Replacing UGLY with Good

Often times I allow my emotions get the best of me and take over my thoughts.  You ever feel this way?  With questioning the crummy things that come up in my life, day to day stuff, or maybe just a comment from someone. With these situations we can begin to doubt if God is really there or has our best interest in mind. Maybe you have just graduated high school or about it too, that is a huge time to feel confused and overcome with emotion. Perhaps you have gotten into an argument with your parents and you just don’t think their rationale is fair. Maybe the guy you like asked another girl out and feel like it was something wrong with you, not the fact that that silly boy didn’t see what an amazing girl he passed up.  Whatever the thought might be, we are constantly bombarded by lies that Satan tries to tell us. He is a schemer.  Even though he can’t hear our thoughts, he watches our moves, habits and wants to do whatever he can to destroy us. This is nothing new to God.  Satan has been on the hunt to destroy people since Adam and Eve in the Garden(Read Genesis 3:13).  I think one thing to remember however is that good people who have a heart for God can be deceived.  The reality is that our sinful nature can tend to kick up, our guard goes down and we can let Satan in without even realizing we have till after the fact. The amazing news is that God has provided us a way out!  When Jesus died on the cross he already defeated Satan thus causing us when we accept Christ to have the power to defeat Satan as well.

I’d like to share with you just a few verses that have stood out to me regarding this topic.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8

Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word. Psalm 119:37

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:The old has gone, the new is here! 2 Corinthians 5:17

One more tidbit on your thinking: If you know the thought isn’t true(which if it doesn’t line up with scripture it is not) throw it out, don’t think it. Your mind is your own and you are in charge!!!!!!!

Our Love Will Never Be Enough

Have you ever thought that if you just love someone enough you could fix them? That through your constant love and pursuit, their brokenness would some how be healed? Or have you ever desired the love of someone else so much that you convinced yourself that their love is literally all you need? You tell yourself that this lack of love is the missing piece to the puzzle so to speak, yet once you finally receive the love you had always dreamed about, you still felt empty and incomplete.

I can almost guarantee that at some point in your life you will most likely experience both of the aforementioned thought patterns. Perhaps you are currently struggling with these thoughts as you try to pour out love into your parents’ relationship hoping and praying that your love is just what they need to escape divorce. Or maybe you have found yourself longing to be loved and accepted by a certain group of people at school, or by that certain guy who you have been dating and dreaming about for so long.

Highly acclaimed Christian writer and speaker Beth Moore reflects on our inability as sinful human beings to love someone “complete” or to be loved “complete” by another individual. In one of Moore’s powerful devotionals, she tells the story of her adopted son Michael. Moore confesses that her and her husband were convinced that through their constant love for Michael and their continuous provision for him that they just knew their love would be enough to take away the hurt from his painful past. Moore states that it only took a short while to realize her and her husband’s love would NEVER be able to restore Michael’s broken heart. She concludes her account by stating the following:

1. God is the One and only One who can love anyone to wholeness.
2. Even Almighty God refuses to make anyone accept His love.

Whatever your situation is, your love or their love is not enough. It will never take away the hurt and it will never make you complete. Because we are broken and filled with sin, the way we love and receive love in this world will forever be flawed by our sinful nature. The only love that can truly take away our hurt, our past, our pain is God’s unfailing love. Look away from whatever shifting source you are pouring your love into and turn your eyes to God. Let your heart accept with joy the wonders of His perfect love. He will complete you. Only He can make you whole. Choose Him today.

Choosing Truth

Your life here on earth is guided by two different forces: God’s truth and Satan’s deception. Literally every decision that you make can be placed into these two categories. Unfortunately, as Christians, choosing God’s truth will always be the more difficult, unnatural, and sometimes even painful choice.

If you are a product of a divorce home, you know how easy and tempting it can be at times to justify your decisions based upon the pain you are carrying in your hearts. Perhaps you have ascertained the idea of compromise in your relationship with guys because you think physical pleasure will take away your internal pain. Or you have found various other unhealthy coping mechanisms to deal with your hurt. Maybe you have deceived yourself into thinking God will be okay with your sinful decisions because He knows how difficult things are at home. He knows how badly you are hurting and He will simply give you a “free pass” so to speak wherever you deem it necessary.

This is absolutely NOT God’s truth. God will always hold you accountable for your actions and He will always desire you to take the righteous path. Yes, He knows how badly you are hurting, but because you trust in His ways, you cannot act based on your own rational.

You are worthy of God’s unconditional love. You are worthy of God’s infinite grace. You are worth every bit of pain that Christ had to bear on the cross. You are worthy of a Father whose love knows no end and whose promises never fail.

I beg of you to choose His truth today- yes it will be hard. Yes it will feel unnatural and even painful, but it is worth it. His truth is so incredibly worth it.

Continued Disappointment

Job 24:16-17

“God has made my heart faint; the almighty has terrified me. Yet I am not silenced by the darkness, by the thick darkness that covers my face.”

Do you ever feel as though you have the worst luck in the world? Do you feel as though you are never able to catch a break? That bad things and events are all that follow you?

Perhaps you were hopeful that 2012 would be your year; a year of change and transformation for the good. Perhaps you felt as thought he tables were about to turn and a life of joy and happiness was headed your way. Perhaps you fully believed that God had heard your prayers and had finally decided to pour out His blessings upon you…But now, only nine days into the new year your world has already been rocked. The fighting has not stopped. Your parents are still not speaking to one another. You still have to choose sides. You still have to relive the divorce every single day. Already, your hope for a new year has been shattered.

You are not alone in the way that you feel. Throughout the bible there are hundreds of examples of men and women who were faithful servants to our Lord what at times felt as though they could never catch a break. These men and women no doubt questioned God’s authority because of the circumstances they were experiencing.

The entire book of Job in the Old Testament is about God allowing Satan to attempt to destroy Job’s faithfulness to God. Satan tried every route, every avenue throughout his attempt to ruin Job; he literally took everything from Job, yet still Job remained faithful.

Do you feel as though your life mirrors that of Job’s? Are you struggling to understand why God has allowed such terrible darkness into your life?

I wish I could give you an explanation for why God has allowed things to unfold as He has, but no one can answer that question. All I know to tell you today is that we must trust Him and His plan for our lives. He makes all things come together for His good.

May you embrace these words from Job and be encouraged to hold on to your faith.

At the end of Job’s trials, God restored Job and blessed him more than he could have ever imagined.

Your suffering has purpose. Hold on and have faith.

Rebuilding

Fire engines rushed noisily down the small street curving through my town-house neighborhood. I looked out my window to see that the screaming sirens had woken up most of our community, and now people in their pajamas hurried towards a house down the road. I grabbed a coat and went to join them around the scene. Smoke billowed from the top story of a town-home similar to my own. Most of the windows had been broken in an attempt to remove some of the heat and smoke. A steady stream of water ran down the street because of the massive fire hoses the firemen had been forced to use a few minutes ago. The men hustled in and out of the house, some carrying what few things could be salvaged – a parakeet, furniture that had been obstructing their work, and some unrecognizable items. Apparently the family was not at home. I kept thinking how terrible it would be to return to a home destroyed by a chance fire.

The next morning, the family, a middle-aged couple, stood outside surveying the damage. This place where they had built there lives for the last few years now bore the marks of the fire that had destroyed it. In just a few hours, their lives had changed forever.

Have you ever had to watch your life go up in flames? Maybe in not such an obvious way as this family did. But things like divorce, the death of a friend, or moving to a new area can often feel like our lives are being turned upside down.

I have good news about that family whose house looked unlivable. Just a couple of days later, the man was clearing the damage from the windows. Things were not so hopeless as they first seemed. After rebuilding some of the walls inside and doing work on the roof, the house might even be livable again. Take that as an encouragement in your own hopeless situation. No matter how terrible your circumstances seem right now, God is right beside you. He will help you rebuild.