Has God Ever Amazed You?

Since before time began
    no one has ever imagined,
No ear heard, no eye seen, a God like you
    who works for those who wait for him.
You meet those who happily do what is right,
    who keep a good memory of the way you work.

Isaiah 64:4-5

 

There was a time when I actually stopped speaking to God because my mindset was "What have YOU done for ME lately?."  I figured if God truly loved me as much as His Bible said, then my life should be a walk through the gardens with nary a mosquito and nary a thorn. You know how God responded to my attitude?  He let me encounter so many thorns, mosquitoes, snakes, scorpions, poison ivy, and all manner of ill-tempered critters that I literally BEGGED Him to talk with me.

 

The more He taught me the more amazed I became.  Did you know that every single breath is a gift of God?  Every cell in our bodies is a gift from God! Every moment is a gift from God!  Everything that irritates us is a gift from God (to teach us)!  Every person we encounter, whether we know them are not, are gifts from God (because we have the opportunity to share God with them through friendly greetings, smiles, caring interactions)!

 

God truly is AMAZING and He continues to amaze me!  If you haven't been amazed by Him lately, probably need to have a personal chat with Him and then brace yourself!

 

What About...? What if....?

Have you heard the phrase: "In these uncertain times..."?  Let me ask this: Have we ever lived in CERTAIN TIMES?  You see, during "these uncertain times" so many focus their attention, anxieties, and efforts on tomorrow.  Yet tomorrow is not guaranteed, is it?  

 

We can NOT live in yesterday because it's already done.  

 

We can NOT live in tomorrow because it's not here yet.

 

We can ONLY live in today because that's where God has put us!  Celebrate today!

The World Wants Us To Be Afraid!

But when I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. I praise God for what he has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me? (Psalms 56:3-4) 

There was this guy named Daniel.  He loved God and prayed every day.  The king had been convinced that the only one people need to pray to was him. Long story short, Daniel was caught praying to God and not the king, the king signed the order to have Daniel tossed to the lions.  In went Daniel, yet the lions merely yawned.  Next day, the king came back to see if God had saved Daniel, come to find out God had not only tamed the lions, but apparently made them not hungry for Daniel.  The king, ticked off for having been tricked into signing the order against Daniel, tossed his deceiving advisors in for the lions AND their families.  The lions didn't even let the advisors hit the floor before they were devoured.

Think what you will, but God reminds us every single day that His children are loved by Him so much that He protects our very souls!  The Psalmist says "What can mere mortals do to me?"  Mere mortals can kill the body, but ONLY if God allows it.  Mere mortals can NEVER kill our soul!  With all the fearmongering on the news and social media; with the panic causing people to shop as though the world is going to explode at any second; we are tempted to look at the circumstances instead of the Savior!

Think about it!  

"What Is Your Quest?"

If you search for good, you will find favor;
    but if you search for evil, it will find you!

Proverbs 11:27 

 

Did you know that you will find what you search for?  Having said that, a word of caution is in order: Be CAREFUL what you search for!  It may not be what you wanted to find.  

 

If you seen popularity understand that there are many ways to be "popular" and not all of them are positive.  

 

If you seek to riches, understand that your search will come with a very high cost! It will cost you friends, family, compassion, empathy, love.

 

However, if you seek to become closer to God, the benefits are beyond any positive we could ever imagine!  

 

Plain and Simple....you will find what you seek, thus, be extremely careful what you seek!

 

"Are You SERIOUS?"

No one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.

Matthew 24:36 

 

Not long ago, I heard an "Evangelistic Apostle" claim that we are in the end times and we should be in fear for our lives, but if you sent this person $100 cash, special prayers would be said on your behalf.  I remember thinking to myself, and I believe I asked God out loud, "Is this person serious?".  Are we truly in the end times?  Yes we are.  We've been entering the end times from the very moment Adam and Eve disobeyed God.

Should we be afraid? As a child of God...no.  Why would God fill His Scriptures with reminders for us to "Fear not, for I am with you"?  Why would God take the time and effort to send Jesus to pay our debt, if He meant for us to be so fearful?  Why would Jesus tell us that "I will be with you always, even to the end of the earth"?  Simple...God has prepared a place just of us.  And it's so much better than anything we could ever imagine.

Now, a word of caution...Never once has God ever advised us to not be careful.  Never once has He commanded us to act without thinking or to simply act foolishly.  NOT ONCE!!!  In fact, the Apostle Paul reminds us, in his second letter to Timothy Chapter 1 and verse 7, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."

 

Why would God go to all this trouble and effort to remind us to use our mind, use His power and love, and reject fear if He was simply lying to us?  Has God EVER lied?  Not that I have found.  But each of us must make the conscious decision to trust Him or not.  I vote to trust Him!

It's All In Your Mind!

Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

Philippians 4:8

 

This may seem like a smack to the back of the head, but please bear with me.  What makes our day a "good" day or a "bad" day?  Believe it or not, it is not our circumstances; it's not our coworkers; it's not our bosses; it's not the public with whom we must interact; it's not our spouse; it's not our paycheck.....it's your mind!  

 

You see, if we allow outside forces to dictate our day...we are slaves, because we have surrendered our power to choose to our circumstances!  We can NOT control what happens TO us, but we CAN control how we react to what happens to us!  Therefore, when we consciously CHOOSE to focus on things that are positive, our attitude will follow.  If we go through our day on "autopilot" then we are controlled by circumstance.

 

God gave us a mind to use, not to let it idle through life in neutral.  God gives us HIS power to choose how we will act and react.  If we choose not to make use of His gift, then we are CHOOSING to bounce aimlessly from emotion to emotion.  Isn't it time we took back the power God has given us to control our minds and, thus, our attitudes?

One Breath At A Time

[Our enemy] comes to steal and kill and destroy, but I came to give life—life in all its fullness.

John 10:10 

 

You've seen the news...people panicking, hoarding, fearful, worrying.  Anxiety has taken hold and we act as though we have surrendered to the dread.  Our enemy LOVES when we take our eyes off of Christ so stare into the abyss of hopelessness and fear.  What better way to steal our joy than with in-you-face panic?  What better way to kill your love for others than with the fear of perhaps not having enough for yourself?  What better way to destroy your ministry than with the terror of the unknown?

 

We only get ONE BREATH AT A TIME!  We are not guaranteed anything beyond that!  If you take your last breath after you've spent every breath up to that point in a panic, what have you gained?  If you take your last breath after you've hoarded supplies only for yourself, how does that benefit you?  If you take your last breath after you've chosen to show disdain for others, what lasting ministry memory will you leave?

 

When the temptation comes to look away from Christ, DEFY our enemy and stare ever intently at His loving smile, because He came to give us a FULL life! 

Can You REALLY Trust God?

Don’t be anxious about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7 

 

How many times in Scripture are we told "Don't be afraid" and "Don't be anxious"? Lots! How well do we put these instructions into practice? Hmm........  I can hear it now: "What do you mean Don't Be Anxious and Don't Be Afraid? Don't you know what's going on in the world?"  Well, actually, I am aware of what's going on.  But why would God repeatedly tell us to Not be Afraid and/or Anxious if He's in control?

 

I have the privilege of facilitating a class for new deputies called "Law Enforcement Stress Awareness."  Part of this class is the clarification between Stress and Anxiety.  Stress are like arrows that come at us through the course of our day: deadlines, bills, annoyances, expectations, etc.  Our internal reaction to stress is called Anxiety.  

 

Think about it, let's say you have a customer who is extremely demanding and not very nice.  They are your stress.  How you react to their (anger, frustration, irritation) is your anxiety!

 

God tells us to not be anxious, therefore, instead of getting upset that they have arrived, turn them over to God AND turn YOURSELF over to Him as well. Now, God NEVER tells us to forget to take precautions or make preparations or act foolishly!    So we CAN trust God to do His job, and we can stop trying to do His job for Him or tell Him how we think He should do His job.

  

The question now becomes: Are you going to trust God or swim in the sea of anxiety? 

In all the work you are doing, work the best you can. Work as if you were doing it for the Lord, not for people.

Colossians 3:23 

 

Let me ask you a question: Do you love your job?  If you do, that's fantastic.  Do you also love the people with whom you work?  How about the public?  I can honestly say, and this is my confession, I haven't always loved the people with whom I worked and I have not been overly fond of dealing with the public either.

 

My first job was as a fry cook for a local eatery.  While I admit that I enjoyed actually earning a bit of money, I did NOT like the incessant heat and always coming home smelling like grease. The longer I worked there, the worse my attitude became toward the job and my co-workers.  One Sunday, the sermon was about working for God in whatever job you had.  That didn't sit well with me because why would God put me in such an awful job with such irritating people?

 

Honestly, that experience was not singular.  I've had more miserable situations than I dare to consider.  However, the whole concept of working for God regardless of the job you have stuck in my mind.  The more I prayed about the more it became clear, much to my dismay, that my attitude was the problem!  God revealed to me that I can't change other people.  Other people can't change me (without my cooperation).  But I CAN change my attitude and leave the rest to God to deal with.

 

Did that make all of my work situations better?  Nope!  But my attitude has gotten better, and I am learning every day to change my attitude and let God handle the others.

Look Into The Night Sky

Lent is a season of seeking forgiveness.  Let's humble our hearts by considering a few things:  What have we done that God didn't do first? What do we have that God didn't first give to us? Have we ever built anything that God couldn't destroy? Have we carved any monument that the Master of Heaven can't reduce to a pile of dust?

Consider Isaiah 40:25-26: “To whom will you compare Me? Who is My equal?” asks the Holy One.  Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars?  He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name. Because of His great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing."

When we consider who God truly is, we cannot help but be humble, grateful, and love the fact He calls us by name as a Father calls His children in love. 

"I'M RIGHT!"

Pride.... God hates pride.  Why? Quite simply, God resists the proud because the proud resist God.  You see, arrogant pride refuses to admit to being wrong. The arrogantly prideful refuses to confess to sin, refuses to repent, and never asks forgiveness from God or anyone!  

Ever have someone wrong you, and they KNOW they wronged you, but they wouldn't admit it?  They refuse to ask forgiveness or apologize.  Guess what?  The arrogantly prideful may even claim to be a Christian, yet their actions and attitudes resemble of one who wants to BE God!

Pride is a hidden danger!  It is a hidden reef that will shipwreck the soul, and drown the spirit.  Pride comes at a HIGH price!  The truly wise will not pay that high price because they choose to stand on God's offer of grace. "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (1 Peter 5:5).  Why would the arrogantly prideful want the offer of God's grace?

Here's something to consider: Humility is happy to do what pride refuses to do.  The humble heart readily admits the need for God, willingly confesses sin, and kneels before God's mighty hand.  God keeps ALL of His promises so our hope should be unshakable.