Trust, Try, and He will prove Faithful!

God WILL make a way where there seems to be no way.  However, and perhaps the hardest thing to do is to TRUST that His ways are best and that He always has our best interest in mind.  The real question for today, this week, that trial you're going through is this: "Will you trust Him?"  Will you let go and let Him have His way?  We want control. In fact, it is our very nature to want to control in every aspect of our lives.  But the key here is...Surrender.  The old hymn doesn't say, "I surrender 75%..." It says, "I surrender ALL!"  Remember, God is always faithful in what is BEST (key word "best") for us.  So trust, try, and He WILL always prove faithful!
Isaiah 55:8-9 (NLT) - “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

God's Not Dead! & Neither Are You!

Alright, first of all read these 10 verses.  Yes, you can do it I promise...

Ephesians 2:1-10 (NLT)

Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. ² You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. ³ All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.

⁴ But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, ⁵ that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) ⁶ For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. ⁷ So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.
⁸ God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. ⁹ Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. ¹⁰ For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.


Good job reading! Good stuff huh?  Anyway, here are 3 points based on the above scripture that you need to keep in mind today and everyday.


1.  Apart from God and His gift of grace in allowing His Son Jesus Christ to pay our sin penalty (which is death) you and I have no hope. None, no, nada!  Very sad, but...


2. BUT GOD! And it's a BIG "BUT" (see verse 4). But, because God loves YOU and I so much, He, in spite of the fact that He knew we deserved death because of our sin, in spite of the fact that He knew we would continue to sin, in spite of the fact that we deserve absolutely none of His grace or love, He (GOD) poured out His love and grace on us anyway because HE LOVES US THAT MUCH!!  He just does! And the scripture tells us that nothing can ever separate us from His love.  Nothing you did, can ever do, nothing from your past, nothing that the devil wants to make you believe is unforgiveable, no nothing is beyond His love for us!! It's an incredible, incomprehensible love!


3. God's grace is what saves us and there is nothing we can do about it.  In other words, we are saved by what He did for us and there is nothing we can do to earn salvation.  All we have to do is accept His sacrifice on our behalf in faith. His grace covers our sins, our failures, our mess ups, our screw ups each and every day.  And no matter how much we mess up His love and grace never changes.  He is always consistent, always forgiving, always offering a fresh start.


So what's the bottom line?  Quit living in defeat and live in God's love and grace.  Live forgiven.  Live like you believe He offers new mercies every day, and never ever let Satan convince you that you've done too much, so much, to somehow have fallen out of His grace and love for you.  It simply can't be done because we didn't earn it (grace).  It is a free gift and it is there waiting for you and I to live in it like we believe it each and every day.  So live in His grace, take comfort in His love.  He's already paid the price so you and I can live each day in victory no matter what comes out way. 


God's not dead and neither are you if you are in Christ!  Live like it!


PCW

Depression, Robin Williams, and Love

A daily struggle with depression and/or anxiety plagues nearly 1 in every 5 people you and I come in contact with each and every day. It could be your mother, your friend, a coworker, a spouse, your child, the person at the cash register at Wal-Mart, or any number of persons you come in  contact with on a daily basis.  The bottom line: depression is as real a sickness as cancer or heart disease and we need to see it as so. 
Jesus has called you and I to love.  To love God, and love others.  How you love or don't love "someone" today could be the difference maker as to whether they feel hopeless or hopeful.  I truly believe that our busyness, our haste, our noses stuck in our smart phones, and our cultures focus on "self" has led to the epidemic we are now witnessing where more people than ever before are on anti-depressants and find themselves sinking deeper in despair as they search for hope.  Ultimately, hope can only be found in one place, in one person, that being our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Christ doesn't promise us happiness, but He does promise us hope and even contentment (see Philippians 4:10-15) that goes well beyond this world. 
The death of Robin Williams is nothing less than tragic.  However, let's not allow it to be in vain; instead let it serve as a reminder of our need to love others.  Our need to put aside self and genuinely love those we come in contact with everyday.  Perhaps even someone you don't know.   A friendly "hello", or "how are you?", or "how was your day?", or how about a listening ear that can go a long way to showing someone we genuinely care.  Depression is real and there will be some that no matter what we do we cannot "save" them from the miry depths of this disease.  However, we can try.  We can love.  That's what Jesus would do, and that's what I believe we should do as well.
1 Corinthians 13:13 - Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.