I Live Alone

There is something to be said for the presence of others. It's something that I never really thought about until about 3 days ago. I am interning at a church in downtown Austin, and living at a house all by myself. Now, before you start thinking, "Oh! Poor Matthew!", stop yourself; please! I am not writing this for pity, but rather to get my thoughts out and share with you [My Readers] a new adventure I have begun in life.

Living by myself has its ups and downs. The good things are: being able to laundry whenever I want, will have a clean place to live, and won't have to worry about anyone I don't know that well showing up. The downside is this: I'm alone when not at work. Being an extrovert, not having anyone else around is hard. This leads me to what I have been learning by living alone.

1. Don't Take Interaction with Others for Granted: Every moment I spend with someone is a blessing, and I need to remember that. God has blessed me with friends and family, and I thank all of them [you] for the blessing they are!
2. If You Want to Be Around Others, Be Intentional: When you live alone, you cannot expect others to be sitting around waiting to call you to hangout; the world does not revolve around you [or ME!]! It can be hard for me to always remember this, but by doing this I am strengthening relationships I have with others and I hope to build new ones.
3. Relationship is Divine: God desires to have relationship with us, and we are created in His image. That means that relationship with others is a beautiful thing. I thank God for relationship with others!
4. Time Alone is Time to Grow: Being alone can suck for me as an extrovert, BUT it is excellent time to grow. I am seeking to strengthen my relationship with God and to grow in my faith in Him and life for Him throughout my time living alone.

This is what Jesus had to say about life, and the relationships we have:

^"Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”"

           - Matthew 22:37-40

We are made for relationship, even if we live alone.

Repentance

It's gonna be a short one today.
I know I haven't been publishing as often lately, life's just become pretty crazy lately.

Ok, so God's really been pushing me toward true repentance. Typically I think about repentance as when I sin I pray to God, ask Him for forgiveness, thank Him for His forgiveness, and then move on with my life. I do this for the same sins a lot as well. This is not true repentance. True repentance is understanding you have committed a sin, and then turning from that sin and to the cross of Jesus Christ. When I repent like I mentioned above, I turn to God and the cross of Christ, but I then turn immediately back to my sins. I don't turn away from them and focus only on the cross. This leads me into struggle cycles with the same sins, and I do not experience how I am supposed to be truly living: for Christ and not for this world. Two verses that remind of how I am supposed to act in a life of repentance are Acts 3:19 and Colossians 3:2.
Acts 3:19 -
"Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord"
Colossians 3:2 -
"Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things."
The verse from Acts tells us that turning to God is how we repent, and that when we do so it will be refreshing! The verse from Colossians tell us to look to heaven and God by setting our minds on things above and not to look to the world for what we should do. Why do I turn away from God and to my worldly sins? Sins and this world do not bring about "times of refreshing", only God can do that.

This is my prayer: With these things in mind I strive to turn to God and stay fixated on Him when I repent so that I will turn away from the things of this world.

-Matt

Come Together

God has really been placing a LOT of thoughts about community in my brian.

There have been many different thoughts on this lately, but two key instances come to mind.
The first was the other night while my girlfriend, Deanna, and I were doing a Bible Study together in the book of Romans. Romans 1:8-12 was the cluster of verses that really stuck out to me about community.

"First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you. 
       I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong—that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith." - Romans 1:8-12


Paul explains to his fellow Follower's of the Way (believers in Christ) that he is remembering them constantly. He has created such a connection with them that He wishes the best for them in their faith walk, and wishes he could be with them. Community is being with fellow believers and encouraging one another in Christ and following Him. 


This idea was also hammered home to me more when, the day after my Bible Study with Deanna, in my Children's Ministry class we discussed community in the Church. Just having community being brought up again I could see God is really stressing this idea to me. I do not have any specific idea with how God wants me to use community besides strengthening the communities of faith that I am already a part of; however, I do know that God will have me using community for Him. I'm ready to see how this all happens. 


-Matt

You're a Jerk

Satan is a jerk. 

In case ya'll didn't know that, I am now informing you. I have just been realizing more and more how he tries to get me off track and away from God. Satan uses all sorts of things to just try and make me forget how I am supposed to be fulfilling my purpose of living fully for God. Recently its been mindless things like being lazy, or not taking time to actually think about everything I do and how that it needs to be done for Christ. Satan is tricky, but God has already defeated him. Lots of times, I fall into these temptations; however, when I do God's grace covers me. 

Whenever I fail, God looks at me and says, "The ways you have failed and sinned in, I forget. Walk with me." "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." - Romans 3:23-24 When I sin and fall into temptation, God forgives me. Because of this grace, I can then keep my head high and continue on in this adventure of life for and with Christ by my side. Amen.

You're Everything, You're Everything

I have been in a weird spot lately. I have been not been taking time to stop from the craziness of life to have  time to talk with God. I know that I need to, now I just have to remember everyday. As I strive to follow Him more and more this becomes more apparent to me. Christ is everything to me.  

This I know to be true: My relationship with Jesus Christ is the most important thing in my life. My faith and life in Christ is the best thing to ever happen to me. I know that Christ has given me knew life in Him because of His death and resurrection on the cross and the freedom from sin and death. I know I will live with Him in heaven forever after my life here on this earth. I He is all I need, and will give me everything I need in life. He is here for me, and for everyone in this same capacity. Spending time with Him will allow my relationship with Him to grow. I cannot wait for what else He has in store for me. 

Our Darkness is Never Darkness

The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.
(Romans 13:12 ESV)

I read this verse the other day while doing some quiet time, and it really stood out to me. So many times I get lost in the darkness and think that I am all alone. I fall pray to my temptations and to the schemes of the devil. I try to solve my problems in my own way or on my own; completely forgetting God and all He has to offer me. This verse gives me hope.
God is always with me, and will always be with me, even in the darkness. He will never leave me. Not only is He the light, but He gives me the "armor of light". All this makes me think is that He gives me a way ti defend myself from the devil and sin, and a weapon to ward them off all at the same time. He gives me the Bible, a community of encouraging fellow believers in my friends and family, and His presence.
God will always be with me, I just have to remember that He is the light and will always overcome the darkness.

What & Why

Why did this happen? Why do I not follow You better? Why can't I just undoubtedly believe that Your plan is the best?

What am I supposed to do? What am I supposed to be learning? What is the next step? What are You doing?

These are some of a few questions that continually come in and out of mind as of late. I don't know why I had to experience this pain, why I do not follow God and get into the Bible more, why I don't dully trust the awesome plan that God has for me, what God is doing with me, what He wants me to be learning, or what He wants me to do. All I know how to do right now is ask questions (to God and trusted friends), read the Bible, and pray. Beyond this, nothing has brought me much relief. With this pain and confusion I cling to this:
          "In this world you will have trouble, but take heart for I have overcome the world."
                                                                                                         - Jesus @ John 16:33
God will get me through because He has been through it all and has defeated anything that could ever hold me back. Sometimes I forget this and think that satan has some kind of power that might actually be able to hinder God and his omnipotency, and I'm wrong. When Jesus died on the cross and rose again from the dead three days later, He destroyed my sin and Satan's power once and for all. All satan is now is just the biggest sore loser that the world has ever known and he goes around trying to get the other team (believers) sad and down on themselves making them think they will never be good enough. TOO BAD SATAN!!!! "We've already won and you don't stand a chance!" God defeated you through Christ's death and resurrection, and you don't have power over anything besides the sin we commit.

So while I am confused, I live knowing God has won and that He will make my best path for me.

-Matt