Verse of the Day - Job 42:2

"I know you can do all things;
no plans of yours can be thwarted"

So today I went back at it
University is a tough place and I've put a lot of hard work into it so discovering today that I had apparently failed a class did not exactly make me smile
I didn't know what to do but with a few reminders ;) I quickly realized how God is sovereign over all things and there is nothing He lets out of His sight
Me freaking out about it and worrying till I get sick isn't helping, but coming before a God who's plans can not be thwarted is what I am called to do and is what brings Him glory
I am lacking in faith and in my understanding as to what is going on, but I know that He has always provided for me before and He will continue too as long as I continue to follow what He has called me to.
I will remember to pray this verse in the days to come and as I am continually faced with challenges in my live that God allows into my life
with all of this in mind I am sure that a mistake has been made and my final exam was not included in the mark so I believe everything will work out according to the purpose of God
Remember He can not be thwarted

Verse of the day Romans 15: 13

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope"

Context: Paul is once again stating the inclusion of the gentiles in salvation, quoting from several passages of scripture including Isaiah 11:10 "The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the gentiles; in him the Gentiles hope." The hope then that Paul states in verse 13 is a hope for all who believe, not just for the Jews. After laying on such an extensive passage of what it means to follow Christ, this verse serves as an encouragement of how this is possible

Why this passage: I liked this verse because of how easy is is to break down, but how powerful and convicting it is.
May the God of hope - our God is not one who, as many people have thought, created the universe and then backed away to let us figure it out. He is always present as Paul characterizes Him as one who's nature is Hope. It is quite impossible to fully explain or understand God, but the idea that He is "of hope" is amazing. Hope, not in the sense like I hope the Leafs will win the stanley cup, but hope as in Jesus Christ died for me and saved me from the sin that lived within me. It is an absolute assurance and God is full of it. Amazing thing...He wants to fill us
"fill you with all joy and peace in believing" - for the race set before us in Christ, God has chosen to fill us so that we may be able to stand. When asked about my life in Christ it's pretty hard not to look at my situation and see blessings, but I am convicted, and rightly so, that this is not how I should esteem my relationship with Christ. If I were in a third world country with no possessions and no food would I still be loving God and loving to others. This verse reminds me that I am filled with joy and peace because of my belief in Christ regardless of whatever situation I am in, whether well fed or hungry.
"so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope" - this is where the conviction really kicks in. It is necessary to understand and believe that the joy and peace will only come by the power of the Holy Spirit and not by human means. We can not get this joy or peace by wealth or friends or good deeds, it is only coming from a belief in the God of Hope THROUGH the power of the Holy Spirit. What is so powerful about this verse I believe is that it ends with an abounding hope. Similar to the start of verse one where God is stated as being hope Himself, we, as followers of Him are going to be completely filled, overflowing, etc with the assured hope of what God has promised: The joy and peace of believing in Jesus Christ

Verse of the day - Romans 15: 7

"Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God"

Context: Paul is speaking to the Romans about the obligation for the stronger brother to help the weaker brother as Christ did not care for himself but for others.

Important point: 15:5 is a prayer from Paul that God would grant harmony. It is important to see that the unity of believers that is so often addressed in scripture is not one that is self made. God is the one who brings unity and without faith in Him there will be none.

Why this verse: So what is so important about this verse.
Well to start of it is a command. Suggestions are not really a part of scripture and so every time a command is given, a follower of Jesus needs to examine it and see how it applies to there own life. Am I welcoming to those around me? Other translations have accept or receive so the real question is am I loving everyone?
Secondly, Christ is the example. "As Christ has welcomed you". We are not commanded to welcome/receive/accept/love one another because it makes us feel good, we are to do these things because Christ has first shown this to us. The strength that Paul addresses in 15:1 is not one of human strength in superiority but one of God at work in the believers life because "Christ has welcomed you"
Finally, the purpose of it all is to glorify God. God has created all things to bring Him glory and the pinnacle of this is the life death, resurrection and saving power of Jesus Christ. No matter what we do God will always be glorified, and as this verse commands that we welcome one another, we must do so with the example of Christ in mind and for the ultimate purpose of glorifying God as "they may see your good works and glorify your Father, who is in Heaven"

Learning

Sometimes in university I'm in a class and I already know what the prof is talking about. I think to myself "how lame is this that I have to sit through another lecture on something I learned last year". I get distracted counting ceiling tiles or something like that and I barely hear the prof say something that I'm totally unprepared for and I suddenly realize there is a whole lot more to the topic then what I had previously learned. Now instead of being completely on top of the subject, I need to spend extra time understanding how all the new concepts fit in. If I had of just paid attention from the start everything would have made sense and I could move onto to writing this blog earlier.
This aspect of thinking I know something can often carry into my life with God and reading His word. I find myself reading a passage of scripture that I memorized in 5th grade and it having no impact on me as my mind is somewhere else. My approach to scripture becomes similar to that of my biochemistry class: I know the basics already so all the little details should just be easy to pick up along the way.
It doesn't take long however before I realize how completely lost I am in trying to understand what God is teaching me. Clearly if I think I have it all together and know everything there is to know, then I won't be putting a whole lot of effort into "going to class" to see what God has for me today. This leads to a putting aside of God's word for other things which have no benefit whatsoever. If I am going to be changed by the knowledge in God's word I need to be focused in my reading and realizing how very little I know of God
The solution for my classes is one of intentionality. I need to focus on what the prof is saying and make notes on the concepts he is teaching, even if I already know some of it. This way I won't miss any of the new ideas and I'll have complete notes to come back to.
With God's word it is the same. I need to intentionally read his word, study it, regardless of how I feel, in a structured way and not random bits here and there. At university my schedule of activities is based off of my schedule of my classes because I can't miss any of them. My schedule can not be determined from what I want to do or specific plans but it should be determined by the times I have set to read God's word.

Bigger

Go back to the days of you childhood, for some of us it seems like yesterday
Do you remember those really lame arguments? "I'm better", "I'm stronger" , "I'm faster"
We could always find something bigger and better about ourselves and make sure everyone knew about it.
As we grow we forget about the pointless arguments but continue in our belief that we are better
But most often we find ourselves in a situation where supposed superiority fails and we break down to where can't handle things anymore
We become so enthralled with ourselves and the 'good' things about us that we put God on the shelf and move on.
I believe that one simple line, when applied, could break apart our pride, but also allow our fear of helpless times to be taken away. Simply
"God is bigger"
First off God is bigger than us. We need to dispense with the notion that there is anything particularly special or great about us. God is 'stronger, faster, better, bigger, smarter' and everything else more than us.
But more than God is bigger than me or you, He is bigger than our circumstances and fears
I'm often reminded of the Veggie Tales sing along "God is bigger than the boogie man, He's bigger than godzilla, or the monsters on TV...and He's watching out for you and me.
Such a simple song and as a kid I remember believing that God had all the monsters taken care of (which I for sure thought were real).
Today though, we find it much harder to have faith for the littlest things not to mention the big ones. I mean if our faith in God when we were children could take care of the fear of ravenous monsters, what has happened for us to believe that God will provide for us with all of our needs.
We need to get back to the GOD IS BIGGER mentality before we can try and put our faith in Him. If we don't believe that God is bigger that how will we have faith that He can get us through our tough times,
God is bigger. He's bigger than my exams, my relationships, my finances, my future, my (insert entire vocabulary here)

Why I hate snow

Long story short

1) Decided to go see a movie (mistake)
2) Stuck in parking lot (5-10 minutes)
3)Out of parking lot and off to the movie (15 minute drive)
4) Park on opposite side of the parking lot of the movie theater (mistake)
5)See movie Be Kind Rewind with Jack black
6) Finish movie and walk AROUND the theater to get to the car (mistake)
7)Back to school parking lot, decide to drive to back of parking lot (mistake)
8) Stuck at the back of the parking lot, 4 guys help push car out (10 minutes)
9) Middle of the parking lot stuck again, same guys come and push me out (10 minutes)
10) Decide to turn into parking space (biggest mistake), car no longer works in reverse
11) 4 guys come back AGAIN, help push car into new space (20 minutes)
Now is the part you ask why? Well if you know me than you know that if I decide to do something, than you can pretty much guarantee that I'll follow through with it
tonight was a night that I should've called it quits before I started
The snow won tonight
But the sun is on my side

Part 2

With so many blogs out there with discontinued part ones and half-hearted part two's i think it's time for a solid part 2 blog
part 1's always get the most attention, the most comments, and clearly has the most effort put into it
with part two's dragging behind in their follow ups and they're "coming soon" is never soon enough
i mean common if you've got enough in your head to write "part 1" in the title then you shouldn't be skimping on the part two, you should save your best so the readers come back and are amazed its even better than the stuff you wrote the first time around
part 2 needs more respect, it's been humiliated enough and it's time for a comeback
so here's what you can do
if you don't have a blog
get one
and borrow this one start you off
if you do have a blog
make your part 2's even sweeter from now on and make your part one's a little more sucky
just to make the part 2's feel better about themselves after being mistreated so much in the past
let part two come in first for once