God in a Box: Faith and Trust

Many times, we humans think that we can put God into a box. We try to make a "box" out of our minds and fit God into that box. We feel we must understand and figure out everything there is to know about God. Well, I've got news for you...we don't have to understand God. We don't need to know everything there is to know about God. He will reveal to us what we need to know about Him when we need to know it. All we need to know about God can be found in the Bible. What we need to do is trust Him.

Faith and trust go hand-in-hand. We cannot have one without the other. When we have faith in God, we are trusting that He will do what He promises. We are trusting that He is the one true God. When we trust God, we have faith that He will keep His promises. God desires us to trust Him with all that we are. When we trust Him enough to give Him every single part of our lives, we will receive the blessings He has specially designed for us.

Psalm 37:5-6
"Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun."

Proverbs 3:5-6
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."

~ Peace

The Ocean of Life

Reading Hope's last entry made me think of how life can be like an ocean. An ocean is calm and peaceful, beautiful even. But often, that beauty and peace is replaced by anger and terror. The storms that sweep across the oceans strike fear into even the most hardened sailors. Life can be like that sometimes. Imagine your life as a harbor, an inlet of the sea. You feel safe, the water is calm and beautiful. Your life flows just the way you want it. Many times a storm appears and hits your beautiful harbor. Sometimes you can see the storm coming and prepare for it. In those cases, the damage is minimal. But most times, the storm hits your harbor before you know what has happened. The winds howl, the water rises in tidal waves, the beaches of your harbor are beaten down to almost nothing. During these times, you have a shelter to run to. Sometimes you make it, sometimes you don't. But always, the storm ends, you can return to your harbor and build it back up, hopefully more defended against the next storm that comes your way. I would like to leave you with a song to listen to: "Sometimes He Calms the Storm" by Scott Krippayne -

http://www.actionext.com/names_s/scott_krippayne_lyrics/sometimes_he_calms_the_storm.html

~ Peace

Dreams

I think one of the most extreme things God has done for me, is to allow me to dream. When everything isn’t working quite right and I don’t feel like I can hang on, I can still dream.

Dreaming isn’t envy or greed.
For me, dreaming wants something that God wants. Dreaming is something that I hope for.
Sometimes God doesn’t fulfill all of our dreams or at least not right away.
He has a master plan I can’t see all of it so, sometimes I just have to trust him.
Sometimes God doesn’t take away all of our pain.
Sometimes he walks with us thru the dirt and the grime and while we’re walking, we’re dreaming of life outside of what we are going thru.
I’m not dreaming of what I am now. I do not want to be the same person 15,5 or even 1 year from now.
I’m dreaming of who I am going to be, of what I’m going to do with my life.
I can then dream of something bigger than what I could’ve dreamed before I went thru what I went thru.
Because I’ve grown, I’m a different person and since I allowed God to grow in me while I’m having these difficulties, I can do things I’ve never thought I could do.
I can trust God more. Trust is a huge thing for me. So I’m glad I have it in God.

I believe that the biggest dreams have come during some of the roughest patches in people’s lives.
I mean, there’s no need to dream when everything is just going fine.
Sure we still can, but how much more I cling to God and my dreams when times are tough.

We all need to dream.
What can I be? Who can I become? What is my purpose?These questions can lead to dreams and desires, and after that, they may lead to your purpose.

God bless

Everything is Connected

In this day and age, we are connected all the time. We are connected by the Internet and the phone (or cell phone). These electronics not only connect us with those we care about (family, friends), but they also connect us to people we have never met (those who built the electronic, those who shipped it). But wait! Think for a minute...are we really connected? A saying I heard from an important figure in my life answers this question: "The things that are connecting us are disconnecting us!" These electronics that supposedly connect us to each other are only disconnecting us from those close to us. How many of you spend more than two hours at one time on the Internet or on the phone rather than spend those hours with your family?

We are connected to other believers through Jesus Christ, but if we really want to connect we have to be willing to invite each other into our lives. In the same way, we are connected to God through Jesus, but if we really want to connect with God we need to be willing to invite Him into our lives.

Ladies, our hearts need to be connected to God. "A beautiful girl is one who men have to pursue the heart of God in order to win her because her heart is linked to God's!!" I don't know about you, girls, but I know that I want to be a beautiful girl.

Remember these three concepts as you go about your next week: 1) The way I treat people is a reflection of my relationship with God; 2) Love is not a feeling, it is a decision or choice; and 3) Love gives value to the object of its affection.

"Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves."
Romans 12:10
"But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, 'You are my God'"
Psalm 31:14
"Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: he will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
Psalm 37:4-6

-Peace

The Crayon Box

Ok, think back to the time when you actually used crayons to color. (You know, when coloring outside the lines was cool?) Now, think about those crayons that you used. Some were short, some were tall, some were sharp, some were dull, some were red, some were blue. They were all different in one way or another. Now think, where did you put all those different crayons when you were done with them? You put them all back into one box. The same box. They were all different, but they lived in the same box.

Now think about us as Christians. Some of us are tall, some of us are vertically challenged. Some of us have been given the gift of encouragement, some of us have been given the gift of preaching. We are all Christians, but we are all so different. We are all different and we all have to learn to live in the same "box." We have to learn to live together and accept each other's differences for who God made us to be.

We are all Christians, but God has made us all differently. We need to be mature enough to accept those differences and learn from each other.

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

-Peace

Baby Birds

Have you ever seen a newborn bird? It is naked, blind, and utterly helpless. It must rely completely on its parents for protection and food. As the days pass, the bird begins to grow fuzz to cover its naked body, and its eyes begin to open and see things. Soon, the baby bird has grown feathers and is learning how to fly. Not long after that, the parents force the bird out of the nest, and it begins a new section of its life on its own.

When we first become Christians, we are naked, blind, and completely helpless. We are forced to rely completely on God for our protection and nurishment. Then, as He guides and leads us, we open our eyes and start to see things we never saw before. We begin to grow "baby fuzz" to cover our nakedness. As God continues to provide and care for us, we graduate from "baby fuzz" to "feathers." God starts teaching us how to "fly." The only difference between baby birds and us is that our Father never kicks us out of the nest, never forces us out on our own, never abandons us to wild animals. We must always rely on God to care for us and protect us from Satan and his evil attacks.

We are never alone. God is always with us.

"Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation." 1 Peter 2:2

"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." John 14:18

-Peace

The Love Triangle

In light of Valentine's Day coming up, I thought I would say something on relationships.

Some people think that relationships are between two people and two people only. But this isn't really true. Think about your relationships as triangles. You are at one bottom corner, your spouse/boyfriend/girlfriend is at the other bottom corner and God is at the top. Now, notice, as you and your partner travel along the sides of the triangle closer and closer to God, you are also getting closer together. But if you travel back down farther and farther away from God, you and your partner also get farther and farther away from each other. So when both of you are focused on God and growing closer to Him, that's when you will grow closer to each other.

Relationships should be centered on Christ. When they are focused on God, relationships grow and thrive.

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." Mark 12:30

"Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength."
Deuteronomy 6:5

-Peace