If you are a Christian... vote.

I just want to say, if you live in America, vote. Vote for what you believe in. If you are a Christian, vote for what you believe in and for the people who believe the same or are the closest. Don't vote for someone who supports abortion. Don't vote for someone who supports anything that is unbiblical.

VOTE!!! We need to take a stand for what we believe in.

The Prayer Of A Righteous Man Is Powerful And Effective

Prayer is very powerful. In the last chapter of James it talks about praying at all times of life. When you are troubled or happy or sick I want to encourage you to pray more and seek God more. Pray for your family and your church. Pray for our nation. Pray for God's will to be done. Pray for God's mercy. Ask God for more of Him.

Our prayers bring us closer to God and closer to each other. There is a bonding that you get when you pray for someone or receive prayer. Go pray for someone.

God's Grace

God's grace is amazing. One of the Pastors at my church preached a sermon. In fact he preached it three times. I heard it twice so I think God really wanted me to hear it. I thought I would share what I got from it. Look up the verses. I'm not going to write out the verses. So when you see a reference next to a sentence know that the sentence is what my pastor said, not what the verse says.

Don't Count Score

Matt 6:3
When you do something good, don't count score.

Luke 15:11-32 The Parable of the Lost Son
The older brother was keeping score.
He compared score with his brother.

Luke 18:9-14
The Pharisee was counting score.
The tax collector moves the heart of God, he depends on mercy alone.

Breakthrough depends on mercy and grace alone.
The secret to humility is to forget score and fix your eyes on God's grace.

How I do on judgment day depends on my understanding of grace.

Reasons it is dumb to keep score:

1. Keeping score keeps us from understanding grace.
If you count score you will fall from grace. Gal 5:4

2. Keeping score will leave us offended at God. Matthew 20:15-16
If we think God owes us we are keeping count.

3. Keeping score will keep you from being able to fully love God. 1 John 4:19

4. Keeping score leads to envy and strife. Rom 2:11, Eph 6:9, 1 Peter 1:17
We are on the same team. We are part of the body. All success, breakthroughs, and victories are yours, mine and Jesus'.

5. When you keep score you will no longer be motivated by God's love. 1 Cor 15:9-10

6. Keeping score is a waste of time and energy.

7. Keeps you from receiving from God.
We can receive from God if we have faith. People who have faith believe in God's grace.

Do we understand grace? If we want to know how we understand grace we can look at how we respond to offense. How do we respond when someone hurts us?

If we miss grace, we miss the gospel.

Jesus Freak

I changed the name of my blog in case you have not noticed. I decided that I didn't want to define myself as a mouse any longer. I am no longer timid. Also, "The Mouse" was a name I came up with because I couldn't think of anything else at the time I created my blog. I wanted a new name that described my new life. A lot of people party while they are in college. I am one of them. But I go to a different type of party. These parties are worship celebrations in honor of The King. I realized how crazy in love with Jesus I had become. So I named my blog "Jesus Freak."

I am a Jesus Freak. I am crazy in love with my Savior. He is amazing. I have changed a lot since my move down here. But I don't need to tell you that. I think you will be able to tell.

God Has Plans For Me

Jeremiah 29:11 tells of God's plans for us. I know of great plans God has for me. It is so exciting to see God revealing His plans to me. I just had to tell someone. God is telling me my future. I don't understand exactly what I am to do. But the pieces are starting to come together.

Seek God. Seek out His plans for you. He will reveal them to you. Open your heart up to Jesus.

Forgiveness

I think forgiveness and love goes hand in hand. If you love someone you will forgive them. If you forgive someone it is done out of love for that person or love for God. Forgiveness is one of the things we struggle the most with. I have a hard time forgiving. But God has forgiven us and we now have eternal life. We ought to forgive others. God has called me to forgive those who have hurt me and my loved ones. The hardest people to forgive are those who refuse to forgive. But I have to forgive others because of what God has forgiven me.

Forgiveness is not just saying sorry. It is saying that you will love that person even though they hurt you. Forgiveness is not talking about what they did wrong. Forgiveness is forgetting what they did. True forgiveness is powerful. It is one of the most powerful ways to share the gospel with someone.

Please forgive your brother his trespasses. Forgive your mother and father. Forgive your sister. Forgive your son and daughter. Love them as Christ has loved you.

Do You Know God?

Most of us would say, "Yes, I know God." But do you know God?

I thought I knew God more than most people. I can quote scripture. I am familiar with most of the Bible. I know who God is and who His Son is. I can tell most of the Bible stories and even argue theology. I have a relationship with God. But do I know God? Of course! Yes!

But last Friday I realized that I did not know God well. My pastor encouraged us to know God. To know God in each and every aspect of our lives. To know God intimately. Do I know God? Not that well.

Last week God showed me how much He loved me. This week He is saying that He wants me to know Him more. I want to know God. I want to be with Him every moment of the day. The more we are together the more I will know Him. It is like going to the beach with a friend. You might never have known how much that friend loved the beach if you hadn't gone with him. I think it is the same with God. If I don't spend time with God in every part of my life then I will never know God in the context of school, shopping, hanging with non-christian friends, watching TV...the list goes on. It is a scary thought to think of bringing Jesus everywhere with me. But I want to know Him more. I want to know God.

Do you know God?

God is Love

God loves me. A simple concept that has taken on new meaning for me this weekend. I guess it started with me feeling lonely and realizing that I would have to depend on God for love. I know that I won't get it from a guy anytime soon. So I have to depend on God. Isn't it better to depend on God rather than man?

Sunday morning I was looking at some pictures that I took. I have been taking pictures of flowers. They are so beautiful. I was amazed by their beauty so much I almost cried. I had read the "Daily Light on the Daily Path," which is a devotional with Bible verses only. The verses talked about God's love and salvation. God has saved us from death. God loves us so much. I guess I was feeling overwhelmed by God's love that morning. And that was why I was moved almost to tears.

God poured out His love to me at church. I think God spoke to me that morning in church. There was this verse about the Son doing what He sees the Father doing. I saw God loving me and I knew that I would have to love others in the same way. How can I love like God? I'm just a human. Jesus told His disciples that they would do even greater things than Him. I want God's love to shine out of my life. I want others to see God's love in me. The only love I have in me is from God.

Sunday afternoon I went to my grandparents feeling full of God's love. Then, because God is good and because He loves me so much, He overwhelmed me to tears. God had given me life everlasting, He had saved my life, He had given me so many blessings I couldn't count them all, He had embraced me in love that morning, and then He gave me a car. When my grandparents told me that they were planning on giving me their Ford Taurus next month I burst into tears. I was overwhelmed by the love of God.

I feel like God is teaching me one lesson at a time. This one is love.

First Week of School

My first week of school went quite well. I am taking six classes which add up to sixteen units. I'm taking Intro to Kinesiology, Human Anatomy and Physiology, History and Philosophy of Human Movement, College Writing, Measurements and Statistics in Kines, and Aikido. My Aikido class is very interesting and fun. It is nice to be a beginning student again. My hardest class this semester is going to be Anatomy and Physiology.

I got a job at the Titan Recreation Center. I'm a substitute drop-in fitness instructor. I watched a few classes this week to get an idea of what is going on. I feel ready to teach whenever I get called in. I hope I can work at least one hour every week or two. I need to get another job. But it is hard to find jobs because everyone is looking for one and most places aren't hiring.

I went to the Rec Center and participated in a Martial Arts Fitness class last night. I had a great time. I had not realized how much I had missed the dojo. It felt good to work out.

This weekend is going to be tough for me. I already feel a little lonely and homesick. I don't have any homework due. I am going to read ahead and start working on some of my assignments to pass the time. I don't have any plans but I hope to make some. I'm sitting here at the computer feeling alone. It's weird. When I was at home I would want my alone time and I treasured it. Now I wish I wasn't alone. I want to hang out with my family and have the closeness that only happens between family members. But God is with me. He has never left me. These days I am forced to depend on God for comfort and companionship. That is good.

Dear God, draw me close and hold me. My heart aches for I am lonely. Comfort me and love me. I love You. I thank You for everything. You are my Lord and my Lover. I praise You for You are truly great!

I'm Okay

It's better than I thought it would be. I had a much better weekend than I thought I would have. I checked in on Saturday and then raced at break neck speed (not really) to get to the tournament. I ended up seeing my cousins compete. I judged and competed in kata and kumite. I decided to skip orientation and went to visit my cousins instead.

When I got back to my dorm I met one of my roommates. She is the coolest person! Of course I think a bunch of my friends are the coolest people. We hit it off right from the start. I unpacked my stuff and went to bed. I woke up in the morning feeling really homesick. I called my parents and cried on the phone. Then I went to church. It was amazing. My brother's girlfriend arrived a few minutes after I did. When the music started the pastor's daughter started dancing. It was the most beautiful thing that I had seen. I cried because it was beautiful and because I had been missing worship so much. I hung on every word the pastor said. I am so hungry for God. It is amazing to go to a church and have people pray for you like you are the most special person in the world. That is how I felt. My prayer for this school year is to have the greatest hunger and thirst for God. My prayer is that God will fill me with His Spirit and His burning fire.

I've had an awesome week. The people here are really nice and the food is good. God is working in me and I'm making friends. I've been hanging out with my older brother and I went to Magic Mountain.

I'm also looking for a job. I applied for a job at CVS Pharmacy. I feel really good about working there. Pray that God will open doors for me and my friend who needs a job more than I do.