Know

     

It is hard to admit as a life long Christian that there are times when I have doubted. Is there really a God? Is there really a heaven? Did Jesus really raise from the dead? We have been told by some that it is all a bunch of bunk and we are gullible fools to believe. 

There are some who I have heard say they were "believing" for a kind of insurance incase it is true. I am not so sure that's going to fly in the end. I don't think God wants a tiny piece of our heart that we will rely on when judgement comes, "I didn't say you didn't exist" but did you truly believe? James 2:19 says that even demons believe. 

I attend church regularly but to keep my focus on the preacher, I take notes in a notebook. I then file it away rarely looking at them again. I had some notebooks where I made a reference list of the Bible verses mentioned and the sermons they were mentioned in so I could look them up. It might have been handy a couple of times, but in my journey to save less stuff, years of notes were purged. 

Before I purge my latest notebook, I have decided to re-read my notes and use this blog to share my thoughts and ideas from some sermons. Some are my thoughts and some are of the teacher, and I pray all are "approved by God."

From a sermon called "A Sure Salvation" by Steve Gwilt, I gleaned some of these thoughts combined with my own. It felt good to hear that doubt is good and helps us to grow. Phew! Doubt should have us seeking the truth in the Bible, our compass, where am I headed? Doubt can teach us to grow and re-focus and even make our faith stronger. 

What makes one doubt? Well, surely the world we live in is constantly testing our faith. Sometimes life is just too hard and we wonder why God would let things happen. As long as man has free will, there will be good and bad. We have choices for our responses to life and when we take a "wrong turn", we can always turn around in the other direction. Did you ever stop to think that when you doubt that you are actually calling God a liar? Don't give up on God as he never will give up on you.

If you are in a season of doubt, pursue prayer, the Bible, worship and fellowship. I find church attendance is a blessing to be able to be with like minded Christians. We are so fortunate in this country to have that freedom. Attending a church helps us to center our lives on Jesus. 

And as others are on their life journey, whether they are unsure of what they believe or don't believe at all or believe and are going through trials, the most important thing we can do is to be loving towards them. Love is mentioned 294 times in the new testament and 26 times in I John as agape love meaning giving and selfless. 

Today: Know and Love. 

Merry Christmas!

THIS LIFE of ours has its joy and its sorrows, 
its beginnings and endings
It is an interesting journey like a novel unfolding before us. 
Then there's THAT LIFE, 
the life of Jesus, 
a deity who came to earth as a baby as a living sacrifice
so that one day the tears and heartache will end. 
Families will be reunited 
and there will be a happily ever after to this life's story.
Our gift to God is our belief, 
our hearts.
His gift to us is eternal life, 
a happily ever after.

Believe and Receive.


MERRY CHRISTMAS, everyone!

The chains we forge in life

This weekend we saw a local production of "A Christmas Carol".  We have seen the play or movie in various forms on numerous occasions but these words stood out to me:

“You are fettered," said Scrooge, trembling. "Tell me why?"
"I wear the chain I forged in life," replied the Ghost. "I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it.”

I love Dicken's choice of words. God gave us free will and we choose how to live our lives, yet not realizing some of our choices are like chains weighing us down. This ghost was heavily laden with chains of his past life accumulated link by link and yard by yard. He was forever fettered. What a picture of remorse and despair. 

We know as believers that our chains have been broken by Jesus' blood and we will never be fettered like that. At times we may feel as the chains of life are getting us down but we know who can break those chains and set us free and we will never be forever chained to this earthly life. 

Jesus was the greatest pebble in our waters of life. Touching all our hearts eternally and freeing us from the evil around us. His actions echo on and on forever and ever.  A ripple that has the power to break chains and free us, a ripple that loves and heals and saves us. I have to end with Charles Dicken's closing, "God bless us all, everyone."

Psalm 107: 10-14
"There were those who dwelt in the darkness and in the shadow of death. Prisoners in misery and chains, because they had rebelled against the words of God and spurned the counsel of the Most High. Therefore he humbled their heart with labor, they stumbled and there was none to help. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble; He saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and broke their bands apart."