God's Timing

Regardless of how I would like to view myself sometimes, I am not a patient person.  One of my biggest pet peeves are long, and unnecessary lines.  They always seem to be the worst when you are in the biggest hurry as well.  For example, I walked into the local Wal-Mart last week to pick up two or three items.  (Yes, I made it in and out without anything extra)  It took me maybe four minutes total to find what I needed, and I thought to myself, this is going to be a quick trip.  Boy was I wrong.  Out of over 20 registers at the front of the store, only four were open and checking out customers.  FOUR!  The lines were long, and I waited almost half an hour before I got out of the store.  I am proud to say that I kept my cool, because I did realize that it was not the poor girl's fault who checked me out, and she did not deserve some of the comments that she was receiving about the lines.  But, it was still ridiculous.  Then, on the way home I pulled up to a red light, when it turned green five cars got through before it changed back to red.  And guess who was the first one to have to stop, THIS GUY.  I did not think it would ever turn green.  I especially got fed up when there was at least a full minute and a half when no traffic was coming through the green light!

I wonder sometimes if we have this same attitude towards God as we experience things in our lives.  It seems like we are always in a hurry to be in a relationship, to get that new job, or buy a new home.  And when it does not happen, we either try to force the issue or question God as to why.  Not only this, but we tend to demand answers of Him.

Psalm 46:10
"Cease striving and know that I am God;"

Some translations also use the phrase "Be still."  We can also look at a point of being patient.  We should not put so much in making things try to happen the way we want, and just be patient.  And what should we do while being patient.  Know that He is God.  Know that He knows what He is doing.  Trust in the fact that He is sovereign over all things.  Have faith in His will for your life.

Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope."

We must seek His will in our lives, and trust that He knows exactly what to do in our best interest.  Through this, we draw closer to Him.  What do we do in the time being, we serve.  We stay faithful in the areas in which we currently find ourselves, and we work hard until He is ready to move us where He wants us to be.

Thanks for reading, and I pray that God will continue to bless you all!

Getting Older

WOW!  Time sure does seem to fly by.  There are so many things going on in our lives that we sometimes forget to stop and look at what is going on around us.  Two weeks ago, I hit a milestone in my life.  I graduated into a new decade in my life.  I finally turned 30.  I will be honest, it was not something that I was looking forward to at first.  But, then I realized that it was just another marker in my life.  Something that I could definitely use as sort of a window to my past and to my future.  So what I am going to do in this post is to examine the decades in which I have lived, and then, look to the future as to where God would have me go.

0-10 years

Luke 18:15-17
"And they were bringing even their babies to Him so that He would touch them, but when the disciples saw it, they began rebuking them. But Jesus called for them, saying, “Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”

These were the great years.  These are the days that we all as adults wish that we could go back to sometimes, because life was simply and easy compared to what we go through today.  There was no worry on bills to pay, no job to rush to, no "responsibility" whatsoever.  I had a pretty good childhood.  I did not have as much as everyone else did.  But, my parents worked hard to provide a good life for us.  There was never a time that I had to wonder whether I was loved or not.  I also did not have an understanding of the world that my parents had.  Everything seemed so simple and easy to me.  Much the same as a new believer.  The concept of faith in Christ is not truly a hard concept to understand from a child's perspective.  Many times you can tell a child that something is true and they will just blindly trust you.  We need to be the same in our walk with Christ.  We need to be at a point that we put our full faith and trust in Christ, and all that He teaches.  And we cannot try to put our own spin on our salvation.

11-20 years

Psalms 25:6-8

"Remember, O Lord, Your compassion and Your lovingkindnesses, For they have been from of old.  Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; According to Your lovingkindness remember me, For Your goodness’ sake, O Lord.  Good and upright is the Lord; Therefore He instructs sinners in the way."

These were the hard years.  This is the time in my life where I truly started to question God and His promise.  No longer was I satisfied with the "just because it says so" answer.  I lost my childhood faith as I grew.  I found that this was a time of many mistakes and repentance.  I rebelled against what I was taught, and surly gave my family some sleepless nights.  But such is true of all those that are of the world.  It wasn't until I was 14 when God truly opened my eyes to who He was.  And how bad that I needed Him.  And I gave my life to Him.  And it was at this time that I failed the most.  I was pulled by the things and temptations of the world.  Much is the same for a new believer.  There are going to be many trials in the beginning.  Temptations seem to be stronger as we begin our faith.  But, those mistakes are not necessarily a bad thing.

21-30 years

Philippians 1:6
"For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." 

This was a time of growth for me.  I had matured out of the foolishness of my thoughts and actions.  I moved to a point that I knew that I was responsible for my faith, and I knew that I had to act on it.  Did I still make mistakes?  Yes, numerous.  However, I found that my mistakes were important to me.  They showed me where my sins were.  They showed me the way in which I needed to turn.  It is much like the Old Testament Law.  It is not there to condemn us, but to show our sins to us.  I saw the sins of my youth, and I worked hard in these years to learn and increase in my faith.  My mistakes were also a way to show that God was still there.  Because no matter the sin I committed, God was right there with me.  I felt conviction from the Spirit inside of me to repent.  With all this in mind, I began to grow.  I began to study more to seek out God's will in my life.  I also looked to find where my shortcomings were, based on past experience, so that I could make the necessary changes.  This represents the time in a believer's life where they begin to need the meat of understanding.  They have moved on from the milk as described in 1 Corinthians 3 and Hebrews 5.

30+ years

Philippians 1:9-11
"And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God."

And I still have a lot to learn.  I find that there are new ways that I can grow everyday.  Our journey never ends while we are here on this earth.  What does the rest of my life hold?  I have no idea.  But one thing that I am certain in is that I will never be alone.  God has brought me this far, and no matter what, He will always be there for me.  Why?  Because I have put all my faith and hope in Him, and not in anything else.  I depend on Him for everything.  I need His guidance, and His forgiveness.  And my job is to keep on serving to the best of my ability until it is time for me to go home.  As I look to the future now, it is not in fear, but in hope, and anticipation.  What is God going to show me?  What is He going to help me through?  When I look back on these years, what will I have learned?  It is rather kind of exciting now.

Never again will I look at aging as something to be afraid of.  Yet, more of an adventure that is continuing in my life.  My story is not over.  Now, I do know how the story ends, and I take comfort in that.  What is exciting now is what is going to take place between here and then.  Because nothing is more important than my relationship with my Lord.

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

    

How to Survive

Hello again to you all.  I am thankful once again for the opportunity to write again.  As I stated in my last posting, there are a lot of things going on in my life.  There are many new challenges that have to be faced, as all of us have.  And it seems like it never ends.  There always seems to be something changing or going wrong that we have to deal with.  And when it seems like nothing else could possibly go wrong, it does.  And many times in the heat of the moment we may question why God allowed certain things to happen.  We question that if He loved us, that He would not let those things happen to us.  But this is simply not the case.  Sometimes God uses those instances to get us to lean on Him more.  The question that we have to ask ourselves, is what do we really place our trust in.  And I am not saying this flippantly like I know that many do, but I want you to truly ask yourself, when the struggles of this life are upon you, what is the first thing that you do?

Matthew 7:24-27
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”

How many times in our lives do bad things happen, and the first thing we do is try to figure it out on our own?  Or we turn to that friend, or family member for support and guidance.  Yet we systematically tune out God in the situation.  Or the thought of what God would have us do completely slips our minds.  And when the situation is bad enough, we crack under the weight of it.  But, for the one that has his/her foundation fully settled on the Word of God, we find comfort in the midst of the storm.

About a month ago, our school was shaken with the tragic death of one of our students.  Thanks be to God that he had been saved before the accident.  But the school was in shambles.  It forced all of us to take a good look at our lives in light of eternity.  For no one thought that death could come to them because of their youth.  Many of them had no idea of where to turn for comfort.  No one could fathom the reason for his untimely death.  But was his death "untimely"?  Or was it something that God allowed for a purpose?  I was able to share with a large group of students about the importance of a relationship with Jesus.  About who He was, and what He did for us.  Many of the students that were believers had a certain peace about them that was evident.  They were sad, but at peace knowing that their friend was in the presence of God.  And some of the students took note of how they spoke and acted.  The deceased student's pastor was there with me, and though I had to go teach he stayed.  Later own he told me that a couple of students repented, and gave their lives to Christ.

God has a purpose for all the things we go through.  He had a purpose for taking that student home when He did.  I firmly believe He did for those few that were saved because of it.  But it is not for us to question Him.  We just need to trust in Him.

Psalms 46:1-2
"God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change"

I urge you to check your foundation.  If it is based on the Word of God in Christ Jesus, you will be able to stand firm.  If it is based in something else, it will not last.

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

Peace with God

I really love my church. I enjoy the people, the prayer time, and mostly the bible study. Our pastor does a wonderful job of going verse by verse in the scriptures on Sunday nights. We look at what the words means, where else is it used, the grammar of the verse, and so much more. I have learned so much over the years from this kind of study. One of the things that we have looked at lately is having peace with God. I have often heard of people saying that they were going to try to make peace with God before they die. Or they feel at peace with their lives. I want to share with you some of what I learned about how to be at peace with God.

Romans 5:1
"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,"

The only way that we can have peace with God is by justification by faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Another way to put it, unless you are born again, you cannot be at peace with God. Anyone who is not saved is considered to be of the world. Those people that are of the world are considered enemies of God.

James 4:4
"You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God."

Until we accept His free gift of salvation, we are considered His enemies. But that does not mean that He does not love us still. That does not mean that He will not give us a chance to change. A chance to be at peace with Him.

John 3:16-18
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

Christ came into the world for anyone who would choose to accept Him. He saw us lost and hopeless. We were in our sins. We were apart of the world. We were enemies of God. Bust He still loved us enough to die to give us a chance.

Romans 5:6
"For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly."

Romans 5:8
"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

Romans 5:10
"For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life."

But we as Christians accepted the call to not be apart of the world anymore. Thus we obtained peace. Jesus did not come to earth to judge us. He came to save us. The only way we receive judgement is by choosing not to accept Him as Lord and Savior. Thus we choose to be enemies with God.

God's love is truly amazing. It is sometimes hard to believe that He really loves me enough to forgive me of my sins. It is hard to believe that He loved me, even before I choose to submit my life to Him. And I know now that I am at peace with God. Now I still will fail. I will still fall into sin everyday, as is the nature of man. But, because of my submission to God, through my acceptance of His Son Jesus, because I am at peace with God, He is faithful to forgive me.

Are you at peace with God? If not, I pray that you will seek Him today.

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

Peace at Christmas

I really, really love this time of year. I love the special get-togethers, parties, caroling, and Christmas plays. I enjoy seeing the laughter and joy in children. But most of all, I enjoy the celebration of the birth of my Savior. I enjoy the time to reflect on what His birth meant for my salvation. And I do receive a certain peace this time of year, realizing that God is always in control. He set His perfect plan in motion, so that I might be saved. That is the best part of Christmas to me.

But this brings me to the point of peace. I think of how much peace that I have this time of year, and I see the exact opposite in the world. They are not at peace. They spend so much time stressing and fighting over gifts. About how to decorate their houses. Many of them do not even know the true meaning of this time of year. They have no peace. This makes me think of the verses about peace given to the shepherds by the angels. Doesn't it say peace on earth and goodwill to men?

Luke 2:8-14
"In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,“Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.""

WOW! The last verse says peace among men with whom He is pleased. A lot of people tend to leave that part out of their greetings and advertizements. They do not want to offend anyone. But the verse makes a lot of sense when you read the whole thing. The reason that there are so many people around us this time of year with no peace, is because they do not have Jesus. There is nothing we can do on this earth that would please God. No amount of works, morality, or religious practice means anything to Him unless one has received His Son. That is what the verse means. Peace is given to those that would one day accept His Son as their Savior. That is the peace of Christmas. Like I said in my post about Black Friday, we need to get out there and share what this time of year is really about, so that peace in which we have through Christ Jesus may be spread.

Thanks for reading, God Bless You all, and Merry Christmas!