God is Not Your Co-Pilot

"And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, 'Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.' And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.' " Mark 8:31-38

The Gospel demands all of you. Demands that you give up your dreams of a house, a job that pays well, and the comforts of life so that God can use you. You may or may not get a house. You may or may not get a wonderful job. But one thing is certain you will bring glory to God.

God seeks to eliminate your view of you that you might view Him correctly and in turn become the you He made you to be. Unfortunately, many times this understanding comes through a fracture of the heart. As one of my professors notes, "God cares more about your sanctification than you do." And if He has to break your heart so that you may be sanctified and most glorifying to Him, He will. Because He knows that when you most glorify Him you are most satisfied, because He made you that way.

Stop looking for His will and seek to grow in Him. He will guide you. You don't need the directions because He isn't your co-pilot, He is the only pilot. You need only to respond to His guidance. Set goals and understand that God changes them. Be submissive to Him and let the beauty of a God who knows what He is doing overwhelm you.

Star-breather

The stars shake me violently every time i see them. i've never seen so many stars as i do every night here in Indiana. And they rack me with shivers every time.

My roommate is constantly calling me a child. Mainly because i walk away from him everywhere we go. What can i say, i want to go look at things. Chocolate i can't afford at a gas station, paintings some stressed-out senior is displaying in the art building, and the list can go on. But, besides the fact that i'm always wandering away and he has to call me and find out where in the world i went, i'm a child because everything captures me. i stop and stare. At everything. Stars included.

Why do they shake me? Well, frankly because they scare the hell out of me. Psalm 33:6 says that, "By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host." i mean if you think about it that sounds like God breathed out the the stars. Wow...let that sink in. It does every single time i see the stars and then i begin to shake. i shiver and shake.

And then i remember Jesus. And though i'm scared out of my mind i remember that God, this huge God that could crush me, became like me to save me a rebellious, adulterous, treasonous, enemy whom God could trust as far as He could throw (I guess that analogy breaks down with God but you understand what I mean). We love because He first loved us.

Let the stars cause your knees to buckle and let Jesus cause you to stand in awe. Power and love in the same thought...happens to me every night.

How about you? Do you ever look at the stars? Is there anything that causes you to stand in awe of God?