Tag: christian

Peace

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Peace

When I was in the middle of the worst storm of my life I was seen through by Jesus. When I felt like I was being tossed around at night unable to see I was being guided through safe and sound.

I have been in the storm more then once, each time was more dangerous then the next and even when all odds were against me to survive, Jesus was right there with me unwilling to let me die just yet. People often ask me how I can believe in such an old antiquated idea. I recently heard the bible called a ‘nice story’. For me the Bible isn’t just some story, it has historical fact behind it, and more then that the length of time in just the old testament alone would be long enough time that unless inspired by a higher power it’s unlikely those events occur as they did. The prophesy laid down throughout the old testament, and then the coming of the Star of David as fulfilling prophesy wouldn’t have been likely. Astronomy wasn’t exactly a big science back then. Jesus foretold events to come, but even if you claim those parts were made up, who dies protecting a lie? Eleven men, who walked with Jesus for three years would be hunted by the Romans, and other nation’s leaders as they would preach and proclaim the word of Jesus Christ. Each of their eye witness accounts were written and matched one another based on their own backgrounds and points of view. Each man would fall one by one pressured to recant their story, admit they stole the body of Jesus Christ, and out their co-conspirators, yet not one denounced the truth. Who dies horrible, painful, tortured deaths, for a lie?

While it has been 2000 years give or take since the death of Christ, the works of the miraculous haven’t stopped. Most miracles happen and only a small select few know about it, or even say anything, but once in a while the story gets out and raises the question of these events throughout history. One story, a little girl diagnosed with a non-curable disease within her digestive tract, one day this disease will kill her. She’s playing with her sisters on an old tree on their property. She falls into the tree 20 feet and after hours of rescue they are finally able to get her out. Miraculously she walks away with a small bump on the head, not even a concussion. Within days it appears her disease is gone, and her health returned to normal. She had been fighting the disease for over a year. She recounts her experience talking to God and asked if she wanted to go home with her parents. She returned healthy, uninjured.

If this one miracle weren’t enough to sway me, I’d have to look back over my own life. I have several stories from my own past that should have taken my life, but surprisingly I’m still here. 1990, I was on an indoor slide and while at the top I was pushed over the side falling and landing on my neck. The fall probably should have killed me, but I walked away just a little sore. If that weren’t enough to sway me, I would see another miracle on September 12th, 2004. My convoy would be ambushed and my truck and another truck were separated from the group and made to run the gauntlet. 12 RPG’s, countless IED’s, and a hundred or so insurgent soldiers all shooting small arms at two trucks alone on a path designed to trap them. With chance after chance though damage was done, and eventually catastrophic damage, but not before miraculously making back to safety before the truck died when my foot came off the gas. It wouldn’t start again for nearly 6 weeks. Through the whole ordeal I was calm, and while every one else was yelling, I felt safe, at ease, and it came over me like a wave. This wasn’t from any amount of training, this was pure warmth and divine. If that weren’t enough, December 22nd 2004 a 155 round should have exploded just feet from my truck and miraculously didn’t. Had it detonated it’s likely someone if not everyone in the truck would have died. If that weren’t enough I should have died when a bullet went through my shoulder years later. Almost bleeding out, I wasn’t expected to reach the hospital alive. By the grace of God, and a divine encounter I survived waking up in the ambulance to everyone’s surprise. I had lost so much blood I was gray, and with purple lips I shouldn’t have survived the trauma and blood loss. Yet, when I was unconscious I distinctly remember saying, “God I’m Sorry.” And in response a loud, thunderous, booming voice replied, “You’re forgiven.” It was like I was hit in the chest, a jolt of lightning went through me and I awoke in the ambulance. The thing is, they never used the paddles on me. I never flat lined even though I was close. My vitals though low, improved once I regained consciousness. I begged them to let me go, I wanted to go back, but that wasn’t the plan. I didn’t die that day, and since then I have begun this blog, and I have begun to minister to countless others as I now openly discuss my faith. I have had a hand in saving the life of a man thrown from his vehicle in a roll over accident, and I know I have helped others through some very tough times. None of this would have been possible if God wouldn’t have spared my life that late afternoon.

Jeremiah 29:11-14 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.” For years I would try to find my purpose, and I would feel lost, forsaken by the God that supposedly loved me. For years I would grow in anger and frustration as one bad thing after another happened to me. I would suffer my final loss with my ex wife’s affair finally tipping the scale and pushing me beyond the max of what I could take in my life, or so I thought. I blamed God for the wrongs from people. I had always claimed to have free will, but when it came to others doing wrong against me I wanted to blame God. I constantly felt like my troubles were the result of God being angry and spiteful towards me. I couldn’t have been more wrong. The truth was fear, but not my own fear, fear of the Devil. The Devil attacks those the most with whom he is most afraid. Imagine for a moment the fear he had of Jesus Christ. If Christ could be turned, tempted by the powers of the dark side of the force he would be a failure to God, and would rule as King of the world, but nothing more. Jesus would not be tempted time and time again by Satan, despite his best efforts. Satan knew his time to rule over a fallen world was coming to an end. Lucifer would fail to turn Christ and when Jesus defeated death and rose in fulfillment of the scripture, the only thing Satan would have left was the prevent the human souls from being saved by Christ’s sacrifice. The Devil prowls around now tempting and swaying mankind into hate and despair. The Devil’s desperate final play before the end to stick it to God one last time is preventing as many souls from Heaven as he can.

We live in this world and allow this world to tear us down, to break us in some instances, and yet, we forget the most important part of the story, Jesus already paid our price. All we have to do as easy as it is to say, is make it to the end of this roller coaster we’re on. Life isn’t going to be easy, but if salvation were easy everyone would do it. If giving up ones sinful nature, ones desire to remain in control over ones own life, then everyone could do it, and salvation would loose something. Salvation is a choice, and a choice we have to freely make. I am not a perfect man by any stretch of the imagination, but I know that Jesus loved me so much he gave his life for me. I know God has plans for me and even if I don’t know what they are, I have to have faith. Proverbs 19:21 “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.” I have tried for many years to do things my way, to walk my own path, and every time I have tried, I’ve failed. I have run for many years from ministry because I always thought God was wrong. I was filled with so much pain and anger, how could I possibly help anyone else? The thing was, God doesn’t want perfection, he uses broken people all the time. Broken people are more real in their stories from what they were, to the healing power of the Holy Spirit. The true power of the grace of God is the redemption of the fallen, the rebuilding of the broken, and the finding of the souls that were once believed to be lost for all time. Through the grace of God anything is possible. The true blessings we have all because of God cannot be understated. While many will argue the nature of divinity, in my experience, seeing is believing.

Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” God knew exactly what he was doing when I was created. He knew my hardships, and he knew the man I would eventually become. It’s his grace that saved me, and his love that would deliver me from the brinks of death. A rare second chance and unlike many who fall back into old ways, I rose above, and though I’m just as boneheaded as I was back then, I strive to better myself. I try to grow in my faith every day and to be a light in such a dark world. If we are ambassadors for Jesus Christ I want to try to put my best foot forward. So long I’ve tried to stand out in the crowd. I’ve tried to make my name be remembered for doing something great. My own goals were not what God had in mind for me. Greatness doesn’t come how many people know you; it comes from the memories you leave behind to those who remember you. I will try to be the best man God wants me to be, and let history decide the rest. We must have faith in the plan, and let go of our own plans. When we allow the father to guide us it takes much of the pressure off on where to go, or what we have to do. We must fall on our faith that God will handle the details, and we just go where he leads us. Faith isn’t easy, but those who walk by faith, while life is no easier, often learn to take life more in stride then others.

We walk in this dark world, and if we are to find peace we must first find hope. How can someone continue to fight if they feel no hope? Where do we find our hope when the world falls down upon our heads? When the Apostils watched in horror as their Lord was nailed to a cross after being brutally beaten, they were crushed in spirit. They were utterly without hope, but after 3 days the blood debt was paid, the victory lap had been made, and Christ would rise and make himself seen fulfilling the prophesy and destroying deaths hold over the sinner for all eternity. What hope is there do you ask? While the living God is still on the throne there is always hope. Those who dwell in the dominion of Hell have been pushed back as the blood spilt bridged the gap from sin to God. Where we have hope in Christ we have light, and while there is light we will always have peace. The love of God that lights up the darkness is all we’ll ever need. A heavy price was paid, and we have the only thing that will ever matter, the love of the father.

The Good Shepherd

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The Good Sheperd

John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

As we move into this Easter morning, I wanted to spend a few minutes talking about how important this holiday truly is. We as a nation have walked away from the Cross and have forgotten the true meaning of sacrifice. The Easter Bunny and eggs, and baskets have become the focus and while that stuffs fun, this day is about so much more. Good Friday is a day of pain, of suffering, of death and sorrow. A debt we could never fulfill, but one could. A bill that would come due, and no matter how much good intentions we had, it wouldn’t satisfy the bill, but one man could. See, Easter is about hope, love, and self sacrifice.

Jesus would be the man born from woman fathered by the Spirit of God. He would be raised humbly, and when he was ready his journey to ministry began. He would face many hardships along the way, and as the Sanhedren became growingly anxious about his rise, they feared that Jesus would try to take his place as King, thus crumbling their seat of power. Jesus would be betrayed by a close friend Judas, and for 30 pieces of silver the price was paid for the man the people were calling the messiah. Judas escorted the Roman soldiers to the garden where Jesus was with the rest of the apostils. A kiss of betrayal, and foreseen by Christ, the beginning of the end.

Jesus would be tried and convicted for crimes he never committed. His fate would be put to the people in exchange for a known murderer, and yet the people decided to kill Jesus instead. Jesus would offer no defense and would take the beating, which left him bleeding out, and nearly unrecognizable. He would carry his own cross to the place he would be hung. Matthew 27:45-46 “45 From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. 46 About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli,[a] lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).[b]” This fulfilled the messianic prophecy from ancient biblical times. This moment God had separated from the man, and the man took the full wrath of God for the payment of sins. In that moment Jesus cries out John 19:30 “When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” Tetelestai which means it is finished, complete, and at that moment the Earth shook, the sun was covered, the temple crumbled and the tapestry was split from top to bottom symbolizing the end of the separation from God and man. The death of Christ was the pure sacrifice, the blood debt that was paid for the sins of man past present and future.

Jesus would rise again Easter morning. The cloth, which covered his face, would be folded and in that time symbolizing he was done, finished, and he would show himself to many as the risen Christ. The end of the man had come, but the beginning of the living risen king had just begun. We celebrate the defeat over death, and know that one day we too will rise and join the paradise of heaven. We too will be given the gift of eternal life and we will be blessed in the life beyond. The person who believes in Jesus Christ and who is reborn with the Holy Spirit in their hearts will be awarded the key to heaven. To love Christ with all your heart, to love your neighbors and to live as Christ would want. We are a people of sinful desires, of a wavering heart, but if we stay true to Christ, admit our sins, and love the father then we shall defeat death. The bill’s already be paid for us, all we have to do is love. We have to believe with the entirety of our hearts.

On this Easter Sunday, I ask are you saved? Do you know your savior? Do you know the blood spilt for you that would break your bonds of sin forever, and in a moment of pure love, Christ gave up his life for you and me. It’s because of Jesus Christ we no longer live in darkness. It’s because of Christ we can wake up in the morning full of hope, and share that hope with others. Today is a day for hope, for praise that the savior defeated death and we to are given that blessing. Without Easter we would have no hope, no purpose, but we are told to go forth and to make disciples, to spread the word of Jesus, and to baptize all in the Holy Spirit. We are never alone because the God over all is with us every day. Celebrate this glorious day, and remember with every tragedy is a chance to rise.

 

 

Stand by and do Nothing

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Stand by and do Nothing

Have you ever walked through the halls of your school (however many years ago) and you watched as the school bully was beating on the little kid in the class? What kind of person were you? Were you the kind to stand up, step in, and stop what was happening? Were you the kind to look away and walked on like you didn’t see anything? Through the years I heard a quote that would resonate in my heart, largely because as I was the victim of bullies in my school, no one ever stepped in to my rescue. “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” (Edmund Burke) We have an obligation to stand up for injustice. We have an obligation to show love to our neighbors, and to protect them when and if the need arises.

Cruelty and malice have infected our society, and it’s a rampant plague that has filtered down into our children. As we’ve stood by and watched horribly on television as school shooting happen. As we’ve watched terrorist attack after terrorist attack, and violence in our streets has left us in a state of unrest, and shock. We are surprised by these events now even still, but the truth is, why should we be surprised? We’ve allowed the word of God to be taken from every place of business. We’ve allowed hate to infect the hearts of our kids through media, through games, through our own example. We must figure out that if we are to stop hate, we must first love. James 4:17 “17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” We are told in scripture that we must do the right thing. Turning your back on the right thing is just the same as doing the wrong yourself. We cannot turn our backs when we witness injustice. We must learn to stand tall and do the right thing. The right thing isn’t always the easy thing, in fact, the right thing is often the hardest things to do, but we are commanded to do so.

“Dark times lie ahead of us and there will be a time when we must choose between what is easy and what is right.” (Albus Dumbledore) Who are we? Are we the passerby that left the traveler bleeding and dying on the side of the road? Are we the Samaritan that picked him up and cared for him? Are we the countless masses that sit idly by as injustice happens throughout the world around us, as we watch from TV shaking our heads, then turns to the next channel and forgets the suffering going on around you? Are we the type that let our neighbors suffer loss alone? Are we the type that have pity but no action? We have allowed our world to become darkness because we sat by and let it happen. We have the instruction at our fingertips and yet we ignore the basic needs of those who suffer in our very midst. We watch our friends suffering heartbreak, and we watch our friends suffer with finances and we offer little to no support. We do not take the time to help our loved ones, our friends, our colleagues anymore, because we ‘don’t want to get involved.’ We are all involved because we are all in this together. We are all involved with fighting Sin, and fighting the Devil one day at a time. When we allow those in emotional pain to suffer through and we aren’t there for them, we allow them to be the weak little lamb, picked off by the Devils hungry appetite. We should be doing better, and we need to do better. People are suffering all around the world, and if we realize that every little bit helps, pretty soon we lead by example, and the Love will spread to snuff out the darkness. Don’t do what’s easy, do what’s right.

 

How Do You Feel?

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How Do You Feel?

We are a nation, a society of shielding ourselves from real feelings. We are no longer a proactive society. We allow ourselves to be shielding from our feelings by way of relationships, money, and even sometimes our jobs. We no longer talk on the phone, instead we text and often people we may never meet in person. It’s easy to walk away because people don’t become attached, they don’t feel the connection. Money is the same way. We no longer feel the loss of money when we spend by just swiping the card. Instead of using the feeling of cash between our fingers we swipe the plastic and never see the connection between our money and us. We mismanage our lives poorly. We handle our money poorly, and we handle and manage our personal relationships. We don’t manage the gifts we are given by God. We don’t feel appreciative of the little things God gives us. We don’t feel that connection to our earthy gifts from our heavenly Father.

When we receive our gifts from God how do we look at those? Are we feeling our gifts, and are we any good at it? When we appreciate our gifts, when we actually have our feelers in the mix we take care of what we are given. When God gives us friendships, when God gives us people in our lives and we should cultivate those relationships. We should cultivate the money we are given, and ensure that we are using that gift to glorify God. When we feel nothing to let friends go, we must look at why we feel nothing. When we feel nothing for the money you spend, and you overspend, or use credit cards like it’s free cash, we see a society of foolish people growing.

When you look at your life and you look at what you have how do you feel? When you look at your life are you satisfied with the friends in your life? Are you satisfied with how you ended friendships? Do you feel badly with how you treated your coworker last week? How did you treat the waitress at the restaurant yesterday? If someone from the outside looked in on your life, would you be able to call yourself a Christian, or not? We all make mistake, but it’s important to understand the mistakes we are making. It’s not easy to evaluate our lives and figure out if we’re doing something right or wrong. Do we complicate our lives? Remember someone’s struggles, someone’s hardships do not constitute complications.

When we see something complicated in our society the natural reaction is to run away. We are a feel good society and we want to feel good. We want to rid our lives of anything that makes us feel anything but good. We want to emotionally spend even if we don’t have the money. We spend on credit cards because we deserve to have whatever it is we seek because we’ve earned it. We’ve had a hard day, or a hard week, and it’s decided we can indulge now, and deal with the implications latter. 1 Timothy 5:8 “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” If we provide for our household with finances we should be willing to help the rest of our family with love and support. We are a family in Christ and therefore we should be willing to provide what’s needed for those in trials to succeed. When we look at our loved ones, or friends who are going through a hard time, and we decide that dealing with them is just bringing you down, we use our feelings and yet we aren’t behaving as Christians. We don’t talk about things that are hard because it brings negative emotions that we no longer know how to manage in our lives.

We must learn to understand that both positive and negative feelings are important. How do we appreciate our positive feelings if we never allow negative feelings to be felt? If we run away from anything negative we miss the message in scripture. Scripture teaches us we WILL face hardships. Not only are we going to face the hardships, we are also told our brothers and sisters will also face hardships. This isn’t a suggestion, but we are told to raise one another, we are told to help carry the burdens of those in need in our lives. The thing is, if we feel the need to allow those to fall around us, and we don’t pick up their cross to help them, who’s going to help you? If you were in the crowd and you watched the Lord of all things fall, bleeding, and we choose not to help Jesus Christ lift and carry his cross because we don’t want to get involved, we don’t want the negative vibes to infect, to infest our good feelings, how do we feel? You see, when we abandon those in our lives because they have some drama, or they have hardships going on in their lives, leaving them to fend for themselves is not scriptural. Now, I will say some people choose to stay in their fire. They choose not to help themselves and they bring upon their own burdens. Those people can be difficult and it can be hard to keep them in our lives. Leeches are not what I’m talking about. Helping others is a scriptural principle that is non negotiable. We must help, but we are also told to use our gifts wisely. When we help those in need especially financially we must be good stewards of what we have.

I would like to think most people do not bring their own burdens upon themselves. But if they do, we must try to show the love of Christ. We must attempt to help show them a better way. We must be willing to put ourselves out there a little to help save them. If we were in a house with a fire would we not want a firefighter to come in to the house to save us? They put themselves at risk to save us from the fire. We can all be firefighters, or rescue swimmers, and help those in crisis. We can’t expect the fire never to come because it does. I challenge you all to take a good long hard look at yourselves and see if you have been allowing someone close to you to carry his or her cross alone. Have you turned your back on someone that reached out to you for help? Have you walked away from friendships because they had too much going on? Be good stewards, and walk in Christ in your every day. Be thankful for your gifts, but those gifts may not always be there if you are not walking in Christ. If you do not use the gifts of God to glorify God, you can’t expect the gifts to keep coming if we aren’t walking with the Lord in other areas of our lives. We feel all kinds of things in our life, but we must learn to feel the grace of the Holy Spirit. That grace is important because when we allow the Holy Spirit to be in us, we will feel more empathy for others. We will often feel more sympathy for the blights of others when we are more in tuned with the thoughts and feelings of those around us. We are all in this together, and we need others to help us sometimes and it’s important to realize that love is a give emotion. We are told to love our brothers and sisters and that means being there for them when we need to. Let go of your selfish desire to rid yourself of all negativity. Negative events will happen, and it’s not about if but when. We have insurance because we want it when something goes wrong. The thing is, when the fire comes we don’t want to have to face putting it out on our own. We call for the fire department and we appreciate them being there. Our friends are the same way. We should feel the pain of others and we should be driven to help when we can. Believe it or not, when we are able to help someone through a crisis, how we feel will actually be positive making a change to someone’s life. Love all, cherish all, and be good stewards of God’s gifts. 1 Peter 4:16 “Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.”

 

The Raging Sea

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The Raging Sea

My Lord,

I have often questioned why the life I’ve lived had to be so hard. I’ve questioned why I lived through such troubles. My God I have looked to you for answers to questions that aren’t easy. I’ve asked questions that haven’t been answered, and as the raging storm continues, I try to remember the truth, the Living God is still in power.

The storm comes in, almost like it formed in an instant and struck the world with a ferocious appetite. The storm churns the water and bounces and raises the waves, taller then the boat, and crashes down and fills your lungs, it fills my lungs and makes me choke under the pounding water.

My Lord, as the sea rages down and the skies are black and loud, and no matter the waves, the falling down upon my head, I know that there is still hope, there is still joy to be had. In the storm I find peace in the knowledge that God is with me. Finding truth that I will be fine in the end. The storm can’t last forever, and I know that I will endure, I will remain kind to others, I will remain loving and spread that love in the storm.

Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” No matter if we are living through the worst hell on earth, or if we have everything we could ever want, we must learn to truth in the Lord, and be faithful servants of the Lord. We must learn to love our neighbors. We must learn to have our patience with people, and patience in our trials. We must understand that we should be faithful friends, and not just friends of convenience. Are we only friends when things are shiny, or are we there in the storm? In the last several months I’ve lost friend after friend because they don’t want to be surrounded by negative ‘vibes’ as they’ve put it. That tells me that they have no desire to watch or be apart of the struggles of someone else’s life, a fair weather friend. We aren’t faithful friends, we fall short and we let our brothers in need down. We show our ‘friends’ they can’t depend on us, and if we are not allowing our brothers and sisters to lean on us, we aren’t following the word of God. We do not exude patience in our lives, because if we only show our impatience no one wants to be around someone who lets their impatience shine through rather then love, and calm.

What if God was as faithful to you, as you are to him? The truth is, in the Storm, when we are in struggle, how do people view us? I have found that people have little patience for someone in struggle. I have found myself struggling to maintain my own patience in the storms. I have found myself falling short in the words of Galatians. However, I know that where I have not fallen short is my love for others. I maintain my hope for tomorrow, and I have maintained my support of my friends. I have given grace, and love to those who would do me harm. I have shown my self-control when all I wanted to do was scream and yell, and let loose. It’s not easy doing the right thing sometimes, but in that moment I do let my voice raise, I instantly feel badly about it. I have found that I cannot rest until I make a heartfelt apology. We will be judged by how we act in the storm more so then when it’s clear skies. We must show our witness as genuine, we must be kind and caring not just when the world is bright, but in all times.

In the world of darkness are we the lighthouse shining as exemplas to our friends who are in the storm? Are we willing to jump into the waters to help save our friends in need? I think of the rescue swimmers in the Coast Guard, willing to leave the safety of the helicopter and plunge into the icy waters. They jump from safety to risk it all for those in need. They put everything on the line to be the hope for someone afraid, someone alone in the waters in the middle of the worst storm they’ve ever seen. The rescue swimmers are there to be the hope, be the light because they can swim longer, be stronger, be the hope and light in the darkest of nights. When we need hope are we left alone in the waters by ourselves, or do we have loved ones jump in to be with us to help us through?

When the raging waters are crushing the people we care about, are we there to help them, or do we stay dry. I have heard people tell me they don’t want to be apart of the negativity, they don’t want the drama in their life so they stay away. As a Christian we aren’t taught to play it safe. We aren’t taught to stay on the sideline, to keep our feet dry. Matthew 14:28-33 “And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind,[d] he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” We know the storm will happen. Are faithful that we will remain afloat in the eyes of danger, or do we doubt and fall into the abyss? Where do you fall today? Are you a faithful Christian with hope and love in your heart, or are you sinking under the waves? Are you a friend who would jump in the icy waters to save someone you claim to care for, or are you going to stay in the warmth of the helicopter? When the storm is raging and you need a friend, no matter if your earthly friends are there or if they have abandoned you, remember that God will never leave or forsake you. The Lord is your Sheppard, and he will be all you need. You will lay in the meadow; he renews your strength and will guide you. You will walk through the valley, and no matter what, the Lord will be there and you will be in Gods amazing grace always.

No matter where you are we know that we can always turn to God. If we are weak in our walk we can grow strength by opening our heart to the Holy Spirit. If we are walking in darkness and we reject the Holy Spirit, it’s never too late to change that. If we are forsaking our friends and turning our back on them when they need us, shame on us for it. If we are the ones being forsaken, pray earnestly for them. WE as Christians need to pray for our loved ones, we must pray for our enemies, and in all things have faith and pray for the storms all around the world to dissipate. Pray for peace, and joy. Pray for those who struggle with loss, with sickness, with pain in their hearts. For just one moment try to look through the eyes of our Heavenly Father. Try to look upon those around you with the love and compassion of the Lord. Try to see beyond our own piece of the pie and give grace and love to others. Not everyone has the strength to be a rescue swimmer, but we can all be the lighthouse on the shore. We may not be able to jump into the fray, but we can still be a beacon of hope. We can still shine with the light of the Lord in our hearts, and at least show there is still hope to those lost at sea. When we are lost, when we are in pain, don’t we want that? Don’t we want someone to remind us we aren’t alone, and that one day the storm will subside?

My God,

You are the ultimate lighthouse in the storm. You are the hand to lift us out of the dark, icy waters, and you give us warmth. You hold us and protect us from the evil all around us. You showed us a better way, a way of peace and love, rather then hate and despair. I believe in you my risen King, Jesus who died for me. I believe the power of the blood saved me, and all. I know I shall one day pass beyond this world, and see the gates of paradise and although that day may not be today, I know that the rain will pass, and the sun will shine. I hurt, and in my pain, I know that you are sitting on this couch right next to me. My God I know so many in pain, so many who are hurting and need you. I pray they open their hearts to you, and that they will find peace in the unrelenting screams of the ocean. When I was in the waters all alone you came to me and you showed me this life isn’t the end. You showed me a better path out of the darkness, and for that, I cry, I weep for those who have not seen you. I cry for those who have not felt the warmth of your grace, your forgiveness, your love. The peace comes and calms the waves, and the sun shines again. My God thank you for your unyielding love and grace. I will never be worthy of such things, but nevertheless I have it. I pray for those whom I’ve lost, and those who’ve gone their own way. I pray for those whom I love deeply, may you guide and protect them in the dark woods in which they roam. You my God, you are my guide, and I shall follow you till the day I breathe my last. The living water that flows over me, and pushes away the clouds, I feel you today. Though it may be raining outside, and the storm might be raging inside, the light still shines, and one day, one day soon, the storm shall pass, as according to your will. In all things to your grace my Lord.

Amen

 

 

 

 

The Cold Chill

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The Cold Chill

The weather outside is frightful, the cold frigged air has settled in, and the heavy coats and hats have come out of storage. The high today is less then 30*, the low is around 10*. What if the weather isn’t the only thing cold these days?

Have you ever felt as if you were getting the cold shoulder from someone? What about God, have you ever felt you’ve been getting the cold shoulder from God? We will look at scripture and deal with the cold shoulders from friends.

When God is silent there is a reason. In some situations God will allow us to run the course we’ve set. He will give us the chance to come back to Him on our own, and of our own free will. Isaiah 57:11 “Of whom were you worried and fearful When you lied, and did not remember Me Nor give Me a thought? Was I not silent even for a long time So you do not fear Me? When we sin and we sin often with no repercussions we become complacent to the words of the Lord. We fear nothing, and we fear no one. The problem is “The bill comes due… Always.” (Dr. Strange) No matter how long we keep the tab open, eventually we need to close out. God will allow us to rack up the tab without interference. Psalm 50:21 “These things you have done, and I have been silent; you thought that I[c] was one like yourself. But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.”

God even silent is always with us. God will never forsake you, and he will never abandon you. God is not like man, whereas man will leave you, forsake you, lie to you, cheat you, and hurt you, God will always love you. No matter what you may be going through, if it’s of your own doing, or someone else’s, God is always with you. It may be hard to stomach when friends fail you. It’s hard to know that maybe your friends don’t reciprocate the same feelings. It’s hard to realize you may feel more strongly about your friends then they do towards you. You won’t always feel the same about people that they do you. Our lives may lead us to feel more deeply for our friendships for one reason or another. Yes it is hard when you go day after day and your friends don’t reach out to you. It’s hard to be on your own. It’s hard to feel like you have no one to turn to, to spend time with, but know that while that may be the case, God is always with you.

You may be alone on this world today, but we never know what we will have tomorrow. It’s not easy to live feeling alone. Loneliness is a dangerous feeling. These feelings can spawn questions of your hope, but you need to resist the lies of the deceiver. When you’re feeling alone, and feeling down, you need to ask God for guidance. You need to get up and get out, finding your new place in this world. The struggles we face may be hard in the moment, but we have to keep pushing forward.

 

The Morning After

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The Morning After

Christmas is over, and the hype is now the biggest return day in the world. Now as we start to settle down from all the parties the pressure is off and once everything is returned or exchanged (which I have none of). For some the parties will continue for another few days, big families, but for the most part, now it’s time to look towards the future. I think so many people get wrapped up in the gifts and when that turns into the new focus, we forget very quickly that our Savior is still diligently fighting the forces of evil. The man who was born and died for us, is still on the throne, and we returned to our lives so quickly and we should be reminded to stop taking the focus away from God and put it back where it needs to be.

Matthew 25:34 “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:” The kingdom is ours if we follow Christ. If we believe in Him with our whole heart, and we turn our back on the desires of the flesh, the sinful craving. Let go of the nonsense of the stuff you got, the meaningless junk, that yes while nice today it will fade in time and mean nothing later. You can’t take it with you.

Enjoy the gifts God has given to you, which is the greatest gift we could ever hope for. The gift that we can have for all time, a baby born, to grow, to love, to suffer, and yet even after death would rise and fulfill the prophesy and forever break the divide between father and son. Our Abba, the father of all things, loves us so much he gave his only begotten son, and we should be eternally grateful. Enjoy the time with family, enjoy the nice things you got this year given out of love, but enjoy the name Jesus more then all. Let Christmas be in your heart today, and all year because without it, we have nothing to look forward to, no hope, no tomorrow.

Wants of Life

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Wants of life

Sometimes in life we can want something so badly but we never get it. I have experienced that a lot this last year. The things I’ve wanted and I have prayed for have never come to be. While I greatly appreciate the things I do have, there area couple of things I don’t have I long for and wonder why I’ve yet to be given the things I desire most.

We often ask ourselves what we’ve done to deserve such horrible things in our life. While sometimes our bad miss fortune comes from our own selfish and arrogant choices, sometimes bad things happen to the innocent just because of other people’s selfishness. In those bad times we may wish we had it better, or often say if I only had this life wouldn’t be so hard anymore. While these statements are true and probably have been uttered by nearly every one of us at some point, it’s the struggles in our life that truly define who we are. How one person deals with adversity is far more important then how hey deal with life’s bliss.

When we look to the things we desire we can’t always see the writing on the wall, that sometimes that thing, that one thing we wanted may actually not be good for us at all. Sometimes we should be thankful for unanswered prayers. We must accept

that if the time comes we will get what we want, and if we don’t there’s probably a reason for it.

My deepest desire is for a family of my own. To find a woman to love and cherish who will do the same to me. Someone I can have kids with and experience what it is to be a parent. While I’ve been so close to

That and have watched it crumble and be ripped away, I believe even though I’m incredibly lonely this holiday season, some day, my princess will come. (Yes I know it sounds cheesy)

Truly I would love for someone to take up the mantle of my Black Canary. I would love for someone to come into my life that will accept me, and help me along my path. You know you’re on the right path when in two people you find one another’s best selves. When you push each other to be better, to grow, to support one another. Having faith in those relationships despite my own horrors in my past relationships, it’s something I still dream about and long for.

Have faith that God is still there and if you haven’t gotten what you want, that you’re being prepared for it, or something better. God Loves his children and wants his children to be happy. Plans for joy, not pain. We must remember to have faith, keep the fire and light bright in our spirits and remember that God is supreme. Recognize the blessings this holiday season, and remember the reason we celebrate. It’s not the presents, it’s not the food, it’s the baby that so many years ago that was born to one day die to break the chains of eternal sin. Merry Christmas to all. And thank God for unanswered prayers.

Let your word be your bond

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Let your word be your bond

How many of you have been stood up, or canceled on time and again? How many people have told you they would do something you depended on them to do, and they’ve canceled or dropped the ball? So this is a touchy topic for me because it’s been happening to me a lot lately.

From wedding vows, to promises, to making plans, peoples word means next to nothing anymore. I’ve met so many people online that try to scam you, or get you with their friendly talk only to want you to shell out money for them, or catfish who just like hurting peoples feelings. I’ve had ex wives lie to me, and I’ve had best friends who swore they’d never leave, till they do. I’ve watched as this world has fallen to the depravity of lies and deceit and now I find myself in the center of some of the worst times of my life and yet instead of friends flocking to my side to help hold me up, they’ve stepped on the cross to push me deeper into the ground. When it feels like I’m being crushed I know that just like the bat signal in the sky, I cry to the Lord for strength and then to the Devil himself, I exclaim to come and get me because I will stand toe to toe with the Devil every day, and I know that there’s nothing the Devil can do because me and Jesus come together and we can get through any and everything the Devil might try to do.

It doesn’t matter how many friends leave. It doesn’t matter how much my body fails. It doesn’t the matter the muddy water I’m in, I know how the story ends, and it ends with my death, and every ounce of pain, every bit of sorrow being expunged from my life and I will look down at the Devil in hell and smile. I am God’s favored child and I know that the pretender that tries so hard to tempt us will always loose the fight.

People’s inability to live up to their word, and those who lie and consistently let you down, I know that one day, they will need me and I will do the Lord like thing, and I will be there for them. I make a promise I keep it. I have always been there for my friends. I have always made the time to talk, I’ve always gone to great lengths to help them, and for those who’ve taken my kindness for granted and for those who’ve not cared the amount of effort I’ve put it, it doesn’t matter because God knows my heart, and my ability to help others is strong and for the glory of Jesus. When the darkness surrounds me and the thoughts creep in, I know that there’s nothing the Devil can do to take away what I have. The ashes fell like snow around my life as I watched everything I built burn to the ground, but even in those moments, I knew that the reason was beyond my understand and that I had to have faith in the Lord. See the Lords promise is never wavering. The Lords word that we are free from death, and that in this life as a Christian we will face problems, we will face persecution, we will be attacked by the Devil, and those who are the most faithful will have the Devil nipping at their heals the most.

When those around me lie, cheat, steal, and fail to be the friend they’ve promised, I will do the one thing I can, and that’s to look in the mirror, and make the change from within. “I’m startin with the man in the mirror.” (Batman/Jackson) When those around me break me, drag my feelings through the mud, the place to be is on top and doubling my efforts to be there for others. “If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make a change.” (Man in the Mirror)

My message to everyone this holiday season is to stop saying you’re going to do something and don’t. Stop lying about your intensions or what you’re going to do. Just tell the truth, honor your vows, your promises, and if you’re going to be a friend, then be a friend.

Proverbs 11:3 The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.

Ecclesiastes 5:2 Don’t make rash promises, and don’t be hasty in bringing matters before God. After all, God is in heaven, and you are here on earth. So let your words be few.

Ecclesiastes 5:4-6 “When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. 5 It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. 6 Let not your mouth lead you[a] into sin, and do not say before the messenger[b] that it was a mistake.”

Matthew 5:37 “But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.”

It’s simple, keeping your word shows you have dignity. When you fail to live up to what you say you’ll do, or break promises, it damages your credibility. As a Christian we are taught that our upright credibility is very important. God wants for us to do the right things, and that starts with what comes out of our mouths.

All our Hope

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All our hope

All we can do is drop to our knees and pray, placing all our hope in Jesus. I know I’m not worthy to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven, but God is big and I am small. Some people are cruel, and manipulative. Pray to God for their souls, pray to God for the change that needs to happen.

I’ve been down on my knees a lot lately. I’ve been taken to the emotional woodshed, and all I can say is Thank God yesterday’s gone. Im no stranger to pain, no stranger to heartache and heartbreak, but I’m free and I’m saved in the Blood of Christ. We can be beaten, tortured, we can loose it all on this world, and we can be broken down, we can be so hurt we may not feel like we can breathe anymore, but if you can still draw breath, then the hope in Christ, all our sins are forgiven, our tears will one day be wiped away, and the pain of yesterday will be gone.

There’s nothing anyone can do to take your salvation away. Your heart for Jesus will outlive your pain, the attacks you will face daily. ‘If you can take it you can make it’ unbroken.