Living Above the Sun Ministries

In Christ Alone, and The Solid Rock have been songs to be on my mind this week. I can't listen to them enough. Building on what I wrote about yesterday, a thought occurred to me this morning sitting in a History lecture at school. If you pay close attention in life God is always speaking to our hearts, sometimes we're just to wrapped up in other things to hear. At least that's the case for me. In history we've been learning about the Development of the West, my group had to discuss a story called the "Grasshopper Attack in Kansas" from Pioneer Women: Voices from the Kansas Frontier by Joanna L. Stratton. The year was 1874, this story is about when floods of grasshoppers destroyed everything the pioneers had worked so hard to establish. They ate their crops, tools, clothes...everything, trees, anything green, their barns and their homes. They were in the peoples beds and on them. So in reading this story we had to answer these questions: 1. What does this accou...

I'm glad that in life God can still teach me while I'm in the ditch....or what feels like the ditch at least. Lately I've been putting my hope more in things like a job, my family, or what my future may hold. When that happens our focus tends to go off of Jesus and into these things you hope will get better or see change. Our hope and our focus should be in Christ Alone. I've had to really learn that this week...and I'm still learning it. Monday night at my church we sang "In Christ Alone" and it's such a beautiful powerful song. Songs can change their meaning to you as you encounter different circumstances in life. But in thinking about the lyrics this week, they have really touched me. One of the bad habits I have is when I get down or upset I don't feel like reading or doing much of anything. That's bad because in those times I need to be reading my Bible and stand firmly on the Solid Rock. You would think by now we would learn that ...

"Even though I gave them all my laws, they act as if those laws don’t apply to them." -Hosea 8:12 Sometimes when listening to sermons, I will think to myself, "Boy, I wish this person was sitting here right now hearing this." We've all had that thought. The Israelites were constantly known for applying God's laws to others and finding fault in them than in themselves. We deflect God's Word when we do this, and put off or don't recognize the changes we need to make in our own lives. The application of God's Word fits us all not just the "bad" people, or the people who get on your nerves and drive you crazy. Often times the faults we find in others are our faults too. What are the areas of our lives where we need to repent? Just to give a few personal examples, sometimes I can have a bad mouth especially when I get upset. I desire things I shouldn't. When we repent, we should ask God to not only forgive but to help us con...

These past couple of days God has really been pressing the thought upon my heart that He is trying to bring His children back to Him. In this time of financial crises and unemployment I believe in my heart that God is stripping everything away for a purpose. He is preparing us for our eternal home, but I think He's also trying to reiterate what job He has assigned us. We as believers don't belong here, and I think we put a lot of energy, time, and resources into our earthly life, and don't contribute or "lay up treasures" in Heaven. Like I said in my last post it is easy to chase after things that are tangible, and that we can enjoy. I don't Jesus has a problem with that, He wants to bless us. At the same time though I can't help but think, are we investing in the Kingdom? As technology progresses we become so wrapped up in it. Which again, no problem, but we must acknowledge that all we have and all we are is because of God. I think if anything G...

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps." -Proverbs 16:9 Lately in life I have been learning what it means to follow Jesus. Things haven't been going as I have wanted them too, in other words how I had planned. By now I thought I would be on my own, have a job, with a little money in my pocket, have a descant car, and be on my way to a 4 year college. Successful in my definition. However, God's definition of successful and my definition of successful aren't alike. God takes us his way, and we have to follow Him...most of the time blindly. That's hard for me to do. Sometimes when life gets really tough, I think God hates me; all the while knowing in the back of my mind he really loves me. He tells us so in Isaiah 43:4 "I Love You." It's all about Faith. The harder the trial, the deeper our faith will be grown and stretched. My pastor made an awesome statement in church last Sunday: "It's not ...