In Awe

Tonight, as I sat down to write this weekly blog, I initially felt like I was lacking a topic, direction, and motivation, but as I examined my heart I found the most amazing truth.  God did not speak a specific topic into me tonight because He simply wanted me to write on the topic that He placed in my heart at the beginning of time.  This truth is that there is no one else like our God.  There has never been and never will be a God who loves like our God, who forgives like our God, or who has the infinite power that our God has.  We have done nothing to deserve this love, this forgiveness, this mercy, or this redemption, and yet we receive it freely.  This blows me away!  I sit here, speechless, in awe, at the greatness and kindness of my loving Father.


I cannot fathom all the blessings He has bestowed upon me in this life. Yes, there has been plenty a trial, but it all pales in comparison to the loving redemption and blessings that He fills me with.  As I look back over the past blog entries, I am further reminded of how God has blessed me; He has allowed an unworthy me to write about Him, to express my deepest beliefs and faith-filled ideas, and present them to whom ever finds them worth reading.  To date, this blog has been read over 5,000 times in over 20 different countries. I did not ask for any of this, but God has taken a willing heart and a blank blog page and done some pretty amazing things with it.  I cannot look at those numbers without knowing that God's hand has been all over this project, and I cannot help but think of what else He has planned for my life.  He is not finished with me yet, and because I believe this, I am able to press on in His name toward the life He has called me to live.


This may not have been the typical blog post, but if you get nothing else out of this, I urge you to simply sit in awe of Him for a few moments.  Reflect and pray on Who He is and what He has done and will continue to do in your life.  Read the following scripture, and really internalize it.  


Verse:
No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
~Philippians 3:13-14


Is this message a reflection of our lives, or did we need this reminder to recognize these truths and get back on track?


It is in knowing these truths, in simply sitting in awe of God, that I find purpose to continue striving towards the ultimate prize for which God has called me.  I thank Him for this platform, for continually blessing me with words to share, and for always presenting me with opportunities to further His kingdom.  We serve a mighty God, and even when there are no words for what we feel or believe, we can simply sit in His presence, in awe of the One who gave it all!  Much love through Christ!

Give Thanks

On this week of Thanksgiving, I just wanted to take the time to truly thank God for all He has done in my life.  He is an amazing God, worthy of all of our praise, and for His undying love and sacrifice, I am eternally grateful.  I thank You for sending Your Son to die on the cross for hopeless sinners like myself, for loving us enough to give it all just so that we have the opportunity to accept that gift, and for covering our sins with the blood of Christ and casting them as far as the East is from the West.  Without You first and foremost in my life, God, I would not have anything else to be thankful for.  You have placed me exactly where I need to be in my life, You have brought me up in the community of people that I was meant to be brought up in, and You have bountifully blessed me with the most amazing parents, family, and friends to help me along in my relationship with You.  


Verse:
Yours, LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.
~ 1 Chronicles 29:11-13


I urge you all to take a minute and thank God for all He has done in your lives; not just the joys and accomplishments, but also the sorrows and the toughest times, for it is in those times that He has been able to teach us some of life's greatest lessons.  Our lives are made possible and lived to the fullest when we recognize that living can only be done with Him, through Him, and for Him.  In Christ, I love you all and wish you the very best Thanksgiving; remember Who deserves the thanks!

I am Second

Over these past few weeks and months, God has continually used the I am Second movement to encourage myself and so many others as to what it is to live a life that is second only to Christ, and His will for our lives.  I wanted to take a moment to share with you what living a life second in command to Christ looks like for me.


Many of you know the struggles I have faced with my weight over the years, and it continues to be a daily battle with food, but what you probably haven't heard is the underlying issues that I believe got me to that point of needing to change.  I was living life with my goals and my wants at the forefront of my mind; I did not have a servant's heart, but rather a heart that put me first.  I looked at successes as my own doing, my own claim to fame, which only set me up for failure.  


In high school, I felt lost; I may have looked and acted the part of the confident, and always comedic, overweight Christian, but had no idea what I was doing with my life.  I started to look at myself as a failure, living in the shadows of other's dreams, claiming to know a God that I had only learned about and not engaged in.  I tried to figure out me, how I could be successful, and how I could make myself happy.  What I did not know at the time was that it would never be me that could turn things around in my life, it would have to be Christ.


Then, one summer, on Agape Tour to New York City, God laid the truth on my heart in an unbelievable way.  It was while reading Ephesians 2:8-9 that He revealed to me that I needed to enter into a relationship with Him if I wanted things to change in my life.  I accepted the gift of Life on that tour, knowing full well that God and I had a lot of work to do in order to get me on the path that He had planned for my life.  I had spent my life up to that point learning about God, reading the Bible, going for church, and singing for Him, without ever taking the time to get to know Him.  It all began to make sense that night, and I knew I had to allow Christ to change me from the inside out.  


Verse:
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—  not by works, so that no one can boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9


It has been a long process, but from that point on Christ has been at work in my life.  He has humbled me, broken me, and built me back as a messenger of light for His purpose.  I now understand that every success, and every privilege I have been given in this life has been the work of my Creator, and He deserves the glory for those things. It is in this understanding that I can show Christ for who He is, the lover of our souls, and the giver of all that is good.  The weight loss is the physical change that everyone has been able to notice.  Finally recognizing my body as a temple of the Holy Spirit allotted me the determination to change that for Him, and it has been a huge factor in my spiritual journey, but it is far from the most important change I have made in the past few years.  The key change has been dropping the facade that I lived under for so long, emerging from the false pretenses I had set up for myself, and allowing Christ into my heart to break, change, and heal me from the inside out.  


I realize now that in order to be made into the man of God I am today, Christ had to break down the walls of the old me.  He has changed my heart, redeemed my soul, and ignited me with a passion for Him that I cannot help but share.  Allowing Him into my life, truly getting to know Him and give Him control, has been the greatest decision I have ever made.  I am Jacob Wager, and I am Second.  


http://www.iamsecond.com/

Here is the link to the I am Second movement. I highly recommend checking these videos out and reflecting on what they could mean in your life. 

Prayer

As a Christian, I cannot stress the importance of prayer enough.  It is our connection with God, a time to have conversation with Him, express our worries, ask for needs, praise Him for all that He is, and also just a way to spend time with Him.  He longs to spend time with us, to grow closer with us as we draw nearer into Him, and what better way than to pray?


Prayer and worship are a part of our intimate relationship with our God, and each person does it in their own way.  There is no right or wrong way to communicate with God, no right or wrong things to say; He already knows what we have in mind before we do, but expressing it to Him allows for a strengthening in our relationship.  If you are angry, confused, happy, sad, misunderstanding something, or simply want to give Him praise, let Him know! He so desperately loves to hear from His children, and growing deeper with Him brings unexplainable joy to us as well.  


In Matthew 6, it is made clear that prayer is not for show and that many words are unnecessary, but prayer is still important to our individual relationships with Him.  We are even given an example as how to pray in Matthew 6 with the Lord's prayer.  It may be hard to pray this way, for God's will, rather than our own, but we must trust Him with every aspect of our lives.  He is at work for the good of those who love Him, and regardless of what happens, He has our ultimate good in mind.  He knows the plans He has for our lives, and He will not take us anywhere that will not result in the ultimate best plan for our lives.  


Verses:



This, then, is how you should pray: 
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, 
your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."
~Matthew 6: 9-13


Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
~Philippians 4:6


And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
~Ephesians 6:18


The power and importance of prayer is so evident, and God loves to hear from each of us.  Yes, He already knows what we will say and how things will work out, but that doesn't change the fact that He loves the time we spend in prayer with Him.  We can share with God everything that is on our hearts, but most importantly, we must learn to pray that His will be done in all things.  After all, His will for our lives is better than anything we could ever ask for or imagine. 

Under Attack

In the past 48 hours Satan has made it pretty clear that he is working so very hard to steal, kill, and destroy those who love God.  Every past hurt, every issue I've already dealt with, every thing that I consider to be of the old me, he has tried to bring back into my life.  He has tried to fill my mind, he has exhausted me both mentally and physically, and yet through it all, Christ has pulled me through.  I was beginning to believe his lies, when I read this verse in 1 Corinthians, and the love and redemption of my Savior came flooding back in to cast that doubt away.  

Verse:

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

~1 Corinthians 10:13

I am not perfect, nor do I claim to be.  However, with Christ, we are made whole and perfect in Him.  He is the author and perfecter of our faith, and He can and will get us through anything.  It was made so evident to me that all the effort I put forth into furthering God's kingdom is not only recognized by God, but Satan as well.  He sees the work of those who love Christ, and is working to put a stop to it.  He is trying to break me, and all Christians for that matter, so that the spreading of this wonderful news of Jesus' love can be stopped.  It is our duty to carry on, to continue to spread Christ's love, and persevere through these attacks Satan so lavishly lays on us.  Jesus Christ will look upon you with favor and bless you for praising Him when it feels as though you have no reason to.  When it seems like all hope is gone, and the world is attacking you from every seemingly possible angle, know that Jesus is delighting in you and all your efforts. If they devil finds it necessary to attack, then you must be doing something right.

If this is you tonight, know that you are in my prayers.  Keep your eyes focused on Christ, and He will lead you through.