Things Not To Be Done

 Something that I need to remember throughout life. God's teaching me not to hold so closely to my plans lately, thought I'd finally write out my emotions in a poem.

“There are plans in life not to be done,
Life is not always full of love and fun
And yet our hopes and plans we hold too tight
Even if we know they will never happen, we say they might.
There are things we must learn to take,
When all our plans and hopes are at stake
We must learn to be disappointed and live on,
Though it may last all our days long.
There are people who will let you down,
But you must learn not to frown.
Rarely will you find a faithful friend who will always be there
Rarely will mankind not drive you to despair
But learn to deal with it, you must,
Learn to deal with it and yet still trust.
We believe such sweet lies and hold on longer
We fool ourselves into believing it makes us stronger.
But the more we hold on, the more it will break our hearts
The more damage it will do as it tears us apart.
Remember to hold all things loosely if all must one day go,
Even if it means we must keep our hopes low.”

My Last Poem For Who Knows How Long

A poem I wrote a while back, kinda to God, that it's not enough to write and talk, but I need to not be a hypocrite and actually live it out.
So here we go...

"It's not enough to write,
It's not enough to say all that is right.
It's a shame how at times my life is a lie,
It's a shame that my life does not echo my poems' battle cries.
For what is the use of talking when I don't mean it,
When I fail at living out every bit.
What a shame it is to get lazy, and don't live to the full,
Giving into pain's every pull.
Letting sickness and pain have it's toll with me,
In full, at time what a liar I can be.

But change me now, O God!
Up against my words, don't let me be found a fraud!
Help me to live out every word I put down,
By your grace, don't let me drown.
For it is not enough to simply write great things
For if the words don't match to my life, make it hurt like one big sting,
Shooting me back to life, all that should be true.
Please kill the old and bring on the new.
O God, let these words match up to a life I won't be ashamed to watch over before I die.
O God, don't ever let these words be a lie!"

God Bless,
 A.W.

Life

Life has been busy for me. It's been hard to keep up with the things that God has called me to do in life. And it's been hard to keep up with blogging. Have some topics in mind, but I don't have the energy to write about it tonight. I will probably post over the weekend, and will try and be more consistent in blogging. Sorry for the wait.
God has been teaching me a lot lately, and it's been a hard struggle with my sin all this week. A few weeks ago I watched a clip from I'll Be Honest, and they were talking about being satisfied in Christ. We aren't satisfied in Christ when we turn to porn and masturbation. We fall into depression so many times because we are not satisfied in Christ.
I never thought about it that deeply before. But it's true. So true.
That video hit me hard. Realized how dissatisfied I really am, and now that I know where I have fallen, I know where to fight. And believe me, the battle has been hard.
So life is busy, life has been a battle, life has been hard spiritually. But God is still there for me, and that's all that matters.
Also, this is a good video, even just to consider your own answers to the questions it brings up.

God Bless,
  A.W.

Resolved

"5. Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can."


"6. Resolved, to live with all my might, while I do live."


"17. Resolved, that I will live so as I shall wish I had done when I come to die."


Have you ever read through Jonathan Edwards' Resolutions? If you haven't I would highly recommend  them to you. To me, it's not only encouraging to read, but convicting.
In our day and age, it is hard to find someone taking their lives so serious and killing their sin as they should. There aren't many people like that today.
I know I am definitely not taking my life as serious as it should be taken. Perhaps that is why I struggle with taking the resolutions seriously. Sure I can read them and be encouraged, but actually considering what those Resolutions should look like in my own life is entirely different.
Quite a few times in this last month I have lain down in my bed at night, totally exhausted, and looked back at how the day was spent, and was satisfied with how it turned out. Not saying that I lived a perfect life that day, but I am saying that I lived with all my might that day, and tried to make the most of every opportunity.
When I went to sleep on nights like those, I had peace. I slept peacefully, which is rare for me, unless I sleepwalk. But I had a peace, a peace those nights that I knew if God would decide to take me that very night it would be okay, because I had lived the best I could that day. That day was not wasted.
I wish I could fall asleep with that peace every night.
But like I said, I struggle with taking life seriously at times. Maybe I should keep reading through the Resolutions, and be determined to change. I'm sure if we all did that, if we all took not only the Resolutions seriously, but our lives and sin, the entire Christian community would change. We wouldn't stay simple, and shallow Christians are whole lives. Perhaps the Resolutions are something we all should read and aspire to play out in our own lives.

God Bless,
  A.W.

What It Does Not Look Like

This is what 'Living not a moment wasted' does not mean.
It does not alone mean to study your Bible for hours upon hours each day. Nor does it mean to pray for hours and hours each day, or evangelize or teach the Word because it's what God has called you to do.
If you do those things alone, as a duty, you will waste your life.
The things that we do shouldn't be a duty for us. Studying God's Word, evangelizing, teaching, and praying are nothing without a heart of passion.
You can fill up your days all you want, but in the end, if you don't have passion, then all of that was a waste.
Sometimes I sit down and read a theology book, sure I am reading it, but my mind is only half focused. Half focused on the book and what it is trying to teach me, and half focused on worldly things.
How much do you think I am getting out of a book when I read like that?
Not much. Not much at all.
Yes, we are called to study God's Word and to pray, and in and of themselves, they are wonderful things to do. My point is that without passion and a heart to do it, you'll get no where.
You can fill your day up with good works all you want; but in the end, it's just as bad as sitting in front of the TV all day. Without the heart for whatever you are doing, it will do you no good.
'Living not a moment wasted' does not mean filling up all of your time doing good works.



God Bless,
  A.W.

"Life is a Vapor. Live Like It!"

God Bless,
   A.W.

I am not sure how to launch off a blog, or anything for that matter, but if anyone starts reading this blog they might ask why I named it, "Living, not a moment wasted," so I will give you an answer before you ask me. I named it because that is the one thing that has stuck to me almost ever since I became a Christian.
Don't waste your life. Live for eternity.
I hear about people dying every day, I hear it on the radio and the news, you hear it everywhere. People die each day. And all must stand before their Maker one day.
Even Christians must give an account for how they lived, and how they spent their time.
That terrifies me. I am not prepared to stand before my Maker, and tell Him that I had done nothing for Him. Because I haven't. I have done nothing in light of eternity.
So I have evangelized a few times, and defended my faith, and served my church. But what is that compared to men like Spurgeon or Edwards did.
You know one of the things that made those men great? Not only their prayer life, but their use of their time. How do you use your time? Do you make the most of your opportunities?
We were put on this earth to glorify God, so what are we doing, wasting our lives on things that will perish? What are you doing watching TV and surfing the web all day? Why waste your life?
I post this sermon jam because it has inspired the name of this blog, and it impacts me every time I watch it.
Don't waste your life. Live for eternity.

 --A.W.