Acts 3:16

 ¹⁶ “Through faith in the name of Jesus, this man was healed—and you know how crippled he was before. Faith in Jesus’ name has healed him before your very eyes.

Romans 3:29-30,

29 After all, is God the God of the Jews only? Isn’t he also the God of the Gentiles? Of course he is. ³⁰ There is only one God, and he makes people right with himself only by faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles.

Romans 4: 16-17

¹⁶ So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift. And we are all certain to receive it, whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham’s. For Abraham is the father of all who believe. ¹⁷ That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him, “I have made you the father of many nations.” This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing.

Faith is powerful thing. Everything from healing to saving many souls. How do I obtain this vast amount of faith… Jesus how can I trust you with my whole life… Truly through little and big.   I mean, I believe you died for my sins. I believe and love you. But what If….. what if…. “Insert your fear”…  How can I have faith in every season.   

Romans 5:1-5

 ¹ Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. ² Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.

 ³ We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. ⁴ And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. ⁵ And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

On Nov 30th I wrote this to a few friend of mine because i was so overwhelmed by the Power of the Lord in my life that day. I want to revisit that day in a different perspective. 

“This morning I just started crying with praise. Even though it seems almost childish I wanted to share. To be honest i don’t care if it is childish. lol 
 I woke up this morning and read John 2 and was Jesus turns “water into wine”.  Verse 5 stuck out so hard to me ⁵ But his mother told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Shorty after I found $86 dollars I had dropped weeks ago and was amazed and God grace on My and Danielle. just wanted to throw that in there!
Then Danielle asked me to hang up the overwhelming amount of clothes we have……. Guys I simply hate this and she knows it. Then it happend, Jesus said “Help you wife, she does it all the time.” then it happened. I said in my mind  ”Listen A: there is know way that there fitting in here! B: there is know way I have enough hangers!” and after sitting and staring for a few minutes, it happened again “Do whatever he tells you.” I then mumbled “well they have to go somewhere, Jesus you can do it” and started hanging them one by one. I got to the end turned around to check for more clothes…. There was one hanger left on the floor and no clothes…..With my computer whispering “how great thou art” and me all alone in the room. I waterfalled with joy, laughter, sadness, weak, strong…. words didn’t exist and couldn’t begin to explain my feelings, but i attempted by saying the only thing that came to mind “Why are you so good to me”…
So Next time you question, when you know what you should be doing. “Do whatever he tells you.” 
Love 
peach”

17. and you boast about your special relationship with him. ¹⁸You know what he wants; you know what is right because you have been taught his law. ¹⁹ You are convinced that you are a guide for the blind and a light for people who are lost in darkness. ²⁰ You think you can instruct the ignorant and teach children the ways of God. For you are certain that God’s law gives you complete knowledge and truth.

 ²¹ Well then, if you teach others, why don’t you teach yourself? You tell others not to steal, but do you steal? ²² You say it is wrong to commit adultery, but do you commit adultery? You condemn idolatry, but do you use items stolen from pagan temples?^[b] 23 You are so proud of knowing the law, but you dishonor God by breaking it. ²⁴ No wonder the Scriptures say, “The Gentiles blaspheme the name of God because of you.”^[c]

 ²⁵ The Jewish ceremony of circumcision has value only if you obey God’s law. But if you don’t obey God’s law, you are no better off than an uncircumcised Gentile. ²⁶ And if the Gentiles obey God’s law, won’t God declare them to be his own people? ²⁷ In fact, uncircumcised Gentiles who keep God’s law will condemn you Jews who are circumcised and possess God’s law but don’t obey it.

 ²⁸ For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision. ²⁹ No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by God’s Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise^[d] from God, not from people.

I believe whole heartedly that something is awaking in the Church. A mirror is being applied to our lives and we have a choice to remember what we look like when we walk away or not. 

Here James is writing to Jews that have converted to Christianity, But lately i have been looking at passages and going “How could I learn from this.”   In this passage i decided to take out the anything Jewish and apply my own downfalls and things I am in slaved to. 

Sadly I look at this passage, and maybe not adultery or stealing, but thinking negatively or Judging someone driving past me just for the sake of it.  I feel as i have traveled down a wrong path. Where I think since I have to live a life so pure, or try to, I am better then the world.  

LISTEN TO WHAT JUST CAME OUT OF MY MOUTH! Why wouldn’t i want to live a pure life to begin with. Why am I giving my self praises for something I suppose to be doing in the first place.  Then I say “well the rest of the world is so much worse.”

⁹ “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. ¹⁰ So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. ¹¹ When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ¹² ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’

   ¹³ “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? ¹⁴ Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. ¹⁵Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

   ¹⁶ “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

This is a life I agreed to, that I committed to the Lord. I need to keep my eye foward because when i don’t it a lot more detrimental to the WORLD then I think.  Words, thoughts, actions all directed a little in the wrong way can set a fire for evil.  

 ²³ Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me.

Jesus, This is a daily battle… In you it will be easy for you say, “My burden is light and my yoke is easy.” Father i pray that I would every day, hour, minute focus on the things of you.  Jesus, I thank you that i am committed to you, sorry I use the world as a cop out. How xcan i say “you can overcome anything” when I don’t even believe and live out the fact that you can’t overcome my daily issue and problems.  Jesus I can not judge the world.. I am just as bad in my own way. You are the only holy and just one to do this. I thank you at the least i have the opportunity to serve you. I love you.
-peach

When I was a little kid, We used to go to Ocean City, MD.  It was the highlight of my summer.  Every night my family was there, we wold walk down the boardwalk together, Arcades, salt water taffy, ice cream, it was so rad.  

Then you would have the performers, guitars, bucket drumming (my personal favorite), Trumpet players, then right around 2nd street, you would start to see a crowd and there was Randy Hofman.. Randy sculpted and re-sculps these amazing pieces of art every month or so.  There is 4 or 5 pieces and they take him around 10 hours each… I remember looking at my dad when I was little and saying “what is it made out of?” due to the detail and craftsmanship of these pieces.   Randy does all this every month for 20 years… for what, a half cut milk jug that invites people to support him. thats it…

My friend joe burgers just posted about Leonard Knight and had to echo Leonards story after reading about it. 

This is Leonard, 70 years old, and day in and day out works on “salvation mountain” a monument to Gods love.  Joe explains it best. 

 “27 years of hard work, living out in the open desert of Niland, CA, he made this monument to God’s love out of adobe clay, paint and trash found in the desert; now thousands of people come from all over the world every year to meet him and see what he’s made.” *joeburgers.tumblr.com 

So Leonard has detected his life to crafting a huge mountain for Jesus…. for 27 years..

I can’t help but too look at these 2 men and say. “how do they do it.” where do they even find the strength and the will power to continue to make these amazing pieces of art, and Leonard at 70 years old… how….

Then paul hits my mind, How did paul go through what he did.

^{2 Cortinthians 11: 23} Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. ²⁴ Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. ²⁵ Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, ²⁶ I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. ²⁷ I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. ²⁸Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. ²⁹ Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?

 ³⁰ If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness

I Mean how.. how can a these men do this… I mean for one things, what they have seen has and experienced has to be real, for them to dedicate everything they are and have. 

Then I ask, Can I do it Lord?

^{Jeremiah 33:3} ”Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unspeakable things you do not know.”

This is just amazing… That I can pray on the Lord to show me things of him, unspeakable things… I am sure… no, i know that these things Jesus has done through these men are “unspeakable”.  I sure they will never know who, what, and how many it will touch. 

^Romans12:2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

James 1:2-8

 ² Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. ³ For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. ⁴ So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

 ⁵ If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. ⁶ But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. ⁷ Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. ⁸ Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.

Philemon 1 

⁴I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, ⁵ because I hear about your love for all his holy people and your faith in the Lord Jesus. ⁶ I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ. ⁷ Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people.

and 

9: It is as none other than Paul—an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus—

Galatains 5-15

⁷ You were running the race so well. Who has held you back from following the truth? ⁸ It certainly isn’t God, for he is the one who called you to freedom. ⁹ This false teaching is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough! ¹⁰ I am trusting the Lord to keep you from believing false teachings. God will judge that person, whoever he is, who has been confusing you.

 ¹¹ Dear brothers and sisters, if I were still preaching that you must be circumcised—as some say I do—why am I still being persecuted? If I were no longer preaching salvation through the cross of Christ, no one would be offended. ¹² I just wish that those troublemakers who want to mutilate you by circumcision would mutilate themselves.

 ¹³ For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. ¹⁴ For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁵ But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another.

I figured this morning I would just continue down Galatians 5.  

Paul is still explaining not to follow jewish law, circumcision.  He is pretty shaken up about it, with good reason.  Seems someone else has been “ministering” to them and they have been listening.  It has undone a lot of what Jesus has done through Paul for the church of Galatia. So In this section of letter is to try and repair and get them back on track. 

Beyond that, some of the things he said were so wise and really got me thinking.  I want to look over these verse and figure out how I can put them in my own life.

“9. This false teaching is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough!”

 To tweak just one thing in my live/relationship with Jesus, because I was mislead. eaither by my self or others. It could effect my very calling that the God of the universe has on my life.

 A few our this edges I need to stand firm in for me and my calling.

Smoking, very easy to go back to it. Everybody does it, its not the best habit, but I could very easily get away with it. Beside the fact that my wife would “mutilate” me.

Staying In morning relationship with Jesus and not only being in it always but, perusing him.  Trying to find, and asking, new ways to be intimate with him. 

“11: Dear brothers and sisters, if I were still preaching that you must be circumcised—as some say I do—why am I still being persecuted? If I were no longer preaching salvation through the cross of Christ, no one would be offended. ¹² I just wish that those troublemakers who want to mutilate you by circumcision would mutilate themselves.”

Now he is talking about circumcision, I want to step outside of that and look at what he is saying. Paul is being persecuted for “The Cross”, what Jesus did on the cross.  why, because they are offended.  My first thought when reading this was. If Jesus isn’t real then why do people get pissed when you speak of him?  I don’t get angry that muslim believe what they do or even when they come and talked with me. I wouldn’t persecute them, I stand firm in my faith with Jesus. 

What paul is saying is that the truth hurts in this case.

I want to thank Jesus for being a God that is so powerful that he offends, convicts, saves, directs, comforts, died for me, give me reason, hope, faith, and most of all loves.  I pray that I may learn to speak of the Cross, which is offensive, in love which. I pray I never becoming defensive, but just wise and using that word, a two edge sward, and you heart for your people.  I pray for the people who our out speaking of your name in hostile lands. Jesus give them abutment grace, joy, and peace.  I thank you for speaking to me daily.  Your not a father that becomes to busy. There is abundant love in you. 

I pray that i would not be mislead, sometimes I do that on my own, and grow inpatient, I pray the same for my friends. please guard our hearts Jesus it is hard out there. 

Galatians 5:1-6

¹ So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.

 ² Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you. ³ I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses. ⁴ For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.

 ⁵ But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive by faith the righteousness God has promised to us. ⁶ For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love.

Lately I have been in a funk. I just love this because when i step back and Jesus to speak to me through this he did.  

As you can see at face value, Paul is having a issue with church of Galatia and how they where still being persuaded to follow religious traditions. One of those traditions was circumcision, back then if you weren’t circumcised you where ”cut off from the covenant family” Genesis 17:10-14. Just a quick background.

So, paul is saying, this isn’t going to make you right with God Jesus makes you right with God. 

and then verse 5: “we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive by faith the righteousness God has promised to us. ⁶ For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love.”

So when I read those bold words that I highlighted. in verse 2 when it says “circumcision” I replaced that word with what ever I was struggling with that is getting in the way of “placing your faith in Christ Jesus”. 

I was struggling with “providing” and “stability of providing” Of course Jesus always faithful always provides but i have let Stability OWN me.  I have been clawing and scratching at trying to find something i can put my faith in and know “How can I always make money this way to provide” “where is my source!”

Wrong…. so worng, I have been trying to claw at this for about a month now. I can day I am officail inslaved” much like verser Galatains 5:1.

Let Jesus be your source Mathew 6:31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?” 34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”

I way worrying not only about tomorrow but worrying about my whole life… I was doing what the rest of the world does, and really encourages.  I was trying to figure out the golden answer “How can I be comfortable forever. Where is my source of job, so “I” can create money.”

Romans 12: 2 “² Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

 Peach, Religious laws are not our ways and the worlds ways are not our way. nothing but Jesus. Please don’t loose sight of that… -Jesus

thats what I herd..

I praise you Jesus, I praise you because not only do I do wrong to people, my friend, my family, my WIFE and you died so i could be forgiven of that and be set FREE. Galations 5:1 but you offer to run my life… the God of the universe will not only help me, but be in my life, direct it. Why do I not snatch that opportunity. Why do I keep wanting to do it myself, when im only one person and i know its going to be infinitely harder. 

I am like a kid that touches fire and knows he is going to get burned… Please take that from me Jesus restore in me a new heart and most of all thank your for your GRACE thank you for having “faith expressing itself in love.” Galatians 5:6.  You are worthy of all praise.

Sin=the misuse of free will “Dr. Robert Gange”

There is so much life in humility. James 4:6 NLT

Nathan Tuckey quoted this one sunday.

A man was asked “what is the problem that you see in the world.”

He replied “Me”

Only if I could begin to live in that.

Even deeper, Jesus had no “wrongs”and was perfect. He willingly took ours and the punishment that came with it. Pure love. Dang…