God Wants His People Active, In His Service, And To His Glory!

God's Glory (Photo credit: loswl)

"Make sure you've done everything you can about a situation before you let the chips fall where they may. God wants his people active, in his service, and to his glory."

"Many people tend to blame God for what happens to them, but they never thank God when something good happens. Which is it? I'll tell you that God is not to blame for negative things that happen to you, that is unless he is trying to get your attention, in which case you need to look up."

"If you let go of your ego for just a minute, and you take a look around you giving God full credit, you begin to truly understand what "purpose" really means."

"Due to human nature, linear thinking, and time, at best we are only able to approach something from one direction. God approaches everything from all directions."

"We always have ideas and plans for what we want to do, but we have to make sure we're listening to hear what God wants us to do."

"Don't settle for what is handed to you. Explore every chance that you get. Take risks when appropriate. Listen to your conscious. Your first instinct is usually right. Prioritize, and above all, seek God and read His Word. Love because love transcends all, and seek your purpose."

"Let your faith be unshaken, but as for other life concerns, keep an open mind. Many a time, you will swear to your core you are right while others say something different, and many a time, you will wake up and realize after more experience that you're actually wrong. It's a sobering thing, and we could get a lot more out of life if we actually listened more to advice from others instead of furthering our own selfish motivations. After all, we all bleed red, and we are all God's children."

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Daily Surrendering Ourselves To God

Words have a power all their own (Photo credit: Lynne Hand)

People that know me well know that I talk way too much. As a Christian, the Spirit makes his way into some of my communication, but I'm not perfect. I'll stick my foot in my mouth faster than Billy the Kid could ever have pulled his pistol. And then I'll do it again. The Bible says "Whoever keeps his mouth and tongue keeps himself out of trouble." Proverbs 21:23 I am going to ask God to help me with that.

Talking more often means we have less time for listening to God speak to us. Besides opening our mouths to pray, we must truly have time to listen to him. One way we listen to God is by reading his Word. I remember a song we used to sing as kids that comes from Psalms 119:105 "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." His Word and his presence in our hearts is our sanctuary and fellowship with him.

We also need to take time to listen to others. Listening is not just hearing but understanding and engaging in what someone is saying. Several sermons ago, my pastor told a story about his son telling him to listen with his eyes. The head coach for the baseball team I help with always says that to the team as well. There are many reasons to listen and many verses to back those reasons up.

Our listening must not only compete with our words but also our thoughts and our surroundings. And this world isn't going to start moving any slower. As we fail to listen to God and others, we fail to truly live; instead, we exist in our own arrogance and foolishness. We tend to think that we are in control of our own lives, which is one of the many snares of selfishness. One of Satan's best deceptions is making us think that we have everything under control. In doing that, he succeeds in making sure we forget to give control over to God.

When we give our hearts to Jesus, we're supposed to be surrendering our lives and complete control over to him. Of course, what happens is we establish a relationship with Jesus Christ in which we daily make the decision to let him have control over things. It is here where my life verse steps into the picture. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths." Proverbs 3:5-6

What we do with our lives is our biggest witness for Christ, and it is important that God be at the helm. We must listen to him, and we must give him control over everything. These two things aren't always easy to do, but we can ask God to help us do them. We often do this when things go wrong. "We felt we were doomed to die and saw how powerless we were to help ourselves; but that was good, for then we put everything into the hands of God, who alone could save us." 2 Corinthians 1:9

We need to seek God first, listen, and surrender control to him ALL of the time. There are no limits to what God can do in our lives if we put our faith and trust in him. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Proverbs 2:1-5 says "My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

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Seeking God First Makes All The Difference

Seek God (Photo credit: CharlotteAChung)

Have you ever wanted to stop doing something, but you just couldn't seem to quit? You pray about it, ask God for help, give it your best, and then it doesn't happen. What's the problem? I have been smoking cigarettes ever since I was 15 years old, and I have wanted to quit numerous times. I have asked God to help me, made preparations, set goals, purchased substitute products, and still nothing. So if you're wondering what you're doing wrong when you fail at quitting something, I too have been in that same boat many times. We all have, and I have still yet to quit smoking.

Jesus says "If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it." John 14:14 If I asked God in Jesus name to help me quit smoking, I should've been able to quit already. So why haven't I quit? I believe there are two things that stop us, and they definitely work in conjunction with one another. First of all, you must have the true desire to quit whatever it is that you are wanting to stop doing. A true desire must be matched by faith that God will carry you through and deliver on his promise. Do you see how these two principles are completely connected? Your faith must be strong so that you are, and your commitment must have Jesus as the foundation; built on a rock.

Many of us try to handle things on our own until something comes up that is too difficult. That is when we turn to God, and when the results aren't what we want, we wonder why? Instead of asking God why, we should examine ourselves. Perhaps I haven't quit smoking yet because my faith isn't strong enough. Maybe I still smoke because I love smoking more than I love God? Don't get all bent out of shape with that question because it is a very common problem among us Christians. Instead, ponder the truth for a minute that we often find ourselves loving something else more than God, and think about whether there is anything or anyone that you love more than God. Self-examination is one of the main ways we grow in Jesus as Christians folks.

I'm not ashamed to say that I have loved many things more than God in my past, and I struggle with those issues today as well. If I didn't, I would be perfect, and I would have everything figured out already. Maybe you have something that is bothering you like I do with my smoking cigarettes. What are we going to do about it? While faith in Jesus and a true desire to quit are necessary, so are the support of other Christians around us. If we focus more on our own problems, then we are able to compassionately help and love others much easier instead of judging them. In order to do this, we must love God first, and we must seek his will in our lives. "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:33 We try to make it so difficult on ourselves, but it all comes back to faith and trust in our Creator.

~ I want to give a special thanks to a comment that was made about self-examination that greatly influenced my post today. Thanks ML!

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The Art Of Being Made A Fool

It was time for another beer run one night, and there was no money. There was a group of about 7 of us, and we all sat around for a few minutes trying to come up with an idea to get beer. Not wasting any time, I decided that I was going to steal the beer, and I needed a driver. One of the girls decided she would drive my car, and I told everyone we would be back in a few minutes. I had never done anything like this before, and I wanted to feel the rush. That is what I told my friends. After we drove around nervously for several minutes, I finally selected the BP on the corner of Clark and Memorial. I prepared myself for what I was about to do, and I got out of the car.

As I went inside the store, I kept an even pace, and I went to grab the beer from the cooler. I was 19 at the time, so I wasn't even old enough to buy it in the first place. Grabbing a carton of cigarettes on the way to the front counter, I made eye contact with the cashier, and then took off running toward the side door at the last second. There I was, on the run with a case of beer and a carton of cigarettes. I quickly got in the car, and my friend hesitated, looking at me with wide eyes as she said "You didn't see the cop?!" I was so oblivious to my surroundings that I didn't see that an officer was walking in one side of the store as I ran out the other door.

Go! Go! Go! I was screaming for her to go, and we were both scared out of our minds. Sure enough, the officer had ran out to his car in pursuit, and we were pulled over less than a half-mile down the road. The hope I felt inside was quickly taken away, and I didn't know what to do. They slapped the cuffs on me, and they took me off to jail. I was so blind that I had run out of a gas station with stolen merchandise as a cop was walking in the other side. You know how I felt? I felt like a fool. I had let Satan blind me so badly that I didn't even realize how much my back was to God. How could I have let this happen?

As Christians, we go through life thinking about how we can live for God, as we make the right choices and help others receive the gift of salvation. Viewing God as a safety net and feeding our own egos, we feel that spotting trouble is easy. If we choose to participate in sinful activities occasionally, that's fine because our foundation in God will rectify our situation. After all, we are entitled to the free gift once we receive it right? This is where we lose ourselves, and Satan's cunning ways take over. We are never entitled to anything that God gives us. This ego trip, courtesy of Satan, is one of the steps he takes to catch us off guard. God gives us everything we have, and we deserve absolutely nothing. Without him, we are absolutely nothing. It is so evident how a personal daily relationship with Jesus and his Word is needed in order to survive.

We wonder how bad things happen to us and those we love. We have created this disaster, from the first sin to the current situation of this world. We consistently revert back to our own egos, thinking we can determine on our own how to live. This is how Satan deceives us, and then he is able to continue deceiving us without us even knowing. The battle that is taking place is something that we will fully comprehend only after death. Everything we view evil in this world is still seen through a filter of hope. We put limitations on evil based on our own narrow-minded thinking, but true evil is pure evil, and it is relentlessly attempting to confuse and blind everyone. If we go into the battle unprepared, we lose the battle.

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