Awesome Day! 2 days from my birthday!

Alrighty, so I had a great day yesterday and today! I got to hang out with a bunch of friends last night until late. We did some fun things... some things I won't mention, but fun. I also got to say a couple more goodbyes which is really sad. Everyone is leaving for the summer... and by everyone, I mean a bunch, but quite a few are staying as well. Davy Jones in particular I may never see again along with his brother and his brothers girlfriend who came up who I got to know a little better. Leslie is also leaving for the summer among other people.

Before it got dark, I went on a bike ride with Kyle Goetz in Houghton and across the bridge, around to chutes and ladders and back to HTC. Then I went to Pizza Hut with the family and then went back to HTC for another bike ride. The second bike ride was rough after the day before that day (two days ago), I went on a 4 hour hike that was quite exhuasting for my out of shape body. The second bike ride went down by the canal almost all the way to chassel and back.

Today, I woke up and was sort of sick to my stomach, so I wasn't able to go to church, but it's not the flu. I must have just eaten something that didn't agree with me. Anyways, I slept a little longer until like noon. Then I decided to read my Bible. I haven't been doing it like I should, so I got some really good time in with God. I read Psalms chapter 9 through chapter 19. I then read a topical Bible book thing I have. Then I read a voice of the Martyrs devotional.

Together, those three things made me realize that God delights in His children when they are walking in His ways. We truly can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. In one of the Psalms I read, it mentioned how Christ is a mediator between the father and us and even though we still sin, we have Faith in Christ who died for us. I like to think of it kinda like God is a train and we are tied to the tracks by the ropes of our sin. God is just and won't tolerate sin. However, God sent his Son to be sorta like Superman to go in front of that train and stop it from destroying us. The only thing about analogies is that they are never quite right on, because Christ went through GREAT pain to pay for our sins and superman only has to push. God knows that we're born into sin and we need a blood sacrifice, so Jesus is there to take on all the wrath of God for us.

Knowing this, we need to really follow Christs example and live a life that pleases him. I have also thought about the fact that the greatest love you can have for someone is to die for that person. I want to be that kind of person willing to lay my life down for a friend. This is exactly what Christ did. Even though He is perfect and He is God, he humbled Himself by becoming man to die for us so we could be saved. If one of my earthly friends payed such a severe price, a bloody death on a cross after being beaten, and it was all for me... I would live the rest of my life with a whole different mindset. The best part is that Christ rose again 3 days after He died according to prophecy in scripture, so we serve a living God. Christ died for us and He is risen again. We owe Him our lives of service and by doing that, we will get a great reward in Heaven. It pleases God when His children honor Him and serve him. Living in sin is like nailing Jesus on the cross every time.

Why is it that we do such things? Well, we were born into a sin nature, but if we have faith in Jesus, then we are born again. We have put off the old self and put on the new self which is created to be like Christ Jesus (This is found in Ephesians somewhere...). We can now live for God with hope. Christ will return and I want to be on His side.

This whole thing is really refreshing to me. Who knew you could get so much out of reading the Bible for like half an hour/45 minutes? I need to do this more often. I do not have joy when I don't.

As a birthday resolution, I'm going to read the Bible every day. I don't want to waste my summer away pleasing myself. I want to live for God and share His love to others!

This post is already pretty long, but I strongly encourage you to go read Psalm 16. It shows David's confidence and joy in God because he is living for Him. We can do great things for God when we are living for Him and following Him and there is NOTHING better!