Christianity · Devotional · Jesus · Uncategorized

Made new 

The ocean uses everything in it for the benefit of the ones living in it. One of my favorite childhood pastimes was searching for seaglass. Sea glass is beautiful and highly coveted by beach combers, but do you realize what sea glass is? It’s trash, bits of discarded glass and pottery that some lazy person has dropped on the beach or in the Ocean instead of taking it to the garbage. After being discarded this trash is thrown and tossed and caressed and formed by the sea. Let me repeat that. This garbage is formed into something beautiful and sought after. 

We are like sea glass. In truth most people start off pretty worthless, and then God takes them. There is tossing and rough beatings getting us to our potential  but in the center of that is a gentle guiding hand and in the end we are beautiful and refined. 

As the sea makes broken bottles into shimmering crystals, God makes broken people into strong warriors.

Devotional · dreams do come true · Jesus · Uncategorized

Mistake

You are being yourself and a person questions your character, your dream, what you are doing, your goals and suddenly your concerned. Maybe they’re right, this person is a stronger Chritian than you are, they work at food drives and go on missions trips and live the Christian life that seems to be right. So are you wrong? 

Guess what, what that person thinks or says, does not matter! Yikes, I know right, can you say that about someone else who is a brother or sister in Christ? Yes you can. Constructive criticism is a good thing but these people don’t know what your life is supposed to be all about. They don’t know who God made you to be. I once heard it said that life is a guessing game. And it’s true. Even if you’re a Christian you don’t know what your life is meant to be, and you look at the options guessing, wondering which is right; the difference between a Christian guessing and a non-Christian guessing is the Christian knows the one who knows the answers. Do you know why God gave Moses a burning bush? Because he would never have done what God needed him to do without such a sure sign. Even after all of the wonders God did through him when God asked him to go talk to Pharoh again Moses said, “oh, I don’t know God, even your own people won’t listen to me so why should Pharoh?” God stood there and shook His head, ” seriously Moses? We’re going through this self doubt thing again? What more do I have to do to show you I have this under control?” Then God gave in and again sent Arron to help but the miracles were done through Moses. Do you have any idea how many people told Moses he was a failure, he was wrong, he was doing the wrong things? I bet Moses said to himself more than once, ‘why didn’t I ignore that bush and keep going? I had a good, quiet life as a shepherd and now I’m stuck in the desert with all these complaining, negative people!’ However God had a big plan for Moses. Moses wasn’t a dreamer, that was Joseph, Moses never dreamed of doing all the things he did, but God had planned on it and was leading him to the right bush at the right time. Not everybody can see your potential and they may be down on you because they just don’t get it. Moses simply followed what he saw God leading him to do and when he didn’t see he prayed and God said ‘see that staff of wood in your hand? Stretch it out toward the sea.’ Guess what, that sea parted right down the middle and never again has anyone seen anything like it, even Pharohs sorcerers couldn’t copy that one.

So ignore negative voices and don’t take anything to heart that sounds like it’s not from God. He knows His dream for you, no one else does. Thank you Jesus for you dream for me. Amen. 

Christianity · Devotional · dreams do come true · Jesus · Uncategorized

The courage to stand

You will not have to fight this battle; take up your positions, stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you.- 2 Chronicles 17

When we are down and are having a hard time seeing something we are after succeed what is the first thing most of us do? We look for a way to make what we are after happen; because why shouldn’t it happen right now? Why shouldn’t we get that raise and make more money? Why shouldn’t that play we’ve written get produced today? Why shouldn’t the healing we’ve been asking and waiting for happen now? And all that happens is we start to worry more and more and more, until we are consumed by fear. Sometimes God isn’t wanting us to work to attain the things we are after, sometimes God simply wants us to stand. To wait. To trust that He will take care of it all.

It’s funny how doing nothing except praying is often the hardest thing we can do. It should be simple but it’s frustrating  and makes us feel restless. That doesn’t change the fact that God knows what He’s doing, and being annoyed and afraid is not going to make our desires happen faster. Sometimes we just need to have the faith to stand firm and trust God. Our dreams can and most likely will happen, just not in the timing we desire or exspect.

Uncategorized

My friend

There comes a time in every Christian’s life when they feel the world standing against them. The devil makes us feel small and weak. In those moments what should we do? What should we say? What should we pray? Answer: we should trust God! We should say “look world! I’ve got God on my side! What have you got?” We should praise and God will show us what to pray. 

“In this world you will have trouble, but take heart I have overcome the world.” -Jesus 

In Jesus we are safe, in Jesus we are saved!

Christianity · Jesus · Uncategorized

Small flame

Inside us all is a candle burning. It’s a candle lit to help guide us through the darkness in this life. Our candle is called Savior, Healer, Hope, Friend, lamb, Jesus, Son of God.
If we do not acknowledge our candle it will grow dim and someday even go out, but it is a candle that will not forsake us and the millisecond we are ready for that candle again it will relight and shine through us as brightly as it first did, maybe even brighter.
Christianity · Devotional · Jesus · Uncategorized

Screaming alone?

In God, I will praise His word, In God have I put my trust, I will not be afraid; what can flesh do unto me? –Psalm 56:4
How many times have we sat back and just screamed because we didn’t know what else to do? Instead of fears and screams, we need prayer and praise. As long as we have God on our side nothing can hurt us, it’s when we try to do things without God that we stumble and fall. When we stumble with Jesus He is there to catch us and we never fully hit the ground. Jesus is there with His hand on our backs guiding us along, even though we do not always feel Him, He is there, and we have no reason to be afraid. He dries our tears when we cry and jumps with us when we are glad, He is our friend and our savior.

Christianity · Devotional · Jesus · Uncategorized

Patience and Understanding

Patience and understanding are two things which cause most people to groan inside when mentioned. Not many want to go to the effort of having patience with other people and trying to understand their situation takes too much brain strain; so what is our solution? We get agitated and sometimes even lash out, (why else would cars have horns?) We look to vent our frustration and make ourselves feel better, often causing the irritating person to feel worse about their private problem that is causing them to bother us. Most people don’t go out of their way to be a problem, some do, but not most. We all have moments where we drive people crazy. Patience and understanding are things we want other people to have with us but are not things we want to have with others. Like I said, it’s too much work. But when Jesus said, “Treat others as you would have others treat you,” He meant it. Jesus had the ultimate patience, ‘of course He did,’ you say, ‘He is God’s son.’ True but He was made into full man and experienced the same temptations we do; don’t you think that Jesus felt annoyed at times? Any of the rest of us would have eventually just told the pharisees after the second, or even the first encounter with them what they could do with their opinions. Jesus didn’t because He did not yield to the spirit of irritation. Yes we need to vent, but let us try to instead vent to God and tell Him how we feel and ask Him what we should do about it. Don’t feel too bad about being annoyed, but try to see the situation from the other person’s point of view and then renew an old saying, ‘what would Jesus do?’

Christianity · Devotional · Uncategorized

Laughing at yesterday

I know it is not scriptural, really, but when you think of it- discontentment can be such a subtle sin that we don’t even realize that it is there.
If only we could all laugh at yesterday and then forget all that went wrong and move on. We are all weak, and prone to sin, but the sins of yesterday are past and as long as we have asked for forgiveness we are all saved from them. As long as you can laugh at yesterday and smile at the possibilities of today nothing will hold you back.

We must learn to take our contentment from God and hold tight to His unchanging hand.

As my mother says: If we truly lived in contentment and fully trusted God how peaceful our lives could be. – Lynne VanBeek.

We can learn to not be discontented by trusting in God and knowing that somehow all things that happen to us are for our good, though we may not see it until the very end. Trust is Faith and Faith in God draws us closer to Him.

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What we want isn’t always what we get

Commit thy works into Jehovah, and thy purposes shall be established. –Proverbs 16:13

It’s too true; every time we try to do things on our own there is a 50/50 chance that we will fail. Even if we succeed the accomplishment wont be as great as it would have been if we had included God.

Make your life easier, pray before you proceed to take on a new task. Once you’ve prayed, take the task on with vigor knowing it will be in the hands of the almighty.

Don’t waste your time and health on the stress of doing things without God; if He wants it to happen it will happen, and if He doesn’t want it to happen there isn’t anything you can do to change that.

Take heart though, even if what you want isn’t what God has planned, what He gives you in exchange will be far more wonderful than anything you could have imagined.

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Passion

Blessed are they that keep his testimonies. That serves him with their whole heart. – Psalms 119:2

When you get a passion, you search it; you think of it often and always are happy to be involved in it.
If we make Jesus our passion we will be able to know him better and to serve Him wholeheartedly because he is our passion. When we do this in order with His laws we will be blessed for following His will.
When you make Jesus your passion, it is easier to see that you are also His.