What will it take?

While reading Exodus and learning about how God led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt I quickly saw a strong parallel to my everyday life that I wanted to share. Maybe you can relate.

The story is one you have probably heard but basically God instructs Moses to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. He shows the Pharaoh his mighty power by performing huge acts such as turning the Nile river into blood, creating a massive hail storm, creating infection amongst the people and the list goes on all in an attempt to free the Israelites. What I find very interesting and relevant to my life was the constant refusal of God by the Pharaoh, even when God made his power so obvious. This, to me, is similar to how I am often unwilling to give up my sense of control in my own life and submit to God even when He shows me how real He is. Often times I feel as though obeying and following God means that I can no longer be how I want to be. God, on multiple occasions, showed His ability and power to the Pharaoh and each time the Pharaoh would plead for God to relent. However, each time God would ease up, the Pharaoh would then return to his wicked ways and not hold up his end of the bargain. It almost as if God did not exist when He was no longer needed. Have you ever pleaded with God and then quickly forgot about your promise to God? Have you ever promised God in prayer that you will never do "that thing" again if he just let you make it through?

As the story continues the Pharaoh decides to send his army to regain control of the Israelites that just escaped. God parts the Red Sea allowing the Israelites to cross to the other side by dry land. When the Egyptians attempt to chase after them, the sea converges on them and they all drown. Now clearly if something of this magnitude happened in anyone's life, believer or not I think it would be hard to not put their faith in God. It is not every day that a sea is parted before your eyes to save your life and defeats your enemy. Now we see the Isrealites forget about what God has done for them and turn.

Within three days of the parting of the sea and them being freed, the Israelites are faced with a relatively small amount of adversity as they become thirsty. They immediately forget about where God has lead them and begin to complain. Could they really think that God could part a sea but not provide water to quench their thirst? Has God ever performed miraculous acts in your life and yet you have doubted Him in much smaller instances? Of course God hears their cries and provides an abundance of water. The bible actually says that God takes them to a place called Elim where there are twelve springs and 70 palms; basically paradise. What a surprise!

Does this sound like a familiar story? This is the story of my life. God is all around me in every way, answering my prayers and the prayers of others in my life. He punishes me in obvious ways when I disobey, showing me He cares. He rescues me when I am being chased. Once I get what I need I quickly turn back in my old ways and forget what He has done for me.

What will it take? What more do we need to see to have total faith in Him?

tryin' to make sense of it all
-EC

Distracted by His blessings....#fail

So its been a little while since I have written a blog. I am not hear to make any excuses but rather to confess the reason why I have not written anything lately.

The last few weeks and even months have been amazing for me, a true blessing from God. However, being the sinful person that I am I was easily distracted and pulled away from God because I was too busy and was not making time for Him.

Lately, the majority of my blogs have been inspired by church sermons or readings from the bible that have really hit home with me. Over the past few weeks I have been going to church and sitting down to read the bible but it has been very difficult for me to focus on what I am reading in the bible or the message I am hearing at church. Its like I have been distracted by all the other things going on in my life and have not made time for God. I sit down to read but my mind is elsewhere. I try and listen in church but something distracts me. I have just been going through the motions.

The worse part is that God is the one that has blessed me with all the things that are distracting me from Him and I hate that I am a weak being that cannot continue to keep him at the forefront of my life. Whats even crazier is that I am trying hard but I am realizing that even with much effort I still fail.

Yesterday I attended a church in Marble Falls called Lake Shore. There was a soft spoken, older man that stood up and spoke during the service. In his quiet voice he expressed his conviction for God and you could see in his eyes that he had 100% faith in God. His faith in God was so strong and his conviction so real that he begin tearing up while talking about it. He wasn't talking about anything sad or bad that had happened in his life, or any recent experiences he had been through but rather the great exchange in which Jesus died for all man's sin.

This site really hit me hard because I started thinking about how I have felt so distracted by everything else and not focused on God and here is a man that is totally focused on God without any distractions. I could see in 5 minutes of him talking that he had a faith stronger than anything I have ever seen. I want that to be me. I want God to be the forefront of everything that I do and I want to always put God first.

I would love to have the continuous passion I have for my company, for God. I would love to make time for studying His word like I make time for running and exercise. I want to have no doubts about putting money into the offering basket that goes by just as I have no doubts about spending money on clothes, a nice dinner or a marketing piece. I want to be excited about God like I am excited about the real estate game. I want to be on fire for God, always!

Psalms 1:2-3 – Blessed is the man who’s delight is in the law of the Lord and on His law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not whither. Whatever he does prospers.

All these gifts were given to me by God for a reason and I want to use these instruments for His purpose and kingdom. I know where I want to be....the challenge is getting there! And it cannot be done without Him.

Below are two relevant blog posts I wrote (clearly this is a common struggle):

Seek when you are not weak

Why is it so easy to stray from God?


Pray for me
-EC

Not acts but Faith

The hardest part about sharing your Faith with someone else is that humans always judge religion based on acts and how people that claim a religion behave. Many people that do not believe in God or religion see the people that practice the religion in their sin and thus do not like or appreciate religion because of the hypocrisy.

The irony of this simple idea is that the bible (word of God)actually speaks the exact opposite. God shows us that it is not about any acts or deeds that we come closer to Him, but by Faith.

"So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, "It is through faith that a righteous person has life." (Galations 3:11)

Faith is defined on Wikipedia as "Strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof." This definition states nothing about doing, or acting a certain way. The definition is about believing.

Sin entered our world when Eve took the first bite of the forbidden fruit and forever sin will be present in every man. No man is strong enough to be without sin in some way, shape, or form. In fact, sin is present in everything we do. No matter how hard one tries, one can never be without sin.

I recently heard something very interesting that said, "as one grows stronger in their faith and religion, they will repent more." Many people would think that as you become more religious you should repent less because you are being a better person, or acting in a more "religious" way. But really, as someone becomes more faithful to God they repent more because they realize more and more how much they sin. They also start to care and understand that when they sin, they are sinning against God himself. Faith in God does not mean you will stop sinning.

I also see that many people are scared to learn about God's word because they think that by accepting God into their life that they are now required to live a certain way. When one accepts God, they are only telling God (and no one else) that they believe in Him and are asking for him to be present in their life. God works in His own ways and at His own pace. Faith in God will grow over time and so will the way one follows God. Thinking that a drastic and immediate change is necessary to accept God, is wrong.

All one needs is true Faith to be right with God!

Keepin' it real real
-EC