"Serve Or Be Served?: That is the Question!"

"I am touching on a topic that seems to get overlooked, especially with our fast-paced lives today. It's about choosing to serve others or serving ourselves? Which do you do? The answer is we all do both. There is a bit of selfishness in all of us. I mean ,we live in a fallen world. We live in a place where we are pretty much told eat or be eaten! There are so many distractions.  For most of us, it isn't natural to take the time and reach out to seek the needs of others. This can be and a lot of times is a foreign task. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of people helping others in need. What I'm saying is, how different a place this would be if we ALL pitched in to help our brothers and sisters. Now, when I'm speaking of helping meet other's needs, I'm not just speaking about monetary. Meeting a need could be be met in many ways. It be simply taking the time to listening to someone. How many times have we all needed a ear to bend? Just ask God who you can help. He will always lead you the right way.
However, if we all got real for a moment, we would all come to the conclusion that we all need someone. I for one, have tried to "John Wayne" it through some pretty difficult life situations only to land flat on my face. And to be real honest, life in a way, has gotten harder (with the physical disability), however what has changed (and made the most difference) is my attitude about my circumstances. My attitude truly determines my position on the situation. And that is the same for all of us. (Ephesians 4:23 "to be made new in the attitude of your minds;") If our attitude is in the right place, then our problems (as hard as they may be) might not be as difficult to get through. Again, I am only sharing my own personal journey and how my attitude has helped me overcome the greatest hurdle of the problem, MY Mind! So, I challenge us all to seek out and help others.

"God CAN and WILL use you!"

"God wants to use you! Don't believe the lie that you have to have all your stuff together, including any struggles we fight with daily, before God can use you. If God has called you to do something, by faith, just step out and put one foot in front of the other. He will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5-Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”). If we all waited to do what God has called us to do until we felt like we had our struggles under control we would never get to the calling that God has called us to do. It's not about us it's about Him. If God has called you to do something then He will equip you. Again, He will equip you; we just need to be open and ready for the equipping! However, He does expect us to move out in faith first and then He will give us what we need (Acts 20:24-"However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace..) I challenge each and every one of us to try this. God is good and faithful! Stay awesome and encouraged my friends!"

"We Always Win"

 "The last few years have taught me a valuable lesson...And that is no matter what we are going through at the moment, God's Grace is sufficient to carry us through. Time and time again, I'm seeing this.. God's truth is much bigger than our circumstances we are facing.. Our problems seem like Goliaths and the solution seems like Davids..But, remember, David was successful in beating his problem (Goliath) only because He believed God was going to bring him victory..Nothing in our own strength, but His Strength! So, what I am trying to say..is no matter what we go through in this life (my back, your job, and etc.) We have a Head Coach that will always bring us the win!" (Hebrews 13:5-"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.") So I challenge all of us, to try and trust God. I promise you, He will always have our best interest in mind.

"We Are Not Our Own"

Psalm 100
1 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
2 Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
3 Know that the Lord, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
5 For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations

     Now look what verses 3 & 4 say...God is our Creator, we did not create ourselves. Many people live as though they are the creator in the center of their own world. This mind-set can lead to a greedy possessiveness. And if everything should be taken away, we lose hope itself. But when we realize that God created us and gives us all we have, we will want to give to others as God has given to us (2 Corinthians 9:8- "And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.") Then if all is lost, we still have God in all He gives us.
    God alone is worthy of being worshiped. Let's ask ourselves a couple of questions. What is your attitude toward worship? Do you willingly and joyfully come into God's presence, or are you just going through the motions, reluctantly going to church? These Scriptures remind us to remember God's goodness and dependability and then to worship with thanksgiving and praise!

"Living Now To Forever"

"Spending time with God and in His Word..this keeps us from self-destructing in our own sinful, selfish ways." It is just a thought. Also, if we could all grasp the fact that God truly loves us and wants the best for us. Would we not be so quick to make sure we left Him out.? He wants to be included in every area of our lives because He loves us. There is no hidden motive in God's Love... His motive is pure... IT'S LOVE! The love that He truly has for each and everyone of us. For He created us. As a father myself, I want the BEST for my children, and I will always love them unconditionally. They all know this, I tell them always. So is it, with Our Heavenly Father. I am positive we can't even begin to fathom the magnitude of God's Love for us (no one is left out)... Don't take my word for it...(John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.")
(Some people can't think about the idea of eternal life because their lives are in so disarray. But eternal life is not an extension of a person's miserable, mortal life; eternal life is God's life embodied in Christ given to all believers now as a guarantee that they will live forever. In eternal life there is no death, sickness, enemy, evil, or sin. When we don't know Christ, we make choices as though this life is all we have. In reality, this life is just the introduction to eternity. Receive this new life by faith and begin to evaluate all that happens from an eternal perspective. To "believe" is more than intellectual agreement that Jesus is God. It means we put our trust and confidence in Him that He alone can save us. It is to put Christ in charge of our present plans in eternal destiny. Believing is both trusting His words as reliable, and relying on Him for the power to change. If you have never trusted Christ, let this promise of everlasting life be yours-- and believe.)
(Romans 10:9-10 "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.")

"Forward Progress"

"God allows us to look at our past head-on!  With Him we no longer have to look away or be ashamed for what He has already cleansed us from. He allows us to look straight ahead into the eyes of others with no shame. We no longer have to carry the burden of our past sins because Jesus took care of that once and for all on the Cross. The good news is, as well as taking care of our past sins, He has also taken care of any and every future sins by the blood He shed on the Cross. Don't allow anyone or any one thing including thoughts of old memories hinder you from moving forward". ("If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" 1John 1:9)

"Real Pain"

"The pain that hides behind these eyes is deep so deep,

 I cannot sleep, 

I look in the mirror and what do I see, 

but two blue eyes looking back at me, 

they are deeper than what appears, 

the pain I feel is deeper still, it feels like being pierced by a spear.

 Lord I'm asking that you take this excruciating pain away,

 and do it quickly with no delay,

 I feel so hurt in my heart and my body as well,

  no words can get describe just exactly what I'm trying to say,

 Heavenly Father I'm just asking that you take this away"