A cool tidbit of info...

W	itness with love!
I	ntentionally ask 4 key questions!
T	ake the common ground!
N	egotiate the terms of your talk
E	xplain your story!
S	tick with the issues!
S	tay dependant on the Spirit!

Check out: http://www.dare2share.org/mydifficultfriend

Prayer Request

Hey Guys, I have a prayer request:
One of our teacher supervisors for lighthouse it going to be away for a month because her father died.

Please pray for her and her mother and family, pray that this only draws them closser to God, not farther away. Her daughter drifted away from the Lord is these past few years, Pray also that she would come back to the Lord, because of her grandfathers death, and Pray that Satan won't pull her away from God.

Also please pray for Lighthouse because we used to meet in her classroom, pray that we would be able to find a new place to meet or that we could still have access to her room. Pray that this wouldn't hinder our plans for showing the Quest videos to reach out to the non-Christians in our school. Pray that God would work in our school (Usher) and that this would not hinder our plans.

Pray that everything in this situation would work out so that God would be glorified.
Thanks guys!

The Captain of the Starship Enterprise says:

yeah, that title was for you, Josh.
anywho, seeing as it's sunday and nice out, i vote there be an activity held this aft...er...noon. yeah, that's it...so...comment if something is actually going on...or...give ideas...the end.

Praaaaayer

I thought it would be pretty sweet for people to just put up prayer requests they have! I just thought it would be cool to see what people want prayer for and how I/we all can pray for you guys. It says in the Bible to Pray continually (1 Thessalonians 5:17) so why not pray right now for these requests? I encourage people to pray for these things right now rather then later so they don't forget.

Fun Times

Hey Guys, how are things in Regina?

We just had a missions conference at Millar and it was really powerful and good. Anyways, I was just posting because we had a weekend ministry trip to Saskatoon to witness at the U of S and that fell through so now I invited 5 guys from Millar to my house in Regina for the February 11th weekend to do some witnessing in Regina. And I was wondering if anybody wanted to join us in this endeavour? Haha it's not for sure though because I haven't even called my parents yet. But yeah that would be cool if some of you guys could come. Either way the next weekend is our february break so hopefully I'll get to see some of you guys then. God bless.

Fun Times

Hey Guys, how are things in Regina?

We just had a missions conference at Millar and it was really powerful and good. Anyways, I was just posting because we had a weekend ministry trip to Saskatoon to witness at the U of S and that fell through so now I invited 5 guys from Millar to my house in Regina for the February 11th weekend to do some witnessing in Regina. And I was wondering if anybody wanted to join us in this endeavour? Haha it's not for sure though because I haven't even called my parents yet. But yeah that would be cool if some of you guys could come. Either way the next weekend is our february break so hopefully I'll get to see some of you guys then. God bless.

oh hello.

Funny story, I had completely forgotten about the blogger.

So I've decided to make a completely pointless post and waste time when I should be packing.

However, we've lost the suitcase that I'm supposed to use, so there's not much packing that can be accomplished at this time.

Someone should.. Tell me a story.. in the comments... and i'll read it.. yeah.

TONIGHT is the NIGHT!!!!!

OK!
So here's what the dealy-O is........

Who: YOU
What: Sledding / Hot Chocolate or as some like to call it "Hot cocoa" Who does that, Honestly!
Where: Mount Pleasant / Reimers house
When: tonight at around 7:30 and feel free to come if your late.
Why: Why such a wierd question, basically my answer to that is WHY NOT!!!!!!

We will be heading over to the Reimers after so yeseroni macceroni!

Yes, we will be calling people so yup, Peace out!
Or as Alayna/Kiersten would say...."Word"

Thursday is a thugga thugga day

Howdy everyone, hope everythings going well! i am curious what people are doing tomorrow afternoon slash night because no school on Friday woooooot! So i purpose that something happens, let me know what you think slash would like to do! or if you don't want to do anything and think i should get lost a not talk......

Wednesday's "What's God been teaching me?" #3

Phew...It's definetely been a rough week. There are a lot of small things God has been teaching me about submiting to authority by obeying the law, about praying and thanking God for my worries, and about the importance of relying upon God throughout the day. However, there is one thing that I believe God is leading me into, and I don't fully understand it. In fact I know very little about it or how it works. This grand elusive subject is that of spiritual intimacy with God.
What is spiritual intimacy? I don't completely know, but I do know that it has to do with the private and personal relationship with God. It's the kind of relationship where one expresses or shares their deepest nature with God as He shares His deepest nature with us. My own personal conviction is that an intimate relationship supercedes mere communication with one another. I think that an intimate relationship is revealing who you are at the depths of your soul not just by words, but by actions, and thoughts. Here are some quotes about spiritual intimacy that I have come across:

I know that intimacy with the Lord is the place of abiding without wavering on my part and without any obstacle to the flow of the Spirit into my life. - Charles Stanley

That we might accustom ourselves to a continual conversation with Him, with freedom and in simplicity. That we need only to recognize God intimately present with us.

- Brother Lawrence

What is very interesting about both of these quotes is that they both indicate that intamacy is not just a moment with God. They both seem to be saying that intimacy with God is a continuing and on-going relationship, or that if it isn't that it's not intimate. Two of the things mentioned in the quotes above are what God has been teaching me about intimacy with Him. These two aspects are prayer and the Holy Spirit.

Intimacy with God through Prayer
As Brother Lawrence said, intimacy with God involves "a continual conversation with Him." Or as the Bible puts it, "pray continually." (1 Thess 5:17) An intimate relationship with God does not end in the morning after we read and pray for a bit. It needs to be a ongoing relationship throughout the day. Let me put it in human terms:
A married man and wife have an intimate relationship with each other. They love each other's presence, company, and time spent with each other. Ideally they would be able to be together all the time, however things like jobs and school get in the way. However, the personal aspect of their lives is lived together. This means waking up together, eating breakfast together, talking to each other throughout the day, maybe at lunch with a phone call, eating supper together, and doing whatever in the evenings together, and falling asleep together. They are with each other throughout the day as much as possible because they love each other and have an intimate realtionship with each other.
Now put this to God. An intimate relationship through prayer continues throughout the day. It goes past your hour-a-day of daily devotional time, to living every minute in devotion to God. It involves praying throughout the day about everything and expressing ourselves to God more and more as we rely on Him for big things and small things, as we worship Him for who He is, as we walk with Him everywhere.
There are alot of people that treat their relationship with God as a dating realtionship. That is, they want to be with God at certain dates, times, and moments. They want to get to know God better through planned outings and special times together. In a dating realtionship, people are only with each other when they are on the date and then they seperate to their own respective houses. God, however, wants more than just a dating relationship with us. He wants more than just planned events and outings like church, sunday school, bible studies, care groups, sunday morning worship, Bible camp, etc... Too many people grow with God only at these times and go back to their house and school and forget about Him. If we are to be intimate with God we have to walk with Him all the time. Sure we can still have our events and our planned times with Him in the morning, but we need to cultivate our relationship with Him aside from these too. After all, He already lives within us. We need to invite Him to be intimate with us throughout the day by constant prayer and focus on Him.
Imagine you were in love with someone. Imagine they were the most beautiful person you've ever met or known. You'd want to be with them all the time and you'd be thinking about them very often, if not all the time. Dare I say, you'd be having conversations with them in your head throughout your day.
Now imagine that the someone is God. Are you in love with Him? He is the most beautiful One you can ever have met or known. If we are in love with God wouldn't we think about Him often, if not all the time? Wouldn't we have conversations with Him in our head throughout our day? The crazy thing is, is that we can talk to Him anytime. He is always with us. You can't miss God because He is always with you! Why wouldn't we pray to Him often throughout our day and talk to Him. Then the dates we go on with Him, like our morning deovtions become so much more special. They become times when we cry out to God. They become times where we pour out hearts out to Him.
I don't want to have a relationship with God that lives from one date to the next, one morning devotion time to the next, one Sunday morning service to the next. I want to have an intimate relationship with Him!!! I want to be with Him all the time! I will talk to Him all day no matter what I am doing! I want to truly get to know, and be everso deeply in love with this Beautiful One.
This is what I believe Paul was talking about when He said "pray continually." (1 Thess 5:17) If we want to have a more intimate relationship with God, that is the start. To some there might be fear in being that close to someone so amazing, holy and righteous, when we are so predictable, sinful, and futile. However, I believe that if we ask God to draw us closer to Him, He will. And He won't do it all at once or scare us. I believe He gently leads us one step at a time. Like a shepherd carrying a lamb through a raging river, He takes us one step at a time, all the while whispering to us through His Holy Spirit that there is nothing to be afraid of.
Sometimes we don't hear that whisper. Or sometimes we ignore it. Sometimes we are afraid to submit to those arms of love because we look around and see the raging river of life. And the last thing we want to do is let go of any control we might think we have. This is why everyday we need to be intimate with God through His Holy Spirit. His Holy Spirit within us guides us closer to Him and makes our relationship with Him grow and become more and more intimate. Not only that, but God shows His affection to us through His Holy Spirit. He guides us into the best places, and the blessings that we yearn for. God whispers in our ear and teaches the truth through His Holy Spirit. To resist, would be like resisting a loving embrace from a loved one.

Intimacy with God through the Holy Spirit

Too often we get to a place in our lives where we think that our actions, thoughts, or words will take us closer to God. But, only the Holy Spirit can draw us closer to God. As Charles Stanley wrote, "intimacy with the Lord is the place of abiding without wavering on my part and without any obstacle to the flow of the Spirit into my life." We need to let our actions, thoughts, and words be the flow of the Holy Spirit in our lives. As John 15:4 says, "No branch can bear fruit by itself." So what do we do? Remain or abide in the vine, Jesus Christ. To abide in Him we need to surrender to the Holy Spirit's working and moving in our life. We need to let the Holy Spirit govern our thoughts, actions, and words. Either way the Holy Spirit will guide us to the truth. If we abide in Him, we will be listening for that wisper as we pray, read the Word, read books, talk to people, and listen to people. Through this whisper, God will guide us into the truth. If we choose not to abide in Him, then He will still guide us to the truth, but in a possibly more painful way. Like learning the hard way.
Hebrews 12 talks about how the Lord loves those whom He disciplines. My personal conviction is that if we relied on the Holy Spirit to listen and obey, we would reach the same end by a far more peaceful and joyful way. Intimacy with God through the Holy Spirit is what produces the fruit of the Spirit. I know that I want love, joy , peace, patience, etc...
However, living by the Spirit, is something that the Spirit has to teach us to do. So we need to be willfully submitting to His Holy Spirit each day. In fact, the first point above about prayer and intimacy is really one in the same with this one, since the Holy Spirit intercedes for us to the father. Our prayers are directed to God through the Holy Spirit. (Rom 8)
So to summarize, since this is somewhat disorganized information, spiritual intimacy with God is wonderful and full of love, joy, peace, and blessing. But how do we pursue a more intimate relationship with God?

1. Prayerfully walking with God through all things everywhere. (1 Thess 5:17)
2. Surrendering each day and everything we think, do , and say to the Holy Spirit, so that He can guide us into intimacy with Him. (Rom 12:1)

I know all of this is really disorganized, and not well supported with scripture. Alot of it I have supported with my own experience. However, the Holy Spirit can speak through it to your experiences and your heart...if you'll let Him. This is what God has been teaching me!

Sunday Hockey?

So for the first time in about a year I have an actual Sunday afternoon off on the 29th and I am definitely feeling the hockey itch. It's one of those itches that starts on the shoulder and works it's way up to the back of the ear and then falls way down to the inside of the right knee before finally settling on both big toes of the two feet most of us have. I propose satisfying this itch by having a huge road hockey game on Sunday afternoon because most of you should have finished finals and there are no football games on. Give a reply if you're up for a game or if you have a better idea (Not likely). Sticks shouldn't be a problem and neither should rides so if you're free then say you'll come. I'm thinking we could do it in front of my house (Braden in case you don't scroll to the bottom and see who posted) because there is hardly any traffic at all since I live in a cul-du-sac. If there are other possible better places (Not likely) then let me know.

SMILE

Here's a joke that made me laugh when I read it, even though I'm having the most frustrating day ever . . . . . just laugh, it's funny.



A teacher asked her students to make up a sentance with the word "fascinate" in it.

Molly put up her hand and said, "My family went to my granddad's farm, And we all saw his pet sheep It was fascinating."The teacher said, "That was good, but I wanted you to use the word "fascinate, not fascinating".

Sally raised her hand. She said, "My family went to see Rock City and I was fascinated."The teacher said, "Well, that was good Sally, but I wanted you to use the word "fascinate."

Little Johnny raised his hand. The teacher hesitated because she had been burned by Little Johnny before. She finally decided there was no way he could damage the word "fascinate", so she called on him.Johnny said, "My aunt Gina has a sweater with ten buttons, but her tummy is so big she can only fasten eight."

The teacher sat down and cried.

tomorrow

So Lyndon is wondering if anyone wants to do something tuesday(tomorrow) afternoon slash late morning, because he is not a fan of doing nothing

Happy late Birthday David(sorry)

Happy birthday from Randy and Bobby. Hope you have a great rest of the yeah at Bible College. Woot!

PRAYER!!!

guys, rachael's mom is having a really bad seizure right now, so for anyone who's on here right now, PRAY PRAY PRAY PRAY PRAY!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAROLINE!!!
I diddo what Sharilyn said!!!!!
Your awesome and I hope that you have a birthday that's as awesome as you are!!!! God Bless you!!!!
Love ya!

Caroline, you are such an amazing person. You have given me so much encouragement with the beautiful smile you're willing to share exactly when I need it. I have learned so much from you and I appreciate your warm personality. Your passion for God makes me want to know Him more, and I thank you for that as well. You are pretty much rockin' awesome and I want to say I hope you had a very Happy Birthday!

Tonight!....and such

Hey guys whatsup, i'm just wondering if anyone knows if theres anything going on after youth or anything tonite, because i am working at 5 and not sure what time i'm getting off, so i might be able to make it for the end or i might not and if there was something happening after and i knew that would be pretty sweet, but yes i dunno hope you guys are all doing good! I've just been impressed lately and i thought i'd say how encouraging it is seeing how much our youth group is growing closer and closer to God! it actually pumps me up so much and God is going to do so much in this youth group and its amazing to watch! So i've finally been starting to get my devos in and it's so good!! I had been slacking waaay too much. It's crazy tho since i've started to read the bible and pray more i've just been getting drawn closer and closer to him. It's kinda wierd cuz like as sad as it sounds when i was at skool i would forget about God, until i had like a blatent reminder, but recently i've been just thinkin about him all the time, i kinda feel like i'm stalking him...in a good way! ahaha I'm defiantely pleased how God is working in my life because it was shaky for a bit and i'm just so glad to be back in his loving arms! I encourage you guys to find time daily to spend with God because it is soo refreshing and he will give you strength you never thought possible. Also encourage one another because that is so important and can really make peoples day! Tell people what they're good at and give them an outsiders view on spiritual gifts they might have they didn't even know about.

"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).

"Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching" (Hebrews 10:25).

Take care & God Bless
Hope to see you guys tonight, lets try and meet new people and not stay in the same groups as we tend to do!!

Filling in the Gaps

Guys I found this and I felt I should share it, it definitely made me think.


In early January I gassed up the car and headed into the desert. Just past Moab, Utah, I pulled into a truck stop to buy a few items and bumped into the New Testament on CD as narrated by James Earl Jones. Nineteen hours of passing the time, I thought to myself, as I bought the set. Given my new interest in Jesus, I thought my driving time would be well spent learning more about Him. Thirty hours later, I rolled into Indianapolis with the last chapter of Revelations coming to an end and a new chapter of my life just beginning.
It's interesting how the human mind fills in gaps where information is missing. For example, when we see a portion of a familiar picture, our mind automatically fills in the rest of the image. Or if we read a familiar text, our mind fills in the words of a sentence before we actually read them. Likewise, I automatically filled the gaps in my understanding of the Bible's stories. I assumed I understood Christianity. However, after listening to every word of the New Testament during my drive to Indianapolis, I became aware of how little I REALLY knew.
This experience helped me realize that I never actually understood the Bible. I only knew a distorted version, created through conversations, occasional reading of a passage or two, and by filling in the gaps. After hearing the Word from beginning to end, I was able to begin understanding the Bible's intended message.
Don't make the mistake I did by relying on your own concept of the stories in the Bible. Make an effort to consistently spend time reading the Word of God and you'll be amazed at how a distorted version of the Bible can become crystal clear.

Statistics

This is just some stuff that I felt really compelled to share. I was sitting down at a computer desk at school and I was getting ready to check the blog when I randomly see the 2005 Encyclopedia Britanica sitting there beside me. I open it up and the first page that I turned to was The 2004 Annual Megacensus of Religions. It has some really interesting facts in it and the circumstances that I found them made me want to tell you what they are.
According to the Encyclopedia there are 2,106,962,000 Christians in the world which accounts for 33.0% of the entire population. 1,105,808,000 (17.3%) of those are Catholics, 416,541,000 (6.5%) of those are independents, and 369,848,000 (5.8%) are protestants.
Approximately 273,941,000 of the 328,932,000 people in North America count themselves as Christians.
According to these numbers aboout every one in three people in the world is a Christian and about every 4 out of 5 people in North America is a Christian.
I guess the thing that really stuck out when I was looking at this was that at first glance those numbers don't seem all that bad. Christianity is the most sought after religion in the world and apparently it has a strong foothold on the very continent that we live. The next two most popular religions combined (muslims and hindus) don't even equal Christianity.
Then I got what I think God really intended me to get out of this book.
No matter how well Christianity seems to be doing from a statistics standpoint, reality tells me that in actuality it's not doing that well at all. And if only 1/3 of the population is saved (and that's a very generous figure when you think of all the people who call themselves Christians but really aren't) that means that 2/3 of the population is dieing without being saved.
Then I thought of all the people who I have really made an effort to bring to Christ (not many) and I realized that although I call myself a Christian I am utterly failing in spreading God's word in the continent that should be the easiest to do it.
Reaching out to my non-Christian friends and sharing God with them has always been tough to do even though that's how I was essentially brought to be a Christian. I think that there are definitely more of you reading this who have the same problem as me in talking to non-Christians about Christ.
I'm not sure exactly how to overcome that problem to make it easier but I think that we should all pray, especially as a youth group, to really make outreach a major goal. I know it's always talked about a lot and I know that we all want it to happen but I think that we should all take a self-inspection test and ask how many people we have tried to save in the last few months. I know that I come up short of what I wish and I'm glad that God has taken the opportunity to show me that. There are so many people around me in university that I have a chance to reach out to and it has to start somewhere even if I feel uncomfortable always introducing myself to strangers.
I was talking to Dallas this week and he said that I really have to start letting what I feel God is telling me to do, to happen. If he's telling me to reach out to a friend, which I'm sure he's telling many of you to do as well, then I think that we should start to do that instead of thinking it over and coming to our own conclusions.
It's time to be bold and do what the Lord has asked and we can't be afraid anymore to make a difference in other people's lives.

Statistics

This is just some stuff that I felt really compelled to share. I was sitting down at a computer desk at school and I was getting ready to check the blog when I randomly see the 2005 Encyclopedia Britanica sitting there beside me. I open it up and the first page that I turned to was The 2004 Annual Megacensus of Religions. It has some really interesting facts in it and the circumstances that I found them made me want to tell you what they are.
According to the Encyclopedia there are 2,106,962,000 Christians in the world which accounts for 33.0% of the entire population. 1,105,808,000 (17.3%) of those are Catholics, 416,541,000 (6.5%) of those are independents, and 369,848,000 (5.8%) are protestants.
Approximately 273,941,000 of the 328,932,000 people in North America count themselves as Christians.
According to these numbers aboout every one in three people in the world is a Christian and about every 4 out of 5 people in North America is a Christian.
I guess the thing that really stuck out when I was looking at this was that at first glance those numbers don't seem all that bad. Christianity is the most sought after religion in the world and apparently it has a strong foothold on the very continent that we live. The next two most popular religions combined (muslims and hindus) don't even equal Christianity.
Then I got what I think God really intended me to get out of this book.
No matter how well Christianity seems to be doing from a statistics standpoint, reality tells me that in actuality it's not doing that well at all. And if only 1/3 of the population is saved (and that's a very generous figure when you think of all the people who call themselves Christians but really aren't) that means that 2/3 of the population is dieing without being saved.
Then I thought of all the people who I have really made an effort to bring to Christ (not many) and I realized that although I call myself a Christian I am utterly failing in spreading God's word in the continent that should be the easiest to do it.
Reaching out to my non-Christian friends and sharing God with them has always been tough to do even though that's how I was essentially brought to be a Christian. I think that there are definitely more of you reading this who have the same problem as me in talking to non-Christians about Christ.
I'm not sure exactly how to overcome that problem to make it easier but I think that we should all pray, especially as a youth group, to really make outreach a major goal. I know it's always talked about a lot and I know that we all want it to happen but I think that we should all take a self-inspection test and ask how many people we have tried to save in the last few months. I know that I come up short of what I wish and I'm glad that God has taken the opportunity to show me that. There are so many people around me in university that I have a chance to reach out to and it has to start somewhere even if I feel uncomfortable always introducing myself to strangers.
I was talking to Dallas this week and he said that I really have to start letting what I feel God is telling me to do, to happen. If he's telling me to reach out to a friend, which I'm sure he's telling many of you to do as well, then I think that we should start to do that instead of thinking it over and coming to our own conclusions.
It's time to be bold and do what the Lord has asked and we can't be afraid anymore to make a difference in other people's lives.

Wednesday's "What's God been teaching me?" #2

Romans 11:33-36

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out!
"Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been His counselor?"
"Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay him?"
For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.
To Him be the glory forever! Amen.

This week the theme of worshiping God and praising God for who He is has been creeping up all around me. On Sunday at the jam session at the church we spent a whole hour talking about what worship really is. Yesterday, I celebrated my Granddad's 65th birthday and my Grandma said something that really struck a chord in me. She said, "The reason we exist, and everything we do, say, and think is to bring God glory." When I read this passage in my devotions this week I realized that God is speaking to me about worship. Interestingly enough, I will be reading Romans 12:1 in my devotions before the week is through, which is another passage about worship!
When I first read this passage, I thought, "Wow, this is awesome!" But I wondered how I could apply this passage to my life. After all, this passage doesn't talk about how we as Christians should be living or how we shouldn't be living. So I started to meditate on this passage. Here a guy named Paul is writing in his letter to the Romans, when all of a sudden he gets so excited that he just bursts forth into a declaration of worship to God. He uses such powerful phrases to exalt the wisdom, knowledge, mind, and judgments of God. And as I am thinking about this passage, I am going, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" to each line. Those words to God became my own in my moments of reflection.
I started to think. How often do we break out into a chorus of worship to God? Do we sometimes hinder our ability to worship God by living in our own strength? I know I often get on my knees and pray for all things I need like strength, wisdom, guidance, direction, perseverance...but I've never just gone to my knees to worship and thank God for who He is. Or if I have, it's because of an answer to prayer, or the blessing of someone in my life. It's almost as if I've thought that I need a reason to worship God. Maybe, that God needs to show His power...and then I will praise Him for it.
I want to start taking regular time each day to worship God...not just because of what He's done...but because of who He is. I want to fall more in love with my Savior because of how He reveals Himself to me each day as I worship Him. I want to declare the infinite majesty and the incomprehesible wisdom of the Almighty God! Why? Because all things are from Him, all things are through Him, and all things are to Him...I want my my life, my mouth, and my heart to say, "To Him be the glory forever!" Amen.
It reminds me of a song we sing in church that says, "It's all about You, Jesus, and all this for You, for Your glory and Your name. It's not about me, as if You should do things my way. You alone are God, and I surrender to Your will." It's all about Jesus. Let's try and live, speak, and think like we really believe that it's all about Jesus...for His glory.

Wednesday's "What's God been teaching me?"

2 Chronicles 31:20-21 (New International Version)

²⁰ This is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah, doing what was good and right and faithful before the LORD his God. ²¹ In everything that he undertook in the service of God's temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered.

Hezekiah is not ussually a name that comes to mind when thinking of Bible characters. However, Hezekiah does set a fantastic example of what it means to live for the Lord. If you look at end result of Hezekiah's service to God, it says, "[a]nd so he prospered." Often times a believer might read something like this and say, "Oh, I want to prosper! I should follow his example!" A similar example would be a person who reads that the meek shall inherit the earth and alters his behaviour so that he might in fact inherit the earth.
Consider this. Did Hezekiah do what was good and right and faithful simply just to prosper? Was his only motivation in serving God to be successful in his life? It's critical that as Christian's we aren't doing things simply for our own benefit and glory. The Christian life is about giving glory and honour to God through what we do.
Hezekiah did what was good and right and faithful before the Lord because he loved God. 1 John makes it clear that those who truly love God, show their love to God through obedient living. Verse 21 says that Hezekiah obeyed the law and the commands in his service in everything he undertook. He showed his love to God through his obedience to God.
Probably the most reveleaing thing here about Hezekiah is near the end of verse 21. It says, "[Hezekiah] sought his God and worked wholeheartedly." Here we see the real character of Hezekiah. Here we have a glimpse of the heart behind the actions. Hezekiah sought God. He pursued a relationship with Him. He didn't wait for God to come closer to him, rather he drew closer to God by seeking Him. Secondly, Hezekiah sought God "wholeheartedly". Hezekiah wasn't a lazy servant. Verse 20 says that he was faithful, because he worked "wholeheartedly" (21). Hezekiah put all his willingness, all of who he was, all his mind, soul, and strength into seeking and serving the Lord. What a fantastic example of a heart for God! But, how do we as Christians measure up to this example?
Are we doing what is good and right and faithful before the Lord? Are we doing it for God's glory and not our own? Every day we need to examine our hearts. Are we seeking the Lord or are we expecting Him to make all the effort in our relationship? But, I think most importantly we need to ask ourselves, "Are we living 'wholeheartedly' for the Lord?"
I know some of us, myself included, have gotten a little bit lazy spiritually over the Christmas holidays. Some of us may have been spiritually lazy for all of last year. Now as school has started up again, let's do the work that God has set before us wholeheartedly, let's seek Him wholeheartedly each day. Let's take steps of obedience towards God...not so we can prosper...but because we love Him.

I'm bored, so I'm posting this picture of part of my Disney World vacation. I met Aladdin and that monkey from Lion King who's name I have no idea how to spell . . . but, here's me and my cousins with them. And this was the only day that I wore pants, by the way. It was only 5 degrees celcius, what was I supposed to do - Freeze?? yeesh. So, there, what a lovely picture of my and my family and two complete strangers dressed up like Disney characters. Voila.  

Star Trek: The Next Generation

so for all you folks who aren't doing anything at 1 O'CLOCK IN THE AFTERNOON on FRIDAY, JANUARY 6TH, the will be some SKATING going on at THE RINK ON GRANT ROAD right beside GRAND ROAD SCHOOL. there will possibly slash probably be some HOT CHOCOLATE at MY HOUSE afterwards. if you need any other info, call 789-0335. BE THERE OR BE A QUADRANGLE!

Quick post

Tobogganing is going down (or supposed to be) at Mt.Pleasant at 9:30
See you there :)