Free.

Life gets messy. It gets hard. It can really drag us down. We lose sight of any hope and we begin to feel overwhelmed and lost. Sometimes our lives seem to fall apart at the seems. We feel like we are losing the war. Getting smothered by the events around us. Like we are losing ourselves. But in times of trial it is important to remember that although we may feel like we are losing many battles, we have already won the war!

When when we feel we're losing battle after battle it can be all too easy to look to the world for comfort- to work, or our romantic interest, or our friends or adrenaline or alcohol- but in those times it is crucial that we look to the LORD! Because no matter how awful we feel or how bleak our situation looks He is ALWAYS there and He has already made us victorious over all.

Jesus will set you free from all of your burdens and your troubles and your problems and your fears and your hatred. He will bring you life and rid you of all bad. He won't always get rid of the problems, but He will give you the strength to endure them. He will carry your burdens for you. So no matter what you're facing remember to look to him who can set you FREE. 

If you feel lost or down or broken or trapped, have FAITH in Christ. His death and the life He gives is a free gift to you so accept it today! Allow God to work in your life and FREE you from all of the bad in your life. 

All About Communication

We all have friendships and spouses and family members that we love and want to have relationships with. We spend a lot of time talking and gossiping and sharing parts of our day with others in our lives. If we want our relationships to grow what can we do? COMMUNICATE. Talk. Share. Witness. Lecture.

If we don't talk to our friends and family, how can we expect to grow closer to them? If you stopped talking to your friend for a month how likely would it be that the two of you would still be close? Communication is KEY. Without communication any relationship can fall apart. That includes your relationship with God. 

God wants us to be CONSTANT in prayer. CONSTANT in communication with Him. He wants us to be praying to Him through out our day, because what is prayer? Prayer is talking to God. When you don't talk to a friend you drift apart, the same thing can happen with God! If we aren't talking to Him on a regular basis we will begin to lose our connection with Him... God WANTS us to talk to him!

You may not realize it, but any time you pray you are bonding with God--growing closer to Him and forming a stronger connection. Anything that brings us to pray like losing a loved one, losing a job, seeing a beautiful sunrise, etc is truly a blessing because it is spurring us to COMMUNICATE with God, to be CLOSER to God. 

Prayer is making a connection to God, talking to Him and communicating with Him. Telling Him all about your day, your fears, your dreams, and asking Him for help and guidance. God WANTS to talk to you and the greatest part is that He is ALWAYS there! So whenever you need a listening ear or a little help God is always there to hear you. 

Since God is always with you, why not always be talking to Him? Praying throughout the day, with out stopping is a great goal because it will bring you closer than ever to the Lord! So talk to Him, PRAY, because growth in any relationship is ALL ABOUT COMMUNICATION. So make it your goal this next week to talk to God more and to talk to your friends more. I think you will see some major relationship growth! 

He is With You

Life is hard. It throws you for a loop. Sends you in mysterious directions. Leaves you with guilt or shame. Knocks you down. Spits on you. Confuses you. It isn't easy to do the right thing and sometimes when life gets stressful you get discouraged and confused and afraid.

When the waters are rough you do NOT need to fear the waves. Whenever life seems to be knocking you down remember that God is ALWAYS there to pick you back up again. He is ALWAYS there to steer you in the right direction.

Whatever trial you are facing HAND IT OVER to the Lord! He will take the burden from your shoulders and He will help you through. He will calm the waters. He will make a way when no way seems possible. You're life may look hopeless or you may just face bad moods, no matter what you're going through God will be there for you. 

Whenever you feel alone, deserted, disappointed, upset, even happy and joyous God is ALWAYS there. He is making a path for you. Fighting for YOU. Helping YOU. He will help carry your burden for you. He will help you OVERCOME any obstacle!

He will go BEFORE you. He will STAND BEHIND. He is ALWAYS on your side. God is with you through everything and not only that but he is BEFORE you, pathing the way for you. Fighting for you. He wants to help you, so hand Him your stress, problems, anxieties, worries, fears, trials. Hand Him everything difficult in your life and you can overcome it! With the God of Angel Armies on your side, the God who can do indescribably more than you can imagine, you can always have the VICTORY. 

All About Jesus

What is it that God calls us to do? He calls us to do everything in order to GLORIFY HIM. He wants us to treat others as we would like to be treated, have patience, be loving, act like Jesus did and be a LIGHT. 

As a follower of Jesus, you will get a lot of attention and you will likely be praised for it. People will notice how different your attitude seems to be or they will question your beliefs. Many people will be taken aback by you happiness or patience. But there is a danger in that. Many Christians will begin to act for THEMSELVES--for popularity or fame or a good reputation or to make themselves feel good. That is doing good with the wrong motivation and therefore really not that good. 

Make sure that what you do, you do for the GLORY OF GOD. You should do what you do to make Him happy and to point others in His direction. Sometimes this can be hard or discouraging because people won't understand Jesus' call the way you do, they won't attribute your attitude to Christ. 

My companions saw the light, but did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me.

Acts 22:9

Even in the Bible there are cases of people not understanding how much God does and that He has a hand in things. Not understanding God's voice. Not seeing Him or hearing what He has to say. But don't give up hope!

Even when it seems impossible to get someone to see God, remember that He can do ANYTHING! Even if nothing seems to be happening now, He can make a way for it to happen eventually. He is the one who needs to do the work in their lives, not you. 

Jesus is the one who saves not you! All you can do is be a good example and try to point people in the right direction and Jesus will do the rest! So don't be discouraged if people don't understand that it truly is God's handiwork, but continue to do your part. 

Keep on living for Jesus and SHINING for Him. Make your life all about Jesus, give Him the glory and don't forget that He does the work, you just point people in the right direction! 

Awesome Creator

Do you ever have those LONG projects-- that take you weeks, months, maybe even years-- that when you finish it you just look at it with pride? Maybe you worked on your house, maybe you made a painting, a collage, or a song. Looking at what you've made can be really awe inspiring, but have you ever looked at what God has made? Have you ever looked at the world around you and just MARVELLED? Any where you turn you can see God's artistry in the sights and scenes surrounding you. It seems every detail is perfect and beautiful!

He made the oceans:

He made the mountains: 

He made the deserts: 

He made all the animals: 

He even made our solar system: 

He made EVERYTHING and each thing He made is so complex and glorious and beautiful, it's breathtaking! God truly is the one and only AWESOME CREATOR. He made the sun, moon and the skies. He made everything you can see and feel and smell in just 7 days! I don't know about you, but that makes any project I can make dim in comparison. Everything on Earth points to it's AWESOME creator! 

You know what is really mind blowing? God made all of this extraordinary universe and He made YOU. Not only that, but our awesome creator chose you and loves you. 

What are we that God should care about us? Look how tiny we are compared to a lion, to a mountain, to the universe, and the AWESOME creator who made it all cares about tiny, little us. Isn't that just amazing? God not only cares, but He loves us enough to send His son to die for us on the cross so that we might be saved. We do nothing but spite Him, we are tiny and minuscule and yet He loves us and chose to save US. That is truly AWESOME. 

Have you thanked your awesome creator lately? We should-- every day and every second because that is how much He has done and continues to do for us. 

Bridge

We have ALL sinned and that sin is what separates us from a pure and holy God. We all deserve punishment and suffering for that sin, but God is so gracious and merciful and He loves us so much that he FORGIVES and even gives us a way to be with Him!

 

Salvation is a GIFT from God, it is nothing that we can do on our own. We can never do enough good works or pay enough to cover our sin. Our sin requires a sacrifice and since we are sinners ourselves, we NEED the sacrifice, we cannot be or make it. God loves us so much that He sent His one and only son to be OUR sacrifice!

 



 

 

Jesus suffered and died for US. For OUR sins. He took our place. He healed us. He BRIDGED the gap between God and us and only through Jesus can we make it to God, not by ANYTHING that we can do on our own! Only by accepting Jesus' GIFT of sacrifice and salvation. Only Jesus can truly save us! Isn't that the best gift imaginable? 

 

 

 

We each have a choice: try to save ourselves through good works and perish or we can accept God's FREE GIFT of salvation and cross the BRIDGE of Christ! Which will you choose? 

Brokenness of All

Each and every one of us has flaws. Every single one of us struggles with something. Every one of us sins. We are not perfect. How many times have you lied, said a mean thing about a friend, or lashed out at someone? We are ALL broken and the trouble is we can't see how broken we really are. I've heard it put like this, a man who breaks his leg will immediately feel the pain and know he needs a doctor, but someone who is paralyzed and breaks his leg won't feel it and think he is fine. We are like the paralytic, so broken we don't even realize how broken we are.

ALL have sinned. Not just some of us, but ALL of us. The Bible says that that sin in all of us deserves punishment and justice. It says that we all deserve to die because of that sin. 

That is why we ALL need Jesus because we ALL have sinned. Lucky us though, our God is forgiving and loving and merciful and he has given ALL of us a gift of salvations through Jesus Christ. We are weak ALL weak on our own and we will continue to fail, but through our failing God will show us His mercy and goodness. 

When we are weak and we turn to God, we see just how strong he really is! We are ALL weak and broken and we ALL need Jesus! We cannot do this without him. 

So let me ask you this: Do you see how broken you are? Do you know that you need salvation? Have you accepted the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ?