So I believe in God, So where is He?

Ever feel like that?

You believe in God, but you don't see Him.

You don't hear Him.

You don't feel Him

In your life in any way.

I feel that way sometimes.

 ***

I heard this on the radio today:

(I listen to Shine FM 95.1--see link on the side bar)

"Give Nothing, Get Nothing"

So what does this mean?

It is one thing to say "I believe in you, God"

or 

"I accept you Jesus Christ, as my Lord and Savior"

But if that's it

and that's all you do.....

meaning, you do 

NOTHING

Then you get Nothing.

You'll feel alone.

If you want to See, Hear and Feel the Lord 

In your Heart, 

In your Soul,

In your World,

you have to give something...

You have to give your time to Him

Every Day Do This:

Read the Bible

Pray to Him

Sing His Praises

And every week Go to Church / Sunday School / Youth Group

I promise you, if you do these things

You will See, Hear and Feel God

Because you will develop a personal relationship with Him

It takes time 

and 

effort

But doesn't everything good and worth while take time and effort??

Perhaps the Boat is Empty

There is an ancient Chinese story that goes like this:

Once upon a time, there was a man canoeing up a river.

From around a bend, a large boat appeared and it was headed directly at the man in the Canoe.

The man in the canoe began to wave and shout warning to get the boat's captain to change its direction.

But the boat came coming, closer and closer.

The man got louder and angrier as the boat approached.

He yelled and name called and cursed at the boat's captain.

The boat continued, running into the man in the canoe.

The man was thrown overboard and the canoe capsized.

The man turned to look at the captain of the boat and was ready to really curse at him and make him pay!

but the boat was empty......

the man quickly realized that the boat had slipped its mooring and was drifting.

no one controlled it, it struck him out of randomness.

And truthfully, the man in the canoe could have gotten out of its way.

But he was so busy being mad at the captain that he did nothing to help himself.

****

How can you apply this story to you?

So often we think someone is being mean to us on purpose

And we get so angry.

99% of the time, that person doesn't even 

know they have made you angry.

For example.

In a crowded hallway at school a kid bumps roughly into you and doesn't say anything.

You may think that the person doesn't like you, they did it on purpose, maybe even to bully you.

But, perhaps "the boat is empty"

Meaning that kid was so lost in his own thoughts / problems and it is a crowded hallway

and someone bumped him, making him bump you.

Another Example.

your parents are driving you somewhere and some wild driver is 

swerving through traffic  and cuts off your parents.

How many of you have parents that would curse him, call him an idiot?

But maybe, "the boat is empty"

Maybe what you don't know is he just got word that his wife is in the ER about to loose their baby

Wouldn't you drive like a mad man in that situation?

***

Ok, so maybe the kid is a jerk, maybe the man is an idiot.

But you don't know what is in ones heart

So always think "the boat is empty" 

and you will find yourself letting go of anger and spite.

Forgive them

Respond with love and understanding.

That is what God wants for us.

To let go of our anger, to forgive, to love.

And like the man in the water

--who really could have gotten out of the way if he wasn't so angry---

what could you do to make the situation better?

*** 

May God bless you with a calm head, a warm heart and a passion for others.

A Lie is Like a Feathers from a Pillow

This is a great little story from a family member:

See, some friends told a lie to all their friends about one of my cousins (not Great Shot).  My cousin was upset at first but then her friend apologized and told all their friends it was a lie, it wasn't true.  End of story....right?

No.  My family member said it's not alright.  

A lie, he said, is like a feather pillow, ripped open and 

poured out of a window of a car going down a highway.   

Could you ever go back and pick up each and every feather??  

No, and you can never go back and undo a lie.  

Because once you tell it, like the feathers, it spreads out of your control.  

So even though you may think that you have told everyone the truth that is was just a lie, you never know who they may have told, or texted, or who over heard or how far that lie has spread.   And you can't assume "everyone knows that's a lie" or "everyone knows I wouldn't do that".

How do you know what everyone thinks??  Are you God??

Something to think about.....I know I will !!  

That story gave me a whole new perspective on why lies are a sin! 

God will do Great Things when Times are Hard

But He does them on His time table, not yours.

I love the story of Joseph.  Do you know that one?  

It is very, very long, so I will try to re-tell it as briefly as possible:

*****

Joseph was the favorite son of Jacob.  He was so favored by his father that his brothers were very jealous.  When they were teens / young adults, their jealousy got the best of them and they sold Joseph to the Egyptians as a slave and told their father that Joseph had been killed.

So here is Joseph, now a slave.  

Does he balk? Cry? Complain? Blame God?

No.  He remains Faithful to God.   

Do things get better?   No, they get worse.

Joseph's master's wife wanted Joseph to sin against God.  When Joseph refused the wife told lies about Joseph and Joseph was put in jail.....for a very very long time!  

And he did NOTHING wrong!!  Does he balk? Cry? Complain? Blame God?

No.  He remains Faithful to God.   

Do things get better?   No, they get worse.

While in jail (for maybe over 10 years!)  Joseph discovered he had a gift for interpreting dreams.  He would interpret the dreams of other prisoners who were quite impressed.  One of those other prisoners was a servant to the Pharaoh   He told Joseph that when he was released from prison he would remember Joseph and tell the pharaoh how he was an innocent man in prison and get Pharaoh to release him.

When that day came and the servant left jail to go back to Pharaoh  did he remember Joseph?  Nope!  He forgot all about him.  And Joseph is stuck in jail for more years to come. 

Does he balk? Cry? Complain? Blame God?

No.  He remains Faithful to God.   

Do things get better?   

Well,  after a long while, (maybe 3-4 years) they finally they do.

See, Pharaoh began having a strange dream and no one could tell him what it meant.  Not any of his counselors or wise men.  Then the servant was like, "Oh Snap!  Dude, there's this guy Joseph in the jail who can tell you what it means!"  So the Pharaoh sent for Joseph.

The dream was very strange, you can read about it in the bible, but Joseph told him it meant that there would be 7 good years of food production followed by 7 years of famine.  Joseph recommended that Pharaoh store up alot of food to get his people through the famine.

Pharaoh was so impressed that he made Joseph 2nd in Command!  He was the 2nd most powerful man in all of Egypt!  And he wasn't even an Egyptian, he was an Israelite and a slave!    Was this God's reward?   Maybe.....Joseph did suffer in prison for many years. But Joseph had remained faithful and maybe now he was getting his reward.

*****

See, this is what is amazing to me.  All those bad things happened to him, and he never cursed God, denied God, he remained faithful to God.   And looking back, this all worked out to be God's greater plan.   See, when the famine struck, people all over, including the Israelites were starving.

If Joseph had not been sold to slavery, he never would've gone to jail.

If Joseph never went to jail, he never would've met that pharaoh's servant.

If the servant remembered Joseph and had him released before Pharaoh's dreams, who knows where Joseph would've been and probably could not have been found to interpret the dream.

If pharaoh was too stubborn to listen to a non-Egyptian slave, he would not have stored up all that food.    But he did, and it not only saved the lives of the Egyptians, but also the Israelites, God's people, who came to Egypt for food.

*****

I pray that you never know hardship.  

But if you find you are going through a hard time, one that looks like there is no end in sight, remember Joseph, read about him in the bible, see how he remained faithful to God and how Joseph was rewarded and in the end, saved the lives of millions of people!  

Who knows what good will come out of your hardship and how many will benefit? 

Who knows?? God knows!  

May God bless you and draw you closer to Him in good times and bad

The Meaning of Life

Many people ponder,

To answer this question, you have to first understand

What is Life?

There is Life Here on Earth

and then there is our

Eternal Life in Heaven







What is the Meaning of Life Here on Earth?

While we are here on Earth we are in Discovery Mode




We are given time on Earth to Discover God

Build a Relationship with Him

And use our Talents to Serve and Glorify Him.






What is the Meaning of Eternal Life in Heaven?



When in Heaven we will worship God and sing Praises.

We will be happier than we can imagine

there will be no pain, no sadness, no fear.







Only Joy and Worship and Fellowship

with God and others in Heaven.