I'm Not Alone

 

 "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;  that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.  John 14: 16-17

The only time I have to exercise, with a family and career, is typically early in the morning, before work and school begin; often while it’s still dark outside.  We live in out in the country with no streetlights and woods all around and many mornings, things are a little creepy while I'm on my morning jog.  Most of us don’t like to be alone for any length of time, but all of those mornings jogging by myself, I have never felt like I was alone, because I guess I always know that God is always with me.

All believers have the Holy Spirit dwelling within them once they accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, so none of us are ever alone.  The Holy Spirit is vastly different than our human companions because only He can meet our every need.  When no one else will seem to listen, He is always there and wants to hear more.  He knows what the future holds for us, so only He is equipped to guide our every step along the way.

We are all created with a void that can only be filled by the Holy Spirit and with Him, we can rest assured that we are never alone!

His glory, mercy, goodness, and love are constant and new with every sunrise!

Me and the Devil Blues

 

Put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil.  Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.  Ephesians 6:13

Whether you are aware of it or not, you are part of an ongoing and never-ending spiritual battle.  Satan will always attack us where we are weak, and those areas are typically the ones we refuse to give over to God.  Think of it as the weak part of the spiritual armor we are given by God as protection.

The enemy knows my areas of strength, but unfortunately he also knows where I am weak.  For instance, like any married couple, Alicia and I have been struggling with issues concerning money the past few weeks/months.  So, where do you suppose we have been attacked?   You guessed it…my wallet.  Sure, things have certainly gotten better, but being stubborn prolonged us from turning our situation over to God, fully and completely.

God promises to give us strength to overcome attacks from the enemy, but we must first ask God to cover our weaknesses with His mighty strength.

Heart of Gold

 

"Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day.  "And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man's table ; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. "Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom ; and the rich man also died and was buried.  "In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. "And he cried out and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.'  "But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things ; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony.  Luke 16: 19-26

In the above passage from Luke 16, Jesus shared a story of a rich man who lived only for himself, paying no attention to poor man that begged for the crumbs that fell from his table.  The rich man died and was eternally separated from God, while the poor man died and went to heaven.  The rich man was not separated from the Lord because he harmed other people, or overlooked those in need, it was because he spent his life taking care of his himself, but doing nothing for his soul.

The ‘norm’ in our culture is to acquire as many material possessions as we can, satisfying ourselves-focusing on our wants instead of our needs.  I honestly had to re-read this scripture a few times before I discovered the underlying theme.  If we are focused on our self, we are missing the point of our existence.

You see, life is not about us.  However, it’s all about Jesus.  It’s simple and often times overlooked, but those of us who choose to have a relationship with the Lord will live eternally with Him in heaven.  Those who reject Christ will pay the ultimate price-separation from God for all of eternity.  Seek the Lord with all of your heart and soul!

Tomorrow's Dust

 

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.

2 Peter 3:8

I recently recalled said something that our boys said when they were much younger which is simple and shows the heart of child-like faith: “Daddy, God is always on time.”

I admit, that I am stubborn and often forget that simple statement when I am trying to be the God of my universe; I am NOT God. 

God moves in His timing and NOT mine.  He is normally never too early with His blessings, but is also never late, either. 

I am also convinced that He often waits to make sure that I am not going to take matters into my own hands and do something outside of His perfect timing before He intervenes on my behalf.

We must learn to trust God and trust His perfect timing.   We must also learn to rely less on our independence to allow God to be free to do His work, His way.

Trust Him and believe that He is doing a good work in you for His purpose!

Money

 

Those who love money will never have enough.  How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness!  Ecclesiastes 5:10

Being a proud graduate of Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University, I selected today's passage because I have shared Dave’s advice on buying insurance with several friends and clients recently.    

There was a time, not too long ago, in our household, that we followed Dave Ramsey's recommended budget worksheets, paid for everything with cash, and paid off of our debt, including both car notes.  After our second son was born, we got lazy with our budget, and fell off the proverbial  "Financial Peace wagon."  

We realize that the pursuit of money and possessions is merely a façade in which people are deceived into thinking that if they only had more, they would be content.  We both know that true contentment comes from spiritual wealth and not material wealth.  We understand that we are stewards of God's money and that He will never fail to provide us with what we need. Knowing all of this, why do we struggle so much with the concept of money?  I can only imagine, but I don’t think that we are the only married couple that struggles with this.

I believe that our only hope is to keep an eternal perspective and realize that true happiness is found in our relationship with God.  God has never let us down before, so why would He start now?

Praise be to God from whom all blessings flow. 

My Father's Eyes

 

The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. Psalm 103:8

Our beliefs about God are without a doubt more important than any other beliefs we have. If you grew up with a parent or authoritative figure that was always angry at you, most likely you will feel the same way about God. If you believe that God is always angry with you, you will be defensive and fearful of Him.

It's when you believe that God shows you deep love, grace, and mercy, that you can live in the joy of being forgiven and knowing that heaven waits you after you leave to earth.

You can live freely and without fear knowing that God extends His grace to each one of us.

Hope In A Hopeless World

 

All glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.  Ephesians 3:20

I recently came across some notes I had written down during a sermon I heard at Cokesbury several months ago.  The message was a profound statement about how Jesus didn't discriminate between the people He loved and offered His grace and mercy to. 

The same holds true for us as believers.  We are to all offer this world hope, one person at a time, loving them into a relationship with Christ, regardless of what shape or situation a person is in.

When faced with our own struggles, we sometimes fail to put enough hope into God, expecting too little from Him.  Just pick up your Bible and read Scripture, and you can rest assured that God never lies to us.  He is incapable of doing bad or breaking His promises to us.  Knowing that and all of the amazing things He has done for each of us in the past, why would anyone have any reason to believe that God would let us down now?

God wants to bless us more abundantly than any of us can possible imagine, so put your faith, trust, and hope in the sovereign Lord of the universe!