Growing in faith.

So, today, I had an amazing talk with Denny Pattyn, the founder of Silver Ring Thing, and he realllllllly helped me out. Recently, I've been praying on what God's plan is in my life, and trying to give Him full control on what He wants. If it includes Silver Ring Thing tour, i would be so thankful. It's a dream of mine, and i'm dreaming a dream so big that only God can make it happen. but if it isn't what He wants and i don't make it, I'm fully trusting in Him and I KNOW it's in His plan. it's all apart of His perfect will for my life. If it includes college, He'll slowly reveal that to me and reveal where. If it's just doing ministry without college, it's what He wants. i've just been praying alot about it lately. And it's teaching me to have patience. His response to my prayers are not going to come overnight. but anyways, Denny really helped me lay things out on being a Christian, and just helping me grow in my faith. and let me tell you, i was overwhelmed today with His presence. it was an incredible feeling. He showed me a demonstration on Christianity. and how to explain it to some people. and I really felt like sharing it on here, hoping to reach some people by his demonstration. and this is what he laid out for me.

God, if you look up God in the Webster dictionary, one of the definitions says perfect. God is perfect. he said, all of us can anything the dictionary says, so why is it so hard to accept the fact that God is perfect? it says it in the dictionary right? so, God is perfect by definition.

Picture God as a glass of water. since God is perfect, think of that water being perfect with no contaminants in it. Water that we are able to drink.

Now think of yourself. I think of myself as imperfect, by example. We all have sinned. So with that sinning, we've made our glass of water imperfect, and undrinkable. If you pour our impure water into God's glass of water, it'd make it imperfect. but that can't be, since God is perfect. so what does this mean? it's saying that you cannot go to Heaven because you are not perfect. and God is perfect. so you're probably asking, what? I can't go to Heaven?

But because God's water is perfect, God sent His Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sin [our imperfect water]. Well, when you think of Jesus, is Jesus perfect? think about that. name some sins He's committed. *pause to think* that's right. you can't think of any. after 2,000 years, no one can prove that Jesus committed any sins. by this fact, Jesus Christ was perfect by definition AND example. making His water perfect like God. because He is God in the flesh. now, this still doesn't answer the question, how can we get to Heaven? well, along with Jesus, God also shared His perfect water by the Holy Spirit. Now, the Holy Spirit is perfect. when you are saved, you accept Jesus Christ into your life. but you also are given the Holy Spirit. who now lives inside of you. Because the Holy Spirit lives inside of you, God is able to wash away your contaminated water and forgive you of your sins. Now, even though it says your sins are forgiven, it does not say your sin is forgiven. You are still going to continue sinning by being a Christian. but because we now have that Holy Spirit, He helps cleanse us. this does not mean you can go sinning everyday. It now allows you to use the Holy Spirit to help you realize the sinning in your life. and help you recognize it and help you repent of it. Also, think of God as water again. water can be in 3 different forms. An ice cube, water, and steam. An ice cube representing Jesus Christ...an ice cube helps heal wounds. the same as Jesus Christ, who was sent to die for our sins in order to help heal us. water, being completely clean and perfect, the same as God. steam, as being the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit lives inside of us. We all believe we have souls. but we can't see it. just like steam. just like the Holy Spirit. We just can feel it, and it changes our hearts completely. Because of the Holy Spirit, we are given His great love for us and allows us to get through the gates of Heaven.

If anyone is confused on any of this, I'm willing to help explain. It was overwhelming for me to hear and grasp, but it definitely helped me grow in my faith alot today. I hope this helped some, and I thank Denny Pattyn for this demonstration. It blew my mind. and really got me going on my faith. Praise God.

Verse of the day on Bible Gateway:
The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
-Psalm 121:7-8...I needed to hear that. <3