You Satisfy Alone

This past weekend was a big slap in the face, review lesson from the Lord!! Don't you love when our Heavenly Father does that but with the all the love that He is of course!? I constantly find myself putting my trust in, looking up to, and putting people on a pedestal. This never fails to disappoint me and leave me hurt and confused when they fail me and my expectations. Why do I do this? Over and over again I look to the role models of sinful people just like me, all the time telling myself that they are above sinning and failing. But this is so not true, the only person that I can and should have faith in is Christ Himself. The only person that I should be looking to in order to model my life and behavior off of is Him and Him only. Thank the Lord that He is the only One who never changes who is constant in His character and faithful to every promise and word spoken form His mouth. No matter how spiritual someone is or how much they seem to have their life together we can be sure that sooner or later their weak heart and flesh will show through and they will fail us or God. 

In the same way that I want my life to only point people to Jesus and the cross (not to myself), I need to only be looking to the cross and Christ for everything I need and want to be. In relationships as intimate as families, friends, and spouses it is even that more important to constantly remind yourself that those you love cannot be your Savior and cannot give you everything that is needed to satisfy your heart and soul. The only One who can give us everything we can ever need and desire in Christ Himself.......yes the Lord has put these people in our lives for us to share life and His love with, but He never intended any relationship to take the place of our relationship with Him. It is only when our relationship with the Father is first and foremost that all other relationships can be healthy and purposeful. 

Lord may you constantly remind me that You are enough that, Your what Our hearts were made to desire the most. Satisfy every want and desire, and fill my heart with the love that only You can give. Purge me of every sinful thought and attitude and keep my heart and mind focused on the true Lover of my soul. 

Psalm 145:16 

You open your hand;

you satisfy the desire of every living thing.

Psalm 22:26 
The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD! May your hearts live forever!

Psalm 40:11
As for you, O LORD, you will not restrain your mercy from me; your steadfast love and your faithfulness will ever preserve me!

6 Practical Reasons to Study Eschatology

It seems that more and more lately I have been running into people and having different conversations on the subject of Eschatology. These people have more often then not been trying to convince me on the little importance of studying this topic, they tend to be making claims about the subject having done little if any study at all on the events of the future end times. I humbly respect any fellow believer who differs in opinions with me but I have very little respect for people who make claims without any study or evidence to back up their statements! 

I am soo grateful for the college education I was able to receive and for those teachers who pushed me out of my comfort zone and forced me to take a deep look at the truths of Bible for myself. While I have so much more to learn and study I can firmly stand on the truths and evidences that I have found in the Scriptures pertaining to the end times and any other doctrine found therein. 

The article below is a very concise straight to the point writeup on the importance of study. 

6 Practical Reasons to Study Eschatology
FROM David Murray Sep 28, 2012 Category: Articles


Harold Camping has a lot to answer for, not least that his outlandish views about the end of the world have increased skepticism, even among Christians, about the value of studying eschatology. Let me try to win you back by providing six practical reasons for studying the Bible’s teaching on the last things.

1. Eschatology helps us to teach the church

The Church needs teaching on this subject, not just because neglect produces a dangerous vacuum, but also because eschatology is the capstone and crown of systematic theology. As Kuyper said, it sheds light on every other doctrine and answers questions that every other theological subject raises. Louis Berkhof wrote:

In theology [proper] it is the question, how God is finally perfectly glorified in the work of His hands, and how the counsel of God is fully realized; in anthropology, the question, how the disrupting influence of sin is completely overcome; in Christology, the question, how the work of Christ is crowned with perfect victory; in soteriology, the question, how the work of the Holy Spirit at last issues in the complete redemption and glorification of the people of God; and in ecclesiology, the question of the final apotheosis of the church (Systematic Theology, 665).

2. Eschatology helps us to worship God

Worship should be the end of all theology, but especially of eschatology. When we think of the resurrection, the defeat of Satan, the final and perfect judgment, the new heavens and the new earth, and eternal fellowship with Christ and His Church, we surely cannot but amplify our worship of God. If our eschatology does not result in greater worship of God, we are either in error, or we are approaching the truth in the wrong spirit.

3. Eschatology helps us to serve with zeal

The fact that the end is nigh should not make us passive waiters for the inevitable nor induce a fatalistic inactivity. Rather, the New Testament links belief in the imminent end of all things with zealous service. When we consider our great hope, the eternal blessedness of heaven, and the great need of fellow sinners, we should be motivated with greater passion for lost souls and the glory of God.

4. Eschatology helps us to hope in the midst of trouble

Sometimes Churches and Christians face trials from which they will not be delivered while here on this earth. In the midst of disease, pain, and injustice, it is vital to have a lively hope of resurrection life. That alone will fuel faithful endurance to the end.

5. Eschatology helps us to prepare for judgment

One of the reasons why so few are ready for judgment is that they do not know there will be a judgment. In addition to getting ourselves ready, eschatology should motivate us to help others get ready too. While obsession with the last things is dangerous, omission is even more dangerous.

6. Eschatology helps us to look forward to heaven

Sadly, even for Christians, concern for this present world too often smothers interest in the world to come. Eschatology keeps these vital ultimate truths in our view and encourages us to look beyond this world and to long for the heaven of eternal life with Christ and His people.

Titus 2 For The Single

This is an awesome article that a friend sent me , it does a really good job at applying the Titus 2 text to a single woman's life !! 

Learning From Younger Woman 

At the age of 23, my daughter lives a very different life than what I did at that age.  She is a PhD student.  At 23, I had been married for a year, and I was already thinking about having children.  In conversation with her, and watching her future unfold, I'm getting a window into world I'm not all that familiar with:  that of the young, single, Christian woman.  It's been eye-opening.   I've come to see that occasionally, my view of "biblical womanhood" is biased, and I need to change that.

As women, we are expected to teach younger women, but our teaching ought not to be restricted to married women alone.  Yes, Titus 2:3-5 does indicate that aspect of teaching young women, but that passage is not the only portion of Scripture that ought to guide us in how we teach and encourage other women.   I am learning that I must not give the impression that living as a godly woman can be accomplished only in the roles of wife and mother.  A young, single woman isn't excluded from being a godly woman until she's married and has children.  Would I really say to my daughter that she can live however she wants until she gets married, or that the only way to be godly is to get married?  That she's "on hold" until she walks down the aisle?  I wouldn't.

Single women may tell you that it's frustrating when others treat their singleness as if it's some sort of waiting stage that is meant to be got over with as soon as possible; that it's not "real" life.  Some young women will share stories with you of how embarrassing and awkward it is when they receive the inevitable question:  "So, dear, when are you going to settle down?"  Singleness is not meant to be endured; it's meant to be lived.

Singleness is a stage we all go through as women; it's just shorter or longer, depending on each woman.  Singleness is a time to grow in the things of God and draw closer to Him.  It's a time to learn solid theology.  Some of the teaching may be geared toward marriage and children, yes.  Ultimately, though, just like we want young mothers to know that their sufficiency is in Christ and not a well-ordered family life, we want single young women to know that their identity is in Christ, not in their marital status or their careers.  At every stage of our lives, our identity is found in Christ, not our circumstances.  If we make our identities dependent up any circumstance, we are setting ourselves up for a crisis when the circumstances change, as they inevitably do.

Ultimately, teaching young women is not about prescribing a particular set of behaviours; it's about pointing a woman to Christ, and emphasizing that God is in control of every aspect of her life.  When I as an older women teach the younger, it is indeed wise to teach them about the roles of wife and mother because those are biblical roles.  But it's just as helpful to guide her how to approach biblically matters such as her finances, her conduct in the workplace, her relationships with men and women, her relationship with her family and church, and how she may serve.

Right now, the most pressing issue my daughter faces is the very daunting prospect of being able to support herself.  Furthermore, she's a Christian woman working and learning in a feministic, secular, academic environment.  She's in hostile territory.  Having solid teaching is imperative as she faces these two challenges and looks to see them in the light of who she is in Christ.  Teaching young women how to make practical connections between biblical doctrine and their everyday lives seems to me to be an approach that will benefit young women at every stage, not just when they are single or when they become wives and mothers.

I hope my daughter marries some day, and I hope she becomes a mother, because she will be a wonderful, gentle, loving, mother.  She has been taught a lot about the expectations of wife and mother; she's heard it all of her life because she grew up in the church.  What she must now learn more deeply is how desperately she needs Christ at every point in her life.  First and foremost, it is my prayer that this may be her song:

Whom but I have in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (Ps. 73:24-25)

Seeing and Savoring the Layers of the Bible

MITCH CHASE|10:00 PM CT

See and Savor the Bible's Rich Layers

While celebrating my wife's birthday at a Brazilian restaurant we finished our meal with a wonderful dessert. A birds-eye view of the cake slice revealed a chocolate topping with a sweet glaze. But sticking the fork into the cake revealed something even more pleasing, something unexpected: layers. Layers of other desserty goodness that beckoned me to savor.


Even though our meals were finished, suddenly we weren't in a hurry anymore. Here was something artfully prepared with the finest ingredients. The layers mattered because their cumulative effect heightened the enjoyment of the food. The plate didn't feature some hodge-podge attempt at combining a little of everything and hoping the result worked out. The presentation and consumption was rich and satisfying because someone designed it that way.

Have you ever noticed how the Bible speaks about itself with sensory language regarding our spiritual palate? God's words are sweet like honey (Ps 119:103). Believers should long for the milk of God's word (1 Pet 2:2). Man doesn't live on bread alone but on each word from Yahweh's mouth (Deut 8:3). Taste that God is good (Ps 34:8).

Sometimes we might find ourselves rushing through Scripture. Maybe we're trying to meet a daily quota, trying to get to the next thing on the to-do list, or perhaps we're more interested in a passage still to come. So we rush. We hastily consume, take in a birds-eye view, with nary a prayerful pause or time for reflection.

We should be more patient as we read the Bible. There are layers to see and be savored.

The Authors as Literary Artists 

God's Word is a marvel. To read the Bible is to connect with literary compositions thousands of years old, divine revelation written down in stories and letters and poetry. But this inscripturated communication has not been hastily compiled. The Bible's human authors are literary artists. They wrote with intention and structure.

There's no book on earth like the Bible, and no text should be more savored. We should give close attention to the writers' rhetorical devices, intertextual echoes, explicit Old Testament quotations, and even the arrangement of the material. A surface read won't reveal the artistry that patiently laboring over their texts will. We must give to the Bible our time, our mind, our prayerful dependence for insight and understanding.

Seeing What's (Not) There

Spending time savoring the text will result in seeing what is there but may not be readily apparent. Insight must be earnestly pursued. "Think over what I say," Paul told Timothy, "for the Lord will give you understanding in everything" (2 Tim 2:7).

Think about the arrangement of the first Gospel's opening chapters. Scholars have noted how Jesus embodies the experience of Israel as he comes out of Egypt (Matt 2:15, 21), goes through the waters of judgment (3:13-17), endures temptation in the wilderness (4:1-11), and talks about God's law with authority (5:1-7:29). In the design of these opening chapters Matthew shows how Jesus is the new Israel, the true Israel, God's faithful and obedient Son.

Consider how Peter instructed Christian slaves to endure injustices incurred while living under harsh masters. He pointed to the example of Jesus, who had no deceit in his mouth (1 Pet 2:22), who bore our sins and healed our wounds (2:24), and who is the Shepherd of sheep formerly astray (2:25). Why is this language significant? It's still dripping from baptism in Isaiah 53. Peter draws upon explicit Isaian phrases of the Suffering Servant and holds them up to the eyes of literal suffering servants. This move is especially meaningful coming from Peter, who once rebuked Jesus for linking suffering to the work of the Messiah (Matt 16:22). The resurrection changed his hermeneutic (cf. his speech in Acts 3:18).

Reading the Bible Patiently

The layers of a text matter because the authors wrote and arranged their material from a perspective shaped by the Old Testament. Even the words of later Old Testament writers were molded by earlier biblical texts. Their minds were drenched in ancient images and stories and promises. Our goal should be to immerse our minds in these things too.

The method for a richer reading of the text calls for a more patient reading. This doesn't necessarily mean studying only small sections here, a few verses there. In fact, reflecting longer on larger sections of Scripture can bring more understanding as you gain a firmer grasp on the Great Story being unfolded. Reading, in one sitting, books like Revelation, Isaiah, and Ephesians is a valuable exercise requiring both time and prolonged focus. You don't always have to choose between reading widely and reading reflectively.

Peter Leithart illustrates patient reading with the example of music:

We cannot take in music in a moment. A chord gives us several notes at once, but a chord is not music, or not much music. To hear the simplest melody, we need to listen for at least a few seconds. And more complex pieces of music can take an hour or more to experience. . . . If we are going to listen to music at all, we have to give it time to unfold. . . . This does not appeal to us. We are often impatient with music, and we are impatient with texts (Deep Exegesis: The Mystery of Reading Scripture, 52-53, 55).

Reading the Bible Repetitively 

A patient approach to Scripture also involves repetitive reading, because the words of the text need to sink in deep. We especially need to read the Old Testament in order to fill our mental reservoir. From this reservoir we'll see later echoes of earlier Scriptures not only in the New Testament but in the Old. Whether or not you realize it, each time you read a text you're storing up words, and this mental---and spiritual!---deposit will help you read with more comprehension what comes later.

Reflecting on textual layers isn't a hermeneutical practice that denies authorial intent. It simply recognizes that authorial intent can be complex and doesn't always mean locating one valid meaning for a verse. With a layered reading the text isn't ignored but bolstered. Its meaning isn't deadened but enriched.

So savor the Scripture. Read it again and again, and think over what it says. Read widely in the Bible, yes, but also deeply, and by that I mean patiently, carefully, with the discipline of reflection that repays dividends of insight. Taste and see that the text is good!

Hillsong Live - God Is Able (Live)

Greater then all we Know, Greater then all we Seek!!! Such an amazing reminder of truth in this song! Listen, enjoy, love, believe it!!!

A Mind Set On Things Above

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Colossians 3:1-2


But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6:33
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock. Isaiah 26:3-4 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.  For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot.  Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Romans 8:5-8






Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.  But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,  who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. Philippians 3:19-21

Lately the Lord has really impressed upon my heart the subject of the mind. I never realized before how crucial this part of our human body is. Aside from our heart the mind is the second largest part of us that generates emotions, desires, passions, and every single other feeling that we live through on a daily basis. This past week as I have been enjoying real free time for the first time in years, and as my churches annual woman's retreat approaches, the state of my mind has been very different. This erected a desire to study and look into the mind more, as I have experienced what a large role the mind  plays  in the way I feel physically and emotionally. 

As I began looking up verses, listening to sermons, and really asking God to reveal to me what it really means to have a mind set and stayed on Him I was amazed. As I began to seek the Lord in this area and really exercise my mind and thought patterns to be focused on things above and His Word I have noticed a drastic change in the way I feel and react to everyday situations. The cry of my heart has been, "Lord keep my mind focused on you today, show me those ways today that you want to use me to bless others and bring glory back to Your Son, make me more aware of opportunities that you place me in the midst of today". I am not going to lie and I know I can speak for most of us that when we try to work on something new in our lives we get all gun ho about it and then get all down on ourselves we we fail and stumble again. This has to be a daily process that is approached every morning day after day. Taking one day at a time, or even smaller then that, one hour at a time to say God focus my mind, fix it back on You. I can say with confidence and guarantee that you will see a difference in your conversations, in your feelings, in your level of stress, and in the decisions you will make. 

The blessings, and benefits are endless for a follower of Christ who's mind is fixed on Christ and the heavenly places. We are so easily distracted, caught off guard, and straight consumed with all that life throws at us. Take the time focus your mind, read through the verses above again. You will see a whole new world open up and the things of this world that we so easily tend to blow up in magnitude will shrink back down to the reality of their size when placed  next to the things of Christ. 

A Child and His Father!

Since being done with school this last week I have been using my free mornings to enjoy the sunshine. Every morning I have tried to make it a habit to go down to the pool and swim some laps, since I have been kinda bored at the gym doing my same old workout routine. Usually after swimming laps I chill some in the hot tube and do some people watching (One of my favorite things to do). This dad and his son, no older then four suddenly caught my eye. The dad was carrying a big 9 footer surf board and the two were approaching the ocean getting ready for a little father son surf sess. For the sole reason that this was the cutest thing I had ever seen I continued to watch them, very intrigued. The Dad put his son on the front end of his board and proceeded to paddle out to the line up. The son was completely following his fathers lead and as they were padding out past big white water together they would duck dive under them and pop up on the other side. Once they began catching waves the dad would paddle into them and they would each take turns standing up and riding the wave. I am telling you, you had to be there one of the most precious things I have ever seen. My love for little boys and surfing, and family did not help the matter of course. Hahaha!!! 

I was sitting there watching this take place before me the Lord began to speak to my heart and remind me of truths from His Word that were triggered from this beautiful picture. I was overwhelmed and so grateful in that moment that God would so graciously speak to me through such an ordinary everyday occurrence. So often as children of God we are called to paddle out through waves that are so far above our heads, storms that we have to dive under and hope we pop up on the other side. So often it isn't until we get past that wave that we see the beauty of whats on the other side and the calm of the sea. At the same time what a beautiful reality it is that crazy and calm can dwell side by side, that they can come one after the other. Just like oceans waves come in sets they are constant but they don't come all at once. 

Secondly we have a heavenly Father who is there to paddle with us through the waves, and craziness of life. Our Father never leaves the surfboard but is right behind us as we ride the waves of this life and attempt to stand and ride with confidence those opportunities that He pushes us into. It reminds of verses in the Bible where Christ promises to NEVER leave us NOR forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). Fear not for I am your God, be not dismayed for I am with you, I will strengthen you, i will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand (Isaiah 41:10). Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenants and steadfast love with those who love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations (Deut 7:9). These passages and soo many more all through out Scripture put into Words what I witnessed in a real life picture. Love how the Lord works and how when our mind is set on things above on heavenly things, then the Father grants us a picture into His glory and shows us what life is truly all about.