¹Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. ²Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. – Hebrews 12:1-3

What a beautiful scripture. This can strengthen us when me are feeling low or weak. Because Jesus endured the cross so we, we get to spend eternity with Him.

The following is a entry from one of my old journals. I have felt like I should share them with you all, hoping that you may be blessed by from them, but that I too would receive something by looking at what God has taken me through.

I hope you are blessed!

The Creator and the Clay

One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?” But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ “Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use? -Romans 9:19-21

Just before the previous passage, Paul explains that God is sovereign, and He is in control. He then knew that in response to this, some might question God. I know I have; Sometimes I feel like I deserved the “spotlight”, or why am I still doing this, etc. But what can the formed say to the one who formed it? God has the right to choose what each creation is meant for, just like anyone who creates something. The person who designs something, like a car, determines what each piece’s purpose is; the engine, the brakes, the transmission, and every other piece of a car has a specific purpose. What happens if the brakes wanted to run the car instead of providing a means to slow it down?? Would it work?….No. And worse than that, it would interfere with the overall design of the car.

Even though there are parts of a car that seem more “supreme”, like the engine of a car, where would the car end up without brakes? or a radiator, the steering wheel, etc? Every part of a car is designed with a particular purpose, and each one of those are essential to keeping the car running smoothly and safely.

I know that was weird analogy, but I hope it helps. In the same way, we need to be obedient to our design; God will use us. No matter how small a role we think we play, we need to trust in our Creator.

He knows why He created us, so we need to trust Him.

I hope you were blessed by reading this post. If so, be sure to take a quick moment to share this post on Facebook or Twitter via the tweet or share buttons at the top of the page (or any other way you feel fit)! It is through readers like you that LivingForJesus.com gets exposed : )

Thank you so much!

In God’s Love and Grace,

Hello everyone, the following lyrics and chords are for the new song, (Outside) My Own Little World, by Matthew West. This song is a great song that is challenging us to step outside of our “Own Little Worlds”, and be the hands and feet of Jesus.

Song: (Outside) My Own Little World

By: Matthew West

CAPO 6

INTRO: Em-C-G (x2)

Verse 1

Em                        C             G
In my own little world it hardly ever rains
 Em                   C              G
I’ve never gone hungry, always felt safe
 Em                           C               G
I got some money in my pocket shoes on my feet
 Em                      G          C
In my own little world population me
 Em                             C                 G
I try to stay awake through the Sunday morning church
 Em                                 C                  G
I throw a twenty in the plate but I never give ’til it hurts
 Em                            C                   G
And I turn off the news when I don’t like what I see
 Em                        G           C
It’s easy to do when it’s population me 



Chorus 1

D                     G         C
What if there’s a bigger picture
C               G        D
What if I’m missing out
D                        G          C
What if there’s a greater purpose
C                 G       C   G   D
I could be living right now
D                       C   G   D

Outside my own little world

Verse 2

 (Em)                     (C)               G
Stopped at the red light, looked out my window
 Em                       C                        G
I saw a cardboard sign said “Help this homeless widow”
 Em                           C         G
Just above that sign was the face of a human
 Em                                G                C
I thought to myself, “God, what have I been doing?” 

 Em                                    C             G
So I rolled down my window and I looked her in the eye
 Em                         C             G
Oh how many times have I just passed her by
 Em                           C            G
I gave her some money then I drove on through
 Em                               G           C
In my own little world there’s population two 


(chorus)

Bridge

G   C           G    D
Oh O Ohhhhh,  Oh O Ohhhhh
G      C               
Oh O Ohhhhhhhhh  

Verse 3

Em                        C            G
Father break my heart for what breaks Yours
 Em                     C     G
Give me open hands and open doors
 Em                            C      G
Put Your light in my eyes and let me see
 Em                             G         C
That my own little world is not about me

Chorus 2

D                    G            C
What if there’s a bigger picture
C                G         D
What if I’m missing out
D                        G          C
What if there’s a greater purpose
 C                     G         D
That I could be living right now
D                    G         C
I don’t wanna miss what matters
C                G          D
I wanna be reaching out
D                       G          C
Show me the greater purpose
C                     G        C   G   D
So I can start living right now.
D                        C   G   D

Outside my own little world,
D                C   G   D
My own little world
D                C   G   D
My own little world

I hope you enjoy the song! We really need to live outside our own little worlds and notice the bigger picture. Look for My Own Little World from YouTube on the right sidebar so you can play along with it. (Thanks Anna for bringing this song to my attention and getting me a great head start on the chords and layout!)

In God’s Love and Grace,

Recently I have relocated with my family. If you have ever done it, you know it isn’t an easy thing. You have to get to know the new area, get used to your new home that doesn’t have air conditioning (okay, maybe just me), find a new church, make new friends, etc. It is not a fun thing…and being an introvert doesn’t help.

I have lived in this new area for a few months now, and have made leeway on a lot of these adjustments; I know the area pretty well, I don’t get lost anymore and I know where to get food, all the important stuff right? I also have gotten used to the new house, and not having air conditioning is not as bad as I thought it would be due to a nice cool breeze we generally get from the ocean (its about 30 mins away). So I’m adjusting pretty well…but still, finding the right church and making friends my age…well, I guess that is where I am now.

I have tried quite a few churches and college groups, but none really felt “right” or stood out to me. That was until this last one I tried. I attended the Sunday service with my family on , well, Sunday. I was definitely impressed with the service. I don’t think it is something I can put a finger on….I guess I just felt I could feel the heart of the church, and it felt sincere. But what really stood out to me was directly after the service.

Like I said above, I am definitely an introvert (shy…quiet). I don’t know what signals I give off to others, but I’m sure its not “HEY, COME TALK TO ME!”. Anyways,  much to my surprise, right after service got out, as I was leaving, this guy stopped me and introduced himself. Now, I don’t know if he has some sort of super power radar thing that detects new people, or if it was the new little-mohawk-ish thing I have going on with my hair right now (I did it for my little brother, okay), but whatever the case, I was really impressed. I have been to many new churches, but no one ever approached me directly and said “Hello” because I was new. This guy ended up being the Pastor for the college and career age at the church, and after a brief conversation, he invited me to attend their college+career group service thingy on Thursday nights.

I went tonight (Thursday) to try out the college group, and again, really impressed. The whole group reminded me of their Pastor. They took me in, showed me around, introduced me to everyone, and even invited me to In-N-Out afterwords. I don’t know about you, but I find it such an amazing thing when you can make a new guy feel welcome. I can’t tell you if this church IS the church I will be attending up here just after the one visit, but I do have to tell you that they are doing a great job at making new people feel welcome, and I am looking forward to pursuing this church a quite a bit more to see if this is where God wants me.

So…what is the purpose of this post? I just went on a huge personal ramble, right? Here is the point. I have rarely been on this side of the field, being the “new guy”, since I grew up in the church. But man, I have found it amazing when someone walks across the room with the purpose of breaking the ice for you.

So my challenge for you all is to not underestimate the impact you can have on that new person by simply walking across the room and saying “Hello”. It might just change their life. So keep your eyes peeled (or develop a super power) for that new person at your church, and go say “Hello”.

have you had any cool/weird experiences while trying out a new church?

Don’t forget to take a quick moment to share this post on Facebook or Twitter via the tweet or share buttons at the top of the page (or in any other way you feel fit) if you got a lot of value out of it! It is through readers like you that help get this site spread around. : )

In God’s Love and Grace,

The following is a entry from one of my old journals. I have felt like I should share them with you all, hoping that you may be blessed by from them, but that I too would receive something by looking at what God has taken me through.

I hope you enjoy!

What Can Separate Us?

Romans 8:28-39

The previous mentioned passage is a long one…so I thought I would take out an expert or two…but I then realized that each and every verse is very powerful, and I would have ended up posting the WHOLE passage…so instead, make sure you read it on your own. Get out your bible, or click here to do so.

I really love Romans 8:28-39 so much. It always brings encouragement to me. It not only reminds us that God is always working things out for our benefit, but also explores how powerful and strong God’s love is; which is so strong that nothing can separate us from it.

The first verse is amazing to me. I’ve read it quite a few times, but every time I read it, it reminds me that I really shouldn’t worry about things as often as I do; that I have full reason to trust God with everything.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him” -Romans 8:28^a

This gives me such great hope. In every situation I have been in (or will be in), good or bad, God makes it work to better me. It is part of the process of me becoming more like Jesus.

Then the passage goes on to explain the greatness of God’s Love; He sent his only son Jesus, a perfect being, to save us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8). By no logical reason, we were worth the sacrifice that had to be made. By his love, we are more than conquerors. NOTHING can separate us from the love of God. If God gave his son to die for you, what else will he not do for you? This is the hope we have, and why God deserves our full trust in Him.

Nothing can separate us from His love that is greater than ALL things.

I hope you were blessed by reading this post. If so, be sure to take a quick moment to share this post on Facebook or Twitter via the tweet or share buttons at the top of the page (or any other way you feel fit)! It is through readers like you that this site gets spread around.

Thank you so much!

In God’s Love and Grace,

Hello everyone. Welcome to the start of a series I am calling “God’s Love is _____”. The topic of God’s love is one that is very close to my heart. I am in no way an expert on the topic, I am just someone who has experienced it first hand. Over the course of the next few weeks I will be delving into different aspects of God’s Love. This will definitely not be an exhaustive study, I will merely be pointing out the different attributes of God’s love that I have experienced and/or discovered during my studies of the word (Bible). So lets get started:

God’s Love is Real.

What do I mean by real?… I mean it is not counterfeit. It is in no way related to the way you love coffee, pizza, sports, etc. And beyond that, it still does not do God’s love justice if we compare it to the love we have for our friends, siblings, parents, spouses, etc. This is the main reason we have such a hard time grasping how amazing God’s love actually is. We have little-to-nothing we can compare it to.

What’s difficult is that in our language, we have one word (love) to convey many different things. But thankfully, the Greeks had four different words for what we now translate into our one word (love), so if we look at the meaning of each of these, it will help us to understand what God means when we read about God’s Love for us in the Bible.

The four Greek words for love are:

• Eros – Romantic love
• Philia – Love for a friend, or in friendship
• Storge – Natural affection parents have for their children
• Agape – Unconditional love

Whenever we read about what God’s love is like in the New Testament, the writers always used the word agape. Agape is the strongest love that there is because it is one without conditions. We do not have to earn it, we cannot lose it, God simply, and for no logical reason, LOVES us.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. -Romans 5:8

That is why God’s love is REAL. I used to equate God’s love to being earned, and what a heavy burden that was on my life; figuring that since I’m human, I made (and still continue to make) many mistakes. But once I began to accept that I could not do anything to make God love me more or less, to lose it or gain it, a huge liberation occurred in me; I was usable to God. I am still on the road of discovering how amazing the love of God is, and part of that process is letting it begin to mold us to look more like Jesus. We need to accept this unconditional love, and let it change us.

Have you accepted it yet?

So…how was this post? Did you find it insightful or helpful? Would you like to share with an encounter you have had with God’s Unconditional love? I’d love to hear from you! And don’t forget to take a quick moment to share this post on Facebook or Twitter via the tweet or share buttons at the top of the page (or any other way you feel fit) if you got a lot of value out of it! It is through readers like you that this site gets spread around

Thank you so much!

In God’s Love and Grace,

Today during church, the whole message was about God’s love. That topic always hits me really deep inside, because I sense that that is the theme for my life right now. So I find the following quote, from an unknown person to me, quite fitting. I hope you take time and let it seep in.

“I asked Jesus, ‘How much do you love me?’ And Jesus said, ‘This much.’ Then He stretched out His arms and died.”

- Unknown

What a short and simple quote, yet it manages to capture a small glimpse of the beauty of Jesus’ amazing love for us. If you are ever wondering how much Jesus loves you, the answer lays up there on the cross. And I want you to know that even if you were the only person in existence, Jesus still would have done all that he did, just for you.

Lets all take the time to reflect on Jesus’ love for us, not just know, but daily. We need to remember that this love is the same love we are to be know for. It is our duty to share Jesus’ love with the world around us, more importantly, with actions, not just with words.

I hope you enjoyed this post…if you did, be sure to share it with your friends by clicking on the tweet or share buttons at the top of the post, or in any other way you feel fit. It is by you readers that LivingForJesus.com becomes known, so I personally want to thank you

In God’s Love and Grace,

The following is a entry from one of my old journals. I have felt like I should share them with you all, hoping that you may benefit from them, but that I too would receive something by looking at what God has taken me through.

I hope you enjoy!

(For this journal entry I read Romans 7:7-25, 8:1-17, but due to the length of the passage, I am just posting the last few verses. I encourage you to look up this entire passage and let God speak to you through it.)

¹²….Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. ¹³For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, ¹⁴because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. ¹⁵For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” ¹⁶The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. ¹⁷Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. -Romans 8:12-17

Romans 7:7-25, 8:1-17

We constantly struggle with sin…it is in our nature. The passage in Romans 7:15-20 explains this perfectly. We often do what we do not want to do, and do not do what we want to.We have this great desire to do good, but our natural nature constantly pushes us away from it.

I know for myself, I have this desire to do good, but just like Paul said, I cannot carry it out on my own. So who can rescue us from these bodies of sin and death? Thanks be to God!! Through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:24-25).

Paul then states in Romans 8:1-17 that we have life through the spirit! Since Jesus Christ freed us from the law of sin and death through conquering it himself, therefore we are no longer condemned if we are in Christ Jesus. Though the mind of a sinful man is death, the mind controlled by the spirit is life and peace…and this is what we now shall strive for; a mind controlled by the spirit, not the flesh.

Paul ends this passage with such a beautiful thing. He reminds us that we have no need to fear, because we have received a spirit of sonship…WE ARE NOW GOD’S CHILDREN!!! We should not serve God out of obligation, but out of gratitude, thankfulness, love, joy, etc. We are now heirs of HIS kingdom.

I hope this journal entry sparked some thoughts. It was great for me to be reminded of how low we are in our natural state, yet how precious we are to God, that he would not only send his only son to die in our stead, but would also adopt us.  I strongly encourage you all to go through your own journal entries, if you have them, to see where God has taken you. And, if you are willing, share some them with us.

If you did enjoy this entry, please be sure to share with us via a comment below. Also, let your friends know about LivingForJesus.com via the tweet or share boxes at the top of the page, its through you that this site gets exposed

In God’s Love and Grace,

As I’ve been spending time with the Lord lately, I keep feeling like I should pull out my old journals and share them with you, both for your benefit, and mine. I’m not quite sure what we’ll stumble upon, but it is always great to reflect back on what the Lord has taken us through, whether it was something we learned, a bad or good season that we went through, etc. It is great to remember where we have been, but we always need to strive to be even better today.

How it will generally work is that I will first post the scripture I was reading, for you to read as well, then it will be followed by my reflection on that scripture.

So, today marks the first post in the journal entries of many more to come, I hope you enjoy them, and that we might each gain something from them as well.

Journal Entry #1 – Dead to Sin, Alive In Christ

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.

-Romans 6:1-14

Wow, what an amazing passage. By the grace God has given us, we have been set free through the death and resurrection of his son, Jesus Christ. This is something that all Believers should know, but do we really understand that when we accepted HIS grace, we died to sin? We can no longer go on sinning like we once did. We have been baptized by the into the death and resurrection of Jesus. Our old selves should have been crucified with him on the cross: “The death he [Jesus] died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.” In the same way, we need to live for God. We should not let sin reign in our bodies, so that we obey all of its evil desires. We need to offer ourselves to God as instruments of righteousness. Sure, we will mess up, but it is not due to being bound by sin any longer. Because sin shall not be our master, because we are not under law, but under grace.

I hope this first journal entry sparked some thoughts. I strongly encourage you all to go through your own journal entries, if you have them, to see where God has taken you. And, if you are willing, share some them with us.

If you did enjoy this entry, please be sure to share with us via a comment below. Also, let your friends know about LivingForJesus.com via the tweet or share boxes at the top of the page, its through you that this site gets exposed.

In God’s Love and Grace,

This post is another addition to my favorite “Quotes” category. This quote I heard for the first time a few years back, but was reminded of it very recently. It catches such an important part of what our lives should contain. This quote is from Saint Francis of Assisi:

Preach the Gospel at all times… and when necessary, use words. – Saint Francis of Assisi

This quote is so short, yet very profound. In such few words, Saint Francis manages to express exactly what our lifestyle should be, and that is preaching the gospel…and most of the time, without using any words at all.

We need to pursue a lifestyle that is bringing glory to God. We need to converge faith into a our daily lives. One should be able to look at us and KNOW we are a follower of Jesus Christ, and that is truly preaching the gospel.

Lets all try to apply this short quote to our lives. When we are truly preaching the gospel without needing words, we will begin to see Christ doing amazing things in and around our lives.

I hope you enjoyed this post…if you did, be sure to share it with your friends by clicking on the tweet or share buttons at the top of the post.

In God’s Love and Grace,

Hello everyone, I am now adding a new category to L4J for my favorite quotes…or for quotes that I find that really impact me.

So today I will post my first favorite quote. It is one that has stuck to me for the past couple days by CS Lewis:

I pray because I can’t help myself. I pray because I’m helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn’t change God, it changes me. -CS Lewis

Wow…what a heart. What an awesome realization about prayer. I tell you the truth, I often pray with the intent of changing God’s mind. I believe during those times, I am completely off. I think CS Lewis put it perfectly here. Prayer doesn’t change God, it changes me.

Lets all try to apply this principle to our prayer lives. We should pray because we need to, just like we need to eat, and sleep, Knowing it is to change us, not God.

What do you think? Do you have anything you have learned about prayer you would like to share? Do you have a favorite quote that you would like to share with us? If so, please indulge us by leaving it in the comment form below!

I hope you all enjoyed this quote. If you did, be sure to check back for more and to share this with your friends as well by clicking the share or tweet buttons at the top of this page. I really appreciate it!

In God’s Love and Grace,

Communication; it plays  such a vital role in any successful relationship. Whether it be between a husband and a wife,  a parent and a child,  a friend and a friend, or even between us and God, communication is the piece that keeps the relationship healthy.

People have often been surprised at how close I am with my parents and siblings, but I promise you, we are no where near perfect, or the “ideal” family. We have had many struggles, obstacles, and bumps along the journey of our life together. But one of the key things that has kept us together and close-knit is the commitment we have made to communication.

Dictionary.com defines the word communicate as:

If a relationship were a plant, communication would be the water. You can nourish a plant into the most beautiful, and strong state it can be in, but if you stop watering it, it will die. The same goes for any relationship. You can get into the strongest, most intimate state in a relationship, but if you cut off communication, it will begin to die. You can never get to a place in a relationship where communication is no longer needed.

That is why we need to make a commitment to communicate in our relationships. In a marriage, set aside time to TALK to one another, see how your spouse is doing, get to KNOW one another better. For parents and children: Parents, take the initiative. Ask your kids questions about their day, ask how they are doing, tell them you love them, etc…just open the door for communication.  Kids, do the same. Tell your parents you love them, thank them for something they have done for you, tell them how much you appreciate them, if you have a question, ask it.

Just like communication is key to any successful relationship with a spouse, child, parent or friend, it is also key to a successful relationship with our heavenly Father. How can we expect to know God if we don’t allow him to speak to us. The two means we have for communicating with God our through reading the bible, and through prayer. Though God knows us inside and out, we still need to talk to (pray) God about our needs as well. I can think of no other person who showed us a better example of this need than Jesus Christ. He was the Son of God, God in the flesh; why then did he spend so much time praying to God? He stayed in constant communion with Him. If Jesus needed to pray to God so much, then you better believe we need to as well.

I strongly encourage all of you to take a long look at all of your relationships. Make sure there is a healthy amount of communication between them. If there isn’t, it’s not too late. Open the door by getting to know the person better. Look at your relationship with God, set aside time to read the bible yourself, and to pray to God. Make a commitment to communicate.

So…How do you feel about this? Has this inspired you to make any shifts or changes in your life?  I’d love to hear from you!  And don’t forget to take a quick moment to share this post on Facebook or Twitter if you got a lot of value out of it!

Thank you so much!

In God’s Love and Grace,