It's A Fast Paced World With Fast Paced People

"By the first day of the first month of Noah’s six hundred and first year, the water had dried up from the earth. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry. By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was completely dry. Then God said to Noah, “Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives." Genesis 8:13‭-‬16 NIV

     Imagine, yourself on the ark with Noah & his family and all of the animals. No windows are open because of the rain. No fresh air,  no bathroom or showers, and a whole lot of STINK. Need I say more?
Noah and his family were trapped inside a ship for approximately 370 days. I can imagine how anxious they were to get off the ark. I'm sure they would have had arguments with each other. They were probably very irritable and cranky. At least I know I would have been.

     These verses tell us that the land had dried up and then Noah removed the covering of the ark and he saw that the land was dry. Wooohoo! I would have jumped ship & immediately headed to the nearest Holiday Inn in search of a shower. But he didn't.  All joking aside, Noah waited. He waited for God's directions. What would have happened if he didn't wait on the Lord? The bible doesn't say but we can imagine that if Noah had jumped ship to early (which is what I would have done) maybe he would have sunk into some quick sand or something similar.  Maybe something far worse would have happened. If Noah and his family would have died who would have populated the earth? After all they were the only humans left on earth.

     We can go through a whole long list of what if's, but the truth is that Noah waited on God. He waited for God to tell him what his next steps were to be and when. All too often in life we get too anxious and start making plans. In this day and age, life is about conveniences. We have fast food, information at our fingertips that can be instantly accessible in a single click on our smart phones or computers. Everything we do is fast paced and there is a huge market for everything to be done as fast as possible.  IT'S A  FAST PACED WORLD WITH FAST PACED PEOPLE.

     When we get anxious,  we make mistakes.  When we put the "cart before the horse" so to speak we are putting our desires, wants, & needs before God. We don't take the time to see His guidance and more times than not we end up making a huge mess of things. We become more unhappy with the situation than we were in the first place and we become more and more uncontent in life, never satisfied. The good news is that God knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows what we need and what we don't need. He knows what will make us happy and content. We just need to be patient and wait on the Lord.

     Father, thank you so very much for who You are. Thank you for loving us so much that You are always looking out for our best interests.  Lord please help us to be patient and wait like Noah did. To rely on You for directions and guidance.  Help  us to remember that You are in control and that we don't need to get in Your way. In Jesus name, amen.

But Be Advised

"The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by human hands. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. They have ears, but cannot hear, nor is there breath in their mouths. Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them." Psalm 135:15‭-‬18 NIV

     Idols are made up of Anything that takes our focus off of God. They get in the way of us communicating, trusting, honoring, & hearing God. We are made to worship, and if we are not worshipping God, then we will naturally find something else to worship. In many cases we end up worshipping ourselves along with other things or people. We become like what we worship. If we are worshipping God we should become more and more like Him.

     I read in a devotional today written by a lady named Sharon Hodde Miller about this very subject. She explained something that she refers to as the "Mirror Reflex" she explains it like this and I quote...

"It’s hard not to look in a mirror, isn’t it? If you walk by a mirror you are going to take a look. We all do it.  This reflex is also true in relationships. We’re constantly looking to others as a reflection of us. When we do this, we allow other people, our possessions, and our profession to shape our self-image. When the reflection is good, we feel great. When the reflection is bad, we feel insecure...The mirror reflex causes us to make everything about us, even when it’s not...When you treat people like mirrors, you create a world that is all about you."  End quote.
     This is oh so very true. Of all of the idols that we have in our lives, the idol of self is the hardest to remove. This " Mirror reflex" is probably the biggest and most powerful idol that we have to face. But when we worship God, He becomes our mirror. We start to see ourselves the way that He sees us. We start to reflect Him and no longer need other people or our professions and things to define who we are. We are no longer in need of our idols to make us feel valuable and secure. Then before we know it our idol of self is no longer an idol. But Be Advised, that idol will never completely die. It will sneak back into our lives the very second that we take our eyes of off God and we will be worshipping the mirror once again.

     God loves us so much that He gave us the freedom to choose  who or what we worship. God is a gentleman, He will never force Himself on us.

     Father, Thank you for loving us so much that You have given us the freedom to choose. Thank you for not forcing us to worship You. Our relationship with You is completely up to us. It will become what we make of it, and regardless of what we choose  to worship other than You, You are always there with open arms waiting for us to worship You. Help us Lord to make You our idol. Forgive us Lord for putting ourselves and things in place of You in our hearts and lives. Help us to worship You in all that we do. In Jesus name -Amen-

Be our Delight Lord

"But his delight is in the law of the Lord , and on His law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers." Psalms 1:2‭-‬3 ESV 

     The Lord is suppose to be our Delight. We should be very excited each day to spend time with Jesus. He should be the highlight of every day.  The 1st person we speak to each morning and the last thought on our minds every night.  In order for us to grow closer to Him, become more like Him and to prosper in life we need to make Him THE priority in our lives, in All that we do. Keep Him on the fore-front in everything and remember His presence  in our lives. 

     The sinful nature in me wants to ask the question why? What does it matter if I spend time with Him or not? My life is just fine the way it is. Why fix it if it's not broken? But the truth is that it is very broken without Him.  I can look back on the times in my life when He was left out and I can show you the mess that I have made of it all on my own. We were made to need Him. Deep down in the essence of what makes us us,  He made us to need Him.  Why?  Not because He needs us to need Him. Not because He is selfish and needs attention from us.  But because we simply can't exist without Him. His very breath gave us life. We can't physically survive day to day without Him, because rather we know it or not or want to addmit it or not, He holds the world and its very existence together.  We think that we go through  day to day life in control of what we do and sure we make our own decisions but we will never beable to survive entirely without Him.  Why would we want to go through life without Him when He controls everything anyway? Trust me, life is so much easier to deal with when we delight in Him. 

     Father, thank you so very much for your presence in our lives.  Thank you for making us to need you and for not leaving us to our own devices.  Help us Lord to recognize your presence so that we may be aware of our actions and make them pleasing to you.  Help us make you the priority in all that we do. Be our Delight Lord.

In Jesus name amen. 

BEHOLD, The new has come

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV

     Happy New Year! Oh man, what a year. It has been almost exactly a year since my last post. I do appologize for my lack of commitment. I`m not exactly sure why, but it has been so hard for me this past year to stay focused on God. I can`t help but wonder how much I could have accomplished if only I would have kept my eyes on the Lord? Or, What was it that the devil was trying to detour me from this last year? Sadly, he may have succeeded due to my lack of dedication. 

     Satan would love for me to stay trapped in the what if`s and the would of's, & could have's. But I know that my God has much more in store for me and for you. Instead of dwelling on our past years, Jesus wants us to look forward to the present and future. We as Christians are "A New Creation. The old has passed away; BEHOLd, the new has come." We are NEW, not because it is a new year, BUT because we have been made new from the moment that we accepted Christ Jesus as our Lord & Savior. We can move forward knowing that nothing in our past definds us or can prevent us from accomplishing what Christ has in store for us. 

     Lets start this New Year with a New dedication & commitment to our Lord & Savior, for we are New creatures creadted by God whom can Look forward to what God will call us to this New Year. Watch out Satan, for our New selves are going to shine God`s glory this year!

Join me this year in reading through God`s word. Download the you version bible app and join me as we read the entire Bible in a year.

Bible in One Year 2019

http://bible.com/r/3Yj

With Christ's Love!

+Christian+

Road Blocks

Read Exodus 14

So because of their fear, whining, & despair in verses 10-12, I wonder if in verse 19 where it says
"... Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so that NEITHER went near the other all night."
Not only was God preventing the Egyptians from getting to the Isrealites but it sounds like He was also preventing the Isrealites from getting back to the Egyptians so that they couldn't turn back to their "comfort" in Egypt.
This would be proof to me that sometimes God has to put up road blocks in our lives to force us out of our comfort zones and keep us on His path.

-What areas​ in your life have you fought to stay in your comfort zone and God is clearly pushing you out to follow His path?

Father, thank you so very much for loving us so much that you refuse to let us stay where we do not belong. Thank you for pulling us out of our comfort and for putting up road blocks when need be to prevent us from returning to it. Lord Jesus, we know that your are the way, the truth, and the life. Lord open our eyes and hearts to your ways for your ways are always the best way for us.
Thank you Jesus for your unconditional love for us.
In your name I pray,
Amen

Living in Preparation

"This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord ’s Passover."
Exodus 12:11 NIV

In the verses before this, God was about to set the Israelites free from slavery.

God wanted them to dress as though they were about to leave even though they were not yet free to do so. Them being prepared to leave was a sign of their faith and trust in God. We need to prepare our selves when we are waiting on God.

Living in preparation shows our faith during our waiting period but it will also build up our trust in God.

Father, Thank you so very much for being faithful to your people. Thank you for giving us the stores of the past as tangible examples for us to live by. Lord please help us to live in preparation of your return. Help us to build our trust in you by living accordingly to your promises. Thank you Lord Jesus for loving us unconditionally. In your name I pray. Amen

You Love Us Still!

“But they were disobedient and rebelled against you; they turned their backs on your law. They killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you; they committed awful blasphemies. So you delivered them into the hands of their enemies, who oppressed them. But when they were oppressed they cried out to you. From heaven you heard them, and in your great compassion you gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the hand of their enemies.  “But as soon as they were at rest, they again did what was evil in your sight. Then you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies so that they ruled over them. And when they cried out to you again, you heard from heaven, and in your compassion you delivered them time after time."
Nehemiah 9:26‭-‬28 NIV

Application:
We are so much like them. Time and time again we sin and turn away from God. And time and time again He rescues us only for us to turn away again. How sad are we? When will we realize that we can not live without Him and stop trying to do so? What will it take for us to love Him completely and whole heartedly?
What an amazing God to put up with us and love us so unconditionally, Time & Time again!
Praise God for His Mercy and Grace!

What does this say about God?:
God is ever so merciful and gracious. His love for us is like no other. Unconditionally perfect and pure. He never gives up on us. He is compassionate and understanding. His love is unyelding!

Father, You are amazing. Your love is everlasting and unyelding. We are incapable of wrapping our minds around the depth of your love for us. No matter how many times we turn away or fail, you never leave nor forsake us. No matter how far we run, You Love Us Still!
Lord, please help us to remember how our lives are not that much different from the Israelites. We are really no different at all. Help us to be different. Help us to recognize that we can't live this life without you. We always end up falling hard and come crawling back to you. Help us to recognize​  when we are about to fall so that we can stand before you and worship you. In Jesus name, amen.