Philippians 2:13

Philippians 2:13

“for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.”

App-God can work in so many places at the same time. It is quite amazing and indescribable how God is able to work. He is omnipresent all around the world all at the exact same time. He lives within us, around us, above us, with us and for us. He, living within us is a miracle itself. We have the exact same power living in us that had raised Christ from the dead. He has given us that power to live for Him and to fulfill His good purposes. God works in us all the time and through us. Being on the mission field, He is always present with us. He gives us strength day in and day out. He protects us from harm. He speaks through us during outreaches or through teaching. He gives us courage to step out in boldness and proclaim His name. He works through us to act in order to fulfill His good purpose. He guides us, gives us joy and speaks to us through His word and through others. He helps us become humble so that we may be better servants and He helps us and teaches us how we can become more like Jesus. He gives us freedom and the ability to continue forward and to push on. He calls on us one by one to serve for Him. We serve for Him, and He uses us to accomplish His work. Until His will be done. 

Proverbs 14:29

Proverbs 14:29

“Whoever is patient has great understanding, but one who is quick-tempered displays folly.”

App-Isn’t it hard to be patient sometimes? You know when you are running late for work or a meeting and people are moving slow or there is traffic and you get frustrated and you start acting in your flesh. Or do you know the time when, (if you have kids) that your kids are pushing your buttons and they aren’t listening and you become easily angered and are quick to acting in your flesh. Do you realize that when you are quick-tempered, or quick to your flesh that you are now displaying folly? That you are now acting, in a sense, like a child. Isn’t it interesting how, we as humans, images of God can display such actions. What’s even more interesting, is that He continues to love us and to lift us up. What’s even more amazing is that He then died for us so that we can spend eternal life with Him in heaven which is an entirely different story to talk about. But on the other side we have, then, the option to follow what He has to speak to us about or what He asks of us. Whether we chose the eternal life or the life in hell, which living in eternal fire and working to the point of continually working even on your knees. Now, whoever is patient has great understanding. "He who waits upon the Lord will renew their strength.” Isaiah 40:31. Whoever is patient has a great understanding. You know when they said in elementary school about virtues, patience is one that I remember. Not sure why, just always has been. Patience is a powerful characteristic. Not only in the earthly world, but for the eternal kingdom. 

Acts 20:24

Acts 20:24

“However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me-the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.”

App-Do you recall a time that someone had died for you and when they had died it had meant something? Not just a meaning that affected you emotionally but in a way that had saved your life from a serious situation? I can honestly say that I know someone that had died for me in a way that has saved me from hell. I can say that, that person that had died for me had given me my sight and given me freedom. I can say that He has given me the ability to fly and to fight against the powers of the evil one. I can say that He lives in me and loves me like His own child. I can say that He went through great pains to save me from hell and He did it simply out of love. I can honestly say that since He had died for me and loves me as much as He does, that I am willing to do whatever He asks me to do. Just as Acts 20:24 states, “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me.” I am now willing to give my life to Him because He died for me first and He loved me first and has given me the opportunity to live. I am repeating those same words that the apostle John had written in the book of Acts. “My only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me.” Now He has given us all a command, job, task or whatever it may be. He has set me on a race and I have started it. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.” Hebrews 12:1-2. 

Colossians 3:15

Colossians 3:15

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body.

App- When’s the last time you have had true peace either within yourself or around you? I can probably say without doubting that you never have peace around you. How about that peace with inside you? I can say that every time I enter into God’s presence during worship in Church, walking in the doors of the church, during my devotions, really any time in His presence. Knowing that the all powerful is around me. The Great God Almighty that created me is standing next offers a great peace. Just to know that He is standing over me, next to me, beside me, whatever it may be I know that I can find real peace in His presence. When being in HIs presence I can always trust that those questions that can’t be answered now will be answered later. When being in His presence I can always be sure that I am loved. When being in HIs presence I am surrounded by His peace and comfort. "And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:7. And we have been called in one body to be together and to be guarding our hearts and our minds against the powers of the evil one. 

Psalm 37:4

Psalm 37:4

"He who delights himself in the ways of the Lord, will be given the shown of his heart."

App-Isn’t that a delightful thing to hear? He who delights himself in the ways of the Lord, will be given the desires of his heart. I love to read that, hear it, see it happen. He who delights himself in the ways of the Lord, shouldn’t be that difficult. He wants us to have a relationship with Him. He wants to know us and who we are. That’s all we have to do. He who delights himself in the Lord finds mercy. He who delights himself in the Lord finds grace. He who delights himself in the Lord finds strength. So many gifts and blessings freely given to us from Him. The first breath that you take in the morning when you first open your eyes, He has given to you. He wants that relationship so that Christ can say to His father, “I know him/her.” Matthew 10:32, "but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” When you begin to truly know someone you are less likely to deny them because that’s when you truly love them. Jesus has loved us first and that is why we love. He died for us because He loves us. "Will be given the desires of his heart.” Truly loving Christ and building that relationship with Him is life changing. Without a doubt. He has the power to live within us. That power that brought Him back from the dead can live within us if we allow it to. Asking to be filled with the Holy Spirit is all it takes. Asking to be a child of God is all it takes. He then has the power to soften your heart and He then will begin to change your life and the way you truly are. As He is softening your heart He will begin to change you. He will begin to show you the ways of your heart. He will put His burdens on your heart and begin to develop feelings for others and different parts of the world and love for others. 

Isaiah 3:10-11

Isaiah 3:10-11

"Tell the righteous it will be well with them for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds. Woe to the wicked! Disaster is upon them! They will be paid back for what their hands have done. "

App-You know that narrow, righteous path that God calls us to walk on and to follow His footsteps? Its that path that is so difficult for human beings to stay on. That extremely narrow path that is spoken about through out the bible. Those that try their hardest to stay on that path to God can be spoken about being righteous. But who am I kidding, not is truthfully righteous. We are all humans. We sin through out the day. We then go to the Father and we are cleaned again and brought back on that righteous path. Without going to the Father and laying down our sins and taking responsibility for our sins and then confessing our sins, we can be made clean. The path of those that go to Christ for strength and guidance to stay on that path for as long as possible and renewed by Christ. Proverbs 4:18 "But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.” We bring Glory to Him and ask from Him for guidance and to be that light in our path. We then are able to shine for Him and pass on the blessings through Him. 

Then when those who turn away from that narrow path and head into darkness become lost in sin and become blind. Woe to the wicked and disaster is upon them. Those that fall into the depths of the devil and lose sight of that narrow path. The path that they now walk is extremely wide and easy but full of disaster and empty handedness. They begin to hurt others and cause others to feel empty. They are controlled by the wiles of the devil and have a path of nothing. Proverbs 4:19, “The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble.” 

It is a dark world and full of sin and the way of the righteous is worth every step. The mountains are huge and covered in bumps, but we never do it alone unless we choose to. 

Proverbs 21:2

Proverbs 21:2

"A person may think their own ways are right, but the Lord weighs the heart."

App-Do you remember the times when you get angry at someone and you go off saying a whole bunch of words that you don’t always mean to say? You know all those harsh words that you are saying to that person is coming from your heart. You hear those words, understand what they mean, and then go and use them. And being humans its hard to not repeat what somebody else says. Its hard to not speak your feelings being a human being. Being a human we have a tendency to speak our heart. We have a tendency to speak our feelings and our feelings come from how our heart feels. Now when you start speaking just in general to someone, you still have a tendency to speak form your heart. When those harsh words come out and have meaning being them, it is coming strictly from your heart. Now being a Christian, you know that God is judging your heart. Its hard to not say anything without having your feelings involved. Someone once told me that your heart is deceitful. It very much is and the devil will use that as a weakness to attack you on a daily basis. You can be thinking one thing but really want another thing. Whenever struggles come to me about something that has to do with my heart getting involved, I take it to God. If it is speaking to someone else, then I refer back to James 1:19, “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” Be attentive in what somebody else is saying. Be slow to speak and you won’t have to deal with saying something that you didn’t want to or didn’t mean. And be slow to anger. Your anger can be blinding and the devil will use that left and right in your life. 

Psalm 57:9-10

Psalm 57:9-10

"I will praise you, Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies."

App-Isn’t it amazing when you know that you have been hand picked by One who can do anything you can think of and more. Isn’t it amazing when you realize that you are loved by a God that is eternal and is omnipotent. It is amazing when you realize that you are never alone and that there is someone always watching over you. It’s amazing when you realize that whatever happens to you is for a good reason and that there is someone watching over you that has faith in you. I am so amazed at how wonderful our God is. The Creator of heavens and earth and all of the universe without even lifting a finger. Look around you, everything you see, God created. EVERYTHING. Even you yourself! I was once told, “You are not promised tomorrow. You have been given the time now and only the time now. Live this moment as its your last and thank God every morning when you wake up because you have been given another day. You are not promised two hours from now but have faith in God because He loves you and has given you life.” We have no reason to not thank Him. He gave us life from His only Son. He gives us Joy that we cannot find anywhere else and nothing else will give us the joy that He gives us. He is my salvation, my Rock, and my Strength every day.  

Romans 8:1-2

Romans 8:1-2

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.”

App- You know that voice in your head that keeps telling you, “Remember that bad thing that you did. Remember that day that you said those things to someone. Remember that day that you used violence to settle things.” That voice that is constantly coming back to you from time to time reminding you of sin that, one is forgiven, and two is in the past. That voice that is there to discourage you to that you would turn away from Christ. That voice that is telling you those things isn’t God or the voice of the Holy Spirit convicting you.  That voice is the devils strongest weapon. Its the weapon that works on us, Christians, every time. Not just Christians, it works on anyone and everyone. the devil uses that weapon of his when he can’t seem to get you to budge from walking with the Lord. he uses that weapon when he wants you to get your eyes off of the Lord. You are forgiven of your sins when you take it to the Lord and ask for His forgiveness because you are unable to move on. When you take your sins to the Father, ask for forgiveness, and He does forgive, that is now in the past and no longer exists in His eyes. He is an amazing God at all times. Espescially when the devil is attacking you left and right and the discouragment is at the hightest tolerence you have. When you hear that voice yelling at your ear of your past, God is there. He has forgiven you and you are set free. Its hard to move on, but look to God. Proverbs 4:26-27, “Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil."

Genesis 3:4-5

Genesis 3:4-5

" 'You will not certainly die,' the serpent said to the woman, 'For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.' "

App- You know in the movies when there is the little devil on one shoulder and a little angel on the other shoulder, one is contradicting the other. if you really listen to what they are saying, one, the devil, is telling the actor to follow what the flesh is saying, and the angel is telling the actor to follow the righteous acts. I’m sure you have come across a couple of those movies or tv shows. Well if you aren’t sure, one of the movies is “The Emperors New Groove”. Good movie by the way, but not the point. in these situations, its usually the fleshy acts that are committed. the devils voice is heard louder than the angels voice. Has a situation ever happened to you like this? Where you hear Gods voice telling you to do something, but the devils voice is louder. You are tuned into the devils radio station and not Gods. I see this with Eve in Genesis. the devils voice is just slightly louder than Gods voice at this point. God wasn’t present, but Eve even knew that it was wrong to eat the fruit of the tree. She continued on listening to the serpent and was deceived by what could come of it. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Is that what it is to be like God, to know good and evil? For may it be that way, but is that what humans are willing to recognize? I mean, thats where humans fell, is with consuming themselves in evil. Being conformed to the evils of the world. The evils of that serpent that deceived mankind. As we transform ourselves more into the image of Christ and we follow Christs' word, we then can see the differences of right and wrong. As we continue to tune into Gods station and tune off the devils and really listen in on what God is saying to us, we then can make the righteous choices that God is telling us to take. Its not easy to tune into Gods voice. Its difficult to sometimes to see who is speaking to us righteously, God or the devil. You can always tell the difference between the voices because God doesn’t change His word. Gods voice doesn’t change. 

Father, who art in Heaven

how wonderful and amazing you are to me,

how glorious and alive you are,

Lord, I need You! Father, guide me,

use me to glorify you. Father,

You are everything I need. Father,

please forgive me of my lustful, selfish,

and ruthless sins.

Father, I need strength, an emptying of myself

and a filling of You, and the Holy Spirit.

Lord, Thank you for your incredible Love.

Lord, Thank You for Your mercy!

Your Gracious name I pray

Amen! 

Matthew 23:12

"And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

App-When you hear the word humble, how does it make you feel? Or asked the question 'Are you humble before others?' It makes me cringe when I hear something like that, especially if it is directed towards me. Especially when Jesus is asking me, "Hey Dainon, are you being a humble person today? Hey Dainon, humble yourself!" It's the swallowing of the spikey metal ball that expands half way down your throat. It's the piercing of my hands and feet and flesh. It's the two hundred whips to my back, chest and legs. That's the feeling I get when Jesus is telling me to humble myself. It is down right, absolutely, completely and entirely a kick in the butt! It is one of those smacks in the face where God is helping me to get back on His path and to keep pressing forward. "But I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me." Philippians 3:12. I go back to the piece of humble pie that Kelli has made, and I walk up to the pan that the pie is in and immediately take a large swallow of air hoping it be my last before I have to eat that disgusting piece of pie! Then seconds, minutes pass by and I take my first bite of pie and cringing of disgust at the taste of it! I look up to Jesus as He sits in front of me with a look of, "uh huh, there's more, you're not done!" Look back down at the pie again and knowing that this is one of many more to come. Starring at the pie, a thought crosses my mind, almost a prayer, "I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Remembering, just a moment ago looking up to Jesus, remembering the feeling of humbling myself is like being pierced at my hands and feet. I dig my fork into the pie, take another bite, swallow, say thank you Lord, amen, and move onto the next bite. "Humble yourself!" is not an easy command. If it's anything like you just read, then I understand what you are going through. Especially Christ, He totally understands, and He is the best Teacher! Let's do it together! "We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us." Philippians 4:13

A couple of the kids in kids club

1 Peter 1:22

"Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the spirit in sincere love if the brethren love one another fervently with a pure heart."

It takes a long time to purify your soul. You can't do it on your own either. You need to accept Christ into your heart and ask for forgiveness of your sins. Although those major sins that you are able to remember immediately are forgiven, you then need to search your heart for those hidden sins. I, myself, from time to time let the power of the Holy Spirit, ask for revealment of those deep hidden sins. The sins that you commit every day and don't realize that you do. Through the eyes of God, every sin is a big deal. But He loves us and is always willing to forgive us.

God calls us to love one another as He has loved us. Romans 12:10, "Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another.." The love that God has showed me and filled me with has been a blessing from day one. To see His love that He has for me in my everyday life is always enjoyable. To know that there is always someone that loves me, brings me a smile. To have someone to look to for guidance in life is an immediate weight off of my shoulders. To be able to look at Him for purity is such a blessing. 1 John 3:2-3, "Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure." Wow! Right!? And obeying the truth of God brings us to that purity. Loving as He has, obeying as He did, bearing fruit as He does, taking up the interest of others as He did. It's amazing how God can work in us. All the love that He has poured out to me only makes me want to share that love. I can comfortably say that I have a stronger tendency to share that love with one another and be more loving than I was before. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, "Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails..." Now replace love with Jesus' name. It makes sense. Now when I replace it with my name, I've got a lot to work on. Gods love is so wonderful that He sent His son to die for us. He is a God of love and forgiveness, not grudges and hatred. James 4:8, "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded."

Acts 2:46-47

"So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of the heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved."

To continue daily with being in the presence of Jesus is a blessing amongst itself. To come together with others in the presence of Christ is always a blessing. Being in Guatemala in the presence of Christ, daily, and all having the same goal, being in one accord. We are all in Guatemala because God called us down here and provided for all of us to be down here. And from the rooms we stay in, room to room, we all wake up every day, so blessed that we get another day. Every meal we are blessed with, we eat with thankfulness and gladness that we get a meal. Thousands of people all around the world don't get to eat today. Don't get a bed to sleep on for tonight. It's so hard not to be thankful for a meal or a bed. So many won't be getting to bath tonight, and it's so hard not to be thankful for a shower, or running water. We are blessed every day by God. Room to room, person to person, we are all so thankful that He has given us a new day everyday, that He has given us food to fill us with, that He has given us life by dying on the cross. How can you not be thankful? We had communion last night, (9/10/15), for our Thursday night service, and it was a different experience. Pastor Donothan is here this week and the experience we had was just different. Just to remember that Jesus put Himself out there. Gave us His body, to be broken, to be beaten, pierced, spit upon, whipped, struck down, you name it, He let it happen. When we broke the bread, He gave His body for us to be reborn. When we drank the wine(grape juice), to remember that He let Himself, for us, be pierced with a crown of thorns, whipped hundreds of times, being beaten till blood spilled out, His hands and feet were nailed with large nails that gave Him an excruciating pain, blood dripping off of His body, off of the nails. And out of all that blood, that cup of wine He passed around to you and me, is remembrance that we are cleansed of all sin. Our sin, minor or major, is all whipped away by His blood that was spilled. When we come together to worship Him, praise Him, together in one accord, do it to glorify Him. Tonight I will pray for thanksgiving of Him being on the cross, for Him giving His life for me for make me whole everyday after all my sin. 

Acts 2:45

"...and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need."

With the goods you withhold in your house, bedroom, car, whatever it may be, do you know someone that is in need of any of your belongings or valuables? Not from a movie, or getting on the highway and someone is standing around with a sign. I mean, someone that is in great need of anything that you pocess. Someone that you probably see everyday. I'm sure there is someone. Can't think it off the top of your head but you may even see them tomorrow. How about, do you have a multiples of any one item? If so, do you really need the other three? Do you have enough shirts in your closet to get you through an entire month without doing laundry? I'm not going to tell you to sell or give away your belongings that you have excess in, but that question you may want to ask yourself is, "do you need all of those items?" It's a hard question, but if you didn't have much to live with, you would be able to answer that question with ease. In acts it talks about it a little differently. The people gathered together, had all things in common, sold their possessions and goods, divided their possessions and goods amongst the ones that were in need. When I first started studying this verse, I felt convicted. As though I know so many people that are in need and I've said no to giving away. Not so much as giving away but just holding onto all my goods. I had no need for so much of it, but yet I still hang onto it all. I felt convicted because I know so many people that are in need and I do nothing about it. I can honestly say that when I get back home, I will be getting rid of a lot of stuff. The conviction I felt from this verse, was different than your daily conviction of sin. As all sin that I'm convicted of hits my heart, this conviction hit me deep, tore a hole dead center, and left a scar. Not a pretty scar either. So much of my belongings are wants, not needs. I am so thankful for all my belongings and I couldn't deny that. The question that keeps hitting me is whether I need all of that stuff? If there is someone I know that needs something, and that something is something that I wanted. I can honestly say that I know many people that have needs and that I can meet those needs with the stuff I have. Tonight I will pray for forgiveness of my selfishness, and pray that when I get home for my ten days in between training and field time that I will make the decisions to give to those in more need than I.  

Acts 2:44

"Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common..."

all who believed were together. Together how? Together living under the same roof? Together in a sense that they were always together? Together through Christ? Wait, together through Christ would make sense. All who believed in Christ, were as one. 1 Corinthians 12, "For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ." Okay, so now all who believed in Christ were together. Each individual is its own member of Christ of the body. Christ is the head and every single individual living for Christ is part of the body of Christ. Being of the body of Christ and being of one we have to take a look at how the body works. Paul points it out in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 very well how the body should or does work as one. Verse 20, "but now indeed there are many members, yet one body." We are each members of Christ. What happens when you get hurt? Break bone, strain tendons, tear a muscle, so on and so forth. Well, what happens to me is it hurts if something gets hurt. I notice it right away. I have a limp, or in crutches, or can't breathe, whatever the member that is hurt, I notice it. Once it's hurt, I get a red flag sent to my brain. "Needing help down hear, over here, your knee, stop what you are doing and fix the problem." Is the signal that is sent to my brain. What happens  in that part of my body is verse 26, "and if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it..." If my knee if going down, practically my whole body is going down with it. Paul relates that to being the body of Christ. Verse 25, "that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another." Relating that back to the body of Christ, if one individual is suffering, all individuals will be suffering. Being on the IGNITE program in Guatemala, I have become a member of the body of Christ with all the others here. When one of us is suffering from family difficulties at home or from physical pain, or just being fired upon by the devil, I hate to see that happen. I may not always ask them if they are okay because that's a self explanatory question. They need prayer and I'm suffering with them. Maybe not as nearly as much but I don't like to see them suffering or in pain and it hurts me. Same goes as if we hear that a follower is being persecuted in another part of the world, God bless him, but let's pray for him or her. Amen to them for doing the lords work and following God, but that's hurts to see them being hurt or suffering. 

We we have come together under Christ and begin to work as one body of Christ, Paul then asks the question in verse 19, "and if they were all one member, where would the body be?" That goes back to acts 2:44, "...and had all things in common..." Okay, so we are a body of Christ, working in unison, now, where would the body be? Good question. God asks us to go into the world and spread His word. He asks us to follow Him. Where would the body be? Well first lets answer the confusion of, "and had all things in common." If we are one body of Christ, and being as one body of Christ, we aim only to serve Him. Everything else, "I also count all things loss for the excellence of knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ." Philippians 3:8. So having all things in common, He is all we need, all we have, and all we want. Being as the body of Christ and following Him, that is where we have all things in common because He is all. Now where would the body be? Well we are of one body of Christ, having all things in common, being together through Christ, the body would be wherever the Head tells it to be. The Head of the body is Christ. Same goes for how your head works. If you tell your body to do something it will do it. So if Christ, being the Head, it telling you to do something, go do it. He knows what is best. He is the Head for a reason. Tonight I will pray for unity in the body of Christ around the world. 

Acts 2:43

"Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles."

then fear came upon every soul, that sounds frightening. Can you remember a time where fear just came upon you? In a sudden twisted moment you were struck with fear. Maybe your heart started pounding, blood was rushing through your veins, you got goosebumps all over your arms and neck, your hair stood straight up, and you felt a little nauseous. Has that ever happened to you? I can most definitely admit that it isn't the greatest feeling. A feeling of, "oh no, something is about to scare me out of my pants and I'll be running as fast as I can, partially crying maybe, all the way home." Maybe that kind of feeling, or maybe even a feeling of "hold me because I'm about to be dragged away and eaten alive." Those two ideas sound like some of the worst, but that is what comes to my mind when fear comes upon me. A time where fear just came upon me was when I was ding dong ditching with two friends of mine. We were at my buddy's house, Kevin, and Chantz was over too. We all thought it was a good idea to go ding dong ditching at one 'o' clock in the morning. (A bunch of the parents that are reading this, please forgive me if you were a victim of my ding dong ditches. I am terribly sorry. I will be praying that you can forgive me. And to all of the teenagers or kids that are reading this, I beg you, please, please, do not get the idea that ding dong ditching is a good idea. Here's why...) My friends and I went out at one 'o' clock a.m. at Kevin's neighborhood. Chantz's was on the other side of town, and mine was ding dong ditched all the time and if anyone was woken they just call the cops immediately. We decided to stay in Kevin's neighborhood, and got dressed up in our darkest clothes, and headed out. We went to a couple houses that we thought were good ideas, a little ways away from Kevin's house. A couple had some lights on, a couple had a couple rooms with people in the them, so we went and ding dong ditched them. Kevin did a few, Chantz did a few, and I did a few. Some of them we ran away from, some of them we stayed and watched to see what would happen. Most of the ones we stayed and watched, no one was home. There was specifically one that we stayed and watched that we had an answer and that one, we definitely had an answer. The house we decided with, we knew he was home because Kevin's mom knew the guy. We all went up to ring the door bell, and ran a short distance and hid behind a tree. Waited a couple minutes, and no answer. I ran up alone, rang the door bell again, and we ran a further distance because we were sure to get an answer. Waited a couple minutes, and no answer. Kevin went next, got to the first step of the front porch, and the light flicked on and Kevin was out of sight before we knew what happened. Kevin went and hid behind the trash cans near the front door, a little out of sight, and the gentlemen living in the house walked out. Chantz and I, breathing heavy form adrenalin rushing through our veins, laying down in the grass behind a tree with getting an answer. Myself laying down, heart pounding out of my chest, having no clue what Kevin is going to do, and getting caught was the worst. The gentlemen walked back inside, and Kevin sprinted towards us. When Kevin got to where we were, the gentleman walked back out with a coat on and with a gun in his hand. At this point, that fear that I was describing earlier, had come upon me. I was absolutely shivering from head to toe with adrenalin rushing through me. Feeling my heart beat in my head and my breathing was all I heard, keeping my eyes fixed on the gentlemen with a gun, sitting on his rocking chair calling out to us. He didn't know where we were, but at this time we were all fixed on him as to what's going to happen next. Trying to figure out a way to get off the gentlemen's property without being seen. We had gotten the answer we wanted, but more than we expected. Finally Kevin looked behind us as there was another group of trees we were looking for. One by one we crawled to the trees, trying to remain out of site. The gentlemen creaking in his rocking chair still looking for us, we were able to slip under his picket fence and down the road. You would be surprised at how sneaky you could be when it's typically a life or death situation. Living in the country, people don't always question what's out there scrambling around in the dark. This fear had hit me like a train and it was not a fear that I would ever want anyone to experience. 

When I had dedicated my life to Christ, Psalm 23 has always been a friend of mine. God is by my side and there should never be anything to fear except for Christ. Thanks to God, I am still alive today, sharing with all of you who are reading of what I had gone through in a fear that had come upon me in a heart beat. 

Philippians 2:5-6

"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God..."

Having the mind of Jesus is impossible. I would very much love to have the mind of Jesus, but I'm not God, and as far as my understanding goes, I wouldn't want to be God. God is God and that is the end of my argument. I'm happy just with God loving me. His love is always enough. He knows what's best for me and what's not. I believe that's enough. If He created the universe in the snap of His fingers, I'm going to believe He knows what's best for me. My parents were my guide growing up, and if I had listened to them, well I wouldn't be the person I am today. I probably wouldn't be in Guatemala serving God right now. It's hard to imagine what would be different, but things are how they are now so I'm not going to worry about it. There is so much that we will never understand about God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Just trying to understand the trinity blows my mind. I've always tried to understand it because in my human nature mindset, it doesn't make any sense. But I believe in Christ, I believe that He is God, and I'm going to not worry about that now. I have way more important things in my life to worry about that God has set in front of me. As of right now, one of those obstacles is forming myself in the image of Christ. Now having the mindset for the mind of Jesus is a different question. Loving as God has loved you is possible, but can be very difficult. It brings up the golden rule to me. "Treat others how you want to be treated." When's the last time that you met someone and treated them how you would like to be treated? It's a difficult question to ask. What's even more difficult is if a person you are talking to has that same mindset and you both want to be treated differently. Take for instance myself, ninety percent of the time I'm thick skinned, sarcastic eighty percent of the time, and am a physical person seventy-five percent of the time, but a brother or sister of mine through Christ is sensitive, doesn't understand sarcasm, and hates being touched even doesn't like shaking hands or giving a high-five. And you both have that same mindset. Okay, I quit. That's tough to think about. It hurts my brain to think about. I don't even know where to begin to answer that question. I could start here or there, and end up, upside down and backwards and sounds like I'm speaking a different language. Okay, I give up, God, I need your help. But I challenge you and myself to do so. Treat others as you would want to be treated. We can't serve one another as Jesus did on the cross, but we can serve one another as He did in an everyday life situation. Reaching for the mindset of Jesus is always a blessing. The more we serve with love as Jesus did, we begin to form ourselves in the image of Christ.

Take up the interests of others. It's almost like celebrating someone's birthday everyday. Yes, I understand that you are not going to know what the stranger in the car next to you wants for their birthday. That's understandable. One thing is for certain, everyone wants to be loved. That may not be their interest at the very moment, but you can always remember to love as God has loved you. For this week I will pray for the mindset and heart to focus on loving others as God has loved me and treating others as I want to be treated. 

Philippians 2:4

"Let each of you look out not only for his interest, but also for the interest of others."

"For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh..." Romans 8:16 as Paul wrote. Look out for the interest of others. Care for one another as Jesus did. Love thy neighbor as yourself right? When I think about it, I find myself running in circles. I first ask the question, do I love myself? It's hard to come by because then I start to sound selfish and that's not what God wants. 

You know what, scratch that, God just put a story in my head of a situation as such so I'm going to tell you about that. 

About two years ago I was hanging out with some friends and we wanted to go and get some frozen yogurt. Can't remember what we were doing but that doesn't matter. We walked in the shop, "hi how's it going?" I called out to the lady behind the counter. "Good, welcome, how are you guys?" My friends didn't answer and kept walking, "good, thank you!" I called out. My friends went and got their yogurt I was behind them. We were all paying separately so it didn't matter if we stood in line together. A young lady came in after us and got in line between my friends and I. They paid and went outside waited for me. The lady in front of me went next. She paid and was talking to the lady behind the counter off to the side. Walking up to weigh my yogurt, "hi, busy tonight? I asked. "Hi, not to bad." She stated. "3.47$, please" reaching into my pocket and pulling out my wallet. Looked for cash, didn't have any, look in all my other pockets for cash too, didn't have any. Went to grab my debit card and gave it to her. The lady behind the counter was talking to the lady that got in front of me. Slid the card, "declined." As my heart stopped. Not extremely worried but not a situation I wanted to be in. "Could you try it once more, it's an old card and magnetic strip sometimes doesn't work." "Sure thing." The lady that was infront of me was standing to my left. She had a face that said, "hi, how are you doing!" as she continued to eat her yogurt as mine was melting in front of me, yelling at me, saying, "ha ha ha, you don't have any money." I knew I didn't have much on my card. Not even having three dollars and forty-seven cents as she said again, "declined." "Okay, one second please." I stated walking out to my friends asking them for some help. "Nah man, I barely had enough to buy this." "Alright, thanks." Walking back inside wondering how I'm going to pay for this. Ruffling through my wallet as the lady on my left knew I didn't have any money to pay for this. I was looking for gift cards, prepaid cards, anything, wait, found a penny, that didn't help. Still looking through every pocket on my shorts I heard, "how much is it?" The lady next to me saying. "Oh no, it's okay, really, I don't need it." I stated. "Oh no, I want you to have it, just remember me when you run into a situation as such. I would hope that you would do the same." "Thank you so much, I really appreciate it." With a big smile on my face and red cheeks because I was so embarrassed. I turned to the lady behind the counter, "thank you." Turned to the lady to my left, "thank you so much again!" I stated and began to walk outside. "Were you able to pay for it?" A friend of mine asked, "no, a lady inside that was in front of me helped me out." "Cool man." They stated as we climb into the car. Still having the thought of what she had said floating around in my head. What she had said impacted me. For me, it was never about money, just having fun and enjoying time with others. As days and week went by, every time I was out I looked for a situation as such to do as she had done for me. It was so nice of her to do something like that. To this day, I'm always willing to help others with money situations. I don't expect anything in return except for your company. Money isn't the world, but Gods love is. She had shared her love with me that day, and I didn't even know God at the time. If I had, I would have never even gone to the yogurt shop that night. The world would say that was good karma. I would say, that was God helping me out because He loves me. So next time you are out shopping or buying groceries or at a restaurant, remind yourself to always look out for the interest of others.

Philippians 2:7

"...but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of man."

In John 13:1-17, Jesus puts himself below the dirt on someone else's feet. "Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God,.." Jesus knew He was God in the form of man, and still cleaned His disciples feet. He had put His twelve disciples before Himself. He made Himself no reputation that He was better than others, but made Himself a reputation that He is as equal to others. He knew He was God but chose to go to the cross for us. He never made Himself higher than others. He gave Himself a reputation that we could follow. Coming in the image of man, and serving man just as man should. Jesus took on the form of a man, and instead of descending from heaven and coming down to earth He went through the birth of a woman. He put himself in mans shoes so that we have someone to look upon. He put himself as man so that He can prove that man can serve just as He did. Not raising from the dead, but being persecuted, serving one another, not making the blind see or the lame walk, but loving one another before yourself. Putting yourself after others. He tells us we will be persecuted, John 15:20, "Remember the word that I said to you, "a servant is not greater than His master." If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you." It's hard to come before those words and know that we will be persecuted. But that's what the devil wants, is you to fear that you will be persecuted. If you are to chose to follow Jesus, then you must bear what He did. He was crucified at the cross, and whipped almost to death. A crown of thorns on His head. Just a brutal death, and He beared it all for you and I. It's time for us to pick up our cross and follow in His footsteps. Picking up that cross as Jesus did, and going into persecution is what we are withheld to do. Having that fear strike us is what the devil wants, but "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13. "Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:2. Through Christ we can do all things He commands us to do, and looking unto Him for faith. I will memorize Philippians 4:13 to remind myself that He is my strength.