Sometimes You Can't Make It Own Your Own

Give your burdens to the Lord, and He will take care of you.  He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.  Psalm 55:22


Our youngest son, Elijah, has been teething, which has caused him to feel bad, be fussy, and ultimately altered his diet and sleep patterns temporarily while his new teeth come in.  What is so frustrating is that  he cannot communicate with us clearly, so we as parents have to guess what is bothering him.  


God works the same as our Loving Father.  He cares for us and helps us whenever we ask Him for help.  When we bring our burdens to God through prayer, we will experience freedom from our worries and anxieties because we know He has listened to our cares.


God reassures us through His Word and His never-ending love and grace.  Praise be to God!

Cover Me

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

Regardless if 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 knows where I am weak.  For instance, 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…Things have certainly gotten better, but being stubborn prolonged us from turning it 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.

All Of My Heart

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding.  Acknowledge Him in all your ways, and He will make your paths straight.  Proverbs 3:5

This time of the year, I travel quite extensively for work and often times rely on my iPhone’s GPS to navigate my way.  When I think about it, I am amazed at how much I rely on an electronic device for directions.  It makes me ponder why I am so resistant to following God’s direction for my life.

We normally trust those who can be counted on to tell the truth and keep their promises.  God is THE source of truth, for He cannot lie.  Everything that He says in His Word is true.  All of it must be true, or we couldn’t fully trust God. 

If you are struggling with allowing God to take His righteous place in your life, learn to trust Him with all of your heart.  It will allow Him to make Himself known to you in amazing and profound ways. 

Time

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 am stubborn and often forget when I am trying to be the God of my universe is that I am NOT God.  Additionally, 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 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!

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!

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 (Pt. 2)

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

Our pastor delivered another timely message on Sunday and he made 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!