What a day... Gimel

I woke up late this morning feeling not so great. I was up late studying Spanish and reading the Scriptures last night. A morning dose of insulin and a glass of water quickly relieved my problem. Before I even had my first cup of coffee I was up and preparing to study Genesis chapter three. I have been listening to MacArthur sermons on Genesis three all week as it was read to me by my mac at work, and I have been listening to Genesis read by Stephen Johnston all week (I listened to all of it twice). All I can say is, "Wow!" and I can say it backwards, too, "woW!" :P

Today, I really looked into the first seven verses of Genesis 3, and was amazed at what I was seeing, and with connections it was making to other verses in the Bible (the picture is me studying last week with cheerios). I will have the study up on my other blog after tomorrow. At around 3 p.m., I helped my sister and mom pick out a good senior class photo for my sister, then I headed off in the pouring rain for Philadelphia. On the way to Philadelphia, I memorized the third stanza in Psalm 119, praying along the way. Since it was raining, the brothers and I decided not to go to our regular spot for street evangelism, so we headed down to the 30th Street Station in center city. We've been there before, and it is always a blessing. Well, I can't go into all the details, but we had a great time and left rejoicing in God's magnificent grace. I spoke to a Spanish Christian man from Puerto Rico, a drug addict from Ocean City (I think that's where he said), a homeless woman from Sierra Leone (W. Africa, her name was Christiana), and also brief interaction with a few other people. We didn't stay as long as usual, but went back to Pastor Mark's house to pray. Our prayer time was filled with rejoicing and requests to God, and we also prayed for souls in the hurricane storm down in the South, as well as for the police who are walking the streets now in Philadelphia (dangerous job). It was really wonderful to have fellowship with a bunch of "ordinary" men, who are fired up for reaching lost people in our cities. One brother, a former drug addict, alcoholic and homeless, is preparing to start Bible college soon (amazing to see the change in his life, as well as the same change in one of his old buddies - amazing). Others are just so much of a blessing to know.

When I left, it wasn't raining and the sky was clear. I came home, and behold, the stars where covering the face of the sky! One of our prayers tonight was a thanksgiving for God's faithfulness to His servant Abraham, that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the heavens and the sand on the seashore. My reason for sharing all this, is for encouragement to any who read, and to give away a little info into my life, showing that I'm not just a "smart kid" (I always despised those kids while growing up, and now I am one, but for a good reason - to help others know the gospel). As one man said to me last Saturday, "I'm a real person," I answered, "I'm a real person, too" (even though I've never been stabbed or been in jail, or joined a muslim cult - I understood the guy's point and wasn't disrespecting him). So my life is richly blessed to be spent with the greatest people in the world, the poor, lowly, downcast and nobodies of this earth, who by the grace of our precious Lord Jesus will one day be numbered with those stars.

Here is where I'm at in Psalm 119, I practiced it again on my way home:

Gimel
Deal bountifully with your servant,
that I may live and keep your word.
Open my eyes, that I may behold
wondrous things out of your law!
I am a sojourner in the earth;
hide not your commandments from me!
My soul is consumed with longing
for your rules at all times.
You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones,
who wander from your commandments.
Take away from me scorn, and contempt,
for I have kept your testimonies.
Even though princes sit and plot against me,
your servant will meditate on your statutes.
Your testimonies are my delight;
they are my counselors.