He is with You!

     So it has been awhile since I last blogged, but after this morning's devotions, I really want to share what is going on and what the Lord has been teaching me. As many of you have probably realized by now, life is hard. I don't mean specifically with work or school, even though both of those are difficult. What I mean is our daily walk and relationship with God. At times if we are being honest, it can become difficult to live out what we believe. Maybe you don't feel that way, but that is how it is for me. I sometimes find myself pleading with God and asking Him why I am facing the current problem and how is He going to help me. I wonder where He is. Okay spoiler alert; I'm giving away the point of this blog. HE IS ALWAYS THERE! He never leaves you! Even when the times are difficult, even when circumstances are not going as you would have liked or hoped them to be. Deuteronomy 31:6 says, "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified, for the Lord your God IS you; he will NEVER leave you nor forsake you.” What a great truth we can count on! So to bring it back to the moment when I was crying out and asking God where He was in my problems. Well as we can see, He was with me. He is also with you! He never leaves nor forsakes us. Ever!
     This school year so far has been difficult for me with trying to figure out what I want to do with my life and figure out where the Lord wants me to be, and what major to be in. I am also a Peer Advisor, so this means I spend a lot of time with freshman here at the school. Being in this position has left me with little time to do homework and spend time with my other friends. So with all of this going on, I have had many a frustrating nights wondering what to do and if I am making the right decisions. I sometimes find myself in desperation, wondering what God wants from me and for me. It is in those times when I come back to the truth that God never has or ever will leave me. He is right there with me, helping me through those times. Once I come to that realization, I find it easier to relax and go about my day because I know that no matter what, He is in control and is fighting for me. Here is another power thought to reflect on which comes from Romans 8:27. "...the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God." What a power statement! Not only will He never leave us, but His Spirit is interceding for us and fighting for us to bring about His will in our lives! If I put all my worries, fears, or anything else into His hands, I am reassured that ultimately His will is going to be done in my life!
     So I want to leave you with this challenge. As Chuck White would say, "So what?" Well if you are going through tough times, trying to figure out God's will for your life, or wondering where He is in the midst of your problems, cling to the promise that He is always there with you, interceding on your behalf and fighting for you! I don't know about you, but if I am going to try and fight the devil and his deceits and lies that he throws at me, I want God on my side fighting for me. Hopefully something in here has encouraged you today. I pray that you will cling to this truth everyday and every time you are struggling with any sort of problem, because God is bigger, better, and stronger than ANYTHING that this world throws at you. For goodness sake, He created the world. We gotta know He has everything under control including you! :)

Patience is Love

      Every time I think of how I want to do the Lord's work in the best way possible, I always come to the conclusion that by loving others I am able to serve the Lord since He created us and loves us so much. Then the next thought I always have is, how can I love others in the right way? I will be honest with you and say I have taken this as trying my hardest to share the gospel with everyone I feel led to. Don't get me wrong, this is what the ultimate goal should be since we are called to spread the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ to everyone and to the ends of the earth, but I think we sometimes approach this too quickly in some people's lives. His timing is perfect and we need to seek that out before jumping right in. Maybe some of the times, right then and there is His timing, but maybe not.
      I know this has been true to me. It may be because I am guy, but whenever I see a problem, I want to immediately fix it. This is kind of how I have been viewing my "duty" if you will, to love others. I see that they are not saved, and boom, I am laying it on them. I have since realized that it's not about hitting them with it right then, but it is all about God's timing. One of the greatest things we can do in order to love someone is to show them patience in their circumstances. So yeah maybe your friend is heading down the wrong course in his life and rejects God; so now you have the opportunity to show him God's love and pray for him, be there for him, talk with him when HE wants to, and put up with his circumstances.
      I think of my own life and how I have rejected God so many times, and yet He still loves me, and He shows me this through putting up with me and forgiving me when I wrong Him. I don't deserve His forgiveness, but yet He freely gives it. So we need to be forgiving to one another and be patient with one another as well. By being patient with those we care for and not seeking to immediately lay on the full force of God on them, we are loving them just as God is loving us. I think you will begin to see that this can be a better way to get through to them. They can see you are simply loving them for where they are, and who knows, they may ask YOU what is different about you and now THEY are the ones seeking out, and not you laying it on them in a time when they are not wanting it.
      So when someone who is close to you is struggling, or even a complete stranger, try loving them in this way. I think it is going to change my life, and I hope it changes yours. "Love God, Love Others"

Put to the Test

     I think too many times, we as Christians think that with our relationship with God, only good and prosperity will come. I admit to thinking this sometimes too. But that isn't always the case. Job is the prime example of this. He trusted and believed in the Lord with all His heart and yet God allowed Satan to enter his life and destroy much of his possessions and family and even himself. Through it all, Job still knew God was in control of his life and he trusted even though he questioned why at times. And I believe questioning why something is happening is not a wrong thought to have when troubles enter our lives. Our initial thought may be that we have sinned or done something wrong in the eyes of the Lord. This may be true, but sometimes God just has a plan, and this is part of it. He sometimes puts us through trials and tribulations to see if we will still trust and follow Him even in the most difficult times of our lives. It says in the bible that we are to be married to Christ (Hosea 2:19-20). I am married to Christ, and this means I will follow Him through sickness and in health; rich or poor; and until death do me part from Him. Then, we are able to meet up with Him again in all His glory in Heaven!
     You may be going through a tough time and not know why this is happening and not trust that God still loves you and is there with you. You may think you have done wrong. You may just feel distant from God right now, which is hard for you. In all of these situations, God IS with you, and still cares. Our faith is not based on FEELING His presence and peace all the time, but rather TRUSTING and KNOWING He is their based on Faith. So please take heart because our creator has a perfect plan, and will not put us through any trials and troubles that we can't handle (1 Corinthians 10:13). Try and take this time to build a stronger faith and trust in the perfect plan of God our father. If He brought you to it; He will bring you through it! Amen

Joy of the Lord

We all have said “that” prayer where we ask God for strength to make it through a tough situation in our lives or to get through a temptation we may be struggling with, but have ever stopped to realize what exactly we are asking for as we tell our Creator to give us strength?

            Well the bible says in Nehemiah 8:10 that the Joy of the Lord is our strength. This occurred to me in the strangest way. I was in the shower, singing as I normally do, when I started to sing the words from the hymnal, “The Joy of the Lord is my strength…” I stopped and thought to myself about how could the Lord’s Joy give me strength in my life and what exactly does this mean. Joy is defined in the dictionary as “the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires.” But the Joy God speaks of in the bible is not like this. The Joy He speaks of comes from Him, and it is a Joy that we have because He lives in us. In life, if I am a Christian, I don’t want my success or good fortune to determine if I have Joy or not. The real Joy I want to experience is the Joy I have because I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

So how can this joy be our strength? Well for me when I used to pray the prayer asking for strength to make through something or get over a struggle, I assumed this meant that at the time I was tempted or when the problem occurred, then I would magically be able to overcome the problem because a random boost of strength would come upon me, like a bolt from heaven, or something along those lines. I found this never happened. Then I realized that this isn’t the type of strength I was supposed to have in those circumstances. The strength I needed was from the Joy I have found in Jesus Christ! I didn’t need a temporary joy from a bad habit or a good circumstance to arrive on a bad day in order for me to feel “Joyful.” What I needed was the permanent Joy that comes only from a personal relationship with God my father. So in those times of struggle, I now say to myself that I have a true Joy from God and I no longer need a false joy to make my day. This is my strength; Jesus Christ, Lord of heaven and of earth! A being that neither death nor a grave could hold, so because He is in you, nor will your problems and struggles hold you! Amen.

So I encourage you, those who may be struggling with an addiction or may be going through a tough time in life; no circumstance that may arrive in your life is ever too big for God to handle. Next time you are encountering a problem, try to remember that because He is in you, you can have the Joy of the Lord, which is a strength like no other.