Getting started one more time

06-11-05

Getting Started One More Time
Lord, as I learn and experience new things and see my life unfold. I see you there at all times even when I am so unfaithful. Lord as I try to begin once again in this commitment to you, I pray that I would not allow the Devil to attack me with words of discouragement and disbelief in what you would have me do. Lord I am such a failure in so many ways, but when I ask you to have control I cannot lose! Yet I still insist on taking control back from you and not allowing you to have your with my life. However, when I come back you are there with arms wide open full of love and discipline for me. Discipline because you love me too much to allow me to fall away and come back without experiencing the consequences of my actions. Lord as I make this first step in really getting back into the fellowship I so desperately need and want, I praise you and thank for your faithfulness in my life!
THANK YOU!!!!
God today I seek to challenge others and myself to live in the reality of the grace we have found in you. As you know I cannot do this without you, I must seek and surrender to you.
Lord, you are number one, most important in my life! Thank you for the blessing of Carla and what she brings into my life

Back at it again

4-19-05
Back at it again…
Well, once again here I am away from you and at school. I now have a better understanding of your life, friends, and experiences you have and have had while you are up at Prairie. We are now three weeks away from seeing each other again and even more than that, we are three weeks away from being together forever!

Today, I got up with Lucas and we worked out as we usually do however this morning we added to our work out and it had ill effects on me. After we were done, even while we were still working out I began to feel very noxious. After we were all done I was not sure I was going to be able to hold down whatever I had in my stomach. However, the feeling past after a short nap before class. This did cause me not to be able to do my devos before class like I usually like too. But I had little to know choice in the matter. Anyway I was thinking about it during the first class of the day and how it must not be a routine that I go through, I know we have talked about this many times, but I really think that the Lord has to remind me of it often because so much of what I do, I do because of my routine. So once again God decided to get His point across to me.

I began reading that book while still in the airport Sunday, and am planning to read it today and see how far I can get. It is very interesting, after reading the first chapter I would say I agree with him in principal but might disagree if I sat down and really hammered out the idea. But I am unsure as of yet… anyway I plan on doing the for the remainder of my afternoon and part of the evening.

I am in prayer for you for tomorrow!!!!


Love you soo very much!

In Him
Nathan

Two otters holding hands

4-8-05
Two otters holding hands.
Good morning Carla Sharp, how are you this fine morning? I am doing well, I am a bit tired I didn’t get to bed until around 11:30 and didn’t get to sleep till after 12! We did get up this morning and yes it was hard. But all in all I’d have to say it was worth it.
As far as devos go they went well, I had to memorize a verse for Hebrews class today and so I used some of my time to do that, but I thought it would okay since I am memorizing scripture I think it counts J
So, I saw two things this morning that caught my eye and I am praying about for today. 1. In Luke 12:35-59 Jesus begins talking about His return and being ready. But in verse 35 He says to be “dressed and ready for service” now the way I took this was that throughout my day I need to be dressed and ready for any opportunity God might present to me. Whether that be smiling at someone at the right time, sharing Christ through a loving action or word, or just flat out sharing Christ. So that is the first, and the second is very similar to that first. In Proverbs 12:24 it says: “Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in slavery. Now I know this is not the primary meaning but it hit me in this way; I need to be ready and most of all willing to serve God that I might “rule” or give willingly, rather than being lazy and having God have to take it into His hands and MAKE it happen. You see what I am saying we can give of ourselves willingly or begrudgingly.
My prayers for today are; that I would serve the Lord willingly and be ready whenever He might call on me throughout the day to do a particular task.


Thank you once again for marrying me, you are so very special and just flat out awesome!!!!!


In Him
Nathan

How long will it be?

4-7-05
How long will it be?
Here we are again, this morning we got up and worked out and it was stinkin’ hard but it was great to get up and get going again. Today I had a little harder time at first seeing what the Lord might have for me this morning as I read in my devos. However, as I began to examine things closer and thought through them, I feel like I have seen a reminder of a past prayer of mine. In the Proverbs passage today it talked about being prudent in your speech. Now I when I read that I was reminded of a prayer I was praying for a while. I really wanted to control my speech more, because I have a tendency to blurt out things with out thinking. So as I read that it just reminded me I need to begin to pray for prudence in my speech yet again.
So that and in Oswald to He talked about showing the resurrection in your life and not just talking about it to people. Basically being real and not just full of bs. God doesn’t want lip service in fact He could care less what I say I am doing, He wants to see what I am doing!

Oh I also found a verse for you ;-) its Luke 12:25 and it says: “who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” so my challenge to you in the midst of all your things you have to get done, is… Don’t worry! It will not help you and will only cause pain and stress! Let the Lord help you through your day!

And I am praying for you, as you go to the doctor L not fun at all! I am so sorry I cannot be there with you. But I am going to be praying for you!

In Him

Love Nathan

Marriage and being faithful till then

4-6-05
Marriage and being faithful till then…
Well, once again today we did not get up to work out because we had a test we were studying for last night, and we had devos. So it was pretty late by the time I got to bed. But the great news is my time with the lord has not suffered. Today was a great time with Him.
In Deut. 30:16 it talks about the Israelites and them being faithful to God in what He has commanded them to do. And then they would be blessed in the land they are going to possess. I read this at first and thought nothing of it, but once I began to relate it to my life and what I am doing and what I am going to be doing soon. I realized hey I am going to be getting married and hey, I need to be faithful in what the Lord has for me till then. And hey, if I do that my marriage will be on a much firmer foundation! And on top of that and most importantly it will be blessed because I will be following the Lord’s will.
So my prayers for today is that I would be faithful in the little things that God gives for me today, that I might show myself worthy of the wonderful bond and relationship that is “marriage”. I pray this for the fact that it is God’s will, that it might make me stronger and that it would make my future marriage relationship stronger in Him.


Thanks again for your thoughts and prayers, they mean so much to me when I know you are so very busy!

In Him
Nathan

A day in the life

4-5-05
A day in the life…
Well, today none of the guys got up to work out and neither did I, it was a bit discouraging at first because I thought that I had failed. But then I remembered God doesn’t care when I spend my time with Him; He just desires to be a priority in my life. So I then realized this was not a bad thing but a good one, I now had a chance to show God that He was important to me not my routine.
So, today we had like one of the best speakers we have had maybe ever come and speak. He was a prison minister, in Montana and was really on fire and super real! He spoke on how if God is willing to forgive people like; child molesters, murderers, and people who have stolen. Than we really have no choice but to forgive them and accept them when they come into the family of God.
Other than the speaker, I have just gotten done with my devos and today the Lord has impressed a couple of questions on my heart. 1. What gods am I following today? 2. As Jesus stated in Luke 11:17 no kingdom can be divided and survive. So am I divided in my heart? Cause if I am than there is no way I will make it.
Also in Luke 12:36 Jesus states that if your whole body is full of light and no part is dark, you will be completely lighted. Now, I have to ask myself am I completely light? But a better question is can I be? Well, in my opinion no I cannot, at least on earth. So as I read this I need not be discouraged because I cannot be all light. I can be encouraged because I can spend my whole life seeking and learning to become a brighter light.

All in all this was a great day, I had my first test to see if I was doing my devos out of habit or because I desired to do them and spend time with my Saviour.

My prayer for today is that I would not be divided in my heart, that I would not say one thing and then do another. I pray that I seek God’s help in order not to set up those false gods that we so often do. And finally to check my reasons once again why I am doing what I am doing. I want to be a real Christian who really wants to seek Christ and what He has for me today!


In Him
Nathan B. Anderson

Doing What I Am Commanded

4-4-05
Doing what I am commanded
Well, He never said it would be easy, and today was really hard to get up and work out and then to sit do my devos was just as hard. But after I have done both I feel far better and know it was what I needed.
So anyway what about today? Well, today I have been challenge to be faithful and do what the Lord has commanded for me to do TODAY. Not tomorrow or the next but to have my focus on today and what He will have for me throughout the day. I of course still want to work on the things mentioned in these past pages, but for today I feel a strong leading to pray for faithfulness in what God has commanded me to do today.


In Him
Nathan

Journal

4-2-05
Purging what need not be here.
Today, I had a hard time in Oswald’s book getting much, most of it I have heard and understand. But the one-year Bible today was a big help. I was reading the Duet. passage for today. And as I was reading it I notice a key phrase in the two chapters. “you must purge all the evil from among you” now as I read this I wondered how that works for me. I know that we are to have no sin in our lives, but back the O.T time they were to stone those who did not follow along. Now I know we are not to do that now… or are we? I began to think about it and in a sense we are supposed to stone, not be but the sin. We are supposed to find it so detestable as God does, that we want to stone that thing to DEATH! But most of the time we are to in love with our sin to want to kill it, so we just beat it up a little and want to call it good. Then we wonder why we have fallen into the same sin again.
So my prayer for today and the future is; that I would find sin so sickening that I would seek to destroy it by stoning it to DEATH!
Also that I would continue on in this new focus of getting up and spending my mornings with God. It has been a true blessing in my life thus far. Also I want to continue to try and check my motives why am I doing my devos today? Why am I at Bible school? Why do I want to serve God in ministry? Etc…
These things are so important that I get a hold of them and really live them out, I see the Lord giving me this avenue to grow and I don’t want to allow anything to take priority over that.

Thank you for your prayers


In Christ my Saviour and the entire worlds!!!

Praise Him for His undying love and sufficiency!
Nathan

Journal

4-1-05
The Time Has Come
Today, once again I read in Oswald and the one-year Bible. It was awesome I have started to see the many things we can draw from O.T Scripture. God put it there for a reason imagine that! and it wasn’t to bore us!
So anyway, in the very first part of the Deut. passage I was reading in today it talks about priests and some of the requirements for them. And made the statement that basically said; they were not to have a job because God was there portion. As I thought about this I realized how much this applies to me, I need not worry about finances because the God who created me and the whole world and the ability to make money, is completely able to provide.
Also God in the one-year Bible showed me that sometimes I am laying in wait just waiting for my opportunity to slander/hurt someone. The passage talks about wanting to kill your neighbor but in the N.T Christ tells us that if we even think harm another than we have committed this sin. As I thought about it started to really sink in that when I think about how much I dislike someone I am doing the thing as really acting out those thoughts. Man… this whole living righteously thing is really hard, but what an amazing help we have in Christ our intercessor. He is there whenever I am week and need help. The issue for me is taking hold of that help and allowing Him to do what He wants so bad to do. That is help me to make the right decisions and choose to have to the right thoughts.
It is only by His strength do I make anything out of myself and only through Him to I find a place to rest my head.

My prayer today, is that I would allow God to work in me to think and act in a way that is not only right but is glorifying to Him. And that I would seek to be heartful, instead of hurtful towards others, even those I do not like (but am called to love). Also I pray that I would rely on His provision and not my own, if I am relying on self than I am in big trouble!


In Him
Nathan

Journal

3-31-05
Once again, here we are.
Today as I was doing my devos I came across an interesting passage in Luke. Jesus asks the disciples who the people are saying He is? They replied and then He asks them who they think He is? Peter of course replies first, and says you are the Son of God. Jesus reply at first confused me because He told them not to tell anyone… YET. As I thought about that at first I was like man why on earth would He not want people to know who He was? But, as I thought about to myself, I realized that no matter what good I am doing for God, if it is not in His time than it is not in His will. It just reminded me that I must seek not only His will but also His timing.
Also, in Oswald today he challenged us to make sure we are looking at the sliver in others eyes while we have a huge old log in our own. As I read it I realized that so many times I am looking at what other people need to work on instead of what my own life needs for improvement.
My prayer for today is that I would again be real with God today, and that I would not be a hypocrite and being looking at other faults when I have my own I need to be focused on. And that I would be sensitive to the Lord’s timing in my life for today and the future!


In Him
Nathan

Journal

3-30-05
Day two,
Well, here we are again, I got up pretty early this morning and worked out for an hour then showered and started in on my devos. They went well this morning; I read Oswald and went through my one-year Bible. This morning I was in Deut. And Luke. Now as I read the set reading for today, I was wondering what the Lord would have for me today. At first as I was reading in Deut. I began to see clearly the order and design that God put forth in the old testament and how that translates into the N.T I was thinking that was what I was going to get out of this mornings devos, but then I got to Luke and it was the portion of Luke where Jesus heals the dead girl. And then the He sent them out and gave them power to do His work. Now I know we are not the same as the apostles, but we have all received a commission from the Lord. After Christ gave them this authority He sent them out into the world. But here is the kicker, they WENT they did not say oh I have some things to do before I go; they just got up and went!
Now I have to ask myself this question, “will I go and am I going?” I think more often than not in my day-to-day life I am not going. I am making excuses and not always following through on what Christ has for me in that day. My prayer for today is that I would follow Christ’s leading for my life today! I would not question His direction for my life today. He has a ultimate plan and if I am not following His daily plan for my life than I can miss out on what He has for me in the future for tomorrow and the next day. In closing, I pray that I would be faithful in the small things God gives to me today and that I would not question His leading.


In Him
LoveNathan

Journal

3-29-05
Well, here we go….
Pretty much since our conversation the other day I have been thinking about what I can and need to do in order to make sure for both of us that I share what God is doing in my life and not unconsciously piggy-backing on your experiences with God.
So here is the plan as of right now; I am going to try to e-mail you everyday or every other day with what I have felt God teaching and showing me.
I realize this might seem a lofty goal. However, as I thought through it I realized this is more what I need to be doing anyway. And if it’s the time that would keep me from this then my priorities are not correct cause just cause your not here doesn’t mean I can make you any less of a priority than if you were.
So, that is the plan and today is as good as any to start so here it is…

Today, I am not sure if you had a chance to read through Oswald but he was talking about being real to Christ. Making our walk with Him real. Then in chapel today we had like one of the better speakers we’ve had since I have been here. And he spoke on making our relationship with Christ the most important thing in our lives and how from that will flow the things that He wants us to be doing. He also talked about being just a doer for Christ and not having a focus on our relationship with Him.
I say all this to say… I really felt the Lord tugging on my heart and asking the question am I real to you? Of course at first I became almost defensive and said um… hello I am bible school trying to learn more about you so I can go out and serve you! But, again I felt God asking am I real to you? And as I thought about it I had to be honest with myself and say God I sure am not living like it. I don’t give you the time, effort, and love you deserve as my God. As I think about this I can’t help but think about the time when Christ asks Peter “do you love me?” and Peter responds “Christ you know I like you” Peter just didn’t get it. And as I thought about this question I felt God asking me, I realized I was responding just like Peter did.
So as I took all this and tried to make heads or tales of it, I have come to the conclusion I am not giving God my best at this point, I am spending time with Him yes. But I am not going into those times thinking that anything great will come from it. I go into because sometimes I feel like I have to, sometimes cause I want to, and others just cause that’s what a good Christian does. What I want to come from this question God posed to me today is for me to ask myself before I do my devos, before I help, before I “do” anything for Christ, I want to ask what are my motives for this? For what reason am I doing this? I would appreciate your prayers on following through on this, it is going to take me stepping past my personality and moving into an action that goes against my carefree nature. It won’t be easy but I need to make sure I am doing whatever it is because it’s in my heart to do it. Not because I am supposed to.

I have no Idea if this is going to help you or not. But just sitting here and typing this and thinking through my day and the events. Has really helped me to really think about this stuff and what is means. And… yeah I don’t know I just think this is going to be great if for no other reason than I have to think through things and sharing them helps me to feel them on as deeper level. I think I am going to start using this as a diary as well, I have no success thus far with writing in journals and have just gotten frustrated. But I think this could really work. Typing is way better for me than writing and I almost enjoy it. Where as writing I pretty dislike with a great passion ;-)
So anyway, here is the first of what I hope is a long-term series of sharing with you my heart. And what God is doing in my life semi-daily.


I love you with everything I’ve got!!!!!
Nathan

Here it is

Well,
as I begin this new way of typing out my thoughts in this blogspot, I hope I find it to be as encouraging and enjoyable as I did the previous way of sharing my thoughts.

Today I have felt like I am struggling through my day and don't feel near as close to God as I did yesterday, but it has overall been a great day. I have had some victories today and I have had some defeats but through it all the thing I must keep in mind is what do with those victories and defeats.

I thank the Lord today for my relationship with Him and with my wonderful bride to be.

Thank you God for all you have done for me, and all you have given me.

Praise you for your tremendous love and grace