There is Strength for Uncertain Times

There is Strength for Uncertain Times:

Let’s face it, we a living in very uncertain times.  We have an uncertain government.  Who knows if our elected officials will act and respond to the best interest of the people or best interest of greed, corruption, and personal gain?  The national and personal economy is uncertain.  Are we headed for an indefinite recession, debt crisis, or even great depression? Job security is no longer common, but job insecurity is.  With financial insecurity everything from major corporations to small businesses are being forced to cut hours, lay off employees, and even close doors indefinitely. Traditional nuclear family dynamics no longer exist.  Divorce, domestic abuse, broken homes, absentee parents are at all-time historical highs.  Physical and mental health are never a given.  As a medical professional, I have witnessed firsthand professionally and personally the effects of health being snuffed out unexpectedly and permanently.  Safety is no longer.  All you have to do is watch or read the news.  Domestic, school house, workplace, and public violence are on the rise; with shootings and terroristic threats and acts of violence are nightly news.  I think I could go on and on, but the point is this; uncertainty is certain.  With uncertainty come fear, anxiety, and even failure.

Uncertainty can certainly devastate and destroy lives and futures.  Individuals are affected, families are affected, and communal groups are affected.  Not even local, national or even global governments are immune from the effects of uncertainty. 

To persevere and overcome uncertainty we need strength; a certain strength that will not fail or falter.  We need a strength that never weakens or runs dry.  This kind of strength will never come from self, family, friends, or governments.  This kind of strength can only come from something greater than man and greater than the threats that inundate our lives with uncertainty.  Although this kind of strength seems impossible, it is obtainable.  God, the living Lord almighty offers this strength if all you will do is fully commit your heart to Him.

 

2 Chronicles 16:9  For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him…

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.   

Ask, Seek, Knock

Matthew 7:7-8  Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; Knock and the door will be open to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks the door will be open.

NEVER I repeat NEVER take this scripture out of context.  God is not offering free genie wishes here.  It seems like we are so apt to tell God what we want and expect it to be given.  With that mindset, you will only be discouraged, defeated and done with God. 

Ask; have you ever stopped to think that God already knows your needs.  He already has in His hand what he wants you to have? All you have to do is ask for it.  "Dear LORD, I want to receive what you have for me." 

Seek;  This isn't a game of hide and seek.  Life can be distracting with all the hurts and hardships we face. In the  midst of our trials we tend to quit looking for God because we think He has left us.  The truth is, He is right there with us.  We have just allowed our struggles to blind us.  Seek Him daily, you will find him.

Knock;  God is not home sleeping.  And He certainly isn't hidden behind a closed door.  What He is saying is this; pursue a personal relationship with me.  Come join me, I will let you in.

Robbing Quality from the LORD

Stating the obvious; people desire relationships.  Do not most people want to be liked, acknowledged, recognized and even respected?  We seek relationships at home, at school, work, church, and even more so on social media.  We may even find ourselves justifying our value by the number of so called friends or followers we have.  We count our tweets, re-tweets, favored tweets, likes, re-shares, followers, friends, favored’s, and so on.  We are so focused on quantity and being quantified, that we have neglected quality. 

Society has come to this place where we have robbed relationships of quality.  Without quality, what you have is nothing more than superficial, non-dependable, unreliable, broken connections.   You may think you have gained the world in popularity by counting numbers, but in fact you have robbed your soul of one of its greatest desires.  We want to be connected to others.  Friends will unfriend, followers will quit following, re-tweets will be forgotten, favoreds will be filled away, pretty much all the quantity and quantifying will amount to nothing more than empty shallow meaningless numbers. 

Have you ever been in a crowd and yet still felt totally alone?  I have.  In robbing ourselves and cheating others of quality communication, we have created gatherings of two, three, and even mass multitudes of physical and digital congregations of lonely people.    

Although people will come and go in life, there is one who will never leave you or forsake you, He wants to be your friend forever and He will always favor you.  His name is Jesus.  He desires your friendship, following, favoring, re-tweets, re-shares and so much more.  He gave everything just so He could become a friend of yours.  He desires quality. 

Have you robbed yourself of the greatest relationship this world has ever known?  Have you chosen not to have Jesus Christ as your friend?  Even worse, are you a Christian who is robbing your savior of quality communication? Have you chosen to rob the one who gave it all so that you could follow Him?

This may be a stretch for some, but here it is.  In Matthew chapter 21 Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling, He overturned all the tables and ran them all off.   He was angered because the temple was being dishonored for monetary gain.  Right after, Jesus said “My house will be called a house of prayer, and you have turned it into a den of robbers.”  In 1 Corinthians 6:19 we are told that our bodies are a temple for the Holy Spirit.  Now, if our bodies are temples for the Holy Spirit and Jesus himself said in Mathew 21 that His temple is a house of prayer, then are we not robbing Jesus Christ of a quality relationship if we choose not to communicate with Him? 

I cannot help but believe that we are obviously called to a quality relationship with Jesus Christ.  In order to have quality we must communicate and interact intentionally, purposefully, and routinely.   If not, then you are forming nothing more than an empty religious gathering.  Although you may call yourself a Christian, attend church regularly and even share your religion, you will still feel lonely.  Quality, that is what makes it all real.  I challenge you to make your relationship with Christ all about quality each and every day. 

 

 

May my life be the proof and evidence of Christ’s love!

Setting up Stones and Start Leading the Way:

Seated deep along the continental divide in Wyoming in the Medicine Bow National forest there are stone markers.  These stone markers were set by Poppy, my wife’s grandfather.  Poppy owned several acres of untamed wilderness land surrounded by the national forest.  In and around this land you could find ghost towns, old mines, artifacts, rivers, streams, fields of flowers, tall pines, complete solitude, peace, quiet and of course wildlife. 

Up above the land Poppy owed was one of the most beautiful rock and flower laced mountain ridges.  Leading up to that ridge you would find the stone markers that were set up to lead the way.  If you carefully followed these markers, they would lead you to a fresh mountain spring. From this spring bubbles out the sweetest, freshest, most refreshing mountain water I have ever tasted.  Strategically Located by the spring you will find evidence of Thomas Edison’s hunting camp.  Built into the side of a tree is his desk, close by is the horse corral, and between the two you find the stone camp fire. 

Honestly, I do not know for sure if this site really was Thomas Edison’s hunting camp.  I just know that was the story Poppy told us.  It may or may not be true.  I like to think it is, because it was known that Tomas Edison did camp and hunt in that area.  Either way, my point is this; every time we go up to Poppy’s land we always look forward to the hike following his stone markers leading up to one of the most beautiful and breath taking places on earth.  Without Poppy’s stone makers, you would for sure get lost and not find this hidden majestic location.

In the Book of Joshua, Joshua set up 12 stones on the other side of the Jordan River after they had crossed on dry land.  The purpose was to honor the LORD and to leave a lasting memorial for those who would come later.  The memorial was there to tell the story of the journey of how God rescued the Israelites from oppression and led them to the promise land. This is a story of miracles, God’s provisions, and deliverance from bondage.  This story would show the way for those who have not been there before.  A story filled with God markers leading the way to freedom and redemption. 

Is your life filled with rock solid markers?  Are you making a mark in history for your family, friends, neighbors, strangers, or anyone who may follow?  Are the defining moments of your God story set in stone so that others may find the way to the one true King?   If your testimony is hidden in the secret places of your heart, then who will ever be able to follow and find the way?  I challenge you to make some marks, obvious marks that stand out and last.  Set up those so-called stones markers by telling your story, making a lasting impact, and start leading the way.  To God be the glory in my life and the lives that follow.

 

Joshua 4:19-24 On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. 20 And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. 21 He said to the Israelites, "In the future when your descendants ask their fathers, 'What do these stones mean?' 22 tell them, 'Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.' 23 For the LORD your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The LORD your God did to the Jordan just what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. 24 He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God."

May my life be the proof and evidence of Christ’s Love!