All Out for Him

This is 2012.

By God's grace I will go all out for Him.

I will be a total "God-nerd" because God is the best thing to be nerdy about. 

If people say that I'm doing it for attention, I will strive to be even nerdy-er! 

I will be a true friend to my friends, and be the iron that sharpens them, if need be. 

If people say I'm a hypocrite, I will be an even sharper iron.

I will let Christ's light shine through me  in this dark world, and make sure that everyone can see something different in me.

If people reject me, or laugh at me, or treat me worse as a result, I will strive to tell them even more. 

I will read God's Word every day and tell as many friends as I can what I learned in God's Word as often as I can.

If people say that I'm just doing it to mark it off the checklist, I will strive to read and share even more.

I will not be selfish with my time, and will be ready and willing to help anyone that has any needs. 

If people say that I need to save my time for schoolwork or music practice, and that serving others with my time is for when you're older, I will strive to find more oppertunities to serve, and give up even more of my time. 

I will pray for my friends and acquantences every day, and remind them that I love them and are praying for them.

If people say that I'm doing to to try to prove my spirituality, I'll pray for them even more and love them even more.

I will go out of my way to talk to my friends about their spiritual walk, and help them if I can.

If people say that I can't help disciple Christians because I'm too young, I'll strive to make an even bigger impact in people's lives.

Why? Why would I do this? 

The answer: I want Christ to be the most important thing in my life, and I want others to have that same focus. 

Lord, you are the CREATOR! You made everything and everyone and have a plan for my life!  WOW!  

Approaching the King of Glory

Recently, I read Revelation 4 and 5. I encourage you to take the time to read it right now also, before reading my thoughts on it.

After reading those inspired words which were the result of John's revelation, given to him by the one and only Jesus Christ, I had no words. I mean, one one hand, the whole description and picture that comes into my head as a result of those words is awesome beyond description. JESUS is awesome beyond description.

Think about it. What would YOU do if you just had Jesus come to you and show you those things? I think that I would be at a loss for words in GENERAL, so taken aback by the glory and splendour that I just saw!
To think that John actually had to come up with HUMAN words to describe the all-powerful Creator and Sustainer of the universe... what an incredible task! To try to fit the radiance of the pure holiness and beauty of God, the only way John can put it into words is by comparing it to precious stones! How is that supposed to help us?

 Well, the point of this passage (and really the whole book of Revelation) is not to give a step-by-step "how-to-draw God and the angels" (and later on the demons, Satan, the lake of Fire, and the New Heaven and Earth), but rather, to give us the beautiful finished work of art that shows us what it will be LIKE!

But here's and interesting thought: Did it ever occur to you that when you pray, you are actually stepping into the very same throne room as is mentioned in this passage? You, the human being, are stepping into the full radiance of the Glory of God and are talking to Him. Sometimes thrusting His doors open, shaking are fist and yelling at Him.  I think that if we all REALLY understood that this Jesus mentioned in Revelation is the VERY SAME ONE that we love and serve today, we would totally reconsider our place compared to God!

Also, on a broader note: THIS IS THE GOD WE SERVE! For eternity, He WILL have milllions upon millions praising Him and worshipping Him in the purest way possible. God is so worthy! I can't wait for that day! But until that day, how will YOU live in light of this? Where is God on your priorities list? How does He influence your choices?

And finally, will your life be lived in such a way that when your life is over and you're standing in the presence of a Holy God, will you be content with the amount of your life that you gave to the only One who is worthy? In case you missed it, His name is Jesus. The King of Glory.

Jeremy T. (High School Sophomore)

You Did it Again. . .

You did it again; even after trying your best not to give in, you did. You sinned just like every other time. You’ve been struggling with THAT SIN for as long as you can remember, and you just feel like you’ll never beat it. You’ll never win.


How many of us have ever been in this situation? Well let me just tell you this: If you haven’t, you will. I’m sorry to be the bad guy, but every single Christian on this Earth has been discouraged at some point, and you will be no different. Now the reason that I’m writing this isn’t to scare you, but to help you when you get discouraged.

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.” 1 John 2:15-16 (NIV)

Well, let’s look at King David. Let’s see…he was a human being, who committed murder and adultery while holding the position of King and was expected by God to be a Spiritual leader for God’s people. That’s pretty hard to do when you’re caught up in sin! (This is an example of fulfilling the lust of the flesh!)  (2 Sam. 11, 12)


What about Abraham? He had Sarah tell the Pharaoh that she was his sister. In Abraham’s eyes, he was trying to save his own life because he thought that the Pharaoh might kill him to have Sarah as his wife.  Instead of trusting God with the situation, Abraham chose to sin. (This is an example of the pride of life!)  (Gen. 12:10-17)


What about the Apostle Peter? He denied that he was a follower of Christ. He had told Jesus that he would never deny him, and that he would die before he did (Matt. 26:35), but he broke under pressure. He just wanted to go with the crowd, so that he wouldn’t look bad. Ultimately, he cared more about what other people thought of him then what Christ expected of him. (That seems to be a pretty good example of loving the world, huh?)  (Mark 14:66-72)


So what’s my point in telling you that these guys messed up? Well, stop and think. How do you know the names of these guys? Oh…they’re heroes of the Bible, aren’t they? That’s right! King David sinned, and his sin was an abomination to God, but the Bible calls him a “man after God’s own heart!” (Acts 13:22) I tell ya, you have to be a pretty strong Christian to be compared to the heart of God! David was a man who put God first in everything, and when he sinned and messed up, he acknowledged his sin and asked for God's forgiveness! (Psalm 32)


Abraham sinned against God, but God fulfilled his promise of making Abraham the “Father of a Great Nation” (Gen. 12:2) because Abraham lived by faith. At the words of God ALONE, he moved everything to where God told him. He had unrestrained faith. He believed that God was true to his word and lived in light of that. Abraham lived by FAITH. (Heb. 11:8)