The Voice of Truth

So many of My Friends seem to need

Some Words of Encouragement.

This song is so full of Encouragement

It is one of my favorite song:

The Voice of Truth By Casting Crowns

There are so many voices out there

Telling us we are not smart enough

Pretty enough

Cool enough

Rich enough

These voices are laughing and mocking us

But they are the Voice of Lies

And we need to remember not to listen to them

And to Always Listen to the Voice of Truth.

I pray you find Peace and Encouragement in our Lord

If There is No God, Then there is No Evil

Sounds crazy, doesn't it?

But think about it.

If there is no God, then who tells us what is right and what is wrong?

You may say murder is wrong, but I may say it's right,

It is survival of the strongest!

You may say stealing is wrong, but I may say it's right, 

If I want it why shouldn't I have it?

If Humans are the Judge of what is Right or Wrong, Good or Evil

Then it is ok to kill babies.

Because some groups of People say that human sacrifice is Good

(or Abortion)

And There Are some groups think that it is ok to have slaves.

Or to torture people.

Or to kill groups of people that are "different".

Without God, we become the ones who set the rules.

And who is to say what is Wrong or Evil?

You?

Me?

The Government?

I don't want a world without God.

And His Rules.

Do You?

God teaches us what is Good

So that we know what is Evil

And we can reject Evil in all of its Forms.

The Lord's Prayer

Jesus was talking with his disciples when one of them asked about prayer.  They would see the religious leaders of their time standing in the streets, praying loudly, drawing attention to themselves so to make themselves look better than everyone else.  (It was a "see how great I am, see how much I pray, I am so much better than you" attitude)



This was Jesus's answer:



Matthew 6:5-13

⁵ “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. ⁶ But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. ⁷ And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. ⁸ Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

⁹ “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
¹⁰ your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us today our daily bread.
¹² And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³ And lead us not into temptation,^[a]
    but deliver us from the evil one.^[b]’

This prayer doesn't have to be memorized and recited, but it is the format or template God wants us to use.   Every prayer should begin with acknowledging God and His Goodness, showing Thankfulness for His Creations and Blessings.   

Our Daily Bread is not food, but wisdom, as our body needs food to survive, our souls need God's word to survive.  So this line encourages us to read the Bible every day and to spend time with God every day

Next you should ask forgiveness for your sins.  And we are reminded, how can God forgive us if we refuse to forgive others?  We must forgive those who have hurt us.

And the last lines are requests for protection, against things that tempt us to sin, things that take us away from God, even just a little bit.

When all of that was explained to me, the Lord's Prayer took on such a deeper meaning!!

I hope it will for you as well!!



Can we Expect to Understand God?

I read today that we are mere Humans

And should NOT expect to Understand God and His Ways.

Would you expect a 2 year old Child
 to Understand an Adult and the Adult's Ways?

If that 2 year old was born with some condition and had to have surgery

and all the pain that goes along with that,

Can we expect the 2 year old Child to Understand

Why He must suffer??

And that what the child is suffering now,
down the road,
 will be well worth the cost of his Pain?

Compared to God,

And His Wisdom

We are Even Less then That 2 Year Old Child.

We cannot expect to Understand Why He let's us Suffer

But We Can Have Faith in His Promise

That there is Something Ahead of Us 

So Wonderful

So Perfect

That it is well worth the Suffering We Endure

Do you Hear Him?

Awhile ago at Church / Sunday School we were talking about Connecting with God and having a Relationship with Him.

I often hear people tell me that God spoke to them.   We talked about that because alot of people have never heard God speak to them.  Our Youth Pastor explained that God speaks to us in many different ways.

Most people don't "Hear God" directly, It's not like He walks into your house, kicks back in the lazy boy chair and begins chatting you up.   He talks to us through our Hearts and Minds and sometimes through other people or even animals!

Then she told a story about when she was a girl.   Her favorite Bird is a Cardinal  (these are red song birds).  One day she felt very sad and alone and felt very distant from God and His Love.  She was asking God "Where are  you?  Why aren't you Helping Me?"  and crying, sitting on the steps in front of her house.

Then she heard a noise.  In the bush next to her was not 1, not 2, but 5 cardinals!!   She had never seen so many cardinals at once and had never seen cardinals that close to her!!    As she watched them she felt a warmth in her heart and she knew that it was God, telling her She is Never Alone, He is ALWAYS with her.

That story gave me Goose Bumps!!  And it was a True Story!

So how can YOU Hear God??

First, you have to have a relationship with Him.    Ok, that seems weird.  We have relationships with our friends and family, and parents, etc.  They are "Real People".  But God is Real too, and the more you talk with Him / pray to Him, the more Real He will be for you.  

 My Youth Pastor said it is like tuning in an old timey radio.  You know when you roll that dial and it is hard to get it to the exact spot to get your favorite station.  You have to get your Heart in the Exact Spot to Tune into God.  That is where Prayers help to tune your heart in to God.

I have been trying this and it takes time.  I  talk to God while taking showers.  (weird, right? but there are no distractions there, no family, no TV, no Computer, I can focus best there!)   And I find that if I pray on something and talk to Him about helping me with something,  (like this blog) and I find ideas pop into my head and I truly believe they are ideas from Him!

So if you want to Hear God Talk to you, start working on that relationship with Him!

Never Forget

God bless our First Responders 

this day and every day.

Is the God of Love in the New Testement the same as the God of Wrath in the Old?

This is a question / problem that many people talk about.

If you read / study the Bible, it seems that God in the Old Testement is

always telling the Israelites to wipe out City after City

and to Kill Everyone, even children.

The God in the New Testement (in the form of Jesus) is

Always preaching Love, Tolerance, Forgiveness.

These 2 Gods seem to be the opposite of Each Other.

I did alot of reading and discussion on this topic,

thanks to a follower who raised up the thought / question.

***

The God of the Old Testement IS the Same as the God of the New.

But the World was VERY VERY Different.

When you think of Evil, you can't imagine a city where EVERYONE is Evil

We just do not see that these days

(Thank Goodness!)

Imagine a City where EVERYONE is fighting and killing and drinking.

 these Cities were not big as they are now

They were tribes / forts with a few thousand people at best

(like a small country town)

Where it is common to sacrifice people to "the gods".

Especially Newborns.

They would actually roll babies through the fire and let them burn to death.

That was fun and games

God abhors such Evil above all else and this Evil Could not be tolerated

Nor could he risk his people (The Israelites) being exposed to or adopting these sins

(Ever hear the Expression:  When in Rome do as the Romans do?)

There is also many examples in the Old Testament of God's Love and Patience

 But this is my Favorite:

From Exodus 34:6-7

The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. (Ex 34:6-7)

To Read More on God's Love in the Old Testement

Check Out:  http://www.rationalchristianity.net/ot_love.html

This is a pretty big topic and I only brushed over it,

But I promise you that this is the TRUTH:

Footprints in the Sand

This is a Very Famous Poem and the Author is Unknown

(although different people have claimed it to be theirs in the past)

When I read it, I thought it was really Inspirational!

I hope you do too!

FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints.
Other times there were one set of footprints.


This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life
When I was suffering from anguish, sorrow, or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints.



So I said to the Lord, "You promised me, Lord,
That if I followed you, you would walk with me always.
But I noticed that during the most trying periods of my life
There have only been one set of prints in the sand.
Why, When I have needed you most, you have not been there for me?"


The Lord replied,
"The times when you have seen only one set of footprints
Is when I carried you."




My Prayer for you is that in your Times of Sorrow and when you are feeling Most Alone, that you will remember that God is with you and that you will turn to Him and take His Hand