A clearer state of mind.

This morning I woke up with my phone flashing and alarm going off. I opened up my phone and saw that one of my best friends called me last night around 3:15. I sat up listened to the phone message and realized he'd been in a car accident.

Two days ago, this friend of mine drove down to LA to pick up a new drumset and take lessons from a world famous drummer, but in the craziness of his short visit, we managed to have lunch.
We talked about what God was doing in our lives and how amazed we were at God's love. We talked about our future and how crazy it will be to look at where we are in 5 to 10 years. We had a great lunch and within the end of the hour, he was off to his next stop.
We said our goodbyes and parted ways, anticipating our reunion next week when I go home for thanksgiving.

When my friend was driving home, he fell asleep at the wheel. His car ran off the road and into the center divider. Bolts supporting the divider ripped a slash in his car from the nose to the tail. His tires slipping and sliding over the wet ground kept him from flipping. The guard rail sent him spinning in circles yet he finally came to a stop.

Tragedy was missed by a series of uncontrollable variables. When one considers it all at once, It's amazing what didn't happen despite the circumstances.

James 4:14 says this, " whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that apperas for a little time and then vanishes away."
Life I learned is fragile, luckly I didn't have to learn it the hard way.

I personally spent the early hours of my morning in a silent stupor of reflection and I thought about a few things.
1. What have I not told Mike that I need to? Does he know that he as a friend means so much to me. Who else do I need to share that message with.
2. Am I acting on every opportunity that I have to share what really matters? Relationship, Jesus, etc.
3. Things can change in an instant, who can know it? But, God is still good.

For a second I considered the hypothetical circumstance of getting a phone call from will or maybe even my parents that the car accident turned out catastrophic.

How would my relationship with God change? Do I trust God with my life and with my friends?

I learned a lesson that a lot of people have to learn the hard way. God probably knew I couldn't handle it but wanted to establish himself sovereign in all areas of my life. I often times try to keep a firm grasp my life and how it all plays out, but I need to give it all over to God and his plan.

Jeremiah 29:11 tells us that God doesn't think evil towards us but has plans to prosper us, plans of a future and a hope.
Even though this verse is quoted in every social setting imaginable, the truth is the same.

God loves us, Hebrews tells us that we're never put in a situation that we cannot make it through. I want to trust Jesus with all that I have. I was kinda shaken up today for a while. I felt all the stress of my early morning hit home about 3 oclock and just found myself overwhelmed. But, God is good.

It's a Divine Romance

My favorite song right now by far is John Mark McMillan's "How He Loves", it's not a worship song exactly, yet this song reflects on the Characteristic of God's love for us. Through a question I'm brought to my knees and forced to consider how it is that God loves me. And, I know it's not because of anything I did. I know that it's God who loved us first despite our own hearts being set against God, he still loved us ( I John 4:10.)!

I feel like this is all I ever want to talk about. God's Love. Every day I realize I need this love more. And, It's not just me, it's a whole lot of people.

John Mark said that when he wrote this song, he wrote it the day after his best friend died. One morning, his best friend steven got up at a prayer meeting and said, I'm willing to lay down my life so that a revolution can start. That night, he died in a car crash. John Mark for the next few years battled the death of his best friend and struggled with feeling that his friend steven's death had been forgotten. He saw how God brought his friend home, but never saw any type of revolution take place.
Yet, the revolution is here. After 3 years, John Mark realized that this song, "How he loves" is a song that is reaching our world. It's healing people, it's reaching people, it's changing people from the inside out.

John Mark said this song is not only a song that he uses as a worship songm but at the same time an anthem that ought to intercede and reach the lost of this world that God so desperately desires.

Not only In my own life, but with some of my closest friends (my brother, my 2 best friends, Mike and Jonny (i think ben too, but i'm not sure)) this song has had a great effect. This song has taken our relationship with God to a whole new level, where we bask in the Love of a Good God, and yet, it also makes us ask the question, what ought we to do about it? This is a divine romance, and god's aim is nothing short of the entire world.
Love has a lot of meanings in today's world but this is nothing like it. This love is unconditional, persistent, and jealous.
God wants you. God has mended the gap that separates us from Himself by sending His son, and He's persistent in reaching each one of us. God hasn't left us on our own, he's promised to always be with us.
This divine romance is between a perfect God and you and me.
I'm not perfect, and never will be. I want this love. I need this love, and it's there for the taking.
How does God love us?

John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life."

The Best Entertainment

AW Tozer once said, " Without doubt, the mightiest thought the mind can entertain is the thought of God, and the weightiest word in any language is its word for God." and on that, I've recently been reflecting.

Taken from the first chapter of Knowledge of the Holy, how do our thoughts about God change our lives? Do they change our lives? Tozer also said, "A right conception of God is basic not only to systematic theology but to practical Christian living as well." Tozer is predicting that a understanding of God's love will honestly change the way we live. Has it? Do we love other people because Christ loved us? Do we trust God because he is wise?

God is... so many different things. God is all loving. God is unchanging. God is...
Do we know without a doubt that God loves us?
Do we know that his character is such that it's unchanging so therefore he will always love us?
Do we know that he loves us and is all knowing and has all power to enact his love?
Do we realize that our salvation is secure because God is just?
How do these attributes define how we live? Are they changing our lives?

My conclusion is this, God is good; therefore, I love to think about Him. Who am I that I deserve such a great love? What can I offer? Yet, God has reached down to me and loves me.

Ps. 119:103-105 "How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Through your precepts I get understanding, Therefore I hate every false way.
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light unto my path.

We have an amazing God and learning about him is incredible. In him, we can find strength, in him we can find rest. We see who we are and our imperfections, yet how much greater God is. Entertaining these thoughts for just a moment are the most beautiful, most reassuring, most amazing thoughts one could ever entertain.
If you haven't read it, I suggest you read Knowledge of the Holy.

Reasons for Celebration

This post was suggested by my brother.
This post is going to reflect on just a few things I'm thankful for.

And so, in the spirit of thanksgiving, please, enjoy.

I'm thankful for where I am right now.
I know that this is where God has put me, where he is using me, where I'm learning.
I'm thankful that school is tough, because it forces me to dig deeper.

I'm thankful for all the awesome friends in my life, both new and old.
For my old friends who I continue to grow closer to all the time. I learn so much from you guys.
And, I'm excited to be learning about my new friends. You meet the weirdest people (no negative conotation) in the weirdest places and then find out that you have a connection somehow and friendship instantly starts.

I'm thankful for feeling rested. It's just a testament to how good God is and how he looks after us.
I'm thankful for health. A lot of people have been sick lately, fortunately, i have not.

I'm thankful for some of the rad opportunities I have had recently. (Krochet Kids and Kingsfield)
I'm thankful for my music stuff. I love being able to play music. (For good deals on music stuff too)


I'm thankful for late night rides, cool air, and times that bring peace.
I'm thankful for a good God that loves us. One of my favorite worship songs is "How He Loves" by John Mark Mcmillan, it's chorus is quite popular which says, "Oh, How he loves us, oh, How he loves us?"
I'm thankful for his wisdom. His immutability (unwavering, unchanging.) I heard at church today that underground church members in China whisper to one another "how great is our God" as their way to worship God. How great is our God? Focusing on God can be one of the most self beneficial things to do. As you see God, you see yourself, you know there is no reason that God should love you, BUT, He does. There is nothing you can do to take that away.

These are just a few. Fellow Bloggers, I implore (commission) you. Spend some time in reflection today on what you are thankful for.
I surprised myself at how easy it was to find a number of things to be thankful for. Thanks be to God.

James 1:17 "Every Good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of Lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning."