Is this happening?

College? As a kid when I thought about college it seemed so distant, even when I was in highschool it seemed distant. But now... It is here whether I'm ready or not (And I'm ready!).  I'm sure my parents are hesitated to see how I do on my own; they are going to be thinking, "What did I forget to teach him?" or one of them will text me everyday just to make sure their baby is still breathing.

Ps 20:7 

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, 

but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. 

As I approach the unseen, unknown things in college, in scripture I'm told to trust in the Lord. Even the word trust, gives you the same feeling of the unknown. In the Psalm of David he is proclaiming that 'but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.' So remember when we say trust, the leaning, falling, has to lean onto or be caught by something. As Christians, we trust in the name of the Lord, which we will talk about later. Non-christians put their trust in other things, we call those idols.

When we put our trust in the name of the Lord our God, we our trust into who He is and what He has done, which gives me great joy!!! For us as Christians trust in the cross where Jesus gave it all for us. God promises us in scripture  "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose" (Roman 8:28).  Reading scripture and learning about God's promises is a way the Holy Spirit builds trust. The unseen and unknown things of college vanish under the beautiful promises of God.

Colossians 1:28

"Perfect in Christ Jesus."—Colossians 1:28

I know this may seem short but this truth has given me great joy. There are times in our lives where we devalue ourselves, and even devalue others. We will never live up to the calling of Christ on our own, and Satan wants hit you hard with this truth and close your eyes to Christ. Know that it is Christ who makes you worthy of his calling by his blood. Also know that your identity is at the cross, and at the cross there is Jesus who makes you perfect. Set your identity in Jesus and you will be made worthy, not by your works but his finished work on the cross.

Psalm 10:4

"In his pride the wicked man does not seek him;'in all his thoughts there is no room for God." -Psalm 10:4

      Pride is one sin that everyone struggles with. I look at pride thinking I'm better than other people, and I also look at it like I'm good enough to make it to God's kingdom, but we are not. We have to constantly remind ourselves through the Holy Spirit that it is the shed blood on the cross and the defeated death that were are able to have life. The Psalmist is saying the wicked man is stuck in his pride; if your stuck is pride you can't see the wrong you are doing because you think you are right all the time, and you are human so you are not right all the time. Pride doesn't seek God; it's a great sin not to seek God. Pride doesn't even believe God is there. When will we put down our pride? If you live a life which is prideful you are ignoring God. But! This is a great but. But when we repent and return to Jesus, then our thoughts will return to the Lord. 

Mal 3:2,3

"...He will sit as a refiner's fire or launderer's silver..." -- Malachi 3:2,3.

All of us begin our lives dirty, and sinful. No one is able to escape the second death without Jesus. The image of Christ mining us from the ground and being refined, having all the impurities being taken away has been a breath-taking portrayal of Jesus in my mind. The process of refining silver, or any metal is a lengthly process for the metal to become pure. Christ who has begun to refine you will refine you to completion (Php 1:6). As Christians we can't refine ourselves because we are the ones who are in need of the refining. Jesus is the only one who has the power to refine you to the purest state. We know refining takes a lot of heat, please let Jesus refine you, so you are not burned in the fire forever.

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.

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.

BACK_TO_SCHOOL

How Does God Want Us To Present Him At School?

I have SIX tips for daily life.

1. PRAYER

Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people. (Luke 9:16 NIV)

Pray before you eat, as a table (out loud). This really shows how serious you are about your faith. Lead the prayer first, then start ask others to lead. This act will not only bring blessing upon your food, but it will start conversations about Christ. This is the easiest way to speak to students about Christ.

At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them. (Luke 4:42 NIV)

When I started being serious about my relationship with God, I would read my bible, but I would never pray. As I grew in His grace I learned that prayer is a valuable thing in our relationship. No matter how much you have to do. You always have time for prayer.

2. THE SWORD

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. (Luke 4:1,2 NIV)

Christ while in the wilderness studying God's word so that he may stand up to every temptation that the devil had for him. Make sure you study God's word to keep your sword sharp, to be able to fight off temptation.

3. MATERIALISM

What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? (Luke 9:25 NIV)

Don't worry about getting every achievement or new thing that will give you temporary joy. God will you give joy way beyond what things on earth can give you.

4. UNTOUCHABLES

Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" And immediately the leprosy left him. (Luke 5:13 NIV)

In Jesus' day when you had leprosy, you were cast from your town or village which you lived in. Has society cast some people out of there groups. Go and touch the untouchables like Christ did.

5. WARNING

The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. (Luke 6:7 NIV)

Jesus was watched closely, and you will be watched too. Be careful how you live, people are waiting to see you mess up.

6. BUILD UP OTHERS

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. (Ephesians 4:29 NIV)

If you didn't read the verse please read it. This is HARDEST thing to live by. Pray that the Holy Spirit will only let things come out of your mouth that are a benefit to those who listen.


Thanks for reading. I hope this blog has helped you, and you will put these things into practice. Contact me: @JonSAdams , JonathanSpencerAdams@gmail.com. Leave comments!

Little Life Lessons

Little Life Lessons

So in third grade I had a teacher named, "Dr. Giotis." Hope they didn't spell his name wrong as they did my last name in the third grade. This man is my all time favorite teacher. He taught me little, life, lessons, or the LLL for short. As you see he is a Dr., he is a doctor in the bible. Pretty sweet, who do you know that had a Dr. in bible as their third grade teacher?
Dr. Giotis would have us always have our bible of the top of everything. On top of the desk, on top of all our books. As a third grader I didn't
understand why. I just thought that he wanted to teach us about how nothing can be on the top on the bible. Over the years I always remember this LLL. Not only to keep the bible on the top of everything, but on the top on my life, the start of my day, the first thing you go to for help, and the most valuable physical thing that you have.
He always called us by our last name. Like "Mr. Adams" for me. When I was in third grade I just thought this was a cool thing that my teacher did that, but it taught me, that my words have a shaping impact on peoples life's. To always what our words. He did not only called us by our last name, he had a real respect for each one of us.
He taught me how to pray. He would always pray the Lord's prayer. Not only Jesus's words to his students about how to pray but also it was Dr. Giotis teaching me through Jesus. I learned that prayers do not have to be long and sound like a pagan said it. But short and sounds like a child would say it. This teacher like Jesus, taught me little, life, lessons.
I wish I can get into contact with Dr. Giotis and tell him how thankful I am for his teachings. And tell him that I love him and how much he taught me how to live life.

3 Way Relationship (PART 2 OF 3)

            So this is part 2 of 3 in the "3 Way Relationship Series." Monday I covered on how we love with our heart. Also how loving with your heart will affect every other relationship.  Today we will cover how to love with your soul. How loving with your soul brings out the best out of relationships.

Matthew 22:36-40

36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

2. Soul

Soul: the spiritual part of the body.

How do we love God with all of our soul?

            We love God with all our soul by our worship. True worship is being led by spirit and truth. This is how I know the worship is being led by the spirit and truth, it's when the worship leader and band members are passionate about the music and you see it in there body language and this makes for a spirit led worship. We love God with all of our soul through prayer another spiritual part. This is praying with all your soul,

Acts 1:14

They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

            Asking God to be led by the spirit can also be a way of loving with your heart. Pray for the Holy Spirit.

How do we love with our soul with our relationships?

Acts 1:14

They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

            I put the same verse because this will help with loving with your soul with your friends. Praying together is a way to love by the soul. Worshiping together is another way to love by the spirit. You notice that the same way you love God by yourself is the same with your friends. Praying for your relationships is loving with your soul.

            Everyone loves with there soul.

How are you going to love with your soul?

 Thank you for reading!! If you have any questions or comments, or you want to give me a topic or a verse to write about. Contact me: jman1424@gmail.com or on Facebook, Twitter @JonSAdams, by phone/text: (770) 533-2582

3 Way Relationship (PART 1 OF 3)

            I have been thinking about relationships a lately; how we interact, and how we treat each other. I have told a couple people about this idea that I have. I had something I call a, "Paul Moment," this is the moment you have a great idea from God (Sydney and Kendall, think this is a inside joke with myself). When I said relationship earlier I mean friendship, boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife, father, son, pretty much any relationship you ever have, and even the most important relationship you will ever have. I am going to have one supporting verse and 3 additional points talking about the verse you are going to know exactly what I mean when I say, "3 Way Relationship." I am going to make this a 3 part series.  

Matthew 22:36-40

36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

1.    Heart

So from this verse we notice that you love God with all your heart. What does this mean?

Your relationship with God affects every other relationship you have.

Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalms 139:23–24)

Loving God with all your heart starts with putting God first. I look at putting first like this, like a house there are many things to doing just like in life there is a lot of things to do. If you make God the house, it controls the many things that you do. Loving God with all your heart is more than just putting him first, it putting him first in everything.

 As Christ Followers this is very hard to do, I still and will always have the problem with not letting Jesus into a room I do not what him in. Meaning letting Jesus into every part of my life. I am trying hard to uncover the things that I don't see.

 Please tell your friends about the my blog here the link: www.adams-jonathan.blogspot.com. Thank you for reading. If you have any questions or comments, or you want to give me a topic or verse to write about. Contact me: jman1424@gmail.com or on Facebook, Twitter @JonSAdams , by phone/text (770) 533-2582

Getting Back To The Basics

Seems like every time you turn around as followers of Jesus, there is another book out. A book that is suppose to help you live a better life. Not saying these books are bad. These books keep repeating and repeating. Some books change there view on a certain topic. Like Rob Bell's book "Love Wins", he changes his view on Heaven and Hell. Then you turn around and there's people writing a book about "Love Wins." So Christian books really do control a lot of what people think, some in good ways and some in bad ways. How do we as followers of Jesus get out of this book chaos?

I got in this book chaos and I have learned a couple ways to get out of it but still have a passion for what peoples views and thoughts are.

1. Get All The Way Through
Getting all the way through your bible is a great first step. I say this because you want to develop your own views on topics. You will learn the basic doctrine through reading your bible all you way through.

2. Let It All Out
Pray. Let God know what you are feeling. Ask God to give you the Holy Spirit to give you better knowledge on the basic doctrine. The book chaos is not bad, we just need to learn the basics first.

3. Getting Back To The Basics
I got in this mind set that, I know all I need to know about the doctrine. I want to learn the hard stuff. But repeatly God tells me to get back to the basics. When I say basic I am talking about his love, and his death, and prayer. So I read the Gospels again, reading trough the Gospels this time, I learned more then I have ever learned.

How is the book chaos changing you?

To Purse Humility

For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. - Matthew 23:12

Humility is never complete because if you say you are completely humble, that's pride.I say this because Jesus is the only person that is completely humble, i don't think anyone understand humility like Jesus because, Jesus went from all time high on his throne to earth as a servant to us.

There are steps that we can take to purse humility,


1. The Truth Shall Set You Free

Follow the truth where ever it leads you. If the truth leads you to pain, looking bad, or whatever you think of. You can learn from the faults that you have. Accept your faults and repent of your sins. If you say you don't have any faults the next step will help you.

2. Look At The Plank In Your Eye

Matthew 7:3-5 3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.


I am going to take a twist on this verse and translate it in a way to help us. So step two of being humble is getting a group of close friends. Now you ask them to tell you where you are wrong. This helps if you do not know where you are wrong in your life. And the key is to listen to what your friends are saying and not defending yourself. And maybe they will ask to do the same, thus making this verse helpful for living a Christ-filled life.


3. Being Thankful

1 Thessalonians 5:18 18 Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Being thankful in all circumstances will help you enjoy everything you have and everything you don't have. Being thankful in bad situations will help you learn from that situation and be more open to those situations. Saying thank you to people will also let people think that you care.


4. Remain Teachable

1 Peter 5:5 5 In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”

Learning from other people will help you be humble and learn. I put this one last because you have to be humble to remain teachable. Also I am guilty of this all the time, I think that I know more then people when I should remain teachable and be open- minded. And again being open-minded will defiantly help you to be humble and stay humble.


I defiantly not as humble as I should be, I am working on this just as much as anyone else. If you have any questions or comments, or you want to give me a topic or a verse to write about. Contact me: jman1424@gmail.com or on Facebook, Twitter @JonSAdams, by phone/text: (770) 533-2582

2 Chronicles 20:15, Matthew 11:28- Battles & Rest

The battles or temptation I get in it always seems like I lose the battles, and it seems as though I get spiritually tired and need rest. I truly think that we shouldn't be spiritually tired everyday, because we find rest in the Father.Matthew 11:28"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." To prevent this from happening it starts with scripture and your prayer, there both equally needed. Those things are very elementary to Christians but we find ourselves not doing these things which makes us spiritually tired. If your getting discouraged of your vast army(sin). Learn this and take hold of it, It's not you battle to fight, it's God's. You can tap out and start putting God in the ring and let him fight for you. The battle has already been won so why worry about your battles. God is your protector and he has the whole world in his hands. Now all you have to do is follow His will and commands for the rest of your days. Trusting in God is worry put into prayer that God takes care of.


2 Chronicles 20:15
He said: "Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says to you: 'Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's.

Matthew 11:28
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."