Genesis 12:2-3

2 “I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.

3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”

The Impossible

There are those times in life where we all face the impossible. We see a wall that looks uncrossable, a gap between now and then stands before us, an enemy that over-powers us, a hundred fold. In all these things we have the option to accept defeat or embrace the victory that has already been won.
In my personal life, right now, I'm facing the impossible. Last time this happened I ran away in terror. But not this time. This time I'm looking the impossible right in the eyes and saying, "Come at me bro!" =) The difference in me between then and now is where my strength is found. Last time I relied in myself for strength, and that didn't go over so well. This time though, my strength is in Jesus and He is my strength.
So what I want to say to you all is, don't get bogged down by the things of the impossible. If you have God as your strength then you have nothing to worry about. So when the impossible comes, don't focus on the physical, but the spiritual. Focus on Christ.

Hebrews 9:14

Hey, Brina talking. I've been wanting to share this post for a while now (three weeks), ever since Anna asked me to bring up Hebrews 9:14 in her bible study, because she wasn't able to come herself. I studied the verse and it really inspired me and showed me God's love, so I thought I'd share it with all ya'll in more depth than I explained at Bible Study. (This is straight out of my notebook, though, so my thoughts will be a bit jumbled.)

All of Hebrews 9:11-28 speaks of Jesus' perfection, in the way that he did not perform "useless rituals" (vs 14) to enter a "man-made sanctuary" (vs 24) but rather "offered himself unblemished" (vs 14) to "take away the sins of many people" (vs 28) so that "we may serve the living God!" (vs 14). Until that point in time, the priests "cleansed their conscience from acts that lead to death" (vs 14), some of that being "sins committed under the first covenant" (vs 15). With their useless rituals and guilt-driven sacrifices, they were only insulting God.

Side note: John Piper says in his book, The Passion of Christ, "When our conscience rises up and condemns us, where will we turn? We turn to Christ. This (Christ's blood) is the only cleansing agent in the universe that can give the conscience relief in life and peace in death".

Back on topic: we insult God with our useless rituals because, as 1 Cor 13:3 says, "If I have not love, I gain nothing." Guilt-driven sacrifices nowhere! But because of Jesus' perfect and loving sacrifice, we can change that. So basically, through his forgiveness and perfect, Holy Righteousness, Jesus gives us LOVE. Now we don't have to rely on rituals to cleanse our consciousness. As Francis Chan says, "Actions driven by fear and guilt are not an antidote to lukewarm, selfish, comfortable living... The answer instead is love-" and later- "When loving him becomes obligation, one of many things we have to do, we end up focusing even more from ourselves." This seems a bit off topic, but it does connect. The point is, Jesus sacrificed himself so we could love. "How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death (or useless rituals - ei, acts without love), so that we may serve the living God!"

P.S.
Calvary Chapel has a worship night this Friday and it starts at 8 and goes on for about two hours - it's super fun and it's a really great opportunity to worship God. You guys should all come! My brother David usually carpools a whole bunch of people up there, so I can get you a ride if necessary :) Email me if you're interested

Changes in the Bible Study

Hello all,
[The post (as said in title) is sort of a discussion about the Bible Study and where it's going and where we would like it to go. Plus this is about what to change and what to keep. PLEASE COMMENT.]
Okay, so we've been doing the Bible study for 1/2 - 3/4 of a year now and we've talked about lots of stuff and lots of things have happened through it. But has it really effected our lives to the status that we first hoped for? Has it met the quota that was set before us. Even though we're young doesn't mean that it's okay to have a crummy Bible Study (I'm not calling our Bible Study crummy). I want our Bible Study to truly effect us in ways that change even our inner being. I want us to come into this as one thing and come out of it as something else. I want it to rock house!
And personally I don't feel like it is meeting those standards as of now.
Also it seems that the it is often less of a Bible Study and more of a time of teaching.
And maybe that's what God wants us to do. But I want to be sure.
So really I want you all to be praying about what this time that we spend together at lunch is all about. What we should be doing, what we should be learning, and what we should be changing.
Along with all this I want to call all of you out in a sense by saying that from what I have seen in all of you so far has amazed me. Now I'm not saying this to make you think of your self highly (all glory to God for all good things in our lives) but to tell you that you are capable of great things through Christ who strengthens you. And if you let God use you, you will change the world. So don't fall to the standards of this world but rise up and fulfill the call that God has for you in Christ Jesus. Rise to the standards that god has for you and become lights in the darkness of this world.
By God's gracious love,
Jadon

New Year's Day Bible Study

At about 3:00-4:30(6:00 for some) at the Ent's End of the year party some of us decided to have a bible study because we felt lead to. I was the one to hog the talking because I had asked Jadon to and I presented the book of James 1. Brina asked me to post my notes on the blog. But to be honest, I didn't have many notes. Rather I was lead by the spirit to speak. So although I did have a structured thing planned when I went into the Bible Study, I didn't use it. Like Jadon and David both said to me I had to let go. Let go of what I thought was the ideal Bible Study and way to present it and let God do his work. Because sometimes you just need to shut up. Maybe not physically, maybe just shut up your own words and speak God's. So I had to embrace that (Sorry: Preaching Tangent).

Now you're most likely expecting me to tell you what I spoke at the Bible study even though it wasn't from my notes(somewhat confusing). Well, I can't. Speaking from the Spirit means the words were God's and weren't for you but rather for the person you are speaking to. I can retain everything anybody else spoke. But as for anything I spoke (or God spoke through me), I remember nothing. So you'll have to ask someone else who was there, because I got nothing. But nonetheless, Happy New Year and God Bless You!

Taking Us In

Genesis 8:9
⁹ but the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, so she returned to him into the ark, for the water was on the surface of all the earth. Then he put out his hand and took her, and brought her into the ark to himself.

The Power of God's Voice

Genesis 1:14a-1:15b
Then God said, “Let there be"... and it was so.