This was where my splinter sat. 

Whitney and I helped build my mom a craft room. We converted my old bedroom into a large craft room with lots of shelves. As I was cutting the shelves I got a huge splinter that was the size of a log. Ok, so it was only 1/2 inch. Most of it was sticking out so I pulled it out, but the part that wasn’t remained in my hand for 3 days. As I spent today digging through my hand to pull the rest of it out I thought about our christian lives.

We often have things in our lives like this splinter. The size of our problem doesn’t have to be huge to really bother us. This splinter really bugged me even though it was so tiny. I couldn’t close my hand without it really irritating me, and sin, pride or arrogance can easily do the same thing. Many times in our lives we let a splinter cause us pain and suffering because we don’t allow true healing into our lives. We can’t get relieved of pain until we get help from God, or in my case a good set of tweezers. Even though it hurt when I dug into my skin to remove the remaining pieces of wood my hand doesn’t hurt when I close it. I can grab things and hammer nails or whatever with it because I removed the splinter.

When we allow God into the painful areas of our lives we can experience freedom like He originally intended. God’s heart for us is to be pain free because we know He can heal us. I have to learn that when I get another splinter to immediately pull out the tweezers and start digging. I believe that God is always willing to reach out and remove the painful things in our lives, BUT we must humble ourselves and let Him.

Till next time.

Dustin

I have a question… Why do we as Christians seem to get so complacent? I mean we don’t put much effort into our relationship with God beyond Sunday services and/or devotionals? What about healing the sick, praying for the poor, seeing people saved, etc? 

I think we get complacent because we get busy with our own lives and forget about God’s command to love people, and go out into the world baptize and make disciples. I have been really having some major soul searching about how I can cooperate with God to further develop my maturity in Him and to love people more. I am going to start taking steps to be more bold in my faith by finding people that need prayer and praying for them. I am really going to find people down on hope, sick, and just need prayer. I want to see the book of Acts come to life unlike anything I have ever seen. I have prayed for people and seen them get healed, but not in years, and it was someone in my church. I’m setting out to the streets, to the poor people of this city and I believe that God is going to start something amazing.

Would you join me? You don’t have to go pray for people, but seek out how you can mature in your walk and take steps in that direction. Get out of your comfort zone and be challeneged! Send me your name and I will post it up here so people can pray for you.

I’ll start…

to pray for courage and strength-

1.Dustin Beasley

As I am typing this I have “The Passion of the Christ” playing. I love this movie because it removes the simple view of the cross. Let me explain before you get worked up. The IDEA of the cross and its purpose is simple, love. BUT the process of the cross is extremely deep. Jesus didn’t just die on a cross. He was betrayed by those he loved, not just Judas, beaten, whipped, had his beard plucked out, naked, humiliated, had thorns dig into his head, AND then he was crucified on the cross. The bible says that it pleased God to bruise him. It wasn’t just about the cross. It was about the whole process that lead up to the cross as well. 

We so quickly forget about the abuse, betrayal etc. and just think about the nails and cross. We forget that he had to go through so much to take away our sins. Yes, he was crucified, but he suffered much more than just that. 

They just nailed the nails into his feet. I can’t write anymore now. Just don’t forget that it was for so much that you were bought for. Don’t waste it by being a lazy Christian.

I understand, I think?
It is all clear to me except for these three things:
How can you love me the way you do?
Am I really worth that much to you?
What is it about me that you love? 

When I sit and contemplate
These three questions my mind
Cannot even begin to comprehend
The audacity of your being. 

Your love astounds me.
It is no comparison even to the greatness of
The universe or the dimensions of time and space.
It is so amazing that my physical being feels
Completely and utterly overwhelmed when
I dwell on the thought.  

How can I be worth more than all the stars in space?
How is my insignificant life beautiful in your eyes?
I want to know how much worth I am to you.
I desire to see what you see in me because
I’m sure that I can’t see it.
Debating that thought would I want to see it?
Could I handle the image of my worth to you?
The love that you feel for me.  Surely my body
Would break and I would die simply because I
Don’t deserve it.
Who am I to be used by you? 
Who am I to speak to you?  Who am I?  

Whitney took this picture

I was talking to a friend tonight and I said something without realizing the truth contained in it. I said, “Forgiveness is only true when it comes before and apology.” I was amazed that this came out of my mouth. What I mean by this is that forgiveness isn’t just something you do when someone apologizes to you, but rather a reaction that comes from your heart. When we forgive someone only when they apologize we are making it conditional. Conditional forgiveness sucks. It says, “I’ll forgive you if you are sorry, but if your not I won’t forgive you.” I’m not saying you can’t forgive someone after the fact, but it’s nice to have a heart that is prepared to forgive any pain caused to you.

Now I am not saying that I have all the answers in this one comment, but I do think it is where forgiveness must begin.  I do know that the next time someone hurts me I will make it a point to forgive them before they ask for it. Jesus exemplified this perfectly when He asked God to forgive the men crucifying Him before they realized what they did. He didn’t wait for them to apologize. He just loved them before they responded. That is a great heart to aspire to. I hope that we can all come to a place where forgiveness isn’t a second thought, but rather an immediate action. Don’t keep people out of your heart because of your pride. Forgive today!

Written on this cross is John 3:16. I found it in the woods on the island of Kauai where it was tied to a tree. If you are new to the world and grew up in a cave the verse says, “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.

So what does this really mean? So what if God sent His son? I mean I’m not playing this down, but I really wonder if people know what this involved. God sent His son to die, but He really sent Him so that WE could live. The point of Jesus’ death was to give us a chance to accept His love and kindness, so that we could be the recipients of an unending grace and mercy. The love that is offered to us is truly greater than anything we can ever experience. We can’t even begin to love anyone the way God loves us.

If God loves us without regret or expectation to receive something then shouldn’t we? I recently volunteered at a homeless shelter here in town where I experienced a great picture of God’s love. Whitney and I made 8 pounds of dry spaghetti  as part of a church effort to feed the people at the shelter. We fed about 150 portions and it was encouraging to see their thankfulness.

Moving on…After we fed them Whitney and I were leaving. As I walked towards the exit this little girl run up to me. As she ran up to me I noticed how dirty she was, but the only thing that I could focus on was her smile that seemed to brighten up the whole room. She ran right to me and hugged me. It was the most innocent display of love that I have experienced in quite sometime. This little girl displayed a love that only comes from God. She didn’t expect anything in return. She simply wanted me to know how grateful she was. I was so moved by this love because it reminded me that there can be so much beauty in this world. With all the wars and violence in the world there is still enough love to brighten a room or brighten up my heart.

I am inspired to love without expecting anything. After all, it is how we have been loved by the One who died for us. The One who sent His only Son to Die not because of what it did for Him, but what it did for us. Seek out the innocent and beautiful love of our Savior.

I’m just amazed at how much detail God put into His creation. I mean look at how intricate that flower is. It is simply perfect in every way. If He cares this much about His flowers how much do you think He cares about you? Be impressed with His handiwork today.

More of these photos are up in the photos section! Check them out!

closest picture of a paradox I could think of.

Something to think about…

God is a paradox. Just so we are clear a paradox is-

1. a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth.
2. a self-contradictory and false proposition.
3. any person, thing, or situation exhibiting an apparently contradictory nature.
4. an opinion or statement contrary to commonly accepted opinion.

On one hand He is a righteous judge who demands justice for sin, and on the other He pays the price Himself. He hates sin, but created a way for you and I to avoid it. He gives us chance after chance. He loves us more than anyone else could. He is my God. How much sense does that make?

God is absolutely unpredictable. Sure we can know that He is always going to love us and He is never going to leave us, but how he does those things will vary. Sometimes He loves us by showing us a beautiful sunset or by how a friend comes to us in a time of need. He will always be there for us in our time of need. I often forget that He is there for me at every moment of every day. 

I have learned that I cannot control God and He won’t control me. He will open doors that I must choose to walk through. He gives me direction, but doesn’t force me into it. He walks along the path with me even when I walk the wrong way. That is often a paradox to me simply because I have never known anyone to do that. I always have experienced people who have abandoned me when I messed up and have betrayed me to fit their need. God is a paradox because he is contrary to everything that I would expect. I know that I can trust Him with every aspect of my being. God is so good to me and He will always be true. 

God is always seeking to make ways for us to fall in love with Him. He is constantly being creative in His approaches to love on us. Have you made yourself available for this?

I must begin with a quote from Chuck Missler. “A God small enough to fit inside your head is not big enough to meet your needs.” 

I don’t believe there is a better way to describe my frustration with most Christians. If you can understand God you can’t possibly know Him. Now don’t get me wrong we can know His character, His personality, or attributes, but we can’t always know His ways. God is consistent in His love for us, but He is also unpredictable in how He deals with us. He is more dedicated to us than anyone in our life including our parents…Sorry mom!… 

How many times have we said, “God wouldn’t do this or that” only to find out later that He does? How often does He surprise us? I love not trying to figure Him out. I personally don’t think that He wants to be explainable. I just believe He wants us to grab onto His characteristics such as His love, kindness, joy, laughter, forgiveness, grace mercy and the list goes on and on forever. We can never say enough good things about Him. There are no words in the world that could even come close to declaring God’s goodness. I think that is why we are supposed to give Him our lives. Our lives are really all we have, so it must be all we can give. 

When was the last time you tried to put God in a box? God is the only one who can put Himself in a box and it was called the Tabernacle, and He said, “If you touch this thing I’ll kill you!”. Besides that I would let God be God and you be His beloved. He will be the only person to pleasantly surprise you on a daily basis. Keep your eyes open for His blessings every single day. God can’t contain Himself, so He will love you at every possible moment He can. 

Open your eyes and give Him the credit He deserves and for crying out loud take Him out of your box!

Well I read quite a few different blogs everyday, and most of them are about adoption. Whether it is Bush and his wife trying to adopt August or Aaron and his wife and their kids I am reading about it everywhere. I love to see people taking in kids without love and smothering them with it, but that isn’t why I’m writing this. 

I am writing this because they have inspired me to think about God in a deeper way. They all have loved unselfishly and it has really shown me such a beautiful picture of my life in Christ. This has caused me to remember my own adoption. No, I wasn’t adopted by earthly parents, but by a God who couldn’t wait to take me in as His own. I knew nothing about this God and had no idea who He was, but He sought me out to pour His love and heart into my life. I can’t think of anyone in my life who has loved me without expecting anything in return. Now I don’t mean they are all selfish, but to some extent we all are. I mean would you continue to love your spouse when they rejected your love on a daily basis? Maybe for a while, but not forever. That is what amazes me about God. He has a way of loving me so unselfishly, but at the same time knowing He is the best thing I could ever have. I have fallen in love all over again and He has captivated my heart with His kindness. Thank you so much for your love my Friend.

I propose a toast…A toast to the most loving Father and Friend I have ever known.

I am the beloved of God.