Intimacy with God

Hello, everyone! I’ve had a few things on my mind lately and would like to share them with you. I hope this reaches someone out there and aids you in your walk with Christ. I’m trying to figure this thing out myself, so lets do it together!

So, lately I have been feeling spiritually dry. I’ve been trying to reach God but I cannot get close to Him. I’ll pray at certain times of the day (usually morning and night or whenever I want something), read my Bible (not as much as I should, honestly), and even explore some different campus ministries here at my university. I find myself asking God, “Wow, is this really it?! There has to be something greater than this!!” I feel like a lot of people ask that same question. As humans, it is our natural instinct to want, to long, to be acknowledged. We are all seeking something in life, especially when it comes to relationships; romantic ones, friendships, family, etc. What if I told you that that the thing you are looking for is right at your fingertips? That thirst for something real is right at the tip of your tongue. Intimacy with the Father is accessible to everyone!

O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You,

In a dry and weary land where there is no water.

Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary,

To see Your power and Your glory.

Because Your loving kindness is better than life,

My lips will praise You.

So I will bless You as long as I live;

I will lift up my hands in Your name.

My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness,

And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips.

When I remember You on my bed,

I meditate on You in the night watches,

For You have been my help,

And in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy.

My soul clings to You;

Your right hand upholds me. (Psalm 63:1-8)

           

This Psalm is a love letter from David (the author of this text) to God. Here is the my modern day translation of the text:

God I love you. I want to spend time with you and get to know you. Being with you is better than life itself. You complete me. I think about you every night before I go to sleep. I dream of you and of how one day we will be together. God, you are mine and I am yours.

            So how do we attain this intimacy with God? We pursue holiness. Holiness means to be different and set apart as Jesus Christ was.

“Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.” (Hebrews 12:14)

“…just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” (Ephes. 1:4)

“…[be] hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober minded, just, holy, self-controlled..” (Titus 1:8)

INTIMACY EQUALS HOLINESS!!!!

There is a story in the New Testament where Jesus takes Peter, John, and James up on a mountain to pray (Luke 9:27-36).  As they are up there it says that Jesus is transfigured and that Moses and Elijah also appear (v. 29-30). But the next thing that happens is the most important: “…a cloud formed and began to overshadow them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.  Then a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!”(v. 34-35)

God wants Peter, James, and John to listen to Jesus. Why?

JESUS WAS HOLY!

If you get nothing else from this blog please just pay attention to this part: Jesus is holy. He is the Chosen One. He is set apart. He is different. And intimacy with God is holiness. So that means the only way that we can reach God is through Jesus! “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but THROUGH ME.” (John 14:6)

I believe that God wanted Peter, James, and John to listen to Jesus because He knew that following Jesus would ultimately lead them to a relationship with Him. The same goes for us! God knows that if we follow Jesus it will lead us to Him. He knows that reading the Word will teach us how to live holy lives. Intimacy is attainable! It is so close to us!

Live in Love. Live in Peace. Go in Freedom

-Daniel

Trials Are For Your Training

Hello everyone!!! Sorry I haven't been blogging lately. Things have been hectic on my end... but I'm back!! I'll jump right into it then!

For a few weeks now I've been studying the book of James, particularly James 1:2-4:

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

A little background on James to get started. James was actually the brother of Jesus and  was often known for being righteous and just. He actually didn't even believe that his brother was the Messiah until after Jesus' death and resurrection. He was a man of authority within the church of Jerusalem and wrote these letters found in the book of James to Christian converts from the the twelve tribes of Israel. James writes about what qualities Christians should have, how to treat our fellow brothers and sisters, and various other things that are expected from us as Christians. And apparently he looked like this:

or this..

(nice beard haha)

So in James chapter 1:2 James says to "count it all joy when you fall into various trials". As I read this I notice one very important detail of this verse:  James says WHEN you fall into various trials, not if, but when. 

Trials are going to happen in your life it is inevitable. 

A trial is defined as an urge, an itch, or an impulse. It is an event in our lives that has the potential to either move us closer to God or push us away. Unfortunately the latter tends to happen more than the former, especially with me. A trial can be a an annoying coworker, a death of a family member, or anything in between.

There are 4 key points that teach us how to profit from trials in our lives.

1. Rejoice 

Yes it sounds crazy I know. Why would I be happy when I lose my job? What makes you think I would be smiling when my car gets repossessed? 

Because we KNOW that the testing of our faith produces patience (v. 3). Well what is faith and why is it being tested? Faith is not wishful thinking. It is not hoping for something to happen. It is not just saying that things will get better and not believing that they will. FAITH is complete and total trust in God. 

2. Trust in the Lord

If we rejoice it shows God that we trust Him, it shows God that we have faith. The second part of verse 3 says that patience will be produced through our trust in God. Trials + Faith = Patience

The word patience here also means endurance. It is the ability to persevere through hard times and struggles. 

3. Remain Steadfast/Endure

"But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing" (v. 4).

We have to learn to let our trial play out. God is doing a great work in us. He is maturing us in our faith. He is making us pure and holy and righteous, as He is. When a trial comes I challenge you to face the trial. Do not run away from it. Do not try to fix the situation with your own knowledge and power. Please understand that God's power is so much greater than ours. Understand that trials are for your training. 

4. Request Wisdom

And if you have no idea how to deal with the trial, JUST ASK. "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him" (v. 5). Ask God what you should do and He will tell you. He will guide you and instruct you in the way of wisdom (Proverbs 4:11). Disclaimer: This part requires that you listen to God and obey what He says. The most often time I hear God speak is through the Holy Spirit which He has given us (John 14:16). 

So what am I being trained for? Why does this all matter? Well Peter 1:6-7 says:  

In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

When Christ returns He will see our faith and see that we have endured through our hardships on Earth. And He will be pleased with us. For me, knowing this is enough to get me through each day. 

Be encouraged this is only for your training. 

Live in Love. Live in Peace. Go in Freedom

-Daniel 

Submission

Servants, be SUBMISSIVE to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. (1 Peter 2:18)


This post will be short but I'd like to talk about something that I am truly working on, submission. Specifically submission to leaders. When we hear that word, submission,  a bunch of red flags go up. We say things like, "Why should I be submissive?" Or, "I only to submit myself to God, not men/women." These are both things I have said countless amounts of time, pretty recently too. In my eyes men/women are flawed so submitting to someone who is flawed can't be correct, right? There must be a perfect pastor or minister out there somewhere! Wrong!


All my life I've searched for that perfect leader but have not found one. And I'm starting to realize that I will never find one (took me a minute haha). We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Moses is arguably the greatest prophet/leader that ever lived, but he had an anger problem. Remember when he killed the Egyptian in Exodus 2:12?

And we can see throughout the book of Exodus that the Israelites were not the best followers of Moses. They probably didn't want to follow someone who was always angry all of the time.

Peter tell us in 1 Peter 2:18 that we are called to be submissive to our masters/spiritual leaders/people of authority, not only the nice ones who we love to serve but also the ones that are harsh. We are called to serve and be obedient not only to God but to his chosen leaders. Let's not be like the Israelites and be disobedient, for the majority of them their story didn't end to well.

Submit yourself to your spiritual leaders.

Live in Love. Live In Peace. Go in Freedom

-Daniel

God Needs You to Trust Him

Recently something in my personal life just happened that caused me to feel so many emotions: anger, frustration, bitterness, jealousy, confusion, and sadness. I would be transparent with you all but this testimony does not involve just me..

These emotions I felt were directed at God and others around me. I asked God why was this happening? What did I do wrong? Was I not living for you? Was I not totally surrendering to you?

It's funny how when we start obeying things God told us to do weeks, months, and years ago then we want to get a big head and feel as if we are entitled to a reward. Like we're the stars of the show and everything we do deserves attention and praise. Like God is supposed to give us a treat for doing what we were supposed to do in the first place. Well let me tell you all something The truth is.....you guys ready for it? It's real......


God owes you nothing. Nothing at all.

He doesn't have to reward you for anything that you do. He didn't have to bless you with a wife, kids, a job, a degree, a nice car, etc. And He sure didn't have to die on that cross for our sins.

But He chose to do these things. 

Our assignment as human beings is this: Obey His commandments (John 14:15) We are required to obey God. It is not an option. Not something that can be negotiated it is something that is involuntary.
God needs you to stop making out your plans and trust Him. When we start preparing our plans for our life we are not trusting God with our lives. Without complete surrender there is no trust. How can we say we trust God but not give up our entire lives to Him?

God wants to bless you and He wants to bring you into all the things He has for you but you must take that step out on the water and trust Him. Even if it doesn't look like the plan you intended for your life. When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were told they would be thrown into the burning furnace for not worshiping the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar set up there response was this:

 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.” (Daniel 3:16-18 NKJV)

When I read these verses I burst out laughing! Firstly, the three told the king off saying that we don't have to obey anything you say. Then they went along to say that their God has the power to save them and WILL save them (a lot of times we just say that God will do something and all we're doing is just talking not trusting).  The last part is the best though. Even if God wouldn't deliver them from the furnance and they knew He wouldn't they would still not worship the false gods of king Nebuchadnezzar.

This whole story is a perfect example of putting our trust in God. If these three teenage boys could do it (yup they were teenagers) why can't you?

Live in Love. Live in Peace. Go in Freedom.

Daniel

What Are You Willing to Ask God For? (part 2)

So last week I talked about how God hears our prayers and answers them. I talked about how we must abide in Him and whatever we ask for will be done for us (if you missed it read last weeks blog). But how do we build up the courage to pray those bold prayers? How do we ask God for those things that are impossible for man?

Faith. 

But what is faith? We throw that word around so much as "church folks" or as Christians but what does it really mean? the Oxford dictionaries definition of faith is "Complete trust or confidence in someone or something". When you have complete trust in something there is no doubt in your mind that it will carry out the function it is supposed to do.

Every morning when I get out of my bed I go over to the sink so i can brush my teeth. I understand that the faucet has two handles, one for hot water and one for cold. When I turn the handle on the right that is labeled hot I am trusting in the faucets ability to spray out hot water. I don't expect for cold water to come out because I turned on the hot water, not the cold.

If we can put our trust in a few metal pipes to spew out some hot water why is it so hard for us to trust in a God who healed the lame and the blind? A God who fed multitudes of people. A God who raised Lazarus from the dead. A God who Himself, in the form of Jesus, conquered death.

Hebrews 11:1 reads that faith is the SUBSTANCE of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen. The Greek translation for substance/confidence is hupostasis. Hupostasis means "a setting or placing under, a thing put under, substructure, foundation,  something that is firm, that which has actual existence...etc." So Hupostasis is tangible. It is as real as the computer you are reading this blog from or as real as your glasses on your face.

Faith is not just something we use to get what we want, it is something that is required of us. "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him MUST believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him" (Hebrews 11:6). 

When I read that verse I rejoiced because God does not want us to fail our classes. He doesn't want us to be in debt after we leave college. He doesn't want us continue to be held in bondage by our drinking addiction or by our pornography addiction. He wants to reward us for earnestly seeking Him. He wants us to be willing to ask Him for anything and everything.

But don't be mislead. God is not some genie in a lamp here to grant our every wishes. James says it like this: we don't receive because we don't ask (James 4:2) and we ask and don't receive because of our fleshly desires (James 4:3). Kinda confusing right? How do I know when I'm asking out of my flesh and when I'm asking something that God wants me to have?

Well we have to come to a point where we follow God just because He's GOD not because we want something. Then, the prayers we are willing to pray will line up with the will of God.

Live in Love. Live in Peace. Go in Freedom.

Daniel

Prayer: What Are You Willing to Ask God For? (Part 1)

Hello all! I hope that God has really been speaking to all of you and blessing you these past couple weeks. I would like to talk about something that God has really been speaking to me lately through my Pastor, Pastor Patrick Johnson at The Way Impact Christian Center in Denton, Tx. and just by spending personal time with God in His word.

First I'd like to show where our prayers go after they are prayed. "And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God's people"(Revelation 5:8 NIV).

" Imagine, then, on this altar are piles of prayers. Centuries of prayers. Your prayers and mine. They are as fire, burning, their smoke rising up from the altar before God. Then the angel takes his bowl to this blazing altar and he rakes in all these flames. Then, holding this bowl of fire — of our prayers — he steps over and hurls it onto the earth". - Jonathan Parnell 

 All the prayers of God's people are not only heard by God but answered by God. We can have confidence that He hears our prayers and answers them. "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you" (John 15:7). 

To understand what this verse really means we must understand the text in the original language. The word "thelo" is often translated by theologians as "desires" or "wishes" it is used in the verse when Jesus says ask whatever you "wish". However a better translation for the word is "willing". So Jesus is telling us to ask whatever we're willing to ask for, He is in fact daring us to ask beyond our wants. What we want has limitations but what God can do has no boundaries.

So what are you willing to ask God for?

(to be continued)

I Love You

Today's post will be short and sweet. I'd like to talk about one thing, love. Often we think of love as feeling a certain way about someone or something. We throw the term love around loosely to describe our childish cravings or longings for something; I LOVE that song, I LOVE ice cream, I LOVE your hair, I LOVE his shoes... Really we're just using the word love as a substitute for what we truly mean, strongly like.

But what is love, really?

Love is sacrifice! Plain and simple.
Love is being able to put your wants and desires aside in order to serve someone else, no matter how much it costs you. Jesus commands us as His disciples to love each other as he has loved us (John 15:12-13). He goes on to say in verse that there is no greater love than to lay down your life for a friend. How many of us can say we would die for every single one of our friends? Thats because these people really aren't our friends (blog about true friendship coming in the future).

A great example of love shown to me personally is John 3:16. We all know the verse but have you ever just sat down and read it slowly? Have you ever just consumed the words and let it marinate in your mind? I challenge you to do it. It says that for GOD so LOVED the world that He gave His one and only son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Some of us won't even give up some fries from our fast food meals and here we have the creator of the Universe giving up His only son so that we can live! If that is not love I don't know what is!

It's a pleasure to know that we have a creator who loves us. I hope that everyone gets a chance to experience His love. Here are a 7 verses that showcase Gods love for us. Take the time to read, study, and memorize them. John 3:16, Romans 8:37-39, Romans 5:8, 1 John 4:9-11, Ephesians 2:4-5, 1 Peter 5:6-7, Psalm 86:15.

Live in Love. Live In Peace. Go in Freedom

-Daniel

Where is your Terenbith Tree?

I hope that everyone is enjoying their spring break, I know I am!! I got back to Houston Friday night and was so relieved to be home; to see my family, eat food that doesn't taste or feel like cardboard, and  you know the usual. 

As I woke up this morning at the amazing time of 7:00AM I started worshipping God. I listened to a song by Bethel Music that talked about expecting God in a different way... Experiencing God in a different way... Meeting God at a different place. After the song was over the Holy Spirit told me to go outside and walk. I was given no destination, no coordinates, no map just told to walk. As I started to obey him I got really sick. There was an excruciating pain in my stomach and I started sweating. Oh God, it was horrible! 

At that moment I honestly thought about not going outside at all, I just wanted to lay down and go back to sleep hoping the pain would go away. Then I prayed and asked God to take away the pain... And it was gone. The funny thing is that I was surprised because I've never experienced God to be a healer for me.

Could it be that we downsize God and don't expect Him to do anything? So, He doesn't... 

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1 NKJV)

But let me get back to the real topic of this blog the Terenbith Tree... 

So after I was healed I went outside and just started walking, still had no idea where I was going but I knew God was trying to tell me something. Eventually I ended up here:

And without any explanation I just sat down at that place and started worshiping.

Then God spoke to me, and said He led me here because this was my Terenbith Tree. (If you want read about Hearing From God Check out this blog http://danieluncensored.blogspot.com/2014/12/hearing-from-god.html). 

 The Terenbith Tree is a tree that is common in the region of Israel and Palestine. They are sometimes also referred to as "Great Oaks", "Oaks of Mamre", "Great Trees", and "Sacred Trees". A Terenbith Tree is simply just a place where you encounter God. It can be at home, in your car, at your job, at school, etc.

It says that the Lord appeared to Abraham at the Terenbith tree (Genesis 18:1). When the Angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon the Angel was sitting under a Terenbith tree (Judges 6:11). 

What God revealed to me as I sat under that Gazebo is that sometimes when I come to a place that's comfortable, like home, I start to fall into old habits; not studying the word as much, not praying, falling into old patterns of sin, etc. 

Sometimes we just have to get away from the noise and the calamity in our lives and just find that place where we can experience God! Expect Him to move in a different way today and find that place where you and Him are one!

Live in Love! Live in Peace! Go in Freedom! 

-Daniel

My Testimony

So God has been telling me to share my testimony. I've never really shared the whole thing and just last night a friend of mine asked if I would share it with her over the phone. As I was talking to her I realized how much I had been through and what God has done in my life.

I have the common story of the little boy who grew up in church. Every Sunday morning I was dragged out of bed and lugged to church, because "that's what I was supposed to do." It was expected of me. Monday-Friday I had school, Saturday I watched cartoons like Pokemon or Power Rangers, and Sunday I had church.

The majority of my time in church as a 4-7 year old was spent in Sunday School: playing games, eating snacks, or watching Veggie Tales. I remember the bible stories we would always be taught: Jonah, David and Goliath, and Daniel in the Lions Den. However, I honestly can't recall what I felt about church. To me church was just an obligation like learning my ABC's or going to school or cleaning my room and the stories were just stories, nothing more.

There are a lot of things from my childhood that are really shaky in my memory (people say I have a really bad memory...I agree haha). But there are a few things I remember. At around the age of 7 or 8 I remember being in the kitchen with my Mom sitting at the dinner table and she told me about salvation. That night I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, or so I thought. I was really excited about it BUT I DID NOT KNOW WHY. I did not understand what a Christian was or what it meant to live for God, I wasn't old enough to understand. I did eventually figure out what salvation was but that's a blog for another day.

Fast forward a couple of years to my 6th grade year. I'm 11 now and going through that weird awkward phase where my body is changing, my voice is cracking, and a bunch of other embarrassing things are happening. Yup middle school days were my glory days (said no one ever). But on a serious note middle school is where I was introduced to sexual temptation, specifically pornography.

I remember going to my friends birthday party for a sleep over... Sorry let me rephrase that, I meant to say an all-nighter. Guys don't have sleep-overs.... So I'm at the all-nighter right, and we're doing typical 6th grade boy things: playing video games, watching Adult-Swim, (had to be 14 to watch that, rebels) eating everything in sight. You know the typical stuff boys do. One of the boys got onto the computer and began surfing the web for porn. I remembered watching it and thinking about how wrong it was. And then I was taught how to masturbate which changed everything. I didn't think about it being wrong anymore I just thought about how good it felt. My thought process was, "If it feels good it must be right."

That one night led to an addiction to pornography. I had to have it everyday. I was trapped in my sin and saw no problem with it. At around the same time, I joined a youth bible study at a church across the street from my house. The youth pastor was great and he had an amazing desire for God. Most of my spiritual growth happened within that youth group, but I was still a slave to sin (John 8:34). I was trapped! Funny thing is, I knew I was trapped and this time I wanted out but I couldn't get out. My flesh and my Sprit were battling each other (Galatians 5:17) and for 8 years of my life the flesh was kicking my Spirits butt!

As I went through high school, and my freshmen year of college, I got caught up with many other things: using marijuana, drinking, partying, thoughts of homosexuality, suicide, as well as going deeper in sexual immorality. I started creating soul ties with multiple women throughout my freshmen year of college. I was seriously messed up. Then one day God told me enough is enough. He said it was time to get back to loving Him. He wanted me to pursue Him and love Him. Not partying. Not drugs. Not women. Not alcohol. Just Him. I didn't fallout at the altar or get prophesied to, God just let me know that I needed to make a conscience decision to stop living in the world.

So here I am today, trying my best to focus on Him. And my urges to fall back into my old ways aren't gone, they're always going to be with me as long as I'm alive. However, sin is no longer my master (Rom. 6:14). As a child of God, I know that I have the power to overcome sin because Jesus had that same power when He was alive.

My prayer for all of you is that you continue to pursue God. If you feel like you are stuck in sin know that there is a way out, but YOU must make that conscience decision to repent.

I hope that you were inspired by my testimony. Please take time out to share this with someone who might need it.

Live in Love. Live In Peace. Go in Freedom.

-Daniel

If I Ain't Got You

Hey everyone haven't posted on here in awhile and I'm so sorry about that. I've been doing a lot lately! Winter break came and I was spending lots of time with family eating, laughing , and just having a good time. I also just got back from Baylor University in Waco, Texas for Baylor's Gospel Fest. I play Bass in the University of North Texas Voices of Praise Gospel Choir. It was such an amazing experience and I met so many people who just genuinely loved God.

Anyway, I feel that God is leading me to do these blog posts more often so I'm making a commitment now. I will post a blog every Monday (you guys hold me to that!). The topics will vary depending on what God is leading me to write about. It might be long or super short but I promise to post something.

Today I'd like to talk about being content in God. Being totally fine with having Him and nobody else. Ever since I was like 12 years old (I'm 19 now) I knew I loved music. It was all I did all day everyday. From practicing my flute, watching YouTube videos on how to play guitar, or banging on the piano in my house. Music was apart of my life 24/7 and still is today. Just this morning I started thinking about my goals and dreams; what I wanted to do in my life.

And then I stopped and said, "You know what God. If you take music away from me, including my desire to play it... Listen to it... Experience it. I would be okay with that, as long as I have you." Someone from the Bible who says something similar is David.

I say to the Lord, "You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.".... Lord, you ALONE are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. (Psalms 16:2,5)

Is God enough for us? A lot of times we want God and something else; we want our mess, our addictions, our sexual relationships, and God too. But you see God doesn't work like that. Of course He will take you with all of your baggage, Romans 5:8 says that even when we were in sin Christ died for us (and would probably do it again quite honestly). God wants YOU and He wants YOU to WANT HIM!

Of course it's not going to happen over night but realize that it must happen. There has to be a point in the Christian walk where we say that God alone is our portion.

Live in Love. Live in Peace. Go in Freedom.

- Daniel