Scripture Tuesday - Psalm 115:3

"Our God is in the heavens; He does all that He pleases."

If we could truly comprehend the size and power of God, we would surely be different people. If we were

constantly aware of His presence, always considering the fact that He is a jealous and just God, would we not

tremble in awe and fear? Were it not for our finite minds, limited and stained by the fall, surely we would! Yet

praise God that He allows His people glimpses, flashes of recognition, although we are thus handicapped. No,

we cannot comprehend His magnitude in this lifetime, but when we enter our glorified state, we will finally be

able to learn with an unfettered mind. Of course, we will never know all there is to know about Him.       

  Nevertheless, until then we ought to strive after knowing Him as best we can, meditating on the scriptures,
seeking Him earnestly in prayer, not so we can have an emotional experience, but so we can carry this
conviction in our hearts; that our God is great, and He is in control. He will be swayed by no one, for His purpose stands firm. He does all that He pleases, and we can be sure that whatever He pleases is good and perfect. So let the Devil persecute us, let him come with his fiery darts! We will not be moved, for "Our God is
in the heavens; He does all that He pleases."

Another One

Today I turned seventeen. At 2:23 pm, to be precise. Sunny baked a carrot cake, we had ravioli, and all is well
with the world. B)
  Anyway, this year has been a good one. I feel like I have matured more not only as a young man and a
christian, but also as a musician. This month marks a year since the Wretched Brothers became the Wretched
Brothers, and next month, a year since we opened our youtube account. This was the year I started writing
songs and singing them. Because of these things, I now know more than ever that the music I make must
glorify God and point people to the truth if it is to be worth anything. My music has a purpose, and for that I am
thankful. I don't know what God has in store for me next, but what I witnessed firsthand this past year is His
faithfulness when I am unfaithful, and His blessings when I obey Him. One thing that was certainly a blessing
was being able to get my Learners' Permit (which also borders on miracle territory, if you ask me!). This is
definitely an important step to becoming a man, and again, I am thankful for for it. Of course, I am grateful for
my family and church family, who have continued to support, encourage, instruct, and love me. This has been a
full year, a gift from God. I can only imagine what He has planned for the next one!

(And now, just for fun)

Scripture Monday - Psalm 40:1

"I waited patiently for the Lord;

He inclined to me and heard my cry."

It's hard to be patient, especially when waiting on God. Our flesh will usually say something like, "He's God!
Can't He just zap me and get rid of my problem?" Obviously, God doesn't work like that, which is just to say
that He is not a vending machine. When a problem comes up, we just want it to go away so we can get on with life. But what if there is a vital message in the problem, one that we would never learn if we just eased through life? I believe that God will send us problems, not to make our lives horrible, but to teach us something. He may teach us to "not lean on your own understanding (Prov. 3:5)", and to "Be still, and know that I am God (Ps. 46:10)". He may also be letting us know that we're getting off track. I ask, how can we expect to have a strong
faith if it is never tested? And how can we expect to be tested without going through some discomfort?
  Maybe God is teaching this very thing to some of you right now. If so, don't lose heart. Wait on the Lord, and you will soon say with the psalmist,

"I waited patiently for the Lord; He inclined to me and heard my cry.

He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog,

and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.

He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord."

(Psalm 40:1-3)

Scripture Tuesday - Psalm 119:140

"Your promise is well tried, and your servant loves it."

The Psalm are full of praise for God's laws and promises. Here, the Psalmist expresses his confidence in God's
promises and the delight that he finds in them. We can be sure that whatever God promises, He will bring to
pass, although it may not happen the way we think it should. God is outside of time; He is all-knowing and all-
powerful; He is loving and merciful, and does not lie; He is, for lack of a better term, God. We have no need of
fear or worry as regards the future, for the Lord provides for His own; and that is just one of the promises He
has made to His people. He also promises that "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Rom. 10:13), and that "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins" (1 John. 1:9). There
are many more to be found, but that is a post for another day. Back to the main point, I am sure that we can all
look back to times in our lives when God's promises were proven trustworthy; situations where we were
tempted to go against His direction, but persevered, and found that, indeed, "The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul" (Ps. 19:7). King David, when he was in "a time of trouble", did this very thing. He called to
remembrance the many works that God had done, and His faithfulness to Israel. (The Psalms are filled with
examples of this, but chapter 77 is a good place to start.) In the end, he was filled with praise and hope in the
most trying circumstances. may we also do this, remembering that God's promises are well tried, and they will
always be found trustworthy.

Read This Before You Vote!

You thought I had some miraculous morsel of wisdom-beyond-my-years, didn't you? Well, I don't, but here is
a great post over at Biblical Christianity that you should check out. Seriously.

Scripture Wednesday - 1 John 2:17

Okay, it's not Tuesday, but yesterday was busy, so here ya go:

"And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever."

This world is temporal. It's not meant to last forever, and we see evidence of this all the time. Things decay

and break, things die. Indeed, "the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until

now" (Rom. 8:22). Granted, these things are part of the natural order of creation, but they still serve as

reminders that nothing in this world lasts forever.

  Yet the meaning of this verse is deeper than just the physical creation, as we can see from the context:

"15 Do not love the world or the things in the world.

If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of

the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.

17 And the world is passing away along with its desires,

but whoever does the will of God abides forever."- I John 2:15-17

In light of this, we understand that John is speaking of the corrupted world system that we live in, and also the sinful desires and cravings that permeate it. As Christians, this should give us courage, because we know that

the corruption and injustice that we often encounter in this world will not last. It may prosper for an age, but it

will fall on the last day. Also, the desires of this world are fleeting and vain, promising happiness or fulfillment,

and although they may seem to make good on those promises, they don't last. If you devote your life to gaining riches, neglecting your soul, your family, and your health, what use are they then? Sure, you can buy whatever you want, you can have lots of toys to pass the time with, but it's just a pile of icing with no cake to go on.

  So, if this world and all the cool stuff it has to offer can't be depended on, what do we do? We strive for

things eternal, to be in right standing with our Creator. The one who does God's will builds up treasure for him-

self in heaven, "where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal" (Matt. 6:20).

And he does this not to fulfill his worldly desires, which pass away, but because he has been born of God's

Spirit, delighting in Him and in doing His will, and because God delights in blessing those who fear Him. This

individual also lives forever to enjoy these blessings, and God Himself, not because he worked so hard to please

God, but because he put his trust in Jesus Christ, who is the only way to the Father.

  Let us therefore seek to do God's will, because He is the rock of our salvation that will never pass away!

New Music

Here is a new song that we recorded yesterday: (I just about wore raw spots on my fingers playing this one, so
enjoy it!)



Expositional post tomorrow.