John 7:15

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John 7:15
The Jews then were astonished, saying, "How has this man become learned having never been educated".

Why do we doubt God? We say that He is all knowing, we say that He is all powerful, we say we trust Him. So why do we doubt Him? I think we see God as one our own, one who is equal with us. We don't see God as an elevated God. I think alot of times we unconsciously see Him as just the man that He was. He WAS fully man. That's all we remember. We don't remember that He IS fully God as well. There's a song that I love called "Dying In Circles" by a band called Silent Planet. There's a lyric in the song that says, "You said take and remember but we always forget'". We forget God in our everyday lives. Even after I decided to give my life to Jesus, I though that it was so stupid to pray for everything you do! I would think to myself, "God doesn't want you to just sit there and pray about it! Go live it!". Now I still believe that alot of people use prayer as excuse not to act, but on the contrary (like I did) I think people use too much action as an excuse not to pray. We have to find the balance. I've really been focusing here lately on praying for everything I do through-out the day. Even in that, I can see the change in myself and how I approach obstacles in my day. Honestly, I'm a pretty stress-free person but instead of me relying on my own worrlylesness, I rely on Gods omnipresence to take control.

Mark 7:9

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Mark 7:9
He was also saying to them, "You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition.

I'm going through the Gospels and one thing that's been on my mind alot lately is how real Jesus was when it came to calling people out. Sometimes when I read, I'll come across somethinng that Jesus says to someone and I think to myself, "Wow...that was brutally honest.". But the more I think about it and the more I think about Jesus' purpose for coming down to earth (Luke 9:56), the more I understand, love, and appreciate the brutal truth that Jesus said. Jesus knows our hearts and Jesus knows exactly where we're at in life. Take for instance this verse above. Jesus wasn't saying this to be rude, He was saying it to bring to attention the dark, deep problems that these Pharisees and scribes had. Was it harsh? You're dang right it was harsh! But Jesus knew that that was exactly what they NEEDED to hear even though it wasn't what they wanted to hear. Jesus shut them up just as He did to alot of other people (Luke 20:26). Now, I'm not saying these things to make Jesus sound rude or cruel, I'm saying these things to show that sometimes being brutaly honest and telling the harsh truth is exactly whats needed in peoples lives. I believe it's really important to have these people in your life. People that will call you out no matter what the circumstances are. Wether you agree or don't agree with them.

Mark 10:4

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Mark 10:4
Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him.

The one who beterayed Him. When I read that, this thought hit my brain. "That's how everyone looks at Judas". I feel like when people think of Judas, they don't think of him being a follower of Jesus, they just focus on him being a betrayer of Jesus. Now I'm not defending his actions of beraying Jesus, I'm just saying that everybody has. When you sin deliberately, you betray Jesus. When you turn your eyes and make something else your god, you betray Jesus. There's this one song, I can't remember the name of it, but it says, "O my soul. O my Jesus. Judas sold you for thirty, Id've done it for less." I heard that song and it really made me self-analyze. At first the song bothered me but the more I thought about it, the more it didn't bother me because of the honesty. The part that we have to see is that it's not an excuse to sin. It's a reason not to! That's where we pray and ask God to cleanse us and make us bold. That's where you ask yourself, "Am I willing to sell my Savior for _________?" You fill in the blank. Judas was and did. And although that's how everyone sees Judas, I really do hope to see him in heaven.

Psalm 18:26

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Psalm 18:26
With the pure You show Yourself pure, and with the crooked You show Yourself astute.

So my Bible is a NASB (New American Standard Bible) version. Other versions say something different than the word "astute". I read it and had no idea what it meant. The verse before says, "With the kind You show Yourself kind; with the blameless You show Yourself blameless" and then it says the one about the pure above. So when I read that I thought to myself, "Well God can't deal crookedly with somebody.". I borrowed some data on Sarah's phone and looked up the deffinition of the word. The deffinition of "astute" is having or showing an ability to accurately assess situations or people and turn this to one's advantage. So what this verse is saying is with the crooked, God sees the crookedness and uses it to show Himself. When I figured that out, it made me think of my life and how I was to how I am now. I was crooked. I was not okay. I had a God shaped void in my life. God came to me and wrecked me. God took my breathe away. God washed me away. The reason I didn't say He washed away my sins is because He did so much more than that. All I was was sin. God washes away sin and if all I was was sin than God just had to wash me away completely and build a whole new Roaren. I know I'm still human and I'm still a sinful creature but the mercy and grace that God's shown me is beyond me. I'm writing a song called "Bleed For Me". It's about my inner disgust and inner sin, yet God still loves me with all of His heart. God has been and always will be astute with me.

Judges 6:31

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Judges 6:31
But Joash said to all who stood against him, "Will you contend for Baal, or will or will you deliver him? Whoever will plead for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because someone has torn down his altar."

To give you some back story, Joash is Gideons father. In the middle of the night, Gideon did as the Lord told him and took 10 of his servants and detroyed the altar of Baal. So in the morning, everyone who worshipped at the altar came and found it destroyed. They found out that Gideon had did it and went to his father and told him to bring out his son to be put to death and the verse above was Joah's reponse.
So why did I chooe this verse? I chose it because of the response of Gideons father. My favorite part is highlighted in my Bible. "If he is a god, let him contend for himself". The people stood up for this god that did nothing for them and wanted revenge. The thing that I love is God can contend for Himself! In 1st Kings, chapter 18, Elijah told the worshippers of Baal to show himself. They cried out to Baal and cut themelves with swords as usually done in the rituals of Baal. They cried out and nothing happened. So then Elijah called on the Lord and God visually answered. You see God can and does contend for Himself. God shows Himself in everything. There's a song called "The Sea Always Seems To Put Me At Ease" by Being As An Ocean. The song is about getting in an internal tiff about the presence and goodness of God. At the end of the song it turns around and says "For we see testimony of You in the sea,  Your creation, all of nature. So with a sudden rush, we abandon our solitary perching place. And as we wash away the mourning dust, Immersed; we see Your face." The sea always seems to put at ease. God always seems to put me at ease.

Psalm 13:6

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Psalm 13:6
I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me.

Here lately I've been in just kind of a bad mood. I haven't been thankful for what God's given me. And when I say "What God's given me", I don't just mean Ignite. It's the 29th of December of 2017. Christmas just came and passed, I just had my 19th birthday on the 11th, and I just got my package from my family. So what I mean by "What God's given me" is the people that God's put in my life. My dad, mom, brothers, grandparents, friends, and everyone else. God has given me SO MUCH MORE than I could ask for! So the reason I chose this verse is because it says, "He has dealt bountifully with me". Bountifully means large in quantity or abundant. God has dealt so abundantly with me! This bitterness and uncomfort in my heart has been blocking my joy out. Even today, bitterness caught up to me and honestly I dwelled on it for a bit. The moral of all this is I'm growing. I get lost sometimes but I'm learning to run to God with the bitterness that I get. God always finds me. So it goes back to the beginning of the verse, I will sing to the Lord. I will worship the Lord because He has dealt abundantly with me.

Luke 7:37-38. Humble Servant Am I.

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Luke 7:37-38
37 And there was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when she learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisees's house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume, 38 and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume.

Oh God! I can't believe all the places that I've been and all of those I've come to meet. Blessings of faith, when I have only a mustard seed. For every hardship in my life, I'll hold Your name, I'll do just fine. All praise are Yours and none are mine. Instruments played by hands that cannot read or recollect one solitary note or line, yet play in perfect harmony. God whispers into some mens ears, well He screams into mine. Speaking, endlessly, all my hopes and fears. Nay, simply I'll reply. Blessings so sweet and divine. None of which I do deserve, for only a humble servant am I. Am I. Lowly, I'll wash Your feet with the tears I've cried. Each joy in my life and each breath in my lungs attests to Your overwhelming grace. Show us Your love. You see my tattered shoes, my broken spirit. Unequipped to finish the race that I could have never won. So you snatched me up into Your strong arms and over Your shoulders, I was slung. Lord, You've given me the tools to live as Your own. Talent, drive, and the willingness to run. All praise are Yours, and none are mine, for only a humble servant am I. Am I. Hope my humility can outlast my pride.