Month: November 2023

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lore has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” Job 1:27

So much can be learned by reading Job. I’ve studied it many times since my stroke because it gives so much insight to suffering and pain. There is a reason for everything. Sometimes only God can understand the reasoning at the time but I do believe that he works all things for the good of those who love him and are called to his purposes. They don’t always have to be pleasant to be good. If there was no pain then how would you know you felt good? If there was no dark why would you need light? If no evil would we know how much we enjoyed good things? I know that I can’t fix meals and I want to eat so I get what they serve me and it isn’t always something I might choose. The other day I had a donut and I was so excited. Well I hadn’t had one for a few years but it was Thanksgiving so it was a special occasion. It tasted so good. I don’t see my family much because they live out of town so when they come it’s a celebration. If they were here all the time it would be less exciting. I have had my share of pain since the stroke because physically my body has lost a lot of abilities. My mind however has never been better but I do things all day to strengthen my brain muscles. My body won’t get better and I’ve given up on it. I’m ok because I always seem to be able to do things I need to or want to do. Others do most everything for me. Kind of cool because I don’t have to clean, cook, do laundry, or go to work. I can read, play games, or sleep whenever I want. Something I have noticed is that I have had pains that doctors have found cures for and now I’m grateful to be out of the pain. But I am stronger and can tolerate even more than previously because I got used to the pain. You can see things as bad when things change but after time they don’t seem so bad anymore. It is what you get used to. When you have people to talk to it can brighten your day as long as you still have time to be alone so you can enjoy spending time with people again later. Too much of a good thing gets to be not so good after a while. Like I may love donuts but every day and I probably won’t like them for long. One thing I never get tired of is the presence of the Lord. The more I get, it seems the more I want. It is never enough. I could never do without it anymore. He gives me the strength I need to live every day to the fullest.

“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” Matthew 13:44

The kingdom is not something just anyone can see. It doesn’t make sense to many people until it is revealed to you and you begin to see it for what it is. But it is not something you have to purchase, but is the most valuable thing you could ever have. Until you find it and open up, the gift that is just lying there for anyone to find, you don’t realize what is right before your eyes. You can’t truly appreciate what is in front of you till you study it. I was razed up in the church so I knew God and my family was in church every week from the time I was born. Every week it was required that I would be in church. I knew the Bible stories well and won many contests throughout vacation Bible school growing up. My father would read a Bible story book after dinner every evening. I knew those stories well, but I didn’t really know God. Until I began to seek for him and all he had for me personally did I find him. It took reading everything I could about God, I committed to pray regularly and read my Bible every day. I also started going back to church with a friend every week. Slowly he became so real to me. The peace and comfort I felt was so overwhelming and the Bible started to come alive. It had always been a little confusing at times to me. All my life I thought I was a Christian but it didn’t change anything about my life. I just lived as good as I could and didn’t think about God much. Well once I realized what I had found. I realized that I could never ever live without what I found. I would do anything to never lose it and to get more of it, it became my every obsession. God knows us so well and he is drawing us to himself because he loves us so much. He knows just how we think and what it is going to take to wake us up. I know several people were used by God in my life to help draw me to him. Devine encounters made just for me. Well I have never been happier or more at peace and calm. Pain and troubles can annoy me at times, but they can’t shake my peace. That treasure is just waiting to be found so open your eyes it’s right in front of you.

“Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you, Away from me, you evildoers’”. Matthew 7:23

God knows us completely but he wants us to get to know him. He knows everything we have ever done or said, even to ourselves. Our deepest, darkest secrets that nobody knows, he knows. Nothing can be hidden from him. He knows our very hearts and what lies in them. Even Satan knows God very well. He lived with him in heaven for a long time. Leading praises to him. Until he decided he wanted to be powerful like God. Even though God created him he thought he could be better than God. And hell is made just for him and his angels to spend all eternity in. If he knew God that well and yet is the father of lies. What do we need to know? People think that saying a prayer to God is all they need to do to be able to get into heaven. But there are many that think they are guaranteed heaven and they will one day hear those awful words and be eternally cast away from God and all that is good. He wants your heart also. He wants to be your one desire. People can say that they want to be forgiven but are they willing to turn away from their life of sin and run to him. People think they can do what comes naturally and still sin and God will overlook it. Unless you can remember every time you sin and honestly ask God to forgive you believing in your heart that you do not want to sin anymore and turning away from evil. Then there is no guarantee you are changed. If you lose your life for Gods sake and all your sinful desires, then you can save your life from the final death. But no matter what you say or do God will know your very heart. Is he first in your life? Are you more concerned for his kingdom than your kingdom? Are your desires his desires? These are some very important questions you need to ask yourself if you want to spend eternity with God in paradise one day. If you want to see God one day and gaze upon his glory and thank Jesus for all he did for you? If you wish to see every person that’s in heaven just because of you and the life you lived? So much you don’t want to miss. Eternity really does matter.