It's been some time since I last made a blog post. A lot has happened since then, friends have visited, fireworks have exploded, relationships have been deepened, church has been rocking, these are just a few to mention. This past week I had the house to myself, the Robinson's had gone on vacation to the beach and it was definitely a lonely feeling to come home and to have nobody there but me. Some people love this feeling, I abhor it. I guess living in a 3 bedroom, sometimes 2 bedroom house with 6 guys really has changed me over the years. The week mainly consisted of me going to bed at 8, reading through the rest of Hunger Games Book 1 (don't judge, it was free on the Kindle, and it kept my attention, and I had to see what all the hoopla was all about), eating lots of steak, more reading, an episode of 24 in season 4, and some Summer League Ultimate Frisbee. The coming weeks will be a big change, the Olympics start and a family of 4 will be moving in with us as well. This will make a total of 9 people in the house, it's going to be a party to say the least. The family is from Sojourn and are looking to adopt and possibly move into the same neighborhood as us. Which would be a sweet dynamic; to be able to reach out to those neighbors around us with the gospel in a community. So for them to move in with us allows for them to save up for their adoption and possibly to save for a house as well. I won't go too much further into the situation, because we will be starting a blog about it soon. I will post the link when that thing is up and running. So big changes are going on in Huntsville, and I am looking forward to the coming months and years. And I will throw a little advertisement out; if you are a dude or girl and graduating soon and are reading this blog and you don't know what to do with your life, I can help you with one suggestion. Here it is and completely free: MOVE TO HUNTSVILLE. Make the leap and join with us in what God is doing in this city through us and through his church (all believers). I promise you will love it, and if you don't love it I will pay for your moving expenses, guaranteed.
Anyways, this week I took a little break from Ezekiel, and my heart was craving some Psalms. I spent a majority of my week reading, pondering, praying and thinking on Psalms 103; hands down one of my favorite passages in Psalms, if not the whole Bible. It encompasses a lot of what the whole Bible is telling us. That God is good and completely worthy of all praise, he is the Forgiver, the Redeemer, the Satisfier of Good, the Merciful Savior, the Just, he does not deal with us as he ought to, the Compassionate King, and much more. David states at the beginning and the end: Bless(Praise) the Lord, O my Soul, and all that is in him bless(praise) is Holy name. This Psalm is a remembrance of all that God has done in the life of David, and from all that he has known and seen God do he offers up praise. David makes some super powerful statements in this passage that strike me deeply. Verse 3, David says: "who forgives all your iniquity and heals all your disease." Verse 4, "who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy." Verse 5, "who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagles." Verse 8, "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love." Verse 10, "He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities." Verse 11, "For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love towards those who fear him." Verse 12, "as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us." Verse 13, "As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him." Verse 15 and 16, in light of this weeks events with the Colorado shootings, "As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more." Verse 17, "But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children." And verse 19, "The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all." These verses are incredibly powerful and make known a powerful God. I encourage you to spend time on this passage, it speaks deeply to the soul when you begin to meditate on the words that are spoken in this passage, and I guarantee praise will come forth from your heart, and if the words don't pierce you and strike a chord in your heart, ask God to soften your heart and repent of the sin that he can only forgive. These words will speak volumes to your heart, because God has spoken them. So Bless the Lord, O our souls, and all that is within us bless his Holy name.
