Take a moment and think about that quote, I mean really ponder what it’s saying.  Do you believe it?  Does change arise from chaos, no matter what the chaos is?  When I think about the cross, how chaotic that scene must have been, the people standing around either cheering, crying or in shear disbelief of what they were witnessing, in that moment, was it pure chaos?   In that moment, did those who walked with Christ really believe he was who he said he was?  In that moment were they trusting what he had told them and expecting him to create change for their world?

Our world today is in much chaos, even closer to home our country is feeling very chaotic.  With the election quickly approaching and the uncertainty of what may happen no matter who gets elected, change is about to come, does it mean it will be great?  Well I suppose it depends on the perspective in which you view what’s going on around us today.  In a world where the news shows someone killing themselves live on TV for the world to see, to other people killing our people with no sense of remorse or even care as if they weren’t human, we have become so desensitized to the value of human life, not understanding or even caring about the eternity that they go to once they leave this world. We could get caught up in the, “Oh no, what’s going to happen to us as Christians” as we slowly lose our freedoms or we can embrace the fact that “GREAT CHANGE COMES FROM CHAOS”.  Just like back in the day of Christ they could not imagine what that change would be, they didn’t have God’s Word to rely on, His truths to hold close to their heart and the scripture that says, “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Hebrews 13:5

God never intended for us to look at the world around us and worry about what is going on, that doesn’t mean we bury our head in the sand.  It’s ok to be informed and we should be, without being informed we can make some unwise decisions.  However, being informed and being anxious over the future of this world are two different things when you’re a Christian.   Scripture tells us time and again, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:34 

As a Christian we have something to look forward too, we know that out of all this chaos there is something wonderful coming.  “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” Matthew 24:42. 

So I want to end with this, as I know I can’t remove anxiety or worry from myself or anyone else  Christ can, but understanding how the story ends and knowing that it will all be worth it no matter what may come can help me accept the statement with chaos comes great change and that’s our Lord Jesus Christ!

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.  And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.  And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.  He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.  Revelations 21:1-7

God Bless and May the Lord give you peace and comfort through times of uncertainty and change!!

No Love

I recently heard on a radio broadcast that Facebook is causing more and more people to feel depressed.  The thought that everyone post only those good things about their lives make others compare themselves and then question why their life isn't that good.  Let's face it how many people have you taken a picture of and they said, "If that's not a good picture don't post it on Facebook!"  I know I've said it myself, is it because we don't want people to see the bad side of our lives, we post those wonderful family vacation pictures but never tell of the arguments all the way down the road heading on that vacation.  We post about getting engaged or getting married so everyone can know, or so we can feel better than those people who aren't in a relationship or at that level in their relationship.  Whatever the reason people are only seeing a glimpse into the real us and that glimpse is only what we want them to see.
I'll be the first to admit that I try to post uplifting encouraging messages or faith based messages, not because I'm always happy or life is grand, trust me there are times I'd really like to say what I'm thinking but in life and in "Facebook Reality" I try to guard my tongue from hurting others intentionally or unintentionally (I'm not always successful at it and I admit it.)
There are things that I don't love about Facebook and it's world and we all know it's become a world of it's own and those things I'd rather give no love to at all are; that it's making it easy for people to be unfaithful and causing divorces, jealousy, discord, hate speech, arguments, immodest images (that just happen to show up because someone I'm friends with commented on or "liked" a picture of someones that their friends with), political debates (that never get resolved), and the freedom for anyone to say what they want without thinking of the way it makes them look or the consequences of others seeing it and the list could go on and on.
So is the issue really with others and what they put out there or is it within us.  The Bible is says in 2 Corinthians 10:12 We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.  -- Comparing ourselves is not wise, we have the life we have and if we're trusting in the Lord we have to trust that he knows what He's doing.  So you may not get to travel the world or have a big house or maybe it's not His plan for you to get married.  When we put our sights on what He wants for us and stop comparing ourselves with the rest of the world we can learn to be content in whatever state we're in.
In conclusion, I'm not a hater of Facebook obviously, I'm on it all the time and I post my blog to it), it has been used to connect me with people from my past that I've built great new relationships with, I am able to stay connected with those I've met around the world and I've even made new friends through Facebook connections.  However, we need to keep it all in perspective, are we using our Facebook "powers" for good or for evil.  Are we encouraging to others or discouraging.  Are we thoughtful of others feelings of those reading our pages or do we not care.  It's your page and you can do with it what you wish, but remember words and images scream loudly about who we are and how others perceive us to be.......How do you want others to see you? 

Happy Labor Day and Many Blessings!!

Change.....

Wow....when you see that word what does it do to you? Well lately due to it being a year of politics the word can mean a lot for people, it can bring hope or despair. Some of us think of the word "Change" as a negative word, we like the status quo and don't want to rock the boat. For me, the word "Change" means opportunity, excitement, growth and something different. Now you might think that's a little odd but I don't necessarily always enjoy the routine, so change brings something new to my life. Now with that being said, I don't enjoy being taken out of my comfort zone and unfortunately with change that can happen. Over the past several months I had been asking God for a change in my life, something not only for my own spiritual growth but for me to advance His kingdom, I didn't think to ask for him to keep me in my comfort zone while these changes occurred, I've learned my lesson for the next time. So the change that's happened has brought me to a place of contentment and joy, being blessed by things that I would have not thought could be possible. With the Lord's help, prompting, and much prayer I left my church of the last 4 years, don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with my old church, but we were no longer a good fit. Sometimes, stepping outside of the box we build for ourselves in our mind takes us to places we would have never imagined. Through that one move God has opened up doors that I never would have thought possible. I've met a group of people who love the Lord and their focus is on growing his Kingdom and living for him. There are wonderful ministry opportunities and learning opportunities that have come with this change. So no longer am I content to be a pew warmer, but I'm craving learning more of God's word and sharing it in the ways He has planned.....The Bible tells us that we're all to go out and preach the gospel, it's not just the job of a select few, it's the command for all Christians. So my thought for the day, don't be afraid of change, welcome it, ask God to make it happen so that He can get the glory. You'll be blessed for your efforts and grow through the process. And speaking of change, Blogger has changed the way I post now....so who knows if this is going to work correctly ;-)

Is it a relationship or just religion

So it's two in the morning on Good Friday and after a half an hour of back in forth with the Lord of whether He really wants me to get up and write a blog post at this hour, I finally decided He did. So if you notice really poor grammar you'll know why, I'm half asleep and my eyes are struggling to focus on the computer, but with His help I'll get the thoughts out that I'm suppose to.
Lately with the Easter season approaching I've been thinking about what my relationship with Christ is and what it needs to be? It's so easy for us in America to know Christ and about the Bible, we have the freedom to own as many of them as we want and to go to church and worship how we wish. I'm not sure how much longer those freedoms will last, but for now the freedom is there. (We'll save that topic for another day.) So are we taking advantage of those freedoms like we should? The Pharisee's were the most religious men of Jesus' time, they knew all the laws and kept them to a tee...however, when Christ was standing right in front of them and pointing out to them the problem with their knowledge they did not recognize him as the Messiah. How can this be! This can be because even though they knew the laws they did not know Him for who He was, the Son of God sent to die for them and save them from their sin. Knowing all about Him did them no good because they had no relationship with Him.
Think of the relationships within your life, your friends, family, co-workers, and all those in between. Do you have acquaintances, those people you may pass in the hall at work and say hello to, but you don't really know anything about? What about church are there people at your church who you know but know nothing about? I can even venture to guess there are even people within your own family that you know but know nothing about their lives. Why is this? It's because you have not built a relationship with them. Relationships take work and sometimes a lot of it. They don't always come easy, but you have to make a conscious effort to be involved in another person's life. The same goes for Christ!!!
He wants to have a relationship with us! He wants us to pick up the phone, so to say, when we need to chat and guess what He doesn't sleep! So how great is it that even at two in the morning you can have a conversation with Him. However, a relationship with Christ is like the others in your life, it takes work!! You need to communicate with him through prayer. He communicates to us as well. His Word is like an extremely long love letter. If we aren't putting forth the effort the relationship fades. He says he will never leave or forsake us, however that doesn't mean we have a relationship with him, it means he's an acquaintance. It's always a two way street. I saw a little picture not to long ago that said, "A relationship is not something you can log in and out of". Think about your own with those family and friends. How do you feel when you don't hear from someone you love for a while? I can imagine that Christ feels the same.
When going through the next few days up to Easter think about your relationship with Christ. Are you following the rules, but not following Him? Do you know him as an acquaintance or do you know him as a true friend? He wants us to make Him number one above all relationships, are you doing that? If not, wouldn't today Good Friday be a great day to start!

Happy Easter!!

Fear no more!

If God has not given us a spirit of fear how is it that fear dominates our lives? I joined a book club/Bible study this year with some friends and we have been discussing Max Lucado's book Fearless. I really didn't have any expectations about what I was going to learn from this book because really I didn't feel like there is much I was afraid of, boy was I wrong!! Aside from the occasional mouse what more was I truly afraid of! This has been a great learning experience for me. Aside from the little rodent that shows up every once in a while I found that I'm more fearful than I thought.

When we dig deep within ourselves we find that our fears go beyond the normal phobias but within each of us we have the ability to allow fear keep us from doing God's will or pursue our dreams. This is why God tells us to put all of our trust in him and have faith that He will take care of us. If we would allow him to remove our fear of success, failure, putting ourselves out their, stepping out of comfort zone and even the little world that we are in He could use us in amazing ways. He doesn't give us anything that he doesn't qualify us to do.

Moses almost passed up on the opportunity to lead the people of Israel because he was fearful that his speech was not eloquent enough to articulate what God wanted done. Can you imagine that story being told without Mose in it! The burning bush, ten commandments, the speaking directly to God........He would have lost out on an amazing opportunity because of his fear.

If there's something you have been putting off because of being afraid, pray about it and ask God to remove the fear. If he doesn't give us the spirit of fear we are putting it on ourselves, He can remove it. Don't let your fears keep you from pursuing God's will for your life. Remember He uses the ordinary to accomplish the extraordinary!!

Friends are God's blessings

I'm amazed at how many people don't have those true friends they can turn to in a time of need. Those friends who in a moments notice, no matter what is on their schedule will drop everything and come to your rescue. Over the years I've realized that God has blessed me with not just one but multiple friends in my life whom I can fully rely on to stop what they're doing to listen to me. Sometimes I need to vent and others I just need a little wisdom that outside perspective looking in with no bias what so ever. Their only concern is my best interest.

They say the average person only has 2.7 (How they get the .7 who knows)true friends. If you're not married you rely on your friends and family, God places people in your life to be their for you during good times and bad. Over the past few weeks I've realized the blessing God has given me by putting multiple people in my life whom I know to be "true" friends and I'm grateful beyond words!! I can only hope they feel they also have a "true" friend in me :)

Are you being a true friend.....if you got a call in the middle of the night from a friend, would you go to their rescue? Do you offer encouraging words or words that tear down? If you have a friend you haven't spoken to in a while, pick up the phone, send a card or an email. Just let them know you're thinking about them and are there for them if they need you!

Blessings!!