Being Disobedient

From inside the fish Jonah prayed...."In my distress I called to the Lord and he answered me.  From the depths of the grave I called for help and you listened to my cry." ~ Jonah 2:1-2

Jonah had been disobedient and God had returned with consequences.  Has that ever happened to you?  O course it has!  Anytime we run from God, there are usually consequences.  Anytime we do the opposite of what God commands us, there are consequences.  Anytime we try to drag others down with us, there are usually consequences.  We don't like consequences, no one does, but they are a necessary part of life if we want to be turned around and set back on the right path.  God is always willing to forgive and receive us back when we call on the Lord with a repent-ful heart.  If you fill like you can never be redeemed, think again.  God is waiting!  Things are never as bad as they seem, for we can call on our God and He can restore our hope and help us put our lives back on the right track.  Jonah's prayer was a cry for redemption, restoration and thanksgiving.  He was, after all, still alive after being swallowed by a great fish and left there for three days!  I believe God desperately wanted for Jonah to learn from his consequences so He could show himself more than merciful.  Holy and righteous is our God and quick to forgive and shower us with grace so that we can escape the grip of sin.  Never give up!  Never give up trying to do what is right, but no that God is always waiting, even after he has dealt the consequences.  Cry out to God for his mercy and put your life in His hands. ~

Passing Through

They left that place and passed through Galilee.  Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, because he was teaching his disciples.  He said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men.  They will kill him, and after three days, he will rise."  ~ Mark 9:30-31

Have you ever felt like you have betrayed Jesus for the ways of the world?  I have.  Sometimes I am saddened by my selfishness, pride, impatience and narcissism.  Then I remember that He is quick to forgive if I will just come to Him with a repentant heart; after all, He already knows what I am thinking and feeling even when I think I have no one to turn too.  We ofter forget the greatness of Christ's empty grave.  Jesus wasn't just a great conqueror back then, but He can be today in your very life with whatever you may be facing.  But we need to remember to come draw close to Him and seek His refuge.  He will not come where he is not welcome and he will not force us to have a relationship with Him, so it's up to you to make the first step.  What we may feel we can't share with anyone, we need to share with Him for He knows our thoughts, attitudes and our hearts' desire already.  So many times Jesus spent time alone with his disciples for rest, to see how they were doing, to teach to them, or just to "be" with them and He wants the same with us.  Sometimes Jesus needs to lead us through, or to another place in our lives for maturity.  We have to trust that even when life doesn't make any sense to us, it maybe because God is leading us to a place only He knows about, or has prepared for us; we may be purposefully left blind to wander for a while as to not have the ability to mess with His plans.  Jesus conquered the grave; He can conquer your uncertainty in life. ~

Rendered Heart

Rend your heart and not your garments.  Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and He relents from sending calamity. ~ Joel 2:13

One of the many characteristics of God that is truly mind boggling to me is His ability to lather immediate compassion on us that He graciously gives when we come home to Him with a genuine and repentful heart - no matter the sin.  This is so contrary to our human reasoning as we like to label one sin more sinful and worse than another so that we can sometimes makes people feel unworthy of forgiveness.  Dare I say that sometimes we use that logic to become self-righteous for our own justification of what we may be doing in our own lives.  However, this is not our God!  Sin is sin in his eyes no matter if it's forgiving the pride in your heart, the anger in your spouse, the little white lie you told, or the domestic violence going on three doors down; it's all sin, it's NOT ranked or leveled by God and it ALL can only be forgiven with a genuine repentful heart.  His compassion does not change no matter the sin.  In His Word there are promises after promises of His blessing if we would just turn our hearts; not our physical appearance, not our traditions, not even our good deeds, but our hearts to Him.  His will is for brokenness to be healed, for complete restoration to Him and in your relationships and for peace that passes all understanding.  The Creator of this universe holds nothing more precious than to have a relationship with you.  YOU!  Repentance equals a fully restored relationship littered with blessings and promises.  Why wait?  Come home!  Your Father's arms are wide and ready to lavish mercy and love all over you! ~  

Brilliant Piece

For we are God's workmanship; created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. ~ Ephesians 2:10

Do you realize that you are a brilliant piece of artwork?  Even though there are days when you don't feel like much of anything, think about this - you've been beautifully made not one, but twice over. And there is not, nor will there be another you! Identical twins even have a different set of fingerprints. God knew the number of your days before you were even born and then revamped and remodeled you from inside out when you became a believer.  So it's no wonder that we are called to go out and share this wonderful news with others while helping whenever and wherever we can.  His will for us is to become bright lights for him in our very own community while sharing the redeeming news of his grace.  For there are some people in this world, that only YOU can touch; people that God has placed in YOUR path for that special touch, word, or act of kindness that they need that no one else would either be able to give to that person, or that person would not be able to accept from anyone else. Let's not forget that we must have faith first and it's not ONLY by our good works that we are saved - grace is a FREE gift; however, whenever we can make a meal for a struggling friend, give someone a ride to the doctor, or even offer a friendly smile to someone as we cross paths, our God is pleased.  Be mindful of God breathed opportunities and jump on them!  You never know when you may be planting a seed, or helping am angel in disguise.  Pray that God can use you and will lead you to the people that you can effectively minister too.  If you hear a still small voice telling you to do a good and kind deed, jump on it!  Do not turn a deaf ear. ~ 

Selfish Ambition

Do nothing out of selfish ambition, or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. ~ Philippians 2:3

Humility.  Just this morning I heard a study on the radio saying that the number one quality trait of a good leader is..........humility.  After all, people don't have a hard time following a boss, a quarterback, or a manager of any kind, younger, or older if that leader recognizes, appreciates and is thankful for the "team" that is backing them up.  If they are humble, they recognize that it takes everyone to make things run smoothly and they are not an ego hound.  When I hear that spiritual principal my shoulders automatically lower and hunch forward and my head hangs as I think there is no way on earth I will ever master humility.  Life here is not full of humility, but instead, a lot of the times it is filled with self-centeredness, insane narcissism, and polished pride.  Let's face it, we are a fallen people in a world who, more than not, thinks only of ourselves.  You have to be intentional to think of others first.  No, humility is a characteristic trait we have to consciously and consistently keep in check.  Jesus selfishly gave all the time during his 33 years here and trumped us all by selfishly giving his life when he could have called HUGE angels and armies of them to come rescue his beaten and torn body.  We believers know this, why is it so hard for us to always live it?  It's a big standard for us to live up to, but God graciously blesses those who will willingly walk in humility instead of pride.  It means to be constantly aware of our weaknesses and to give credit where credit is due; most likely to others and of course, to God.  We need to be quicker to pat the other guys' back instead of our own first.  There is no such thing as a "self-made" man; be humble enough to understand that; there is a creator who endowed you with gifts and the ability to use them to get where you are.  Only God can give you the wisdom, strength, and perseverance for you to accomplish anything of great value, so go humbly before him and be thankful at HIS feet.  It is hard to have the courage to always share the glory, but we are called to be humble because we are a sinful mess without HIM.  To keep our humility in check is to put others and God first.  After all, HE put YOU first when he didn't have too. ~ AMEN

Forgiveness; Really?

But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. ~ Matthew 6:15

"But you have no idea what they did!  How bad they have hurt me!  Am I really supposed to just forgive them?  If I do that, they'll hurt me again.  I will be giving them an open and free ticket to hurt me all over." 
Forgiveness isn't about them!  It's about you, about me, about us.  Healing your heart from rage, anger, resentment and bitterness that will eat you alive.  Believe me, I struggle with the idea of forgiveness myself, so I don't have it all together, or all the answers, but I know what my God, the author of forgiveness says about the subject.  If you, or I, claim to want to follow Jesus, we must learn to forgive.  Yes, I know, Jesus is perfect and as humans we will never attain that righteousness, but I know I am trying daily for that right heart in forgiveness.  I believe if we give it a heart felt try and God sees that, He has no choice but to bless it, but only if our hearts and motives are right.  I have to believe it, and I have felt the peace that passes understanding through forgiveness, so I don't know why I still struggle with it;  I chalk it up to us being human and not being able to fully understand everything spiritual, but I will one day completely get it.  I pray that God will help me to be more forgiving and I expect him to show up!  Here's the tricky part, I must be willing to forgive, or God will not forgive me my offenses.  YIKES!  I want forgiveness!  I need forgiveness!  So do you. See, we don't really have a choice here; God has drawn a strong line.  I believe He knows I will struggle with this concept and He knows I am not perfect, so He is really asking me to lean on Him with an open and honest heart willing to let Him take the offense and to let Him help me forgive and He will take care of the rest.  I have to remind myself....I am not perfect; why should I think others should be.  I need to lean into Him, ask Him to help me forgive with a willing heart and then watch...God will transform my pain into restoration.  I expect it! ~ AMEN

Childlike Faith

People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them.  When Jesus saw this, he was indignant.  He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these."  ~ Mark 10:13-14

Children are so innocent.  Most of them are not hindered by dishonesty, disloyalty, or tainted by lies that most of us adults have experienced; most have yet to experience anguish and extreme pain and so it's pretty easy for them to trust and believe whatever an adult may say, or do.  Jesus knows that this life becomes full of human errors known as sin and soon we become somewhat hardened, and even accept sin as a way of life therefore shoving our faith to the side.  However, it's in those times that Jesus says we need to be more like a toddler who runs to his parents' open arms at the first sight of pain and let him love us, envelope us, and comfort us.  Jesus knows that we feel unworthy, unwanted, unloved and completely empty at times, but that's when we need to run to his strong arms and draw near to him to fully understand our need of him.  We should take notes from our own children and their relationship to us in times of sadness, hurt, anger, frustration, complete pain and the need for help and we should run to our Heavenly Father and fall into his arms.  For only he can fully restore.  We were not meant to be independent and do this life without him - run to your Father!  ~ AMEN

Stinking Hard

For our struggle is not against flesh & blood, but against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  ~ Ephesians 6:12

Have you ever wondered why life has to be so stinking hard sometimes? Do you know that for some, this holiday season and every holiday season will be the worse time of their year?  Do you also realize you have an enemy of your soul who would like nothing better than to kill, steal, and destroy you?  We are in a constant spiritual battle with Satan and his host of minions.  These dark warriors are behind every attack of the evil one through prosecution of your Christian faith, evil deeds that we don't understand and the constant mind games of doubt played between your own two ears.  They are in charge of bringing you down at all costs!  As your day unfolds and bad things happen: you get into a heated argument, or your mind fills up with doubt over who you are, or you find yourself in constant conflict with an otherwise friendly coworker - STOP!  Understand what is going on - you are at war!  Call it out!  Call on the army you have awaiting to help and take charge!  You may not always feel it, but you are living in a war zone and you need to be the Commander of your own will and mind as to not let the Enemy get ahead and take charge.  Take notice!  Read the Word, pray constantly and give thanks for the many victories! ~ Amen

Called Believers

But you are a shield around me, O Lord; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head. ~ Psalm 3:3

Believers are called to walk in God's will for each one and to lift our heads high knowing that we have protection all around us.  "Shield" is meant as God's protection, but when you are walking outside of God's will, you may feel vulnerable and your head may feel heavy, over-burdened, worrisome and just plain downcast.  God will always be there for us no matter how our conflicts confront us, or even when we decide we can do this life on our own and don't need him.  Rejoice!  God is our ever present protection and help if we will call on him to lift us back up!  Committing sin is bound to happen.  To forget that we need him daily will sometimes happen. We are not perfect, but he knows that for he created us and he still loves us unconditionally!  Turn to our Heavenly Father and receive his help and grace so that you may lift your head high!  My constant reminder to my boys is that they are a prince of the Most High King!  A son of the Most High God!  Never forget that and hold your head up high!  Remember that you are a great treasure and rest in his grace.  He gives us ultimate victory! ~ AMEN

This Walk

This is how we know we are in Him:  whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.  
~ 1 John 2:5-6

Do you walk with Jesus everyday?  Do you show love, compassion and forgiveness?  Look at yourself and the company you keep to make sure your life lines up with Christ's, especially if you claim to be his faithful follower so as not to be called a hypocrite.  Do you talk the talk AND walk the walk?  Remember that your actions speak volumes louder than your sometimes careless words.  Look closely at your heart and examine your lifestyle for both must be red hot for the Lord; lukewarm is not allowed according to Revelation 3:16 - "So because you are lukewarm-neither hot, nor cold-I am about to spit you out of my mouth."  See the example, study His word and pray for a revival in your soul - to treat people as the Lord would and to love them without passing hurtful judgement.  Notice that even our Lord was tempted in the desert by our evil adversary, so why wouldn't we be?  Hold tight, pray and conquer!  Trust that if you know Him, live in Him and follow His mighty ways, you also will be able to stand firm as a witness against Satan and as a mighty warrior and child of God.  Walk with Jesus everyday, no questions asked.  AMEN. ~

Lying Tongues

"O God, whom I praise, do not remain silent, for the wicked and deceitful men have opened their mouths against me; they have spoken against me with lying tongues." ~ Psalm 109:1-2

This is a hard Psalm for me to thoroughly understand.  One part of me says, 'Hey, you better be careful with your words and the gossip, you don't want someone praying this about you'; then another part asks, 'Yeah, but this kind of appeal and cry out to God is not what he listens to, I mean, after all, God is love, not a God of mean spirited justice, right?'" But I DO think this is a plea for God to shut the mouths of wicked and downright deceitful mankind, and I DO think he can and does sometimes "shut" things, not just mouths, up.  Sometimes I think we forget that even God gets angry and that even though He is a merciful, gracious and loving God, he also HATES certain things about mankind that we have turned over to the "world".  Please notice the supernatural difference - He hates ABOUT mankind, those things the Destroyer has influenced, but GOD CANNOT HATE  MANKIND for that would be hating a very part of HIS own image.  Satan has a sharp two edged sword and uses people to be unrelenting in their trouble making lies and false accusations about you, me, and others that you love.  This is often a direct hit when we are winning for the kingdom of God and our Adversary HATES our progress.  We must stand steadfast and keep on with great perseverance "the race marked out for us" for our Almighty King!  Watching and guarding our tongues is a great place to start! ~ AMEN