Why Me?

Many times I have heard this question and even asked it once or twice myself and the answer is very simple.
2 Cor. 4:17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
Many times we go through very huge problems and what seems like insurmountable trials but God promises that none of our pains will ever be wasted. ( This statement from Rick Warren ) Our problems are always used for Glory so long as we can admit we are weak in these areas and need His help in getting over them and then being able to tell others we went through it. People are encouraged by our over coming weakness not by our strengths. Your weakness is your humanity and today we need to start sharing our humanity with others.

True Worship

John 4:23Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
I have always thought of worshipping in Spirit as just that spiritual worship but there is a verse in the Bible that tells us there is more to it than that. Romans 12.
Roman 12:1-2Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good, pleasing and perfect will.
When we truly offer ourselves as sacrifices to God then we are truly worshiping God in spirit.
Truthful worship is just that. You have to be open and honest with God in order to worship Him and honor Him. People wonder why their prayer lives are not what they should be. 9 times out of 10 this is the reason. They are closed off so they do not get hurt any more thus they are not being honest with God. When we decide to open our hearts and allow God to SHARE our pain and not just tell Him about it then we begin to worship in truth.
How are you worshiping today?? Do you fulfill these two verses of scripture with your worship of God?

The Trap

It has occurred to me that one of Satan’s biggest traps for Gods people is how others see us. I was seen as nothing but a drunk and drug addict for the majority of my life and in some circles to this day people still see me that way, they do not see what God has made me into. What about the flip side of this. People seeing us as great and special while in our hearts we know we aren’t or think we aren’t. I am certain there are many people out there that can relate to one or both of these. The question is are we strong enough to break free from how the world sees us or do we go on through life believing we are the useless person that others say that we are. Jesus calls us out of the world, which in part, means we are not to go by what the world says we are. That includes Christians who do not see what God sees. God sees us as His children and worthy of His Son dying on a cross for us. Satan does not have the power to undo that in reality, so he tries to undo it in our minds and in our self-esteem. Don’t allow Satan to undo the gift that has been given to me and you.

Principles

I have been pondering a question these last days that has truly troubled me. The question is "What does it mean to utterly devote yourself to a moral set of Christian principles?" This question has some very deep implications and even more over tones to it.
The first thing you have to decide is what are Christian Principles. Understand I am talking bible principles not doctrinal principles. The simplest way I know to explain Christian principles is to quote 5 verses of scripture. Matthew 22: 36 - 40 states 36"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'[b] 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'[c] 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." This states basically, Love God first, Everyone else second and yourself last. and notice what verse 40 states. Everything in bible from cover to cover hangs on these 2 things. That is a very powerful statement but it also says here are your Christian principals.
So what does it mean to devote yourself completely to these things? Devotion to God is be willing to do anything He tells you no matter what it makes you look like in other peoples eyes and no matter how much hurt you have to go through to achieve it.
Devotion to others?? Going out of your way to help those who need help even to the point of putting yourself out or doing without so someone else can have enough. This is a statement many will disagree with but if you read your bible especially Matthew 6: 26`Look at the birds that fly in the air. They do not plant or cut or keep any food. Yet your Father in heaven feeds them. Are you not worth more than birds? 28And why are you troubled about clothes? See how the flowers grow in the fields. They do not work or make cloth. This tells us we are not to worry about our own well being as "Father" will take care of us.
Do we live our lives this way?? Most don't. I know I have at times and have not at times. Mostly it depends on the situation and who is involved. Devote yourself to God and His principles today and live the life God called you to live. All the promises of the bible come true at this point in our walks with Christ.

Perfection

One of the greatest fallacies of man today is not believing God can use them right where they are. God created man imperfectly on purpose, thus He knows we will fail at times. Our problem is we don't think God can use us unless we are perfect. God can and will use us right where and how we are if we let Him. He longs for us to trust Him and know that He knows we are not perfect in all we do. His heart is not for our perfection of actions, but perfection of love in Him. This perfection comes when we admit we are human and He is God.

Love: The One Way Street

I have heard it said many times that love is a 2 way street. I am here to differ with this statement. My Bible tells me love is patient; love is kind, love believes all things, endures all things, ECT… of course this is paraphrased from 1st Corinthians 13. I can not find anywhere in there that love has to be returned. This says that love will last through anything no matter what.
Jesus came and died for you and I on a cross before we where capable of true love. He loved me before I loved Him. Is this the 2 way street of love?? Or is it the one-way street known to those of us who KNOW who Jesus is and what he did for us on that cross. Is your love a one way or two way street??

Men and Women

Our society today has lost God’s view of people. Women today are raised with the mentality that men are the enemy and are taught how to manipulate men with their feminine ways. Men are raised with no respect for women what so ever. They view women as objects of desire who are here for the man’s enjoyment only. I was raised by a man who, to my best recollection, never said one positive thing about women in general. When I was 8 or 9 I found his stash of playboys and was lead off into many years of pornography. Through this I developed the above mentioned attitude towards women and kept women around me in my life who would permit me to keep this attitude by their actions. Sadly it has taken me almost 40 years to realize the realities of what we are doing to our society through this kind of mentality. We have become a self-destructive society because we are constantly fighting each other through our selfish outlooks and lack of understanding of why God created us in the first place. God created man, in general, to rule over God’s creation. This means men and women both. When God created Adam and Eve He created them differently so they would complement each other. They were never meant to do or achieve the same things. It is time we as a society begin to relearn why God created us and why He created us the way He did. Did God create man to use women for sex and sexual desires?? I don’t think so, but He did create man with a strong desire for sex that the human race would not die out. Did God create women to manipulate men through this desire?? I seriously doubt it. He did create them to make up for the areas of life where a man is weak, areas such as nurturing and caring for those who are hurt and dying. It is not that men are not capable of this, but we are not capable of it on the level women are. A man and a woman truly working together show the realities of the image of God. No man nor woman alone and show this image completely because God did not put His entire image in either sex. It is time we return to the realization that we are not whole without each other and that God created us to be like Him together.