Currently Reading Messy Spirituality By Mike Yaconelli see related

"Look at the Bible. Its pages overflow with messy people. The biblical writers did not edit out the flaws of its heroes."
"Jesus is not repelled by us, no matter how messy we are, regardless of how incomplete we are."

This one is really funny. He talks about how this was from Peanuts.
"Life is like a deck chair, Charlie," Lucy says. "On the cruise ship of life, some people place their deck chair at the rear of the ship so they can see where they've been. Others place their deck chair at the front so they can see where they're going. Which way is your deck chair facing?" Without hesitating Charlie replies glumly, "I can't even get my deck chair unfolded." Haha. Funny.

"All of us tend to seek comfort, to structure predicatability, to eliminate the new and different from our experience.....The God of the Bible is the master of surprises. No one can follow God and be comfortable for long."

"Practically, pretending is efficient, uncomplicated and quick. Answering, "Fine" to the question, "How are you doing?" is much easier and quicker than saying how you really feel. Honesty requires a huge investment of time and energy from the person asking the question (who would then wish they'd never asked)."

I've been reading some great books lately. One book is called, "Dry Bones Dancing." It talks about how sometimes we can go to church, bible study and everything and just be dry, not enthusiastic about it. One thing in it says how when people are hungry they don't have to find the time to eat. "Hungry people change the direction they're driving in order to stop where food is. When you're truly hungry, you adjust your life to make time for a meal." We should be hungry for God and his word, but we have to make time for it.

Also in that book this was interesting: "We can conclude that merely becuase I study it, believe it, and know it, I got it. Nothing could be farther from the truth. In your pursuit of God, in your desire for spiritual passion, the Holy Spirit's active involvement is indispensible." We can't think we know everything about God or christianity. Even if by a long stretch we did, it doesn't matter. What is most important is your relationship with God.

In another book I'm reading called, "The Seven Checkpoins" by Andy Stanley, and it talks about how children have a different perspective than when they older. A 5 year old who goes to the doctor goes in thinking that his dad is going to protect him. The dad gives the boy to the doctor for a shot and the boy is so confused wondering how he could let him get hurt. But really the dad was allowing him to get a shot in order for him not to get sick. God does that to us sometimes - he lets painful or bad things happen to us becuase he knows what he's doing even when we can't see it.

It also says how sometimes doing quiet times is difficult because we can't find the time. "Getting to school, practice or work on time is urgent. Homework is urgent. But time alone with God generally doesn't fall into the same category. After all, if students miss a quiet time or two (or twenty), there is no immediate consequence. They don't get kicked off the team. They don't have to repeat a class. Nobody sends a letter to their parents.

I found this really funny. It's true though. It was in the same book. "Fire in the fireplace is a wonderful thing. But fire on the carpet can burn down your house. Sex is like fire. In the right context, it is awesome. But when it is outside of mariage like it was designed for, sex can burn your life and your relationships to the ground. Don't play with fire!"

Same book - it's a good one - talks about how powerful the influence of friends are. We shouldn't hang out with friends who always do bad stuff. But looking for the good ones are hard. "Wise friends are somewhat like owls. They are out there. They're just hard to spot. Why? For one thing, owls are quiet. They are still. They tend to blend in with the environment without making a scene. More times than not, finding an owl requires patient observation and a process of elimination. We need to understnad that finding a wise friend can be a similar process."

I'm also reading, "Praise Habit" by David Crowder which a really funny and good book. And "When God Waits" which is also really good. I know, I'm reading like 4 books at once, but I don't get confused and it is all really good.

I haven't updated this one in a while.......I've been quite busy. Here are some awesome things from my devotional book. They are soooo good! Please take the time to read them!!

"God wants you so tuned in to Him that when He needs your attention, He automatically has it. When you're faced with problems, don't think of God as your last resort. Turn to Him first. After all, He's standing right next to you just waiting to help."

"The more time you spend with God the better you know His voice."

"God wants to make your heart more tender. He wants you to be so in tune with Him that the things that break his heart will also break yours."

"God wants you to ask Him to help in revolving your life around Him. He doesn't simply want to reside in your heart. He wants total redience in your entire life. He wants to guide and direct each one of your steps."

"He wants you to ask for a hunger and thirst for the things of God. "

"Without continuing in a consistent prayer life and in daily Bible reading, your relationship with Christ will slowly fade."

"Have you ever thought of what it means to carry the name of Christ? When you dedicate your life to Him you take on His name. Are you living up to it's meaning? Are you reflecting the nature of Jesus Christ to a watching world? When we call ourselves Christians, it's important that we live up to the world's meaning."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------All of the above was from my devotional book. Different days that is.

"All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be throughly equipped for every good work." - 2 Timothy 6:7
Wow, that is a good bible verse.

"Consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." - Romans 8:18

"The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scourched land and will strengthen your frame. Your will be a well-watered garden, like a spring whose water never fail." -Isaiah 58:11

Here are quotes that are awesome. They make you think.

~The universe is centered on neither the earth nor the sun. It is centered on God. -Alfred Noyes

~Are you feeling far from God? Guess who moved? -John Maxwell

~Anyone can count the seeds in an apple. Only God can count the apples in a see. -unknown

~If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it. - unknown

I joined some blogs - live your life for Christ was a blog! I came up with the name before I saw the blog though. Anyways, here is some more awesome stuff from my deviotional book or quotes about telling others about him or living a christian life.

"On-fire Christians may seem weird to the world. That's okay. Expect it. Know that people won't understand. That's not the issue. The issue is remaining focused on God." -devotional book

"Your relationship to God on earth will determine your relationship to him in eternity." - Purpose Driven Life chp. 22

(Woah, this one is really good!!!)
"In order to keep us from becoming attatched to earth, God allows us to feel a significant amount of discontent and dissatisifacation in life - longings that will never be filled on this side of eternity. We're not completley happy becuase we're not supposed to be! Earth is not our final home; we were created for something much better." - Purpose Driven Life  chp. 6

"In every church and in every small group, there is always at least one 'difficult' person, usually more than one. These people have special emotional needs, deep insecurities, irritating mannerisms, or poor social skills. You might call them EGR people - 'Extra Grace Required'. God put these people in our midst for both their benefit and ours. They are an opportunity for growth and a test of fellowship; will we love them as brothers and sisters and treat them with dignity?" -Purpose Driven Life chp. 19

"Obedience unlocks God's power. God waits for you to act first. Don't wait to feel powerful or confident. Move ahead in your weakness, doing the right thing in spite of your fears and feelings." - Purpose Driven Life chp. 22

Hmm, this is quite interesting; it seems so simple but it's quite a challenge.
"If you read the Bible just 15 minutes a day, you will read completley through it once a year. If you cut one 30 min. television program a day and read your Bible instead, you will read through the whole Bible twice a year." -Purpose Driven Life chp. 24

"You can be so busy going to the next class or seminar or Bible confrence that you have no time to implement what you've learned. You forget it on the way to your next study. Without implemenation, all our Bible Studies are worthless." - Purpose Driven Life chp. 24

"He uses circumstances to develop our character. In fact, he depends more on circumstances to make us like Jesus than he depends on our reading the bible. The reason is obvious: You face circumstances 24 hours a day." - PDL chp. 25

"Problems force us to look to God and depend on him instead of ourselves." -PDL chp 25

"Regardless of the cause, none of your problems could happen without God's permission. Everything that happens to a child of God is, 'Father-filtered' and he intends to use it for good even when Satan and others mean it for bad." -PDL chp 25

"A silversmith was asked, 'How do you know when the silver is pure?' He replied, 'When I see my reflection in it.' When you've been refined by trials, people can see Jesus' reflection in you." - PDL chp 25