this girl I know

So, I'm getting married to this girl who is...I think the best adjective I can think of to describe here is: mine.

But really the main reason I love her is because she isn't first mine, she belongs to Jesus first, and me second. And that is why she is going to be my ideal girl, my perfect fit, & my lovely wife.

Proverbs 31:30
30 Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain,
But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.


...I love you Brandie

Devotions

the following are a couple of devotions that I wrote for the purposes of a weekly young adult ministry event in Memphis called The Loop.


Proverbs 2:1-5

1 My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
2 listening closely to wisdom
and directing your heart to understanding;
3 furthermore, if you call out to insight
and lift your voice to understanding,
4 if you seek it like silver
and search for it like hidden treasure,
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and discover the knowledge of God.

This passage is a single, elaborate If/Then statement. It is a statement of cause and effect. “If you accept my words…” What does it mean “accept my words?” Does it mean simply to read the words on the page and take them in and meditate on them for a while? I think it means to take the words into your inner self and let the Holy Spirit, Who is all God, catalyze a reaction that yields a knowledge and understanding of truth that only those that let this occur inside them know. It is a mere matter of will. “IF you will accept my words…” One can simply choose to, you know. But the call is to not just choose to accept but to call out for these things which God gives freely. What will you choose today as you collect your keys, wallet, and coffee, things that are a part of your daily life, and walk out the door to school or your job? Should God & His words not be a part of your daily life also? Shouldn’t we allow the Holy Spirit to take the Word and produce in us the fullness of knowledge and understanding that is the mind of Christ manifest in us? Why should we do this? Why His way? We must call out for these things because the ‘effect’ is so great. “Then you will understand the fear of the Lord…” Fear, really, is a type of reverence. It is recognizing that, that which you are afraid of has a degree of control that you do not have. The fear of the Lord is to recognize that He is the Great I AM. The fear of the Lord is knowing that He has control over all those other small aspects of life that we are afraid of. Fear of the future? What fear? God IS my future. He determines my direction. He determines when. He determines how. He IS why. Think about why you are where you are in your life currently? Is it because of fear of failure? Is it because of fear of you parents or friends? Is it because of fear of drugs or lust? Are you where you are because you have understood the fear of the Lord? If not, then change where you are. He has given you the power to choose Him and live as if you recognize Him as your Lord.




Matthew 9:27-29

27 As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, shouting, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”
28 When He entered the house, the blind men approached Him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I can do this?”
“Yes, Lord,” they answered Him.
29 Then He touched their eyes, saying, “Let it be done for you according to your faith!” 30 And their eyes were opened. Then Jesus warned them sternly, “Be sure that no one finds out!” 31 But they went out and spread the news about Him throughout that whole area.

The blind men already knew. They knew Jesus could make them see. That is what Biblical faith is. It is not blind trust, it is knowing. Do you know? Do the recurring patterns in your life reflect this knowledge? “You are currently living to the highest potential that the recurring patterns in your daily life will allow.” To change these patterns is to change your current life. To replace the bad habits/patterns with good habits/patterns is to improve your current life, and vice versa. It is a matter of conscious choice. Do you choose to know and to respond to this knowing in the daily patterns of your life? Do you choose to reject this knowing and instead to choose the lie that your current life is as good as it gets. To choose this is to say ‘ignorance is bliss.’ To know Jesus, and to know that He is who He says He is, and to know that He can do all that He wants to do for you is to choose a life that is free from the bonds of having to constantly seek ‘the better life.’ Christ IS the better life…He is the only life.