These last days

My parents came down to North Carolina to visit and it was really amazing. I really appreciate my parents, my dad is a very careful thinker, he waited until the end of the week to give a thoughtful evaluation of the school and the way that my life is headed. My Mom is so full of joy and grace. I love to watch her interact with new people and bless their lives with her presence. God really helped plan this week and help everything work out.

Over the last several months the biggest revelation that God has given me has simply been to me just to worship him. The beauty and joy of it, how refreshing it is, and how purifying it is, how as my eyes look to him and gaze on him in worship it gets transformed and formed into the mind of Christ. Last trimester God literally changed my life in a significant way just by spending time worshipping him. And I don't at all want this to be a formulaic thing, just worshipping for the benefits, but I do love God and long for him. He is so good. So good, I've been reading a bit of AW Tozer and it is just ridiculous that guy. He never even graduated high school but he thinks at such a high realm because almost all of his life he was a man of deep worship and wonder at the majesty of God. He would even read shakespeare on his knees asking God to reveal to him the meanings and how to understand it, to open up his mind. He shook the church world from their religiosity because he was a man that experienced the reality of the living God. I love people like that, and Jonathon Edwards. I want to live a life like that, bringing revival in their spheres of influence and not wasting the hours and minutes of each day but living for the glory of the Lord.

I wish I had...

(I just read this article on sermonindex.net and totally agree, this type of introspection is one of the healthiest things that we can do)

May I share something that I can't get off my mind?

We've all
heard people say things like, "If I knew then what I know now, I would
have...." I'm hearing this a lot lately. A lot. And I don't believe
it's coincidence.

Even in Christian circles I hear, "I'd hate to
be in heaven and look back at my life on earth and think, 'Boy, I wish
I would have done... or I wish I would have known....'"

These
things are usually accompanied with different actions they would have
taken or different words or attitudes they would have had; or that they
would wish they'd have had more boldness for Jesus.

But that's
it. They're done. The thought stops there, unfinished. The conversation
fades and the topic is changed. Thanks for shopping our K-Mart.

In
my mind I'm thinking, "What? How can you stop there and not let this
important thought process continue so it can lead to a potentially
life-changing decision?"

If you're pondering your life in
eternity, while your still here on earth, and you say, "I'd hate to be
in heaven one day, thinking back on my life and wish I'd had more
boldness for Christ." Then you are missing the whole point and
opportunity to actually start acting with more boldness now!

Or,
this one: "If I knew I had a week before Christ's return, I would....
(fill in the blank)." I hear people pondering these things without
carrying their thoughts through. We know Jesus is returning soon and we know we're supposed to live each day prepared, so why
don't we live the way we know we should be living so we can be sure not
to have this 'I wish I had known...' regret later on?

This is that moment of clarity, saints. In a sense, we do already know now what we'd wish we would have known or done "then." This is our opportunity to conquer regrets before they happen! Right now!

Should we say...?

Should we say, "perhaps you should try Jesus as you savior" ...almost
with a consumer market oriented mentality"?. "There are lots of
religious options and if you try this particular religious option you
might like it." No ... rather, Jesus is Lord and He will soon be
invading with His armies. He is offering pardon in advance of His
invasion and should you receive the pardon and ally yourself with Him
now before He invades, when He comes you will be considered His ally
and He will raise you to Kingship. The alternative is to be under the
wrath of the king. It is not some kind of religious option. It is an
announcement that a new king is on the throne and he'll be invading.
The gospel is not an invitation to an array of a buffet style choices,
it is a command. Will you heed the command? Jesus is Lord, repent and
believe.” - William Wilder