Where My Faith Lies

"...that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God." - 1 Corinthians 2:5

It seems to me that I am always in a battle of where to place my faith. On one hand, I have the world declaring that I should be a certain person, embrace certain things, and walk a certain way. And at first glance, it may appear valid. After all, its what my "heart" wants, right? Its what my natural man would do, without any influence from the Spirit of God. Is that not the pinnacle of man's goals, to fulfill all desires one might have and in that find happiness? At the very least this is what we are told by the 'wisdom of man'. 

Yet in myself (not because it is there naturally, but because the Sovereign God has placed it there) I find a better wisdom. Wisdom far beyond the wisdom of man, for "the foolishness of God is wiser than men" and in it, the power of God. The power of God to save sinners like myself from walking in the lusts of the flesh and the futility of sin. This power is displayed when, walking with Him, I see to the right and to the left former things that my flesh would have me grab hold of and for an instant I am almost fooled into believing these things to be good. Yet the power of God and the wisdom of God has taught me otherwise. 

By His grace, we are able to shut out the world's voice. Our faith does not have to come from the wisdom of men, and indeed it cannot. Instead let it rest in the power of God, who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, according to the power at work within us. If this is able to save a sinner like me, surely it can save the lowest of men. 

...I'm off to do physics. See you all soon :)

One Fine Day

Yesterday, Michael and I were able to go up into the hills by La Sierra and finish a project that Aaron was a part of a few months ago. This project was very important to us, but unfortunately we were not able to finish it because it got really dark and we had to go to Jen's b-day party. Mike and I never forgot it, though, so here is what happened yesterday:

If you want to see pics of the first try, I put some up in a previous post. It was the biggest rock that we rolled down the hill :) Mike and I were so proud, we felt like doing victory dances. Instead, we went and had a fattening victory dinner. Good enough. 

Spring break has been very productive. I'm almost done with the book I need to read for Minorities in America, and I'm really enjoying it. The Lord this past week has really been impressing on me the importance of living with intention - as per Dr. Mooney's message last Sunday. It really hit a string with me. Thank God that He pushes us into holiness, allowing our flesh to die and our spirit to live. May the Lord put an end to any dominion my flesh has over me! 

School and Such

I decided I needed to include more pictures to make my posts more interesting, so hopefully the pictures will do just that :) I have a lot of fun at school even though it can be stressful, so here's a glimpse of it:

This is a trip to Disneyland where Kim and I found an official Disney hobo. It was incredibly odd to see a homeless looking man sleeping on the bench not because I don't see it a lot but because it was in a park that costs $60 just to get in. After Disney security asked him to refrain from lying down on main street, he left without incidence :)

This is what we do in O Chem lab when we're waiting for something to boil, evaporate, crystallize, etc. Pretty entertaining if you ask me.

This is kinda what we look like when we're actually working :) Here I think we are waiting for our product to crystallize. I think we got a pretty good product (Methyl 3-nitrobenzoate)

In other news, Team S.F. (ask me later if you don't know what that means - probably not a good idea to say that on the internet!) meets for the first time this Thursday to prepare for our trip this summer. I'm excited about meeting regularly, it will give the trip a more formed shape in my mind of what we'll be doing. Even if that isn't accomplished, it will be good to get to know each other more as a team. Check back for more updates on how that is coming along and what we could use prayer for. Hopefully I'll be posting more on how God is preparing me for the trip because He definitely is. Until then, 

Auf Wiedersehen

Condemned Not to Sin Not

"Has no one condemned you?"

"No one, Lord"

"Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more."