Looking for permission

Are you a prisoner to your pain and suffering?  Are you awaiting release so that you can praise the LORD?  

Here is the deal; you don't need permission from your

Sufferings to praise God and worship Him.  You are free to praise and worship no matter what life has thrown at you.  

Do it praise Him in the storms of life and rejoice in the hope of salvation! 

Psalm 42:11 Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

Lead by example

One thing that matters to

me the most; is knowing that my walk with Christ sets such a powerful example that others are naturally led to Christ by following

me.  

Who looks up to you?  Where are you leading them?

1 Corinthians 11:1 Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.

Shadows come and shadows go, no matter what Jesus Christ will always shine

I talk a lot about hardships in life, simply because I believe they are the obstacles that cast shadows of doubt upon us.  

Think of it like this;  the sun casts its light upon us and we can feel it's warmth and see its light.  However, when we step behind a wall, the wall casts a shadow.  In that shadow we don't feel the warmth of the sun or see its light like we did when it was within our direct sight.

In that shadow, do we doubt the exists?  Do we question; will it ever shine again?  Of course not. Because we know obstacles cast shadows in the sunlight.  They always have and they always will.  No matter what the sun is still shining on the other side.

If the sun is so faithful and dependable, then how much more so is the author and creator of that light? 

Hardships may cast shadows in our life.  In those shadows we begin to question and doubt;  will the "Son" ever shine again?  Jesus Christ will never quit shining.  Sometimes we just got to get to the other side of those shadow casters to see the light. 

With Joseph, he went through some pretty dark times.  His brothers wanted to kill him, Potiphar's wife wanted to molest him, and Potiphar locked him away.  Through it all Joseph remained faithful to God and God navigated Joseph's life through those dark times.  

God knew that those dark times was what it was going to take in order to position Joseph right where He needed him.  Ultimately through those difficult circumstances Joseph ended up in the position that would literally save the entire nation of his people from the starvation and death of the great seven year famine.  

You just don't know where God is positioning you as He navigates your life through the shadows.  Trust me, He will always shine.  He has a plan to position you for greater things than you could ever imagine.  

Keep the faith, shadows come and shadows go but no matter what Jesus Christ will always shine!

Genesis 50:20 you intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 

Is your comfort zone really comfortable?

Is your comfort zone really a zone of comfort?  If you’re honest with yourself, the answer is most likely no.  Why not?  Probably because your comfort zone is just like the other 99% of people; your comfort zone is nothing more than a façade.  It is a façade that protects you from allowing others to see your true weaknesses, fears, and failures.  On the outside you appear to be that guy or that girl that has life mostly put together and under control.  On the inside we know we are weak, afraid, and failing. 

Behind the walls of our deceptive façade, we have convinced ourselves that our current sufferings are as good as it can possibly get.  The lies from the inside tell us that if we expose the truths on the outside, our sufferings will be magnified.  We don’t want to admit that we are not strong and we need the support of others.  We convince ourselves that if we face our fears they will consume us and destroy us.  God forbid someone discovers our failures and deems us a fraud.  So here we find ourselves comfortably miserable in our self-made miserable comfort zones. 

This façade is built with pride and maintained by fear. 

I have discovered the truths of God’s word; that the power of humility tears down the façade of miserable comfort zones.  When the façade has been torn down, we find the grace we truly hope for; the kind of grace the lies on the inside say we can never find.  My friends, it is in God’s grace we find the hand of God working in our lives supernaturally and personally through the hands and feet of others.   In God’s grace we find ourselves serving and ministering others as the hands and feet of God.  In His grace there is no greater comfort.

James 4:6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."^a1

Inspiration and Desperation - Our powerful story

Inspiration and Desperation always moves people.  Ours was desperation.

It was out of our desperation for our daughters failing health that God answered our prayers.  Friends who cared enough shared something with us that literally changed our lives forever.  God brought healing into our lives in ways we never thought we could even hope for.

Our desperation was not just centered around our daughter's health issues of lupus, fibromyalgia, high blood pressure, other undiagnosed auto immune disorders, dependence on numerous prescription medications and narcotics.  Our desperation also included my wife's battle with Huntington's Chorea disease and my physical and emotional battles as well.

The answer to our prayers brought us from desperation to inspiration!

Check out our powerful and tearful testimony.