My life

Things don't always work out the way you thought they would or how you envisioned things to be in your mind. Life is full of twists and turns that you never saw coming and things happen that you never thought would happen to you. Such is life. My life is a story, from beginning to end it is full of plots and characters of Shakespearean quality. Everyday is a new story ready to be written and the continuation of the greater story and sub stories that are constantly working themselves out and progressing before our very eyes. I love stories, we all do actually whether you know it or think about it or not. We fill our waking hours being mesmerized by stories of the lives of the people around us and on television. We spend hours in front of the TV watching stories of people, trying to figure out what's going to happen next and rooting for the good guy to overcome his struggles and live happily ever after. We long to be a part of a great story, something worthwhile and meaningful; something that will be remembered and that we can pass onto our children and grandchildren as a legacy of adventure and excitement. The problem with most of us is that we are too afraid to put ourselves out there and risk our comfortable lives to engage in life the necessary to achieve the level we dream of living at. One of my favorite movie trilogies is the Lord of the Rings with Gandalf the wizard, Aragorn the king, Legolas the elf, Frodo, Sam, Meri and Pippin as the underdog hobbits. The story is about the battle between good and evil against all odds, the unlikely rise to greatness of a couple of small halflings that nobody believed could do anything great muchless save the world. As the story goes the hobbits were just living life in the Shire, enjoying the comforts of good food, family and the joys of life as a hobbit when from out of nowhere they are faced with a decision, a fork in the road and they are made to choose between living comfortably or risking their lives and embarking on the adventure of a lifetime in order to save the world. In an instant their whole lives changed and they went from just enjoying a comfortable peaceful life to plunging themselves into something bigger then themselves and taking on a challenge they weren't sure they were going to live through. I know in my own life currently I am as comfortable as I have ever been in my 28 years on this planet. Everything seems to be going right. I'm crusing down the river of life and the water is as flat as it can be; there's not a single wave and I'm kicked back relaxing like never before. I've gone through some difficult times recently with my mom getting breast cancer for the 2nd time and having to go through all of the horrible treatments and torture that comes with that disease. My father lost his job because his company went under because the bank basically robbed them of everything they had because the economy is in a downturn. My brother has had seizures and his diabetes has been causing him to get sick and hurt himself and we live in constant fear of something awful happening to him if his blood sugar drops while he is driving. I have friends who have been going through difficult times and are in the valley of the shadow of death as we speak wondering when it will ever end. But as for myself my job is going well and I'm happy with what I am doing and contributing there, my family at home is better than it has ever been, I have a beautiful, smart, healthy baby boy who is happy and playful and a beautiful wife who I am blessed enough to call my best friend at home who takes care of our family day in and day out selflessly and who handles our finances, keeps up our house and takes care of me and Christian. I have friends whom I love and care for and a family that is a great foundation and sournce of support and love for us. I just couldn't ask for anything more and what I currently have is better than anything I could have ever imagined on my own. God has blessed me with more than I deserve and I take it for granted all the time unfortunaly like most people do. I still get caught up in the little petty things of this world occassionally and let the small insignificant things get to me and make me mad; it's only natural but at least I keep it to a minimum. Vanessa and I used to fight about the stupidist things and just bicker back and forth all the time over meaningless crap but we have learned to speak to each other and communicate better and we usually don't let the small things get to us like we used to. Even though I have all of this and my life is so rich and full of good things I still feel like something is missing. I know God has a bigger plan for my life and He wants me to do something on this earth that NOBODY else can do except me. My mother always told me that God had something big and important for me to do, like she heard it from God himself; it's always been engrained in my mind, those words and the sense that I have a divine purpose for my life and I am being prepared for something awesome. This longing in my heart is something that is getting stronger as I get older. I have started to take different measures to expand myself and embark on different journies outside my normal day to day activities. I read everyday and I have been writing a lot of different things and trying to figure out what God wants me to do. I still feel like there's something more though, something bigger that He is calling me to do and I just don't know what it is yet.
I have come to understand that one of the devils greatest accomplishments and victories he can have over a Christian is to prosper them to where they get comfortable and stagnant because if you are comfortable, rich and happy then there is a greater possibility that you will keep yourself busy trying to sustain that lifestyle of comfort. When you are comfortable it's really hard for a person to take risks especially if they are big risks that might cause you to lose some of the comforts you are currently enjoying. Taking risks is what life's all about, it's what makes a good story like the Lord of the Rings. Nobody wants to read a story about a bunch of hobbits sitting around watching the grass grow; no they want to see action and adventure. It's the possibility of losing it all, putting it all on the line and risking your life that makes a good story. That's certainly not the way I have been living my life and I know it's not the way you have been living your life but have you ever really sat down and thought of your life like a story and gone through what you have been through and pictured your life as a movie or a novel? If your life was a book or a movie would you want to buy it or watch it? Is it exciting and full of passion, a nail biting thriller where the good guy suffers and overcomes evil in the end? Wouldn't you like to live a life like that? I know I would, I want to look back on my life and say I gave it my all, I lived my life to the fullest and I didn't hold anything back. The problem with this is that it takes sacrifice, change, living in the unknown full of uncertainty, overcoming your fears and an enormous amount of faith in God that He is leading you in the right direction and that what you are doing is for Him and for His kingdom. I want to live a life like this but It's going to take getting my family on board, getting out of our comfort zone and going wherever God decides to take us. Living my life to the fullest, enjoying God's BEST is what God has planned for every one of us if we would just trust Him to lead us where we are supposed to be. Have you ever thought about how BIG this world is, even just how big the United States is? How can we spend our entire lives in this one bubble where we were born when there is such a big world out there waiting for us to discover it? God wants to use me and you for His glory and He wants to use us in a big way but if we are too scared of change and too afraid to get out of our comfort zone and take a step out into the unknown world and start living a life on MISSION for God then we will never be more than we are today. We will never grow into the people God wants and desires and has planned for us to be. Can you imagine what you could do and where you could go if you would just surrender your life to God and tell Him that you will go WHEREVER He calls you to go and do whavever He calls you to do? Where would you end up? What would you wind up doing? God can't use you if you have dug your roots into the ground where you are at, He won't force you to go on mission for Him; He will let you settle for good instead of His Best but why would you want to?
Viewing your life as a story isn't as hard as you might think because we hear and see stories everyday, we know what makes a good story and we know what makes a GREAT story. Having a life that is full of action and adventure is really living but it will cost you dearly. Living a story full of adventure isn't all joy, it's hard and tough; life has it's ups and downs, it's mountintops and it's valleys no matter what stage of life you are in. God leads us through the valley's so we can be strengthened and grow our faith so when we're back on the mountaintop we can strengthen our brothers and sisters and we can apprecaite the mountain and the view that much more. Living a life that is dull and boring isn't what being a Christian is all about. Being safe was never a characteristic of being a Christian, just look at the stories of the bible and look at Jesus' life; those are stories that are full of action and adventure, uncertainty and it took enormous faith in God to step out and follow Him when nothing seemed to make sense and all the odds were against them. That is what marks the life of a Christian not comfort or ease like some people and false prophets will try to tell you. Make the story of your life a good one, trust God to lead you where you never thought you would go and embark on a journey with Him to change the world. Have faith to take the step out of the boat and walk on the water you never thought was possible. Take a risk in life for God, give Him the steering wheel of your life and tell Him to just drive cause your ready to go. I'm going to resolve myself to let go and get out of my comfort zone and to really live. God bless you all today.

Wanna Get away???

Spending quiet time with yourself is something that in the American culture is virtually impossible. This culture is designed to keep you going and going like the energizer bunny, never stopping to actually think about where you're headed to. Between work, spending time with your family when you get home, eating, any exercise you want to do and 24 hour around the clock TV stations with hundreds of channels and DVR to record shows and things for you to watch there's no time left for God. If you have kids you have school events and sports and then if you have friends you have to make time to spend time with them or your relationship will die and you will be stuck alone. So where do we have time to squeeze God in?
They say that you make time for what's important to you. If watching football is important to you then you make time on the weekend to watch the game. If working out or exercising is important to you then you either get up early in the morning and do it or you make time when you get home from work to get it done. The fact of the matter is it's not that we don't have time to sit and read the bible or pray it's that we don't want to make the time to do it because it's not that important to us. I personally have had a really hard time with this concept, especially since my son was born; my schedule has gotten really really tight and I have a hard time doing anything else other than go to work, come home and take care of Christian while Nessy makes dinner, eat, bath time, about an hour for me to work out 3 times a week and then spend an hour with my wife before we go to bed and do it all over again the next day. It's not easy to include anything else in my schedule like spend time with friends or play golf but especially not spend an hour or 2 just talking to God or reading my bible. I have found that if I go periods of time without talking to God or reading His word my life starts to get out of control. I start making bad decisions, my selfish side comes out or things just start happening that stress me out. Spending time with God is just as much for us as it is for Him; actually more for us than it is for Him because it's a rejuvenating experience for us. A time where God recharges our batteries for us and focuses our minds on the prize and what's most important in this life. Without this recharging we will just keep going and going like I said before like the energizer bunny and we will burn ourselves out and we will get in a bad mood, start feeling depressed or who knows what will happen to you because God will try to get your attention in some way, shape or form. You can count on that buddy and you can take it to the bank. It has happened to me so many times it's not funny.
If you knew me in the past you would know I'm not a morning person, my wife can attest to this. I used to get up as late as I possibly could on work days, sleep as late as I could on the weekends and I would take a nap everyday. I hated mornings and I needed a lot of sleep or I would be cranky to say it a nice way. I love sleep! It's how I would recharge to feel refreshed in the morning when I woke up. Since about a month before Christian was born I have been getting up 2 hours early in the mornings so I can spend some quiet time with the Lord reading and praying to get my morning started. By far the best thing I have ever done in my entire life, best choice I have ever made because it has given me a way to recharge myself and get ready for my day that I have never had before and it makes me feel like a different person. I get myself focused on God as soon as I wake up in the morning and get my mind right for the days activities. That is the main reason I wake up that early and it has been something that has changed my life for the better. The other reason isn't really spiritual except in the sense that if I don't get up before the baby starts crying I lose it and I have a really bad morning regardless of what I read or what else happens. Just the sound of a baby throwing a fit in the morning before I've had my first cup of coffee is enough to send me over the deep end and make me see red. I have never spent any time around babies before in my life so I have never experienced the sound of a baby screaming in my face at 5AM because he's hungry. I don't get mad at him but it spoils my routine and anyway; that's the other reason. I know I need more patience and I am working on it thanks to God. I said yesterday to someone that praying for patience is like shooting yourself in the foot to see if it hurts because as soon as you pray for patience God is going to send you some of the most annoying situations to toughen you up and test your patience so you can grow to be more patient. Anyway, back to what I was saying before I went off on a tangent. Spending quiet time with God goes against everything this culture we live in is telling you. They tell you that you need to be entertained 24/7 and they have the way to do it with movies, TV, video games and activities that can fill your whole calendar up for the rest of your life. It's true and we have fallen into the trap because of technology. We have come so far in the past 20 years that reading a book has become obsolete and that is exactly what the devil wants to happen because if he can keep you from reading any book because books are boring he will keep you from reading THE BOOK, the bible and his mission is accomplished. I am on facebook quite frequently and I ran across a girl who said that she was going to school to be a Teacher and under the part of her profile that asked what her favorite books were she said, and I quote, "I don't read, I hate reading." I almost fell out of my chair laughing at the time because that is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. How can a person who wants to teach other people about anything hate to read? Isn't that how you learn? By reading books and studying? We have been told a lie that books are boring and video games are informational and stimulating to the mind. Sitting in front of a TV or video game puts you into a catatonic state to the point that your brain almost doesn't even have to work for you to watch what's going on in front of you. You can sit on the couch and watch TV with someone for hours and barely say anything to each other. There's no informational or educational value to any of that stuff unless you are watching the history channel or something and even then your brain doesn't respond to that stimulus like it does when you read a book. It's good for you to read a book and not just any book, read the bible because not only is it good for you but it's the WORD OF GOD and it's what you are supposed to use to model your life after. How can you call yourself a Christian or a follower of Christ if you don't know what's in the bible? Tell me because if you know something that I don't then I sure need to know. I'll save you the trouble, you can call yourself a Christian if you have accepted Jesus as your savior and asked for forgiveness of your sins; but if you don't know what the word of God says then how can you know how God expects you to live and what Jesus says about how to love others and show them what being a Christian is all about. Do you get what I'm saying?
My point today is to get you to understand that spending quiet time alone with God is very important to your growth as a follower of Christ and not only that but It's very important to how you feel everyday. Spending time with God whether it's reading or praying or just sitting quietly on your knees just talking to God or listening to the silence while you just think about whatever is on your mind is what brings you closer to God and when you are close to God you find out what it is that He has placed you here on this earth to do and you can begin to live each day for Him doing whatever it is that He has called you to do. When you spend time with God you are saying to Him that your relationship with Him is important to you and that you enjoy spending time with Him and you have made it a priority in your life. Sacrifice is the name of the game in the Christian lifestyle and you have to sacrifice yourself, your time, your money and your everything for God becuase it's a small price to pay considering what Jesus has done for you on the cross.
Make it a priority to spend time with God starting today. Do whatever you have to do to get an hour at least alone with God to read and pray and build your relationship with your heavenly Father who wants nothing else but to have you talk to Him and read His words so He can talk to you. Don't believe the lie that reading is boring. Don't take advantage of Gods time that He has given you here on this earth because it could be over with in an instant and He will say to you that He never knew you because you never took the time to get to know Him. "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'"
It's important to spend time with God not just because reading is good for you but because reading the bible will change your life and it will speak to you in ways that you never thought possible. It is a living book who's words will jump off a page at you and will stick in your mind and it will teach you what it is that you need to change about yourself and transform you into the likeness of Jesus Christ which is the whole purpose and final desire of being a Christian. Don't just take my word for it. Jesus, the SON OF GOD, spent much time by himself talking with God and praying and he read the scriptures in the temple and taught His fellow man what it means to have a relationship with the God of Heaven. If Jesus, the SON OF GOD, who is God Himself needs to spend quiet time in order to get His mind focused and recharge His batteries don't you think you might want to do the same? Or are you already close enough to God that you don't need to do that? Don't make the mistake of believing the lie of this world and being tricked into and sucked into the idea that you don't have time because you have time for what you want to do. Think about that for awhile. I would hate for you to get to the Judgment seat after you pass away and be like in one of those Airline commercials where you, "Wanna Get Away?" It will be too late. I can promise you that nobody writes on their tombstone that they wished they could spend another day watching TV.

Fear Factor...

What are you afraid of? What scares the bejeezes out of you most? Some people like my wife are afraid of insects like grasshoppers or cockroaches, I'm afraid of snakes and most spiders; some people are afraid of heights or flying. Do you ever sit down and wonder why we get scared of things like this? My wife is afraid of bugs because she was traumatized as a kid by her cousin sticking a grasshopper down her shirt and she couldn't get it out. She's not afraid of them because they might kill her she just has a negative reaction when she sees one because it brings back a bad memory of her childhood. I'm not afraid of snakes because I have been bitten by one but I have a good imagination and I can just picture one biting me in my leg and I can see it dangling there on my leg while I freak out in horror; just the thought of that makes me cringe and feel a little sick to my stomach. Other people are afraid of things because of real reasons like a fear of dying; this is more along the lines of what I want to talk about right now. Why are people so afraid of death?
People in general are afraid of what they don't know or understand. We don't know what's on the other side of the curtain of this life so we do anything and everything we can to avoid it for as long as possible; especially in the United States. People spend more money in the US on plastic surgery, anti-aging creams, botox, vitamins and specialty foods than most small countries probably do on food. It's an addiction to staying "young looking" and avoiding the signs of death which is what aging causes. People try to put the thought of death out of their minds and never think about it unless someone they know passes away or someone close to them and even then as soon as they can they push the thought to the back of their minds and go on about their lives like it is never going to end. I'm all for planning for the future and being responsible but denying your age by spending tons of money on fake body parts to live a lie is a little ridiculous. Americans, especially, have turned looks and our outward appearance into an idol that we worship on a daily basis. Just go to your local grocery store and look on the magazine rack and tell me what you find. You will see half naked women on every cover dressed provocatively luring you into buying their magazine because they can show you how to take 20 years off your face with a new diet and magical creams. Everywhere you look they are advertising some new miracle drug or something to make you look younger than you really are. Have you ever stopped to think about why this is and why everyone is so obsessed with this? It's because they are afraid of dying for one and they don't want to accept the fact that as they get older their body's begin to wear out and they are slowly dying everyday; we all are from the moment we were born. That's not a negative statement it's just the facts. We all only have a certain amount of time on this earth and we have to do the best we can with what we are given. God made each and every one of us the way we were supposed to be made with a specific purpose in mind; God don't make no junk! The other reason Americans are obsessed with looking young is because they have idolized SEX in this country. Sex has become an idol that everyone worships. Pornography is more easily accessible now than ever before, every major movie has multiple sex scenes in it now, we sell soft porn magazines in grocery store isles now like Maxim and FHM and we have idolized movie stars and singers who do nothing except get wasted drunk or abuse some kind of drugs and try to see who can wear the least amount of clothing as possible. The young girls of this country are being allowed to dress just like these people and they want to be just like them; they are their role models for crying out loud. It's disgusting!!! Sex has been made to be an idol in this country and it has slowly made it's way into everything it can and it's has become acceptable to a point that we are almost calloused to it by now. And people wonder why there are so many sexual crimes being committed by young boys and why women have been reduced to sex objects; the very thing that the feminists of the 60's tried to overturn. Men of this country have been reduced to stupid pathetic creatures who only want to have sex and drink beers and watch TV. The male role models aren't much better if you ever turn on the TV and see the stupid antics of a typical father on a TV show. Most of them are neglecting their families, drinking beer's in front of the TV and making jokes about it all. Everybody laughs and has a good time but it doesn't show what really is going on in America with the lack of Positive Role Models for boys to show them how to be real MEN and what a real man is which is loving, compassionate, caring and responsible for himself and for anybody who can't stick up for themselves including his family. It's a despicable act of deception that has been played on the entire American population and one that we have all fallen for. We have lost our way and we have lost our core values and morals. We have lost the hope and joy that comes from knowing where we are going to go when we die so we don't have to be afraid of death. If you have faith and a relationship with Jesus Christ, God's son, you don't have to worry about what happens to you when you die because you know you are going to spend eternity in heaven.
Death is something that we all have to deal with at one point or another. It's something that can't be avoided no matter how much you try to reverse the effects of the aging process; it keeps coming like a freight train down the tracks of life. It's an easy thing to do in this country to go along with the flow like everyone else and try to ignore it and do everything you can to keep it from happening or you can acknowledge it and figure out what you're going to do about it. Figuring out where you want to spend eternity is a serious question to ponder. Figuring out what you believe and what you don't, searching for meaning in this life instead of just playing life like it's a game; really looking for something more out of life and discovering what we are here for. The bible says if you seek you will find what you are looking for. God will never let you down and a sincere heart that is searching after the God of the universe will find Him because He will make Himself available to be known. It's a choice we all must make; we will either search after the real meaning of this life or we will just play along like everyone else and avoid the hard questions and try to pretend we are going to live forever with no consequences or life after death. Figure out where you stand in the grand scheme of things. There are 2 worlds that we live in. There is the visible world which is the world around us, the material world. Then there's the invisible world which is the spirit world, the world beyond the material world where God lives and works and where we go after we die. The bible says in Matthew 7; "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; those who seek will find; and to those who knock, the door will be opened for them." All you have to do is go looking for God and you will find Him because He has been waiting for you all along. He's never far away, He's always with you all you have to do is look for Him and you will never be disappointed. Jesus said for us to Fear Not, Take Courage and Take Heart because our Father is always with us and He will never forsake us or let us down. Jesus promised that He was going to prepare a place for us in His fathers house and that He would be coming back for us soon. There's no need to fear death because you have a savior waiting to take you home, all you have to do is have faith and trust Him to save you. Gods Blessings to you today.

Words to the wise...

"Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him." 1 Corinthians 1:26-29

As I write this to you today I feel conflicted in my heart because there is so much pain and suffering going on in the world around me. I know people who are in pain, who are struggling with circumstances out of their control and then there are those who are being tortured because of no fault of their own. When I got to work this morning I thought it was going to be a day like any other. I was drinking my coffee when I turned on my computer in my office, checking messages from the day before and organizing my desk for the mornings activities. As I was checking my e mail I opened up a message from a friend I work with at another company. I was not prepared for what I was about to read and it changed my whole day. It was an e mail about child abuse and abortions and it had a letter written about a girl who's father got drunk all the time and beat her to a pulp when he came home from the bar. It was one of the saddest things I have ever seen. It told stories about a 3 year old girl who was beaten daily, cursed at and blamed for everything that went on in her house. The story told of a night that her father came home drunk, she heard the car pull up in the driveway and she was terrified as soon as she heard the door of the car open. She tried to be quiet and not say anything that would make her father mad because she knew that he would be upset with her and beat her while cursing at her that everything was her fault. This little girl only wanted to make her father happy, she didn't understand what she had done wrong yet she was punished for it anyway. That night her father beat her to death and it showed the pictures of her bruised 3 year old body, beaten and ripped to shreds. Her face swolen and cut open and her little body black and blue all over. Her father, the one who is supposed to love her and nurture her beat her to death and kept beating her while her little lifeless body lay limp on the floor. As I read that all of my cares and worries went out the window, my life had been put into perspective in one moment just by looking at the evil that is in this world and what actually happens everyday to some poor child or woman or man.
It's so easy to get caught up in our own little world sometimes. To only focus on what is going on with us and the people around us in our bubble that we call our life. It's easy to shut out the outside world and ignore the evil that goes on everyday because we don't see it in our bubble. I find myself, like today, thinking about poor me and what's going on with me and what I'm upset about or mad about because somebody made me mad or isn't treating me right. We avoid the evil things of this world at all costs because it makes us feel uncomfortable and uneasy; it's ugly and messy and we don't want to take the time to put ourselves out there and see what is really going on in the world. We get caught up in our soap operas, TV shows and sporting events so much that we forget how lucky we really are and how much we actually have to be happy about. When I see something like what I saw today it makes me sick to my stomach to think that I was actually mad that someone told me to stop whistling in my office the other day or that I get depressed about other things that have happened to me in my life because I have never felt the pain that this little girl went through in her short life. It's so sad to think that there are children out there that don't know and feel the love of their parents like I do and did when I was a child. It's sad to think about the people who are homeless or are sick that don't have anybody who cares about them and nobody to help them or even give them something to eat. We are so selfish and self-centered people in this society that we can actually feel sorry for ourselves because we didn't get a new car or a plasma TV or the big office or promotion at work when there are people out there with real problems who would give anything to be where we are at today.
I read this passage of scripture in a book that I'm reading by Philip Yancey called what on earth are we missing and it really hit home today. God loves the weak and the ugly, the messy and the poor; God loves the humble and the down and out. God loves a person with a broken heart, someone that has felt pain and suffered for whatever reason because they are on their knees and they are looking up to the sky pleading for help, screaming out for God to save them and to have mercy on them. God wants someone who is humble and weak because they do not boast in themselves, they are not proud of who they are and what they have or what they have accomplished; they have nothing left and they are on their knees with no hope just pleading for someone to save them. That is the kind of heart that we should all have because that is the kind of heart that God is interested in using for Greatness. We should all thank God on our knees everyday that we have hope and love and a Heavenly Father who will never leave us. We should be happy and overflowing with Joy because God has blessed us with so much in our lives and that we have been counted worthy to be a part of His family and that we will be spending eternity in heaven with Him where there will be no more pain or suffering. We should hit our knees and cry out to God and thank Him for everything He has blessed us with and the people in our lives because I don't know a single person who doesn't have someone in their life who loves them and who would be sad if something happened to them. We should be thankful that we aren't like this poor little girl who was neglected and beaten for no reason at all; who never knew love although that's all her little heart ever wanted.
We might feel like this little girl I have been talking about sometimes. Like life is just kicking us around and won't stop until we are dead; and even then it will probably kick us some more after we're gone. It seems like it's just one thing after another and you are wondering when it will ever end, when the suffering will ever stop; what did you do to deserve this pain? When you feel like you are at the end of your rope, when you can't stand another day of the suffering and the pain, when life seems it's darkest and you feel like you can't go on. It's at this moment, when you are on your knees, beaten down and worn out from the stresses and pain that this evil world has inflicted on you; as you sit there with your head in your hands crying wishing it was just over and you didn't have to suffer anymore that you look up and you see Jesus with His nail pierced hands smiling at you holding his scared hand out for you to grab ready to pull you up and wrap you in His arms and give you a warm embrace and tell you He knows and understands. He has been there, He has seen what you are going through and how it has hurt you; He knows what it means to suffer and He died for you so that you wouldn't have to suffer anymore if you would only let Him carry your burdens for you. If you would just put your faith in Him, trust Him to help you carry the weight your load will be immediately lighter, your circumstances might not have changed but you will be carrying your burdens together and He will never let you down or disappoint you.
God chose the foolish things of this world to shame the wise. People will look at you like you are crazy when you are going through hell and all kinds of problems yet you still have a smile on your face and joy in your heart. The world doesn't understand how we as Christians can go through the worst of times and the worst circumstances and still be cheerful and full of joy because they think we are foolish to believe that there is a God who loves us and is always working on our behalf for good. They think it's foolish to trust someone you have never met or seen to take care of us no matter what is going on in our lives. The wisest people in the world are some of the saddest human beings in the world because they don't have hope and they don't have joy and it's all because they refuse to believe in Jesus who is the giver of both hope and joy abundantly.
When you feel like you can't take another breath or another step and you are under too much pressure that you feel like you could buckle under all the weight; look up and shining in the sunlight will be your savior Jesus with a smile on his face and hand extended saying He's been waiting for you. God Bless all of you today and remember what you have and thank God for it every morning you wake up with breath in your lungs. It's not easy to do because we don't think about it but it's something we should all get in the habit of doing because God deserves it.

Joy suckers...

Joy suckers. You have seen them and you probably know some of them; they may be your family or people you work with. You can spot them anywhere you go by the way they talk and look. They are usually complaining, gossiping about other people's problems or trying to take a shot at you to bring you down because it kills them to see anybody in a good mood. They are usually bitter unhappy people who hate anything and everything and can't stand it when you have a smile on your face, are whistling a happy tune or are just generally in a good mood.
Joy suckers SUCK. They grab a hold of you and try to suck the life and joy right out of your soul by any means necessary. Just talking to a joy sucker can bring you down to their level, put you in a bad mood and cause you to have a bad day in a matter of minutes. It's a sad pattern to get into and I feel sorry for the joy suckers but I try to steer clear of anybody that sucks. Life is tough enough as it is, I don't need other people and their negativity bringing me down and putting me in a bad mood over trivial and meaningless junk. Office gossip, dirty jokes, talking about other people's problems or personal life, reality TV drama or anything else that isn't positive or uplifting I try to keep as far away from me as possible. There's a lady at my work that has a little sign on her desk that says," You can make yourself happy or you can make yourself miserable; the amount of work is the same." This is something I try to remember when I feel myself getting sucked into a bad mood at the office or anywhere else for that matter. If I wake up with air in my lungs, a roof over my head, coffee brewing in the kitchen and some peace and quiet for at least 30 minutes before I have to jump on the merry-go-round of my life there's no reason I shouldn't be one of the happiest people you will see all day. Most people don't feel that way though unfortunately. Most people let the smallest things get them bent out of shape and sucked into a bad mood and they live their lives in the fog of anger, frustration and disappointment. Road rage is the perfect example of this. How many times have you been cut off on the highway? How many times have you had to cut someone off on the highway yourself for one reason or another? We have all had to do it for whatever reason; missing an exit, needing to exit quickly or we are following someone who drives fast. So even though we have all had to cut someone off before ourselves and we have all been cut off on the highway hundreds of times tell me why on any given day you can look to your right or left on the road and see someone screaming at the top of their lungs like they want to kill someone because someone cut them off on the highway? What causes this type of a reaction? Why would someone act that way even though this isn't the first time or the last time this is going to happen? I have 2 answers to this question that I want to talk about that help shed some light on why people become or are turned into Joy Suckers.
1. Joy suckers carry anger around with them everywhere they go, in every situation and it never really leaves. You can hang around with a joy sucker and even if they are in the best of moods they can still be complaining about something or talking bad about someone. Suckers can't really be in a good mood because it is inevitable that something is going to happen to set them off because they don't have an anger filter. My anger filter has some holes in it too don't get me wrong but I have learned to pick my battles you could say. An anger filter is something inside you that gives you the ability to let something roll off your back or the strength to just ignore something that would normally make you mad. If your anger filter is broken or you just never had one to begin with anything could set you off and put you into a bad mood at any point in time no matter what the circumstances. Getting cut off on the Highway is a perfect example or dealing with a cranky customer or co-worker at work. If your filter isn't working properly these situations could cause you to suck all the joy out of the room, turn into the Incredible Hulk and throw someone through a wall or run them over with your car or in some extreme cases, as I have heard on the news, pull out a gun and try to kill someone over something as small as changing lanes on the street. An anger filter comes in handy in these situations because it helps you ignore these types of situations and people and go about your business still in a good mood no matter what's going on around you. An anger filter gives you the power over the joy suckers because it takes away their power to affect your mood negatively. It makes you the winner in every situation because they can't bring you down to their level and make you miserable like they are and it drives them freakin crazy. Joy suckers HATE HATE HATE seeing you in a good mood. It makes them sick to see you happy after dealing with a problem customer who just yelled at you and went on and on about something you did wrong or they thought you did wrong. Suckers can't stand seeing you in a good mood every morning, saying good morning to everybody in the office, wishing people a great day and not letting people or circumstances affect you. If joy suckers had their way everybody would be just like them and nobody would be happy.
2. Even though joy suckers are the worst people to be around if you are in a good mood and they aren't the most positive people you will ever meet you have to stop and ask yourself Why are they like this? Some people have no reason whatsoever to be in a bad mood because they have a great life and no problems; they just don't have an anger filter and they let people get to them because they have no self control. But I would bet that most people are angry joy suckers because something is going on in their lives or has gone on in their life that has caused them to be bitter and cynical towards the world. You know that everybody is going through something in this life whether they tell you or not, whether it's with them personally or somebody they love; you just never know what's going on in somebody's life and mind unless you get to know them and just ask. I would be willing to bet that most people who are joy suckers have gotten hurt in the past by someone they love or have been let down in a big way which caused them to lose the hope and joy that comes with being alive. They lost sight of the Beauty that's around them everywhere they go, of the hope that everyday brings when you wake up and get out of bed and the possibility of seeing a miracle happen at any time. Hurt and loss is enough to suck the joy out of anybody and if you feel like you don't have any reason to live anymore it's kinda hard to see the beauty around you.
I started writing this with the thought of exposing Joy Suckers for what they really are. How they act, how they hunt and prey on innocent people just because they're in a good mood and what is wrong with them to make them act that way. I wanted to get some things off my chest because I know some joy suckers who try to get me down and "Neg" me out when I'm in a good mood. Sometimes I let them win because they catch me at the right moment or say the right thing; but 90% of the time my anger filter catches it and I see what they're trying to do and I just ignore it. I don't let the devil get the best of me and put me in a bad mood because I know I have too much to be happy about. I have the HOPE of Jesus Christ in my heart and I have joy and happiness running through my veins. I am blessed beyond my wildest dreams and I have more than I deserve. It's so easy for us as Americans to take things for granted because we have SOOOOOO much, we live like kings and queens whether we think so or not; we have more than just about anybody else in the world. As a Christian and a follower of Jesus Christ I have learned to appreciate what I have been given and thank God for it because He has been so good to me. I try hard not to take what I have for granted and to be appreciative to and for the people in my life. So while I don't let joy suckers get the best of me very often it still happens because I'm not perfect and neither is anybody else so we should cut people some slack every once and a while. Try not to get so mad about the small things like driving on the road or at the grocery store or at work. Work on strengthening your Anger Filter so you can let more of the trivial things like your spouse leaving a mess in the bathroom or in the kitchen roll off your back. Don't start a fight about it because you know you are going to make up anyway and you have to sleep in the same bed so you might as well just let it go and clean it up yourself this time, just ask them nicely to pick it up next time and they will. It's simple things like this that will make your life so much more enjoyable and you will be a much happier person if you can learn to watch out for the Joy Suckers around you and to monitor your Anger Filter. Everyone has it in them. "Be Kinder than necessary to everyone you talk to because you don't know what they are going through."
God's Blessings to you all today!!! :P

Government healthcare scam

I'm outraged at the downward turn this country is taking and has been taking over the past decade. Everybody seems to have gotten the idea that just because you are born an America, or even the people who weren't born here and have immigrated legally or illegally; that they deserve the best health care for FREE for themselves and their families. It's not that it's something that you work for and earn for your family; they think they have it coming to them and that somebody owes them like it's one of their rights as an American citizen. This thought and mindset has been brewing in America for a few decades now with welfare and other ways that people have learned to tap into the government for free money and services that they never worked for. It's the thought that you can get something for nothing that bothers me and it's what is bringing this country down to it's knees.
I personally along with millions of other hard working Americans hate the thought of giving my hard earned money away to someone with their hand open who refuses to work for it themselves. Now I want to make something very clear, I am a compassionate caring person and I am all for taking care of the helpless and the people who can't take care of themselves for whatever reason until they get back on their feet. I am also for taking care of widows, orphans and the challenged who otherwise would not be able to take care of themselves and lead a good life. I believe in these things and I think it's the right thing to do as someone who lives very well with all of the comfort and luxury a normal American enjoys. It's the people who get in line to get their handout's, free meals, government checks etc that are destroying this country from the inside out. The people who refuse to work for whatever reason, the 2nd and 3rd generation welfare families who just keep having kids with no way to take care of them and expect someone (me and you through the government) to step in and feel sorry for them and provide them with the everyday comforts that we ourselves as hard working American's enjoy. This is outrageous to me and I can't stand to sit by and watch it happen on an even greater scale with Free Government Health Care.
Just the sound of the words Free Government Health Care makes me cringe at the thought of what something like that would do to this country. The United States Government with all of it's legalism and red tape controlling my health and the health of my family. Giving the government the ability to tell you what doctor to see, what medicine you are allowed to take, what procedures you are allowed to have and when and where you can go if they will even agree to let you get treated. They will be in full control of everyone in the USA from what you eat to how much you exercise. They will control who lives and who dies, population control, mandatory abortions, what diseases are worth treating and which ones aren't; you name it and they will be in control. They will not keep your 90 year old Grandma on life support because it is costing the government too much money to keep her alive so they will work out a death plan for her and let you know when to make the funeral arrangements. My mind is spinning just thinking about all of the consequences that we will have to deal with if we let this thing happen like they want it to. The people who are FOR this plan are the people who don't have a job and need medical care or care for their children. I understand needs and I understand that there are a lot of people who have lost jobs lately because of the down economy; I get that and I feel the need to have health care. I understand that health care is too expensive and that the insurance companies have hiked up the premiums and they continue to do so along with the manufacturers of the drugs that are needed to help people. Its expensive to go to the Dr. these days and to have to get medicine; I can't imagine what it would be like if you didn't have insurance. This is where the problem needs to be addressed. We need to figure out what can be done to make health insurance more affordable and how we can create more jobs in this country. We have been outsourcing jobs in this country for so long that we hardly make anything in America anymore. The Greed of CEO's and others in this country have caused a lot of the problems that we are facing these days. The bad business practices of Large companies like General Motors, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG etc have been overlooked for too long and it has all come down at the same time. People living well beyond their means in this country have also been a big part of the problem. Giving loans to people for Huge houses that they had no business buying in the first place. We can't just place all the blame on the government for this and expect them to fix it because that's not the answer unless you want to become a communist nation.
My point is giving the government control of our health care system gives them control of everything in our lives and they have no business in any of that. They are only getting to use the power that WE as the PEOPLE of the UNITED STATES have given to them and nothing more. If we give them the right to take over one of the biggest sections of our economy, the Health Care industry, they will control it all and it will take a Revolution to get that freedom back and our country might not ever be the same. This country was founded on biblical principals from the very beginning. Taking something for NOTHING isn't a part of those principals. You work for what you need and you don't get something for nothing. If it sounds too good to be true then it probably is. In this case it UNDOUBTEDLY IS!! Just think about it, do you really want the government telling you who to use as your doctor and what you can and can't have done? Think about the quality of doctors in this country and then think about what the quality will be when they only make as much as the government says they can make and they basically become puppets for the government; who will want to be a doctor anymore? Not our best and brightest that's for sure. Think about it, do some research, get educated on what the government is trying to do here to our Freedoms as American citizens. Don't just sit back and trust this president and congress because they have their own agenda on their minds, not your best interests I promise you. Too many people have voted this man into office and turned their backs again to their own selfish actions and are just trusting him to do what is right by them. It's a big mistake because you can't give someone that much power and let him go unchecked or he will run all over you; and that is exactly what is happening. The president and congress will have their own private insurance and their own doctors, they won't be subject to government health care like the rest of us so why do they care what happens to you? Think about it will you? Don't let them get away with this Government Health Care Scam....

The darkness of the world

Deep in the back of my mind are the things that I have suppressed and tried to forget. The way I was before, in my old life where I did whatever felt good. The darkness of those times still haunts me to this day and I can never fully forget or wash away those memories and the consequences I have faced because of them. The feeling of regret creeps up on me sometimes and I wonder what it's going to take to keep my son from making the same mistakes and feeling the gnawing pain deep in your soul from looking back on your past and wondering how you got there.
I have made a lot of mistakes in my life. I have let the devil come into my life and bind me up and torture me with things that I thought would make me happy. I made bad choices and lied to myself and believed that it would be ok and that I was under control. The last part is true, I was under control; just not my own control. I have been led to believe a lie that you can go down a road of destruction and not get burned, that it won't happen to me and that everything is going to turn out alright. The demons of my past creep into my thoughts sometimes, in my dreams and into my daily life and they drive me crazy. They tell me that I am no better now than I was before and that I will always be the same person inside that I was back then. I fear for my son, I cry out and plead with God to help me make a difference in his life so he won't have to go through the pain and suffering that I went through to get to where I am today. Most people don't get out alive; I am an exception to the rule. It seems like a different life to me; a different person all together. God has blessed me with an amazing life, an amazing family and so much hope that I could never go back to the way I was before but sometimes I look in the rear view mirror of my mind and I see what is behind me still and it calls to me. It tells me that I am a failure and that my son will suffer just like I did but worse. I am afraid that because of my sin my family will suffer more than I did as punishment for what I have done. They say that you kids are always worse than you were as a kid; I would do anything for that not to happen to my son.
My heart beats, my mind races; I can't concentrate on anything going on around me and all I can do is think about it. Think about the worry, the pain, the suffering that I have gone through and what's worse the pain I have caused for my family. I wonder if I am strong enough, strong enough to break the cycle. Strong enough to press on and not look back. Strong enough to tear the rear view mirror off so I won't have to look behind me anymore and so the deamons can't taunt me and remind me what I used to be. It's a tough road, the straight and narrow; the road less traveled. The road of a rightous man is a tough and winding road. It's easy to get lost if you don't have the light to follow; luckily I do. Although I say luckily it's not luck that has brought me to this point in my life. It is my destiny, my purpose in this life; to suffer and fall away then return and strengthen my brothers and sisters with the knowledge of the saving grace of our God. My mother has prayed for me for many years, regardless of what I have done or been through. She always told me that I would do something great someday and I believed her. I still do believe her and I am striving to become a great man and to have a faith in God that He can use to move mountains. It's not easy by any means, especially when the devil is after you and you just feel like you have to use every ounce of energy to fight off the worry and anger and pain of this world; there's not much left over to put a smile on and tell someone of the love and hope you have in Jesus. But that's what we are called to do because God has given us the strength inside us to put that smile on because we have been blessed so much, we have so much to be thankful for no matter what is going on in our lives; we should give praise to God through all things and for all things.
I started writing this feeling down and upset, not feeling like taking on the world today. It's a hard thing to be a dad, husband, brother, friend etc. It's a lot of responsibility to take on and it never stops once it starts. I have so much riding on me that I can't fail, I can't lose and I won't lose because I have a little boy and a beautiful wife who are counting on me to be there tonight when I get off work with a smile and a hug for them and I can't let them down no matter how upset I feel or how much I want to crawl into a hole and sleep to get away from it all. Pressure is something that will either expose a fake or bring out a champion in a person; I have resolved myself to the latter. I am going to be a champion for Jesus, a champion for my family and a champion for everyone God brings into my life because I have a message to give. God has given me something to say, a message of hope, joy and newness of life. I am a new creation and when I am weak He is strong who lives in me. God will give me the strength if I will just ask for it to get past all of this and to one day stop looking back and realize that it was all part of a bigger plan to make me who I am today. It has been a tough road, painful to a degree that I wish on nobody not even my worst enemies. A road that has led me to where I am today though it isn't a road that I regret traveling because I have everything I could ever want or could have ever wanted. I pray the same for you my friends and loved ones. Just know that I understand pain, I understand hurt and I understand the lies that we tell ourselves to make us feel better about the things that we are doing in our lives that are wrong and harmful to us. These are things that I am all too familiar with personally and not only do I understand but Jesus understands. HE has seen you hurt, He felt your pain on the cross where He bore the sins of this world on His shoulders and suffered for us so that we could be saved. With this in mind I conclude. I want to be here for my friends and people who are hurting. I understand your pain, whatever it is because we all have something we are not proud of whether recent or in your past. I have mine and it creeps up on me sometimes like a truck coming down the highway with his lights off trying to run me over as I cross the street. It just so happens I have a savior who showed me the way out and I am free from it all; it can't get to me and it can't run my life anymore. They can try to get me to think about it and dwell on it but God has given me the strength to forgive myself and to fight it off because I have been forgiven for my past and it can't bring me down anymore. I pray the same for everyone out there who feels my pain. In the darkest hour in the history of the world, in the dark shadows of the darkest skies there is a shadow of a cross, a man taking his last breaths asking God for forgiveness for the people because they knew not what they were doing. In the darkness of the world God sent a savior to give us hope, joy and a new life; forgiveness and peace. This peace He gives to us because before we didn't understand or know what we were doing and He has given us a new life to start over and we have been redeemed those who believe on Jesus. God Bless you all today.

Renewing your Mind...

"Keep your minds on whatever is true, pure, right, holy, friendly, and proper. Don't ever stop thinking about what is truly worthwhile and worthy of praise." (Phil 4:8)
This world is moving so quickly and at such a fast pace these days that it's hard to stop and "smell the roses" as the saying goes. There's so much to do, especially for the Christian who is a parent, friend, son, brother etc. Sometimes there seems to not be enough time in the day to get everything accomplished that we want to so we begin to prioritize what we want to do and we have to cut some things from the list that aren't as important to us.
Too many times the things that get cut are some of the things that are best for us like quiet time, reading, exercise, spending time with family or friends or just sleep. When you are moving so quickly and you are ignoring your own personal needs it's easy to get burned out, shut the world out and get into your own zone. When you start shutting the world out you are also shutting God out because you are ignoring anything and everything that's coming at you. Shutting the world out means shutting people, situations, circumstances and even the smallest glimpses of beauty or mystery that God puts in your life daily to show you that He is around and that He's always watching you. When you shut the world out you don't appreciate the beautiful sunrise or the dark blue sky on a clear day. You don't pay any attention to the person in the parking lot that is having trouble with their car or the lady who needs help carrying something out to her car. You don't answer the call of your friend who is having trouble at work and needs some good council and encouragement from you. When you stop spending time with God everyday reading His word, spending quiet time just listening to Him and for Him and time in prayer just talking to Him you can get out of relationship with God and that puts you out on your own where you don't want to be.
Your relationship with God is like any other relationship you have with any other person. It needs time to grow, time to talk to one another and learn about them and who they are. The relationship needs daily attention or it will become stale and will eventually fade like a long lost friend who moved away and you never stayed in touch. God wants to hear from you everyday; He wants to know what's going on in your life even though He already knows everything about you. He wants you to spend time reading His word so He can speak to you and you can learn about His character and what He expects from us as followers of Jesus. God wants and needs your time so He can mold you into the person He has planned for you to be so He can use you to accomplish what He designed you to do in this world. Too many Christians today have neglected this aspect of devotion to God. We call ourselves Christians yet the most important thing about being a Christian is our relationship with God and the access that we have to Him. If we don't read His word, spend time in prayer daily and love our neighbor as we love ourselves because we are too busy then on what basis do we have to call ourselves Christians in the first place? Being a Christian isn't something that you do once and go on about your business with the thought that you got your ticket to heaven and now life can go back to normal. Being a Christian is about "renewing your mind" and changing into the person that God wants you to be so He can use you to accomplish His purpose for your life.
Renewing your mind is something that Paul talks about in the new testament : "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." Romans 12:2
The process of renewing your mind comes from reading your bible and seeing through God's word the ways that God wants to transform you from the inside out and make you into a new creation that is filled with Love and Compassion for what is good and just. This is just 1 way that God uses to renew your mind. Being a part of a strong church with good Christian teaching and strong Christian men and women to learn from is another way God uses to help renew your mind. Learning from your pastor and getting to know people in the church and seeing how God is working in their lives is a great way to see what being a Christian is all about. I look forward to church on Saturday nights with my family because it is refreshing to me and I always leave filled with hope, love and I feel refreshed and ready to face a new week. Prayer is the last way that I want to talk about here. Prayer is just talking to God on a daily basis and relying on Him to respond in situations and help you in whatever is going on in your life. Some people are skeptical as to what prayer actually does since God already knows everything but I am a firm believer in prayer and keeping a prayer journal or list. I believe that God wants to hear from us and hear about everything that is going on in our lives. I believe prayer is our direct line to God's ear and that He is always listening and ready to shower us with blessings if we would only believe and have faith in Him. I keep a list on my desk at work that I write down almost every week with what's going on in my life that I want to talk to God about and I continually speak to Him throughout the day about it. I talk to Him about my job, my family, my friends, finances, and whatever else is going on in my life. I ask Him for wisdom and strength and the ability to be the man that He wants me to be for my family. Prayer is just as much for you as it is for God though. Knowing that God is always there and that He is always listening gives you a feeling of hope and strength and that no matter what you have God on your side.
Renewing your mind is a daily thing. Just like Jesus told His disciples to take up their cross and follow after Him renewing your mind is something that you have to decide to do daily and you have to work at it. The world is trying to bring you down everyday. They are exerting a downward pull on your values and morals every chance they get; trying to get you to bend and break and be tolerant of the way they are living even though you know it goes against what you believe. You have to be on your guard and you have to be centered in your faith to be able to fight them off and be victorious. This is a spiritual war that you are in and you can't have one foot in and the other foot out the door; it's either all or nothing and that's what we have to understand. God needs men and women who will be dedicated and who will give their lives to Him so He can use them to be salt and light in this dark and tasteless world. You renew your mind in order to be ready when God tells you to move or to act so you can be aware of what He is calling you to do so you don't miss an opportunity He has set before you. Renewing your mind is as much for you as it is for God; you keep yourself focused on Him and His purpose and also it fills you with the hope, love and joy that you need to get through the day and be a winner in life no matter what this life tries to throw at you.
God calls us to Renew our Mind daily and to stay focused so we can have the best He has to give us. Paul tells us to run the race with endurance and to keep our eyes always on the prize, never looking back and always focused on finishing strong. So many times we settle for good when God has something great for us in store if we would only keep fighting and striving to be our best. We have to do our part in order for God to do His part which He promised He would do if we will just be faithful. Stay strong, stay focused and take heart because Greater is He that is in You than he that is in the world. With God on your side you can't lose. Let's not settle for good when God has His best for us who are faithful and who are willing to follow Him and renew our minds daily.

Smooth sailing through the storms of life....

Everyone has things that are happening in their life as we speak. Things that come from out of nowhere and blindside you when you least expect it. It seems to me that at any point in time, especially when things are going really well, a storm can creep up and cause havoc in the life of any believer. I was talking to a friend of mine yesterday and he looked tired and beat down like he had been thinking really hard and hadn't gotten much sleep lately. He told me that he has just been going through TOO much lately. It's like once things start happening it seems like it will never end. It's one thing after another and you never get any rest like being held under water and every time you come up to gasp for air you get pushed under again. Now what do you say when someone says something like that to you? I mean his mom just died 2-3 weeks ago, it's been tough at work and then he gets into an accident in a work truck and has everybody breathing down his neck about that every morning. He has no rest from the trouble that is surrounding him on all sides and all he really wants is to mourn his mothers death, pick up the pieces and move on. I am a firm believer that God puts people in your life for a reason. He will cause you to cross paths with someone He wants you to speak a word of encouragement to in their time of need. You have to keep your eyes open at all times and be aware of what's going on around you to not miss these "divine appointments" as I have heard them called before. You will meet someone at Starbucks who needs a word of encouragement or someone you work with or a friend or family member who needs to talk and get some good Godly counsel. It's something that as you mature as a follower of Christ you begin to see happening all around you; you can think of them as tests from the Father to see what you will do. He is trusting you to be His ambassador in this world and He sends you people to speak through you to them when they need to hear Gods voice. It's really an unbelievable honor and privileged to be counted worthy for God to speak through you; it's also a major responsibility because you want to give them the right info and what they need to hear to turn to God and ask Him for help. You want to "deflect" their trouble and their pain to God so He can do a work in their heart and begin to change them from the inside out. My job as a follower of Jesus is to have the answers stashed in my heart so that they can come out at the right time; Gods words stored in my heart and mind so that when He sends someone to me I will be able to pull those words out for them to hear at the right time to make them see that they need to turn to God for help and forgiveness. That's why it is so important to read your bible and study the word of God so you can have His words stored in your heart to be given away when someone needs them. It's all about giving in the family of God and to give the words of our Lord to someone in need to help them turn to God and ask for His help is our job and responsibility as a Christian.
When the storms of this life blow in they come with a vengeance and they can be relentless sometimes. It seems that it's just one thing after another and you never have any rest to get ready for the next storm. Storms can drain you of your energy, make you lose focus and passion and get your eyes off God and onto your surroundings and circumstances which is exactly what the devil wants to happen. He brings things upon you to try to tear you down and make you afraid; he uses fear and suffering to get your mind off God and makes you worry about how you are going to get through the storm. You can think of the time that Jesus came to the disciples walking on the water and Peter asked for Jesus to call him to Himself and let him walk on water too. Peter got out of the boat and started walking on the water towards Jesus as he was walking he had his eyes fixed on Jesus. It's when Peter started looking around at the waves and the storm that he started to sink because he took his eyes off Jesus; he lost his focus on God and started focusing on his circumstances. The point of this story is that if you focus on Jesus you can walk on water and get through any storm that this life throws at you but if you take your eyes off God and start worrying about your circumstances you can sink and fall into the trap of the devil. Sometimes the storms in our lives are almost too big for us to survive we think. Like my friend I was telling you about. Life seems to be choking you to death, it has you on your knees gasping for breath and you don't know how you are going to make it through the day much less how you will ever get through and survive the week or the month. This is where being a believer and follower of Jesus Christ and the one and only Living God gives you the advantage that nobody else in the world or any other religion has. You have the assurance and promise from God that He will never leave you or forsake you. He will always be there with you and He is leading you through the "Valley of the Shadow of Death" but He tells you that you should "Fear no Evil because He is with you." God will never take you through a valley that you can't make it through and He will never leave you in the valley. God is always leading you and He won't forget you or leave you somewhere in your pain; He can see the big picture and He knows where you are headed. He has a purpose for the vally that you are walking through to strengthen you and grow your faith if you will just keep your eyes on Him and trust Him to lead you out of the valley and up the mountain where you will be able to look back on where you just came from and see what you learned along the way. That's how faith is produced and how it matures, trusting God in your times of need and when life looks hopeless. Nobody likes to go through the valley but that is how you grow and everybody has something that they are going through. Once you come out of the valley and realize that you are still alive and stronger than ever you will now be equiped to help your friend who has just stepped into the valley after you; and the cycle continues.
My friends, storms are inevitable on the sea of life; they will come and go big and small ones for the rest of your life. It's not the fact that you survived the storm that is important because as they say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger and that's the truth; it's your faith that grows from trusting your God through it all that is what it's all about. Like a refiners fire got makes you go through the storms of life to mold you into the person that He has planned for you to be so you can accomplish the things that God has destined you to do. You have to go through the Valley's to be able to appreciate the Mountaintops. When you trust in God to save you in the midst your storms I can't tell you that the storms will cease but you will be able to have peace and hope that everything will be ok and that God is with you. And if God is with you who can be against you? Have faith, take heart my brothers and sisters because this life is like a vapor in the wind and it's just the dress rehearsal for the real show in heaven. Think about that the next time the storm blows in; look to God and tell Him you're ready...

If you could change the WORLD what would you do...

This title makes me think of the movie Deja Vu with Denzel Washington where they can see into the future and change the outcome of what might happen. The quote that stands out to me in my memory that made me think about wanting to write about this topic was ,"What if you had to tell someone the most important thing in the world, but you knew they'd never believe you?" This thought pertains to my walk with God because I know something, something very very important that everybody needs to hear. I know something, the good news of Jesus Christ, that can change the world; it can change the world of the person who hears it and it will change their life forever and for eternity. That's the all important question for all of man kind throughout the ages; what will you do with Jesus Christ?
The fact is that if you are a believer and follower of Jesus Christ and you are ALIVE then you know someone, probably a lot of someones who don't know the good news and the hope that you have in having a saving relationship with Jesus. The fact is that everytime you go to work or just leave your house you have the opportunity to talk to someone and tell them about what God is doing in your life and how believing and following God has changed you from the inside out. Everyone has been commissioned by God through the Great Commission to go out into the world and proclaim the Good News of Jesus and how He rose from the dead and defeated death once and for all. This mandate from God gives you the authority to proclaim this and to be effective at doing it if you are working in the spirit of God (another topic). God is looking for people who will devote their lives and be Passionate about changing the world through preaching the gospel to the lost sheep of this falled world. Jesus said that the people of this world are like sheep without a shepherd; they are looking for the path to take but they are lost. It's your job Christian to lead them back to God, back to a saving relationship with the God of the Universe. It's a common misconception that you have to be a preacher of a church to preach the good news of Christ. This is something that has perverted the church and Christian's everywhere. It has turned people into sponges that just come to church on Sunday and soak up the message from the preacher and then go back to their lives on Monday and forget all about it; then do it all over again. Just because you aren't a preacher of a church or because you didn't go to seminary doesn't give you the right to just sit on the sidelines and watch from the bench. Once you became a Christian you are imediatly in the game and you are an important part of the game because God has destined you to change the world in some way or another. Do you know that if you just spoke with 1 person, we are talking about 1 - ONE person about Jesus and the relationship that God wants to have with them and they were saved that you could change the world. Because that 1 person will talk to his parents and his family and friends and he will meet people around the whole world and do the same thing. This is a domino effect that happens everyday; it happened to my mother. She was telling me about it this week. She told me that when she decided to give her life to Christ that the devil was coming after her so hard that she thought that she was losing her mind. She couldn't concentrate on even watching a movie he was trying to make believe that she wasn't saved and that it could never happen to her or that if she just gave it up and forgot about Jesus that she could go back to life as normal and everything would stop being so confusing. She fought with that for a long time until one day it just stopped and she never turned back. She has run the race of faith for a long time now and she has been through so much from hard times to breast cancer but she has never lost her faith and that has been such a strong influence in my life. She never gave up on me when I got into some bad things in High School and in college; she stayed up praying for me all the time and prayed that I would be safe and that I would return to the Lord soon. It's because of her that I am here today, it's because of her prayers that I am a Christian today because she never gave up on me. Because she didn't give up when times got hard and the devil was coming after her she got to see her sister, husband and 2 children saved and I am sure countless others have been touched and blessed by her enormus faith; I know I have.
It's stories like this that prove that just 1 person can touch so many lives by just living the way that God requires. If you live the way that God has told you and commanded you to live your life will be a testimony to other people and you won't even have to use words to express the love you have for God and they will be able to see that something is different in you just by the way that you act. God will do all the work, He is the only one that can save someone and He is the only one who can call someone to Himself to be saved and to repent and ask for forgivness. God only commands you to tell people about His son and what He has done for your life, to live you life as a testimony of your faith in Jesus; He will do the rest.
So the question stands, what will you do with Jesus? Will you keep him to yourself and live your life on the sidelines, just you and your Jesus? You will still go to heaven and you will be saved from eternity in hell. Or will you live your life ON FIRE for Jesus, completely sold out and passionate about telling people what God has done for you and how it has changed your life? The decision is up to you. You can't hide from God, He sees everything and Jesus said that if you are ashamed of Me in front of men I will be ashamed of you in front of My Father. I want to live my life on Fire for Jesus. I want to tell people the one thing that they need to hear that will change their world. I want to Change the World and give the people I love the opportunity of a life time; what they do with it is completly between them and God. Think about it.... God Bless You!!

What are you passionate about?

In the age of the super comfy couch, TV trays, fast food and plasma HDTV's not many people, at least that I know, spend much time reading anymore. We get up and fight the traffic to go to work, work all day then come home tired after a busy non-stop day at the office and battling the rush hour traffic all the way back home. Some people get a quick work out in at the gym or spend some time with their kids before dinner; but once it's dinner time the TV comes on and it's VEG time for the rest of the night. In the fast paced world that we live in today it's really easy to have your Passion and Motivation sucked right out of you; and sometimes without you even knowing it. It can sneak up on you like a thief in the night and rob you of your joy and enthusiasm so quickly that you are left wondering what happened to the person you used to be? How did I get so cynical and frustrated? A loss of passion can come from a number of things but my main problem has been a loss of vision and goals in my life. Somewhere along the way I lost sight of where I was headed and how I was going to get there. Life got in the way and other things in and out of my control stepped in and tried to choke the life out of me before I was rescued, healed and set back on the road with a fresh start.
I've been thinking about Passion a lot lately because that's the series that my pastor is teaching about at Church. We've been talking about what passion is and what it means to be passionate in your daily life. My thoughts are this and I'm going to keep this short.
I believe that the devil is sneaky and cunning, he will hit you where he thinks he can take you down the easiest and put you out of commission so you won't be able to do the work that God has designed you to do. In America we don't have to worry about famine, disease, hunger or wars going on around us; these are things that most of the rest of the world has to worry about that causes them to lose faith, passion and hope. In the other parts of the world the devil uses fear and pain to keep people from following after the Lords calling; but here in the US he is much more subtle. I believe that the devil will use anything he can to keep you from reading your bible, going to church and serving God by using your talents and gifts that the Lord has blessed you with. God has gifted everyone of us with something that is unique, a gift that the God of the Universe has blessed us with that He plans to use to Change the World in some way or another. There is something that every one of us is destined to do, a work that God has created you and I to do that can't be done by anybody else in the world now or in the future. God has a plan for you and a purpose for you to be here, every day that you wake up in your bed with air in your lungs and you take that first conscious breath God has something that He is leading you toward and He has big plans for every one of us. I will go into that in more detail another day. Back to what I was saying. The devil will use anything to keep you from becoming the man or woman that God has planned you to be. He will make your life so comfortable; money in the bank, nice house and big screen TV and make you as prosperous as you want to be. He will use your job opportunities and sporting events to keep you away from God and out of Gods will. It's so subtle but it's true. It never fails that anytime I am planning on going to church on a weeknight something will come up that gives me the choice that I have to make to either go do what just came up or miss something and go to church like I had planned. The same goes for church on the weekend, weather you go on Saturday night like I do or Sunday morning; something will always happen. You might not feel well or you will wake up with a headache or you will accidentally sleep in or not have slept well the night before. Vanessa and I used to fight every time we were on our way to church about the stupidest things, it never failed that I would either be in a bad mood or she would be taking too long and we would be running late. It was always something. After that had been happening for a long time it finally dawned on me that this was the devils doing. He will use anything and everything he can to keep you from doing the Lords will. He wants to kill and destroy every one of you and make your life miserable in any way possible. The trick is figuring out what he is up to and seeing what is going on around you through the eyes of a believer and follower of Jesus. If you know that God is in control of your life and you know that God has a plan for you and that you are willing to dedicate your life to obeying the Lords commands. If you are passionate about doing what God wants you to do because you Trust Him that He knows what is best for you and you realize that the devil is after you and is always going to be coming after you to bring you down anyway possible. Once you discover this and realize what is going on around you then you can begin to see these things as they happen. When you have every opportunity to get mad at that person at work or that guy cuts you off on the highway, when you would normally get furious and let them have it you can step back and see that the devil is just trying to make you mad. He is pushing your buttons to get you out of your sweet spot resting in the will of God and trusting Him.
Once I learned that the devil is going to be coming after me because I am a follower of Jesus Christ and because I am passionate and dedicated to following the will and call of God for my life I started looking for those situations and asking God to help me get through them. Once you give your life to God you are on the devils radar, period. He is going to be looking for anyway to get to you and keep you from becoming the person that God wants you to be and that you are destined to become. There is nothing that the devil wants more than to keep you from touching millions of people's lives with the good news of Jesus Christ and the hope and joy that is caused from knowing the God of the Universe. So know, Christian, that the devil is after you. You are a marked man or woman, you have a bullseye on your back and he is coming after you with an army to keep you from fufilling your destiny and become a great and mighty warrior for God. You are in a battle, its spiritual warfare out here and you are under constant attack on all sides. Just remember that you have God and Jesus on your side and Jesus has already won the war, the victory is yours and there is nothing that the devil can do to you unless you let him.
I'm going to leave you with this and I want you to think about it very very hard. It's my whole point that caused me to write this long letter to my loved ones. And I know I lied that it would be short, sorry about that. My point is that MOST followers of Christ don't struggle with the big temptations like drugs or sex or whatever else you would call a big temptation. The biggest temptation for most people is the temptation to become Stagnant and Complacient. Once you get comfortable and you stop moving forward the devil has got you right where he wants you. Out of the Game, on the sidelines where you aren't being effective or not a threat to what the devil is doing around you. The biggest problems start when you stop growing and stop moving forward. A lack of passion and a lack of vision are the gateway to problems because you get bored and an idle mind is where trouble starts. I challenge you to spend time reading your bible daily, even if it is only for 15 minutes. Spend time with the Lord and spend time praying because that is your armor and your sword in the spiritual warefare that I was talking about. You arm yourself with the word of God in your heart so you will know right from wrong and what God tells you to do in every situation and how to live your life. That's what the bible is, it's the play book or the instruction manuel; read it and it will change your life I promise you. Then pray!!! Pray about everything that is going on in your life. Pray about the help you need or your friends troubles. Pray for strength to resist temptaion or pray that you will be able to find a gas station before your car runs out of gas. Prayer is your weapon against the evil of this world. God wants to hear everything you have to say. He yearns to hear from His children and he longs to be an active part of your life; won't you spend some time talking to your heavenly father today? God wants to have a relationship with you and that is the whole point of being a follower of Christ is to be in a relationship with the God of the Universe who found you worthy to be a part of His family. You are an heir to the thrown of Heaven, brother to Jesus Christ and you will spend eternity in Heaven along with everybody else who believes and gives their life to Christ. This is something to be proud of and should give you the passion and vision that you need to get out there and make something happen, change the world and spread the hope and love that comes from knowing the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Be passionate about being a Christian, let the Lord fill you with the joy that is yours if you would just ask for it. Start walking with the Lord and just watch where He will take you, it's the journey of a lifetime and it's what this life is all about. What are you passionate about???

Being a father

On April 16th 2009 my whole world changed and was turned upside down like a snow globe and shaken up then sat back down. I am still waiting for everything to settle down so I can redefine what normal is. I am starting to get into a routine and get used to having a demanding little person living in my house dictating my every move. Don't get me wrong, I love my son to death and he is the best thing in my life next to my relationship with God and my wife; I'm just saying every since he arrived life has been about him and he calls the shots. He lets me know when I am going to get up in the morning and throughout the night, what time he is hungry, what time he needs to be put down for a nap and the time to get up, when he needs to be changed, when I'm not entertaining him enough and when it's time to leave the restaurant because he's ready to go. If I don't heed the warning signs he lets me know about it with his own external alarm system which God made just loud enough and just annoying enough to make you move faster than you thought you ever could just to make it stop. I was thinking to myself one day a couple of weekends ago after I had put him down for a nap that God must be really smart because he HAD to make babies extra cute in order for us grown people to put up with the extreme demands and immediate response necessary for raising a new born baby. They are so freakin cute that you just can't be mad at them, for long at least. Good Plan God is what I was thinking cause I don't think I would have the same feeling taking care of a baby that had an ugly pig face. The fact that he looks just like me gives me just enough strength and patience to feel sorry for him because he's hungry again or his diaper is wet or whatever is wrong with him; I want to make him happy and for him to be comfortable. I love him so much that I just can't be mad at him.
Now I know what you are thinking; geez Brandon what's wrong with you? How can you be so critical and insensitive? It's just a baby, that's what they do; they are needy and they need constant attention and care. I know that NOW. Nobody could have ever explained to me what was going to happen to me once Christian was born. It's not possible for someone to prepare you for taking care of your own child. There aren't enough words in the English language to describe the amount of CHANGE that is going to take place once you bring a baby home. That's just the facts. You can buy everything you need, have his room all ready for him when he arrives, have a dresser full of clothes and diapers galore; but nothing can prepare you for the exaustion and the roller coaster ride of emotions that goes along with having a baby and bringing one home for the first time.
My wife worked with infants for 5 years at the Children's Court Yard, which is a daycare center in Flower Mound TX, so I really wasn't worried about bringing a baby home because she knew the drill and she was a vetern at this baby thing. I thought that she would take care of him and teach me what I needed to do to help out; man was I wrong. I should have gotten some tips or taken a class to prepare for what was about to happen to me because I wasn't ready at all when the baby came home. Nobody told me that after a woman gives birth to a baby that she is incapacitated, tired, cranky and in a ton of pain from just the labor itself. Nobody told me that because the mother is all of these things that the father, ME, will have to wait on the mother hand and foot and oh yea take care of the baby too while the mother recouperates. Like I said I was not prepared for what was happening all around me because I had never even held a baby before Christian was born much less fed one or change one or burp one etc. It was all new to me man and I would be lying to tell you that I wasn't freaking out a little bit. My prayer life took off around the time Christian was born! The day before he was born I was on the verge of having a heart attack because he was scheduled to be born a week later so I thought I had some time to prepare myself a little bit more and get my game face on. I had it all planned out with my vacation time at work and everything else. Then Vanessa called me at the office and told me that she was scheduled to be admitted to the hospital that night at 6:00PM because the baby was going to be born tomorrow. I almost fell out of my chair then ran around the office trying to tell everyone what was happening while finishing up my work as quickly as possible so I could head home and get packed up for what was sure to be a long night. That almost did me in because I wasn't prepared for that yet and I wasn't ready for what was about to happen; and that was just the labor and delivery that wasnt't even happening to me that was all Vanessa. I managed to stay concious throughout the labor and delivery and be there for my wife while she was going through unbearable trauma to her body and mind. 30 hours of labor is almost too much for anybody, even the people without uterses who are just there for support. Needless to say with all of that commotion going on and it all happening so fast without preperation I relyed on God to get me through every minute of every hour. I had been praying for God to help me stay awake for Vanessa and to be able to be there for her and our son while she was in labor because I had never been in any type of situation like that before in my life. The closest thing was being with someone while they were getting something pierced and I almost passed out during that so I couldn't imagine what was going to happen to me in this situation. I figured I would wake up in a wheelchair in a corner sometime after the baby was born and I would never live it down. SO I prayed for strength and courage and the ability to take care of my family and God granted me the strength to do it all. I was by Vanessa's side throughout the whole labor and delivery and I didn't get sick or light headed at all. God provided everything I needed. As I was walking around the hospital while they were checking Vanessa out the morning of Christian's birth I went into the gift shop and I found a little card that had the 23rd Psalm on it which gave me great courage and strength for the rest of the day. God led me through the valley and I didn't fear any evil because He was with me throughout the whole day and night and He is still with me everyday since.
I don't know what the future will hold but I know one thing; I am nothing without God. He is my strength; when I am my weakest He makes me strong and there is no denying that truth. I want to be a good role model for my son Christian and for my wife Vanessa. I pray everyday for strength and wisdom to be able to lead my family in the ways of the Lord and to teach them about God and show them what it means to be a follower of Christ through the way I live my life. I want to model Love and Grace to my family and Peace and Joy to everyone I meet. I don't know how I am going to do it or what lies ahead but I know for certain that everything is going to be ok and that I don't have to be able to see the future to know that because God is leading me in the paths of Righteousness. God is described as a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. I don't need to see the whole future, all I need to see is a little bit ahead of me where God is leading me to know I am going the right direction. I love being a father!! Christian is my flesh and blood and he is my little mini me. He is cute, sweet, loveable, hugable and he laughs at just about anything I do and loves it when I come home and play with him. He looks just like me and him coming into this world has been the greatest blessing that God has ever given me because he made Vanessa and I a complete family. Being a father can be scary and can leave you feeling inadiquate at times because there is so much that you need to do to be the MAN of the house and breing a MAN isn't something that they teach you either but as I read the bible more and study I am picking it up and getting the hang of it. Being a father is my calling and I can't wait to see what the future holds.