Tag: jesus christ

What Dwells In Your Heart?

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What Dwells In Your Heart? 

Colossians 3:16-17“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

If you live life focused on just yourself, your heart I daresay is not with the Lord. If you make decisions without care of others, their feelings, or even their well being, I would say you are missing out on love and your sin is making you believe you are on high above God. We are called to live in love and if we become selfish we don’t love others, you love yourself.

Are you allowing Jesus to shine through you? Do you feel bad when you hurt someone? Thankfully there is hope for our lies and there is a time for change and the time is now. In the season of the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ, we can be like the Grinch and Ebenezer Scrooge or we can allow our hearts to grow three sizes today.

I have heard often I’ve hurt to many people for God to save me. I’ve done so much wrong for God to love me. The excuses are far and wide, and yet none of them are true. There is always a path to redemption if someone is willing to give up their once selfish ways. Allow Jesus to enter your heart and the love will spread from the source through your soul and out into other parts of your life. Ephesians 3:17“that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,” 

I’ve seen a lot of selfish in my day, and I’ve been hurt by a lot of it in the process. Someone asked me recently how I managed to deal with loosing my ex wife, and the answer was simple, time, prayer, love, and respect. Nothing is too big for God and nothing is too much for God. This is the season of joy and good will towards Men/Women. Are we truly willing to live our lives in hate, or even fear? We need to let go of the dark seed that dwells within us, and face the light of truth. Jesus Christ is the only light we’ll ever need, and the only hope we’ll ever have to have.

There’s never a time that’s too late to turn to Christ and let go of the darkness within. 

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. 

Do You Feel Outmatched?

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Do You Feel Outmatched? 

I was watching an episode of Batman the animated series and batman was physically outmatched by a robot. Do you ever feel you are outmatched in life? Perhaps you have felt intimidated by someone who’s bullied you? Do you feel that you are physically outmatched by a spouse who chooses violence to keep you subservient? There’s always going to be people out there who use physical strength, emotional attacks, even intellect to make people feel inferior. I have been bullied in my life and I’ve been made to feel low, worthless at times. When I was going through both of my prior divorces I was made to feel at fault, and that I was trash. I felt emotionally outmatched and as the spiritual war was underway I missed some very important cues that would have helped me along the way.

One of the things that makes Batman such a great crime fighter is his ability to plan for contingencies, and learn quickly to adapt to his surroundings and his mistakes. Do we learn from our mistakes? Do we face off against the Devil and his Demons and learn from our mistakes? We face challenges every day, and we face new trials often, but how often do we feel like we just can’t handle the situation. In my own life I have felt like I couldn’t take another step. I have felt outmatched and outgunned by the Devil’s attacks. The way we feel however doesn’t always mirror reality. The reality is, God’s on my side, and always has been. I haven’t always walked close enough with Jesus to realize that, but thankfully, God understands our weakness, and He is the God of many chances, giving us time to learn from our mistakes. We must learn that we will face bullies, and trials, and even sickness in this life, but this life isn’t the one we should be worried about. Our eternal salvation is based on Christ’s love and grace, and we have a choice to make in our lives, whether to live in that love and treat others accordingly, or we can be cruel, and hateful people. When we consider the actions of others, and how they treat people, we can understand the nature of their hearts. Those who walk with Christ, not just those who believe in him, but those who truly show Christ in their heart and allows that to reflect as who they are, will be the light in this life.

Batman walks a line few of us could walk, but one thing we can take away is the intellect to adapt and overcome. There’s always a bigger fish out there, someone who’s stronger, smarter, but if we are guided by love, and the Holy Spirit, we can overcome anything, any adversities we may face.  Romans 8:31“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”  With God on our side we will never be outmatched or outgunned. We will never have to fear, or worry because God is never not with us.  Joshua 1:5“No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you.” 

God is always on our side, so if you feel like you’re facing the world alone, those are feelings, they aren’t reality, so take a step back, pray, clear your mind, and dive into the word. You will find your strength in Jesus Christ.

Happy Thanksgiving

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Happy Thanksgiving 

2 Corinthians 9:11 (NKJV)11 “while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.”

It’s a short and sweet kind of day. We have Jesus Christ and no matter what trials we are going through it’s a blessing because God waists nothing. Every trial, every gift, everything is something to be thankful. Spend this time with your family, and truly enjoy life. We only get one of them, and there’s nothing in this world worth stealing your joy.

Psalm 107:8-9 (NKJV)

8 Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness,

And for His wonderful works to the children of men!

9 For He satisfies the longing soul,

And fills the hungry soul with goodness.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and remember to count your blessings. 

I’m Thankful For

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I’m Thankful For

1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NKJV)18 “in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” No matter what situation I find myself, I am slowly starting to understand, and realize the nature of God’s blessings is not the absence of trouble, it’s the presence of grace and mercy during troubled times. I have live through many horrible experiences, but in all of them I have come to see a blessing buried deep within the pain. Sometimes, more often then not, it takes time, study, focus, and patience to slowly and meticulously uncover the truth hidden, buried under the sand. Much like unearthing an ancient tomb, or a set of fossils, time and serenity are needed in order to reveal the secrets. I have fought many long years against an angry kid who felt he got a raw deal. I have fought the very nature of grace because anger was easier to suppress instead of facing the natural emotion, and seeing God’s grace buried deep within. For many years I blamed everyone and everything to include myself for the tragedies that befell my life, and yet, when the sun came up I felt no better for it. I have buried friends, buried loved ones and I have mourned the loss of not one but two failed marriages, all in which I blamed myself. God it seems was laying the foundation and I was just to angry, too hurt, too wounded to see what was really happening. God is beyond patient, and we can’t comprehend the nature of God, if we could He wouldn’t be God. But what we can comprehend with our little brains, is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ came to us as a Child, in which we are about to celebrate his birth, and grew to be a man. In his own life he suffered loss, he suffered betrayal, he suffered persecution, he suffered bullies, and ultimately he suffered the ultimate sacrifice, and here we are upset over what that family member said, or what that other driver who cut us off on the highway. We watch the sun come up, and the weight of yesterday still weighs down upon us, and we hold in the past like a desperate cleave to loosing apart of ones own body. How sad we’ve become that we cannot look at our lives, and examine the pain and truly acknowledge where it comes from. God has revealed to me in study, in time, in patience, but must importantly in love that these things, all of the pain and trials, that in the fire is when everything is burned away that isn’t who we are meant to be. This can only happen if you are following Christ, and allowing him to mold, shape, and strengthen you. How can we be these things if we cannot appreciate and be thankful for the single greatest gift known in the entire universe, Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the last Alter God would choose to use. The Cross, a symbol of the trinity, altered to include the final piece, the blood sacrifice where Jesus Christ’s blood covered the whole of the earth, washing away our eternal sins, and giving us the one, and only true sense of joy, it’s in the hope of eternal salvation with our Heavenly Father. How thankful are we to have a loving and giving father? How thankful are we to live this life and go through our trials so that we may become more like Christ, walk more like Christ, live more like Christ, and love more like Christ? 

Trials are not there to break you, but to build you up, to show you mercy and grace and love, and they are there to remove parts of you that are not needed. Trials are there to forge you, to prepare you for the fight that comes to each and every one of us every day on the spiritual plane. The troubles of the past are not meant to be carried with you every day feeding the hopeless, the sorrow of your souls, but instead to show you God, to have you turn to God with your sorrows, and trust in the love to heal your broken heart. I am a stronger man today not because of my own will, but because God has given me the strength to survive years of trauma and sadness. I am a stronger man today because I realize the need for those things in my life, and what better way to train for the spiritual war, then to be put through battles every day? I am thankful for my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Psalm 23:1-4 The Lord is my shepherd “I shall not want. 2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. 3 He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”

Do not hold onto the past, be thankful for it, and take only what you can carry. Do not burden yourself with the sorrows for they are gone, instead use them to bring Glory to God. Find a way to use what you have experienced, grow from what you have seen, and draw closer to your Father in Heaven. I have seen and done so much in my life, and while I didn’t enjoy it, I am thankful for it. The Lord prepares you for the mission, prepares you for the commission, but it’s up to you to take what you have experienced, look at it as training, be thankful God has prepared you, and do not let it go to waist. Even when the troubles were of your own doing, we still have the ability to learn, to grow, and decide not to make those mistakes again. Failure is the greatest of teachers, so be thankful for all your trials, all your failures, and thankful for the many, many blessings. You could never add up that the Lord God Almighty has deemed fit to bestow upon each and every one of you. We are created from nothing, a miracle of life, more then a billion combinations of possible outcomes to become a unique individual with gifts and talents that no one on earth would share the same combinations. This allows you to grow, to love or hate, to give or steal, to be with God or not. Be thankful for the choice, and be thankful for the choice God has made to forgive you of your sins, and as we know, God is the God of many, many chances, so be thankful today, and every day for the love we receive in Christ’s Holy Name. 

Vengeance Is Mine Sayith The Lord

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Vengeance Is Mine Sayith The Lord

You just don’t understand what they did to me! You don’t know how badly they hurt me! It’s easy to ask for revenge, dream or desire that vengeance. Scripture is very clear that we are not to take vengeance into our own hands. We are not wise, and certainly not unbiased.

Psalm 116

I love the Lord, because He has heard

My voice and my supplications.

2 Because He has inclined His ear to me,

Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.

3 The pains of death surrounded me,

And the pangs of Sheol laid hold of me;

I found trouble and sorrow.

4 Then I called upon the name of the Lord:

“O Lord, I implore You, deliver my soul!”

5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;

Yes, our God is merciful.

6 The Lord preserves the simple;

I was brought low, and He saved me.

7 Return to your rest, O my soul,

For the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.

8 For You have delivered my soul from death,

My eyes from tears,

And my feet from falling.

9 I will walk before the Lord

In the land of the living.

10 I believed, therefore I spoke,

“I am greatly afflicted.”

11 I said in my haste,

“All men are liars.”

12 What shall I render to the Lord

For all His benefits toward me?

13 I will take up the cup of salvation,

And call upon the name of the Lord.

14 I will pay my vows to the Lord

Now in the presence of all His people.

15 Precious in the sight of the Lord

Is the death of His saints.

16 O Lord, truly I am Your servant;

I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant;

You have loosed my bonds.

17 I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving,

And will call upon the name of the Lord.

18 I will pay my vows to the Lord

Now in the presence of all His people,

19 In the courts of the Lord’s house,

In the midst of you, O Jerusalem. Praise the Lord!

Pay your dews, your response to the Lord for we have so much to be thankful for. Even when we are wronged we shall not take matters into our own hands. We will always get our ‘pay back’ wrong. We will never be able to repay perfect punishment, and it’s the mercy, and grace of God we must put our trust in. God will always deal out the perfect punishment in the perfect timing for each individual, and always equal to each persons transgression. How do we teach a lesson? Who are we to think we know how to reach into someone’s heart to give conviction of a person’s soul? A message must point towards a heart of repentance in order to balance the sin.

Do not think you are God, as we are simpletons compared to the Lord. God will do what is needed to teach us the lessons we need. Are we one to call for vengeance when we are just as disobedient, just as sinful as the next? We ask for God’s blessings but we don’t show our own thanksgiving for the gifts we’ve been blessed with. We often serve ourselves but we don’t want to serve the Lord but we accept the gifts freely. We give so little in return, and in instead of spreading love and mercy, and kindness, we spread fear, anger, hatred and dissention. We spread darkness. Romans 12:19 (NKJV)19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. 

Instead of seeking vengeance when you are wronged, repay with kindness. Psalm 97:11 (NKJV)11 Light is sown for the righteous, And gladness for the upright in heart. Do not be so quick to cast stones, for as Jesus said John 8:7 (NKJV)7 “So when they continued asking Him, raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”  Go forth in kindness, and repay wrong with Love. Do not perpetuate hate and anger, but instead light up the darkness. 

When The People Turn On You

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When The People Turn On You

Many years I have watched as people have turned their backs on me, turned and walked away. The day may come when the strength of men fail, and when we realize strength is not of man, but that of the Lord. It is not of our own strength we achieve anything but that of Christ who lifts us up. What shame when man puts himself on high above God and puts God on a shelf. Fear Mongering is a strong attribute of some and how man can raise the stakes for all in anger and hatred. It may only take one person to sway a crowd and turn an assembly into a riot. What happens when this occurs in life, the one of your personal circles? People may turn their backs on you and while it hurts, sometimes, deeply we must realize man/women will always fall short.

I have experienced both loss as I have watched as God is put on the shelf and as those who abandon God all together. We forget so quickly how to follow God and in the moment we are so easily swayed to follow the Devil. In this we forsake our friends, our family, and we forget so quickly the command of our Savior Jesus Christ, to love your neighbor. No mattr what happens we must remember people do not represent God. Even a pastor a man of God will fall, and fail at some point. No matter who they are, or how righteous they seem to be there may come a time when they turn and take a wrong path.

I remember thinking about scripture when I came up with this topic. I was listening to a lesson about Paul but what I was thinking of is when Jesus first enters Jerusalem, welcomed by palms and the crowds singing and praising him. How quickly that changed in a matter of day, and that same crowd that was singing Hozana, turned to Crucify him. If people turned on the savior over all of our sins, how easily do you think they will turn on you?

In acts we see this same thing happen to Paul over and over again. Paul goes in to the city, preaches and teaches at the Synagogue or somewhere in the city, he’s a novelty for a little while, and then he starts to upset certain people, and that’s when it goes down hill. Paul was beaten, jailed, stoned, all in the name of Christ. If we think that somehow we should be free from this same behavior of others, what makes us so special? I’m not condoning that kind of negative, hurtful behavior, but living in this world it’s a fact of life.

One last thought is this; when you are following the name of Jesus don’t be surprised if you upset those around you who don’t like what you are preaching, or even the person you’ve become. In acts 19, we see Paul affecting the statue sales of the goddess Diana. Quickly the crowds turned and as one man began to get the crowd rowdy and they even kidnapped some of Paul’s friends, just to get to Paul. Paul was affecting the wallet of those who crafted statues of this goddess, and ultimately was affecting the bottom line. How do we affect those around us when we preach and teach about Jesus Christ? How have we changed since following Christ and affected friendships around us? Remember this, “It’s better to stand with God and be judged by man, then to stand with man and be judged by God.” Don’t place too much thought in what man/women thinks of you, it’s better to focus on what God thinks of you.

(Disclaimer: If you are actively living in sin, or traveling down a bad path, if people point that out, that’s NOT what I’m talking about. We are to stand up to sin, and we are to help the sinner get back on track.) 

Jesus Through The Fog

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Jesus Through The Fog

Life is an endless array of new experiences that come our way whether we want to or not. The hope is that we can navigate our life in a fog and pray we can maintain a good path, one led by Jesus. We may not truly know what tomorrow will bring, but we still have the son to guide us. Faith in Christ to navigate the uncertainty and foggy conditions of life is so important.

When I was in the military we learned about the fog of war “is the uncertainty in situational awareness experienced by participants in military operations. The term seeks to capture the uncertainty regarding one’s own capability, adversary capability, and adversary intent during an engagement, operation, or campaign.” (Wikipedia) Life is very much the same way, and when it’s full of uncertainty all we can do is attempt to navigate the best we can. As we find our way through the blinding clouds we must understand that not everything we come across is a blessing. We are taught to test these things, 1 John 4:1“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”  The darkness always seems different then the day, the objects we think we know bend and contort to different shapes. No matter the fog, the darkness, or any situation you may find yourself, look to the sky because there is always hope in Jesus Christ. There is no darkness to dark, no fog that is too think that will keep Jesus from you. You are saved by the blood, cleansed by perfect grace and love, and you weren’t given a spirit of fear, but one of courage. The son will always burn away the fog to make things clear, sometimes, we just have to be patient. 

The Cold Sets In

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The Cold Sets In

Its so wonderful that we are reminded of the perpetuation of life through the seasons on this planet. It’s such a beautiful reminder that life will be a natural cycle, that seasons of cold winters of death, and long periods of struggles will ensue.

As I woke up this morning and found the first frost on my window I am reminded of the scripture that shows us there are many seasons and we must live through them all. Nature is not just something we experience as far as weather, but it symbolizes our own lives. While where I live is entering winter, in my own life I am in spring, the birth of something wonderful, the growth, the warmth of new life, new buds, sunshine, and all the sensations that go with it.

I was in the winter so long I had forgotten what the warmth felt like. I wasn’t sure my path would ever lead me to feel this way again. I trusted in God to show me the way, but I didn’t know if His way would be to grant me love again. Have we ever asked ourselves what we did wrong, or why we were being punished? I often asked God what I was doing to continue being punished for my transgressions. I often asked God what I had to do to change the path and lead me out of the darkest winter. I don’t think I was asking the right questions over the last two years. While it seems my prayers were answered, I learned I need to be specific with my prayers because we don’t always get what we thought we wanted. While God’s blessings, and gifts to us are far better then anything we could have ever dreamt up on our own, and I am beyond happy with who God has put into my life. The catch, I needed to focus on me, I needed to focus on my walk with the Lord, before I could be something for anyone else. I needed to be okay on my own before I could stand with anyone else. I wasn’t asking what I could learn, or how I could grow, I was insistent that someone is what I needed in my life. I was certain that a person would fix me, and the truth is a person cannot fix you, only Jesus can do that. Sure a person can be a band-aid for you, but eventually that will fall off revealing the original wound, that’s not festered, and become so much worse. The cold in my heart was the season needed at the time, and I wasn’t granted the quick fix for it. I was forced to go through the entire healing process, and now, when the time was right, God granted my prayer, albeit complicated, the future is bright and warm.

We cannot rush God because the shortcuts we would take would only cause disaster. I think about the Wrath of Kahn and the Genesis planet. In the next film The Search For Spock David used an unstable compound, which was causing the planet to collapse. David used something as a shortcut because he couldn’t solve the problem. If we rush the process, and we don’t allow the time needed to get things right, our worlds will collapse and destroy themselves also. I don’t know why God sent me someone who lives so far away, but I trust in the Lord, and as I get to know her, I find how amazing she is, and how wonderful we will be together. No matter the distance God will give us what we need, and God will find a way. We must have faith in that process, and not rush it. I know that I am in a season of spring in my life, as I watch the natural world enter the season of winter. I ask you all what season are you in? How long have you been in those seasons? We must take time to ask God for guidance, and understand if we are in an extended season, a negative season, we need to ask what we are to learn, what are we being prepared for, but most importantly, ask how you can glorify the holy name of Jesus Christ in your season.

Trust in your God, and believe that He knows the perfect route for you to take, and do not lean on your own understand, nor should you follow your own path, because I can promise with all certainty your path is not better then that God would have you walk. Do not think you know more then God because you will find out the hard way you don’t. Trust that seasons are a part of life, and follow the teachings in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

To everything there is a season,

A time for every purpose under heaven:

2 A time [a]to be born,

And a time to die;

A time to plant,

And a time to pluck what is planted;

3 A time to kill,

And a time to heal;

A time to break down,

And a time to build up;

4 A time to weep,

And a time to laugh;

A time to mourn,

And a time to dance;

5 A time to cast away stones,

And a time to gather stones;

A time to embrace,

And a time to refrain from embracing;

6 A time to gain,

And a time to lose;

A time to keep,

And a time to throw away;

7 A time to tear,

And a time to sew;

A time to keep silence,

And a time to speak;

8 A time to love,

And a time to hate;

A time of war,

And a time of peace.

Winter can be a beautiful time in your life if you allow yourself to take a step back to see it. While the trees look dead, and the grass is brown, and it’s often gloomy overhead, I have also seen some of the most beautiful snowfalls, the decorations for Thanksgiving, and most importantly the decorations for our savior’s birth. How wonderful the season of winter is and even if it feels cold, and lonely sometimes, you can turn to God and grow and trust that the cold will break, and tomorrow change will be in the air. 

I Have A Dream

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I Have A Dream

John 17:3“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”

What do you want tomorrow? Where do you want to be, not in this walk on Earth but in your walk with God? I have a dream for God to look at me and say “Well Done.” I look to grow in wisdom of the Lord. God created man in the likeness of himself, not by the way we look, but by our spirit of love, a spirit of compassion, of giving, and the ability to grow I have a dream for my epitaph to read “He walked with God” I have a dream to not live a hundred years without, but as many days that I have with God. It’s better to walk with God for a short while to spend eternity with God, rather then any number of years to live with Earth as your kingdom only. 

I have a dream to leave a legacy of God’s love for generations after me. I have a dream to live my life in a way my father, my Abba, would be proud of me. To have God extend his perfect hands with the hole still piercing His flesh, to ask me to join Him on this journey. Jesus says come for everything is ready. Jesus wants to walk with a sinner like me. So here I sit, I have a dream to hold on to Christ’s hand a little tighter. I have a dream to grow closer to God of the universe because as imperfect as I am I have a paid for ticket to enjoy an eternal life free from persecution, war, famine, bullies, pain, suffering, heartbreak, and when the Lord comes He will wipe away the last tear I should ever cry. I have a dream that the day I kneel humbly before the cross I shall hold my invitation in my heart and God will tell me “welcome home”

How great is God to love a sinner, a wretched, hypocrite like me. God is so amazing that I do not have to live this life with a spirit of fear, but a spirit of courage to stand tall and firm in this life against the wiles of the Devil. God calls us to walk with Him, to grow from the baby Christian to be a warrior Christian.

I have a dream to draw others to God by walking differently in this life, that people notice so I may be able to show the love of Jesus with as many as I can. I have a dream to dive into the word of God, so I may be approved not by man, but approved by my Heavenly Father.

I have a dream to see the gates of Heaven and know that I am welcomed home. I have a dream to rid my flesh of weakness, and to stand strong in this war all around us. I have a dream to strengthen others in God’s love, to show them a better way, to show them truth, the only truth, that God, the God of the universe, creator of Heaven and Earth, and that they are loved so completely by the creator. I have a dream to show what God has blessed me with, not to raise myself in status, but to show how powerful, how gracious, how forgiving God is. I have a dream that all people would come to know the Father, and trust in Him.

I have a dream to see my loved ones in Heaven, to see their perfect selves, to feel close to God, and be surrounded by nothing but light and joy. I have a dream to one day be welcomed home, and know that all the years in this life will have been worth the pain and suffering, and I shall no longer worry about the fight, as I will be able to finally rest. I have a dream to count my days in the fullness of God’s love and mercy and grace, and have joy all my days of this life.