Tag: christianity

The Fog Lifts

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The Fog Lifts

The darkness is thick and heavy. The weight presses down upon you like a boulder. What is this darkness you ask, why can’t I see? The fog that sits, and is so heavy is sin. We cannot hope to remove the sin on our own. We cannot lift the boulder that’s placed on our shoulders like Atlas. The sin in our lives will multiply and divide until we are so buried under it we have no chance to move. Thankfully there’s a cure for this great cancer and the cure is Jesus Christ.

There are other kinds of fog that will set on our lives, but usually it all comes back to a situation that was caused by sin, and leaves behind darkness. For me, even though I didn’t cause my spouses affair I was left in the darkness of trauma, fear, self-loathing, and I couldn’t see my way out. During my trauma something happened and a light shined through the darkness and acted as a lighthouse shining a way for me to travel. One might ask, if God was so great why didn’t He just tell me all the answers, or show me all I needed to know? While those are legitimate questions, the truth is very simple, God wants us to grow on our own, and when we grow in Christ the right way, we learn, we experiences, and God wants us to do this on our own with His guidance. So I was left with a light shining the way, and over the last two years I have found a path that shines brightly. There was one area of my life that was still shrouded in darkness, and that was my love life.

As my love life continued to fail, I often prayed to God asking for answers, or at least a path. As I mentioned in yesterdays post, I wasn’t specific with my prayers, and if you were God of the universe you’d probably have a sense of humor also. God thinks answering prayers in a way we don’t expect is funny. When we aren’t specific and He has a plan, often times we look at them and don’t always take them as blessings, but our tiny feeble little minds cannot possibly understand the big picture as God does.

We must trust in the Lord and not be ridged in our own ways because the moment we think we know more then God, is the moment we will be cast down a dark path. Trust in the Lord for as said in Jeremiah 29:11 (NKJV)11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” I’d like to take a closer look at this passage and focus on the word hope. As we enter this holiday season we focus a lot on ‘Good Will’, and ‘Cheer’, and ‘Joy’, but were does all this come from? We have joy because we know Christ came and we know that he prepares a room for us in Heaven, but more important then the joy, is the Hope we received knowing that Jesus Christ would overcome death, and without Christ we had no hope, just eternal darkness and fire. Because of that hope we know that our future is bright. No matter what comes our way in this life, no matter how bad things get for us here on Earth, we are not doomed to this life forever. We live in this life to prove ourselves to Christ, to show we carry the love of Christ in our hearts, so we may enter the gates of Heaven.

As my path has changed since God spared my life, I was struggling in one area of my life, and that was companionship. I prayed daily for God to send me someone and while He delivered it wasn’t exactly what I originally had in mind. God’s sense of humor does not escape me, and as I have realized, God often does the exact opposite of what I say I’m going to, or not do. I told God I wasn’t going to go into the ministry, and well….. That didn’t go as I had planned. I told God I would never get into a long distance relationship, and well, again, that went about as well as the first plan of not going into ministry. You’d think I would have learned to stop telling God what I’m not going to do. The path I am on is not easy, and it in fact may turn out to be slightly more complicated then I would have liked, but I often think back to Romans 8:28 (NKJV) “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”  As my new relationship continues to go well and we grow, I see that God’s plan was to have my life connected to the Philippines in some way. This path will both give me the opportunity to go there and to minister while I’m there, but also fulfill the promise to offer me companionship. God saw fit to answer two prayers at once, and I cannot fault Him for his creativity and ingenuity.  God’s funny that way, and whenever I think I have God figured out, and think I know where He has be headed, He throws a curveball and I find I knew very little all along. Though, even though I try not to count the steps now, I see the fog lifting on the last part of my life, and I see light in every corner. God truly does deliver when you are following His path. That’s not to say there won’t be hardships, or hurt, or pain along the way, on the contrary those things are promised. Don’t let the fog set in on your life and drain you of hope. While we may not always see through the fog in every situation, we know that God will guide us through. We have hope knowing that Jesus Christ was born, lived, died on the cross, and on the third day rose again in fulfillment of the scripture. 

It Takes Guts

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It Takes Guts

Have you ever had an argument with God? Have you ever won an argument with God? Very few in history have ever actually been able to stand up to God Almighty but there was one man who not only argued with God but was able to barter with Him.

Genesis 18:22-33(NKJV)

22 Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. 23 And Abraham came near and said, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? 24 Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? 25 Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”

26 So the Lord said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.”

27 Then Abraham answered and said, “Indeed now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: 28 Suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous; would You destroy all of the city for lack of five?”

So He said, “If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy it.”

29 And he spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose there should be forty found there?”

So He said, “I will not do it for the sake of forty.”

30 Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Suppose thirty should be found there?”

So He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

31 And he said, “Indeed now, I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: Suppose twenty should be found there?”

So He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty.”

32 Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?”

And He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.” 33 So the Lord went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.

Do we ever think we’re going to win over the perfection of God? While Abraham was indeed right, there was a righteous family left in Sodom, it came at great personal risk. Scripture is clear, Deuteronomy 6:16 (NKJV)16 “You shall not tempt the Lord your God as you tempted Him in Massah.” As it was written in the ancient world, the law was written do not tempt the Lord, do not try to bribe or barter with God. 7 Matthew 4:7“Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not [a]tempt the Lord your God.’” 

Are we so foolish to think we can bribe the Lord to bend to our will? I have often tried to make deals with God. Patience has never been a strong suit of mine, and especially when it comes to matters of the heart. God has a sense of humor. As I have been praying to God to bring me someone special into my life I guess I wasn’t specific enough. God thought it would be funny to have someone special come into my life who lives 8,683 miles away. While I’m sure God’s plan is perfect, His sense of humor is always a joy to see. Knowing how much I desired a companion in my life he saw it fit to make things complicated, and if I know that God’s plan is perfect, then so I know that there’s a reason sending the right lady into my life, no matter how far away she lives. I am grateful and thankful the Lord answered my prayers, and if I’ve learned anything it’s not to barter with God, and not to test God’s sense of humor. While I was lucky enough that God thought His answer was funny, I am thankful I did not tempt the Lord to wrath. God certainly thinks things are funny, and when I don’t think things will ever turn around for me, God always tells me “I’ve got this.” I’m not worthy of His grace and mercy, but I receive it in abundance every day. I have no idea where to go from where I am, but I trust in God’s plan. Now, I must learn to take my hands off the wheel and trust that God knows where I’m going. God’s got a plan, and it’s bigger then I could ever know or understand. God can lift up, or destroy. God can save, or doom. God can bless or curse, and I know which side of the fence I am on. I know where I’m meant to be, and I will continue to praise Jesus for everything I have seen and unseen. I will thank Christ for the amazing woman He’s placed in my path, and I will take each day as it comes.

God’s Way

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God’s Way

It’s amazing how God works things out. It’s amazing how beautiful the plan, and where blessings can come from the most unusual of places. There are things in my life I never would have guessed that would have come up, but now that they are in my life, I couldn’t imagine how it could be improved. God’s way truly is perfect, and when we live in Christ’s light we are sure to be blessed for our faithfulness, our strengths and our weaknesses. Trusting in God is an option, but the alternative is terrifying. God can do anything He wants and as he dwells outside the realm and laws of science and physics. The idea of miracles is a far off concept, and we look at them as religious mumbo jumbo, but there are historical accounts of these miracles. Is it so far to think that maybe, just maybe there’s truth to the accounts of these miracles? I think not, and the more you dive into the evidence the more it points to truth.

I was thinking about the story in Acts 19:14-16 and I thought of the scene in Casper when Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) runs out of the mansion and says to call somebody else. Acts 19:14-16 (NKJV)14 “Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so. 15 And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” 16 Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.”It’s interesting to think about an evil spirit being real, and not some made up story, but when you do the research you will find that the acts of Jesus and Paul are not just something found in the Bible but also in both the historical accounts of Josephus and the Qu’ran. Josephus was a Jewish historian who had no interest in proving who Christ was, but the evidence to the miracles that occurred can be seen far and wide.

There are things that happen all around us that we don’t usually see. Life is full of extraordinary things, but we don’t open our eyes to see the mystery of the Lord. Demons are very real, and we battle every day against the forces of darkness. Though we do not battle against flesh and blood, Ephesians 6:12 (NKJV)“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”It’s hard to wrap your head around, but when you truly take time to look around, to quiet the world around you, is it so hard or far fetched to believe?

We must know and understand that everything big and small is affected by God’s Holy presence. We are strengthened and in all things in the glory of God are possible. We must go forth in our life with pure hearts for the Lord. We must diminish and allow the Holy Spirit to thrive within us. After seeing the miracles of Paul a small group of charlatans attempted to perform an exorcism but for their own glory, not for God. Acts 19:15. The outcome did not go well for them, and it’s a lesson we must take away in our own lives. When we do things for our own glory and not for God we too will see the rotten fruit spring forth. I have seen miracles in my own life, and just that fact I am still breathing is one of them. I should not have survived on more than one occasion, but God saw fit to keep me around. I know that in my walk through this thicket, the thistles, the thorns, the quicksand, and many other traps the Devil lays for me, it’s God that sees me through. I do not rise each day for my own glory, my own purposes, but that of my Father on high.

In my past I think I have been guilty thinking God couldn’t pull through for me, and as Luke Skywalker said to Kylo Ren “Everything you just said is wrong.” I think God has shown me wrong every single time, even when I hadn’t acted on my own accord. God is capable of doing anything, and it’s not for us to put God on a shelf thinking He isn’t big enough to handle our hopes, our dreams, or our problems. We must hold fast to faith, and allow it to grow and fill our cup. Christ is the gift of life, and we cannot downplay the importance of our faithfulness, and hope in Jesus. The truth will set you free when you put your trust in Jesus, knowing that in all things God is working things for good, and hope is eternal with Christ. Don’t underestimate your blessings from God, and don’t be surprised with what you are given, especially if it’s something you’ve wanted a long time. Love can come from anyplace if we only believe.

The Veteran

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The Veteran

No matter the politics, or which side of the fence you sit on, the veteran serves this country. The constitution that all of you Americans enjoy the freedoms given, was paid for and continues to be paid for by the veteran. No matter what you’re faith, your heritage, respect for out veterans that gives us the protection we so appreciate. It is by the blood we have the greatest gift we could ever hope for. Beyond our beloved country we have the kingdom of Heaven we fight for. I am a United States veteran of foreign wars but beyond that and more importantly I’m a veteran of this spiritual war we fight daily. I am a soldier for CHRIST AND I’M THANKFUL TO CALL MYSELF A VETERAN FOR GOD.

Just as veterans shed blood for our freedoms, Christ’s blood was shed for our sins, Hebrews 9-13-14“For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the [b]purifying of the flesh, 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without [c]spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” While there is no more blood needed to be sacrificed, the continuing war rages on and we are on the front line of an invisible war, that we cannot see, but we feel the effect every day. Satan and his demons interfere in our human affairs, but no matter the day, Christ still sits at the right hand of the father on high, and we are always on the winning side. Freedom always takes blood, and blood with no spots was shed for you and me, and all those before, and all those to come after. How wonderful it is to know the army of saints in which I fight for. God, Jesus Christ is the greatest general of all time. Jesus Christ’s war plan is perfect, and we soldiers of Christ shall fear not for we know the way the story ends. We shall not fret over the lost, and do not cry for saint’s who’ve fallen in the name of the Lord who were beautiful soldiers who live for the Lord, instead rejoice and be glad in their new home seated in front of the father in Heaven. Be grateful for the saints who’ve been slain in the fight against darkness, for they are at peace now. I shall not fear the evil for I know who art with me who protects me. Psalm 27:1-2“The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid? 2 When the wicked came against me. To eat up my flesh, My enemies and foes, They stumbled and fell.”

I fought a war of men, and now I fight a war, waged in the spiritual. We sacrifice by picking up our cross and letting go of this world. Much like picking up a weapon giving up a life at home with families, soldiers prepare for battle, rush into danger and fight the war. The sacrifice is never in vein and we shall be blessed for more than we could ever hope for. Stay focused on our General and trust with every breath we take until the last. We will be rewarded for fighting the good fight, and finishing the race.

Live For God, Live For Love

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Live For God, Live For Love

Psalm 90:3-4“You turn man to destruction, And say, “Return, O children of men.” 4 For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it is past, And like a watch in the night.”

 

Awaken to God, allow your heart to be opened to God, trust that God has made you, and though we are small, God gives us hope in Jesus Christ. This faith is so big that even the faith the size of a mustard seed can move a mountain. God is so great He paints a masterpiece daily. We are a part of that painting, and we often forget how big God is, and how very small we are. When we consider the vastness of our universe how expansive it is, and yet how perfectly it all fits together how can we not think there is a great creator? From the perfect spin rate of the earth, to the perfect tilt, to the perfect distance from the sun, and at only 500 seconds for the suns warmth to touch us here on earth, we are blessed at the wondrous expanse of the cosmos.

 

You are a tiny blip of dust in the sunbeam. In a quote by Carl Sagan“Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every “superstar,” every “supreme leader,” every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there–on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.” God is great, God is perfect and it’s not for us to figure everything out. When we realize how small we are we can realize what God can do. When we are smaller then a grain of sand and God is so sovereign we can realize we were never meant to travel this life alone. A journey around the sun, 584 million miles, at almost 900 spinning miles per hour, and we think we are ordinary. God loves us tiny little creatures, He cherishes us so much that Jesus was born to fix, and restore our very nature of our selfish sins. Jesus Christ hung on a tree to show us how important we are. Jesus Christ had a chance and in a perfect act of love, no matter the pain, no matter the humiliation, the matter the temptations, remained on that cross to take the full wrath of the father, and that makes us extraordinary. We are small yes, but God knows every tiny bit of who we are and God knows each one of us individually. In my life, which is nothing compared to eternity with God, Jesus knows me by name. With so much in this universe Jesus Christ wants more than for me to be ordinary, and for that find the joy to awaken you, the blood that saves you, and find that at least for me, the universal sacrifice took me from small, to extraordinary.

 

God came to our blue little marble in the vast expanse of the cosmos to rescue us, to give us a chance, a single chance of something so special, so wonderful that to just follow the son, so that we may be gifted, inherit the kingdom of God. This God who created perfection, created every single one of us to be vastly different from the next person, a breath of life to live in a relationship with God. 1 Corinthians 10:31 (NKJV)31 “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” No matter what we do, we do it all for the glory of God because God will be around long after I return to dust, He was here long before I was thought of, and I trust that a God big enough to paint the cosmos pays attention to a little creature like me.

 

I hope that I can find favor in God, draw in God’s wisdom, and be filled with a sense of peace in the vastness of chaos that is this life. What are you living for, that our lives have become all about ‘me’ and we think we are big stuff on this blue ball floating in the vastness of space? Knowing I am small, and God is big, I feel comfortable knowing that it isn’t about me, and I never have to take this journey alone. I know that Jesus Christ is my savior, my hope in a world that seems so dark. I know that when I live according to God’s rule, and living for God’s glory, that I may be forgiven of my selfish sinful desires. I know that no matter how big the universe is, God came to this tiny blue marble to save us because no matter how amazingly small we are, God knows my name. That is love, and that’s the kind of love we should share with everyone we meet because there is no greater gift than that of love, unconditional, unselfish love. This life is a miracle everyday, and the miracle is not that we are living on a perfectly planned planet, in a perfect spot in the universe, the miracle is that God wants to go with on our every day journey, and we deserve to do more then give a nod to God, but our whole, undivided heart is for God. How wonderful a thought, how wonderful a sentiment, that God loves and adores little ol’ me.

 

 

Don’t Go To Sleep

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Don’t Go To Sleep

God comes to you in mysterious ways. We never know when the Holy Spirit will fall on you, and we certainly don’t know when the Lord will use you. I find myself perplexed as I have recently received validation that I am ‘wise’ and filled with the Holy Spirit. I never considered myself to be able to speak with authority on scripture, but twice in twenty four hours I have received such validation, and now the question has changed. I find it odd that God would use a man like me to do these works for Him. I wonder my strength to follow the will of God. I question my worth and value in this decision of God’s. I guess the closest person from scripture is Gideon. I know it’s not me that offers the change found, or the advice that comes from my mouth, I know it’s not me. I struggle taking any credit for helping, but at the same time, God gave me free will, and I could have very easily gone to bed. How often do we ignore the calling of the Holy Spirit and do what we want?

 

Judges 6:1515 “He said to Him, “O Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.”

 

Gideon tells the Lord ‘wait I think you have the wrong guy! I’m not strong, I come from the poorest tribe!’ The Hebrew translation for youngest is tsa`iyr or insignificant, and he means what he says. God however addresses Gideon as a mighty man of valor. What an honor for God to see such a wonderful quality in the youngest, and weakest of his brothers. God see’s the capability of a person, the truest potential that may not have been realized yet. God doesn’t make mistakes, and it’s in those times we are to humble ourselves before the Lord and trust and not question. When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, don’t ignore it.

 

We cannot fathom the impact we may have on a life if we just listen to that voice telling us the path to take. It would have been so easy for me to go to sleep, put off a conversation that it seems had major impact. The Holy Spirit guides and all we have to do is stop fighting for the steering wheel. What if Paul had decided he’d had enough after his first missionary journey? What if he decided he didn’t want to be beaten, or stoned anymore so he stayed home? What if he had decided he was going to allow fear to win over the instruction of God? Stand tall, and be full of valor of the Holy Spirit in your life. Don’t go back to bed when you are called to God’s work. Don’t allow laziness, or fear keep you from getting out of your comfort zone and going into the world we are called to be in to make real possible everlasting change.

 

Fallen Brothers

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Fallen Brothers

Recently I was watching on of my favorite shows Seal Team and when I saw a particular episode where a seal was killed. It got me thinking about the fallen brothers and sisters in Christ. My time in Iraq I lost friends and even after I left my brothers were still being killed. As I have watched the news from time to time and I’ve seen terrorist organizations murder innocent Christians. The persecuted church worldwide is an ever growing death toll passing genocidal proportions. Knowing what was coming doesn’t make the reality any easier. We watch from the TV and the newspapers, and as we understand the world is a dangerous place we must remain faithful in Christ and understand our hope is above not here in this life, but an eternal life with our creator.

Romans 13:4 (NKJV)4 “For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to executewrath on him who practices evil.”

The Lord watches over and will repay with swift justice when the time comes. The sword of righteousness will fall on the enemies and vengeance will be the Lords.

We cannot allow the losses we see to stop us from continuing the mission. We have to take our brothers and sisters sacrifice and never allow that be in vein. In Revelation you see the martyrs who’ve died proclaiming the word of God. You see their sacrifice was not in vein, and we must continue to fight the fight and never grow weary. Rev 9“When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained;” Rev 20“Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.”

Faith isn’t easy when the world around you crumbles to ruin. As it says in 1 Corinthians 12:26 (NASB)26 “And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.” In some circles it is believed that 255 Christians are killed every month, and more are raped, abducted, or detailed without a trial. Just recently we saw a Pastor released after a long imprisonment. As terrible as it is to watch from afar, it’s worse when you have to see it in person. Loosing fellow soldiers in the line of duty was heartbreaking. The world it seemed was unfair as the lives of good men were extinguished far, far too early. The brothers and sisters that have died in the name of Christ have gone onto a better life. Those who die are far better off as they go to a far better place. 2 Timothy 2:3 (NASB)3 “Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” The hardships we face are in this life. “Living is not for the weak.”(Arrow) and those of us still living will be the ones to continue facing the fight. We should not pity the dead, but pity the living.

 

 

 

Are You A God?

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Are You A God?

You walk through life saying you are in control. You believe your way is right, and you stand by your decisions. You constantly say that nothing can be done to change your situation and things are hopeless. You live in constant misery and pessimism. You live in constant fear of tomorrow, or worse, yesterday. We have become a society of placing Jesus on the shelf and much like a cosmic genie we ask for help when we need it, but otherwise it’s “I’ve got this.” How bold we have become to think we know better then God. How daring have we become to think we can make it through this life and not need our Savior Jesus Christ. Have we truly gotten to the point where we believe we know more then God, or worse that God cannot handle our problems? We have put God in a box, and we have become our own gods.

 

Exodus 20:3“You shall have no other gods before Me.” I have often ministered to those whom struggle with their faith. Not in the way of questioning God, but rather thinking their life will never improve. I have seen despair rule over people, and people who feel God is irrelevant and does not care about them, or cannot change anything for them. We have placed ourselves above God by putting ourselves on a pedestal and thinking we are more important than God. We believe we are in control and God is fine where He is, and so long as ‘I don’t bug God, he doesn’t bug me.’

 

We have become selfish, close-minded, one tracked minded people. We have become a judging people, where we judge God and believe God is so insignificant that we are truly here on our own, and we don’t need God, or God can’t change our path. We have a hard time fathoming how incorporated God is in our lives, and we believe that the Holy Bible is antiquated, and we believe we make gods that work best for us. We have gotten to a point where we no longer worship God, we worship many gods, we worship ourselves.

 

In Genesis 3:5“For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”  A lie is told, but not an entire lie, but a subterfuge leading Eve to believe it would be better to understand good and evil as the Lord God knows good and evil, thus moving mankind to place self ahead of God. We the children of God now believe we know more, we know better then God.

 

We are a foolish people thinking we are so big. Tim Challiessays this “The first way we can put God in a box is through our misunderstandings of Him and His nature. We have a responsibility to know and believe what He has revealed of Himself in the Scripture. Furthermore, we may also try to define God in a way that is simplistic or that is inconsistent with who He is.” https://www.challies.com/articles/putting-god-in-a-box-doctrine/

 

We call ourselves Children of God, but in reality we are rebels of the throne. We rebel against the rules laid down for us, and we ignore the teaching of our father. We deserve Hell, but we often believe we deserve Heaven simply because we are ‘good’ people, not because we love Christ. We believe now whatever we want our own truth to be, and we believe that truth is subjective to everyone, and we will face the mistakes we’ve made and unless we understand to Put God first again, we shall not find ourselves in perfection. If you decide to worship idols, worshiping things in your life and not God above, then we have become our very own god. God shall not stand and watch without judgment, and if we choose to try and be god’s then we should be ready for the war to come to us, the punishment for placing God of the Universe on the shelf as just another god will be heavy and swift.

 

We are children of God, and we shall not rebel, we shall not diminish God and grow ourselves. We are lost and we are weak, we are impressionable by the fallen Angel Lucifer. We are but faulted humans, with small minds, and with those minds we attempt to understand the mystery of God and when we cannot, instead of understanding the vastness of what we don’t know, we try to make God fit into our own understanding, thus minimizing God, and again, raising ourselves up to be our own god. Shame on us, shame on all of us for being so incredibly weak, incredibly gullible to Satan’s lies, and thinking we know better for our lives.

In Need

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In Need

My God, my God, I cannot do this alone. I try to swim but I get caught among the waves. We don’t always know how much, but we are always in need of your grace and mercy. I don’t often think about being in need of God in regards to all things in my life. We go through life and we hop in the car, we drive to work, or the store, or even to church, but we don’t often think how important our relationship with God is in even the smallest details of our lives. We take our lives and many aspects of that for granted. How badly we need God in our lives, and rarely take the time to thank God for all of the small things, yet when we need something we turn to God in a second.

Philippians 4:19 (NKJV)19 “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” The text says God will supply all your need, not some, not just what’s convenient, but God gives us everything we need because we are loved as His children. If we are to be given everything we need from God’s riches, then we are getting the best of the best based on what we require. Which means, if we require a swift kick in the butt, it’s going to be a darn good kick. If we require a particular lesson, that lesson will be tailored to fit God’s plan.

I have often chosen my path and because of my own choices I have missed out on opportunities in which God has laid before me. When we consider that God waists nothing, and that has led me to wonder if my actions now had lined up with God’s plan. I often think that God gives us what we need, and that we have a choice what we want to do with the gift. We have in mind our own path, our own plans, and we obviously attempt to make the best decisions we can but we are human, and we don’t always the best choices.

Two years ago, I made a choice and that choice may have had a lasting impact on my life. I had someone come into my life, and I choose to walk away for my own reasons, but now two years later I have not been given a gift like that again. Did I slap away God’s gift, and tell God I could do what I wanted on my own? How many times does God give us a gift for our hearts, and we pass it by? What good is a gift if we never open it, or just leave it on the shelf? I have often felt in the last two years that I may have passed by my chance to happiness. I have often wondered if God would be gracious and give me another shot to get it right. We make so many choices everyday, and it’s impossible to know if we are always making the right choices but we have to be in constant prayer. When we look to the gifts God places in front of us, are we acknowledging them as gifts, or just random occurrences? Are we making life about what we want, or are we making our walk about God?

Every single day we breathe we must look at the changes in our life and ask ourselves what we can do to ensure we follow God. To do that we must be in constant prayer, we must vet where the gifts come form in our life, and realize there are gifts from God, and gifts from Satan disguised as gifts from God. Don’t be so quick to turn away from God in prayer. Don’t forget to look to God for all things big and small. We don’t always get gifts in life when we think we should, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t God’s perfect timing. Prayer in all things will help us along the right path. As for me, I know I need God because I don’t want to miss out on God’s blessings in my life. I want to be paying attention for the gifts when they come and not let them go because they don’t align with my own plans.

Invisible

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Invisible

Colossians 1:15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. Jesus Christ

Have you put thought in the true power of God? The creator of the universe in perfect harmony loves you. Jesus Christ walks with us every single day and is with us while we are on this journey of discovery. We often find ourselves feeling alone, and angry that we don’t feel God. We don’t always see God around us, and we don’t feel okay. See, when we look further in the letter by Paul we find more of the mystery of God. Colossians 1:16“For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.” God is so big, and so powerful, we underestimate the awesome power that we have in our corner.

I have walked through this life questioning my faith on occasion. It wasn’t so much a question of whether or not God was real, it was more of ‘Does God Care?” I’ve struggled with the amount of pain I struggled through, but when I think back, and knowing what I know now, the invisible God who’s everywhere, was with me the whole time. God promises never to leave or abandon us. There’s a war going on in the shadows all around us, and we are the targets of the enemy. This war that takes place invisible is not to be understated. The spiritual warfare that Paul talks about is very much real. While the characters are invisible the affects are as real as they come. The fallen angels that followed Lucifer now called demons help him lay the lure to see what fish they can catch. We are easily drawn to the world, sin is a powerful, attractive force. It can be very difficult to see sin for what it is and walk away. While the enemy is always trying to draw you out away from your protection, Jesus Christ is with you reminding you of the right path.

When you commit a sin and you feel that sense of emptiness afterwards, or that sense of shame, that’s the Holy Spirit filling you with conviction, reminding you what you did was wrong, and that you need to repent of your sins. We cannot see the Holy Spirit but much like the air we breathe it’s there, surrounding us all the time, we just have to take a moment away from the world and truly focus on the force that surrounds us, and flows through us.

The Devil’s affects are very real even though we can’t see him and his demons skulking around us. He wants us to forget that he’s not the only one in this world. Jesus Christ and the army of Angels protect over us. It’s hard to remember how gracious God is to us when we feel the suffering of this life. “You’re gonna suffer, but you’re gonna be happy about it.” (Prizinor of Azkaban) Ron says this to Harry about his tea leaves. The connection to scripture is very real, we are told we will suffer, and in Colossians 1:11 “strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy;” This life takes time to get through. And as I was once told recently the process of gold refinement is a slow process. The gold is heated as the impurities rise to the top, scrapped away, and then put back into the fire. Each time a little more of the impurities are scrapped away till eventually the gold is so shiny in it’s molten state the gold smith can see his/her reflection in the liquid. We are the same, that in every trial, in every struggle a bit more of the impurity is burned and scrapped away. If we are to live in Christ then we must allow those impurities to be removed. If Jesus is the gold smith we must allow ourselves to be put back into the fire so one day when he looks at us he sees his reflection in us. We may not be able to physically see Christ but his presence is clear. This life is but a fleeting moment in the prospect of eternity and if we are to join the angels, and God in perfection then we must be willing to allow the forging process to make us strong, make us shiny and new. When the pain is gone and the worry and doubts fade away the purest gold will be all that’s left in our hearts, and as we face judgment at the foot of the cross the final impurities will be washed away in forgiveness of our sins and we will be allowed to enter heavens gates, if we trust in Jesus, love him with our whole hearts, and believe in the process we must endure to get there. Our savior suffered for us, and who are we to think we shouldn’t have to suffer? As for me, I brace for each of the storms in this invisible but very real war for the souls of man. On that day I reach the gates of Heaven, I pray for two words from my Lord, “well done.” I can live with the suffering now to one day walk with Jesus in perfection.

Don’t give up on yourselves and trust in the refining process. I can’t help but not think of the song Hard Love by NEEDTOBREATHE. I’ve used that song many times in my writings, but it is so true. “It’s gonna hurt but don’t you slow down.” “It takes some time to make your courage strong.” It’s true that as long as you breathe there’s hope, but we cannot place our hope in this world, we must place our hope in Heaven, and our Savior that’s there preparing a place for us. There’s no hope in this life for this world, except that salvation awaits us. We are never promised and easy life, we are never promised peace while we breathe this air, but in Heaven our hope resides. No the process getting to Heaven isn’t easy because we have to first live this life, but what a worthwhile venture. I can take the beating, and the ridicule, and the pain because I know that one day Satan will no longer have dominion over the place I live. While I am here on this world, I know that Satan is spreading pain and suffering all around, but in Heaven the throne has God almighty and he loves his Children.

We may not be able to see the Holy Spirit, but we can feel it all around us. All we can do is ask Jesus to take our suffering and use it to glorify Him. Have faith in Christ, and give thanks to being alive another day, and doing work that will glorify the King. Heaven is worth the suffering of this life, and since God waists nothing, we can always find good in the trials we go through, we just have to look for them. Change your perceptions and give thanks for the opportunities to praise Jesus, and draw closer to God in the fire. Never give up hope because our hope is not in this world,  but in the Heavenly home.