Posted on

“Do You Want to Live?”

Do you want to live?

This is a question that I don’t think we often ponder.  If we get into an accident or something very serious happens to us or someone close to us, we start to think more seriously about it.  I think most of the time we are so caught up in everyday life that we go on our blissful way and don’t really think about it.

Aron Ralston

I am sure many of you may have heard of Aron Ralston.  It is stories like these that really make you start to think.

At a young age, he became an outdoorsman.  One day as a young man he hiked into the remote Utah Blue John Canyon.  He felt perfectly at home in the beauty of the outdoors.  Then eight miles from his truck in a deep narrow canyon an eight hundred pound boulder came loose tumbling down and pinning Aron’s right hand and wrist against the canyon wall.

For six days, with very little water, food, or warm clothing, and the realization that no one knew where he was, Aron went through his options of escape one by one.  Then the sudden truth came to him, he had no choice but to do the unimaginable.  After the process of breaking his arm, he took his knife, which was not very sharp and started the Job of cutting off his arm.  He knew he had to do this carefully.  Once he had broken through the skin he went inside his arm with his fingers to feel around.  He needed to leave the veins until last.  It was quite a process but within an hour he was free.

Aron hiked out 6 miles before he ran into someone who helped him.  He wanted to live so desperately that he took drastic measures to live.  If he had not taken those drastic measures he most likely would have died.  Since his accident, he has resumed his life of adventure and discovery.

This made me think

This made me think of us as Christians.  How desperate are we to live eternally?  Have we allowed some sin of this world to entrap us?  Just like Aron was willing to endure the pain and suffering in order to live, are we willing to suffer pain in order to allow sin to be removed out of our lives so that we can live eternally?

This makes me think about what Jesus said in Matthew 5:29-30, “And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.  And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.”  Jesus was not suggesting that we actually pluck out our eye or cut off our hand but He was making a point.  The things of this world are not worth losing out on eternity with Him.

Painful

The battle with sin and as it is removed can be painful.  But there is something that we have that Aron did not.  We have the power of God to help us.

As we come to God He will put His hand on ours and help us cut away the sin.  He is the one that does the work we just need to cooperate with Him, not resisting His work.  God will not do it without our cooperation.  He does not force.  God sends the Holy Spirit to prompt us and woo us to Himself but He will never force.  He loves us so much He gave up His Son to die so that we can live.  We need to fall in love with Jesus.  As we fall in love with Him we will want to be with Him.  We will want to cooperate with Him because we will have a longing heart to live eternally with Him.

Dear Father,

We need You desperately.  We need Your forgiveness and Your love.  Thank You that You always love us and are waiting with longing heart to spend time with us.  Thank You for Your patience with us.  Continue to prompt our hearts.  Search us and know our hearts, try us and know our thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in us and lead us in the way everlasting.

In Jesus name,

Amen

Give all to Jesus today and cooperate with Him in the removal of any sin that may have entrapped you so that you will be ready when He comes and then you can live eternally with Him.

Love you all.

What do you do to stay connected to Jesus?  I would love to hear your testimony.

 

Posted on

“Light Up The Darkness”

Darkness

I don’t know what you think but it seems to me that the darkness is getting darker.  You may be saying, “What?!  How can darkness get darker?”  Well, it depends on what kind of darkness we’re talking about.  I believe there is more than one kind of darkness.  There is the physical darkness of night and then there is spiritual darkness.

When I look around at this world, which I see very little since I don’t read or watch the news, there is so much darkness.  Things have gotten so bad it is hard to believe any human being would do some of the things that people are doing.  There are also so many people who are suffering because they have no hope.

Light up the world.

For those of us that have Christ in our hearts need to become a light in the darkness.  We need to let our light shine.  As Christ said in Matthew 5:14-16, “Ye are the light of the world.  A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.  Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is a heaven.”

We are an influence on all people, whether good or bad.  God wants us to reflect His character to others through our obedience to Him.  When we are in full surrender to God the trials or bad things that take place will not have the same effect on us because we have a hope within us.  People will be attracted to us because they see peace in our lives.  As it says in Proverbs 4:18, “But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.”

How does God form light?

What do I mean by this question?  Well, what I am really thinking about is the work that God does in our lives that prepares us for being able to be a light that shines.  “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” John 8:12.  We become reflectors as we follow Him.

Isaiah 45:7 says, “I form the light, and create darkness…”  I looked up the word form in the Hebrew translation and it carries with it the idea of ‘squeezing into shape’ and means to mold into a form, especially as a potter.  This is exactly what the Lord wants to do in our lives so that we can be a true light in the darkness of this world.  As we shine for Him, the darkness is created (revealed).  Without light, we don’t even know that there is darkness.  It is the light that reveals the darkness.  The process of becoming light is by allowing God to shape us.  “But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand”  Isaiah 64:8.

In what ways can we make our lights brighter?

  1. We need to be sure to turn away from darkness.  It makes me think of the story of Saul who became Paul.  He was exposed to the light and he realized his sin.  He confessed to God his wrongs and repented.  God was able to use him in a mighty way.  We cannot help others into the light unless we have the light ourselves.  And our job is, “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.”  Acts 26:18
  2. Expose everything to the light.  When we are living according to God’s Word we expose everything to light.  Which we cannot do this unless…
  3. We are looking to Jesus.  When we are in full surrender to Jesus and our lives are clear of any known sin we can be a light in the darkness.  We have to stay connected.  Psalms 89:15, “Blessed is the people who know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance.”
  4. We need to have a forgiving spirit.  If we are not forgiving others we will not be shining for God.  “He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.  He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.  But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes. 1 John 2: 9-11.
  5. We need God’s Word engrafted into our lives, which is done by memorizing.  “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.  The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.  Psalms 119: 105, 130.
  6. We need to put on the armor of light as it states in, Romans 13:11, “The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us, therefore, cast off the words of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.”  We do not have time to spend in darkness, time is short.
  7. There are many more things that could be said on this subject.  What I have shared here are just a few things for us to think about.  We live in a very dark world at a very dark time.  There are so many in the darkness that need to know about the light.

Dear Father,

We need You.  Forgive us for where we have fallen short of glorifying Your name and being the light You would have us to be.  Continue to guide us as we surrender all to You.

In Jesus name,

Amen

Shine for Him today.

Love you all.

What have you found to help you in shining for Jesus?  I would love to hear your thoughts.

Posted on

“How Safe Are You?”

Safety

I don’t know about you but it seems that safety doesn’t always enter my mind.  Every time I leave my driveway for work I send up a little prayer for safety but I am not always mindful of the safety I receive.  It seems like we just expect that nothing is going to happen.  This is where we need to change our thinking.  We should be grateful for every day that goes by where we have made it through the day safely.  God is protecting us each day and we don’t seem to realize but we take it for granted.  We just automatically think we are always going to be safe.

Seconds later

As I was on my way to work one morning I was reminded of the safety that God provides.  When I come to the stop sign that comes out of our road onto the highway it can be hard each morning to get out on the road because the traffic is so heavy.  Looking to my left there is a curve down a ways.  When you just see someone coming around that curve you can still pull out but you better be getting up and going quickly.  If you wait until you see no car coming you would “never” get out.

This particular morning a pickup truck was just coming around the corner and I was going to go.  I don’t even know how to explain it except the Lord.  I was going to go and then I thought to myself, “no your not going to go”, and I didn’t.  Like maybe 2 seconds later a car was just about to pass in front of me.

There was a snow bank to my left and there had been a car that I could not see.  Talk about give me the chills.  If I would have gone there would have been a major accident.  The speed for that road changes from 60 to 55 just before my road but more than likely people are still going 60.  It would not have been a pretty sight.  I realized that thought that came to my mind was the Lord’s prompting and I was so glad that I listened.

Listening

I have found through my life that if I listen to that still small voice more often, that it would save me from so many things.  What amazes me is that God cares about every aspect of our lives.  We tend not to think about the little things that He helps us with throughout the day.  Those promptings that come that we listen to and things turn out good.  We may receive promptings that we don’t listen to and then we blame God for something bad happening to us.  Don’t get me wrong I know that bad does happen to us that we have not brought on ourselves but we would save ourselves a lot if we would listen to His voice.

Am I at fault?

I do believe the devil does a lot of things to try and discourage us.  God doesn’t do those bad things but He has allowed them.  But when bad things happen to us I believe it is good for us to search our hearts and lives to see if we have contributed.  I think there is a lot of things we bring on ourselves and then we blame God and if we had been in line with His Word it could have been prevented.  If we search our hearts and there is anything that we need to confess or give up and we make changes our lives would be so much better through the trials.  Whether we have done anything wrong intentionally or not God shows us through trial those areas of our lives that need changing and refining.

We can blame God and go on in misery or we can use the opportunity to allow the heat of trial to refine our character so that we come out as gold.  As we do this the devil will be defeated.  Jesus already defeated him but we have to accept that defeat by allowing the Lord to refine us through trial.

Let’s get off the blame game

We sometimes blame others for what we are going through as well.  “Well if so and so hadn’t done this or that I wouldn’t be upset, things would be better.”  God has allowed it into your life for a purpose.  Just the attitude of blame shows that there is growth that needs to happen in our lives.

If anyone had a right to blame others and God Himself it was Jesus.  Read about His life.  It was not a bed of roses.  He could have blamed God for allowing the devil to tempt Him and using people to bring pain and sorrow to Him.  He could have blamed each of us for even having to die and give up aspects of His life that He will never gain back.  But He did not.  He knew this was within God’s plan for us to be saved.  And even though we are the blame He did not and has not blamed us but only loved us.  His love is what changes us if we allow it.

Dear Father,

Help us to listen to Your still small voice.  Help us to use everything that comes into our lives as an opportunity to trust You and to grow in You.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Praise God for the safety that He supplies for you today.  Listen to that still small voice and allow the trials to refine your character.

Love you all.

Do you have a story about a time you know you receive protection?  Share your story below, I would love to hear it.

Posted on

“Joyful or Self-Pity”

Joyful or Self-Pity

Have you ever met someone who seems to always be joyful?  They look on the bright side of everything.  I have met a few.  These are the kind of people who are really fun to be around.  On the other hand, we all have met people who are always in the self-pity mode.  You may be one of them.  It doesn’t see to matter what is happening in life they are just in this “poor me” pit.  They are not happy.  And no one really likes to be around them.

Self-Pity

When looking self-pity up in the dictionary it said, “Self-Pity is to have pity for oneself, especially self-indulgent attitude concerning one’s own difficulties, hardships etc.”

One thing that I have seen in these types of people is that they never take any responsibility for what circumstances they may be in.  They may be there because of their own doing but it is always someone else fault, in their minds, a lot of times.  If they don’t blame others they whine about how horrible of a person they are.

It sounds like a type of person none of us really want to be around but the reality is we all can be like this now and then.  We are not happy when we get in this mode and it makes everyone around us unhappy.

It reminds me of the story in the Bible about King Ahab.  There was a vineyard he wanted to have that was near his palace.  But the man who owned it did not want to get rid of it.  It had been a part of his family’s heritage and he did not want to part with it.  Ahab was not happy.  He went home and was having a feel sorry for me pity party.  “And he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would not eat bread” (See 1 Kings 21:1-4).

What Self-Pity can lead to?

When we are constantly in the self-pity mode it does not lead to anything good.  In Ahab’s case, the man was killed and Ahab got what he wanted.  What a spoiled brat.  But this is the reality of our world today.  If people don’t get what they want they go out and kill people.  Now, not everyone is doing the actual deed but they are full of so much hate and anger that they are killing in their heart.

What are the “rewards” for self-pity?

It really brings death and sorrow for others.  When we get caught up in self-pity, which really falls in line with pride as well, we are really dead inside.  There is no joy or happiness.  We make the life of others miserable as well.  And in the end, it will bring eternal death.  God will not allow someone full of self-pity and pride into His Kingdom because that would just bring more misery.

Joyful

This is a much more joyful subject to dwell upon.  This is what the dictionary said, “Full of joy, as a person or one’s heart; glad; delight.  Showing or expressing joy, as looks, actions, or speech.”  I don’t know about you but it brings a sense of joy to my heart just reading it’s meaning.

We all know what it is like to be around a person who is joyful.  We are drawn to that type of person.  As Christians, we have every reason to be joyful.  “Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous:  and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.  Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright”. Psalms 32:11 & 33:1.

What are the rewards of joy?

What being joyful does to us emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually is not explainable.  If you have not experienced it, how can I ever explain it?  But those who have experienced it know what I am talking about.  How we think, how we respond, or how we act affects us greatly.  Keeping our minds positive and in a joyful spirit can help us go a long way.

Proverbs 17:22 says, “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.”  I also like Proverbs 15:13, which says, “A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.”  So being joyful is the key to a better life.  So what are the rewards?  A much more fulfilling life and ultimately, eternal life.

What can produce joy?

The first thing that comes to mind is what Christ has done for us.  If we dwell upon the love that Christ had for us in coming and taking our place in eternal death, if we so choose to accept it, wow! How amazing.  This can produce a joy in our hearts that is beyond expression.  Just like Jesus said to his disciples in Luke 10:20, “…but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.”

A clear conscience can bring joy.  When we have fallen in love with Jesus, we will not want to do anything that is displeasing to Him.  And when we know we are right with Him it brings joy.  2 Corinthians 1:12 says, “For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience…”

Keeping the commands in God’s Word can bring joy

When we are in love with Jesus it is not a drudgery to keep God’s commands.  We may have a struggle with self at times but when we fully surrender all to God it brings so much joy.  Just like it says in Psalms 19:8, “The statues of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.”

God’s promises bring joy

When you have full trust in God we can cling to His promises and they bring joy to our hearts. When I am having a down day if I take a promise and dwell upon it the joy of the Lord becomes my strength.  “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts.” Jeremiah 15:16

When we share with others the wisdom of God’s Word, we get joy.

Every time we share with others the joy of our salvation it produces joy in us.  “A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth:  and a word spoken in due season, how good is it!” Proverbs 15:23.  There is so much joy in sharing a word in due season.

Persecution and trials can also produce joy.

You may wonder how this is possible.  It is only possible as we surrender all to God and trust in His plan.  I like this promise, 1 Peter 4:12, 13, “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trials which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.”  I also love this one in James 1:2, 3,  “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this that the trying of your faith worketh patience.”

As we see those we share with grow in Christ it also produces joy in us.

I don’t know about you but this brings such joy to me when I see others growing in Christ.  When I see the joy that they are experiencing as they learn more about Christ and fall more and more in love with Him.  lll John 4 says it all, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.”  He is referring to those that were growing in the Lord.  It can be our own children for sure but I believe it includes all those around us that are growing.  It definitely brings ultimate joy when we see our own children growing in the grace of Christ.

Joy is produced in us when a job is well done.

When we obey the Lord in what He has asked us to do it brings a joy.  He has given us all abilities and when we use them for Him it produces joy.  And these are the words that I know I want to hear someday and I pray you do as well.  “…Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things…enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”  Matthew 25:21.  As we surrender and walk with Christ, hand in hand joy will be produced in us.

What are some practical everyday things I can do to experience joy?

  1. Be grateful.  Start a grateful journal.  We tend to forget the good things in life.  But we also need to be grateful even for the trials and difficulties that come our way, knowing, “…all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”  Romans 8:28
  2. Cry out to God.  When we do have difficulty instead of grinding about it and focusing on it cry out to God for help, courage, and strength.  “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knows not.” Jeremiah 33:3. As we cry out to God in time of trouble with an attitude of unconditional surrender then when God works we can testify to what He has done.  When I can testify of God’s goodness to me the thrill of joy is amazing.
  3. Sing praises to God.  “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;” Ephesians 5:19, 20.  I know when I sing it I can’t help but start to feel joyful.
  4. Talk of God’s wondrous works.  As we testify of God and what He has done in our lives or in the lives of others it brings joy to the heart.  “Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk ye of all his wondrous works.  Glory in his holy name; let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord.” 1Chronicles 16:9, 10
  5. Glory in His name.  “Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord.  Seek the Lord, and his strength: seek his face evermore.  Remember his marvelous works that he hath done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth;” Psalms 105:3-5
  6. Seek His face continually.  We need to be seeking Him constantly.  “Seek the Lord and his strength, see his face continually.”  1Chronicles 16:11.

“The joy of the Lord is our strength” so we need to allow His joy to fill our hearts.

Dear Father,

As we seek You, fill our hearts with Your joy.  Thank You for Your promises.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Get out of the self-pity mode today and fill your life with joy.  It is a choice!

Love you all.

What steps have you taken to keep you on the path of joy instead of self-pity?