Keeping Focused...

God never leads you to do something without equipping you for the task.  We must keep our eyes on Him not only for direction, but also for empowerment.   

A Problem Free Life?

We’ve all read or heard the saying… everyone has struggles or problems, don’t judge. I can’t help but wonder if we hear it so often that people tend to just block it out and pay no attention to it or the meaning and purpose it serves when in fact it’s probably the most important message of the day.

Everyone, and I mean everyone has problems.  If you’re sitting back and admiring someone for the care-free life they’re living and thinking they don’t have any problems, you’re delusional.  Instead of focusing on and putting hope into having a problem free life, we should direct our energy into seeking the one True God and a problem free life for all eternity in Heaven.

Easier said than done, right?  I know, I’ve had my share of problems and struggles but I am also reminded that there is ALWAYS someone out there with greater struggles.  How do we make it through?  Where do we find the strength to carry on?  For me it’s through Him and His believers… my light tends to shine brighter when surrounded by believers.  Believers who trust me even in the darkest of times.

 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your 

God will be with you wherever you go.”  -Joshua 1:9  

Waiting on Him

I woke up and looked at the clock... 5:00pm!!  Wow!  My head was pounding just thinking of the day I just wasted, so many things I'd wanted to accomplish... and didn't.  As I laid there thinking about everything, more specifically, my life... I started crying and was upset how everything was so out of control.  So many things that needed to be done, so many things that needed to happen, and there isn't a thing I can do to make those changes happen, NOW!  Why?  Why God?  Why can't I get this to work?  All my life I've always been able to make things happen, pull the impossible out of my rear... and now, when it was me that needed it most - nothing.  My "powers" had vanished.  Or had they?

It was then He showed me Lamentations 3:24-26... I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him."  The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

Instead of trying to figure things out myself I need to trust Him with every fiber of my being.  It's the way He designed us, to stay conscious of Him as we go about our daily tasks.  He has promised many blessings to those who wait on Him... renewed strength, increased hope, and the awareness that He is always present.

I am again reminded on this beautiful day, to wait on Him.  Don't be so impatient, slow down, pay attention... waiting on Him means directing my life and my attention toward Him in hopeful anticipation of what He'll do next.

But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. ~Isaiah 40:31

What's Your Purpose?

I know you've all asked yourself at least once in your life what your purpose was.  I have - over and over and over.  The life events of the last few years have kinda left me just hanging in limbo, wondering and asking God for a hint... something, anything to let me know what I'm supposed to be doing, where I'm supposed to be.  Through Him I was able to find peace, and keep from making what would have been some very poor choices but I'm still hanging from that nail... wondering and asking - personally I think God is holding out just so I keep talking to Him.  He's such a worry wart.

I came across this article and wanted to share it with you all... I don't know who wrote it, but it's very thought provoking.  Eye opening actually...

Consider a hammer. It’s designed to hit nails. That’s what it was created to do. Now imagine that the hammer never gets used. It just sits in the toolbox. The hammer doesn’t care.

But now imagine that same hammer with a soul, a self-consciousness. Days and days go by with him remaining in the toolbox. He feels funny inside, but he’s not sure exactly why. Something is missing, but he doesn’t know what it is.

Then one day someone pulls him out of the toolbox and uses him to break some branches for the fireplace. The hammer is exhilarated. Being held, being wielded, hitting the branches — the hammer loves it. At the end of the day, though, he is still unfulfilled. Hitting the branches was fun, but it wasn’t enough. Something is still missing.

In the days that follow, he’s used often. He reshapes a hubcap, blasts through some sheet rock, knocks a table leg back into place. Still, he’s left unfulfilled. So he longs for more action. He wants to be used as much as possible to knock things around, to break things, to blast things, to dent things. He figures that he just hasn’t had enough of these events to satisfy him. More of the same, he believes, is the solution to his lack of fulfillment.

Then one day someone uses him on a nail. Suddenly, the lights come on in his hammer soul. He now understands what he was truly designed for. He was meant to hit nails. All the other things he hit pale in comparison. Now he knows what his hammer soul was searching for all along.

We are created in God’s image for relationship with him. Being in that relationship is the only thing that will ultimately satisfy our souls. Until we come to know God, we’ve had many wonderful experiences, but we haven’t hit a nail. We’ve been used for some noble purposes, but not the one we were ultimately designed for, not the one through which we will find the most fulfillment. Augustine summarized it this way: “You [God] have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee.”

A relationship with God is the only thing that will quench our soul’s longing. Jesus Christ said, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” Until we come to know God, we are hungry and thirsty in life. We try to “eat” and “drink” all kinds of things to satisfy our hunger and thirst, but yet they remain.

We are like the hammer. We don’t realize what will end the emptiness, the lack of fulfillment, in our lives. Even in the midst of a Nazi prison camp, Corri Ten Boom found God to be wholly satisfying: “The foundation of our happiness was that we knew ourselves hidden with Christ in God. We could have faith in God’s love…our Rock who is stronger than the deepest darkness.”

Usually when we keep God out, we try to find fulfillment in something other than God, but we can never get enough of that thing. We keep “eating” or “drinking” more and more, erroneously thinking that ‘more’ is the answer to the problem, yet we are never ultimately satisfied.

Our greatest desire is to know God, to have a relationship with God. Why? Because that’s how we’ve been designed. Have you hit a nail yet?

There’s much more meaning in life once you know your purpose.

As for me and my house...

Everyone wants to truth right?  Nobody likes to be lied to... it greatly diminishes trust, respect, and belief in those that have lied.  I wish I could say I was perfect and have never told a lie (intentional or not) but I'm sure I have some little "white lies" following me around - of course I do, I have small children!

Lying is something I've always preached about and always requested that people tell me the truth, no matter how bad they think it is or how upset they think I might get.  So what if I get mad, I'll get over it and I'll respect you more for having the balls to tell me the truth!  With that, I just gotta say, I have never in my whole life experienced or been lied to so much as I have in the past seven years... and because of my profession, it's just gonna continue.  But the seven years I'm referring to is my personal life and a certain individual... ups and downs as any normal "relationship" would have (ANY kind of relationship) but this past year has just been a bugger of lies and deceipt!  I knew when it started, I knew it was getting worse and I knew before it blew up that it was about to blow up... and that's ok.  It's not ok how it all went down because it could have been avoided if there had been truth... not necessarily the parting of ways, but the blow up and the way the parting took place.

I've been attending a program at church called Celebrate Recovery... its similar to AA in that there's a recovery principle/process but it's a Christ based program focusing on hurts, habits and hang ups.  It's a really good program and every week I attend I walk away with new insight to my life and how to "deal" with the things (be it old or new) affecting me.  Last night's class was no exception... it was probably one of the classes that spoke to me most.  There were so many verses and attributes that fit perfectly in what my life is managing right now... and how lies and deceipt are the work of the Devil (which I knew but it's always good to have a reminder).  NO GOOD CAN EVER COME FROM LYING!!!!

 The mind of a sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God.  It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so.  Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God... Romans 8:6-8

A greedy man brings trouble to his family... Proverbs 15:27

In my walk I've struggled with "knowing" when God is talking to me or showing me a true sign, "how will I know" and will I be strong enough to relenquish control and actually listen to him?  I learned last night that, you just know, and yes I am strong enough to hand it all to Him... I've been telling Him for months now that it's out of my control and that I was handing it to Him but still had that struggle of knowing.

On my way to work Monday I was blessed with a beautiful sight... A Bald Eagle flew overhead right in front of me!  There I was driving along and the most beautiful bird ever flew across the road right above me as I passed under him.  A warmth came over me, a feeling of pride and freedom... I don't know how else to explain it, it was just a feeling of renewal and hope.  I thanked God for his awesome and wonderous works of nature and for allowing me to enjoy in its beauty.  Then last night in class the teacher played a song for us called Voice of Truth, in his video of the song (not the one below) as the song was playing a picture of an Eagle soaring  popped up... I seriously almost lost it and was glad to be sitting in the back so nobody could see me.  He spoke to me, I heard him and I'm listening...

If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever... 1 Timothy 5:8