Sometimes you have to go out on a limb before you can find enough room to fly.

((Anybody here guitly of this? I know I am.))

Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God. Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow. - Isaiah 50:10-11 (KJV)

((Never fear though:))

...And thou shalt know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me. - Isaiah 49:23 (KJV)

((It's always better to wait in the darkness with the Lord, than to walk by your own light without Him.))

Amen.

I'm bored of talking about myself.

So what's going on with you? How's your life today?

Do you say you love Jesus, but don't read the Bible?

Then, you're lying not only to others but to yourself.

 Jesus answered him, "If anyone loves me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. Whoever does not love Me does not keep My words. And the word that you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent me. - John 14:23-24

How can you keep the Word of Jesus, if you don't know what that Word says?  How can you know what His Words says, if you never read it?

The Bible is the primary revelation of God, Who He is, how He works. You cannot love a God that you don't know. If you don't first get to know Him through His word, neither can you properly recognize God working in your life.

The Bible is the foundation of Christianity. If you've never read the Bible, then essentially, you've never taken the time to learn what a Christian is from God. 

Sound doctrine is good, preaching is good, worship is good, but it is by the Word alone that you are fed. Jesus said, in Matthew 4:4, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." How much more do we survive on the Word of God, we who are less that our Master and Teacher who also lives on God's Words?

Do you follow a sound doctrine? Do you go to church every Sunday? Do you sing hymns and worship? Good! But if you think these things alone are enough, then look at what Proverbs says of you: "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes." (12:15)

Take time to read what is right in God's eyes!

Isaiah 34:16 says "Seek and read from the book of the Lord."

Who should seek and read from the book of the Lord? YOU should seek and read from the book of the Lord. This is not a mere suggestion.

Do you say you love Jesus, but don't read the Bible?

Then repent! Turn from the foolish ways of you own eyes and your own expectations. Instead, learn what God expects of you.

If you claim you love Jesus, then keep His word! Before you can keep it, you must first know it. To know it, you must read it.

Brothers and Sisters, I exhort you all, read the Bible. Your souls depend on it.

Whatever binds you from reading His word, be it laziness, lack of time, lack of attention, lack of confidence, lack of interest, God can demolish all these barriers. All you need is the desire and the faith. Have faith, my siblings in Christ.

Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. - James 4:8

Do you desire to know God's ways by reading the Bible?

If you don't desire it or simply don't read the Bible, then why?

God is awesome. He always does what's best for me, even if its not exactly pleasant. Lately He's been helping me understand how much of a brat I can be. I didn't know it, but I've been carrying around this standard of how people should treat me. If people aren't polite enough, kind enough, or patient enough to meet this standard, I become upset or sad -- yes, even self-pitying. It's a shameful mentality, and I end up causing myself grief more than anything. I mean, who am I? Am I some sort of princess that people should always treat me well? Ha! Hardly. I'm a brat!

And Jesus called them to him and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But  it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." - Mark 10:42-45

Jesus, as great a Lord as He is, came to earth to serve and help others. He is my Lord and Teacher. And a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. To be a servant is the greatest goal to which I can aspire.

Besides, I'd rather be God's servant, slandered, disregarded, and battered. It beats torturing myself with self-pity any day. There is no wound God cannot heal, be it in body or spirit. I'd rather take my beating for God's glory, rather than beat myself up for no one's glory at all.

Among men, I am not great in the eyes of the Lord. I think too highly of myself, think myself above the Lord even. That is not good, but that's why I need God. In the grace of my Father, I strive and hope that this self-pitying nature of mine will be conquered. But I am not depressed or discouraged by this revelation, but content and humbled. God's grace is sufficient, whether my flaws are cured today or in eighty years. In my weakness, His strength is revealed and exalted.   

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. - Psalms 1:1-3

And he [Jesus] took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, "Do you see anything?" And he [the blind man] looked up and said, "I see men, but they look like trees, walking." Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. - Mark 8:23-25

"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit." - Matt 12:33

So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. - Matt 7:17-20

"Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." - Matt 3:10

The glory of His forest and of His fruitful land the Lord will destroy, both soul and body, and it will be as when a sick man wastes away. The remnant of the trees of His forest will be so few that a child can write them down. - Isaiah 10:18-19

"And all the trees of the field shall know that I am the Lord; I bring low the high tree, and make high the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree flourish. I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it." - Ezek 17:24

 And he [Jesus] told this parable: "A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, 'Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?' And he answered him, 'Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.' " -Luke 13:6-9

The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly, the cedars of Lebanon that He planted. -Psalms 104:16

            I've been watching season 1 of Bleach lately, and it's spectacular. But... it's a little strange.

Bleach has it's own world, with Ichigo who sees ghosts, soul reapers, awesome gadgets, the Soul Society, spiritual powers, Hollows, literally a whole world that so rich and well defined. More than that, it's an exciting, unique, if not dangerous, story world. In the past, after being privileged to see a world like that -- be it in book, movie, anime, or manga form -- I'd walk away after the end of the episode pining after that world. Sometimes, I'd just wish so bad that I could be in a world like. I place where life was exciting, supernatural, and spectacular, even if it was dangerous and hard.

            Lately, though, I don't get that desire anymore -- the feeling has changed. After the TV is off, and seat is vacated, I don't return to outside life with longing sighs and empty wishes anymore. A new thought goes through my head now: "What an awesome world I just got to see! ... but it's not real. More than that, out here, the real life I'm going back to is so much better than that."

            If I've learned anything recently, it's that people is fantasy worlds don't display nearly enough disbelief, doubt, and skepticism about the extraordinary things happening to them. Seriously, even when something directly, obviously, supernatural happens to you, the first thing you do is doubt it. Especially after its gone. It's human nature to deny that the outside of the box exists. "That didn't really happening." "I must be imagining things." "Am I going crazy?" "That can't have been, I mean seriously." That is just a sample of the hundreds of thought that try to convince you. And they often replay over and over again. You can't fully comprehend the sheer capacity for human doubt until you begin to encounter the extraordinary on a daily basis.

            But I'm rambling off topic now. I have to admit, I've looked through tons of stuff to find that life I wanted. Living a boring, mundane life is not acceptable for me. I tried spellcraft, I tried religions that promised vast mysteries, spiritworld, ect., I tried the believe-your-life-into-what-you-want-it-to-be, and none of that can compare to the life I am living now.

            Granted, I don't see spirits with nearly the frequency of Ichigo, but the world is so much bigger than that. Even the presence of God is surprising still. I mean, seriously, I'm a Christian, meeting up with God shouldn't surprise me. But every time He makes Himself known, I'm like: "Whoa! *insert jump and nervous laugh* Hello there, Lord of All Creation." Christianity isn't about believing there is a God -- as if He were some ethereal, distant spirit who we're never really sure of anyway.  Christianity is about knowing God. His existence isn't in question. It's an unshakable surety, because, well, how can you deny the existence of being Who's present right there in the room with you? How can you say God doesn't exist, when God is making profound changes in your life, and you're just sitting on the sidelines watching all this stuff happening? How can you deny a cause, when you clearly see the effect?

            Since God is real, do you realize the repercussions of that? Think about it. That means angels are real. Demons are real. They really exist, even though you don't always see them. Heaven really exists. An entirely different realm, populated by spirits and who knows what, really exists. The Red Sea really parted. God came down in the form of a man to visit earth -- for real -- teaching, healing, warning. And that man really came back to life after He was killed.

            Isn't that so cool? I mean, all that stuff is really, really real. A weird thing for a Christian to say, I know, but life under God does not follow social standards or expectations. More than that, those same forces are in my life, working, warring, changing in profound ways. Those forces have always been there; in the past, it was me who was the blind one

            Unlike Ichigo's world, this world I'm in is real. This stuff is real. This world is dangerous and it's a real danger. These powers are real and -- oh my goodness -- am I so small and weak compared to them. Change for the better is hard, often unpleasant, and brings a lot of tears but it too is also real.

            I read a quote recently that went along these lines. It was addressed to a person who refused to believe the virgin birth, the parting of the Red Sea, the resurrection, and the miracles of God because it went against science. It couldn't be proven, and it wasn't reasonably possible. But God didn't make life to be ordinary. Those miracles show that we are to expect the unexpected, to expect the extraordinary, to expect feats where the laws, logics, and normalcy are transcended for tremendous good. How boring would it be to live forever within the bounds of the possible, of the proven, of the fully tested, fully understood, and fully supported with evidence?        

            God never made life to be boring. It's often hard, it's often a struggle, its often painful, doubtful, confused, unsafe, and unsure; that's exactly why it is reality. Despite all that, life as God made it to be, is also more extraordinary than any fantasy this world can offer. Life, as God made it to be, is downright supernatural.