(Singing to the tune of the graduation march...)
Daa......., da da.., da.., da.. da..
Daa......., da da da..., da........
Can you hear it? Well today is NPHS Graduation! I am planning on going tonight so if any of you are going, give me a call so that I can hang out with you.
Here is who I know is Graduating, McCue, Lorraine, Tres, Ryan, Amanda and I think that is it.
Congrats you guys! Good job! now GO DO SOMETHING WITH YOUR LIFE!
A Few Thoughts From Yesterday:
Brooke: Campout is no more than 15.00; Orlando Trip will be around 25.00. Thanks for your kind words about my fishing trip survival! :)
Gaby: That is kind of funny, how your computer is making it hard to do what is right, but easy to do what is not as important. (That is like life... what a good illustration!)
Josh: Thanks for your "Stories From The Bible" However: I think you should call it "DRAMATIC Stories from the Bible" :)
Mrs. Sarah Massey: Hey! It is wonderful to see you on here! Comment any time! (Brad is Old, Moses is Dead!) :)
Alex: Hey are you going to McCues graduation tonight? If so, call me so we can sit together!
John 4:16-26
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”
17 The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’
18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.”
19 The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.
20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.”
21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father.
22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.
24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
25 The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.”
26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”
What a cool story! I hope you noticed how I broke up the color scheme today: The words of Jesus are in Blue and the words of the woman are in Orange. Yesterday, in our devotions, Jesus went up to her and told her about water that she could have that would satisfy her heart forever. Well, it is clear in todays passage that Jesus was not finished yet.
Once again, Jesus knew the exact thing to say: He told the woman to go and get her husband. She told Jesus the truth when she said: "I have no husband". Jesus then called her out on the truth, He said: yeah, you dont have one now, but you have had 5 husbands in the past and the guy you are living with now is not even your husband.
She must have been thinging to herself... WHAT! How did we just go from talking about water to talking about my moral life. The fact is: The two go hand in hand, when we have Jesus in our life, we MUST address the sin in our life. We cannot have both Christ and wickedness in our lives. The light of Christ will always make our sin evident.
That can be a scary thought if we are living in sin, but here is the cool part. It doesnt have to be scary, it should be a relief! You can be freed from your sin.
Well at that point in the story the woman knows there is something special about this guy. She says, "oh, are you a prophet!! Well, we dont worship WHERE you Jews do" Then Jesus explains to the woman, it doesnt matter WHERE you worship, but what matters is WHO you worship.
HERE IS MY FAVORITE PART:
The woman then says, Oh, well I know that one day the messiah will come and we will worship Him. Then Jesus says: "I who speak to you, am He"
What a remarkable moment! She is talking to "some random man" about the messiah, and she soon finds out that HE IS THE MESSIAH!
So many people in this world are so close to trusting in Christ, but they dont realize who he is! We must tell them, we must be the picture of Christ to the lost of this world. And we must understand that for Christ to work through us like he desires: Our sin MUST BE ADDRESSED!
ADDRESS IT TODAY! Take care of it! Ask for forgiveness and then put it behind you. God says He who confesseth his sin, SHALL FIND MERCY!
Take care of what Christ is dealing with in your life. TODAY!
FRIDAY, May 30th, 2008
I AM STILL ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well well, I am not quite sure what I was thinking... but for some reason, yesterday I decided to go out in Charlotte Harbor AGAIN... which is only crazy because of how I cheated death last Sunday night. We went out last night and all seemed well, UNTIL I started to feel queezy. I was out there with three "though guys" and so I could not "act sick"!!! I mean! Come On! It was all of "the men" out there!! You can't get motion sickness while you out with the guys!! That is not allowed. Well, I was with some pretty cool guys, so they were pretty helpful, they were holding me over the edge while I puked my guts out! (just kidding!! I actually did not throw up, because of a WONDERFUL God who answered my prayers!) Well, needless to say, I was praying that I would not get "sick" and within 5 minutes there were those 10 waves all around us again. I would have thought nothing of it, UNTIL I noticed the 10 inches of water in the boat. That may not have even bothered me, except that Mr. Jeff Blevins suddenly got "very concerned" about our survival. Let me tell you: If He is concerned about living, you better believe that I am concerned about living! Well, He got us out of those waves alive... Barely! Then we headed back to the marina on a very enjoyable ride up the Gulf of Mexico. It was "the ride of my life", I am just glad that it didn't cost my life! Well, I must say: Thank you to Mr. Watkins, Mr. Blevins and Mr. West for making the evening so enjoyable! I truely enjoyed it, and I am now looking for a place where we can buy crabs BEFORE we get out there, so we can get them for next time!
A Few Thoughts From Yesterday:
Josh Sandefur: I am glad you joined us on here! You should come on more often!
Brooke: What an incredible illustration about chess! Great Job!!
Jessica M: Hey! You dont really want to marry Brad Pitt!!!!!! You could do SO MUCH BETTER! and besides as Katie mentioned: He is the same age as MY DAD! Sick! I agree with Katie, You should wait for Will, and besides: He will be way better looking than Brad Pitt! I mean come on!! Look at Wills Dad! :) Ha!
Jill: Sorry you had a rough day! I will come by and fix your computer if you want sometime! Let me know!
John 4:1-15
1 Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John
2 (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples),
3 He left Judea and departed again to Galilee.
4 But He needed to go through Samaria.
5 So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.”
8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
11 The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water?
12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again,
14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
15 The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”
On Sunday I was going fishing (as I mentioned before) and my Dad bought two 12 packs of Dasani water. Well, today, five days later, I am sitting here typing up these devotions and I am drinking a bottle of Dasani water. The sad part is that there are only 3 bottles left in the fridge. You see, this water taste great, and it is refreshing, but not for long. This story is about an encounter that Jesus had with a woman in Samaria. Jesus told the lady to get Him some water, so He could have a drink, and He did that to start a conversation with this woman so that He could witness to her.
I think we all should follow His example: We should walk through our daily life, looking for creative ways to witness to lost people. If Jesus had only gone to the religious place in Samaria then this woman would not have been reached. Jesus went to the lost!
When Jesus talks to this woman, he says to her: If you knew who I was, then you would ask ME for water. This part is great because she looks at Jesus and says: uh, you dont even have a bucket... and this well is really deep... so How in the word would you give Me water?
Then Jesus Christ explains to the Lady: Your water will only satisfy for a while, but the water that I have will satisfy you for ever!
The lady then says to Jesus Christ! Give me this water!!!
Two applications for you:
1. Have you tasted this "water" that Jesus offers us? Water that will satisfiy your heart forever! If you have not, then accept him as your savior today! Check out Romans 3:23, 6:23, 5:8, 10:9
2. How can you be creative in sharing the gospel with the lost people in your life? How can we as a church be creative to reach the lost? How can we as SUNCOAST YOUTH GROUP be creative and effective in reaching others for Jesus Christ?
Well well, I am not quite sure what I was thinking... but for some reason, yesterday I decided to go out in Charlotte Harbor AGAIN... which is only crazy because of how I cheated death last Sunday night. We went out last night and all seemed well, UNTIL I started to feel queezy. I was out there with three "though guys" and so I could not "act sick"!!! I mean! Come On! It was all of "the men" out there!! You can't get motion sickness while you out with the guys!! That is not allowed. Well, I was with some pretty cool guys, so they were pretty helpful, they were holding me over the edge while I puked my guts out! (just kidding!! I actually did not throw up, because of a WONDERFUL God who answered my prayers!) Well, needless to say, I was praying that I would not get "sick" and within 5 minutes there were those 10 waves all around us again. I would have thought nothing of it, UNTIL I noticed the 10 inches of water in the boat. That may not have even bothered me, except that Mr. Jeff Blevins suddenly got "very concerned" about our survival. Let me tell you: If He is concerned about living, you better believe that I am concerned about living! Well, He got us out of those waves alive... Barely! Then we headed back to the marina on a very enjoyable ride up the Gulf of Mexico. It was "the ride of my life", I am just glad that it didn't cost my life! Well, I must say: Thank you to Mr. Watkins, Mr. Blevins and Mr. West for making the evening so enjoyable! I truely enjoyed it, and I am now looking for a place where we can buy crabs BEFORE we get out there, so we can get them for next time!
A Few Thoughts From Yesterday:
Josh Sandefur: I am glad you joined us on here! You should come on more often!
Brooke: What an incredible illustration about chess! Great Job!!
Jessica M: Hey! You dont really want to marry Brad Pitt!!!!!! You could do SO MUCH BETTER! and besides as Katie mentioned: He is the same age as MY DAD! Sick! I agree with Katie, You should wait for Will, and besides: He will be way better looking than Brad Pitt! I mean come on!! Look at Wills Dad! :) Ha!
Jill: Sorry you had a rough day! I will come by and fix your computer if you want sometime! Let me know!
John 4:1-15
1 Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John
2 (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples),
3 He left Judea and departed again to Galilee.
4 But He needed to go through Samaria.
5 So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.”
8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
11 The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water?
12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again,
14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
15 The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”
On Sunday I was going fishing (as I mentioned before) and my Dad bought two 12 packs of Dasani water. Well, today, five days later, I am sitting here typing up these devotions and I am drinking a bottle of Dasani water. The sad part is that there are only 3 bottles left in the fridge. You see, this water taste great, and it is refreshing, but not for long. This story is about an encounter that Jesus had with a woman in Samaria. Jesus told the lady to get Him some water, so He could have a drink, and He did that to start a conversation with this woman so that He could witness to her.
I think we all should follow His example: We should walk through our daily life, looking for creative ways to witness to lost people. If Jesus had only gone to the religious place in Samaria then this woman would not have been reached. Jesus went to the lost!
When Jesus talks to this woman, he says to her: If you knew who I was, then you would ask ME for water. This part is great because she looks at Jesus and says: uh, you dont even have a bucket... and this well is really deep... so How in the word would you give Me water?
Then Jesus Christ explains to the Lady: Your water will only satisfy for a while, but the water that I have will satisfy you for ever!
The lady then says to Jesus Christ! Give me this water!!!
Two applications for you:
1. Have you tasted this "water" that Jesus offers us? Water that will satisfiy your heart forever! If you have not, then accept him as your savior today! Check out Romans 3:23, 6:23, 5:8, 10:9
2. How can you be creative in sharing the gospel with the lost people in your life? How can we as a church be creative to reach the lost? How can we as SUNCOAST YOUTH GROUP be creative and effective in reaching others for Jesus Christ?
THURSDAY, May 29th, 2008
Hello, Wonderful People! How are you doing on this fine day? I hope that all is well with you and your family. I think it is pretty grand that we have had a visitor in Japan. (thanks to my sister Amanda) My Sister told her friend in Japan to go check out our devotional blog and she did, and now we have other countries on our blog. Do you know anyone out of the country that you could get to check out our blog?
A Few Thoughts From Yesterday:
McCue: That would be awesome if you guys started a Bible study, I think it could really help you be a "light" to the regiment!
Rachel: Wow! Powerful stuff: "we like to turn off the lights every once in a while so we can mess with darkness as we wish" Great point!
Amy: We miss you two! When will you be home?
Brooke: Good stuff girl! I agree with you! One thing also: It is ok to tell people that they will go to Hell if they do not accept Christ, BUT- You must tell them with Love, not with condemnation. And USUALLY it helps to have a relationship with them before you tell them, but everyone needs to know the truth.
Jessica: Yeah, it is "hard fo sho"! You are too funny!
Ryan: Hey man! Thanks for the encouragement! And if you are so "rich" then buy me a car! lol
Sarah: Good to see you girl! I think that they will email you your password if you click "forgot password" on the main page.
GO READ WHAT I SAID BEFORE YOU READ THE PASSAGE. IT WILL HELP YOUR APPLICATION!
John 3:22-36
22 After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He remained with them and baptized.
23 Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there. And they came and were baptized.
24 For John had not yet been thrown into prison.
25 Then there arose a dispute between some of John’s disciples and the Jews about purification.
26 And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified—behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!”
27 John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.
28 You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before Him.’
29 He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled.
30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
31 He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.
32 And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony.
33 He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true.
34 For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.
35 The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand.
36 He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
This story is so neat, because we get a real picture of what our flesh is like, and we see a great example of godliness in the testimony of John. Think about this: Have you ever done something, and then someone else did the same thing and everyone was patting them on the back and you did not get any credit? Well that is kind of what happened here. Remember when this book started? John was baptizing people. When we get to the end of Chapter 3 we see that John is still baptizing people, but so is Jesus. It is interesting to see how John's Disciples and the Jews reacted over the fact that Jesus was baptizing: It even seems silly and childish... that is how we are when we are in the flesh.
Johns followers walk up to him and say: (vs. 26) Hey!!! This is not cool! Everyone is going over there to Jesus to get baptized!! What about you John!! You were the first one! They should be coming to you! Not Jesus!!!
They were wrong. John had incredible insight and wisdom in his answer. John says: (vs. 27) I could only baptize people in the first place because Christ allowed me to! I already told you that I am not the "great one" here! It is Christ!
John then goes on to tell a great illustration. He explains that in a normal situation at a wedding, the friends of the bride are not mad at the bride for marrying the groom. When everyone is behaving then the friends are not jealous of the bride BUT THEY ARE HAPPY FOR THE BRIDE!
John makes it clear, that it is wrong to get worked up about this: because that would be like being mad at a bride on her wedding day. It is not about the friends on the wedding day: it is about the bride!
John knew that this life was not about himself! Johns life was about Christ.
John went on to say: (vs. 30) He "Jesus" must increase, I must decrease. I think it would be wise if we all made that verse our motto. We must remember as John did: this life is not about me. This life is not about you! This life is about Christ. It is when we forget that, that we allow so many problems into our life.
We must have a great attitude about life: Just like John did. Even when it did not seem like things were to fair for John, he knew that it did not matter: because this life was not about himself.
You are going to have tough times in life, unexpected situations, heartache, even things that are absolutey not right or fair, but we must remember that this life is not about us. It is about Christ!
I must remember my purpose is to make Christ appear bigger and greater to the world, and make myself seem smaller.
Christ must increase, Lee must Decrease!
A Few Thoughts From Yesterday:
McCue: That would be awesome if you guys started a Bible study, I think it could really help you be a "light" to the regiment!
Rachel: Wow! Powerful stuff: "we like to turn off the lights every once in a while so we can mess with darkness as we wish" Great point!
Amy: We miss you two! When will you be home?
Brooke: Good stuff girl! I agree with you! One thing also: It is ok to tell people that they will go to Hell if they do not accept Christ, BUT- You must tell them with Love, not with condemnation. And USUALLY it helps to have a relationship with them before you tell them, but everyone needs to know the truth.
Jessica: Yeah, it is "hard fo sho"! You are too funny!
Ryan: Hey man! Thanks for the encouragement! And if you are so "rich" then buy me a car! lol
Sarah: Good to see you girl! I think that they will email you your password if you click "forgot password" on the main page.
GO READ WHAT I SAID BEFORE YOU READ THE PASSAGE. IT WILL HELP YOUR APPLICATION!
John 3:22-36
22 After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He remained with them and baptized.
23 Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there. And they came and were baptized.
24 For John had not yet been thrown into prison.
25 Then there arose a dispute between some of John’s disciples and the Jews about purification.
26 And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified—behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!”
27 John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.
28 You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before Him.’
29 He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled.
30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
31 He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.
32 And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony.
33 He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true.
34 For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.
35 The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand.
36 He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
This story is so neat, because we get a real picture of what our flesh is like, and we see a great example of godliness in the testimony of John. Think about this: Have you ever done something, and then someone else did the same thing and everyone was patting them on the back and you did not get any credit? Well that is kind of what happened here. Remember when this book started? John was baptizing people. When we get to the end of Chapter 3 we see that John is still baptizing people, but so is Jesus. It is interesting to see how John's Disciples and the Jews reacted over the fact that Jesus was baptizing: It even seems silly and childish... that is how we are when we are in the flesh.
Johns followers walk up to him and say: (vs. 26) Hey!!! This is not cool! Everyone is going over there to Jesus to get baptized!! What about you John!! You were the first one! They should be coming to you! Not Jesus!!!
They were wrong. John had incredible insight and wisdom in his answer. John says: (vs. 27) I could only baptize people in the first place because Christ allowed me to! I already told you that I am not the "great one" here! It is Christ!
John then goes on to tell a great illustration. He explains that in a normal situation at a wedding, the friends of the bride are not mad at the bride for marrying the groom. When everyone is behaving then the friends are not jealous of the bride BUT THEY ARE HAPPY FOR THE BRIDE!
John makes it clear, that it is wrong to get worked up about this: because that would be like being mad at a bride on her wedding day. It is not about the friends on the wedding day: it is about the bride!
John knew that this life was not about himself! Johns life was about Christ.
John went on to say: (vs. 30) He "Jesus" must increase, I must decrease. I think it would be wise if we all made that verse our motto. We must remember as John did: this life is not about me. This life is not about you! This life is about Christ. It is when we forget that, that we allow so many problems into our life.
We must have a great attitude about life: Just like John did. Even when it did not seem like things were to fair for John, he knew that it did not matter: because this life was not about himself.
You are going to have tough times in life, unexpected situations, heartache, even things that are absolutey not right or fair, but we must remember that this life is not about us. It is about Christ!
I must remember my purpose is to make Christ appear bigger and greater to the world, and make myself seem smaller.
Christ must increase, Lee must Decrease!
WEDNESDAY, May 28th, 2008
Well, Well, Here we are again. I want to let each of you know how thankful I am and how Honored I am that you come on this blog to read the Word of God, and read a few of my thoughts and apply them to your life. Yesterday was a great day! All of your devotions were well thought out, and very applicable! Keep up the great work! See you Tonight! It will be CRAZY fun!
A Few Thoughts From Yesterday:
Brooke: You sure have been in a typative mood lately! Ha! Get it?? Typative... (talkative) ok, nm.
Tyler: Great Job on the devotions man! Those were some wise words!
Jill: Good question: It reminds me of when I was in High School, there were many many people who believed that Christ would come back in the year 2000. He didnt. Chreck out Matthew 25:13. It makes it clear that NO MAN know when Christ shall return!
Jessica: I am glad that you understand that God loves you more than YOUR DOG!!!!!!!!!!!!! unbelievable.
Jonathan: Ha! I hope that you dont really say that to your teacher!
Olivia: Hey girl! Good to see you! Yes we do this everyday, and it has become a great way for us to stay in touch and stay in the Word of God.
John 3:17-21
17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.
21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
This is such a great passage. God did not send Jesus into the world to condemn the world. Condemn means to judge or to rebuke. So Jesus did not come to judge us or to rebuke us. Jesus came to DIE for us. So many people want nothing to do with church, because they think that church just makes them feell bad for what they do. You have often heard me say that it is not Gods desire for us to feel bad: God simply wants us to experience that conviction to help us change. Jesus did not come to condemn, he came to love, and to show love by being the sacrifice for our sins.
We often think that we as christians have "some right" to judge people, or to condemn others. We Do Not! If Jesus, who had EVERY RIGHT to condemn, did not, then we have NO RIGHT to condemn others. We should do as Christ, and Love them to the truth!
Now... let me be clear, the Bible is clear that we are to hold our christian brethren accountable, and confront them in their sin, but we are not to think more highly of ourselves, and think lower of others because of what they are going through. We just need to confront them in love.
Now, on to the rest of the passage. I think it is so cool to read about the illustration of light and darkness. Have you ever noticed how it is so much easier to sin in the dark, than it is in the light? Weird Huh? Well, the reason is because we know what we are doing is wrong and we dont want people to see it! So we can hide it better in the dark.
That is why man loves Darkness more than light. However, we know that when we are in the light, we can see who we really are and adress it. We can change who we are if we can see who we are by the light.
One last thought. What is darkness...? The absense of light. Think about it. What is more powerful? Light? or Darkness? Light is, because where there is light, there is no darkness. When we have a flash light, it pushes out all the darkness.
When we have Christ, the light of the world, He pushes the darkenss out of our hearts as well!!
SO COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A Few Thoughts From Yesterday:
Brooke: You sure have been in a typative mood lately! Ha! Get it?? Typative... (talkative) ok, nm.
Tyler: Great Job on the devotions man! Those were some wise words!
Jill: Good question: It reminds me of when I was in High School, there were many many people who believed that Christ would come back in the year 2000. He didnt. Chreck out Matthew 25:13. It makes it clear that NO MAN know when Christ shall return!
Jessica: I am glad that you understand that God loves you more than YOUR DOG!!!!!!!!!!!!! unbelievable.
Jonathan: Ha! I hope that you dont really say that to your teacher!
Olivia: Hey girl! Good to see you! Yes we do this everyday, and it has become a great way for us to stay in touch and stay in the Word of God.
John 3:17-21
17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.
21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
This is such a great passage. God did not send Jesus into the world to condemn the world. Condemn means to judge or to rebuke. So Jesus did not come to judge us or to rebuke us. Jesus came to DIE for us. So many people want nothing to do with church, because they think that church just makes them feell bad for what they do. You have often heard me say that it is not Gods desire for us to feel bad: God simply wants us to experience that conviction to help us change. Jesus did not come to condemn, he came to love, and to show love by being the sacrifice for our sins.
We often think that we as christians have "some right" to judge people, or to condemn others. We Do Not! If Jesus, who had EVERY RIGHT to condemn, did not, then we have NO RIGHT to condemn others. We should do as Christ, and Love them to the truth!
Now... let me be clear, the Bible is clear that we are to hold our christian brethren accountable, and confront them in their sin, but we are not to think more highly of ourselves, and think lower of others because of what they are going through. We just need to confront them in love.
Now, on to the rest of the passage. I think it is so cool to read about the illustration of light and darkness. Have you ever noticed how it is so much easier to sin in the dark, than it is in the light? Weird Huh? Well, the reason is because we know what we are doing is wrong and we dont want people to see it! So we can hide it better in the dark.
That is why man loves Darkness more than light. However, we know that when we are in the light, we can see who we really are and adress it. We can change who we are if we can see who we are by the light.
One last thought. What is darkness...? The absense of light. Think about it. What is more powerful? Light? or Darkness? Light is, because where there is light, there is no darkness. When we have a flash light, it pushes out all the darkness.
When we have Christ, the light of the world, He pushes the darkenss out of our hearts as well!!
SO COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
TUESDAY, May 27th, 2008
Hope you had a great day yesterday! I know that I did: I was able to spend some time with my Mom and Dad, my sister and brother in-law, and two of my nephews: and of course my favorite two people, Katie and Will. We had lots of fun! It was a great day! I hope that yours was as well!
A few thoughts from yesterday:
Alex: Good to have you back man!! We missed you on Sunday!
Gaby: Hey girl, We missed you too: where were you at?
Amy: are you in Texas yet? Hey! Encourage Tricia to join us on here!
Rob: Good Stuff Man! But I think you lost me when you got to the pebbles, the ripples and the lake. :) Thanks for being faithful on here! (I want to go see Indiana Jones ASAP... call me!)
Brooke: Wow. That was quite a bit of info! I enjoyed it. My advice would be to take the low road with your friend. Maybe even write a note explaining what you said on your blog, and explaining to her what really happened, while asking for forgiveness for anything you could have even possibly done wrong. (even if it was an accident, or a miscommunication)
Katie: Great application!! I love your perspective on that! I Love you too! :)
Rachel: I dont think that I could have explained what you said, nearly as good as how you put it! Great Job! I like the way you said: "Who wants to be evil on the inside and the outside?!?"
GOOD STUFF!!!
John 3:9-16
9 Nicodemus (or Nick to Jonathan Massey) answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”
10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?
11 Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness.
12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?
13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
So, this is one of the greatest passages about Salvation in the whole Bible! I love to use verses 14-16 to explain Salvation! I will share that with you in one second, but first I will adress the beginning of the passage.
In verses 9-13 we see that Nick is still talking to Jesus, and Nick says: "How can this be??". He was asking Jesus: "How can this be true?" Then Christ says to him: I thought you were a religious teacher, a wise man in the knowledge of God. But if you were then Why dont you believe this foundational stuff?
Here is what I mean: Nick was basically telling Christ, even though I am a religious ruler, I dont know that I can believe this. Christ responded to him in verses 12 and 13 by saying: "If you cant believe this basic stuff, about God here on earth, then HOW IN THE WORLD do you think that you will be able to understand the GREAT THINGS I have to tell you about Heaven!
That is pretty exciting! Think about it, We think God is wonderful and great now... We dont even have a clue of how truely Great He is, because we can't grasp it in our mind.
OK. Now quickly on to the second point: Verses 14-16 are great too!
In the book of Numbers, God must punish the children of Israel by allowing poisonous snakes to flood the people and kill them. Well Moses went to God to bag God to spare the people. God said ok, I will only spare the ones that trust me: Here is how I will do it. God tells moses to build a statue of a snake and hold it up. God told Moses to tell the people, if they wanted to be saved, God said to look at the snake. Well, some people looked and were healed and some people thought Moses was crazy and they did not look, and they were not healed.
Salvation is the same way: God saysthat when Moses lifted that snake up, the people showed they believed by looking toward the snake; in the same way, Christ has been lifted up on the cross, and we must look to Him in faith to receive his gift of Salvation. Looking to Him, is the actions that prove our belief. Good stuff right there!
Then we all know John 3:16. Try to read it as if it were the first time! It is pretty amazing to think of God's love for us!
What are you thoughts about this passage?
A few thoughts from yesterday:
Alex: Good to have you back man!! We missed you on Sunday!
Gaby: Hey girl, We missed you too: where were you at?
Amy: are you in Texas yet? Hey! Encourage Tricia to join us on here!
Rob: Good Stuff Man! But I think you lost me when you got to the pebbles, the ripples and the lake. :) Thanks for being faithful on here! (I want to go see Indiana Jones ASAP... call me!)
Brooke: Wow. That was quite a bit of info! I enjoyed it. My advice would be to take the low road with your friend. Maybe even write a note explaining what you said on your blog, and explaining to her what really happened, while asking for forgiveness for anything you could have even possibly done wrong. (even if it was an accident, or a miscommunication)
Katie: Great application!! I love your perspective on that! I Love you too! :)
Rachel: I dont think that I could have explained what you said, nearly as good as how you put it! Great Job! I like the way you said: "Who wants to be evil on the inside and the outside?!?"
GOOD STUFF!!!
John 3:9-16
9 Nicodemus (or Nick to Jonathan Massey) answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”
10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?
11 Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness.
12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?
13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
So, this is one of the greatest passages about Salvation in the whole Bible! I love to use verses 14-16 to explain Salvation! I will share that with you in one second, but first I will adress the beginning of the passage.
In verses 9-13 we see that Nick is still talking to Jesus, and Nick says: "How can this be??". He was asking Jesus: "How can this be true?" Then Christ says to him: I thought you were a religious teacher, a wise man in the knowledge of God. But if you were then Why dont you believe this foundational stuff?
Here is what I mean: Nick was basically telling Christ, even though I am a religious ruler, I dont know that I can believe this. Christ responded to him in verses 12 and 13 by saying: "If you cant believe this basic stuff, about God here on earth, then HOW IN THE WORLD do you think that you will be able to understand the GREAT THINGS I have to tell you about Heaven!
That is pretty exciting! Think about it, We think God is wonderful and great now... We dont even have a clue of how truely Great He is, because we can't grasp it in our mind.
OK. Now quickly on to the second point: Verses 14-16 are great too!
In the book of Numbers, God must punish the children of Israel by allowing poisonous snakes to flood the people and kill them. Well Moses went to God to bag God to spare the people. God said ok, I will only spare the ones that trust me: Here is how I will do it. God tells moses to build a statue of a snake and hold it up. God told Moses to tell the people, if they wanted to be saved, God said to look at the snake. Well, some people looked and were healed and some people thought Moses was crazy and they did not look, and they were not healed.
Salvation is the same way: God saysthat when Moses lifted that snake up, the people showed they believed by looking toward the snake; in the same way, Christ has been lifted up on the cross, and we must look to Him in faith to receive his gift of Salvation. Looking to Him, is the actions that prove our belief. Good stuff right there!
Then we all know John 3:16. Try to read it as if it were the first time! It is pretty amazing to think of God's love for us!
What are you thoughts about this passage?
MONDAY, May 26th, 2008
Well hello, thank you for coming to our devotional on this BEAUTIFUL Memorial Day! I must tell you about my incredible night!! So, last night after church... Me, My Dad, My Sister and Her Husband all went out in the boat to go tarpon fishing!! We got out to the water at about 8:30pm and it was really dark by 9:15pm. I experienced the most unbelievable waves in my life. (I know what Gilligan and the skipper felt like when they were shipwrecked) We were trying to get out to the pass for about an hour and a half when we realized that if we did get to the pass, we would have died. The waves where we were, were about 10 feet tall. and They would come up over the boat and DRENCH us all... Finally by 12:00 we found a little cove that we could hide from the huge waves until it passed over. We waited in that cove until about 1:30am; then we made our way back to the marina, and we got home by 3:00 am. It was an incredibly adventerous night! I will tell you about it in person the next time we are together!!
A Few Thoughts from Yesterday:
Josh: Congrats man!! You won... Now did you copy and paste or are all of those legit? Awesome Job!
Jonathan: You definitely get an honorable mention for your efforts! Great job man!
Rachel: You are once again... Funny! We missed you all day yesterday! where where you?
Everyone: Hey guys!! What happened last night? I wanted all of you to be there to meet my sister, and it seems like there were less tenagers there last night than have ever been!! Where were you all?? I am going to DOG PILE every one of you the VERY NEXT time I see you... I dont care if we are in the middle of Winn Dixie! Watch Out!
John 3:1-8
1 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
What a great passage that proves the COMMON SENSE of the Bible. Jesus is hanging out with a man named Ncodemus and Jesus tells him: To go to Heaven you must be born again... Nicodemus thinks the exact same thing that anyone would think if they did not know the Bible... They would think: "BORN AGAIN??????????????? WHAT?????? That doesnt make any sense!!!" And that is exactly what Nicodemus was saying! He said: What? How can a man be born again? I mean seriously. Does He enter back into his mothers womb and get "born again"?
That is a fair question! Jesus explains to him, what it means to be "born again". Jesus says, you must be born of water (Which we all were... ever heard the term "her water broke"?? That means you were born of water!) to be alive physically, and we must be born of the spirit (by accepting Christ as your savior) to enter into a new life with Christ.
When Christ explains it, it makes sense. There are two applications here that I want to share:
1. If you have not been "born again" then accept Christ today! You can only experience the wonderful life God has planned for you by trusting Him and being "Born in the Spirit".
2. We must be careful as Christians not to use terms that other people dont understand: For example: sometimes in youth group, I have said do your devotions and many teenagers have come to me saying: What in the world are "do devotions"... We must remember that not everyone understands the terms in the Bible and if they dont know the Bible, they may not understand what some of the words we are talking about mean either..
Have a great day Everyone!!! Love Ya's!! :)
A Few Thoughts from Yesterday:
Josh: Congrats man!! You won... Now did you copy and paste or are all of those legit? Awesome Job!
Jonathan: You definitely get an honorable mention for your efforts! Great job man!
Rachel: You are once again... Funny! We missed you all day yesterday! where where you?
Everyone: Hey guys!! What happened last night? I wanted all of you to be there to meet my sister, and it seems like there were less tenagers there last night than have ever been!! Where were you all?? I am going to DOG PILE every one of you the VERY NEXT time I see you... I dont care if we are in the middle of Winn Dixie! Watch Out!
John 3:1-8
1 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
What a great passage that proves the COMMON SENSE of the Bible. Jesus is hanging out with a man named Ncodemus and Jesus tells him: To go to Heaven you must be born again... Nicodemus thinks the exact same thing that anyone would think if they did not know the Bible... They would think: "BORN AGAIN??????????????? WHAT?????? That doesnt make any sense!!!" And that is exactly what Nicodemus was saying! He said: What? How can a man be born again? I mean seriously. Does He enter back into his mothers womb and get "born again"?
That is a fair question! Jesus explains to him, what it means to be "born again". Jesus says, you must be born of water (Which we all were... ever heard the term "her water broke"?? That means you were born of water!) to be alive physically, and we must be born of the spirit (by accepting Christ as your savior) to enter into a new life with Christ.
When Christ explains it, it makes sense. There are two applications here that I want to share:
1. If you have not been "born again" then accept Christ today! You can only experience the wonderful life God has planned for you by trusting Him and being "Born in the Spirit".
2. We must be careful as Christians not to use terms that other people dont understand: For example: sometimes in youth group, I have said do your devotions and many teenagers have come to me saying: What in the world are "do devotions"... We must remember that not everyone understands the terms in the Bible and if they dont know the Bible, they may not understand what some of the words we are talking about mean either..
Have a great day Everyone!!! Love Ya's!! :)
SUNDAY, May 25th, 2008
Hello Everyone!! Glad you are on here once again with us!! I hope you were in Sunday School today! And I Desperately Hope you will be in church tonight!! We are going to have a great testimony service tonight! And you DO NOT WANT TO MISS IT!!! (incase we give away $10,000)
We are going to do something neat on here today. It is a Scripture Memory Game: Here are the rules:
1. Each individual person has to type out this memory verse as many times as possible. As you type it, try to think about it, and MEMORIZE it!
2. The person who types it the most will win!
3. DO NOT use COPY and PASTE!
4. Each verse MUST BE TYPED BY YOUR HAND!!
5. ALSO: Anyone that can say this verse to me on Wednesday will get a prize!!!!
Here is the verse you must type:
Psalm 119:9-11
9 Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. 10 With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wanderr from thy commandments.
11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
We are going to do something neat on here today. It is a Scripture Memory Game: Here are the rules:
1. Each individual person has to type out this memory verse as many times as possible. As you type it, try to think about it, and MEMORIZE it!
2. The person who types it the most will win!
3. DO NOT use COPY and PASTE!
4. Each verse MUST BE TYPED BY YOUR HAND!!
5. ALSO: Anyone that can say this verse to me on Wednesday will get a prize!!!!
Here is the verse you must type:
Psalm 119:9-11
9 Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. 10 With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wanderr from thy commandments.
11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
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