Archive for the ‘Inspirational’ Category

5 important things you NEED to tell your brother…Again

Posted: April 2, 2016 in Inspirational
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A few years ago, I posted a blog about brothers that has been one of my all time best posts ever. I can tell you that every time I read it, I think of my own brother and thank God that he is around because of the dangerous deployments he has had in the last 28 years of his military service. But I also think that’s really the point, because this post is about Brothers…whether they are your blood or not, and I encourage you to read this and remember your brother even if he lives in heaven, or give him a call if he lives somewhere else. Either way, be thankful for your time with him and enjoy this short read…

5 important things you NEED to tell your brother:

The definition of a real brother can be more than just a blood sibling; He can be the guy you have spent your entire life with since you were just a little man, or it can be someone else who through the journey of life’s ups and downs, has become as close as a brother. In either case, a true brother in your life is the one who is there for you when you need him, no matter what the circumstances.

It’s always painful for me when I hear someone tell me they haven’t spoken to their Brother in many years because of something that was said along time ago and they can’t get over it. In the meantime, everyone in the family loses out on that connection families receive from spending time together.

My bottom line is this, when your parents inevitably pass from this earth, you will have your brother(s) and that strong brotherly bond should be forever because frankly, brothers should look out for each other throughout life’s journey. That’s the way God planned brotherhood…you have each other’s back, no matter what the circumstances.

I know for me, I wasn’t as close to my brother when I was younger but now I appreciate the man he grew to be and respect the father and husband he is today. My only wish would be to get to live closer to him so we could spend more time together.

I ran across this list of important things to tell your brother and I thought it very appropriate for this blog because we are all about Iron Sharpening Iron (Proverbs 27:17), which means, brothers strengthening brothers.

Next time you see your bro, blood relation or not, give him a bear hug and let him know you’re thankful he’s around…and whatever you do, don’t live your life with regret that you didn’t take the time to mend fences. You know what I mean…

Remember these words:

There’s no other love like the love for a brother.  

There’s no other love like the love from a brother.  

 

Terri Guillemets

5 important things you NEED to tell your brother:

  1. Hey Brother, Be the kind of man that when your feet hit the floor each morning, the devil says, “Oh Crap, He’s up!”
  1. Hey Brother, life is too short to wake up with regrets, so love the people who treat you right and forgive the ones who don’t. Not because you should, but because you can.
  1. Hey Brother, believe everything that happens to you, happens for a reason. If God gives you get a second chance, grab it with both hands. If that second chance changes your life, let it.
  1. Hey Brother, Always take a few minutes to think before you act when you’re angry. Forgive quickly. God never told us life would be easy, He just promised it would be worth it.

 

  1. Remember this my Brother; A real Brother walks with you when the rest of the world walks on you.

 

In 2016 we say “Brother, I have your six.”

I end this post with a great quote from one of my favorite Baseball players of all time from the past, Harmon Killebrew who said:

My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard.  Mother would come out and say, “You’re tearing up the grass.”  “We’re not raising grass,” Dad would reply.  “We’re raising boys.”

Do me a favor my friends, call your brother today…

 

Until next time guys…

 

 

5 Reasons for ALL OF US to have HOPE right now…again

Posted: November 21, 2015 in Inspirational
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Very near 3 years ago, I wrote this post based upon what I sensed and felt going on in the world at that time; sadness and destruction. As I listen and watch the world news over the last few days, with all of the horrific death and destruction in France, Belgium and the Middle East, I once again seek God for the very same thing…hope.

I cannot provide anyone with the reasons why all of this is happening other than simply the Bible talking about “the god of this age” (2 Corinthians 4:4, John 12:31, 1 John 5:19) prowling around seeking to devour (1 Peter 5:8) those who don’t resist him. Believe me my friends, NOW IS THE TIME TO RESIST HIM. Don’t give up but rather look to Him for your hope.

God’s word is clear…”I will never leave you or forsake (forget) you” (Joshua 1:5)

So here again, are my 5 reasons we can have HOPE right now…

By its very nature, the word hope concerns the future, our future. However, I am not referring to a simple hope such as, “I wish I had a nicer car or bigger house”, but rather I am talking about Biblical hope, which is very different. Biblical hope consists of an assurance inside your heart or better yet, a firm confidence about future things because of Gods promises and His revelation to us. Guys, real Biblical hope in Christ Jesus is something that is never failing when you place your trust in Him. In fact Paul tells us in Romans 15:13;

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

In other words, Biblical hope is inseparably linked with a firm faith in Him. They go hand-in-hand with one another. As a result, what is yielded is a confident trust in God that is unshakable when the adversity of life hits you like a wave….(Like right now).

So with all of the chaos our world is throwing at you every single day, I wanted to give you some actual reasons why you can still have faith and HOPE that things are going to still be alright…So here are my 5 reasons for all of us to have HOPE right now…

  1. God is still on the throne – He hasn’t gone anywhere. He is still alive and at work in our world. I know it is very easy to look at what happens in this world and say God is dead or may he is just sleeping because I have heard that before. But I assure you He is alive and well and knows exactly what is happening on this earth.
  2. With man, things are impossible…but with God, ALL things are possible (Mark 10:27) It is so very easy to just give up and give in to all of the adversity that is constantly thrown in our direction because we simply forget Gods promises. Bottom line, God has NO limitations. His ways are NOT our ways and therefore he will not react or think as we do…our response needs to be to simply ask, to trust, and to hope in Him.
  3. You Are Not Alone – As we are told in Joshua 1:5, He will never leave us nor forsake us and I’ve come to realize that me trying to understand the why’s of this world is NOT my job. My job is to completely trust in Him…even though I don’t understand. LET GOD DO THE HEAVY LIFTING. Do you remember the story of Peter when he got out of the boat and started walking on the water to meet Jesus? (Matthew 14:29-30) He was actually walking on water until he took his eyes off of Christ and then what happened? He started sinking fast…and what was his reaction? He cried, “Lord save me!” which is exactly what we are supposed to do…
  4. All of what you are going through right now is only temporary – Weeping may last for the night…but joy comes in the morning (Psalms 30:5). It is easy to “get caught up” with what we SEE. But I am here to remind you that Jesus has prepared a place for all of us IN HEAVEN (John 14:2) and this place we see around us, will all pass away. It is only temporary. Heaven is eternal.
  5. I know how this story ends – All of the difficulty and adversity we face every day sometimes can be overwhelming. In fact, it may seem like the bad guy in this world may be winning. But let me assure you with an overwhelming confidence. Have you ever read Revelation? Because I know who wins in the end. You and I will be victorius.

But you MUST STAY THE COURSE. Don’t give up. Have faith and put your trust in Him and He will give you reason to HOPE…

 

Until next time guys…

What is the Purpose of Life? Rick Warren

Posted: November 7, 2015 in Inspirational
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Guest Blogger: Rick Warren

A few years ago, Rick Warren and his wife Kay went through a very difficult time in their lives when Kay found out she had cancer. Both she and Rick walked down the normal path we would all take of coming to grips with this as well as bringing it to God. Ultimately, it is in Gods hands anyway and in her case, Kay was victorious over the disease.

I wanted to share a brief note that Rick Warren wrote as he and Kay walked this path and how his perspective changed along the way. I hope you find these words helpful at whatever point you may be in your own life.

One small favor though…there is a list at the end that I highly encourage you to print up and post where you can see it each day. The list a HUGE reminder for all of us as we walk through this world of pain and good…

 What is the Purpose of Life?

People ask me, what is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven. 

One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body– but not the end of me. 

I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act – the dress rehearsal.

God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity. 

We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn’t going to make sense. 

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you’re just coming out of one, or you’re getting ready to go into another one. 

The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort. 

God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy. 

We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that’s not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness. This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer. 

I used to think that life was hills and valleys – you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don’t believe that anymore. Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it’s kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life. No matter how good things are in your life; there is always something bad that needs to be worked on.

And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for. 

You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems. 
If you focus on your problems, you’re going into self-centeredness,” which is my problem, my issues, my pain.” But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her. 

It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, and drawn her closer to Him and to people.

You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life. 

Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when my book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy. 

It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don’t think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease. 

So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72 

First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases. 

Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church. 

Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.

Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free. 

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity? 

Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God’s purposes (for my life)?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don’t get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn’t put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He’s more interested in what I am than what I do. 



That’s why we’re called human beings, not human doings. 



Happy moments, PRAISE GOD. 


Difficult moments, SEEK GOD. 


Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD. 


Painful moments, TRUST GOD.


Every moment, THANK GOD. 


Rick Warren

Until next time guys…

Be Still and Let Go…Really?

Posted: August 8, 2015 in Inspirational
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Be-StillIf you have small kids, you know how difficult it is to simply sit down and relax…If you have teenagers…well, that’s an entirely different post altogether…but nevertheless, taking our collective minds off of ALL of the many things we need to DO each day for both works, our children or home can and is overwhelming at times. But yet we as men must try because if we don’t, the people we care about the most probably won’t like us very much. Why? Because men tend to wear what they feel.

So you might be thinking, am I really going to write a post about relaxing? Not really…but what I wanted to remind you is that by taking the time to be truly quiet at some point in your day you can be blessed with different, indescribable peace…one from God that will surpass all our human understanding and honestly, that is the place this post is about…

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Phil. 4:17

If you are like me, then you probably find yourself moving at a fast pace from one event to another with various priorities required of you. If there is a purpose to busyness, I haven’t quite figured out what that might be although I have learned that the busier I am, the less time I have to be quiet. When that happens, honestly it’s extremely hard to listen…to anyone frankly, let alone God.

What I still don’t completely grasp is why God uses a “still, small voice” when He speaks to us? Why can’t he use Hollywood special effects to get our attention? In my mind that would be far easier…but yet if you really sit down and think about it, when we are quiet is when we are better connected to receive what God has for us…

Riddle me this for a moment…does it make sense that Satan might intentionally keep us slammed with busy stuff and mayhem in order for us NOT to take the time to be still so we might hear God? Kinda makes sense right? On any given day, When we are so full of the day’s details and information that we must remember while at the same time late for an appointment, how can God get through to us besides hitting us over the head?

Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. Psalms 46:10

Go with me for a second…describing this with words is somewhat difficult but I’ll try…if you really think about God being God…Almighty…All powerful, knowing everything, seeing everything, as a believer, there is a HUGE security and peace that comes from that knowledge. All I have to do is be still and know that He has everything in my world under control. Just like the picture shows, “Be still, I’ve got this”.

Now I understand these are just my words and some of you might say, just my “feelings” etc. with no facts to substantiate am I right? and I can understand why you would think that way because from the outside looking in, it probably does look more like only words and not actions.

But let’s look at this issue in another way, if we change the words “be still” to “let go”, does that impact you any more or any less? For some of us, we may be holding onto something or someone who is standing in the way of what God has for us. Only you know what or who that might be in your life. The question is, what are you going to do about it? God has this pipeline of peace intended just for you but you must plug into Him to gain any of it…and that is the purpose of this post…

Be still, or Let go…that is what He is asking of you, and if you will, you will see that He is God and begin to experience some of the incredible blessings He has for you and only you.

That is the challenge for you today is to remember these words from Him…

Be still…I’ve got this.

Until next time guys

Our God likes REALLY bad Odds

Posted: July 4, 2015 in Inspirational
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I really enjoy reading the Old Testament because I like to see the hand of God everywhere throughout the various difficulties and challenges that each Israelite generation faced. What a life these Bible characters lived; between the Philistines, the Assyrians, the Hittites, the Midianites, the Jebusites, the Amorites and all the other “ites” working to destroy them through one means or another…One thing is clear, if the Israelites did not seek God for protection, they surely would not have survived. These armies they faced were immense and the men themselves were huge with some of them being Giants as we shall see.

Time and time again we see examples in scripture of a no possible way for victory and yet Israel survived through divine intervention Do you remember the story of Gideon in Judges 7 where God tells him that he has too many men to fight the Midianites? When was the last time anyone heard that before a battle? “You have more men than is necessary to accomplish this task”…so then after he pairs down his army to a “are you kidding me” number of 300 men, he goes out and wins a huge battle with trumpets… In our eyes, the Midianites should have destroyed this small band of men. But as was in most of the cases with Israel, the worse the odds seemed for any victory, the better God liked the scenario…because when Israel was ultimately victorious it was absolutely clear to ALL opponents, the God of Israel was truly ALL POWERFUL.

Now, we have another example in Dueteronomy with Joshua, Israel’s great General, where if you were a betting person, this battle was the ultimate long shot. In fact, the odds were so bad against Israel in Deuteronomy 3:22, God had to remind Joshua to move forward in faith and He, God…would fight the battle for them. You see from Joshua’s point of view, just counting soldiers, they would have been destroyed. But God had the situation right where He wanted it. He told Joshua:

Do not be afraid of them; the Lord your God himself will fight for you.

Can you think about that for a moment…”God himself will fight for you”.

Could you use some help right now with someone fighting your battles for you? Here is something I want you to think about when you are facing a difficult situation; have you considered that God may want the situation you are facing to seem overwhelming, insurmountable and frankly impossible?

Why…because God wants you to be fully dependent upon Him in all of your life circumstances and especially the difficulties because he wants there to be no doubt in your mind that you achieved victory because of Him. God prefers situations and circumstances that have no apparent (human) solution…at least to you and me…but just like in Deuteronomy 3 where the children of Israel had to face Og (who was a real guy, a predecessor to the famous Goliath of Gath…Og King of Bashan who according the Bible, was even bigger than Goliath read Deuteronomy 3:11) they moved forward in faith on the battlefield and was victorious…not on their own power, but with God right their beside them fighting…you must move forward in your own faith and take the first step. I don’t care what the odds are for victory, I only know what Paul tells us in Romans 8:31:

If God is for us, who can be against us?

Honestly guys, those are odds I can live with…

Until next time Guys…

Flawless

Posted: May 23, 2015 in Inspirational
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Have you ever been inspired by something? Maybe a great speech, or a seminar you attended, or even a song that really hit you in your core? Maybe whatever it was actually got you to think that something in your life might actually change for the better? Because sometimes lets face it, we need that hope don’t we?

I found myself unexpectedly inspired by a song recently that I want to share with you the main idea in this post because I think it matters to all us as we continue to navigate our lives. You see, some of us find ourselves going back and forth from trying to be good person and then failing miserably. As a result, when we try to get back to God, we feel like we are on the edge of a cliff and we cant get back…we have gone to far and we are going to fall over…which brings me to point of my post and the point of the song…

No matter what path you have been on or may still be on…

 

No matter what has happened in your past that you are ashamed of…

 

No matter if you have experienced failure, disappointment, unhappiness or you just cant overcome what is keeping you down…

I want to point out one thing to you that you may have forgotten along your way.

God has and amazing grace, just for you, and as a result of what Christ did…

THE CROSS HAS MADE YOU FLAWLESS…

Here is what is important to remember; the reality of this part is that we come to God looking kind of filthy because we live down here is this world full of sin (I cant imagine what that actually looks like from God’s perspective). Without the cross, I don’t think God could recognize some of us because we are so covered in the stuff. But that isn’t the end of this story because all of us have grace, which means we (YOU) can approach Him and through the cross, He can see you are Flawless.

I don’t care what you have done…that’s between you and Him but I do know that because of His grace extended…and His righteousness wrapped around you…

You, YES YOU, are Flawless…

Guys, I get this is a very simple message but I also know we can all lose our way and forget even the simple things God has given to us. I believe there is no such thing as hopelessness to someone who recognizes what has been done for him on the cross…why? Because being right with God and being flawless before Him…there is truly no greater place any person can be and that my friend is the greatest hope anyone could ever experience.

Until next time guys…

Enjoy, Flawless, by MercyMe

The Fool says in his Heart…

Posted: May 10, 2015 in Inspirational
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The fool says in his heart, there is no God.          Psalms 14:1, Psalms 53:1

Yes. It is true. This particular verse is in the Bible twice and I have to wonder why that is?

The “fool” is mentioned many times in Gods word but he is classified as a fool based upon two things:

  1. He rejects Gods word and His revelation
  2. He does not seek God in prayer or request His presence in any way.

These are the simple realizations of how the Bible classifies a fool…none of which surprises any of us.

David told us in Psalms 16:2:

That apart from you, I have no good thing.

According to the Bible, the person who is a fool is the one willing to walk this journey of life completely on their own and they are comfortable with the fact that they have only themselves to rely upon. David on the other hand, can’t imagine one single moment of life without God. He told us that without God in his life, he had nothing. Solomon also told us that the pursuit of “stuff” in this life is 100% meaningless when carried out apart from the will of God.

So the question is, which direction should we choose? What choice to YOU makes the most sense? Should we pursue our life solely on our own with no help and no guidance and just be willing to take our chances with whatever comes next?

Or, do we believe David, who said that guy described above is a fool because he doesn’t believe in the existence of God?

Guys, I heard this awhile back and maybe it’s relevant for this post:

I would rather live my life believing there is a God and die to find out there isn’t one, than to live my life NOT believing and then die to find out there is…

I have no idea where any of you sit with this question that I am raising today and I can only give you my side of the fence as my example but I would simply ask you wouldn’t you want to at least anchor yourself onto something that will last? I know answering that questions requires belief but there has to be more to this life than just this…don’t you think?

You see I believe in a basic fundamental about this life. Simply put…the existence of a single God…the Creator. Why? Because I believe you were created for a higher purpose. But yet at the same time, if you refuse that basic fact about the existence of God, then I can only conclude that is the reason why David wrote what he wrote…

The fool says in his heart there is no God…

In this world YOU get to choose…I pray that you choose wisely. I also pray that you choose with your eternal future in mind…

Jesus said, Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. Matthew 12:30

Until next time guys.

Who made your Plans?

Posted: May 2, 2015 in Inspirational
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Guys, if you can, please take just a few minutes and read this story in the book of Acts. This is about the beginning of Christianity and how once Christ had ascended into heaven, how ugly the Apostles were treated by the Pharisees.

Acts 5: 17-41

The Apostles had angered the high priest because they kept preaching in the name of Jesus and he was looking for a way to kill them. During this angry meeting of the Pharisees, another Pharisee leader stood up whose name was Gamaliel (the same man who Paul studied under), and gave the council some very wise words which are summarized in the verses below:

Acts 5:38-39

…So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!

As a Christian man, I encounter obstacles everyday just like you do. Unplanned problems rise up in front of me and seem to work just to thwart my plans every time I turn around. Does this ever happen to you? Your plans get squashed in front o your eyes? What I found was a huge encouragement when I read these verses again is what I want to share with you today…the very simple realization of:

If your plans are just YOUR PLANS, they will fail…

But if they are of God, NOTHING can stand in your way.

Guys, go with me for just a moment here. How many times have you made great plans for a project or a vacation or for that matter, your entire life? You may be busy organizing your finances or changing directions because of information YOU have that matters or refinancing or getting a line of credit or…I can go on and on.

You are probably planning right now am I right?

Guys, Please hear my words right now…planning is NOT a bad thing…in fact, it is a very good thing to plan and look forward to the future…what I am suggesting to you today is to make your plans WITH GOD INVOLVED. Look to Him for the guidance to those plans, because as was said above in Acts, if your plans are with God, He will be your guide and get you there in once piece.

Now there is one caveat to this conversation which is your understanding that God has plans for you too and if you get Him involved, He will want to guide you towards His higher plan for your life which trust me, is the direction you want to go…

Do His plans and your plans always coincide? Honestly, no they don’t; But I have found that when I am in the middle of Gods plan for my own life, I ALWAYS come out in far better circumstances and a much stronger person than I was before.

So consider what I am telling you today because God is very clear when He tells us this from Jeremiah 29:11:

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Those words are for you and me…

Until next time guys…

A Response to Sum Guy in India

Posted: February 7, 2015 in Inspirational
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One of the greatest experiences I have had with this blog is the opportunity to receive comments, both good and bad, from the readers. I find for the most part, people are struggling with many of the same questions that I have and share their thoughts on this blog. Most recently, I wrote a blog about the Tower of Babel where I shared that God ultimately saved Mankind during the building of the Tower instead of destroying the builders by confusing their languages. When God looked at their intent, which was solely to “make a name for themselves” rather that wipe them out…he confused their languages and because they no longer could properly communicate, they gave up on the tower project and moved on.

As a result of this blog, I received a comment that I wanted to share with all of you from a very articulate man in India whose reasoning I find excellent as he poses a great question for me, “Why didn’t God just allow them to fail?”

To truly help this conversation resonate with you, you may need to go back and read the previous blog in order to understand his comments back to me. Below, is Sum Guy in India, (as he calls himself) response to this post.

 

I wanted to chime in and say: why would a God confuse man with the languages? Surely after allowing man to sink to such lows as are observed pre-Noah, it becomes clear that God is willing to allow significant tribulations to befall mankind as a whole. Without intervention.

Would allowing man to fail not make more sense? If a group of men attempt a great deed, their leader befalls a tragedy, and they fail, the question becomes “Did they fail from the tragedy or from their own hubris; was the deed possible or did they just suffer from bad luck?” A tower to heaven is impossible, we know this now. But it strikes me as odd that an omnipotent God would deny such a learning experience to his people in one year (XXXX BC), then allow his people to travel far beyond a tower, to the moon and planets beyond in another (1969). To read the transcripts of the astronauts and cosmonauts it is clear, they believed they were prodding god. Is this not the same hubris?

Despite my own beliefs, reading this article caused me to look at this tale in a purely analytical light. Unfortunately, it sounds more like one of the Roman’s or Aesop’s fables than a grand truth.

Yours in Pondering,
Sum Guy
In India

 

Dear Sum Guy-

First of all, thank you for reaching out to me with your response. One of the best parts of this blog are the articulate questions raised that truly cause me to think. Honestly, I appreciate your perspective greatly and frankly, I don’t disagree with you. There are many stories within the Old Testament that are not without great questions as to why God did what He did.

As examples, Genesis 6:5-8, Exodus 32:9-14 and Numbers 14 illustrate…Not only do I not understand why God did or reacted in a certain way, in these circumstances, He seemed to allow mankind to influence Him to change His mind? However, as an old preacher once told me, “Gods sovereign decision to allow this to happen doesn’t mean he is inconsistent or changeable, but that a different aspect of His character gets expressed by whatever decision He makes”.

We as humans can only approach anything in this life through our own eyes and with our own perspective because that is all we have. We can study books that man has written or we can observe nature but we can only learn and perceive as much as we know through our human minds. What I have found to be true us that the God of Creation…is NOT me. Even though I am created in His image, I clearly do not think or react like He does. In fact, He points this very fact out in scripture:

 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.  Isaiah 55:8-9

These things you have done, and I kept silent; You thought that I was altogether like you; But I will rebuke you, and set them in order before your eyes.    Psalms 50:21

Should God have allowed men to fail in that specific instance while building the Tower of Babel? Only God knows what was in their hearts at the time and we only know what the Bible tells us; these people wanted to make a name for themselves (Gen. 11:4) and God wanted them to seek and trust Him. I think based upon what we know about God through what He has revealed to us about Himself, that He saved them from themselves by confusing their languages…

I am like everyone else on this earth when it comes to understanding the “why God does what He does” and sometimes how confusing that is for everyone. But if you believe what God says about himself in scripture; that He sent His only Son to die and save us in order for us to be with Him always then to me it comes down to one thing;

Can I live this life with faith and can I trust Him enough to believe that He will save me even though I have questions?

As a Christian, even though I ponder, I still come back to faith…

Thank you for sharing Sum Guy

 

And for the rest of you…until next time Guys…

 

You must Resist…

Posted: January 3, 2015 in Inspirational
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
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I wanted to start this New Year off by going on the offensive against our common enemy…Satan. All of us are preparing on this last weekend of the holiday to head back to our regular routines…whatever that means for you, however before you take that first step this coming Monday in January, I wanted to remind you guys of the power that exists within you as believers in Christ and that when faced with life’s difficulties, we can wield this power and achieve results. I have used the verse below before in this blog but from my vantage point, it never gets old and frankly continually cuts when it needs to. So as you begin your New Year for both you and your family, I remind you to always remember to resist the evil one…

Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen.

1 Peter 5:8-11 NASB

This is one of those very powerful “get your attention” verses in the Bible put there to remind all of us that we are not at a country club in this life. It is an unseen war for your soul and Satan is the General in charge who is looking to beat you at all costs and he does not care who gets in his way because the more destruction he can release on you and everyone you care about…the better. Bodies in his wake are a victory for him.

Guys, I would like to point out the obvious for you…simply by using the word “resist” in the verse above God is telling us that we have the power to resist. Life is not a game of Russian roulette where we know eventually someone is going to get it and we just hope the bullet is NOT in the chamber when its our turn. Just because Satan is out there prowling around looking for you doesn’t mean he will win. My point is that your life is NOT already LOST. It is NOT inevitable that Satan is going to gain victory. In Christ, you have the power to tell Satan to “take a walk, I am NOT interested in what you are peddling today.”

Were you even aware that you could resist him?

I will tell you something else, when you wield the power that His word tells us we have because of Christ, did you know then that Satan is no longer a lion but rather more like a kitten? He can’t devour you, or affect you, or beat you, when you resist him in strong faith. When you deny him access to your personal vulnerabilities by telling him to take a hike, Satan is powerless.

What I don’t want you to hear me say however is not to be aware or be on the alert. Satan still knows your weakest areas where you are most likely to be vulnerable and those are the specific spots he will target in your life. He is not dumb. He knows where to stick the temptation and when and to NOT be prepared for that to happen is your fault not Gods.

Here is my bottom line…

You must RESIST and because of Christ…you have the power to…

Happy New Year…

 

Until next time guys…

 

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