How many times do we take for granted the things we have? For instance your eyesight, or your voice, or your hands. How often do you think about your hands? What do you do with your hands? I thought of a lot of things I do with mine like: typing these thoughts, throwing a baseball or football, working to provide for my family, and holding hands with my beautiful wife. We take our hands and what they do for us for granted all too often. Sometimes I think we take for granted the power that is in our hands. I was talking to a guy the other day and he was telling me a story about his little boy. I want to tell you this story and I want you to see how much power are in the touch of your hands.
He started off by telling me that his daughter was pulling his son in a wagon. The daughter was driving a little tricycle and she had tied the handle of the wagon to the back of the tricycle. He was doing some things in his shop and his children were riding back and forth in front of the house. All of a sudden he said he herd the most horrific yell come from his son. He ran out to see what happen and he saw blood all over his sons face. The handle of the wagon had come off the tricycle and hit his son in the face. He cleaned all the blood off and saw it was a pretty deep cut on his forehead. They couldn't get the bleeding to stop so they had to take him to the ER. The doctor tells the dad that he is short handed and that he would have to hold his sons head while he stitched him up. So the guy told me that he had to hold his little son by the sides of his head and had to keep his son from moving. He said the whole time his little boy was yelling at him and telling him to stop the doctor from hurting him, and all he could say was "it will be over in just a little bit". He proceeded to tell the story and he said the next thing he knew his son reached both of his hands up and put them on top of his hands and he stopped moving. He explained that he asked his son was everything okay and if he was doing alright, and tears started to fill this mans eyes and his story stopped for a minute. He regained some of his composure and he started back. He said that his son looked him straight in the eyes and said "yeah dad I am okay. As long as I can hold your hands I will be okay." After that sentence we both had tears pouring down our faces. You see that little boy knew that his father would not let anything happen that wasn't for his own good, and our Father in heaven is the same way.
1 John 3:1 says "See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God". God loves us so much that He has called us His very on son or daughter, and I want to tell you that the power that son felt in his dads hands is so much more powerful in the hands of God. Isaiah 49:16 tells us that "I have engraved you on the palms of my hands" and how good is it to know that we are forever attached to God. If you are His child then you are in the most powerful hands that there are to be in.
I want to remind you of what Martin Luther said, "I have held many things in my hands and have lost them all, but whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess." You see many times our hands are not strong enough to take care of the things that come in our lives, but God's hands will never loose, drop, or hurt any of His children. We may have some hurts and pain and you may be wondering why God isn't just taking it away. I want to tell you to just hold on, its gonna be one more day until the pain leaves or the hurt leaves and it will all be for the glory of God. Just reach out your hands and take hold of His and God will take you where He wants you to be. He is the great physician and He doesn't need any help in taking care of you. All that He needs is for you to come to Him with your problems and fears and just grab on to His hands.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
"Faith isn’t faith until it’s all you’re holding on to." Anonymous
There are a few things that are truly difficult in a Christian walk. For instance, daily reading God’s word and seeing what He wants to tell you, making time for Him in our prayer life with the hectic lives that we live, and holding on to the faith you have in who God is. I think faith is the biggest weapon FOR a Christian and AGAINST a Christian. You see faith is something that we don’t fully understand. We know when we haven’t been reading God’s word like we should be. We understand when our prayer life is nothing more than a mere minute or two in the shower, but faith… faith we don’t understand. This is why it is one of the best weapons against a Christian. When we as humans don’t understand something we tend to shy away from it. As Christians we see faith as something that just comes natural once we have been saved, but that is not the case. With this attitude towards faith there are many Christians that think they exerting faith when in all honesty they are leaning on their own strength and power. They are trusting in themselves for the results and not in God. They are still holding on to struggles and past sins in their life. Look with me to Genesis 22:1-13.
1 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. 2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.” 3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”
True faith?!?!?!?! “WE will worship and then WE will come back to you.”
6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” 8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
Another faith statement!!! “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.”
9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. 12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” 13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.
When any one talks about faith this is the story that almost always comes up. This is what we go by and say is true faith, but I want you to look at some things with me. Adrian Rogers said “A faith that hasn’t been tested can’t be trusted.” Look at verse one, “Some time later God tested Abraham.” I want you to think about this story a little more. Verses 6 and 7 tell us what is needed for a sacrifice. You have the wood, the fire, the knife, and the sacrifice. We see in these verses that Abraham and Isaac carried all of these things to the place where the sacrifice was going to happen. Now I want you to think about how this story would have ended if they would have kept holding the wood or the fire. What would have happened if they were willing to lay everything down on the altar except one of these tools? Without the wood there is no fire. Without the fire there is no burnt offering. Without the knife there is no way to kill the sacrifice, and without the sacrifice the whole thing is pointless. So they had to be willing to lay everything down on the altar for the sacrifice to work. It’s the same way with us today. We have to be willing to lay everything down at the altar for Jesus’ sacrifice to work in our lives. “Faith isn’t faith until it’s all you’re holding on to.” True faith isn’t holding on to past sins, or past regrets. True faith isn’t holding on to the way you felt when someone hurt you. True faith isn’t staying in a lifestyle that you know isn’t pure. True faith is giving God everything He deserves. True faith is giving God His portion of your finances when it doesn’t even look like there will be food on the table this week. True faith is giving God your marriage when it looks like it is crumbling down. True faith is telling that one person you have been praying for, about Jesus Christ. True faith is asking God to test your faith. Psalm 26:2 “Lord, try me and test me; look closely into my heart and mind.” I challenge you this week to give God the things that you have been holding on to. I promise He can take care of them so much better than we can. I challenge you to ask God to test your life to see if it is where He would have it to be. Then I challenge you when He tells you it isn’t, because He will, to make the changes that He would have you to make.
Jesus already made the sacrifice He is just waiting for you to lay everything you have at His altar. I am praying for you this week and I love you guys and Jesus Christ loves you more.
1 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. 2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.” 3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”
True faith?!?!?!?! “WE will worship and then WE will come back to you.”
6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” 8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
Another faith statement!!! “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.”
9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. 12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” 13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.
When any one talks about faith this is the story that almost always comes up. This is what we go by and say is true faith, but I want you to look at some things with me. Adrian Rogers said “A faith that hasn’t been tested can’t be trusted.” Look at verse one, “Some time later God tested Abraham.” I want you to think about this story a little more. Verses 6 and 7 tell us what is needed for a sacrifice. You have the wood, the fire, the knife, and the sacrifice. We see in these verses that Abraham and Isaac carried all of these things to the place where the sacrifice was going to happen. Now I want you to think about how this story would have ended if they would have kept holding the wood or the fire. What would have happened if they were willing to lay everything down on the altar except one of these tools? Without the wood there is no fire. Without the fire there is no burnt offering. Without the knife there is no way to kill the sacrifice, and without the sacrifice the whole thing is pointless. So they had to be willing to lay everything down on the altar for the sacrifice to work. It’s the same way with us today. We have to be willing to lay everything down at the altar for Jesus’ sacrifice to work in our lives. “Faith isn’t faith until it’s all you’re holding on to.” True faith isn’t holding on to past sins, or past regrets. True faith isn’t holding on to the way you felt when someone hurt you. True faith isn’t staying in a lifestyle that you know isn’t pure. True faith is giving God everything He deserves. True faith is giving God His portion of your finances when it doesn’t even look like there will be food on the table this week. True faith is giving God your marriage when it looks like it is crumbling down. True faith is telling that one person you have been praying for, about Jesus Christ. True faith is asking God to test your faith. Psalm 26:2 “Lord, try me and test me; look closely into my heart and mind.” I challenge you this week to give God the things that you have been holding on to. I promise He can take care of them so much better than we can. I challenge you to ask God to test your life to see if it is where He would have it to be. Then I challenge you when He tells you it isn’t, because He will, to make the changes that He would have you to make.
Jesus already made the sacrifice He is just waiting for you to lay everything you have at His altar. I am praying for you this week and I love you guys and Jesus Christ loves you more.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
"If you are not as close to God as you used to be, who moved?" Unknown
Have you ever been at a place in your life where you knew you weren't where God wanted you to be? I am talking about in your everyday prayer life and your everyday Bible readings. Have you ever got to a point where you just didn't want to read or pray that day? Then before you know it that one day has turned into a week, or a month, or even years. I want to give you some encouraging words and tell you that every Christian, if they are honest, has been in that same boat. I want us to really look at this quote this morning. "If you are not as close to God as you used to be, who moved?"
John 1:1-5 says this: "In the beginning there was the Word. The Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were made by him, and nothing was made without him. In him there was life, and that life was the light of all people. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overpowered the Light."
This verse says it all. It doesn't matter if your walk is exactly where it needs to be or if you are struggling right now. After reading this verse it should get your life back in perspective. You see God never leaves us, we chose to leave Him. "All things were made by him, and nothing was made without him." Your life has meaning and purpose!! God doesn't create things that He cant, or wont use. It says "nothing was made without Him" and that includes you. It doesn't matter what is going on in your life right now, no matter how much darkness or pain is there, my God is bigger than that!! "In him there was life, and that life was the light of all people. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overpowered the Light." Jesus Christ is that light and no matter how dark you think your life is "the darkness has not overpowered the Light." Jesus Christ will be in the same spot He has always been whenever you decide to start walking the path He has designed for you again. He will always be right there by your side when you move back.
He cares for you and He cherishes you. Psalm 8:3-6 "When I observe Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You set in place, what is man that You remember him, the son of man that You look after him? You made him little less that God and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him lord over the works of Your hands." God has placed His overwhelming love on His children and He has placed us in the spot that He wants to use us. He made you is His own image so you are loved more than any other.
My prayer for you today is that you will strive for your prayer life and your walk with God to be the best that it has ever been. Psalm 104:34 says "May my meditation be pleasing to Him" and that is what we need to think about each time morning comes and that decision of whether or not to take a few minutes and sit with God comes. May all we do be pleasing to our God, who died to save our lives.
"God I thank you for your word. It is the most amazing and captivating words that we could ever read. Give us a burden in our hearts to strive for that life that would be pleasing to you. May we live a life that would be radical for you Lord. No matter what we are going through God may we always have the attitude that Ruth had." Ruth 1:16 "Where you go, I will go. Where you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. And where you die, I will die." "Let us all understand God that you are always the same and You never leave our side. God if we see in our life that something has changed with our walk with You, let us understand that we are the only ones that move from Your presence. Thank you for your love and mercy and grace. God to leave Your heavenly home to come to Your earth to live as we live and to die for the sins that we have committed. God thank you for Your unselfishness. I love you Lord and thank you for everything that You are doing in my life.
May this post encourage you a little in your times of struggle or when you think your walk isn't where it needs to be. I would love to hear back from you guys if you have any thoughts, comments, or questions. Thanks for reading and know that God is always there with you.
John 1:1-5 says this: "In the beginning there was the Word. The Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were made by him, and nothing was made without him. In him there was life, and that life was the light of all people. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overpowered the Light."
This verse says it all. It doesn't matter if your walk is exactly where it needs to be or if you are struggling right now. After reading this verse it should get your life back in perspective. You see God never leaves us, we chose to leave Him. "All things were made by him, and nothing was made without him." Your life has meaning and purpose!! God doesn't create things that He cant, or wont use. It says "nothing was made without Him" and that includes you. It doesn't matter what is going on in your life right now, no matter how much darkness or pain is there, my God is bigger than that!! "In him there was life, and that life was the light of all people. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overpowered the Light." Jesus Christ is that light and no matter how dark you think your life is "the darkness has not overpowered the Light." Jesus Christ will be in the same spot He has always been whenever you decide to start walking the path He has designed for you again. He will always be right there by your side when you move back.
He cares for you and He cherishes you. Psalm 8:3-6 "When I observe Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You set in place, what is man that You remember him, the son of man that You look after him? You made him little less that God and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him lord over the works of Your hands." God has placed His overwhelming love on His children and He has placed us in the spot that He wants to use us. He made you is His own image so you are loved more than any other.
My prayer for you today is that you will strive for your prayer life and your walk with God to be the best that it has ever been. Psalm 104:34 says "May my meditation be pleasing to Him" and that is what we need to think about each time morning comes and that decision of whether or not to take a few minutes and sit with God comes. May all we do be pleasing to our God, who died to save our lives.
"God I thank you for your word. It is the most amazing and captivating words that we could ever read. Give us a burden in our hearts to strive for that life that would be pleasing to you. May we live a life that would be radical for you Lord. No matter what we are going through God may we always have the attitude that Ruth had." Ruth 1:16 "Where you go, I will go. Where you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. And where you die, I will die." "Let us all understand God that you are always the same and You never leave our side. God if we see in our life that something has changed with our walk with You, let us understand that we are the only ones that move from Your presence. Thank you for your love and mercy and grace. God to leave Your heavenly home to come to Your earth to live as we live and to die for the sins that we have committed. God thank you for Your unselfishness. I love you Lord and thank you for everything that You are doing in my life.
May this post encourage you a little in your times of struggle or when you think your walk isn't where it needs to be. I would love to hear back from you guys if you have any thoughts, comments, or questions. Thanks for reading and know that God is always there with you.
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