top se7en verses of oh se7en

|seven|

beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven_matthew 6.1

_you'll see through some of these verses that God has worked big time this year on areas of pride and seeking glory.  i've been studying matthew this fall and this is one of the verses that has really impacted me as i've struggled with striving after receiving glory and praise from man.

|six|

for the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life_galatians 6.8

_in pursuing holiness, and failing often, this verse opened my eyes to the fact that where we sow (ie what we watch, think about, care for, etc) will be played out in our lives in the fruit that we bear.  we can't just expect to cut off bad fruit and expect good fruit to grow if the fertilizer that we are using for our tree is made of bad things.  the only way to produce good fruit is to sow to the Spirit and let the Spirit reap things eternal.

|five|

for am i now seeking the approval of man, or of God? or am i trying to please man? if i were still trying to please man, i would not be a servant of Christ_galatians 1.10

_galatians was my place of study in the spring, so hence the back-to-back references.  again, this verse harkens back to my struggle with pride and striving after the praise and approval of men.  i desire to be like paul who was a servant of Christ foremost, not a man seeking the approval of man.

|four|

He must increase, but i must decrease_john 3.30

_once again, another verse about living a life that would bring glory and honor to Christ and not to myself.

|three|

fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand_isaiah 41.10

_every year at our new year's service at church everyone chooses a bookmark that has been prayed over and on that bookmark is a verse for the year.  since i was in the states last year i had lucka's dad get one for me.  this was the verse.  i wasn't sure what to make of the "casting of lots" style of obtaining a verse for the year, but this verse was a huge help during the prep for the summer and the subsequent pulling off of the summer.  there were nights were i couldn't sleep because my mind was spinning trying to solve problems for the summer.  i often found myself resting in this truth.  there is something comforting about know that my work here is because of and for God and ultimately it is His work.  there is no reason to fear for it is He who holds me up.

|two|

charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised _proverbs 31.30

_i find it odd that traditionally it is women who study proverbs 31 so thoroughly, when it is actually a passage written to a young man.  it is a shame that more of us men don't study this passage often.  i speak that from experience, because i always viewed it as "the woman's passage" and glossed over it my study of proverbs.

i am completely messed up when it comes to women.  i have these outrageous and unfulfillable expectations of what i want in a wife.  they are absurd.  seriously.  oh, she's too tall.  oh, she's not wearing vans.  oh, she doesn't have dark hair.  oh, she likes the dodgers.  oh... oh... oh...

this year, i finally realize that the things that i have held in highest value are charm and beauty. i didn't call them that, but that is what they were.  of course, she needs to love God.  and of course, she has to want to do missions.  but what was primary wasn't these attributes, it was is she cute and fun?

so, this fall, i've found myself reading and praying through proverbs 31.  i still feel like i am a long ways from corrected in my thinking, but i think God is changing me.  it is 29 years of jacked up thinking.  i just hope it doesn't take another 29 to get me desiring what He desires.

|one|

...and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus _ephesians 2.6

_this verse, more than any other, has radically changed my life.

my struggle with pride is well documented in this posting and i want to catch you up on how i got to this place of realizing what a grip it had on my life.

while at our spring conference, dave patty-president of jv-was speaking on personal transformation.  he was paralleling the lives of david and saul and talking about why david was called a man after God's own heart and while saul's life ended so poorly.  one of his main points was regarding repentance.  as we talked through this he asked us to pray and ask for God to show us an area of our life that isn't transformed and to ask us to have God show us something about it.  i am a visual person and so as i was praying i saw myself standing in the isaiah 6 throne room of God.  the room was filled with the glory of the Lord and His robes filled the room.  i was given a glimpse from God's perspective and what i saw was myself, very small, dressed like a thief with a pair of scissors.  i was creeping through the throne room thinking i wasn't being seen, but in the white-holiness of God my black-clad body was apparent.  i was creeping around snipping off pieces of God's robe and trying to cover myself in His glory.

this vision was instantaneous and powerful.

it was the first time in my life that i realized how prideful i am and how much i am trying to gain glory...stealing it from God even.

fast forward to our intern training...

dave spoke again, this time on ephesians.  since the spring conference a few months earlier i really felt God make me more aware of my pride and begin giving me victory over it.  but, one problem is that i still had this vision in my mind of me in the throne room stealing from God and didn't really have something new and true to replace it with.

during the study dave shared about ephesians 2.6.  for me this verse has always been lost in the race to read ephesians 2.8-9.  as dave shared the truth that our position in Christ is with Him in the heavenlies! i knew i had my answer.

we know that Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

so if we are seated with Christ in the heavenlies...

than

we are seated with Christ at the right hand of God.

i now had my new picture.  i do not need to walk around stealing from God's glory, because i am seated with Christ at the Father's right hand.  God's glory is my glory, through Christ.  He has clothed me with His robes and i don't need to steal small pieces from Him!

DTR (Define The Relationship)

I hate DTRs. I hate that nervous feeling you get thinking about it. I hate the fact that the girl may not like me, so I am laying my heart on the table only to hand her a mallet and let her whack away. They aren't fun. But, there is the always the hope that the girl will like me. And it is that hope that pushes me through the fear of rejection to take the chance.

But, what I hate even more than DTRs is the UN-DTR. Technically, it is still a DTR, but I am calling it the UN-DTR, because, this is the one in which you have to tell the girl you don't like her and that you are just friends. This sucks on multiple levels. First, there is no hope of having a girlfriend after this. Second, there exists the possiblity that you will break someones heart. Third, there exists the possibility that all of her friends will hate you, therefore taking an entire segment of the female population beyond future option for you. Finally, it sucks, because you may be killing (or making awkward-which is basically the same thing, right?) a good friendship.

Well, I had to have an UN-DTR a couple days ago. It was with one of my best girl friends here in the Czech. I hated that I had to do it. The great thing about it is that it was born not out of her heart, but out of others around her. Everyone was talking about it, but no one was talking to us. Americans, Czechs...I even heard that Kofi Annan called a special session of the UN to discuss it. The only way both of us heard about it is through our friends. She said what put a lot of people over the edge was when I gave her a side-hug while we were standing up in front at our national conference.*

Having a girlfriend gives you protection. I could basically do anything I wanted and girls knew I was taken. But now that I am single, it is different. I haven't treated this girl any different, hung out with her any more, but because I am single now everyone thinks there is something with us! Suck.

So, we talked. Everything is cool. Our friendship is good. No awkwardness.

So, the UN-DTR is over. I'm glad. I just hope the next DTR has some hope for a relationship...

*Note to self: Don't hug, touch, smile, or look at a girl while standing in front of a room of Czechs.

Marisa and I in Colorado

Marisa and I in Colorado,
originally uploaded by Micczech1212.

"You are way out of your league."

That is the quote that every guy wants to hear. Every guy wants to be married to a woman who his friends consider to be way too hot for him. Or way better than him. Well, I think that is happening to me!

Love is weird. You never know when it is going to hit you like a baseball bat to the face. It never happens at opportune times and it always changes the course of your life.

Over the past couple of weeks I've fallen in love. It's crazy, but true. I went up to Colorado Springs for training and for a reprieve. I wanted to draw closer to the Lord (which happened) and I wanted to spend some time alone (which happened), but I didn't expect Marisa to happen to me.

This girl is beyond what I could have ever wanted. People always say that you'll know when you meet the person you are going to marry and I guess I believed them, but I have now experienced it. I have also looked with skepticism at those people who meet someone and after a couple of weeks are talking about marriage, but now I am one of them. It is also interesting that after my previous blog about marriage I would meet someone so quickly. God often has funny timing.

Marisa is going to be in Kenya for two years, while I am in the Czech. We have no clue what to expect from this, but we are just trying to trust in the Lord and seek his guidance in how to proceed. What I do know is that God has exceeded my expectations with her. She loves God so much, she loves kids, is passionate, funny, beautiful, dynamic, intuitive, and challenges me to be a better. more Godly man.

I'll quit there, because I don't want this to be too mushy and lovey and crap, but I did want to express what is going on in my heart.

"You know you'll find your wife in Czech, right?"

Do you know how many times I've heard that? Lots. Sarah Martel would say about a billion times, because she exagerates. I don't know how many times I've heard it, but you know who I never hear that from? Missionaries. Do you know why? Because they know the truth. They know that there is no guarantee. Now don't get me wrong, I want to be married. But more than that I want to serve the Lord. I want to give my all to Him and be all for Him. I long for the day when I can serve side by side with my wife, but that is not guarenteed and until then I will continue to serve the Lord.

Girls are distracting. While waiting for my bags in the Denver airport I stared at this really pretty girl. I couldn't look away. I was transfixed. For a while I was mad because someone blocked my view, but he eventually moved and I got to look at her again. At one point in my gawking, I even prayed that God would give me a girl that pretty.

This is the dilemma of being single and serving God. I want to give everything to him, but I also can't help but want to have a wife. I'm trying to find the balance in that. The easiest way is to not look for girls, but then God puts one on your plane...