Yesterday I was asked a question. Who and what does Jesus Christ mean to me. I think I came up with the standard answer of who He is and what I believe about Him, but as I began really thinking about this question, I realize He is so much more then just the Son of God.
He is my counselor, He is the one that knows me, not just the outward appearance that everyone sees but He knows my heart. He is the one that came to walk among us, live like we live and learn. Even though He knew it all, He walked this earth knowing that His life would be taken from Him. He loved the people that would even take His life. Could you imagine knowing the end of your life and what it would be like? That is beyond our imagination. Some of us may want to know what tomorrow holds, but He knew who would betray Him, He knew who would deny Him, He knew it all, but still He loved each of them, still He spoke into their lives, still He called them to follow Him.
Then I look at myself and see how easy it is to say the easy answer, but who is Jesus Christ to me? He is my Savior, but better then that He is my teacher, He is my friend, He walks with me closer then a brother. He died for my sins, what a God we serve. When I listen to Him He is there to guide me, to help me and to make a way when there is no other way. He is a provider, He is the great counselor and I look at my life and I say, Lord I do not deserve it. I do not deserve you and He comes along side of me and says Geoff yes you do, because I died on the cross for you. I bore your sins and today you can be free from the old ways and be made knew in me. You can trust Me and you can listen to me.
I have found He has to be my best friend, He has to come first in all I do. He has to be the one I call out to at all times. It isn't just in the bad times, but also the good times, it isn't in just in the hard times, but the easy times. For Jesus Christ has come to set us free from the pain and hurts, but first we have to trust Him, to rely on Him, to seek Him first, for He is the only way, He is the only truth and He is the light. The truth is in Him, not just in Him, but it is Him. If you want truth seek Him with all thy heart, lean on Him, call to Him and He will guide you.
We can have all the head knowledge in the world, but still lack the truth. When the head knowledge make the way from the head to the heart, it becomes the knowledge that we can continue to live by, continue to grow by and continue to trust in God. They say the longest road is from the head to the heart, the most painful journey and yet we still yearn to take it. Don't be afraid for Jesus will be with you on your journey. He is the only way.
Who is and what does Jesus Christ mean to you?
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Worry
Worry
Verb
give way to anxiety or unease; allow one's mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles.noun
Philippians 4:6
New King James Version
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;
1 Peter 5:7 ESV
Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
Matthew 6:25-34 ESV
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Matthew 6:33-34 ESV
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Verb
give way to anxiety or unease; allow one's mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles.noun
Noun
a state of anxiety and uncertainty over actual or potential problems.
It is very easy to become anxious or even worry about things that have not happened. Have you ever noticed how you brain can come up with 10 things to worry about when there isn't really anything that you can do to change the outcome. We can watch the news to find those 10 things to worry about, but should we be worried, should we be anxious about them? I do this with things in my life that well I can't change, or even do anything about. For example my job, I have been working a lot in the past few weeks to try and help this project along. I could worry that well if I don't get it done well, my job is on the line, or I could just work to do my best and if it means my job, then it was time to end this job anyhow.
The bible talks about Worry and doubt, do you know what it says?
Philippians 4:6
New King James Version
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;
You may think to yourself well, really just one verse, well I have read other things too. Well it isn't just in one place, here is another place:
Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
Jesus Cares for me? He loves me even where I have been? He loves the man I was and am. He loves you just the same, don't worry for today is a new day and He has given it to you, trust Him and He will see you through.
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Matthew 6:33-34 ESV
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
More of You less of me. More of You and less of my problems. The more we focus on Him, the less our earthly things matter and the more we can trust in Him. Lay all your cares on Him for He cares for you, yes you.
Monday, March 24, 2014
Fear
It is easy to become fearful of so many things. I struggle with the fear of being alone for the rest of my life and when that fear comes in, it takes hold and soon I am swallowed up by the fact that I am alone and that my life is not where I thought it would be. I get lost in the sea of self doubt and self reflection of what got me to this day.
Then a light shines in on the very thought, the very thing that started my wondering and fear and I hear God say I am not a God of fear, but of sound mind. My fears, my doubt are just that a thought, a fading glimpse of the man I once was. God calls us to stand, to rise above and to trust Him all the thoughts that I struggled with, the fears and the doubts if I try to do what I want they will remain, but if I put my trust in God then whom shall I fear? Fear can grip us, can overwhelm us, but do we trust fear? I can't trust fear, for it can drive us to complete mistrust.
God calls us to surrender all our thoughts and bring them in accordance with Him. Is that fear I have of being alone of God? No, not at all. If I wait and trust then I know that He is the author and finisher of what He has for me. If I try it on my own, it will end in devastation and ruin, but if I surrender my wants to God then the fear is not their. God is greater then all that we want, all that we yearn for and all that is. He is the only one that can free us from all the past and turmoil, He is the answer and the only answer.
Fear and doubt will bring confusion and doubt. It is when we say Lord I want to, I yearn to trust in You. I surrender what I want to what You have for me. It is not what I want that matters, it is what you want. I am alone for a reason and my fear of being this way for the rest of my life is yours Lord. I am but a man, You are God. I surrender my want to you Lord, for it is not my way, but Yours. For my eyes need to be directed to you. More of you and less of me. Less of me, means less of the fears, because my focus is on You.
Lord, thank you for all your help, thank you for bringing us peace and thank you for bringing the people into our lives to show us the truth that you have for us. Let us continue to put you first in all we do, so that we may rest in your answers and not try to tell You what we want, but rest that you are the only way.
Thank you for this Monday, the snow and all, for it just helps us see the beauty you have for us.
Then a light shines in on the very thought, the very thing that started my wondering and fear and I hear God say I am not a God of fear, but of sound mind. My fears, my doubt are just that a thought, a fading glimpse of the man I once was. God calls us to stand, to rise above and to trust Him all the thoughts that I struggled with, the fears and the doubts if I try to do what I want they will remain, but if I put my trust in God then whom shall I fear? Fear can grip us, can overwhelm us, but do we trust fear? I can't trust fear, for it can drive us to complete mistrust.
God calls us to surrender all our thoughts and bring them in accordance with Him. Is that fear I have of being alone of God? No, not at all. If I wait and trust then I know that He is the author and finisher of what He has for me. If I try it on my own, it will end in devastation and ruin, but if I surrender my wants to God then the fear is not their. God is greater then all that we want, all that we yearn for and all that is. He is the only one that can free us from all the past and turmoil, He is the answer and the only answer.
Fear and doubt will bring confusion and doubt. It is when we say Lord I want to, I yearn to trust in You. I surrender what I want to what You have for me. It is not what I want that matters, it is what you want. I am alone for a reason and my fear of being this way for the rest of my life is yours Lord. I am but a man, You are God. I surrender my want to you Lord, for it is not my way, but Yours. For my eyes need to be directed to you. More of you and less of me. Less of me, means less of the fears, because my focus is on You.
Lord, thank you for all your help, thank you for bringing us peace and thank you for bringing the people into our lives to show us the truth that you have for us. Let us continue to put you first in all we do, so that we may rest in your answers and not try to tell You what we want, but rest that you are the only way.
Thank you for this Monday, the snow and all, for it just helps us see the beauty you have for us.
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Depression
What I am about to say is not the popular way to view the above subject, in fact it may not be agreed with, so if you are worried what I may say, I guess I would recommend you do not read this one.
The devil has come to rob, steal and destroy. He has come to steal our very joy and peace. That is not the bad part, because I think we all agree with that. But if he has come to do that, how do you think he steals those things from us? He uses our choices to affect our very selves.
Let me explain what I am trying to say. We have a bad thing happen to us, instead of seeing that the thing may turn out to be good, we think about all the bad that comes with it. Soon we are walking down a road of self hate, self destruction and we can't see how to get out. That road becomes even more and more confusing each step we walk further down that road. We are depressed that life has dealt us such a bad hand, but the thing isn't the hand it dealt us, it stems back to the choice that we made sometime back. Sometimes it isn't our choices, but it is just how we deal with it. You are right you are going to say what about the ones with a bad childhood or something bad happened that they could not prevent. It still comes down to the choices that we make either to deal with them or to escape them (become depressed).
You want to know how to get out of this cycle, well you are right. You have to make a choice to allow God to work in you, but that choice isn't a one time thing, it is moment by moment. It is a struggle, it is hard, but if you want to get out of the pit, take a stand, take it one day at a time, one moment at a time. But if you do not try, then you will see the storms as huge and you will not see how to get away from them. If you see God's hand in your life, if you acknowledge the choice you have, then make it today. Drive a stake in the ground, build and alter and remember how it was before today. Make a choice to change, it is up to you, yes some get struck with an ahh hah moment, but what if that doesn't come and you look at your life and realize you want to see the beauty around you? It is time to take hold, make a choice and allow God to work in you, moment by moment changing your perspective.
The choice is yours. I have heard Geoff it is to hard. It is easier to live in depression, but for those who have always lived not seeing the beauty that surrounds you, well just think if you make a change and start seeing the day for what it is, instead of seeing it for what the past held. Today is a new day and you have a choice to make it full of something much greater, but things will not change unless you make the choice. No one can do it for you, no one can take the steps for you. The doctors will focus on the past, will show you what you have gone through that makes you like you are today, but maybe the answer isn't in the past, but in the choice you make.
Now you may understand why this is not a popular view point. Yes we all have hard days, but if we allow ourselves to get sucked into depression we will stay in the pit. Take a stand today. What do you want God to do in your life? Stop focusing on how the past was messed up and see today for what God has for you. Freedom, it is yours if you chose it, but you have to make the choice.
The devil has come to rob, steal and destroy. He has come to steal our very joy and peace. That is not the bad part, because I think we all agree with that. But if he has come to do that, how do you think he steals those things from us? He uses our choices to affect our very selves.
Let me explain what I am trying to say. We have a bad thing happen to us, instead of seeing that the thing may turn out to be good, we think about all the bad that comes with it. Soon we are walking down a road of self hate, self destruction and we can't see how to get out. That road becomes even more and more confusing each step we walk further down that road. We are depressed that life has dealt us such a bad hand, but the thing isn't the hand it dealt us, it stems back to the choice that we made sometime back. Sometimes it isn't our choices, but it is just how we deal with it. You are right you are going to say what about the ones with a bad childhood or something bad happened that they could not prevent. It still comes down to the choices that we make either to deal with them or to escape them (become depressed).
You want to know how to get out of this cycle, well you are right. You have to make a choice to allow God to work in you, but that choice isn't a one time thing, it is moment by moment. It is a struggle, it is hard, but if you want to get out of the pit, take a stand, take it one day at a time, one moment at a time. But if you do not try, then you will see the storms as huge and you will not see how to get away from them. If you see God's hand in your life, if you acknowledge the choice you have, then make it today. Drive a stake in the ground, build and alter and remember how it was before today. Make a choice to change, it is up to you, yes some get struck with an ahh hah moment, but what if that doesn't come and you look at your life and realize you want to see the beauty around you? It is time to take hold, make a choice and allow God to work in you, moment by moment changing your perspective.
The choice is yours. I have heard Geoff it is to hard. It is easier to live in depression, but for those who have always lived not seeing the beauty that surrounds you, well just think if you make a change and start seeing the day for what it is, instead of seeing it for what the past held. Today is a new day and you have a choice to make it full of something much greater, but things will not change unless you make the choice. No one can do it for you, no one can take the steps for you. The doctors will focus on the past, will show you what you have gone through that makes you like you are today, but maybe the answer isn't in the past, but in the choice you make.
Now you may understand why this is not a popular view point. Yes we all have hard days, but if we allow ourselves to get sucked into depression we will stay in the pit. Take a stand today. What do you want God to do in your life? Stop focusing on how the past was messed up and see today for what God has for you. Freedom, it is yours if you chose it, but you have to make the choice.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)