As Promised...

Isaiah 53.  This book is dated as far back as 1,000 years before Christ walked on earth...

1Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?  2He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground.  He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.  3He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.  Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.  4Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.  5But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.  6We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.  7He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.  8By oppression and judgment he was taken away.  Yet who of his generation protested?  For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished.  9He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.  10Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.  11After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.  12Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors.

Click here to be forwarded to a fairly decent website on messianic prophecy...  Enjoy!

Prophecy

Merriam-Webster defines prophecy as "a prediction of something to come."  Why does it matter?  Well, it gives us undeniable evidence of the divine nature of Jesus!  How so?  The Old Testament contains hundreds of prophecies; many of which have been fulfilled by Jesus when he lived on earth.  The chance of one person fulfilling all of these predictions are astronomical, yet alone impossible.  Do you get to decide which family line to be born into, or which geographic location to be born in?  These and several other prophecies have been fulfilled by Jesus.  I will include some OT prophecies in my next post, but for now I have to go to Alpha!  Tonight we are serving fresh fruit smoothies with Vita-Mix and healthy snacks.  If you haven't been to an Alpha meeting yet, they are still happening until the end of the semester.  :)

Internships

I'm trying to update this blog at least every other day, but I'm not sure what to write about today.  The first thing that came into my head was summer internships.  God promises to be faithful to his children.  That does NOT mean I'm expecting him to provide me an internship, but the point is that he knows what we need before we even ask.  

I am completely trusting the Lord to place me where he wants me to be.  My trust is in God, not my own strength.  (That usually doesn't get me very far.)  God listens to our prayers and answers them according to HIS will.  What does that mean?  Romans 12:2 says "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is- his good, pleasing and perfect will."  His will is good, pleasing, and perfect!  What more can you ask for?  As we surrender our lives to Christ, he steadily renews our minds and replaces our selfish desires with the desire to glorify God.  That's why I can't shut up about Jesus, I can't help it!  If you realized that you were guilty of the death penalty, but someone took your place so you could live, how would you respond?  (Which is the Christian belief about Jesus.)  When we pray, we ask things to be done in God's will, so he may receive the glory.  Plus, he knows us so much better than we know ourselves.  I'd have him decide what's best for me over my own judgment any day!

Philippians 4:6-7  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

John Mark McMillan

My friend Kyle Paxton, who is an awesome man of God, recently posted a song to his Facebook that I want to share.  It's called "Death In His Grave" by John Mark McMillan.  It describes how Jesus took my place and your place on the cross.  He robbed hell of death.  It's an awesome fact that is beautifully illustrated in this song!  I hope you like it!

"Your eye is the lamp of your body."

This morning I read Luke 11, and was meditating on verse 36:

"Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be just as full of light as when a lamp shines its light on you." 

The Bible seems irrelevant to society because it was written so long ago, but the wisdom Jesus spoke 2,000 years ago still applies to our daily lives.  I know how it feels to walk in darkness.  There are always certain things you have to hide from certain people.  Parents can't know what you did last weekend.  Friends can't know what you did with that guy.  (Fill in the blank with your own situation.)  That was life, and since I didn't know anything else, it was normal for me.

We don't know how good something is until we understand how bad it was.  When I walked in darkness, it was fine because it was all I knew.  Now that my eyes have been opened to darkness AND light, things are much more clear.  No more secrets or hidden things...  It gives me so much freedom.  Jesus made me right with God- it was nothing I did on my own.  That produces a peace that flourishes through trial and temptation.  If darkness is all we know, then it doesn't seem dark- until light is revealed to us.  I remember a long time ago thinking, "If God was watching me, what would He say?"  Now I realize that He was speaking conviction into my heart.  I finally decided to stop ignoring it and start responding to it.

"Heaven"

We all wonder about the "after life."  Everyone has a different view of where you go when you die, and how you get there.  Death is terrifying to humans, because we don't fully understand it.  I have been reading a book called "Heaven" by Randy Alcorn.  The Bible tells us that if we know Jesus we will experience a temporary heaven, and an eternal earth- our home, without the curse.  It will be infinitely more beautiful than it currently is.  There will be no more death, sickness, tears, etc., because there won't be sin.  Our bodies will be glorified- we'll be able to perform physical and mental feats that are not possible in this life.  Why do we often feel so limited?  A knowledge of something much greater has been hidden in our hearts.  Scripture tells us we have something to look forward to and put our hope in.


Heaven will not be a vague, disembodied dimension where we float on clouds, but our home: a new earth that has been redeemed.  No more curse, truly a paradise.  And even though this sounds great, it will be nothing without one person: Jesus.  He's the reason we long for the next world, and he gave us the hope for it.  Acts 4:12- We can't get there without him.  And why would we want to?  Would you want to spend eternity with someone you didn't know?


I highly recommend this book to anybody, no matter what your beliefs are.  It will open your eyes and challenge you.  We all wonder, and assume we can't know.  But we really can!  Revelation 21:1-4.

Birth Pains

...The second major way God revealed himself to me over break was on Thursday.  While surfing the web, I stumbled upon a religion called "The Baha'i Faith", which is a culmination of the world's major religions.  It is founded on the teachings of the "messengers of God" which include Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Krishna, Zoroaster, Christ, and Muhammad.  Jesus was not a prophet.  Here are our three options for what he was: a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord.  The logic behind this reasoning comes from looking at the claims he made about himself.  He told people that he was God.  If he wasn't, then he either thought he was, making him a lunatic, or he was intentionally lying, making him a flat-out liar. 

After reading about the Baha'i faith, I said a short prayer in which I asked God to reveal his truth to me.  Directly after that I opened my Bible, and the passage in front of me was Matthew 24.  In this chapter, Jesus teaches about false prophets who will come in the end times.  The world has several false prophets, and will continue to see more until the end. 

Another indicator from Matt. 24 is the increase of earthquakes, famines, and other natural disasters.  The craziest part of this whole experience was that the very next day Japan got hit with a horrific earthquake and tsunami.  Jesus called these events "birth pains" because they indicate something new to be born.  We all have to make a decision about who we perceive Jesus to be.  Is he a liar?  Is he a lunatic?  Or is he truly God?

Oh hello blog, oops...

It's been a while since I've blogged.  I flew home from Florida last night, and before last week I was behind on blogging due to procrastination and mid-terms.  Spring break was a wonderful opportunity for some R&R.  I layed by the pool, went to the beach, went out to dinner, watched some beautiful sunsets, and most importantly spent time with Jesus!  Not enough though.  Nevertheless, he was faithful and revealed himself to me in a number of ways.  


For example...  Being completely oblivious to the start of Lent, I randomly chose to read through Genesis and Luke.  On Wednesday morning, I was on the fourth chapter of Luke, which happened to be the account of Jesus fasting in the desert for 40 days while being tempted by Satan.  And guess what?? It was Ash Wednesday!!  Despite me totally forgetting about the start of Lent, the LORD didn't forget, and He surely reminded me.  Really, out of all the books I could've chosen to read, I chose Luke, and on all the days I could've read chapter 4!  WOW.


Anyways, I hope everyone who had a spring break came back refreshed and ready to finish the semester.  Only one week until spring officially starts!