Category: Gods power

“Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breached into his nostrils the breath of life, the man became a living being.” Genesis 1:7

Because of the sinfulness and selfishness of man their eyes have been blinded. Because as I see it dust can not breathe or have blood pumping through it’s veins to support that life. The human body itself is a very miraculous thing. Everything to keep us alive, healthy and happily ever after is inside of us. We also have the ability to think and reason. To understand good and evil. Now I am no rocket scientist but could all that just happen? Bang! No I know that it couldn’t. But people have believed that for thousands of years. They don’t want to be responsible for anyone but themselves. They believe they helped it happen. Now is that ludicrous? I can look around me at any hour of the day and see miracles everywhere. Granted I have lived on this earth for 63 years and I have been a Christian for 58 of those years. I have seen Gods faithfulness and seen his hand at work in my life. I have also gotten involved in sins that have blinded me to what is going on around me. Most of my life I spent my life enjoying my family, my job and my things and living my life. But when you nearly die, as I did you begin to think more clearly. What if I had died? Would I cease to exist? Would I go to heaven? Would I suffer in hell? What did I want? Well I wanted to be happy and to go to heaven. But how could I make sure that happened. I began to read everything I could about God, heaven, and about disciplining your life. I bought second hand books by the armfuls. My room looked like a library. I committed to doing whatever it took. Ten years later I am not the same person and some very special people helped me to move forward. The only one I can thank for that is God and his faithfulness. The Holy Spirit has been so good to teach, council, and give me great wisdom. He held my hand through everything. Now everywhere I look I see the hands of God at work giving me peace and contentment. Right in the midst of troubles I’ve never been happier. Thank you God!

“When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” He bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

This says it is done, check mate, game-set-match, the end. Could he have been any clearer. There are so many defeated and worried people in this world and so many of them are Christians. Do they not believe God? Those words tell me that death is no more. The devil lost. No, he will still try to defeat humanity and destroy lives but the game is still over and he has lost. God says no-one that has been chosen will be lost for they are his. You can do things in this life to give Satan control but he has no control unless you allow it. God has given us authority over Satan because only he has control of our lives. Sickness, addiction, depression, fear, lack, anger and so much more. Jesus paid the ultimate price on that cross and God allowed it because we mean so very much to them. Not just our souls for salvation but so that we have an abundant and full life. God is very much the God of details. Everything is taken care of. He has every circumstance in his hands and he is in control of everything. Not once has he ever been taken by surprise. He can keep track of billions of people every minute and even know their very thoughts and intentions. God is awesome! There is nothing that comes near to that. It takes courage to live a life of conviction. You sometimes have to give up things that you might want, but God knows what is best for you. Following his commands is not always easy and you may lose a job or a friend because of your convictions because doing what God asks of you is not always popular. People may say you are weak, crazy, or strange. But do you know what? I have it so much more with peace and strength and an army on my side. An army that will win every time. The freedoms and peace are so worth any temporary inconveniences in this life. I am going to make sure I take advantage of everything that God has for me. Because I am worth it, God said so.

“I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord.” Job 1:21

This morning I just had to write. I’ve been thinking of writing about unanswered prayers for a while now, but I just wasn’t sure, then this morning I woke up with a Garth Brooks song running through my head and God showing me everything I needed to write. God is good. I usually wake up singing praise songs or even other songs. He is always the first thing on my mind. I have really been growing the last few years. But growing takes strength and we need to exercise are muscles. Prayer muscles, faith muscles, and perseverance muscles.We don’t grow much in times of abundance and plenty but during trials. It will bring us to our knees in prayer and that’s a good place to be. I have pain sometimes at night in my legs, and sometimes it can be bad and if adjusting my bed doesn’t help I’ve learned to sing praises or pray if I can’t go to sleep. It will either go away or I will fall asleep. God is definitely listening to our prayers and he knows what’s best. After Covid let up we had a time where different new people we’re getting me up every day. This can be hard because I need things done certain ways so that I feel safe or I can panic. Especially when they don’t understand me. That isn’t good. I prayed about it a lot but God just kept telling me to trust him. I finally decided trust was all I could do because my freaking out didn’t help. I would pray for strength the whole time they were in my room. I kept saying God you’ve got this. Eventually I was at ease with new people and it didn’t bother me anymore. Job trusted God even more after everything he went through. I know that people will get sick and die. But God can heal anything when it’s his will. But sometimes he is ready for someone to come home to be with him. It may not be our choice but he knows best. Crying out to God is right where some people need to be so they stop relying on themselves and let God be God. Trials and pain will draw you to God. You don’t realize all God can and will do for those he loves until he’s your only hope. So trust God today, he does have it in control.

I was reading the other day about how God sees things so clearly because he can see the whole picture. The beginning from the end. It is like a beautiful tapestry. On the bottom we see all of the knots and problems. We can’t see ahead to the finished piece that he sees. You have to remember that he has been working on it for thousands of years. He’s not in a hurry though. Figuring just how and when to send Jesus to earth took a few thousand years. He is always working behind the scenes in so many different lives. God is the creator of so many beautiful things. Landscape scenery is so full of vibrant colors. People have been posting some awesome sunsets and sunrises. With pink, purple, blue, and white with yellow and orange mixed in. There are so many shades of color just like there are so many different people God created. All different and unique. Let’s say one man might be dark and brooding so let’s say he’s a grey thread. Mary might be bubbly and cheerful, a yellow thread. But when woven together they are quite a striking pattern. Same as God using evil for good. Remember how Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt by his brothers. But God placed him right where he would be able to save many people from starvation. I have done some really beautiful puzzles and you really have to focus on patterns and shading to put them together.God knows just the right person to put into your life at just the right time. People can come together and change each other for good or bad. But we learn and grow by these experiences. Challenges and trials may come through others but it can strengthen us. God is using everything and one day we will see clearly and it will be awesome. Right now it’s a jumbled up mess but I know the one in control and one day it will be a masterpiece.

“Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.” Jeremiah 17:7

As humans living on a broken and corrupt planet we will have troubles but if you know the one who has all the answers you will be blessed if you let him take care of them. In the beginning of 2022 I decided that if I couldn’t do anything about what was happening and going on in my life. I would trust that God would take care of it. My job was to focus on him and his love for me. That turned out to be a very wise decision. People in general like to focus on the negative. For example: I lost the crown off my tooth and chewing became difficult because there wasn’t anything hard to chew with and my jaw was sore. I could complain and focus on that but in Phillipians God tells us to dwell on whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy. So I always try to refocus when trouble comes on something good. Like the beautiful weather we have been having and the delicious breakfast they brought me this morning. I seldom have pain but I have learned how to overcome and stay focused. When someone doesn’t understand me and I get frustrated I try to find ways to show them that I am just trying to help make their job easier and not being bossy. After 17 years of being taken care of I do know what does and doesn’t work for me. I try very hard to make things simple if I can. People like to do things their way and that’s fine. But maybe I have an easier idea that someone else tried. Some days I just go along with whatever and the job gets done. But everything is not in my hands but Gods. I know he loves me and will take care of me. I have started memorizing scriptures again. Because I have found that speaking scriptures encourages me and lights a fire in me. I believe God’s word and though some seem impossible, God proves them true every time. Better than I can imagine. And the cherry on top is that one day I will get to live with God forever and no eye has seen nor ear has heard nor could we even imagine the things he has waiting for us and I can imagine some amazing things.

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” Psalms 197:1

God is good and he has given us everything we need for an abundant and victorious life. That doesn’t mean that our life will always be perfect. No, he has assured us that we will have troubles of many kinds. Just recently I have seen so many new and different problems pop up. First it was Covid-19 and it’s problems of dying, masks, isolation and vaccines. Then when that seemed to die down there was political unrest. Cancer and new diseases are hitting us hard. Satan is out to destroy like never before. Wars and rumors of wars. Natural disasters like flooding, tsunamis, earthquakes, and hurricanes like never before. What is this world coming to? Well through it all God is still in control and he is still good. He hasn’t given up on us. His grace and mercies are there every morning with the strength and the help we will need for that day. Things can easily overcome us to where things feel like we are out of control. It doesn’t do any good to worry about the future or dwell on the past. We need to live in the moment because that is where God is working to help us. Am I loving and serving God? Spending time with him in prayer and reading his word? Then he will take care of everything else. There is nothing I can do to change things. Life is what it is. The most important thing you can do is live your life loving others and have a good grateful attitude and know that God is working everything for your good.

“he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name sake.” Psalm 23:3

Oh how wonderful is my good shepherd. I can be just as simple as a sheep and not worry about things because the King of all kings and the Lord of all lords loves me. Just the way I am right now. He leads me in the right way that is best for me because he cares so much about my life. He does know more than I do and he will never steer me in the wrong direction. He knows that the world needs him and he is willing to use a simple sheep to show this world his love. As he guides me I will be more and more like him and my light will shine bright in a dark world to change others. This will bring God glory and that is why I’m alive. “News Flash”, I’m not here to please only myself. I am here on a mission for God. My only responsibility is to work with him. To pray, talk to God, and always to get to know him better and better. Read his words so I know the truth and strengthen my mind. To worship him and praise him for all he has done for me and given to me. To attend church regularly and fellowship with other Christians, so we can lift each other up and encourage them to obey his commands. The hard part is up to him. But he has given me everything I will need to do it all. His spirit lives inside of me and gives me the wisdom and strength to do it and he never gives up on me or gets tired of my mistakes. Each morning he has endless grace and mercy for the new day ahead. Children can be quite challenging and frustrating at times but I am his child and he will never stop loving me. He will keep loving me all the way home to living with him forever. That’s how much he cares.

“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had.” Romans 15:5

We are to live as Jesus lived if his spirit lives within us and we are his. To be a Christian you are to be changed. We need to be dying to our old ways every day. If we are not keeping his commands then do we really know him? It is not possible to do any of it without him. He gives us the strength we need every day to do all we are called to do. Endurance and encouragement are given to us so we can in turn pass them on to others. But it is very important to first encourage yourself by praying, read Gods word, meditating on it, singing praises and meeting together with other believers for church and fellowship. We need to encourage each other and pray for each other. To encourage each of to produce much fruit in their lives. The fruit we need to be showing is love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, meekness, faithfulness, and self control. What would Jesus do? He would show patience and compassion. Think of serving others first no matter what their needs might be. If someone is angry and difficult then they are probably hurting and need your help and compassion now very much. Ask them how you can help and if you can pray for them. Those that live around you should know with out a doubt that you are different. The average person in this world thinks first about themselves and their needs. We should be the special people God created us to be. Shine the light of God that is in you everywhere you go and brighten this very dark world.