The Second Plague

The Second Plague: Frogs

The Second Commandment: "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand (generations) of those who love me and keep my commandments." Exodus 20:4-6

“God, who foresaw your tribulation, has specially armed you to go through it, not without pain but without stain” -C.S. Lewis

The Plague of Frogs: Exodus 8:1-15

1 Then the Lord told Moses, “Go to the king of Egypt and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go to worship me. 2 If you refuse, I will punish Egypt with frogs. 3 The Nile River will be filled with frogs. They will come up into your palace, into your bedroom, on your bed, into the houses of your officers, and onto your people. They will come into your ovens and into your baking pans. 4 The frogs will jump all over you, your people, and your officers.’ ”

5 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron to hold his walking stick in his hand over the rivers, canals, and ponds. Make frogs come up out of the water onto the land of Egypt.”

6 So Aaron held his hand over all the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up out of the water and covered the land of Egypt. 7 The magicians used their tricks to do the same thing, so even more frogs came up onto the land of Egypt.

8 The king called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people. I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.”

9 Moses said to the king, “Please set the time when I should pray for you, your people, and your officers. Then the frogs will leave you and your houses and will remain only in the Nile.” 10 The king answered, “Tomorrow.”Moses said, “What you want will happen. By this you will know that there is no one like the Lord our God. 11 The frogs will leave you, your houses, your officers, and your people. They will remain only in the Nile.” 12 After Moses and Aaron left the king, Moses asked the Lord about the frogs he had sent to the king. 13 And the Lord did as Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, in the yards, and in the fields. 14 The Egyptians put them in piles, and the whole country began to stink. 15 But when the king saw that they were free of the frogs, he became stubborn again. He did not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.

The Verdict: The moment we choose to make God into something He is not, we become filthy frogs who jump to other idols for support.

I think often times that we ignore this commandment because, as Christians, we limit our thinking to something along the lines of: "As long as I have not crafted a physical idol that I bow down to and worship, this commandment obviously does not apply to me." First of all, all of the commandments apply to everyone, maybe just in different ways. But I hope by the end of this post, you approach this commandment a little bit differently.

When I got into researching this commandment, I honestly had no idea how it could ever apply to me (that quote in the previous paragraph was pretty much how I was approaching it). So, I read through the command a few more times and I kept getting caught up on how it says not to make an idol in the form of anything in heaven. I thought to myself, "How do you make an idol in the form of something in heaven and further more, how would this even apply to Moses and his people?" I understood how the people back then made different idols out of gold and such, but idols in the form of something in heaven?

I have heard sermons and people discuss the possible meaning this part of the commandment. I have heard that this commandment could possibly mean that we actually are not supposed to make a painting of Jesus or angels. I have heard that it could mean that we need to be careful that when we worship, we are worshipping God and not a picture of Him or a cross. I understand the notion that we do not really know what God as The Father and Holy Spirit look like and so we should not try and make them look like something they are not. Things may be different with Jesus since he came and we can make a pretty good guess at what He looked like, but I do not really know. These are other approaches to this command, but I view it slightly differently:

In the King James Version, there is a phrase that I think is vital in our understanding of this commandment:

"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image..."

Graven. Graven. Graven.

What is most interesting about this word is one of the alternated definitions in the dictionary. It says that graven is an adjective that would describe something cut into a desired shape. A graven image is one thing that you mold and shape into something completely different because you desire it to be that way (at least that is my view on the matter). This really helps me understand the way have started to view this command which is as such:

Making a graven image of what is in heaven is when we mold God into something we want Him to be rather than dealing with the True God of The Holy Bible. We make God into a graven image when we have a mindset where we think we can (and do for that matter) fully understand God. We make him graven when we purposefully leave out a part of Him (such as His Wrath, Judgment, Call to follow Him....) because we do not like those parts of who He is. When we make Him graven, we make God into something He is not. We begin to make God in our image, which is devastating because we loose track of the fact that we are made in His image. The act of making God into our own graven image is a very selfish act where we begin to use God for our own self-benefit. We cannot fall into the trap of making God something He is not.

When we do make God into this graven image, I believe we bring upon ourselves the second Plague of Frogs. The plague of frogs is disgusting and quite terrifying. After the Plague of Frogs is described, the Bible only mentions frogs three other times. Twice is the Psalms, the Plague of Frogs is described:

Psalm 78:45

"He sent flies that bit the people. He sent frogs that destroyed them."

Psalm 105:30

"Then their country was filled with frogs, even in the bedrooms of their rulers."

The last time frogs are mentioned in the Bible is in Revelation:

Revelation 16:13

"Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet."

So every time frogs appear in the Holy Bible, it is easy to see that there is absolutely nothing positive that comes from them. The Plague itself must have been terrible for everyone: imagine hoards of frogs coming everywhere-getting into everything-jumping on all of the people. I think the "frogs" that we bring upon ourselves are the things that we turn to when we make God into this false graven image. The moment that we think we can fully understand God or make God something He is not, we think that we have God fully, and we end up turning to something else. When we think we have had "enough God" we turn to other things. These other things are our "frogs"- the things that we allow to completely surround us other than God. Our frogs take priority over God, and we loose sight of Him (or at least graven image we had created Him to be). Are frogs are our sins- our selfish thoughts, desires, and actions. If we let our frogs surround us, our lives begin to spiral downward and we will forget the God we serve. We cannot continue to make the One True God into something we want Him to be. We must read the Scripture and talk to Him so that we can know whom He really is.

So what must we do? We cannot break this commandment or we will allow our sins to consume us and we will begin to loose sight of whom God truly is. So Let's stop making God into something He is not. Let's worship who He is, not who we want Him to be. He is perfect as He is. Let's not even tempt ourselves to bringing the Plague of Frogs into our lives. Let's get rid of the frogs (sins) that consume us. We cannot allow our selfish desires to take over our lives. Let us live according to God by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The First Plague

The First Plague: Water Turned to Blood
The First Commandment: "You shall have no other gods before me." Exodus 20:3

“God, who foresaw your tribulation, has specially armed you to go through it, not without pain but without stain” -C.S. Lewis

These posts will be a bit lengthy because I’m going to include all scripture so you can read the entire story; but push through and I think it will be well worth your time. I am hoping the key focus on these next ten posts will be on selfishness and how we are to rid this from our lives. I know, however, these posts will tie in many different ideas ranging over quite a spectrum. But now: onto the First Plague and Commandment. Thank you for reading.

The Plague of Blood Exodus 7:14-24

"14 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes out to the river. Confront him on the bank of the Nile, and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake. 16 Then say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness. But until now you have not listened. 17 This is what the LORD says: By this you will know that I am the LORD: With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood. 18 The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink; the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water.’”
19 The LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over the streams and canals, over the ponds and all the reservoirs—and they will turn to blood.’ Blood will be everywhere in Egypt, even in vessels of wood and stone.”

20 Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD had commanded. He raised his staff in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was changed into blood. 21 The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water. Blood was everywhere in Egypt.

22 But the Egyptian magicians did the same things by their secret arts, and Pharaoh’s heart became hard; he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said. 23 Instead, he turned and went into his palace, and did not take even this to heart. 24 And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile to get drinking water, because they could not drink the water of the river."

The Verdict: When we put other gods before our Heavenly Father, we allow the water to be turned into blood.

So big deal, right? We don't put other gods before the One True God. That is just ridiculous! We are correct in saying this is ridiculous, but I would beg to differ that we never put other gods before God. In fact, I think this is one of the most common commandments we break. I, myself, am guilty of this one (in my opinion). I view this commandment in this way: whenever I give in and satisfy my selfish desires-which can range from laziness to just wanting pointless "stuff" to many others- I am putting that "god" before the God of Israel. I do not view it this way to make myself feel bad, I just think often times, we place "stuff" higher on our priority list that does not belong there and this is wrong. Again, this is just how I view this command. So we have talked about breaking this commandment, now what is all this nonsense about the water being turned into blood?

This is where I turn to the Bible: the first thing that pops into my mind when I hear "water turned to..." I think of Jesus turning water into wine in the Gospel of John.

Jesus Changes Water Into Wine

"1 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”
4 “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”

5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.

7 Jesus said to the servants “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.

8 Then he told them “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”

They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”

11 What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him."


In this story, there is a wedding and the guests have run out of wine. Jesus comes in to "save the day" as he then turns 6 jars, each holding 20-30 gallons of water used for purification rites, into wine. It is important to note that this is not "normal" water. It is important water that was used for purification.

So what does this mean for us? For application’s sake, let us view ourselves, Christ followers, as the water used for purification for a moment. I believe that if we obey God and follow Him with best of our ability, God transforms us from the water into sweet wine that otherwise we cannot have. I believe that obeying God entails that we are constantly finding and completing Gods will. Also, when this transformation occurs, we must gravitate towards the change God is making within our lives even if it seems difficult. And as God changes us, I think we begin to understand more deeply the love of Christ. Now, if we choose to disobey Him (choose our will over God’s), particular His First commandment, we are instead turned into deadly blood. This transformation must be something hated by us, if we wish to avoid it. If we break this command, this smelly blood will be noticeable. The blood may even stain us, and then only God can wash us clean.

In the story of the plagues in Exodus, when the water is turned to blood, it is important to see that all of the water is turned to blood. It is everywhere. This stinky, deadly blood which kills the fish in the Nile... is everywhere. It leaves the Egyptians without water, the most essential element in human survival. It forces the Egyptians to dig holes to find other sources of water. Basically, there is absolutely nothing good that comes out of this. Now, I think this relates to our normal response when we choose to break the First Commandment. When we put other gods before God, we become something this blood that can destroy our lives along with the lives of others. We transform ourselves into this smelly blood that can cause damage on a large scale- and it is our fault. In this state, we often will search for other forms of satisfaction other than God (just like how the Egyptians resorted to finding other sources of water). These other forms of satisfaction may work for a short while, but they will not work forever.

So, what must we do now? We cannot break this commandment or we will be turned into blood rather than wine. Desiring to find and fulfill God’s will must consume us, but not because we are scared of this plague-but because we truly desire to love God with everything. When we do break the command, however, we must realize it, repent, and desire to be transformed into wine (which is something only Christ can do). My friends, let's stop putting our own selfish thoughts and desires before the Loving God who can transform us into wine if we just obey Him. Let us not even drift close to being turned into deadly blood. Instead, let’s be transformed into His wine by completely focusing on Him, putting Him in everything, and obeying Him to the best of our human capability.


2 Chronicles 7:14

The Ten Plagues of Our Selfishness: Introduction

So over the past few weeks, I have been studying and researching the ten plagues and the ten commandments. At first glance, I decided I would write about how at certain times in our lives, we have plagues just like those described in Exodus(metaphorically for the most part). As I ventured on, however, I was curious to find out as to why their were ten, not nine or eleven, but ten plagues. The number ten intrigued me because things in the bible normally happen in threes, sevens, twelves, forts, or multiples of those numbers. ten just seemed strange to me. So as I tried to think of all the other times in the Bible the number ten appeared. Immediately, I thought of the Ten Commandments of course (especially since they appear only a few chapters later in Exodus). But I was having trouble of coming up with other times in scripture that the number ten appeared, so I figured the Ten Plagues and the Ten Commandment possibly had a connection. To my amazement, I found an incredible relation between these two sets of data. So the next few posts will discuss my observations and findings. I hope you find them interesting and applicable.

First and foremost, the connection that I will try and make between the particular plague and commandment may just be a coincidence, but it stood out to me and I felt like i should share...so there is my warning.

In looking at each plague and how it relates to our lives in the modern age, I wanted to figure out how each plague cold manifest itself inside of us in the first place. So I though: In order for there to be a consequence, a wrong must have been in the first place. Then I realized the connection: when we decide to break one of the Ten Commandments, we allow the corresponding plague to enter into our lives. At first, I thought this seemed a bit too formulaic and complex, but as I went through in my mind what occurs as we break each Commandment the Ten Plagues matched the consequence perfectly. Basically, God blew my mind as He showed this to me. I hope this makes sense. And now, without further delay, I present you with the Ten Plagues of Our Selfishness.

Vīvere et verērī

To be alive and to be in awe of.

This Latin phrase, to me, is the perfect title to end this series of posts about my grandmaw. The phrase triggers many thoughts in my mind-Life. Reverence. Fear. Joy. Something bigger than myself. Accession. A Promise from my Holy God:

But someone may ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?" How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. All flesh is not the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.
So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.
If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"[e]; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.

I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."
"Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?"The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

1 Corinthians 15:35-58

The promise of new life. The promise of a new body-incapable of death...only life with Jesus Christ for eternity. To be alive and to stand in awe of! To be in awe of God- The Creator! What a joyful promise! To know that my grandmaw will be made alive and will stand in awe and reverence of God is truly incredible! So, although the end of her life on this earth has happened, I know that this is not even close to the end. She has eternity to spend with our Holy God of Israel.

So, my application: let us rejoice! Rejoice for life and life to come! How GREAT is our God!

This one is for you Maw-Maw! Always missed, Always loved, Always alive in Christ!

Judith Ann Holt 11/28/42-4/2/10


Revelation 21: 1-4

A View From A Different Perspective

So after the Easter service, our family started out to Georgia because the viewing was that night. The drive up to Georgia takes about six hours and is normally pleasant to look out at all the scenery. This drive up this time, however, could best be described as quiet, long, and unnerving. I was not sure exactly what was going to happen at the viewing as I had never been to one before. The uncertainty of the entire situation was growing inside of my mind. My parents began to explain to me what would happen at the viewing and what the purpose of the viewing was. They said that it was a time where I could go up and see my grandmaw one last time if I wanted to and that all of our family would be there to comfort each other.

I was not sure if I really wanted to see my grandmaw while she was dead: it seemed a little odd to me. I was under the impression that the overall mood of the viewing was going to be upsetting, but as i would soon learn, I would leave uplifted.

I had always heard heaven described as a family reunion: a place where all of your beleiving family members would be joined together once again. This image was comforting to think about especially once my grandmaw died. Knowing that some time later, i would see her again face to face was comforting. So what does this have to do with the viewing? Well, when we arrived at the funeral home and made our way into the room where my grandmaw's casket was being held, there was still a great Mount of uncertainty resting in the back of my head.

As the viewing started and family members came into the room, something a strange thiught began to emmerge in my head. All i could think about was that this is what heaven is going to be like. Family members that I had not seen in years or had never met in my life easily approached me and others and we just talked. We talked about funny stories about my grandmaw and we comforted each other. The situation reminded me abiut the passage in Acts as it describes hiw the members of the First Church related with eache other:

" And day by day, continuing stedfastly with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread at home, they took their food with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to them day by day those that were saved."

Acts 2:46-47

The viewing for me was like a little glimpse of what heaven may look like. And even though my grandmaw was physically not there, she was still there in a way. My entire family was bonded together during the two hours we were there. God used a situation that i thought was going to be deeply saddening and turned it into the exact opposite.

I have noticed that God tends to use situations that we least expect Him to use. Sometimes we may miss what He is doing in situations like this. It is my hope and prayer for you this week that God shows you His power and love in a way that you would least expect it. Thank you so much for reading!

Revelation 22:20

A Flood of Biblical Proportions

Hello readers! I know it has been quite a while since my last post, but there are many posts to come explaining why there have not been any posts. But before I explain, I want to finish the story about my grandmother's death. So once I wrap up her story, I will write what else has been happening with me.

So after the initially shock of my mom telling me that Maw-Maw was dead, and witnessing God's love in one of the toughest times of my life, I had to face what the next few days had in store for me and my family. Like I said in the previous post, I was out of town when I heard the news, so the next part of my journey was coming back home. The ride home was difficult to say the absolute least. I had calmed down a bit, but I was scared because I knew that my family would be sad which would cause me to also be sad. I knew that more tears would be soon to come and I just did not want to face that moment.

We arrived at my house and I made my way to my front door. My parents opened the door and they seemed to be doing okay, but I knew I could not stop what would happen next. Immediately, I dove into their arms and began to sob. Before this time, I had not cried because I was sad in quite a while. As I was comforted by my parents I was reminded of stories like Job sobbing after loosing everything he had and Jesus praying before he was handed over to be crucified as He cried tears of blood. All of the sadness of the situation hit me harder than it had before and it resulted in a flood of tears.

I made my way over to my brother and sister and we all comforted each other and we all cried. I sat down and played my guitar while I cried and cried. The tears rolled down my face as fast as my eyes could form them. At this point I knew what true sadness felt like.

The next day was Saturday. I gathered with some of my friends from church and they helped me tremendously. Much like the family I was staying with the previous day, they showed Christ's love by just being with me and comforting me.

With a lifted spirit, my family and I woke up Easter Sunday knowing that we had a six hour drive up to Georgia right after the church service. The service began with worship. Almost as soon as the first song started so did the floodgates open. As I looked to my left, my entire family was in tears. Being in the presence of God that morning was comforting. Through the tears, God brought our family together. Was there still sadness? You bet! Most of all, however, there was peace. Peace that only comes from the Lord...eternal comfort is a beautiful thing.

As you read posts that are soon to come, find those who are in need of comfort or in need of a friend. Pray for them, and be a friend. Let us love each other as Christ called us to love.

Romans 8:31-39

Uncertainty, But Certain

The absolute greatest fear I have is the fear of losing somebody I love. Up until two months ago, I had no idea how hard losing somebody you loved really was. I did not know how I would react or how my family would react. I had no idea what feelings would be going on through my mind if it were to ever happen. I did not know how it would influence the relationships I have with my friends and God. Basically...I was uncertain of everything concerning such a situation except for the basic truths I know from the Bible(A.K.A. if the person who dies was saved by Jesus Christ, they will go to Heaven and if they had not made the decision to accept Jesus as their Savior, then they will go to Hell).

The day my grandmaw died I was not at home with my family, I was actually out of town with family friends staying with some of their friends. Everyone who I was with, however, were my brothers and sisters in Christ.

My mom called me on April 2nd saying something along the lines of, "Logan, I've got some bad news. Maw-Maw(my grandmaw) passed away last night in her sleep."Immediately, tears began to roll down my face. Every feeling I had ever felt in my life rushed at me like a tidal wave hitting me hard against the rocks. Realizing my greatest fear was rapidly becoming my reality caused me to become the most uncertain I had ever been. With uncertainty looming over me and with my head against a wall, I did not know where to turn, yet when I turned around to face everyone, Christ showed himself to me.

A good friend of mine once told me that your true friends will be the ones that laugh with you and also cry with you. When I turned around, the family I was staying with and the friends of theirs who we were staying with were all there. They all comforted me each in different ways. They reminded me of where my grandmaw was and how great of a time she was having in heaven. They turned my tears of sadness into tears of joy because of the certainty of where my grandmaw was.

So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. John 13:34

We have all heard this verse before, but I tell you that the people who I was with completely transformed the way I think about it. I had not known the people who's house I was staying at for more than a few hours, but they treated me as if I had known them for years. They did not know my grandmaw or me at all, but they still showered their love onto me just like Jesus commands us to. It amazed me, to say the least, to witness the love Christ talks about in action. Its like I did not really think people ever really practiced the command to love others until I saw it for myself in one of the hardest times of my life.

As I felt completely uncertain of what the next few days of my life would include I was certain of Christ's endless love and how joyful my grandmaw was.

As you continue reading over the next few days, you will realize their will be many more examples of Christ's love. Thanks for reading!

Job 33:28

Not So Far Away...

Hello Friends! If you are reading this, then you probably know I have not updated my blog in about two months. I do apologise for not writing in such a long time. However, I do have quite a bit of explaining and thoughts to share. I actually have so much to share that I have decided to write a little series where for the next week I will just write short stories about the subject at hand.

To make a very long story short, during the night between April 1st and April 2nd, my grandmaw died. As you may have read in previous posts, my grandmaw was a major part of my life. Granted to say, I have many thoughts, emotions, feelings, and actions that I will share over the next week. Today, I wanted to share one of the happier thoughts that were born from this whole experience.

When my grandmaw died, I remembered that I had sent someone a message who's grandmaw was going through medical problems and I went back to that message. The words I said in that message helped greatly in my situation. I thought it was very strange how God used somebody else's circumstance in which I was trying to help them to help me through my circumstance. But we know that God works in mysterious ways. Here is a portion of that message:

Concerning the situation with your grandmother: I found these two little stories in Luke and John that I think go really well together and if at all possible I hope and pray that these stories can be passed to your grandmother. In John 14:1-6 Jesus tells the disciples about the afterlife. Jesus talks about how how he is preparing a place for all of us(heaven) that will be amazing and that all who believe will be there with Jesus. Jesus is comforting us in these verses, but to truly realize how outrageously incredible heaven will be, I think that Luke 16:19-31 gives an indescribable story of heaven. These verses tell the story of how a rich man had an amazing life on earth(opulent to say the least), but was not a believer. And when he died, he was sent to hell where he was tormented and cried out for God to come rescue him(you might consider leaving that part of the story out for it is very painful). But the amazing part of this story is about Lazarus. Lazarus was completely covered in sores and lived in pain most of his life, but trusted in The Lord. So when the time came for him to die, he went to live with The Father in eternity. And in heaven Lazarus was free of all sores and the Bible says he was comforted and without pain. So, for your grandmother, I pray that she knows that God is with her, and then when it is her time, she will be with Him forever. And not only will she spend eternity with Him, she wont have any pain and will always be comforted. Also, I think revelation 21:4 wraps this up very nicely. But please know I am praying everyday for her and that she be free of all pains and anxieties. and also know that God can work miracles, even when times seem the darkest.

"Yes, I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on
And there will be an end to these troubles
But until that day comes
Still I will praise You, still I will praise You"

I know my grandmaw is in Heaven and is free of all the pain she was in, but I still miss her.I probably will always miss her. However, I labeled this post "Not So Far Away..." because I know missing her will not be something that will last for eternity. I may miss her the rest of my Earthly life, but I know that soon enough I will be with her again and there will be no memory of ever missing her. I love knowing that. I love God for allowing me to know that truth.

Thank you so much for reading!

2 John 1:3

Dress to Impress?

So the other day, I had a very interesting conversation with a teacher about her past church experiences and I was very perplexed at what she said. She claimed that she no longer attends church because of what students and adults are wearing to the church. She told me that she feels they are disrespecting God by just wearing jeans and a t-shirt or whatever. She continued saying that she grew up at a time where Sunday morning was a "big deal" when it comes to what you wore. She claimed that every Sunday morning her family would wear there nicest clothes to show honor and respect to God. However, what stuck out most to me was that she wasn't going to church because of what people were wearing. I thought to myself, "How is this come to be?" and , "Why does it matter what we wear to church?" After a little reading and a considerably large amount of thinking, This is what I came up with:

There is a song that immediately started playing in my head when I thought about this whole situation. It goes, "Come, now is the time to worship. Come, just as you are to worship." Did you catch that? Come, just as you are to worship? To me, this means: it doesn't matter who you are, what you do, where you've been, or what you are wearing, just come worship God. I feel as though we have taken a legalistic standpoint on this situation. I think what we are missing is the fact that God wants us for who we are, not for what we wear. What is important is that we are with God no matter what. When my teacher said she doesn't go to church because of what people are wearing, it deeply saddened me. To know that because of something as materialistic as clothes are preventing someone from having an active relationship with Christ is terrible.

On the contrary, I completely understand what my teacher was saying about wanting to honor God with her best attire. I feel as though whatever we do, as humans, we should do it with the best attitude and effort in an attempt to glorify God. And since we can honor God in a countless amount of ways, I think if we feel compelled to dress nicely, then go for it. However, the reason we wear clothes in the first place is because of sin. I know it sounds strange, but its the truth. When Adam and Eve betrayed and dishonored God through their actions, they realized they were naked and were ashamed. Thus, they began to wear clothes to cover their shame. So, why should we care about what we wear in the first place?

This is when I turn to Matthew for some words of wisdom. Matthew 6:25 states , "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?" Jesus clearly made the point that we don't need to worry about clothes because there are simply more important things in life such as life itself.

So where do we go from here? For those of us who want to dress nicely at church, go for it! For those who want to be casual, go for it! The truth of the matter is, is that God just wants 100% of our hearts. Not 10% of our clothes and 90% of our heart, but 100%. God wants worship, not our clothes. And whatever allows you personally to have a better worship experience and give more of yourself to the Father is what you should consider. Also, if you feel as though everyone should dress their best, but they don't...do not let it affect your walk with God. Keep your focus on Him and He will put you in the right direction.

Proverbs 3:6

40 days of...(insert task here)

Today is the technical start of the Lent season, so I felt led to express my opinions on the whole topic in general.

As a high school student, I attend a practicing Episcopalian school. When I say practicing, I mean that we have a weekly chapel filled with verses and prayers read of a simple sheet of paper. Then, once a month we are offered Eucharist(Lord's supper). All of the actions and practices in chapel at our school seems very routine and is sometimes hard to grasp the full meaning of what we are even there for. However, I appreciate the opportunity it provides for me to learn about the Episcopalian denomination and learn how the denomination functions. Today was the start of Lent season known as Ash Wednesday. During our chapel today, each student was given the opportunity to have ashes placed on their forehead. At first, I thought this was rather strange, but then our leader explained the significance behind the ashes. The ashes are meant to symbolize the death and sorrow of sin. As a whole, the service had a very sorrowful mood being expressed. As the leader explained what the Lent season was about, he explained that from now(Wednesday) until Easter, we should give something up or take something on to show our commitment to God and how much we do not want sin in our lives.

After the service ended, i thought back on the whole experience and thought of a few things:

1. I first asked myself the question, "Why was the service so sad and quiet? Shouldn't we be excited to give away our sin for God or take on a task for God?" I realize that sin can be and is a gloomy thing to deal with(God even says he hates sin), but we have the grace of God to forgive us of those sins. So shouldn't we be excited for that? I feel as though the Lent season may be being perceived in the wrong manner.

2. I then asked myself, "Where is the focus of Lent being directed?" The service I saw today seemed very focused on solemnity and and our sin. Like I said earlier, we have Gods grace and forgiveness so we don't need to feel guilty or melancholy. Grief does not help yourself become a better person, it keeps you feeling distant from God for a longer period of time.

3. So what is the purpose? For me, the forty days leading up to Easter is a time where we should be completely focused on God, but this should really be the case for every day of our lives. I think the next forty days should be used to give something up or do something extra, but not because we are grief-stricken and we feel sad for the things we have done. Instead, this should be a time full of rejoicing for the wonderful gift God has given us...salvation. We should be excited to take on a new challenge or give something up that holds us away from God. We should be excited to get closer to God.

In closing, I do challenge you to try giving up something close to you that you would normally give time toward and give that time to God. Or, I challenge you to take on a task for God such as having a more consistent quiet time, reading a certain book in the Bible, doing a service project, or whatever you feel led to do. I do encourage you however, to remain in constant prayer giving thanks to God for everything he gives us.

Psalm 62:8

What is the Deal with Priorities?

Something that I always tend to feel like I constantly struggle with are my priorities. Ever since I became a Christian, I've always been told to "put God first" in everything I do. I thought this meant reading my bible, saying a prayer before bed and meals, and just being a good person. As I grew spiritually, I soon found that although reading the bible and praying were great things to do, was that really "putting God first?" So now I ask, what does putting God first in our priorities truly look like?

I think that before we even try to make God our absolute number one priority, we need to realize we are human which means we are imperfect and we will make mistakes. With this mindset, the task can begin for all of us.

In Matthew 6 verse 33, Jesus explains, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be provided for you."

So clearly, we are meant to put God first, but did you catch the wording on that?It says, "...seek first the kingdom of God...." To me this is telling us that furthering the kingdom of God should be our priority. I think that "furthering" the kingdom of God can be brought about in a variety of ways. This could mean spreading the word about Jesus to others, giving God the glory in everything you do, or even furthering your relationship with Jesus Christ.

So, making God our number one priority seems a little more tangible for me when I view things this way. I feel like I can go to school and still have God as my number one priority by giving Him the glory in all the things I do there. I think we sometimes view making God our priority as a major sacrifice to our daily lives-which sometimes this may actually occur-but if we take a step back and analyze the opportunities we have for furthering God's kingdom, we can see that we can easily make God our priority. The opportunities we have each and everyday are how we make God our priority. We take the chances God gives to us and use them to further the kingdom. So remember, there are many ways to make God our priority in life, but if we do achieve this, "...His righteousness and all these things will be provided for you."

Mark 12:30

From Sodom and Gomorrah to a Righteous Ordeal(How Prayer Can Change Our Minds)

As I have been reading through Genesis, I found something that took me a couple reads to understand the full purpose behind. In chapter 18, we come across a conversation, prayer, between Abraham and God. God is preparing to destroy Sodom, a town full of "wickedness" at the time, but then God begins to test Abraham. Take a look at this scripture:

Genesis 18:16-33 (NLT)

16 Then the men got up from their meal and looked out toward Sodom. As they left, Abraham went with them to send them on their way.

17 “Should I hide my plan from Abraham?” the Lord asked.

18 “For Abraham will certainly become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him.

19 I have singled him out so that he will direct his sons and their families to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. Then I will do for Abraham all that I have promised.”

20 So the Lord told Abraham, “I have heard a great outcry from Sodom and Gomorrah, because their sin is so flagrant.

21 I am going down to see if their actions are as wicked as I have heard. If not, I want to know.”

22 The other men turned and headed toward Sodom, but the Lord remained with Abraham.

23 Abraham approached him and said, “Will you sweep away both the righteous and the wicked?

24 Suppose you find fifty righteous people living there in the city—will you still sweep it away and not spare it for their sakes?

25 Surely you wouldn’t do such a thing, destroying the righteous along with the wicked. Why, you would be treating the righteous and the wicked exactly the same! Surely you wouldn’t do that! Should not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”

26 And the Lord replied, “If I find fifty righteous people in Sodom, I will spare the entire city for their sake.”

27 Then Abraham spoke again. “Since I have begun, let me speak further to my Lord, even though I am but dust and ashes.

28 Suppose there are only forty-five righteous people rather than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And the Lord said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five righteous people there.”

29 Then Abraham pressed his request further. “Suppose there are only forty?” And the Lord replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the forty.”

30 “Please don’t be angry, my Lord,” Abraham pleaded. “Let me speak—suppose only thirty righteous people are found?” And the Lord replied, “I will not destroy it if I find thirty.”

31 Then Abraham said, “Since I have dared to speak to the Lord, let me continue—suppose there are only twenty?” And the Lord replied, “Then I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.”

32 Finally, Abraham said, “Lord, please don’t be angry with me if I speak one more time. Suppose only ten are found there?” And the Lord replied, “Then I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”

33 When the Lord had finished his conversation with Abraham, he went on his way, and Abraham returned to his tent.

When I first read this, it sounded as though God had his mind set and then Abraham changed God's mind! Then I mused on that thought for a bit, and I quickly realized that God is omniscient, all knowing, which would make this scenario impossible. After thinking for a another few minutes and reading around, I picked out what this story could be saying about prayer. The entire conversation here is between God and Abraham. So first and foremost, we can tell prayer should be an actual interaction with God-not just a "wish list" of things we would like. Second, and something we can directly see from this story, we should not think something is "not important enough" for God. We can see in this conversation Abraham has with God, that all we have to do is ask and God , if his will permits it, will answer our prayers.

Also, I view this story as God testing Abraham. This is quite the opposite of my initial reaction of Abraham changing God's mind. If anything, God changed Abraham's mind! In all ways, Abraham respected God's decision , but we may not always know God's decision (his will for us). However, I believe that prayer can help us understand what God has planned for us.

Moreover, whatever your personal situation is, just pray about it. We can see that if we ask, God provides for us. Nothing is too small or insignificant for you to talk to him about. He loves us and wants to be with us! No matter what the circumstance, God can answer our prayers. My hope for you is that you can really pray to God about anything and everything.

Matthew 21:22

Forty Days and Forty Nights

The other evening, I was reading the story of Noah to look for some "deeper meaning." Granted to say, God blew my mind once again! We have all heard the story of the flood before-God tells Noah He is going to flood the Earth because he is displeased-its Noah's Job to build an ark and take two of each animal and his family to repopulate when the flood is over. Noah does as he is told and then the flood that will last forty days and forty nights begin. Then this verse comes:

"Finally, the water covered even the highest mountains on earth, rising more than twenty-two feet above the highest peaks."

Genesis 7:19-20

Did you get that?! Water flooded the earth more than twenty-two feet over the highest mountains! This only happened 4000-5000 years ago, which meant that Mt. Everest was probably the highest mountain on the earth. Mt. Everest is 29,029 feet high! There is not enough water on planet Earth to rise that high! Obviously God was involved in this one.

I always enjoying seeing God through his creation, but how cool is it that our Creator can put that much water on our planet and then take it all away just like that? Pretty cool I would say. Furthermore, God showed me through this scripture how powerful he truly is.We need to realize that God can do absolutely anything...no matter what the circumstance. If you are struggling with anything, just give it all to God.

Also, we need to have faith in God like Noah had. If God told me that He was going to flood the Earth and that it I was the one who needed to save humanity...I would consider myself insane. With Noah, however, he trusted God completely. If we can be faithful with God with everything we have, He can use it all to do the most incredible things. He is powerful enough to do anything and everything including using our lives for His loving purpose. There is no greater joy than trusting God with your life because you can stand affirm that He will do amazing things with it.

This week, I challenge you to trust God with every decision and action you make. Turn to him when times are good and bad. Have faith and pray He will grant you with opportunities to further His kingdom. I pray your week is peaceful and that you may give everything you do to the Lord.

Jeremiah 32:27

My Testimony and a Miracle

Today, I decided to share my personal testimony of coming to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and tell you about a miracle that has recently occurred in my life.

In 2001, my family and I were traveling up to Georgia where my grandparents live. Something me and my brother(Clay) always found fun was to ride down our grandparents driveway, which was rather steep, on skateboards and roller-blades. So, as soon as we pulled up to our grandparent's house, grabbed our skates, and made our way to the top of the hill.At this point, it was just me, Clay, and our excitement as we prepared to head down the hill.

I started down the hill on my skateboard, and quickly gained speed. I noticed I was going to fast, so i jumped off the board. As I turned around, I saw Clay making his way down the hill. Sadly, he was not wearing a helmet. All I could was watch Clay make his way down. He gained speed very quickly, and as he neared the bottom of the driveway, I noticed his feet slipping out from underneath him. From here, everything happened in slow motion for me. Clay, going way too fast, fell back and slapped his head on the concrete.

Immediately, blood started flowing from his head. I ran down the hill as fast I could to help Clay, but he couldn't tell me anything and just screamed. I was only eight years old so I thought my brother was about to die. I ran inside the house yelling for my parents to come help(i was the only one who actually saw Clay fall), and all I kept saying was, "Clay is dying!!! Help! Help!"

I will always remember the sheer terror on my Mom and Dad's face when they first saw Clay laying on the ground yelling and flailing his arms and legs. Seeing my parents worried like that made me know that something was really wrong. As I watched my parents, grandparents, and uncle try and get clay to be still and help him...all I could do was watch. I wanted to help so bad because he was my brother. I loved him and all I could do was watch him die. The only thought that ran through my head was that my brother is about to die and there is nothing I can do about it. I stood watching my brother bleed from his head and sobbed and yelled. I had never felt so low and angry before in my life. I started to question God at this point screaming out "Why would you do this to me God?!?!?! Clay never did anything wrong to you before!!!!" I could not bear to watch anymore so I hid behind our car, wailing at God.

So, my parents called an ambulance and it came and took Clay away to hospital. I thought this was going to be the last time I saw my brother. Shell-shocked, I waited on any news from my parents about Clay. Three days later, my parents called me and my grandmother(my Mom's mom- who I was staying with at this point) and told us that we could come see Clay. I was scared of this because I knew that he had brain damage and was probably going to be really different.

Me and my grandmother made our way hospital and arrived at the floor where Clay was. As we walked along the floor, I saw my Mom. She was yelling out for a doctor to come help. Clay was having a seizure. That same sense of "feeling like I should help but I can't" came across my heart. Seeing my Mom yell for help was worse than seeing her worried, and i began to cry again. I didn't know what to do. Then, my grandmother took me by the hand and looked at me and said, "Logan. Let's go pray." the previous summer at Vacation Bible School, I had prayed "The Prayer" and called myself a Christian. I knew a thing or two about God, but I had no clue what it meant to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. So when my grandmother said this, I was kinda confused. I prayed before I slept or ate, but praying at a time like this just seemed irreconcilable.

Nevertheless, we went and sat out in the hallway and we started to pray. I went into that prayer crying, confused, cold, felling un-loved, and angry. My grandmother started to pray out loud and I closed my eyes. Then, I stopped sobbing. My breathing became easy. I started then, to pray for my brother. All of the sudden, an overwhelming peace came about me. Its hard for me to describe the exact feeling that I experienced during the prayer. It was warm and loving and it filled my heart with confidence. Confidence that my brother was going to pull through this and live to tell the tell. God came and talked to me on that day at the hospital. He let me know that Clay was going to be okay and he wiped my tears away. After an hour of praying, I felt at rest in my heart and I felt God's love radiating through my body.

So, Clay had just had a seizure, the odds given by the doctor were not on our side, but God was with us. Miraculously, over the next few days, Clay made a full recovery. As I witnessed this miracle happen, I understood what it meant to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Its trusting in Him in everything-good or bad. Today, Clay is as healthy as can be and plays the most significant part in my life when it come to my Christian walk. I could not be more thankful for him being in my life.

The story does not end here though. As i continue to grow closer to God daily, I witness more and more of His miracles. In the middle of December of 2009(this past year), my Mom called and told me my grandmother(the same one who prayed with me that day at the hospital) had to have open heart surgery. That hit me hard. My mom said all my grandmother wanted was from me to pray for her. With her surgery the next morning, I called my grandmother trying to sound happy. She picked up the phone and we talked and she asked if I would pray for her. Willingly, I started to pray for her. Immediately, God broke me down and I began to cry. I wasn't sad though. Instead, was overwhelmed by peace. My rears were tears of Joy. As I prayed for my grandmother on the phone, that same feeling I had when I knew Clay was going to be okay came over me. I knew that even though my grandmother was having a vary risky surgery, God was in control and it was going to be okay.

The next morning, my grandmother had the surgery and everything went great. Today, she left for her own home. I witnessed God create another miracle right in front of me, and it is the coolest thing that has happened to me. Knowing and trusting God is so awesome, because you don't have to worry about it and you can be at peace.

Thank you for reading my story. I hope it was inspiring to you in every way possible. Now, if you would like, I wan to hear your story of coming to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. You can email me stories, question, comments, and criticisms at logstar5@gmail.com Or you can comment on my story. Thanks for listening.

Jeremiah 29:11 My Life verse

A Gift the World Cannot Give...Peace

It seems as though we are always in a constant effort trying to achieve peace. I think we tend to associate our lack of peace with worry. As a student, I can honestly say that school and the work it entitles restrains us from gaining peace. I can say from observation of my parents, that having a job inhibits us from gaining peace as well. I typically find myself asking, "Why is it so hard to find peace for 5 minutes in my day?" I tend to come with a lame excuse-blaming it on my teachers-my homework-etc. So is it possible to have peace at all? Of course it is.

After a bit of reading, I found this incredible verse that pretty much sums up how much peace we actually have:

"I am leaving you with a gift--peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don't be troubled or afraid."John 14:27

This verse comes up as Jesus is talking to his disciples prior to his crucifixion. Jesus tells his disciples how he will be leaving the Earth, but he will be leaving a "gift." Jesus says the world cannot give this gift. This gift is the Holy Spirit and is described as "peace of mind and heart." Did you hear that? The gift of the Holy Spirit offers us peace of mind and heart!

As christians, we might say something like, "Well, wait a minute! I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, but I hardly have any peace in my life! What's the deal?" This is when we should look in the middle of that verse above. "And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. " The world cannot offer the gift of peace. To me this reminded me of Romans 12:2 which explains, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind...." If we live by the world's "standards" it's difficult, almost impossible, to focus on the Holy Spirit. If we cannot focus on the Holy Spirit, how can we be at peace? We can't.

If we want peace, we must really commit and focus on God so that we can understand that the Holy Spirit is in us waiting to provide us with peace- we just have to take it.

If you are a christian trying to find peace, I urge you to take a few minutes to focus on the Holy Spirit who lives inside of you. Make it a daily habit to start each morning with a simple prayer asking for peace and to remember the Holy Spirit is with you. I pray that you can have peace always and in all things.

If you are not a christian, I personally thank you for reading this. It means the world to me. If you would like peace, I pray that you would consider developing a relationship with Jesus Christ. He offers love and peace to you, and all you have to do is accept him into your life.

I thank everyone for keeping up with this blog. I hope it is helping everyone.

2 Corinthians 13:11

Worry, Worry, Worry...Can We Stop?

I looked up on a bible search program for verses that pertained to "worry", and the search came up with 165 verses! I thought that was an enormous number of verses for worry. Obviously God has quite a bit to say about worrying!

As I scrolled down reading all these verses, the word "don't" almost always appears before the word "worry." So even at first glance, it seems we really should not be worrying. Yet whenever somebody says, "Don't worry about it," how many times do we stop worrying? Almost never.

Sometimes I think that we, as humans, feel like we have to worry in order to get things done, which is sort of disappointing. But why do we worry anyways? I think it's because when we feel we are dealt too much to handle, we feel overwhelmed and don't have anybody to help us. Then, we turn to God and ask for help, but since we tend to view God as a supernatural impersonal being, we don't think he can or will actually help us out physically. Once we give our 30 second to praying to God for peace or for him to take away the worry and not seeing immediate results, we get right back into the worrying game.

So how do we stop worrying? This is a tough question to answer, but here are my thoughts:

Proverbs 1:33 says, "But whoever listens to me will live without worry and will be free from the dread of disaster."

This verse tell us a variety of things that will help us all stop worrying. First of all, we have to realize that we need to turn to God in all situations, whether they are good or bad. This verse tells us that we need to listen to God. And we listen to God through prayer and reading his word in an attempt to get closer and learn more about him. Sometimes we have to wait on God to speak us, so we have to be patient in listening to God. Next, the verse says if we do listen, we will live without worry! How cool is that?! By simply listening to God, we can live our lives worry-free. Lastly, the verse says if we listen to God, we will be free from the dread of disaster. Thats a pretty awesome bonus prize if you ask me.

The cure for worrying is not a simple task. It can be difficult to turn to God, and wait for a response from him. However patience is rewarded greatly by God(Proverbs 20:22). I challenge and pray that you will make a noble to listen to God so that you may live your life worry free.

2 Peter 1:2

A New Year-A New Challenge

Happy New Year to All! I hope everyone is enjoying the start of a new year and that you feel refreshed. Today, I wanted to share and expand upon yesterday's post- "The Creator." If you have note read that post, please take the time to scroll down and take a gander at it.

Towards the end of "The Creator" post, I mentioned how God created all the stars billions of miles away, but also made us with great detail. As I was falling asleep last night, I thought about how God created everything including the things billions of miles away. From here, it is quite easy to see that God is a pretty big guy and must be pretty powerful in looking at everything he created out of nothing.

God is massive! Right now, our universe is calculated to be over 93 billion light years wide! That's pretty big, but God is bigger than that. We, as humans, cannot fathom how big God actually is. In the same way, we cannot comprehend how great God's love for us really is. Sometimes, its easy to think that God is so huge that there is no way he could know us personally. However, Luke 12:6-7 states,"...But God never overlooks a single one. And he pays even greater attention to you, down to the last detail-even numbering the hairs on you head!"Isn't that cool! God knows us greater than we know ourselves. He knows us personally. To have a God powerful enough to create our universe, but also know everything about us is truly special. We don't have to feel alone or unwanted because God is always with us and always loves us.

Our mission in life, is to bring God praise and to spread the love he has to offer to everyone(Matthew 22:36). But how often do we actually try to do this? How often do we live our lives trying to bring God praise in everything that we do? I know that I never live like this enough. I get caught up in other things that I view as "more important." But in God's eyes, there is not anything more important than loving God with all of our hear, mind, and soul.

With a New Year, we have a chance to sort of "start over" or renew our goal and mindsets. I want to challenge you to live in a way that brings God praise and love. I challenge you to make God a "massive" part of your life because he is massive. Our lives should be completely focused on him at all times. Have a great New Year!

Psalm 115:1