The Journey part 1, scripture from God's Word.

These scriptures came to me today that speaks to me about letting the Lord into our hearts submission to his will and the journey we go on to train us and shape and mold us to become Like Christ. This is not a easy journey that is filled with many blessings but also many trials and much joy and suffering. I’m sorry I have not written of late I have had things to take care of. The Lord has been putting on my heart this last month to write about this journey we all take which is different for all of us to become like Christ and be with the Lord.

Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

1 Samuel 15:22 But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

Jeremiah 18:1-5 The Lord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, “Go down to the potter’s shop, and I will speak to you there.” So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel. But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over. Then the Lord gave me this message: “O Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand.

2 Corinthians 5:15 He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.

Jeremiah 12:5 If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?

Psalm 144:1 Praise the LORD, who is my rock. He trains my hands for war and gives my fingers skill for battle.

Psalm 84:5-7 What joy for those whose strength comes from the Lord, who have set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. When they walk through the Valley of Weeping, it will become a place of refreshing springs. The autumn rains will clothe it with blessings. They will continue to grow stronger, 

and each of them will appear before God in Jerusalem.

Philippians 2:14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing.

Matthew 11:28-30 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed.  If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.  Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone?  A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.

Psalm 116:15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

Romans 8:29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.

Philippians 3:13-14

I am going to write today about a verse that was and is very clear for me to understand but at times hard for me to live out or react to in a correct way. Philippians 3:13-14 ‘No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us’. When we come to Lord and start walking with him and have a relationship with him we are reborn spiritually and start a new life. When this happens most of us come to the Lord with an interesting past with a lot of sins, failures, and some bad experiences. It took time for me to adjust to this new way of life and to look forward and let go of some off the past things that happen to me. What helped me was time with the Lord, reading his word a lot, and being around people to teach and encourage and strengthen me. Listening to good sermons on the word of God, Romans 10:17  ‘So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ’. But reading the Word of God after accepting Christ I think is the thing that helped my faith grow the most. You know when you are a believer the Lord teaches you very quick and clearly that every Word written in his Word, the bible is alive and true and every scripture is a part of your life. It’s not just a bunch of stories years ago every part will play into your life, very powerful. Its one thing to read but when it plays out in your life everyday that is something that is hard to explain or put into words. The number 3 is a number in the bible I can relate to in my walk. The disciples spent 3 years walking with Jesus and Paul spent 3 years with the Lord after his conversion.  Galatians 1:15-20. I’m not the disciples or Paul but I found the Lord in a deeper way 2007 to 2010. We built this house up in the mountains and while we was up there a lot of things changed in my life, marriage and family. The Lord gave us time and he taught us his ways. In the 3 years up there we became completely different people, 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! It was in this time that the Lord stripped us from our old way of life and gave us a new life. In that time he showed us his love and a different way to live, he showed me I was forgiven for all my past whatever it was and gave me a new life. Psalm 103:8-13 ‘The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him’. When we went up to live in this place we had the job we had for the last 20 years and investments and a lot of worldly things and a lot of feelings and worries we were packing and carrying around in our marriage mind and heart. When we came down from this place we didn’t have as much of the worldly things, we don’t feel and look at all those things that happened in the past like we did before. We have been freed from the past sins and failures and experiences. When we look at the past we are thankful for that time and use that experience for where we are going. During that time the Lord changed the job we were doing for the last 20 years. About the time we built the house the Lord led me to a guy named Roy that was starting a ministry. I prayed one Sunday and the next day a pastor was put in my life and led me to Roy. I didn’t go there for a job I went there to grow in the Lord and to help my family. After he mentored me I stared mentoring men and my wife Julie was mentored by Sarah, Roy’s wife. After the 3 years we ended up in this ministry full time. It’s just the way the Lord has moved in our lives and on this journey we continue to see him work. To be honest sometimes we have made the journey harder then it is in our mind. We know the Lord put us on this path and he will take care of us, we are learning not only to trust but to be joyful in the process. Sometimes it’s the things that happened   yesterday or last week that you have to forget or move on from. It is not easy for anyone to walk with the Lord and the journey he has for a person. I don’t know what is going to happen from day to day on this journey I am on with the Lord but he has given the ability to look forward, not behind and trust him. The most important thing for me is my relationship with him, nothing can take that away and where I am going. 1 Peter 1:1-3 ‘All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see’.