Praise Him! Praise Him!

I serve a great and wonderful God. No, wait...I serve a mighty and awesome God. I mean...I serve a glorious God! Let's face it; the adjectives are far too plentiful, yet each one by itself is far too insignificant to describe His majesty. How about this? He's the great "tri-omni": omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent. He's everywhere, every time. He knows all. He is all-powerful. He can do anything He desires to do, without our intervention. He calls us to serve Him, but He doesn't need us to serve Him.

Today, God gave me a great gift. For the first time in my life, I got straight A's on a report card! God took a lowly, average, underachieving sinner like me and put me at the top. WOW, what a humbling experience.

What do I mean by humbling, you ask? All my life, anytime I've attempted anything academic, it's always been for me, for my benefit. Therefore, my mindset was to do what was good enough for me. As long as I got by and passed, I was okay. The goal was the proverbial cheese at the end of the maze, not acquiring the knowledge itself.

This time, it was totally different. God has instilled in me a burning desire to know Him. I didn't take these classes for some prize or other worldly gain. I did it to learn more about Him. In the learning process, He taught me that I am to give Him my best and leave the results to Him...so I did. The result is absolute amazement, on my part, at what He can do in the life of one lowly sinner. Who am I, compared to the Lord of all?

Today, I have one more reason to praise His name. God is good!

"But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible." - Matthew 19:26

"For with God nothing shall be impossible." - Luke 1:37

2010 in Perspective

My, how our God works in amazing and wonderful ways...and in so little time. As I review this past year, I'm able to see just how far He has taken me on what is sure to be the journey of a lifetime. It's a bit strange, looking back, because throughout 2010 I referred to 2009 as the year that God changed my life. I still hold to that, yet it's hard not to see 2010 as another year in which God has performed more changes in me.

In 2010, I began as a newly-discipled follower of Christ who had recently come back from his first mission trip. After having been convicted of poor stewardship by the Holy Spirit, I began participating in a debt consolidation and reduction program. I've since paid down about $4000 of debt. I also began my first real Bible-learning class in January, studying Great Doctrines of the Bible under my then-new senior pastor and mentor. At the moment, I'm halfway through that class.

Toward the end of Spring, I was tapped to be a worship leader during Wednesday services. Before the summer was out, I was leading worship during every other Sunday evening. This past Sunday was the first time I led worship during the morning service. I also went from choir to quartet to soloist this year, if you can believe that.

I also spent much of July and August designing and coding our new church website. That was an adventure, one that I've since had to turn over to my wife due to lack of free time to keep working on it. The lack of free time resulted from my need to get more Biblical education. God sent another person into my life to show me how to get started on that.

God has taught me trust and obedience. He has taught me that my job is not to produce results but to do my absolute best for Him. The results are His. I began Fall with two daunting tasks - completing three additional classes, and tackling a big project at work. All I could do was my best and remind myself that, win or lose, I will praise Him.

December was probably the most intense month of the year. I was busy rehearsing for the Christmas cantata, which went well. I was busy finishing up the project at work, of which my half is as done as it's going to be for now. I was busy writing papers and studying for finals as well. I'm pleased to report that as of now, I have received an A in two of three classes. There is nothing to report on the third class yet, as it ran a bit beyond the end of the semester.

The bottom line is...God did it. May He get the glory. He took a lazy, inept, good-for-nothing sinner like me, and worked through the life He gave me to show how great He is. All I did was worship, pray, seek Him through His Word, and give Him everything I have. My only personal goal for 2010 was to read through the entire Bible in a year, which I will be finishing up on New Year's Eve. May He get the glory for that as well.

He's now setting the stage for 2011 to be an even more interesting year. I've recently been elected to serve as a deacon, and my term starts in just a few days. There are more projects set to come my way next month. There are three more classes to take. Is it any wonder that my one personal goal for next year is to deepen and enhance my prayer life? Time to hit the books and hit my knees!

"And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong." - 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

"The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace." - Numbers 6:24-26

The Final Exam

I recall a time when I happened to be reading my Bible at my desk, when a coworker happened by and asked me if I was studying for the "final exam", meaning judgment after death. He must have been under the false impression that whatever I would say to God upon my death would somehow determine my ultimate destination. It's amazing how many people in this world think that way - that they'll be able to somehow talk their way out of eternal punishment for sin. God already knows everything, so what could one possibly say to Him to change His mind about where you're going? Think also about the fact that He is sovereign and unchanging. Really, man - who do you think you are, believing you can play the con game with the Almighty?

I am reminded of that incident because it's finals time for me right now, on three different fronts. With this being the end of my first semester at Shepherd School, I've been taking extra time to study, write papers, and take tests. With this being December, the number of church functions to prepare for and attend have increased. With this being the end of my project's life cycle at the office, I'm trying to wrap things up there as well. My schedule is packed. Is it any wonder that I haven't posted a blog in nearly a month?

I have no idea how I'm managing to do all this at once, let alone where I'm finding the time, except to say that it is all happening by God's grace. For so many days now, I have gotten up each morning and admitted to the Lord that I can't do any of this on my own. I've asked Him to guide me; I've asked Him to walk with me; I've even asked Him to carry me. I've seen enough during these past few months to know for certain that God answers prayer.

God has used this busy time to teach me more about trust and obedience as well. I became overwhelmed with everything I had ahead of me early last week, and I responded instinctively, by making my own plans about how to get it all done. I forced my own way ahead, without consulting the Father first. The result was emotional withdrawal from my family and a quick slide down the slope of depression. After three agonizing days, I had to humble myself before the Master, admit how wrong I was, trust Him, and do things His way. It's amazing how much has been accomplished since then!

Father, please help me to learn your lessons well, so that I won't need a refresher course. Shape my life to conform to Your sovereign will, that you might be glorified in the life You have given me. I ask this in the blessed name of Jesus. Amen.

"The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him." - Nahum 1:7

"Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." - Hebrews 13:5