Have you ever been asked the question if you had one thing you could change from your past what would it be? We all have stuff we wish we would have done a little differently things that could have changed how are current situations are. The question that I have been thinking about is if I had truly given that issue to God what would have happened? Its not based on what I would have done differently to change the situation it is what he would have done for me, if I had let him.
We all have decisions we need to make what school should I go to, should I stay at this job, should I move, should I be in this relationship, should I go to this church and so on. Things that we've probably taken to God and said, let me know what I need to do, help me figure out this situation. For me after this I feel peace and burden lifted off. But occasionally after a few days or a week if I haven't seen any change or sign of what to do with the situation I start to try and fix it on my own again. This is where that situation can turn into one of those things in your past you wish you could do differently.
Today as I was walking my dog and listening to my MP3 player I realized that there are a lot of things I did on my own and did not wait on God to direct me on and asked myself the question what would life be like now if I had waited on God?
It gave me comfort because I realized that if I now ask God and truly wait for him to direct me how good things can be.
It was like asking for peace all over again. I'm trying to fix things in certain situations I asked God to help me with, but God is still taking care of them and he will direct me. I just need to truly wait and I can see what great things he has in store instead of attempting to fix things on my own.
On this Sabbath after Thanksgiving this is something we should all truly be Thankful for. A God who came down and died for us and is taking care of us. Despite the fact we may not deserve it and the fact we don't always come to him like we should and we forget to trust in him. I am Thankful that even though I mess up God is always there with open arms waiting to help direct me to the right path.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 TLB
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
Forgiveness
"If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins."
Matthew 6:14-15
Lately I've been thinking about forgiveness, and how it truly works to forgive, and be forgiven. Lets say someone calls you a name or tells you an idea at work is stupid, and then later after being harassed by others says sorry. Your instinct response is that's okay, but secretly you hope someone does the same thing to them. So did you really forgive them?
Just as it says in the above verse Christ expects us to forgive each other, just as he forgave us. But the question is how do you truly forgive?
In my life I have had many people do things that have hurt me and that to this day I have not forgotten. But I told them I forgave them, pretended it was okay but inside I'm still hurt and holding on to what was done to me. This is where forgiveness is so hard. We've all said we forgave someone before but secretly held on to the fact that something hurt us and we build walls to protect ourselves and in some cases focus on making sure that person hurts as well. These feelings can builds up and turn into anger. Turn into a determination that this will never happen to us again , even if someone else gets hurt, doesn't matter, as long as you never hurt again.
Now I'm not saying every time someone says they forgive you they are secretly holding on to it, and that you have to watch your back or that everyone is walking around bitter and holding grudges. But we've all said I forgive you at one point and not meant it. If you got in a fight with a spouse,a sibling, a co worker, or even the car in front of you while you're driving you may have said you were sorry or eventually cooled down and temporally forgot about it. But then later brought it back up in a different argument or told other co workers about what happened in a negative way, or saw that car that cut you off and did something to make them mad. So did you ever really forgive the other person?
Everything that happens to you will affect and change your life in someway and I'm not saying there is anything wrong with that, I just think its how you let those things affect you that can make the difference. I think that to truly forgive one place to start is forgiving yourself. You may not be able to truly ever forgive the other person unless you forgive yourself for being foolish and letting yourself be hurt or angered by what was done to you. Once you've prayed about it and God has helped you over come the fact that you feel like you have failed, then peace will come in and true forgiveness can be possible.
You may be asking how could I feel I failed if the other person let me down? Some may feel they have failed because of the fact you trusted the wrong person, you let different opinions with co-worker,sibling, friends, or the choices of the other drivers on the road burn you up and affect your whole day.
It still may not make since but to end I'm just going to attempt to sum up my thoughts. If there is anything in your life that you have not let go of cause you are still filled with anger over what an ex,a sibling,a co-worker or a spouse has done to you, maybe you need to ask God to forgive you for holding on to this anger and to give you peace. Even if you feel that the person does not deserve forgiveness and you have a right to still be angry think of what the point of that is? Why should you continue to let what was done hold you back. Forgiving yourself, and the other person can give you peace in your life. can get you back on track forgetting these worldly problems, and focusing on heavenly things.
If forgiveness still seems to hard think about this, you are forgiven and loved by someone who truly did not deserve what was done to him, but never held on to it and loves you eternally anyway.
Matthew 6:14-15
Lately I've been thinking about forgiveness, and how it truly works to forgive, and be forgiven. Lets say someone calls you a name or tells you an idea at work is stupid, and then later after being harassed by others says sorry. Your instinct response is that's okay, but secretly you hope someone does the same thing to them. So did you really forgive them?
Just as it says in the above verse Christ expects us to forgive each other, just as he forgave us. But the question is how do you truly forgive?
In my life I have had many people do things that have hurt me and that to this day I have not forgotten. But I told them I forgave them, pretended it was okay but inside I'm still hurt and holding on to what was done to me. This is where forgiveness is so hard. We've all said we forgave someone before but secretly held on to the fact that something hurt us and we build walls to protect ourselves and in some cases focus on making sure that person hurts as well. These feelings can builds up and turn into anger. Turn into a determination that this will never happen to us again , even if someone else gets hurt, doesn't matter, as long as you never hurt again.
Now I'm not saying every time someone says they forgive you they are secretly holding on to it, and that you have to watch your back or that everyone is walking around bitter and holding grudges. But we've all said I forgive you at one point and not meant it. If you got in a fight with a spouse,a sibling, a co worker, or even the car in front of you while you're driving you may have said you were sorry or eventually cooled down and temporally forgot about it. But then later brought it back up in a different argument or told other co workers about what happened in a negative way, or saw that car that cut you off and did something to make them mad. So did you ever really forgive the other person?
Everything that happens to you will affect and change your life in someway and I'm not saying there is anything wrong with that, I just think its how you let those things affect you that can make the difference. I think that to truly forgive one place to start is forgiving yourself. You may not be able to truly ever forgive the other person unless you forgive yourself for being foolish and letting yourself be hurt or angered by what was done to you. Once you've prayed about it and God has helped you over come the fact that you feel like you have failed, then peace will come in and true forgiveness can be possible.
You may be asking how could I feel I failed if the other person let me down? Some may feel they have failed because of the fact you trusted the wrong person, you let different opinions with co-worker,sibling, friends, or the choices of the other drivers on the road burn you up and affect your whole day.
It still may not make since but to end I'm just going to attempt to sum up my thoughts. If there is anything in your life that you have not let go of cause you are still filled with anger over what an ex,a sibling,a co-worker or a spouse has done to you, maybe you need to ask God to forgive you for holding on to this anger and to give you peace. Even if you feel that the person does not deserve forgiveness and you have a right to still be angry think of what the point of that is? Why should you continue to let what was done hold you back. Forgiving yourself, and the other person can give you peace in your life. can get you back on track forgetting these worldly problems, and focusing on heavenly things.
If forgiveness still seems to hard think about this, you are forgiven and loved by someone who truly did not deserve what was done to him, but never held on to it and loves you eternally anyway.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Fears
"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10 (NIV)
Last night one of the short devotional stories I read was about David and how he had no fear when he fought Goliath, and it made me start to think. Think about your biggest fear, the one thing that scares you the most. Everybody has fears the dark, heights, spiders, snakes even clowns. Some are more subtle like death, being alone or fear of failure. What ever your fear maybe really think about it, and how it makes you feel when you are forced to face it. Some of my fears include simple things like dark basements, a creaky old dark house at night, sometimes a rodent or insect can give me a scare, but these are simple fears for me that don't last very long, I am able to just over come them, and making my self deal with it when they come up. One of my biggest more hidden fears is the fear of being alone, it seems a little silly, and its something that not everyone can understand, but a lot of people are afraid of being alone. You don't admit it or may even deny it, but no one wants to feel there completely on there own, with no one to turn too. When facing other fears such as bugs, the dark, small spaces, heights you'd probably call a friend to help you through it before making yourself face it. The idea of having to face smaller fears alone can make your original fear even worse. Whats funny about this fear is that it applies to no one. No one is ever complete alone, if they let God in simply by a prayer and ask for guidance or comfort then the one who loved you from the beginning and has never left you and will never leave you will be there. Just call on him. I'm going to end with just posting a song below that reminds me to call on God when I feel I have no where to turn. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1Mu-T2g2a8
Call my name
third day
Its been so long since You felt like you were loved
So what went wrong
But do you know There is a place where you belong
here in my arms
Chorus:
When you feel like your alone in your sadness
It seems like no one else in this whole world cares
And you want to get away from the madness
You just call my name and I'll be there
You just call my name and I'll be there
The pain inside has erased your hope for love
Soon you will find that I will give you all
your heart could ever want and so much more
Chorus:
When you feel like your alone in your sadness
It seems like no one else in this whole world cars
And you want to get away from the madness
You just call my name and I'll be there
You just call my name and I'll be there
You just call my name You just call my name
Call my name say it now I want you to never doubt
The love I have for you is so alive
Call my name say it now I want you to never doubt
The love I have for you is so alive
The love I have for you is so alive (2x)
Just call my name (3x)
Last night one of the short devotional stories I read was about David and how he had no fear when he fought Goliath, and it made me start to think. Think about your biggest fear, the one thing that scares you the most. Everybody has fears the dark, heights, spiders, snakes even clowns. Some are more subtle like death, being alone or fear of failure. What ever your fear maybe really think about it, and how it makes you feel when you are forced to face it. Some of my fears include simple things like dark basements, a creaky old dark house at night, sometimes a rodent or insect can give me a scare, but these are simple fears for me that don't last very long, I am able to just over come them, and making my self deal with it when they come up. One of my biggest more hidden fears is the fear of being alone, it seems a little silly, and its something that not everyone can understand, but a lot of people are afraid of being alone. You don't admit it or may even deny it, but no one wants to feel there completely on there own, with no one to turn too. When facing other fears such as bugs, the dark, small spaces, heights you'd probably call a friend to help you through it before making yourself face it. The idea of having to face smaller fears alone can make your original fear even worse. Whats funny about this fear is that it applies to no one. No one is ever complete alone, if they let God in simply by a prayer and ask for guidance or comfort then the one who loved you from the beginning and has never left you and will never leave you will be there. Just call on him. I'm going to end with just posting a song below that reminds me to call on God when I feel I have no where to turn. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1Mu-T2g2a8
Call my name
third day
Its been so long since You felt like you were loved
So what went wrong
But do you know There is a place where you belong
here in my arms
Chorus:
When you feel like your alone in your sadness
It seems like no one else in this whole world cares
And you want to get away from the madness
You just call my name and I'll be there
You just call my name and I'll be there
The pain inside has erased your hope for love
Soon you will find that I will give you all
your heart could ever want and so much more
Chorus:
When you feel like your alone in your sadness
It seems like no one else in this whole world cars
And you want to get away from the madness
You just call my name and I'll be there
You just call my name and I'll be there
You just call my name You just call my name
Call my name say it now I want you to never doubt
The love I have for you is so alive
Call my name say it now I want you to never doubt
The love I have for you is so alive
The love I have for you is so alive (2x)
Just call my name (3x)
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
accepting God's help
We all have that one thing that holds us back. The one thing that keeps us completely distracted and unfocused on the true meaning of each day. It could be drugs, alcohol, TV programs, sports, a relationship, the Internet, work, school and even are family. Something that we put all of are energy and focus into; that one thing that without realizing it we put above God. Putting all of are energy into it can make it hard to realize that its a distraction. Sometimes the issue is big enough for others to notice and to help us realize that it needs to be changed. But others are tricky enough that only you can truly eventually see that its holding you back and because it seems so simple you think that you can deal with it on your own. You may decide to cut back on whatever it may be on your own, only take on drink a night or only on special occasions, or just say well if I just watch my one favorite Soap it won't bother me. You tell yourself that you can fix the person that is in the relationship that's holding you back then it won't be such a distraction, or that God wants you to love and be there for others but ignore the fact you may not be doing things that please him with that friend or loved one. This is the issue that everyone has this is how the devil gets us. This concept is how Eve failed. She thought if I only take one bite won't hurt. WE say if I only take one drink, one pill, one show, just see the person less it will be okay I can just stop it later. The problem is once we try it we need to try it one more time and one more time after awhile we realize we've failed and think there is no hope and just give up.
The hope in this miserable cycle is a hard concept to get living in a world were you have to fix yourself and be perfect and strong all on your own. But we are all complete sinners and are completely helpless on are own and are doomed to fail. We Are nothing but worthless sinners, that is without God. The things I struggle with and I won't let go of, the things I think I need to take care of and fix to be good enough I never will, I'm doomed to fail until I stop trying to be so independent and let the one person in who wants to and can help me over come these failures.
"All of us have sinned and fallen short of God's glory. But God treats us much better than we deserve, and because of Christ Jesus, he freely accepts us and sets us free from our sins."
Romans 3:23-24 (seek find bible)
There are things that I struggle with and try to deal with on my own and I fail because I am a sinner but this verse tells me that in spite of me being a sinner Christ accepts me for me and wants to set me free I don't have to fix it on my own just come to him when I'm struggling and he will set me free.
The hope in this miserable cycle is a hard concept to get living in a world were you have to fix yourself and be perfect and strong all on your own. But we are all complete sinners and are completely helpless on are own and are doomed to fail. We Are nothing but worthless sinners, that is without God. The things I struggle with and I won't let go of, the things I think I need to take care of and fix to be good enough I never will, I'm doomed to fail until I stop trying to be so independent and let the one person in who wants to and can help me over come these failures.
"All of us have sinned and fallen short of God's glory. But God treats us much better than we deserve, and because of Christ Jesus, he freely accepts us and sets us free from our sins."
Romans 3:23-24 (seek find bible)
There are things that I struggle with and try to deal with on my own and I fail because I am a sinner but this verse tells me that in spite of me being a sinner Christ accepts me for me and wants to set me free I don't have to fix it on my own just come to him when I'm struggling and he will set me free.
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