Red Light

    How many of us have been sitting at a red light and when it turned green the car in front of us didn't go immediately? What did you do?  Chances are you honked the horn.  I know I have, many times.  It's our nature as human beings, we want everything done now, with no waiting.  God however works in His own time and really isn't worried if we want it now or not. 
    When we ask God for something and do not get it right away it doesn't mean He isn't listening or doesn't care.  There could be many reasons He does not grant our wishes right away.....

• Teaching us to trust Him
• Setting up the situation
• Teaching us patience
• Purifying the motives of our wants

    These are just a few things He could doing during the delay.  We must resist the urges to push ahead to get what we want because this can have unintended consequences and ultimately stop us from getting the very thing we are asking for.  We can be our own worst enemy in these situations.  Waiting on God takes.....

• Faith
• Courage
• Humility
• Patience

    Our willingness to wait shows the true value of what we are waiting for.  In other words, if we want it that bad enough we will be willing to wait for it.  God always hears us and as long as we ask with pure hearts and proper motives He is willing to answer us.   Ask God to grant you patience in your situation ans trust Him.  He loves us dearly.

Anchor

JAMES 1:6 "But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind."

  In times of trouble do you find yourself doubting? I think we can all answer yes to that one because it is part of our fallible human nature.  There is something we can do to overcome our doubts and fears though and that is to turn to the Infallible Word of God.  Everything you need to know is written in the Bible.  The catch to all of the knowledge available to you is that you must take the time to study His Word so you can have a better understanding of God's promises to us.

   There is no substitute for prayer and Bible study.  I know we are all very busy in our lives and it seems overwhelming at times but we have no excuse not to spend quiet time in His Word. If you understand what is written then you can overcome the doubt, fear, and anxieties this world is constantly throwing at us.  God wants us to have a life of peace but the only way to have that is to trust in Him and bring all of our cares to Him.

   So when you are feeling like one of those waves being tossed to and fro look to God and let Him be your Anchor.  I can guarantee it will make a huge difference in the way you handle adversity.

  

Christ's Peace

4Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. — Philippians 4:4-9
 
  What does it mean to rejoice in the Lord? I mean really be at peace and rejoice in the Lord. Now some of you may be thinking, “Pastor, you don’t know how bad my life is or how bad my life has been. It would be pretty hard for me to rejoice right now.” Well, we all have a starting point, and you won’t understand how to “rejoice in the Lord” if you start in the middle. In the verses above, Paul is not saying “don’t worry, be happy.” He’s talking about a supernatural joy that comes not from circumstances, but from a deep contentment in Christ. We so often want to try to get peace and joy from our circumstances, and we keep asking God to change them.
    But what God wants to do is show us that the path to joy starts by trusting in the sovereign, living God through the person of Jesus Christ. He wants to show us that we can have unbelievable, supernatural joy in the middle of any circumstance. Really. It can happen. We place such false confidence in our circumstances bringing us joy. You know, the “If I just had fill-in-the-blank, I could finally rejoice. “And just how long would that last if you got it? The reality is that our circumstances are always changing. Think about it; if you found the most wonderful circumstances—your spouse, your baby, a new car, a boyfriend or girlfriend—pick whatever you want. Will it stay the same? Well, will it?
     The spouse will change, the baby will need changing, the car will soon lose that new car smell, that boyfriend or girlfriend will be disappointing—it all changes. Circumstances are shifting sand and you can’t stand on them—or find deep joy in them alone. The starting point is finding joy in the person of Jesus Christ; not success, not people, not money, not status, not drugs and alcohol, not therapy, but in a deep, abiding relationship with the Lord. You may ask, “So, exactly how do I do that?” Cultivate a relationship with Him through prayer where you both talk to Him and listen to Him. You know you are having a good relationship with someone when you are actively trying to hear what they have to say. Abide in Him. Spend so much time with Him reading His Word and praying that talking to Him becomes natural. Joy will now come, and over time, you will see that no matter what the circumstance, your joy and peace, as long as it is found in Christ first, will remain.

    Prayer - Father, what a joy it is to know that You want me to abide with You at all times. Forgive me when I get caught up in the busyness of my day and don’t spend the time I need to be able to rejoice in all circumstances. Help me to remember that you love me and watch out for me. Help me to carve out time in my schedule for You, Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen.  

Thanks to Walk in the Word Ministries.

Thanks!

Thanks everyone for being patient. It's been a rough couple of months work wise but I am back, which I never should have left, and I hope you will continue reading and spread the word. Thanks again.

PRAYERS NEEDED

I wanted to throw out a request for all affected by the storms going on right now. A girl my wife knows said her family in KY came out after the storms and the first 3 houses next to them they went to everyone had died. They had found one survivor and he was in a ditch to avoid storm. Indiana has seen at least two entire Towns destroyed. Please pray. This doesn't seem real. we are expected to get hit in about 3 or 4 hours. Hopefully not the full force of what others have seen. These people need our prayers desperately. Thanks.

DEVOTIONAL

Thanks to intouch.org

Read | John 4:34-38

Think about everything that contributed to the story of how you came to know Christ as your Lord and Savior. It's probably not possible to fully count all those spiritual seeds that God used to draw you to Him. And not all the people who sowed good seed into your life knew what the outcome would be.

We also have the opportunity and privilege--every single day--of sowing seeds into the lives of others, such as our friends, co-workers, children, grandchildren, or even strangers. God takes what you plant and adds to it. He leads others to sow further seed or "water" the ground. Little by little, truth gets cultivated in their lives. What greater thing could you do?

Conversely, you might focus on providing your kids with plenty of material security and send them to the best schools and colleges--and yet it would count nothing for eternity. But when you sow into their lives the things of God and the qualities of Jesus, you're feeding their spirits. The seeds that affect their hearts, view of God, and desire to make a difference for Him in the world are what will produce genuine, lasting fruit and a great harvest in their lives. Whether or not you ever see the results, the Lord is using you profoundly when you sow this kind of crop.

God sees all the little things you do; He's interested in more than just "big" things. The fruit of His Spirit--such as kindness, patience, and self-control--often manifests itself in quiet ways that others may never give you credit for. But such spiritual seeds accomplish powerful work in His kingdom.

Fear of Failure

 
     Many people in the world view Christians as "Holier Than Thou" which is not the case for the majority of Christians.  They watch closely waiting for any mistake that we might make and they have no problems pointing out those failures or flaws.  No where in the Bible does it say if you become a Christian you will succeed in everything you do in this world.  Notice the last two words there "this world". 
     Our goal in this world is not to please the world with our successes, it is to please God with them.  If we are pleasing the world by our actions then there is no way we can be pleasing God.  The world, as a majority, hates God and everything he stands for so therefore they hate us if we are pleasing to Him (JOHN 15:18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.") 
     Don't ever fear failing in this world because if you have accepted Jesus Christ as you savior you have already accomplished all you will ever need to accomplish. 


PSALMS 34:19 "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all."

 JOSHUA 1:9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

Come On Churches.....

     Have you ever visited a church and just didn't get the right feeling? You have?  Well, you shouldn't have!! I know we are fickle creatures who can get offended at the drop of a hat but in a church you should NEVER feel this way. Too many churches are simply turning in to gathering places with cliques, rather than a place for gathering lost souls and praising God, TRULY praising God. I'm not bashing churches, I just think we as Christians need to really take a long hard look at why we're going to church.
     Is it to be seen, or is it to give glory to God? I pray it's the latter of the two for us all because if it isn't we will never grow in our understanding of God and what he wants from us.; So the next time you go to church think about where your heart and your head is while you are there. Make a concerted effort to recognize when your mind strays from the real reason you should be there and get it back on track.


Praise God and give him all the glory he deserves.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ ... Ephesians 1:3.

posted from Bloggeroid

**Valentines Day**

Valentines Day. A day we traditionally think about hearts and love and such. As kids we would give heart Valentines to friends and loved ones as though we were giving our hearts to them.
It was always great to see the smiles on their faces after they would receive their hearts because you knew it made them happy. There is one person we can give our hearts to that would not only make Him happy, but would make all of heaven rejoice, that Person is Jesus!
If you give your heart to Jesus you will get a gift back that is indescribable and will last forever!

posted from Bloggeroid

Let's walk on water

    Have you ever wondered what it would be like to walk on water?  Peter was given that chance on the sea when the disciples were scared from the storm.  He wanted to know if it was really Jesus on the water walking towards them,they thought it was a ghost, and asked that if it was Jesus for Him to command him to walk out on the water from the boat to meet him.(Matthew 14:25-33).
    Once Jesus said "Come" Peter starting walking on water! Now, one would think knowing this was truly Jesus you would fear absolutely nothing. Uh, no. It just shows how truly pitiful our faith is as human beings.  Our life mirrors this incident in several ways.  Jesus may be commanding us to accomplish a certain task for Him, and at first we are real go getters with all the confidence in the world.  Then one thing happens, such as when Peter saw the waves crashing, and we doubt just a little bit.
    We all know what happens next, we start sinking, even with Jesus right there with us.  Oh how weak our faith is!!! Thankfully He will always reach out to help us, even if we think it took too long or wasn't the right kind of help we wanted. Trust in Him, He is our life, and soul preserver.

Get to know....

 With my job being in IT I spend a LOT of time at work. Naturally, that means I have gotten to know my co-workers very well and I understand how they will react to certain situations.  This makes things go a little smoother especially in pressure situations. 
  In life, if we have pressure situations need to know how to react to those in order to help us through.  First and foremost we should always act as Jesus would have acted to our situation.  In order to do this wouldn't you say you would need to know how He would react first? The only way to do this is to know Him better by reading and studying His word.  The most important thing we can do is to study the Word of God.
   Everything we need to know about how to handle anything life throws at us can be found in this Book, if we know where to look.  Take time to read, study, and most importantly, make some quiet time with God to get to know Him better. It is amazing how much easier things can be when you know how He would react.and apply it to whatever particular situation you are in.  We will never have a trouble free life, but if we know Him and trust Him it can make the road a much less stressful one.
   Take some time to get to know Him.  See for yourself what it will do for you.

Psalm 62:8  Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.

Proverbs 3:5  Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

Psalm 119:42  Then I can answer anyone who taunts me, for I trust in your word.

Unified Messaging.....

   I work in Information Technology and part of my job is to look for ways to make the user experience easier and more productive.  Unified Messaging is a platform we are utilizing to help do this. Basically how it works is all your emails and voice mails come to one unified inbox (your email).  This way you have one place to handle everything without having to fool with multiple programs or processes to keep track of all your items.

    If you think about it Jesus is like a Unified Messaging inbox.  Everything you need to know about what's going on with your life and how to communicate is wrapped up in one beautiful package called Jesus.  He can instant message you, send you a reminder and much more.  Anything you need is available just by "clicking" on Jesus!  One of the core drivers of Unified Messaging is communication.  It's the same way in our Christian life.  If we don't communicate with our Lord we won't be very productive at all.

   The most important thing we can do as Christians is to communicate with Him and let him know all that is going on and ask Him for direction.  Apart from Jesus we can do nothing!(John 15:5)  We may think we are accomplishing a great deal but if it is not God's will that we are accomplishing then it is all for naught.   We should always check our Unified mailbox to see what the Lord has to say to us and  we should also never be afraid to send Him a message because I can guarantee you one thing, He ALWAYS checks his inbox and replies!

Wrong Brand?

Welcome to my Blog.  I hope you will find it interesting and informative. I will try at least 2 posts per week so be sure and check back.

  I recently read an article about a student at Eastern Michigan University who was expelled from a counseling program for her religious beliefs. Now at first glance I'm thinking she was so radically acting that they had no choice. EHHH Wrong!  They assigned her a case with a homosexual client seeking assistance regarding a sexual relationship which was contrary to her religious convictions. She asked that the case be turned over to someone else.

   Here's where it gets crazy.  EMU then informed Ward that she could only stay in the counseling program if she agreed to undergo a “remediation” program. Its purpose was to help her “see the error of her ways” and change her “belief system” as it relates to counseling about homosexual relationships. They hounded her asking her if.  At a subsequent formal review meeting, EMU faculty denigrated Ward’s Christian views and asked several rude questions about her religious beliefs. One EMU faculty member asked Ward whether she viewed her “brand” of Christianity as superior to that of other Christians, and another took Ward on what the faculty member called a “theological bout” designed to show her the error of her religious thinking. The faculty committee then expelled Ward from the counseling program.

  Color me crazy here but what exactly is her "brand" of Christianity?  If her brand is that the Bible explicitly states homosexuality is a sin then I guess she has the right brand.  Homosexuals are not to be persecuted in any way but if you are a true Bible believing Christian you have no choice but to say it is wrong.  Sodom and Gomorrah anyone?  The District Court ruled in favor of EMU so Ward's legal team took it to the Court of Appeals which In a strongly worded opinion, the court reversed the district court's decision that had been in favor of the university and sent the case back for trial, saying “a reasonable jury could conclude that Ward’s professors ejected her from the counseling program because of hostility toward her speech and faith….”

  People always say Christians are judgmental and close minded but when we express our opinions just like an atheist or others would theirs, we are taken to task for it. Kind of hypocritical wouldn't you say?  Thank God there's still a little sense left in this world.