Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Dazed and Confused

So, here is the deal.. I'm actually sitting on a flight from Nashville to Phoenix as I'm typing this.. I've been having a few medical problems for the past while now and it's just gotten to the point where I'm being sent home to recover. Basically y'all, I'm not goingto be s missionary much longer.. BUT I have decided to continue with the blog. Yes, there will be a few changes, but the ultimate goal and purpose will be the same.. Also I'm going to start another blog that is more personal and link the two together.. Thank y'all so much for the love and support y'all have shown me! God Bless Y'all! Please keep on reading and I'll keep on blogging!

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Plauged...

    Here is an interesting question that I found myself thinking about today... What was the first miracle that the Children of Israel saw performed by Moses?... Any answers? Most people I've asked that to say something along the lines of Aaron's rod becoming a serpent or cleansing his hand from leporsy.. But that's not exactly true. Yes, those were some of the first miracles that were performed, but the Children of Israel were not there witnessing what Moses and Aaron had been doing in Pharaoh's court. The first miracle that all of the Children of Israel witnessed was turning all the water in Egypt into blood for seven full days.

    Personally, that seems like a pretty big let down as far as a first miracle goes! If I was expecting God to deliver me from my enemies in some miraculous way, I would expect something a little less miserable for myself! But the children of Israel were "smitten" right along with the Egyptians.

    What was the second miracle performed by Moses? Frogs. Next? Lice. After that? Flies. The old testament tells us that these plauges were throughout "all the land of Egypt" (Ex. 8: 24). So how's that fair? The Lord is supposed to be helping His people and delivering them from their bondage and their afflictions.. Yet, it seems that from the story, that the Lord enjoys inflicting pain and suffering on both parties, regardless of lineage...

    Obviously, we know that the Lord doesn't want His children to suffer. He DOES, infact, love each and everyone of His children. He wants us to be happy and to prosper. You might be asking yourself, "ok Jake, what is the POINT?!!" Well, i'm gettin there! The Lord will sometimes bring us low through our trials, our afflictions, our pains, our weaknesses, and any other infirmities, that we may become the people He knows we can be. He wants us to learn and to grow and to progress in this life. He wants us to lean on Him and strive for His support. As we submit our will to His, we can continue through our struggles in life and not see them as a nuscience but as a time of self improvement... Even though I'm just a 20 year old kid, I KNOW that that's true. A mission has taught me this very difficult lesson to learn. But I know that as we all strive to endure our trials with our "eye single to the glory of God", we can learn the nessicarry lessons and become the followers of Jesus Christ that the Lord would have us be. Thanks for Reading! As always, I'd love feed back! God Bless Y'all!!