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Thursday, November 4, 2010

My last entry.................

being single.

Last night at youth group prior to me speaking, Woody announced that it would be my last night to speak to them. He took a long pause and my stomach fell. I thought, "Wow...is there some announcement that I haven't heard about yet?" Then he finished with..."his last time to speak to you as a single man." He announced that I would be married this weekend. The teenagers all cheered.

I had an amazing experience last night and a picture of God's grace in my life again. It is the little things that God does many times which brings a smile on my face. The message was on I Timothy 4:6-12. Timothy encourages us to be "discipline ourselves for the purpose of godliness." We talked about how discipline is a lifestyle change and that without a purpose in our lives it is difficult to change our lifestyles. I used dieting as an example of how people might have good intentions, but most people fail. I asked why and Chandler spoke up and said, "they lose interest". It was the perfect phrase and really opened up the passage in a way that I had never thought about before!

Why do we not live our life for Jesus? It is not because we struggle with consistency. That is just a symptom of the larger issue. We lose interest!! We lose interest because we struggle with consistency. We struggle with consistency because we have no purpose for godliness in our lives. Since we have no purpose of godliness in our lives, we do not change our lifestyles and "discipline" ourselves after the footsteps of Christ.

I am humbled that the Holy Spirit used my 14 year old to nail some truth down even when he might not have known it. The Lord took that little epiphany and weaved it in the meaning of the message. Let's not lose interest. How do we not lose interest? We must have a purpose for godliness that drives us to change our lifestyles to give God the glory for the things in our lives. What is even more incredible about this experience is that in verse 11-12 Paul encourages Timothy to speak up even though he is young.

Praise God for Chandler being obedient to his Word and speaking up at a young age. God is good!

On another note, this weekend is the wedding. I start a new chapter, book, etc. in my life with a beautiful, godly woman who is driven to godliness. What more could I ask?

Lisa, I will do the best I can to love you the way God has called me to love you. I will not be perfect and I guarantee you I will mess up on a number of occasions. Thank you for your grace. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for loving my boys. Thank you most importantly for loving the Lord. I see in your eyes that you truly want to live for Him. What a privilege I have in marrying someone who loves Jesus and wants Him to be the cornerstone of our relationship.

You are a blessing and I praise the Lord that He has put you in my life.