The Search…

I have often thought, “Why am I here?  What is the reason for my life?  Why does life seem so hard to figure out?”  

Genesis 1:26 tells me, that God created me in His image and likeness.  Why and what does that mean exactly?  I have continued to seek the answer to this question, and have found that the answer can be found in the search.  It leads me to ask the questions: who created us, why we were created, what does the creator want from us? 

This search for meaning and emptiness in our soul, leads us to reach out to the One who created us.  If it is true that God created me and made me in His image, believing in this truth causes me to find my meaning in Him.  It also tells me that God wants a relationship with those He created.  He wants us to know our purpose and reasons for life.  

As we reach-out to God, and continue our search, we discover more and more about Him and ourselves.  Learning more about Him, is all we need to know about our purpose, our destiny and our hope.

So continue the search, continue to reach out to the one who created you, and in the end you will find God and discover your purpose.

PS. Read the Gospel of John, chapter 20, verse 31.  You can know life and the author of life!

People

As I sit and think about life, there are so many things that are racing through my mind.  I think about my friends and the random people I meet each day.  I wonder why so many people are having such hard lives.

Just last night, I was talking with a young lady, and my heart broke for her.   She seems to be without hope.  Her life has been hard and many of the issues appear self-inflicted.  But still her heart is good and I can see she loves Jesus.

Then there is Terrance, the man I met at the gas station.  He was just standing at the gas pump with the hood of his truck open.  As I started to pump my gas, he asked if I could help him.  My first thought was he wants money.  Then I just prayed and asked God what should I do.  All that came to my mind was “what ever you do for the least of these”.   So I walked over and started to put some gas in his truck.  As I did, he started to tell me that he had his hood up because he had no money for gas.  He is from Gray Indiana, which was an hour away, and just needs enough gas to get home.  As he was talking my heart changed towards him.  He is a kind man who seemed to be down on his luck.  He has a great smile and appeared to be a good and decent man.  My heart went out to him.  Deep down inside I want his life to be easier, I want him to know that Jesus loves him, and because of Jesus he has value.  

As I stood there talking to him, he had tears in his eyes.  He has never filled up his truck before because he hasn’t had enough money.  His smile was more than worth filling up his truck and it warmed my heart.  He caused me to love people more, because God allowed me to see in Terrance what God sees in him.

What does God see in people?  I am starting to understand that people are hurting for many different reasons, but regardless, we are here to walk with them.  We may have to walk with them for years or only for a moment, but it is in the walking that we help them, and God changes us. Sometimes we can change the situations and sometime we can’t.  But what we can do is to stop long enough, ask God for direction, and do what he asks of us.  Then we will see how He changes us.

“Consider Your Ways.”

I have come to find that following God really comes down to the simple truth of doing the things that God ask of me. Only then will I really be able to follow Him, for He alone knows what it takes to live the life He wants of me.

As I was reading chapter 1 of Haggai, I paused after reading the words, “Consider Your Ways”.  The chapter talks about the people being so busy building their own houses and their own way of life, that they neglected the house of God. They did not seem to care about the things of God.  So God told them, “Consider your ways”.  It goes on to point out that because of the people’s neglect of God and His ways, they would never be content with what they have to gain.  

In verse 6 of chapter 1, it says, “You have sown much, and harvest little. You eat, but never have enough: you drink, but you never have your fill”.  So I ask, why is it so hard to do just what God asks of us.  I ask myself this all the time.  It comes down to the fact that, sin is strong and the desires of my flesh cannot be beat in my strength.  I need to constantly ask for God’s help.  I need to pray always against those things that want to control me, and understand that it is only when The Holy Spirit is in control, will I be able to live as God has asked.

That’s why the bible says in Ephesians 5:18, “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit”.   Yes debauchery, which means excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures.

The only way to NOT do what my body and mind wants to do, when it come to sensuality, is to be filled with the Spirit.  No, I can’t just try harder, or have people keep me accountable, or any other self-effort.  I must ask the Spirit to come and take control.  

So, if you want to do what God wants of you, you must consider your ways and do what God asks of you. You must be filled with the Spirit.

“And He Will Be the Stability of Your Times.” Isaiah 33:6

 

I have come to find that there is only One who can bear the weight of true worship. One who is God alone. When all else has failed us; the things we worship, our money, our efforts, our careers, our dreams, ourhopes, our wisdom.  When all these fail us,the one true God will be our stability. He is an unmovable rock on which we can stand.

I have found this to be true over and over again. I have found that God can hold me up even when it is me who has let me down. Even when it is me who has failed, yes, even I cannot be my own stability.  For when I have tried, I too have failed. I am not strong enough to take on the things of life alone.  They will eventually crush me, overcome me or defeat me. But when I stand in Christ,I can bear all things.

As the bible states in 2 Corinthians 4:7-9,

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”

 

When we stand in Christ, no matter how hard things get, how much the world throws at us or how great our failure is, we still have the rock to stand on.  That rock is Christ!

I am not saying that we won’t have consequences. We will! However, because of Christ, God will not allow any of those to be greater then the sacrifice that Christ made on the cross to pay for every failure.

So when you need a place of stability, cometo Him who is truly able to be your stability in all things.

What if we give thanks to the Lord with our Whole Heart?

As I was reading today this verse stood out to me, Psalm 9:1&2

            I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sign praise to your name O Most High.

As I read the words, I ask myself, do I do this? Have I ever given the Lord thanks with my whole heart? Have I ever recounted all his wonderful deeds? Do I exult Him, and do I sing praise to His name. And my answer was not often enough. There are so many times when I don’t do these things. When I take my eyes off of the Lord and I don’t exult Him gladly. 

 If I don’t put my whole heart into thanking the Lord for all he has done for me, it is easy to forget how truly Awesome He is. What would it look like if today God’s people would truly thank him with our whole hearts? If we would come to Him with no requests, but only thankfulness, if we would recount his wonders to a lost and drying world. What if today we would fill the earth with  praises to his name.

Lord today I will thank you, exult you, and recount your wonderful deeds. Lord today I will sing praise to you alone. Because Lord, you along are worthy of all of my efforts and all of my love, for you alone are God!