Just Do It.

Luke 15:8-10

⁸ “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? ⁹ And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’¹⁰ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Have you ever lost something and had to look everywhere for it? Maybe it was your phone, keys, or something like that. As you put the things that are important in safe places, think about God. Do you ever lose touch with him? How hard do you search? Are you delighted when you find him?

Look at the stuff that hid the things you value. Where are the things in your life that hide God? What buries the kingdom and makes you forget? Some of those things you can keep, but they will need to be put where they aren't in the what of what really matters.

Maybe some stuff has to go. Some of those decisions are easy, some hard. God may see value in things you thought were worthless, or he may want you to get rid of something you wanted to hoard.

It's tough to forget things when they mean so much but are you willing to do it for God? He has a perfect path set up for you.

I Got This. Trust.

Don’t See How? God Will Make a Way.

Rick Warren

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

(Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV)

You may be facing a dead end right now — financial, emotional, or relational — but if you will trust God and keep on moving in faith, even when you don’t see a way, he will make a way.

It will become more understandable as you head down the path he sets before you, but understanding is not a requirement for you to start down the path. Proverbs 4:18 says, “The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day” (NIV). One day you will stand in the full light of eternity and view the big picture. You’ll see God’s purpose behind the path he specifically chose for you.

In the meantime, do what Proverbs 3 says: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

Be patient. God knows what he’s doing. God knows what is best for you. He can see the end result. You can’t. All those problems, heartaches, difficulties and delays — all the things that make you ask “why” — will one day be clear in the light of God’s love.

But for now, we’re learning to trust God.

TRUST. It’s something that we all have. May be big or small but we call have it. There may be times where we don’t trust anyone or the opposite of that, we trust someone a lot.

It’s something that we all have to work upon and can’t just leave it as that. When we say trust in the LORD with all our heart do we really do that or just say it. I know for me, it’s a struggle. I’ve faced many challenges and it seems that sometimes I ask God “Why Me?” then it all goes downhill.

He purposely chose these struggles for each and every one of us because he knows that there’s a way to get you out of it. It takes time and patience to work with God. Obedience is key in this relationship. If He tells us to go somewhere (for example a mission field) and we don’t want to we have to make a big decision.

We may not see the path that he has made for us right away but we need to stay focused and be mature about what he has set for us.

Is that really you?

We often struggle with making decisions. From eating the last cookie to taking that huge step in our faith and getting baptized. I, personally, have struggled with many decisions. We face challenges every single day of our life. We may not know it but it’s true.

It may be hard to believe but YOU ARE PERFECT. No matter what way, shape, or form, God made you perfect. I’ve struggled with accepting that. A few years back I was the kid that was shy and casted aside. I never felt the feeling of not being lonely. This was a very hard time in my spiritual walk with God. I often questioned Him to see if He would answer me or at least give me a sign. One day I was sitting in the school office (because I got hurt) and I read a poem called: “Footprints In The Sand”

It says:

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.

In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there was one only.

This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I could see only one set of footprints, so I said to the Lord,

“You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there has only been one set of footprints in the sand. Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?”

The Lord replied, “The years when you have seen only one set of footprints, my child, is when I carried you.”

I then thought that God never left me, He was always by my side. He didn’t want to see me sad, but I was. I soon realized that stepping out of my comfort zone was one of the hardest decisions that I’ve made at that time. I soon realized that taking chances and believing it or not, God wants to see you take that step. It was very hard to take at first but after a while I got the hang of it and I don’t regret a thing.

He leads us to many different places and gives us many challenges but there is always a reason for why He does them. You and I both have challenges in our lives and we have to accept that God gave it to us for a purpose. He’s almighty, all knowing, and our one true creator. He made you and I and he knew us before we were born.

We face many challenges but it’s up to you whether to follow them or not. Always remember that God is by your side no matter what. He never leaves you and He’s always there to talk.

God's Voice?

Afraid of Making The Wrong Decision?

Rick Warren

“He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.” (Psalm 23:3b NIV)

Sometimes we’re afraid of making the wrong decision. And that creates stress.

But God says there is an antidote to our indecision. Psalm 23:3 tells us, “He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.” We handle the stress of decision-making by letting God guide us.

You may be thinking, “But I’ve tried this!” You asked God to guide you, but then you became more confused than before. You still couldn’t figure it out. You wonder, “Why is knowing God’s will so difficult?”

Is God playing games with us? Of course not! God wants to guide us. He wants us to know his will more than we want to know it. Our problem is we often look for the wrong thing when we’re trying to find God’s will.

Some of us look for a feeling. Some of us want a methodical approach to God’s will, a recipe, or a formula to apply. Some of us take a magical approach and look for God to do some fantastic sign.

All of these ways lead to frustration and cause us to miss God’s will.

God does not want you confused, and he does not want you stressed over making any decision. He is there, guiding you every step of the way.

This is his promise, so you can believe it to be true: “He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.”

SPEAK TO ME. :) This has to be a sign right? I totally struggle with this EVERY day with ALL the decisions i cant make. For instance, that missions one (refer to posts below). Its good to know that God doesnt want me stressed or confused, but could he be more clear then? Unfortunately, after reading the devo it didnt answer any of my questions... so it wasnt the most helpful.

Everyone has different ways of interpreting God's voice. It may be through dreams, through other people (thats a reliable one), through reading scripture (which is also reliable because.. he wrote the bible), through signs, like if things come up often, there are just so many things that CAN be God's voice, but how are we to know if they are or arent?

BUT something that i can talk about is what i learnt at a devo at my Quebec's missions. It was based on waiting and watching. Here it is:

Throughout the missions at Ouje-bougoumou this summer, different people got to lead night devotionals each day regarding anything. They just had to share something with us. The following regards prayer and it just really really really stuck with me. I hope to be able to work it out more in my life, apply it more and watch it grow through me. It's based on one word in this passage;

⁴¹ “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” - Matthew 26:41

This was said by Christ Jesus during his last moments with his disciples in Gethsemane as he went to pray. At first when i read this passage, what stuck out to me is "pray so that you will not fall into temptation". But that day, what our leader pointed out blew my mind. WATCH.

There's a reason why God put WATCH and PRAY instead of just PRAY or WAIT and PRAY. The disciples stayed behind as Jesus went to pray. Why didnt he say WAIT and PRAY? Here's why. There's a distinct difference between WATCHING and WAITING. Let's look at 2 different scenarios that'll maybe help us understand.

"Today we went to the park for summer camp, but there was only one bus that had to take two trips to pick up the group in two different sections. During this hot hot hot day, (like 39 degrees), the group that is picked up second frolicks in the grass, looking at animals, and plays hand games while the bus returns for its second pick up."

"At the park, the sun shone brightly and strongly on all the kids. As groups C&D, the remain groups stayed behind as group A&B were returning to church, they continue to complain constantly about the heat, fatigue, hunger, and thirst. Although they were complaining, they stared at the park entrance and got excited whenever they saw something yellow pass by."

There is one scenario above that describes WAITING and another that describes WATCHING. Can you guess which one it is? Scenario one described waiting, and scenario two described watching. The dictionary provides a deeper understand with another perspective.

Waiting: to remain inactive or in a state of repose, as until something expected happens.

Watching: to be alertly on the lookout, look attentively, or observe, as to see what comes, is done, or happens.

(definitions from dictionary.com)

I love the one word in the waiting definition. INACTIVE. Waiting is INACTIVE, where as Watching is ACTIVE. Like the scenario, the kids were FOCUSED. EXPECTING for the bus to arrive, where as the other, the kids were just minding their own thing. The bus could have passed by, they could received a phone call saying a blue bus was coming instead, but they would have missed it.

Jumping back to the passage. Jesus said to the disciples, WATCH and PRAY. This gives us a CLEAR outlook and guide line on how we should pray. We have to pray and whenever we call out to God, God listens to you. He will always provide an answer. 3 main answers, YES. NO. and WAIT. But, we have to WATCH. We always say things like "if its according to your plan" but, not we have to EXPECT an answer because he WILL reply. When we expect an answer, it doesnt mean, do whatever you want and the next day you'll see a YES/NO/WAIT word made of clouds in the sky, but it means to be FOCUSED. Watch for the answer. Watch for his signs. If we just WAIT for an answer, its really easy to miss God's opportunities he gives us, the gifts and blessings we get, and what we want too. In fact, waiting causes distractions and maybe you wont even see the giant cloud providing your answer either.

We have to learn to WATCH instead of WAIT when we pray. Its something i need to improve one, and actually WATCH. EXPECT IT. FOCUS ON YOUR SURROUNDINGS THAT GOD WILL ANSWER. Watch and Pray.

That you God?

You always hear those intense stories where something tragic happen then someone came to Christ or heard his voice. Those happen to some people, not all. Personally, I’ve never been through any of those hardcore “I touched Christ” or “He was standing right in front of me” moments.

We’ve all been through challenges and through Christ we overcome them. From as simple as walking up those many stairs to struggling with a relationship. Believe it or not He’s by our side every single second of our lives. From when we were in our mother’s wombs till now. Young and old.

It may be hard to hear God’s still voice and we have to be careful with what we are listening to. Satan’s voice can be very similar to Christ’s but those tricks and obstacles that he makes us face involve him. Everyone has a purpose in their life, from striving to become your dream career to serving God in your own community. He speaks to everyone in a different and unique way, whether it be from an incident or through worship, He knows how to speak to you. We have to be patient and obedient with God.

Christ is accepting and He’s always happy to hear you confess your sins to Him. Overcoming an obstacle is very challenging and sometimes we may take the wrong path and regret it. Christ gave that reason for you to take that way, He’s willing to forgive your every move but only if you are willing to confess and come up front to Him about it. Be honest to Him and don’t lie.

Fully rely on Him because he creates your every move.

Keep In Step!

This reminds me of that familiar song we sang years ago at church when we were young. "The fruit of the spirit, is love joy peace, patience kindess, goodness, the fruit of the spirit is faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." What fruits are you bearing in your life and what fruits are you lacking?

Let Us Keep In Step With The Spirit

Jon Walker

"Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." (Galatians 5:25 NIV)

When we ignore the Holy Spirit, there's little difference between the way we live our lives and non-believers who live their lives disconnected and independent from God.

"But people who aren't spiritual can't receive these truths from God's Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can't understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means" (1 Corinthians 2:14 NLT).

Our objective is to become sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Ask God to teach you to hear his still small voice and to be sensitive to promptings from the Spirit that he's placed inside you. Then, believe the truth that he will guide you through the decisions and details of your life.

As you learn to walk in the Spirit, God will never ask you to do anything that violates his Word. Promptings from the Holy Spirit will always line up with the Bible; however, they may not line up with your church-ianity traditions or pre-conceived notions.

For the next few weeks, keep a list of all the times you sense the Spirit prompting you. This will help you learn to be sensitive to the Spirit, but it will also strengthen your resolve to be obedient to God's guidance as you see his constant, loving interest in the details of your life.

And what if you blow it? Remember God's grace! If you misunderstand the Holy Spirit's prompting or disobey it, then confess your failure to God; he is faithful to forgive (1 John 1:9). Fall on his grace and remember that you are in the school of Christ. He knows you're learning; he sent the Holy Spirit to teach you.

The holy spirit has been given to us by God to guide us and to lead us through life. We alone cannot do much, we dont know, but with God's tools, His Word and The Holy Spirit, we are able to make the right decisions that will be pleasing and will bring us good for God knows what's best for us. We must also learn to have faith in Him. If we dont trust the savior of all creation, the maker of the universe, how are we able to give up our decisions, our wants for Him?

This last part i think is CRUCIAL for every Christian to be constantly reminding themselves of. That God is faithful to forgive because he loves us. Personally, i have times where after a "big sin", guilt will come and eat me up, and then i'd ask for forgiveness. But we should be repent on a daily basis if not hourly. We need to be constantly reminding ourselves that we are sinners and that we cant do anything without Christ.

The Fruit of The Spirit. Its quite the list, but learn to bear all the fruits equally. I've posted about the individual fruits themselves, click HERE to check it out! :)

keep in step with the spirit. a day at a time.

Jason