Thinking

I have been reflecting on the sermon I heard yesterday. Andre spoke about the fear of God. Last summer during my own personal reflection time, I spent a little while learning about God's character. I hadn't ever really put much deep thought into it before last summer and I was glad to dive into it, especially learning about what it means to fear God. When I think of my own fears that I struggle with, there is a great amount of negativity that surrounds such ideas. But when I dove into fearing God, I learned that I need not be afraid that God will strike me down with a lightning bolt, nor should I be fearful He'll send His wrath out when I mess up. Rather, I learned that it is standing in awe, in reverence of Him and His amazing creations and loving Him with all that is within me. It is a deep respect; a desire to do my best to honour Him. I have people in my life that I have grown to love so deeply and I respect and admire them so much that I do not want to mess up to disappoint them. It is a fear not of my loved ones personally; it is a fear of displeasing them. And I think it is the same for God. I don't think He wants me to be afraid of Him, but I do think He desires me to love Him so much that I will use that passion and that love to avoid sinning to the best of my abilities. He knows that sinning is inevitable for me, but through Christ, He has extended grace to me to forgive me.

How often do I marvel at His creations? I remember standing out on a Lake Ontario boardwalk earlier this month with Heather and looking out at the water that beautiful day. How could I stand there and not believe? But what about the "little things"? How often do I stand in awe? Not nearly enough. No, not enough at all. I think deep down my heart is telling me I need to start acting and expressing my awe, my fear of God more.

Hmmm, yeah.

Below are some of my notes from last summer.

Seeking Out God’s Character

Deuteronomy 7:9

“Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.”

• God is faithful.
• God is always trustworthy.
• God is timeless.

Joel 2:13

“Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.”

• God is gracious.
• God is compassionate.
• God is loving.
• God is patient.
• God is powerful.

John 3:16

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son. That whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

• God is loving.
• God is merciful.

1 John 4:8

“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

• God is love.

Therefore, God is: faithful, trustworthy, timeless, gracious, compassionate, loving, patient, powerful, and merciful.

Deuteronomy 6:2

“…fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, so that you may enjoy long life.”

• We are to fear God so that we may enjoy life, which means, we are to respect Him and obey what He tells us to do.

Deuteronomy 6:13

“Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name.”

• We are to serve God and only God.

Psalm 34:11

“Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.”

• We have to learn the fear of the Lord. It is important to seek God out and learn of his character and learn how holy he is.

Romans 8:15

“For 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.”

• The “fear of the Lord” does not mean to be scared of God. Rather, God gives us a freedom through being a child of His, through Jesus.

1 John 4:18

“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment.”

• God is love (1 John 4:8), so fear in the sense of being afraid is not of God.

Perhaps a definition of “fear the Lord” means that we are to be aware of the presence of God and His power in our lives, reminding us to obey and stand in awe of Him. We should also remember we are called to honour and respect Him and to try to possess His characteristics.

So why do we doubt God? Everyone must because even Peter, Jesus’ close friend and disciple doubted. Peter saw Jesus’ miracles and literally walked on water with Jesus, yet Peter still doubted (Matthew 14:29-31). So obviously we’ll doubt too. That does not give us an excuse to doubt, but rather should stand to remind us of our imperfections and reliance on God, and also encourage us to continue to trust so that we may not sink, but continue to believe in our Lord. Without catching a glimpse of what it is like to sink, we would not understand what it means to have faith. Do we become less of a person or Christian if we doubt God’s power? I believe we would only become less if we choose to continue to doubt God, rather than repent, which means “to make a change for the better as a result of remorse for one’s sins” (www.dictionary.com). Do we insult God if we lack faith in Him? It saddens His heart, yet He still forgives, and still chooses to show us why we should place our trust in Him.

Matthew 27:50-51

“And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.... “

“Jesus’ sacrifice not only covers our sin, but it also makes the way clear for us to come to God to ask for forgiveness! By the curtain of the temple tearing in two, it was the beginning of having a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ – no longer did people have to approach God through a priest. If God has done all this for us, why are people afraid to come to Him to receive forgiveness from their sins? A father does not arouse fear in the child who is obedient and doing right, but in the child who is doing wrong. If you want to be free from fear of the one in authority then repent, ask for His forgiveness, and He will receive you” (Written By: Jonathan Christopher jc@feargod.com Visit our web site at www.FearGod.com).

1 John 1:8-9

“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. “

Laptops

So I've decided and received the blessing to buy a laptop.

The issue right now is this: Do I purchase a MacBook or a PC?

Any opinions with reasonable and logical explanations would be welcomed and appreciated! :o)

Irritated, But Blessed

Things that are irritating me tonight:

(1) I can lie in bed, absolutely exhausted, yet be wide-eyed.
(2) While lying in bed exhausted and wide-eyed, I cannot stop myself from thinking.
(3) If I do dream at night, the dreams are weird and horrible. I wish I could dream about "raindrops on roses, whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens, brown paper packages tied up with string... these are a few of my favourite things..."
(4) Feeling awesome one minute, then tearing up, ready to bawl the next minute (especially at work when I have to sound happy on the phone).


Some good things about today:

(1) I made an appointment to have my first-ever professional massage next week. For those who know me really well, that is a rather huge deal for me!
(2) I picked up an extra shift tonight at work, which equals more money for me (and potentially closer to a new laptop).
(3) I received some positive feedback at work tonight from my employer and a customer. And my co-workers are super nice and super helpful!
(4) I was able to sleep-in this morning and enjoy my very comfortable bed.
(5) I received three voicemail messages while at work tonight. It was nice to hear my friends’ voices.
(6) A friend gave me the opportunity to see Hillsong United live for free. Unfortunately I have to work, but what a nice offer!


I always find it helpful to reflect on my blessings when things don’t seem very fun. Despite some challenges, I am thankful that God is faithful and continues to provide wonderful blessings to me. :o)

Now… I’ll try this bed thing again… good night!

Our Happy Day!

I have been wanting to post about the Happy Day I shared with Heather on Friday, May 11th, but I have been busy with training and life. Heather totally beat me to it on her blog, so here is the link because she did such a great job outlining Our 'Norah Jones' Day!


And please note that anything Heather said about me, I reciprocate back about her.

Thank YOU, Heather, for a wonderful day! Happy Birthday!

Week 1 of Training

The first week of my summer job training is complete. To bring everyone up to speed, I am working in Guelph this summer at Camis Inc. My position is a Call Centre Agent and I will be booking campsite reservations for parks across Ontario, Nova Scotia and Washington State. Perhaps that sounds pretty easy, but the training is pretty intense and very extensive. I felt like I was back in school this week, memorizing 76 Ontario Provincial Park names and locations and writing tests at least once a day! Crazy!

Today we learned about Washington State Parks. Unfortunately, I do not think I absorbed much because my brain was already operating at its maximum capacity. I sat at the back and Emily started drawing fun pictures...

This is a family who enjoys camping in Washington State.

Random information about Washington State:
Park names include Cape Disappointment and Deception Pass
(I thought that was funny).


This is a couple from Idaho and they want to go camping.
(Camis also books sites for Idaho)

I think I am going to enjoy my new job and the people I work with. I had a blast with my training group this week. Emily, thanks for keeping me entertained today when I could no longer process anything!

I'm off to bed... finally... good night!

Work

Well, I've started working for the summer at Camis. The training requires a great deal of memorization, but I think I'm going to really like it once I get into the call centre. I'm a little tired... actually, a lot tired. And note: my "weekends" will be on Tuesdays and Wednesdays this summer.

Today I was blessed to have a special person make and bring me lunch! She even brought a rose and an ice cream pizza from Dairy Queen for me! She made my day! Thanks Heather MacGregs!

AND, I wanted to go to bed about two hours ago, but Alex wanted to come over to give me a hug before he goes home for the week. So he, Nate and Nathan chilled with me for a bit. It was definitely worth giving up sleep! And now I have a new tattoo that Alex drew on my foot while I was on the phone with Lauren. It's so good to have time to be social!

Now I have to go to bed and force myself to make up early to study for my tests for work... good thing I brought Starbucks drinks to take to work with me in the morning!