God loves us so much. That's what I have been getting during Sophomore/Freshmen worship night tonight. This post is not going to be about how I keep noticing my flaws. Instead, it will focus more on how much God loves us.
Earlier during the afternoon, I attended IV Church. One of the things Pastor Jason mentioned was examples of being a father. Even during worship, I noticed a kid running around while his dad lovingly watched him. He asked if it was alright for his kid to be on my longboard and I told him I didn't mind. Watching the man love his son got me thinking about how much God loves us as his children. We may do things that we may get in trouble for, but God is watching us.
Tonight's worship had been an amazing experience because I spent most of it listening to God instead of worrying about a lot of things that do not matter. My prayer was basically asking to glorify Him in everything I do. I felt God was speaking to me during the worship time. In my mind, I heard, "Look at the ocean and the moon reflecting off it. This is my gift to you." I also felt blessed to be in Santa Barbara where I am right next to the beach. I love listening to the sound of the waves crashing on the shore, and sometimes I even like the smell of the sea. I am blessed with a community of other Christians who love God. I probably don't even deserve all the things I have, yet I'm blessed to have them.
Tonight, I called Him "daddy" a lot. To be honest, I don't use that term a lot...at least not since I was a child. I just call my own father "dad" because I find it weird to call him "daddy" as I got older. Yet, I've been calling God by the name "daddy" a lot during worship. I totally saw myself as a child, and He was watching over me.
Also, since there had been lots of birthdays recently, I thought about how I don't really get gifts during mine...at least none I can remember. I know, that's a selfish thing to think of. Yet during worship, I realized God gave me a gift greater than anything I could ever receive from any human, and that is the gift of life. Each year is another year of experiences. I'm blessed to even be alive. It's strange how I don't usually think about that. I even remembered how my mom told me she wanted to abort me when my dad convinced her not to. To be alive now is a miracle if I think about it. I do feel sad for a couple siblings that were never born because they were miscarried or aborted. God gave me the gift of life, and that's a gift that can never be beaten by other people. For that I am thankful.
I know I used the word "blessed" a lot in this post, but that's exactly how I feel right now. There's so much in my life that I take for granted. Thinking about this, I realize how much God loves us. I really felt like writing about this. I would actually like to write more on this, except I don't know what else to write. In everything you do, know that He is watching over us.
Until next time,
Kenneth
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Power of Words
Remember when kids would say "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me"? That's a lie. No matter how hard you try, words will always affect you in some way.
Before coming back to Santa Barbara, I remember attending a youth group called Wildfire, and the youth pastor named Todd talked about the power of words. They can help, but they can also cause harm. That is probably common sense; however, did you ever consider how they can affect you spiritually? I remember hearing about an example from some reality tv show I have never watched. Apparently some girl decided to wear clothes she loved, and when her mother criticized the clothes privately, the girl ended up feeling bad the rest of the day. I find it interesting that someone would feel negatively from something not said in front of her.
Remember Matthew 21? In that chapter Jesus went up to a fig tree to look for fruit because he was hungry. Since he found nothing except leaves, Jesus said, "May you never bear fruit again!" The tree immediately withered. Jesus then tells his disciples that if they believed and had no doubt, they will receive whatever they ask in prayer.
I still need to accept that words can be powerful. Sometime during the first week of being back in Santa Barbara, I decided to go to the prayer shed for some quiet time. As I sat on one of the couches, I decided to open the Bible up to a random page. I flipped to Proverbs 12. When I got to verse 18, it said "Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing." It really seems like God has been teaching me about the power of words recently. I've been trying to make sure the things I had been saying are encouraging.
On Monday, I decided to meet up with Ian. During our meeting, he pointed out that he feels I need to set my priorities straight. Honestly, I had been feeling the same thing for a bit. Although I knew he was right in a lot of what he had to say, I still felt down about it. That night, I decided to go back into the prayer shed for some quiet time. I never really do it in my room because I know I will either be distracted by my laptop sitting on my desk or by thoughts that I might bother people by praying out loud when that should not be an issue at all. During that quiet time, I used it to ask God to change my heart so that it would be at the right place. I had to submit myself while I was alone in the room. What does that have to do with words being powerful? Well, I found that actually praying out loud helped a lot with putting my focus on God. I focused more on talking to Him instead of wondering about other things. It was one of those moments where I felt a release of stress.
Right now, I would like to ask you to pray that God would break me down to the point that I put all my trust in Him. I believe prayer helps because there's power in it. I pray that you may realize what you say can have a great effect on others. I apologize if this seems disorganized as all my posts are done in one shot without much planning and organizing.
Until next time,
Kenneth
Before coming back to Santa Barbara, I remember attending a youth group called Wildfire, and the youth pastor named Todd talked about the power of words. They can help, but they can also cause harm. That is probably common sense; however, did you ever consider how they can affect you spiritually? I remember hearing about an example from some reality tv show I have never watched. Apparently some girl decided to wear clothes she loved, and when her mother criticized the clothes privately, the girl ended up feeling bad the rest of the day. I find it interesting that someone would feel negatively from something not said in front of her.
Remember Matthew 21? In that chapter Jesus went up to a fig tree to look for fruit because he was hungry. Since he found nothing except leaves, Jesus said, "May you never bear fruit again!" The tree immediately withered. Jesus then tells his disciples that if they believed and had no doubt, they will receive whatever they ask in prayer.
I still need to accept that words can be powerful. Sometime during the first week of being back in Santa Barbara, I decided to go to the prayer shed for some quiet time. As I sat on one of the couches, I decided to open the Bible up to a random page. I flipped to Proverbs 12. When I got to verse 18, it said "Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing." It really seems like God has been teaching me about the power of words recently. I've been trying to make sure the things I had been saying are encouraging.
On Monday, I decided to meet up with Ian. During our meeting, he pointed out that he feels I need to set my priorities straight. Honestly, I had been feeling the same thing for a bit. Although I knew he was right in a lot of what he had to say, I still felt down about it. That night, I decided to go back into the prayer shed for some quiet time. I never really do it in my room because I know I will either be distracted by my laptop sitting on my desk or by thoughts that I might bother people by praying out loud when that should not be an issue at all. During that quiet time, I used it to ask God to change my heart so that it would be at the right place. I had to submit myself while I was alone in the room. What does that have to do with words being powerful? Well, I found that actually praying out loud helped a lot with putting my focus on God. I focused more on talking to Him instead of wondering about other things. It was one of those moments where I felt a release of stress.
Right now, I would like to ask you to pray that God would break me down to the point that I put all my trust in Him. I believe prayer helps because there's power in it. I pray that you may realize what you say can have a great effect on others. I apologize if this seems disorganized as all my posts are done in one shot without much planning and organizing.
Until next time,
Kenneth
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