Love

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we REJOICE in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope DOES NOT disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. You see, JUST AT THE RIGHT TIME, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous mad, though for a good man someone might possible dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: white we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:1-8

Do you ever think about how we have been declared innocent and guiltless of our sins because of our faith. Not because of anything else. Not how hard we work, how much money we have, what kind of house we live in or car we drive in, what kind of church we go to or what kind of job we have. Because of that we have peace in Jesus Christ. I like to think back to days when I didn’t know Christ and how broken-hearted I constantly felt. Even when I became a Christian and still didn’t understand how God provides peace. In situations that I felt like upset, betrayed, scared, or alone I’d go shopping, go out of town for a while to escape, ignore people, say hurtful things, and cry out in confusion. Those are horrible days to remember, but I learned a lot. I guess we all have to get to a point where we believe that the faith in Christ we have gives us peace and we need to accept that. For me, I didn’t want to be sad anymore and knowing the rest of that scripture, that Christ died for me, not because I deserved it but because he LOVES me, was the like the light that turned my heart on!

When we become consumed by our own desires and expectations, and when we feel like no one will ever love us, faults and all, we can REJOICE in the fact that God heard his people’s cries and sent his son to die in this world that we would KNOW he loves us! It’s really easy to spend time doing things that we think make us happy: spending time with our family, shopping, eating, drinking, partying, etc. But, when you think about it, it never fulfills us. I think the family issue is the hardest to deal with. We think that because God has given us family that they will be perfect, and love us for everything we are. Reality sets it and even our family lets us down, and here we are again, alone. Except we are NEVER alone! After Jesus died on the cross, God sent his Holy Spirit to dwell with us always and help us remember the sacrifice that Jesus made. He died on a cross for us, for you, for me and we need to rejoice that he paid the ultimate price for us.

And we rejoice in the good times and the bad times, the beautiful times and the messy times, because we can hold onto the promise that God loves us unconditionally! Today I opened my bible and this was my reading, and I am thankful to God for his constant reminders of his presence in my life. I hope you know how much he loves you. When you need him, all you have to do is call to him!

Tragedy Strikes

This week and last week have been especially tough for me. I'm not sure why, but I am thankful to God that he is my stronghold in times of weakness. Over the weekend a very special work friend's daughter and granddaughter were brutally murdered (2 miles from my house, I might add). I have gone through a string of emotions and questions, and I wanted to jot down just some things I was thinking about.

I'm continuing my reading through the New Testament and I am now on Romans- one of my all time favorite books of the Bible. As I read there were some scripture verses that really stuck out to me, as if God is answering all of my questions about this tragedy. Chapter 1 verses 21-25 says,

"For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the trust of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator- who is forever praised. Amen."

There was a time in my life where I remember thinking that God never spoke to me through scripture;but, I think during that time I wasn't looking for his guidance. I'm not at all saying that's the reason other people don't hear from God, please don't get me wrong. I am simply saying that's why I never did. We have this tendency to call on Christ when we need him and when tragedy strikes. I want to call on God every day because he is my father, my best friend, my provider and comforter. Why do we continually take our troubles to other people or things, when God is always waiting for us to stop and talk to him, the creator of the universe?

I can't imagine how sad he gets when he watches what is going on in this world. It just doesn't make sense to me how a nation can have so much, be so privileged, and still be as selfish as we are. When I think about the hope of catching this criminal, who committed such a terrible offense to my friends family, is makes me think how fortunate he/she will continue to be...even in jail. It makes me think about the blessings even the poorest of people in the United States have compared to the rest of the world. But because we've been taken over with selfish desires, the keeping up with the Joneses mindset, the we have to make more and more money mindset, we get so distracted from the overall picture and begin to see no farther than the end of our own noses.

On top of this horrible tragedy I've been experiencing a lot of the worlds selfishness, even my own. I am constantly having to examine myself and my own heart to make sure I am able to hear God. Some days it really takes a toll on me, but I am thankful to God that he is always there. I hope that through this post today you will be motivated to listen to God speaking to you, to let go of these selfish desires and thoughts and seek his will. There's so much going on in the world, in the United States, in our very own families and friends' lives that God has His hands on it would be a terrible shame to miss out on it because we refuse to listen and look.

Those are my thoughts for today.

Please pray for my friend Ray and his family as they heal

for my work and co-workers at Columbia College, for my family, and for my preparations to return to Uganda this summer. I love you all!