I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

Here I write about my faith as a reformed christian.
I will try to add to this page on every sabbath.
I apologize for any errors, that is not my intention.
I am only learning and only God has given me the faith, I didn't do anything in particular to make God do that, only His love and perfection allowed a person such as myself to have the faith, meaning you can too...

The Belgic Confession

The Heidelberg Catechism

The Canons Of Dort

September 23rd - Luke 8:22-25 - Our Deserved Perdition
22 One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out. 23 As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. 24 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. 25 “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”

In the scripture above, we see a sort of disapproval towards his disciples from Jesus as nature disrupts their boat, in living in a world lost to the consequence of sin, they naturally worry, and fail to realize their eternal safety being with Christ. This is the true faith we must have as christians, with what we know about Jesus and his merciful sacrifice for us, we must not ever worry. It is likely Jesus knew the storm was coming and knew the effect it would have on them. We know that God allows nothing without reason in our world, so as christians we must also see that it is just and righteous for God to allow any suffering to occur in this world, because as long as we are defying the law that God put on His rightful holy earth, we deserve any misfortune that may come our way.

People often justify their dislike and disobediance to God because of the troubles they might have gone through in their life, but the truth is simple, in this world where our lives are fully corrupted by our decision to sin, our toils and trials will persist. It is not God's responsibility to stop that within the confines of this world. Any good He puts into this world is entirely out of his own grace and perfect morality.

For those within the faith, God giving them such a wonderful gift, we could also say that any troubles we go though, though are filled with Christ-filled faith, are possibly permitted by Him as a way of testing our faith to further strengthen it and bring more perserverance to us. If God has given you the true faith, no amount of worldly ungodliness can completely overcome that. The faith teaches us to endure this world, and continue to vouch for Christ. If we are waiting for our suffering to just end on this earth and that is what is keeping us from our happiness, then our happiness with never come. Christ gives us humility, happiness. In our faith we make sacrifices, we may come across challenges, its not whether those are happening to you or not but whether you are handling your trials in a godly or ungodly way.
The apostles were so quick to act in their natural human inclination, an atheistic response of fearing death and worrying about such little things. When Christ has worked in you and you are one with Him, we must not ever have to worry. If we do so, it again shows how much we do not deserve Jesus. It is when we are put into a mindset of panic or quick decision-making that the true motivation of our heart comes out, and since we are sinful to the core, we usually act in a way that resembles the way the apostles did on that boat. The problem is that we do not put our entire trust in Jesus all the time, and we often underestimate His power and divine influence in this world. When we are put in such a situation, we must not strive for our will, but His will, for that is the correct and just way things should be done and we have to right to question God's ways. Every little tiny thing that happens has meaning behind, whether we understand it or not, God works miracles big and small, He teaches us things in the faith, an example of that being, as mentioned earlier, challenging our faith in a sinful earth.

We see Jesus' amazing fearlessness come out here, showing perfect attitude and wisdom that only a sinless God-man could do. His fearlessness shows His trust, His love and it reminds us as christians that whatever God wants to happen, will happen and there is no amount of worldly corruption that will stop that. Jesus, in defeating sin, has overcome suffering, and when we look to Him always, we must see that it is wise to no longer fear the suffering of a sinful world, but the being that defeated suffering itself, Christ Jesus. By fearing and believing Jesus with all your heart, you no longer have to fear suffering, there will be no obstacles.

He is the only thing that makes this world make sense, He brings us comfort and assurance, I am glad and gracious to be a slave to Christ.
Dear God, thank you again for such wonderful experiences in life, good and bad, I have faith that all these things are righteous and display both your willingness to show love and grace as well as justice in this world. We do not deserve such divine knowledge and revelation found in the Gospel. I am sorry for the times where my inital trust may not always be in you, and when I fall short of your glorious character (all the time). There's nothing any of us can ever do to completely make up for how much love and compassion you have shown us. You are the essence of life, amen...

September 15th - Matthew 6:19-21 - The Everlasting Treasure
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

God must be our treasure, and this is because he deserves it and he will guide us in a world where it is so easy to get lost and find false treasures that mean nothing once we pass from this world. If God has gifted you the ability to realize how important it is to look towards God, then we can see that it is the objective truth that the Lord is the only true treasure. He created us in pure love, with the capability of free will, and we betrayed him and did not follow his perfect way. From here he could have destroyed us or brought us our rightfully deserved punishment, but he simply permitted us to continue on earth, assisting us along the way. Even the people who hate God and live to disobey him and deny His existence need to show gratitude in the fact that God gave them a life where they can experience emotion, have senses and build relationships with other people.
The fact that God has done this for us all despite our rebellious ways shows His truly magical grace. Even then, He went further with it and out of his lovely essense, has chosen some of us in a way we do not fully understand (though it involves his loving and perfect character) to commit our lives to Him and because of His son Christ, has somehow allowed some of us the gift of eternal life because of our faith having nothing to do with our own actions or ways (as we have rotted to the core).
You can appear to live in every christian way, but only God really knows what is in your heart and if the faith and commitment for Him is true, noone else can know your true relationship with God. You can't and have done nothing for your salvation, only God has given you that and there is no point in boasting of so. Jesus commonly speaks of the kind of attitude that comes with a lifestyle of faith, and how the actions that come out of that true faith will reflect back on you in heaven. Because Christ Jesus has forgiven us, we must forgive others, because Christ fulfilled the law fully, we must do everything we can to live by this moral law. This is what Jesus refers to by building up our treasure in heaven, the expression of a God-given heart of faith and how that effects the way we live.
With the faith, we can entirely trust that this what God has defined as objectively good and is not foolproof. You do not have to worry. Put your money, your possessions, your friends and family below the importance and priority of God, this is what the faith is, not that these things are not important (obviously) but God is holy holy holy. We must even put ourselves below God and become slaves to Christ, love God not for your own self gain but because God is so amazing that He deserves your love and lifelong commitment. We must admit that God's will and way is better than what we may want, we must see that God is the only true treasure, as we see easily resort to temporary and shallow worldly treasures. We need His help always. The mere things of this world are mostly result of a broken viral world, corrupted by sin and degredation. Even the things that come from God's wonderful being and will, like our children, our happiness, still come from God, therefore he prevails as the treasure.
I know that I often struggle with the worries of what others may think when I want to pull my Bible out and read or pray in public, and I feel a great guilt for this. I must constantly remind myself that prioritizing my reputation over my faith at certain times reveals my sin and ego perfectly. Our repuatations and the pursuit of it is a worldly treasure that will mean nothing when we die, what will matter is living in the way God wants us to (the one we will spend eternity with or without). I want to always try and push myself to be more open about the faith, to show others the beauty of Christ and God's word, to prove to myself that worldly things I once saw as so important have been overruled by the Spirit. We are so spoiled by God's grace, whether we have been given the gift of faith or not.
Dear lord, your perfection is profound, your grace is out of this world and I do not deserve any of the wonderful things you have given to us as sinners. I am very sorry for the sins I have commited by not seeing you as the true treasure and prioritizing worldly things. I ask all these things in the name of Christ Jesus, amen.

September 8th - Exodus 3:4-10 - God Knows Us
4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
7 Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

In the text above, God shows direct proof that He listens to us, he hears our thoughts and prayers and knows you deeply, more than anyone else. I could be married for 50 years and God would still know me infinitely more than my wife. Moses and the people of Israel who have been through a lot of suffering and are lost from their God given land, feel in shambles and it is here that God shows Himself to Moses and is such a holy and incomprehensible figure that Moses is afraid to even look at Him. God shares that He knows their troubles and want to lead them back to their homeland, which He eventually does. Every thought we think, God knows of, we are a book that He had already memorized at the beginning of creation. Since he does this, our only consistently sufficient solution to any difficult thoughts or struggles that we may have in life can be solved by looking to God, involving repentance, worship and prayer.

People like to say that God does not care for them because they do not see His will affecting them in any positive way but this could not be further from the truth as the proof we have of His intense grace and care for us is through His son, Christ Jesus. God came down to earth and died for our sins, so that we may be saved through our belief in Him. It is seen many times throughout the old testament that God builds His relationships and covenants with His people based on the unrelenting faith that they have for Him. Moses showed his faith through the persecution he and his people faced in Egypt. Even when we are going through tough times, we must remember that God is with us and he feels for us through the mediation of Christ Jesus.

God knew their troubles and ours before they even occured. He uses His infinite knowledge and perspective to superiorly put His will into the world, God does not take advantage of that fact to those who believe in Him. We have to show constant trust that His will and His ways are the correct way. God's compassion and superiority is seen through the entirety of the Bible and the fact that through all our sin, He had still planned to come down to Earth and take the punishment for our sins is a true miracle for us that we must appreciate with all our hearts. Jesus lived through our pain and temptations as humans and even through all that struggle, he never sinned once and showed perfect humility and character. Jesus shows that God can sympathize with us perfectly and because of that, we have no excuse to not look to Christ. He is the mediator between us as lowly sinners and the glorious God the Father. Christ set the example for us and we must live up to our faith, as again, He is always there for us and knows us deeply.

To people who may not be aware of such wonderful knowledge, we must put Christ in conversation of profound thought and patience, as talking about Jesus to share His message should always be done out of pure love, so that people may accept Him as their savior and that through troubles and concerns can be looked after by the Lord. God will never misinterpret us, he knows the true motives of our heart and his grace allowed any form of goodness to be in there, without God, we are just sinners who deserve nothing but punishment. If God can sympathize with our struggle as humans and has given us a way out of our sinful nature, we must show that same type of compassion to others through the help of the Spririt. If He can forgive our sins, then we must be able to forgive the sins of others and not hold grudges and contemptuousness in our hearts, weighing us down and keeping us away from God's holy influence (the Holy Spirit).

It is Jesus Christ who renews the old testament, who proves God's perfection and grace, who breaks the chains of sin that hold us back as humans, who shows furious compassion of a godlike nature, who has perfect humility, who never sinned and who is the solution. We need to believe and worship Him as long as we are breathing on this earth.

Thank you lord for all you have given me and I am very sorry for any sins I have commited in the days of life you have given me. Keep from arrogance and boasting in myself and show me humility and your nature in how I interract with the world. You are perfect.
Amen

September 1st - Ephesians 2:1-10 - A Quick Blog
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Sunday was nice. another opportunity to see the fellowship found in brothers and sisters in Christ. After our morning and afternoon service, we were invited to a get together at one of the church families houses for games and dinner. I could truly see God in these people. They didn't need to drink or smoke anything to talk to eachother, but were content by simple things, simple games and the acknowledge ment of the simple truth and glory of God. It made me so happy to see this, I saw God truly working in these people, I never witnessed such purity in my adult life. I have witnessed and have taken part in so many gatherings of people and so many times I have seen a constant lack of contentedness. This is seen in how selective and full of gossip people can be, or the drugs they need to take just to be comfortable around eachother. In Christ we all find rest and comfort, because of our faith we are able to live in such a optimistic view of the world, that though we are all deserving of punishment, God has proclaimed wonderful news through his son Jesus. Christ died on the cross for our sins and now anyone can be saved from this fallen world. We were holding such interesting conversations with people we barely know. In our fellowship with Christ, we are able to have a clearer view of the original image God made us in. We can see the good God has bestowed to us out of pure grace. A lot of people from our church were there, we all had a big prayer together where we reflected on our sin and showed thankfulness to God for our union as followers of Christ. After that we ate a nice meal, there was burgers, hot dogs and a lot of corn and following that, people played music and we all sang songs together. We then spent a lot of time talking to people, telling stories and talking about our faith, our struggles and everything else. It all came so easily to people I did not know too well personally but because we shared that faith in Christ, I felt like I knew them very well. I must insist that the people are not good, any good we see in myself or the people is because of God and his perfect grace. I have recently started school, which means a 30 minute trip there and back, which has given me the chance to listen to more christian material, such as RC Sproul sermons on Ligonier and John Macarthur on Grace To You. Their sermons and series on different topics have helped me to better understand the meaning of being a christian and how to better interpret the text as a human. The internet is a great tool as a christian to learn new and important things about the faith, but we must be careful as we can easily end up in domains of misinterpretation or heresy. The backround image on the main page of the website represents something I have been longing for, and through Christ and the gift of fellowship He has given us, I have found (all thanks to Him). I pictured sitting in a room like that with no distractions, a few other people and pure conversation despite all human restraint to not do so, talking about anything and everything. In Christ, we find in his teaching that we must be content, meaning no distraction, we must be grateful, meaning a willingness to participate and an appreciation, and see pure kindness, so that even if we may not like what a person has to say, we will show them constant love and care to show them your way, your perspective. Christ was beaten, stabbed and publicy humiliated, yet through all that torment, as christians we know that he was still showing constant love and affection, hoping that we show faith in Him. Because of Christ, I can find that real human connection (again, thanks to Him). The scripture above really helps to illustrate how incredibly blessed we are to have such a glorious God. He gives us so much, despite how little we have to offer Him. In our sinful and decrepit ways, falling further and further into sin and self destruction, he gave us a way out. He is definitely more than worthy of our constant worship, and we are not worthy of much of anything He does for us. He lets the sinner live their lives, enjoying their ignorance to possibly one day show them the way. He is perfect and the only real preservative in a rotting and diseased world.

August 25th, 2024 - Jude 17-25 | Our Holy Perserverance
17 But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18 They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” 19 It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. 20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. 22 And have mercy on those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.

24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

This faith is one of brutal perserverance. A reason people tend to avoid or leave the faith is that they expect God's will to bend in their favour instead of bending to God's unchangable will. What happens, happens, good or bad, it was meant to be that way. We do not live in the faith of Jesus for our own self gain, because then our repentance would be superficial and meaningless. We live with the faith in our hearts that Jesus is our only way to salvation because we know who is deserving of worship and a life of devotion, God. We see our lowly place as humans, how our sin has doomed us for hell (godlessness) so the only way out of this is through Christ. Even with everything ungodly happening in us, all the influences of a modern world always trying to crush our faith, we have to still look only to Him, and put our complete trust in the fact that He will save us. We have to always try and cooporate with people that hate the fact that you believe in Christ. You must always try to use the grace of God in your actions and words to show that. To ignore and throw away the people that do not have the faith is selfish and ungodly in itself, because as humans we are all equally low, but with God's perfection, it is always possible that he will give the gift of faith to any person, from any place, with any belief. There are many scoffers who do follow their ungodly passions, people who embrace the sin of humanity rather than trying to see any sort of escape from it. So many people let little misunderstandings and misinterpretations destroy their faith, if you do not feed the flame of your faith and make an active effort, then it will die out. Show care to your faith and actively try to improve your relationship with God through prayer. When I find myself in a moment of sin, where I am not fully considering God in my day, I try to take the time to read some of His word and talk to Him in prayer. This is what the text means by building ourselves up in the faith, making an active and constant effort to express your faith of God's ways in your interractions with his world and repenting for any inevitable sin along that journey. I have realized to try not to actively seek material outside the Bible to see its integrity, this is only a distraction and with a true faith, we do not need to be constant questioning what we know to be true. The Bible, a collection of texts that is 1000s of years old, inspired by the Holy Spirit, hold up to all the destructive changes of human history and still remain, superior and the best source to see our path to salvation. Be open with your faith, something I have trouble with sometimes, but if we truly believe in Christ, then we cannot keep this to ourselves, that makes it superificial. With God, you can truly see why you do not deserve God's grace, so to be given it through the things He has given you shows me that it must be an obligation, through the scoffers and everything else, to live and rejoice in His name. The way people see us, the scoffing, our reputation, our money, will mean nothing when we come to die, the only true thing that is preserved and timeless is God. We cannot pick and choose within our faith what we think is true to fit modern cultural pressures, we must trust that the original Bible is the word of God and is like Him, timeless. An example of the way people do this is the cultural norm to see sunday as just another day, we must untilize it to go to church and to strengthen our faith for another week of wordly living, a life brought on by the consequence of sin. We must appreciate everything He has given us, because everything He has given us is both undeserved and good. This scripture tells us to only look towards God, through thick and thin, and to try to help others realize that way of living. Jesus has mercy on us and we should live by that example with the guidance of the Holy Spirit to show mercy towards others, especially your enemies. We need to always try and build up our faith and to live our lives dependant on that faith.

Dear lord, keep me away from ungodliness and continue to guide me in the only correct way, your way, and please help others see that as well. I trust wholeheartedly that your will is the only thing that is always correct, and I thank you so much for the gifts you have given me. Amen

August 18th, 2024 - Luke 8:4-15 | The Sower We Must Comply To
4 And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable, 5 “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6 And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. 8 And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” The Purpose of the Parables 9 And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, 10 he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ 11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13 And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. 14 And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. 15 As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.

I was reading this the other day and the revelation of the lack of control we have as humans and the proof of that through this parable that Jesus tells hit me immensely. It is parable about a sower (God), that scatters seeds on the ground and only He decides where to scatter them, this is what determines their faith in life. Depending on where the seeds were thrown determines how our faith either dies, or flourishes. Since God is beyond time, He knows everything beginning to end, He determines who goes to heaven and hell. He knows the people that will receive the faith, and those who will reject it. It is very common for the seed to be thrown in the thorns or on the rocks, since it is very hard to be a true christian (something only God can know for certain), it is very easy to see humanity distort christianity in superficial ways. People will follow it and then crumble under the true pressure of being a christian, or will warp it into fulfilling their own selfish purposes, making it a religion of the self. This parable, in my opinion, helps to show predestination, as God is the decider of where these seeds may be thrown. In this timeline, only our only God knows those who currently have the faith and will come to lose it, those who will never have it, those who are very far away from it but will come to it eventually and everything in between. Having faith in this is not some sort of switch you can make in a day, it is something that strikes you in your heart by the influences and forces you to continually and progressively live your life in the name of Christ, showing constant mindfulness in your actions, thoughts and words. This faith is extremely precious, it is direct proof of God's love, and we must ensure that it is the most important thing in our life. We must commit time to it so that it may grow its foundation, strengthening it in tough times. Our time is a tough time for the faith, everywhere I look I see a constant attack against the mere idea of trusting in the Son of God. These times have been prophesized by Jesus and other people in the new testament, we have been called to risk our lives for this faith, so that more people may have the opportunity to see the faith and be given it. We must not give up due to cultural pressures, there is so much temptation in what we call normal in our society that leads us away from god and into senseless and hedonistic ways. The love for God in the air is going away, in the same way something loses heat (evil is the lack of God). Without God, we see all moral regulation of society destructed and redesigned to fit our own selfish human ways, see the progression of the lack of God in the western world, look at the degredation, in such a short amount of time. To be ungodly is to try and bring God down to a human level, this is the essence of sin and the essence of how many people makes their decisions. We eat whatever we want, we see ourselves as the 'main character' to the universe, we consume what we want, we do what we want when we want to because of the lack of care in our lives, failing to acknowledge the true invisible ruler over everything, God. God brings a purpose and order to our lives, His way is true and any path away from that is the wrong path. I am no good, I sin and do what I say is bad, but because of the incredibly holy influences of Christ, I will always try to be better and not turn away from God. We all need to feel true remorse for our sin, and true gratitude for what God has given us.

Dear Lord, I am very sorry for my inherent misuse of your wonderful creation and I will always try to honor you for the infinitely beautiful things you have done for us, we hold zero power over you. Thank you so much. I just want your word and name to be rejoiced in and want to be a help in making that happen. You do miraculous things to me, I am astonished.

Amen...

August 11th, 2024 - Hebrews 11:1-16,39 | The Strength Of Our Faith
11 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. 4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. 5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. 8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. 11 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore. 13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

To have faith is the key to our righteousness. It is an extremely important part of Christianity and it shows through all the major people from the old testament to now, that God worked through these people and were given grace because of our faith. Our faith is the assurance of what we hope for, based on our foreknowledge of the bible and the plan that God has set out from the beginning. We as humans are so insanely limited to our dimension and our limited mind of inherent immorality, in our free will, the only way to salvation is to trust Him with all your heart, mind and soul, an opportunity given to you by God. It is insanely important as a true christian to realise how impossibly powerful God is, how he can take nothing and turn it into this impossibly complicated world. Us trying to question that is similar to a being living in the second dimension trying to live as if there is 3 or more dimension. We must have humility in our powerlessness, and give our lives up to God. God is everywhere, God knows everything, nothing is more powerful than God, God is infinity.
Nobody had perfect faith, not even the apostles, in the same way that noone is without sin (except Jesus). All aspects of good in this world are only existing because of God's existence, and all evil is a rejection of that, in the same way that darkness is the lack of light, or cold is the lack of heat, evil is the lack of God. Our faith allows to be enriched in the infinite goodness of God, and allows us to make miraculous changes in our life. I really like the part of the scripture above that talks about the things in this world that were made and how they were made out of things that we cannot see, this is why our faith is so important. It is an acceptance of our limited capabilities, physically, morally and intellectually. It is giving the invisible power we think we have in this life back to God (even though he has always had it). Throughout my life, the idea that God is all powerful and the importance of faith in Him has been spitted and trampled on. I was not always a believer, and even when I was, my actions and ways of living did not change. It was only through my faith that was given to me by God that I have been able to reimagine what my life means. Everything is always infinitely complex and we know that more and more because of our search for knowledge. We know how a human is alive, because the heart is beating and the blood is pumping, but God answers the 'how' and fills our life with meaning. The faith that has been given to us is the type of commitment that is the most sacred to humans. In the same way that I have faith that the sun will not explode in the next 10 seconds, I have faith that God will carry out His plan with an ultimate grace that is beyond our comprehension. God is perfect, and we are not, that is why Jesus was put on this earth to live through our struggle while showing God's perfect grace, and dying for a humanity that is corrupted by evil, so that we may get the opportunity to witness and try to live as God intended us to. In the end, God will fulfill all his promises he made with us, and it is our limited capability of observation that is an attack on our faith. As humans, we can admire people, think they are good or honorable people, we our limited by our observation of the present. God, on the other hand, is everywhere and all knowing in the past, present and future, and is infinitely intelligent enough to see the every action and thought that any person ever made in their whole life all at once, and without that faith, no matter the person, all he would see is sin. If we put our faith in God as christians, no matter what we may see as good or bad happening to us in this physical life on earth, God always has an overall plan for that.

"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28)

I am no better than anyone else, I have an inherrent evil in my heart and I cannot trust myself for morality, which is why I have to put my trust and faith in God's. I sin, I am not a good person, that only thing that makes me good is Jesus, which is why I want everyone, including my enemies, to trust in Him, so that we may find a common peace in the Lord. It is so hard to have faith in today's world, thousands of years of sin has only further limited our opportunities to actively seek God. We drown in a culture that constantly tells us to live like God, to do what we want when we want to do it, without thinking of what we are really saying about who is really in power through our actions. These past two weeks have been a rough patch for me in this journey, but no matter how severly I am challenged, I always want to try and recover and keep my faith in God. No human is perfect, we are little ants.

August 4th, 2024 - Matthew 18:7-14 | Our Duty & The Needed Forgiveness
7 “Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! 8 And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.
10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. 12 What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? 13 And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. 14 So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

As humans, we have the tendancy for sin ingrained in our being, by our own free will, we will naturally find that sin runs its course through our choices that are void of God's involvement. If we are mad at someone who did something very wrong, we have the urge to cause them suffering. If we are put into the right situation, the desire for sin comes naturally, as if it is coded in us from the start. When we as humans came out of Eden, that was the result of our will to sin, to be cast in a decaying world. To do good as God wishes you is certaintly more difficult than to live a sinful life, with being a brother or sister of Christ, comes more challenges than to simply not care and live life stagnantly within the limits of the civic laws we have set. It is easier to break down a building that to construct it. Christ makes it very aware in the gospels that following him is not the easy path. He talks about how different body parts causing you to sin should be cut off, as it is better to live without that than to be thrown into hell. While not literal, it conveys a very important message about the sacrifices we must take as Christians in order to live out and ennact our faith that makes us righteous in the eyes of the Lord. For example, if you find yourself being with people that bring out the worst in you and cause you to sin, do not simply do nothing about it, try to speak to them about how you feel and if not, then do not associate with what will cause you to sin. Rather than letting yourself buy all the junk food you want, allowing yourself to later 'play god' at home and show gluttony, simply limit yourself from doing that. Of course living a sinless life is impossible for us, but if we truly believe in what Christ has done for us, we will realize that we owe our lives and should live as slaves to him. To live the way God wishes you to live is not always what we want to do, or what we even think will cause us happiness, but it is giving respect and praise to who deserves it, and is always the better option in the bigger picture, beyond our life as a human currently.
Jesus later talks about how finding that lost sheep is a massive blessing. This refers to how it is much more of a miracle for someone to float from the depths of sin they have put their life into, and put their trust in God. Christ has shown forgiveness beyond what we can comprehend, dying for people who are inherently sinful, so through that we can find that it is an absolute miracle that anyone, no matter how sinful, can realistically have the Holy Spirit work in them so that they can show true repentance in their heart and do everything in their power to live like Christ. This includes the overbearing forgiveness He has for us. If Christ is able to find forgiveness in anyone who shows true faith in Him and trys to life their life through His influence, then we must try to show forgiveness to those who have wronged us. Again, this may not be the easiest or the most sensical option to our sinful hearts, but through our complete trust in Christ, we can show understanding and give the opportunity for forgiveness. The distinction is not to forgive, even if the other person does not feel bad for how they hurt you, but to offer forgiveness through their repentance, as Christ does. All of humanity was not instantly relieved of all the weight our sins cause, but we were given the opportunity to be forgiven and to be righteous before God through faith in Him.

“6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation." (Romans 5:6-11)

Being a Christian is no easy task, to confront yourself and admit a constant imperfection in your every breath, to risk humiliation and limitation for what may seem nice to us, to live as a servant to God, it is all scary, but we find comfort in the way He reveals Himself in this world and the promises he make with us if we life by His word. I see the cuts of my sin ripple through the world and only through God can I get stitches, only if I put my complete faith in Him. I often find my instincts of my life before all this naturally clawing their way into my thoughts, contradicts the influences that God has had on my life and I feel shame. I hope to be able to sacrifice what is necessary to life a faithful life to Christ. It is the most important thing. Thank you and i'm sorry.

July 7th, 2024 - Galatians 3:10-14 | The Lords Law Contrasted With Our Faith
10 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” 11 Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.” 12 The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, “The person who does these things will live by them.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.” 14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

It has already been established that it is through our steadfast faith in the Father, His Son (our savior) and the influences of The Holy Spirit that we are saved, not by the list of actions we have done in our world. Throughout the entirety of the Bible, people have seen the glory of God and His promises beginning with the immense faith they put in Him, and Jesus confirms this as being the key to salvation upon his return. If all this is true, then the question must be asked, if our actions solely aren't significant but our faith and how that effects our actions and thoughts, then what is the significance of the law of the Bible. All the rules that the people of God obsessed over following, littered throughout the old testament. Paul establishes in the text above that if one believes only in the law of the Bible, then they have doomed itself, essentially meaning that it is impossible for a regular human, filled with natural sin, to have followed all the ways of God. This is why faith is the answer (law is synonymous with action, rather than faith), and why Jesus emphasized so clearly that faith is so. Putting our faith in God is an acnowledgement of our human weakness and handing the power back to where it is always, to the Lord, that is what makes us righteous in the infinite peripheral of God. Paul later states that Christ himself cursed himself in the eyes of his Father on the cross in order to relieve us of our debt and our inability to live fully by the law of God. It is not that Jesus has made these laws useless to us but he has signified that we are not perfect, that all of us deserve eternal punishment and that Christ redeemed us from that, meaning we should be eternally faithful and grateful in Him. If someone thinks that they believe in Jesus and they go to church but they like to steal and murder in their free time, that does not mean they are saved. Their faith is not real because if it was, they would be taking into account God's every belief and would not be killing people and stealing belongings. We can study His word and the laws He created to better understand his perfect character and live by it as best as we can. We aren't anywhere near perfection, but through faith come an active thoughtful effort to live the way God wishes us to.

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)

Christ has allowed us to stop obsessing over our every little wrongdoing and has confronted our inherent evil once and for all, he has provided Himself for us so that we may live our lives in His name, worshipping him and most importantly, believing in Him. Us not being able to follow the law of God is the same as our inability to not sin, the only person being able to not do these two inevitable things dying for us in perfect grace. Let us make our best effort to try and live by the laws and words of God and if we go astray, God is perfect in his forgiveness as He is with everything else. Your weights will be lifted through Jesus, as long as you believe in Him with all your heart and soul.

Thank you Lord for all that you do, I pray that my faith in you only grows and grows. The life you have given me I hope to not take for granted. I pray for all those who are lost to God's unending wisdom and power and I hope the Holy Spirit guides them to the right direction.

July 7th, 2024 - Ephesians 2:1-6 | Our Rebirth In Christ
1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6

God is the greatest thing to have happened to us, he made us happen. We were created because of Him, and because of us, we go astray and sin through our natural ways. It is impossible for us to be without sin, we sin practically every time our minds are at work. What this means is that even if we live even the most virtuous lives through our actions, at our end when we are presented to God, all he would see is sin. This is where Christ comes into play. The Son of God, in all his mercy and perfection, came to earth and endures the tribulations and toils of a human being, he lived a life free of sin (which only He can do), and yet was tortured, mocked and crucified in shame. His suffering and sacrifice, his blood spilled, all for our worldly sins. This does not mean that now we can do whatever we please as Jesus died for it, it is told through Him and his apostles that our faith in Jesus as our savior is what justifies His sacrifice. It doesn't matter how many good or bad things we have done, but how much we believe in Christ and it is through our faith that our way of thinking and actions are changed to better represent Christ ways. This is how faith is the sole deliverer of goodness to this world. All good that has or will ever occur, was not only limited as an act of ourselves, but as an influence by the Holy Spirit, this is why your list of good actions do not really matter, as God is the cause for that. God is the only one who holds the grace. Why does Christ do this for us? We are not worthy, we have sinning thoughts whenever we even glance at an attractive thing such as a person, money, or food. We are born sinning from the moment we are conceived, and God, the perfect being who created us and everyone we love, somehow finds it in himself to save us from our own wretched souls. This is because he is simply perfect, and his perfect virtue is seen in all the influences he has on the world, such as the coming, the death and the ressurection of Christ. By devoting our lives, hearts and brains to him, we can see an inexplainable perfection in that faith that He will come again. We all are struggling with sin, we will all continue to sin going forward, but by acknowledging the evil in our hearts, having faith and making an active effort to live through that faith, we are saved and can rejoice in his perfection.

Sorry if I missed a week or two this month, one week I was away in Alberta and another is simply due to laziness, but I will try to continue on with this. I have faith in Jesus, and I have so much more to learn going forward. I believe my biggest struggle is my outward expression of my faith, as in a world where my faith is seen as ignorant narcissistic, I assume that people will naturally dislike me if I express that I am a christian. In looking to God, I need to understand that even if my faith gets me killed, so be it, as if I go away from it because of that, it is not a true faith, and my belief is only superficial. If I believe what I believe, I should give as much action as possible to be like Christ, and wear a large badge on my chest that says 'Christian', figuratively.

As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.

June 30th, 2024 - Romans 3:21-26 | God's Righteousness
21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

God is the most righteous in our existence. Every decision he decided has to be %100 percent correct every time, as he has set the standard of all in this universe. He has planned out everything for us from the beginning, when He made everything we know, He knew he was going to be sending his son down to earth to die for our sins. It was all intentional, do we have the authority to question the ways of God? Even if we decide to do, for what reason, God overpowers all. It is said in the passage above that although the law has been created intentionally separate from law, the way of God must not be entirely ignored in the law that governs our measly human societies, as once again God is the most righteous, and the beautiful faith we hold for Him is a necessity for humanity to have. This is because He has endless understanding and he know that we are all sinners, which is why our faith for Him is essential. Paul shows us In his holy texts inspired by the Holy Spirit that Jesus is the only way, to forgiveness, to true and unending fulfillment and redemption, this is our only escape from our sinful ways so deeply ingrained in us. Jesus’ existence is an acknowledgment that we are doomed from the beginning, there is not one human without sin except, from what has been witnessed by the apostles in the glorious and constant attitude of Christ. It is written that Christ was sacrificed for our sins, again showing his complete righteousness, and in our faith is His forgiveness. He completely justifies our faith because of Jesus and he continues to do this to the present and ongoing in the future, he continues to be right in every way. God is timeless and we are not, but if we show gratitude and worship and guilt for our sins we can get closer to him and feel his eternal grace. We are nowhere near deserving of the gifts God has given us.
As I come to learn more about Christianity I find that the reason people would so easily deny it is based on presentism and misunderstanding, seeing this on the wide internet where anything may be viewed, every argument against everything may be brought forth and yet, though I was scared initially, my faith transcends all that is understood about God, no one is 100% certain about anything, though they admit so and that correlates with our imperfection. If we had %100 faith and livelihood for God, we would not sin, yet we do anyways. It was the misunderstanding of God that envoked humanity to kill Jesus and it remains a constant threat to this day. God planned the sacrifice from the beginning, he knew that our inherent problems would bring Jesus to the cross and Jesus himself knew of our ignorance, telling the Father to forgive us for we do not know what we are doing. I am so far from perfect, yet others act like my acknowledgement of this is me being boring, me living in constant shame. The problem is that while I am not perfect and I know I am a sinner, with Jesus in my heart I can truly see the purpose and beauty in my creation. My reason to be is not instituted by myself alone but by God and it has taken me all the way up to now to realize that. I wish to pray more, I wish to read the Bible more, I wish to live by the holy word that has authority over all, as it was inspired by the Holy Spirit. God is capable of infinitely unimaginable things, he has influenced things we tend not to notice, I never want to take him for granted again; as I said before, God is righteous.

June 16th, 2024 - Philippians 4:10-13 | God's Provision
10 I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. 11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

With life with Christ I have nothing to lose because I have the one who has given me all in my heart. In Paul's letter to the Philippians, he brings up a very important part of being christian that is an insanely positive benefit to life when mastered. The idea of contentment. When one truly puts all the effort of their spirit towards serving God, as I wrote about last week, we find that the meaning behind this fulfills every reason in life to simply not have any worry about any of the things we waste so much time being anxious and taking away brainpower from the more important things in life such as Jesus or family. We all have been deeply programmed for a false need to worry about things that do not matter in the grand scheme of the world God designed. I personally spend way too much time worrying about money or even material possession, but in prayer, when I solely turn my mind to God, He is all I see. It sounds almost suicidal and zealous in a way but it makes perfect sense when it is understood. God created this life for us, Jesus died on the cross for our sins and loves us unconditionally. If I die tomorrow, I would be content knowing that I chose to live my life in His image, rather than astray, chasing short term desires that only envoke my sins, never feeling guilt for the free will that God gave us as a privelidge. Of course it is a deeply sad thing that would happen, my life on this world ending, but contentment would still be there. In the same way one feels about the death of an old grandparent, that lived a long and full life; the loss will be saddening but we can be grateful and content that it happened in the first place. Even if I do not end up in heaven, or hell, I will be content that I chose to give myself to God.

Paul expresses how his strength is infinite how he can do all things because of God. If you live in contentment, all the little things in life we choose to worry about will no longer be worries, as Christ fulfills all our needs. God gave us that chance through his son, why shouldn't our gratitude be anything but full for Him? Why shouldn't our contentment in life be great when we see Him everytime we are living life.

I have began to show such passion for the Lord in my daily routine. A few years ago I would have never thought that I would be looking forward to going to church every sunday. In the car I like to listen to sermons to better learn about the word of God. Today I listened to R.C Sproul talk about the genealogy of Jesus in the beginning of the book of Matthew for 25 minutes, something that honestly bored me when I read it. By the end of his sermon, I had found such purpose in it being there and while I am still bored from reading it, I can be content of its existence and its purpose the same way I can be content with the way of life because of God. There is so much from the gospels to learn and that is why it is so important to go to church and/or listen to sermons, to see a further explaination behind these words, it never fails to bring me contentment in life.

I have began caring less about money and more about God, I don't want to spend my life obsessing to things that do not translate to anything else outside this world. I am content, or at least trying to be. Humans are not perfect, why do you think Jesus dies for our sins, but if we truly try in our souls, things are going to work themselves out...

June 23th, 2024 - Matthew 5:21-26 | Our Ungodly Angers
21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults[d] his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell[e] of fire. 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. 26 Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

The sermon on the mount is one of the most beautiful things a human can lay their eyes upon, it is Jesus' instructions of a virtuous life and a sort of continuation of the commandments as well as what being a human means to the eyes of God. Before listening to a sermon at church about the text above, I assumed that in terms of anger that a human can feel, God limited the definition of our sin merely to the hurt we can cause from our anger such as hurtful words or murder, but it goes so much far beyond this. In the sermon on the mount, Jesus tells us that even simply angry with someone is enough to be judged for, as it shows a lack of understanding and a mere human compassion of situations. God’s understanding and empathy for us is infinite and we can see that through his sacrifice for us through Jesus, we know we are not worthy, we know that we are extremely far from perfection and the perfect example of that is through our anger we naturally feel towards people that may or may have not wronged us. We are inherently wrong and that is why the world has so much suffering. What we know for sure is this, our unjust anger goes against God’s word and that that to look past meaningless anger that leads nowhere is to live in the likeness of God. This is an extremely hard pill to swallow in terms of our natural desires, as it is so much easier to be unforgiving towards other than to forgive. If someone shows disrespect towards you, do not hold a grudge against him but show understand and at least try to sort things out with others. One of my favorite sayings I have heard in this life is that ‘hurt people, hurt people’. I believe this expression helps to give understanding to those who have caused hurt in this world, implying that while it is their fault, there is more to their actions than the worst most selfish intention that your impression may be, causing you anger. We must remember to not hate the sinner but hate their sin, and show understanding and forgiveness towards the sinner. Only God is entirely justified to assert order in this world, and to judge the wrongdoings of others, it is our duty in our obligations to God to try and show understanding and forgiveness towards others, as he did through the death of His son. You must ask yourself, why is that person that way, we must realize that while in our forgiveness we may be taken advantage of, beyond our lives is when righteousness will be prevalent. In our attempts at love and understanding towards other, an unconditional love and sacrifice in the purpose of following the ways of Jesus, when even then, the other party may still commit wrongdoings, we must do as Jesus, as his message is consistent and following his ways of endless love and forgiving in this world show our respect towards His ways beyond this life,
“But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. (Matthew 5:39-40)
. It doesn’t matter what injustice is done against us here, as we must look at the bigger picture. Jesus tells us to go sort out our problems with others before coming to him and offering our gifts of worship. God is forever forgiving and loving, we are so far below him and we must follow His word and live our lives by it.
The word of God in its entirety shows us the key to living life. Through the bible, we can see the influences of the Holy Spirit, the creations of the Father and the sacrifice of the Son to see God’s character and plan for us in this world of mad decay and restless suffering. We must be persistent in our faith and turn a blind eye to things that may distract us from our faith and commitments to God.
All of this is easier said than done, but we must try. I am learning more everyday, trying to study the holy word and learn from it, prioritizing it and trying to fully understand how extremely important it is in its entirety. Every ideology and worldview requires an amount of faith in order to truly trust in that, but I can see through His word that he has given us that I know deep in my heart that my faith is worthwhile and is built on a foundation of gratitude, grace and love for the God that breathed life into us. Thank you my lord.

June 9th, 2024 - Luke 14:25-33 | The Cost of Discipleship
25 Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.


What he is meaning to say by hate is to put above Jesus. I have been realizing that being a Christian is simply not a personality attribute, it is not a hobby or a part time commitment but a commitment that overwhelms my entire life. If I am to truly believe the words of the bible and trust that Jesus died on the cross for all of our horrible sins, then why not prioritize that as my upmost importance in life? Much easier said than done

To be a true follower of Jesus goes beyond how we use the word follow. To follow the news and to follow Him is two unimaginably different things. To only read the gospels as a sort of hobby, to fulfill some sort of moral checkmark in your soul is entirely comprised of the same attitude as only trusting in God's greatness when it is convienient to you. Personal sacrifice must be made, I must stay true to what I believe, even if it means judgement and ridicule from friends or family. I must be willing to give up working on sundays as a weekly reminder that I must not put money above Jesus.

Later in the text, he talks about how people plan accordingly to what they sign up to. If I am building a house, I must make sure I have enough funds to do so, or else I will end up with a half-built house that will serve no purpose to me. If I am truly commited to God, I must accept that I am all in, willing to put everything including my own life and personal wellbeing below the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. If I do not, I will be living a false faith, I will contradict myself and be a hypocrite. I must plan accordingly to what it means when I call myself a true Christian. I must acknowledge that I am not worthy of God's grace and forgiveness, I am a sinner, as we all are, and I must show mindfulness and gratitude through Jesus Christ.

It is quite a marvelous idea that none of my own worldly pleasures or possessions ever truly matter, my house, my car, my things, my food, my website, these are all things that nourish my physical being, while the only true spiritual and everlasting nourishment comes from the commitment to Christ, the gospels, prayer and a constant gratitude in the wonderful things and people He has given me the privilege to experience.

It is very important that we do not fall into superficiality. The value we place in Jesus must exceed the value we place in ourselves as we are not above God and have no reason to be so. We see too much of an emphasis on ourselves in modern times, yet what would we be without Him. Being a Christian is not a phase or a trend of a time, but a difficult commitment we shall plan to take to our death. Even if I am destined for eternal suffering or darkness, would it not be better to show gratitude to the creator who at least allowed me to experience joy in life? If I can accept that there are things in this life that I love, then I can accept that there is no scenario where I cannot show faith and gratitude in Jesus Christ.

I'd like to call myself a reformed Christian. Though I have much to learn, I understand what I am signing myself up for. I have been going to church for a little while now and I am trying to make more of an attempt to understand and embrace the scripture. I don't want to be a Christian because of any promised things that benefit me, but because of a thankfulness to God for the incomprehensible things He has made and sacrificed for me and the people I love.

Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven...
HE IS RISEN