Planning

So I went to Florida for a week to visit family and just to relax. But of course the moment we leave freezing Chicago to go somewhere nice and sunny....the cold weather followed us all the way down South. Months of planning for a nice trip with friends and family started to unravel and things didn't work out to how we planned. And one by one, different situations started to pile on me during the only time I planned to have a real life vacation. Work was getting hectic, school was getting busier, family concerns, problems with friends, stress about church....you name it and it hit me during my vacation.

But all I could help think about was that I am not in control of this. If I really did trust in God, He would be faithful to get me through this. I had this feeling that right when I got back from vacation, everything would be just fine. It wasn't.

Right when I landed into O'Hare airport, I felt the weight of the world lie on my shoulders. Literally the next week was so overwhelming that I felt I needed a vacation again. When all my conflicts were too much to handle, and things weren't going according to my expectations, my friends and I got together for our usual Thursday Night Prayer. That night I felt the burden I was carrying around, lifted right off my shoulders. Just getting into God's presence and casting your cares upon Him helped relieve some of the tension.

Is my life still hectic. Yes. But I learned a lesson through all of this. No matter how much we plan, or expect things to work out in a certain way, God has a better plan. My thoughts are not Your thoughts, my ways are not Your ways. As long as we trust in Him, completely, He will see us through till the end. So keep that chin up...spring is just around the corner.

-Jobbin

Just a story? I think not...

So as important as it is to look into worship, pray, and think about events, etc... it's very important to be focused on the Word. Why? Well... because "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word WAS God" - John 1:1 (NIV) so basically since God is the Word, (meaning He can be held to His own words and still remain as the utmost righteous, powerful, and amazing God that He is without being justifiably discredited or thought of as a hypocrite), it's important.

That being said, a friend of mine had showed me this excerpt by Chuck Missler, which offers great insight and unravels the mysteries of the Word itself. I thought it was pretty cool to share this with you guys, so here is the link:

http://www.khouse.org/articles/1996/44/

All in all, what is revealed is that hidden within some of the first few names introduced in the Bible (10 altogether) is found the Gospel itself.. a love story unraveled within the first few chapters/books of God's Word. Just goes to show that this isn't JUST a story, it was His love being shown all throughout His word, both creatively planned, and unraveled by God.

Check it out!!

God is good all the time and all the time God is good

God is good all the time and all the time God is good. I'm sure you all have heard this saying before and yes it is true even if things don't go your way. I studied for a test that I had recently and I put in so much time studying. I never studied so much in my life and I was expecting to get a B but instead I got a D. I was so pissed off because I put so much time but yet received such a bad grade. WHY???? I was confident that God was going to help and it clearly seems he didn't. I was pissed off but then I recognized that everything happens for a reason. I guess I need to study harder or find another strategy because obviously the one I have isn't working that well. Here's my point. It could be alot worse than it is. I have rotations at the hospitals and I see so many sick people who can do barely anything for themselves. I have the ability to breath, to walk, to use my fingers, to praise him with my mouth. No matter what happens, good or bad, we have to give God all the glory and praise. As for my grade? It sucks but I have three more exams and I need to study harder.

The Reason I'm In ROC 3:22

Hey readers of this blog,

I hope all is well and life is being nice to you, because I know God has made life a blessing for me since He started this ministry within our hearts. Even as the problems of everyday life flew by, what with school, family life, work; God made sure I knew He was there showing me the way to walk and talk. I've had my fair share of shortcomings and so I ask for your forgiveness as I try to become a better Christ follower. The reason I'm writing this is to open up myself to you and because I can throw my feelings and experiences onto the keyboard and hopefully they would find their way to those who need uplifting. To start, I felt the reason I call myself a ROC 3:22 leader, is because ever since we started this group, I wanted to see souls won for the Kingdom through ROC 3:22 and so far I have not seen that with my own eyes. And I'm not even saying we have not succeeded either because I see it as a work in progress. I believe we've succeeded in other ways like bringing those who are in Christ even closer to Him through small groups and our weekly Thursday Night Prayers and our events. Thats why I think I'm in this Ministry; to see God's work in progress; to witness the birth of new Christ followers, and to share with them the experiences of my life as a Christ follower. To be perfectly honest and with a little shame, I say that before this Ministry came to be, I did very little to further my relationship with Christ, but with the help of my Brothers in Christ and the drive to see souls saved, I can now say that I want nothing more than to help build a community for Christ and to exercise my own relationship with Christ and I hope this inspires someone out there to start their walk with God and help in the mission to save others too.. thanks for reading and opening your hearts!

-Jonathan-