Sunday, January 24, 2010

SOMETIMES

Sometimes
I think of you as a lifeguard.
You are always watching us,
but only come down when we start to drown.
I often wonder what you are thinking.
Maybe you think;
There they go again,
getting out to far.
Look out child,
that wave of life can make you sink.
Look out,
that one has pain written all over it.
Here comes another one.
Quick! Take My hand.
I can help you get out.
Child listen to me,
you don't have to do this alone.
Child, when are you going to learn?
I am there for you.
I have always been there for you.
You don't have to navigate those rough waters alone.
Child all you have to do is call on me,
I Love You!
I am not sure,
maybe He does think these things.
Sometimes


While going back through some things I had written a long time ago I found this poem. While reading over it a couple of lines jumped out at me. "You don't have to navigate those rough waters alone. Child all you have to do is call on ME." How true that is. There are still times when I wait and try to do things on my own only to find out I can't. I need the help of our LORD. We all do. Every day we come upon things in our lives that we can't handle by ourselves. All we really have to do is just quietly breathe the name "JESUS" and HE will be right there for us.

If you are going through something today that you can't seem to handle on your own...try it. Either, "Quietly to yourself" or "Shout it out loud", just say "JESUS...I need your help with this situation"! What ever it is, if you ask HIM, and have faith that HE will help you, JESUS will be right there by your side and help you through. HE loves you and is waiting for your call. Don't wait until you are drowning. Call out to HIM today.

Psalm 91:15 (The Message)

14-16 "If you'll hold on to me for dear life," says God,
"I'll get you out of any trouble.
I'll give you the best of care
if you'll only get to know and trust me.
Call me and I'll answer, be at your side in bad times;
I'll rescue you, then throw you a party.
I'll give you a long life,
give you a long drink of salvation!"

Saturday, January 9, 2010

THE "REAL" YOU

Did anyone else out there ever wake up one morning to realize you were somehow not who you believed yourself to be? Now, I don't mean in a literal sense. I'm talking about what you are really like on the inside...the real you. The person GOD originally made you to be. You see, until we accept JESUS into our lives we aren't really living the life of the person GOD created. It doesn't matter if your life is filled with success or if you just get by from day to day. You are not really the "real" you. Take me for instance....

Usually I don't tell this part of my life because I was always embarrassed by it. But I grew up not having much of anything. I didn't even have a bedroom until I was in junior high. Even then it wasn't a real room. It was a separate, small two room house that my sister and I stayed in. My friends on the other hand all lived in nice houses with great rooms. But, life was just life. Mine was getting by and my friends was success. It was what it was and you accepted it. I lived my life from childhood, well into adulthood, thinking that I never really mattered to GOD so I never accepted JESUS into my life. Because of that I never really became the person I was supposed to be. I could never find anything I really liked to do that defined me as an individual. Then a little over two years ago I accepted JESUS into my life and things haven't been the same since.

Before, I could never really figure out why I was here. Then one day it was as if I woke up and had a purpose. I figured out that the person I used to be isn't here anymore. There is a new person instead...the one GOD originally made me to be. Because of this GOD has helped me to start writing. In my old life, I would have never written anything. But I believe that in the great scheme of things, writing is one of the things GOD had originally planned for my life. At least in the blogging world. I don't know for sure what else HE has planned for me but whatever it is...as long as I live my life for HIM, I will become the person GOD created me to be. The "real" me.

I wrote all of this to say...You can also become the person GOD has always intended for you to be. Once you accept JESUS into your life and start living for HIM, He will help you to become the "real" you. You will do things you never thought you would or could. And, I can tell you this, it is better to become the person GOD made you to be than to stay stuck in a life that was never meant to be yours. HE has a plan for you. Talk to HIM and find out what it is. Then have faith and trust HIM when HE shares it with you.

Jeremiah 29:11-12 (New Living Translation)

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 12 In those days when you pray, I will listen.

Galatians 2:19-20 (The Message)

19-21What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn't work. So I quit being a "law man" so that I could be God's man. Christ's life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not "mine," but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Spiders and the Devil

Spiders and the Devil

You may wonder what spiders and the devil have in common. One thing I can think of is webs. Spiders build them for protection and to catch their food. They can weave a pretty big web in a short period of time. I used to manage a small grocery store and I would sometimes throw freight with my crew at night. I remember one night after closing the store I cleaned the checkstand and then went to do freight. About six hours later I went back to the checkstand and as I started to step inside I discovered a huge spider web that covered the whole entrance into it. It was a couple of feet wide and probably about the same height. Liking spiders as much as I do I jumped back and looked for the one that built it. To my surprise it was one that we always called a "daddy long legs". He was sitting right there in the middle of it enjoying his new home. His new place didn't last long though. I got the broom and swept him and his home out.

In a sense the devil builds webs too but he builds them to catch people. He tries to trap us in his webs of lies and deceit. If we listen to him we will find that before we know what is happening we are all caught up in his sticky web. We have to be careful to not listen to the lies he tells us. He will do anything he can to ensnare us and keep us from living a successful life for GOD. Sometimes he uses things like old habits to try to get us back. Other times he will use sickness or even depression. The devil knows what it is that will get you all caught up once again in the traps he sets for you. He plays mind games with you. When this starts happening there is only one way you can break lose from the web he is weaving around you.

GOD is your way out of the devils web. Talk to HIM all the time. Read HIS word. Have other Christians pray for you. Sweep the devil out of your mind and your life. Don't let him find a home and get comfortable there.

When you get overwhelmed cry out to GOD for help. HE is waiting to help you. Sometimes it's hard but if you trust in the LORD you can make it.

Psalm 55
1 Listen to my prayer, O God.
Do not ignore my cry for help!
2 Please listen and answer me,
for I am overwhelmed by my troubles.

Proverbs 3:5

5-12 Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
don't try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
he's the one who will keep you on track.
Don't assume that you know it all.
Run to God! Run from evil!
Your body will glow with health,
your very bones will vibrate with life!
Honor God with everything you own;
give him the first and the best.
Your barns will burst,
your wine vats will brim over.
But don't, dear friend, resent God's discipline;
don't sulk under his loving correction.
It's the child he loves that God corrects;
a father's delight is behind all this.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

FINISH WHAT YOU START

Here we go!! Another year has come and gone and we are in our third day of what I think is going to be a great year. You might wonder why I would say that since we have so many things happening in the world today that certainly are not positive. The thing is...you have to believe that whatever happens this year is all in GOD'S hands. And, you have to know that HE will take care of you no matter what. You also have to move on from 2009. Sometimes we look backwards and get stuck in the..."what might have been" mode. If you are doing that you need to stop and change your thinking. The thing about the past is we can't change it. Good or bad. What we can and should do is look forward to the new year and ask, then listen, for GOD to tell you what you need to do.

Personally, I'm excited about what this year is going to bring. GOD has already given me a new adventure to start and I'm looking forward to it. I have come to look at my life as a Christian as a "journey full of new adventures". Sometimes these "adventures" make me a little anxious but I know it will all be okay as long as I'm doing what HE wants. This new adventure is probably the reason I have been reading so much about "finishing what you start".

For the last few weeks I have been reading a lot of things about "finishing what you start". First you have to know that I don't look for these things to read. People just send them to me. When I get them I know that it's probably a GOD thing. They are all talking about things we should be doing as Christians. It could be a ministry you have or things you should be doing to be able to live for GOD better. Sometimes it could even be deciding to continue on in your walk with the LORD. Many times people get discouraged because they think they have failed too many times. Other times it could simply be because the devil keeps attacking and they aren't strong enough to say no. Then they go back and start living for him. We need to determine within ourselves that we will continue on and make it to the end. Of course this can only be done with the help of the LORD. Anyway, all of the things that I have read recently seem to talk about how we start off with a bang and then as time goes on, and life happens, we tend to let other things take precedence over the things we know we need to be doing. GOD has just been telling me that to let anything keep you from doing what HE has for you is wrong. If you are having a problem finishing, you need to talk to HIM about it. Don't quit! Do whatever it takes to finish what you start for the LORD. Whether it be your own personal walk or a ministry HE wants you to do.

I like Ephesians 6:10-12 in The Message Bible

A Fight to the Finish
10-12 And that about wraps it up. GOD is strong, and HE wants you strong. So take everything the MASTER has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we'll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the devil and all his angels.