Tag: father

The Absent Father

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The Absent Father

Growing up I was without a father, or so I thought. I was left growing up without a daddy, a teacher, a discipliner. There was no man to teach me how to be a man. I craved approval, and I craved acceptance. I, for most of my life needed the approval of men in authority. On the flip side from that, I have struggled to make and keep men as friends. In my time I’ve found one of two things have been true. A: my friends have been good Godly Men, which has only been within the last couple years. B: the men have been older than me. 

Today, being Fathers Day, a lesson has been laid upon my heart. Living without a father has created deep wounds for me. This life is not a sprint but a marathon. I have run so long thinking a certain way, and today I have been shown a truth, one I cannot deny. Life is the race Paul says in 2 Timothy 4:77 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” I have struggled along my marathon. Growing up in a world where I was beat up, teased, and tortured. I was given swirley’s, my stuff was stolen from me, and I was laughed at on a regular basis. I didn’t have a father to help me cope. I didn’t have someone to teach me how to punch, how to change a tire, or throw a ball. I ask you today, who is your father? Do you turn to Christ? Do you follow Satan as a father figure? There are two thrones, one over Heaven, one over Earth. Revelation 2:13“I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.”

Satan wants to be the ‘step’ father that gives you all the freedoms, free from rules, and carefree life. When we judge a good, good father, we must understand that ‘good’ father will give you rules, not just keep you down, but rather lift you up and protecting you, even from yourself. Jesus wants to protect us, and his rules are just to keep up on a righteous path. 

We worship one of two, the Kingdom of God, or the Kingdom of Satan. Do we find fatherly love in Satan and the world, or in Jesus and the Kingdom of Heaven. God, our Abba Father is not a God, a Father of rules. He is a Father of real love, real mercy, real grace. Satan is incapable of love, but he will give you what you may desire, but never because it’s good for you, but to win your love by bribing you for your affections. 

Are you a father figure shaped in Christ or Satan? Sadly, some people grow up fatherless, and some people loose their fathers. Today is hard on a lot of people who have longed for a father, or miss their father. Today comfort can be found in knowing that there is a father out there that you can count on, Abba Father. Not everyone who has a father has a good father, and not everyone who grows up without a father is doomed to struggle. Growing up I was lucky enough that the right men came into my life at the right time, and were most certainly blessings from God the father. Today, I find my struggles fill my mind today. I can’t help but long for that relationship, and I know that through Christ I have a Father looking out for me daily. I have never been alone. 

To those without a father, please know today you are loved and will always be loved. Jesus Christ is always with you, and you will never travel along alone. God is always looking out for you and you shall choose which father you want to be, will you be a follower of God our father in Heaven, or Satan the ruler over the earth? As for me and my love, we will follow the Lord over Heaven. 

For me growing up I had a man in my life that personified a man, and that was a character on TV and the big screen portrayed by Patrick Steward, his character (No not Charles Xavier) but Captain Jean-Luc Picard. I was taught through TV to have Honor, Dignity, Respect, and Strength for all. I learned how to behave as a man because of a TV character, but God can work through anyone, at any time to shape us. While I was taught different aspects of being a man, I gravitated to respect characters who also grew up without a father. Bruce Wayne, Spider-Man, Flash, Dick Grayson, Oliver Queen, and the list goes on. I have gravitated to the struggle of those who although are fictional have shown that anyone can grow to make a difference. We must focus on what God gives us, and know that we always have the power to succeed, if we believe we have the will to do so. 

I Gotta Do Just One Thing First

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I Gotta Do Just One Thing First

Throughout most of my life I’ve gone to church and in that time I’ve heard many people tell me, they can’t go because they have some things in their life to ‘get right’ first. In my opinion saying you need to work on you, or anything before you step foot into church is like saying you’re going to get better before you go to the hospital. Others have raised concern about going to church and being called a hypocrite. No one sin is greater then another at the foot of the cross. Because of that, we all fall short. There are no such things as a good person before God. There are believers and non-believers. We are all sinners and if our works before God are no better then a menstrual rag (yes that’s what it means in the Hebrew)

Ephesians 2:1-2 “2 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the [a]course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,” Before Jesus we were sinners with no hope of salvation. After Jesus and the sacrifice needed to pay the blood debt to reset the balance, we are still sinners, but we are sinners by Grace we are given the Golden Ticket to Heaven in which the price is our heart. We all must one day stand before Christ at the foot of the cross and understand that it’s not about if we’ve sinned or not, it’s about where our heart and loyalties lie. If we truly believe that we need to be sinless before entering church you don’t have the fist clue who Jesus Christ is. No matter if you’re Christian, Buddhist, Wiccan, Muslim, or any other faith on the planet you are a sinner and thus all are welcome at the table of Christ, and his blood was spilt for everyone.

If you want to be happy in this world it’s important for you to be walking in Christ, and once you submit to that authority of the universe, you will then seek your spiritual gifts in order to pursue your God given talent in ministry for the Lord. It’s in purpose we find fulfillment, and it’s in that purpose we find our happiness. Must like our founding fathers knew that the pursuit of happiness would be one of faith, they also knew that many will seek it, but not all would find it. If you are not walking with the Lord you are walking in the world, and if you’re walking in the world, you’re walking with the demons in this life. You will walk in the lusts of the flesh, and you will only find the thorns never the rose.

God the father loves us, and when we wrong we expect to be disciplined. A fathers love, a true fathers love will never take enjoyment from punishing your children. As a parent disciplining your children is inevitable, but life never prepares you for the difficulty ahead. Our Father set the rules for us to follow, and how to love Him, but when we break the rules, we need that correction. Our Father gains no joy from our punishment. It’s never our works that will earn favor with the Lord. We can never do enough, but when we find ourselves longing for Christ, that’s when our hearts open, when we can submit to the Lord, and stop running from our calling. Ephesians 2:8-10“8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Since works along will never be enough to save us from the dismal fate of Hell, we must seek a higher understanding of what it is the Lord wants of us. It seems so simple an idea, so beautifully crafted, that the only need necessary for the triumph of evil in your own heart, is hate. The difference between life and death lies solely in our own power. We can choose our own fate and yet, so few will know the Lord because of one reason or another. 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 “11 Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power, 12 that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

We want to believe we are the masters of our own ships, that no one, not even the ‘cosmic fairy’ from above can make us do something we don’t want to. While it’s true many people will fight the calling from the Lord, and many will be faced with signs that they should be doing something else, the Lord never forces anyone to do anything. Sure, much like a father, suggestions are made, guidance is given, but ultimately we still choose to follow or not. “Ask not what God can do for you, ask what you can do for God.”(Unknown)We are terminally sick, and the only cure is found in love. Strange so few will realize this, but its pride and vanity that will keep people away. When we think what we do is us, which I did something, that’s boasting and that’s like telling God you’re better then Him. In Ephesians 2:10 it talks about how we are created to be workmanship, that God is the potter, we are the clay, and we were made with divine purpose. I don’t know about you, but so many people ask their entire lives what their purpose is, and the answer is right in front of them the whole time. Follow Christ, submit to the Lord, and your purpose will flourish as your works in the Lord grows.

Everyone has a purpose, and when you say you have things to do before going to the Lord that’s your own pride talking. Equally if sin is a disease and you won’t go to the Doctor, you allow that stubborn sensibility get in the way of finding the cure for your sickness. Faith isn’t easy, but look at the Polio vaccine. While it wouldn’t cure Polio it did eventually eradicate it from existence in the 1stworld. People were skeptical of the vaccine and thought it was a trick, or too good to be true. Salvation is much in the same. It’s so easy; we are saved by love and grace. We love the Lord, and we are saved. It’s such a simple and small thing, yet so few will find the cure to the sickness that has engulfed our world. Don’t wait for you to get your life right before coming to Christ because there will always be one more thing, one more issue to deal with, one more problem you’ll face, and you’ll never find peace till you step up and accept Christ in your heart. Don’t waist your life in search of something that’s been right in front of you the whole time. God knew you before you were created. God loved you before you were conceived. God made you in your mothers womb for a purpose only you could fulfill. Stop looking for the meaning in your life in all the wrong places. Find your purpose, the reason for your existing in the only place that matters, at the foot of the cross.

 

 

Tough Changes

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Tough Changes

Have you ever been in a situation where you dreaded to face changes? I recently experienced the need to change my cell phone case. It wasn’t allowing me to use the functions as they should have been and it became more of an inconvenience then the protection it added. I think tough changes are hard for many people to go through. Changes at your job can be tough, and stressful. Changing schools can be tough for many. Moving out of your parents house and getting your own place can be an incredibly hard change to go through. All of these things are easy or difficult depending on each individual person. While for each situation everyone’s reaction is drastically different, and while some love change, and others loath it, one of the biggest things to change is our actions.

A popular saying is “some people never change.” Another popular saying is “once a cheater, always a cheater.” While both of these are very popular, how true do you personally think these sayings are? From my personal experience I believe they are right on the money. I think the hardest thing we will ever do is change our personality to change our actions. I’ve always said humanity would never change without a major outside force. I always figured a global extinction event such as asteroid, or drought, or contagion would be the most likely just behind nuclear war. Alien invasion (less likely) could potentially bring humanity together to face a common enemy. That being said, most people do not change without something big, and life changing occurring within their life or someone very close to them. Cancer, or a near death accident has a way to change someone’s perspectives. While we often see a spiritual change in some during these times, it doesn’t always stick. The biggest change most will ever experience is the coming to the savior Jesus Christ. It’s the change in the heart that can change a man completely.

Romans 12:1-2“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” In the Lord we are born anew. In the Holy Spirit the soul is reborn in fire. When the Lord takes hold of our hearts, we cannot not be changed. We must push forward in the Lord and we must face that like the Phoenix, we are reborn in the burning fires of the Lord, and in our new selves we are compelled to repulse the desire of the sinful flesh. 2 Corinthians 5:17“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

Change isn’t always easy, and even when you begin the following of the Lord, change isn’t always easy even after choosing the Lord. In our struggles though we should turn to our siblings in Christ and ask for them to help keep us accountable and true. We grow and we sprout from seeds in Christ and grow into a wonderful flower. The beauty in this world is only limited by our own stubborn selves. We often want to stay in our struggles because we are unwilling to change our own actions. We must change our lifestyles if we are ever expecting to change our own lives. I have watched my life grow and change in my financial walk with the Lord, my spiritual walk with my God, and even how I treat my friends. While life is full of tough challenges, changing our hearts to follow the Lord, and living in love, and denouncing hate shouldn’t be so hard, but the draw of sin is strong. Keep your faith, and keep your eyes on Jesus and always strive to change yourself to better please the Lord to what we see in scripture. Never give up hope on those around you who may be stuck in sin, and who don’t treat others with respect or love. It

Light or Dark

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Light or Dark

The darkest night covers me and I need you

The sun fuels my heart and gives me warmth and strength. I need you then too.

Because of you I’m alive.

No matter where I am, or the season I’m in, my Lord I need you.

Who am I without you, I am no one.

The Lord of all knows my name.

 

The Lord who created in love not because of what I do, just because I am. I am a sinful man, but love saved me. Never because of what I’ve done, just because of what you are. No matter my of praise, or my day of prayer your grace comforts me. Today the flowers bloom, and tomorrow the ice shall come, but in all my day, and in all my ways I am yours. Because you are with me I shall not fear the night. The night was so dark without you, but your glory so bright the single ray of light when the sun peaks the horizon, the darkness breaks. Jesus Christ the pure light that would forever push the darkness away rose.

What do I have to offer the king of the universe, my heart, my everything, and yet I will never be worthy of the gift bestowed upon me. I can surrender all and even up to my life it would never cover the debt. But it is grace, and love my bill was covered by Christ. I was so loved before I was born that for me my sins and the sins of billions of others, a blood debt freely given, ransomed for my freedom of death. If my debt was paid when I’m knocked down, who then do I fight for? Christ got back up and his strength became my strength. I will get back up and continue to fight till my dying breath. I owe it to Christ to never give up and never surrender to the darkness.

God’s word has withstood the test of time, and even now as we can see the darkness covering the land, we will watch, as God’s will, will be done. Those who criticize the word and those who push to remove God’s presence from the public will one day stand in judgment. The light of the word may be pushed away but in time the raging tide will again be tamed by the Lord. God’s word will stand firm, and the darkness will be pushed back, snuffed out by the light. No matter how far we fall it’s never to late to change our course. We cannot stop praying, or hoping for God to save us. We cannot stop worshiping the Lord no matter if things are great, or if everything has been blown to a million pieces. Yesterday is gone and we don’t live there anymore. We must learn to say goodbye to the past, and live in today. The heart may have been broken yesterday, but every day we breath is a new day of growing, a new day of healing. We must tell ourselves every day that Jesus is still with us, and in his love we are healed. You cannot expect to have an answer for every tragedy that happens, and in our walk we must learn to focus on Jesus. This world is not the end, and one day the end will come on this life and the walls that kept us confined will be no more. This is not where we belong forever, and we can count on the promise made by Jesus to one day sit before the King and be accepted into the light. This life is but a fleeting speck of dust in the wind, and if we want to go home, know that this world will one day wash away.

Praise the Lord for success, and praise the Lord in failure. In every chance we get, both good and bad, fix your eyes on the one and only thing that will satisfy your heart and that’s Jesus. Life can be hard, and we are told to expect the trials that come, and the persecutions that come with following Christ, but “If you can take it, you can make it.” (Unbroken) I am a broken man, and I fail every day to live up to what God expects of me. I know I fail, and I know I fall, but I know that because of grace, and I know what true love means, I still stand here knowing God is with me. I know I have the power of the Holy Spirit with me and I’m called to be more. I’m called to push myself, and to stand toe to toe with the darkness. Every day I stand and pray to protect me from the attacks. Every day I praise my God for the blessings I have. I know I am protected and I know that for Jesus saves my soul every day. I know that every day I wake hope is here. Every day I see the hope all around me, and I know that it’ll be all right. I’ve experienced the darkness, and I’ve seen the light. I’ve felt the cold, but the warmth always triumphs. In every tear that falls God holds them. In every heart that breaks God feels our pain, and yet healing begins with Christ.

Light or dark, we decide where to stand. We can choose to stay in the darkness avoiding the light if we wish, but when it gets cold, or the demons come to creep, know the light will always accept you. You can choose to live in fear of the unknown, or you can choose to trust in Jesus and know that there is a brighter future waiting for you. You can choose to walk in the darkness, but no matter where you choose to walk, Jesus Christ is always there with you. If you choose to walk in the darkness, you have to expect to stub your toe on the furniture. Who then will you blame, God for not removing the obstacle, or yourself for not turning on the light? We as people will always learn more from hardships then a life of ease and calm rivers. If you are to be truly tested we must first be pushed to the limits to know what we are truly capable of. It’s in these times we need to turn to Christ more then ever, because we do not truly grow otherwise. We often pray for things we think are good for us, but we only see two feet ahead, but God sees a mile. We are but children clamoring around the house trying to place our finger in a light socket. God tries to warn us what not to do, but we are a stubborn people, and if we truly wish for a smoother ride we must learn to trust in the Lord and stop being so resistant to what we are told. God’s grace and love is unyielding, but our acceptance of it into our hearts is purely voluntary. Jesus loves you more then you know, and we should praise the Lord in all things, each and every day. Because our savior lives we must pray. We overcome by the power of His blood, and we are alive because he lives. Prayer is the absolute least we can do, and for the gift of life, shouldn’t we do at least that? We would be dead without Christ. Sin and shame would be all we are without the blood, and we’re alive because He lives. The light that would forever be the voice over the shadow, my life was and is held in His hands. So I pray to you Lord, thank you for my life, thank you for my pain, thank you for your love, and thank you for your gracious sacrifice for me. In your Holy Name, Amen.

God the Abba

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God the Abba

Growing up I never had a dad in my life. It wasn’t in cards for me to be blessed with a father on this earth. For years and years that bothered me and I found myself jealous of others who had good relationships with their fathers. The nature of growing up without a father plagued me for many years. Today being father’s day I have had the distinct privilege to listen to my best friend preach about the greatest father of all, God. 1 Kings 2:1-3 When David’s time to die drew near, he commanded Solomon his son, saying,2 “I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, and show yourself a man,3 and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn,” David was many things, a great leader, a great King, a great man of God, but in one area he failed was being a good family man. He wasn’t a good father, and he wasn’t a good husband.

For some of us God is more than just a being of enormous power and divine love. For me God has become so much more, but the term father means so much more. Mark 14:33-36 “33 He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34 “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.” 35 Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hourmight pass from him. 36 “Abba,[a] Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” Jesus explained how deeply troubled he was as he was facing his choice to go through as the sacrificial lamb for the fate of the entire world. Christ knew above all that God was more than just God, but our Father in heaven. For me God shall always be Abba.

In 2010 I met a man, a great man of God who would continue to inspire me, guide me, and help me grow in my faith of God. I spent 26 years without a father and that day ended when I met my future father in law. After 7 years that would end abruptly as I would watch that family be ripped away from me. Through all this I found a renewed faith and a special relationship with God. As I spent my life with God in all that time I never found a relationship like the one I have now. We never know how or why things work the way they do, but one things is certain our father is always working even if we can’t see it to turn tragedy into miraculous. Abba gave us the rules of the house and we are commanded to follow. In the event we break the rules know that Abba will give us a good old-fashioned butt whooping. Every good father knows when to comfort, knows when to lead, knows when to discipline, but in all moments of our lives Abba is with us. No matter the sorrows we face in this world, Abba will hold us, be with us always.

To all the dads out there be more then biological fathers, be real dads. Teach your kids in the ways of the Lord, teach them in the ways of being a good Christian. To all the dads out there be special to your children; be special to the people that look up to you. Be a good dad, a good father.

 

 

I got a friend in Jesus.

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I got a friend in Jesus.

I see a silhouette of the man I once was. It’s like a flashpoint on the wall of just an outline of the old man, the burn marks that surrounded the intense heat of the fire that burnt down my life. Like the phoenix something beautiful can be born from the ashes. Like that majestic bird rising and taking flight Jesus also rose from the dead, more beautiful then we could ever comprehend. Christ became the embodiment of perfection. Heaven is our perfect home that we only need to believe and follow to be accepted into. No matter the road we are led down, we must remember that the fire will get put out. When your life is burnt to ashes we must learn to rise up better then before. John 3:16-18 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” When we run through our life we have our hurdles and our pain, our joy and happiness. Hebrews 12:1 “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset [us], and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,”

A quote from a famous movie I heard once was “”Life is an endless series of train-wrecks with only brief, commercial-like breaks of happiness.” (Deadpool) As cenacle as that may be, I’d say in life we should generally be more happy then not. Yes we are promised hardships, but we got a friend in Jesus. John 15:13 “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” There are a plethora of verses that Jesus calls us friends. John 15:15 “Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.” Jesus is the great phoenix and he has offered to carry us on his wings to take us home when our journey has ended. Never give up hope for God never gave up hope on us. We truly are the Champions for Christ, we truly are the Champions over Satin and everything he tried to destroy. Don’t loose faith, take the challenge end never stop fighting till the day God calls you home. Keep fighting and never surrender to the evil ones calls.