Messages

Yesterday being Sunday, I spent a lot of time listening to people talk about God. I always love that, but for some reason yesterday I felt like a few of the things I heard were really placed on my heart. I want to share them, not only so that you can read them, but also so that I'll remember them.

In church service yesterday morning we started a series called "All in the Family", which is ironic because I'm pretty sure we did the same series at Community also. My pastor was talking about how the relationship with your spouse should come second to your relationship with God. I knew this and I've heard it a hundred times but then he said, "You're not going to be married forever, things will be different in Heaven. Marriage isn't eternal, but God is." I've read the story where Jesus is asked if a woman is married seven times, who will she be married to in Heaven and he responds that in Heaven, marriage won't matter. I guess it just never really hit me before. We live in a society so consumed with getting married. Little girls start dreaming about their wedding and their "Prince Charming" before they even turn five. Kids start "dating" in elementary and middle school. But it all really doesn't matter. It's not going to last. Yes, I'd like to get married someday, but after hearing this sermon, I realized that it's really not as important as our society makes it out to be. Our number one desire should be God's happiness, not how happy we make the person that we decide to spend our life on Earth with.

Yesterday night I went to Renew (the college ministry at my church) and Brad was talking about confession. Confession is something I've learned a lot about considering I was Catholic for the first sixteen years of my life. Last night, he said something that struck me though. (Two epiphanies in one day! hahahh) He said that a lot of the time we learn to justify our sins so that they make sense to us. It's something he just said in passing, but it made me really start thinking. I always take notes as I listen to sermons, so I began to work this idea out in my journal. I wrote down, "Imagine someone else committing your sins, how do you think about them now?" Sometimes we judge others more harshly than we judge ourselves because we can't see their emotions and reasons behind their actions. We should learn to look at our actions and not our emotions behind them, when we start looking at our emotions we start to justify our sins.

Lastly, I was reading "Crazy Love" before I went to bed and there's a couple quotes I want to share:

"People who are obsessed with Jesus aren't consumed with their personal safety and comfort above all else. Obsessed people care more about God's kingdom coming to this earth than their own lives being shielded from pain or distress."

Can you remember the last time you put yourself in danger for God? I can't. I wish I could.
He also tells a story about his wife's grandmother

"As I said before, my wife's grandma Clara offered a real-life example of a person consumed with Jesus. I once attended a play with my wife and some of her relatives, including Grandma Clara. During intermission, I leaned over and asked what she thought of the play. She said, "Oh honey, I really don't want to be here right now." When I asked why, she replied, "I just don't know if this is where I want to be when Christ returns. I'd rather be helping someone or on my knees praying. I don't want Him to return and find me sitting in a theater." I was shocked by her answer."