Future: Unknown to me, Known to God

Initially I was going to title this post "Frustration" but then I realized how I always hate seeing blog posts titled with such a depressing title("Get a life, kid!") so I renamed it. But I have been feeling rather frustrated lately and it's from such a familiar cause. But I figured if I wrote some of my thoughts down(i.e., vent) I would feel a little better and maybe my mind would feel better organized.

It's a rather common "teen" malady and it annoys me that despite being in the Word and prayer, I can't always focus my mind on the things above. ..instead, I think about the future, and specifically, my relationship with a significant other. I wish that so much I could just concentrate on the here and now and enjoy the friendships I have with others, which for the most part, I do. But when I'm alone and my thoughts wander(bad James!) I start wondering what plans God has for me. Which special girl is there in my future? And I wish that God would take away these thoughts until it's the proper time.

Because at least for now, I feel that I need to be concentrating on my education and walk with the Lord(not in that order) instead of building a special relationship, so why does God not answer my prayers and take away these desires? The hard part about being in such a good church and in such a good college group is that there are so many "righteous foxes", so many Christian young women of godliness and virtue. I guess it is a good sign that I am drawn to them but I do so wish I could just treat them all as sisters instead of wondering if one of them is God's gift to me(Prov. 19:14).

I will continue to trust in God and in His will for the future, but I will also continue to pray that he will give me the strength to be wholly focused on His plans for me.

I think writing this helped a little...at least, my head feels more clear.

God-Purpose

Let me preface this post by apologizing for not updating in so long, to whomever has been reading this. I just read Dream's comment on my last post and realized how long it's been since I've last written here! And now since I've figured out how to get comment-notification emails, I'll actually notice when someone comments here.

Anyway, I was thinking of a subject for this post and I thought of the process of discovering God's will for a person's life. But instead of entitling it simply "God's Will", I decided to title it God-Purpose, because truly a child of God should wish all his purposes to be God's.

And if you think about that last statement for a moment, if we as believers could simply know what God's purposes are, it would be so much easier to match our actions to His great plan. Unfortunately, we don't hear some voice in our head every time we make a decision saying, "Yeah, do it - it's the Lord's will" or "Don't do it! You'll mess up God's plan!" And right now, you all are probably saying, "Ok, James, you're not offering any solution here - I realize the problem!"

So how should we make our decisions? Do we flip open the Bible and hope it opens to a relevant passage? Do we just go along with the flow, knowing that God will work everything out for good? I've been partly influenced by my father because whenever I would want to go out with my friends, whether it be to a movie or to a party, he would ask, "What's the purpose?" I hated that question because MY purpose was to have fun, to enjoy being with friends. But that sure didn't sound very godly.

Getting into Scripture here(because that's where we truly find our answers), I did a simple concordance search and found Romans 12:1-2:
'Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed by this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.'

Hm, interesting passage, isn't it? The phrase that struck me was "do not be conformed by this world". Because that's what we have a problem with as we seek out God's will. Our minds and flesh is of this world, imprinted by the curse, driven to sin against our Almighty God. Yet He saved us and although we are not enchained by sin any longer, our flesh still wages war against us(1 Peter 2:11). Did you see the phrase after the one I just quoted? "But be transformed by the renewing of your mind." The more we become like Christ, the more our minds and hearts are sanctified, the closer our purposes will be to God.

Yet there are some very big decisions in life, such as getting a job or finding a church or getting married. How will we know what God wants us to do in these decisions? Now, I want to do further study upon these areas, but what I have decided from my brief readings is that as we grow closer to God and as we truly wish for God's purposes to rule our lives, we will make the right decisions. Make the effort and take the time to pray fervently to our Father. Take the time to grow closer to His Living Word. And fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ. And truly, God will lead us in the paths we should go(Psalm 25:4-5).

I feel like there is so much more to be said, but at this point I'm rather tired and will put the rest of this off until later. But thanks for taking the time to read this; all comments are appreciated!

Amazing Love

Yes, what a clique title. Amazing love, what does that really mean? Well, today in church we were singing "The Wonderful Cross" - Michael W. Smith version. I actually like the hymn version better, but this song touched me so powerfully today. Now I'm not a strong proponent of emotionally driven worship, but as I was singing the lyrics, I started thinking about them. Here are the first two verses:

"When i survey the wondrous cross
On which the prince of
glory died
My richest gain i count but loss
And pour
contempt on all my pride

See from his head his hands
his feet
Sorrow and love for me poured down
Did
e'er such love and sorrow meet
Or thorns compose so
rich a crown"

Think about it - the King of the Universe, the Prince of Peace, the Son of God, the One who sits at the right hand of God Himself, giving Himself as a sacrifice for us. We who are despicable sinners...who spit in His face and gave ourselves to our lusts and sinful desires. He bled for us. For us! This is something that we speak about all the time, but it hit me so hard today, just the utter realization of the magnitude of Christ's gift to us. I felt so unworthy, I just wanted to kneel down before Him. I felt that I shouldn't even be standing before Him.

Now this was in part an emotional response, but I think something we should consider more often in our daily lives is the price God paid for us to be able to live unchained to sin. It humbled me, and I know that was a good thing. Instead of thinking of ourselves and the works we do every day, think of what Christ did for us on that wonderful cross. Think about it seriously, and any pride you have will be swept away. Of course, our flesh is still active, so our pride will return. But if we keep a constant attitude of worship and thanksgiving, God will bless. At least, I know He blessed me today.

Introduction

Well, I've used Livejournal for a long time, and I still will. But I wanted to have a separate blog for more significant posts, rather than just posting facts about my life. And by significant, I mean mostly theological/philosophical discussion. This is my first post here, so maybe I should give a brief biography of myself.

My name is James Hogan and I am a second year engineering student at the University of Florida. I grew up in a Christian home and now attend an Evangelical-Free church here in Gainesville, Creekside. I like to read(mostly anything, fiction or nonfiction) and love to play football and watch awesome movies. Most of all, I love to worship and glorify God with all my deeds, day by day. To whoever may read this, I hope this blog may be a blessing to you.