May 25th

You're serving. You're not a servant. God serves man, but he is not a servant to man.
We should all be humbled that we GET to serve. We GET to do what God WANTS us to do and what he does HIMSELF.

The first part was from the movie "Life is Beautiful"

Yes Isaac.
Reply to the email! I have so much to study for this week, btu who cares i'm lazy haha.

My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,”- James 1:19
Biblegateway.com Passage of the day!

I read this in the morning, and i tired meditating on it before the day started. You know telling yoruself you belong to God and you live for him every morning makes yoru day brighter. Because of this verse, i was able to be slow to anger today and just smile and not care at things that would normally tick me off. It also says be quick to listen! I think it's always wise to listen to ALL of it and then HTINK before you speak in that order. If you don't listen you'll mess things up, if you speak too soon you'll mess up things. Just be wise! WOrds are never too late, as long as they are the right ones.

Deuteronomy 15:1-11

The Year For Cancelling Debts

According to this verse it says that all debts or anything along those lines should be forgotten after 7 years. I was kind of confused why it was seven so I searched it up on Yahoo and this is what I got: Seven is used frequently in the Scriptures to signify completeness.
The Festival of Unleavened Bread and the Festival of Booths were each seven days long. (Ex 34:18; Le 23:34), God was long-suffering with Israel but warned them that if, despite his discipline, they ignored him, he would then chastise them “seven times,” thoroughly, for their sins.—Le 26:18, 21, 28. So I think it was seven was because if the debt could not be paid, the only logical reason would be either they can not, or they are just avoiding paying for 7 years so they can get out of it, but it also says 9Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: "The seventh year, the year for cancelling debts, is near" haha its sort of a rhyme. So its basically saying if this is your intent, to delay the payment so they can get out of it, 7 year cancelling debt agreement is disregarded and the LORD shall find them guilty of sin. It also says 11There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land. Its saying since there will always be poor people, we will always be required to open our hearts and help them.

Romans 8 (my favorite chapter )
"5Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires"
Mind sets. Thats really interesting because this Friday we're going to talk about the mind set of the team. Try to think about what kind of "mind set" you have towards the team. For me its to make a great team, not just a good one!

-Isaac

Ephesians 4:26

"In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold....Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

I like that one particular line: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.
I think that's a pretty good ideology to stand by - never face a new day, not having dealt with the conflicts of the past. This verse is interesting for me, because I'm more of an introvert when it comes to dealing with anger, which scares me sometimes, because I'm concerned I'm going to be like those sociopaths that lets it build up and explodes one day! Haha, kidding. But this verse encourages me to come to terms with whatever anger I carry with me, by each day's end, whether it be by appropriately dealing with the situation at hand if need be, or by finding adequate and abundant peace in Jesus.
When we don't come to terms with our anger and let it boil, we're giving the devil a foothold, and that's a really scary supposition. Every heavy thought we carry with us is another opportunity for Satan to take advantage of our vulnerable, angry states of mind and manipulate us to commit sin in the process, whether it be through gossip, mean thoughts, or projecting your anger onto others, haha.

Anyways, sometimes this is difficult to abide by, but I think it's a good challenge.

Happy Choosday.

- H

I was trying to pick a passage for today's devo, but I'm still a little hung up on Pastor Dennis' sermon from Sunday about the wrath and love of God. So, I'm going to post my little thoughts from the sermon that are still lingering.

From reading Isaiah, I thought I knew, understood, and accepted the "harsher" side of God. But when Pastor Dennis compared God to the father who beat a dog to death, I was caught off guard. As I thought about the sermon more and more, I was confused as to why God would eliminate the Amaleckites. I mean, I can see that they were fearless of God, but God had initially created them with His love and breath, so why wasn't he giving them another chance? I remember Suji asked Pastor Dennis whether God had given them a second chance to prove themselves to God, and he said yes.

I was thinking about this the whole day today, and I think I finally figured it out. As Pastor Dennis said, God has both wrath and love, and He has so much wrath with us because we are sinners. For those of us that are saved, through Jesus being crucified on the cross, Jesus faced God's wrath forever for us to be blessed with God's love. For those that aren't saved, like the Amaleckites, the wrath of God is still with them, and they had to face the consequences.

The punishing and angry God might seem unloving initially, but I think that our God is someone who is really loving and just. He sees what is right and what is wrong, and knows what must be done to make everything good.

Hey guys I'll make this quick cuase mother is yelling at me from upstairs to go to bed. I had an extra bio class today at 7:30am. It was as if I walked into the fiery depths of hell. epic.

"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."
— Jeremiah 29:13

I loved this verse becuase it really opened my eyes to WHY it sometimes feel like God's not there and that we can't find him. Sometimes we pray half-heartedly or 'seek' God, without actually wanting him to be there with us, because we sort of push God off to the side.. But without realizing this we can easily become frustrated and ask 'why isn't God answering' or 'why do i feel like hes not there'. Well I guess this verse really explains a lot of that doubt. In order to really find God and experience him, our passion and desire to do so has to come whole-heartedly. Why would God want to reveal himself when he knows that we don't actually want him to reveal himself to us? Why would he let us find him and see him if he knows that we're just going to push him aside and save him for 'later'? That's why this verse really challenges us to reflect on the condition of our hearts - is finding God really our top priority? Or has that kind of been forgotten with our busy lives? Just something to think about. I know we're all getting busier and busier as exams approach. But let's remember to keep God in our hearts at all times!