God's gift to the world

" 'I love You, O Lord, my strength.' The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies."
-Psalm 18:1-3

Do we really love the Lord? Do we really see Him as all of our strength, or do we often rely on our own "strength" and "wisdom"? In God's eyes, our strength is nothing but weakness. Because, we ARE weak. We're human, and have fleshly desires and temptations. We were born into sin, it's sad, but it's true. No matter how "strong" you are, you alone cannot be sinless. God is the all powerful Christ, He was/is the only one who will ever live a totally sinless life.

Such awful news, to know nothing we can do can change the poor state we are in. BUT! God made a way for us to not sin. He sent His only son to die, so that our death penalty price could be paid. What good news! Many people disregard this gift, though, and choose to go on sinning. We will all sin our entire earthly life...it's the curse that was put upon us...by man, for man. But when we accept that gift that our Lord gave for us, we then have the ability to CHOOSE to not sin! No, we will not ever be able to be "sinless" but with the power of the Holy Spirit, we have the ability choose right or wrong. The human flesh is weak, and we will fail with choices, but God forgives and forgets, and we can move on and not have to dwell on every sin we've ever done.

There was a quote I saw awhile back that said "Life pushes all of us around. Some give up, others fight. A few learn the lesson and move on." (-Robert Kiyosak)
It's true. Some people will think once they're "saved" they won't sin again. They're mistaken.
Some fight it with all *their* might. They will soon fail.
Some realize that they are only human, and without God's strength and grace, they can't move on after a mistake without God. We can't get through life without God. We will be beaten down, until we finally give up or eventually die empty people. The good news is there! "For God SO LOVED the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." This is such good news, yet so many people are missing it in their lives, and they live a life of questions...without any answers. They try to fill themselves with everything they can think of...but are missing the only thing that can give them fulfillment.
The next part of that chapter is important, as well. "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten So of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God."

So in other words, God came to this world to give hope. To save those who were lost, and would some day need a sacrifice for their own sinful ways. But instead of letting us all die He gave the sacrifice that we couldn't come up with...that we could never pay on our own. That gift is there for the taking, but if you don't take the gift, you will be judged. Everyone that has rejected God's gift of love will be sent to hell. Plain and simple; no sugar coating it. Because He gave His son, if you reject His death sacrifice then God's wrath will be put upon you.

So there's your question: Would you rather live a life of empty happiness, always searching but never finding, and have nothing but questions without answers? Or would you rather be filled, have hard times, but know you have someone who will care for you, and have answers to questions many people don't have? The search can end right now. It's your choice.

Forgiveness, God's example

I was thinking this past week about forgiveness. What does it mean to forgive, and what is the best example?

Forgiveness, it is the kind of love that God showed us that day when He died. For every soul. We mocked Him, beat Him, spat on Him, ridiculed Him...and yet He still forgave us. Right before He died He asked God "Forgive them, for they know not what they do." Someone gave their own life, and in their time of the greatest pain on earth known to man, crucifixion, they begged for the Father, Creator, and Lord of all the earth...to forgive us. We didn't say we were sorry, but He forgave us anyway. THAT is true forgiveness. Forgiving even when you weren't asked to.

One of my favorite examples are the verses in Matthew 18 that says, "Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.
“But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”

A perfect example, don't you think? We have been wicked, sinful people our whole lives. From the moment we were born, and shall be until we die and go to be with our Lord in heaven. Yet, our Father forgave us of all we have done, and will continue to. Not only that, but he will forgive us and FORGET what we have done. Why then, should we hold the small, penny-like hurts or such against people? It is selfish, and God will judge us for that. We will be like the servant who was forgiven the impossible debt, yet goes and finds someone who owes us a penny.

You can find verse after verse after verse in the bible about forgiveness. One of the best pictures, I think, is the master forgiving the debt that could not be paid. God tells us to forgive, and I have learned that even when I do forgive, satan will remind me of the hurt someone has caused over and over and over...he wishes to make me mad every time I think about the hurt someone has caused, and that is when I go to God, and beg Him to help me forgive again. Satan may bring up hurts the rest of my life, because he thinks he can harden my heart to people, and replace love with hate. But God can help anyone overcome any bitterness or anger, and in time, satan will finally give up, knowing he cannot get me in this area.

E.D.R God or Us?

"Expectations destroy relationships."

I have searched and gone through many quotes in my spare time...this is probably one of the most accurate one's (for the most part) I've ever heard. Now, there are the right kind of expectations, and the wrong kind. It is good for a wife to *expect* her husband to be faithful. It is right for God to *expect* us to follow His law and commandments. It is wrong, for example, for a girl to *expect* a dozen roses every V-day, birthday, etc from her guy...because, what happens when he doesn't meet that expectation? There is disappointment, and then you have a whole slew of problems to follow. How many times is a marriage or friendship broken because someone has unreasonable expectations for another person, and those expectations weren't met? It's such our humanly nature to try and make people perfect...or whatever "perfect" is in our minds.

So, SO many times I have pushed God's love for others to the back of my mind, and given myself SOME kind of excuse for judging another person. It's so selfish...and it means that I think I'm more perfect, or better than that person. That in itself is a sin, and is one of the worst..because I lose sooo much. Not only relationships, but part of who God made me to be...and then I stop showing Christ through me, because I don't have time to love when I'm pointing my finger at those around me. I've found that it's more of an insecurity thing, though. If I feel less than someone else, or that they're better than me, I do all I can to find, what is in my mind, a "fault," that way I can say "well, they might be prettier, but at least I smile more!" or some such nonsense. All the while, if I had simply put my trust and faith in Jesus, that I am perfect in His sight, because of His blood, His gift...His love...then I wouldn't even have a judgmental though pop into my head! It is VERY possible to fix such a problem...for in Christ, we can do anything.

We can't accept other believers because well, they're not good enough. If they were more like "me" then, and only then, could I have a relationship with them. We sit back and watch people, judge them by their actions, instead of finding out what their actual intentions are. Is this not what Christ told us not to do? "Judge not, let ye be judged." How many times do we point the finger at other people, and not look at our own lives? In the time it takes us to figure out a judgmental remark to our fellow brother/sister, we could have fixed at least one problem we have in our own lives! Why must we go on like this without opening our eyes.
"Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?"


The song "What this world needs" by Casting Crowns says a lot about this, as well.
"What this world needs is for us to care more about the inside than the outside
Have we become so blind that we can't see God's gotta change her heart before He changes her shirt ?"

"What this world needs is for us to stop hiding behind our relevance, blending in so well that people can't see the difference, and it's the difference that sets the world free"

God has called us to love. Not to judge, or point our unholy, sinful finger at other people who aren't just like us.

Christians do more for themselves than for Christ these days, and it's sad. We do things that make us "feel good" instead of giving up ourselves to Him so that HE can be the one to guide us and show us what to say and do. Have we become so blind to our own sin and wrong, that all we can do is judge the world around us?

And even now, as I write this my brain can't help but think of things I can find wrong with other people...as I'm sure you're doing... "Wow, Bro/Sister ______ should SO read this! They have such a problem with pointing their little finger..." No. This is for ME...and you. Not the next person.

May God change the hearts of His children, so we, *I*, can let Him shine through all of our lives, and not our own selfish thoughts.

Faith

We hold so much with a tight grip...we think if we let go of what we have then we will be without. Something on the radio today caught my attention. A lady said "what if we are just a small stop things make, and our job is to pass our stuff on to other people in need. A lot of the time our stuff stops with us..doesn't go any further."
I've told y'all what a friend of mine has said before, "hold everything you have with an open hand." Everything we have belongs to God, but a lot of the times we just hold on to "stuff" we get and don't want to let go. 
We become work-aholics because we want a "cushion" in case we ever have a hard time and might happen to be without the option of getting everything we want. And if OUR plan doesn't work out, then we fall back on the plan God has for us. We might have faith for God to save us from eternal death, but when it comes to His plan for our life we become the "ye" the verse talks about that says "oh ye of little faith". Life isn't about having the best, most secure job, and making enough money to get everything we want and then some...it's about following God and doing what He leads us to do...no matter how crazy it seems, or how fearful we are of the unknown.

Words of praise!

I think the words "I'm proud of you" are becoming an endangered sentence. I mean, who says that anymore? The thing is, a lot of problems come from people not showing that what someone has done has made them proud or meant something to them.

Parents to children: If you're a parent, can you even remember that last time you've told your child you were proud of them? When is the last time you thanked your child for doing the dishes, cleaning their room, finishing their school work, etc, etc...?

Wives to husbands: Have you EVER told your husband you're proud of him? When is the last time you said "Good job!" on a task you've given him?

All the times you DON'T tell a person these things, it simply adds to their heavy burden of questioning their "self worth" and frankly...it would seem you can't take enough time for a simple little sentence. It can certainly wear down on a person when nobody ever notices anything they do. Then what happens, you might ask? Well...they don't enjoy doing them anymore, and sooner or later simply cease from doing anything at all!

Words of praise are SO important. Especially with all the pressure everyone puts on people these days. If one thinks they aren't good enough already, never getting words of praise will just crush them.

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

You like these types of things said to you when you've worked hard on something, don't you? How can we then to turn around and not give them to another person? How selfish.

I think two of the hardest sentences for me to say out loud are "I'm sorry" and "Good job!" The first, I've gotten so much better about...but the second is still hard. Probably because I'm not thinking of other people's feelings. Not thinking that they would like to hear those kind words that I always long for.

God blesses us when we have followed His guiding...should we, then, not bless other people when they have done something worthy of praise? To be Christ-like, we must do what Christ would do.

Jesus

Often times I think we slightly belittle Gods name. We think of Him in a smaller way than we aught to. It's sad, really. The Hod of the heavens and maker of everything we see. I was listening to my favorite radio station today and heard a song, that Id heard before, but this time I think It got my attention. 

It's by a group called "Among the Thirsty."
"How many names
Can I use to explain
The love of my Jesus
The life that He gave
And so many times
Will I praise You today
I lift up my life
Cause You’re always the same
And my offering to You I bring

Your name is Jesus
Your name is Jesus
You’re the wonderful, counselor, my friend.
You’re what I hold on to, I know that You brought me through, all the days of loss and to the cross, You knew, I need a savior."

He IS an awesome God. We need to treat Him as such, and not think of Him smaller than He is. He can take life away just as easy as He gave it, He is more loving than any person you will ever meet, He gets praise even from the animals and land... He is so amazing, yet we, His children, forget to praise Him for who He is. His name IS Jesus. And for His children, we DID need a savior...we couldn't be saved by anything of ourselves. Only a perfect sacrifice could be given to save us. Jesus was that sacrifice. 
We DO need Him, every day, to help us overcome what Satan throws at us. We NEED a savior. And we NEED to praise that Savior.

Me or Christ?

"Love works. It is life's most powerful motivator and has far greater depth and meaning than most people realize. It always does what is best for others and can empower us to face the greatest of problems." -The Love Dare

When someone says the word "love" most of us think of a relationship between a husband and wife, newly engaged people, a father/mother to their children, or maybe even grandparents, Aunts or Uncles to their grand-kids/nieces/nephews. Even then, it's not a deep meaning...in today's society. Loving someone is a "feeling," one that makes one feel good about themselves.

Love has such a great meaning to it. Ask any couple who has been married longer than 30 years. Then again, perhaps we should look at the love of someone who loved us first, when most people didn't even love them. One who didn't even have a single prideful or selfish thought with that love. Someone who died for us...
willingly...so that we might have life. He was the greatest example of pure, selfless love. So many people today "fall in love" only to "fall" right back out of it. They make hasty decisions, and later must be ripped apart for not understanding true love and being unwilling to work together.

God gave up everything for us. US. The most selfish, prideful, impatient...just plain sinful beings on the face of the earth. We in turn, crucified Him, mocked Him, spat on Him...and hated Him. We might say "Well, *I* didn't do that. I love Jesus! That was a bunch of awful people a long time ago" but no, the truth is WE really did put Him on that cross....every sinful decision that we make is what put Him on that cross and hammered those nails in. Every time we are prideful, lustful, every time we lie...every selfish thought and act is what put Him on the cross. Like the song says "I'll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross." It was the most painful experience any person could ever go through. Just because He was Jesus doesn't mean He didn't feel it. He was 100% man and 100% God. He bled, sweat, and cried...just like every human. He felt every sin this world has made...and WILL make...as He died!

In relationships...older ones or new ones...it must be centered around Christ.

"We've all demonstrated selfishness, hatred and pride. And unless something is done to cleanse us of these ungodly attributes, we will stand before God guilty as charged (Romans 6:23). That's why if you're not right with God, you can't truly love because He is the source of that love."
"You can't give what you don't have. So the hard news is this: love that is able to withstand every pressure is out of your reach, as long as you're only looking within yourself to find it. You need someone who can give you that kind of love. "Love is from God" (1 John 4:7)."

It must be selfless. We must love the other person more than ourselves, and be willing to give up what WE want for the better of that relationship. There must be communication, and TONS of patience! If you don't have patience then you will have THE hardest time.

"Love will inspire you to become a patient person. When you choose to be patience, you respond in a positive way to a negative situation. You are slow to anger. You choose to have a long fuse instead of a quick temper. Rather than being restless and demanding, love helps you settle down and begin extending mercy to those around you. Patience beings an internal calm during an external storm. No one likes to be around an impatient person. It causes you to overreact in angry, foolish, and regrettable ways. The irony of anger towards a wrongful action is that it spawns new wrongs of it's own. Anger almost never makes things better. In fact, it usually generates additional problems. But patience stops problems in their tracks." -The Love Dare

This world has put every spotlight they can on "me" and what "I" want. Forget others, just do whatever YOU want or what makes YOU feel good. We can't get away from it. We're pressured and tempted everywhere we go to give in to the "me" centered life. I am sad to say I give in to that a lot. I start thinking about Jessica, and how a situation will affect HER...who cares about everyone else. How un-Christ-like is that?! To take that gift of selfless love, that amazing peace of heart and pure joy we get from doing things for others, expecting nothing in return. What great joy we're missing out on by thinking of ourselves.

Now, the question is this: Do we really WANT to be Christ-like? Do we want to be able to love like Christ loves us, or do we want to live our life with shallow feelings and a mind that is always centered on "me"? I've got to tell you, think about yourself too much and even YOU will start to dislike you.

So that's the challenge I'm setting for myself; to love like Christ and reap the joys He will give. :)

Lessons learned

As I sit here in my little messy room attempting to organize everything, I can't help but wonder how it got this way. I am a very organized person...in more depth, I am so OCD I drive everyone around me crazy, myself included. lol I remember all the times through my life when I've complained about not getting something I "needed" (aka WANTED) and just laugh. How can I be so discontent when I have so much? How can I be so ungrateful for all of the blessings I've been given? I have so much more than I could ever need...so much so that it's overwhelming...yet I still have times when I complain. How selfish.

As I was working through small sections of my room, I realize a few lessons God has been trying to teach me. I've gotten so many things I've wanted since I was little; I've made money for a long time and when I'd see something I wanted, I'd buy it. God then shows me how my "wanting" has caused me unhappiness. How all of these things I thought I "had to have" are now overwhelming me and overflowing out of my room. Talk about an eye opener. For an OCD person, who must have everything neat and tidy, having a messy room is just depressing!

Not that having "stuff" is wrong. But when you constantly complain about "lacking" anything, that is just pure ungratefulness and selfish. To thank God for His blessings is one of the greatest pleasures one can have. God is SO good, and gives us all so much more than we deserve...we aught to give thanks daily for everything we have.

It's amazing what kind of things God can use to get our attention, isn't it? That small voice who barely speaks over our busy lifestyle; that is heard over blaring voices and loud music. The Almighty voice of God...just a whisper, but more powerful than any strong voice on the earth; that is, if we will listen for it.

Strength with no limits

I finally went to the dentist today; the first time in quite a while. I found out I have another tooth that needs a root canal. All of that pain I endured for 2 days, I thought I wouldn't have a normal feeling mouth again. On top of that, my voice is basically gone. Seems when things start going poorly, I rely on my own strength to get through them. How typical of me! I believe God gives me such hard things to deal with because I haven't learned my lesson yet. Year after year something ends up happening to me and I just get all upset about it and think I'm worthless. Because of sin, we all have problems we face every day; we all have some kind of pain here and there. It is then that we are to lean on God, who's strength has NO limits! We are but a mess of sin, but God will carry us through if we let Him. He will take our cares and make them His own, not just share the heavy load, but take it from us altogether. No, that doesn't mean we won't have problems still, or get discouraged. But when we lean on the everlasting, all powerful Father, we have HIS strength on our side. We no longer have to rely on ourselves to get through each day, for God is there beside us, lifting us up, showing mercy to us, and loving us in spite of ourselves.

THAT is the vastness of God's strength; strength with no limits, strength that is unmeasurable.

Lies and Truths

Letting people live a lie is not loving. All kinds of religions now days say we should just love everyone and let them believe whatever they want to believe. It's like... someone who thinks they just have a slight, fast healing, sickness. Nothing to worry about, it's all in control... but WE know they really have a type of cancer that will kill them very soon. Because they think they have a small, curable, illness, we need to just let them think that so we don't upset them. Life is all about "not offending" now days, isn't it? Even if it means letting people die...just so long as we don't "offend" them. How sick can people get? How heartless can people be? From the looks of it...not many of us care enough to speak the truth even if it means our lifestyle and freedom are taken away. 

Well, even though we try and try, at the end of time, it all comes down to what we decide about what we believe. Nobody can make us put our trust in Christ. We must all come to faith by our own choice. But there is still only one truth...whether it's what we choose...it's our own decision. Jesus said "I am THE way, THE truth, and THE light. No man comes to the Father but by Me." 

That's pretty simple, isn't it? If you're a Christian, you shouldn't be as the world wishes and "be sensitive" to other peoples religions. You should be loving, but you should NOT just let them live a lie. 
If you're not a Christian, you should know now...the only way is Jesus. Not a universal religion, not "peace with all man," not Oprah, not the Universalists churches, not Buddha or Obama, and not anyone or anything else. To be saved, one needs a savior, and Jesus is THE ONLY savior; period.