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Dec
22
God Loves me?
Filed Under Life
I don’t think all of you understand how much God loves you. Let me say it again, GOD loves you!
Many of us find ourselves on the path of wondering why God created me, why has God placed me in these circumstances, why, why, oh why? You are not an afterthought to God. God was not just sitting up in Heaven one day needing a new friend when He decided to create you. He did not just look for the first newly weds to be your parents or find the family with the annoying siblings to be yours. He did not search for the poorest genes or worse DNA when it came time to create you. God did not just pick the left overs off the assembly line and put them together to form you. One more time, God loves you!
For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them. Psalm 139: 13-16
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. Ephesians 2:10
These two verses should scream the love God has for us. They should shout that we are not simply created on a whim. God has put a lot of thought into each of us. We feel little self worth in our lives because we feel so unloved, but how can any of us ever claim that God does not love us?
Need more proof?
Before this world was created, God knew that Jesus would have to die. In fact God had the plan in place well before you and I were created, well before the people of Israel disobeyed (many times), many decades before Adam and Eve, and way before He created night and day. Knowing all this God still created us. WOW! God knew His own people, the people He created to glorify Himself would turn their backs on Him and sin. He created Adam anyway. Before you were born God knew you would sin, yet He allowed your birth anyway.
…but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. 1 Peter 1:19-21
That is powerful. Perhaps you need to stop for a moment and just spend a quiet few moments with your Lord and Savior.
…
I don’t know that I can fully grasp what that scripture is saying. That is a love that we can not understand. That is a desire for a relationship that we cannot comprehend. God loves us so much that even knowing that we would betray Him, He created us.
We sing songs that tell us Jesus loves us, or tell us how wonderful the love of Jesus is, but do you sing those lyrics truly believing it? Those words are not empty, there is substance to it when God says He loves us. Can you read John 3:16 the same way?
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16
The tragedy is that most of us only get 50% of the test right.
Do you love God? Yes
Does God love you? I don’t know
God desires a relationship with you and any relationship has love going both ways. If you don’t feel God loves you then you can never serve Him with full potential because ultimately you will never give 100% when you don’t feel the love back. I know most of you are asking the question we all face as Christians, “why is God putting me through this if He loves me?”. Most of us wish we had that answer. Ultimately we all face trials and tribulations for various reasons. Some make our faith stronger. Some bring us closer to God. Others are because we have fallen away from God and refuse to repent. And many other reasons that only God can answer.
The one thing you should walk away with….God loves you no matter what you are going through. No matter where you are allow Him to meet you there. Allow Him to fill your life with His love. Simply know that God loves you, He loves you so much that He sent His only Son to die for you, a plan He had well before the world was formed.
Nov
12
Pray Strong
Filed Under General topics
How often a day do you pray? How frequent are your trips to phone line of God? How do you respond to the answers God gives? Do you pray strong?
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12:12
For a long time my prayer life consisted of…potential crisis, prayer, temporary relief, potential crisis, prayer, temporary relief, potential crisis, and on, and on, and on. While it is fine to go to God in time of need, if it is our only visits to God we are missing out on one of the greater blessings of Christ’s resurrection - being able to approach the throne of God. To be faithful in prayer is to be persevering in prayer; in Romans 12:12 the KJV uses the phrase continuing instant in prayer.
The first part of this verse says to be joyful in hope…that seems difficult in our world today. We often wonder where the hope is? Over 50% of the world’s population lives on $2 or less a day. More than that suffer in poverty. Where is their hope? The sick cannot find healing, the broken can’t find completeness. Joy? The joy we should have comes from the hope of eternal life. If it was not for the mercies of our loving God we would have been consumed long ago. Our pitiful lives would be a short few years and then eternity away from God. But instead God gave us His best - He gave himself on the cross that we might have eternal life. He took our place and saved us from eternity in agony - not just eternity in physical torment, but eternity away from the source of hope. We have hope in a loving, caring, and compassionate God.
You can only be patient in affliction if first you have joy in hope. If we were given seventy years and were done, we could never deal with the affliction of this life. Knowing that this is not the end, knowing that in fact this is just a small part of our very existence and that soon we will be glory forever. The verse has the order right, first have the joy, then the patience.
The only way we can be joyful in hope and patient in affliction is if we are “continuing instant” in prayer. To be faithful in prayer and to “pray without ceasing” means to be in constant sync with our God. Not only making request, but seeking His will moment by moment. We often wonder why we stray and have affliction, but when we spend hours or days or weeks or months or years from God, we lose our source of hope.
Pray strong means to be constant in prayer, it means to never stray far from God, it means that we seek Him constantly and search for His plan and will for our lives.
Oct
17
Do you know how much the earth weighs? Estimates put the weight of our great blue planet right at 5.9 X 10^1024 kilograms. For those unfamiliar with large numbers, that is 59 with 1,024 zeros behind it. To give you a reference, the average human male weighs 65 kilograms. Seem pretty small? If you were to circle the earth once at the equator you would travel just under 8000 miles. That is equivalent of roughly 4 of the inland USA lined up right next to each other.
We live in an awesome planet. It is simply amazing, but it in itself is pretty small when we pull back and look at our galaxy. Our galaxy does not look so big when we place it next to other galaxies. Our God created an amazing and wonderful creation. But did you know that only after God had created man did He say that His creation was very good.
God cares about you, extremely small and sinful you. David understood this…
When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained; What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him? Psalm 8:3-4
Who am I when I consider the work of God. When I see the sky, the trees, the stars, the moon, and the sun - how insignificant am I? But in the midst of my insignificance a great and mighty God is mindful of me! God knows who I am, but He knows more than that.
The song Hold My Heart by Tenth Avenue North ask, can the One who made the stars hear the sound of my breaking heart. God hears and knows our pain. God hears and knows our joys. God is concerned about you. God has a plan and a future for you. God wants you to follow His footsteps because His will is perfect. His plan for you will bring Him glory and you peace. It will bring Him praise and you comfort.
Can the One who made the stars hear the sound of my breaking heart? He can do more than hear…my God can give so much more. Who Am I? I am His.
Sep
7
Fitting in?
Filed Under Life
The above commercial is a PSA against drug use, but it could be a good representation of us as Christians. How often do we try to just fit in?
In school we dress like our peers, we talk like our peers, and we do the things they do just so we will be liked. We do all the things God hates simply so we can fit in. Our “friends” have a cut-out and if we don’t fit in then we won’t be popular.
In our working life we feel the only way to advance is to give into the pressure to fit the mold the “boss” wants. We run over the people below us and step on those next to us, all for that next promotion, all for that next advancement.
We do so much fitting in that we have left God out of our lives. We give Him a couple of hours on Sunday and we forget Him the rest of the week. We don’t take Him to school with us and we don’t allow Him to be with us on our jobs. We wonder why school violence is up? We wonder why jobs seem so stressful? Where is God? We are so busy fitting in that we gave Him no time.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12:2
We have tried so hard to fit in that the world does not see us any different. People complain that the worst sinners are at church. Teens do not see a difference in the lifes of the Christians because they all do the same things. At work you stepped over a co-worker and then tried to witness to them…all to just “fit in”. God calls us to be different then world for a reason. The Bible tells us that that they will know we are Christians (disciples of Christ) by the love we have for each other.
By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:35
Unfortunately the world sometimes can only tell we are Christians by the hypocrisy of our lives. Our double sided tounge gets us in trouble. Do you want to be a witness to Christ. Do you want your life to be heard? Quit trying to fit in, quit trying to be like the person next to you and start trying to be more like Christ. To truly achieve the success you want in life, to truly be the person God wants you to be, you must first quit being the standard puzzle piece and instead start being different. Show others the love of Christ by first loving them.
Aug
28
Wherever you are
Filed Under Life
There is a common excuse we tend to make when we need to get our lives right with God. Or when we need to turn to Him because of the struggles we are going through. We figure we will go to God when we get things in our life right. When we get the sin taken care of. When we get the new job, when we find the one, when we pass the class - then we will have time to turn the burdens over to God. We will have the time to repent and turn from our sin and focus on God, just another day, just another day…
The LORD is near to the brokenhearted. And saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18
Wherever you are right now in your life, God wants you to call out to Him. The brokenhearted can be healed and the crushed can be lifted. The storm can be calmed and the sin forgiven. Whatever you are doing, God can help you, you just need to call to Him. Enter His temple with a heart of repentance and a humble spirit, knowing that He can make it right.
When we have fallen so far, it is difficult to reach for God, but our constant prayer should be to draw close to Him. The closer we are to God, the less we have to reach when we go through a difficult struggle. When we are close to God, we know the path to walk. Whether we be lost in sin, going through a trial, or dealing with a decision, God will direct us.
Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” Isaiah 30:21
Which way are you walking? Are you listening to the voice of God? Are you so lost that you feel God cannot find you? He will come to you wherever you are, you simply must call out to Him. We go through so many of life’s pitfalls alone when we could simply call to God and He would be right with us. When He is next to us, we sometimes refuse to humble ourselves to His help. When we need an open door, He provides one. When we need the warm embrace, He provides it. When we need to be lead, He provides a direction. When we need forgiveness, He provides it. When we need healing, He provides the touch.
Cannot find God? Let Him come to you, simply call to Him!
Aug
14
I believe always…
Filed Under Life
Do you believe that Jesus will ever turn his back on you? Does it seem sometimes that God has packed up and left this world to itself? In the midst of heartache, it is hard to see a loving caring God, who Himself promised to never leave us or forsake us.
Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. Hebrews 13:5
It is not always the lack of material possessions that get us. Sure we ask for, we want this, we need that. We plead with God for just a few dollars more, one more car, or a bigger house. Sometimes, though it can be just as hard to be content with the situation we face in life. Whether it be a troubled spot in a marriage, a bad job, hurt friendships, or busted feelings. We often wonder where the God is who promised not forsake us then?
It is at these moments that we should reflect on the greatness of Jesus. The same Jesus who took the water and turned it into wine, is the same Jesus who will be with you every moment on the job. The same Jesus who made a few fish and some bread feed thousands, twice is the same Jesus who wants to be part of your marriage. The Jesus who calmed the storm is the same Lord who wants to calm the hurt feelings. The same Jesus who died for you, is the same Jesus who walks with you today. Jesus has not left, Jesus has not failed.
I believe always that Jesus won’t fail and that Jesus won’t leave me. He has held my hand and carried me through the darkest and toughest times life throws at us.
I believe always, always
Our Savior never fails
Even when all hope is gone
God knows our pain and his promise remains
He will be with you always - Building 429
Aug
7
You can’t take my God…
Filed Under Devotion
MikesChair has a new song called Can’t Take Away about how we can have everything taken from us, but one thing and that one thing is God.
You can take away
Everything that I’ve been holding
You can take away the sun
You can take away the very air that I’ve been breathing
But you can’t take away my God
Oh, my God, my God
It is hard to imagine that in midst of losing everything we would still have the only thing we ever needed - God. We tend to put so much of our worth into the things we have, both material possessions and our own status in the world, that we forget to put God in first place.
Our “stuff” takes a primary role in our lives and it becomes total devastation when we lose it. Our lives are defined by who we are and when we lose that we feel we have nothing left.
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. 1 John 2:15-17
John gives us the complete distinction between what the world has and what God has. The world’s goods won’t last, but God’s will. When our time is up in this world or Christ’s return happens we can’t take any of this with us. We can’t take our possessions and we can’t take our status in the world. All we can take is the relationship we have with Jesus Christ.
The good news is that is the one thing this world can’t take from us. The world can’t steal the relationship we have with Jesus. The world can’t take God from us. When you have reached the bottom and have nothing left, you truly have all you need - Jesus. Turn your eyes toward God and let His loving grace comfort you.
Jul
30
I can’t hear you, your actions are too loud
Filed Under Life
Are your actions speaking for you?
A man preaches that the sins of the youth group will destroy them…he preaches against the drinking, the premarital sex, and the gambling, yet on Friday it is not unheard of for him to go drinking with his buddies…
A woman demonizes the women of her church for the “immoral” clothes they wear. Seen through the week, she looks no different then they do…
We preach on Sunday and sin on Monday…are our actions speaking louder than our words? Are our words being lost because of what we do when we are away from church? Can we preach to the friend we enable into sinful actions?
Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Matthew 7:16-18
You will know them by their fruit - you will know them by what they do, not what they say. I can claim to be a Christian, but do I look like one? Do I act like one? Are my Monday through Saturday deeds fruitful for Christ? Is my every day living truly living up to the standards God sets aside in His Word?
We go to church on Sunday, but spent Saturday night drinking and partying…
We go to church on Wednesday, but we spent the evening before watching the shows that God hates…
We go to youth meeting, but we spent the day hurting those not as popular as us…
We call ourselves Christians, but we look like everyone else…
God calls us to be different because by being different the world will know us. They will know we are Christians by the fruit we produce. The good things we do, the life we live for God will shine from us, and the world will see we are different. You can’t sin and worship God in one breath…
Are your actions the wrong actions? Are they hiding the words you try to speak for God. Are they masking the actions you want to do for God. Are you producing the right kind of fruit?
Jul
23
Was God a little late?
Filed Under Life
I often find myself wondering where is God in the midst of all the tragedies we see on the news. Another senseless murder, another broken home, another child hurt, a hurt father, a grieving wife - where were you God? Was help just around the corner? Was God’s help just seconds late?
It reminds me of the passage in the New Testament, when Jesus joins the disciples on the boat. A storm quickly rises and the boat is taking on water. The disciples as I imagine are running around panicking worried about there life. Where was Jesus? He was asleep. Is Jesus sleeping on us now?
Sometimes in the moments of anguish we simply need to feel Jesus. We need that reassurance that he is right there beside us. I envy the disciples because Jesus was not only next to them physically he counted them as his closest friends. We don’t have that luxury of physically being next to Christ, yet we still suffer the same struggles the disciples did. The struggles of life make us doubt the closeness of God. They make us doubt the loving, caring nature of the God who saved us.
You know it is easy to forget, but God knows our pain. In fact He has felt it. When Jesus came to the earth, he took on the traits you and I have as humans. Do you think Jesus felt pain when they nailed him to the cross? He sure did. Do you think he felt pain when they beat him, kicked him, and threw him around? Jesus suffered a great deal of physical pain while on earth. That was not the only pain he felt - can you imagine the emotional pain he went through as well? The very people he came to save, the very people he came to help, now chanted “Crucify Him!”. The people he loved, the people he cared about, they turned their backs on him and placed him on the cross. That is a great deal of emotional pain, but it did not stop there - one of his trusted disciples turned him over to the Romans, and another denied ever knowing him. Only one of the twelve was at the cross. In his most painful moment only one of the twelve closest people to him showed up. Can you imagine being left alone like that - to suffer like that. That in your moment of hurt, no one who claims to love you shows up? Jesus felt a great deal of mental and emotional anguish because that is exactly what you and I would experience if we were treated that way. On top of all that he still had to bare the one thing those of us as born again believers will never have to experience - total separation from God. At the moment he bore all our sins, Jesus was separated from God. The one who knew no sin, bore every sin ever committed from day one to the end of the earth. That is what Jesus suffered…he knows your pain.
God’s never a little late, just like the cross every moment He has planned out. Every step you take He knows, and every time we cry out, He hears us. If we submit to Him, even in the toughest times, His plan will ultimately be our gain. We may have pain, suffering, struggles, and every other earthly problem, but our time here is only temporary. We are simply passing through. One day the beauty of Heaven and closeness of God will be the reality - we won’t even remember this world. One of my favorite passages in the Bible is Psalm 73. Let me summarize the story for you:
Asaph was walking along and he believed God would be good to his people, but he doubted God was being good to him. Every where he went he saw the evil people living what seemed like perfect lives. He was jealous of the lifestyle they lived. They prospered, yet he was poor. They were healthy, yet he was sick. He even says “they have more than their heart could wish”. He did not understand how these people who are evil to God, have it so well.
At this point it sounds a lot like our lives…we are envious of those who have it so well while we struggle.
Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. Psalm 73:17
The only way you can get through these trials, struggles, and painful times is by spending it with God. You can open His Word and you can spend time with Him in prayer. Once Asaph did that, he realized that they may have it good on earth, but there end is not what his will be.
Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. Psalm 73:23-26
God holds your hand. God walks beside you. God has never left you and will never forsake you. While it seems hard now, you have God on your side. He loves you, He cares about you, He wants to be with you. One day you will get to see Him in all His glory. You will get to see the wonders of the Holy one. All this stuff on earth - burned up, gone, no more. God is your strength - feeling weak - turn to Him!
Jul
17
Bart, It is a slow fade
Filed Under Life
There was a scene on the TV show The Simpsons that was a glaring view of the world we live in…
Bart: Are you guys crooks?
Fat Tony: Bart.. uhm. Is it it wrong to steal a loaf of bread to feed your starving family?
Bart: No..
Fat Tony: Well suppose you got a large starving family. Is it wrong to steal a truckload of bread to feed them?
Bart: Nuh-uh
Fat Tony: And what if your family don’t like bread. They like.. cigarettes.
Bart: I guess that’s okay.
Fat Tony: Now, what if instead of giving them away.. you sold them at a price that was practically giving them away. Would that be a crime, Bart?
Bart: No
In a span of 30 seconds you see the truly slow fade that gets us as Christians. Our sin is not always one major act and then it is done. Instead if we truly reflect we see the slow fade that leads us to the large sin that we so easily recognize. What starts out as one late night as a teenager, leads to one night of drinking, that leads to one night of…and one week of…etc. What started out so small, lead to larger and larger sins until we finally reach the breaking point.
But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. James 1:14-15
James warns us of the slow fade of sin. First you are enticed, the enticement leads to a sin, and the sin grows until we ultimately reach death. Maybe we do not die a physical death, but we kill friendships or destroy families. What started out so innocently faded into destruction. It was ok to steal the bread, right? But that lead to one more thing and one more thing until finally you are completely numb to the sin.
I am sure you have heard the old analogy of placing a frog in boiling water - place the frog in the boiling water and he will jump out. Place the same frog in water and slowly bring it to a boil and the frog will adjust to the temperature change and eventually die. Our sin is no different. We let a little bit in, a little bit more, and a little bit more. Eventually our life is out of control because we are in slavery to sin. We cry out to God asking why when it was clearly us all along who was at fault. When we first turned to the small sin we never asked for help. We never called out to God. We never sought His guidance and we fell. While falling we never reached for the hand of God, we just kept tumbling. We finally reach the bottom and we ask where was God…
In the middle of a slow fade? The water starting to boil? Ask God to open your eyes, show you your sin, repent, and turn to Him. Living life falling is not really living at all. Living for God with a repentant heart, is getting all you can out of life. Bart, it really is a slow fade!
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