Do Right Till the Stars Fall

So, Blogger won't allow me to edit or even create a post so I have to revert to e-mail, which I just discovered... : ( So, until that gets fixed....well, I guess I'll just write them via e-mail, which really doesn't effect very much.

So, this evening, I had to go to work. I am at work currently but sitting with a patient but I will get to that part. So, I was wandering the house working on cleaning up the computer room, ordering books for my classes, doing everything BUT sleeping! All the while, I was devising a scheme to get out of working. The problem with this was everything that I was thinking of was a lie, which was wrong, obviously. So, I laid down and slept for a bit tossing and turning, thinking still about what I could do or say to work so I could call off. Eventually, I got up and I was talking to a friend on Skype. I was complaining saying that I *really* didn't want to go to work...He told me to call off but then said that he never did. It was a good work ethic to not do that. Well, let me tell you. I am very glad I didn't call off. It would have been wrong and I would have lied not only to the people at work but to everyone else including my parents. I got to work and a few hours later, I was called to sit in the ICU. Nothing major but I honestly believe the Lord blessed me because I did right.

It's hard to do the right thing especially when you don't feel like it. I look back at Daniel 1-3 where the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego is told. Pretty amazing once you think about it. I know we have all heard the story before but it truly is amazing! Not only were they captured and sent to a strange land, they kept obeying God even when the consequences were death. They never ate of the king's meat nor did they bow down to the false gods. When they were thrown into the furnace, which was so hot that the men who opened the furnace were consumed by fire, God put His loving arms around them.

I know my situation was not deadly but I could have been fired for falsifying information. It was a good reminder for me to keep doing right even when it is hard. You never know who is watching. As I write this, I think of Daniel himself as he prayed three times a day with his windows open never keeping his talks with the Lord a secret. He did right and was thrown into the lion's den for doing right! Once again, God protected His children. I think about the Patch the Pirate song, Do Right. Here are some of the lyrics:

From the very start, have purpose in your heart
To do what's right, and never question why
Never count the cost though everything seems lost
The price for doing right is sometimes very high

Right is always right and wrong is always wrong
And we must learn to seperate the two.
If you love the right, the Lord will give you light;
So seek the right in everything you do!

I really like the words, "If you love the right, the Lord will give you light; So seek the right in everything you do!" This world is corrupt and the pressure to sin is all around us. Keep on seeking His face through constant prayer and scripture reading. When those temptations arise to do wrong, look on those verses you read or learned and ask God to give you that strength to overcome those obstacles in your life. Seek the right in everything you do!

Blessings Undeserved

So, I have been working for the past two nights and I was a bit sad that I was foolish enough to schedule myself to work this evening. I put my name in our on call book at work in hopes of being able to be called off of work but in case they needed me, I would be called back in. Well, as God would have it, I was called off! I was so happy! I spoke to my parents a bit about what happened. They just came back from their 30th wedding anniversary trip so we were chatting about how it was nice to get away once in a while and what a blessing it was to be together for so long. They also told me about the new vehicle they bought, which was a huge blessing in and of itself. You see, for the past 6 or 7 years, we have had a 2002 Ford Windstar to tow us around in. It was about to pass away and it was beginning to get a bit rough on the road in the winter. My parents have been looking at the Ford Expedition for some time now and my Grandpa called my Dad to tell him that there was a 2004 Expedition on sale for an extremely reasonable price. Well, the Lord allowed my parents to get the vehicle for a bit less than the asking price even after tax. What a blessing! We even got money back! We both praised the Lord for our individual blessings.

I took a shower, got dressed, packed my things for work in case I got called in, and took off for evening church at one of the church member's houses. We had some fellowship time before we gathered for a devotional and prayer time. One of the deacons spoke on Psalm 119:41-48. He talked about how we are free in Christ because of His mercy and grace. It was a great little discussion but what was the biggest blessing was the praises. There were numerous praises regarding people being lead to Christ or having opportunities to lead people to Christ by planting seeds. I told my brothers and sisters in Christ about the vehicle and how God allowed me to be called off of work this evening. It was so great to share the blessings and hear other blessings tonight. We went to prayer and once again, I was blessed by the requests that were brought before the Lord. It is great to pray with others to really talk to God with your brothers and sisters in Christ.

The night wore on and I took my leave. I got home and, after talking to my parents, we both went to bed. I ended up getting called in around 10:30 this evening but the point is I was able to go to church! Even through all of this, the Lord blessed my wishes and answered my prayer! I was talking to a nurse this morning saying, "I hope I get called off so I can go to church this evening!" It really is so cool how the Lord blesses His children. Whether good or bad, the Lord is good, all the time.

Has there been a time in your life that you have been blessed unexpectedly in the good times and bad? Please, I encourage you to share those happenings in the comments below.

Let's Talk About Jesus

I apologize for the lack of posting. I have been very busy. Work and vacation sucked my time up. : (

I went to church today when I honestly did not want to. I came back from a bachelor party after my friends and I got rained out. Yes, we were stupid and were fishing in a thunderstorm where the lightning lit up the sky red. It was scary. All in all, it was a memory I will never forget. As we were sitting there fishing for the big catfish that lay in the shallows of good old Lake Erie, I was zoning in and out about my spiritual walk. I kept asking myself, "Does my life reflect Christ?" I was asking myself this because I honestly have been really struggling walking with the Lord. I feel that I do not talk about God all that often. This is not to say that this will get me to Heaven or get me anywhere as far as spiritually goes but it is good to talk about God with others and I have missed that very much. You know, having a heart-to-heart talk with your best friend about God. I know when I talk about God and talk to the Lord that definitely helps me in  my spiritual life. It really gives me something to think about. What's better than talking about God? : )

I went to church this morning, like I said, not wanting to go. As awful as this sounds, I was even scheming ways I could get out of going or just go somewhere for a while so my Dad wouldn't know that I didn't go to church. Well, after much debating with myself, I went. It was raining and I really couldn't focus all that well since it was raining quite hard. I didn't want to focus on God. I turned off my music so I could just focus on driving. I got to church a bit late and went to Sunday School. Bam! First blessing. We talked about evangelism. What a blessing! I was beginning to cheer up because this is what I wanted to talk about, what I wanted and needed to hear. Talk of God and even better leading people to Christ! There were several questions that were asked that were quite challenging and yet the teacher answered them quite well. This encouraged me greatly  to know that, even though he was not the pastor, he knew exactly what to say and when to say it. Everything about the message or lesson really hit home. It really began to get
 me back on track.

Next, was the service itself. It started out with singing about God and then we had communion. Awesome! : ) Another thing to help me focus on the Lord! Then the speaker came up and talked about Jesus and how we follow Him day by day and how we should put our complete trust in Him. At the end of the service, I was very happy. Why? Because we were talking about God.

We as children of God should be talking about Jesus with each other. It encourages us and helps us to understand Him better because we communicate our own ideas with each other which then allows us to get a better understanding of how we think individually. Hey, it helped me get through the Lord's day with a great attitude! : ) It's so cool how just talking about God makes you filled with the goodness of Him to reflect His love and light. I find I am a happier person when I talk about God with someone else because, as I said before, I see their ideas about Him, how they worship Him in their own way, and we can share the more intimate moments that we had with God with each other. It really is an uplifting time for all.

Lost and Found

This past Sunday, I got out of work, put my book bag, lunch box, and phone on my trunk. I proceeded to unlock my car to get in and go home to sleep because exams were this past Tuesday. I got past Flower Hospital and onto the main road when I realized I didn't have my phone! I turned around and looked and looked. When I couldn't find it, I went home and remotely installed several tracking programs (technology is pretty amazing, isn't it?) Well, to make a long story short, a good Samaritan found my phone, texted me his number (I called and texted my phone with my Mom's phone and the gentleman texted me his number. That's how I was able to reach him.) and I went and met him at a local diner. He refused any reward which was honestly very kind of him but also humble.

This entire fiasco made me think: I lost my phone, yes, and I was frantic to find it but I am never like that with anything spiritual. My thoughts immediately went to Luke 15 when Jesus tells the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin. I imagine everyone knows about these parables especially if we grew up in a church where they told Bible stories to the kids. I find it interesting that the first two stories are not about humans but tie back to a heavenly perspective in that Jesus then states while these people are rejoicing over material things, I rejoice the same about a soul being saved. 

I feel like the Pharisees that Jesus describes in Luke 15:4 saying, What man among you (talking about the Pharisees here), if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? 

My Mom and I were talking about this because the entire time I lost my phone, I was panicking. I praise the Lord that my initial reaction was "it is in the Lord's hands and if I lose it, it's His phone anyways so who cares" but as soon as I got home, I panicked and went into berserk mode. I told my Mom how I felt about being a hypocrite for being so zealous to quickly find my phone but a lost soul? Oh, I'm sorry not for me. 

I feel so ashamed because I sadly feel and KNOW for a fact that my focus is not on others, not on their souls but on my own soul. On me! I care more about my things than anything. Why? Because I bought them or made them. I worked hard to get those items and if they break or lose them, I will do anything in my power to fix them or find them. How is this different than a soul? Someone who is not a follower of Christ? It is no different. I am not standing on my soapbox here to say, "You must go soul winning X amount of times per week." I am saying that it is good to witness everywhere you go. Don't be some overzealous Baptist Pharisee wannabe (I can say that because I grew up Baptist lol). Preach Christ humbly and in a kind manner but not subtly either! If you have an opportunity to bring someone to the Lord, then seize that moment! If they get offended, it's their problem! You have planted a seed and you have tried. At the same time though, you can be in their face but in a kind manner while preaching Christ! You can quote scripture which is your best offense and defense, bring them to scripture and show them the truth FROM GOD'S WORD and still be humble! It is not your words. It is God's words who you are saying. Sorry for the little rant on soul winning there and how to say things. A bit of Baptist came out again. ; )

I ask this of you now: what are your priorities in your life. Is it the material things of this world? Or is it the people of this world and their souls? Do you care more about the latest technology, golf equipment, basketball game on a Sunday night? Or do you care about how to better prepare yourself for the time ahead and how you can be a better witness to those who are so lost and are drowning in sin? Let us work together to tell others about our wonderful, amazing, marvelous Savior. We as Christians all play a very important part great and small in being vessels, tools that God can use to win the lost. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

 

Put On Your Running Shoes

It's funny. As a kid, I used to listen to Patch the Pirate almost too much. Yeah, the voice acting and stories are extremely cheesy but the CDs (tapes for me lol) were chock-full of doctrine and life lessons, as simple as they might have been.

I was confronted by some past sin recently and was then directed, by God, to focus on an old Patch the Pirate when he goes down under to Australia. I vaguely remember the premise of the story. Something about a wombat going in some spaceship, one of the crew members getting a buzz cut by a boomerang, some talking kangaroos that could punch people and even some of the crew sleeping in her pouch with her son, you guessed it, Joey. I know there were life lessons in the songs about forgiveness (Maybe? Forgive me, it's been a decade since I last listened to it) but the one song that stuck out to me the most was someone said something about Joseph running from sin. They sang the song "Put On Your Running Shoes." It spoke of Joseph having control over all of Potiphar's household except for Potiphar's wife. When Potiphar's wife was tempting Joseph, he "put on his running shoes."

As simple as that is, it is really good. Running from sin sometimes is quite difficult. My cousin and I were talking about sin and what sin or sins affects our life the most. The sins that affect me the most are music and keeping myself sexually pure. I have a past with both music and lusting (being very frank here). I am a guy and the lust of the flesh and eyes is ever prevalent. I personally feel that music can and will cause a hindrance in your spiritual walk with God but I am not here to talk about convictions and whatnot.

My point is this: I sin often. For crying out loud, I sin every day! When I attended Bob Jones, my PC (prayer captain) said to our prayer group one night, "Tomorrow, I want you all to focus on what you are saying and thinking. Write down every time you sinned or were half way through sinning. That way, you are conscious about what you are saying, thinking, and doing so you are less prone to sin." This was a great idea. Hard but a great idea nevertheless. To tie this into what I was saying previously, I bring this up to say this: how conscious or how aware are we of us sinning? Do we know we are sinning and let it slide or do we go around everywhere we go thinking about what we are going to say, do, and think and then act accordingly if it is a sin? No. That's difficult but we should. Then, when we are subconsciously tempted or tempted outright, we can run far away from that temptation when it knocks at our door.

So, what to take away from this? To sum things up, do your best to be consciously aware of sin before creeps up on you and the temptation becomes too great for you to handle. That sounds terrible but you need to be honest with yourself. God can protect you, yes but don't expect to win at the last minute. It's like you're playing basketball, it's the 4th quarter and you're down by 15 points. The coach doesn't say with 10 seconds left in the game, "Okay guys, I know you have not played your hardest and we haven't put in our best player yet but since it's almost game over, I guess we can play our hardest and put in the best player on our team to try to win this game." NO! You don't ever hear a coach say that! That's the same thing with dealing with sin! Yes, it's difficult to battle sin but it is worth it all in the end. I challenge you to do what my prayer captain said to us that night: to focus on what you are saying, thinking, and doing so you can see how much you sin and how much you need to run from sin. It WILL open your eyes to how much sin is in our lives and how much we desperately need a Saviour!

Is There Anything Too Hard For God?

I was writing a post but I decided to put it on the back burner for a bit because something happened tonight that was a huge impact in my life. Honestly, right now, I am extremely stressed. Super stressed. I have to write 2 papers for 2 classes ending for the summer in the next 1 1/2 weeks on top of planning a bachelor party for a friend of mine who I am the best man for on top of planning a trip to Cleveland for the middle of next week, paying off a large bill, and paying for car damage because I accidentally hit a parked car at my house, which mind you was the first accident I ever got into in my few years of driving, thank the Lord.

I ranted a bit on Facebook. The opening line was a bit harsh saying that I wanted to shoot myself because I was stressed out but I ended with God has this. The first line got my friend's attention. He was quick to private message me on Facebook saying if I was thinking about suicide, it was NOT the answer! I would be missed my many and I should seriously reconsider what I should do to relieve my stress. I rarely if ever post anything negative on Facebook because I want it to be an uplifting time for all. My friend and I conversed back and forth for a bit and I reassured him that I was fine and would never consider suicide. I have to admit that his little blip of a message was extremely encouraging even though he is not saved. It is amazing how God can use even the unsaved to get our very core and dig deep to prove His point that He will never leave us nor forsake us! Praise the Lord!

There is a song entitled "Is There Anything Too Hard for God?" It is a wonderful song that really lifts your spirit at anytime especially when you are struggling with something difficult. Here are the lyrics:

Verse 1: It's out of your hands, you've done all you can do

You've given God the problem, it's no longer up to you

You've prayed the prayer of faith, you're standing on God's truth

While you're waiting on the answer, He has a question for you

Chorus: Is anything too hard for God?

Who's got a problem beyond His power to solve?

Are there situations He's not the Master of?

Is anything too hard for God?

Verse 2: Only believe, trust His word, you'll see

His plans are now unfolding, performing perfectly

It's clear how much He loves you, look at all He's done

For all your questions, there's really only one

Chorus: Is anything too hard for God?

Who's got a problem beyond His power to solve?

Are there situations He's not the Master of?

Is anything too hard for God?

Tag: Are there situations He's not the Master of?

Is anything too hard for God?

I will admit I almost cried when my friend told me to not consider suicide. Why? It was spoken from a true friend. A friend who respected me and told me he loved me and cared about me to look out for me. I honestly believe that God spoke through him to get to me. It was as if I was hearing the Lord directly. It was very humbling.

There is nothing hard for the Lord. Jeremiah 32:27 states, Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me? My God has created the universe, knows every star in the sky, every hair on our head, everyone by name in the world, can move mountains, Colossians 1:13 states, He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, the list goes on and on! I am so thankful that God can do all these things. I am so glad that God cannot fail, or ever get tired of hearing us pray, He cannot break a promise, He will never STOP thinking about us, nor will God stop loving us!

God, once again, proved to me that even in the darkest of times, the Valley of the Shadow of Death, He can lift me up and set me on the Solid Rock, lead me into the light. What a blessing it is to know that God is always there. 

Human Trophy

This post I would like to discuss people, more specifically, Christians, that we put on pedestals claiming that they are great and are such amazing people that we look up to as if they are the greatest godly person on the entire earth. I know I looked up to a coworker ever since I found out that this person was a Christian. I respected her very much especially since she was very godly. As I got to know her and we started to talk, I saw more and more flaws. It became a problem that I really started to become bitter because she was acting not like the person I thought she was but rather a human being (shocker). I put this individual on a pedestal and it became a serious heart issue. I did not tell anyone of this matter because it became more embarrassing than anything. I talked to God about it and asked for guidance in this area. 

1 Corinthians 3:5-9 states ⁵ What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. ⁶  I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. ⁷ So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. ⁸ Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. ⁹ For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.

What is this saying? We as Christians are all servants of God, even the greatest of spiritual giants. When we put others on a pedestal, we are misplacing our confidence in God. Extraordinary people are ordinary people who do "little" tasks for God. We always think of greatness in terms of the great tasks. The path of greatness is the path of “little” tasks. As we become faithful with little, he gives us a little more. 

Father, Where Shall I Work Today?

“Father, where shall I work today?”
And my love flowed warm and free.
Then He pointed me out a tiny spot,
And said, “Tend that for me.”
I answered quickly, “Oh, no, not that.
Why, no one would ever see,
No matter how well my work was done.
Not that little place for me!”
And the word He spoke, it was not stern,
He answered me tenderly,
“Ah, little one, search that heart of thine;
Art thou working for them or me?
Nazareth was a little place,
And so was Galilee.”

Those who are truly great see God at work and give Him the credit. The servant Paul thinks of his job as mere planting, and Apollos’ job as mere watering. God is the One that does the real work. God does what we cannot possibly do. God’s work involves many different individuals with a variety of gifts and abilities. There are no superstars in this task, only team members performing their own special roles. (note 3:7-8).  We can become useful members of God’s team by setting aside our desires to receive glory for what we do. Don’t seek the praise that comes from people—it is comparatively worthless. Instead, seek approval from God. TEAM players don't seek to be placed on the pedestal. TEAM stands for Together Everyone Achieves More. They work for the betterment of the team.