"We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely on God, who raises the dead." 2 Corinthians 1:8-9
People may tell you (maybe I have even told you before!) that He will never give you more than you can handle. But don't listen anymore; it's not true. You will often find yourself in situations that require more faith, more perseverance, more love, and more wisdom than you have on your own. And when you find yourself in this situation you will realize how much you need Him. In fact, you'll be desperate for Him. The truth is, you were just as desperate for Him before you found yourself in this place; you just didn't realize it. Sometimes you need to be shaken so that you see your sin and become more God- reliant.
It is not a sign of weakness to depend on Him. It is a sign of spiritual strength to live, day by day, in recognition of your utter dependence on Him.
Therefore, I am sorry. I am sorry to any of my friends and family that I have specifically told you how "He will never give more than you can handle." I had it all wrong. He wants you to challenge yourself, challenge yourself to bring more things to HIM to handle. It's not our jobs, we have it all wrong friends. Just like James 1:2-4 says, He sees us to trials to draw out perseverance in all of us. I am finally able to fully grasp what that means. I've gone along the past couple months repeating how that verse is my favorite, without me even entirely fathoming the true meaning behind those couple verses. I challenge us all to bring more things to Him, to be fully dependent on Him in faith.
Father, while I and the culture around me, value independence, I realize now that you value dependence. Forgive me, Lord, for my stubborn self- reliance. I'm turning to you. I can't do it on my own anymore. I can't mend relationships, I can't ignore my sinful ways, I can't please everyone, I can't always have a loving a gracious attitude towards people, so God, I bring it to You. I trust in You to take this from me. Thank you for Your grace God. Thank you for Your faithfulness. You are so worthy God. Amen.
Monday, December 26, 2011
Friday, December 23, 2011
"I Will Not Forget You"
Jerusalem says, "The LORD has deserted us; the Lord has forgotten us." "Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for the child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would never forget you! See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands. Always in my mind is a picture of Jerusalem's walls in ruins." Isaiah 49: 14-16
When hard times come, you may think you've been forgotten, that He is unaware of your heartache and uninvolved in your life. But He has bound Himself to you in a covenant love, and He could never forget you. He could never stop caring about your suffering or supplying your needs. He is watching over you and thinking of you always. When He sees your name written on His hand, your concerns become His concerns. He sees not only your name, but every other aspect of your life- every joy, every struggle, and every need. You are never off of His mind, out of His sight, or away from His loving care.
Lord, when I think you are distant and do not care, I need only to picture Your hands, see my name written there, and remember that I am always before You because of Your covenant love. Thank you for the hope that you constantly send coming for me. I pray for a stronger faith in You, I pray that You speak to me in the light of the dark. God, show me Your grace, and its sufficiency. Father, I pray You rain your love and mercy in my life, my family's life, my friend's lives, the world's lives. God help us grasp how much You care for us... How you care enough to engrave our names in Your hands that were pierced with nails. We think and thank you, during this season of Christmas, and also for the rest of our days. Thank you for Your unfailing love and forgiveness. Amen.
When hard times come, you may think you've been forgotten, that He is unaware of your heartache and uninvolved in your life. But He has bound Himself to you in a covenant love, and He could never forget you. He could never stop caring about your suffering or supplying your needs. He is watching over you and thinking of you always. When He sees your name written on His hand, your concerns become His concerns. He sees not only your name, but every other aspect of your life- every joy, every struggle, and every need. You are never off of His mind, out of His sight, or away from His loving care.
Lord, when I think you are distant and do not care, I need only to picture Your hands, see my name written there, and remember that I am always before You because of Your covenant love. Thank you for the hope that you constantly send coming for me. I pray for a stronger faith in You, I pray that You speak to me in the light of the dark. God, show me Your grace, and its sufficiency. Father, I pray You rain your love and mercy in my life, my family's life, my friend's lives, the world's lives. God help us grasp how much You care for us... How you care enough to engrave our names in Your hands that were pierced with nails. We think and thank you, during this season of Christmas, and also for the rest of our days. Thank you for Your unfailing love and forgiveness. Amen.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Decisions
Decisions determine your destiny. It's as simple as that. Where you are today is the result of all the decisions you made yesterday. Who originally made decisions regarding you, me, and everyone else out there? God. He made decisions about us, and the paths that He is going to take us on. We live in a sinful world. We alone sin multiple times a day, no matter how hard we try not to. As gross as this comparison may sound, I will put it this way: Sins are like boogies. There can be sticky sins (the ones where it is hard to get off your finger), flakey sins (ones that brush right off), and lastly, hideaway sins (sins that you get so used to doing that you don't even notice them anymore). God wants you to forget about all of those sins. As hard as it is for us humans to realize that when He says His grace is an ocean, He truly means it. Abraham made his decisions through and by his faith. I entice all of you, including myself, to participate in this challenge.
"You can say no, or you can go."
God will always take care of you. It is not God's will at all for us to get hurt. Sure, there will be bumps in the road, but you have to think of it this way: Once you get over those tiny "bumps," you can just add them to your testimony as one of the things that God has graciously helped you with. If you have gotten hurt in the past, let it go. The past will straight up rob you of what God has planned for you in the future. He wants you to be FREE. Let Him fill you up. But something you have to realize is that with filling something up comes with eventually that thing being emptied. Basically, we are filled to be emptied again. He will always pour out into our lives. When Jesus' blood is flowing through your body, it's the best genes you could have. Close the doors from your past decisions and open them to the future. Buckle up, because He's about to take you on a wild ride.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Ignorance is Bliss?
Sometimes, it's better not knowing something rather than actually understanding. Knowledge can be an gift, or it can be a penalty. You may gain from it, or you may shatter from hopelessness. In Scripture it says that knowledge will be "destroyed," and that it is "incomplete." But aren't we also told to "look/ask/seek for it?"
How can knowledge be useful?
1 Cor 13:8-12- "For if there are prophecies they will be fulfilled and done with, if there are 'tongues' the need for them will disappear, if there is knowledge it will be swallowed up in truth. For our knowledge is always incomplete and our prophecy is always incomplete, and when the complete comes, that is the end of the incomplete. When I was a little child I talked and felt like a little child. Now that I am a man I am finished with childish things. At present we are men looking at puzzling reflections in a mirror. The time will come when we shall see reality whole and face to face! At present all I know is a small fraction of the truth, but the time will come when I shall know it as fully as God has known me!"
What does knowledge allow love to do?
Prov 24:3-4 "By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures."
What is love without knowledge? Let's say there is a story of a girl named, say, Mrs. Hoard. She is an ignorant, but loving mother. She feeds her children an all meat diet, because she believes meat is the best kind of food. One day she gains some important knowledge after reading a nutrition guide, and she starts buying a mixture of food types for her children. As a result her children become healthier.
Question: Did this mother love her children more before or after she gained the knowledge? Hmmm... The same! But until the knowledge, her love was even . Knowledge that is true allows love to blossom into good fruit.Hos 4:6 "My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge."
The TRUTH about knowledge: Jam 1:17 "Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow." Regardless, knowledge comes from the BIG MAN ABOVE. Not from society. Not from a friend. Not from a parent. The good knowledge at least. Don't listen to anyone else but your heart. If your are in the right place, then your heart should be an intimate place where the Lover of your Soul speaks to you. Yes, sometimes it is best not knowing things. That is, knowing BAD things. This brings us to the point of how everything happens for a reason. You know things for a reason, and you don't know things for a reason. All in all, leave it up to Him. He will give you the right knowledge you ask for. Persevere for wisdom given from His Hands alone.
How can knowledge be useful?
1 Cor 13:8-12- "For if there are prophecies they will be fulfilled and done with, if there are 'tongues' the need for them will disappear, if there is knowledge it will be swallowed up in truth. For our knowledge is always incomplete and our prophecy is always incomplete, and when the complete comes, that is the end of the incomplete. When I was a little child I talked and felt like a little child. Now that I am a man I am finished with childish things. At present we are men looking at puzzling reflections in a mirror. The time will come when we shall see reality whole and face to face! At present all I know is a small fraction of the truth, but the time will come when I shall know it as fully as God has known me!"
What does knowledge allow love to do?
Prov 24:3-4 "By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures."
What is love without knowledge? Let's say there is a story of a girl named, say, Mrs. Hoard. She is an ignorant, but loving mother. She feeds her children an all meat diet, because she believes meat is the best kind of food. One day she gains some important knowledge after reading a nutrition guide, and she starts buying a mixture of food types for her children. As a result her children become healthier.
Question: Did this mother love her children more before or after she gained the knowledge? Hmmm... The same! But until the knowledge, her love was even . Knowledge that is true allows love to blossom into good fruit.Hos 4:6 "My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge."
The TRUTH about knowledge: Jam 1:17 "Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow." Regardless, knowledge comes from the BIG MAN ABOVE. Not from society. Not from a friend. Not from a parent. The good knowledge at least. Don't listen to anyone else but your heart. If your are in the right place, then your heart should be an intimate place where the Lover of your Soul speaks to you. Yes, sometimes it is best not knowing things. That is, knowing BAD things. This brings us to the point of how everything happens for a reason. You know things for a reason, and you don't know things for a reason. All in all, leave it up to Him. He will give you the right knowledge you ask for. Persevere for wisdom given from His Hands alone.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
New Revelations
"In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of His robe filled the temple." Isaiah 6:1
We often view difficult times, crisis times, as bad because the circumstances we face are very hard. But difficult times can also be an oppertunity for our hearts to re- awaken to the steadfastness and the glorious God, as well as our great need for Him in our lives. The crisis of Uzziah's death for Israel and Isaiah became the great oppertunity for Isaiah to see God in a fresh way and to be called into a special ministry for God. How can God use your crisis, hardships, trials, and difficulties? Why don't you ask Him to show you!
We often view difficult times, crisis times, as bad because the circumstances we face are very hard. But difficult times can also be an oppertunity for our hearts to re- awaken to the steadfastness and the glorious God, as well as our great need for Him in our lives. The crisis of Uzziah's death for Israel and Isaiah became the great oppertunity for Isaiah to see God in a fresh way and to be called into a special ministry for God. How can God use your crisis, hardships, trials, and difficulties? Why don't you ask Him to show you!
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