"Just Do Something"

Just finished reading Just Do Something by Kevin DeYoung.

I thought it was a superb read.

In particular I think it challenged a lot of things that for many years I've taken for granted as the "correct"-ish way to do things, make decisions, and overall live my life... and is a pretty solid book.

Some key points that stuck out to me that I want to try to hold on to and would like to share with the few who read this. Everything is in a nutshell and explained much better (in the book) and clearly than below.

1. God is not as concerned with our amoral decisions as He is with us being sanctified and worshiping Him and loving Him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. A lot of times I (and I think many people) worry a lot over decisions that aren't necessarily "right" or "wrong"; some examples might be deciding what job to take after college, or deciding what college to go to. We worry about whether the decision we make is going to be according to God's will or not, but what He probably cares more about is that we love Him and glorify Him while we take that job or go to a certain school. This was a good wake-up call for me to focus on the things that are important, and not stress too much over things that aren't as important.

2. I need to be willing and ready to take risks for God. Not being able to do so is (I think) a form of not trusting God. Is my heart in the right place? Is what I'm doing Biblical? Am I glorifying God by and through what I'm doing? If those 3 answers are yes, maybe I should just do it. Maybe I should just go abroad after I graduate and throw myself out there and struggle and maybe be a little lonely and do what I can to glorify and worship God in another country and culture. Maybe inaction is not a form of laziness or a lack of wisdom/discernment like I thought; maybe it's a form of distrust in the Lord. Maybe because I'm not 100% that God is "calling" me to do certain things, I don't do it. Maybe I wait to reach out to a younger brother, when really I should just take the risk and love God and love people. I'm not going to feel "called" to everything that I do in life, but that doesn't mean that God won't be glorified.

3. Wisdom is something to be sought after, and does not always come with more information. I don't know what to say after this. It's something to be prayed for and asked for, and beings with a fear of the Lord. Maybe after I meditate and read proverbs 1-2 (ish) more I'll have more to write about this.

There are a lot of other really great things that the book talks about, but I would highly recommend it to everyone for a good (or simply different) perspective on obeying God's will, and in turn, living life. Regardless, I think it helps take another look at how we go about each waking day.

"Rest for the Weary"

(Matthew 11:25-30)

²⁵At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. ²⁶Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.

²⁷"All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

²⁸"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

In search of some sort of rest, but not quite sure what kind, not sure what taking someone else's yoke upon myself means, and not sure what it looks like.

On another note, PB's message was really nice on Sunday and an excellent reminder what I must read the Bible daily. James 1 was pretty powerful after meditating and praying through it.

"need more Jesus"

My friend's status on gchat currently reads: "need more Jesus"

And I couldn't agree more.

For one reason or another this seems to be a very, very important fact that I forget easily. I need to remember that growing in my faith does not mean I need Jesus any less. In fact, it might even mean that I need Him more.

I think as I have grown in my faith, my sin has also "grown" in a sense, or at least... changed. In particular, I am talking about my pride. (Of course, other sins that I struggle with may arise and change as well, but I think pride in particular is a tricky one.) I think it's because the things I can become prideful of constantly, constantly change. Maybe a few years ago I thought I was pretty decent at leading worship. Or I thought I was SO much more humble then everyone else (but I think that perspective is actually pride as well; in perceiving yourself as more humble than others, you are more "holy" than others... a.k.a better than others.)

Maybe now my pride is different. Maybe I think I can do ministry better than other people, or I know the "right" thing to do, or I'm living a life that's more dedicated to Jesus than others. I think these are all things that might cause one towards self-idolatry. This is sin. This is pride in a new-ish form.

Which is why I need more of Jesus. Because I continually, constantly, need to remember that I am a sinner saved by grace, that I am always in need of grace. I need to remember the sin that is in me and my need for Jesus to conquer it, for God, not me, to search my heart and know my anxious thoughts, for God to work in me and sanctify me. I must remember the cross.

Less of me, more of Jesus. Please.

Question #1

Is it fair to say that an innate human desire is for permanence? Or some sense of permanence?

That is, we want to do things with value, and in particular, things that will last; things that will be memorable, or will change lives, or that can be looked back on. Maybe that's why pictures and videos are so great, or why we love to make music and art; it takes things that are temporary and makes them permanent.

Granted, many other things can factor into our motives/desires and such, but this in particular has been on my mind.

Hopefully, another start to more writing.

The last week-ish has been hard for me. In strange, odd little ways, but still, "hard" or "tough" I think might be the best words to describe it.

And I think it really shows me the fickleness of my own heart and the nature of my sin. Why is it so hard to discipline myself? It is infinitely easier to sit in front of a TV and watch a show or movie for hours, easy to play computer or video games over and over again. Yet it is so, so hard to read the Bible every day. Hard to soak it in, hard to earnestly pray to God every day. This doesn't really make sense to me.

It doesn't make sense because I know in my head, (And I thought I knew in my heart, but... not so sure anymore) that there is some odd twisting of values taking place here. Because I value reading the Bible, I value prayer. And you know what? I know other people value prayer. I know that my prayers make a difference. I know that when I don't pray and am not meeting with God, or when I don't read the Bible, I lose perspective. I also know that playing hours and hours of video/computer games adds very little value to my life. Yet somewhere in this thought process, where my thoughts transfer to actions, the values seem to get switched, and I spend more time doing the less-valued rather than the more-valued. (Okay, well I guess it depends on where we get this idea of 'value' from, and as I am a professing Christian and follower of Jesus... I'm not quite sure if these are things that God would value.)

Two things come to my mind when I think about this.

1. It's hard for me to really believe that anything is worth it if it is not centered around the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

2. Why are the values in my head different from that of my heart? Or, why is it so hard to transfer these thoughts into action? (I keep using this word "values" but I really think it's just because I can't think of a better term. If I do, it'll be at the end. But for now, "values" will have to do. Something to do with worth.)

It's been even more of a struggle lately because I really, really want to spend more time reading the Bible and praying. But when I say that I really, really want to, I don't. I simply do not. And this really troubles and worries me. Maybe I do for a week; maybe for a week, I'll pray an extra 15 minutes every day, or go to one extra prayer meeting, or read a few more chapters. But then it dies down. Then I forget that I'm a sinner desperately in need of God's grace, or I get lazy, or I lose sight of the cross, or... who knows.

And really, I think it's because I haven't really died to myself yet. Matthew 16:24-25 reads:

²⁴Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ²⁵For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.

and John 3:30 reads:

³⁰He must become greater; I must become less.

Two things that are incredibly, incredibly difficult. Have I really given up my own passions and desires to follow Christ? Have I lost my life? Well, the answer is no. I haven't. I haven't lost my life for Christ. I'm not quite sure, but I think part of the reason why disciplining myself can be so difficult is because I haven't fully done this yet. I mean, maybe I never will. Probably not.

But hopefully every day, I'll wake up and pray, "God, help me live this day for you, because I can't do it on my own."

I don't know if I got my point across or if this was well-written, but that's okay. Here it is. And hopefully more will start coming. (I say that a lot, but seriously this time... more will come. Time to let go.)