The Seedling

Well another thought has been sticking in my mind that I must share with you all.

As I was in prayer the other day I was praying and thinking of what was going on in my life and thought to myself that I had seen no change happening recently. As I began to think those thoughts the Lord gently reminded me to remember the seedling. I thought Lord what do you mean? As I began to think of a seed that is planted in the ground I began to realize exactly what God was saying. A seed is planted in the ground and as long as it is properly cared for it will begin to grow and though we can not see anything happening above the surface there are roots that are growing and taking place. God was trying to say that when we make a positive change in our life we MUST NOT give up simply because we don't see anything happening on the surface because underneath there is a root system being planted. There is a foundation that God will build in our lives first that we may not see but will be foundational to our ministry and our lives as long as we continue to care for it with the proper prayer and reading of God's Word. So many times we as humans are very quick to give up on God because we don't see the effects of the changes we make and decide it's no longer worth the trouble. We must remember however that God will not leave a good thing un-rewarded and also that simply because we can't see anything resulting that there's things happening that we can not see that are building the person we will be for the rest of our lives. So as God reminded me I also want to remind you, Don't forget the seedling.

Chosen for Relationship

Well it's been a while since I have blogged about anything and I've just had something on my mind that I just can't seem to shake myself from. So what do you do? Blog.

I was reading in the book of John chapter 15, verses 1 - 19 and something really jumped out at me. These verses are speaking of our relationship to God and metaphorically comparing the relationship to that of a vine and branches growing from the vine. As I was reading I came to verse 16 which says "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit..." and the first 10 words of that verse struck me. "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you." I was thinking of how powerful just those words alone are but when looked at through the theme of chapter 16-relationship, it seems as if God is saying that we did not choose to have a relationship with Him but rather HE chose US to have a relationship with Him and allowed us the choice to accept His choosing. That just began to blow me away. To think that the Almighty God, Creator of all things good, and ruler of the universe and everything within would CHOOSE me to fulfill His need of relationship. That caused an overwhelming feeling of humility and gratitude in me to think that HE would love us so much that he would choose US to be His sons and daughters, to be close to Him, and to be in relationship with Him.

A little about me

Well, in case you don't already know, my name is Nathan, I work for San Bernardino County as a mail courier. I deliver and collect mail for the county. I am 22 years old and go to Hope Center church. I love God with all my heart and am always trying my best to live for Him with all that I am. I love music. I sing at my church and love to play the keyboard and guitar even though I am still only learning both. In the spring of '09 I will be starting to attend Crafton Hills College. I will be taking general ed courses right now but will be majoring in Business Admin with a minor in Accounting. That pretty much describes me so for this post, I'm signing off.
-Nate D.-