The Gift of Pain!

Ecclesiastes 3:9- 10   
⁹ What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?
¹⁰ I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.

            Many times in life we forget how important our perspective or outlook is in regards to any situation that we encounter.   If we examine the outcome of any situation, our outlook probably played a major part in the outcome of the situation.  How do you view uncomfortable, painful, and unsettling situations?  Do you complain about them?  Do you have a hard time embracing them?  Do you try to avoid them?

            Solomon helps us with our perspective about life and painful situations.  He adjusted his perspective in this chapter.  He brings God into the equation which broadened his perspective.  In the midst of our situation we might need to stop and try to view things from God’s perspective.  He addresses the different seasons of life in this chapter.  He addresses each season of life from a contrastive or comparative view.  He wants us to understand that God balances us out with things we view as good and bad. 

In verse 9, Solomon indicates we will not be able to always explain things about life.  God has arranged everything according to his time.  God wants us to embrace life and all it has to offer to the fullest.  Life is a gift from God.  We should be thankful for our life and all that God allows to come our way.  All of us have to come to grip with the fact God has assigned pain to everyone of our lives.  We can’t escape from pain.  Why do we look at pain from such a negative perspective?  Pain is the process God uses to make us productive. 

God uses pain to accomplish his purpose.  Wheat cannot be eaten until it is ground into grain.  A nail is useless until a hammer pounds it into a surface.  Clay is fragile and unstable until it is put into the oven and baked.  God has a job to perform with our lives.  We have to learn to view pain as an opportunity for God to transform us into who he ultimately desires for us to be.   

God bless and keep you is my prayer.

The Gift of Time

Ecclesiastes 3:1 (KJV)
¹ To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

            A couple of weeks ago I had a meeting for my job in Greenspoint (Houston).  From my office, the drive is about an hour.  On that particular day I had another meeting scheduled three hours after the meeting in Greenspoint.  The meeting in Greenspoint was cancelled, but we sat there for about thirty to forty five minutes before the meeting was cancelled waiting on all of the parties to arrive.  On my way back from the meeting I took a short cut so I would have plenty of time to make it to my next meeting.  While I was taking the short cut I ran into a traffic jam.  I sat in traffic for one hour and thirty minutes.  The thing I tried to avoid, I ended up having to deal with. Traffic was bumper to bumper and it seemed as if I was sitting there forever. 

Often times in life while we are trying to make it to our destinations, life gets crowded and we find ourselves in life’s waiting room.  Life comes to a screeching halt and it seems that life is on pause.  Frustration, irritability and anger set in because you want to move forward.  Often times there are certain things we try to avoid in life, but we have to face them in order for God to fulfill his purpose.  Does your life feel like it is at a standstill and going nowhere? Are you still waiting for God to move you into the next season of your life?

            Solomon helps us by putting life into perspective.  Solomon wants us to understand God uses time to accomplish his purpose. He takes something out of the natural order of life to help us deal with time.  He addresses time from the aspect of seasons.  He wants us to understand God has an appointed season for every phase of our life.  One thing we cannot do is rush our season.  We never know what God is doing or in the process of accomplishing through our season. God has a process that he has to complete in each season of our life so he can fulfill his purpose for our life.

I know we live in a time sensitive world where everything is moving at a fast pace.  We become accustomed to getting things right away.  We have deadlines for assignments, and we set goals for our lives.  We have to remember God is the governor of our season and he has a desire for our life. He wants to maximize our potential so he can use us for his glory. Time is a tool God uses to teach us his purpose, transform our perspective, and transition us into the next phase of life.  No matter how long your season is, allow God to complete the work he has started in you.

God bless and keep you is my prayer. 

Empty Labor

Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 (KJV)

¹⁰ And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour. ¹¹ Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.

Henry Ward Beecher said, "Success is full of promise until men get it and then it is a last-year's nest from which the birds have flown."  Solomon epitomizes this quote.  Nothing was ever enough for him.  He has chased after pleasure through enjoyment and entertainment.  Now he tries to find satisfaction through employment.   There can be joy in doing great projects, but what happens when the task is finished?  Solomon found delight in all his labor, but afterward, when he considered all his works, he saw only "vanity and vexation of spirit".  

The journey was a pleasure, but the destination brought pain.   What a discovery for Solomon.  He was involved in many things in life only to realize down the line it was empty.  I cannot think of any person who loves to be involved in empty labor.  We have to evaluate our labor to make sure it has significance and we are not wasting time.  God has only given us a certain amount of time to fulfill his purpose for our lives. What gives our labor value is when God is included in our labor and our labor lines up with his purpose for our life.  We live in a society where many people hide behind work to avoid an unfulfilled life and issues in life.  That is why many people in the job force change jobs like people change clothes.  However, a workaholic is often trying to escape a meaningless, unfulfilled and unsatisfied life.   Are you hiding behind something to cover-up feeling unfulfilled in life?

There are many people who are overachievers and overachieve all of their lives because they work hard.  If you are an overachiever, have you evaluated what drives you to overachieve?  We live in a fast paced society and competition in the workforce is very high.  Is your motivation competition? Many people literally overwork themselves in order to get ahead, reach a certain status in life, or to define their identity.  Don’t fall prey to societies standards.  Sometimes we work so hard that we cannot enjoy the fruits of our labor. 

God instituted work in Genesis 2:15 when he tells Adam, “to dress and to keep it”, the Garden of Eden.  I am not saying to work hard or not to work hard, but make sure you have the right motivation for the labor you are involved in.  Our sole motivation for anything we do in life is to do it in a way so it pleases God.  Are you fulfilling God’s purpose for your life?

God bless and keep you is my prayer!

The Pleasure Principle!

Ecclesiastes 2:1-3 (KJV)
¹ I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity.
² I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?
³ I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life.

           In this chapter, Solomon shares with us the different ways he tried to find purpose in pleasure.  In the first section of this chapter, Solomon tried to find meaning in life through the enjoyment of pleasure.  Solomon uses the word eight times in this book which suggests pleasure was a primary focus for him at one time.  Solomon was involved in hedonism.  Hedonism is a school of thought which argues pleasure is the only intrinsic good. In very simple terms, a hedonist strives to maximize net pleasure.  It focuses on what makes one feel good without any pain.  As I look at the world we live in, it is a pleasure driven world.  Many people will do anything to buy temporary experiences to help them escape from the burdens of life. 

What form of pleasure have you used trying to escape the burdens of life?  If you live for pleasure alone, enjoyment will decrease unless the intensity of the pleasure increases. Then you reach a point of diminishing returns when there is little or no enjoyment at all, only bondage.   That is why Solomon continues to use the phrases “vanity” and “vexation of spirit.”  Pleasure’s trap is it will have you chasing a feeling you will never get again. 

What does pleasure have you pursuing or chasing after?  When pleasure alone is the center of life, the result will ultimately be disappointment and emptiness.   Pleasure can never bring true satisfaction because it only appeals to part of the person and ignores the whole person. Benjamin Franklin sums it up well about pleasure when he states “many a man thinks he is buying pleasure, when he is really selling himself to it.”  He lets us know that pleasure costs and we have to be careful not to allow it to hold us captive.

God bless and keep you is my prayer.

The Complexity of Life!

Ecclesiastes 1:14-15 (KJV) 

¹⁴ I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit. ¹⁵ That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.

          Dorothy Sayers wrote in one of her mystery novels, "There is nothing you cannot prove if only your outlook is narrow enough."  Solomon did not take that approach.  Solomon took a very broad approach to investigating life.  In this chapter, he is really struggling to find meaning in life.  The first eleven verses Solomon refers to the cycle of life.  He investigates life from a historical perspective and he still could not come to a meaningful conclusion about life.  He found out life has a natural process and things will return back to the place they started.  Solomon implicates life is futile.  

When Solomon arrives at verse twelve, he starts investigating life from a philosophical perspective.  He suggests as king, he had all the resources to experiment with what gave life meaning and made it worth living.  During his investigation, he looked at the world.  He became burdened by the fruitless, fleeting and unsubstantial nature of human actions and endeavors.  He stated it was a “vexation of spirit” which is translated as “chasing the wind.”  He became frustrated because there were things in him and the world he could not straighten out. 

Have you ever been frustrated when trying to figure a way to deal with your imperfections and feel like you are just chasing the wind?  The burden becomes more cumbersome when we look at the injustices and crookedness of the world we live in.   No matter how hard we search or investigate for answers, there are some things we will never be able to figure out.  The more we learn we should see our ignorance! 

We have to trust God to reveal to us the solution at the appropriate time.  What imperfection are you struggling with about yourself or the world we live in? The answer is found in fellowship with God through prayer and reading the word of God! 

God bless and keep you is my prayer. 

The Voice of Wisdom!

Ecclesiastes 1:8 (KJV)

⁸ All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. ⁹ The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

          Are you familiar with the phrase “curiosity killed the cat?”  Many times in life our curiosity gets the best of us.  There are things we see and hear that creates a desire to experience.  I personally believe there are some things in this world we do not need to experience.  We live in a culture that is confused about wants and needs.  The trap and trick of the world we live in is, it can provide instant gratification.  It is interesting to me how excited we are to work hard while obtaining things and how time dissipates the feeling of excitement after we obtain things. This is why many of us pursue thing after thing and always find our self back at the same place we started.   

Most of us constantly reside in a place of disgust, frustration, unhappiness, and dissatisfaction because we fall prey to the dominant thought of the day.  Do not allow the dominant culture of the world to transform you into believing it can give you satisfaction.  It will have you chasing after the wind and living in a cycle of dissatisfaction. That is the issue Solomon addresses in our text.  He indicates he examined the weariness and restlessness of his own life in chasing after things he saw and heard.  He expresses that we have to be careful not to allow pleasure to cause us to indulge in things that will ultimately disappoint us.  Solomon speaks through the voice of wisdom because he wants us to know there is nothing new in the cycle of life. 

So, we should be quick to listen to wisdom in regards to certain actions we take.  There is always someone God puts in our path who has travelled in the direction we are going.  Be quick to hear and analyze everything around you because as Solomon says wisdom cries from the streets. 

 God bless and keep you is my prayer!

Special Thanks to Supports of Soulfood Devotional

Thanks for following Soulfood Devotionals in 2011, hopefully you have been blessed. I am look forward to a greater year in 2012.

May God Bless
Rev. Leroy Hodge, Jr.

The Vanity of Vanities!

Ecclesiastes 1:2-3 (KJV) 

² Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.  ³ What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?

          One of my favorite writers in the bible is Solomon.  He has a way of making profound statements that leave me in awe.  When he writes, he has a way of carefully wording things in a concise and calculated way.  Of all the books he wrote in the bible, he broaches the issue of wisdom in every book.  The bible states he is the wisest man to ever live.  If you are on a path seeking to be wise, the writings of Solomon in the bible are something you might want to read.

          Solomon writes the book of Ecclesiastes at a later period in life after he reflected on his life.  Solomon had it all in his life.  He was the wisest man to ever live, he had the most wealth in his day, and he also had more women than anyone else during his day.  Then he had the power to do whatever he wanted to do as king. He writes in the text and expresses to us that it was all vanity.  He wants us to understand from a secular perspective it can appear we have it all and still have nothing.  Solomon was empty and in search of meaning of life.  Many of us pursue different things in an effort to find meaning in life. 

What things have you pursued in life only to find out it was a temporary fix and it did not give you the satisfaction or gratification you expected?   Solomon also indicates to us we do not gain an advantage nor are we any better from an earthly perspective no matter how hard we work if it is empty. 

Solomon also writes in Psalm 127:1-2 (KJV)
¹ Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. ² It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.

The point that Solomon is driving home is, if God is not in what we pursue then it is empty.  When God is a part of what we are pursuing then we can rest and not worry.  Are you feeling empty and unfulfilled today?  Are you still searching for meaning in life?  If you are, then pray and ask God to reveal to you his purpose.  Then allow him to guide you towards fulfilling his purpose for your life.


God bless and keep you is my prayer.   

The Proper View of the Struggle!

1 Peter 5:8 (KJV)   
⁸ Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

          On the island of Jersey there is an area called 'the Devil's Hole'. This is a great black vault in the ground. Fixed into this hole is a statue. It is an artist's idea of what the devil looks like. The figure has a forked tail and horns coming out of his head. He is black, and he has a rather foolish-looking grin around his mouth. When most people see it a smile comes over their faces. This is what Satan likes more than anything. He wants everyone to think of him as a harmless figure of fun, as someone who doesn't really exist and there is no reason to be afraid of him.  This is the thing that we have to be careful of as believers.

          The apostle Peter cautions and warns us how important it is to view suffering the proper way.  He shares with us the source of our suffering which is Satan.  He refers to Satan as the adversary and devil which refers to him as an opponent that accuses or slanders.  Peter warns us we have an enemy that is active and is always plotting on how he can disguise himself to throw us off balance so he can destroy us.  Peter commands us in the midst of what is going on in our lives to be sober.  The challenge that we face as believers is to remain clear headed when the enemy throws different things at us.  We have to exercise control of our mind.  Don’t allow your situation to intoxicate you to the point where you are in a mental frenzy.  Remain calm, collected in spirit, and temperate in the midst of our combat zone.   No matter how bad it gets, remain disciplined.  The reason we have to be sober is so we can deal with what is real.  We cannot numb ourselves with temporary fixes so we avoid the reality of our situation. We have to keep our mind alert through the vehicle of prayer. 

          Peter also tells us to be vigilant.  Another principle we have to practice is to remain alert and watchful while we go though our struggles.  We have to make sure we are spiritually alert and not asleep.  It is imperative to be spiritually alert and pay attention to every area of our life.  If we remain vigilant, we will always be prepared to properly respond any spiritual assault the devil.  Our soberness and vigilance will determine if we are successful in handling our spiritual conflict. 

God bless and keep you is my prayer.

Peace Be Still

Mark 4:38-39 (KJV)
³⁸ And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?
³⁹ And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

          I recall as a child what adults used to say whenever there was a bad storm.  They would always say sit down and be quiet because the LORD is working.  As a child I did not pay much attention to what they were saying.  As I look back now, the statement had much spiritual significance.  Why can’t we sit down, be quiet, and let the LORD work when we encounter our storms?  Storms are designed to teach that the LORD is in control of every aspect of our life.

           In the text the disciples are in a brutal storm.  In the midst of the storm, they started panicking.  They forgot Jesus was in the ship with them.  Why do we panic and allow the elements of our storms to rattle us.  The disciples were so rattled that they started talking crazy.  They felt like Jesus did not care about them because he allowed them to go through the storm and he did not move when they wanted him to.  Do not allow your storm to rattle you.  Remember Jesus is with you and he cares.  Do not listen to all of the noise in the storm.  The noise is designed to distract you from focusing on God.  

          If you are not careful, the noise of your storm will make you feel like you cannot make it through your storm.  The noise will tell you that you are not qualified enough, you do not have enough to make it, you are out of your league, and you are going to fail.  Do not fret or fear in your storm because we serve a God who is sovereign and he can calm our storm at anytime.   

God bless you and keep you is my prayer!

How To Face and Overcome Fear?

Psalm 23:4 (KJV)  
⁴ Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

There was a show that came on T.V. some time ago called “The Fear Factor.”  The show was very interesting to me because it made people face their fears.  Success or failure on the show was predicated by the contestant’s ability to face and handle their fears.  As I watched the show it indicated to me how powerful and paralyzing fear can be in life. 

Have you ever been gripped by fear to the point where you were paralyzed?  Has fear ever robbed you of experiencing success?  How do you handle your fears when you have to face them?  Do you avoid what you fear?  Do you clam up and shut down to the point where you are withdrawn?   Often times we find ourselves operating by fear.  Fear is a tool that the devil uses to make us under achieve and remain idle. What is it you fear the most?  How long are you going to allow fear to hold you captive?  Fear is like a dark envelop that hold us captive.  We can never experience the promises of tomorrow if we are held captive by the fears of yesterday.

          The psalmist David writes to tell us we can face and overcome our fears.  This verse paints a picture for us of life.  It gives the imagery of a shepherd leading sheep through a dark valley.  It illustrates to us that we will all have to go through valley experiences.  There are many experiences in life we will have to face but we do not have to be afraid if God is leading us.  Many times as shepherds lead sheep through valleys there would be cougars, mountain lions, and other harmful animals standing at the top of the cliff watching and waiting for an opportunity to pounce on them.  The position of the sheep in the valley made the animals look bigger than they really were when the sun shined on them.  Fear always makes things look bigger than they really are.  Fear makes things look impossible, unachievable, unbearable, and impassable. 

What are you facing right now that appears as a giant?  I want to encourage you to face it.  The psalmist reassures us we have a shepherd that helps us as we face our fears in life.  Understand that you are not alone and God is with you every step of the way as you face your fear.  The way to overcome fear is to have confidence in God and know whatever you have to face in life he has the ability to get you through it. 

God bless and keep you is my prayers.  

God's Plan

Jeremiah 1:5 (KJV)
⁵ Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

          Have you ever found yourself struggling with God’s will for your life?  Have you ever questioned whether God has a plan for your life?  Your life quite frequently does not seem to make sense to you.  You have become immune to the chaos, confusion and catastrophe you are encountering.  Life has become so foggy you cannot see your way and you feel so alone.  

You have gotten to a place where you want to give up.  All of the pressure, problems and perils of life are overwhelming you.  Your plate is running over and you have reached your breaking point.  You want to cry, but there are no more tears left.  You want to scream out for help, but when you open your mouth the words do not come out.  You look at your life and say life did not turn out the way I expected it to. What do you do when you are about to break?  How do you find the strength to keep going on when it seems like your life is not going anywhere?

          In the text mentioned above, Jeremiah helps those of us struggling with the will of God.  God had a task for Jeremiah to perform and Jeremiah struggled with it.  God tells Jeremiah in this text that he had a plan for his life before his conception in the womb.  That is a great reassurance to all of us wherever we are in life.  God has mapped out every aspect of our life to the smallest detail.  There is nothing we encounter in life that God has not authorized.  The reality of life is we do not get to choose what happens to us. God is in control of our lives. We have to learn to embrace what God puts in our path.  

I thank God he is in control because he knows what is best for us based on his will for our life.  God has created every one of us for a purpose.  We cannot allow what is going on in our life to inhibit us from fulfilling our purpose.  When you feel like giving up understand God has a purpose for your life and the struggle is designed to push you forward. 

God bless and keep you is my prayer.

A Simple Act of Obedience!

Luke 5:5 (KJV)

⁵ And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.

It is interesting in life how we always find ourselves back at the same place we started with no results.  When we find ourselves back at the place we started with the same results, God is showing us we cannot do things on our own strength.

Have you ever struggled with a situation for a period of time?  Have you ever put every ounce of energy both physically and mentally toward solving a problem?  Have you ever done everything you know to do but your situation remains the same?  What do you do when you are tired after you have done all you know to do?  How do you continue to function when you are desperate for your situation to change? 

 

As we walk into the scene and setting of this text, we find Peter frustrated because of his lack of productivity.  He is a professional fisherman and he is still unproductive.  The text shares with us, it does not matter how much ability or skill we have in a certain area of life, we will experience bareness.  It is a part of the process God has to take us through to get us to trust him.  It also teaches us God is the governor of our seasons.  At some point doing our season of bareness God will give us radical instructions to follow.

It intrigues me how God does things sometimes.  It seems like he shows up at the most inopportune time and asks us to do ridiculous things.  Has he ever done that to you in the midst of your barren season?  He gives us radical instructions to see if we will comply.  A miracle can only take place when we follow through with God’s orders.  The issue is not if God can turn around our situation, but the most important aspect is if we will do what he instructs us to do. 

Obedience is what God is looking for from us.  When he instructs us to do something, we have to move right away.  Delayed obedience is still disobedience.  As you look at you life today, are there areas in your life you have disobeyed God.  Right now is the chance for you to start obeying God.  God can turn it around for you if you follow through with his orders. 

God bless and keep you is my prayer.  

The Discipline of Delay!

Psalm 40:1 (KJV) 

¹ I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.

I recently had the fortunate experience of having to wait in a long line to check out at the store.  It was interesting to me because there were eight different lanes and a self checkout area, but only one lane was open.  I wanted to get out of line to go to a different line to check out.  A person about five spots ahead of me got out of line to go to the self check out, but the self check out area was closed.  So the individual had to come back to get in line.  He lost his spot and he would have to wait in line longer because he was impatient. 

Sometimes God makes us wait because he wants to show us we do not know what is best for us.  Sometimes we think there are better options than the path God has us on.  He also wants us to learn to trust him while we are waiting.  How many times has our impatience caused us to get out of line with God’s will only to run into an obstacle?  The frightening thing is God has a way of bringing us back to our point of exit so he can finish the process of developing our patience.

The psalmist David writes to share with us how he had to wait on God.  David was stuck in a pit for a long time.  Have you ever felt trapped in a situation and it seemed there was no way out?  So did David.  David shares with us, he kept on waiting.  Why is it so hard to wait?  I know society has set the pace for how fast things move around us, but we cannot allow society to influence us while we are waiting on God to deliver us.  David did something most of us do not do when we have to wait.  He prayed to God the whole time.  He persevered in prayer until God answered him. 

How long are you willing to pray while you are waiting on God?  Instead of trying to figure the situation out, ask God for the wisdom to handle the situation.  Many times God wants to give us wisdom in the midst of waiting, but we are moving too fast.   Waiting is designed for you to line up with the will of God for your life.    Have you lined up with the will of God in the midst of waiting?  If you have not, it might be the reason you are still waiting.

God bless and keep you is my prayer.

A Broken Vessel?

Jeremiah 18:4 (KJV)
⁴ And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

          A couple of weeks ago, I dropped my Ipad.  I thought because I had it covered and protected it was safe.  Little to my surprise the screen cracked.  When I discovered the screen cracked I was confused. I was confused because I thought covering the device would prevent it from being broken.    I did not realize how fragile the device is. Even though the screen was cracked, the device still worked and was able to carry out its purpose.  As I analyzed my situation, I could not help but see a couple of spiritual principles about life.  It does not matter how we try to cover ourselves, we are very fragile and frail.  It does not matter how we try to cover ourselves with  prayer, studying God’s word, or putting barriers up to cover our weaknesses, we will have an experience that leaves us broken. Life has a way of breaking us down.  Have you ever had an experience in life that broke you down, shattered your heart, or made your life feel fragmented, disgusted, or hopeless?

          Jeremiah in this text walks us into a potter’s house.  God gives him a vision to remind him of His sovereignty.  Often times when we are confused and life is spinning out of control God has to bring back to our remembrance that He is sovereign. This text reminds us we are broken vessels in the hand of a mighty God.  I want you to grasp the gravity of that statement.  It suggests to us all things are possible with us and our lives because God is in control of everything.  Often times we have to remind ourselves God is in control.  When we feel like giving up on ourselves because of how broken we are, remember God has a purpose for our life.  He allows us to experience our broken situation because He is developing us.  He works out our imperfections through our brokenness.  Often times God has to break our will so we will give into his will.  God does things in our lives to get us to surrender to His will. He wants us to recognize how fragile we are and how dependent we really are on Him.  Have you surrendered to God’s will in the midst of your broken situation?  Stop fighting against the will of God and let Him complete the work He has started in you. 

God bless and keep you is my prayer.

I Can Do It!

Philippians 4:13 (KJV)
¹³ I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

          Have you ever faced a situation that seems impossible?  Have you ever had an obstacle that stole your courage to keep hanging on?  It seems as if no one cares and God has placed you on a shelf and forgotten about you.  What do you do when life throws one disappointment after another at you? How do you handle the frustration of not understanding what is going on in your life? Your life feels as if it is an obstacle course and you are waiting for the next hurdle to appear.  What do you do when you have lost hope and things look bad?  What do you do when God does not respond the way that you want him to? You have often asked yourself, “where is God?” It seems as if your life story is one let down after another.  It always seems like when you are on the cusp of experiencing a breakthrough there is always another setback. 

          The apostle Paul shares with us that our perspective is critical to us handling our situation.  Paul finds himself in a Roman jail cell, but he still has a positive outlook on his situation.  He did not know the outcome of his present situation.  Paul understood the key to him being productive in the midst of his situation was remaining positive.  The apostle Paul wrote several letters of encouragement to several churches while he was incarcerated.  How well do you function when the situations you encounter in life appear to restrict you?  Paul shows us how powerful positive thinking can be.  When we focus on the right things, we can be productive.  Paul’s focus was on Christ and not his situation.  Paul knew the only way he would survive was if Christ empowered him. Do you depend on God to get you through the rough spots in life or do you try to make it on your own strength?  Paul learned how to adjust no matter his situation.  If you learn to focus on Christ at your weakest point he will give you the strength to make it through.   

God bless and keep you is my prayers.

How To Handle The Load You Are Under?

1 Peter 1:6 (KJV)
⁶ Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:

Have you ever felt overloaded by burdens? Has life ever pressed you to the point where you wanted to quit?  Life has a way of emasculating your vigor and fortitude to forge forward.  The burdens of life have a way of wearing and weighing you down.  One thing after another seems to keep coming at you without any time to adjust to everything that is going on.

Have you ever felt like you have a bulls eye on your back and you are a moving target?  As time goes on you seem to lose your resolve and resiliency.  It gets harder to continue to function day in and out.  You try to appear as if everything is fine, but you know people can see through the mask you put on every day.  The situation seems to deteriorate as seconds turn into minutes, minutes into hours, hours into days, days into weeks, weeks into months and in some cases months into years.  What do you do when you pray for the load to be lightened, but it seems to get heavier?   How do you keep going when you try to motivate yourself to keep going but it does not work? 

The Apostle Peter encourages us in the midst of a season of trials.  He tells us in our season of suffering, affliction or trials to rejoice because it is only for a season.  That is good news to me.  God has determined and dictated the length of our season of trials.  You can rejoice because what you are experiencing now is only temporary.  I love the song that says, “I’m so glad that trouble doesn’t last always.”  We need to be reminded of that when we are going through our trials.  You are not the finished product.  Your life is not over.  God has not put the finishing touches on your life.  Things may be dark right now, and you can’t see your way.  However, a brighter day is ahead.  Peter also says to rejoice because the season of trials is necessary.  God is grooming you for your next season. 

It is necessary for you to cry right now, hurt right now, not understand right now, and to be alone right now.  Dr. A.W. Tozer says “God can’t use you greatly until he has hurt you deeply.”  The quote suggests to me that pain propels us into God’s purpose for our life.  Pain is merely weakness leaving the body.  It is also the fuel that helps pull the productivity out of us.  God knows what he is doing with your life and he is preparing you for your next season. Hang in there and remember the hardest fight is just to keep holding on.  

God bless and keep you is my prayer.

The Blueprint for Rest

Genesis 2:2 (KJV)      

² And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

       We live in a very fast past world that demands so much of our time.  Have you ever found yourself wondering at the end of the day where the time went?  Do you look at your “to do” list and find you cannot seem to finish what you have started?  Do you feel anxious or overwhelmed on a day to day basis because of all of things you have to accomplish? 

       Life has a way of presenting us with multiple things at multiple times that seem to make our plate overflow.  I know we have many things we are obligated to, but often times we have too many irons in the fire.  I like the quote that says “The man that tries to master everything ends up mastering nothing at all.”  We have to learn how to be better stewards and managers of our time.  It starts by prioritizing and setting goals for ourselves.  If we learn to manage our time we won’t feel so rushed and we can experience true rest.

       In our text God gives us the blueprint on how to experience rest.  First of all, God had a plan before he started creating the world.  I know that sounds very elementary, but how many times we do things without planning and thinking it all the way through.  It is good to have a spontaneous idea, but it is better to take time to develop the idea before taking action.  God worked in stages to finish his plan.  We have to remember we cannot get it all done in one day.  It is fine not to finish everything in one day.  I really believe if God wanted to finish creation in one day he could have done so.  I think he took his time to teach us the value of not rushing to complete things.  He also demonstrated to us everything has a process in which it must go through before it is completed.  The scripture also teaches us everything has a natural sequence of order and we should live in a world of order and not chaos.  Most of us live in a world of organized chaos. 

        How often are you pushed to complete assignments and then in haste you do not do your very best?  When we learn to take our time and become better stewards and managers of our time then we can rest.  After God finished working, he could rest because all of his work was good.  When was the last time that you have felt a sense of fulfillment at the end of the day?  Can you lay down at night to rest knowing you gave God your best with the day he gave to you?  “Your life is a gift from God, and what you do with it is your gift back to him!”

God bless and keep you is my prayer.

How Do You View Your Trials?

James 1:2 (KJV)
² My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

Life has a way of making a swift transition without any signs or warnings.  It is interesting how one day you are perfectly well and the next day terminally ill.  One day you are on top of the world and then the next day you are looking up from the bottom.  One event can change the course of our life forever.  The reality of life is we do not know what will happen in our lives from day to day.   None of us can control what happens to us, but we can control how we respond to what happens.

James writes this letter to encourage believers who were suffering great trials.  Many of them had become discouraged because of the trials they were suffering.  Often times we become discouraged because of what we experience.  James says that in the midst of trials we can be encouraged if we look at our situation the right way.  How do you view your situation?  Do feel like God is picking on you?  Do you feel like a victim?  James says to count it all joy.  We need to have the right attitude about our situation.  What is your attitude concerning your situation?  Are you negative in the midst of your trial?  Are you difficult to deal with? 

James said to have joy.  Joy is an internal condition not based on our external conditions.  True joy can only be found through a relationship with Christ.  Do you have real joy?  If you don’t have true joy in the midst of your trial, it may be your relationship with Christ is out of place.  James also expresses we are not exempt from trials.  There are some things we have to go through to grow.  Trials are designed for us to grow.  When we are going through it, we need to seek to discover what God is trying to teach us.  We need to thank God for the opportunity to grow.  Do you thank God in the midst of the pressure, pain, and plethora of perplexities? 

God bless and keep you is my prayer.

Break the Cycle!

John 5:1-6 (KJV)
1 After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. 3 In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. 4 For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. 5 And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, "Wilt thou be made whole?"

Has your life ever felt like it is at a standstill? Have you ever examined your life and it seems as if you are in the same place you were last year? Often times we live in a vicious cycle of helplessness and sometimes we allow our situation to handicap us by holding us captive. When you look at the flow of your life, what keeps knocking your life off balance? Seemingly every time you turn around, the same issue keeps reappearing and you don’t know what to do. What do you do when you have a lingering issue that won’t go away? The issue has persisted so long you have conceded and given up on overcoming your issue. You have reasoned within yourself that maybe this is the life God intends for me to live. You question if things will ever get better or if things will change because the issue won’t go away. We have to remember to be optimistic when a situation is spiraling out of control. It does not matter how bad the situation is or how long you have been dealing with your issue. Our issues are never too bad to lose hope.

In the text mentioned above there is a very interesting story. As the text unfolds, we discover an impotent man who has an issue and he is sitting. This was the time of celebration but he is sitting instead of celebrating. Often times in our life we cannot see the forest because we are blinded by a tree. This man should have been thankful for all of the things going right in his life instead of focusing on one issue. For thirty-eight years this man had been enabled. He was always looking for others to do for him what he could do for himself. We have to be careful in life because enabling others leads to them depending on us. God never intended for us to depend on others, but to depend on Him. Stop looking for others to do for you what you can do for yourself. God is all about empowering others to take a step to do what seems impossible. This man was near breaking his cycle for thirty-eight years but fell short time after time. He sat around and for thirty-eight years and watched others overcome their issues.

When others are being delivered from issues around us, we might need to take a look at ourselves. Can you imagine seeing a different person year after year overcome issues? The question we need to ask is what is preventing me from moving forward or overcoming my issue? I can answer the question for you if your life is at a standstill and your issue is handicapping you. The answer is faith. Jesus asks the man a very pivotal question. Do you want to be made whole? That is where the solution lies to your issue. What do you want to do about your situation? Do you want to keep making excuses, feel sorry for yourself or make a change? If you want to change your situation, get up by faith, trust in God’s word, and do something about your situation.

God bless and keep you is my prayers.