Whether you like it or not, your life and mine is an open book. God knows the hearts of all and searches the mind and heart.

“And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” Hebrews 4:13

Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, You know it all. Psalm 139:4

The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD, Searching all the innermost parts of his being. Proverbs 20:27

“As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.” I Chronicles 28:9

‘And I will kill her children with pestilence, and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds. Rev 2:23

In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. Romans 8:26-27

Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way. Psalm 139:23-24

“I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.” Jeremiah 17:10

“…You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all…” Acts 1:24

“… His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men, The LORD tests the righteous, but the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates.

Some thoughts for your day… I like the first couple the best.

“Pessimism is not in being tired of evil but in being tired of good. Despair does not lie in being weary of suffering, but in being weary of joy.”

“I believe in getting into hot water; it keeps you clean.”

“I owe my success to having listened respectfully to the very best advice, and then going away and doing the exact opposite.”

“It is not bigotry to be certain we are right; but it is bigotry to be unable to imagine how we might possibly have gone wrong.”

“You can only find truth with logic if you have already found truth without it.”

–G.K. Chesterton

Let me preface this blog by saying, I am a pretty clean person… not just by my own opinion but as my roommates and family will also attest to. However, I find the bathroom the hardest room to maintain. When I had my own bathroom it did stay clean for longer because of my general clean habits and also because, of course, two people make a room dirtier, faster.

While I can maintain my own room and pretty much maintain the kitchen and living room, the bathroom gets left out. Sometimes I just feel like letting it go. The tub just now was far too dirty. Germs and mold were buying properties. Houses near the drain were going for $500,000. Well I just put an end to that. Now it is shiny again.

So I guess I am writing again cause I just got back from another short trip and since I just said that I think alot about life when I go on trips I thought I should say something… to myself.¬†

I went to Chicago for the Grandparents 60th wedding anniversary. I think that is rather incredible… especially in today’s culture… it is unheard of. So I thought about it and I thought… that is what I want by God’s grace. That’s it on that.

We also hung out with some of the coolest people ever… Devin, Andrea, and Nadia. Go check Devin’s music:¬†www.myspace.com/asherlevmusic. It rules… especially “Motor City Mud” and “The Great Revival”. We went to church with them, ate chicago deep dish pizza, went and got gelato (of course), talked about pineapple, custard, and glazed vietnamese food?… and then we squozed each other goodbye and headed home.

The message at church was awesome and just what I needed to hear… especially when moving: God’s timing is everything. The passage spoken on was Psalm 37:1-7 and the verse that I liked the best was “Rest In the LORD, and wait patiently for Him…” It is so good to rest in Him… but it is certainly not easy. I do not believe in luck at all, only divine appointment. I absolutely love Proverbs 16:33 “The lot is cast into the lap, But its every decision is from the LORD.”

Do you believe in luck?

I am currently reading the book of Jeremiah and I read something that made me think. It is Jeremiah 10:23 “O LORD, I know the way of man is not in himself; It is not man who walks to direct his own steps.”

This brought to mind how God is completely sovereign over everything… both the good and bad. For example in the case of Job, God didn’t directly inflict Job with all the pain that he endured… cause Satan did that… but Satan had to get permission from God.¬†

This reminded me of something in Proverbs… Proverbs 21:1 “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.” He is completely sovereign even to the hardening of hearts (eg. Pharaoh letting Israel go).

Even the foolish, stupid, and sinful things we do have been allowed by Him. He gives us the power to choose to do or not do. Even if we choose poorly in the end all those decisions will still bring Him glory… even the sinful ones… as they will not only show His perfect redemption, but His perfect justice as well. I am amazed how God has allowed something completely opposite of His nature (sin) out of which come many evil things which have been allowed by Him and permitted (ordained) but are not of Him… they are not of His nature and do not make up any part of Him… yet ultimately they will bring Him glory.

Funny how people blame God for freedoms He gave them… and whatever they use that freedom for (good or evil) and face consequences for, will bring Him glory in the end. I guess when I say “they” I should be saying we.. cause I do it too… maybe in different, less blatant ways. The cool thing is that to those who love Him (choose to) and are called according to His purpose… then “all things work together for good”. So I would say to you and myself to choose wisely, as God will work through your choice. He directs our steps.

Needless to say I have not always had such moments reading the book of Jeremiah. Some days it’s like “what?”.

Thanks for reading.

I heard a message recently on faith and although many of the things I have heard before or have known… God puts things in front of us at just the right time. The time when things ring true in our life as never before. It is then that we truly learn and grow.¬†

The message was by the late Adrian Rogers and the truth that spoke to me (paraphrased) is that faith is not bound by feelings or emotions which can be the shallowest part of our nature. Faith is a deep work of God and He doesn’t do the deepest work in the shallowest part.¬†

Faith that is rooted in logic (intelligent faith) but that goes beyond logic becomes its own logic. Without it we do not understand the things of God… for seeing is not believing, but believing is seeing. Faith honors God and God honors faith.¬†

Isaiah says that there was no beauty or comeliness that we should desire Jesus. Yet in Jesus was expressed the fullness of glory, purity, wisdom, and majesty of God. Faith is not altered by appearance. Beauty is a great gift but faith is not according to it or feelings or friends or fortune or fame…¬†

Faith and worry do not go together. When we have faith in God we don’t worry… I think this is one of my favorite things about faith. I find that I need these constant reminders cause life is so much better walking without fear, worry, or doubt. I have seen that everyone is different in that as well… I think for me it is easy now to not fear or worry… but doubt is the hard one. For friends of mine they don’t have doubt but they have worry or fear. Those things contract you as a person while faith, hope, and love expand you.

It’s crazy good.