so. after 5 years of wanting to be one... after being denied the class in high school. after finally getting accepted into a course. after attending 130 hrs of classes and 18 hours of clinicals and after sitting through one nerve wracking national registry i am finally.....
and emt. :D
next stop... medic classes!!!
Friday, December 18, 2009
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
.panera experience.
There were a couple things i learned while working at panera bread. most of which i learned while walking around cleaning the dining room. whenever you were assigned to the dining room shift you got to walk around all 8 hours of your shift and clean up after people. during this time of the dining room shift which i did for 3 months 4 days a week sometimes 8 hour shifts i made a habit of observing people. here's what i found.
1. half of america does not know how to read the signs on the panera trash cans. the signs that say "silverware here" "plates here" "cups here" somehow everything ends up in one huge pile left for me to sort out cause apparently im the only one that can read the signs.
2. all those business men that walk in with their dress shirts and ties carrying theyre lap top and a note book and pen, your thinkin theyve come to work on business stuff right? not so fast. they walk in grab theyre coffee (most business men like lots of cream and sugar) they go find a quite corner by a window. they stand there. casually look over the whole dining room to see if they know anyone. nope, no one they know today. they sit. they break out the macbook. slide on their glasses and begin typing away. now they start squinting at the screen, thinking hard. doing lots of hard work. then they start the beard stroke. the sigh. meanwhile. i leave and go sort out a pile of dishes that is about to fall on the floor. i come back and start wiping a table behind mr. business man and i glance over at the screen, whats that i see? facebook? hmm. :)
3. im very proud to say that i have held, used, and broke (oops), the 8th wonder of the world. ladies and gentlemen, may i present to you.... the "Eureka Cordless Quick Pickup"!! complete with rechargable battery packs.
Clean anywhere in your home with this cordless, lightweight vacuum from Eureka. This bagless, 2-motor cleaner converts to a hand vacuum and has a stair cleaning handle and revolving brush roll, so you can easil switch between carpet, hard floors, stairs and other surfaces. Plus, storage is a snap, with a wall-mountable charger to save space in your home.
Sound amazing right? well it truly is. because every time i went out to vaccum (i had to many a times on my shift.) i had to give a speech on how well this vacuum works. every person i passed by, young and old, would stop me and ask me endless questions about this vacuum. "does it work?" no i just like pushing it around. "whats the brand?" "how much was it" "how big of crumbs can it pick up?" every time i went out to vacuum what should have taken 5 minutes took around 15. sooo many questions. people stared in wonder. they would stop eating and just watch me vacuum. talk about awkward.
Panera=GreatExperience. :D
Thursday, October 29, 2009
{heaven}
i was just talking with a friend today about heaven. we shared different thoughts and ideas we had about it. thought i would share a couple things with you. :)
1. Something im really excited for is the music thats going to be in heaven. Once in a while ill just hear a song that is so beautiful ill keep playing it over and over. Im not "experienced" at all or know much about actual music but when i hear a song that just blows me away i think of how much greater the music will be in heaven and it blows me away even more. Or the harmony! can you imagine harmonious harmonies you cant even fathom here on earth going on right now in praises to the King? unimaginable. The worship can never cease! We wont have to stop because its getting late or because were getting too tired to keep going, or because we have somewhere else to be. We are there to worship forever, and worship forever we will!
2. will there be colors weve never seen before? or animals? colors we cant even imagine because every color we think of is some form of a primary color. would if theres a new primary color? :)
3. i wonder if our vision will change. like in "breaking dawn" when bella becomes a vampire (sorry but this is the only example i can think of to explain my thoughts) the way the author describes how her senses change is described in such detail you can almost get a picture of what it might be like. she can now hear things miles away. or the quitest things. and her vision was like she was looking through 20/20/20/20/20/20 vision. she now saw every partical in the air, the wall all the way across the room had a flake of dust that was now noticable. everything was now seen, heard, felt, in so much more detail. i think our senses will change so much that when we look back at our life on earth it will be like someone with horrible vision removing their glasses. "But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body, to be like His glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. Philippians 3:20,21
4. what about your family? my parents will no longer be my parents. will they look at me and think "oh this was my child of whom i raised on earth"?
5.What about creation? when i see the ocean all I can think of is how glorious, mighty, and powerful our Creator is. Or looking at a starry sky, or a sunset/sunrise, how it all reveals what a glorious artist He is. How much more will it be breathtaking in heaven? How much more will we be able to see the glory of God displayed through His creation?
6. we will be feasting, but never be hungry.
"Never again will they hunger, never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat down upon them, nor any scourching heat. For the lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." Revelation 7:16-17
what are you excited for?
1. Something im really excited for is the music thats going to be in heaven. Once in a while ill just hear a song that is so beautiful ill keep playing it over and over. Im not "experienced" at all or know much about actual music but when i hear a song that just blows me away i think of how much greater the music will be in heaven and it blows me away even more. Or the harmony! can you imagine harmonious harmonies you cant even fathom here on earth going on right now in praises to the King? unimaginable. The worship can never cease! We wont have to stop because its getting late or because were getting too tired to keep going, or because we have somewhere else to be. We are there to worship forever, and worship forever we will!
2. will there be colors weve never seen before? or animals? colors we cant even imagine because every color we think of is some form of a primary color. would if theres a new primary color? :)
3. i wonder if our vision will change. like in "breaking dawn" when bella becomes a vampire (sorry but this is the only example i can think of to explain my thoughts) the way the author describes how her senses change is described in such detail you can almost get a picture of what it might be like. she can now hear things miles away. or the quitest things. and her vision was like she was looking through 20/20/20/20/20/20 vision. she now saw every partical in the air, the wall all the way across the room had a flake of dust that was now noticable. everything was now seen, heard, felt, in so much more detail. i think our senses will change so much that when we look back at our life on earth it will be like someone with horrible vision removing their glasses. "But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body, to be like His glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. Philippians 3:20,21
4. what about your family? my parents will no longer be my parents. will they look at me and think "oh this was my child of whom i raised on earth"?
5.What about creation? when i see the ocean all I can think of is how glorious, mighty, and powerful our Creator is. Or looking at a starry sky, or a sunset/sunrise, how it all reveals what a glorious artist He is. How much more will it be breathtaking in heaven? How much more will we be able to see the glory of God displayed through His creation?
6. we will be feasting, but never be hungry.
"Never again will they hunger, never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat down upon them, nor any scourching heat. For the lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." Revelation 7:16-17
what are you excited for?
Monday, October 5, 2009
mae. musica. oct. 30th.
this song is called the fisherman song off of the new cd (m)orning by mae. i love these lyrics.
tonight i find it hard to sleep each sound and squeak i hear keeps me staring at the ceiling. oh its dark as night outside and i cant stand the quiet that it brings me. and i got too much on my mind i think its time to take a dive and leave it all behind. ive got a song thats half way there i think it needs the ocean air im gonna grab my guitar and get in my car. oh i need some understanding. i need a little love. gonna speed down to the oceanside. in a race with the clouds above. with my guitar in hand i sit down in the sand, i see the sun is coming. courage fill and crack the sky with purple silver and golden light, join the day from night. on the shoreline a fisherman with the bait on his line and a rod in his hand is ready to greet the day he turns around to notice me and the two of us are waiting patiently for the suns rays. i just need some understanding, i need a little love. and somehow i am thinking now i can get what ive been dreaming of. but this fisherman is closing in, i think he could be crazy he says "would you ride with me, i could use the company i have got a fish to catch and you have got a song to sing." his eyes are wide as the boat would sway oh would you like to say you have my attention see cannot hear to write your song but you dont have too long to show me what your working with. i like to give you just a little somethin and you may think its nothin on first listen. it the time it takes for you to make love, you can break love, waste love, and throw it all away. but all you need is faith, and hope will bring a brighter day, and everytime you love, let it lift someone else up. when someone tries to burn you, give him your hand and turn and pick him up when hes all alone. now if you find yourself getting frustrated try not to get too jaded or you could go insane like me. and tell your man you must be crazy your m.o. is lazy when it comes to love if every failure and turning tide i toss the blue moon rays but it never comes back to me. so have some faith you say, and hope will find its way. well i doubt what your sure of and it seems to me, the greatest of these is love. but its so hard to love. we were sitting in his boat with our backs to eachother he was giving me a little time and all that he said was hurting my head, wondering how to leave the selfishess behind. all that i could say is that its so hard to love, the way that you always do. i stepped off the boat and thanked the man not sure what i was thankful for, when i turned back around to see him again he was already gone. walking back from the water to my guitar, thats when the light came on, i knew what he was talking about, i know how to finish my song. Lord i just need some understanding, i need a little love and i want to sing this song to somebody who does what theyre made of. we need some understanding. we all need love.
tonight i find it hard to sleep each sound and squeak i hear keeps me staring at the ceiling. oh its dark as night outside and i cant stand the quiet that it brings me. and i got too much on my mind i think its time to take a dive and leave it all behind. ive got a song thats half way there i think it needs the ocean air im gonna grab my guitar and get in my car. oh i need some understanding. i need a little love. gonna speed down to the oceanside. in a race with the clouds above. with my guitar in hand i sit down in the sand, i see the sun is coming. courage fill and crack the sky with purple silver and golden light, join the day from night. on the shoreline a fisherman with the bait on his line and a rod in his hand is ready to greet the day he turns around to notice me and the two of us are waiting patiently for the suns rays. i just need some understanding, i need a little love. and somehow i am thinking now i can get what ive been dreaming of. but this fisherman is closing in, i think he could be crazy he says "would you ride with me, i could use the company i have got a fish to catch and you have got a song to sing." his eyes are wide as the boat would sway oh would you like to say you have my attention see cannot hear to write your song but you dont have too long to show me what your working with. i like to give you just a little somethin and you may think its nothin on first listen. it the time it takes for you to make love, you can break love, waste love, and throw it all away. but all you need is faith, and hope will bring a brighter day, and everytime you love, let it lift someone else up. when someone tries to burn you, give him your hand and turn and pick him up when hes all alone. now if you find yourself getting frustrated try not to get too jaded or you could go insane like me. and tell your man you must be crazy your m.o. is lazy when it comes to love if every failure and turning tide i toss the blue moon rays but it never comes back to me. so have some faith you say, and hope will find its way. well i doubt what your sure of and it seems to me, the greatest of these is love. but its so hard to love. we were sitting in his boat with our backs to eachother he was giving me a little time and all that he said was hurting my head, wondering how to leave the selfishess behind. all that i could say is that its so hard to love, the way that you always do. i stepped off the boat and thanked the man not sure what i was thankful for, when i turned back around to see him again he was already gone. walking back from the water to my guitar, thats when the light came on, i knew what he was talking about, i know how to finish my song. Lord i just need some understanding, i need a little love and i want to sing this song to somebody who does what theyre made of. we need some understanding. we all need love.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
those public restrooms. always like to contradict things.
I noticed the other day that often times in public restrooms there is a hand dryer with a whole speech printed on the front of the dryer about saving the planet by not using paper towels. "we will save the world with our new air powered hand dryer device. help save our planet by reducing the amount of cutting down trees. thankyou for being a cooperative citizen...blah blah blah."
and then right next to the hand dryer is a paper towel dispenser.
and then right next to the hand dryer is a paper towel dispenser.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
life-less-bakery
i opened up a fortune cookie today awaiting the little paper to solve all my life problems.......and THERE WAS NO FORTUNE. now what?
Thursday, May 14, 2009
God delights in you
we're playing a new worship song this sunday, and im really excited about it. the words are so encouraging!
God Delights in You
vs. 1 calling every daughter, calling every sonall who've been adopted through a sacrafice of lovethere's no need to for you to fearYour debts have all been cleared
vs.2 calling all the downcast who feel like theyre aloneanyone whos longing for a family of their ownGods prepared a place for you and he's calling you to...
chorus: come and sing come and dance the Fathers singing over youcome rejoice and be glad for God delights in you, in you
vs. 3 calling all whove wandered and gone off on their ownanyone who wonders if theyre welcome back at homethe God of grace makes all things new and hes calling you to
chorus: come and sing come and dance the Fathers singing over youcome rejoice and be glad for God delights in you, in you
bridge: you chose us to be the objects of Your love in spite of what we had done You gave your beloved Son to die for us to make us daughters and sons
God Delights in You
vs. 1 calling every daughter, calling every sonall who've been adopted through a sacrafice of lovethere's no need to for you to fearYour debts have all been cleared
vs.2 calling all the downcast who feel like theyre aloneanyone whos longing for a family of their ownGods prepared a place for you and he's calling you to...
chorus: come and sing come and dance the Fathers singing over youcome rejoice and be glad for God delights in you, in you
vs. 3 calling all whove wandered and gone off on their ownanyone who wonders if theyre welcome back at homethe God of grace makes all things new and hes calling you to
chorus: come and sing come and dance the Fathers singing over youcome rejoice and be glad for God delights in you, in you
bridge: you chose us to be the objects of Your love in spite of what we had done You gave your beloved Son to die for us to make us daughters and sons
Friday, May 1, 2009
its screaming summer outside!
Summertime, summertime brought me back to thinking you were mine all those times. We laid it down and left it all behind, we were blind. Oh, the summertime. We could ride, we could ride. Take my hand and watch the world go by. Laugh or cry, well we need to try, get off the line, time to fly. Oh, the summertime.Go on ahead and let it fade away. No looking back you know the past will stay. It's you and me, we could get out of here. Jump in and go and we could drive for years. We could feel alive...Here we are, here we are, windows down we see a falling star. Stop the car. Waiting, nothing but our beating hearts, going far. Oh, the summertime. So feel the air, feel the air, take the map and point to anywhere. I don't care. Fingers through your hair, the sky I've seen, blue and green. Oh, the summertime.Go on ahead and let it fade away. No looking back you know the past will stay. It's you and me, we could get out of here. Jump in and go and we could drive for years. We could feel alive...Driving away, leaving it all behind. Driving awayDriving away, and leaving it all behind.Driving awayDriving away (just driving away), leaving it all behind.Driving away, (just driving away), yeah.Just Driving away (just driving away), leaving it all behind.I'm just driving away, yeah (GO).
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
so you should all listen to this song.. because its definately amazing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v52Igdotisk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v52Igdotisk
Sunday, April 19, 2009
The Second Person- by Alicia Liberatore
Jesus is the Son of God. God is His Father. There was never a relationship between God and man that is like the relationship between Jesus and His Father. Man is never included in the unique relationship as the Son of God. Every confession that man makes of Christ being the Son of God, shows the eternal relationship between the Father and the Son. He did not become the Son of God by Mary giving birth to Him but He already existed in eternity past. John 3:16 says that God gave His only begotten Son which again refers to the unique relationship between God and His Son. Jesus is just as much the Son of Mary in His humanity as He is the eternal Son of God in His deity. Christ needed to be God for the purpose of His death and He needed to be man in order to take His flesh and blood for sacrificing it. Mary conceived Jesus through the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the Son of Mary, not the Son of Joseph. His humanity is only within Mary. Christ was born of Mary who was a virgin. When she gave birth to Christ, He took on her human nature apart from sin. The Father overshadowed Mary so that Jesus was not influenced by her sinful nature.
Christ is humble. He submits to His father and His will. Pride is man's greatest sin. God hates sin. In Proverbs 8:13 He says "Pride and arrogance, and the evil way, and the forward mouth, do I hate." God also says "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. He has so much power yet he shows His meekness and humility. His humility is shown on the cross. God condemns the spirit of man for boasting that he needs to learn nothing for he knows everything. Many have been kept out of heaven for such arrogance- for to be saved you must humble yourself and repent. Christ humbled himself and became obedient till death.
Christ is sinless, though He still has a human nature. God became a real human being and had a perfect human nature. He was just as much a man as any other man, He wept, hungered, thirst, rejoiced, and was tempted, yet He was perfect. Christ often prayed for His Father to forgive other people, but he never once had to ask "Father, forgive me." Christ, as perfect as He was, came down to earth which was full of sin. No one was righteous on earth except for Him. Romans 3:10,23 "For there is no one righteous, no, not one....For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Even though He had the same human nature has anyone else, He was perfect.
The Lord is our Shepherd, we are His sheep. He tends to us and cares for us. Jesus said " I am the good Shepherd; the good Shepherd gives His life for His sheep." John 10:11. Satan is like a lion looking for sheep to destroy but the good Shepherd protects us. We as sheep often get lost and wander astray from the Lord, we lose our sense of direction. As a nation we have strayed from God. When we are following God we want nothing else. He offered himself as a sacrifice to His sheep, we need to follow Him.
When Christ came into the world He had one goal: to save the lost. He had one message to tell everyone: the gospel. It is His message of salvation. God is soul-winning. He taught the gospel by soul-winning. God did not just speak to the crowds but to individuals. He sought out lost individuals and spoke to them personally. We as Christians should follow in Christ's steps and share the gospel. It is our responsibility.
1 Corinthians 14:15 "I will sing with the Spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also." God has a heavenly choir. It is only for the saved. Anyone owned by Satan cannot match the tone of the choir. When Christ came into the wicked world, everyone groaned from the weight of sin. There was no song. Jeremiah 20:13 says "Sing unto the Lord, praise ye the Lord." We are called upon to sing praises to Him. His disciples sung hymns to Him before He was crucified. In heaven all the saved shall sing together in harmony around the throne of God. Until that day comes, we are to please Him by the way we live our life. When we worship Christ here on earth we are joined with millions of angels in heaven all singing to one God.
Since the separation between God and man there has been aloneness. Maybe not physical aloneness but in the soul. Christ was also alone. He suffered, bled, and died alone. Jesus' life was lived in loneliness on earth. When He was born all the angels in heaven rejoiced but on earth only a few shepherds sought to worship the King. As He grew up He was alone. When He taught at the temple at age 12 He was alone because Mary and Joseph did not understand His divine mission. He was alone in the purpose that He came. One of the reasons He was so alone was because He demanded purity in others lives. Jesus is the light, when sinners come near the light, it exposes their sin so they stay away. When He prayed with others there was still loneliness in His soul. He prayed different from everyone else. When other men prayed they came to God through a Mediator. Jesus did not need a Mediator. He never had to pray for mercy and forgiveness. When the disciples prayed with Him, He was still alone, in a sphere known only to Himself.
Christ has silence. Through all His suffering on earth Christ had a majestic silence. Jesus was silent before Caiaphas. After the witness testified against Jesus the high priest asked Him "What is it which these witness against Thee?" And the Lord held His peace and remained silent. They did not want to find out if Jesus was guilty or not, they just assumed He was guilty. Jesus knew they were lying and the purpose of it. They did that to put Him to death. For Jesus to answer them would be useless. He was also silent because of Caiaphas' character. He prejudged Christ. Today people are condemning God before even knowing anything about Him. They deny salvation and the power of God. When God is prejudged He becomes the Judge and condemns those who will not reason.
We as sinners need to be sanctified by Christ. Sanctification is to be made holy. The sanctified are not perfect but are set apart to God in Christ. When someone receives salvation he becomes sanctified. Christ sanctified Himself to the Truth. When He spoke the Truth, Satan attacked. But the Lord never parted from it. Jesus proved his devotion by practicing it. Some people don't practice what they preach. Christ preached, and put it into action.
Christ's steadfastness is one of the distinguished characteristics of His life. He came to earth fulfilling His will and Satan could not stand in the way. In His steadfastness carried His message of life and love to all men. He suffered many things but fulfilled His will until the end. Christ died on His own free will. His will was set before sin entered the world. His death was a deliberate voluntary substitution to save sinners from eternal death. He died so His enemies would not have to. He saved others but Himself He did not. He had the power to, but it was not His will. He could have saved Himself and let all of us have eternal death, but He chose to go through the pain and suffering of His crucifixion to give us what we truly do not deserve. He steadfastly remained on the cross.
Christ had many scars. One was the scars of scourging. It was one of the most severe punishments in Christ's day. Isaiah 53:5 "But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed." Christ was completely innocent, He was righteous and holy. Yet they whipped Him until He was bleeding and not once did Christ wince or pull back. Though He was innocent He payed for the world's sins against His holiness. Our bodies are scarred by sin, Christ's body was scarred for sin. There are also scars from the nails driven through His hands and feet when He was hung on the cross. His hands are the mighty hands the hold all eternity. His hands are the hands of mercy. They did not deserve to be nailed to a cross. He did not deserve any of the crucifixion. The nails were also driven into His feet. His feet were the feet of beauty. His feet walked miles as He traveled preaching Truth. Mary was comforted at Jesus' feet in her moment of sorrow. She sat at His feet as He preached. Many sick men were cast down at His feet and He healed them. He had the scars of thorns as well. Matthew 27:29 "And when they platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon His head." Thorns started in the Garden of Eden when God put a curse on the earth after Adam and Eve sinned. His humble, innocent, righteous and holy head bore the curse for our sins. He deserves a righteous crown but because of His mercy He chose the crown of thorns. He has a scar in His side from when one of the soldiers speared Him on the cross. Zechariah 12:10 "They shall look upon Me whom they have pierced."
Christ suffered. But He chose to suffer for us. He suffered willingly and cheerfully. He did it voluntarily. He knew from the beginning what suffering was to come. Christ could have let us suffer but instead He chose to. His sufferings were vicarious. He chose to be our substitute.
Salvation is something only God can do. Life apart from the salvation of Jesus Christ is lost. God refers to every believer "dead in trespasses and sins" God has called everyone to repent and accept Christ's free gift. Matthew 1:21 "Thou shall call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins." Christ came into the world to save you. He gave His life, a ransom for many. Hebrews 7:25 "He is able to save... to the uttermost." The salvation that Christ offers is complete. We are saved through grace. Ephesians 2:8 "For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God." He is able to save to the depth of our ignorance and pride. We just need to humble ourselves and surrender to Him. Salvation is past, present, and future. He saved us from sin and we shall be saved forever.
A sacrifice is an offering of thanks to God. Sacrifice is associated with sin. Christ sacrificed Himself for our sin. God also made a Passover sacrifice, this was for all. It had to be without blemish. Christ was perfect. He met every righteous requirement for divine justice. Christ sacrificed His blood for our sins.
Christ has sympathy for all His children. He is the greatest comfort we will find in our times of sorrow. He is compassionate. Christ is able to have sympathy on us because He feels everything we feel. He can enter into our distress. Jesus' whole life was one of sympathy and mercy. He never allowed prejudice or personality interfere with His compassion and sympathy.
God is love. Christ proved it and the Bible teaches it. His character shows love but also severity. Along with love there must always be a firmness. Jesus was severe when the people in the temple were selling animals. He drove them all out. The actions of Jesus were the actions of God. We should admire the force and fearlessness of God. He was acting according to His Father's standards. Jesus was severe when others try to enter heaven falsely. Yet His love is the greatest and will never cease.
Christ is sufficient. All who trusted in Him have found Him to be able to supply their every need. One of the greatest mistakes man makes is trying to be self-sufficient. We need to turn to God for everything. He will supply our every need according to His will. Because of His death and resurrection He is our sufficient savior. Christ also satisfies us with sufficiency. There are longings in the soul that can be satisfied by no other. God has blessed us greatly.
Christ is humble. He submits to His father and His will. Pride is man's greatest sin. God hates sin. In Proverbs 8:13 He says "Pride and arrogance, and the evil way, and the forward mouth, do I hate." God also says "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. He has so much power yet he shows His meekness and humility. His humility is shown on the cross. God condemns the spirit of man for boasting that he needs to learn nothing for he knows everything. Many have been kept out of heaven for such arrogance- for to be saved you must humble yourself and repent. Christ humbled himself and became obedient till death.
Christ is sinless, though He still has a human nature. God became a real human being and had a perfect human nature. He was just as much a man as any other man, He wept, hungered, thirst, rejoiced, and was tempted, yet He was perfect. Christ often prayed for His Father to forgive other people, but he never once had to ask "Father, forgive me." Christ, as perfect as He was, came down to earth which was full of sin. No one was righteous on earth except for Him. Romans 3:10,23 "For there is no one righteous, no, not one....For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Even though He had the same human nature has anyone else, He was perfect.
The Lord is our Shepherd, we are His sheep. He tends to us and cares for us. Jesus said " I am the good Shepherd; the good Shepherd gives His life for His sheep." John 10:11. Satan is like a lion looking for sheep to destroy but the good Shepherd protects us. We as sheep often get lost and wander astray from the Lord, we lose our sense of direction. As a nation we have strayed from God. When we are following God we want nothing else. He offered himself as a sacrifice to His sheep, we need to follow Him.
When Christ came into the world He had one goal: to save the lost. He had one message to tell everyone: the gospel. It is His message of salvation. God is soul-winning. He taught the gospel by soul-winning. God did not just speak to the crowds but to individuals. He sought out lost individuals and spoke to them personally. We as Christians should follow in Christ's steps and share the gospel. It is our responsibility.
1 Corinthians 14:15 "I will sing with the Spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also." God has a heavenly choir. It is only for the saved. Anyone owned by Satan cannot match the tone of the choir. When Christ came into the wicked world, everyone groaned from the weight of sin. There was no song. Jeremiah 20:13 says "Sing unto the Lord, praise ye the Lord." We are called upon to sing praises to Him. His disciples sung hymns to Him before He was crucified. In heaven all the saved shall sing together in harmony around the throne of God. Until that day comes, we are to please Him by the way we live our life. When we worship Christ here on earth we are joined with millions of angels in heaven all singing to one God.
Since the separation between God and man there has been aloneness. Maybe not physical aloneness but in the soul. Christ was also alone. He suffered, bled, and died alone. Jesus' life was lived in loneliness on earth. When He was born all the angels in heaven rejoiced but on earth only a few shepherds sought to worship the King. As He grew up He was alone. When He taught at the temple at age 12 He was alone because Mary and Joseph did not understand His divine mission. He was alone in the purpose that He came. One of the reasons He was so alone was because He demanded purity in others lives. Jesus is the light, when sinners come near the light, it exposes their sin so they stay away. When He prayed with others there was still loneliness in His soul. He prayed different from everyone else. When other men prayed they came to God through a Mediator. Jesus did not need a Mediator. He never had to pray for mercy and forgiveness. When the disciples prayed with Him, He was still alone, in a sphere known only to Himself.
Christ has silence. Through all His suffering on earth Christ had a majestic silence. Jesus was silent before Caiaphas. After the witness testified against Jesus the high priest asked Him "What is it which these witness against Thee?" And the Lord held His peace and remained silent. They did not want to find out if Jesus was guilty or not, they just assumed He was guilty. Jesus knew they were lying and the purpose of it. They did that to put Him to death. For Jesus to answer them would be useless. He was also silent because of Caiaphas' character. He prejudged Christ. Today people are condemning God before even knowing anything about Him. They deny salvation and the power of God. When God is prejudged He becomes the Judge and condemns those who will not reason.
We as sinners need to be sanctified by Christ. Sanctification is to be made holy. The sanctified are not perfect but are set apart to God in Christ. When someone receives salvation he becomes sanctified. Christ sanctified Himself to the Truth. When He spoke the Truth, Satan attacked. But the Lord never parted from it. Jesus proved his devotion by practicing it. Some people don't practice what they preach. Christ preached, and put it into action.
Christ's steadfastness is one of the distinguished characteristics of His life. He came to earth fulfilling His will and Satan could not stand in the way. In His steadfastness carried His message of life and love to all men. He suffered many things but fulfilled His will until the end. Christ died on His own free will. His will was set before sin entered the world. His death was a deliberate voluntary substitution to save sinners from eternal death. He died so His enemies would not have to. He saved others but Himself He did not. He had the power to, but it was not His will. He could have saved Himself and let all of us have eternal death, but He chose to go through the pain and suffering of His crucifixion to give us what we truly do not deserve. He steadfastly remained on the cross.
Christ had many scars. One was the scars of scourging. It was one of the most severe punishments in Christ's day. Isaiah 53:5 "But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed." Christ was completely innocent, He was righteous and holy. Yet they whipped Him until He was bleeding and not once did Christ wince or pull back. Though He was innocent He payed for the world's sins against His holiness. Our bodies are scarred by sin, Christ's body was scarred for sin. There are also scars from the nails driven through His hands and feet when He was hung on the cross. His hands are the mighty hands the hold all eternity. His hands are the hands of mercy. They did not deserve to be nailed to a cross. He did not deserve any of the crucifixion. The nails were also driven into His feet. His feet were the feet of beauty. His feet walked miles as He traveled preaching Truth. Mary was comforted at Jesus' feet in her moment of sorrow. She sat at His feet as He preached. Many sick men were cast down at His feet and He healed them. He had the scars of thorns as well. Matthew 27:29 "And when they platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon His head." Thorns started in the Garden of Eden when God put a curse on the earth after Adam and Eve sinned. His humble, innocent, righteous and holy head bore the curse for our sins. He deserves a righteous crown but because of His mercy He chose the crown of thorns. He has a scar in His side from when one of the soldiers speared Him on the cross. Zechariah 12:10 "They shall look upon Me whom they have pierced."
Christ suffered. But He chose to suffer for us. He suffered willingly and cheerfully. He did it voluntarily. He knew from the beginning what suffering was to come. Christ could have let us suffer but instead He chose to. His sufferings were vicarious. He chose to be our substitute.
Salvation is something only God can do. Life apart from the salvation of Jesus Christ is lost. God refers to every believer "dead in trespasses and sins" God has called everyone to repent and accept Christ's free gift. Matthew 1:21 "Thou shall call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins." Christ came into the world to save you. He gave His life, a ransom for many. Hebrews 7:25 "He is able to save... to the uttermost." The salvation that Christ offers is complete. We are saved through grace. Ephesians 2:8 "For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God." He is able to save to the depth of our ignorance and pride. We just need to humble ourselves and surrender to Him. Salvation is past, present, and future. He saved us from sin and we shall be saved forever.
A sacrifice is an offering of thanks to God. Sacrifice is associated with sin. Christ sacrificed Himself for our sin. God also made a Passover sacrifice, this was for all. It had to be without blemish. Christ was perfect. He met every righteous requirement for divine justice. Christ sacrificed His blood for our sins.
Christ has sympathy for all His children. He is the greatest comfort we will find in our times of sorrow. He is compassionate. Christ is able to have sympathy on us because He feels everything we feel. He can enter into our distress. Jesus' whole life was one of sympathy and mercy. He never allowed prejudice or personality interfere with His compassion and sympathy.
God is love. Christ proved it and the Bible teaches it. His character shows love but also severity. Along with love there must always be a firmness. Jesus was severe when the people in the temple were selling animals. He drove them all out. The actions of Jesus were the actions of God. We should admire the force and fearlessness of God. He was acting according to His Father's standards. Jesus was severe when others try to enter heaven falsely. Yet His love is the greatest and will never cease.
Christ is sufficient. All who trusted in Him have found Him to be able to supply their every need. One of the greatest mistakes man makes is trying to be self-sufficient. We need to turn to God for everything. He will supply our every need according to His will. Because of His death and resurrection He is our sufficient savior. Christ also satisfies us with sufficiency. There are longings in the soul that can be satisfied by no other. God has blessed us greatly.
Monday, April 13, 2009
One night a man had a dream. He dreamed He was walking along the beach with the LORD. Across the sky flashed scenes from His life. For each scene He noticed two sets of footprints in the sand. One belonging to Him and the other to the LORD.When the last scene of His life flashed before Him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of His life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times of His life.This really bothered Him and He questioned the LORD about it. LORD you said that once I decided to follow you, you'd walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life there is only one set of footprints. I don't understand why when I needed you most you would leave me.The LORD replied, my precious, precious child, I Love you and I would never leave you! During your times of trial and suffering when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.
-Carolyn Carty, 1963
-Carolyn Carty, 1963
Friday, April 10, 2009
there's something sweet, and almost kind.
So i was at work the other day, and i was walking around looking at tables to clear... and i saw this boy and girl sitting at a table eating soup. but it wasn't just any table. it was one of those really long tables made for 10 people to sit at... and the boy and girl were at each end. and they just sat there, laughing, and talking, and eating their soup. and it reminded me of the scene from beauty and the beast... and i found myself just standing there, smiling at them. it was quite charming (o:
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