confidant

When things get rough where do you go with your problems? Who do you confide in? i think a lot of our problems and anxieties could be alleviated by changing this one simple thing in our lives. All too often we do things like, worry and mope. Actually what we really should do, is thank God for opportunity to grow and pray. We find ourself confiding in silly things and we get caught up in ourself. Michael Catt said, "People have largely rejected the word of God as the basis of their authority and become gods unto themselves bowing down to 5 gods who have self as their first name: self-righteousness, self-will, self-pleasing, self-exaltation,  and self-confidence." If we put all of what we have into "self" what left do we have to give to God? We live by his grace alone and nothing good has come from ourself, so why do we put some much trust and worth into our own bodies? We find it so hard to confide in Jesus over our friends and ourselves... but lets be honest its easier to confide in a close friend than someone you barely know....

KEDUSHAH

nekaddesha et shimkha ba-olam
le-dor va-dor
nak dishakh vena'arit sakh

We will sanctify your name on the earth
unto all generations....
we will sanctify and revere you

אנו לקדש את השם שלך על פני האדמ
אל כל הדורות ....
אנו לקדש ו מעריץ אותך

Hiding behind your walls

hiding things isnt always good anyways, it creates bitterness.

its like wine

you put sweet grape juice into a barrel, and after its hidden away in the barrel for a few years it starts to become sour and bitter. it becomes wine.

likewise you take good feelings and bottle them inside yourself in hopes of having something better later, but instead it goes bad and turns sour.

what would you rather have? sweet juice or bitter liquid?

Too many times we put up walls to protect ourselves and end up missing out. We assume that our walls are for the best, but thats not always true. If your always scared to put yourself into the line of fire and take risks, how will you ever learn to have faith? When i talk to people who dont know Jesus their concerns always revolve around the same things: food, bills, money, objects, and relationships. i wish i could share with them the joy that is found in trusting God, it is ultimately more rewarding than anything else, even when it hurts to trust him. Its always better because it always reaps a grander harvest than what you were anticipating. Take a step out of comfortable....jump. Faith is a cavern with no end. If you always stand staring over the edge wondering, "whats down there? what will happen?" you will never find out. Jumping off into faith's cavernous mouth is jumping out of your comfort zone and into Gods comforting arms. He will hold and sustain you. How will you ever be dashed to pieces on the rocks if faith has no bottom? You wont..... you will just continue to fall.....fall into love and trust with God, and the deeper you go with him the better it gets. ALWAYS. im urging you to just take a step, pray about something thats on your heart that God has given you, and just take your step into faith. i promise it wont disappoint you, even if you fail. God makes great things even from our shortcomings. 

Romans 5:1-5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.  Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;  perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Have faith, love with reckless abandon, and trust God with all your heart. Its the only way to live.

CAUTION WET PAINT

Today i had an incident at degage that inspired me to blog. i was assigned the task of painting handrails along the stairs in the east side of the building. i was given thinner and paint and a brush. i diligently started my work, and as i was working people were commenting to me and others, "oh thats wet, better not touch it!", so i just smiled an kept going. One gentleman walked up the stairs, looked at me, and then brushed up along my wet paint! He looked at me infuriated and told me "Why dont you have signs up! people are gonna touch this!"......ummmm......yeah.... anyways, i looked at him and said "well im sorry but i don't have any signs, but you looked right at me and touched the paint....... what do you want me to do?". He said to me, "put up some signs! I'm gonna see you outside and beat you boy" i just asked him "Is that so, you promise?" and continued to paint, finishing my job. Afterwards i got a huge sign. While i was driving home i started thinking about sin and depravity of man... and i started thinking about the stupid things we do as people. Sin = paint. That was my thought. We see the paint and we see that things are being painted. Sometimes we see the paint and avoid it, but other times we see the paint and touch it anyways. Why? Why do we touch it? Its like we think we are special and we can play around with the paint and not get dirty. We assume that the paint is dry and no one will see the flaws it will leave on us if we touch it, but when you play with paint you will always get dirty. Sometimes we get lucky and the paint isn't wet, but God still knows we touched it. Other times we touch it and it gets us covered, making us look foolish and everybody can see the stain. It is then that we have to make a decision. Do we act proud and get angry, trying to shift the blame to the painter? (The painter doesn't make you paint or paint on you, he just makes it appealing. It is always your own fault.) Or do we  humble ourselves and ask for forgiveness from God, and tell others that we made a mistake so they can help us and get our paint cleaned off?
Psalm 32:5
"Then I acknowledged my sin to you 
   and did not cover up my iniquity. 
I said, “I will confess 
   my transgressions to the LORD.” 
And you forgave 
   the guilt of my sin."
  Had this man simply asked me to get the paint off of him i would have gladly opened my can of "thinner" and wiped it away, but instead he chose to be proud and blame and threaten me. i had no desire whatsoever to wipe away his paint. i think God is the same way. When we decide to "finger paint" and make a glorious mess of ourselves we just see it as having fun and presume it as harmless, but either way we are dirty. We continue to do it unceasingly without remorse in our pride and God is ashamed of us. He has no desire to clean us up. But if we say "Daddy, i have made a mess and i finger painted all over your walls im sorry. i don't know what came over me" he has compassion because we are his children and he treasures our sincerity and humbleness. He says to us " I know you have made a mess, and I still love you. Let me help you clean this up; I will make you just like brand new" "Just stop finger painting on daddy's walls. Child, I love you"
We need to turn from our sin and tell God that we are sorry and he will wash us clean. Also we need to recognize that our sin will always make us dirty, and God will always know, even if other people don't. Love God, hate sin, and learn to avoid it at all costs, and no matter how pretty it looks don't touch it. It will always make you dirty.
 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9.
God Bless

What it means to SURRENDER.

What does it mean to surrender? Will we ever really be able to grasp what it is to fully and completely let go? Sadly enough i think that most of us never will. i am not going to start claiming that i have, but i'm working on it and want to share. God IS in control. Whether or not you want him to be, he still is. We always think that we can do things; as a result we try to do them. Sometimes we succeed in doing what we aspire for, and other times we fail miserably. Why? Because we cant do everything, even if we believe we can. We cant do everything because God has a plan and everything we want to do doesn't fit into Gods plan. Surrendering means, to yield to the power, control, or possession of another upon compulsion or demand . God demands our surrender, and part of that is giving up our own desires and dreams to chase after HIS will. If we strive to serve God before all else in our lives we have hope. Just because we give up our dreams it doesn't mean we have thrown them away. We have simply placed them in Gods hands as an offering, giving him control to do as he sees fit with them. It says in Psalm 37:4 " Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart."  and delight means a high degree of gratification : joy: extreme satisfaction. So if we have extreme satisfaction in what we have and what God is doing, he will bless us with our dreams and aspirations because we will know without a doubt it is from him and glorify him through it! Praise God! You can only find true happiness when you let go of your own happiness and search for his joy. God has been taking things from me lately and telling me that they aren't what he wants me to have. whether it be friendships, or words, dreams, or activities. i have been holding on to relationships and ideas that God didn't approve of. These relationships weren't bad or even hurting me. God just had better! Slowly im letting things slip through my fingers and into Gods hands, where he makes beauty from my mess. The Potter is making jars of clay into statues of the finest jewels and glass. i used to chase after money and   possessions but i have found an even greater joy in poverty. i have learned gratitude in my poverty because i have learned to cherish everything God has allowed me to have, and also i have learned to let them go for a greater joy in trusting him. i wont say it has been easy at all, but he has given me the strength. i took the step to be willing and obedient and he has honored that with a spirit of perseverance. To surrender, you need to learn to say "no" to: yourself, your desires, your sin nature, and to unhealthy feelings. Surrender reaps a harvest of joy in our lives, and the first step to surrender is trust. It might seem hard but if you ask God for his grace you can do it.



“For the grace of God that brings 
salvation has appeared to all men.  It 
teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness 
and worldly passions, and to live selfcontrolled, upright and godly lives in 
this present age.” ~ Titus 2:11-12 

showdown

"The worst thing you can do is run away because doing so just invites the wolves to chase you down,"

all to often we run from people or things that scare us, not right. we need to be bold and have a  showdown and face our oppressors with the authority and love that Jesus gave us. We get so content with running away, forgetting who resides in us and gives us power. Be bold and courageous facing your demons and satan with the strength that God has given to you sending them away quaking in fear. You can do all things through God and his strength. You can be more than conquerors. 

Pride.....sin.....death.

today i was reading Isaiah chapter two and i cant even begin to describe my thoughts. i was overwhelmed with thoughts and feelings about pride. i already had ideas about pride and what it is, i know very well the struggles of pride and the downfalls of it. Isaiah says in verse two and three, "in the last days the mountain of the Lords temple will be established as cheif among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, "come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths."" he clearly states here that people will have a desire to know God and learn his statutes and his law, he proceeds on to talk about the people making war weapons into instruments for farming and there no longer being war. verse 5 "Come, oh house of Jacob," let us walk in the light of the Lord.


 Isaiah tells people that things will be better and their oppression and wars will end, he is urging them to turn to God in verse 5.  He knows that the people are far from God and need to turn back, in verse 6 he starts to rebuke them, he tells them that they have abandoned their people and have taken up superstitions from the east. he accuses them of "clasping hands" with pagans.  He talks about them bowing down to idols and worshiping the work of their hands. That is where the pride comes into play. When the people are worshiping the work of their hands they are denying God his Lordship in their lives and elevating themselves up to a higher level that they are unworthy of. They are elevating their own things up to a status only God is worthy of. Isaiah says in verse 9,"So man will be brought low and mankind humbled-do not forgive them." this is so heavy. DO NOT FORGIVE THEM??? That is unfathomable, not being able to attain forgiveness. This would be the ultimate humbling, can you imagine having to live in your shame and sorrow never having a chance for redemption? Isaiah says "go into the rocks, hide in the ground from dread of the Lord and the splendor of his majesty!" its frightening to think about having nothing but fear of God, can you imagine never feeling his fatherly love or his joy, the feeling of his peace? All of this came because of  Israels pride. The Lord hates pride, rightfully so. What do we have to be proud of? is anything from our own hands? the very breath we breathe is a gift, all things come from the Father, and nothing is from our hands. Isaiah says in verse 11, "The eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled and the Pride of men will be brought low; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day." notice he says "in that day" not on. The day will be entirely filled with God and God alone, it wont be a segment of the day or a period of time, he is referring to the day of judgement, the day we meet our maker. The day that we will see HIM face to face and worship ADONAI alone. Eternity. When faced with the Glory of God we will finally realize our fault and flaws, we will be overwhelmed by our unrepentant sin and false pride. Isaiah says "the Lord Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty, for all that is exalted (and they will be humbled)" that is so heavy, God WILL humble us and show us our faults, God will make us be accountable for our shortcomings. we have forgiveness through the blood of Jesus Christ but we should aspire to live a life above reproach so when we face God we will have less to lament and mourn over. We should be holy because he is holy and calls us to be holy. we should give thanks to him and give him credit for his works instead of being filled with pride and accrediting ourselves for Gods working. That is twisted pride. In verse 17 Isaiah says " the arrogance of man will be brought low and the pride of men humbled; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day, and idols will totally disappear." when we struggle with idolatry and taking our focus off of God all we need to do is exalt him and remember who really is, was, and is to come. Its a nice reminder that we fail when we are trying to be self righteous, we dont make ourselves holy by our own means. Isaiah 64:6 "We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind." when he says filthy rags, he is using a term that is the literal equivalent to a tampon. God is bigger. He is greater than even our best deeds infinitely. It is Christ and his love alone that make us holy. Its a nice reminder that we need to be humble and meek because God is our everything and without him we are nothing.


Isaiah 2:22 "Stop trusting in man, who has put breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?"

ROAD TO LIFE CHURCH

thank you Jesus for an amazing day with your people. i have not seen such passion and intensity for You in a long time, it was refreshing for my soul, a complete sojourn i plan on repeating again. Thank you for the grace and blessings Lord. I will magnify your name in every aspect of my life, and i pray you bless my brothers and sisters richly in all that they do and keep them productive and unwavering. i cant wait to see what you have done when i return. thank you to all of the wonderful people i met today; And for the people who prayed over me this morning, i would like to let you know...Jesus heard your prayers and i was healed from some bruising on my quadriceps  and he took away the crippling pain i had from it this morning. God bless you. trust the Lord and follow his leading in all you do and he will bless you. Always remember to trust in him and give Him the glory in everything you do.
                                              much love- Korey
 psalm 131
¹ My heart is not proud, LORD, 

   my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
   or things too wonderful for me.
² But I have calmed and quieted myself,
   I am like a weaned child with its mother;
   like a weaned child I am content.

 ³ Israel, put your hope in the LORD
   both now and forevermore.

perfection calls

Faults and flaws embOssed on your heart are nothiNg   more than an aching pain that soon will fade, memories fade,memories fade. these flaws And faults are not YOURS to bear the burdens Too mUch. His love , His LOVE. Perfection coMes.

psalm 13

¹ How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever?
   How long will you hide your face from me?
² How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
   and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
   How long will my enemy triumph over me?

 ³ Look on me and answer, LORD my God.
   Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
⁴ and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
   and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

 ⁵ But I trust in your unfailing love;
   my heart rejoices in your salvation.
⁶ I will sing the LORD’s praise,
   for he has been good to me.

Discere Docendo

last night i decided to end my fast, the Lord gave me the answers i was searching for and revealed to my heart the things he wanted me to change! Going on with my fast would have been solely for my own moral gratification, and i wasnt really ok with that. The Lord has been good and my relationship with him will increase as i decrease John 3:30. “ He must become greater I must become less ".  that being said i would still appreciate prayer for perseverance and enough self discipline to do the things i have to, so i can become the best that i can for Jesus.

"Unto You I lift up my eyes,
O You who dwell in the heavens.
Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters,
As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,
So our eyes look to the Lord our God..." Psalm 123:1-2

Ex Gratia

this morning was hard, i woke up nauseous and tired. i got up and spent my morning in the word and in prayer for people that are close to my heart. afterwards i went to the shelter like every other morning and satan hit me like a bus, i was doubled over in pain and i felt like i was going to be sick. i quickly recognized what was going on so i prayed for strength and asked God for his providence, and he provided and instantly i felt better. PRAISE GOD. i have been reading through the psalms and spending much time in prayer. i am just seeking Gods direction and help with my future, both near and further down the road. i would much appreciate prayers for discernment and strength. Tomorrow i start Isaiah, and hopefully the Lord has some direction to be found for me there. Much thanks and blessings!
                                                    in Christ, Korey

"Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, for in You do I trust;
Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my soul to You." Psalm 143:8

Annuit Coeptis

today is day one of my fasting. during my fast i will be doing several different things. first off i have decided to wake up before sunrise and start my day with intensive prayer immediately followed by a cleansing of my mind. i have resolved to cleanse my mind by purging it of any doubts or fears for the day and give up my worries to God so i can be more open. i have also decided to spend much more time in solitude and silence so i can be more receptive and less distracted, and hopefully hear Gods voice much more clearly. and the lastly i have decided to abstain from any food and juice. this fast is going to be strictly water and herbal supplements, like green tea and coffee. i hope to come out of this with a more sound state of mind and a deeper relationship with my maker, and hopefully some answers for the future.

day 1
today has been good so far, i woke up, showered, and started my devotions. it was amazing, God flooded me with scripture that embraced my mind and revealed to me the condition of my heart. i have decided that i need to embrace and have a deeper understanding of Ephesians 4:29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
with that being said i need prayers that i can be uplifting to others and hold to this.


i have also decided to make psalm 13 and psalm 130 my prayers for the durataion of this fast.
physically i am alright, my body is just starting to go into detox so i am battling feelings of nausea but i am not overly hungry, my only hunger is for God. please uplift me in your prayers and God bless.

Take it all, im done with it

this is the end, the end of the suffering; the end of the sin. this wave is passing and fleeting at best, and my hearts turning violently at the sound of your calling to attest. Oh God, you are Lord... and i will follow, and proclaim that you are prevailing and predominant, Lord of Lords.

Mrs. or not

so today i was thinking about things i would love in a potential wife, Lord willing. i would love it if she enjoyed music, or even played music with me. it would also be awesome if she was ok with me having my ears gauged. i would also love it if she would pray and read the bible with me every morning. also i would enjoy it thoroughly if she loved Jesus way more than she loves me. also it would be sweet if she was ok with being poor enough so that we had to entirely live by faith and rely on God for everything. i would also love it if she was ok with leaving the country and going on long term mission trips with me. also i would love to have children, or at least a child because i really want to be a daddy someday. also i would like her to be ok with the possibility of adoption. all this said i think i have my work cut out for me.


if that never turns out i would love for this to happen; i would love for God to be my strength and constant companion to ward of loneliness. i would also like him to throw me into missions and use me till my purpose is fulfilled. also i would love to adopt a child...because it would be awesome to have someone to share my life with and give happiness to and raise up in the love and direction of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. i would like to be involved in missions work as a career first, and have a normal job second doing for the Lord in everything i do. these are just my thoughts on where i want to go in life and what i want to do. God bless.

Philippians 4:12 " I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want."

what is love?

this question hangs heavy in my mind often. its a hard concept to grasp, to be entirely honest. i know what love is not, that is the easy part, but where do the grey areas end? where do the lines begin, where does the doubt fade to black? 


life is hard, trials are trying on you, and pain is sometimes unbearable. Love is always at the center of it though, the ever constant companion to suffering. its says in romans chapter 5 that we are to rejoice in our sufferings because it produces good character; and in turn character produces hope. and the hope of God will always satisfy. How can love be birthed from suffering? well, simply enough God allows suffering into our lives so we can learn to trust him, because only when we trust him wholeheartedly can we experience his unsurpassed love and peace. Love is funny. it is often characterized by things like "feelings" and "emotions". i believe that loves power should not be described as such things. love is hindered when you fail to grasp that it is more than a good feeling or happiness, because it is so much more. love is a righteous anger, a consuming fire, love is an act of sacrifice, love is unselfishness, love is a harsh word of correction, love is a hand to the back of your head when your being a fool, love is a belligerent friend rebuking you for your stupidity, love is punishment for disobedience. all too often love is overly romanticized and it takes on this mushy sickly looking heart full of "feelings" and "fate". people expect true love to always be a perpetual state of joy and happiness and they are discontent when they fail to find it. they fail to realize that God is love, and he is the truest love, his sacrifice and grace are the truest form of love you will ever find. his love is many things, but God shows his love the most when he tears you down. 2 CORINTHIANS12:9 "But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." Love is so much more than what we claim it is. all too often we take love and stuff it into a birdcage named FEELING that is a hundred times too small. love is best left unhindered by our feeble minds, love is so much more than we will ever be able to grasp. if you want to experience the truest love you must learn to let go. release. give to God what is Gods and the rest will come through his grace. "Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart" Psalm 37:4.


i will tell you what love is, 1 CORINTHIANS 13:4-12 "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.  For we know in part and we prophesy in part,  but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears."  Love is GOD   אלוהים

Snow

this white washed flood is drowning me within, the sky is heavy and my heart follows suit. i am lost out in the cold abandoning all; with reckless hope, and shameless motives. the Grace thats appears free is rather costly, and my heart is in anguish at my shortcomings. what could i do to ever deserve? what could i accomplish to bring you a sacrifice of worth? even my best deeds are like filthy rags compared to yours. i only find solace in your word, engulf me, burning flame inside my soul. drive out the cold, bring on the pain. teach me, mold me. i am my beloveds, and my beloved is mine; betrothed. i am unworthy, i am unfit, my soul is heavy laden and overburdened with the cold. drive out my imperfections and create in me a clean heart, i surrender my soul. bring on the rain, melting the snow.