Where Is Your Hope?

You must return to your God;
    love him, do what is just,
    and always trust in him as your God.

Hosea 12:6 

 

I remember reading about the travels of Christopher Columbus when he crossed the Atlantic in 1492.  This was at a time when many of the ships would always keep land in sight so they didn't get lost, and here's Christopher Columbus sailing off into the unknown our of the sight of land and had no idea how long it would be before they would find land, fall off the edge of the earth, or have to turn back due to a lack of supplies.

 

The thing that kept the sailors and Christopher Columbus grounded was their faith in God.  They prayed daily that they would find land.  And eventually, their prayers were answered.

 

Do we pray with that same fervor?  Or do we occasionally toss up a "thank you for today Lord"?  We are to put our trust in God, but how can you trust someone you haven't taken the time to get to know?  How can you trust God when He's just some ethereal entity we say "thanks" to once in a while?

 

God WANTS to have a relationship with us!  When we come to Him with all that we have on our hearts and minds, God acts!  He never fails!

"I Feel Lost"

Your word is a lamp to walk by,
and a light to illumine my path.

Psalm 119:105 

 

Ever felt lost?  Ever wondered if your efforts made a difference for anyone else?  Ever wonder why you do the things you do?  Ever wonder why you do the same things over and over?  Have you lost your satisfaction with your life and feel helpless because you don't see a way to change?

 

Yeah.....me too!

 

You see, we ALL feel helpless and under-appreciated at times.  We ALL feel as though we are being taken for granted.  We ALL feel trapped and lost at times. 

 

Most of the times I start feeling lost and wonder if I make a difference are the times when I am trying to live through my own strength and determination.  That quickly fades into frustration because I have put myself in the place of my Boss.  Now, I thank God every day for my boss, Sheriff Leon Lott, who has given me the opportunity to serve the men and women of the Department.  But I am also grateful to my Boss, God, who worked my life in such a way, through all its dips, turns, twists, failures, and screw-ups to be where He wanted me to be when He appointed me to be there so the Sheriff would be willing to give me a chance.

 

When we look in the mirror and declare that "I AM THE MASTER OF MY LIFE" then we are missing the truth.  The truth is more powerful than that, yet so simple, it is God who gives us life and breath...it is God and God alone who created us and appointed us to be here at this moment.  We do have choices, because God did not create us to be puppets, but we must not forget that HE is our Boss!  And He puts us where He appointed us to be (even though that doesn't mean we will always like it) to fulfill the purpose He has planned for us. 

Mess Up Beyond Help?

Have you ever felt as though you have messed up so badly that you were beyond help?  Perhaps you know someone who has felt this way.  I know I have felt this way more than a few times in my time on this Earth.  And the question that echoed in my mind was "Okay, what now?"  

Listen carefully to the voice of experience (for Experience is a Harsh Teacher); trying to hide your messed up life doesn't work!  You cannot pretend it away.  You can't "fake it 'til you make it."

First, if you have messed up....FACE IT!  Admit it!  Confess it! Most of our screw-ups are because of something WE have said and/or done.  "But if we confess our sins, He will forgive our sins, because we can trust God to do what is right. He will cleanse us from all the wrongs we have done" - 1 John 1:9  

How much will He forgive us?  "He has taken our sins away from us as far as the east is from west" - Psalm 103:12. 

Second, accept that God has forgiven you!  Now this does not mean the consequences of our decisions will suddenly become all bright and sunny.  But accepting God's forgiveness makes our burden not so heavy.

Third, understand that God you are still here on Earth for a reason and God is going to use your experiences to help you and prove that He is God.  "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them" - Romans 8:28

Yes, you may have to slog through some swamp water for a bit, but you WILL come out of it with a renewed sense of purpose.  And it will take patience!  Don't give up!  Keep stepping forward!

When You Feel Lost And Alone

Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.

Deuteronomy 31:8 

As you know, I like music almost as much as I love (am addicted to) coffee.  A number of years ago, and I'm dating myself here, Bob Seger performed a song called "Turn The Page" and if you listen to the lyrics it's about the lonely life of a performer.  

During the holiday season, there are many who feel lost and lonely. Matter of fact, there are those who feel that way all year around or at some point during the year. I can admit to you that I have felt that way, even when in a crowd of people.  I encourage you, if you are feeling that way, talk to someone!  

Our instinct is to merely withdraw into ourselves (especially if you are like me and are Introverted).  However, unless we talk with someone how will anyone know what's going on in our hearts?  I've said it many times before and am saying it again, if you don't tell someone how will they know?

Is Your Life Being Stolen?

The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. 

My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

John 10:10

A thief steals.  That what thieves do.  Only thing they care about is that you have something they want, so they take it regardless what it takes to get it from you.  Your happiness is not even in their scope of thinking.  Your comfort is among the last things they would bother to consider.  Your peace of mind is not even on their radar.  If you have something they want, they will destroy you to get it.

 

Guess what?  I'm talking about identity theft.  Well, not the one where a million dollars will be put up to restore your identity.  I'm talking about an identity that we tend to forget about when struggles hit us and the storms of life seem to just keep coming.  

 

We feel defeated!  We feel as if we have let everyone down!  We feel ready to just give up because we don't think we have anything left within us to continue.  So we crumple and we wonder what happened to us.

 

Welcome to the tactics of our enemy!  If he can steal our identity, he can make us feel defeated.  If he can make us feel defeated, then he knows others will see us in turmoil.  If others see us in turmoil, they will see us either struggle back to our feet or they will see us give up.  What's our identity that the enemy tries so hard to steal?  Our identity as Children of the King of Kings!  

 

I will openly confess that there are times that I struggle and feel defeated.  There are times that I have failed because I have allowed the enemy to steal my joy from me. There have been times that I have neglected my armor and it has gotten rusty.  There are times that I have been so exhausted from trying to fight the barrage missiles from the enemy that I have forgotten WHOSE I am! I have been so distracted by the battle that I took my eyes off the one who fights IN MY PLACE!  I forgot my place as God's Child!

 

If you don't remember anything else, write this down so you will remember it:  My body may ache, my memory may fail, but no one can steal my identity as God's Child!

 

Romans 8:31-39 states it very clearly: 

 

³¹ What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? ³² Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? ³³ Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. ³⁴ Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

³⁵ Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? ³⁶ (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) ³⁷ No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

³⁸ And I am convinced that NOTHING can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. ³⁹ No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
 
 

Excuse Me.....Are You Lost?

If you go the wrong way—to the right or to the left—you will hear a voice behind you saying, “This is the right way. You should go this way.”

Isaiah 30:21 

 

Okay, I admit it....I speak sarcasm with some fluency.  I was picking up a couple of items from the grocery store the other day and when I got to the checkout, the exhausted clerk asked in a monotone exasperated I-Have-To-Ask-You-This tone of voice, "Did you find everything you were looking for?"  I wish I could say that I could not stop the words from coming out of my mouth, but that would be a lie.  Without looking up from the card reading contraption, I said, "Well......I found the peanut butter and the bread, but I just could NOT find where you keep the walrus jelly."

 

Men seem to have a reputation for not wanting to stop to ask directions.  I rode with one person who had a GPS on their phone and this person got angry with the voice because it was female and he didn't like some female telling him where to go.  But let's face facts, we don't like being lost, but we're also not very good at following directions sometimes either.

 

But imagine if you were traveling along the road, lost and looking for some sign of where you need to go, when you hear a voice in your ear say, "Might want to turn around, the bridge ahead is out and I love you enough to keep you safe."  Hmmmm......'But God doesn't really talk to us like that, Padre?" (I heard you say that).  But consider this, Scripture gives us direction and teaches us right from wrong.  Scripture even gives us some wonderful examples of good people making big blunders because they didn't follow God's directions.

 

Ponder this thought for a moment:  When you go to a city you have never visited before, do you know how to get to all the destinations you need?  NO!  It takes time and practice to learn the roads and the shortcuts (the ones that really are shortcuts, not the "more scenic" ones that take hours longer).  When we make it a habit to read the Bible, we will begin to find the direction we need to go.  When there's a question in our mind, God will bring to memory a verse that tells us where to go.

 

It's still not too late to begin a Bible Study....just sayin'  

Where Do I Go From Here?

Afterward the Lord asked Cain, “Where is your brother? Where is Abel?”

“I don’t know,” Cain responded. “Am I my brother’s guardian?”

But the Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground! Now you are cursed and banished from the ground, which has swallowed your brother’s blood. No longer will the ground yield good crops for you, no matter how hard you work! From now on you will be a homeless wanderer on the earth.”

Cain replied to the Lord, “My punishment is too great for me to bear!  You have banished me from the land and from your presence; you have made me a homeless wanderer. Anyone who finds me will kill me!”

The Lord replied, “No, for I will give a sevenfold punishment to anyone who kills you.” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain to warn anyone who might try to kill him.

~Genesis 4:9-15

Cain had made a VERY bad choice.  He took a life out of anger.  Cain made an even worse mistake in taking the life of his own flesh and blood...out of anger.  When God confronted Cain, notice how Cain's sarcasm is used as a defense: “I don’t know,” Cain responded. “Am I my brother’s guardian?”

When you are dealing with God, it is NEVER a good idea to use sarcasm, especially as a defense regarding our own actions.  God called Cain out on the fact that Abel's very lifeblood cried out to Him from the dirt, and Cain knew it was over.  God pronounced His judgement and told Cain that from here out, life was going to be painful.  

But also notice something about God's Mercy!  When God's judgement is pronounced, Cain told God that his life would be too hard for him to live.  People would kill him if they found out that he took a life, especially his own brother's life.  And as a wanderer, he would be left to fend for himself which would leave him vulnerable to thieves, bandits, and thugs.  But God's Mercy is shown when He tells Cain that ANYONE who does him harm will be punished SEVEN TIMES worse than anything they had done to Cain. And to prove His point, God put a mark on Cain.

Have you ever messed up SO badly that you thought your life and usefulness were over?  Have you even made such a bad decision that you wondered how you would ever recover? I have.  It's not a good feeling at all!  You wonder why God even allows another breath...yet He does.  Is it for His own grins and giggles watching our torment?  No.  God has two reasons for keeping us here: 1) So we can learn from our mistakes and, thus, help others to avoid making the same mistakes, 2) Because God is in the miracle business and can make diamonds out of lumps of coal!

You see, we demonize Cain for his rash decision and for just being a bad guy.  But God uses Cain's story to remind us that, even though we mess up and must accept the consequences for our decisions, God is STILL merciful to us!  He doesn't have to be, but loves us so much that He rains down His mercy on us every day!