Stuck In The Sand

"I don't like sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere."- Anakin Skywalker-"Attack of the Clones"

I, personally, am ok with sand. Sure, it's frustrating when it gets between your toes when you are trying to put your shoes on, or it feels like burning lava trying to get from dock to water. But, when you truly get to that place where the sand feels refreshing under your feet, there's not much that can compare to it. I realized something the other day when I was standing on the shore watching the tide come in. I was standing in the sand letting the waves wash over my feet. With each wave that came in, the sand beneath my feet would be pushed by the water and eventually, my feet were buried deep in the sand. At first, it felt like the waves were going to knock me over, but every time my feet got deeper buried in the sand, the waves seemed to have less of an effect on me. This is a beautiful picture of how we should be in the arms of the Father. When we first become saved, we might waver a little when the even the tiniest of storms come upon us. But with each trial that comes our way, our feet get better rooted and we are then able to withstand the things trying to knock us down. When we rely on God to help keep us planted when life is wavering, we become stronger in him and we don't fear the attacks from the enemy. But there is also a flipside to this. What if we have tried to plant ourselves in the wrong ground. Maybe, we put all our hope in people or things, and not God. What happens when storms hit, and we try to fall back on material possessions. At first, these things might hold us. Once the storms begin getting rougher and hitting harder. those things we have relied on go away. Friends desert you. Things fail you, and you are worse off then when you began.

This life can and will be tough at times. Do you want to spend it continually falling by the weight of it all, or do you want to be rooted, standing firm in the strength of the Father.

"He only is my rock and my salvation, My stronghold: I will not be greatly shaken"- Psalm 62:2

Adam Semple- A Young Man on a Mission From God.

* photo credit- dailymail.co.uk 

Read Me, Please!!!

You've seen this before in almost any movie. Main characters go into an old house, find the impressive library, and blow the dust of the cover of the one book that will lead them on a grand adventure. The problem is, we tend to have a book like this on our own shelves. This book is a pretty important book that is a guideline and a map for our lives to follow. It's called the Bible. Wait, what? The bible, as in the word of God, sitting on a dusty shelf with a layer of dust an inch thick. But, we are good christians, we read our bible on our phones, and we follow along with the Pastor's sermon if the media guy puts up the scripture verse. Sometimes, it is important to take that old worn out book of the shelf and give a big, "big bad wolf" blow. Not to say that God doesn't use the times spent in his words if we use the Bible app. But we need to be able to flip from chapter to chapter and bookmark certain spots that the Holy Spirit has put in our hearts. We need to pull out a legal pad, grab some highlighters and spend some serious time in prayer and reading.
I've got this desk that sits in the dining room. On it sits my Star Wars sith characters,(I have at least one of almost all of them). Unfortunately, we play a lot of games at the dining room table. With that being said, things tend to pile up on it and dust begins to collect. Eventually, I can't even use my desk because of all the mess that has accumulated. If it wasn't sitting in a spot that I saw everyday, I feel as if I would forget I even have a desk, let alone use it. I think our dusty old bibles sitting on the shelf can get the same way. We have good intentions of putting it to use, but things in life begin piling up. Th bible gets put back on the shelf and we justify it by reading a few chapters on our phone, check it off our to-do list and move on with our day. All the while the bible gathers more and more dust and our lives fall apart more and more. Eventually, the dust will be so thick, we can't even see what was supposed to be underneath it. I have to admit, I am guilty of this too. Some mornings, I barely even check the few chapters of my list before I begin my day. If I'm not careful, 3 or 4 days will go by and I try to catch up, skipping over the content in order to put a check mark by the chapter. That's not what God intended for time with Him. He wants people who are willing to take the book off the shelf and truly dive into what he wants you to see and comprehend. Start small, five to ten minutes a day. Pretty soon, you will be able to see God doing things in your life because you are reading his words for you and for me. No more dusty bookshelves with dusty bibles. Its time to blow off the dirt and begin reading God's word with a new revelation and a new passion to grow in your walk with Him.

Adam Semple- A Young Man on A Mission From God

10,000 Volts of Electricity

Have you ever broken a bone that required you to get an x-ray? Or maybe, your doctor requested you get one to examine a part of your body causing you pain. An x-ray is a radiation procedure that doctors use to look at the inside of someone's body without making a single incision. Isn't it cool that God is able to see the inside us, as if looking through an x-ray. By his infinite power, he can see our internal structure that makes us, us. He is able to find the things inside of us that do not belong. Whenever a doctor orders an x-ray to be done, he suspects there is something in the body that should not be. He then is able to find the abnormality and begin the process of doing what need to be done in order to remove it. God looks inside of us and sees things that shouldn't be, and if we are willing, He will show us the steps needed to remove it. Before proceeding with any kind of x-ray, you will usually need to drink or ingest in someway this liquid that makes your bones more visible to the machine. The nerd in me thinks this is really cool. Like, Bruce Banner. Radiation running through your body, making your innards glow in the dark. But really, that is how we should be anyway. Not raging mad like the hulk, but glowing from the inside out. God's radioactive life flowing through us so much that we become a light in a dark place. If glowing in the dark is a result of God's removing things from me that shouldn't be there, then light me up and do what needs to be done. I don't want anything in my body that has no place there. Who's with me?

Adam Semple- A young light in an old dark world on a mission from God 

ps. an x-ray is not 10,000 volts, I just needed a good title.