I Saw God Today, part 2

So, this is what I got out of this song today. 

How often during the day does God cross your mind?  For me, honestly, not very often.  Sometimes, when something really good happens to me, I will say a quick, absentminded prayer, like, "Thank you, Lord, for blessing me with this."

But the Bible says to praise God at all times, not just during the times that He blesses you.  If you had a totally normal day, would God cross your mind?  Would you think to open your Bible?  Would you randomly take the time out of your day to say a quick little prayer?

We get so caught up in our lives, that God tends to NOT be priority.  He tends to take second place in our minds, and our hearts. 

Is that okay?  I mean, we have an amazing Savior that made peace with God for us through His birth, life, death, and resurrection.  That kind of deserves priority, right?  Instead, we get so caught up in making good grades or working or just our everyday lives, that we don't give God a single thought. 

My youth leader challenged us tonight:  Take a minute to pray.  Then take a minute to read the Bible.  The write about what you read for a minute.  That's three minutes out of your day.

I am going to take this challenge, too.  Remember to hold your fellow Christians accountable.  That is part of our jobs as brothers and sisters in Christ - to hold each other accountable for our relationship with Christ.

Once again, in love,
Tyler Henke

I Saw God Today...

I just walked down the street to the coffee shop
had to take a break
I'd been by her side for eighteen hours straight
I saw a flower growing in the middle of the sidewalk
pushing up through the concrete
like it was planted right there for me to see
the flashin' lights, the honkin' horns
all seemed to fade away
in the shadow of that hospital at 5:08
I saw God today

Chorus:
I've been to church
I've read the book
I know He's here, but I don't look
near as often as I should
Yeah, I know I should
His fingerprints are everywhere
I'd just slow down to stop and stare
opened my eyes and man I swear
I saw God today

I saw a couple walking by they were holding hands
Man, she had that glow
yeah I couldn't help but notice she was starting to show
I stood there for a minute takin' in the sky
lost in that sunset
a splash of amber melted in the shades of red

Chorus

I got my face pressed up against the nursery glass
She's sleeping like a rock
My name on her wrist wearing tiny pink socks
She's got my nose, she's got her mama's eyes
My brand new baby girl
She's a miracle
I saw God today

Now, obviously, I can't relate to the verses of this song.  However, I can relate to the chorus.  

"I've been to church, I've read the Book; I know He's here, I just don't look near as often as I should - yeah, I know I should.  His fingerprints are everywhere; I just slowed down to stop and stare.  I opened my eyes, and, man, I swear - I saw God today."

I recently saw a status on FaceBook that asked when you last saw Jesus.  I copied it to my status, but the I had to think to answer it.  I had to think about my entire day, and ask myself, "Was Jesus in that?"  

Why don't we look for Jesus?  Why do we expect Him to give us this huge neon sign that says, "I'm here!  I'm real!  One way ticket to Heaven sold here!"?  He is in  SO many things that we don't even think about!  He can be seen in a little girl giving her ice cream to someone she sees crying on the street.  He can be seen in a little flower growing in a busy city.  He can be seen in a person helping pick up your books that you dropped on the floor in the school halls.  There are so many little things that Jesus can be seen in, if only we take the time to look!  

Tomorrow, watch the things in your life.  Watch and take note of all the little things you see that make you see God.  I don't mean carry around a little notepad and take a tally (although if you want to do that, then more power to you).  I mean just remember to look for Jesus in your everyday life.  It won't be a flashing light in the air.  But if you ask God to reveal Himself to you, He will.  He just won't necessarily do it the way that you are expecting.

Just some thoughts that I had today =)

In love, forever, 

Tyler N. Henke

We're the Land of the Free because of the Brave...

It isn't Memorial Day.  It isn't Veteran's Day.  There is nothing special about today, besides the fact that we are alive, well, and loved.  But I was just thinking the other day, we as Americans take SO much for granted! We are so privileged; we still have so many freedoms that not much of the world has.  

Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears - Celtic Woman

On the first day of January,
Eighteen ninety-two,
They opened Ellis Island and they let
The people through.
And the first to cross the threshold
Of that Isle of Hope and Tears,
Was Annie Moore from Ireland
Who was all of fifteen years.

[Chorus:]
Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears,
Isle of Freedom, Isle of Fears,
But it's not the Isle you left behind.
That Isle of Hunger, Isle of Pain,
Isle you'll never see again
But the Isle of Home is always on your mind.

In a little bag she carried
All her past and history,
And her dreams for the future
In the Land of Liberty.
And Courage is the passport
When your old world disappears
But there's no future in the past
When you're fifteen years

[Chorus]

When they closed down Ellis Island
In Nineteen Fourty-Three,
Seventeen million people
Had come there for Sanctuary.
And in Springtime when I came here
And I stepped onto it's piers,
I thought of how it must have been
When you're fifteen years.

[Chorus]

 A poem that a friend and I made up for U.S. History is about kind of the same thing:

After two weeks on that wretched boat

We arrive on the Golden Shore.

America, America, we're finally here!

After all this time, its oh, so near!

We arrive at the dock and are taken to the station.

Why do I suddenly feel this fear and frustration?

There are just so many of us, what if we don't make it through?

I just don't know what my family would do...

There's nothing for us in the land we're from.

That's why to America we've decided to come.

Luckily and thankfully, we made it in. 

The smile of my husband and my daughter's broad grin

Made this whole journey worth it in the end.

But alas, it is only the beginning...

We arrive at the apartments and see all the other people.

I think to myself, Why do they look so feeble?

My daughter starts school, but with those only of her kind,

I can only imagine what's going through her mind.

My husband starts his job but works until late.

He says he's just fine, because there's food on our plate.

Although we're separated, We're free!  We're free!

And considering where we came from, that's alright with me.

America does have some problems.  She always has.  That's because people are only human, and no one is perfect.  But America is still the land of the free.  We are the Land of Hope, for SO many other people!  

Now, I don't necessarily agree with our troops being overseas.  I don't necessarily support the war.  But I most certainly appreciate the men and women who are putting their lives on the line for the things that they believe in.  "Many people have died for their beliefs... the courage is in living and suffering fo rwhat you believe in." - Brom, Eragon.  Their have been men who have died for their beliefs overseas... men and women are risking their lives everyday.  That demands our respect.  Even if we don't agree with the cause, we need to recognize the heroes that stand up for their beliefs.

If tomorrow, all I had was gone...

All I'd hoped to see...

And I had to start again

With my friends and family...

I'd thank my lucky stars

To be living here today

'Cause the flag still stands for freedom,

AND THEY CAN'T TAKE THAT AWAY!

And I'm proud to be an American

Where at least I know I'm free!

And I won't forget the men who died

And gave that right to me.

And I proudly stand up

And defend her still today.

'Cause there ain't no doubt,

I love this land!

God bless the USA!

GOD BLESS THE USA!

 

Amazing Grace!  How sweet the sound

That saves a wretch like me!

I once was lost, but now am found, 

Was blind but now I see.

'Twas Grace that taught my heart to fear

And Grace my fears relieved.

How precious did that grace appear

The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils, and snares,

I have already come.

'Twas Grace that brought me safe this far, 

And Grace will lead me home.

When we've been there ten thousand years,

Bright shining as the sun,

We've no less days to sing God's praise

Than when we first begun.

     This song is especially close to my heart.  I've always loved this song, simply because the tune is beautiful, and the words were pretty.  And I've always liked the idea of Grace.  

     But we have been going over the meaning of Grace in my Sunday School class for the past few weeks.  I have always known what Grace is.  Simply put, Grace is "undeserved forgiveness".  I have known that, in my head.  But I haven't really known that in my heart; or, at least, I haven't.... acknowledged it?  I really don't know the right word, but I think that is the closest I will get tonight.  But think about it.  Undeserved forgiveness.   
     I think that my favorite part of the song is the last verse:When we've been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing God's praise, than when we first begun.        I think it just explains the beauty and extravagance of Heaven.  It describes heaven as "bright, shining as the sun." It also kind of describes Eternity.  "We've no less days to sing God's praise than when we first begun."  Even after ten thousand years in Heaven, we have just as long to praise God as we did when we arrived in Heaven.  That is something that I can't even wrap my head around!!!

Well, thank you for "listening" to my thoughts.

Tyler Henke

Our God is Greater

Our God is Greater

Chris Tomlin

Water you turned into wine, 

 Opened the eyes of the blind.

 There’s no one like You.

None like You...

Into the darkness You shine

 Out of the ashes we rise

There’s no one like You.

 None like You…

Our God is greater.

 Our God is stronger.

 God, You are higher than any other.

Our God is Healer, awesome in power,

 Our God… Our God

Into the darkness You shine

Out of the ashes we rise

There’s no one like You. 

None like You…

Our God is greater.

Our God is stronger.

 God, You are higher than any other.

Our God is Healer, awesome in power,

 Our God… Our God (x2)

AND IF OUR GOD IS FOR US,

 THEN WHO COULD EVER STOP US?

AND IF OUR GOD IS WITH US,

THEN WHO COULD STAND AGAINST? (x2)

What could stand against?

Our God is greater.

 Our God is stronger.

God, You are higher than any other.

Our God is Healer, awesome in power,

Our God... Our God...

AND IF OUR GOD IS FOR US,

 THEN WHO COULD EVER STOP US?

AND IF OUR GOD IS WITH US,

 THEN WHO COULD STAND AGAINST? (x2)

Our God is stronger.

God, You are higher than any other.

Our God is Healer, awesome in power,

Our God… Our God

I could do some big explanation of how great our God is, and how wonderful hos love is for us, but this song really says everything that needs to be said on this note... Now that I am looking back over the lyrics, I think any other words would be redundant... so here you go!

 

Matthew 19:16-26

     Lately, I have been feeling really far from God.  I want to  have an intimate relationship with Him, but I have been falling behind.  Well, I said that I wanted an intimate relationship.  Sometimes I want to feel the love that my Savior feels for me.  But I am not willing to make the sacrifice.  I'm not willing to sacrifice the time, or the effort, or anything that would require me actually doing something.  I want God to do all the work, and for me to just go along with Him.  But then I realized that  I don't really want God to be the center of my life.  I wanted to do my own thing, and for God to just get off of my back, so that I could live my life the way I wanted to.   I was on FaceBook and I saw a flair (I am totally obsessed with flair - I will probably make flair references all the time) that said, "God wants full custody, not just weekends."  (Anonymous)  That caught my eye a lot, and I just kind of slid my eyes over the words and pretended not to see them.  They were compelling, and I didn't want to feel the way those words made me feel. 

     I didn't even give Him weekends.  I didn't really give any of my time to Him.  I went to church on Sundays and made sure that I went to all the kids events and got good, pretty "service hours" - you know, the things you do for clubs.  You don't really care about what the "service" is, as long as you get the signature that looks really good on a college application.  I did the hours, but I didn't really care about what I was doing.  My heart wasn't in it.  Yeah, I enjoyed being at church, and yeah, I enjoyed making the kids laugh, but I didn't really care about doing the things that God wanted me to do.  I would do them if it was convenient for me.  If I didn't have anything better to do, I would look into what God wanted me to do.  If I felt like it, I would do it.

     But God doesn't care about what is convenient for you.  He isn't trying to make life easy for you.  He cares about what you do for Him now.  He wants you to do the task that He assigned to you, and He wants you to do it when He tells you to do it.  

     God never promised that following Him would be easy.  In fact, Jesus said almost the exact opposite:  "

16Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”

17“Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.”

18“Which ones?” the man inquired.

Jesus replied, “‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony,19honor your father and mother,’^d and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’^e”

20“All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”

21Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

22When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

23Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

25When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” 

26Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible" - Matthew 19:16-26

     Jesus told the man that in order to enter into the kingdom of Heaven,  he had to sell everything he owned, and follow Him.  When he heard this, the rich man walked away, and denied Jesus.

     As humans, we don't want to sacrifice things.  We don't want to give up our money, we don't want to give up our time, and we don't want to give up our lives to God.  But that's what He requires.  He requires our lives, and our resources.  Why do we withhold them?  They aren't ours - they are gifts from God.  They won't save us; our earthly life is short compared to eternity.  When our bodies are dead, our possessions will cease to matter.  We should be more worried about storing up treasure in Heaven: " But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and rust do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal." Matthew 6:20

     When we stand before the Throne, what will our earthly possessions get us?  We can't buy our way into heaven.  We can't earn our way into heaven.  There is only one way to get to heaven:  through Jesus Christ, who came down and lived a perfect life, yet died for us so that we could spend eternity with Him and His Father.

     Sorry, I kind of got sidetracked.  I was saying that Jesus had never promised His children an easy ride.  "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated Me first."  John 15:18.  We will face resistance, and we will face hardships.  People don't like the name of Jesus because Jesus will require them to change their lifestyles.  I don't wan to hear God speak to me because I knew that He would tell me to change.  I didn't want to change.  I thought I was happy doing my own thing.
      But now when I think about it, am I really happy?  Do I really feel happy when I refuse to listen to God?  I'm not.  I feel like I'm always looking over my shoulder to make sure that no one catches me reading this book or listening to this music, or thinking these words.  I feel bad about it, but I keep doing it.  Why?  Why don't I listen to my conscience, even though I feel horrible when I don't?  It makes no sense to me....

     I have noticed that when I am not close to God, it affects my behavior.  I feel horrible about myself all the time (not the way I look or anything like that; more of what's going on in my head.) and it changes the way I act toward other people. 


     Well, I hope that I have given you something to think about.  


Love in Christ, always,
Tyler Henke

 

Sorry I haven't written in a while.  My life has been pretty busy lately.  I am SO ashamed to admit that I haven't given God much thought in a while.  I have let life become once again all about me.  I don't allow God much of my heart or mind lately.  I haven't listened to Him when He told me to do something.  When I felt compelled to read my Bible, I felt like I was reading it to "check it off of the list".  When I was praying, I was, once again, just checking it off of the list.  None of it was sincere.  None of it was with a yearning to know more about my Lord and Savior.  I was just trying to get that nagging voice out of my head.  I knew then and I know now that that is NOT the attitude to have when going before God.

     I know that I need to get closer to God.  I know that I need a more steady relationship with Him.  I know that my heart needs to be more in tune with God.  I tell God that I want to be closer to Him, but I don't prove that.  I ask God to draw me closer to Him, but now I ask myself this question:  Why would God listen to a meaningless prayer?  If I am just saying pretty words, but they have no meaning, then what would the prayer mean to God?

     "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength."

     Notice that it doesn't say, "Love God with a little bit of your heart, some of your soul, bits and pieces of your mind, and parts of your strength."  The command is to give Him all.  All means ALL.  EVERYTHING.  Don't just give Him a little of this and some of that; He requires your ALL.  Everything you have should be for God.  Your talents, your possessions, your thoughts - really, anything you can put the word "your" in front - just replace that "your" with "God's".  I mean, He gave it to you, didn't He?  So you should give it back.  Shouldn't you?  I mean, doesn't that make sense?

     There isn't really that much left to say about that... I mean, I don't know how to elaborate on this without sounding completely redundant.  So, I guess that's all for today... thanks for reading my little self-rant thing...


      I hope that I have opened your eyes, even if I haven't opened my own. 
 

What's Your Grade?

     So I haven't been writing lately, because I have felt that I have nothing to say.  I felt like God hasn't really been telling me anything, or showing me anything new.  Then I thought a little bit more.  Well, maybe He hasn't been showing me anything because I haven't been asking Him to.  What a concept, right?  I mean, how's He to show me something if I don't let Him? 

     A while back, I remember writing something like: If you ask God for something, expect to get it.  (That's not a direct quote - I don't know what I said exactly.)   I meant don't ask Him for, for example, patience, unless you are willing to have to work to get it. 

     That's what was going through my head, I think.  But I was thinking the wrong way.  When I said that, I didn't mean "If you don't want to work for something, then don't ask God to give it to you."  That would not be any help to you at all.  I should have been more clear (to myself), compelling myself to change my attitude towards growing in Him. We should want to grow in Christ.  We should want to become closer to our beautiful Savior.  We should want to do His will with all of our hearts.  Shouldn't we?  

     So I was asking myself why I am not feeling close to God.  Why don't I feel moved to do as He commands?  Well, maybe because I didn't want to.  I don't really think that I wanted to give up control of my life.  

     I can't count the times that I have been moved by the Holy Spirit's presence.  There have been times when I have just been on my knees crying, pleading for my Savior to take the wheel.  And I would feel moved toward Him all that week, or maybe that month.  But when that month was over, I would just fall into a routine.  I wouldn't really care if I read my Bible or not.  I would just kind of read through it to get it over with, to stop that nagging voice in my head.  Then I would stop reading it all together.  I would still pray every night, but I would very rarely pay attention to the words coming out of my mouth.  

     Then I would start disobeying God, intentionally.  He has been getting onto me about some of the books I read.  They are books that a lot of people have read, and books that I have read, but as I was reading them, I was caring less and less about what my Savior had to say to me.  I soon became calloused to His voice.  I was no longer feeling as guilty about reading these books.  I found myself thinking disgusting things.  I found myself not caring about other people's needs.  

     On the outside, there was no change in me, but on the inside, I was becoming quite horrible.  If you looked at me on a daily basis, you would see a good little Christian girl who always went to church and always served others and always thought of others before herself.  If you had looked in my mind, you would have been taken back at how very different I really was from that girl you saw at school.   Now that I am looking at my attitude of the past month or so, I can't believe that I didn't realize it until tonight!  I am so ashamed of myself.  I can't believe that I have been so uncaring toward my Lord and Savior!  

     Think about your prayer life.  Do you have one?  Is it healthy?  Or are you just going through the motions?  Do you really care what God has to say to you?  Do you really want an amazing relationship with the One who took your sins?  Or are you just trying to get out of Hell?  Are you just trying to pass with a "C"?  Try to shoot for A+ + +.

"³²Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.

 ³³But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven."  Matthew 10:32-33

READ THE PREVIOUS ENTRY BEFORE THIS ONE!

 Okay, I gave you a chance to answer some of the questions I asked yesterday... now time for what I think!  Feel free to argue (POLITELY) if you disagree with me on any of this...

1. Who are you?
1. I am Tyler Nicole Henke, co-heirs with Christ Jesus, and daughter of God.
2. Where did the world come from?
1. The world came from God's Hand.
3. Why do humans, as they grow older, loose the sense of wonder they had as children?
1. As we grow older, things that we have wondered about previously, like the fact that an airplane can fly or a dog can bark, become commonplace, and cease to amaze us as we see them more often.
4. Do you still wonder?  Why or why not?
1. I wonder at some things.  I wonder at the fact that God's perfect Son could come to Earth and live a life with sinners, then die for those sinners.  At the same time, I wonder at how erasers work.  I wonder about many things in between.
5. Why is Lego the most ingenious toy in the world?
1. It is virtually indestructible.  You can't break a Lego, and you can build and rebuild things over and over again, take them apart, and build something else.
6. Do you believe that there is a minimal part of which nature exists?
1. Maybe...
7. Do humans have souls?  Why or why not?
1. Yes, humans have souls.  God created humans in His image, which means that we have a physical body and a soul.
8. Do you believe in fate?
1. To a certain extent; I believe that God knows what is going to happen, but we are the ones who make the choices leading up to that.
9. What forces govern the course of history?
1. Men.  I think that men govern the course of history - or at least, men determine what others know about history.  Men write it down - not women, for the most part.  I think it would be really interesting to read some of the ancient history form a woman's perspective...
10. Is sickness a punishment for some bad deed or deeds?
1. No. Sickness is a natural part of life.  
11. Socrates believed that if people know what is right, they will do what is right.  Do you agree?  Why or why not?
1. I do not agree, because people know that stealing cookies from the cookie jar is wrong, but it doesn't mean that they won't do it.   
12. How can a baker bake fifty absolutely identical cookies?
1. I don't think it's possible - even though they all came from the same place (one cookie mold) one cookie could have more chocolate chips, one could have more sugar... 
13. Why do all horses look the same?
1. Because they are horses.  A horse doesn't look like a pig.  It looks like a horse.  You can tell that a horse is a horse because it is a horse, and it looks like a horse... does that make any sense?
14. Do humans have an immortal soul?
1. Yes.  Your soul will live on after your body dies; where it lives is totally up to you.
15. Are men and women equally sensible?
1. I think that women are a bit more sensible than men in some issues.  A woman would have no sense when deciding whether or not to buy the Cookie Dough Ice Cream that just went on sale.  However, and man wouldn't have much sense in front of a football game.
16. Is right and wrong something absolute or does it change with location, culture, and time period?  Why or why not?
1. Some things do, but some don't.  For example, it's never alright to kill someone.  It's never alright to steal.  But in some cultures, it is perfectly fine to use explicit language.  I think it just depends on the situation.
17. Are we born with innate ideas?
1. I think not.  When we are born, we don't have the idea of a horse in out heads.  We don't know what a horse looks like, nor do we know what a horse is...  
18. What is the difference between plant, animal, and human?
1. Plants need food and water to thrive, but don't have instincts, don't know the difference between right and wrong, and they can't get up and move around.  Animals need food and water to survive, have instincts, and can get up and move around, but I don't think they know the difference between right and wrong.  Humans need food and water to live, have instincts, know the difference between right and wrong, and can get up and move around.
19. Why does it rain?
1. Well, scientifically speaking, it rains because of the water cycle.  But I believe that everything has a purpose, so if rain weren't needed, it wouldn't rain.  I think that God makes it rain so that He can provide for the needs of His creations.  He just provided us with a scientific explanation.
20. What does it take to have a good life?
1. I don't think we can really live a good life...  We are human.  Therefore, we sin.  Because we sin, our lives are stained.  So, we can't live a good life if our lives are dirty...

Warning: Contents should only be read under EXTREME boredom! The questions require a LOT of thinking!

I am taking a Humanities course in school, and we are studying a book called Sophie's World.  It is about the history of philosophy.  It's pretty neat, because it isn't dry and boring - it has a plot line, and it is written like a novel.  I enjoy it.

Well, anyway, a lot of philosophers are mentioned in this book, along with the questions that they answer.  We have had several discussions in class about these questions.  Some of my favorite are:

1. Who are you?
2. Where did the world come from?
3. Why do humans, as they grow older, loose the sense of wonder they had as children?
4. Do you still wonder?  Why or why not?
5. Why is Lego the most ingenious toy in the world?
6. Do you believe that there is a minimal part of which nature exists?
7. Do humans have souls?  Why or why not?
8. Do you believe in fate?
9. What forces govern the course of history?
10. Is sickness a punishment for some bad deed or deeds?
11. Socrates believed that if people know what is right, they will do what is right.  Do you agree?  Why or why not?
12. How can a baker bake fifty absolutely identical cookies?
13. Why do all horses look the same?
14. Do humans have an immortal soul?
15. Are men and women equally sensible?
16. Is right and wrong something absolute or does it change with location, culture, and time period?  Why or why not?
17. Are we born with innate ideas?
18. What is the difference between plant, animal, and human?
19. Why does it rain?
20. What does it take to have a good life?

I am interested in hearing (or, more appropriately, reading your thoughts on this subject... Please put them in the comments.  YOU DON'T HAVE TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS IF YOU DON'T WANT TO!

In Christ Alone...

In Christ Alone
(NewsBoys)
IN Christ alone my hope is found.
He is my Light, my Strength, my Song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm

Nothing can ever take that - no wind, nor rain, not lack thereof can separate us from our Father.

What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

I love these lines because they - well, they don't even touch the amount of love that Christ has for us.
We STAND UNDER THE LOVE OF CHRIST!!  How amazing is that?  JESUS CHRIST, the PRINCE OF PEACE, God's only Son, loved us enough to die for us - we stand under that love!

In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe

Christ didn't have to come as a little baby.  He didn't have to come to us as the son of a carpenter. Heck, He didn't have to come to this Earth at all! Yet the Prince chose to come as a helpless baby - a poor man, just like everyone else - just to die for us...

This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save

Just think about those lines for a moment... See the word gift? He didn't have to give us the mercy that He did. He suffered a life here on Earth, and gave his life to die for a world of sinners who could never be worthy of His love - and we scorned that. We made fun of the innocent life that was hanging on the Cross.Can you imagine that? Here is this man, who has been the greatest teacher you have ever heard of, and who has never done anything wrong - this man that you have begged to only be allowed to touch His robe - and He is hanging helplessly on a cruel Cross And you are sitting there making fun of Him!

'Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live

There really aren't any words to describe the meaning of those words... Here in the death of Christ, I live... It's not something that I can wrap my head around!! I am alive right now, my place in Heaven is secured right now, because of His death... His cleansing blood...

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt of life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life's first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
'til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand

I have no words... but maybe that's okay. Just take a moment to read those last few verses... (not the Bible verse, the verses of the song) Just take those words in. They are the WONDERFUL, AMAZING truth!!! We are covered by the blood of Jesus Christ, the King!! We are His!

How Great Thou Art

O, Lord my God

When I in awesome wonder

Consider all

The works Thy hand hath made...

I see the stars.

I hear the rolling thunder -

Thy pow'r throughout the 

Universe displayed...

Then sings my soul

My Savior God  to Thee...

How great Thou art!

How great Thou art!

Then sings mt soul

My Savior God to Thee

How great thou art-

How great Thou art!

And when I think 

Of God His Son not sparing

Sent Him to die.... I 

Scarce can take it in...

That on the cross, my burden 

Gladly bearing, He 

Bled and died to take away

My sin...

Then sings my soul-

My Savior God to Thee...

How great Thou art!

How great Thou art!

Then sings my soul...

My Savior God to Thee-

How great Thou art!

How great Thou art!

When Christ shall come...

With shout of acclamation...

And bring me home,

What joy shall fill my heart!

Then I will bow 

In humble adoration... and then proclaim 

MY GOD, HOW GREAT THOU ART!!!!

Then sings my soul-

My Savior God to Thee...

How great Thou art!

How great Thou art!

Then sings my soul-

My Savior God to Thee...

How great Thou art...

HOW GREAT THOU ART!!!!

Well, that pretty much sums everything up...

He Owns Everything

 I went riding today, with some friends of the family, and one of the women and I fell a little bit behind all the others.  We rode past a house, with about four kids sitting on the porch, just enjoying the nice weather.  The waved at us as we rode by, and we waved back.  As we passed the driveway, Mrs. Jennifer said, "Tyler, I think I am going to go up and say 'hi' to them.  Do you want to come?"  So we turned around and went up the driveway.  The kids got really excited, and started running up to us.  Their mother came out, and we asked her if the kids could ride the horses.  Well, the children got even more excited, and they got up on the horses, and we just led them around the yard a few times.  I could tell that we had just made their day.  It made me feel amazing inside, to know that I was part of the source of this happiness.  As we rode away from the house, Mrs. Jennifer and I were talking about it, and she said, "You know, when you have such a wonderful gift as a horse, I think that God wants us to share it."  That was more or less the end of that conversation, but I continued feeling the joy that I had brought to the children, and her words had me thinking.  That really was the purpose of gifts.  We were given gifts to share our joy with others. 

Have you ever noticed that when you bring joy to others, you feel that joy for the rest of the day?  I will probably never see those kids again, but knowing that I made them happy, even if only for a short while - I think that is one of the greatest gifts God can give. 

I see it this way:  God gave us everything we have.  So, it isn't really ours in the first place.  So why should we be stingy with our gifts?  We should share everything we are given.  I mean, we are all brothers and sisters in Christ, and we should share with each other, right?  Who are we to be selfish with that which is not our own?

In Christ always,

Tyler Henke

God Determines if You Pass or Fail...

So, last night I was reading in Galatians, and a singular verse stuck out to me: "For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God?  Or am I trying to please men?  If I were trying to please men, I would not have been a bond-servant of Christ." - Galatians 1:10 

Do you let the world influence your decisions?  Do you let God influence your decisions?  To whom do listen the majority of the time?  I'm going to be honest with you - I usually listened to the things that the world had to say, and I blocked out the things God had to say, just pushing His Word to the side.  I had several excuses for not doing what God had told me.  I think that two of the biggest, and worse excuses I came up with were (1) If I did that, everyone would think I am weird, and (2) I don't feel comfortable doing that - and God wouldn't make me do something that would make me uncomfortable, would He?

Let's address both of these. 

(1) If I did that, everyone would think I am weird!

     This was the point I was originally going to make.  If you are in a class, and the teacher pretty much tells the class, "If you do exactly as I say, you will pass this class with flying colors.  However, if you don't do what I tell you to, you are going to fail the class for sure."  Your friends don't listen to him.  They opt to mess around all day, and completely ignore your teacher.  Would you go along with your friends for a little while, but fail the class, or would you listen to the teacher and do as he said, and pass with flying colors?  Hopefully, you would choose to obey your teacher, who determines your grade, rather than your friends, who are going to fail the class. 

     God is the same way.  If you are taking His class (Life), there are two choices:  Pass or Fail.  You can't glide by with a C in God's class.  You have to listen to God and do as He tells you.  Don't listen to the world - does the world send you to Heaven/Hell?   No, God does.  God determines if you pass or fail this class.  So shouldn't you be more concerned with what God thinks rather than what the world thinks?  I mean, the people of the world are going to pass away.  God won't.  Your life on Earth is short.  The people in your life on Earth, especially in your high school years, aren't even going to stay in your life much after graduation, much less your life in Heaven.  Why should you worry about pleasing these people?  You will deal with them for four years of your life, but you will have to answer for those four years when you stand before God.  When He is looking at your life, is it going to matter what party you went to?  Is it going to matter what crowd you were in in school?  No.  God is going to look at your life, and see if you acknowledged Him, which means living as He told you to live.   "Whoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.  But whoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven." - Matthew 10:32-33.  

(2)  I don't feel comfortable doing that - and God wouldn't make me do something that would make me uncomfortable, would He?

     God doesn't care about what makes you comfortable.   He wants you to grow in Him, and that requires you to step out of your comfort zone and do what you are told to do.  God cares about your happiness, but he cares much more about your spiritual health.  He wants you to grow much more than He wants you to be comfortable.  When you grow physically, you experience growing pains.  You don't like them at all, but they are happening because your body is not yet comfortable with it's new "stuff".  In the same way must you experience discomfort in order to mature in Christ.  So, God will ask you, all the time (I am speaking from experience here) to do things that you don't want to do, or that require you to step out of your comfort zone.  I am still working on this in myself - I have a hard time trusting that God knows what He is doing, and that I am playing a part in His ultimate plan.  

As always, I hope that this post finds you at peace with yourself, and with God.  I hope that you hear what He is trying to say to you, and you obey Him, instead of the world.

God bless you,

Tyler Henke

    

Worrying Does Nothing...

    Okay, I know I am guilty of this, and I'm pretty sure that most of you are, too.  When we go through our day, are we really paying attention to our surroundings?  Or are we just falling into our own routine, or getting so caught up in life that we don't ever take a look around us?  A while ago, I was walking down a road that I had been down dozens of times before, and as I was walking listening to my iPod, I started looking around.  When I saw some of the amazingly beautiful things on that road, I was stricken.  How could I have gone down this road so many times and yet never realized the beauty of it?  I had admired the houses, but not once before that had I looked at the beautiful fingerprints of God.  Not once had I seen the trees, the flowers, the way the grass grew around the garden beds, or anything of the sort.  
     Aren't we all guilty of that?  As I said, we often get so caught up in the stress of life, we don't ever stop to smell the roses.  Literally.  God has given us SO many gifts in these simple things, and we just pass them by as if they are nothing special.  
     When we worry about things, or when we stress about things, we can't appreciate God in our lives.  We all have the tendency to put our own situations and worries before God on our priority chart.  But God says not to worry - to give Him your worries and stresses and let Him take care of them!

     In Matthew it says, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these..." - Matthew 6: 25-34.

     Don't worry about anything!  If God can care to care for the needs of a little bird, then surely He can care for anything you need.  If He can give a flower a more beautiful dress than King Solomon, don't you think He can give you the clothes you need?  

     I especially like when it talks about when you are anxious, you aren't doing anything for yourself.  Worrying about something doesn't fix the problem, nor does it help you one bit.  If there is nothing you can do about a situation, GIVE IT TO GOD!!!!!  He can take care of it, and He can do such a better job than any of us can!!!!  And He wants to take care of your needs!!  Peter 5:7 says, "Cast all your worries to Him, because He cares for you."  You really can't get much simpler than that!  

     I have recently realized this - that when you are worrying about something, you are insulting God - you are telling Him that you don't trust Him enough to fix your problems.  In Crazy Love, by Francis Chan, it says that, "both worry and stress reek of arrogance."  

     Whenever you feel worry starting to creep up on you, or whenever you start to feel stressful, just pray this simple prayer silently, "God, I know that You can deal with this problem.   Please take my worries off of my shoulders."  I promise you, those words, if spoken with sincerity, work.  If you ask Him to take your worries, God will!!

     I have been all over today - I think I have established that I am very A.D.D.  I can't really keep a straight line of thought, so most of my blogs will probably end up on a totally different note than when it started...

God bless and comfort you,

Sincerely,

Tyler Henke

Why We Can't Sin

     Okay, for a long time, I have felt that some of my revelations should be shared with more than just myself and a few close friends.  So, here goes:

     A lot of times, I have said to myself, "If I am a Christian, that means that my sins are covered, right?  So, why can't I just do whatever the heck I want, and still go to heaven?  Why do I have to live by these rules if I don't have to worry about getting punished for that later?"  And I think a lot of Christians ask themselves the same questions. 

    Well, I found the answer in Romans 6:1-16

     ^"1What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? ²By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? ³Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

 ⁵If we have been united with Him like this in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection. ⁶For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— ⁷because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.

 ⁸Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over Him. ¹⁰The death He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life He lives, He lives to God.

 ¹¹In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. ¹²Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. ¹³Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. ¹⁴For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace

 ¹⁵What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! ¹⁶Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?

  

     Okay, that's a lot of words.  I had to read them several times before I understood them.  But I will take them apart for you.  (I'm not going to do all of the verses - just the ones that stuck out to me.  If there are any verses that stick out to you, PLEASE talk about them in a comment!!!)

Romans 6:1-2

 ¹What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? ²By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?

How can we live sinfully is we are dead to sin?  We can't!

Romans 6:3-4

  ³Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? ⁴We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 

Everyone that has been baptized in Christ has risen from the dead already.  Sin =death.  When we are baptized, we have been saved from sin.  We are born again!

Romans 6:6

 ⁶For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—

We died along with our sin with Christ.  

Romans 6:9

 ⁹For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over Him

Since Christ already died, He can't die again.  Since our sin died with Christ, the sin cannot rise again in us, because we are dead to it, and it is dead to us.

Romans 6:14

 ¹⁴For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace

You are dead to sin, so sin can't be your master; you are saved by the grace of God.

Romans 6:16

¹⁶Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?

When you say you are obedient, you are obedient to the master; if you are obedient to sin, it results in death.  If you are obedient to righteousness, it results in life.  So because you are saved by grace, you are obedient to God,  You are DEAD to sin.  If you say, "Oh, I can just go and sin, because God will forgive me later," you are not dead to sin, which means that sin still holds sway over you.  If sin still holds sway over you, you aren't alive in Christ. 

     So, the point of all that was to answer the questions mentioned above.  We as Christians - if we have been saved, then we are dead to sin and sin no longer holds power over us.  That means that the desire to sin is gone.  I mean, we can't serve both God and sin.  "No man can serve two masters.  Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other."  You can't be obedient to God and to sin, because God cannot be where sin is, and sin cannot be in the presence of God.

I know that this is kind of confusing... that's okay.  The book of Romans is a naturally confusing - and extremely deep - book. 

Hey everyone...

     Hi!! Well, I 'm new, but I guess I'll just throw myself in, and see what happens =)

     I really don't know where to start...

     I don't think this is going to be very long.  I'll probably ramble unintelligibly for a while, then see what happens..... hmm..... well, I love Jesus Christ.  I guess I can use this blog to share in my relationship with Him.  If I realize something about my Christian life, I can always post it here.  I know I would love to share my epiphanies with anyone who will listen.........

     Well, right now I am reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan.  It is a really good book, and though I am not finished with it, I can say that so far, it has definitely opened my eyes to the love of God.  It made me realize that when we pray, we are coming before God Himself.  We are presenting ourselves to this mighty God, who created the universe.  Think about that sentence.  The God we worship is the same God who created the universe.  Does that sound bizarre you?  If it doesn't, then try to picture the entire universe.  I promise there is a point to the following paragraph.  

     The Earth is billions of miles away from the sun.  If you're looking at the Earth from the sun, you can barely see it.  Okay, if you are inside the Milky Way, you can't recognize our sun from the dozens of other suns and stars around it.  If you are outside the Milky Way, you can't even see that cluster of stars.  At ten million light-years away from our Earth, you can just only see the Milky Way, nestled among several other galaxies.  When we get to a hundred million light-years away from the Earth, you can't see the Milky Way.  You can't see the other galaxies beside it.  

      Okay, if you can't really imagine that from just reading it, I got that from Francis Chan, and the video on  www.crazylovebook.com,  explains what I am talking about.  Go watch that little three minute video before reading on, just to get the jist of what I am saying...

     Crazy, right?  I mean, that is huge!!!!  And there is MORE!!!! 

     Okay, this isn't an astronomy lesson.  I promised you that I had a point when I was rambling.  Just think:  God made all of what I just saw.  I am talking about that God.  Okay, whenever we pray, we go to that God, the God who created all of that.  We are presenting ourselves to this mighty God who created the universe (yeah, I am being kind of repetitive, but I am trying to get this point across.).  I mean, what do you think about when you pray?  Do you have any respect when you pray to the God that created you?  If you don't, then watch that video again. When I watched that video, I felt... well, I was speechless.  I saw God in a whole new light.  I was kind of afraid to pray... I mean, not like "Oh, my gosh, this God is going to strike me down if I bother Him, I am SO afraid," but more like I was about to walk up to the emperor of ancient Rome, or the king of Mycenae, and ask him if I could have a new bike.  I mean, you don't just walk up to one of these guys and start a regular conversation, right?  You would have bowed, and spoke with the utmost reverence, and as much respect as was humanly possible.  

     Shouldn't you do the same - even more - when you approach God?  I mean, God has done more than any of the greatest world leaders of all time!!  Doesn't He deserve even more respect?  If you were to walk up to any of the leaders mentioned before, and tried to have a friendly conversation with him, the guy probably wouldn't have listened.  I mean, he would have had much more important things to do than talk to some kid, right?

     But the wacky, insane, unbelievable thing is that God, who is greater than any man could ever hope to be, wants you to talk to Him!  About everything!!!! He wants to have a relationship with you, so much that He sent His Son, to suffer on the cross, and die. in the most humiliating, painful way possible, so that He could be with us, a world full of sinners that don't deserve His love or His time, for all eternity.  Just thinking that anyone could love us so much is mind-boggling, don't you agree?

     Yeah, I was kind of all over the place, wasn't I..... That's probably going to be the way most of these things are done... I am SUPER ADD, and I can't keep a straight line of thought to save my life.  =)

Well, I should probably go.... 

God bless!!!!!