when you begin to know the son

                                                                                John 8:12
                                                                              (The Message) 

Jesus once again addressed them: “I am the world’s Light. No one who follows me stumbles around in the darkness. I provide plenty of light to live in.”

Getting to know Jesus can and should be the most enriching experience of your entire life! Can you say in your life that you are passonate about your faith and that you are truly following him. I truly hope you are but if you are preoccupied with other things ,or if your that one day of chuch a week is good enough for me, then you need a major spiritual makeover.

Jesus does not want you to be a lukewarm believer, it says he will spew you from him mouth (not a great picture huh). He wants you to be a new creation through him. Shouldnt you want that for yourself also? Nothing is more important than your relationship with the creator and his son. Your faith can never be an afterthought. It has to be your ultimate priority, your ultimate possession and your ultimate passion!

Think about this. When Jesus endured his sacrifice on the cross he paid the ultimate price for you. So what price are you willing to pay for him.

Later, Anthony

Your living within God's boundaries when....

You acknowledge his presence

2Chronicles 15:2 (the message)

2 He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.

Do you ever wonder if God is really right here right now? Do you ever wonder if he hears your prayers or if he understands your feelings. Or if hear really knows your heart? If you think like this your not alone. There are alot of people who feel the same way you do. Even some of the greatest hero's of the bible had plenty of doubts. So when you have these doubts try and remember this: God is not on a coffee break, hasn't left the country,on a vacation or snoozing on his couch. He's right here, right now, listening to your every thought and prayers and watching your every move.

If you would like to get to know him better and live safely within his boundaries remember that he is always there ready to listen to your prayers and ready to speak to your heart.  Are you ready to listen to him, if not what are you waiting for?

Hope everyone has a great night and rest of the week, and just remember he is always there for you. Sometimes you just got to be still and listen to what he is saying to you.

Later,

Anthony

PUT ME IN TOO

As I heard Craig say on Sunday "put me in the game coach", I thought about my own life and wondered about why it took me so long to get in the game. I wasn't always the person that I am now, I could have cared less about working at a church or being over a youth program (which by the way is an awesome experience.) It makes you wonder why so many people like to sit on the sidelines and not want to play the game that God has called them into. If He has called you to a certain ministry He will equip you for that ministry. Are you scared of what people might think of you for doing Gods work? Get over yourself! If you have that calling on your life you shouldn't care what others say about you because you are doing your Father's business and that is the greatest thing you could ever do with your life. I hope and pray that all of you that have a calling on your life will call out to the coach to "put you in the game". It can be very scary in the beginning (believe me), but very rewarding also. I never thought that i would be working with such an awesome youth group. So I guess what I'm trying to say is get off the bench, get in the game and do what god is calling you to.


Ephesians 3:8 MSG


When it came to presenting the Message to people who had no background in God’s way, I was the least qualified of any of the available Christians. God saw to it that I was equipped, but you can be sure that it had nothing to do with my natural abilities.
 
See it says it right there. God will see to it that you are equipped with what you need. So what are you waiting on, go throw that winning touchdown.
 
Later,
Anthony

loving one another

I've been thinking about "loving one another" here the past couple of months and wonder why people just don't get it. It says it plain as day in John 15:12 "This is my command; Love one another the way i have loved you".  So why do we have such a hard time following that simple command? Is it because we are stubborn in our ways or maybe its the way we were brought up as children? As im getting older i can see many of the ways that i have failed at this. I dont always reach out to everyone who needs help. But i can clearly see that is not the way Jesus said we are to be. He wants us to love others as he loves us UNCONDITIONALLY. We talk about this alot in youth on wed. nights, about how God wants us to love to the point where it hurts. You may not know what that other person is going though and the way that you show them love could be the very thing that they needed to hear that day.

1 Corinthians 13

3 If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.

4 Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
5 Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
6 Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
7 Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.8 Love never dies.

Think about where you are and what kind of place this could be if everyone started loving as Christ does. It would mess this world up!!!
 
Thanks,
Anthony