BE STILL

Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. Psalms 46:10

This last year has been great. I have learned so many things about God and what He can do if you just let Him. My life has changed tremendously. God has helped me to deal with many issues in my life. Some from my past and yet still others that are new. I know that as the year goes on there will be more that have to be dealt with. Just like this last year, some will be old ones that haven't been dealt with yet, and still others will be new. The thing that has to be remembered is just to keep God first in all situations. Pray, read the word and sometimes ask for prayer and help from Christian friends. We need all the help we can get sometimes. As one of my friends told me recently, "We need one another". I know that's true. There were many times I might not have made it had it not been for the conversations with, and the prayers of, my Christian friends. I know that God will bless them for that. If you ever get the opportunity to help someone by just being a friend and talking and praying with them, do it. You never know what that person may be going through.

The verse, "Be still and know that I am God" is such an awesome verse. It seems to be what God keeps speaking to me lately. Sometimes I'm not real good at that and I can imagine that some of you reading this aren't either. It's hard for me to just step back and let God have control of my situations. I tend to think that I can do things on my own and then God just lets me know that I'm not as good at it as I think I am. He lets things come into my life that really I don't have any control over. That's when God reminds me that He is in control of all situations. That being said...I am very excited about what the new year has to offer. Some will be good and others not so good. The thing we have to remember is that God has the outcome in His hands. It could be spiritual, health, financial, relational or any other type of issue that just seems to crop up. Our job is to turn everything over to him and let God be in control.

As the year 2009 is about to begin I have a couple of challenges for myself. I don't do resolutions because I have a tendency not to keep them. The first thing I'm challenging myself with is to read the Bible every day. I don't always do that. There are times when I'm busy with other things and sometimes I'm just having an old "Rebel" attitude! So, I bought the Chronological Bible and I'm going to try to read some in that everyday along with a devotional study. The second challenge is to just "Be still" and listen for God in the little stuff of my life as well as the big stuff. He wants to be there with us through all of it. He is just waiting for us to ask Him and then to listen for His answers. If your reading this and you know me, you know that it is hard for me to do these things. But, I feel as Christians we need to make a commitment to God to read His word everyday no matter what else is going on in our lives.

As the year starts I'm also praying for direction in what God has for me to say in this blog. Sharing more of my testimony will be much of it but I know there is more to it than that. I guess I'll just have to "Be Still" and listen for His voice. All of us can accomplish great things for God if we will just stop and wait and listen for His voice. Just remember that whatever we do for God it is not us doing it. If it is, we need to step back from it and pray for Gods direction before we go on. We need to make sure God is in it and that we are not doing it for our own glory.

Well, I'm very much looking forward to a new year with God and finding out what He has in store for me in every area of my life. And, I pray in Jesus name that whomever reads this blog will get something from God out of it.

So, I think I've rambled on enough tonight. I'd just like to remind you that you can always leave a comment if you'd like to. I would be interested in what you have to say.

I pray that you all have a Wonderful and a Happy New Year! Just remember to keep Christ first and whatever happens will be okay.

AHH, ITS CHRISTMAS!

Christmas...What's it mean to you? Over the course of my life the meaning has changed many times. Being a kid everyone loves Christmas. There's really not much about it that kids don't like. Then when you start getting older and have your own kids that's great too. Watching them open their gifts and seeing the laughter and the joy on their face is one of the best things imaginable. So, to me Christmas was just a fun time. Then life goes on, things change and sometimes Christmas just isn't fun anymore. Maybe family members die, maybe you don't have a job, maybe there's a divorce, it could be just about anything that makes it not fun like it once was. There were many years where I really didn't like Christmas at all. I always thought it was more trouble than it was worth. But...I have since realized...that Christmas was not ever really about the things that seem to change so quickly in our lives. What Christmas means to me now is completely different than what it used to mean. Christmas is still about gifts but of a different kind. It's about the greatest gift you could ever receive.

JESUS!! The best gift ever. He came to earth as a baby and made it possible for you to have a gift that no one can take from you. THE Gift! Eternal life! Then when you accept that gift, you are given even more! You are given victory so you can overcome your problems, your temptations, your worries, or whatever you need to beat! You are given peace, so that when things come at you that you're not expecting, you can deal with it and not totally lose it! He gives us hope. Hope that today will get better. Hope that you won't always be where you're at right now, but that someday, you will be in a better place. Maybe here on earth but maybe not until you get to Heaven. He gives us healing. Healing for spiritual matters as well as physical and emotional. He will give you joy even when you're having problems. Life really sucks sometimes. But, no matter what, if you choose too, you can have joy inside. Don't let life steal your joy! Stay positive. With Jesus you can. ALL things are possible with Him.

So...What does Christmas mean to you? Is it all about the tree, the gifts, food, family, friends all the glitter? These are all good things. Important things. But...they aren't the most important.

JESUS He is the most important gift there ever was or ever will be. However...You have to decide that for yourselves. What are you going to do with THE GIFT of a lifetime? It's all up to you.

AHH, It is Christmas and I hope that you have a Very Merry Christmas.

FLIGHT OR FIGHT AND ENGAGE

This is another one of those learning days for me. I don't have it all figured out yet but I'm sure God is working on that. The only reason I can come up with for this lesson is that someone that is going to read this must have the same type of problem. Something they can't beat on their own. Still yet, it could be that I never really dealt completely with the problem. I don't know.

After I became a Christian I still had a lot of major issues in my life. And...I'm sure there will always be issues, I'm just believing that they will be smaller ones as time goes on. One of them was just being able to sit through church without feeling like I had to get out of there as fast as I could. That hasn't happened in a long time. Much to my surprise it happened again today. It seemed like it was going to be a perfectly normal Sunday when I got there but it didn't last long. It really kind of messes with your head and makes talking to people harder for me than normal. Even the people I like. Leaving as quickly as possible is my only thought. So as soon as it was over I was headed for the door. Of course there were three different people that decided they wanted to talk to me. It just prolonged my agony a little. God "does" have a sense of humor!

I'm sure most of you have heard of the "Fight or Flight" syndrome. That is what I kept thinking of after leaving church. After dwelling on it for a few hours I decided that for me it will be:

Flight or Fight and Engage.

I've decided that I have two choices. Most of my life I have chosen the wrong one but with Gods help I'm trying to change that. Anyone else that is reading this that has the problem of running the other way when things get tough, needs to pay attention. Running is the "Flight" part of the equation. Anyone can do that. The thing is, if your a Christian you don't have to run from things. You just need to run to God and let Him help you. That's what He's there for and what He wants to do. It doesn't matter what the problem is. Mine might seem pretty small to you. You might be thinking, what could be so hard about going to church? Believe me when I tell you that I have thought the same thing. But apparently, for me, sometimes it's not as easy as it sounds. Whatever it is that you want to flee from try standing your ground and asking for Gods help instead. Don't run. Remember, we really don't have anything to fear with God on our side.

That brings us to the "Fight" segment. Sometimes we just have to push ourselves, or fight, for what we need to change. It's pretty simple to say but not always easy to do. I can tell myself all week long that it "will be" different when I go to church on Sunday. I "will not" want to run out as soon as I get there. I "will" talk to people that I want to talk to. However, from past experience I know that things change once I'm in the building. So, you just have got to
"Fight" for it. Whatever "It" is. When you know the situation is going to come up do some things to prepare. Start your "Fight". Get up early and read your bible and talk to God about it. Ask Him to help you with the situation. Not just to get through it but to beat it. He's there for you. You just have to ask Him to help you fight your battles. From experience I can tell you that it may not happen the first time. And if it does, the problem may come back. That's okay. You just need to ask God to help you to keep fighting the problem. He's there for you even when your not sure He is.

Then comes the "Engage" part. Make a conscious choice to deal with the problem. Learn from past experiences. We can all learn from our failures. In the past 16 months I have had a lot of failures. More than I ever thought possible. I was hoping that being a Christian would make my issues go away. It doesn't work that way. You have to make that conscious choice to change them, "Engage". Get a mind set that with God's help you can change the way you deal with the things you tend to run from. Assume an obligation to your problem. "Engage" yourself with God.
Become meshed together with Him."Engage"...actively commit yourself to dealing with your problem with the help of God. He is there for you.

Even though I know that God told me all of this for myself I can't help but think that someone else needed all of this too. It seems for myself that I have to go down the same road more than once for every problem I encounter. Maybe God is just telling me that I can't let up and think that I've got it made. I still have to totally rely on Him to make it through on a day to day basis.

Just remember, GOD CAN. Whatever the issue.