"Fear not little flock, for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." Let's me know that when I feel deprived of something or am lacking something (or someone), that God is still good and loves me immensely. Just today I felt sad for a brief moment that I don't currently have any prosepect for marriage on the horizon. I know that this is bad news for a Christian who feels the desire to be married. Satan likes to tell us how much God is holding out on us. Chiefly, he tempts us through our eyes. Things that we see. So, I may be tempted instantly through my eyes.
What helps me to not get angry at God or loose my cool is to remember in the promise of Jesus that it is the Father's good pleasure to give me all good things. I can trust that if this thing or person will be really good for me then it would come in God's providence. If this is just a temptation, it is thrown in front of me to make me doubt the goodness and protection of God over my life.
When I am tempted my immediate reaction is to begin thanking God for all that he has given me. This helps me keep from desiring things that would be damaging to my relationship with God and to maintain victory over the Enemy who is out to kill, steal, and destroy. He will lie and do everything else under the sun to steal glory from God, kill our relationship with Him and destroy our usefulness as a creature created to give glory to God.
Showing posts with label God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label God. Show all posts
Monday, January 26, 2009
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Prayer - a blessing for the Christian
6"But you, when you pray, (H)go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and (I)your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. Matthew 6:6
23"Moreover, as for me, (A)far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you; but (B)I will instruct you in the good and right way. 1 Samuel 12:23
In my own life, these scriptures have helped me to be constant in prayer and powerful in seeing requests answered. This is not a magic formula to get your selfish requests answered however. If you want to see God working in your life to accomplish His will through you, then you will pray things that God wants to happen (salvation, repentance, changed lives, His glory known).
Don't pray for his will in your life if you are unwilling to obey him in your daily life. Don't presume that you deserve better or are better than anyone else. You must pray for God to work in other people's life and pray unselfishly.
An example is when someone asks you to pray for them that you know they are godly persons. You should pray for that request until God answers it for them. If someone you know is unsaved, you should make sure you are saved first (Romans 8:16, Romans 8:14) and then pray for their salvation. Another example is when someone mentions to you some scripture that they think has been impactful in their life or some doctrine that you may never have heard about or something that you should go and study. You will hinder your spiritual growth if you do not make an effort to understand that concept.
Also, I have found that people may not ask you to pray for them but need prayer. For example, a group of guys that I meet with have been studying the Bible for a while but haven't been seeing God's power displayed. I know the leader of the group is praying for the guys so I decide to join in praying for the same thing the group leader is praying for (Matthew 18:20). This verse is talking about praying in groups and it is certainly effective to pray in groups but I think the verse is talking about two brothers earnestly praying for the same thing with the same desire in mind. We often pray in groups thinking that is the magical formula. Simply, I don't think that is very effective unless the people in the group are Christians and are praying for the same thing and are doing it with unselfish motives.
So, as I have been praying more, I have been seeing the working of God more strongly among my family and friends. Hopefully, these things will help you as well.
23"Moreover, as for me, (A)far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you; but (B)I will instruct you in the good and right way. 1 Samuel 12:23
In my own life, these scriptures have helped me to be constant in prayer and powerful in seeing requests answered. This is not a magic formula to get your selfish requests answered however. If you want to see God working in your life to accomplish His will through you, then you will pray things that God wants to happen (salvation, repentance, changed lives, His glory known).
Don't pray for his will in your life if you are unwilling to obey him in your daily life. Don't presume that you deserve better or are better than anyone else. You must pray for God to work in other people's life and pray unselfishly.
An example is when someone asks you to pray for them that you know they are godly persons. You should pray for that request until God answers it for them. If someone you know is unsaved, you should make sure you are saved first (Romans 8:16, Romans 8:14) and then pray for their salvation. Another example is when someone mentions to you some scripture that they think has been impactful in their life or some doctrine that you may never have heard about or something that you should go and study. You will hinder your spiritual growth if you do not make an effort to understand that concept.
Also, I have found that people may not ask you to pray for them but need prayer. For example, a group of guys that I meet with have been studying the Bible for a while but haven't been seeing God's power displayed. I know the leader of the group is praying for the guys so I decide to join in praying for the same thing the group leader is praying for (Matthew 18:20). This verse is talking about praying in groups and it is certainly effective to pray in groups but I think the verse is talking about two brothers earnestly praying for the same thing with the same desire in mind. We often pray in groups thinking that is the magical formula. Simply, I don't think that is very effective unless the people in the group are Christians and are praying for the same thing and are doing it with unselfish motives.
So, as I have been praying more, I have been seeing the working of God more strongly among my family and friends. Hopefully, these things will help you as well.
Friday, October 24, 2008
My Mom's Blog
I read my mom's last blog post and I am very glad that she is my mother. God blesses us with mothers and it is a travesty when we don't treat them with love and kindness. Mom, if you read this, thank you for who you are and for bearing with my disrespect, disobedience and self-love.
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We are responsible for what we do in this life. God does offer forgiveness but not forever. We can not continue willfully living in rebellion and think that God owes us forgiveness and empathy. We must realize that men are called to repent and turn to God.
Mom's Last Blog
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We are responsible for what we do in this life. God does offer forgiveness but not forever. We can not continue willfully living in rebellion and think that God owes us forgiveness and empathy. We must realize that men are called to repent and turn to God.
Mom's Last Blog
Friday, July 11, 2008
Giving and Taking
Today, two verses have been particularly helpful to me and describe just what is happening in my life at this point:
Job 1:21 And he said, "Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."
Hebrews 12:3 "Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted."
When things go wrong and it looks like you may be loosing something important to you, how do you respond? Today, it seemed that way at work today and I really wanted to get angry and yell about my rights and threaten people if they were taken away.
When things go wrong, I have found that going away to a quiet place and praying helps. If you are a Christian and something important is lost, your response should be different than that of most people (threatening, anger, depression and burying your sorrows).
For me, it helps to keep my mouth shut when I am angry. I have not developed the qualities yet that allow me to immediately respond with trusting in God rather than in anxiety regarding the situation.
The question is, "Why should our response to disappointments be trust in God and forgiveness to those who offend us rather than anger and getting back with them for treading on our pride?" The answer is that God cares about those people and wants to see them turn from the road they are following toward destruction and follow Jesus who is the path to life. God also loves you and doesn't like to see you hurt but cares for you infinitely and would never allow anything to hurt you unless he knew it were for your good and theirs.
When people see our different response to disappointment, God is glorified. When we respond like the world does, we are glorified and the other person humiliated or hurt. Let us seek as Christians to glorify God so that other people will see His beauty rather than glorifying ourselves and contributing to the darkness in the world.
Job 1:21 And he said, "Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."
Hebrews 12:3 "Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted."
When things go wrong and it looks like you may be loosing something important to you, how do you respond? Today, it seemed that way at work today and I really wanted to get angry and yell about my rights and threaten people if they were taken away.
When things go wrong, I have found that going away to a quiet place and praying helps. If you are a Christian and something important is lost, your response should be different than that of most people (threatening, anger, depression and burying your sorrows).
For me, it helps to keep my mouth shut when I am angry. I have not developed the qualities yet that allow me to immediately respond with trusting in God rather than in anxiety regarding the situation.
The question is, "Why should our response to disappointments be trust in God and forgiveness to those who offend us rather than anger and getting back with them for treading on our pride?" The answer is that God cares about those people and wants to see them turn from the road they are following toward destruction and follow Jesus who is the path to life. God also loves you and doesn't like to see you hurt but cares for you infinitely and would never allow anything to hurt you unless he knew it were for your good and theirs.
When people see our different response to disappointment, God is glorified. When we respond like the world does, we are glorified and the other person humiliated or hurt. Let us seek as Christians to glorify God so that other people will see His beauty rather than glorifying ourselves and contributing to the darkness in the world.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Vicente
Vicente is a man who lives in Tequila. He pulls his eyes out of his head if you give him some pesos. On my year stay in Mexico, we saw him several times in the downtown area.His story is a little sad though. He was born into poverty, had no father or mother and couldn't see very well since he has been a child. He had to live off of whatever people would give him for many years but barely survived.
Along the way, he discovered that he could pop out his eyes and that people were fascinated by it and would pay money to see it. He has been able to support himself by doing this "carnival trick". The only problem is that years and years of doing this has left him nearly blind. I am thankful that I haven't had as hard of a life as Vicente has.
Some people are born in lives of luxury and some people are worse off than even him. The thing that God wants us to do is to be thankful no matter how our lives are. We should learn to be content with Him alone for our fulfillment.
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