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Posts Tagged ‘faith’

Wasted

Posted in God's Gift, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 25, 2012|

This poem is for anyone dealing with a troubled spirit – depression, addiction, anger, fear, confusion or some other unnamed source.

You may think you’re going through it alone, but you’re not…your actions affect the reactions of others.

Most importantly, you don’t have to go through it alone. Jesus is waiting to carry your load. He will carry you through.

Ask the Savior to help you. Surrender, trust, and believe.

Wasted

It is not your intention
to disrupt them,
But there is something unspeakable
in the air.

It is their intention
to draw the line,
to mask their love
with a persona
that doesn’t care.

And so they cry,
but only inside.
And you’ll never know
how much they love you.

So

You continue your path,
destructive, full of wrath.
Not knowing
how much reaping
you must sow.

But you do know
you can not slay your demons alone.
You can’t denounce them
without the blood shed by Christ.

Still your utterances are countless
and of useless meaning.
You pray heartless prayers
that will not suffice.

And so you suffer,
rebellious and hurt.
But it is not a solitary pain.

For those who love you,
it is contagious,
and they suffer
again
and again.

Don’t let the day come
when God’s voice becomes silent,
when He is no more knocking on your door.

For if that should happen,
you will have strayed too far,
and a life – your life –
will be wasted
for evermore…

© 2012

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A Lesson in Suffering – The Book of Job

Posted in God's Gift, tagged , , , , , , , on November 12, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Job suffered through many trials and tribulations ranging from the deaths of his children to the boils that covered his entire body. His friends believed he had committed some sin in order for such evil to fall upon him. This caused Job even more anguish because he was a righteous man, and he knew he had done nothing wrong.

He couldn’t understand why he had to endure such tragedies, and he questioned God. When God answered him, it was in the form of Him reminding Job of who it was that had created all things in the universe.

God asked Job what role he had played in the creation process in order to help him realize the omnipotence of God. His questioning of Job was effective because Job began to realize how insignificant he was. Job’s statement in Chapter 42:6, “…I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes”, is evidence of him humbling himself before God.

Job came out of his trials and tribulations understanding the nature of suffering to be that sometimes both the good and the bad must be dealt with, and that even though his suffering was through no fault of his own, he still had to know (and believe) that God was in control. Even though his trust and faith were put to the test, he continued to turn to God for answers. The Bible tells us that Job “sinned not, nor charged God foolishly” during this time. (Job 1:22) And in the end, he was rewarded twice as much for his obedience and faithfulness.

It’s a good lesson in suffering. At some point, all of us will go through – or have already gone through – a period of trials and tribulations. If we are servants of Jesus Christ, we would do well to emulate Job because as long as we hold steadfast to God in the midst of trouble, He will see us through. Even when it feels like God is nowhere around. He Is…

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Reflections

Posted in God's Gift, tagged , , , , , on October 2, 2011| Leave a Comment »

In the book of Ecclesiastes, The Preacher shares with the reader his observations about life. His conclusions, are that yes, life does have meaning. But the meaning lies in how we live. A life that is lived in constant pursuit of material gain, one where the acquisition of excess comes at the cost of emotional and physical sacrifice is to me a life that is in constant motion…but for all the wrong reasons. The Preacher called it vanity. And I agree.

Everyone must and should earn their own way. That is not in question. But to what degree? The hustle and bustle of a daily “grind” can be toxic to us if we despise the very activity that we rush off to each morning. It can also be detrimental to our health as it is bound to produce an unnecessary amount of stress on a daily basis. Yet, for the sake of recognition and/or material gain, we will endure such a level of un-fulfillment until old age relieves us of that task or the toxicity of it all fills us with disease.

Life does have meaning when looked at from the right perspective. It is a gift from God. And not only did He give us life, He gave us “directions” (the Bible) on how to live it. All we need to do is ask for His guidance and help in understanding and following those directions.

Once we understand the real meaning of life – what our true purpose is – we become free to put everything else into its proper perspective. Revelations Chapter 4, verse 11 tells us why we were created:
“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”

And The Preacher sums it up in Ecclesiastes Chapter 12, verse 13 by saying, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”

Everything else we do should be secondary.

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Help In Trying Times

Posted in God's Gift, tagged , , , , on June 15, 2011| 2 Comments »

“My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.”  That’s what David said in Psalm 121:2

And it’s something we would do well to remember.  Even when it feels like God is not present…He is.  Even when it feels like we’re just out here all alone in the wilderness…we’re not if we believe, obey, and have faith. 

We can’t go by what we feel.  If we do we’ll end up believing those deceptive feelings that our enemy, satan, is working hard to instill in us. 

We must hold steadfast to God or we will not only listen to the enemy’s report of defeat, but we’ll accept it as well…forgetting all about the promises of God. 

 God’s Word tells us that, “…He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”  (1 John 4:4)  That is to say that if Jesus Christ abides in us, He is more powerful than the devil who is roaming about, wreaking havoc in this world.

Yes, at some point, we will have to encounter difficult situations in this world.  We will have to endure hard times, trials and tribulations, but God is the keeper of our souls.  Who better to trust than Him? 

That’s why, like David, I will continue to proclaim, “My help comes from the Lord.”

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God Can

Posted in God's Gift, tagged , , , , on April 11, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Sometimes we find ourselves in a bind or a rut.  It may be financial, emotional, or physical.  It’s an uncomfortable place, and our backs are against the wall.  We don’t or can’t see a way out.

But God can.

God will always make a way for us if we believe.  And He doesn’t need any help.  Still, sometimes we will unconsciously attempt to help God out by searching high and low for a way out.

Now, I’m not saying if we’re in a difficult situation to do nothing.  Yes, we can and should do our part.  If we need a job we should look for a job, and trust that God will make one available to us.  If we become depressed, the last thing we should do is stop talking to Jesus Christ about how we feel.  Don’t stop praying to God because the reality is that all we need to do is pray about it, thank Him in Jesus name, and then keep our faith unwavering.  It’s okay to do our part…but then we need to get out of the way and let the Master do His.

God’s plan will NEVER fail.  But ours often does, doesn’t it?  Just remember, God created the universe out of nothing.  The earth hangs suspended in the air by…nothing.

The Bible tells us in Job 26:7 that God “…stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.”

Look at the moon, the stars, and the sun.  They too are suspended in space by…nothing.

Again, the first book of the Bible (Genesis 1:16-18) tells us “God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night.  He also made the stars.  God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness.  And God saw that it was good.”

So, when we don’t see an answer, when it looks like there’s just no possible way out.  Remember: God CAN make a way out of nothing.  He already has, and He proves it to us every day and every night.  Amen!

Make yourself obedient to Jesus Christ.  Then trust God to work everything out for you.  Believe me – He will.

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Trust

Posted in God's Gift, tagged , , , , , on March 20, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Today’s topic should be about trusting in God, I think.

Some of us put all our trust in another.  We invest everything we have – emotionally, physically, financially – into another that we trust.  And don’t get me wrong. That’s good.  Very good because that’s what unconditional trust is all about.

But what about the One who created us and holds the eternal destiny of our souls in His hands?  If we can trust another, shouldn’t we also trust Him?  And shouldn’t He be at the top of the list?

Some of us say we trust in God, but it’s hard to tell sometimes.  We fluctuate.  One day we’re praising Him for what He’s going to do.  A few days later (when the thing we need Him to do hasn’t happened yet) we’re about to worry ourselves to death over it.

I know it’s hard sometimes not to doubt.  I’m guilty of that too.  It’s human nature to not trust that which we can not see.  But here’s the thing…we actually can see God when we look at the magnificent design of creation.  He made it so that we would know by instinct that there is a Creator.  There is a God.

How many people saw the ‘Super Moon’ last night?  It was beautiful.  And far too awesome to be some unexplainable accident.

When I am weak, and feel doubt trying to creep in that’s when I know to pray harder, to ask God to increase my faith and remove all doubt.  I know that’s the time to hold on even tighter because if there’s one thing I know it’s this…

Through all the hard times God has NEVER left me or forsaken me, and I know He never will.  How do I know this?  Because He said He wouldn’t.

“…for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”  Hebrews 13:5

And I trust Him.   You should too.

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