in the way...so I sat in the car and prayed some more...about 20 minutes later this one man walked by, and he looked pretty scary...I felt the Lord tell me "Charley this is the man I want you to talk to", I was like "Please no, he looks dangerous"...so I again stayed in the car and watched him walk away...about 5 minutes later I finally got out of the car, and I told God "God if you want me to share you with anybody, you are gonna have to have the person come up to me, then I will share you with them"...Ha ha God has a sense of humor, the man I told God I didn't want to share Christ with, was walking towards me...he asked me if I had a cigarette on me. I told him I did not, and then I asked him if he ever felt lonely inside, or like life has no purpose, he responded by saying "yes, actually I do, that is the reason I drink so much, I to try to fill that void, but it doesn't work", I was amazed at his honest answer...so I was able to share Christ with him and tell him that he does have a purpose in life, and that he doesn't have to feel empty, and that he has a maker who loves him...Afterward, I wanted to know what he thought of what I had to say, so I said "Sorry I didn't have a cigarette to give you, but I am so happy I could share Jesus with you", He responded by saying "ah, that is okay, what you had to say is probably way more what I needed, man"...I was aw stuck at his openness to Christ! Oh, how I have been such a bad Christian, by not sharing Jesus just because I am scared of getting beat up, or swore at! I pray I can continue to focus totally on serving the Lord, and let the Lord worry about all the other things I want to happen in my life!...I guess what I have learned this week, is that no matter how inadequate we feel to serve the Lord, the Lord can and WILL use us! AMEN

Young Guys Bible Study

On Tuesday, I went to a young mens Bible study! My awesome friend, Nate Gumness felt the Lord lay on his heart that he should start one, so he did:)...He ended up opening the meeting up by sharing his testimony! It was really neat, because it had a domino effect on all the other guys...every guy in that room ended up sharing their testimony! The neat part was that none of us had our testimonies prepared, and each guy talked for about 15 minutes or so...It was so awesome hearing the miracles of what the Lord has done in so many guys lives..and how he has made each of us beautifully broken..some of the testimonies were so amazing my eyes were even watering a little bit (which is saying a lot for me ha ha):')!...after that we prayed and all took turns playing the guitar and singing to the Lord!!...I really have been looking for something like this, where I can spend time just praising Jesus, with other men my age... 'THANK YOU OH PRECIOUS JESUS, FOR GIVING ME SO MANY WONDERFUL BROTHERS IN CHRIST, THAT I CAN WALK WITH ON THIS JOURNEY!!! AMEN'!!!!!!!! :')

Don't Turn Away

So today, I sat down and I read the book of judges in my Bible. At first, I was having a hard time understanding how much God was allowing his people to be enslaved to other tribes and clans such as the Philistines, and allowing them to have such hardships...but as I continued to read, the Lord laid on my heart that he actually did that BECAUSE he loved the Israelites NOT because he hated them...Israel had turned away from the one true GOD, and worshiped false gods of wood and stone...they had completely hardened their hearts towards him...so the Lord allowed them to be turned over to idol worshiping tribes, this in return brought the Israelites to a place of feeling worthless, and helpless...in their desperation they turned from their wicked ways, and came running back into their daddy's (God's) arms...This reminds me a lot of a little child and his parents...when a child is mis-behaving, his parents will usually give him a consequence to redirect him, and get him back on track...as we get older our parents are not always there to redirect us...it is then that we have life itself, constantly reminding us of how much we need a loving Savior...I am yet so young in life, and already my sinful nature has been a constant reminder of how much I m need of a Savior!!...Praise Jesus for taking the time to bring his people back under his love and protection...Amen