The Giving of Thanks

Good morning everyone!

Thanksgiving has come and gone and many of us are now preparing for the biggest holiday of the year. But, as Thanksgiving flew on by, I started to really think if I understood what it meant to give thanks. What does it mean to honestly have a Godly sense of being thankful for what we have and to be thankful for the God that loves us.

Think about it... Thankful... for everything. Everything.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 says "In everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

By reading through that verse I pull out some observations.

The first of those is that giving thanks to God means you trust him. 100%. Trusting God means having faith that He is who He says He is. That's his will for us, right? We have to ground our faith in that fact that we are thankful for what he has done.

Giving thanks means taking a radically different view of the situations we face in life.

Now, the other day my wife and I were making pancakes for our family. We were talking about them since the night before because we had just purchased a bag of organic blueberries and this special Blueberry syrup made from the wild blueberries of Maine.

I know, I was impressed too..

But, they just didn't turn out the way we wanted them to. A little undercooked in the middle and burning on the outside. Needless to say, Saturday morning pancakes were a failure. We were upset. Frankly, we were kind of mad and started bickering about it. But, in that moment, I had to stop and think to myself, "Is this really the only thing in my life that I have to complain about?" So, I had to reflect on the situation and just stand in awe before God thanking Him for that moment. Thanking him for the all the blessings we have. Putting everything around me in perspective. Knowing that this was a moment that all of us experience from time to time. It's a situation that has now been thrown around and referred to as "A Pancake moment" around the house. Are you having a pancake moment?

Now, that's just a silly story about a rather minimal thing that happens to all of us, and it's easy to laugh about. But, not all moments in life are going to be pancake moments. That is when our faith and our trust in God can be tested.

But, it takes a radically different view of what it means to be thankful for all things.

When you are truly thankful to God, understanding he is in control, then you can live out his will for your life.

But, still, true thankfulness is a radically different thought process than most of us can begin to comprehend. It's more than just understanding that God is in control. I hear all the time, "Jesus is in control. It'll work out." I think throwing that statement out there is a cop out amongst Christians to not take responsibility for our own decisions. Or, we throw it out when things don't go our way or when we don't understand the outcome. "Well, don't worry, Jesus is in control."

Now, don't get me wrong, He is all sovereign, and in control of all things, I'm not arguing that. What I'm saying is when things go wrong are you willing to look to God and NOT ask, "God, can you please help me get through this?"

God has already delivered us! He has won the victory over sin and over death. His will for your life may be more than just Him getting you through a situation.

Can you truly enter a situation you know you have ABSOLUTELY NO CONTROL OVER and instead give Him thanks?

Yes. Thank God for and through the trials in your life. Radically different.

Remember, It says pretty clearly, "In ALL things GIVE THANKS..." Not, some things. Not when it makes sense, not when we like it, but in ALL things GIVE THANKS!

Why should we be giving thanks to God when hard times come? Because, Hard times will come, I promise. It is simply a matter of when! So, why? Why do we give thanks in ALL things?

Because God is with us. He is with us. Always... until the end.

Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.”
Deuteronomy 31:6 NKJV

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Joshua 1:9 NKJV

Read those again. What is God telling us? I am with you, always!

Now, do we, as Christians, really understand these verses and God's will for our lives? He does have a plan for us and it is not one of doom and gloom. But, God never said life was going to be easy.

Look, God never leaves our side once we have opened our hearts to him! He loves us so much that he is with us. No matter how many times you have been abandoned by man, He is the one who stays. When you are in the deepest, darkest moments in you life, more alone than you ever thought possible, living, digging, scratching through the valleys that seem impossible to escape from, even if it means the moment of our own untimely, unnatural death is staring us right in the face... are we still able to stop and say, "Jesus... Thank you for being here with me through this. Thank you for never abandoning me when everyone else did. Thank you for not making this moment the end of my story."

Even in death, God will pull you up to the mountain tops of his heavenly kingdom, saying, 'Well done good and noble servant!"

And if death in that moment is not in His will for you, he will raise you up to the next mountain out of the valley and show you the majesty of His creation if you TRUST him and have FAITH in him so you can look upon Him again and say THANK YOU, LORD! Thank you for being with me through the trials, and carrying me out of the valley!

Do you get where I'm going here?

Radically different. Thankfulness. Unlike any you have ever expressed before.

When this new way of thinking about being thankful to God in all things began to hit home, it set me free in so many ways inside. No matter what you are facing, whether a Pancake Moment, or the grip of death itself, God is with you.

Never forget that.

And Thank God for that.

The Greatest Gift

Being that it is close to the time of year that most of us look forward to every year, I thought I would take the time to write about Christmas.
Christmas is my favorite time of year, not just because I'm a Christian and it represents the gift of Jesus to the world, but also because it's a great time to connect with family and friends and, for the most part, people are a little more joyful.
There are, however, the unavoidable stresses that go along with the holiday season. There are the people that want nothing more than to spend time with you and begin to stretch you every direction. There is the financial stresses that make it near impossible to think about nothing more than how you are going to provide the perfect Christmas for everyone around you. For those of you with spouses and children, you have to make time for that family and, as a Christ follower, attempt to truly instill the reason for the season and not get overwhelmed by the commercialization of what the world wants Christmas to be about. There is the stress of getting time off from your job and traveling to see family that might be at a distance. There are the stresses of just being alone... Your first Christmas away from family, or without a loved one who may have passed away.

Needless to say, this season can bring much more stress and pain, sorrow and total lack of hope if you don't understand what God did for us.

So, I want to look at the Christmas story from a perspective of a specific group of people that are at the center of attention that amazing night that Jesus came to earth: The shepherds in the field.

Luke 2:8-12 - Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will  be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”

The shepherds were just like you and me. Here these men were out in the fields working, simply doing their job and trying to make a life.
Now, don't you think they too were worrying about life?
Don't you think that some were possibly having major financial problems? Worrying about how they were going to pay Caesar their taxes?
Don't you think they had children that were rebelling against their leadership?
Don't you think they were having marriage problems?
Don't you think they were dealing with health issues, either their own or of immediate family members?

Of course they were!! It was just a different time, but same problems.

Now, I want you to stop and realize one huge difference between the shepherds and us. Now follow me here, because this was huge for me when i made this realization.
Up to that point, the shepherds had no hope.
None...
Remember, God has been silent for many, many years... Somewhere around 400 years of oppression occurred during this intertestamental period without any prophetic word from God. His people were waiting for this Messiah and he had not come. They were being oppressed and defeated time and time again by different empires and rulers.
So there the shepherds sat... Waiting... Hopeless... Defeated... Alone.
But God never stopped loving His people.
He never stopped working.
The plan God set in motion from the beginning of creation was being carried out to give us all hope.
Then, hope arrived... In the form of a baby boy. Just like that. The angels presented themselves in the fields to the shepherds to make the big announcement!
So they traveled to this little stable in the middle of this small town to see the hope that God had given them. And they worshipped Him.
But the key comes in with what happens next...
Luke 2:17-18 - Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

They didn't just head back to their homes and get back to their problems. They went back and told a multitude of what they had witnessed! They spread this new hope and joy that they had never experienced! Jesus brought to them a chance to live again!

What I'm trying to say is simple; we have had and always will have hope because we have always had Jesus. No matter how bad things seem, no matter what  problems we face, we have hope because we have Jesus. Jesus is here to take away those problems, for us to lean on when the burden becomes too great. He is the hope that brings us new life and a future.

So, when it seems like things are getting to be overwhelming, and life seems to be too much, and it seems like there if light at the end of the tunnel, and no hope seems to apparent, remember, we will always have hope because we have always had Jesus.

That's Why We Pray

I like to spend time really reflecting on God's Word. There is a lot that can be absorbed when you stop and really let God speak to you as you mediate and ponder on His Word. I think back in the day, I would read the Bible so that I could say, "I read the Bible today." Almost like I was trying to justify to myself that I read the Word today and hoped that God would put something on my heart. But I've realized more now as I've grown and matured that if I'm not really taking the time to listen and just talking over God as I say His words to myself, I won't ever hear what He's telling me. It's like the old adage, "You have more inputs than outputs so use them in that ratio." I was simply reading (or talking) more than I was listening. I'm sure many of you can relate. We all want to know what God wants for us, but maybe we aren't really listening to what's He is saying.

That has lead me to where I am today with my topic; Prayer. As I was taking my walk through some scripture, God led me to a particular verse:

Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him. - John 9:31

The context of this verse is where the blind man is given his sight back by Jesus and he is being questioned by the Pharisees. Now, the blind mind is making a very strong point to these religious men caught up in all their leaglism. God doesn't hear you because you are sinners. 

I've read that story several times, and read that verse several times and just kind of passed over it. This time through, however, I decided I wanted to really listen to what God was trying to tell me as I analyzed this piece of scripture. So, as I was listening through this passage, the word "sinners" really sat on my heart. I went back and read again, "...God does not hear sinners..." There I sat for nearly twenty minutes and I kept flopping around in my head, "Aren't we all sinners? Didn't God point this out to us before?"  

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. - Romans 3:23

So, I'm a sinner, I'll always be a sinner, and God will never hear my prayers or my calls to Him... Great. Really glad I was listening for God to throw that one at me.

Even as I read the other half of that piece of scripture, it didn't matter because I was still a sinner. I worshiped God, and did what I could to fulfill His will, but that still didn't negate the fact that I was a sinner and He doesn't hear me. This tore me up for a couple days. I couldn't figure it out. 

As I still continued to pray and mediate, even though I wasn't sure He was listening, I was listening for an response to my question. Low and behold, I felt His voice in me. 

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away; Behold, all things have become new! - 2 Corinthians 5:17

How did I forget this? Of course, we have been recreated in Christ. Our old sinful nature has been replaced by a new creation. We are reborn! 

But, I was still conflicted. I am a reborn God Loving Christian, but I still do sin. We all still sin and make mistakes. It's in our nature to do these things. How can I ever overcome this? 

Then God spoke to me. That still small voice in my head that just spoke to me. It said, "Your missing the point. I realize you are of a sinful nature. All I ask is that you lay your life down for My sake. Stop trying to be sinless, and start trying to be righteous." 

The Lord is far from the wicked, But He hears the prayer of the righteous - Proverbs 15:29

God simply wants us to be in right standing with Him. He wants us to truly lay our lives down for Him, worship Him, follow Him. He wants us to give everything up to Him and for Him! 

Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. - Luke 9:23

God knows our hearts. He knows if we are doing life for ourselves or for Him. Taking up your cross is simply doing life for God. Doing life to glorify Him. When you are willing to lay it all down, to give total control up to God, that's when you are truly worshiping God. You aren't trying to get in the way. You aren't saying, "God, I give up all control on these things and surrender my life to you, but... I'm still going to try to figure out my finances on my own and those other couple sins I have, I mean, I'm cool with those too... and I know I need to spend a little more time with my family, but I'm busy with work and my golf league, and I know I've spent a lot less time at church with the children's ministry I worked with... but everything else, Lord, that's for you. I give it to you God... sort of at least..." Right? 

That's not laying your life down and giving up control. That's basically you telling God you don't trust Him, and that you trust your decision making more. Now, You saying, "God, I can't do life RIGHT without you, because I'm a sinner. I am TRUSTING you for everything I am, for everything I have, and for everything you are going to do through me. Allow me to be a beacon of your glory here on earth. I'm giving it up to you. Show me where to go. Let your will be my will." 

And that, my friends, is when "...God hears you (John 9:31b)" 

Failure is Never Final

Failure is one of those buzz words that we see and hear in today's society that is almost a little scary to think about. From early in a person's life, they face multiple opportunities where they have the chance to fail. So many things are missed out on because of that simple fear of failure. No one wants to walk through life being judged by what happened in their past. No one wants to be known as a failure.

But here is a question: If I were to ask you, "What is the opposite of success?" what would you say? I'm betting that most of you would overwhelming say, "Failure." But, nothing could be further from the truth! The opposite of Success is not failure. The opposite of success is QUITTING. Failure is not a bad word! Success cannot and will never exist without failure! If you never failed at something, how would you ever know how to improve yourself?
We all love great success stories not because life came easy for that person, but because they overcame something to achieve that position! The greatest successes in this world are some of the greatest failures, they simply never gave up!

God wants us to succeed in life. He stated it pretty clearly in one of my favorite bible verses, 3 John 1:2 -

Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.

Prosper in all things... that's pretty cool that we have a God that wants us to be prosperous. 

So, you have three choices to make when you experience failure. 

1. You can give up
2. You can show up
3. You can grow up

When you give up, you are going to miss out on the blessing that God has in store for you through adversity

Solomon is an example of someone who started on the right track, a man who was blessed abundantly by God, but lost track of where his true power and strength came from and failed miserably.
Solomon was considered the wealthiest human to ever walk the earth. Beyond that, God blessed him with wisdom unmatched by any other man. People traveled from all over the world to see guidance and knowledge from this man. He built the great temple of worship that God wanted where he could dwell among the Israelites. He had more going for him than any man ever had! But, he slowly took his eyes off God and put them on himself.
In 1 Kings 11:1-13, you'll see that Solomon started chasing the things of the world, and not the things of God. He gathered wives from the forbidden tribes, worshiped other Gods, and did evils in the sight of the Lord. So, God stripped away his kingdom.
Big time failure... but, it didn't have to be final. He could have repented. He could have realized his evil ways and repented to the God whom had already appeared to him twice and given him all that he desired. But, he didn't... He gave up the on God and missed out on greater blessing for his line and their future.

After failure, you gotta show back up for the fight if you want to succeed... and that's the biggest hurdle to success; showing up.

David was considered a man after God's own heart (Acts 13:22). Talk about a compliment! As a Christian, I so much want to live my life like a man after God's own heart. I think, deep down, we all do. But, we end up making mistakes, and fall victim to our own fleshly hearts, and worldly desires. We feel we can never live up to that. Remember, David was just a man himself. He wasn't God. He simply had God #1 in his life... at least for a little while.
David began to seek the same fleshly desires that many of us do. In 2 Samuel 11:1-4, the details of is affair with Bathsheba are revealed. He gets her pregnant, tries to cover his tracks by having her husband have sex with her, which he won't for personal reasons, and then has him killed to cover up the truth.
Phew.... talk about a downward spiral. That easily could have been the end of David. He easily could have given up there. But, he didn't. He realized how terrible of a decision it was that he made. He admits to his failures and repents. David gets back in the fight and finishes strong

2 Samuel 12:13 - So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.

God accepted his repentance, and David wrote a beautiful Psalm about it, Psalm 51. It's long, so I'm not going to post it here, but check it out.

After you show up, you gotta humble yourself and be willing to grow up and move forward with God

Peter was considered the most loyal of all the disciples that followed Jesus. But, Peter made some major mistakes in his life while walking with Jesus. 

First, Peter rebukes Jesus while Jesus predicts the impending crucifixion that He must endure to die for our sins. Peter does it out of love for Him, but speaks as though he knows more than God does about the WHOLE REASON Jesus came here in the first place. 

Matthew 16:22 - Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!”

And Jesus replies with a statement that I am sure stuck with Peter for quite a while... 

Matthew 16:23 - But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.

Wow... Jesus calls Peter Satan. Epic Fail...
Peter easily could have walked away from that failure thinking that Jesus didn't want him around anymore, or even wallow in his own self pity party. He went from beating his chest as the big man who was not going to allow Jesus to be crucified, to this defeated man
One of Peter's most talked about failures, and probably his biggest, was his denial of Jesus. Jesus even predicted it and told Peter he was going to do it. Luke 22:54-62 details his denial. When Peter realizes what he had done, and the Jesus did indeed predict this, he weeps at his failure.

Peter easily could have quit at either of those. but he didn't... he went on to be one of the most influential Christians during his age, and of all time. But, how did he do it?

Well, he stepped up and showed back up for the great commission that Jesus had laid down for them. In Acts 2:1-41, Peter lays down a beautiful sermon. He was an enthusiastic leader, and he drew people to him and to the Word of God. In this one moment, he added 3000 people to become followers of Jesus! When you understand the power of exponential growth, how quickly can that 3000 turn into 300,000? Peter showed up and he started to live the life God wanted him to and KNEW he could. He was moving forward with God and God was preparing blessings for Peter!

Even in the storms, with faith, God will bless you! Peter began to realize this, and while he was delivering his ministry with Silas, they were both arrested, beaten and put in jail. Still, these two men knew that God would bless them if they just stayed strong and trusted God. He was walking along with God and moving forward, putting all his trust in Him. So, these men are just sitting in jail, probably bleeding and bruised, and they are singing songs of praise to the Lord! God then frees them from the jail, and in the process, they lead some of the Roman jailers to Christ and even had the local magistrates show up at the jail to plead with them to leave the jail as free men! Have you ever heard of such a thing?

All of this happened because he never quit. He failed... and failed again... but he never gave up. He picked up his chin and got back in the fight, learned from his failures, and refocused on what God was trying to do in his life. He was molding him to be an enthusiastic and magnetic leader for the cause of Christ.

Failure is never final until you decide it is. Don't let the failures of your past define the successes of your future. God will bless you in good time if you just stay faithful.

God bless

Role Playing

One of the most sacred institutions created by God is that of marriage. When done correctly, it's a source of great happiness, joy, intimacy, and so much more. But, anyone who has been a part of one knows that it takes work, patience, and often time some good ol' humility.

Fortunately for us, God has laid out to us in His Word the roles that each of us are supposed to play in marriage.  God says in Ephesians 5:31 that "...the two shall become one flesh."  And again in Mark 10:9, "...What God has put together, Let not man separate." Marriage is a covenant made with God. It's more than a piece of paper, or the exchanging of rings and vows. It is a contract between two people and their Creator.

I think with all of the different things going on in society today, the advancement of women in the workplace and in professional levels, their increasing income, the demasculinization of men by the media, etc... I think the lines of leadership in the household are being seriously skewed.

Don't confuse what I'm saying... What I'm trying to say is that God didn't define our roles in the workplace, but he did define our roles in the home. So, let's get down to it...

Ephesians 5:22-33

22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. 24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. 30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. 31 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

Phew... There it is. God's roles for a man and woman in marriage. If I were to paraphrase this chunk into one line it would be, "Men, love your wives, Women respect your husbands." That is really all these verses are saying.

So, Ladies, be real with me. Those first two verses are tough to read aren't they? Submit? The husband is the head of the wife? What is this, 1950? Well, no it isn't, this was actually written closer to 50 AD.

Let me break it down a little bit here and roll into the next few verses to make you feel a little better about it. What is Submission? Submission is simply being Sub- or Under a broader mission. Hopefully, you have a husband who is sold out to God and growing with Him and you. If that is true, he is then sold out to God's mission for your family. The husband is submitted to God. He is submitted to a higher calling for what God has in store for you and your future. He is, according to God, the appointed leader of the family!

Ladies, you may have a husband that is new to his faith, and may not be as spiritually mature as you even, and you think that maybe it's your responsibility to lead the family. It's not. It's still his! If he's willing to learn and grow, let him. Be there with him. Support him. Be his biggest cheerleader for growth. I came into my marriage a spiritual blank. I was very new to this faith thing. My wife had been a Christian the majority of her life, but she understood her role and she knew that she was required to support me in my growth as the leader.

But, even if you are still stuck on those first two verses, read verse 25, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her." How much love is the man supposed to give his wife? Well, as much as Christ did for the church. How much did He love the church? He DIED for it. He gave EVERYTHING. Ladies... when you submit to you husband, he has now been given the responsibility to love you SO MUCH, he must be willing to DIE FOR YOU, Give everything for you and the betterment of your marriage. He's gotta be willing to lay everything down to make sure you are taken care of and your family succeeds. 

Does that make you feel better? Ladies, that should take a huge weight from your shoulders knowing that your husband is sold out that much to you and your success. 

Now guys, You gotta understand the faith that it takes your wife to hand over that responsibility. But, God made it ours. He wants us to lead our marriage. He will be there to help us along the way. And that will also allow her to give to us what our utmost desire is deep down inside of us: RESPECT. Men... Be real, right? We just want our wives to respect us. For me, I know that for my wife to say that she loves me is a real cool thing, I dig it, and I want to hear it. But, when she stops to tell me that she respects me as a father, a husband... as a MAN. Holy cow, talk about a boost in self esteem! That will make me want to give EVERYTHING for my wife. She is my everything, and when she raises me up like that, man, I will walk to the ends of the earth to do whatever it is to lead my wife and my family. 

And that is what verse 32 says... men love your wife, and women respect your husbands.

It all boils down to those few simple words. 

Men, you gotta be willing to step up and lead your family by following God's guidance. By doing so, lead your wife by showing her the love she so truly needs and desires. Prove your love to her by acting like the man she needs, win her over every day, and show her you can be trusted as the leader. 

Women, give your husband his greatest innate desire by giving him the respect he NEEDS by submitting to his leadership and the plan God has in store for you both. It will take a big leap of faith for some of you, but God rewards the faithful.

If anyone is at all intrigued by this, here are a few books I've read along the way that have been HUGE for figuring out things in my life, marriage, etc... 

Love and Respect by Dr Emmerson Eggerichs
The Five Languages of Love by Gary Chapman
Wild at Heart by John Eldredge
Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge

Sit down and read these with your spouses. They will change they way you interact with each other, you kids, your family, and lead you to such an amazing marriage and family life if you just want to listen and learn.  

I hope someone got something out of this and I'm sorry if it kinda dragged on a bit, but it's something that I could go on an on about for days. I mean, heck, Dr. Eggerichs wrote and entire book about this one single stanza in Ephesians. So, enjoy, and as always, I welcome your feedback!

The Power of Forgiveness

I once read a quote about what the most important phrases or words you ever need to learn to have successful relationships. They were things like, Thank you, I love you, I’m sorry and so forth. The one that really stuck out for me, though, was, “I forgive you.” From the time we are little, we are taught those first few phrases. Even today, there is a song that I sing with my kids that goes like this, “Please and thank you, please and thank you, say them twice, that’s so nice!” And it is nice to say those things, but, No one really ever talks about the “its ok, I forgive you” part of it. That’s why I think it is really hard for people to truly understand forgiveness, especially when it isn't deserved in the world’s eye.

Forgiveness is our way of allowing someone who hurt us to know that we are ok with it. The whole idea is odd. “You hurt me, but no big deal. Move on with your life because I forgive you.” I don’t think as the person being forgiven we actually, truly understand how much we may have hurt another individual.

But, God forgave us.

We hurt Him more than we could ever comprehend through our sin.

The craziest part is that He loved us so much, that he actually sent His son down here to die for us. To become sin for us. To die the death we deserved.

Think about that for a minute. Can you comprehend what I just wrote? Imagine someone you loved more than anything hurting you, betraying you and casting you aside. Even denying that you were a part of their life anymore. Then, they gave up their most precious possession to show you how much they still loved you and wanted to be a part of your life.

God did that for us. He gave up His son for us.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

That is forgiveness. There is no greater example that the world will ever see than God forgiving us through Jesus.

Accepting God’s Grace and forgiveness is essential to becoming a Christian. But, I want to take a step back. Sure, God forgives us. He does. But, that’s not the point I want to make with this today.  I want you all that are struggling to understand this:

You’ll never understand what God has in store for you with His Grace and His forgiveness until you do one thing: You must learn how to forgive 
YOURSELF.

This was my biggest struggle when I first started to learn who Jesus was. I didn't think He could forgive me because of all this guilt I had buried inside of me. I couldn't be forgiven for my sin because I couldn't forgive myself for my past.

Do you feel like you don’t deserve forgiveness?  Are you holding on to something in the past? Let it go!

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,  nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35, 37-39)

Nothing, NOTHING can separate us from the love of Christ! Absolutely nothing.  We are more than conquerors! That is such a powerful piece of scripture. We are more than overcomers! We can overcome and conquer anything that stands in our way or haunts our past because of the Love that is in us through Christ Jesus!

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5:17)

You are a new creation. We are called “Born again” because we are literally reborn through Christ Jesus when we accept him as our Lord and Savior! We are a new creation! When you are struggling with sin from the past, it is in the past. It is all washed away when you are reborn!

Don’t let guilt separate you from God. You feel this guilt because the adversary does not want you to experience this forgiveness. He is that author of confusion whispering in your ear that you don’t deserve it!

 For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints  (1 Corinthians 14:33)

You are cleansed from your former sins!

For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins (2 Peter 1:9)

If you are not forgiving yourself, then you are denying everything that Christ came here for. He came here so that you could experience joy and peace.  He doesn’t want you to keep dwelling in the past. He removed them from you and infinitely separated you from them!

And these things we write to you that your joy may be full (1 John 1:4)

As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us (Psalm 103:12)

So, this is what you need to do.

1. Be honest with yourself. No one is perfect, trust in Jesus. Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven…(Luke 7:47a)
2.  Realize the debt has been paid!  And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross (Colossians 2:13-14)
3.  Allow the holy spirit to heal your soul!  Cast all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you (1 Peter 5:7)
4. View yourself as reborn… recreated (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Finally, I leave you with this last piece of scripture. You are free from death, from the sins of your past, because you are no longer living according to your flesh.

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:1-2)

God Bless you all!

Never Abandoned

Sometimes, life can come at ya, You know what I mean? Things happen. It's really easy to get caught up on the negative things in this world that come along and blame it on God. It's also just as easy, as a Christian, to go a step further and not blame something bad on God, but ask, "Why? Why God are you making me go through this? Why is this happening to me?" I, like many other Christians out there, have asked the question, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" or on the converse, "Why do good things happen to bad people?" Where is God in the midst of all the crap that is coming at me? Why does it seem like when I need him most he is no where to be found

Quick side note. Many times in our own minds as the junk of life hits us in the face it is pretty easy to only see YOUR specific reality, or the hard times you are going through, and compare those times to someone in your life that may be experiencing wonderful things at that point in their life. The problem is you don't really know what valley they may have emerged from. 

So, getting back to the point. Where is God? Why did he leave me?

The answer; He didn't. 

Yeah, that's helpful. Thanks. I've never been more scared, or lonely, or hurt in my life by this situation and all you can tell me is, "He didn't? He's still there? Where?!?" 

So, in my second edition of God's promises is this edition. I am going to call it "Never Abandoned." Because that is it. God never leaves us. He is with us. Always. I plan to use a lot of scripture on this one to really back my point. I'll do what I can to throw in my interpretations, but most of the scripture speaks for itself. I use the NKJV here unless otherwise noted. 

Deuteronomy 31:6

Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.

Joshua 1:9

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

That sounds to me like God will never leave you. He's telling us there that life is going to come at you, but don't be afraid! Be strong! I am with you! Take my strength! Lean on me! I am fighting this battle along side of you! 

So the question still remains tho. Why does it feel like you are not here and I am left alone to fight this fight? 

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

And lean not on your own understanding;

In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He shall direct your paths.

It's about faith. It's about letting go of the steering wheel and letting Him guide your path. He will direct you where to go. Think of Him as the most perfect GPS. Every time you make a wrong turn and don't trust your GPS, what happens? "Rerouting." The GPS puts you back on the right path when you miss the turn. It's really easy as humans to just neglect that direction and say, "I'm going at it alone. I can do it." But, you will always fail when you don't have that direction. 

God wants us to be on that path so He can bless us. Sometimes you gotta go though some stuff to get to the blessings that God has in store for you. 

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

John 16:33

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

As a Christian, you are a new creation in Christ. Not of the world anymore, but in the world.(John 15:19) You live in Christ now, not of the world. The world will bring pain, and suffering, but God overcame all of it through redemption and grace in His son Jesus!

Heck, even Henry Ford knew that things would come up, but you have to push through them and keep your eyes focused on the goal:

 "Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goals."

Henry Ford

Scripture is just loaded with this promise. God loves us. He wants us to succeed. He will be with us. Life is going to come at us, but we have Him to lean on. 

Matthew 11:28-29

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Proverbs 1:33

But whoever listens to me will dwell safely,

And will be secure, without fear of evil.”

You WILL find rest for your souls. God will take your burden away. You have nothing to fear when you put your trust in HIM!

Philippians 4:19

And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Every need He will supply. Monitary, emotional, psychological, physical... doesn't matter. He will provide for you because He will never abandon you.

He is going to lead us to victory if we just put our trust in Him. We are created to be victorious over all of life's struggles. He is never going to let us fail when we trust in Him. Take your faith through all of life's troubles and life's victories, give the glory to Him and be steadfast in your resolve. He loves us and his love never fails us.

Romans 8:37

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

Isaiah 40:29-31

He gives strength to the weary

and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary,

and young men stumble and fall;

but those who hope in the LORD

will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint

1 Corinthians 13:8

Love never fails...

May the Lord's blessings be upon you, and you find the strength to always trust in Him! 
God Speed!!