God At Work

There is a show on the Discovery Channel called Gold Rush, when they find gold, it’s just not all that impressive. it looks like a dirty rock. Everybody is freaking out. “We’re rich!” It just looks like something that I could get outside in the yard. What’s happening in the show is they see some things that are there but are going to need to be drawn out. They’re going to need to be refined. They’re going to need to be cleaned up. They see the beauty of what’s there where I just see a dirty rock. They see the real value of the gold that is embedded in the rest of those impurities.

At least 12 times in the Bible, God is referred to as the refining fire. God and His relationship with us is one of refinement. God is not just interested in saving, but transforming us and pulling out of us those beauties that oftentimes we have a hard time even seeing in ourselves. The Bible is clear that God sees us as incredibly valuable, so don’t treat yourselves cheaply. God does not see you as cheap. The very blood of his Son is shed for you. This is about God initiating not only our ransom and rescue but purifying our lives and making us more like Christ for our joy and for his glory.

Here’s my point. God is at work in the mess. That’s it. That’s my point. God is at work in the mess. “Our God is a refining fire. He will burn away impurities. He will wash away uncleanliness.” This is really a beautiful idea, although I will admit it’s a hard one.  J. I. Packer says, “Still he seeks the fellowship of his people and will send them as gifts both joy and sorrow to detach their hands from the things of this world and to attach those things to himself.” Packer’s argument is that God so loves you, so longs to be with you, so longs to have a right relationship with you where you are wholeheartedly his in pursuit. We’re going to stumble until the day we die,

He sends us joy and sorrow. In God’s deep and abiding love for me, he’s like, “No, no, no. I’ll send you joy, but from time to time, I’m going to walk you out into the desert. From time to time, I’m going to remind you of how desperate you are for me and that what you really need is me. From time to time, in my great and abiding love for you, I want to show you how little control you actually have. From time to time, I’m going to show you, because I love you, how powerless you actually are and how powerful I actually am. From time to time, I will show you that I am enough regardless. to pull you away from your idols, to pull you away from those things you like and are prone to worship, to remind you that you are not in control, and that’s a good thing. I am in control, and I can be trusted.

James 1, starting in verse 2.”Count it all joy” He’s saying, “Consider it all joy when you face trials of various kinds.” Would that be sickness? That’s various. Would that be financial? That would be various. Would that be relational? It’s going to fit in the various drawer. You name it. It fits in the various. “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds” Why? “for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.”

God knows where our faith is, so the testing of our faith is not so God might know where we stand but so that we might know where we stand. God isn’t going, “Man, I hope Scott makes it.” That’s not what’s happening here. God is strengthening us. He is deepening our roots that we might stand all the more boldly and all the more brightly for our joy and His glory.

We consider it all joy when we face trials of various kinds because we know that God is at work in these various trials. We know we have not been abandoned but Then we begin to doubt, “Oh, am I really saved? Is this real? Christ isn’t working for me.” There is still mess to be worked out. There are still impurities to be burned off. There are still things that need to be cleaned off of us, and that will be true until the day we die.

Honesty before God and being in community is essential for the refining fire of God’s love to burn off the impurities from us so that what would be left is that beautiful gold. He goes further in Romans 5:3-5. “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings” That’s a whole other level.  “Consider it all joy when you face trials of various kinds.” No, he’s going farther, and he’s saying, “Rejoice in your sufferings.” That one is hard for me. I can consider it all joy. I know God is at work in the mess, but this is like, “Rejoice. Be glad in your sufferings.” I need the Holy Spirit on that one.

Knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. you want hope to grow. You feel hopeless. You feel weighted down. You feel in the desert. You feel dry. You feel sick. You feel abandoned. God is at work in the mess. He’s saying here that God is developing your endurance, and in your endurance, hope will be more established.

It’s almost 2016 when people hit the gym for the first time in forever and they will end up with delayed onset muscle soreness. It’s what happens to you not the day after you work out but two days after you have worked out. What you’ll see happening in January is people going, “Oh, Don’t touch me.” They get back into the gym, and they have this, “I’m going to get in shape. I’m going to say goodbye to how I’ve been. I’m going to get back to what I once was.” They put a picture of themselves up in their mirror like Rocky did in Rocky 4. “I’m going to get back.” Then they really fade. It’s the breaking down of muscle. It is the running until your lungs burn that creates endurance. The apostle Paul says, “Rejoice when your lungs burn. Rejoice when your muscles are sore. Rejoice when you need water so badly you can barely stand it, for God is at work in the mess.” Because refining is taking place.

So many of us want lives where dependence upon Christ is not necessary. The reason you want that is because you think you or the things you want are going to be a better God to you than He will. You don’t necessarily want a life of ease as badly as you want a life of ease. It is a good gift to be desperate and hungry and needy. “Blessed are the poor in spirit” is what Jesus teaches. The first sermon out of the gate, “They’re the ones who will see God. Blessed are the brokenhearted. Blessed are those who mourn.” Have you read the Beatitudes? That’s the life we’re after.

God is at work in the mess. He’s refining. He’s moving. That didn’t stop the apostle Paul from crying out and asking release from that thorn in the flesh. In fact, three times, he pled with the Lord until the Lord said,  “I love you. This is staying. My grace will be sufficient for you in this weakness.” At times we feel like we’ve been abandoned by God. There are trials, and there are tribulations. We’re in the desert. God feels far from us. Our senses are off. We feel discombobulated. Then we feel abandoned. “Where are you, God?” “I can’t believe this, God. I’ve been so good to you. I can’t believe you would do this to me. You would just abandon me in this moment of need, in this moment of trial. I can’t believe you would do this.” One of the things again that we see in the Scripture is oftentimes, the desert is used by God to increase our intimacy with him, to grow our faith in him.

Let’s be straight. The Lord disciplines all he loves, but the discipline of the Lord is never meant to consume or destroy his children, but rather to woo them, reconcile them. Because the Lord does not change, it means he does not change his mind concerning you. The Bible is very clear that you were saved at your worst. It was not you at your best that God saved. It was, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” It wasn’t like you cleaned yourself all up, and then God said, “All right, now that you’re clean, I can kind of see there is some gold in there. I kind of like what you’ve done with the place, so I’ll take you. You’re in now.”

He has not grown weary. He has not lost patience. He is not wanting a mulligan because you cannot figure it out. Do you not know that the infinite, all-knowing, always-has-been, always-will-be God is intimately acquainted with all of your days before you’ve lived them? The God who is outside of time is well aware of how you’re going to blow it. And how you will succeed.

Some of what you’re experiencing might be the discipline of God, but please do not mistake that discipline as being heavy-handed or harsh. Just because something has been taken out of your hands,  just because there has been some loss of something you perceived to be yours does not make God, in his discipline, cruel. You don’t control the discipline of God by checking all of the boxes. A lot of what is going on is running underneath. It’s a script that is running that we’re completely unaware of, and those who have suffered have seen that script running underneath the rhythms of their lives, and they were unaware. The struggle, the life not of ease, but the life of trial and tribulation.

Since he is a refining fire, We’re all being refined, but some of us are hyper-aware of that refining work right now because it’s hurting, because we find ourselves in the desert, because we’re sick, or somebody we love is sick, or we’ve been wrestling with something for a long time, or we feel like God is far from us, or we’re struggling with anxiety and fear. I keep finding that when I wait on the Lord, that God does so much of his work. God accomplishes more in our waiting than in all of our doing. We wait on the Lord. We’re earnest for God to do this good work in us.

Difficulty is not uncommon. Don’t feel ashamed that you’re walking in some sort of difficulty. Be honest about it. That’s what the people of God are meant to do, to flank you, support you, uphold you. We walk honestly in community.

Charles Spurgeon  said “God is too good to be unkind. He is too wise to be confused. If I cannot trace his hand, I can always trust his heart.” Don’t lose heart. God is at work in the mess. If you are weary, my hope is that after reading this you will be encouraged. You don’t think God is dialed in to your difficulty? Then what are you doing reading this today? in the middle of difficulty, in the middle of doubt, in the middle of the desert, in the middle of suffering, in the middle of sickness. You don’t think God is trying to give you some sort of divine hug today, trying to minister to your heart? Today is evidence that God is for you and not against you, that God loves you, forgives you, and delights in you.

 

“Why?” Let’s Be Honest.

I had a conversation this week with someone who has walked with me through every good and difficulty situation I have ever faced. Someone who I would say is very grounded in their faith and has modeled the Christian walk during the high’s and low’s of their life. Someone who has wept on their face everyday praying over their kids, family and marriage. What surprised me during this conversation was when They said “I have wondered what is the point for me praying prayers when God doesn’t answer them, I don’t understand why certain things happen the way they do.”  After this was said the deafening sound of silence struck me. I didn’t respond. Answers to these questions rushed my mind but I stayed mute; because I knew exactly where they were coming from.

We know the scriptures that talk about God working things for our good, that He has a plan to give us a hope and a future. We try to hold onto these and trust in God’s sovereignty; then we see a mother with 3 young kid’s die pass away at a young age, we see hundreds of innocent people die in tragedy, we see loved ones diagnosed with life ending diseases. I have been there, I have walked it. I have laid in bed at night feeling the darkness that overwhelms my mind and the crippling fear that just won’t subside. My questions outweigh my answers during those long and lonely nights and I think “why God?”

At one time if someone had told me to “praise God in all things.” I would have said “that’s not possible.” But looking back at my pain I recognize it’s the things that I have suffered through that got my attention and brought me closer to Jesus and made me grow. These are the very things that taught me I’m not in control. This made me say with all my heart. “I need you, oh how I need you.” We may think God doesn’t hear us or doesn’t care in tough times so why pray?

We pray because God’s track record is perfect. He has never failed us before, He has shown us His goodness and that His love will endure. We must trust that His ways are higher than our own and He hears our cries. God, He knows what He’s doing.  There will never be a day He’s not strong enough to come through for us.

A friend texted me this week (2 timothy 1:7) “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” Power is first on the list, and God’s power is more than enough to see you though. Embrace the invisible, and watch your faith grow. He knows what He’s doing.

God says we will reap a harvest at the proper time if we do not give up. (Galatians 6:9) What I have learned is the proper time is never my time because I always want the harvest now. The law of the harvest is simple, growing up in southwest Michigan I have seen this with my own eyes. You plant in one season and you eat the fruit in another. We do not plant one day and the very next day eat what we planted. Right now you may have planted but you do not see any fruit, but what you can’t see is that your roots are going deeper, making you stronger to develop what you need for your coming season. Don’t stop praying, Don’t stop believing. God will bring exactly what you need in His proper time in His season for you. One day you will see, one day you will find all the answers to the question “why.”

 

 

 

The Walk of Life

I was going to start this blog with a Dire Straits reference to the  song “the walk of life.” Then I realized I’m always taking about music in my blogs. So when I noticed not to do that I figured that I just did anyway. So now for my blog. I love people. In my line of work I interact with people all day long. There is something about just loving on people and seeing the gold in them that brings joy to my heart. I love to joke and have a good laugh, Im sure my co-workers can support that statement. Ever sense I was a young boy I have always had a smile on my face. Even so, for me to sit down and write out my life story thus far it’s something how I’m still smiling today. I’ am not diving into that here. If you go back and read my former blogs you will see little pieces of my life. Fact of the matter is, I hate it when people are hurting. I have had my share of joy, trials, and even pain. It’s in the times of pain, aloneness, or felling abandoned when you wonder of the reason why we go through such trials.

God’s process for creating wholeness in us is through trials that strengthen our faith in Him. The only way we could possibly go through a trial and be super happy about it is if we truly believe that God causes everything, including the hard times, to work together for good in our lives. This isn’t fun but it happens to be true. This is a process that brings about maturity in our lives. We all have faced adversity or adversity could be standing in front of you now. I will say God has created a way for you to be complete, not lacking anything. Your job is to Grab hold of the hope and not let go. The outcome of your hard times will be what thrusts you into your destiny. The harvest you produce in adversity will provide you with fruit that will sustain you in the later years in life. In some of the hardest times in my life my mother would remind me that “God won’t waste my pain.” How true is that statement! How did she know this? Through living and experiencing it for herself first hand. The fruit of what we learn will be passed on from generation to generation if we embrace it, and look at it as not the end but just a detour on this walk of life.

Too often we shun that which is meant for our good, because we are afraid it will deprive us of what we think we really want. Remember God has his plans and his ways, and he never violates the freedom of the person. Instead, he challenges us and invites us to trust him, and surrender that lesser freedom to his greater call for our life.

 

A Woman Named Pat

This past week as I was doing my routine of writing, and reading at Starbucks when an older woman on a motorized scooter wheeled over to me and commented on the book I was reading. It was the book “A grief observed” by C.S. Lewis. This powerful, yet Sorrowful book is about how he dealt with the death of his wife. This woman introduced herself and told me her name was Pat. She was very proud that a young squire like myself would be reading such material. I went on and told her that I have expieranced a lot of pain in my life, but through Christ I have had so much victory. Pat said that she had been married to her husband for over 50 years when he passed away. She was then taken to the hospital with an illness, and had no time to mourn his death. She went on to tell me about an angelic encounter she had there in the hospital. Two mighty strong men walked into her room, with piercing fire in their eyes, they layed their hands on her head and said “Everything is going to be fine, God’s in control of your life, just trust him.” From there on she had peace in her spirit.

I sat and talked with Pat for about a half hour. We shared testimonies, and she noticed my writings on my computer. I told her I write these blogs, she went on to say how she is finishing her autobiography that will be published soon. Pat then asked if she could pray with me, I said absolutely! With her small frail hand she grabbed mine and began to pray. I have felt God hit me before but the fire of the Holy Spirit was all over this woman. As she began to speak with power, and life, it had seemed like heaven split open and her words were going right to the throne. She prayed healing, Imparted knowledge, Spoke life, and blessing. The joy of the Lord fell upon us and we started to laugh then she said “Amen” which I replied “and F.M.” She got a kick out of that. Pat is in her 80’s, some could judge her by being on her scooter, maybe just being older looking, but God will use anyone to reach the heart of his children.

Encounters like this don’t happen often with me. I will say when you are obedient to the voice of the Lord, He will use you in mighty ways. I may never see Pat again, who knows she could of been an angel herself. This week I challenge to you to be a “Pat”, listen to the voice of the Lord, Go where he sends you, speak life, Healing, truth into those around you. You will never know the impact it will leave on their life.

C.S. Lewis said “I thought I could describe a state; make a map of sorrow. Sorrow, hoever, turns out to be not a state but a process.” This is a process the Pat had walked through, that I have walked through, I hope you are not walking throughout this process but Jesus brings us through the storm. Paul says in romans 8:38 “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.” Paul was writing this from experience from being shipwrecked, starved, beaten, and stoned.

Whatever you are going through, You will get through it, don’t lose hope. Fight the good fight of faith, and stay strong, knowing that God loves you, and will bring you through.

New Year, New Prayer

Is prayer a priority for your life? Jesus’ dissciples wanted to learn better how to pray. They did not ask Jesus how to preach, or do great signs; they asked Him to teach them how to pray. We today somtimes think that we would be better christians if only we had been with Jesus when he was on earth, but this is not likely. The disciples were with him and they failed many times! They could perform signs and wonders and yet they wanted to learn how to pray.

Jesus was a man of prayer. He prayed at his baptisim (Luke 3:21), Before He choose the Twelve (Luke 6:12), and even when the crowds increased (Luke 5:16), and many other times as well. The disciples wanted to learn from Him this secret of spiritual power and wisdom. If the perfect Son of God, had to depend on prayer during his time on earth, Then how much more do you and I need to pray every day!

Effective prayer is the provision for every need and the solution for every problem.
“let your kingdom come, Let your will be done”. prayer is out of our sonship as he taught us, “Our father” we must know who we are and who we are talking too. We have all heard it “Keep asking…Keep Seeking…Keep Knocking” In other words don’t just come to God in midnight emergencies but keep constant communion with your father. Jesus called this “Abiding” and paul goes on saying “pray without ceasing”

We never need to be afraid of the answers the He gives. He will give us the best for us, even though we may not think that. Thats why he is God and we are not!

Start an early new years resolution. Pray every day! don’t be afraid to ask, seek, and knock. You will be given an answer for your good. Have a happy new year!

Labeled By Grace

When it comes to your labels, current or past, God is slow to judge and more than willing to deliver us. I have been thinking a lot on how we label people in our society, even if they have asked for forgiveness, we still label them with what we see in our minds. A liar, a thief, an adulterer, a failure. This reminds me of a story in the Bible of a women who was a prostitute. She had many labels but none of them were an obstacle for God.

When Joshua sent two spies into Jericho they found their way to a prostitute named Rahab’s home and sought refuge there, which she granted in return for their guarantee of safety for her and her family. They agreed and told her that if she marked her home with a scarlet cord, she and anyone in the house with her would be spared in the coming battle (Josh 2:12-21). On the day of battle, the city was captured and everyone within its walls died, except for Rahab and her family. She had gathered her family in her home and marked it with the scarlet cord as they had agreed. Before burning the city to the ground, Joshua had the spies go to Rahab’s home and bring her and all her family out to dwell among the Israelites. (Josh 6:22-25). A prostitute was brought out to join the chosen people of God.

A sinner saved by grace, this sounds familiar, doesn’t it? In some ways, Rahab’s story is our story. Each of us has carried a label. You may avoid reminiscing too much because your memories and your old label cause you shame. Your label may cause you to shy away from approaching God. Maybe your label is the reason why you won’t even step foot into a church.

It is interesting that when the Israelite spies offered to spare Rahab’s life, they said nothing about her life style. Rahab’s label was not important to God, for he looked passed what men labeled her as. And it is the same with you. The reality and the embarrassment of what your label reflects is in no way an obstacle for God’s grace.

You, like Rahab, are invited as you are, label and all. You have been invited for free to join God in a relationship initiated by faith. God’s grace for your life is slow to judge and quick to deliver. In fact, His grace provides you with God’s labels: Forgiven. Accepted. Loved. That was not the end of Rahab’s life. Despite her past, a man named Salmon saw Rahab as a beautiful women of faith and he asked her to marry him, She gave birth to a son named Boaz who later married Ruth and they became none other than the great grandparents of King David. The bloodline of Christ is full of forgiveness, and that forgiveness is extended to you today.

We do not know how long it took for Rahab to shake her past or how long it took her to see herself as forgiven. From my experience, it is a process that takes time, but ends with embracing a new life, a new identity, and a new standing with God. If you have felt that your friends have labeled you, close ones that you loved have despised you, pray this prayer. It is close to what I have prayed after the screw ups I have made in life.

“Lord, I believe that your grace and love is more powerful than the past mistakes that I am labeled by. I believe Christ died to pay the penalty for the sin my label represents. I receive the new labels you have given me. Forgiven. Accepted. Justified. And loved. I declare that what you say about me is true: I truly am forgiven. Teach me to live my life in accordance with who you say I am. In Jesus Christ’s name, amen.”

Grace

Grace is never just enough. Grace is always far more than enough. Adam and Eve were a blessed couple. God told them to “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground”. God gave Adam and Eve a purpose for living, authority, and, along with that authority, he gave them responsibility. What happens when you take your purpose, authority, and responsibility and turn away from it?

I guess you could say God gave them one rule on what not to do: not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when they did they would surely die. I find it interesting that in the beginning there was a great deal of responsibility and only one rule. God’s expressions of grace were innumerable and his requirements were minimal.

We all know how the story goes: Eve is tempted and acts on her temptation.  Adam is passive, which leads to his temptation and action, and, in the end, he also had sinned. For Adam and Eve, sin led to shame and shame led to blame. Adam began to make excuses for his actions and ended up blaming God! “The woman you put with me she gave it to me and I ate it” In the beginning, Adam blamed God for his troubles and the fall. Mankind in our secular culture has been blaming God ever since. We seem to miss God’s wonderful and saving grace through all of this, for God said that if they ate of the fruit they would surly die, and yet we know that Adam and Eve did not immediately perish. In the midst of the failures of men, He still showed them grace. Sin had its consequences, but God made a way for Adam and Eve to still live.

We have all struggled with the reality of suffering and injustice in life, often asking the questions, “Why did this accident happen?”, “Why do I have this disease?”, “Why did I lose my job?”, “God must be to blame.” Just as Adam’s rational was flawed, so is ours.  How does God respond? He gave Adam and Eve exactly what they did not deserve. He also gave you and me exactly what we do not deserve. And that is his amazing grace.

God made a way for you and I to walk with him in spite of our mistakes and failures. Jesus was sent to take our shame, sin, pain, and sickness, and it died with him on the cross. But that is not the end of the story. He rose again three days later and made a way for us to have communion with him. Disobedience will always have its consequences, but God’s grace will lead you to freedom. You can try to run and hide from God, but you can never outrun or hide from him and his grace. After Adam and Eve sinned, they hid. God called for them and found them. God is calling your name, and is extending his arms of love and grace to you.

A Broken World

How do you rebuild your life when it has fallen apart? Maybe a spouse walks out on you, you lose a job, or an engagement you have been looking forward to comes to a screeching halt. You dread the pain that waits for you in the morning as you look and see all your broken dreams. Times of loss and despair  are not new to man on this earth. I want to show you how the prophet Jeremiah handled the troubled times in his life and how we can learn from the past.

Jerimiah had seen a lot of destruction in his life. Lamentations 3:1 “I’am the man who has seen affliction Because of the rod of His (God’s) wrath.” The first thing you need to do when your world seems broken is voice how you truly feel, and not keep it from God. Jeremiah voices his frustrations in the book of Lamentations. To lament is to show grief. God can handle your anger and greif. God lets Jeremiah blow off steam. If you don’t talk out your emotion you take it on with your body. when you swallow your negative emotions it has a negative effect on your body. It’s ok to tell God your ticked off sometimes, you just need to Let it out. None of you ever had temper tantrums as a young kid, but like a kid who is throwing a fit, a parent doesn’t stop loving them in the midst of their complaining. Parents don’t throw their hands up saying thats it im done taking care of you for the rest of your life, no way! God is not turning his back to your frustrations and complaints, he wants to let you get it off your chest. God doesn’t owe us an explaination for everything that happens to us, that’s why he is God and we are not.

After we let our frustrations out we must turn our focus from our pain to God’s love. You won’t get over depression until you let it go. We must learn to forgive. Bitterness keeps you caught in always thinking of your own pain and that leads to depression. When you change the way you think hope returns. Jeremiah recalled Gods faithfulness (Lam 3:21-22)  “This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. The Lord’s loving kindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail.” Sometimes we forget God is all we need. He wont take second place in your life, you may lose everything, and still find joy because God is all you got and then you realize he is all you need. When you unload your pain you will realize how much he loves you.

Get alone with God, and wait. Jeremiah says “Let him sit alone and be silent Since He has laid it on him. Let him put his mouth in the dust, Perhaps there is hope.” Waiting before God is a spiritual discipline you must learn, or you will be stressed out your whole life. If you don’t wait you will be anxious everyday. Sit down and keep quiet, don’t say or ask anything. You just make time to listen to God. The reason you feel hopeless is because your not waiting for hope to appear. Your life is seldomly quiet. You need to eliminate some distractions. Matthew 6:6 says “When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Remove distractions and listen. William Prescott at the battle of Bunker hill ordered his men to not shoot till they saw the whites of the enemies eyes. If they would of fired their guns earlier they would have messed up the plan. We must listen for God’s order “to go” for we must be on his timing and not our own.

After waiting you must change the things you can change. You cant change your past, you can’t change losses. The only way to overcome some things in life is for you to be willing to accept them. Peace will come when you accept the things in life you cant change. Faith is facing the facts without discouraging them, knowing God will make it work for your good. You can’t change anyone but yourself. You must ask yourself how can I be better and not bitter? even though my world is broken. Evaluate all your relationships. Take a moral inventory with the things that trip you up. You can then fix these hindrances in your life. Jerimiah did this (Lam 3:40) ” Let us examine and probe our ways, And let us return to the LORD.” You might realize there is a lot of unresolved emotions. Maybe second guessing, regret, or grief.

One huge emotion that will keep you from rebuilding your life is fear. Fear paralyzes you. Let God Relieve your fears. Jeremiah’s nation was falling apart. He did not have a popular message to bring in those days. The people didn’t have blogs or Facebook to talk bad about him and call him a bullfrog. If you got that joke I applaud you! Instead the people threw him in a well. He had every reason to be afraid. Jeremiah was literally in a hole, thinking his life would end there. God was faithful to Jeremiah as he called out (Lam 3:55-56) “I called on Your name, O LORD, Out of the lowest pit. You have heard my voice.” God wants you to be fear free. God is not threw with you. When your life falls apart don’t have the fear of “I’m stuck, im never going to get out of this, my happy days are over.” It’s that mindset of everything is gone and I’am beyond recovery that is fear, False Evidence Appearing Real.

If you think your life is beyond repair, and it can’t be restored. You may think it’s impossible for good to come out of all the bad. I want to tell you Jesus is in the business of recovering that which is lost. Not only you, but what you also have lost. In your chaos comes his promises, If any man is in Christ he is a new creation. the last step to recover when your life falls apart is you must expect jesus to restore my life. remember lamentations 3:21 “This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope.” what will build you is not so much the destination but the journey. When you let Jesus bring you back he will then give you back that which was lost.

God’s Perfect Timing

My heart is saddened about two time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon who died yesterday in a horrible indy car crash. He was 33 years old and leaves behind a wife and two sons. I can not say why he had to go home so early. I can say however that God has a plan for all of us. And we are not here by our time but by his. I want us to take a look at how Jesus handled a horrible tragedy, and turned it around for the Glory of God.

In the Bible there was a man named Lazarus. He had two sisters, Mary and Martha, they all were best of friends with Jesus. When Lazarus fell ill, his sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” When Jesus heard the news, he waited two more days before going to Lazarus’ hometown of Bethany. When Jesus arrived in Bethany, Lazarus had already been dead and in the tomb for four days. When Martha discovered that Jesus was on his way, she went out to meet him. “Lord,” she said, “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Jesus told Martha, “Your brother will rise again.” Jesus said these important words: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” We must understand when we are dead in our sin, and accept Christ in our lives, He brings us to life not just for our years on earth but for eternity. We to often do not understand the purpose of the bad events of life. As crazy as it seems Lazarus’ death had a purpose. His sickness was “not unto death”  Lazarus’ sickness was a result in unquestionable death, but death was not to be the permanent end result. The sickness and death of Lazarus had a higher purpose, and that was for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified. We have to remember Gods timing is not our timing. Jesus how ever was on Gods time. And to Mary, Martha and even lazarus, Jesus being four days late was still on time.

You may be fighting a battle, and you cry to the Lord “I need you” but he has not appeared.
Don’t be discouraged cause he’s still the same and he’ll soon be there. He’ll roll back the stone in front of you
and he’ll call out your name. When Jesus died, it was used to wash away our sins and bring us to the father. Ephesians 2:8 says “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” So many people take it for granted, even I know it is pretty rude to reject a gift that has been bought for you. I saw this video and it reminded me of Gods gifts to us that change our lives.

like Lily in the video we sit here as children of God. As he pours out his gifts and blessings on us. We also think in our heads, “How did you know I wanted this?” God wants to fulfill your hearts desires. God wants to give you the gift of salvation, He wants to take you places where you have never been. You being happy makes his heart happy.  He is the best parent you could ever have. I want you to know that God is for you and not against you. He will come through for you in your situations of life, he has not forgotten about you. God’s timing is his own. Rejoice for even when you think he’s late, He’s still on time calling your name and telling you to come forth into the promises he has given you.

Equipped For The Battle Field

 

I remember as if it were yesterday. Friday nights, Locker rooms, Putting on my armor to face the battle that was before me that night. I knew what to wear because I knew the fight that was about to begin. In the midwest I loved playing high school football. The hot afternoons turning into cool evenings with the smell of fall air. Running out onto the freshly cut field under the lights is a feeling that a man who played high school football will never forget.

You must be equipped for an attack. I’am not talking about high school football, but I’am talking about every day battles. This sunday is september 11th, marking the ten year anniversary of the terror attacks that happened here on american soil. We were not prepared for that kind of warfare. We didn’t know who the enemy was, and we didn’t know how they were going to attack. Life is somtimes hard. We have so many battles in our life and this is because we are battling unseen forces. This is the invisible war.

Ephesians 6 talks about the armor of God. Honestly people often forget to do this every morning. You must get dressed for the battle. You dont go into a fight without being prepared for it. You were born into a battle. You were not asked if you wanted to be, it just happend. There is an unseen war going on between good and evil, light vs. dark. God vs. satan. people are often pawns in this battle. Satan can not hurt God, so what does he go after? the thing closest to his heart. His children. satan uses you as a pawn to get at God. Satan hates you, he wants to destroy your career, your marriage, your finances. He wants to destroy you before you become what God has called you to be. The good news is we were born to win.

God wants you to fight from a place of victory being equipped properly. The first thing you must put on is the belt of truth. This is for support and stability. The belt of truth is like a solid foundation for a home. If you don’t have that foundation you will sink like a house that was built on sand. The belt is integrity knowing and doing truth. Next is the breastplate of righteousness protecting your chest. Put on purity keeping your motives clean. psalm 24:3-4 says “Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood and has not sworn deceitfully.” What does a pure heart look like? Remember nobody on earth is perfect, so this what a pure heart looks like. If you do the wrong thing, you want to do the right thing to make it right. Blessed are the pure heart for they will be blessed. If you want Gods blessing you must have pure heart.

Why do you think the enemy tries to take your purity? because it takes the blessing away from us. Mind pollution is worse then actual pollution. If somthing doesnt bother you it means your concious has been seared. satan fears a pure heart.

Now put on your shoes of the good news of peace. In order for you to stand spiritually strong, your going to need the shoes to share the gospel of peace. If you want to stand in the midst of storms you will have to stand in peace. Serenity is living and speaking the gospel of peace. When your being dressed for battle you will need integrity hearing and doing the truth. Purity to have your motives clear, and Serenity to speak the gospel of peace. The more you love Gods word the less your offended on what happens to you by this world. Satan is going to attack your integrity with lies, and your purity with lust, and your serenity with worry. Every time you worry you dont have the shoes of peace on. The Bible says we are to live peacefully and speak peace. In our world people want to live in peace but are afraid to speak peace.

The shield of faith Is trusting the promises of God when everything is going wrong in your life. I know what God said, and I’ am going to trust him even though all these arrows are coming at me. I’ am believing God said it, so that settles it! God cannot lie he is faithful to his word. The shield of faith is knowing Gods word is true even when you cant see him defending the arrows that come at you. These arrows could be anything from doubt, discouragement, delay, difficultly, depression, or defeat. The sheild of your faith will help you handle those darts. Doubt your doubts and believe your beliefs. Always carry the shield because the enemy is always shooting at you. Without faith it is impossible to please God. I’m going to trust God nomatter what I see or hear.

The purpose of helmet of salvation is to protect your mind from evil thoughts. When you put on salvation you have a whole new mind. A new way of thinking. Colossians 3:2 says “Set your mind on things above, not on the things that are on earth.” This is talking about a kingdom mindset. “Let your kingdom come and your will be done.”

The sword of the spirit is last but not least.  The bible does not become your sword until you memorize it. You can’t fight a battle when your sword is on a shelf in your office next to five different variations of swords. The sword is put to use when you memorize it. When satan was tempting Jesus, Christ answered by only saying scripture. Jesus was modeling this for us. Jesus did not pull out his gideon pocket sized old testament from the motel 6 and say, hold on satan I have to find what to say, no! he knew the word for he was the word and he spoke it.

When I put on my equipment for football, I looked like a football player. When you put on the armor of God, You can’t help but look like a reflection of Christ. You will only reflect what overshadows you. I encourage you every morning pray. Equip yourself for the day for the battle that you can not see. An exciting part to all of this is Christ has already won, fight from a place of victory.