Hammer

 

You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.  Psalm 139:13

Many years ago, we had the patio in our old house converted into a screened-in porch.  While it was under construction, I couldn't help but notice the skill and precision that the contractor used as he built the add-on to our home.  After he measured all of the dimensions of our patio, he went with us to purchase all of the necessary materials and knew with certain wisdom and experience the proper tool to use to complete each step of the project.

Just like the contractor who knows what tool to use, God has a job for each one of us to do while we are here on this earth.  In fact, He had our plans worked out before we even drew our first breath when we were born.  He created each of us to serve as His ‘tool’ to get the job done.

If you think about it, it’s pretty amazing to know that God has prepared us, fashioned us, and equipped us to serve Him on this earth.

Changes

 

Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person.  The old life is gone; a new life has begun!  2 Corinthians 5:17

                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Without a shadow of a doubt, some of the most encouraging words of the New Testament are found in 2 Corinthians 5:17.  Change is one of the true constants of life.  I am certainly a different person than I was ten years ago and I have changed as I have grown and matured in my walk of faith.

The Bible teaches us many great truths about change.  One is that despite the world changing around us, God always remains the same and dependable.  The second is that God requires a change of heart-repentance, that produces an outward and inward change in each of us-obedience. 

When your heart is changed, your life will also be changed forever!  Allow God to break down the walls around your heart and change you forever too!

Joy

 The joy of the Lord is your strength!  Nehemiah 8:10

For the longest time, I wouldn't darken the doors of a church because I mistakenly thought that church-going folks didn't know how to enjoy themselves and live life.  All of these years later, I couldn't have been any more wrong!  Sure, there are some Christians that meticulously attempt to live their lives without sin (it’s impossible, by the way), and in many cases, with that comes the judgment of others and other self-righteousness, but God created each of us to enjoy our time here on this earth.

Happiness is based on performance or on your set of circumstances.  Joy is what springs from God’s love; performance and circumstances don’t mean a thing.  When you realize how great God’s love is for you, you become less vulnerable to depression and despair over disappointments and problems.

The more you seek Him, find Him, love Him, and know Him, the more you become like Him, and the greater your joy will be.  You will find perfect and lasting joy in heaven, but you can experience joy right here and right now by walking with the Lord.

Let My Love Open The Door

 

I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it.  Revelation 3:8

Many folks don’t realize this, but all of us are called into ministry upon accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  Simply stated,  God’s purpose for our lives is that we receive His love and then turn around and express it to others.

God desires to have a personal relationship with us so that we can experience His love and many blessings on a daily basis.  The church has done a lot to dilute this message over time, but God’s master plan is that we receive His grace and mercy while we are on this earth and then the gift of eternal life in heaven.  There is nothing more that needs to be added to this message, but unfortunately, many people have also chosen to add their personal spin on the what the requirements are to receive God’s greatest gifts…

Heaven is our ultimate destiny and what a wonderful destiny it is!  We must go out and share this news with a broken world that is in desperate need of some good news.   

Again I Say Rejoice

 

More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him…that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.  Philippians 3:8-11

When I read the portions of the Bible that the apostle Paul wrote while imprisoned, it’s hard for me to comprehend.  Despite being locked up in a cell and in chains, Paul was able to “rejoice in the Lord always.”

When facing troubled times, it is not usually a natural instinct for us to focus on Christ.  If you are like me, you may focus on your problems and dwell on all that is going wrong in your life-even to the point of becoming anxious and overwhelmed with a sense of defeat in most circumstances. In lieu of my mother's passing, this has certainly been the case, but God has been with me and my family every step of the way and like Paul, I have been able to remain joyful despite my broken heart.  

The heart of a believer should not live in defeat as we must trust that God is in control and that He is good.  We must remain positive, knowing that He will provide for us and comfort us as He never breaks His promises.

Negative emotions are hard to deal with and can be consuming, but we must learn to seek comfort in the Lord so that we too can rejoice in the Lord always, no matter what hard times we are faced with!   

The Waiting

 

Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.  Psalm 37:5

In the age of instant ‘everything,’ waiting can be very difficult for me just as I suspect it also is for many other people.  Modern technology is both a blessing and a curse.  Don’t get me wrong, anyone that knows me would attest that I would personally have a hard time not being able to view someone’s back to school photos on a whim or play Pokémon GO (yes, I am STILL hooked all of these years later) in my spare time. 

I call it a curse, because people expect to always reach you on a wireless device, via email, by texting, at any given time, at any given point, on any given day.   We have grown so accustomed to having everything instantaneously, no wonder it is so hard for us to be patient when God requires a season of waiting in our lives!

It’s in those moments that we are waiting on God to bless us that we must rely on our trust in Him.  When we choose not to trust in God with our needs, we become fearful and anxious.  The Bible is filled with many examples of God’s people remaining faithfully patient and trusting in Him, and no story better illustrates this than the night the disciples encountered a storm on the Sea of Galilee.   Every disciple on that boat thought that they were surely going to die, that was, until they saw Jesus walking on the water towards them.  With a simple command, Jesus silenced the storms and waves to be still.

The disciples learned how to trust Jesus during the worst of times, so while we are patiently waiting on Him to answer our prayers, chances are He is wanting us to reach out to Him and wait for His outstretched arm.

St. Judy's Comet

 

"Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching." Proverbs 1:8

Our youngest son, Elijah, was the master of prolonging our family's nightly process of going to bed when he was younger.   Now that he's older, I do miss the litany of reasons he would come up with at bedtime to stay up later; tummy-aches, hungry, bad dreams, spiders, the clown from 'IT' to simply just needing to go to the bathroom for the hundredth time. 

Just like any child has trouble understanding the importance of a good night’s rest, we too are in constant battle with God for control over our lives.  And being a loving parent, God is always communicating with us and for us to hear what He is trying to tell us, we must seek Him above all else in our lives.

You see, anything we pursue without talking to God about first, will most likely be in vein.  We must allow the Light of His Presence shine on all of our pursuits so that we can receive His help for the plans He has made for us or allow Him to change the desires of our hearts.

If we seek Him first and foremost, the rest of our lives will fall into place!  

Enjoy The Silence

 

Rejoice in hope, endure in suffering, persist in prayer.  Romans 12: 12

                                                                  

Being a bit active and at times, quite talkative, I always struggle when I receive little or no interaction from my 'captive' audience, while making a presentation for work.  The same holds true in my prayer life, especially when I am praying with passion and feel that God is not answering me or seems to be a million miles away.   I don’t believe that I am alone in the way that I feel, as many other Christians probably lack some anticipation of having their prayers answered.

Our society doesn't help us with being patient in our prayer life as we wait for God to answer us in His perfect timing, either.  We live in a society that due to modern technology expects instant results. 

We are to remain vibrant and faithful in our prayer life.  It is too easy to become discouraged and feel as though God is not listening when all we perceive is silence.  I am thankful for many unanswered prayers that I have petitioned God with and it has certainly helped to mature my faith by leaps and bounds.  We must come to a place of understanding His presence is always with us if we are grow our relationship with Him; in doing so, we will have a deeper relationship with God, despite our prayers not being answered.

Continue to pray and be hopeful even if you are suffering; God is always with you!!

What Is Life?

 

You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.  Psalm 16:11

Have you ever pondered the reason why you are here on this earth?  It’s easy to do especially if you are unhappy at home or work and feel despair because you believe that life is meaningless.  I have talked to several folks whom sadly feel this way.  Conversely, when you have a purpose, you are able to live life with joy and energy, despite trials and tribulations.

God’s Word reveals our deepest reasons for existence on this earth and the Bible is full of His promises.  There is no way we can possibly persevere and overcome our despair without knowing God’s love.  We are created to be in a relationship with our Father and He promises us that the adversities we face during our time on earth are only temporary.

Read your Bible if you are ever feeling like life has lost its meaning and take God at His word; His promises are eternal!

It's a Mistake

 

Letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death.  But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.  Romans 8:6

One of the greatest mistakes we can possibly make is allowing ourselves to place overemphasis on one area of our lives at the expense of others.  For instance, if I was to attend every after hours social event during the work week, I would probably meet more potential clients and customers, but I would be sacrificing the short window of time that I enjoy spending with my family each and every night.  Too many people fall into this trap pursuing a successful career and many achieve it, but wonder why things are so bad at home and how everything else go off of balance in the rest of their lives.

Balance means using your time, gifts, and resources to live a life that honors God.  God will never ask us to do something and then short-change us on the time needed to do everything He has called us to do.  When you try to accomplish everything you want to get done, you are often left tired, worn-out and generally unsatisfied.

When you turn control of your life (and your busy schedule) over to the Holy Spirit, He will restore balance again in your life and give you peace, contentment, and satisfaction that you so desperately desire.

Solid

 

Those who fear the Lord are secure; He will be a refuge for their children. Proverbs 14:26

Our youngest son, Elijah, just recently passed his driver's test and now has his license.  This is another milestone for our boys as our oldest, Elliott just started his first semester of college at UTC.   Now that both boys are mobile and thankfully both have been pretty healthy in the past few years of high school, I remember those earlier years when the boys were in and out of daycare due to sickness which caused us to take time off many days from work in order to stay home with them.  Looking back, it was (and still is) pretty stressful for the both of us to miss work and balance time at home with sick children.  We are all promised difficulties during the course of our journey and the above passage from Proverbs is one to remember during those difficult times…

You see, when you strengthen your faith with the truths of God's Word every new morning, you build a solid foundation that will not easily crack under pressure.

When the troubles of life come your way, the attacks may come close to knocking you down, but a strong foundation will keep you on your feet because God's truths are eternal.

Stand firm and solid like a rock on a foundation that comes from trusting and fearing God!

Everyday I Write The Book

 

“Stop your striving and recognize that I am God!  I will be exalted over the nations!  I will be exalted over the earth!”  Psalm 46:10

God sure has a unique way of speaking to me.  As stubborn as I am, He often hits me with the same truth(s) over and over again until I finally yield.  The past month has provided a wonderful season of Spiritual growth for me and the reoccurring themes that I have been focusing on are: ‘giving up control’ and ‘yielding to God.’  Almost daily, I have either read or heard something regarding the subject matter of ‘letting go and letting God.’

The key to giving up control in our life and submitting to God requires us to be patient and wait while remaining hopeful and trusting.  These virtues certainly do not come natural for me, as I would like to have some say over matters or hang onto a false sense of belief that I am actually in control of my life.  Our strength is found in our weaknesses and our patience in waiting for Christ to do His work, which is evidence that we honestly do trust Him.

Hoping is directly tied to our future inheritance in heaven, but the benefits of hope can be experienced right now.  Instead of trying to manipulate or ‘control’ every aspect of our lives, we must learn to just live each day simply looking for or just being aware of His presence.  Your eyes will be opened to a whole new world realizing that God is the one who is in control and his plans are for our good!

Money

 

God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for Him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.  Matthew 5:3

We all have basic needs that need to be met in order to survive: food, water, shelter, and love.  When our needs are met, you are content and satisfied, but when your wants are unmet, we are left discontent and wanting more.

Don't get me wrong, our wants are not always negative, but sometimes they can lead us astray from what God desires for our lives.  Wants can also lead us to ruin if we become obsessed with pursuing them.

Having our needs met by God shows us His almighty power and provision that teaches us that He is indeed good and trustworthy.  We must learn to trust God and not money and learn to distinguish between our needs and our wants.

Christian author, Max Lucado, said it best: 

"Those who trust money are foolish.  They are setting themselves up to be duped and dumped into a dystopia of unhappiness.  Have you ever noticed that the word miser is just one letter short of the word misery?"

Don't Change

 

O Lord, you examine me and know.  You know when I sit down and when I get up; even from far away you understand my motives….Your knowledge is beyond my comprehension; it is so far beyond me, I am unable to fathom it. Psalm 139:1-2, 6

After binge watching pretty much every single available television series over the past few months, there is nothing "new" to watch and I must admit that I have found myself watching a reality television show with Alicia that we consider our ‘guilty pleasure.’  On this show, the men and women are in extremely good shape, with no substance, and are competing to win 'love', I mean, a ridiculous amount of money and publicity.  After watching this week’s episode, I began to feel a little negative about my personal appearance, despite the substantial amount of exercise I engage in most every day of the week.

If I am feeling this way, I can only imagine how much of the viewing audience feels after watching a show like this.  It’s easy to compare ourselves to what society considers  ‘attractive’ and at the same time, it is also very unhealthy.  God made each one of us in His own image and we are all created uniquely.

We were all paid for by a high price, Christ’s death on the cross, all because of God’s love for each one of us.  We are all designed to be in a relationship with our Father and our whole being belongs to Him.

Any pursuit we follow to look, feel, or perform better will never give us the satisfaction we seek if we do not live in communion with God.  He loves us and created each one of us in His image, so don’t compare yourself to someone else; you will always be precious to Him!

Mysterious Ways

 

"My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My Ways..." Isaiah 55:8

Have you ever found yourself frustrated with God when you really depended on Him to provide a miracle or blessing and it didn't happen the way you wanted it to?  I would definitely have to answer "yes" to this question myself, but am also just now beginning to learn and understand God's ways are always much better than my own, and by no means are they my ways.  That, my friends, is a good thing! 

Some people do not believe that God actually works miracles at all, while others are convinced that something is wrong with their faith if God is not performing miracles on a daily basis.

You see, God works in both ordinary and supernatural ways.  God used a pretty ordinary stream to provide the prophet, Elijah, water when he needed it the most.  When the brook ran dry, there was no miracle, it just signaled Elijah to move on to the next thing that God had planned for him.  Think about Jesus' first miracle; He transformed water to wine at a wedding celebration.  Jesus also raised a man from the dead and He Himself rose from the dead after three days.  I don't know about you, but I would label all three as miracles!

It's easy to look at God's bigger works, the miracles, to see His presence. We must also look for His works in the everyday, common events in our lives too.  For He is there and is always opening and closing doors, creating new opportunities, when we are not even aware that He is there!

Impossible

 

Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it would move.  Nothing would be impossible.”  Matthew 17:20

The past several months have been very challenging as we have experienced some life changes.   Our oldest is off at college and our youngest is another driver so this has been an adjustment period for both me and my wife.  I keep coming back to Jesus’ words in Matthew.  “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it would move.  Nothing would be impossible.”

The mustard seed is one of the smallest seeds, so it often used to refer to something small in size.  Our faith is not a matter of quantity, but more of quality.  What do we put our faith into?  Is it ourselves or others?  Is it in money we have in the bank or our material possessions?  Or, is it in the One, the Solid Rock? 

We do not have to have great faith in God before you can do what seems impossible; just faith in a great God!

Would I Lie To You?

 

Because of His glory and excellence, He has given us great and precious promises.  These are the promises that enable you to share His divine nature and escape the world's corruption caused by human desires.  In view of all of this, make every effort to respond to God's promises.  2 Peter 1:4-5

If I had to be perfectly honest about the season I am currently in, I would undoubted tell you that I am one blessed man, but at the same time I am also in a new and uncharted territory that sometimes leaves me doubting myself and questioning God on a few items.  

At home, I am blessed by all means, but managing our busy schedules and also making time to spend with family and friends remains a never-ending challenge.  At work, I am blessed with my career track and new opportunities, but things are still difficult with the uncertainty that many employers are facing as it pertains to health care reform. We are seeing rates increases on group medical insurance that are simply not affordable with no end in sight. 

Doubt is okay, and it doesn't necessarily mean that we have less faith, it just means our faith is being challenged in new ways.  When we find ourselves in uncharted territory, we must allow our doubt to move us closer to God instead of further away from Him.

God gives us all many promises and the last time I checked, He has never broken a single one.  We must learn to trust Him instead of doubting Him.

When we trust, we fall deeper in love with Him and our faith grows even stronger.

Tomorrow

 

So we don't look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen.  For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.  2 Corinthians 4:18

 

Following a series of unforeseen events that transpired between work and home, I pretty much felt defeated by the time the day ended on Monday.  Simply stated, I was feeling overwhelmed.  As hard as it was, I really made a conscious effort to keep my focus on Christ as best I could.

God promises us all that the troubles looming in our lives today will not last forever.  So, our goal should be on focusing our attention away from our hurt and pain and looking towards the things that will last forever-God's never-ending love, His gift of grace and mercy, and eternity in heaven with Him.

When you fix your eyes on Him, your present troubles will be seen as only temporary because you know that they won't last for long.

We can live our lives with confidence today because we have a greater hope in God's promises for our lives tomorrow.  

Rock of Ages

 

Jesus Christ (the Messiah) is always the same, yesterday, today, yes and forever to the ages.  Hebrews 13:8

Think of how many friends and relationships you have had over the course of your lifetime.  Now, think about how much people (yourself included) have changed during the friendships/relationships.  It's human nature that we change; sometimes we change for the better sometimes it's for the worse.

Now, think of the reasons why you love Jesus.  The obvious answers are that He loves us, or He gave His life for us on the cross to save us from certain peril, or He rose again on the third day.  But what about your daily relationship with Him?  When you look at how constant Jesus is with us, one of the qualities you will appreciate the most is that He never changes.

The reason we can love and trust Him is that He is never changing.  Jesus said "This is the way I was, and this is the way I'm always going to be."

There are not many constant things or people that you can count on any more, but you can always count on Jesus.  He can change anything that needs to be changed in your life, but he will always stay the same!

Twenty Years Later

 

God is my strength and power, and He makes my way perfect.  2 Samuel 22:33

It’s been over two decades since I invited Jesus Christ into my life as my personal Lord and Savior.  Through the years, God has given me total assurance that He loves me, first and foremost, and that He is much larger than any problem that I will ever face over the course my lifetime.  Knowing that He loves me and will never leave my side has provided me with a Supernatural strength of sorts that allows me to hold on to hope and retain joy, regardless of my circumstances.  After all these years since my mother passed away, the pain is still raw, but with God by my side I have been able to keep moving forward...  

This same confidence can be yours if you are willing to accept that He has every available resource in the universe to draw upon to help us through any type of crisis, if we will only trust Him.

He delights in showing me daily that He is the ultimate source of my strength, my protection, provision, and success in life.  He is in control of my life and knows everything that is going to happen to me tomorrow, next week, next year, until my time on this earth is up.

Give up the control in your life and turn it over to the One who loves you and is larger than anything you will face in this life!!