Wednesday, November 30, 2011

God will NEVER give up on you

He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:8, 9 NIV)

What a great passage. God is faithful. What a powerful statement. God will never leave you alone, never give up on you no matter what and always be faithful to you. That's not something that can be said for many of us as humans. As humans we can lose our faith in someone or something when things get hard or they disappoint us. As humans we can give up on people. As humans it's hard for us to remain faithful in the midst of the daily struggles of life, whether it's living in a war-torn country or not knowing how we will make ends meet. But God will never let you down, He will never disappoint you or give up on you even when we disappoint Him through our words or actions. Remember this as you go through your struggles or when someone disappoints you or you are thinking that there's no hope for someone. Never give up on them because God won't give up in them. I have had several points in my life where some of my best friends probably wanted to (and some said they almost did) give up on me. I am a sinner and I haven't always been the best person but I am glad that they didn't give up on me and that God didn't either. Peace and God Bless

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

The wisdom of Yoda

Small and green at first glance Yoda doesn't seem too intimidating but get him riled up and he will whoop you with his knowledge of the force.

In the Star Wars movie Luke goes to the Dagobah system to seek out the Jedi master Yoda. Luke crashes on the planet and finds this little green creature who, he believes, can't be the great Jedi master. Luke later learns that this small, green creature is the Jedi master and begins training with him. There is a scene where Luke says to Yoda that he is trying to which Yoda replies, "Try not. Do or do not. There is no try."

What profound words from such a small and meek creature but I think they are words that we can all learn from. We have all had situations where we have tried and failed. I think that what Yoda is hinting at is that if we truly believe then anything is possible. Instead of calling it the Force we called it God. All things are possible with God. When we are with God and we pray to God, He will not let us fail.

If we bring glory to God in all the things we do then we cannot fail in the ultimate purpose. When we try to do things on our own we will never be successful in the ultimate purpose. So try not. Do or do not. There is no try. Peace and God Bless

Sunday, November 20, 2011

I am an addict

"Hi my name is Kenny and I am an addict."
"Welcome Kenny."
These are usually the first lines you think of when you are thinking about being an addict. These words are uttered daily in alcoholics anonymous, narcotics anonymous and other various addiction recovery and support groups. Well I am here to say that I am an addict. I am completely and totally addicted to Jesus.

They say the first step to recovery is to admit that you have an addiction. Well I just did and when I first admitted it at age 7 and again renewed my "addiction" at age 14 I began the process of recovery. Recovery in this case is the gaining of eternal life through Jesus Christ. I will admit that the recovery process is long and at times very trying. It's hard to be a Jesus addict in today's society with everything that goes on around us, all the outside influences, the hate, the wars, the struggle to make ends meet. But there is a great recovery and support group you can go to...the church.

What's great about church is that most everyone there is a Jesus addict. Yes there are those that go to church because they feel that's what they are supposed to do but the 99% go to help with the struggle of being addicted to Jesus.

I'm proud to be an addict and you should be too. I feed my addiction through prayer, reading the scripture, and going to my support group. Are you and addict and do you feed your addiction? Peace and God Bless

Monday, November 14, 2011

Cheers

Have you ever felt like sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name and they're always glad you came? The theme from Cheers has been playing in my head today and today I really wanted to go where everybody knows your name. And I am not talking about a bar. I wanted to go somewhere that everyone was glad to see me and that no one judged me and that everyone understood me.

Don't you wish there was a place like this? Here's the good news. There is. It's called church. The church is the body of Christ. Loving, caring, and always welcoming. At my church everybody knows my name, not because they have too but because they want to. They are always glad that I came and they understand me. They are accepting of everyone and I love that about my church.

When I was younger I was a handful. I questioned the status quo, I bucked the system, I wore pants that I could rent commercial space in, I had long hair which was sometimes dyed different colors and yet my church accepted me and loved me ( though I think that sometimes they may have wanted to strangle me). And I love this about my church. It's one reason I still go. I hope that you have somewhere that everybody knows your name and where they are always glad you came. Peace and God Bless

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Everybody has a price

Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests and asked, "What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?" So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over. (Matthew 26:14-16 NIV)

It has been said that everybody has a price. I don't know that to be true though. Is there enough of something to make you sell someone out? Is it money, or fame? Would you sell out your best friend for a few hundreds bucks? Judas sold out Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. Then he hung himself.

I don't think there is enough money in the world for me to sell out anyone I know or anyone I don't know for that matter. You see I don't think that everybody has a price. I think that greed can get the better of people and that people sometimes want for things so bad that they will do crazy and regrettable things to get them.

Just remember that Jesus paid the ultimate price when He died for us. Peace and God Bless

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

The Gospel According to Garth

Garth Brooks is probably one of the best known country artists of the last twenty years. I happen to love Garth Brooks and today I had a song of his stuck in my head. It's a song called Unanswered Prayers. The chorus goes like this:
Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers
Remember when you're talking to the man upstairs
That just because He may not answer doesn't mean He don't care
Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers

Have you ever prayed for something and didn't get it? I know I have. I'm sure we all have. And sometimes its just like the song says, it's the one thing we wanted, the one person we wanted for all time, it's the promotion we wanted, or it's the job we wanted. The common denominator in all of this is that it's stuff "we" want. It's not always what God wants and "we" want it in "our" time not His.

Think about those things that you have asked God for and the prayers that have gone unanswered and ask yourself if things worked out better or worse than what you wanted. I bet if you really think about it you will see that things did work out better and I bet you might just thank God for unanswered prayers. Peace and God Bless

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Farming your faith

Whoever watches the wind will not plant;
whoever looks at the clouds will not reap. (Ecclesiastes 11:4 NIV)

Farming is something that I do not understand. I was born in a city and grew up in a city. What I know about farming comes from movies like Son in Law and For Richer and Poorer. But I do know that farmers work hard seven days a week, 365 days a year. There is always something to do on a farm from feeding livestock to planting and checking crops. The work begins early and ends late each day and its hard, like really hard.

Farmers don't wait for the perfect weather to do their work. They work in the rain, sleet and snow because they have to. They don't watch the wind of the clouds to know what to do. Just as farmers don't watch the wind to plant or the clouds to harvest, we should also not watch the wind or the weather for the perfect time to share our faith or plant the seed of God in others. It should happen everyday no matter what. If we wait for the perfect weather to plant our faith it will never happen. We have to do it in the rain, sleet and snow. In the darkest of night and the brightest of days. Are you watching the wind and the clouds? Or are you farming your faith. Peace and God Bless

Monday, November 7, 2011

A Lamp Unto My Feet

Your word is a lamp for my feet,
a light on my path. I have taken an oath and confirmed it,
that I will follow your righteous laws. (Psalm 119:105, 106 NIV)

Have you ever tried to walk in the dark without a light? It's pretty hard to do. I mean sometimes you might find the right path and sometimes you might walk into the coffee table. When we are walking down this path that we call life we need a lamp and a light otherwise we might take a wrong turn.

God is the lamp and the light. He is the way we need to follow. He is the one who can help us on this path.

I read a tweet recently that said, "in God we trust literally means trust yourself! There is no one out there to help you." This bothered me because I realized that this tweeter didn't have a lamp or a light. He was banging into the coffee table and he didn't even know it. I wish this story had a happy ending but sadly when I tried to reach out to this person it was met with hostility. I sent a DM to this tweeter and reached out trying to show them that there was someone out there to help and that someone would help no matter what and would always be there. Sadly the response was not good. But I will continue to pray for this tweeter and everyone else without a lamp or a light. Peace and God Bless