What About Them?

As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.

~Ecclesiastes 11:5

 



The world is made up of some pretty amazing people. All around the world there are men, women, boys, and girls doing some incredible things-living above the odds and taken on some monumental feats. As spectators we look at these people wondering were we can improve or maybe at least touch a small portion of what they have taken a hold of. Some of us have enough on our plates, some of us want more, some of us are trying to push off our plate what has been allotted to us, but no matter our position we still are amazing. Why? Because God created us.  

 

Often times we can look at life through such a small glass when we try to define it and its quality. We can even lose our peripheral vision not even spotting the lives that are around us. This is a huge problem, one that needs to be worked on consistently in order not to push people out of the way because of our limited vision.We should always be careful not to assume that other's see us so they should move, for if our vision is limited what does it say about others? We must not forget there are those who are completely dependent on others for everything. Like a fetus or infant, most young and older adults need assistance in the same manner. When we think of great achievement we tend to think of the caregiver. Do we ever think of the life that needs to be cared for? What about them? Is the fetus or infant not as important as the parents? Are the mentally or physically challenged not achievers in their own right?

 

When we convince ourselves that a life that does not contribute is not life at all, we have just found ourselves living dead smack in a warped zone.Every life has purpose, every life achieves something great in it's time, whether it's broadcasted or not. Every life brings elements to our lives that would not have transpired in otherway. Every life contributes something of value to our society in some capacity.  Life is not brought forth for us to decide the quality of it, but to value it and cherish it in all of its many forms. What we may consider a burden can be a time of great relief as we learn to see broader and deeper into the lives that are all around us. It may hurt many of us to be stretched to this capacity, but what about them?  How do they feel? How do they relate to pain? We can't bypass these real and serious questions. They must be asked, they must be remedied in a way that brings healing. As long as we live life in a place that carries our own view we will have to ask the question-what about them?


Father, our wonderful Creator, thank You for changing our vision to see life the way you see it-precious, valulable, and simply amazing.  Up to now we have not been the best at sharing and sacrifising, so we are asking for Your forgiviness. We confess our lives have been lived with a limited vision and if any one can broaden that vision it is You.  Streatch us Yahwah, make us to behold others in a way that brings new life and restoration no matter the state. You know how to relate to Your creation better then we ever will be, show us how to make a difference with those You have placed in our proximity.  For Your honor, for Your praise, and for their liberity.  In Jesus name, Amen.

(If you have been blessed-leave a comment. I would love to hear your heart.)

Disclaimer:The information contained in these blogs are for reflective purposes only, and may not apply to your situation. The author, publisher, distributor and provider provides no warranty about the content or accuracy of content enclosed. Information provided is subjective, but it contains an objective source. Keep this in mind when reviewing this blog and when considering using content for other purposes outside of this blog(http://www.easywritingtemplates.com/disclaimers/sample-disclaimer-statementss/). Plagiarism is strongly discourged. Studying the scriptures is highly recommended.

 

 

Mindy McCready

"The thief comes not, but for to steal, kill, and destroy; I come that they might have life and have it more abundantly."

~John 10:10

 

 

As I read the article of Mindy McCready(http://music.msn.com/music/article.aspx?news=791263) death and the battles that surrounded her during her career and after, it brought my mind to the above scripture.  I thought of Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, and many before them, who lost the battle to their inward struggles. The enemy of our souls is relentless and comes not only but to steal, kill, and destroy. No matter how much talent, money, status, family, and friends we have the enemy still preys on us. He is very familiar with the weak, simple, desperate, prideful, and bruised. He studies us and offers us what we believe at that moment will grant us peace, happiness, approval, and acceptance. We receive his poison as Snow White did the red delicious apple, but once we bit into it our lives are forever changed. Like Mindy McCready, the more battles that come the more we try to hide behind what the enemy once offered us to quiet our souls, but it only brings more disruption, more noise. The enemies delicacies can never satisfy, it drags us deeper and deeper into despair and desperation. We long for peace, but the enemy keeps us busy and distracted so we believe that we finally have captured it. His ways are strategically designed to kills us, to keep us on an abusive roller coaster of denial and confusion.

 

We as human beings are no match for the enemies tactics, we will never win against his ploys-never. No matter how many great ideas we come up with, how many scientific breakthroughs, how many rallies, marches, technology advancement, government assistance, or church's we build,  the enemy will always have us where he wants us-deceived. Understanding this one fact, shows us why we need Truth, why we need Jesus. Why Jesus came. Why He died. He did not come to give us a bigger house, a better job, more money, fame, more friends, status, a perfect spouse, He came "that we might have life, and have it more abundantly." Jesus' life is not found in what the world deems life, it is found in knowing Him and believing on who He says He is-"the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). Everything outside of Jesus, the enemy controls and he comes to kill us. Nothing and I mean nothing the enemy will ever offer us will save us nor grant us peace. He will lie to us, he will abuse us, and he will blame us for it all.

 

Mindy McCready life was stolen. She may have had a choice like so many before her and like many of us today, but when we don't choose Jesus, every other choice we make will always be the same-death.  Jesus wants us to know today, that His love is available and the life we are living is not the life He died for us to live.  He wants our hearts and He wants to heal them and He can and will-just believe.  Anything and I mean anything that we do apart from Christ means nothing and that even includes our best intentions. Let's not be like Mindy, Whitney, or Michael, covering up our pain with what the enemy offers, let's choose Jesus and find everything our heart every wanted and so much more.

Father, oh how we need You. Oh how we desperately need You. More than money, more than fame, more than friends, more than family, more than comfort, we need You. The enemy has lied to us and we have believed him. We have accepted his lesser ways into our lives and today we are paying for it. Our family, friends, community, and world are paying for it. Your Son came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. Forgive us O Lord for living below this standard, forgive us for doing what we wanted to do in order to maintain our idols. Father I am asking You today in Jesus name to take away everything and everyone that is not bearing fruit in our lives. We know that whatever you cut out of our lives, You replace with eternal blessings beyond our imaginations. Show us the areas that still need to be confessed and help us to turn from those things once they have been revealed. Thank You Father for sending us Your Son, so that we no longer live unto ourselves or the enemies lies. Thank You for setting us free in Jesus.  Amen.

(If you have been blessed-leave a comment. Would love to hear your heart.)

Disclaimer:The information contained in these blogs are for reflective purposes only, and may not apply to your situation. The author, publisher, distributor and provider provides no warranty about the content or accuracy of content enclosed. Information provided is subjective. Keep this in mind when reviewing this blog and when considering using content for other purposes outside of this blog(http://www.easywritingtemplates.com/disclaimers/sample-disclaimer-statementss/). Plagiarism is strongly discourged. Studying the scriptures is highly recommended.


 

Sorry

For godly sorrow works repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world works death."

 ~2 Corinthians 7:10

 

 

I was in elementary when I got caught stealing, red-handed. I remember the consequence better then the actual item that brought me to sorrow. I remember the security person who was a part of my fate, she was a women and I remember the look on my mother's face-murder. I also remember my heart beating so hard against my chest I could hear it. Every thought possible raced through my head, but the one thought that gave me the most chills was having to face my dad. I just knew my mom was going to tell him, and she did.  My mom and I left that store in silence, but it was my first lesson in being sorrowful, not for hurting my mom and dad, but for getting caught.

 

Does this sound familiar? Many of us have been here, or still is here. We go forth in doing or saying things that we know goes against the laws of God, but we press anyway. When we get caught, we are immediately stunned that it even happened. Our first thought is not about the hurt we have caused God, but rather on how we are going to redeem ourselves from the current situation. We think of what we are going to lose-reputation, position, family, opportunity, etc., but God is no where in our thoughts, only self. When we sin, the first offended is God. They are His laws, they are His precepts that we violate. We tend to get our wires criss-crossed in the process.  We work harder to salvage self, then we do trying to make things right with God.

 

King David (2 Samuel 11 & 12), after committing adultery and murder, found it impossible to have right relationship with anyone, not even himself, until he confessed his sin before God. There are many of us that have bypassed this crucial step and do not have peace of mind. We are full of guilt and the result is anger, overcompensation, and denial. Some of us have become hard and truth is no longer permitted into our hearts. Both of these places need to be confessed in order for us to have peace with God and our fellow man. When David's sin was brought before him by the prophet Nathan, David did not try to salvage self, instead he confessed His sin to God and allowed God to rectify the situation His way.

 

God wants to see us free today. If we don't have the godly sorrow that brings about true repentance we can ask God to give it to us. He wants us to ask. He wants to see us healthy and whole. We don't have to live a life trying to preserve self, God wants to preserve us and can do a better job doing it then we ever could. Let's set ourself free today, let's confess our sins and repent, and find the rest our soul so desperately needs.

 

Father, thank You again, for all that you do in us. Thank you for what You desire to do in us. We know that more than we like to admit, we don't consider You when we sin, but just ourselves. We don't even think of how what we did hurt Your heart-Jesus. He who gave His life, so that we may have life more abudant (John 10:10). Forgive us O Lord. We confess that we have tried to cover our sins, deny our sins, justify our sins, blame shift our sins, but You know the truth. Thank you for showing us how much You love us by showing us our sins, so that we may confess them and find rest. You desire to heal us, heal us now O Lord as we confess our sins and repent. In Jesus Name, Amen.

(If you have been blessed-leave a comment. Would love to hear your heart.) 

Disclaimer:The information contained in these blogs are for reflective purposes only, and may not apply to your situation. The author, publisher, distributor and provider provides no warranty about the content or accuracy of content enclosed. Information provided is subjective, but it contains an objective source. Keep this in mind when reviewing this blog and when considering using content for other purposes outside of this blog(http://www.easywritingtemplates.com/disclaimers/sample-disclaimer-statementss/). Plagiarism is strongly discourged. Studying the scriptures is highly recommended.  



STOP

"...Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads." And I said, "Who are you, Lord?" And the Lord said, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting"(Acts 9:4-5).

 

 

Have you ever wonder why as human beings when told to do something we tend to be tempted to want to do the opposite? This desire starts at a very early age. Tell a toddler not to touch something, not to eat something, not to go out there, to sit,..yeah very early. This behavior grows right up with us and the older we get, the more unwise we seem to become, because for some reason we now believe we know better. I don't know better then what, but we really believe we know better. Do we?

 

Looking a little more closer at the life of Saul, later named Paul, we see that in all of his zeal he really  believed that his actions were justified, even got a stamp of approval from the synagogue itself to take out all follower's of Christ(Read Acts 9:1-2). He was moving right along strongly in his resolve only to come to a complete stop. That ever happened to you?  Your moving in a direction that you believe is right, you even have the approval of others, and then BAM?! That's what happened to Paul and that is what has happened to many of us. Our resolve was shattered. Our ideas were smashed. Our plans got stopped dead in their tracks. It happened so suddenly to us, that all we could do was submit, and that was just the right posture for us to receive instructions.

Paul's life was never the same after Jesus stopped him in his tracks, never. His mind was made up and he knew whom he believed(2Timothy 1:12). That same resolve he had in self, was now rooted in Christ and what an amazing change was made in him. When Christ stops us we will be forever changed as we submit. There are many who try to "kick against the goads" only to find themselves more exhausted, bruised, and depleted. The image of us trying to fight against God after He stops us reminds me of a Broadway musical, "Your Arms Too Short to Box with God: Soaring Celebration in Song and Dance." I did a little research and found out where that title originated from, and it was taken from  published sermons by James Waldon Johnson titled, "The Prodigal Son" in "God's Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse"-1927. It reads like this:

Young man-
Young man-
Your arms too short to box with God.
But Jesus spake in a parable, and he said:
A certain man had two sons,
Jesus didn't give this man a name,
But his is God Almighty.
And Jesus didn't call these sons by name,
But every young man,
Every where,
Is on of these two sons

 

God loves us too much to keep us moving in a direction that was never designed for us to travel on. If you been fighting against God, just stop, you are no match for Him. Sooner or later you will stop and may Jesus be the one you meet on that road.

Father, thank You for stopping us. Thank You for caring enough to stop us. Thank you for your arms that are opened wide and for Your love that runs deep. There are many of us who are kicking against the goads and don't want to submit, but I pray that submission will soon come and fighting will cease against You. We need You, and I thank You that You know this, and that is why You tell us today-STOP. May we submit to Your word, so that we will receive new instructions and be forever changed. In Jesus name, Amen.



Disclaimer:The information contained in these blogs are for reflective purposes only, and may not apply to your situation. The author, publisher, distributor and provider provides no warranty about the content or accuracy of content enclosed. Information provided is subjective, but it contains an objective source. Keep this in mind when reviewing this blog and when considering using content for other purposes outside of this blog(http://www.easywritingtemplates.com/disclaimers/sample-disclaimer-statementss/). Plagiarism is strongly discourged. Studying the scriptures is highly recommended.