Read the word

1 Peter 3:15 says, "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;" Always be ready to defend what you believe! And how can we be ready? By knowing the word, reading it, studying it, and memorizing it! In the book I was reading called The Chosen by Chaim Potok I was struck by how thoroughly the Jewish people studied the Talmud and the Torah painstakingly. They memorized it, cross referenced it, and dug deeper into it.  They were able to discus it and debate it from memory. We should be doing the same thing with God's word, the Bible. We should know every part of it. I know that I fall short in what I should know of the Bible, but we must never stop reading it and studying it. How can we give an answer to anyone who questions our hope if we don't know the Bible? God's word should be precious to us! We need to immerse ourselves in His word! By knowing His word we will know Him!

The Messiah

I have been reading a book called The Chosen by Chaim Potok and I am finding some of it rather sad. It is a book about a Jewish boy and throughout the book they speak about waiting for the Messiah, and hoping that the Messiah would finally come. The boy's father has decided that he has waited to long for the Messiah and that the Jewish people must go out alone, fight for themselves, and forget about the promised Messiah. The other Jewish group is still waiting for the Messiah, hoping that He would come soon to save them. They have all missed the Messiah! He came almost six thousand years ago and saved us from our sins and gave us the gift of eternal life and they rejected Him. It says in John 1:11, "He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him." They rejected Him as their Messiah.  John 20:31 says,"but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name." The Messiah was Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He was the promised Messiah and He died in our place on the cross. And they didn't even realize it. The saddest part about this is that because they did not recognize Him as the Messiah when He came down to earth the first time, they will miss out on His second coming. I pray that more would know Jesus Christ as their Messiah before that day! And I thank God that He has revealed His Messiah to me! Because I know the Messiah, I am ready for His return!

I can hear, see, and feel God

Many people say that you can't hear, see, or feel God, and because of this God doesn't exist. But I know that God exists and I know that you can hear, see, and feel God, because I have felt God, heard God, and seen God. You don't hear, see, and feel God in the same way as you would hear, see, and feel another human, rather it is more like the wind. We cant see the wind, but we can see the effects of the wind. Trees sway in the wind, the grass blows in the direction of the wind, and a heavy wind will knock things down. We can also feel the wind, feel its breath on our faces, and we can feel it whipping past us. We can also hear the wind, we can hear it whistling through the trees. It is the same with God. I can see Him at work around me, changing my life, opening doors for me, and I can see His marvelous handiwork in His creation around me. I can feel His loving hands holding me up when I fall down, or gently guiding me in how I can serve Him. I can hear His beautiful voice whispering comforting thoughts in my ear, I can hear Him talking to me through His word. The world may say you can't see, hear, or feel God, but I know that you can because I have seen Him, heard Him, and felt Him! What a great God!

Prayer

The most important part of our walk with God is keeping a relationship with Him. And I believe that the most important way to keep a relationship with God is through prayer. The Bible is full of verses concerning prayer. When we have a friend we talk to that friend and build a relationship with that friend. If I ignored my friends they would begin to think that I no longer liked them and our relationship would be broken. It is the same with God, if we don't keep that line of communication open between us, there will not be a relationship between us. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to "Pray without ceasing". We are to always be praying and talking to our Father. Imagine it as a telephone line that is always available, there will never be a busy signal, and He will always be there to respond. All we have to do is never hang up.

Matthew 21:22 says, "And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." When we ask Him for things and we have faith that He hears us and will give us what we ask for, He will give us what we ask Him for. We have to be sincere in our request and it has to be in His will for us. 

However, We also must remember that prayer is not just a 24/7 request line. Colossians 4:2 says, "Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving;". We must thank Him, not just ask for for more. Thank Him for the blessings He has already so richly bestowed upon us. Imagine if you had a friend who only talked to you when they wanted something from you. Would you get annoyed and try to avoid the person? I know I would! It is the same in our relationship with God. Don't come to Him only when you want something.Come to Him at all times, praising Him, thanking Him, asking Him, and just talking to Him.

We must also remember that communication with God is not one sided, there are two of us in the relationship. He will hear me whenever I talk to Him, but I in turn must always be open to His voice. God speaks to us throw His word, the Bible. We must be open to His promptings and His words.

Envious of the wicked?

Psalm 73 was written by Asaph. He begins the psalm by talking about his jealousy towards the wicked. They are wicked and ungodly and yet they have power, wealth, are not oppressed, don't deal with hard things, etc. They seem to have it all. Here he was, walking in righteousness, trying to do what is right, and living for God, and he had nothing compared to the wicked. They appear much better off than he is. But then he goes to God and God reminds him of what will happen in the end. The wicked may look happy now, but they will be destroyed by God. On the other hand, the godly will be taken to heaven to live with God forever and ever. 

Today we may feel the same way Asaph felt. We look at the ungodly around us and they seem to have the perfect life; while we are trying to follow God, do what is right, and are not living such a great life. But if we look towards the future, we will inherit eternal life and the ungodly will perish in hell. They may enjoy earthly riches, but we will enjoy heavenly riches with our Father who loves us.
The choice is yours, to be ungodly and have rewards on earth, or to live godly and store up your rewards in heaven. It is a choice between earthly gain or eternal gain. Just remember, one will last for a short time, the other will last forever. Which would you rather be?

As for me, I will trust in the Lord, live in a way that is pleasing to Him, and wait for my heavenly rewards! I am going to agree with Asaph when he says:

"But it is good for me to draw near to God; 

I have put my trust in the Lord God, 

That I may declare all Your works."

Psalm 73:28

Hear what God says

When God says the same thing more than once, we know it is important!  

In Revelations chapters 2 and 3 God is speaking to the seven churches, each church is given a special message from God. They receive praise for their faithfulness,  reproof for their mistakes, correction for their false beliefs, and/or guidance for their walk with God. After each separate message God says "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." He says this seven times. If God says something seven times we better be listening! God isn't only writing to the churches, He is also speaking to us! We need to read this passage as if God is speaking to us. What is He telling us through His word? Can we also receive the praise for our faithfulness? Is that reproof and correction for us as well as for those churches? Are we doing something wrong as well? We always need guidance and advice in our walk with God. We can take that guidance and advice for our own walk with God! Remember to hear what the Spirit says!

Idols

I am sure everyone has struggled with idols in their lives. Idols don’t always have to be a statue that we worship like the Israelites worshiped the golden calf in the wilderness (Exodus 32). Rather we make idols out of things around us, money, popularity, people, hobbies, and the list goes on. An idol is anything that takes our focus off of the Lord Jesus and acts as a stumbling block in our path.

As I mentioned earlier, I had a huge obsession with someone when I was younger. My obsession became an idol in my life. Looking back on it I am ashamed that I would have allowed it to become my idol. The person was an actor, he didn’t even know I existed and he also lived in another country miles and miles away. I allowed this actor to become my idol; he took my vision off of God. I still loved the Lord, but I know that my vision was not on the Lord.

God is a jealous God, He hates it when we look to something else and create an idol. In Deuteronomy 5:9 God tells the people of Israel, “you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God,”

I had to deal with my idol, and I had to focus on God. I had to acknowledge that I did have an idol in my life and that it was a problem, I had to ask God to help me deal with the problem, and I had to clean myself out and get rid of the idol.

I didn’t mean to make the actor into an idol; rather I created an idol out of my obsession without knowing it. I believe that most Christians create idols in the same way I did.  Whatever it is slowly turns into an idol and we don’t even realize it.

I believe that the hardest part in getting rid of an idol in our lives is acknowledging that it is an idol, that it is taking our focus off of God, and that it is a big problem. We don’t want to have to admit that we have an idol in our lives and sometimes we don’t even realize that it is an idol. We have to continually ask God to show us the idols in our lives and to help us get rid of those idols. When we realize that our focus has been taken off of God we have to immediately begin the process of getting back to God. We want to deny ever having the idol, but denying them will not help our relationship with God. Our relationship with God is the most important part of our life and He desires us to repent and build back our relationship with Him when we fall into sin. Having an idol is a sin if we don’t let go of it and ask God to forgive us and heal us. After more than a year and a half I realized that my innocent crush on an actor had turned into an obsession, which in turn had become an idol. But realizing it is not the same as acknowledging it. I continued to deny it. In my heart I knew it had been keeping me from God, but I tried to cover it up. When I finally took it to God and allowed Him to work in my life and forgive me, I felt relief. When we repent God always forgives and His forgiveness is better than life! (Psalm 63:3)

I write this in the hope that you will ask God to show you any idols you may have in your life and that you will act quicker than I did in getting rid of that idol.

The only thing that will never change

God is the only thing is this world that will never change. He will always be the same, He will always be there beside us, picking us up when we fall and helping us when we cry out to Him. Hebrews 13:8 says "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." He is the same. Unchangeable. 

We can't say the same for the world around us. People we trust let us down, friends fade out of our lives, we are disappointed, saddened, and hurt by people and events around us. But we can always trust in God to be there whenever we need Him. In Isaiah 40:8 it says, "The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.” We can always rely on God and His word. 

When I was much younger I had an obsession with an actor I liked and I would write his name everywhere. I would always have to hide it when someone looked, and so I wrote it in places where no one could see it. As time went on I lost my obsession and matured, but I still found his name on different places, such as an old notebook cover, and I felt ashamed of my old obsession. I have replaced writing his name with writing the name of the Lord. One day while I was writing a verse on my bedroom wall it struck me, nothing in this world will be the same forever, only God will never change. Just as that actors name held nothing but embarrassment for me after a time, God's word will stand forever and I will never have to be ashamed of it. Instead of hiding my doodling, I can write it bold and clear. The Lord is all we need! Because He is the only thing that will never change! We can always look to Him, the author and finisher of our faith! I pray that God would help me remember this, that everything in this world will one day fade away just as flowers fade away, it will all wither away and become as dust, but the word of the Lord will stand forever and ever! 

Let us never stop praising His name for His unchangeable love and truth! For "The Lord shall reign forever and ever!" (Exodus 15:18).

The Sword of the Spirit

"...and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God..." Ephesians 6:17a
  The sword of the Spirit is more powerful than anything else in the world! Just as any good soldier would take his sword and practice and train to use it in battle, take up the Bible, study it, memorize it, and be ready to use it against the plots of Satan. With God's word you CAN defeat him!! Nothing can stand against the Lord and His word! 

Jesus showed us how to use His word as a sword against Satan when he was here on earth. In Matthew 4 He uses scripture to fight against Satan's temptations. We also must do this. When we are in a position of weakness we must turn to God's word and combat Satan's  lies with God's truth! If we do this, we will always be victorious in the Lord!

Love

My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. - John 3:18.

I was reading 1 John today! What an amazing book! So much truth! Causes you to realize just what love is all about! We love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19), He showed us love by sending His Son to die for us, and know we are to love those around us because of His love! To be one of His children we must love one another. Without love there can be no connection to God because God is love. And we also cannot just love with just words, but rather we must love in deed and in truth as well. We must show those around us God's love through our actions. After reading 1 John I have a desire to love more! I know I don't love as greatly as God wants me to, and I want to love as great as He wants me to! I often find myself frustrated with people around me, wanting to get back at them or hating them. But if we hate others we are walking in darkness and God cannot be in darkness. This means that hate separates us from God. That is a scary thought! We must love each other, truly love each other. Not just saying we love each other, but truly loving each other!

Remember that Love is from God and anyone who does not love is not of God! So, let us love, not in word, but in action and in truth!