Hurting People

If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose." Philippians 2:1-2

Look at the people around you.. Do you know every single aspect of their lives? Most likely, the answer is no. It's has been brought to my attention that you never know when someone is hurting.. You never know what some one is going through. Remember to encourage one another. Don't argue for the sake of arguing, and don't complain. Instead, love one another. Be kind to one another and encourage one another. Don't worry about what other people think about you. Be responsible for yourself, and care for other people. The person across from you, or in the other room, or the people you go to school with, or the people who teach you, in most cases are going though something. An English teacher just the other day told me that one of her reltives died.. I had no idea.. and then I started to look around.. there are people crying, people being hurt or hurting all around us. This world NEEDS Jesus Christ.. just think how miserable it would be without the One who saves us! Without the one is with us always, always helping us, and always loving us.. we would be nothing. Jesus loves everyone around us just as much as he loves us. He loves the person we brushed off this morning, and the math teacher we got upset at because he was late. God loves the person that gives us the most trouble, and He wants them to come to Him, so that he might help them, so that he might save them. Who are we to stand in the way of this? Be encouraging to everyone, and let Christ work though you. If you have learned anything from being a Christian, let it be this: Be, " like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Don't be negative. Be positive." Phil. 2:2

Suffering, Obedience, and Grace

How many of us cringe when we hear the word "suffering".. how about "obedience"? If we don't cringe at the word, most of us will cringe when we think about someone getting on to us for doing something wrong, like our mothers, using our full names when we were little, right after we ruined our clothes, or smashed some family heirloom... But what if this "suffering" was for the glory of God? [See 1 Peter 4:19 and Romans 8:28] Have you ever wondered... why on earth did God put me in the situation I am today? -- He did it BECAUSE you can glorify Him most where you are right now. There is a story about a man...

One day God took one of His servants, named Servant, to a high mountain and said to Servant, “See this huge rock?”

Servant said, “Yes!”

God said, “I want you to push it until I return. Will you do that?”

“Yes, I will,” replied Servant. So he undertook the task.

Years and years went by and the servant did not see God. But, because he had promised, he continued to push the huge rock.

After many more years of pushing, Servant became discouraged. He began to think, “I don’t see any reason why I should push this huge rock. It makes no sense and I see no reason for doing it. This is worthless.”

Soon after that, God appeared before Him and said, “Are you faithfully pushing my rock?”

Servant said, “Yes! But this makes no sense to me. I’ve been pushing this huge rock for years and it hasn’t moved an inch. I just want to give up.”

Then God said, “I never told you to move the rock. I only wanted you to push it. Step back and look at yourself.”

Servant stepped back and looked at himself. What he found was not the small, weak skinny servant who began pushing the rock. He saw a big, strong muscular servant who was fit for any task God may have for him.

Servant, don’t stop pushing your rock. Life is full of them, and God often sends us to push them. Don’t pick your own. Let God show you your rock. Then faithfully push it, and wait in faithfulness. He will explain eventually. But the goal isn't simply obedience. It is oneness with the Lord that leads to complete obedience. Oneness with Him, without anything interfering, is the only good thing. Then He can say, "Come, follow me."

Sometimes the most important thing you can do, is to obey. Even when it doesn't make sense. [Proverbs 3:5-6] -- Remember when you were a small child, and adults would tell you not to do something.. like don't touch the stove? They told you not to touch the stove because it was hot.. if you touched it, you would get burnt. If you're like me at all, you may not have wanted to obey them, but it was the best thing... if you didn't, you would get punished.. if you're like me, it wouldn't be just sitting in the corner... sitting in the corner would have sounded good compared to what my parents would do... but God.. has grace, and patience. If we mess up, we try again. Isn't that amazing?

Have you ever thought how many times you and I have messed up??.. Do you know how many times God wants to forgive us? We just need to ask, and truly mean it.. There is no hiding anything from God. We need to learn to build our relationship with the father, to the point that we say, "I'll do anything for You, Lord, because you are my Father, and my God, and You are worthy.".. so much to the degree of being willing to sit on a shelf and not do anything, if God tells us too... or to hold a grocery bag.. or clean the litter box. It doesn't matter too much what you are doing for God.. it's what's in your heart that counts. God's calling you.. are you talking to Him? spending time with Him? If you have trouble.. ask for help... Our life's with God should be so dependent on Him, that we should be like two year old's.. looking up to their Father for all their needs, and confident that they will receive what they need

No matter what the circumstances, we should ALWAYS seek first the kingdom. [Matthew 6:33]

Isn't God amazing? He forgives us of everything, puts US in His glorious will [if we let Him], AND is patient with us, no matter what. The Bible says God is love [1 John 4:8] He loves us more than all the stars in the sky.. I encourage you to get in touch with Him today.. He's waiting and longing for our return. [Luke 15:11-32]

God Bless.

Obedience, Trust, and Faith

In the past few weeks, I've been learning about obedience. Throughout the gospels, Jesus had one main goal - To obey the Father. Jesus was always seeking the will of the Father (John 5:30)-- Not what Jesus himself wanted to do, but what God the Father wanted Him to do.

As Christians, we constantly say we believe the Bible is the complete truth.. but how many of us have read the whole thing? If we have, how many of us study it every day without flaw? Even if we do that, how many of us put what we read into action? What if every one of us gave our life's completely over to Christ? How wonderful would that be? It would be better than we ever imagined.

As Christians, we're going to have troubles. -- But Jesus said, in John 16:33 - "For in this World you will have troubles, but take heart, for I have conquered the world." We say we're afraid, God says He didn't give us a spirit of fear. (2 Timothy 1:7) We say we're frustrated. God said cast your cares on ME. (1 Peter 5:7) We say we can't manage. God says He will supply all our needs. (Philippians 4:19)... I sometimes wonder how sad Jesus gets when we forget to talk to Him. We say we will.. and then we don't.. or we say we'll trust Him.. and then we don't. I wonder how that makes Him feel.. probably not too good. Praise be to God! For He has patience and understanding, and waits and loves us, even when we do not deserve it.

Remember: Keep your eyes on Jesus, and do not get discouraged when you see no hope, for we can not see what is right in front of us! Jesus is always with us (Hebrews 13:5) - but sometimes we can't see Him.. almost like the moon. We can see the moon very clearly sometimes.. but other times the moon is covered by clouds. Clouds - or our troubles, seem to block God.. seem to make Him seem unreal, but it is the CLOUDS that is "the Spirit of God teaching us how to walk by faith." [Chambers] Don't concern yourself with what is going to happen in the future. Instead, focus on Jesus, and Obeying the Father. Everything will fall in place. Trust Him...

[[Ideas credited first and foremost to God, and then to "My Utmost for His Highest" - Oswald Chambers]]