Are You Worth Being Pitied?

In 1st Corinthians 15:12-19, Paul says something which I love. It's very thought provoking. He is writing to the Church in Corinth about the resurrection of Christ. Some people are claiming that Christ was not raised from the dead. Which would mean that we also would not be raised from the dead.
Paul explains that first off, if Jesus didn't come back to life. We are all doomed. Literally.

But then Paul makes another statement. He says that if the gospel is not true, then Christians should be most pitied among men. Why? Well look at Paul's life. The dude was beat up pretty much on a daily basis. People hated him. He was nearly killed several times. He gave up a prestigious title for that type of life. He could have literally had the world.
According to the gospel, if it is true, then in losing everything we gain everything. But if it is not true, then in losing everything... we lose everything.

Paul later in verses 30-32 adds on to this saying that he "dies daily" and that his (and the other believers) "lives are in danger every day."
But in verse 32 he says "What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with the beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, "let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!"

Now, I don't believe Paul was saying YOLO. But let's say he was; if the gospel is not true, we literally have no hope at all, so live it up while you can, right??

I believe he was saying, essentially, "If the gospel is not true, then we might as well chase 'the american dream.' "
John Piper was preaching on this passage, and he said that he believed when Paul wrote that; the lifestyle he was describing was one more like our modern day american dream. Live your life. Enjoy it. Make the most of it. Progress yourself as far as possible. Get what you can, just be happy. Live, love laugh. This is the only life you have, so make it last.
That is what I believe Paul meant.
Here's the crazy thing, and John Piper pointed this out in his sermon. Paul said that if the gospel was not true, then this is the best alternative. But modern day Christians are living that EXACT lifestyle, and they are calling it Christianity! How does that make any sense?

I don't understand American Christianity, or "cute Christianity," or (my personal favorite) Evangellyfish Churchianity. It does not make sense. Jesus said that we are to forsake this world and what is has to offer in order to follow Him. He promised that if we follow Him, the possibility of being homeless is great. That we would endure much suffering. That we would have to be selfless. There are a lot of things which Jesus Christ said to describe following Him, that not only is there a lack of that in American Churches, it is often rebuked.
Francis Chan told a story once, of how he explained American Christianity to a group of persecuted Chinese Christians, and upon hearing our religion, they bursted in to laughter asking "how did you get that from the Bible?"

Paul said, that if the gospel is not true, then he was to be pitied most among men. But for Christians, if it is not true, it seems like it's no big deal. Really think about it. There's not much of a difference between us and the world. We are aren't radical (no matter how much we like to claim it). We are complacent. We neglect the clear teachings of Jesus, saying that we must interpret it correct. Which is an absurd claim, because His commands are, for the most part, crystal clear.

Jesus made several promises about the costs, and the rewards of following Him. It's high time we believed Him.

Is your life one worth pitying? As of right now, mine is not. I hope and pray that it will become one.

Thanks for reading,

John Mark,

Injustice:

Lately I have been spending a lot of time reading the book of Jeremiah, and contemplating what God truly asks of us who are disciples of Jesus the Christ. Because I have been incredibly burdened by my lack of service to God. And one common thing that God keeps saying all throughout His word, is that the believer is to fight on behalf of the oppressed. To oppose injustice, and help the poor.

January 1st marked the launch of the Passion Conference. A meeting together of young believers to encourage them to be young leaders. And at this conference they addressed the issue that there are OVER 27 MILLION slaves worldwide today. More slaves on earth than there has EVER been in History.

Many of these slaves are women being trafficked as sex slaves, exploited for money and pleasure. Treated like rags, as if they are not even human, as if they have NO value. And if they try to fight their captures, they are raped repeatedly. They are paid very little, and then are forced TO PAY their slave "owners," which then makes them debtors to these slave drivers! They are in a constant trap that is impossible to get out of, unless an outer force intervenes!
But many of the local governments are being paid by these brothels, and when a slave escapes and runs to the local police to help, they unknowingly are running straight to the men that PROTECT the sex trade!! They are forced to have sex with clients and to act as if they enjoy it, or else they are raped and beaten, many either die or kill themselves due to such abuse.

"She was only eight when they threw her in the trade
Abused in her youth now a slave of this rape
Uncle prostitutes the niece before she got through puberty
And its hard for her to pray 'cause she's dropping to her knees for a priest
Geez, the cross that he wears is the cross that she bears
Pedophiles is what Im mad about."--Swoope On High Society's "Mad About"

Many of the other slaves work in some of your favorite companies factories.

Hershey's Chocolate, Forever 21, Victoria's Secret, Nike, Aeropostale, Toys R' Us, Urban Outfitters, Nokia, KYE (A manufacturer for Xbox, and HP) and Macintosh, among many, many others.

These companies give people jobs paying them around 30-50 cents a day, barely enough for food, and a small hut. Some companies force their employees to pay a months worth of pay as a deposit, and if they quit before having worked a full year, they don't get that deposit back.
They are forced to meet a certain quota, and if they do not they are physically punished. Many of these slaves are women, and they are sexually harassed at the work place by their supervisors.
There was one case where at a Nike factory some women came in to work on National Women's day, and they did not have shoes on that met the dress code, and they were forced to stand out in the hot sun for 2 hours.
Many instances have been recorded where women have fainted on site, some have even died because they are not given medical attention.
These factories many times have employees working around highly toxic chemicals with no protection. And there is normally only one doctor, and few nurses to service any where around 60,000 employees.
These employees are not allowed sick days, and if they file a complaint about the conditions or abuse, they are fired!
Nike has ADMITTED to being aware of such abuse, and their "solution" was to post a list of rights that each employee gets on to a wall in the factory. But most times these rules are rewritten by the factories so as to give the employees a false idea of what they deserve.
Companies (Nike in particular) claim to be helping the local economy, by moving in until the local businesses can support itself. When in fact, they move to a new area as soon as the employees start asking for better and more reasonable pay.

There is also another type of slave trade, that is not brought up often. And that is the trade that is often called "The Trap." It is the hood, the use and selling of drugs in the inner city.
How it starts for the individual, is that he grows up without his father around, and he sees his mother struggling to provide for himself and his younger siblings. Or worse, his mother is always drunk and high off of drugs. So he goes out, and ends up getting discipled by a drug dealer that grew up just like him, in how to hit the streets with a 9 millimeter and to sell drugs. So he uses that money to pay for his families expenses. But he makes enemies, and he eventually gets shot, and if he has children, the cycle starts all over again! Literally, life expectancy in some neighborhoods is 15 years old for males. But they don't know any better! School teachers teach them that their only options are to get famous, or to go to jail, or to die. They tell them that they are worthless and will be a failure in life. It's an endless cycle. It's ironic that they call it the trap!


"The blood, the murder, the carnage, we see it all

From afar, on our DVR's, Simply too busy to be involved,
It ain't our problem unless it's an easy solve,
The hands and feet of Christ, is it lies?
Or do our busy lives tell us not to sympathize
The social ears of the world should make us sick inside
The big supply of evil should not desensitize
If they hungry and we don't feed em',
Closet full of clothes, when they cold, need em'
What we do for the least of, we do the same thing to Jesus
I know you see Him in your vision, but for intervention,
You too busy with your genders and religion,
Is it pride, racism, or arrogance,
That let's em' die waitin' for a good american?..."

"Blood in the streets, we turn blind eyes

Is it murder, if we watch them die?
Blood on our hands, and we don't care why
We turn blind eyes, 'till we in the fight."--Swoope & Christon Gray, Blind Eyes (The Good American).
Now, if you are like me, you are probably at this point wondering, what can we do to help?

First, the biggest issue is that people are ignorant! They don't know about these issues, and when they do, they don't want to. Why? Because hearing this means when you buy those dope kicks, you are supporting a company that exploits humans. We have got to stop making excuses about these issues like "there's hardly a company out there that DOESN'T use slaves..."
We have got to realize that this is injustice, and we MUST do something about it.
We can not say that this is an unbeatable enemy. As soon as we say that, it becomes true.

Second, get educated about these issues! Find out about this injustice. You can not fight an enemy you don't know exists. Study up, and let your heart be broken.

Third, drop your pride! Big deal if you can't eat your favorite candy, or rock your favorite threads! Stand against injustice! Life is not about you!

I have been thinking lately, about the luxury I live in. I will be honest, sometimes I hate going to the grocery store, because I see people, and I can see poverty in their eyes. It's embarrassing.
So, I got to think about my life, and I asked myself why God chose to place me in America, in a well off home, rather then in the hood with an absent or dead father and wasted mom. Or in a third world country, working in one of these factories myself.
My conclusion? God did not give me this life and excess so that I could flaunt what I have and live like a king. But rather that I could give away all my excess and help hope those in need, fighting for the oppressed, and to live like a King.

Don't over look this issue. Fight. If you want a certain type of clothing, learn how to make it if you have to! Live like Royalty did.

Thanks for reading,

John Mark,

Dry Season:

I'll be honest. I don't really always like life. I have some days that I am just sick of it all. Although, it usually lasts longer than a day... more like weeks at a time. And, this is one of those times. Why do I hate these times? Cause I feel dry. Distant from God. Like the bridge between us is broken. Or as if He just gave up on me.

I hate this. I feel numb. I don't feel sad. I'm not depressed. But I don't feel happy. I long for that time when I feel God's presence again. When I read my Bible, and new things are jumping out at me on every page. But now, I don't feel that, at all.
I do my best to get into my Bible every day, not because it is some routine, but because I am hoping that, one day I will open it and be back at that place where I am reading and it is jumping out to me like it did before. I want that so bad. I thrive on that. I love and live for the presence of God. And right now. I don't feel it.

Who knows. Maybe it makes me a terrible Christian. Feeling entirely uninspired to do, or write anything Biblical. I love learning from that beautiful book. I love teaching about that beautiful book.

I really can not wait, until the day when Christ returns in a glorious show unlike my puny mind could imagine. When pain is no more and only comfort remains as we stand beholding His beauty and glowing in light of Him. Being entirely sustained by His self-sustaining power. Every pain, every tear, all will fall away. And all the good things that we enjoy will be brought back to their original perfect form before they were broken by depravity. And we shall be happy, and joyful, forever. I would rather be there then here.

But while I'm not. I will continue, even though I hate the lack of progress. I will continue on. I will keep seeking after God. Because tasting that sweet intimacy with Christ, is worth the dragging on life that I feel without it. God is faithful. He won't leave me like this forever. I know my Savior, and He will return. I eagerly await that day.

Confession: The Path to Healing.

So, it has been a day since I posted "From the hands of a failure." And I feel as though I need to write a follow up. I want to give you all some clairty in the why of my posting such a raw post. It all falls back on my heavy conviction of confession.

I gave you all the gruesome details of my struggle, and my fall, and I kinda left it at that. I am a strong believer in healing--healing that stems from grace alone. But I also believer that in order for healing there is a process that we have to take on. And that process is both confession, and repentence. And I don't believe you can repent without confessing. So let me try to explain my stance of confession.

I believe that confession--true confession--requires no pride. In fact it plays a great deal in destroying pride.
There are two types of confession. One is prideful, and one is not.
A prideful confession is one that seeks out pity. You confess so that people will feel bad for you.
The other kind, is for healing. Where you come humbly, realizing the filth of your actions.

Let's get into this. Whenever I fall--I sin--one of the passages that I first go to is Psalm 51. And if you are struggling with sin, I strongly suggest that you study this chapter. It was written by King David after he committed adultery with Bathsheeba, and killed her husband Uraiah. Wow. Haha, David messed up.
Well, writing was an outlet for David. He released pain, joy, heartache, guilt, anger, everything, through hebrew poetry and songs, many of which are recorded in what we call The Psalms.
And in this Psalm he writes down what he is going through, after this sin of his. And honestly, it describes exactly how I feel when I have fallen into sexual sin.
Since I am covering confession, I will try to stay on Psalm 51 very briefly, cause I have a lot to cover concerning this. My focal point in that Psalm is verse 17:

"The sacrifices of God area broken spirit,
A broken heart,
O God, you will not despise."

This is the heart of true confession. And where we need to start in our confessions. In confession, we first need to realize our filth, what we have done. We need to let conviction--the healthy form of guilt--sink in. We need to be heartbroken over our sins. We need to feel broken over our crime against God. Pride has no place before God. And I fear for the man who thinks so much of himself as to stand pridefully before God.

Why should we confess? Several reasons. The primary purpose of confession is healing. Jeremiah 3 records God talking to Israel about there sins, and concerning them He says in verses 12-13:

“‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the Lord,
    ‘I will frown on you no longer,
    for I am faithful,’ declares the Lord,
    ‘I will not be angry forever.
    Only acknowledge your guilt—
    you have rebelled against the Lord your God,
    you have scattered your favors to foreign gods
    under every spreading tree,
    and have not obeyed me,’”
    declares the Lord.

All that God requires of us is that we realize and admitt our wrong, and He will forgive us. And as time goes on, He will heal us. This is what God requires. Why? Because God gives grace to the humble, but He brings low those who are prideful. (James 4:6, and all throughout the proverbs). He requires no act on our parts, but merely us to humble ourselves, and turn to Him. This is the beauty of God and His grace. 2 Chronicles 7:14 would back me up on this too.
God is full of grace, but first requires humility.

True confession has no pride. Because it is confession that seeks out nothing for itself except healing. It is humble enought to admit that it is wrong, that it needs help.

Confession is a sign of conviction. John 3:


19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

Confession is coming to the light. If you refuse to come into the light, it is because you hate the light, because the light will expose you. But the exposure of our sins shouldn't be an issue. It clearly states in the last verse that God sees our sins plainly, even though they are done in the dark. So, therefore, confession is a sign of conviction, coming into the light, confessiong to God and man what God already knows.

For me personally, I would much rather come out and expose my own sins then to have God expose me before all men (Matthew 10:26). Or far worse, that I would have to take on the punishment for my deeds that I kept hidden (Hebrews 10:31).

And then there is confession before men. I normally refer back to James 5:14-16 when on this subject, where it specifically says to confess in order to be healed. And that you will be healed.

Now am I saying that in order for healing that you must write a blog and post it on the interwebs for all to see? No. I wish I hadn't. I did so only under conviction. And in doing so, Christ is using that to humble me. That my filth is known.

Let me give you what I did personally. During the entire time that I was in this sin, I was constantly praying for help. I hated my sin. I still hate it. The weekend came around, and I started to struggle, slightly less. But still struggling a lot. I constantly came before God acknowledging my guilt and my crimes. And I believe, according to what the Bible says, that forgiveness was given, and healing began. But in order for healing to be complete, the process must continue. So, Sunday night, I grabbed two of the guys from my youth group, two that I trust immensely and that have helped me grow in my faith tremendously. And I told them everything. I asked them to pray for me (which they did immediately, I praise God for them), and I asked them to hold me accountable. And I had them take measures to keep me from falling.

And then I wrote the blog. I wrote it as a personal note. I get that confession is hard. Especially after you confess once, and then you sin right after, so you have to confess again. It's embarressing, it's humiliating. I know. But it is worth it, if we come to a place of healing. This is the way God has given for us to be healed. One that requires humility.

So, if you are struggling with sin, I beg of you, humble yourself before God. Confess to Him the deeds that He already knows. And also confess to Christians around you who keep you strong. God is a Lover, and a Healer. He is faithful. Seek Him.

He is greater than i

From the hand of a failure:

I don't really know how to start this. But I guess the only fair way to start this is with a warning.

For any and all who know me, you know that writing is my outlet. I get stuff out by writing it. I am extremely expressive. I have always been in love with words. So I bleed on to paper. Pen and paper knows more about me than any one or anything; save Christ. When I am angry, depressed, sad, happy, or whatever, I can only accurately express it through words. And so here I am, once again cutting a vein, and bleeding out what's in. As I proceed, I don't believe, or intend this, to in any way, be something that that will boost my reputation. On the contrary, I intend this entirely to destroy me. To destroy my reputation, every rumor or thought, that John Mark Allen is a great man. Or that he is any good representation of Christ or Christianity.

Over the past week or two. I have been in a dry spot in life. I felt extremely distant from God. I couldn't feel Him, my prayers hit the ceiling and then fell back, and my Bible felt empty and lifeless. And this, for me, was terribly frustrating.
In this time, I began to fall. You see, whenever I begin to feel depressed, the biggest struggle I have is with lust. So first my thoughts fell. And this eventually led to porn.
Oh if mere words could express how much I abhor my existance. This, would indeed deem me a hypocrite due to all that I have taught. To all that I have told and taught that lust is equivalent to rape, to all the times I have claimed to respect and treasure women. All the times I have claimed that they are worth more than a tool for man's lust (which indeed they are, my actions do not take away from their worth, merely my view of it). I hate it. I hate not just my actions, but my being. I, of all people, knew better.
Then, to my humiliation, I recall back several months ago, where in words of anger I expressed with my brother, that I would not fall in that temptation. Ha.

Anger. I claim it to be my enemy but I call on him frequently as if he were a friend.
Recently, I have been entirely too quick to get angry and to snap off at my family. I became easily frustrated, annoyed and irritable to any and all around me. This had been going on for several weeks.

I honestly believe that anger, and lust even, are rooted by pride. Pride that says, I am good enough, I have the right, to be angry. I have the right to be angry because they had the audacity to oppose me. I have the right because I am me. Anger is selfcentered about what I want. It is rooted by pride.
Lust is as well. In that the entire time that I was falling into the hands of that temptation, I never stopped it in order to consider how degrading it was to women in general. My thoughts fell soley onto me. Getting momentary pleasure for me. Not considering that this would affect the way I view all women, and how it could affect the way I treat them. No, it all revolved around me.

Pride. I am an extremely prideful and self absorbed individual. If the above does not convince you, let me continue.
I love looking at myself. Seriously. My family can attest to the fact, that even if I was blind, I could locate a mirror in order to admire myself.
I love attention. Goodness, I know how to draw attention to myself. And I do it at times. I have even used my beliefs at times, in subtle ways, to get attention to myself. To impress people.
The Bible would describe this as robbing God of His glory.
Glorifying myself. Seeking praise for myself. Seeking to have my name known. Seeking fame for myself.

Oh goodness. I am a mess. I don't know what else to write, in this confession. I have written all that I can rememeber.
Please do not read this and assume that I am trying, in any way, to build myself up (though honestly, if you think that, I have no idea how or why). There is no pride in what I have done. Nothing noble or praiseworthy. It is all filthy and disgusting. And I thoroughly hate it. And would much rather not to have written this. But I am bound by conviction, as will be explained.

My entire point in writing this out, was not to glorify myself as a great Christian, because I have the guts to confess this on the internet. I don't want any of you to know any of this about me. I would rather you think that I have never fallen to these sins. I would rather be esteemed well.

My point was to have each and all who read this, to be thoroughly disgusted with me. To be appalled that John Mark would sin like this. Because I know my reputation among you, it is a good one. I want you to see me as a failure. As a waste. As Filth. And then I Want you to look at Christ. I know that it is hard to believe in all of this that Christ loved me enough to save me. He didn't suddenly decide to love me when I cleaned up. Or else He would obviously hate me. Rather, He knew about all this junk. He knew about all of my sins, and when I was His enemy He died for me. He saved me. He loved me. I want you to see His grace! I want you to see Him! I want to be disgusting to you, so that Christ will be shown so much more glorious to you all! Because in this, He becomes greater, and I become less. Look to Jesus. Not to me. Because I am worthy of wrath. He alone is good in me.

I honestly believe that God led me into that temptation in order that I may fall. So that I would realize my worthlessness, in order to lead me to be humble before my God, and not proud. God was very gracious to me, in that, this sin was all that He required I go through, in order to bring me low.

I apologize to you all, for how I have failed you as one trying to lead.


He MUST become greater, and I MUST become less.

I really can't stand

Going to "church'.
Go ahead, throw your stones if you will. But I'm just gonna be honest with you, as always.

I seriously walk into this building I attend, and each time, I feel empty. I am made extremely uncomfortable. Because it's so fake. Seriously, if my church is a perfect picture of Christianity, I want out.
It literally looks more like a Pagan religious ritual then it does brotherly fellowship that is described in the book of Acts. The Worship is a Doldrum, Missions are nearly absent. Discipleship is pretty much unheard of. And hardly anyone knows anything of what they believe. Some of them believe so basic, it's not even basic, it's John 3:16 without the rest of the chapter, much less the rest of the book.

I walk in, I see people who look more like the same pharisees that hated Jesus then the broken rejects that would cling to Him.
I walk in with shorts and a T, and people look at me like I'm insane... can I get really "Biblical" and wear a Fisherman's garb, girding up my loins? Or be a true Baptist, covered in the dirt of the deserts and clothes of camel hair?
If someone walked into my church, with tatts and piercings, I would bet money that they would feel judged, not loved.
Going to that brick building makes me sick.

We are so caught up in that building. It's more of a club membership then the Church. Ya know? Go there a coupla times a week, participate in the standard events, and then just hang with friends? You got those people near the fence whispering, and you can't help but look over your shoulder wondering what they are saying about you. It's twisted.
We call that building, "the church". We are so wrapped up in it.
Seriously look at your church, and honestly ask yourself, how hindered the worship and ministry would be if the building burned down. Messed up.

I walk in, and I feel empty. I look around baffled, asking "this is it? this is what people have died for? this is why people have been tortured, burned, and brutally, mercilessly murdered? this, is why my Jesus died? this, this can't be it.

Don't get me wrong, I have experienced true church before. Quite often actually. I have a friend in my youth group, and we get together frequently and discuss the Bible. It's amazing. I love it. We are cracking issues that have long baffled me. I am forever grateful for him. I praise God for the time we get together, it has helped me grow so much. In fact, our time studying has led to all this conviction about the church.

You see, the beautiful thing about Christianity is that it fits all cultures. You don't have to go to a culture and change it, because Christianity fits all of them perfectly. But in America, at least as far as I have seen it, our churches have our own culture, and anyone who walks in has to conform to it.
We have to "dress our best for God" rather than come as we are.
Don't get me wrong, if you feel convicted and it is a way that you worship, then so be it! But if I choose to walk in with jeans, a hoodie and a snapback, leave me be, cause I worship by coming as I am.

Our church needs so badly to get seeking the lost. Get into the broken communities. We have so many programs, but we never go and serve like Christ did, and like the Church is supposed to.
It's heartbreaking. It's sickening.

I want to ask you to join me. Join a movement with me, and many others. To break barriers in the culture. To change our churches. Start, by just being you when you worship! Whether you are dressy, or you are messy. Be you! Don't put a mask on, be who you are.
Then, find a way to hit the culture with the gospel, introducing the broken to good news, and not a new culture. Live for God. Don't live a Pagan ritual.

Hope you get something out of this. Thanks for reading.

John Mark,

Christ. You. Amaze. Me.

I am simply amazed by my Savior. On so many levels. So I want to skim over a couple real quick.

One that has hit me lately, is Hope. I'll be straight up with you, I hate my life. I hate that I sin so much. I hate that I get opportunities to witness and I say no. All these things. I am a child, no man, but a child, that is full of pride. Pride in the appearance that Christ gave him. In the ability that Christ gave him. I look in the mirror, though on the outside I may appear impressed with what I see, I am disgusted.

Literally, the only thing that keeps me going in this, is Christ. Hope that it is all forgiven, and for a purpose. Without faith in this hope that has given me a purpose through grace and holy forgiveness, I would be dead.
But, what kept Christ going? What was His hope? What was it that He looked at, that as Hebrews 12:2 says, He took the punishment for joy. What was this joy?

It was me. And you. It was the one's He created. This was what kept Him going, even as He was beaten and bruised. It was His love for us. What love!

Another, is Forgiveness. In that as I said, I hate myself for what I am. And many a time I am unwilling to forgive myself for this Cosmic Treason. He's already forgiven me... What? How? What Love. How He Loves.

And the last I will go over, is a mixture of both. It is forgiving us, and giving us a reason to hope even in times when we need forgiveness. The hope that, our failure doesn't make this all in vain. It is the hope, that, as long as I run after God, then even as I fall, I will fall forward. Even when I fall, I fall closer to Christ.

Hope, tomorrow is brighter than today, as long as today is passing, and Tomorrow has yet to come.

Thanks for reading,

John Mark,

Ephesians 1:15-23

Now, before I begin again, you must know that I do not claim to be some great Bible Scholar, I am not super wise and what not. In all truth, what I write, is just what runs through my head as I read.

I love how Paul begins, and when he talks about the first time he heard of their faith; he doesn't just say: I did give thanks. He says; "I still do! I give thanks and always pray for you."
Then he gets more specific.

When he makes mention of them he asks God to give them wisdom, and revelation in the knowledge of Him.
The eyes of our understanding. When you look at the Scriptures, do you always understand everything?? I do not, I look at it sometimes and it blows me away. I just don't get it sometimes, that is what Paul was praying about. That the Christians in Ephesus would have more understanding, of God and His word.
The Hope of God's calling, the hope that not only is Christ coming back as King of ALL. But also, that He is going to bring us home. To Him in heaven, and not tossed aside, as trash. (If you want, I'll elaborate on this in a later post.)
Not only the hope of His calling, of our reward, but of His power! Exceeding power which He demonstrated, when He raised Christ from the dead. He raised Him from the dead. Jesus had been dead for 3 days, where was He while He was in the grave???? I have no idea. I have heard it said before that during those three days He was in hell, I will not say yes or no to that, for I do not know.

But He raised Him from the dead, and this, this next part is our hope! He placed Christ above all things! Above Satan, above the Demons, above the world, above all that beats us down! God is in control!

How do we know this? The scriptures, that is exactly what Paul prayed, that these people, would understand this, so that they may have hope. But how can they understand, if they don't read?

Here's my prayer, that each of us, would not only read, but that we would understand. And that through reading, and understanding, that we come closer to Christ, and we set our hearts to fulfill His mission!

Ezra 7:10;
"For the Lord had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel."

Pray to God to prepare your heart to seek His law. And when you seek it, do it. After you do it, teach it.

That verse is something I need to work at. Seeking after God. There are somethings I need to do differently, and that is my goal. To grow more in Christ this year than last year. And last year was Spiritually the best year of my life. God can outdo that, He is God.

Thanks for reading,

John Mark,