Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Raising up the Shield of Faith, and the Sword of The LORD.

So its time yet again to re-sharpen my sword, and to raise up my shield of Faith and to fight off the slings and arrows of the Enemy. It is time for another battle, another fight against Satan and his army. It is time to go back out into battle and fight with my brothers and sisters in Christ.
God's children really need rally together and to fight. We need to do a better job of putting our differences aside in order to become one in Christ. How else are we going to fight for FREEDOM if we ourselves are bickering like dogs going after the scraps. God did not put us here to fight for scraps, but to fight for the Kingdom. Why is it that we reduce God's glory do merely scraps? Matthew 7:6
Why is it that we fight over issues that do not pertain to Salvation. Our goal, or purpose is to make disciples of every nation, and to Proclaim Christ, not self.

So let us put on the Full Armor of God


We better trash our idols if we want to be
In the army of the Lord
And the greatest idol is you and me,
We better get on the threshing floor
When will we learn that God's strategy
Is giving glory to the Lord?
We better trash our idols if we want to be
In the army of the Lord

Dying Star by Jason Upton

Here is the Skit

Building up Faith, again

so this past week, I have been battling against the Enemy. I have not been sleeping well because I keep being attacked in my sleep. I have to admit it's pretty scary. At some points this past week, I have been afraid to sleep. And I have had many restless nights because of the fact that the Enemy has been trying to break me down.
But also this week I have been running to the Lord, desperately seeking His comfort and protection. And the great part about it all is that even though I have been afraid, and I have been attacked, God has protected me. He has poured out his Grace and Love on me so much this week, that my perspective has been changing.

I am not alone, I am in the Army of the Lord. God is my refuge, my strong tower, my fortress, my rock. Christ is my victor.

I am breaking off Rejection with a Spirit of Adoption as Jason Upton puts it.

The Lord has been teaching me more and more about this "process," and to ask WHAT, instead of worrying about WHY.
"What do you want me to do Lord? What can I do in order to live out your will?"
"How can I give you more access to my life?"

I think being afraid does something to a person. It puts life into perspective. Above all else, I feel the fear of the Lord. I have realized yet again, that compared to the Glory of God, I am nothing. Compared to the Awesomeness of God, I am but a finite being. I have a God who loves me, and who wants to use to me to Glorify Him. I have a purpose in this crazy life. I have a say in this world, but its God's say, not mine.

I think feeling the fear of the Lord is a great thing. It is overwhelming. Yes it is the scariest thing, ever. But more importantly the Peace, and the Joy of the Lord always follows. God knocks down my pride, and he humbles me on the threshing floor.
By him doing this, I rebuild my relationship with Him. What I mean is that I can re-focus on Him, and push out the things that do not matter.

I am stubborn and you can ask my close friends haha. By God doing this, I realize how much I am whoring my self out to this world. I am being a whore by filling my life with this stuff. And it's all stuff. If it's not God, then its stuff.

I am rebuilding the foundations, like Nehemiah did.

I know I am rambling, but its what I do best.

‘Cause You’re in my life, You’re in my life more than anyone can ever be
Father we’re building a relationship again, just me and You
We’re building a relationship again, just me and You
It’s not about the job I have
It’s not about the friends I have
Its’ not about the house I have or the social status I have
It’s about me and You
We’re building a relationship again, just me and You
You’re building my faith up again

Let faith arise, oh Lord!

As Jason Upton puts it in "FAITH"

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Plan

So tonight, yeah, I just had to sit down, and listen to what God had to say to my heart at Davidson Worship.

He is correcting my steps, He is giving me a new Perspective, and Ariel view, to quote Jason Upton.

I guess I am going to follow what A.J.

and Kelly Mac

and Bradelyn Levi

blogged about

And Read Nehemiah.

Amen, Amen

Monday, February 18, 2008

"Jesus Juice, twice as nice as Gatorade, and lasts a whole heck of a lot longer"

(HANG WITH ME GANG, READ THE WHOLE NOTE BEFORE YOU GET MAD AT ME HAHA)

OKAY SO LETS START OFF MEAN, AND THEN GET NICE OKAY HAHA

It was like hmm two years ago when I met my buddy A.J. for the first time. we both worked at IMPACT Athletics, so we both knew who each othere were.
okay so we started hangin out cuz she was like the only person i didnt know right.
well come to find out we both loved Jesus right. but like we were both growin in our faith, so we were kinda like, hmm yeha I love Jesus, but no like joy right haha.

Fast Forward a couple of months haha
So i go back to the gym, and I am like WOAAHHHH because A.J. like attacks me with hugs and loud rantings!!!!

but then oh man here it comes:

"NIIICCCKKK!!! I FOUND A CHURCH, AND IT'S GREAT, OH MAN I LOVE JESUS SO MUCH YAAAAYYYYAASSSS!!!!" while she is jumpin around on the gymnstics floor.
Me, im like, oh my gosh, this girl drank the Kool-Aid, and she is emabaracing me. I mean who has the nerve to be that excited about Jesus. What kind of a cult is she in. I mean church is not the most exicting thing in the world. I mean yes, it should be, but like thats only on tv, or in the movies, or those really really far away churches that you hear about. or, its those like Holy Ghost cult churches that drink the kool-aid and dance around. right?

So like I mean I got use to it I suppose. but it still irked me cuz I was still not in that place with Jesus yet, and I oh so wanted it, but I didnt understand it.
I mean I love Jesus, but I didnt want to be labled as one of those Christians. ya know:
"Hey Good Morning Nick how are you doing?"
"Oh well bob, Jesus is just soo good, I mean it's so awesome having a relationship wtih Christ. I mean I don't always understand things, but you know what Bob, I just have this Joy, and I mean wow. Like yesterday for example, in church our preacher talked about sin, and it just convicted me that I need to change so many things. But It's okay cuz I got Jesus, yup, He's my homeboy. I know that if I keep focusing on Him then things will work out."

I mean BLAH BLAH BLAH RIGHT. I mean Come on People, it must be the Kool-Aid. I mean shut up. I just wanna punch the next Joyful, Jesus Kool-Aid drinkin Christian. YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN COME ON BE REAL WITH ME!!

haha
DUH!!
FLASH FORWARD A COUPLE OF YEARS....

I WAKE UP AND I AM LIKE, OH MY GOSH, I AM ONE OF THOSE CRAZY JESUS KOOL-AID DRINKIN CHRISTIANS!!!!!!!!
YEAH BABY!!

Joy of the Lord. Let me just tell you. There is no other feeling in this world that comes close to the Joy that we have in Christ. Yes, even in the tough times. Romans 5 READ IT!!!

I have been redeemed, I am His beloved, I have been born again. OH YEAH!!

So my point is that WE CANNOT HELP IT!! Don't be Hatin on us because you your self do not have it when you want it. All that it takes is faith. Yes, not more Faith, but the Faith that you already have. (unless you don't have Jesus as the center of your life. Then you have to)
Just Ask God to give you that Joy. It's an on going process. Life is hard, im not gonna lie, but Each Day we die to our selves and rise to Christ. That is the key.

AND YES, I DO DRINK THE KOOL-AID, AND I RAISE MY HANDS, STAMP MY FEET, YELL AND SCREAM


And part of it is because I go to a church that does the same thing!!
ELEVATION CHURCH!!!

There is nothing wrong for not doing those things, but if the Spirit moves, the Spirit moves right right!!

I mean thats how I worship. A friend said this to me last night.

"If I can yell and scream at a country concert, then I can do the same for Jesus right"


and that's all I wrote!

Oh yeah, A.J. I love you haha. Thanks for always being there for me, and helping me to become undignified for Jesus!!

God Bless!!



"It's goin in the book"

A.J.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

why can't I escape You?

why won't you let me get away from you?
Why do you always run after me?
What do you want from me?
I just don't understand why you love me so much.

I know that you have my best interest in mind, but its seems so hard to just trust you. Especially when everyone else is letting me down. And on top of that I keep letting them down, and you especially.

DUH!!! CUZ YOU FIRST LOVED ME, BEFORE YOU FORMED ME, YOU LOVED ME. YOU CAME TO DIE FOR ME, SO THAT I WILL HAVE LIFE IN YOU!!!!!

Do you ever feel this way? I am not feeling this way, but sometimes we all do. Sometimes we just can't help it...

I was reading my friends Kelly's
blog and wow, we really are emotionally tied to God. When we are in Christ, we hurt the way Christ hurts when he looks at this world. But we also feel Joy the way Christ feels Joy!! It's His Joy we feel in us. Life is a roller coaster ride, filled with ups and downs.

I do not really know the whole point I am trying to make, just that I have realized more than ever that I am emotionally tied to Christ.
I know that as Kelly said, that God gives us emotions, and sometimes they just overwhelm us. And at some point some times, they just come crashing down on use like a mighty rushing wave.

Its like the more I am tied with Christ, the more I cry, laugh, and dance. I am just compelled.
The trick like Kelly says is to make sure that we do not let our emotions take control of us.
The goal as Kelly says is to connect with God and let him use our emotions to better interact and connect with others, and especially with Him.

I guess just listening to this song, and how Great The Lord is, really made me more aware of how emotionally tied with God I am.

WoW



Check out this Shane and Shane song: Psalm 145

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPUcbyVeKVA

BibleGateway.Com
Psalm 145

Monday, February 11, 2008

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELEVATION CHURCH!! OH YEAH!!

WOW!! Yesterday was the 2nd anniversary of Elevation!!

Wow, I can't believe it.
It seems kinda like yesterday that I went for my first Elevation Experience. Whats crazy is that I was looking for a church well sort of for two years here in Charlotte.
Pastor came to speak at CRUSADE and I was hooked. God really told me to be bold and try it out. God was soo right! Perfect Fit for me!!! Praise God!!
Because of the Holy Spirit leading the leaders of Elevation, and the volunteers, I was able to let my guard down and Let God Take over in the area of me being involved in a church here in Charlotte.

Through all the series, and events, and small group meetings, I have really grown in my faith. Elevation has just poured so much into my life, and I feel as if Pastor was talking just to me during all his messages. It was like God was using Pastor to just reach me, it was eerie. It was awesome, well, I don't have the words to describe the experience, only goosebumps lol.

I don't even want to imagine where my life would be without Elevation. I have come a long way, and I still have farther to go in my walk with Christ, but I know that God is using Elevation to speak life and truth into my life.

Wow... that is all I can say.
Looking back this past year, and all that has happened in my life... wow. God is soo great. Through all the joy and pain, God has used Elevation to speak directly to my heart.

Jesus, all I ask is that I have an undivided heart for you. Jesus, All I yearn for is YOU.
wow.....
more to come later on....

Friday, February 8, 2008

Nothing is Too Hard

"Sun Stand Still
Oceans Part,
Nothing is too hard, nothing is too hard.
Refuge for the weak, Strong and Mighty,
Nothing is to hard, nothing is too hard."

"We Believe, We Believe that You are GOD, Nothing is too hard."
"Sun Stand Still" - Elevation Band

So I find my self at the end of another journey, with more questions than answers of course.
But I have learned a lot from this journey. Bittersweet, but sweeter still because of the Revelations that God has given me, Revelations that have changed my perspective yet again about this crazy life.

So looking back on this situation there are a lot of things that could have gone differently. Some for the good, and some for the worse. But God has guided me to this exact place because of the Lesson. This profound payoff, at the end of this journey, was worth it. The point as Pastor always talks about is in the Process. Yes, I can say that even though my heart is a little heavy, and I feel like life has just hit me up side of the head with a two by four, that this process was 100% worth it.

The steps and the measures I have gone to to try to let God guard my heart in this matter have really had an impact on my life. I have learned more about letting God guard my heart, and the steps that He wants me to take in order to guard my heart, and to strive towards Cross.

Yes, I am a little beaten down by life, and this world. I am a little beaten down by the steps in this process, and the choices I have made.
Yes there is a part of me who wanted this thing to work out the way I wanted it to. But I know that sooner or later, it would not have worked out because that was not part of God's Plan. And I see that more clearly now than ever. And I am little bummed out, to be perfectly human.
BUT I am so in awe of God's Grace. I am just amazed that I see how clearly it would not have worked out. And that fact does not bother me. I am so happy that God's will happened. I am happy for the fact that I was able to see it God's way. So yes there is a contradiction, I am a little bummed out that it didn't work the way I wanted it to, but yet happier because I know that was not God's plan for me.

God is restoring me. Man, He is the best. Jesus is my savior, and He is def pouring out His mercies, and Love.

ha, I mean wow check this out

1 Peter 5:10
The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast."

I now know more than ever about going about this situation, and how to set up boundaries, and to let Christ guide me more than ever. I am so excited because I am grasping more than ever, how Christ wants me to live, and to walk with Him. In order to do that, I have to let Him lead me more and more each day.

I can keep moving forward now. I can feel the presence of Christ right now, and I can feel Him in my beating heart. The very depths of my soul cry out with joy because I have just completed a journey, and another one is now beginning.

I do not know what all this journey has in store for me, but I do know that I am very excited to see what God has planned for me. I am very excited to learn, and to grow.

Monday, February 4, 2008

Just Do It

Sometimes, when God has been leading you into a new direction in life (not the devil or the world but God), we tend to try to run in the other direction...

Sometimes we just need to be brave, put our faith in Him, and just make the step. And yes, sometimes that step, literally means a leap of faith.

Ask yourselves, where is it in life that you need to just be brave and leap for Christ.

And Gang, always pray, always

Relationships?
Family?
Money?
School?
Job?
Ministry?
Church?
_____________ fill in the blank

Thats all I got, no need to go into a sermon with words on something we need to do with our actions.... (cause we just need to do it, and most of the time we talk ourselves out of it, or we get turned off because of too much talk)



2 Corinthians 5:7