Having it All Together

Last week, during my voice lesson, my teacher and I chit-chatted a bit, as we tend to do. We always enjoy each other's company and the interesting stories the other has about the previous week's events. On that particular day, students in her voice studio seemed to have been particularly stressed out or absent-minded. She told me that one freshman ended up in tears during her lesson, and a few didn't even bother to show up for their lessons, including the students before and after mine. Neither of them let her know ahead of time.

Well, she started leading me in a vocalizing exercise, but stopped suddenly and asked me, "Why is it that you seem to always have it all together? You never seem stressed out. Is it because you're an adult?" (Note: I am a grad student at a mostly undergrad school)

Ordinarily, when presented with such a question, I may have just casually agreed with that assessment. Sure, I'm an adult. I've been a student before, I know how it works. But truthfully, I'm burdened with just as much, if not more, schoolwork as these other students, and I definitely feel the pressure of deadlines, tests, etc. just as much. So the answer was of course, no, being an adult has nothing to do with why I "have it all together."

The spring of living water that is the Spirit of God and Jesus Christ must have been overflowing from me that day, because without hesitation, I answered her: "I think it's because I'm a Christian."

Initially, she somewhat shrugged off my response, and added, "Well, probably because you're an adult too," and we continued our vocalizing. But a bit later in the lesson, she unexpectedly remarked out of context, "I think you're right, by the way."

I was caught a little off-guard, not certain to what she was referring, as enough time had passed after that conversation that we were on to other topics. So I asked, "About what?"

"You know..." she said with a wink. And I did know.

I do not know for certain if my voice teacher is also a believer, though I have suspected she might be, with her glowing smile, zest for life, and especially after that comment. But I do know it is difficult in most higher education settings to tell people that you're a believer without some sort of negative response, even if it's just a shrug of the shoulders. And while I don't necessarily have it "all together" (I procrastinate and get somewhat stressed too), whenever I do feel a little stressed, I never let that feeling overtake me, because I can always turn to God, for His "yoke is easy," and His "burden is light." (Matthew 11:30)

If you feel weighed down by the stresses of life, I would encourage you to pray and seek God, and I promise you, if you are genuine in your prayer, he will give you rest. And your soul will never thirst for that elusive meaning of life when you love and serve the Lord our God.

"If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." (John 7:37-38)

Be Spiritually Greedy

What is your American dream today? Is it to work hard during the week so you can party harder over the weekend? Is it to work your way up the ladder enough to get a high-paying executive job so you can order underlings around? Or is it simply to accumulate enough wealth so that you're comfortable and don't have to worry about living from paycheck to paycheck?



All of these could be considered forms of greed. Our society today, though it doesn't put an emphasis on greed per se, definitely puts an emphasis on ambition. While that in itself is not a sin, it can easily become greed if used inappropriately. A powerful example of this is found in the book of Numbers chapter 16, after the Israelites had escaped Egypt and were on their way to Canaan, wandering in the desert as punishment for their idolatry. A man named Korah, who had gained influence over important people in the Israelite community, was ambitious enough to try and take Moses' brother Aaron's place as high priest of the people. The whole story can be found here. God knew Korah's heart was filled with greed disguised as ambition, and He quickly punished Korah and his followers for their sin. He opened up the earth and swallowed Korah, his men, their households, and all their possessions, and fire consumed the men who were making an offering out of greed on Korah's behalf (Numbers 16:31-35).



Greed cost Korah and his followers their lives. For Israel's King Rehoboam in the book of 2 Chronicles chapter 10, his greed left the kingdom of Israel divided and broken. The Israelites had requested that the new king lighten their harsh labor and heavy yoke that his father, King Solomon, had placed on them. But instead of listening to them and the elders who had served Solomon, he elected to take the advice of his peers and seek greater control over the Israelites. He told them that he would lay an even heavier hand on them. The Israelites rebelled and killed Adoniram, the man who was in charge of forced labor, and King Rehoboam had to flee. Fortunately, once the prophet Shemaiah came to Rehoboam with God's message that he would allow Rohoboam to be conquered, the king and his followers humbled themselves before God, and God gave them deliverance.

These two Old Testament stories are there to teach us the dangers of earthly greed. But I think a true Christian should be extremely greedy. A good kind of greed, if you will. A spiritual greed. Jesus told us of this type of greed in the Gospel according to Matthew when he said, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven...For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:19-21) If we choose to be greedy about where we spend eternity, we can overcome the need for temporary, earthly treasures. If we choose to obey God, we are storing up our own treasures in heaven! He will give us a mansion in heaven if we follow His Word! Sounds like a pretty good deal to me. I hope you can join me in making your desire to be rich in heaven far greater than your earthly desires. Praise be to God for his wonderful promises!

In the Beginning...

Blessings, and welcome to this new blog for God, "Light of the World." I'd like to begin with an explanation of why I decided to write this blog. I have been attending Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) for the past 2 years, which is a very structured Bible study that gives its members homework assignments, keeping you reading from God's Word 6 days out of the week. Each weekly meeting consists of everyone gathering for introductory hymn singing, followed by breaking into small groups and discussing the lesson we worked on during the week for 50 minutes, then gathering back together for a 45-minute lecture on that same lesson. While that initially didn't sound very exciting to me, it served the purpose of exactly what I wanted to do, which was to get myself reading the Bible every day and consequently grow closer to God.

This year, we have been studying the life of Moses, starting from the beginning of the book of Exodus, and now we're closing in on the end of Deuteronomy. During this time, I have learned quite a bit about my faith. Most of the time when I've been to church and Bible studies in the past, the focus has been on the writings of the New Testament, and rightly so, considering the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is the backbone of the Christian faith. But there's also a big reason there's that big Old Testament in that big Bible, and that is to give us an outline of God's ultimate plan. Through the study of God's original laws given to Moses and the journey His chosen nation of Israel took to Canaan, it has been incredibly eye-opening to see how God's master plan never faltered, and everything led to Jesus' death on the cross, his resurrection, and the salvation of his beloved people of Earth.

The purpose of this blog, first and foremost, is to share God's revelations he has given to me and others with anyone who is willing to take the time to read this blog. It is my hope that I can bring you hope, encouragement, and truth. The truth I am talking about is based on the belief that God's Word is written by men, but divinely inspired, and 100% absolute truth. There will be no watered-down, politically correct versions of Christianity here that have become prevalent in today's society, because God does not think the same as people, and unlike the hearts of people, His heart is unchanging throughout the ages. This truth can seem harsh at times, but if we are obedient to it, God promises us his blessings. "All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God." - Deuteronomy 28:2

Though the content of this blog will always be based on God's Biblical truth and confined to those boundaries, the format will be very loose. One post may be somewhat long-winded, like this introduction; the next post may be just a sentence or two, or maybe just one verse, without any commentary, for you to absorb. I also intend to have other people who feel inspired by the Holy Spirit have the ability to post. I want this to be a place where Christians can shine their light and have it pierce through the darkness of today's world.

I hope this is truly a place where you can be fed spiritually with the wonderful and perfect truth of God's word and take what you have read and be like the seed that fell in good soil (Matthew 13:1-23). Blessings to you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!

"Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book." - Revelation 22:7