Friday, October 21, 2011

Questioning God in the midst of life's circumstances?

Today’s reading: Job 9, Job 10, Acts 13, Acts 14 NIV     
SCRIPTURE
“how can mere mortals prove their innocence before God?” - Job 9:2 NIV
OBSERVATION
Good question Job!  How, can you ask that in the midst of your circumstances?
Ever been confused in the midst of your circumstances?  I bet Job was.  Job’s story, is one of his trials at the hands of Satan, in the face of life’s darkest challenges, his discussions with friends on the origins and nature of his suffering, his challenge to God, and finally a response from God. The book is a didactic poem or a poem that appeals more to reason which is set in conversational language. The over-riding and oft-asked questions asked in the book of Job are, "Why do the righteous suffer?" “Do we really have the freedom to choose?”  “Do God really hear and care for us in the midst of our suffering, trails, hardships, etc...?” “Why do I feel like God is no-where to be found at times?”  etc.... ....
This morning I read a short story on Facebook that an old friend Sarah Lee Jimenez (formerly Sarah Atkinson) posted entitled, “When your hut is on Fire.”

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him. Every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming.
Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect himself from the elements, and to store his few possessions.One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, with smoke rolling up to the sky. He felt the worst had happened, and everything was lost.

He was stunned with disbelief, grief, and anger. He cried out, "God! How could you do this to me?" Early the next day, he was awakened by the sound of a ship approaching the island!It had come to rescue him! "How did you know I was here?" asked the weary man of his rescuers. "We saw your smoke signal," they replied.
Moral of the Story:
It's easy to get discouraged when things are going bad or things have caused undue stress, but we shouldn't lose heart, because God is at work in our lives, even in the midst of our pain, suffering, or stress. Remember that the next time your little hut seems to be burning to the ground, it just may be a smoke signal that summons the Grace of God.
Today, I’ve been reminded that in the face of discouragement I’m the only one that can change my perception, viewpoint, state of mind, emotional state, and spiritual state.  How? Honestly.... Holding fast to God & not tossing in towel.  Over the last four years, I’ve walked alongside my wife through post dramatic stress disordered, unemployment, relocation, the loss of family members, a dislocated shoulder injury (no ins to pay), our sons mountain bike accident, and just weeks ago my wife, two children, our nephew where rear ended in a car accident (all are okay).... through all that life seemed to uncaringly roll on and over me at times.... 
APPLICATION
Get up and give life both barrels; especially, when I’m feeling totally dismayed! 
(Someday’s that equal simple getting up, breathing, and going for a walk)
  1. Hold fast to God’s word via daily interacting with Him - through journaling (interaction).
  2. Exorcise.  Why? To feel good, burn off stress, release adrenaline, self-care, and because it fills me up.
  3. Hang around others that “fill me up” verses “deplete” me.
  4. Live within the “Margins” of life - allowing time to breathe and walk.
  5. Continue to fight and be a dream chaser. (Personal list: Husband, Father, Son, Friend, Care, Education, Sprint, Tin, & Olympia Triathlons, Soccer, Missionary, Home owner, etc...)
  6. Process things within forward thinking (pausing and fast forwarding the tape prior to making a decision w/ self, family, and trusted friends)
  7. Remember: Why do we fall?  So that we can learn to pick ourselves up....
  8. Why is life so challenging and hard at times?  Because it is.... .... and God never promise anything different.
PRAYER 
Lord, at time I feel so dismayed!  I ask that you would help me to listen and obey during the best and worst of times that I might grow in my knowledge, devotion, and love of you. Help me continue to to step out in faith as I hold fast to You in the midst of reality. Holding fast to You no matter what life tosses at me.  Here I am once again trusting You with my life, family, and future.... - Trevor
Additional Background on Job:
The book of Job tells the story of an extremely righteous man named Job, who was very prosperous and had seven sons and three daughters. Constantly fearing that his sons may have sinned and "cursed God in their hearts", he habitually offered burnt offerings as a pardon for their sins. The "sons of God" and Satan (literally "the adversary") present themselves to God, and God asks Satan his opinion on Job. Satan answers that Job is pious only because God has put a "wall around" him and "blessed" his favorite servant with prosperity, but if he lost his possessions, then he would curse God. God gives Satan permission to test Job's righteousness.
All of Job's possessions are destroyed; the 500 yoke of oxen and 500 donkeys carried off by Sabeans, the 7000 sheep were burned up by 'The fire of God which fell from the sky,' the 3000 camels were stolen by the Chaldeans and the house of the firstborn collapsed, due to a mighty wind, killing all of Job's offspring, but Job does not curse God but instead shaves his head, tears his clothes and says, "Naked I came out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return: Lord has given, and Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of Lord."
As Job endures these calamities without reproaching God, Satan solicits permission to afflict his person as well, and God says, "Behold, he is in your hand, but don't touch his life." Satan, therefore, smites him with dreadful boils, and Job, seated in ashes, scrapes his skin with broken pottery. His wife prompts him to "curse God, and die" but Job answers, "You speak as one of the foolish speaks. Moreover, shall we receive good from God and shall not receive evil?"
Three friends of Job, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, come to console him. (A fourth, Elihu the Buzite (Heb: Alieua ben Barakal the Buzite), begins talking in Chapter 32 and plays a significant role in the dialogue, but his arrival is not described). The friends spend seven days sitting on the ground with Job, without saying anything to him because they see that he is suffering and in much pain. Job at last breaks his silence and "curses the day he was born."
God responds saying that there are so many things Job does not know about how this world was formed or how nature works, that Job should consider God as being greater than the thunderstorm and strong enough to pull in the leviathan with a fishhook. God then rebukes the three friends and says, "I am angry with you....you have not spoken of me what is right."
The story ends happily with Job restored to health, with a new family and twice as much livestock.
What would be your life application to this text?

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Overcoming the defeats of disobedience.

Today’s reading: Luke 22 NASB
SCRIPTURE 
And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.” - Luke 22:61-62 NASB

OBSERVATION
Background: It was at the Passover Celebration, Peter boldly committed to live and die for Jesus.  Why at the Passover?  What is a Passover Celebration?

Called Hag HaMatzot (festival of Matza) in the Torah, the commandment to keep Passover is recorded in the Book of Leviticus: “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month between the two evenings is the lord's Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the lord; seven days ye shall eat unleavened bread. In the first day ye shall have a holy convocation; ye shall do no manner of servile work. And ye shall bring an offering made by fire unto the lord seven days; in the seventh day is a holy convocation; ye shall do no manner of servile work.” (Leviticus 23:5)
The biblical regulations for the observance of the festival require that all leavening be disposed of before the beginning of the 15th of Nisan. An unblemished lamb or goat is to be set apart on Nisan 10, and slaughtered on Nisan 14 "between the two evenings", a phrase which is, however, not defined. It is then to be eaten "that night", Nisan 15, roasted, without the removal of its internal organs with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Nothing of the sacrifice on which the sun rises may be eaten, but must be burned. The sacrifices may only be performed in a specific place prescribed by God (for Judaism, Jerusalem, and for Samaritans, Mount Gerizim). Regulations pertaining to the original Passover also include how the meal is to be eaten: "with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the lord's passover" (Exodus 12:11).
Some of these details can be corroborated, and to some extent amplified, in extrabiblical sources. The removal (or "sealing up") of the leaven is referred to in the Elephantine papyri, an Aramaic papyrus from 5th century BCE Elephantine in Egypt. The slaughter of the lambs on the 14th is mentioned in The Book of Jubilees, a Jewish work of the Ptolemaic period, and by the Herodian-era writers Josephus and Philo. These sources also indicate that "between the two evenings" was taken to mean the afternoon. Jubilees states the sacrifice was eaten that night, and together with Josephus states that nothing of the sacrifice was allowed to remain until morning. Philo states that the banquet included hymns and prayers.
The Biblical commandments concerning the Passover (and the Feast of Unleavened Bread) stress the importance of remembering: “And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt; and thou shalt observe and do these statutes." (Deuteronomy 16:12) Exodus 12:14 commands, in reference to God's sparing of the firstborn from the Tenth Plague: “And this day shall be unto you for a memorial, and ye shall keep it a feast to the lord; throughout your generations ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.” Exodus 13:3 repeats the command to remember: “Remember this day, in which you came out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, for by strength the hand of the LORD brought you out from this place.”
Passover begins on the 15th day of the month of Nisan, which typically falls in March or April of the Gregorian calendar. In accordance with the Hebrew Bible, Nisan is the first month of the Hebrew calendar's festival year.[6] Passover is a spring festival, so the 14th day of Nisan begins on the night of a full moon after the vernal equinox. To ensure that Passover did not start before spring, the tradition in ancient Israel held that the first day of Nisan would not start until the barley was ripe, being the test for the onset of spring. If the barley was not ripe, or various other phenomena indicated that spring was not yet imminent, an intercalary month (Adar II) would be added. In Israel, Passover is the seven-day holiday of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, with the first and last days observed as legal holidays and as holy days involving abstention from work, special prayer services, and holiday meals; the intervening days are known as Chol HaMoed ("Weekdays of the Festival"). Diaspora Jews historically observed the festival for eight days, and most still do. Reform and Reconstructionist Jews and Israeli Jews, wherever they are, usually observe the holiday over seven days. The reason for this extra day is due to enactment of the Sages. It is thought by many scholars that Jews outside of Israel could not be certain if their local calendars fully conformed to practice of the Temple at Jerusalem, so they added an extra day. But as this practice only attaches to certain (major) holy days, others posit the extra day may have been added to accommodate people who had to travel long distances to participate in communal worship and ritual practices; or the practice may have evolved as a compromise between conflicting interpretations of Jewish Law regarding the calendar; or it may have evolved as a safety measure in areas where Jews were commonly in danger, so that their enemies would not be certain on which day to attack.

Bottom line: Passover (Hebrew, Yiddish: פֶּסַח Pesach, Tiberian: [pesaħ] ( listen), Modern Hebrew: /ˈpesaχ/ Pesah, Pesakh, Yiddish: Peysekh, Paysakh, Paysokh) is a Jewish holiday and festival. It commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt.

Okay.  Why did Peter make such a bold statement?  Honestly, that’s one for Peter to answer.  My option - because Peters a man. As he makes a public declaration committing to live and die for Jesus, Peters quickly quieted by Jesus saying that Peter would deny Him.

I wonder what Peter’s body language conveyed to Jesus and the other onlookers. I can see him with sword drawn, on top of the table boldly declaring his willingness to die for Jesus!  Then slowly stepping down as Jesus states the opposite.  I wonder what Jesus’ eyes looked like (compassionate or fierce) as He corrected Peter’s courageous confession?  In the midst of their encounter and during the meeting of their eyes - after Peter denies Jesus (3) three times, just as He said Peter would. Peter must’ve felt sick inwardly - realizing that he did not live up to his bold, courageous declaration! Bitter weeping, uncontrollable feeling of being condemned. Peter’s denial of Jesus would be a mentoring lesson used by God, to develop his heart into one of the fiercest disciples who ever lived!

APPLICATION
There’s hope for me. There are times I’ve walked in Peter footsteps bolding declaring my commitment to Christ and then theirs moments where I seem to deny Jesus. How? By not responding in boldness to His promptings to witness to people - to strangers - even to non Christian friends. I say that I would die for Christ - but would I? What does death hold? I’m I more contend here and now than my desire to be with God in heaven?  YES!

I want to live differently by growing in boldness and confidence in Jesus. Even overcoming the defeats of disobedience's: mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. How do I overcome them?
Being honest with myself.
Praying for boldness, backing it with personal action.
Baby steps of achievable action.

Truth: My faith is lived out & reviled in the midst of my daily reality.

PRAYER
I ask that you would help me to listen and obey that I might grow in my knowledge and love of you. Help me continue to to step out in faith as I hold fast to You in the midst of reality. - Trevor

Pretend, Pretending, and Deceit. Is it wrong or okay? Does it depend upon the circumstances?

Today’s reading: Word Study “Pretend” NIV
SCRIPTURE 
“As soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly to them.” - Genesis 42:7 NIV

“12 David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. 13 So he pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard. 14 Achish said to his servants, “Look at the man! He is insane! Why bring him to me?” - 1 Samuel 21:12-14 NIV

“1 Joab son of Zeruiah knew that the king’s heart longed for Absalom. 2 So Joab sent someone to Tekoa and had a wise woman brought from there. He said to her, “Pretend you are in mourning. Dress in mourning clothes, and don’t use any cosmetic lotions. Act like a woman who has spent many days grieving for the dead. 3 Then go to the king and speak these words to him.” And Joab put the words in her mouth.” -2 Samuel 14:1-3 NIV
“One person pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.” -Proverbs 13:7 NIV

“Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be sincere. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said, so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor.” - Luke 20:20 NIV
“In an attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors let the lifeboat down into the sea, pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow.” - Acts 27:30 NIV

OBSERVATION
Is pretending right, wrong, or indifferent? Is pretending different than dreaming? Through-out my childhood society attempted to install in me that “pretending” was something permissible but someone that one should “grow out” of - aka? “Pretending” was deemed socially unacceptable.  However, in my personal attempts to define word / concept - I frequently found it’s definition coming up alongside “one’s dreams / aspirations.”
Okay, let’s go Wiktionary (Wikipedia’s dictionary).  Pretending, is the act of imagining; make-believe.
Let’s keep digging.  The root word, “pretend” is from Anglo-Norman pretendre, Middle French pretendre (French prétendre (“to claim, demand”), from Latin praetendere, present active infinitive of praetendō (“put forward, hold out, pretend”), from prae- (“pre-”) + tendō (“stretch”).

To pretend may be presented as,
To claim, allege, especially when falsely or as a form of deliberate deception. [from 14th c.]
To feign, affect (a state, quality etc.). [from 15th c.]
To lay claim to (an ability, status, advantage etc.). [from 15th c.]  
To make oneself appear to do or be doing something; to engage in make-believe.  

Why would people “pretend”?  Why would God direct people to “pretend”?  What’s the difference in Tekoa pretending (2 Samuel 14:1-3 NIV) and total deceit?  If David wouldn’t have “pretended” to be insane [deceiving his enemy] would he still have become a King (1 Samuel 21:12-14 NIV)?  Because of the past pain Joseph’s brothers cased him, he “pretended” to be a stranger to them and spoke harshly. So, then is “pretending” a tool used to physically and emotional protected us? (Genesis 42:7 NIV)

History is filled individuals the “pretenders” some have done a tremendous amount of harm while others have accomplished a immense amount of good.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945) was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian and martyr. He was a participant in the German resistance movement against Nazism and a founding member of the Confessing Church. He was involved in plans by members of the Abwehr (the German Military Intelligence Office) to assassinate Adolf Hitler.
In November 1932 (before the Nazi takeover), there had been an election for presbyters and synodals (church officials) of the German Landeskirche (Protestant established churches). This election was marked by a struggle within the Old-Prussian Union Evangelical Church between the nationalistic German Christian movement and Young Reformers — a struggle which threatened to explode into schism.

Hitler now unconstitutionally imposed new church elections in July 1933. Bonhoeffer put all his efforts into the election, campaigning for the selection of independent, non-Nazi officials.

Despite Bonhoeffer's efforts, in the rigged July election an overwhelming majority of key church positions went to Nazi-supported German Christians.[13] The German Christians won a majority in the general synod of the Old-Prussian Union Evangelical Church and all its provincial synods except Westphalia, and in synods of all other Protestant church bodies, except for the Lutheran churches of Bavaria, Hanover, and Württemberg. These bodies the opposition regarded as uncorrupted "intact churches", as opposed to the other so-called "destroyed churches".

In opposition to Nazification, Bonhoeffer urged an interdict upon all pastoral services (baptisms, weddings, funerals, etc.), but Karl Barth and others advised against such a radical proposal.[14] In August 1933, Bonhoeffer and Hermann Sasse were deputized by opposition church leaders to draft the Bethel Confession, a new statement of faith in opposition to the German Christians. Notable for affirming God's faithfulness to Jews as His chosen people, the Bethel Confession was however so watered down to make it more palatable that later Bonhoeffer himself refused to sign it. In September 1933, Bonhoeffer and his colleague Martin Niemöller helped form the Pfarrernotbund — a forerunner to the Confessing Church that was to be organized in May 1934 at Barmen in opposition to the German Christians.[15]

Although not large, the Confessing Church did represent a major source of Christian opposition to the Nazi government. The Barmen Declaration, drafted by Barth and adopted by the Confessing Church, insisted that Christ, not the Führer, was the head of the church.

For a year and a half, Bonhoeffer was imprisoned at Tegel military prison awaiting trial. There he continued his work in religious outreach among his fellow prisoners and guards. Sympathetic guards helped smuggle his letters out of prison to Eberhard Bethge and others, and these uncensored letters were posthumously published in Letters and Papers from Prison. A guard named Corporal Knobloch even offered to help him escape from the prison and "disappear" with him, and plans were made for that end. But Bonhoeffer declined it fearing Nazi retribution on his family, especially his brother Klaus and brother-in-law who were also imprisoned.[28]

After the failure of the July 20 Plot on Hitler's life in 1944 and the discovery in September 1944 of secret Abwehr documents relating to the conspiracy, Bonhoeffer's connection with the conspirators was discovered. He was transferred from the military prison in Berlin Tegel, where he had been held for 18 months, to the detention cellar of the house prison of the Reich Security Head Office, the Gestapo's high-security prison. In February 1945, he was secretly moved to Buchenwald concentration camp, and finally to Flossenbürg concentration camp.[29]

On April 4, 1945, the diaries of Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, head of the Abwehr, were discovered, and in a rage upon reading them, Hitler ordered that the Abwehr conspirators be destroyed.[30] Bonhoeffer was led away just as he concluded his final Sunday service and asked an English prisoner Payne Best to remember him to Bishop George Bell of Chichester if he should ever reach his home: "This is the end — for me the beginning of life."[31]

Bonhoeffer was condemned to death on April 8, 1945, by SS judge Otto Thorbeck at a drumhead court-martial without witnesses, records of proceedings or a defence in Flossenbürg concentration camp.[32] He was executed there by hanging at dawn on April 9, 1945, just two weeks before soldiers from the United States 90th and 97th Infantry Divisions liberated the camp,[33][34] three weeks before the Soviet capture of Berlin and a month before the capitulation of Nazi Germany. Like other executions associated with the July 20 Plot, the execution was particularly brutal. Bonhoeffer was stripped of his clothing and led naked into the execution yard, where he was hanged with thin wire for death by strangulation. Hanged with Bonhoeffer were fellow conspirators Admiral Wilhelm Canaris; Canaris' deputy General Hans Oster; military jurist General Karl Sack; General Friedrich von Rabenau;[35] businessman Theodor Strünck; and German resistance fighter Ludwig Gehre. Bonhoeffer's brother, Klaus Bonhoeffer, and his brothers-in-law Hans von Dohnanyi and Rüdiger Schleicher were executed elsewhere later in the month.

The camp doctor who witnessed the execution wrote: “I saw Pastor Bonhoeffer ... kneeling on the floor praying fervently to God. I was most deeply moved by the way this lovable man prayed, so devout and so certain that God heard his prayer. At the place of execution, he again said a short prayer and then climbed the few steps to the gallows, brave and composed. His death ensued after a few seconds. In the almost fifty years that I worked as a doctor, I have hardly ever seen a man die so entirely submissive to the will of God.”[31]

Did you get that!!!??!!

Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor who was involved in plans to assassinate Adolf Hitler!  Was Bonhoeffer “pretending” to be a pastor or was he an assassin? Can an individual be both?  How does this line up biblically Old and New Testament?  How did Bonhoeffer process this?

APPLICATION
To pretend or to deceive - Is it wrong or okay? Does it depend upon the circumstances? In other words is “pretending” okay? If yes, when is it permissible and when is it NOT? When does “deceiving” / “pretending” cross over to “logical” justification - and at what point does that become wrong? Does this seem difficult to anyone else? The fact remains that many esteemed people within the bible and through-out history have not been one hundred percent (100%) upfront all the time.  Where does “pretending” cross the line of “trust”?  I’m sure Jesus’ initial response to all my questions is one of Him gently chuckling and smiling as I actively wrestle out my faith (our at least that’s what I picture). Rather than grumbling, arguing, or getting frustrated, I’m choosing to move forward in my relationship with Jesus as I question many socially / biblically imposed concepts.

PRAYER
Lord, I praise you for your power and goodness to those that walk in faith. I ask that you would help me to listen and obey that I might grow in my knowledge and love of you. Help me continue to to step out in faith as I hold fast to You in the midst of reality. - Trevor

Monday, October 10, 2011

Not in alinement: Requests & Answers

Not in alinement: Requests & Answers



Today’s reading: Luke 17 NASB
SCRIPTURE
As Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem, he reached the border between Galilee and Samaria. As he entered a village there, ten lepers stood at a distance, crying out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” He looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed of their leprosy.” Luke 17:11-14

OBSERVATION
Has God ever asked you to do something and you refused to do it out of fear, insecurity, or whatever “logical” justification you could muster up? Or, have you ever made a request to God and when you discovered that His answer required you to do something illogical, uncomfortable, or difficult you gave up because it didn’t make sense or was just too inconvenient? I’ve definitely been there before. Jesus was on an important mission headed toward Jerusalem, and along the way he was interrupted by the shouts of 10 men. These men weren’t requesting food, or water, or clothes but a rather strange request of mercy. Upon closer inspection, it was obvious that these men had leprosy, a terrible disease, and were crying out for healing. Now, I would wager to say that they didn’t expect the response that was to come, for more reasons than one, but immediately Jesus looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” Huh? He didn’t say you’re healed, he didn’t say your sins are forgiven, and he didn’t cast out any demons. He simply directed them to see the priests. Can you imagine what they must have been thinking? “See the priests? A lot of good that will do us! We’ve already seen the priest, the doctor, and the healers, and no one has been able to help. I guess He’s not as powerful as we thought.” I’m not sure they reacted as I would have, but what I do know is that all 10 chose to listen and obey. At Jesus’ word, they turned and went, and “as they went”, they were all healed. His request seemed completely illogical, going against common sense and reason. They needed healing, and they were directed to visit their pastor? Does that seem difficult to swallow for anyone else? The fact remains that as they went, as they obeyed, as they stepped out in trust and faith they were cleansed. I’m sure Jesus’ initial response wasn’t what the 10 wanted, or even expected, but rather than grumbling, arguing, or getting frustrated, they chose to obey and would never be the same.

APPLICATION
How many times have I made a request of God and when the answer didn’t meet my hope or expectation I got mad and gave up? It’s scary to think how many times God’s power and release were waiting just around the corner, but my lack of obedience caused me to forfeit the outpouring. The Divine miracle of healing came when the 10 coupled their faith with action. They chose compliance over complaining and submission over sniveling, and their lives were changed in an instant. The power, the authority, and the compassion of Jesus were revealed to those that believed and yielded to His command. Today I will choose to step out in faith, obedience, and gratitude, as I respond to His love.


PRAYER
Lord, I praise you for your power and goodness to those that walk in faith. I ask that you would help me to listen and obey that I might grow in my knowledge and love of you. Help me to step out in faith regardless of the request or the cost that my life might glorify you. - Trevor