Romans 12:9

"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good."

-romans 12:9

"for love is as strong as death. its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like a blazing fire, like a mighty flame." (Song of Songs 8:6). So for love to be sincere, it has to contain passion. Because if it is a lie, truth will be found. Love must be sincere, it is the adhesive to life's relationship. God is love and love is God. 

So if we love God we must hate what is evil, because evil things will keep us from our Lord. We are instructed in Proverbs 23:17 "Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the Lord." Which leads to holding to what is good. Jesus tells us that there is none that are good, but one, who is Yahweh the living God. We are called to cling to Him.

I am going to continue to live in the divine romance, written to me through the Bible. Waking up each morning searching for Love, so that my heart will be after God's, and it will break when His does. I will hate what is evil, and continue to love Him, because He first loved me. 

mark 8:38

"If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."

-mark 8:38

Jesus is the Capstone which holds everything together. So when we reject Him and say He is not God we will be left with archway that wont stand, but rather lie in rubble. We are called to be the salt and light of the world, preaching in Jesus Christ's name. How could we be ashamed of something perfect within a corrupt world?

I will share Jesus Christ with who ever gives me the opportunity to share. 

Mark 8:37

"Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?"

-mark 8:37

Only the soul endures into eternity. "He who gets wisdom loves his own soul; he who cherishes understanding prospers." (proverbs 19:8). The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. I will wake up every morning seeking to feed my soul in God's word. 

Mark 8:36

"What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?"

-mark 8:36

You can indulge yourself in the pleasures of the world. You can believe the lie the world offers you, but in agreement with the king of this age, you have lost fellowship with Jesus Christ. Being away from God is volunteering  your soul for destruction. So in an eternal sense why would you give up being with God for a moment of pleasure? You can have all this world, just give me Jesus. "Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near." (isaiah 55:6).

God has promised us so much, eternal life being at the top of the list. Why would we bother with anything else the world has to offer? "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (matt 6:33). My soul belongs to Jesus Christ, and my feet will go wherever He directs them. My ears are open to His call. 

mark 8:35

"For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it."
-mark 8:35
"Whoever defends himself will have himself for his defense, and he will have no other; but let him come defenseless before the Lord and he will have for his defender no less than God Himself." (Towzer). We can build our quivers, store up treasures for a day of need, but without God what can you really gain? Driving home from Rafting Glacier National Park late at night. We saw a huge fire on the side of the mountain. With a fire truck flying by us we decided to follow it. As we approached the fire, we saw that it was a house, and not the forest fire as we had thought. We lifted our voices to heaven asking for safety for those involved. But as me and Tanner sat watching the flames, i said, "can you imagine not having God and trying to get through this." He said, "no i cant, its everything they ever worked for, gone."
Laying down your life for Christ and the Gospel is the only way to save it. You can lose your house, you can lose your family, you can lose your life. If you don't have God its the end of your book, but with God, its just the transition to a new chapter, because he has something better for you called Heaven and he is constantly preparing our hearts for our real home. "In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life." (1Timothy 6:19). I never want to forget those flames i saw, i never want to forget what the gospel did for me, i want to continue to live preparing my heart for heaven. As God prunes the branches that stem from His root, ill always know, its because he is getting me ready for heaven.

Mark 8:34

"Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.'"

-mark 8:34

Peter had just taken Jesus a side to rebuke Him for prophesying his own death for the first time. I assume Peter had desired Jesus to bring His kingdom down and crush the Roman Empire. Jesus rebuked Peter saying, "get behind me satan." After this we see Jesus telling the crowd, if you want to follow me, you must die to your own ideas. You must be like Christ, not yourself using Christ to get the things you want.

I wont be standing behind Christ because he told me, "get behind me satan" but because, i will be dead in myself following in his foot steps as he leads me.

act 12:9

"Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision."

-act 12:9

This is not the first time Peter was following without knowing what was really happening. Just before Jesus was going to wash Peter's feet Jesus told him, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand." (john 13:7). During the last supper, Jesus was telling the disciples that one of them would betray Him, "Simon Peter motioned to this disciple (who Jesus loved) and said, 'Ask him which one he means.'" (john 13:22). Jesus was telling the disciples that he would be going somewhere they could not come. "Peter asked, 'Lord, why can't I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.' Then Jesus answered, 'Will you really lay down your life for me? I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!'" (john 13:37-38). Peter had a copious amount of questions, all answers leading him to feel stupid i'm sure. So here we see a different Peter, one who did not open his mouth, he only walked to where he was lead. We see Peter go from a fool to a wiseman. "A fool's talk brings a rod to his back, but the lips of the wise protect them." (Proverbs 14:3).

As much as i don't understand things, I will just pray to God for wisdom and discernment. I'll practice my walk in faith, before i begin to talk about faith.