-- You Love is Extravagant --

"Your Love Is Extravagant"

Your love is extravagant
Your friendship, it is intimate
I feel like moving to the rhythm of Your grace
Your fragrance is intoxicating in our secret place
Your love is extravagant

Spread wide in the arms of Christ is the love that covers sin
No greater love have I ever known You considered me a friend
Capture my heart again

Spread wide in the arms of Christ is the love that covers sin
No greater love have I ever known; You considered me a friend

Capture my heart again
Your love is extravagantYour friendship, it is intimate

-Casting Crowns

Christian Worldview

"As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.
Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ."

-Colossians 2:6-8

When God calls us to Him, when we're saved through faith...so many people think that the rest of their life will be an easy ride. Their saved, everything will work out fine now. But Christians are still tested and tried, and have trials. And we need to beware of hollow and deceptive philosophy and thinking. Because the world still pressures us and influences us, whether we want it to or not. It's so hard to know whats right and wrong...but mostly for me, the hard thing to know it where to draw the line. I keep reminding myslef that it's "not how close you can get to the world (or to sin) but how far away you can stay from it." That's true, but how do you know where that line draws, ends, or even starts?

"I want to see the world through Jesus' eyes, see through Jesus' tears.
I want to see the world through Jesus' eyes, my visions not as clear.
I want to feel the world with the hands that made it, know the pain and appreciate it,
Hear their cries and hope to understand."

I started an apologetics course last Thursday with a bunch oh homeschooled highschool students. It looks like it's going to be a lot of fun, and I think I'll learn a lot. It's good to know why you believe something, and to be able to explain that to people who don't know what to believe. One thing we learned this week is that Jesus is the foundation of the Biblical Christian Worldview. Some people would say that the Bible is the foundation. But the Bible is simply the way that God has chosen to speak and communicate His truth to us. The Christian worldview relates to all of life too.

One more thing I was thinking about, lol, is how often we look at things in bits and pieces, instead of a whole, if you know what I mean. We often dramatize one small thing to make it bigger than it seems, and then we forget the big picture.

"The basic problem of the Christians in this country is that they have seen thing in bits and pieces instead of totals." -Understanding the Times

Well...there's the post you guys wanted. I shall now go cause I really have no time to be on the computer. So have a nice week everyone. I probably won't be blogging for a while, cause I have so much school to do! goodbye!

In the world -- but not of the world

I was thinking today about how easy it is for Christians to be sucked up into what the world does, what the world wants, what the world thinks. I was also thinking (and knowing) how hard it still is to stay away from worldly things. Even though we know it's wrong. So many times I'm sucked into the worlds idea of how you should act, who you should be, what you should believe ... I know it's wrong. But still I do it. And it's hard to trust God with all you heart ... when you know you're doing something wrong ... but you keep doing it, because you want to fit in.

"For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God, and more abundantly toward you."
-2 Corinthians 1:12

I was reading that in my devotions the other day, and it hit me so hard. I was like, that's how I need to be living. In the world, but with simplicity and godly sincerity. It's so hard to do. There's so many people from the world saying it's stupid. But even in that you need to say, this is what God has called me to do. And I'm living my life for Him. He made me, not to be a bondage of sin, but to glorify Him. In my whole life, and not just parts of it. Unless you surrender your whole life to Him, God can't work in you the way He wants to.

I've heard people say before that, "It may be bad, and you might say it is, but I need to experience it myself. I need to see for myself that it's bad and it's a wrong thing to do. Let me figure out my own life." hello people. sin does NOT teach us. it does the exact opposite. sin punishes. it does not teach, it never will. So don't put yourself in that position, because it won't teach you, it's gonna punish you. When we fall into sin, God's saying to us,"I didn't make you for this. You were made for something better than this." When we put ouself in a position that we're tempted, we're willingly putting the chains of sin on us. How great it is to know that there's rredemption in Christ! We're not our source for strength.

Anyways, I have to go. Do more work. goodbye

In Me

If you ask me to leap

Out of my boat on the crashing waves

If You ask me to go

Preach to the lost world that Jesus saves

I'll go, but I cannot go alone

Cause I know I'm nothing on my own

But the power of Christ in me makes me strong

Makes me strong

Cause when I'm weak, You make me strong

When I'm blind, You shine Your light on me

Cause I'll never get by living on my own ability

How refreshing to know You don't need me

So I'll stand on Your truth, and I'll fight with Your strength

Until You bring the victory, by the power of Christ in me

If You ask me to run

And carry Your light into foreign land

If You ask me to fight

Deliver Your people from satan's hand

To reach out with Your hands

To learn through Your eyes

To love with the love of a savior

To feel with Your heart

And to think with Your mind

I'd give my last breath for Your glory

Casting Crowns