Thursday, January 31, 2013

Keep Finning.........



Good morning! Do you feel like God is not there sometimes? Like your prayers don't get past the celing? When you are in the worst place you've even been, you wonder if God is there? Have faith my friend. He will not leave us. He will not forsake us. He might let us struggle for a bit. I remember when I was in US Navy diver school, a long time ago. We were in pool week. One of the last tests we had to pass was tread water with all our gear on (two large scuba tanks aka twin 72's) for 10 minutes without using our hands, just our legs. I remember when I first started the test and realized how hard it was. I panicked due to thinking I was going to drown (after going under numerous times) and gave up. Fail 1! You fail twice you are out of dive school. One of the instructors pulled me aside and said "Just keep finning. Be intentional with your kicks. Don't panic. Have confidence that your head will stay above the water. You can do this!" Well, to make a long story short. I made it and have used that instruction a lot over the years. Let's dig into today's Bible verse and see if this sheds and light on the subject.......

Bible Verse: Psalm 23:1-6 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

No matter what if we are a child of the King, He is with us. Doesn't matter where we are. He will not leave you. Remember if a shepherd loses one sheep, He leaves the rest to go after the one. Ok, check this out. I can imagine bring at one of my favorite Chinese restaurants and opening my fortune and seeing the first half of this verse in it. Would probably fit right? I can imagine cracking it open, reading that line, and thinking, "Well, that sounds good!" But check this out, David wasn't writing fortune cookie thought to read with dessert. And guess what? Psalm 23 is not a Hallmark card. David without a doubt believed his God, his Shepherd, would bring him goodness and love in their relationship forever. Oh, by the way David was being stalked by murderers and knew the road through death's valley by hard experience. But where was David focused? On the goodness and love of God and his future with God. His daily troubles and heartaches faded in the light of God's care for him. As a Christian, we can own this statement in this verse with confidence. We must feel confident that it's true?

Am I convincing you? Be convinced of one thing. God's love for you, along with His power and goodness? Now, let's thank God for His love and goodness that will follow us all the days of our lives. Remeber to keep finning. Have a great day and God bless.

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Our best words ever.......


Good morning! Do you drink coffee? Well, I love it. Drink a couple cups every morning. I have always seen these things called "French Presses" in the movies and always wondered if it made the coffee better. Well, I bought one yesterday and it is awesome. They are not very expensive and bring a totally different taste to the coffee! Yum!!! Ok, well let's get to business and forget about coffee. I have been really struggling lately with words. Words of others and words from myself. This Bible verse rings true. Let's dig into the good stuff........
 
Bible Verse: Psalm 39:1 "I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me."

Man, I have really struggled with this lately. We must know that we can use our words to destroy but, we can also use them to heal, encourage, and build each other up. But the best thing we can do with our word, by far, is to give praise to God. Even is we think the sky is falling. Even if we think my life sucks. Praise Him in the storms!

I know some of you are probably saying "Why?" Ok, for one reason is. It's the most obvious thing we can talk about. We are surrounded every day by God's greatness and evidence of His love for us. I mean creation screams at us, "God is powerful, and He loves beauty!" Our soul should be screaming out to us, "I was hopeless without Jesus. Then He rescued me!" How can we not talk about those things? Hey listen I know sometimes it is really hard. That is when we should do it the most.

Here is another good reason we should praise Him. Because we love Him. He's not just the distant God we worship. He's the Father who loves us, the one we should be learning to love with all of our heart, soul, mind, and body. I know we are all doing that right? I know I have failed of late. When your best friend does something really amazing or really nice to or for you. What do you do? You talk about it. You praise him or her for it. We should be doing the same for God. It should just be natural. Alright, check this out. Does praise for God come naturally to your lips? Why or why not? How could we be more intentional about giving praise to God? Can you think of three reasons God is great right now? Tell Him! Ok, here is a challenge for you this week. Make a short list of 10 of God's best qualities. Make a point to mention each one to Him or someone else this week. Have a great day and God bless.