Future For Me

Everyday is swiftly moving toward the future that God has prepared for me in my mother's womb. I'm not alone--God has position people in my life to guide me on his path. I will be finishing high school in the spring of 2014 from Forsyth Central High School. I plan on attending Point University in August which is located in West Point, Georgia. I will be attaining a degree in Biblical Studies/ Preaching with a minor in Intercultural Missions.
As I sit here and wait for the time to pass God reminds me of the work that needs to be done within the four walls of my highschool. God has not been taken out of school; God is alive, inspiring, stirring, and stimulating the students who walk those halls everyday. I ask for you to pray for the mission of God to be completed.

Ephesians 2:10
For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do

Back to the Grind

School will be back in session this thursday. I don't know what to think, it being my last year in school before college.

God has given us the most plentiful place to tell people about Christ daily at school. What do we have to lose? We have nothing to lose but everything to gain. Christ said, "Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it and whoever loses his life will preserve it" (Luke 17:33). I know at school it is hard to remove yourself from yourself, to put other's interests above your own (Php 2:4). It is possible because Christ has done it, and by the power of the cross that has saved us, you can too! (1Co 1:18). Think about the unending power that we have for us, for His glory.

Do you get the feeling, being really pumped to tell people about Christ, you get to the situation , and you lose the passion? I've been in this situation about everyday I have walked into school. Take the time to search your heart on where that passion goes for you. When you find it, repent and get back to the grind.

Thanks for reading. Contact me by Email, Follow on Twitter @JonSAdams. Your welcome to comment.

Last: Death No Longer

Death No Longer

When Christ was baptized by John the Baptist, it was a traditional Jewish ceremonial washing in order to "to fulfill all righteousness." Christ had not sinned, making him righteous, the need of the washing was not needed because he was without sin. Christ baptism was to "purify the water" so others may be saved. 

When we baptize today we repeat the same saying since the beginning of the Church in Acts, "I now baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit so you may receive the gift of eternal life." 

Luke 3:21,22 

When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a (God's)voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

In this verse you have Jesus the Son, dove the Holy Spirit, and the voice as God; this is the only place in scripture where the Trinity is together. How amazing is it that we can look at our baptism as the coming together of the Father, Spirit, and Son.

We are baptized into Christ as well as his death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in the newness of life (Romans 6:4). We know from Christ being raised from the dead he will never die again; death has no dominion or power over him (Romans 6:9). By our baptism sin will have no dominion over us (Romans 6:14). Be rescued from death to life to righteousness.

Through Christ's baptism and resurrection, we may have death no longer.

Thanks for reading. Contact me Email, Follow on Twitter @JonSAdams. Your welcome to comment.

Why was Christ baptized if he was without sin? 

Last: Rain Rain

Rain Rain

I think the maturity of the people on social media in Georgia have someway or another complained about the mass amounts of rain we have been given (including myself). A pastor in Florida said this about the rain, "Rain in the bible is said to be a 'Blessing.' God has been giving us a lot of blessings, the blessings are flowing through the streets, and His blessings are creating floods." God created everything, and has called each drop of water to fall from the sky to bless us. The question I find asking myself when I complain is, "Am  I letting my will come before God's holy, prefect, and unique will?"

The abundance of rain reminds me of Joseph and Pharaoh. Joseph is telling Pharaoh that he will have 7 years of abundance and the following 7 years of dry land. God told Joseph to prepare Egypt for the future. God has a unique purpose for the rain for the future. This is why we trust His will instead of our own. Our will only goes to the present, but God's will, sees into the future. Think about the limitations of your will in the midst of troubles. Then think about God's will in the midst of those troubles. Trust in the limitless will of God before you trust in your own.


Thanks for reading. Contact me Email, Follow on Twitter @JonSAdams. Your welcome to comment.

Last: Much Is Given

Much Is Given

Joy.

How convicting is it to see people work at a trash dump, not just working, but living there. Most of their possessions they have are peoples' trash; the money they receive a day is the price of a soda we pick up on the way home. What strikes me the most, is that these people have more joy and happiness than any other person. You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. (Psalm 4:7). David is speaking to God, thanking Him for joy rather than grain and wine that is in large amounts. A lot of people find joy in giving what God has given them, because God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7). I leave you with some things to think about and a call to action.

God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. - John Piper

I'm not going to tell how you can have joy in Christ. I feel we all should find it for ourselves.


Thanks for reading. Follow on Twitter @JonSAdams. Your welcome to comment.

Last: Pity vs. Compassion

Pity vs. Compassion

While on my trip to Honduras, we went to "The Dump." We gave out food and water to the people that are living there. We felt a lot of pity for them, and the conditions they are living in. One thing stuck out in my head was this question, "Are we here to temporally help them, or is there a bigger picture." Many teams go to "The Dump," to hand out food, then leave, and think more highly of themselves. Is this what Jesus wanted? For us to help peoples' temporary needs. By no means. Christ wants us to live life with them. Our pity turned to compassion, when we played soccer with the people there, no longer was it pity. Pity is taking care of temporary needs, when compassion is living life with them.

Thanks for reading. Contact me Email, Follow on Twitter @JonSAdams. Your welcome to comment.

HEART

 Your Heart

A big theme in the bible is the heart, it appears over 900 times in the bible, so it is very important. 

Everything comes out of the heart. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of (Luke 6:45). Your words, actions, thoughts, and motives are a reflection of your heart. For example, girls love clothes, they buy it, wear it, talk about it, and even brag about it (you can love Jesus, and still have a passion for clothes); By knowing what people do and say, you know what is in their hearts.

As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart (Prov. 27:19).

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it (Prov. 4:23).

A person thinks their own ways are right (Proverbs 21:2). Why? Because we are prideful, we constantly try to justify our sin, we will even go to scripture and try to find a verse that justifies our sin. That’s why Romans 12:3 says, “We should not think of ourselves more highly than we ought, but with sober judgment.” When you take a sober look at our heart you will find that we all have fallen short of the Glory of God and no one is righteous. There is a way we can have our heart transformed by God.

God will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; He will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26). In context, God promised to restore Israel not only physically, but spiritually. He wants the same for us, no matter how impure you are you can receive a new heart from God, and be a new creation, with new desires (2 Corinthians 5:17). Having a new heart you will receive a new spirit, and God will dwell in you.

With A New Heart You 

Become a new creation

Everyone has or is an old creation. When we were an old creation we were in constant rebellion against God, set apart from him because of sin. When Christ makes us a new creation, we turn completely around and go towards him.

Have new desires

Whatever we do comes from our desires. 

Romans 3:10-12 As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”

All of our desires before Christ are not good, not even one. With a new desire we are able to do good through Christ.

And the verse that summarizes the life we have through Christ.

Ephesians 2:3-10

All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

__

Our heart was broken, God fixed it, He created new desires for us through Jesus.

Thanks for reading. Contact me Email, Follow on Twitter @JonSAdams. Your welcome to comment.

Repentance

Repentance is a word that is critical to the Christian life, and should be a recurring experience in our hearts. Our walk with Christ starts with repentance, in scripture Peter said, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).
 Repentance is turning away from your sinful nature, then begin to live by the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:16-18). Repentance is not a one time deal, it is a daily relationship building opportunity with Christ. 

Repentance is Repeatable 

You may have to repent more than once, “Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them” (Lu. 17:4), Christ is teaching this lesson from experience. I have repeatedly repented of a sin and then the next day I repeat the sin like I never repented of it; by God’s amazing grace I am forgiven every time.

Repentance is Refreshing

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord (Acts 3:19). You will not just receive a time of refreshing from the Lord, but also a time of peace, like a weight lifted off your soul.

Repentance is Essential 

Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God (Heb 6:1). Repentance is something we have to learn from the beginning.

Repentance through Faith

I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus. (Acts. 20:21). Over the few years I have been a Christian when I have placed my faith in Jesus, he always has opened a door for repentance. When you take the opportunity to repent, he always gives you peace.

God you are the best, thank you for reteaching me these things that I have neglected to put into practice. Let us have the faith to turn away from our sin day by day.

Thanks for reading. Contact me Email, Follow on Twitter @JonSAdams. Your welcome to comment.

Pray Throughout the Day

This is a short video that has been a goal for me since I have watched it.

FAITH

As Christians we throw around a lot of words like repentance, glorification, sanctification, and faith. We have little understanding on the meaning of words like these, and how the words apply to our lives. In the next few months I am going to unpack these words, give you a biblical understanding, and how to apply it to your life.    

Faith is a gift from God (Eph. 2:8). Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (Heb. 11:1). This definition of faith is often the same for the word believe. A belief is something we think exists. If we just believe in God, we are no better than demons (Jas. 2:19). Neither can faith be by itself, if not accompanied by action, it is dead (Jas. 2:7). Abraham had an amazing display of faith when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? Abraham knew killing his son Isaac would end the line of Jesus, but Abraham still choose to obey(action) God. Abraham's  faith and actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did (Jas. 2:22). Through faith you will be righteous (Ro 1:17). And faith produces works; that’s why the passage says “works of faith.” When we put our faith in Christ, God changes our hearts and desires so good works are actually possible (Philippians 2:13). If you have faith, works will be done, which have been prepared for you (Eph. 2: 8-10).

Do you just believe in Jesus or do you have faith in Jesus?

John Calvin, a preacher in the 1500s said this in his third book of the Institutes of Christian Religion within chapter 4, "This is so true that the term faith is often used as a synonym for confidence” (Calvin 148). In him(God) and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence (Eph. 3:12). God is faithful to all his promises (Ps. 145: 13). We tend to look at God’s promises objectively but not in our own experience. We must take his promises and embrace them in our heart, then our confidence through faith will come to life. A true faithful Christian is one that is firmly convinced he is reconciled to God. John Calvin talks about this in his book, “In other words, you can’t have strong faith in the Lord unless you are gloriously confident of being an heir to the heavenly kingdom” (Calvin 149). This is why Paul says, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Ro. 8:38-39). PROCLAIM the kingdom of heaven through the faith God has given you!

Are you confident to be an heir to the heavenly kingdom?

God you are so glorious, thank you for giving me faith, that produces good works that you have already prepared for us to do. Let us be confident of the gift you have in store for us in Heaven.

Thanks for reading. Contact me Email, Follow on Twitter @JonSAdams. Your welcome to comment.

Calvin, John. The Institutes of Christian Religion. London: Baker Publishing Group, 1987. 148-149. Print.

HONDURAS TRIP

Dear Family and Friends,

I hope you and your family are doing amazing. Last summer I went on a mission trip to Peru, that trip confirmed God’s call for me to be a missionary. There were about 12 children and 3 adults that were saved in through God’s grace while we were on the trip.

This year God has opened the door for me to go Tegucigalpa, Honduras with my church through SOAR Ministries. We will be doing various construction projects in the morning, and in the afternoon we will spend quality time with the school kids. Where we will be going there are families that live at a trash dump, we will be able to help and serve those families while we are there.

Through this trip and ever trip I go on our goal is found in Matthew 28:19 which says, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” To be able to live this verse out is my whole goal as a Christian.

This is how you can help. The most important thing for this mission trip to be successful is prayer. Without prayer nothing is done through God it is done through ourselves. I need to raise $1,420 dollars for me to be apart of this trip. Money is the most stressful part of this trip, and I pray that you give as much as God calls you to. Through your prayers and donations as the body of Christ we can make disciples in Honduras. 

God Bless,

Jonathan Adams

If you do choose to donate towards my mission trip you will be able to receive a Tax Refund. All checks can be made out to SOAR Ministries or directly to me. You can mail all the donations to my address. Please Email for address.

Thank you so much.