Up the Stairs I Go.

I have written down three steps that I think it is going to take to get back where I need to be with God.

I. Brokenness
I have to become broken before God. Psalms 51 is an excellent Psalm it is David coming to God with a contrite heart laying everything down before Him. vs 17 says "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you will not despise." In order for Christ to work through me I need to let go of all my pride and arrogance and let God reign through me.

II. Repentance
Once I come to the point where I am broken I have to repent, there needs to be nothing in my life that holds be back from my relationship with Christ. In Mark 25:25-26 it warns against this "Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. " I will be the first the first to admit I am not here in my relationship, there are somethings in my life that I have to let go. Right now I am struggling with a hatred for someone, that i am doing my best to overcome, I am praying and asking God for the strength to forgive.

III. New Life
Repentance is about a complete forsaking of pat ways, its not about sinning and asking for forgiveness, when you know fully well you are simply going to do that sin again, repentance leads to a new life, a complete turn in the opposite direction. It's funny because we blame this on a our sinful nature, but the Bible makes no mention of a sinful nature after we are saved. Paul in I Corinthians 5:17 says "We are new creatures, old things have PASSED AWAY behold all things have become new" Jesus, in John 3 when He is talking to Nicodemus, says we have to be "born again" or become a brand new person. Now I am not saying that if you aren't perfect you aren't a Christian I am saying you when we ask for forgiveness for our sins that we should step out with every intention to live our lives free of that sin from that point on, and if we do fall to go back to the first step of brokenness, and start all over again, not having the mindset of "oh I am just going to stumble again" but with a heart of true repentance and remorse.

-Josh

Logic... because it makes sense.

Hello, my name is Josh Harper. I am a Christian. Why am I a Christian? Because I am a logical thinker. I am a Christian because I don't believe in evolution, because I can't believe that everything happened by chance. Because mathematically that is simply impossible.
So at the age of five, I made the logical decision in my view. I asked Christ into my heart, because nothing else made sense to me, and I didn't to spend eternity in hell... right? For the next fifteen years, up to the point I am now I went to church, read my Bible studied theology and doctrine and argued the Bible. But you know what I have come to realize? I believe in God simply because it is the logical decision, what it really boils down to is I believe in the concept of God, I believe God exists and works in the world today, but have lived my life as a "Christian" with no real relationship with Him, because I had my "fire insurance" and my head knowledge of the Bible. Why bother with a real relationship? It doesn't make sense logically to talk to God, or to have a relationship with Him.
I look at my life now and see it as empty and worthless, I am living the Christian life because its logical, not because it truly means something to me. Oh don't get me wrong I will argue it, and I will defend it vehemently; but only because it makes sense to me, I do not have a true relationship with God, I just ride on His concepts.

I want this to change. I want a real relationship. I want to truly believe in God, and not just say I do because its the only solution that makes sense. I want a fire. I want a burning passion for Christ. This blog will be that journey, the quest for a true relationship with God. And I start the only place I know how, praying. Not just talking, but actually believing it will be heard. and reading the Bible, not approaching it with my all ready formed thoughts but approaching it fresh, being bendable and being formed to what God wants me to be.

I invite you all along.

-Josh