a moment of weakness...

Hosea 1 is the account of God's call to Hosea to take a wife, who would later be unfaithful, have children, and be an example to the Jewish nation of their unfaithfulness to God. It is a powerful statement in the Bible, not only to the people of that culture, but also to us now.

This was the reading for my daily devotional this morning. In my devotional, the writer, author Chris Tiegreen, wrote about how God had to use such graphic examples of His love and His pure jealousy for us in order for us to understand it. Later, he also brings into view our satisfaction in God. When we transgress against our most Holy Father, we are not satisfied in Him. 

When Tiegreen stated this truth, I immediately wept in grief over how I dishonor God when I let other things get in the way of Him. I was bereaved over my transgressions, knowing that His perfection is enough to satisfy me, yet I still let my eyes wander. Why does He not seem to be enough for me sometimes? Why has sin had it's way over my heart and led me astray? I am a sinner, transgressor, and broken. 

I do not understand God. I wrestle with those doubts of how He orchestrates things and why the path is so different from what I assume it to be. I am self-centered and secretly strive for my own will. How foolish of me.

Jesus Christ brought about a perfect redemption. Not only to the glory of God did He die to satisfy God's perfect and just wrath, His blood cleansed me, and washed my sins and transgressions away. Then He gave me the promise of eternal life. To add further to this, God saw Jesus' sacrifice as the perfect satisfaction and raised Him. That is Gospel! And it's good news I need to remind myself of more. 

Later this morning, I read Romans 4. Abraham lived out a perfect example of being tested so explicitly, yet his faith endure as he hoped more on the God who blessed beyond our imagination. God gave me a vivid expression of His love (a quote I would stumble on even later in the morning.) Verses 24b-25 sum up so wonderfully the hope I do have in Jesus, albeit, still imperfect in my body. "It wil be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was  delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification." His goodness surpasses my weakness. The Holy Spirit has convicted me. I have recently prayed for a new, deeper knowledge of the Lord, and He has shown me Himself. I pray that I will take that on and not let His revelation remain idle in my life. I long to be sanctified and perfected only in Him, and with my hope secure on Him, I know His promise will not fail. 

I end with two quotes I read today that were uniquely profound to me. May you be blessed by them as well.

"The distinguishing mark of a Christian is his confidence in the love of Christ, and the yielding of his affections to Christ in return." -Charles Spurgeon

"A single vivid experience of love will advance us much farther, will far more surely protect our souls from evil, than the most arduous struggle against sin." -Alexander Elchaninov

To Jesus be all the glory.

Brandon  

Coming back to it

Hey everyone,

What a gorgeous day it is in Fargo! And here I am, sitting on the computer again...something must be wrong with me!?! =)

So, just a little thought (by the way, I say 'so' A LOT; it's a little ridiculous. Please bear with me.). Today in church, my pastor talked on the importance of being good stewards with what God has blessed us with. The sermon focused mainly around monetary, but it applies to a number of areas. The main teaching Scripture Dale (my pastor) used today was Proverbs 30: 7-9. A little funny for me, 1) because I blogged on it about a month ago after reading it and 2) I have been praying this exact Scripture over my life for the past few weeks.

I think it is so interesting how God is working! And so I'm bring you all back to this Scripture as well. Proverbs 30:7-9 says: "Two things I ask of you; deny them not to me before I die: Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say 'Who is the LORD?' or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God." (ESV)

Once again, I reiterate what I have said before, in that I love what Agur asks of God. He does not ask for a comfortable, pleasant life. He asks God to keep him steadfast in his pursuit of Him; he begs God to help him be a man of integrity; and he prays that God would only fill him with what is necessary, that in all he does, he may bring praise and glory to the Father. What a prayer! And that is why I am praying it for myself. That is what I beg of God to do--to pour His strength in me so that I would stand tall in Him! So that I would be a man on fire and living to bless His name alone. These are hard words to put into practice, but they are definitely full of meaning and a worthy pursuit (I believe THE only worthy pursuit) to push after.

Another thing happened today that reminded me of this prayer and, very ironically, tied very well to Dale's message. If anyone was wondering, I am not the most stable financial person. I will be very clear on that. I am 22, and just out of college, and working on some debt. But today, I wrote out some checks to pay my bills. After I finished that this morning, I looked at what would be in my bank account after those bills went through. I found I had a substantial amount of money left over. As I was driving to church this morning, I very much felt God telling me to be wise with these funds. I will say that when I have an abundance of money, I tend to spend it very easily. I believe that the responsibility I have for the rest of this month is to be wise with those funds in how I use them, so that I honor God. After reflecting a little more, I posed the question to myself if this was God, in a way, honoring/answering this prayer by providing for me now, that I might be responsible during this season of my life, and prepared for one to come. Just a little food for thought.

Okay, that turned into a very long post! Feel free to comment in anyway! I love seeing comments on here!

Be blessed by His amazing grace!

Well, hello on this beautiful day in Fargo! It's nice to see the sun again, even if it is only for a few more hours...

So, to say the least, I have had a really good week. It has been enjoyable but all the busyness that is ahead is soon to be here. And I don't quite know if I'm prepared! :S

Yesterday, I undertook another endeavor. Along with writing a vision statement and coming up with a plan for the young adult program here at Atonement, I also volunteered myself to direct a Bible Study on Sunday mornings over the book of Romans. Romans is an excellent book and we are studying it all over the summer at our church. There is so much to explore and I'm excited were offering an opportunity for depth and growth in our church like this. I am way excited. And at the same time, I have to rely on God to lead me through this.

God is doing some great things too here at Atonement! I am really excited for how He is stirring up revival in the hearts of the members of our congregation and it will be awesome to see how that plays out.

I was reading in Genesis this morning about Jacob and Esau's reunion, and I still am flabbergasted at Esau's answer to his estranged brother. He runs to him, embraces him, and loves him so completely. I can believe Esau went through terrible ordeals to get over his pain at his blessing (or the blessing he thought was his, but not God) being stolen, and yet he is full of mercy and forgiveness. I love the picture it paints of our Heavenly Father doing the same for us. Though we have bashed Him, lied to Him, flat-out denied Him, He still covers us in His grace and out of what His Righteous Son did on our behalf on the cross, we too are overwhelmed in His mercy. He can run to us and allow us pardon for all our sins! What a gracious God we serve. Love Him! =)

Hope you all have a very blessed day! God's peace.

THE 7TH of MAY!!!

Hey all,

So the 7th of May, huh?! [That's totally just so I can snicker at how corny I am! (please laugh, it'll make me feel better!) ] =)

Well, today is absolutely gorgeous (again!) and as typical, I'm stuck inside working! Ugh! I tell ya! But God is still good! Very good indeed!

So today, I started going to a new small group. In this group, we're going to read the book "Axiom" by Bill Hybels, and I am really excited. The one thing that is interesting though is I'm the only one under 25. Oh, how I've missed being the young one in a group (can't you tell I drip with sarcasm...sorry). But I have heard many things about this book, all good. And that really gets me pumped! Some of the men in the group I've recently gotten to know very well, and one of the biggest things I am overjoyed about is learning some of the leadership developments these men have put into place in their lives. I love intergenerational learning and it energizes me to get the opportunity to "pick" these guys' brains. I'm weird, I know.

I want to share a little piece of Scripture I've been praying the past few weeks and this one has really sharpened me. It has been my benediction every day, and I love it. Ephesians 3: 20-21 says, "Now to him who is able to do immeasureably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen." (NIV, italicis mine) That little piece dramatically spoke to me this morning, as I was reminded that while I pray (and I believe I pray boldly), I want God to do immeasureably more than I even ask in the lives I lay before Him! I want Him not only to meet that which I pray for, but to exceed it beyond all I could even understand, all according to His will. And I know He can! I know He can! He is that big of a God in my eyes and my heart, and I long for that to be so in the lives of those I pray for and those I meet and know!

To Him be the glory! In Jesus we live!!!

Brandon

CINCO DE MAYO!

Hey all,

Hope you again are having a beautiful day! God sure is good and His grace anoints each and every moment of our being. What a wonderful, merciful God we serve!

So, this past weekend I went to Sioux Falls to see my cousin give her profession of faith! That was so cool and I am so proud of her! However, on the way down, I didn't know if I was going to even live! My dad drove us in my grandma's new car, and I really wonder if he just wanted to see how good the brakes were. But boy, did they work well! All 9 times he used them!

And the funny thing about that is the things he was braking to were little, indifferent things, such as someone using their turning signal and then pulling into his lane...while being 20 feet ahead of him! I've decided I'm not letting my dad drive in a big city with me as a passenger for a long while! Bless his heart, I love him, but he cannot drive in big cities to save his life! Woo.

On to other things, (you all are probably wondering me true affections toward my dad now...), God really opened my eyes to a very cool verse. I'm just going to share the verse here as I don't want to ruin the surprise for the kids I'm teaching Bible study to this week over this verse. But be ready to learn what God spoke to me in these verses. Ephesians 2: 8-10 says "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

It is by God's grace that we are alive! It is solely by that alone that we know this new life in Christ and what He desires more from us! So, until next time, I'm just going to leave you with that! Hope you all have a very blessed evening and enjoy God's provision!

In Jesus,
Brandon

MAY DAY!!!

Hey everyone! It's May Day--and it is GORGEOUS here in Fargo! Woo! Always exciting when the weather is beautiful out! =)

Well, it has been a long week, but it has definitely been a lot of fun! And the weekend will be here shortly!!! There are two things I am definitely REALLY looking forward to--hanging out with my roommates (a little roommate date) and going to Sioux Falls to attend my cousin's profession of faith!!! A little bonding time with the family is always good! =)

So, as I enter into the month of May, yesterday I really contemplated my life over the past year and over the past few months. The one exceedingly great thought that was drawn to the forefront was God's passionate love for me and His complete provision! Almost a year ago, I was looking for a job and couldn't find one. And then, I got two! I worked for half a year at a Christian bookstore and as a server in a restaurant. Then God opened another door for me to have the job I currently work at. It has been so awesome and I love this job!

Another way God provided was giving my roommate Scott and I another awesome brother and roommate--James. It was a year ago that a friend of ours came to us and told us he and his brother would like to live with us. Then, that guy got another sweet job and moved out, but we had his brother. And what a fun roommate James is! God is good!

I've seen Him work in so many fantastic ways over the past few months and I am just perplexed and in awe of how wonderful He is. I look at the challenge Paul poses in 1 Thessalonians 4:1 which says, "Finally brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more." (NIV) I am blown away by my call to persevere, yet I know and can testify that God has and will continue to protect me in His care. He has never abandoned me, nor will He ever. And that, indeed, is amazing grace.

So today, I just praise God for His blessings and look forward to the next year to come. What a wonderful God we serve. Be encouraged and be blessed by Him!