In the movie, "It's a Wonderful Life," the main character George Bailey is on the verge of committing suicide. He has given up hope. He feels lost and alone and as if he has failed at each of his endeavors. How often do we feel the same way?
In the movie, George is given the gift of seeing how life would be without him. He gets to see the profound impact he has on the people in his community and on the people he loves. There stands a very good chance that God will not give us the chance to have the same experience, and yet how many of us have felt as lost and abandoned as George? To feel so awful and terrible inside to just want to give up is something I wouldn't wish on anyone. And yet so many people in this world do feel that way. Where is there relief? When do they get to look on how much worse this world would be without them? Your answer is as good as mine. I do however know the one that comforts and who gives meaning, and who "wipes away every tear from our eyes," and that is Christ the Lord. It is truly better to know Christ and His mercy than to receive one thousand visions about how things would be, because in the end that can only do so much for you. In the end, knowing the impact you have truly isn't enough. Knowing you are loved by God, the Maker of Heaven and Earth, that is the true comfort. That is grace.
God is with each and every one of us. Even when we don't think or more importantly feel it. He is always there, in us from our baptism, until the day we leave this earth. Also importantly, he gives us other humans. God created Eve so that Adam would not be alone, and on the flipside of that, since Adam was there, Eve was not alone either. Humankind is meant to be here for each other comforting each other at all times. Just as George Bailey's community came together to support him, so too should all of us come together to support each other. We don't always see what is going on inside of other people, ones who seem to be fine may be truly hurting. Don't be afraid to tell other people that you love them! Don't be afraid to say what they mean to you. And don't give up, don't ever give up. Its the American spirit, its what dying coach Jim Valvano spoke about, its what Josh Groban sings about, its what we are supposed to do all our lives: Don't give up. God will get us through it all, and he will put us where we need to be in life and surround us with those we need to be surrounded by. Praise God for this.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
"Lucky Man"
“What a man desires is unfailing love; better to be poor than a liar. The fear of the LORD leads to life; then one rests content, untouched by trouble.” Proverbs 19:22-23
“But I know I'm a lucky man
God's given me a pretty fair hand . . .
And even my bad days ain't that badYeah, I'm a lucky manI'm a lucky lucky man” –Montgomery Gentry
How many days do you wake up saying that you are a lucky person? You should wake up every day saying that you are a lucky person. Why you ask? The answer is simple, because you are a child of Christ. That Montgomery Gentry song talks about things that put him in a bad mood, when his Bengals lose, when he curses the rain, and complain again when the suns too hot, then looks at what everyone else has got. But then realizes that the Lord has made him a lucky man. He goes on to tell us that God has given him (and all of us also) a pretty fair hand. Sure we may not have everything that we want. Our neighbor may have that fancy car, or the huge wardrobe, or big house or whatever it may be. Gentry goes on to say he has a few dollars in a coffee can, and his truck is still running good and his ticker is ticking like they say it should. You are still breathing right? Isn’t that the most important part of our life, breathing. As long as we breath and have faith in our Father we are lucky.
“Even my bad days ain’t that bad.” As the date of college graduation comes around the corner, fear seems to be setting in. Not a fear of bad grades or failure but a fear of what will happen the days following graduation. There are days when I have 5 exams at once, and days when I wake up not feeling well and yet still have to go to multiple classes, and days that I just don’t want to talk to anyone because of any given event. Yet none of those “bad” days matter, because every one of those days I am still trusting in Christ, which is where my faith is at. “Yeah, I’m a lucky man.”
Proverbs says a man deserves unfailing love. Go ahead and check that one off. Christ has unfailing love for us, and we give that love right back to him. The passage goes on to say better poor than a liar. When we lie we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. This is a portion of our confession and absolution, lying gets us nowhere. And if we didn’t have God we would be poorer than dirt. To me everything in that statement God has taken care of for us. We are not poor because we have him, and we are truly lucky. Therefore since we have fear in the Lord we are able to have life a very good life.
So let’s take it one step further, how often do we do something that we do not want to do? In Romans 7 Paul talks about how we do all these things that we do not want to do and are unable to do the things that we want to do. In the Lord’s Prayer we pray that God “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” So as many of us are in college, it isn’t necessarily a bad thing that we don’t know where we are going. It is a bad thing that we don’t keep our faith and trust in Christ. Too often than not we think that we can make our own decisions and that our decisions are better than God’s.
Let’s just add one more thing to this, let’s add the fact that without Christ we are completely worthless. He doesn’t need us, but rather we need him. Jesus has the ability to bring more people into His kingdom; we are just helping in the process. On the flip side though, without Jesus dying on the cross for our sins we would have no chance of ever getting into the kingdom of heaven. So thanks be to God, our Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace for leading us in the right direction.
Let us pray: Heavenly Father, we thank you for allowing us to wake up every morning and being able to say that we are lucky men and women. We ask that you help us to do those things that we want to do and refrain from the things that we don’t want to. We are all a light of yours and ask that you help each and every one of us to show our light at every chance that we get. Finally Lord, we ask that you help us to not worry about what direction you are leading us but rather allow us to put our full trust and faith in you. In Christ’s Name. Amen.
“But I know I'm a lucky man
God's given me a pretty fair hand . . .
And even my bad days ain't that badYeah, I'm a lucky manI'm a lucky lucky man” –Montgomery Gentry
How many days do you wake up saying that you are a lucky person? You should wake up every day saying that you are a lucky person. Why you ask? The answer is simple, because you are a child of Christ. That Montgomery Gentry song talks about things that put him in a bad mood, when his Bengals lose, when he curses the rain, and complain again when the suns too hot, then looks at what everyone else has got. But then realizes that the Lord has made him a lucky man. He goes on to tell us that God has given him (and all of us also) a pretty fair hand. Sure we may not have everything that we want. Our neighbor may have that fancy car, or the huge wardrobe, or big house or whatever it may be. Gentry goes on to say he has a few dollars in a coffee can, and his truck is still running good and his ticker is ticking like they say it should. You are still breathing right? Isn’t that the most important part of our life, breathing. As long as we breath and have faith in our Father we are lucky.
“Even my bad days ain’t that bad.” As the date of college graduation comes around the corner, fear seems to be setting in. Not a fear of bad grades or failure but a fear of what will happen the days following graduation. There are days when I have 5 exams at once, and days when I wake up not feeling well and yet still have to go to multiple classes, and days that I just don’t want to talk to anyone because of any given event. Yet none of those “bad” days matter, because every one of those days I am still trusting in Christ, which is where my faith is at. “Yeah, I’m a lucky man.”
Proverbs says a man deserves unfailing love. Go ahead and check that one off. Christ has unfailing love for us, and we give that love right back to him. The passage goes on to say better poor than a liar. When we lie we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. This is a portion of our confession and absolution, lying gets us nowhere. And if we didn’t have God we would be poorer than dirt. To me everything in that statement God has taken care of for us. We are not poor because we have him, and we are truly lucky. Therefore since we have fear in the Lord we are able to have life a very good life.
So let’s take it one step further, how often do we do something that we do not want to do? In Romans 7 Paul talks about how we do all these things that we do not want to do and are unable to do the things that we want to do. In the Lord’s Prayer we pray that God “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” So as many of us are in college, it isn’t necessarily a bad thing that we don’t know where we are going. It is a bad thing that we don’t keep our faith and trust in Christ. Too often than not we think that we can make our own decisions and that our decisions are better than God’s.
Let’s just add one more thing to this, let’s add the fact that without Christ we are completely worthless. He doesn’t need us, but rather we need him. Jesus has the ability to bring more people into His kingdom; we are just helping in the process. On the flip side though, without Jesus dying on the cross for our sins we would have no chance of ever getting into the kingdom of heaven. So thanks be to God, our Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace for leading us in the right direction.
Let us pray: Heavenly Father, we thank you for allowing us to wake up every morning and being able to say that we are lucky men and women. We ask that you help us to do those things that we want to do and refrain from the things that we don’t want to. We are all a light of yours and ask that you help each and every one of us to show our light at every chance that we get. Finally Lord, we ask that you help us to not worry about what direction you are leading us but rather allow us to put our full trust and faith in you. In Christ’s Name. Amen.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Exodus 14
So the whole chapter is interesting. It is about how God leads the people of Israel out of Egypt. I want to look at a few verses (4 to be exact) and how they compare to our everyday lives. The first verse I wish to look at is verse 3. It reads, “The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion.” At this point in time in the story God has Moses tell the people to go back to a place to camp so that Pharaoh can seem them wandering around so that he can go after them to bring them back to Egypt. Wandering in a state of confusion . . . wow I did that yesterday and the day before and even the day before that. Being thousands of miles away from home in a country where English doesn’t come first it can be rather difficult to find your way around. I find myself walking in circles all the time, and often wondering where I am at. But that is only one side of it. That is the physical sense of wandering around. I want to look at the mental aspect. Think for me, when is the last time that you knew exactly the direction your life as heading? When is the last time you knew exactly how a day was going to turn out? When is the last time that you knew that you were going to wake up the next day? I can’t answer any one of those questions for myself. To me, that is like running around in a state of confusion. A lack of clarity as to what exactly is going to happen in your life, not knowing how a situation is going to turn out, not knowing, if you will wake up tomorrow, and yet we still have hope. Let me explain. Just as the Israelites were wandering around in the desert, “waiting to die” as they put it we do the same thing everyday. We fail to put our full faith and trust in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We fear death. We fear rejection. We fear failure. We fear _________ you fill in the blank. And yet we need not worry. Let me get a little deeper here by adding in the next verse.
Verse 13 says, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today.” That was Moses talking to the people of Israel and yet it is God talking to each and every one of us also. Take everything that you fear, and think about how you can fix it on your own. You will think for hours and days on and end really not come up with a good reliable answer until you come to this one . . . Stand firm in your faith, and trust in the LORD! He is the way to make all these things better. He is the way to keep you from fearing what you fear. He is the ay to help you with that difficult situation that you don’t understand. He, simply put, is the answer. And yet just as the Israelites did, we do the same today and we still doubt Him and we have to see something to know that he is still helping us. Moses cried out to the Lord for help as the Egyptians were following the people, and what did God do, he helped. The Lord told Moses to hold his staff out over the sea, and over night, the sea parts, so that the people can get from one side to the other without problem. It doesn’t always happen overnight, but when you put your burdens on the shoulders of God, he will always show you an outcome. It may take a few minutes, days, weeks, or even years, but when you put those things on God’s shoulders, you can’t go wrong. Then, as the Egyptians entered the dry land in the sea, what did God do, but he (vs. 24) “threw them into confusion.” He got rid of the problem. That is what our loving God does. He takes the problems that we have and gets rid of them or fixes them. So is it worth it to worry about tomorrow? I think not, I think that Matthew 6:34 says it best, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.” That is what we have to do. We have to realize that sure our life has these paths that take us every which direction and sure it can be hard and frustrating and we can have that feeling of wandering around in confusion, and yet, we have no reason to.
Exodus 14:31 reads, “The people feared the Lord and put their TRUST in him.” How great is that? If we trust in the Lord and look to him always we wont have that state of confusion. Sure we will think that we have it, but He has a plan for us and confusion is not a part of it. I found this picture and hope that the artist doesn’t mind my using it, but I think it really sums this whole situation up. It’s like this broad spectrum, things going every which direction, just this utter state of confusion, and yet, it you look past everything that is “confusing” you can still see the reason we are living. That reason is the cross. Take a look at the picture:
Lord, today I pray for guidance. We all have these paths in our life and yet known of us know where they are leading. I pray that you help us to get out of our busy and confusing nature and trust in you. You died for us all so that we won’t have these “confusions.” I ask that you help us to always look for you for help rather than trying to figure things out ourselves, and I ask that you help us to put our full faith, trust and love in you, because without that, we have nothing. Help us to look though everything and see the one thing that matters . . . YOU. Amen
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Matthew 14:31
Unfortunately I doubt Jesus way to often. We all have these paths in our life, God has placed each and every one of us on our own path, and those paths have ups and downs, highs and lows, and goods and bads. So how come when we are on those highs and goods we praise God, and on the other end we doubt Him? How often does your mind wander as to if you would have done something differently? How often do you think about trying to change your life, or even better, trying to plan out every detail in your life? Do you doubt God that much? Do you doubt that He doesn’t have the best plan drawn out for you already, and as much as you try to change it yourself, it won’t work to your advantage?
Let me explain with an example of my own. I am a workaholic. I love to work; it doesn’t matter how many hours, how many days out of the week or even what job it is. I simply love to work. So when I got my first job I thought, you know what, I can just work my way to the top, I don’t need school I don’t need friends I don’t need anything else, as long as I have a job I will be happy. I’ve had that job five years now, and you would not believe how much my opinion has changed on that. I went from being greedy and wanting to work my way up within that business to wanting to own my own business. That’s when my life seemed to be turned upside down. I had had the idea of going to the Seminary in there as well. And that is when I began to notice that the path that I had chosen was so wrong. But realized it even more as I have gone through a rough situation, and dealing with my priority list. I have always told people that I want to be alone forever, that I don’t need a family, that I don’t need pictures to remember what I have done in my life, and that I don’t need anything but a job, because it will keep me busy. Man o man have I been hiding behind way to much stuff. All of this was because my trust and faith in God was not at its fullest potential.
Take Matthew 14:22-34 for example. This is the story of Jesus walking on water. In verse 31 He says, “You of little faith, why did YOU doubt?” Peter first began to lose trust when he asked “if it is you Lord, tell me to come to you on the water.” To me that is like when we decide to make our own decisions and we decide what we want to do with our lives, rather than letting our trust remain in Him. It’s like we have “pushed” God out of our life to the point where we don’t even recognize him, even when he is right in front of us. It continues though. Peter steps out on the water; he has increased his trust and faith in the Lord, until it turns around again. Peter begins to sink. “Lord, save me!” Peter says. When you begin to sink, it’s like that rollercoaster ride, on the ups and downs of life. We begin to sink as we fall further away from Jesus. Jesus had his hand stretched out for Peter though. He has His hand stretched out to catch us. Not only in times of trouble, distress, grief, confusion, but in everything, in times of prosperity and in thanksgiving. Do you trust God all the time, or are you trying to make your own path?
I’m sure most of you have heard the footprints poem. You know which one I’m talking about, how you and Jesus are walking along the beach and portions of your life are flashing in front of you and you look and see one set of footsteps at certain points and two at others. And you wonder to yourself, “Lord I thought that you were with me all the time.” Then finally you realize he is with you ALL the time, because in the times of trouble, you aren’t doing any of the walking, because HE is carrying you. He always has a hand stretched out for you. He always has an ear open to listen to you. He will always be there for you. All Peter had to do on the water was stretch his hand out to the Lord’s and that is all that we have to do here on earth because His hand is always outstretched.
So back to that first example that I had, I have realized so much now that I am not in control of my life. Do I still wish that I could own my own business, sure. But I realize that I am using all of this to hide behind. I hide behind work because right now for me it is unchanging, and yet it is the wrong hiding place. There is no hiding place from God, so take your fears, and concerns, and doubts to him. He can help. He has helped me to see that being alone forever would be boring, stressful, and well, not for me. He has helped me see that pictures aren’t bad, sure I may not like them, but they will help with my memory (since I already seem to be losing it). He has helped me to see that money isn’t everything, sure a great job would be nice, making lots of money, but that isn’t the important thing. He wants us to be happy, so let Him make you happy. He has showed me that the only thing important in life is faith and hope and love in Him. I am going to try real hard now, when things get difficult to go to God for help, rather than to just let myself keep sinking and fall away from a trust and faith that is so strong that it can never be broken.
So think about it. Do you go to God with your problems? Do you try to set your own paths? Do you have your life all planned out already? Sure you may think that you do, but God may have something different in mind, and my hope is, that when He shows you that path, that you are willing to take it.
-Lord, we all go through ups and downs in life, and too often than not we hide behind something. I pray today and always that you help each one of us to come to you with our problems, so that we can seek your guidance for direction, because you know what is best for us. Lord, help us to reach out to your hand that is always stretched out for us. Amen
Let me explain with an example of my own. I am a workaholic. I love to work; it doesn’t matter how many hours, how many days out of the week or even what job it is. I simply love to work. So when I got my first job I thought, you know what, I can just work my way to the top, I don’t need school I don’t need friends I don’t need anything else, as long as I have a job I will be happy. I’ve had that job five years now, and you would not believe how much my opinion has changed on that. I went from being greedy and wanting to work my way up within that business to wanting to own my own business. That’s when my life seemed to be turned upside down. I had had the idea of going to the Seminary in there as well. And that is when I began to notice that the path that I had chosen was so wrong. But realized it even more as I have gone through a rough situation, and dealing with my priority list. I have always told people that I want to be alone forever, that I don’t need a family, that I don’t need pictures to remember what I have done in my life, and that I don’t need anything but a job, because it will keep me busy. Man o man have I been hiding behind way to much stuff. All of this was because my trust and faith in God was not at its fullest potential.
Take Matthew 14:22-34 for example. This is the story of Jesus walking on water. In verse 31 He says, “You of little faith, why did YOU doubt?” Peter first began to lose trust when he asked “if it is you Lord, tell me to come to you on the water.” To me that is like when we decide to make our own decisions and we decide what we want to do with our lives, rather than letting our trust remain in Him. It’s like we have “pushed” God out of our life to the point where we don’t even recognize him, even when he is right in front of us. It continues though. Peter steps out on the water; he has increased his trust and faith in the Lord, until it turns around again. Peter begins to sink. “Lord, save me!” Peter says. When you begin to sink, it’s like that rollercoaster ride, on the ups and downs of life. We begin to sink as we fall further away from Jesus. Jesus had his hand stretched out for Peter though. He has His hand stretched out to catch us. Not only in times of trouble, distress, grief, confusion, but in everything, in times of prosperity and in thanksgiving. Do you trust God all the time, or are you trying to make your own path?
I’m sure most of you have heard the footprints poem. You know which one I’m talking about, how you and Jesus are walking along the beach and portions of your life are flashing in front of you and you look and see one set of footsteps at certain points and two at others. And you wonder to yourself, “Lord I thought that you were with me all the time.” Then finally you realize he is with you ALL the time, because in the times of trouble, you aren’t doing any of the walking, because HE is carrying you. He always has a hand stretched out for you. He always has an ear open to listen to you. He will always be there for you. All Peter had to do on the water was stretch his hand out to the Lord’s and that is all that we have to do here on earth because His hand is always outstretched.
So back to that first example that I had, I have realized so much now that I am not in control of my life. Do I still wish that I could own my own business, sure. But I realize that I am using all of this to hide behind. I hide behind work because right now for me it is unchanging, and yet it is the wrong hiding place. There is no hiding place from God, so take your fears, and concerns, and doubts to him. He can help. He has helped me to see that being alone forever would be boring, stressful, and well, not for me. He has helped me see that pictures aren’t bad, sure I may not like them, but they will help with my memory (since I already seem to be losing it). He has helped me to see that money isn’t everything, sure a great job would be nice, making lots of money, but that isn’t the important thing. He wants us to be happy, so let Him make you happy. He has showed me that the only thing important in life is faith and hope and love in Him. I am going to try real hard now, when things get difficult to go to God for help, rather than to just let myself keep sinking and fall away from a trust and faith that is so strong that it can never be broken.
So think about it. Do you go to God with your problems? Do you try to set your own paths? Do you have your life all planned out already? Sure you may think that you do, but God may have something different in mind, and my hope is, that when He shows you that path, that you are willing to take it.
-Lord, we all go through ups and downs in life, and too often than not we hide behind something. I pray today and always that you help each one of us to come to you with our problems, so that we can seek your guidance for direction, because you know what is best for us. Lord, help us to reach out to your hand that is always stretched out for us. Amen
Friday, February 29, 2008
1 Corinthians 13
1 Corinthians 13:13 “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
For those of you who don’t know I recently flew out to Germany to study for around 5 months or so. I always thought that it was going to be easy, I have taken German since 7th grade, have been here once before, haven’t ever been home sick. It was going to be great, I was going to fly over, get my luggage hop on a train and then to a hotel to stay when I woke up the next morning and got the keys to my apartment. . . And yet it wasn’t that easy. The whole chain of events up to this day were just terrible, the weekend was rough, thinking about it amongst MANY other things, the drive home was long, packing was alright, but stressful (hoping I didn’t leave anything), and once I got here I got my hotel, and woke up the next morning to find out that I couldn’t go to get my apartment keys because they were closed already. So now I have to wait yet another day. But that wasn’t the half of it. I struggled to sleep on the plane because when I said goodbye to my dad there was something in his voice that made me want to cry, I didn’t at that time but once at the hotel, realizing I couldn’t just pick up a phone and call ANY time, I didn’t know what to do. That night was so stressful, because sure everyone was speaking German, but it was like a foreign language to me, I couldn’t keep up, and I was just lost and alone. So I prayed. I prayed that God would show me direction, and keep me safe, and allow me to keep in contact with those I loved from back home (family and friends) and just that his will be done while I am here. And I prayed that the huge hole that had just formed in my heart would fill up.
So tonight when I got back to my hotel realizing I couldn’t do anything, because the TV didn’t work and I had already gotten lost in the city, I chose to open my Bible. Not to make the story part any longer, but I had a rough weekend and because of that I was looking for something comforting. I looked in my concordance and wound up here, Corinthians 13. The chapter was about love (something I didn’t want to think about at all because of all that has happened recently), and yet God seemed to place me there anyway. So I began reading. “Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not envy. It does not boast . . . It is not self seeking.” (v. 4).
Love is kind. This is something that I am still dealing with. Love being kind, sure God is great to me and he blesses me in so many different ways, but how is love kind. Losing a loved one isn’t kind. Loving someone who doesn’t love you back isn’t kind. And then it hit me. It wasn’t about loving earthly possessions and people; it was about loving and trusting in the Lord your God. Sure he wants us to love one another and find the person of our dreams to continue his kingdom with. It isn’t his love that changes it’s the earthly things that change, divorce, death, separation, loss, etc. Romans 12:9 says “Love must be sincere.” Too often than not, God’s love for us is sincere but ours towards our neighbors and even towards him isn’t. That is where we have to trust in his direction. He has told us that he loves us, and with that love we should have enough trust in him that he will show us the right direction, no matter how difficult or rocky it may be.
Wow! I never thought of it like that. Love being patient, well I guess that makes sense. I was watching a movie on the plane, called the Game Plan, and it made me remember this. The main character said this, “The only thing that you can do is tell her you love her and that nothing will change that. Then you wait. . .” Then you wait. How often do we do that? But are we really patient, or do we want an answer right away? Too often than not I find myself wanting to know an answer immediately, and if I don’t get the answer I want or cant find it, I get into this “I don’t care” or “it doesn’t matter” or even better, “that’s fine” type of mood. And that is not what this verse is talking about. Because of God’s love for us, and we have love in him we need to be patient. God is love. So I thought of it this way. God told us at birth that he loves us. Then he waits. He waits for us to get baptized and as we grow up to grow in the faith with him, and he continues to sit there and wait. . .until we tell him that we love him back. For many of us, the first time this happens is at baptism, but not for everyone. Some don’t realize until they are a teenager, or until they get married, and unfortunately, God shows so many people how much they love them and some never realize it. Do you have the faith to tell God that you love him? How often do you tell him? How often do you thank him for blessing you in so many different ways? How do you show your love for him? Not only is he patient for us to tell him that we love him back, but he is patiently waiting for us to show one another. The greatest commandment is love your neighbor as yourself. That is the basis for the entire world. Love God; love your neighbor, so on and so on. And a lot of times we have to be patient. I hear so many people tell their parents that they love them and they tell their family and some tell their friends as well that they love them. I was different, I always knew that my parents loved me and that I loved them, and I thought that that was enough. But this weekend, someone said something to me that made me realize that that wasn’t enough. So for the first time in a long, long time, probably years to be honest, I told my parents that I love them, and that I will miss them. So when is the last time you told God thank you for loving you so much and blessing you and then telling him that you love him to? Do your parents know that you love them? Is there someone out there that you know that you love but can’t tell them? Or is there someone who said it to you, but u didn’t know what to say? Think how patiently the Lord waited for you to tell him you love him, and then think about all these other people that you can tell how u feel for them. One difference though, God is always there, and people are only there for so long. The other, God always knows what to say. We, as humans, don’t so when someone tells you something, take it to heart, don’t respond to quickly, don’t forget what they said, but rather take it to God, and let him help you.
Love does not envy. Yet again something that is difficult to put a grasp on. Envy, I wanted to get a better grasp of what exactly envy was so I looked up some synonyms. Jealousy, greed, and desire were the first three to come up. So I thought sure I’m jealous of others in relationships when I am not. Sure I’m jealous of someone who is working at a job that they love when mine I am only semi-happy with. Sure I am greedy and want someone to love me. Sure I desire to find and love the girl of my dreams. And yet, it isn’t even close to what the verse is saying. The verse is saying that love does not envy. We have love for God and that is enough. We don’t have to desire what others have, we don’t have to be jealous, we don’t have to be greedy, and all we have to do is love him. “We live by faith not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). God shows us the way, we don’t pick it. As long as we have faith and love in him, we don’t have to look at what others have. We don’t have to see that they are in a relationship that we would like to have. We don’t have to see that they have the job that we want. We don’t have to desire. We have to love and trust in God and he will keep our love from being envious, because HE is all we need.
Love is not self-seeking. This is something that I have learned a lot about recently. We do not choose who we love, or why we love them, or when we will. God does. I had someone admit something to me this weekend that I never thought anyone would ever do, and yet it happened anyway. I didn’t choose when the event occurred or what was said, God did. And it still baffles me. God puts the feeling in us, and then we have to let it out. He placed in us a love at birth that we express to him at some point in time. We know that he loves us, He seeks us. He has found us, now we return the favor by finding him, sharing the affection that he has for us. He puts the idea in our heads to love someone or something, and until we see his idea in our head, we can’t do anything, but once that idea is there, we go out and find it. We often times don’t know what will happen, but God does, and yet again we have to use that love we have to trust in him.
So back to that first verse, verse 13 “three remain, faith hope and love, but the greatest is love.” We have faith and hope and love in God. And it’s true; the greatest of these is love. He loved us so much “that he gave his one and only Son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” There is no love greater than that. For us on earth with one another the same applies. We can have a faith in one another that we trust in them, or that they give us assurance, reliance or dedication. We can have a hope with one another that we have optimism in them, which we are expectant of them, that we can dream, and plan and chance. And yet, nothing is as important as love. We are all part of God’s kingdom and in that kingdom we are said to love one another. Let me elaborate on that. We are supposed to care for, be fond of, like, have a weakness for, be devoted to, have a passion for, or even to find someone irresistible. There is love on so many different levels, and God simply wants us to love one another on any of the levels. It is the most important, without this love for one another, how can there be trust? How can there be hope? How can someone give us assurance? The simple answer, you cant.
Love surrounds it all. Love is the biggest part of life. I never did want to believe that, but now, sitting in a hotel room thousands of miles away from everyone that I know, I realize it. I always say that I don’t want hugs because I don’t like them, I say I don’t like pictures because I don’t like them. I say that I don’t like to be close to people, well I don’t know why I say that but I do. And I now know that I need all those things. Well the pictures I don’t need, but I need that ability to show affection for someone. I need that closeness to someone. And right now that someone is the Lord. I am trying my best to build a stronger relationship with him. I have never wanted to admit it or realize it, but I seem to be looking for a relationship, and am not sure why. But I realize now, that I just need to sit back and wait. If God does put that love in me for someone I need to tell them and then keep my faith in God hope for the best. I have never more wanted to tell someone that I love them. So I did. And now I’m back to that first part, you know, the one that says love is patient. You simply wait for them to see if God put that same feeling in them. You sit there and realize that “Love never fails” (v.8). God’s love never fails, and as soon as we admit that love to him, our lives can be so much better, because it is the most important aspect.
Galations 5:22 -26 “But the fruit of the Spirit is LOVE, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.”
I never thought I would quote a rap song in a prayer but here is goes, the quoted part is from Chris Brown “With you”- Lord, I thank you for allowing me to come to a consensus that no earthly love is as important as the love that I have with you. “If I got you (Lord) I don’t need money, I don’t need cars, and you are my whole.” Lord I ask that you help me and others to love one another no matter what form of love that may be. I ask that you help me to continually tell you how much I love you and to do the same with my parents and family and friends. And finally Lord if it is your will, I pray that someday when you put that love in me, you put that same love in another person also, so that we may not be seeking it, but realize Lord, that it is from you. We pray in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen
For those of you who don’t know I recently flew out to Germany to study for around 5 months or so. I always thought that it was going to be easy, I have taken German since 7th grade, have been here once before, haven’t ever been home sick. It was going to be great, I was going to fly over, get my luggage hop on a train and then to a hotel to stay when I woke up the next morning and got the keys to my apartment. . . And yet it wasn’t that easy. The whole chain of events up to this day were just terrible, the weekend was rough, thinking about it amongst MANY other things, the drive home was long, packing was alright, but stressful (hoping I didn’t leave anything), and once I got here I got my hotel, and woke up the next morning to find out that I couldn’t go to get my apartment keys because they were closed already. So now I have to wait yet another day. But that wasn’t the half of it. I struggled to sleep on the plane because when I said goodbye to my dad there was something in his voice that made me want to cry, I didn’t at that time but once at the hotel, realizing I couldn’t just pick up a phone and call ANY time, I didn’t know what to do. That night was so stressful, because sure everyone was speaking German, but it was like a foreign language to me, I couldn’t keep up, and I was just lost and alone. So I prayed. I prayed that God would show me direction, and keep me safe, and allow me to keep in contact with those I loved from back home (family and friends) and just that his will be done while I am here. And I prayed that the huge hole that had just formed in my heart would fill up.
So tonight when I got back to my hotel realizing I couldn’t do anything, because the TV didn’t work and I had already gotten lost in the city, I chose to open my Bible. Not to make the story part any longer, but I had a rough weekend and because of that I was looking for something comforting. I looked in my concordance and wound up here, Corinthians 13. The chapter was about love (something I didn’t want to think about at all because of all that has happened recently), and yet God seemed to place me there anyway. So I began reading. “Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not envy. It does not boast . . . It is not self seeking.” (v. 4).
Love is kind. This is something that I am still dealing with. Love being kind, sure God is great to me and he blesses me in so many different ways, but how is love kind. Losing a loved one isn’t kind. Loving someone who doesn’t love you back isn’t kind. And then it hit me. It wasn’t about loving earthly possessions and people; it was about loving and trusting in the Lord your God. Sure he wants us to love one another and find the person of our dreams to continue his kingdom with. It isn’t his love that changes it’s the earthly things that change, divorce, death, separation, loss, etc. Romans 12:9 says “Love must be sincere.” Too often than not, God’s love for us is sincere but ours towards our neighbors and even towards him isn’t. That is where we have to trust in his direction. He has told us that he loves us, and with that love we should have enough trust in him that he will show us the right direction, no matter how difficult or rocky it may be.
Wow! I never thought of it like that. Love being patient, well I guess that makes sense. I was watching a movie on the plane, called the Game Plan, and it made me remember this. The main character said this, “The only thing that you can do is tell her you love her and that nothing will change that. Then you wait. . .” Then you wait. How often do we do that? But are we really patient, or do we want an answer right away? Too often than not I find myself wanting to know an answer immediately, and if I don’t get the answer I want or cant find it, I get into this “I don’t care” or “it doesn’t matter” or even better, “that’s fine” type of mood. And that is not what this verse is talking about. Because of God’s love for us, and we have love in him we need to be patient. God is love. So I thought of it this way. God told us at birth that he loves us. Then he waits. He waits for us to get baptized and as we grow up to grow in the faith with him, and he continues to sit there and wait. . .until we tell him that we love him back. For many of us, the first time this happens is at baptism, but not for everyone. Some don’t realize until they are a teenager, or until they get married, and unfortunately, God shows so many people how much they love them and some never realize it. Do you have the faith to tell God that you love him? How often do you tell him? How often do you thank him for blessing you in so many different ways? How do you show your love for him? Not only is he patient for us to tell him that we love him back, but he is patiently waiting for us to show one another. The greatest commandment is love your neighbor as yourself. That is the basis for the entire world. Love God; love your neighbor, so on and so on. And a lot of times we have to be patient. I hear so many people tell their parents that they love them and they tell their family and some tell their friends as well that they love them. I was different, I always knew that my parents loved me and that I loved them, and I thought that that was enough. But this weekend, someone said something to me that made me realize that that wasn’t enough. So for the first time in a long, long time, probably years to be honest, I told my parents that I love them, and that I will miss them. So when is the last time you told God thank you for loving you so much and blessing you and then telling him that you love him to? Do your parents know that you love them? Is there someone out there that you know that you love but can’t tell them? Or is there someone who said it to you, but u didn’t know what to say? Think how patiently the Lord waited for you to tell him you love him, and then think about all these other people that you can tell how u feel for them. One difference though, God is always there, and people are only there for so long. The other, God always knows what to say. We, as humans, don’t so when someone tells you something, take it to heart, don’t respond to quickly, don’t forget what they said, but rather take it to God, and let him help you.
Love does not envy. Yet again something that is difficult to put a grasp on. Envy, I wanted to get a better grasp of what exactly envy was so I looked up some synonyms. Jealousy, greed, and desire were the first three to come up. So I thought sure I’m jealous of others in relationships when I am not. Sure I’m jealous of someone who is working at a job that they love when mine I am only semi-happy with. Sure I am greedy and want someone to love me. Sure I desire to find and love the girl of my dreams. And yet, it isn’t even close to what the verse is saying. The verse is saying that love does not envy. We have love for God and that is enough. We don’t have to desire what others have, we don’t have to be jealous, we don’t have to be greedy, and all we have to do is love him. “We live by faith not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). God shows us the way, we don’t pick it. As long as we have faith and love in him, we don’t have to look at what others have. We don’t have to see that they are in a relationship that we would like to have. We don’t have to see that they have the job that we want. We don’t have to desire. We have to love and trust in God and he will keep our love from being envious, because HE is all we need.
Love is not self-seeking. This is something that I have learned a lot about recently. We do not choose who we love, or why we love them, or when we will. God does. I had someone admit something to me this weekend that I never thought anyone would ever do, and yet it happened anyway. I didn’t choose when the event occurred or what was said, God did. And it still baffles me. God puts the feeling in us, and then we have to let it out. He placed in us a love at birth that we express to him at some point in time. We know that he loves us, He seeks us. He has found us, now we return the favor by finding him, sharing the affection that he has for us. He puts the idea in our heads to love someone or something, and until we see his idea in our head, we can’t do anything, but once that idea is there, we go out and find it. We often times don’t know what will happen, but God does, and yet again we have to use that love we have to trust in him.
So back to that first verse, verse 13 “three remain, faith hope and love, but the greatest is love.” We have faith and hope and love in God. And it’s true; the greatest of these is love. He loved us so much “that he gave his one and only Son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” There is no love greater than that. For us on earth with one another the same applies. We can have a faith in one another that we trust in them, or that they give us assurance, reliance or dedication. We can have a hope with one another that we have optimism in them, which we are expectant of them, that we can dream, and plan and chance. And yet, nothing is as important as love. We are all part of God’s kingdom and in that kingdom we are said to love one another. Let me elaborate on that. We are supposed to care for, be fond of, like, have a weakness for, be devoted to, have a passion for, or even to find someone irresistible. There is love on so many different levels, and God simply wants us to love one another on any of the levels. It is the most important, without this love for one another, how can there be trust? How can there be hope? How can someone give us assurance? The simple answer, you cant.
Love surrounds it all. Love is the biggest part of life. I never did want to believe that, but now, sitting in a hotel room thousands of miles away from everyone that I know, I realize it. I always say that I don’t want hugs because I don’t like them, I say I don’t like pictures because I don’t like them. I say that I don’t like to be close to people, well I don’t know why I say that but I do. And I now know that I need all those things. Well the pictures I don’t need, but I need that ability to show affection for someone. I need that closeness to someone. And right now that someone is the Lord. I am trying my best to build a stronger relationship with him. I have never wanted to admit it or realize it, but I seem to be looking for a relationship, and am not sure why. But I realize now, that I just need to sit back and wait. If God does put that love in me for someone I need to tell them and then keep my faith in God hope for the best. I have never more wanted to tell someone that I love them. So I did. And now I’m back to that first part, you know, the one that says love is patient. You simply wait for them to see if God put that same feeling in them. You sit there and realize that “Love never fails” (v.8). God’s love never fails, and as soon as we admit that love to him, our lives can be so much better, because it is the most important aspect.
Galations 5:22 -26 “But the fruit of the Spirit is LOVE, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.”
I never thought I would quote a rap song in a prayer but here is goes, the quoted part is from Chris Brown “With you”- Lord, I thank you for allowing me to come to a consensus that no earthly love is as important as the love that I have with you. “If I got you (Lord) I don’t need money, I don’t need cars, and you are my whole.” Lord I ask that you help me and others to love one another no matter what form of love that may be. I ask that you help me to continually tell you how much I love you and to do the same with my parents and family and friends. And finally Lord if it is your will, I pray that someday when you put that love in me, you put that same love in another person also, so that we may not be seeking it, but realize Lord, that it is from you. We pray in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen
Monday, February 4, 2008
Philippians 2:5-11
This is one of my favorite passages in the entire Bible. I won’t include any one part of it because it flows so beautifully in one piece, but you need to go read it right now.
Seeing as you have now done that, please take some time to reflect upon it. There are so many wonderful truths and insights I always gain from reading this passage of Philippians. First God commands us to have the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus. It immediately explains what it is to be like Jesus. Here is where I draw the first great insight.
The passage tells us to humble ourselves before God and men. Jesus did not consider equality with God something to be grasped (even though he was God himself) but rather made himself nothing (verse 7)! The Supreme Ruler of the Universe made himself a nothing, a humble servant. A servant so obedient and lowly he gave himself up for an innocent death on the cross. This is where I draw my second great insight from this passage.
Christ was obedient to death. Not just an ordinary death, but an innocent death on the cross. What an amazing sacrifice this is to us. For some reason the way the Spirit inspires Paul to phrase that, it always makes me realize a little more the true extent of Christ sacrifice, more so than most other passages of the Bible. He truly gave up everything, and he gave it up for us!
This leads me into the next truth that is revealed to me in this passage, that we too must have this obedience. If our attitude must be the same as Christ, then we must be as obedient as him. This means obedience to God, even to the death, even death on a cross! Sure you’re probably not going to see too many people by the wayside hanging from a cross for Jesus in today’s day and age. What is our cross now though? Jesus tells us in the gospels that anyone who would follow him must “deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Matt. 16:24). What is your cross? Is it where you will have to live? Is it how much money you will make? Is it the job you must do? Is it being too shy?
Finally, the last big insight I gain is how Christ is exalted above all others. That at his name every knee should bow. I always begin to think of the majesty and wonder that is the Kingdom of Heaven. How I long for that day when I shall enter into heaven to dwell there forever and ever. For that day when I will one day feel as if I actually belong as I am surrounded by the millions of saints shouting “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is the Lord God Almighty!” and know that I am truly home. For that day when love finally prevails and evil is vanquished forever!
Until that day… God Bless.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Thy Will be Done
I’m not going to look at any specific Bible passage this week, but rather one phrase, “Thy will be done.” What does that really mean? It’s rather simple, we say Thy will be done asking God to provide for us the way that He wants to and not the way we want to. So then why so often do we pray for this or for that? Or going one step further why do we pray all these things and at the very end, before we say Amen, we say Lord if it is your will let these things be done? Do we really mean it when we say, Lord if it is your will? Or are we just saying that to please God? I have really been struggling recently, trying to get things squared away for Germany, and I haven’t been lifting well or running well, and have even been struggling at work and within my social life. I find more and more that I am asking God to show me a path and that I just want His will to be done, but what really is His will?
Well let’s look at it in the most common context, the Lord’s Prayer.
1 Tim. 2:4 says “[God] wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” That sounds rather simple, right? God wants all men to be saved. We believe and therefore are saved as long as we continue to believe.
Deuteronomy 4:2 says “Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you.” This is where it becomes more difficult for me. Do not add or subtract from the Lord’s commands. I so often ask God when I pray to help me with a test, to help me lift better, to help work go more smoothly, to help me work less, to relieve some of my stress, and on and on it goes. Every aspect of my life I feel like I could better, but that isn’t what God’s will is. I am slowly but surely not going through the actions anymore but am rather looking more in depth at what I am saying and doing: especially when I pray. I find that I am still asking for things, but am really doing my best to say, “Lord it’s not my will that I want done, but it is your will that I want done.” After looking at these couple of verses, I realize that my life on earth really isn’t about me, but rather it is about Him. Without Him, His will cannot be done. If He is not here, how can we believe and come to a knowledge of the truth? It’s simple, we can’t! Our life can be as smooth or as rocky as God wants it to be, but what really matters, is that we love the Lord with all our heart, and soul and strength.
So again, I found I had another problem. If all we have to do is love and follow God, how come we have these rocky paths in our lives? How come things can be so difficult that we want to change our lives completely? So here are a couple of verses that I found that helped a little with this.
Romans 8:28 “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”- Just think all we have to do is love God. Sure the path may seem rocky at times but it’s just a small portion of your life. If you compare all the good and bad times in your life, the good will always outweigh the bad, as long as you love God. It may not feel like the good outweigh the bad, but they really do.
Psalms 119:35 “Direct me in the path of Your commands, for there I find delight.”- Yet another thing that I look at. I find that when times are bad, I am not trusting God completely. It is the easiest and yet the hardest thing to do. Trust someone that is. Most of the time it takes a while to find someone whom you trust, even if it is a good friend that you see all the time, but we have to trust someone who we never see. Trust is such an easy thing. God says if we believe in Him, we will be saved. That is all the motivation we could ever need, and yet we still don’t put complete faith in Him. Next time you are having a hard time or are on that rocky road, look and see how much faith you are putting in your Father. Eventually, you will put all your trust in Him, and you will come out of your valley, and have yet another prosperous time in your life.
One final verse I leave you with. It is from the book of Psalms chapter 23 the fourth verse. Most of you probably know it, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
Even though we have all these ups and downs in our lives, we have nothing to fear, because the Lord is with us. So put your trust in Him. When you feel down, He lifts you up. When you feel great thank Him. Everything we do here on earth is for the Lord, so that we can live eternally with Him forever.
I pray that each and every one of you trusts the Lord all the time, and realize that no matter what path you are on it is all for Him. No matter how rocky or smooth it is, everything we do is for Him. God blesses us with so many things, things that we entirely too often overlook. I want to leave you with 2 questions: When is the last time you thanked God for the simple things in your life? And is it your will you want, or is it His will?
Well let’s look at it in the most common context, the Lord’s Prayer.
1 Tim. 2:4 says “[God] wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” That sounds rather simple, right? God wants all men to be saved. We believe and therefore are saved as long as we continue to believe.
Deuteronomy 4:2 says “Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you.” This is where it becomes more difficult for me. Do not add or subtract from the Lord’s commands. I so often ask God when I pray to help me with a test, to help me lift better, to help work go more smoothly, to help me work less, to relieve some of my stress, and on and on it goes. Every aspect of my life I feel like I could better, but that isn’t what God’s will is. I am slowly but surely not going through the actions anymore but am rather looking more in depth at what I am saying and doing: especially when I pray. I find that I am still asking for things, but am really doing my best to say, “Lord it’s not my will that I want done, but it is your will that I want done.” After looking at these couple of verses, I realize that my life on earth really isn’t about me, but rather it is about Him. Without Him, His will cannot be done. If He is not here, how can we believe and come to a knowledge of the truth? It’s simple, we can’t! Our life can be as smooth or as rocky as God wants it to be, but what really matters, is that we love the Lord with all our heart, and soul and strength.
So again, I found I had another problem. If all we have to do is love and follow God, how come we have these rocky paths in our lives? How come things can be so difficult that we want to change our lives completely? So here are a couple of verses that I found that helped a little with this.
Romans 8:28 “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”- Just think all we have to do is love God. Sure the path may seem rocky at times but it’s just a small portion of your life. If you compare all the good and bad times in your life, the good will always outweigh the bad, as long as you love God. It may not feel like the good outweigh the bad, but they really do.
Psalms 119:35 “Direct me in the path of Your commands, for there I find delight.”- Yet another thing that I look at. I find that when times are bad, I am not trusting God completely. It is the easiest and yet the hardest thing to do. Trust someone that is. Most of the time it takes a while to find someone whom you trust, even if it is a good friend that you see all the time, but we have to trust someone who we never see. Trust is such an easy thing. God says if we believe in Him, we will be saved. That is all the motivation we could ever need, and yet we still don’t put complete faith in Him. Next time you are having a hard time or are on that rocky road, look and see how much faith you are putting in your Father. Eventually, you will put all your trust in Him, and you will come out of your valley, and have yet another prosperous time in your life.
One final verse I leave you with. It is from the book of Psalms chapter 23 the fourth verse. Most of you probably know it, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
Even though we have all these ups and downs in our lives, we have nothing to fear, because the Lord is with us. So put your trust in Him. When you feel down, He lifts you up. When you feel great thank Him. Everything we do here on earth is for the Lord, so that we can live eternally with Him forever.
I pray that each and every one of you trusts the Lord all the time, and realize that no matter what path you are on it is all for Him. No matter how rocky or smooth it is, everything we do is for Him. God blesses us with so many things, things that we entirely too often overlook. I want to leave you with 2 questions: When is the last time you thanked God for the simple things in your life? And is it your will you want, or is it His will?
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Hope
I would like to extend my apologies before hand. This particular post does not come from any particular section of the Bible. Rather it is just a few things that I feel like the Spirit is asking me to share with whoever it may be that reads this.
As can be seen, it has been a while since Dan and I have posted. We hope to get back to a weekly basis here shortly. One of the reasons for the delay has simply been life itself. I can't speak for Dan, but I know that I personally have been having a few problems, and have had a lot on my plate recently. That, and it just seems like there are a lot of people right now that are going through some struggles, myself included.
For all of these people, here is the message we all need to hear. There is hope. This hope was born to us in a manger in Bethlehem around 2000 years ago. This hope lived a perfect live for us completely fulfilling the law and undergoing every temptation that we have to face. That hope was crucified and killed for each and everyone of us. That hope was then raised from the dead on the third day by God the Father Almighty, so that we too may one day rise with him and live with him for all eternity! That hope was Jesus the Christ of God!
It is true, many among us suffer. Many of us at times seem to have no hope at all. At times it seems that we are losing our faith or that our life is going down the drain. Romans 5 tells us that "we rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." Jesus promises to take our burdens from us if we would only just caste it upon him, for his yoke is easy and his burden is light. He calls us to come to him all who are weary and burdened. (Matt. 11:30).
For all of us out there with any sort of pain, or trouble, or hardship, we need to lay it at the foot of the cross. We must preach Christ crucified to our fellow brothers and sisters who are suffering in this world. Christ died for our sins on that cross so many years. He took the fears, sorrows, sins, and weight of all the world with him onto that cross. Each and every one of yours. In this we can truly take comfort, and in this we can truly have hope, even when life itself seems hopeless.
As can be seen, it has been a while since Dan and I have posted. We hope to get back to a weekly basis here shortly. One of the reasons for the delay has simply been life itself. I can't speak for Dan, but I know that I personally have been having a few problems, and have had a lot on my plate recently. That, and it just seems like there are a lot of people right now that are going through some struggles, myself included.
For all of these people, here is the message we all need to hear. There is hope. This hope was born to us in a manger in Bethlehem around 2000 years ago. This hope lived a perfect live for us completely fulfilling the law and undergoing every temptation that we have to face. That hope was crucified and killed for each and everyone of us. That hope was then raised from the dead on the third day by God the Father Almighty, so that we too may one day rise with him and live with him for all eternity! That hope was Jesus the Christ of God!
It is true, many among us suffer. Many of us at times seem to have no hope at all. At times it seems that we are losing our faith or that our life is going down the drain. Romans 5 tells us that "we rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." Jesus promises to take our burdens from us if we would only just caste it upon him, for his yoke is easy and his burden is light. He calls us to come to him all who are weary and burdened. (Matt. 11:30).
For all of us out there with any sort of pain, or trouble, or hardship, we need to lay it at the foot of the cross. We must preach Christ crucified to our fellow brothers and sisters who are suffering in this world. Christ died for our sins on that cross so many years. He took the fears, sorrows, sins, and weight of all the world with him onto that cross. Each and every one of yours. In this we can truly take comfort, and in this we can truly have hope, even when life itself seems hopeless.
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