Bookstore Story

I waved my white flag, I claimed defeat, Ezekiel had gotten the best of me. Yet, from the distance, a light began to shine, a glorious beautiful light, chapter 48 verse 35 of Ezekiel. Yes, the last verse of the whole book. The other day, I read the final verse and I cannot tell you how excited I was to be finished with that book.

Yes, I understand it's the Word of God, and yes I should probably be a little more respectful with my words, BUT, right now I'm not. Someday, I hope to understand the meaning and purpose behind that book, but right now I have no desire to think about Ezekiel any longer.

Okay, the complaining portion of my blog is over. Today, 66in365 will be featuring a very special story time about how awesome God is:

This last week, my mother, a friend, and myself went to visit the school I will be attending in the fall(Cornerstone University). While we were driving around the Grand Rapids area, we decided to stop into a Christian book store to look around while I filled out an application.

After giving the app. to the young gal behind the counter, we started talking. She graduated from Cornerstone last year, and was super excited to know that I was attending there. She asked if I had found a church yet, and when I said 'no', she got this big ol' smile on her face. She began telling me about her church and the college ministry it has in the downtown of Grand Rapids. That really perked my interest, but here's where God just blew my mind.

I said I really want to find a church where I can get involved in their Jr. High. Believe it or not, they need youth sponsors at their church, and this gal who works at the bookstore also works part-time for the youth pastor! All I can see is God in this picture. The timing, the people, the circumstances, everything! It was all God!

God always provides. In every need, He always provides. God is reminding me of that truth in multiples areas of my life right now.

So, readers, where has God been providing for you lately?

What's your 'bookstore' story?

35 Days....

It's July!!! which is an exciting month for me. In 3 days I'm leaving to be a counselor at church camp for middle schoolers for a week. Faith, Hope, & Love Week (a local mission trip with other churches) is in 3 1/2 weeks. Fellow students are leaving for CIY in 2 1/2 weeks. And lastly, it is my last full month of my CIY Challenge. In 35 days, I will have read the entire Bible in a year. It's excited to say, and even more exciting to think about.

I believe I should start a countdown or something until I finish. Well, this is a short post, but I thought I'd let ya'll know where I'm at with this challenge. Even though Ezekiel is most likely the driest and toughest book to read (I'm more willing to read Revelation right now that Ezekiel), I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. God's word is truly amazing.

So readers, what have you been reading in God's Word lately?

Where has his spirit been leading you in the scriptures?

Summer Challenges

Considering it's the first official day of summer, I decided to switch things up a bit and change my background and design. Also, I've been reading Jon Acuff's blog, Stuff Christians Like, a lot recently, so if my writing style has changed, you can blame him :)

I've been praying and thinking a lot about this summer and what God has planned for me. A part of me really wants this summer to be like last, full of fun times with friends nearly every day. Unfortunately(and I say this out of my current state of mind), I believe God is bringing me into a summer very different and very difficult. One word, I believe, that best describes it: uncomfortable. I was talking with a friend last week about this idea of being uncomfortable. So, I'm taking the idea and running with it. I've made a list of spiritual goals for the summer that will challenge me and make me uncomfortable:

1. The Word:Finish my CIY challenge on time without becoming complacent in my reading
2. Generosity: Continue to tithe 10% of my paychecks while rounding up to the nearest 5
3. Serving: Do one thing around the house every day
4. Faithfulness to God: Commit to praying for people every day each week
5. Outreach: Be a Light to those at Camp Allendale, Faith, Hope, & Love Week, and the Thursday Dinner Table

There are other things in my life, that are out of my hands, right now that make me far more uncomfortable than this list, but these 5 areas(given as a template from Keith Comp) are my personal challenges for the summer. I'm excited to see where God will lead me this summer, but very nervous at the same time.

I was reading in Ezekiel this morning that God commanded him to lay on his side for 390 days and eat bread only cooked over burning cow manure. Ezekiel is a living example of uncomfortable. Yet his heart was still soft to the Lord working and he still told the people of Israel to turn back to God. Now to sound conceited, but that's what I want my life to look like. That, no matter how uncomfortable I am, that no matter how much 'life sucks', I can still point people back to God. Last night at bible study, a statement was made that hit the nail right on the head. "If my goal is not leading them back to God, I'm not doing my job." Talk about a perfect challenge for my summer..

CIY Challenge Update: I'm on schedule and in Ezekiel and Hebrews. Nearly everyday as I read, I cannot wait to finish so I can go back through and study God's Word in more depth. This challenge was a God-send. I don't know what this last year would've looked like without it.

Redemption & Hope

I've been truckin' through Jeremiah the last week or so, and I read a few chapters today that caught my attention. Chapters 30-34 talk about God's plan of redemption for Israel; other things are talked about, but redemption is my focus this blog. While reading through, I couldn't help but stop periodically and scramble for my blue highlighter to mark these amazing verses. The promises that God makes for the Israelites are huge! Here are the ones that stood out to me.

• I will break the yoke off their necks and will tear off their bonds 30:8
• I am with you and will save you 30:11
• I will restore you to health and heal your wounds 30:17
• I will add to their numbers...I will bring them honor 30:19
• You will be my people and I will be your God 30:22
• I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they will be my people 31:1
• I will come to give rest to Israel 31:2
• I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt 31:4
• I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy 31:13
• I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts 31:33
• I will be their God and they will be my people 31:33
• I will forgive their wickendness and will remember their sins no more 31:34
• I will never stop doing good to them 32:40
• I will inspire them to fear me 32:40
• I will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul 32:40
• I will heal my people and will rebuild them as they were before 33:6

I am amazed at these promises of redemption for the Israelites. What annoyes me though about this, the Israelites heard all these promises from God, and warnings not to stray away from Him, yet at the time that Jeremiah was prophesying, the Babylonians were about the take Israel and Judah into captivity. I've thought many-a-times, 'those thick-headed people, don't they see the amazing plans God has for them? (referencing Jer. 29:11) Can't they see the chance for amazing blessings in their lives?" -> check out Jer. 32:42

Then, I began to think about my own life in comparison to the Israelites. Sure, I don't sacrifice children (Jer. 32:35) or burn incense to other gods (32:29), but I still turn away from God, I still sin. These chapters about God's plans and blessings for the Israelites make me think about God's plans for my life. Are there blessings he wants to give me, but my sinful heart is getting in way? Does God have my life going one direction, yet my selfishness leads me another way, just like the Israelites?

In chapter 31 verses 35-37, God is talking about the seriousness/realness of his promises. He says that the only way for God to reject his promises and the Israelites is if the heavens can be measured(vs.37) and the Earth can be searched out(vs.37), and if the laws of nature are destroyed(vs.35). God was not going to abandon the Israelites, despite all their flaws. And, God will not abandon us today, despite all our flaws. There is so much hope in Christ!a

"I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again." Isaiah 43:25

"For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." So we may boldly say: "The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?" Hebrews 13:5-6

Isaiah, check lists, and Salvation

Yesterday, I finished reading Isaiah; though not on schedule, it is finished. What a strange book Isaiah is, and more confusing than I had originally expected. The book is divided into two sections, Chapters 1-39 (The Book of Judgement) and Chapters 40-66 (The Book of Comfort). The first section generally went over my head with promises of judgements on certain lands for the things they had done. It wasn't until the second half, or even the last 15 chapters or so, that the words of Isaiah struck my heart.

In light of my previous blog post, I don't think God did anything miraculous in me while I read Isaiah, or at least it didn't feel like it. Maybe my heart wasn't there until just a few days ago when I got the chance to really sit down, stop, and ponder his Word. And when you think about it, isn't that the point of this challenge? To ponder upon the Word of God. I get so wrapped up in staying on schedule and completing the task, that I forget the many blessings that accompany it. My Current CIY Challenge Struggle: Reading the Bible as spiritual food for survival, not as a thing on my check list.

Though I didn't understand most of Isaiah, there were some parts that blew my mind. The following verses I had as my facebook status a while back, and they still encourage me to continue after Christ:

"Hear me, you who know what is right,

you people who have my law in your hearts:

Do not fear the reproach of men

or be terrified by their insults.

For the moth will eat them up like a garment;

the worm will devour them like wool.

But my righteousness will last forever,

my salvation through all generations."

Isaiah 51:7-8

What a promise!! Our Father's righteousness never ends, and his salvation will continue on for generations. Those verses give us hope, that despite our mistakes and screw-ups, God's righteousness and salvation is always there. The things of this world will pass away, but God will not.

May Isaiah Bless us All

As I was filling out the 3x5 card for the month of May with my reading schedule, I found some very ironic days and passages. May 1st I was to begin Isaiah and May 26th was the last day spent in Isaiah. Well, for anyone going to Noblessville, we know what May 26th means the last day of school. For all the seniors, most importantly, it's the last day of high school. Currently, I am counting down the days for graduation but the irony within my reading schedule caused me to stop and think for a bit. During my last month of high school, I will be reading one of the most confusing books in the Old Testament. Now, I could read it through, while only thinking of walking across that stage and receiving my diploma, or I could do something crazy.



Well, I don't like the easy way out, so I am asking God that during the last few weeks of school, that He would do something crazy. Just in the first few chapters, I am thoroughly confused and amazed at the powerful message Isaiah is trying to convey to Judah. A few verses that really stuck out to me, concerning my life right now were from chapter 5 verses 18-19:



18 "What sorrow for those who drag their sins behind them with ropes made of lies, who drag wickedness behind them like a cart! 19 They even mock God and say, “Hurry up and do something! We want to see what you can do. Let the Holy One of Israel carry out his plan, for we want to know what it is.”



To read these verse in context click here. I like the part where is says that we mock God by asking him to hurry up and do something. This is particularly convicting in my life, because I've been asking God to do something in my life, without regard to His plan and his timing. I am reminded of Jeremiah 29:11-13 (some of my favorite verses) " 'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plan to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.'" The last two verses I always tend to over look. I will have to call upon God and pray to him and seek him, but seek him will all my heart. So often I forget my relationship with God is a two-way street; it's far more than God just blessing me and giving me things. And this reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan:

'The irony is that while God doesn’t need us but still wants us, we desperately need God but don’t really want Him most of the time."

These are all things I've been pondering on while struggling to finish the marathon of high school I've been running for 4 years; God's timing is truly and wonderfully perfect.

Bible Lit Service Project

Back in a previous post, I mentioned a class that was taking this semester, Bible Literature. Well, one of the requirements for the class is a field trip, an individual service project. Each student was to find a location to service that was not their home church, was not super comfortable for them, and was new or challenging. For my service project, I traveled to Carmel land to Northview Church to assist their groundskeeper, Marcia. I went into the day not knowing what exactly I'd be doing, and walked away with a renewed sense of awe for God.

In the first part of the morning, I was assigned to prune and clip back some pine bushes...some wonderfully overgrown pine bushes. Needless to say, 3 hours later, the bushes looked wonderful and I had quite a collection of battle wounds on my arms. What struck me as ironic though, was the concept of pruning a bush. Someone comes and kills a living part of a plant, because in the long run, it will grow healthier and the plant will live longer. I was reminded when Jesus talked about the vine and the branches in John 15. He says the he will cut every branch that does not bear fruit, but he even prunes the branches that bear fruit, so it will be more fruitful. Those 3 hours truly gave me the chance to ponder upon what God is pruning in my life, whether its fruitful or not.

Serving tody at another chruch was a very different experience, but a good reminder that God works in any and every church he wants. Right now, Northview is growing almost exponentially, and it amazes me! Sometimes, I forget that God moves outside of White River, and going today was a healthy reminder of how massively big God is. Just a cool thought to ponder on.

Well, an update upon my challenge: I am a few days from finishing Proverbs and 2 Corinthians. Once again I will say how excited I am to finish the challenge, so I can read through these amazing books again and take my time.