Week of 4/11

Brothers and Sisters,

Just have faith!!!

Faith is one of those words that seems to be very hard for people to understand.  We often lose faith in God when life seems to being going in the wrong direction.  When we feel alone in the world we tend to lose faith.  When nothing goes the way we want we lose faith.  And then we start to ask ourselves does God really exist?  What proof is there that He is real?  Why is it that when we need God the most and when we call on God for help he doesn’t answer?

Those times when we look for God we seem to search for Him in the wrong places.  We look for miracles, we look for evidence, and we look for proof that he will come at our call.  And then we start to become disappointed in our findings.

We all want proof in our lives of God’s existence, even one of the disciples wanted proof that Jesus Christ resurrected from the dead.  A disciple, some know him as Doubting Thomas, was told that Jesus from Nazareth had resurrected from the dead but he did not believe anyone who told him.  Even when Jesus appeared before him he still did not believe unless he could put his fingers through the holes in Jesus’ hands and feet.

Unfortunately, most of us or just about all of us have never had that proof set before us to put our fingers through the marks of Jesus’ hands and feet.  But actually it is better that we believe by faith and not by sight.

“Jesus said to him (Thomas) ‘Have you believed because you have seen me?  Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

That is one powerful statement that Jesus made.  I can say from my own life I have tried to search for factual evidence that God is real.  But I always find a flaw or a dead end in my findings.

One of my favorite singers, Jeremy Camp, can put it in perfect words in one of his songs “Walk by Faith”.

“Well I will walk by faith, even when I cannot see, well because this broken road, prepares your will for me.”

Faith will strengthen our relationship and trust in God.  Having faith in God will give us that peace that we don’t need to find factual evidence of His existence but instead we can use that effort and energy to do God’s will and to show His love to one another.  Although it is hard, having faith in God during those tough times in life it will prepare us for what he has in store for us.

Remember that those who come to believe by faith are blessed.  That during those tough times your faith will make you strong.

Heavenly Father,

We Thank You for the amazing God that You are.  We know that at times we lose faith in You and we try to search for You in the wrong places.  God we are grateful that we are blessed because we believe through faith and not by sight.  Even when we question where You are and why You don’t answer, we know that You are with us.  Instead of using our energy searching evidence that You exist, we can use our energy for Your will and to love one another.  In Jesus name we pray.

Amen.

 

Peace Out,
David

Week of 3/20

Brothers and Sisters,

Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna!

These are the words that the people at Jerusalem shouted at Jesus when He came into the city. These people were praising His name proclaiming that He was the Messiah. After He had made the blind see, raised the dead, and healed many, they had ever right to think that he was the Messiah. But as Jesus stayed in Jerusalem the situation took a complete 180^O turn.

These same people that shouted Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna! and praised His name also called for Him to be crucified. Jesus’ friends, the same friends that ate with Him at His last supper, denied knowing Him, betrayed Him, and fled when He needed them.

Does this all sound familiar in your life? At one moment in your life you have everything, you have many friends, you have the riches of the world, and it seems like nothing can go wrong. And at the next moment you seem to be all alone and you have lost everything. Does it seem like when you need a friend no one is there for you? Or when you need help no one is in sight?

This is how Jesus felt when He died. But Jesus never forgot about God and God never forgot about Jesus. Just before Jesus was betrayed He was scared and He prayed to God that He may ease through His suffering. But Jesus kept saying that if this is God’s will then let Thy will be done.

“After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you.” John 17:1

Jesus used His pain and suffering to show the world the glory of God and that God is above all, including our own pain. This was the will of God. When you face pain how will you react to God’s will?

Every time that life seems to turn in the opposite direction remember that Jesus felt the same thing. Remember that because of His death and suffering you were given new life. And remember, let God’s will be done.

May you remember the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ during this Holy Week. Know that Jesus knows exactly how you feel when life makes a 180^O turn. And know that the glory of God is above all.

Merciful God,

Thank You for sending Your only begotten Son down to die for us. We are unworthy of what He did for us. Your Son took on more pain, suffering, and agony than any of us could ever imagine. We are forever grateful that He took on the pain and suffering for Your will. God whenever we go through pain help us to remember that Jesus went through much more. Humble us Lord. Use this time to show us that Your will is above all and that when we go through suffering it is to glorify You. Every time we feel life is going the wrong way help us to search for You just as Jesus searched for You when He was about to die on the cross. We love You for everything. In Jesus Christ’s name.

Amen.

Peace Out,
David

Week of 3/7

Brothers and Sisters,

There is so much to do in life. Places to go, things to do, people to see. Everyone now these days are busy. Busy with work, with school, with everything. When we get busy we tend to take on more in our lives. We try to jam as much as we can into our lives and for what? So we can get a good job, live in the house that we want, take the vacation that we have desired, or to get that car that we have wanted. Even when we are in ministry we think that we need to minister everyone in the world and we feel without us the world will be lost.

But God did not create us to be busy all the time. He only gave us so much time in a day and he only made our lives so long. Busyness is the arch enemy of a Christian. God did not intend our lives to be filled with stuff. Once we start adding too much stuff into our lives we will start to cut corners, we will only finish half of what we have started, and we will start to neglect others. Having other people in our lives is only second to having God in our lives.

As we continue to neglect people they will begin to realize how close or how distant we truly are to them. These actions are the way people can tell how much you love them. Just telling someone that you love them without showing action is not love. Talking about love and showing love is not the same thing. As John writes…

“Dear children let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” 1 John 3:18

Love is what life should be about. Busyness and commitment are often mixed up with one another resulting in us taking on more in our lives. Love is being committed to God and to our neighbor. Love is life. It is not part of our lives or when we feel like it but it should be what we do everyday. Love is having a focused relationship with God or with a person and not thinking about something else when you are with them. Busyness is what takes place of love when we try to do too much.

When the time comes to pass on no one ever looks back on their life and wishes they made more money, had better accomplishments, or visited more places. But they look back at the people they affected throughout there life and the times they spent with them. The love that they gave in their life is what mattered to them. The amount of time they spent with friends and family is what they hold more precious than anything. Time is what makes relationships strong. And if we put busyness in that time slot we lose those people. God will not ask you what you did in your life but He will ask how much love did you show?

So may you realize that LOVE should be what you spend your time on. May you realize that busyness gets in the way of LOVING God and LOVING others. And realize the time that God has given you is for LOVE.

Gracious Father,

We praise Your name. We praise You for loving us. We thank You for giving us time on earth. Thank You for the love that we do not deserve. God we confess that we do not use the time that You give us for love. Instead we use that time to stay busy and we use it for extra unnecessary stuff. When we become busy we start to do cut corners, we start to neglect others, and worst of all we start to neglect You. Help us to use the time that You give us to use our gifts for Your will. God help us to have focused relationships on You and our neighbor. Give us the power to be in the moment and help us not to think about something else when we are with You or when we are with others. God continue to guide us the best way you feel is necessary. In Jesus Christ’s name we pray.

Amen.

Peace Out,
David

Week of 2/28

Brothers and Sisters,

There are just some things in life that cannot be explained. That is the hardest concept for me to understand. And it is probably hard for many people to understand. Sometimes you just gotta have faith.

During our lives we are taught many things such as history, math, science, and English. These are the basic fundamentals to life. As we are travel through life we come upon things that defies everything that we have learned. We cannot grasp the concept that it is out of our control. We can question all we want but that will not change what happens.

Only God knows why everything occurs. It can truly be humbling when we do not have explanations. We have astrologists who try to explain the cosmos of the universe, we have biologists who try to explain the human body, and we even have psychologists who try to explain the human mind. But none of them truly understand it. They only have theories of what occurs.

Just like scientists, we as Christians only have theories of everything but none of us truly have explanations. So that brings up a problem. How do we truly know that God will help us when we need Him?

As Paul writes, “So we are always confident; even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord for we walk by faith not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:6-7

We are to walk by faith. Just trust the Lord that He will be there in every circumstance. And sometimes just knowing that He will be there is better than having a reason. Be strong and know that when you cannot see, the Lord can and that he will lead you.

Lord Heavenly Father,

You are an awesome God. We thank You for leading us even when we do not have an explanation. Thank You for being a merciful and gracious God. Sometimes we try to explain why something happens and we don’t put our trust in You. God please help us to have faith in You. God continue to lead us when we are blind. We praise Your name. In Jesus name.

Amen.


Peace Out,
David

Week of 2/14

Brothers and Sisters,

I remember when I was growing up I used to play all sorts of childish games. One of these games that I will never forget is the game “Shadow”. Maybe you used to play it with your brothers or sisters or maybe your friends. If you never played it or if you forgot how to let me refresh your memory.

It starts out by someone asking you if you want to play shadow.

You tell them, “No!!!”

They say, “No!!!”

You tell them, “Stop copying me!!!”

They say, “Stop copying me!!!”

You tell them, “Leave me alone!!!”

They say, “Leave me alone!!!”

And the game continues on and on. Or in my case it ended with me bleeding or being bruised.

God wants us to shadow His son. But in the end we are not bruised or bleeding. We are showing love to others.

“Be imitators of God, therefore as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice.” Ephesians 5:1-2

Just as Jesus did He loved everyone for every reason. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in trying to “save” people that we forget to truly care about the person. If someone doesn’t want to know who God is we tend to just forget about them, but God does not do that.

Jesus ate with sinners. Jesus called fishermen to follow Him. Jesus touched the unclean. Jesus died on the cross for people who didn’t love Him.

Jesus was the example that God sent down before us so that we can imitate Him. He showed love to others instead of talking about it. That caring and compassion that Jesus showed is what true love is.

So may you shadow Jesus in every way. Know that He is that example that God sent down for us.

Lord Heaven Father,

You are an awesome God. We love You Lord. Thank You for sending Your Son down to be the example for us. We confess that at times we don’t imitate Jesus. We are so concerned with trying to change people that we forget to really care about them. Help us to love others as they are just as You love us. God help us to shadow Your Son because that is why You sent Him down. God continue to guide us in every way. In Jesus Christ’s name.

Amen.

Peace Out,
David S.

Week of 2/7

Brothers and Sisters,

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1

That’s great to know!!! I think. There is a time for all sorts of things such happiness, joy, and celebration. Also there is a time for sorrow, questioning, and anger. But all these things only last for a certain time. God never allows these things to carry on.

Sometimes when we get in this joyful season of our lives we tend to get ahead of ourselves. We think that we don’t need to rely upon God because we can handle it all. But because of our nature we trip up and see that it is God who has control over everything.

But none of these things last because everything has it’s time. If we go through life just to go through the seasons we see that it is all meaningless unless God is at the center of it. God has control over all the situations on this earth and we have the choice to accept what God has given us.

I look at the people who don’t have Jesus in their life and the one thing I see is that they are lost. I see the look of struggle. It’s so hard for me to not control them and tell them that this will end. I want to tell them that nothing goes on forever. But if don’t see God in everything it hard to understand.

Sometimes the seasons that God places in our lives lasts longer than what we want but God WILL end them.

But they are not meaningless. Sometimes it takes a lifetime to figure out what all these seasons mean. And sometimes it might take a great loss for God to catch our attention.

God’s love can heal all. And His love will get us through these seasons.

So may you see that God will not let everything continue and that nothing is meaningless if God is at the center of it.

Lord Heavenly Father,

You are GREAT!!! Thank You for being in our lives. God sometimes we get wrapped up in the worldly things and we think that nothing will ever end. We think that what we do on this earth will affect us forever. But when we die we will be Yours. God help us to understand that nothing lasts forever. The only thing that will last will be Your love. God continue to guide us and show us that loving You is the most import thing on this earth. In Jesus Christ’s name.

Amen.

Peace Out,
David

Week of 1/28

Brothers and Sisters,

What’s next? What’s next in our lives, in our relationships, or in our careers? What’s next? We never know what is going to happen from day to day.

I was interviewing for an internship and I got asked the question were do you see yourself in five years? I told them, “Working in professional sports,” and then I said, “Nothing is guaranteed in life so I’m open to anything.” After saying that I was thinking, “That’s not the answer they were looking for.”

But thinking about it now I’m glad I said that. We never know where God will take us.

We try to create our own paths in life and force open doors that are shut. And we think that we know everything and we think we know what we want. We try to control every aspect of our lives. And we assume that we can plan out everything and that everything will fall into place exactly how we want it.

But maybe what we want is not what God wants. It’s frustrating not knowing what’s next. We want to be in control of everything which includes what we are going to be doing in five to ten years. And maybe what God wants is something that we have no idea about.

All we can do is search for what God wants us to do. Ask Him to lead you to whatever is next.

“Make me know your way, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth, and teach me; for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.” Psalm 25:4-5

If you just ask God to lead you and leave room for Him to work He will guide you to what is next. It can be frustrating not knowing. But know that God will lead you in the right direction.

That place that God will take you will be great. It will be something that you would never have thought of. Even though you may not know what’s next, God does. He knows what’s best.

So may you see that God will lead you. Not knowing what’s next is ok and that God’s path is better than anything we could think of.

Gracious God,

We love You!!! You are an awesome God. We know that at times we try create our own paths and that we don’t listen to You. We try to force things that shouldn’t be and that You made it that way because there is something better. God help us understand that You are with us. Lead us Lord to whatever You have planned. Give us patience to allow You to work in our lives. Show us what’s next. Continue to guide us in every way. In Jesus Christ’s name.

Amen.

Peace Out,
David