For to me, to Live is Christ

I’m sitting here with friends, it is Christmas morning the gifts have been opened the coffee has been poured and the egg casserole was good. But still in me there is loneliness. I know that I am loved in this place, but for some reason I feel alone and that loneliness has been growing the past several months, even as I read the word of God I still feel alone. I now must face my deepest fear, the fear that even though I am loved, this love my not be enough to comfort the pain of my heart. I now understand what Paul meant when he wrote in the book of Philippians 1:21-23 (For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far.) You see there is no one or no thing that can replace my desire to see Him, my God, my Savior, my Lord. After many attempts to find someone or something to fill the void in my heart, I have come to understand that no one or no thing can do it, that the void can only be filled by the one who made me. It is God alone that can make me whole. I love this life only but I now know that one day I will see Him (Jesus Christ) and only then will I have the peace and joy that I so desperately seek. Yes this Christmas morning I have come to understand that I not only need a savior, but I want to be with him. I am only in this world to tell others of what he has done, to share with them His great love, and to encouraged them to turn to Him. I am not here to love the world more then Him and with that I now can say as Paul “what than shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far.” But for now my heart also feels God has much to do with me here. Both to work on my own self, which there is so much too work on and to encourage all of you all to do the same. So that we will complete what he has for us here, for His glory and our betterment.

AWE

There are few words in the English language that can make one stop and think of something or someone bigger than ourselves. But the word "awe" is one such word. Just think about it, when was the last time your were in awe? Was it a star filled night, your first glance of the Grand Canon, the birth of your own child, lighting flashing, or an eagle flying. Yes when you think about it, it is always something out side of your self. We are never in "awe" of ourselves, I believe this is true so that we take our eyes off of ourselves long enough to see the greatness of the God who created all that bring us to a point of awe. For me the story of the birth of a baby, two thousand years ago, a guiding star, three kings, angles singing, and an angel announcement (I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people) is an awe moment. There is nothing in me that gets why a good God would come to save me. Why he would come as a child, be born in a manger, not in a palace, live a a sinless life die on a cross for me. I'm am taken back every time I think of the story, and I'm in awe of what God has done for me. There are few things that can bring one to a point of awe, but it is most sad when the one thing that should does not. God is always worthy of Awe because of who he is and what he has done for us.

Revelation of Love

Love lights the darkness
And casts out all fear
Here in this present darkness
Perfect love is near

But how can I find it?
How can I see this love that sets me free
How can I find God
Or when will He find me?

A revelation of love is what my heart needs
A fresh break through the lull of my complacency
Just to be amazed by the Babe who came to bring restoration
God open my eyes to see and receive love's revelation

Love invites repentance
In the light of His grace
True love brings the Kingdom
True love is God's face

But how can we find it?
How can we see this love that sets us free?
How can we find God?
When can we see our King?

A revelation of love is what our hearts need
A fresh break through the lull of our complacency
Just to be amazed by the Babe who came to bring restoration
God open our eyes to see and receive love's revelation

When the blood and the cross and a zeal for the lost
Cannot bring us to our knees
God break our hearts once more
With the story of a baby King

A revelation of love is what this world needs
A fresh break through the lull of our complacency
Just to be amazed by the babe who came to bring restoration
God open our eyes to see and receive love's revelation

God open our eyes to see and receive love's revelation

Song by Jeff Polen check out his Music at Polenband.com of Jeffpolen.com

Thanks

If there is one thing I am convinced of, it is the fact that I have much to be thankful for. The other day I had the opportunity to speak at a recovery home. Each person there is a recovering addict and I realize that they are really not much different than me. The biggest difference is that God protected me from being in the same place they are now. Coming from a family that had many drug and alcohol problem, I was not immune to the same factors that many of them had faced, and was only one choice away from a life of drugs and/or alcohol. So as I sat there and shared my heart with each of them, I was also thanking God for His mercy in my own life. I am not saying that I have not failed in other areas of my life. I have, but God is working and restoring even those. It was also a reminder to me that if it were not for God, and a continual trust and reliance on Him, my life could be that of drugs, alcohol, or even sexual addictions. So I am thankful not only for what God has done in my life, but also for what He is doing, and what He will continue to do. So yes, I have so much to be thankful for, and I told each one at the recovery home, that they have much to be thankful for as well. For they each have the opportunity to allow God to be the restorer of their lives. Many of them are well on the way and it will be awesome to see how God will use them. Others are still caught in the lie, that they cannot change, but with God I know all things are possible. So I am thankful that the God who has saved me, and is restoring my life, is able to do the same to all that will seek His face. I give you all the Glory and I am forever thankful to you the God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The Cross

Have you ever notice as you driving or riding in a car, how often you see a Cross. I live in a small town in Ohio and often as I'm driving the country roads I notice the Cross. It may be on a billboard, out in the middle of a field, painted on a barn, on top a hill with light around it to illuminate it at night, or standing tall on a church steeple. But one thing is sure the Cross is everywhere. Like it or not it has become a symbol of America. As I read scripture I also see the Cross, but there is a difference. The Cross of the bible is not just a symbol, it is by Jesus death on the Cross that we have victory over death. In Colossians 2:13-15 it states
(When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature,God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the Cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the Cross.) So although the Cross often times is very visible in our culture, it is the power of the Cross that is missing. For the Cross was never meant to be just a symbol, but it was to show us the Savior and turn us to Him. For without the death and blood of Jesus Christ the Cross has no power to save. So don't just look at the Cross, remember why we have it. God use the Cross to save those who would turn to him, by giving his Son Jesus Christ as a payment for our sins. So the next time you see the Cross, stop and take time to thank God for the Cross.

One Life Taken One Life Spared

The past week has been a difficult one as we at Off The Wall Ministry were reminded how quickly A life can be lost, while on the other hand how gracious our God is in protecting another life. In the span of a day we found out a dear friend, a young man 19 years old was involved in a car accident. The car was traveling at 70 mph and it struck a telephone pole, he walked away unharmed. The young man was very shaken but his life was protected. Less than 24 hours later we received the news that another young man that many in our ministry knew was involved in a single car accident, he however did not walk away. As I sat there I asked myself why one life was taken and one was spared. Both young men knew the Lord as their savior, and for the most part we would say were good young men. So why would God make such a decision, was one family more important than the other, was one young man of more value than the other, or was one situations more out of control than the other. As I thought through the questions, the only answer i could find is that God does what God does. It is not that one is better than the other, our of more value than the other. It is only that God give and takes life as he sees fit, and for his glory and our betterment. One young man is now in the present of his savior, while the other has the chance to share the story of his Gods grace over his life. One young man will never have to suffer again, while one young man must continue to fight the good fight of faith for his Lord and his God. Why God did it this way I do not know, but I know that in both cases God was good and gracious. Now some may say,how is death ever good or gracious. I want you to know that I never said that death was good or gracious, I said God is good and gracious even in death or in life. And we as His children must always remember that. We should grieve with the family that suffer lost, and rejoice with the family that was spared. But through it all we must know that God will be God and that he is always good and gracious even when we don't understand.

God Will Be God

Well Its been awhile since I wrote, life has been busy and God has been teaching me much. I am often taken back by the lessons that i constantly forget. But thank God that he is willing to teach me all over again. One of those lessons is that no matter how hard life is, how unfair life may seem, how life might not workout how you want, God is still God, and God is still good. You see, God does not have too make life good as we perceive good, he does not need our permission and he will not ask for it,He will always be God and he does what he pleases. But for those who have given their lives to Him, he always is working for their good, even when they can't see it. Another lesson I have been reminded of it that blaming God for all the issues that I or we create will not change how he deals with us. Our sins has consequences God is not obligated to make everything right, he often times allowes the consequences to teach us something that we need to learn, the question is are we willing to learn? Yes the more I think about it I am thankful that no matter waht happens that God will always be God. It is upon that truth that we can put our full trust in Him always.Thanks you for being a God worhty of all our trust.