Recently, I have come across a lot of people that are just hurting. It breaks my heart to hear these stories, and I wish I could just snap my fingers and make the situation better in each of these peoples lives. Unfortunately, I cannot do that.
It is such a beautiful time of year...it is Christmas, but so many people are hurting during what should be a time for celebration and joy. I have this desire to reach out and touch each of there lives. This happens to be one place that I hope God will give me the words to say, and allow the Holy Spirit to comfort those hurting this Christmas season.
I was reading in Galatians 6 today, and came across verse 2. "Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. This verse stuck out to me. This Christmas I have not been able to bless people with gifts, due to a lack of money. I know that their are people out there in a similar, if not worse place. I find this verse in Galatians a way to give. I may not be able to go out and buy people gifts, but I will do my part and come alongside those who are hurting during this wonderful time of year.
Everyone deserves to have hope!
I challenge you to come alongside those who are around you and lacking hope. This is what this season is really all about...HOPE. This is the season that we are reminded of the Savior that came to earth. Humbling Himself from God to a mere man to eventually die for our sins. He came to give us HOPE! Hope that through HIM we are redeemed and seen as pure in the sights of God our Father.
Spread the hope! I promise you that there are people close to you in proximity that need a simple glimpse of hope. We cannot all do the same things, but we are all gifted to do something. So if your gift cooking, bless someone with a meal; if your gift is a listening ear, listen to that story; if your gift is healing, allow God to use you to heal.
Imagine what this world would be like with a little more hope.
God Bless, and Merry Christmas!
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Trials to Joy
When I find myself facing trials in life, my initial reaction is to want to shut down and give up. It is crazy to think that my first instinct is to lose hope. Because, is that not just the quickest way for the enemy to get us? The enemy wants us to be down and out, and he wants to keep us there for as long as possible.
James 1 speaks about this very issue starting in verse two. It says, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
We are always going to be facing trials in life, and they will range from small to big. It is what we are going to do with those trials that matters. Personally, I like the sound of being mature and complete, not lacking anything. I am far from that, but I continue to press towards the goal. It is hard to do...not something we necessarily want to do. It is instead something that makes us choose. Each time we face a trial, it is an opportunity to choose hopelessness, or God.
You may think that is a drastic comparison, but what is the result of choosing to be defeated? God is VICTORY!
It goes on to say in verse 12, "Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him."
So I encourage you, though hard at times, to persevere through your tests. Know that we have a God who is on our side, and will never give us more than we can handle. It will never be more than we can handle, because as long as He is in us, we do not have to fight alone!
Know that our trials make a strong, and give us the ability to encourage one another. Our successes are stories that can and will change lives!
God Bless!
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Slow Down and Smell the Flowers
Sitting in my chair, reflecting on my day, I cannot help but feel happy. Music playing and house asleep, I feel like I am getting that moment with God; which I desire to stay! Sadly, I know that this time will end. Why is it that these intimate times with God are so rare? I mean, I feel God during the day and feel Him leading me certain ways, but it never seems as intense as it is right now. I wish I could just bottle up this feeling and open it up throughout my days.
What is the big difference between now and the other parts of the day? I think that it comes down to this...tempo. What do I mean? Tempo is the pace or rate at which something or someone is moving. The difference between our nights and days is the pace at which our lives are moving. I know that in my life, I feel that there is so much to do and so many opportunities to take advantage of that I just keep going and going and going...until the day is over and it is time to sleep. It is the times where I cannot fall asleep and have time to slow down and just think about God and life that I start to feel this genuine connection with God.
I know that I need to just slow down and take the time to let God speak to me and connect to me at a deep level throughout the day, but it is hard to slow down. Honestly, at times I do not know how to slow down. There is so much pressure from people at work, friends, and even family that just makes me feel like I have to travel a million miles an hour to get it all done. I want to slow down and wish I had the formula to fix this problem for everyone, but I do not.
For me, I am going to weed out the stuff that is just not necessary in my life and learn to not care so much about the cultural normalities. I am sure that it is not going to be easy, but I do know that I have an awesome God that is here for me every step of the way and is bigger than any trial I may face. So I find peace in Him, and Him alone.
I challenge you to try this out with me...however this applies to you, because it is time to slow down and smell the flowers!
What is the big difference between now and the other parts of the day? I think that it comes down to this...tempo. What do I mean? Tempo is the pace or rate at which something or someone is moving. The difference between our nights and days is the pace at which our lives are moving. I know that in my life, I feel that there is so much to do and so many opportunities to take advantage of that I just keep going and going and going...until the day is over and it is time to sleep. It is the times where I cannot fall asleep and have time to slow down and just think about God and life that I start to feel this genuine connection with God.
I know that I need to just slow down and take the time to let God speak to me and connect to me at a deep level throughout the day, but it is hard to slow down. Honestly, at times I do not know how to slow down. There is so much pressure from people at work, friends, and even family that just makes me feel like I have to travel a million miles an hour to get it all done. I want to slow down and wish I had the formula to fix this problem for everyone, but I do not.
For me, I am going to weed out the stuff that is just not necessary in my life and learn to not care so much about the cultural normalities. I am sure that it is not going to be easy, but I do know that I have an awesome God that is here for me every step of the way and is bigger than any trial I may face. So I find peace in Him, and Him alone.
I challenge you to try this out with me...however this applies to you, because it is time to slow down and smell the flowers!
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Heart of God
David was a man after God's own heart. As I go through life I see more and more that I need to have what David had...a heart after God's. Do you ever think about how you get that? I mean, how do we become a man/woman after God's own heart?
I have kind of a weird question to ask you. What if God were to "break up" with you? Would it make a difference to you if He was apart of your life or not? I had asked this question to myself about two months ago now and found my answer to this to be no. Thinking about that really scared me. I mean, I wanted to be at that place where I would be absolutely distraught if God were to "break up" with me. It made me think and start to wonder how I could have a relationship with God that was meaningful enough to consume my heart.
The more I thought about it, the more it seemed like I couldn't get to this place of sincerity with God. I would read my bible, pray to God, go to church, serve others...but I never really felt like the scriptures were saying anything to me, I felt that my prayers would go unanswered, and sermons wouldn't really say anything to me. Honestly, looking back...it is a scary thought! So I went to a pastor friend of mine with the desire to find out how I could get this relationship with God.
He had a couple things to share with me. He said to continue to read the bible, go to church, and all of that, but he asked me to go one step further. He said that I needed to take risks. At first, I was like what does that mean, but he went further. He talked about dating relationships and the fact that we take risks in that to grow closer to each other. He was like, "the same goes for your relationship with God". If we want to grow closer to God, we need to be willing to take risks. He said, "Not blind leaps of faith, but risks lead by the Spirit of God". I thought and still think that, that makes sense. So I have been trying to take risks and follow these promptings in my heart. It has been an interesting journey so far...a good one!
I wanted to share this with whoever even reads this so that you can have this to use in your own life. It has and is still changing my life for the good. I feel closer to God than I have ever been and feel confident in the decisions I make because of it. It can't remember the the reference for this verse, but there is a verse that says that the closer our hearts our to God's...the easier it is for us to understand his will for us.
So please try this out...it has changed my life and it will change yours too!
The more I thought about it, the more it seemed like I couldn't get to this place of sincerity with God. I would read my bible, pray to God, go to church, serve others...but I never really felt like the scriptures were saying anything to me, I felt that my prayers would go unanswered, and sermons wouldn't really say anything to me. Honestly, looking back...it is a scary thought! So I went to a pastor friend of mine with the desire to find out how I could get this relationship with God.
He had a couple things to share with me. He said to continue to read the bible, go to church, and all of that, but he asked me to go one step further. He said that I needed to take risks. At first, I was like what does that mean, but he went further. He talked about dating relationships and the fact that we take risks in that to grow closer to each other. He was like, "the same goes for your relationship with God". If we want to grow closer to God, we need to be willing to take risks. He said, "Not blind leaps of faith, but risks lead by the Spirit of God". I thought and still think that, that makes sense. So I have been trying to take risks and follow these promptings in my heart. It has been an interesting journey so far...a good one!
I wanted to share this with whoever even reads this so that you can have this to use in your own life. It has and is still changing my life for the good. I feel closer to God than I have ever been and feel confident in the decisions I make because of it. It can't remember the the reference for this verse, but there is a verse that says that the closer our hearts our to God's...the easier it is for us to understand his will for us.
So please try this out...it has changed my life and it will change yours too!
Thursday, February 17, 2011
He Can Do What?
Today was an interesting day. It had its ups and downs. Points of great joy and others of immense sadness. There is so much in life that I wish I could change...so much that I wish I could fix. I mean, I do fix what I can and try to do it quickly, but there are still things in life that I want to fix! I was reading this passage the other day in Ephesians and found peace in it.
"For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."
Ephesians 3:14-21
From this passage, I find comfort in the fact that God is in control and has a plan for me that is more than I can ever ask for or even imagine. There is this one thing that I long for in my life...I take rest in the fact that God knows what it is and will work with it beyond my wildest dreams!
Today I meet with one of the wisest men I know and we discussed the topic of the will of God. We talked about how we discover the will of God and grow closer to Him. He shared that to know the will of God we need to be close to Him. We need to be willing to take risks for God and build that relationship with God. Not blind leaps of faith, but rather spirit lead risks. I hope this is making sense (cause it is like 2:23am lol).
So I guess all of this was to say that I am finding peace in the fact that God has a plan and it is immeasurably more than I could ask for or imagine.
The will of God is vast and great!!
"For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."
Ephesians 3:14-21
From this passage, I find comfort in the fact that God is in control and has a plan for me that is more than I can ever ask for or even imagine. There is this one thing that I long for in my life...I take rest in the fact that God knows what it is and will work with it beyond my wildest dreams!
Today I meet with one of the wisest men I know and we discussed the topic of the will of God. We talked about how we discover the will of God and grow closer to Him. He shared that to know the will of God we need to be close to Him. We need to be willing to take risks for God and build that relationship with God. Not blind leaps of faith, but rather spirit lead risks. I hope this is making sense (cause it is like 2:23am lol).
So I guess all of this was to say that I am finding peace in the fact that God has a plan and it is immeasurably more than I could ask for or imagine.
The will of God is vast and great!!
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
The Truth Shall Set You Free
Truth - noun - a verified or indisputable fact, proposition, or principle
"Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
John 8:32
What causes us to tell the truth? Is it just a leap of faith? Is it based on something that is earned? I think that it is all of the above. When you tell the truth it is so easy. Life is less stressful, you are more at ease, and you just feel good about yourself. Well if this is the case, why do so many of us decide to lie, hide, and cover up the truth?
When you think about it, lying is just a burdensome task. You have to follow up on it, keep track of it, and maintain this thing that eventually gets so big that you end up getting caught. So in the end, you end up hurting others and leaving yourself at a place where you feel lost.
You see lying only causes you to loose yourself. When you lie, you are basically putting up a front that you want others to see. A front that you think will be appealing to others and cause them to like you more or hang out with you more. It may work at the beginning, but in the end you start to question if the people that hang out with you really like you or just some front that you have put up for others to see. I can tell you that it is a hard place to be and is just painful.
Those feelings I was talking about...I had them. Those thoughts that I was talking about...I had them too. I look back and call myself a fool. I mean what was I even thinking? I don't know why I made the decisions I did when I did, besides the fact that I am a sinner, but I see my mistakes. I look back and see where I was and am thankful for people in my life that will confront me.
I don't know who will read this or even care to read through it when they see how long this, but if you are still with me I challenge you. I dare you to take a leap. I challenge you to just tell the truth. I will tell you that at first it is hard. Especially if you have been lying as long as I have. It is a bad habit that needs to be broken. I will tell you, from experience, that when you decide to tell the truth and you do it...it is so freeing! It is this burden that is just lifted off your shoulders.
So what are you going to do? Are you going to take that leap? Or are you just going to remain the same? Should it really be a question? No. So ask God for the strength, will power, and determination and experience the change!
"Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
John 8:32
What causes us to tell the truth? Is it just a leap of faith? Is it based on something that is earned? I think that it is all of the above. When you tell the truth it is so easy. Life is less stressful, you are more at ease, and you just feel good about yourself. Well if this is the case, why do so many of us decide to lie, hide, and cover up the truth?
When you think about it, lying is just a burdensome task. You have to follow up on it, keep track of it, and maintain this thing that eventually gets so big that you end up getting caught. So in the end, you end up hurting others and leaving yourself at a place where you feel lost.
You see lying only causes you to loose yourself. When you lie, you are basically putting up a front that you want others to see. A front that you think will be appealing to others and cause them to like you more or hang out with you more. It may work at the beginning, but in the end you start to question if the people that hang out with you really like you or just some front that you have put up for others to see. I can tell you that it is a hard place to be and is just painful.
Those feelings I was talking about...I had them. Those thoughts that I was talking about...I had them too. I look back and call myself a fool. I mean what was I even thinking? I don't know why I made the decisions I did when I did, besides the fact that I am a sinner, but I see my mistakes. I look back and see where I was and am thankful for people in my life that will confront me.
I don't know who will read this or even care to read through it when they see how long this, but if you are still with me I challenge you. I dare you to take a leap. I challenge you to just tell the truth. I will tell you that at first it is hard. Especially if you have been lying as long as I have. It is a bad habit that needs to be broken. I will tell you, from experience, that when you decide to tell the truth and you do it...it is so freeing! It is this burden that is just lifted off your shoulders.
So what are you going to do? Are you going to take that leap? Or are you just going to remain the same? Should it really be a question? No. So ask God for the strength, will power, and determination and experience the change!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)