I hit rock bottom on Friday night, driving back to my hometown of Fort Worth for the weekend to visit my family. The drive from Denton to Fort Worth isn’t particularly long, but it is long enough to have time to think to much. And that’s exactly what I did, think way to much. 

Most of my thoughts were rooted in past relationships, mistakes I had made, and wishing with all my might that I could go back and correct them. Even to the point of asking God, can we just turn back time? Is that possible? He let me answer that question with a resounding NO. Why though? Because turning back time would be saying that everything was in vain and His sovereignty doesn’t matter. God is in control and has a reason for everything happening in our lives.

In my despair I contacted several of my closest friends and pastors, asking for prayer. I asked them to pray for my heart in regards to feeling hopeless finding a wife and to find a renewed hope in finishing school. One of my dearest friends and pastors, texted back with these words:

Yes brother [I will pray for you]! And it’s true you will never find someone like your ex. Thank God! The power of the ex fades with time. Don’t worry. And don’t compare women to her. She’s not yours to consider. And you’ll finish school one day like the rest of us. :-) I love you and I am praying for you! 

Wise words in one of my greatest times of need. I could write a whole other post just about the pastoral care that comes from this guy and how I thank Jesus for a great pastoral role model that he has given me through him and several other pastors at Christ Community Church of Denton. But, this post is about a rearranging of my priorities, that were, unbeknownst to me, put into place this weekend.

As I began to trust Jesus in the despair I was feeling, in regards to my singleness, I sat down with the mom of one of the guys I disciple. As I was talking to her I started to hear things coming out of my mouth that I hadn’t even thought of before. I began to realize that all my friends that were married, getting married, or in relationships spent a majority of their time developing and caring for their relationship (not a bad thing, I still hope to have that focus someday) and I have been spending most of my time discipling other dudes at C3 and pointing them to Jesus (these people have spent a considerable time on discipleship as well, but the relationship hinders a little). 

Starting to see how much time I had to devote to discpling all these young men that God brought to C3, I found solace. I am doing the work of a shepherd and a pastor and God is gifting me with the time to devote to it in this season. 

On top of the discipleship aspect, I find that I have more time to focus on filling in the holes in my relationship with Jesus and in my theology. Which is a gift as well from God that I should take full advantage of. Because once a relationship comes, I need to be fully grounded in my savior and king Jesus so that my identity is wrapped up in Jesus, not the women he places in my life. 

All in all, my desire is still to be married, but I am finding great contentment in my relationship with Jesus and bringing others into that relationship. 

We have been gifted with something great, something we don’t deserve. It is a show of mercy; a demonstration of grace flowing from the beginning of history. A bite of fruit set us in utter darkness, but now because of another we have been given the ability to change, an ability that is beyond our skills or knowledge, an ability held by one who we affectionately call Emmanuel, God with us. 

He came here as equally God and man, not one or the other, yet he did not count himself as equal to God. He humbled himself to the point of death, he died covered in our sins, he died with the Father’s back turned to him. Jesus died so we could live and die to sin. And was risen to lead us and continue the work of bringing God’s children back. 

Jesus, on the cross, said, “It is finished.” Sin and death has been defeated, but what took place that day is still being worked out. Sin and death still hold a presence in this world and in our lives. However, through Jesus’ ability to give us victory over sin, we can now see him as more pleasurable than our flesh and sin.

This means however, we have a fight, we are at war against sin and death and our flesh. Are we ready for it? Probably not.

We can’t be ready for it unless we are going to Jesus consistently for him to disciple us and lead us. He also gives us his Holy Spirit that is always with us pointing us back to Jesus and showing us how our flesh is undesirable compared to the riches found in relationship with Christ. 

Let us fight to see Christ as more pleasurable than our sins and flesh, by seeing him in scripture, seeking him in prayer, and showing him to be the Truth, the Way, and the Life.

Odd Thomas on The Reality of the Resurrection

bgospelm:

Well done, sir. P90X has helped you get that lean look of a female marathoner. Get your beard on.

Great office idea. Leaves tons of space in the middle for meeting with people and such.

(Source: analogdialog)

Oh to live in a city that:

• You can walk from point A to point B in.
• That never reaches above 65 degrees.
• Has a thriving music & art scene.
• That is easily affordable for a family to live in.

One can dream right?

This is epic.

(Source: pricklepickles)

Would definitely love to have a bedroom like this.

(Source: analogdialog)

This is sweet!

(Source: analogdialog)

I would love to have an office like this.

(Source: simplypi)

One of the best worship EPs I have heard this year.

THE FALL

We all know the story of the fall of humanity. Eve takes the fruit from the tree she shouldn’t have messed with, prompted by the enticement of the serpent, and then gives the fruit to her husband, Adam. As Christians we believe that this is the beginning of the problems that we deal with today because it was the beginning of our rebellion against God.

The consequences of the fall are many, but let’s focus on one in particular:

“And to Adam he [God] said,

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife

and have eaten of the tree

of which I commanded you,

‘You shall not eat of it,’

in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;

cursed is the ground because of you;

thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;

and you shall eat the plants of the field. -Genesis 3:17-18

The usual application of this verse is that the male gender will have to work and the work will not be easy. This is not an incorrect view of the verse, but let’s look at another aspect of the curse men and Christians in general have to deal with. 

OWNERSHIP

We all own things; cars, houses, land, iphones, etc. We even believe that our lives are our own. But, do we really own these things, technically no. God owns everything, including our lives (Christian and non-Christian alike). So, him being the owner makes us stewards of our lives, possessions, and work.

THE CURSE

Now put your thinking caps on. If living lives devoted to God and working the ground (ie; working in general) will be hard, why will it be? Looking at the concept of ownership, it will be hard because we will lean toward taking ownership of our lives and the work that we have done, when in actually it is Jesus’. 

This is another part of man’s curse in his work. That not only will it be hard, but we will struggle to see that it is not ours, but HIS. 

Him [Jesus] we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his [Jesus] energy that he powerfully works within me. - Colossians 1:28-29

INDWELLING SIN

Being in sin or far from God, will makes us start to believe our lives, possessions, and work are our own. This is the curse of the fall, to challenge and change the ethics of true ownership, which is God’s

CONCLUSION

See your life, work, and possessions as God’s and begin to steward it in a way that glorifies Him.