Nothing Can Come Between Us

I can mentally beat on myself. I find myself making the same mistakes over and over again. I act childish and get very timid when I feel really scared. I wear my heart on my sleeve where it seems to take a lot of abuse by strangers and loved ones alike. People imply that I lack maturity and I find myself being advised by to change most aspects about myself by a lot of people; I take that to mean that people don’t like me for who I am and struggled to maintain self confidence. After all if the people that claim to love me only tell me what’s wrong with me and insist that I change my way of thinking and being, maybe liking myself the way I am is just denial. This past week has been really hard for me, feeling of hopelessness and fear of the future makes me want to withdraw. I’m tired of looking down so let me spiritually look up. When I see God, the perfect majestic creator, and his love for me it’s hard for me to get down on myself. God is perfect and he loves me; I should follow his example and learn to love myself unconditionally as well.

Oh how I wish it were that easy. Sometimes my mind goes on the attack with hurtful thoughts: “Of course God can love you but only because he perfect but you don’t make it easy for him”, “Yeah he’s full of grace but God can’t be mocked. You want him to love you, yet you refuse to do the things you know are right”, “It only that but it takes you to looooonnng time to learn for your mistakes or repent of your sins”, “You think that just cause you know some scriptures that you can trick him into thinking you love him.”, “He knows you better than you know yourself, he sees every sin that you don’t acknowledge and get irritated when you pray; you don’t care about how he feels you just ask him for things you want like he’s Santa Claus.”, ” Yes God use to love you but he refuses to love you any more until you repent, and let face it, you will never change so just give up now.”

Lucky for me even when I’m down I know that I cannot trust these thoughts, but when I don’t deal with them they break me down and I become of vulnerable and hopeless. Here is one of many scripture that help me with this ongoing battle in my mind.

Roman 8:35-39

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:

 

For you sake we face death all day long;

we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.

 

No, in all things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

 

To read the more of this article visit my new blog and read Nothing Can Come Between Us

Don’t Quit

 

 

Isaiah 40:28-31

                  “Do you not know?

                     Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God,

           the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary,

      and his understanding no one

can fathom.

He gives strength to the weary

               and increases the power of the weak.

       Even youths grow tired and weary,

             and young men stumble and fall;

but those who hope in the Lord

will renew their strength.

          They will soar on wings like eagles

                they will run and not grow weary,

            they will walk and not be faint.”

 

What helps you get through difficult times?

Doubt God? It’s OK, just ask Him about it.

Last week I wrote a post on Jeremiah 17:5. The post was about the difference between men who trust in God verses a man who does not. Trusting in God will help you to flourish and feel God’s protection. While this is beautiful sentiment it does not help much when you are in the midst of struggling with doubt. I feel like I trust God a lot but I still experience a lot anxiety about money, resentment against injustice and I still lack clarity in life’s my purpose. Can you relate? Have you had moments in your life where you believe in God’s existence but have a hard time praying or asking him for guidance because something you’ve experienced leaves you doubting His power, His grace, His goodness or even maybe His existence all together?

When we hold on, for dear life, to doctrines or belief systems that don’t answer life questions it leaves us superficial, full of doubt or anger, and stuck with weak and unstable convictions. Romans 8: 28,”And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose”. Everything that we experience in life can become good and purposeful, even doubt or any emotion that we deem as negative. Doubt happens when we hit a wall, when something happens that our beliefs tell us was impossible. Let’s say that you belief that God loves good people and will protect them from harm. What happens when someone you know and love is tragically killed? You hit a wall. You ask yourself if God protects every good person then there are only two chooses either that person was not good or God does not exist. Maybe you can even figure out more questions, but all seem to have a negative and unspiritual undertone. It is hard to overcome this, but I believe that people are meant to have experiences like these in order to grow in faith, wisdom and discernment. As people mature they gain a new perspective that had not even fathomed before. That happens when they allow themselves to doubt and ask, and later get answers to, new questions.

People have said don’t put God in a box; what that means to me is don’t worry about knowing everything about God or answering questions that only he should answer. Instead spend time with God: in prayer, learning to love people more deeply and getting in touch with your own soul and spirit. The more time you spend with Him the more you will understand that though He is stable and dependable he is also flexible. His plan and purpose is different for everyone; but without knowing Him personally it can look as if He doesn’t care or shows favoritism.

I use to be leaglistic; I had a long list of Can’ts and Won’ts that left me feeling stagnant, insecure and controlled. Finally I hit a spiritual walls that would not allow me to continue living that way.  Now I feel so much freedom and have gained a deeper relationship with God.

Thank God for walls, they are there to keep you safe and provide stability: the walls in your house keep out most thieves, highway walls (or dividers) keep a lot of cars from crashing, and emotional walls keep abusive people  out of your life.  So if you hit a wall, figure out why it’s there, then decide if it is keeping you safe or if it’s time to for a break through. Breakthroughs lead to more faith and joy than you could have ever imagined. Don’t worry about doubting; instead stretch all the boxes of confinement in your life.

Can you think of a time when doubting something or someone has helped you?

Jeremiah 17:5-10

This is what the Lord says:

“Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord. He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.

But blessed is the man who trusts in the lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

“I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.”

LL&L’s two cents:

A person, who depends solely on themselves or on other people, will eventually turn away from God. We are suppose to work hard for the things that we need and want out of life, but each person is very limited in their strength and resources.  God is without limits and he has infinite strength.  Without him trusting him we will have become lonely, desperate and blind.  Have you ever met someone who to you seems rich, talented or beautiful but can’t seem to see it?  I’m sure we’ve all been there.  We are working so hard to attain things that are right in front of us, but we don’t take time to celebrate our victories and accomplishments.  Even with when we are surrounded by love from our families or friends we feel alone.

Without confidence in God’s love and power you can be happy, but happiness is circumstantial and fleeting.  Happiness comes when something new and exciting comes into your life, but as soon as you get it its value and excitement depreciate quickly and you need to get a new and shinier thing.  Joy comes from your soul and never wanes.  Joy happen when we connect to our true selves, when we experience the presence of God and we look at the world and appreciate the beauty in all things.  Joy comes from trusting and God and through mindfulness.  To trust God more, pray more, asking for his help on specific matters and keep a prayer journal.  Highlight a prayer every time God comes through and you will understand why you should trust him.  To experience mindfulness, meditate more; start with breathing meditations and read books that will help you understand how to sit with your thoughts, feelings and perceptions.  A joyful man is a faithful man; when troubles come you will be confident that everything will work out and that you are already equipped with everything you need.

“The heart is deceitful above all things”; more deceitful than the mind, the eyes or the tongue.  Your heart will tell you your true motives, what you really love and what your only option is. Yes, your heart also possesses honesty and sincerity, just make sure you are also trusting God as you trust yourself.  You will hear people say, “God knows my heart” and they are correct.  God is the only one that knows your heart completely.  Our job is to guard are hearts so that it stays as pure as possible but to trust God as we choose our life’s path:  trust that he loves you, trust that he will answer your prayers, trust that he wants you to have an incredibly fulfilling life, trust that he will guide you towards your purpose, and trust that he knows you very well.  Jeremiah 17:10 states that God examines our hearts but rewards us by what we do. Don’t worry about what is hiding in the shadows of your heart. Instead focus on some good deeds you can accomplish; when you don’t feel like doing the good you know you ought to do, DO IT ANYWAY, and your heart will catch up eventually.

Don’t Worry

Don’t Worry Be Happy

Luke 12:22-23

“Then Jesus said to his disciples: Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat: or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.”

Sometimes I think that I am a professional worrier, but lately I’ve had a low tolerance for it. Worry I think has been the cause of different health issues: it exhausts me but keeps me from sleeping, it gets my energy levels revved up but keeps me from exercising, and it gets my anxiety levels up but keeps me from fixing the problems. I am sick of worry so much and I am ready to do something about it. For the rest of this month and for the whole month of October I am going to study how break my worry habit. I’ve heard, many times, that it take thirty days to institute a new habit. Since I have practiced worrying for about 15 years, I figured I could take a little over a month to study how not to worry so much.

Luke 12:22-34 is titled Replacing worry with faith. After reading this scripture I have a new understanding about worrying. Jesus tells his disciples not to worry about food or clothes. Food and clothes are basic necessities; you need those to live. If you are not supposed to worry about that, then I guess you are not supposed to worry about anything. Also I learned that each and every life and body is important to God. That life is not the same as our bodies. Starvation does not necessarily kill the body, and killing the body does not kill the life that body holds. Luke 12:24,”Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them”. You mean to tell me that if I do not over stuff my cabinets, freezer and belly God will still feed me.

Worrying serves no purpose but it deceives you into thinking that is the way you accomplish you goals. You worry about what you are going to eat, God feeds you, and worry gets the credit. So worry is like an addictive drug. You try it, it makes you feel better so you try it again until it convinces you that you will die without it, and then it becomes painfully obvious that it no longer produces anything positive, but it is too late your hooked on it. When you try to stop using you will go through withdrawal: panic attacks, headache, upset stomach, high blood pressure, depression, etc…

Here a little commentary on Luke12:1-21. In Luke 12:1-9 Jesus addresses a crowd of people and gives them life lessons on how to avoid becoming a hypocrite: remember that everything you do and say will eventually be found out, do not be afraid of murders because they can only kill the body, God loves you and knows you well, and don’t worry about having to defend yourself because the holy spirit will speak for you. In Luke 12:13-15 a man in the crowd ask Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me”. Jesus refuses to act as a judge but warns them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance if his possessions”. He further illustrate his point by telling a parable about a rich man who tears down his barn so that he can store more crops and live and easy life later on, but he ending up dying that night. Luke 12:21″This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God”. It was tempting for me to think that God punishes us with death and hell if we are faithfulness, but now I have a new understanding. A life filled with hypocrisy, greed and worry is a very difficult and joyless one. Jesus says he came that we can have a full life with only a few burdens. Jesus did not come to show us all of our sins to provoke guilt and mindless submission, but to give us an alternative lifestyle and to help us discover the best life experience possible. If you do worry or sin, it probably means you are human and God forgives like no one else. He wants to be close to you because he loves you and he wants to protect you like any good father would. So don’t worry about worrying, just try to learn what faith looks like and imitate. Better yet get to know yourself through daily meditation and you will discover the faithful and joyful soul you already posses.