It dawned on me today that our culture does not love. We harbor hatred and we judge. We say we love God but do we know what and who He is? I will be the first to say that I had no clue. Still learning actually, and that is what in essence life is, once we find out what life is supposed to be. Life is a journey, always will be. The journey is love, God’s love. It is not success or fame or fortune, it is based on the absolute fact that God made us in His image for His pleasure and glory. With sin in our lives it hinders us from pursuing God like we should, and sometimes not at all. What a sad life, that we not follow the lover of us who made us. What a joy, on the other hand, to finitely grasp the concept that God’s unconditional love, that we do not deserve nor have anyway of getting on our own, he extends to us so that we may live in a peace unlike any other peace that we would or could get here in this world. It is time to take the gloves off, so to speak. To finally become a people, a Christian people, that love God with their soul. Not just thinking we love God, but actually showing it in a manner that would persuade others to think: “Wow, that person has something, I need that joy, that peace in my life.” We need to grasp onto the fact that we were not placed on this earth for ourselves, but for God. We need to understand that nothing can fill us up like God can. Nothing can complete us like a fellowship with our creator. God’s infinite grace is extended to all those who seek it, love poured out on those who follow after Him, mercy given to those in trials under His watch, conviction given to those children who are wayward and God wants back, punishment to those who do wrong in God’s sight and He wants you to know it, forgiveness to those who genuinely seek it, salvation to those who believe and give their lives away to please God. Do not sit idle and think you are in God’s will, do not think for a second that just sitting on the sideline will be a good life to live, a life we are called to. We are called to action, otherwise His love is foolish, which it most certainly is not. Live God everyday, seek God everyday, love God everyday.
Through my whole life, I have been struggling with things to do. Where do I go, what do I do, and who do I do those things with. I’ve always been motivated to do something, but never really knew where or what that was.
After being born again at Liberty University in 2006, and through the years struggling to even know what God was, and how He works in our lives. I know that what I was feeling was the call of God. It was Him who was calling me, but my heart was not in a place to hear Him, nor was my mind in the right place to hear His calling.
Through recent seasons in my life, I realize that God is putting a calling on my life to serve. To get involved and be absolutely selfless to His will and His call. While the calling itself might be different, I feel that we are all called to God. From the moment we are born God has a plan for us. What hinders that plan is us!!!
We get so wrapped up in our own lives and involved in this world, we never hear His call or take action on what He has in store for us. We are given a free-will to do as we choose and He wants us to choose Him!!
The hardest part of being a christian, for me, is to give up myself daily and follow after Him. How hard it is to give up this world and yourself when we are told to do what makes us feel good by this world’s standards.
My conclusion is that the opportunities given by God will far outweigh those given by ourselves or even this world. It is hard to give up things we know, to get out of our comfort zone and actually move to action through God’s will.
I think the problem lays in surrender, ultimate surrender to His will. We keep things in our hearts that should not be there, that God would not have there, and that blocks some of what God might be trying to say or teach us in our lives. The key is a pure heart and living in a holy manner that would envelope us in God and nothing but God’s will.
We are far better off with God than we would be apart from Him!!!
I realize now that God does not want us to lay to the wayside and just watch, He wants us to take action and get involved. He would like us to change the world for the kingdom of God. To give up this world and surrender to His call on our lives.
All can enjoy the splendors of our Lord. All can inherit the kingdom of God and enter into the Heavens gates. All can have a joy filled, satisfying life in Christ. We need not this world to be satisfied. We can have the living water to quench us, eternal joy to envelope us, and to have an ever satisfying life in God.
How many people do we see hurting but we see they have much. How would it feel to have a peace when we have nothing? To know that even when we enter life’s storms that we have be happy and know that we will be provided for? To know that when no one else is there, God is right there?
A relationship with Christ provides all those things and so much more. Christ’s love was so profound that He gave His life for us. He died on a cross, an agonizing death, so that we might have a gateway to eternal life with God in His kingdom!! We do not have to life in eternal damnation, we do not have to live in solitude, anger, fear, depression, or anything like that, because His raising from the dead conquered death for us!! We do NOT have to die in our sins, here on earth or for eternity!!
Won’t you take this priceless gift of God? Won’t you surrender yourself to a higher purpose? Surely this life is short, live it to the fullest every single day for our Lord and Savior!!!
One of my latest posts on my facebook was “It is SO hard to stand firm, when the weight of the world is on your shoulders…” while this is true, I think i wrote that in a context a christian should not have.
I was literally thinking of Isaiah 7:9b-If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.
Let me explain, I recently lost my job and am floundering for money to pay rent and get food and obviously pay my other bills. This is probably the hardest time I have ever undergone, I know it is.
Not only was I fired, I feel I was not given the opportunity to explain myself, that is besides the point because things happen for a reason, we just need to seek that out.
Lately, I have been NOTHING in my spiritual walk with the Lord, just feeling sorry for myself and blaming God. I hate to admit it but I feel that i should because I was rash in my blame, rash in my anger.
God has really been putting the pressure on me, not in a bad way, just so I have no where to turn except to Him, it kind of sucks that it came to that, but a good thing that He cares so much to do what He has been.
When I talk to people I am so down and just feeling sorry for myself and want the pity as well, things are changing now.
I had to pray hard, I cannot live like this because I know that God has a plan for my life, and what am I going to sit back and let that pass because I got fired? NO!!! I am going to suck it up, chalk it on my experience board and find what God has for me.
God is more than fair with us, and I really wanted to write this to show that no matter what happens in our lives, good or bad, it needs to be given to God. Especially when things go worse than normal, give it to God and realize that God IS in control, no matter what.
I am sad that it took me this long to realize it, but am so happy that I am learning this, and definitely something I can use in the future to help others in hard times and dark times.
This is a storm for me, storms pass and blue skies are beautiful. God is gracious and just. Draw near to Him and He will draw nearer to you. It is time I realize that and do it!!!
Thank you Lord for your never changing character, love, and grace! How can we live life without the one who created and sustains us?? I know I cannot and I am seeking Him now!!
I was a victim of this thought and I know that others have been as well. Non-believers just the same.
Many think that Christianity is this easy happy-go-lucky religion that people are just swooned into.
While that may be the truth for something people, not at all salvation, it is a lot more than that.
I think the biggest misconception is that Christians are happy all the time, to the point of being “crazy” and “diluted”. Not in touch with the “real world” or issues.
The thing that people do not understand or even some Christians that are angry all the time don’t understand.
The thing is that when one believes in Christ and what He has done for us, there is this joy that accompanies us. Even when things go wrong, we can find this deepest joy and laugh. We can feel it when we are in the deepest pain, we just have to look for it.
This joy stems from Christ, from having the Great Protector on our backs. The moment we enter the Kingdom of God, we are promised eternal life. That in itself makes us happy beyond comprehension. Even more deeper we enter a life that is devoted to our Creator, to be in love with Him.
Christian’s seem diluted, separated, and weird. Even in Christian circles, they do not understand others, I feel this is because they have not gotten this joy, or gotten into the depths of it that others have.
We are all on different walks of life, and on different levels, but I think that the one thing Christians can have one the same level is joy and happiness. Does not matter the circumstances life or the world has us in because, as Christians, we all are going to the same place in the end.
We need to rid ourselves of the worry and the little things that rob us of our joy because we are missing out on a gift of God. We instead are refusing something given at an extraordinary price.
Do not slap God in the face be refusing a gift. Figure out what is getting you down or robbing your joy and change it, get rid of it, and run from it. Let the joy that is the Lords enter and satisfy.
With the understanding of at least joy, and resting in the Rock of our faith, we can understand others, get along better with others, and not judge others.
In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.
As I sit here going through the last few weeks, I rarely seem to be happy. I understand that I have issues, and all this time I thought they were in my head, maybe some are, I do not really know at this point.
What I do know for sure is that there is nothing that our Almighty Powerful God cannot overcome. Nothing that He cannot cure or fix or use for His ultimate glory.
Now i have sat here for the last few weeks and felt just miserable and sorry for myself. Hating work, hating who I was, hating those who were and are more successful.
Wow, what a God we have that can lovingly show us ourselves, no matter if it is good or bad. I just saw the bad side of myself and realize it was because I was shaking my fist at God. I was not openly cursing him or shaking my fist at the heavens, but is it not the same if we find it hard to pray and do not read our bibles?
I sit here right now, thinking about all the days that I have not read my bible but tried to minister to people. All the times I tried to pray and felt like i was talking to a wall.
There is a degree of self discipline that we MUST have, i know what my problem was, i fully expected God to make everything easier, to make it so attainable that i did not have to work at anything.
The truth is, sometimes things are hard, but with determination and faith, we are given blessings through Jesus Christ. Only through Jesus Christ can we get these blessings. They are not freely given. We must believe in Him and His purpose for us, and in acting on that we may have our hearts and minds open to receive those blessings.
Not for selfishness, but for the glory and majesty of our amazing God.
We must first deny ourselves, and give up everything. Giving it all to God and giving Him our lives as well. So that He may use us as He sees fit. If we allow things to be closed off from God he can never really use us to our fullest potential or in the ways He wants to use us.
I write all this because I want you all to know that sometimes being a christian is hard. Some people have the misconception that it is an easy life. That is not the case, which i was one of them, but we must strive for God. Not to get what we might get in blessings from above, but for the reason that God has given us so much, so let us just give what we can back to Him. Which would be our time, bodies, and souls.
Thank God for today, shake off yesterday, seek forgiveness, and live for Him today.
Let go and let God.
Live the Truth, Share the Truth, Be the Truth.
