Feeling Far Away From God?

Life is always full of unexpected turns.  We never know where we are going next, or how we are going to get there.  Along with this journey are times of joy, and times of dread.  It is in the times of dread that we begin to question what is going on in our lives to make it so bad.

I think all of us at one time or another have experienced rough times in our lives and questioned where God was during our suffering.  My response to all believers when I here this question is:

Who moved?

Deuteronomy 31:8
"The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

Those that trust in God have nothing to fear from Him leaving us.  When we feel a thousand miles away, we are the ones that have caused that distance.  Not Him.  He is always right there.  We just have to reach out.  His mercy and grace has no end.

So, the next time you feel far away from God, all you have to do is lift your eyes to Him where you are.  I promise, He is right there.

Thanks for reading, and I pray that God will bless you all this week.

Tapan Kumar Roy: Bangladesh

Keeping with something that I started last year, I am posting the story of a martyr for Christ today. When we read these stories, we get a real since of how the world truly hates what we believe. And, it also gives us true, present day heros to look up to. It has always been my prayer that if something like what happens in these stories were to happen to me, that I would be bold enough to defend the Gospel no matter the cost. Today's story is of a man named Tapan who lived in the Southeast Asian country of Bangladesh. Bangladesh is dominated by the Muslim religion. The story of his witness comes from a journal kept by his sister in which she uses to talk to God. This story may not be suitable for young children, so I caution you as you read. I found this story at www.opendoorsusa.org.

January 12, 2005—Dear God, my friends tell me that older brothers are demanding and arrogant. That may be true, but I have never seen that in my brother, Tapan. Today for my birthday, he completely surprised me by giving me a brand-new necklace! If he made it himself, it must have taken him hours, because he’s terrible with small beads.

March 9—Dear God, I’m scared! Yesterday, a pastor from a church we know was beheaded. He was murder by 10 Muslims, seven of whom are still out on the streets. Because of this, Mother and I decided not to go to church this week, but Tapan still went. I tried to tell him to stay, but he wouldn’t listen to me! He said worshiping God was more important than his safety. I suppose this is true, but I was still too scared to go. But, I did pray for him the whole time that he was gone, and he has come back home safely!

June 18—Dear God, guess what Tapan got a job with a Christian organization. He is so excited. They are called Christian Life Bangladesh, and they do medical work to help prevent AIDS, and also share the “Jesus Film” with others and tell them about Christ. I am very excited for him, but also very scared. People say that the Muslim extremists in our village have a “hit list” and that if you work for a church or Christian group, that you are put on that list. I hope that does not happen to Tapan!

July 23—Oh God, please keep Tapan safe! Today, when I was walking by the madrassa (Islamic school), one of the boys told me that if my brother keeps showing the “Jesus Film” that they’re going to do something to him! I told Tapan this, but he just calmly replied, “God is protecting me. Every day that I am alive, it is because of His mercy, and if I am hurt or killed, it will be for His glory.” God, I wish that I could just hold onto my brother and tell him that he must stay at home, or hide somewhere. But I know that is not what you want him to be doing. Please help me to be able to let him go.

July 29—God, no! No, no, no, NO!! How could they Less than three hours ago, men broke into Tapan’s room. While Tapan and his friend Liplal were sleeping, they began to stab them over and over until they were practically hacked to death. As soon as we heard their cries, we tried to get into the room, but they had chained all of our doors and the neighbor’s doors closed. We could do nothing but bang on our doors and listen to Tapan and Liplal’s screams. One of the neighbors finally broke through their door and the murderers ran off. Someone got a car and we all piled in to drive them to the hospital, but—but it was too late. Tapan was dead by the time we arrived. And so now, I’m sitting in Tapan’s room, only…he’s gone.

October 26—Dear God, I have doubted You so much over these last few months. It has been so hard having Tapan gone. I want to blame You for his death. Sometimes I think to myself, “If only Tapan had not been a Christian, than he would not have been killed!” But then I think, “If Tapan had not been a Christian then he would have been dead in his sins. How much better is it that he was free from guilt and sin and now is alive in heaven.” Yes, I know that is true. But often times a message is harder to cling to than the real, fleshly body of Tapan.

July 29, 2006—Dear God, I still believe in You. One year ago today, Muslim men martyred my brother because he was a Christian. Because of that I have struggled with hatred, bitterness, and depression, but, I have also seen Your love, strength, and compassion. It would be easy to say “I do not believe in the Christian God anymore,” but it would not be better. I can honestly say that I have felt Your presence this year. You are not the God of easy answers, magical fixes, or painless lives, but You are the God who meets us in the middle of our trials. Thank you for being real to me, my mother, and our whole church as we mourn the death of my brother.

Matthew 5:10-12
"Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

I pray that we all can have a faith in God as Tapan did.

Thanks for reading, and God Bless you all this week!

Starting Things Anew

Happy New Years everyone!!!!!!!!! 2011 brought many joys and some sorrows to my life. I am thankful to make it through to another year. I was blessed when my wife gave birth to our third child, Lauren. She was a band-aid on broken hearts as 2010 left us with two miscarriages. I am blessed to still be employed in a rocky economy, and I was blessed to start this blog in January of last year. Writing here on this page has really increased my focus on God, and what He wants from me here on this earth. I pray that God will continue to bless me in writing this blog, and that He will use it to His glory, and not mine.

Traditionally, everyone this year likes to come up with a New Year's resolution. Something that we are going to try better to do this year, that we could not do last year. While viewing the news last week, a learned of a poll that was done that said that 85% of people quit on their resolution in the first month, and 90% never make it past the second month. I can honestly say that I am in the 85% group that never makes it past the first month. I have finally got to the point that I did not make them anymore. But, I noticed that all of them were of a physical nature. I wanted to lose weight, exercise more, eat healthier, etc. All things that I tried to do on my own for me. There was never any inclusion of God in what I was doing. So I decided to do things a little differently a year or two ago. Instead, I just try to take a good honest look at my spiritual life, and see where I need the most work, and do my best to work on it that year. And I pray for God's guidance and help to get me through. Is it always easy, no, absolutely not. Will I fail? I will probably make many mistakes along the way, and there will be consequences I am sure. But, I know that God is right there with me.

This caused me to think on the story of King David. The first time we see David is in 1 Samuel 16. He was hand picked by God to become King of Israel. David was faithful to God. He demonstrated that in the killing of Goliath in chapter 17 of that same book as well as the rest of 1 Samuel and the beginning of 2 Samuel. However, in chapter 11 of 2 Samuel, we see David fall. It is here that he falls to sin in the murder of Uriah and the affair with Bathsheba. This was certainly not a good time in David's life. We see his punishment with all that happens in his family afterwards. However, David does ask for forgiveness. He asked God for His help. And God was faithful. And because of this, David was able to persevere through his trials.

God will help you through things that are going on in your life.
Philippians 4:11-13
"Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."

To those who are lost, there is a promise.
Romans 10:9-11
"That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”"

And once you are truly saved, you will be forever new.
2 Corinthians 5:16-18
"Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,"

So, with this new year, will you choose to make God a part of your resolution this year? If you are lost, and seeking God, I encourage you to click the link at the top of this page for the Plan of Salvation. If you are a believer, I hope that this will help you set good goals this year to help in your walk with God.

Thanks for reading and God Bless you all in 2012!

How Do I Measure Up?

In my devotion entitled "What am I worth" last week, I expounded on what I felt my worth was as an individual in the sight of God. At the end of the devotion, I asked the question about how we are to look at ourselves and what kind of difference are we going to make. This week I want to continue on that train of thought to look at how I measure up to God's standards.

Amos 7:7-8
"Thus He showed me, and behold, the Lord was standing by a vertical wall with a plumb line in His hand. The LORD said to me, “What do you see, Amos?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “Behold I am about to put a plumb line In the midst of My people Israel. I will spare them no longer."

It may be hard for some people to remember what a plumb line is. Back in the day, (a little before my time) someone building a house would use a plumb line to make sure the wall is standing up straight, and not leaning. They would attach a weight to a string and lower it from the top of the wall at a certain distance from the top of the wall. They would then look at the distance from the weight to the wall and determine how much adjusting they would have to do to the wall to make it straight. Now a days, we have replaced the plumb line with the level, which uses bubbles in a tube to make sure something is standing up straight. In the analogy above, God tells to prophet Amos that he was going to measure His people, and not continue to spare those that did not measure up. He was going to deal with them for their disobedience to His commandments.

If God were to put a plumb line on us, would He find that we measure up to His standards? I am sure that we would not. For none of us are good enough on our own to present ourselves righteous before God. There are many people today that have the idea of what my pastor likes to call "easy believeism". This is where people think that all they have to do is say that they believe in God and that is enough. But, that is not accurate with what the bible teaches.

Romans 10:9-11
"that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”

Jesus as Lord. Lord meaning your master. This means that you choose to follow Him and all that He teaches. If we truly believe He is who He says He is, we will obey what He teaches and commands. Satan believes in God. He knows for a fact that Christ rose from the grave. He knows the bible better than any of us. Does that mean he will get into heaven?

John 14:15
"If you love Me, you will keep My commandments."

Luke 6:46
"“Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?"

So what can we do to help us measure up? Be faithful to Him. On our own we are nothing. But, if we devote our lives to Him, if we strive daily to look for ways to serve Him, these are the things that God looks at for us. What have we done with the gift that His Son gave? If we look at ourselves on a daily basis on how we measure up, it will help us to grow. We would be forced to face our sins and short comings and deal with them. All of this will help us to grow closer to God. Can we ever be perfect? No, but that is no excuse for not trying.

Thanks, and God Bless You All this week!

What am I worth?

I have always felt self reflection necessary to Christian growth. To take time to examine ourselves, to see if we are being true to our Lord. If we find an area in which we struggle, then we can focus on changing that to something that we are strong in. 1 Corinthians 11:28 reads "But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup." Now this verse is found in the teaching of observing the Lord's Supper, and should be done before taking of the Lord's supper because of the warning given in the context of the verse. However, we should not limit ourselves to this practice around the time of Lord's Supper at church. It should be a daily process. If we only look at what needs fixing every once in a while, we might be missing something all together.

In my self reflections lately, I have been asking the question, 'Am I doing all that I am supposed to?' And 'How does God see me when He looks at me?' The answer that I come up with was not too good. Was I as a person worth the price that Christ had to pay on the cross. It is hard sometimes to view ourselves in this light, and honestly I found myself fighting back the tears. Am I as a person, worth anything to God? Does He need me? Of course He doesn't. There is nothing good enough about myself on my own that is good enough for God. However, the amazing part is that He loves me anyway. He gave His life for me. Not because I deserve it, or because I think I am entitled to it. But, just because He loves me.

We need to live life in the thought of how can we make His sacrifice pay back dividends. Christ invested a lot in us. How much do we return the favor. I can only imagine what it was like to hang on a cross and forgive me for all the times I was going to fail. He thought about me! So what am doing? Am I trying my best to serve Him? Let's be honest. It is easier to be a Christian in the US than it is elsewhere in this world. People are dying in other countries because of what they believe. They are paying the ultimate price for their beliefs, while we sit all comfortable and cozy here. So, what can I do different that will make a difference here? These are questions that I encourage you to asks yourselves on a daily basis. Imagine what a change we could see in our spiritual lives if the first thing on our minds when we get up, is how can I best serve my Savior today, or how can I do better in serving my Savior today. Because it is not about me anymore, it is about Him.

Thanks for reading, and God Bless You all this week!

Faithfulness

I love working in VBS. When else do we get the time to dress up and act silly with the kids at church and it be perfectly acceptable? The last few years I have had the opportunity to help lead and teach at VBS. I guess that one of my gifts is working with young people. There is not many things as fun as spending time with kids. I guess that has something to do with me working in Education. One of the lessons that I was able to do was a lesson on faithfulness. What is faithfulness? Faithfulness as I can see it is using what God has blessed us with to serve Him. In Luke chapter 19 Jesus tells the parable about the slaves entrusted with some of the master's money. They were told to put it to work until he returned. Upon his return, some of the slaves turn the small amount of money into much more, and one hid his money for fear of losing it. The ones who used the money to make more where blessed with more opportunities for service. The one who did not lost it. This parable explains to us what we are supposed to do while we wait for Christ's return. When He ascended to heaven, He gave a promise that one day He would return. While He is gone, we are supposed to witness and use the gifts we have been blessed with to serve Him. All born again Christians are blessed with at least one gift. Some are blessed with more. To reference theses gifts you can look up Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12. Are job is to use them to the glory of God and win more believers to a saving knowledge of Him. If we prove ourselves to be faithful with a few things, God will entrust us with more things in the future. Part of this will be our rewards in heaven. The flip side of this story is what happens when we choose not to use our gifts. If we choose not to, according to the story Christ told, we will lose our gifts. Sometimes we do not use them like we should. Maybe we are just tired that day, maybe we think too much about what the people around us will think, etc. Whatever the case may be, we need to keep our minds on being faithful with the gifts we have received. Jesus looks at the world a lot differently than we do. He never hid His love and grace to us because of how He felt or what people around might have said to Him. So, in whatever gift God has choosen to bless you with, use it to glorify God as often as possible. Because the blessings will continue to flow when you do.

Thanks for reading and God bless you all this week!