Some Good Out of the Bad

Matthew 6:34 NLT

“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

The older I have gotten "I'm not going to claim...wiser" : ) I have realized the saying "just take one day at the time" is not as stupid of a philosophy, as I once thought!

I would venture to say that we have "all" found ourselves in some kinds of very humiliating situations, in times in our life. Some we never thought would ever end or could ever be any good to come out of them. Let me share this with you:
Whatever the situation...whatever the circumstances might be...... GOD CAN REDEEM IT! He will make the best come out of the worst, if you’ll trust him to do so.

The Bible tells a story about a man named Joseph, he was imprisoned for more than 13 years because of false accusations "you know the story." 13 years was a huge chunk of his life, but it must have been the chunk that prepared him to later be in charge of the entire nation.  
 
In more recent times...there was a man named Chuck Colson. While Chuck was imprisoned for crimes committed during the Watergate scandal, he came to trust in God. When Chuck was released from prison, he founded what has now grown into an international prison ministry, that has touched the lives of thousands upon thousands of prisoners...leading many to Christ. I would imagine this would had not ever happened, if it wasn't for his humiliating situation, that he found himself in. Think about it........

The Real Pain Reliever!

Thought for today....

"The Real Pain Reliever"

(James 4:8 NLT) Come close to God, and God will come close to you.

When we experience a loss, separation...divorce or any other kind of pain, we often close ourselves off from God "the total opposite of what we should do." He is our only source of true comfort, instead we withdraw within ourselves. Sometimes we look for other people to "fix" things...we seek advice from others...be it a counselor, a friend, a family member or even a work partner. We might seek escape through excessive work, play, or even turn to food, alcohol or drugs to ease the pain....we refuse to face it.

Running from God won't fix the problem. Our only answer is to come close to Him. He can meet every need...and He wants to. Come close to God by spending time in his Word.

(Psalm 119:114) You are my refuge and my shield; your word is my source of hope.

God Cares about the Attitude of Our Heart!

Amos 5:14-15 CEVDCUS06

If you really want to live, you must stop doing wrong and start doing right. I, the Lord God All-Powerful, will then be on your side, just as you claim I am.  Choose good instead of evil! See that justice is done. Maybe I, the Lord All-Powerful, will be kind to what's left of your people.

When life is going great, we become prosperous and everything seems to be just right in our lives, that's when we really need to be careful! We can become complacent and be setting ourselves up for a downfall. We begin feeling less need for God and family in our lives...this can verily easily happen to any of us. We wind up hurting and blocking out the ones that are really the most important to us, without even realizing it. We pretend that everything is just right in our lives, while trying to satisfy our boss, self, friends, etc.

God created us with a need for a relationship with Him and our family....not isolation. He can see through our false appearances, even when others don't. God is more concerned with what our heart looks like on the inside and truly I believe our family does too, rather than our outward appearance to others. Maybe it's time we take a real close look at our situation, reconcile and make restitutions with the ones that we have hurt and neglected, along the way.

5-30-2013 Just thinking......

This scripture really made me think as I read it over and over tonight..

2 Corinthians 5:10

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

Though none of us will ever be perfect and we all struggle to live according to the moral and ethical teachings found throughout the Bible. We sometimes neglect what's truely important in life. I know that we will be forgiven for our sins and wrong doings...but once we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior shouldn't we repent "change" from our old ways and strive to do what's right according to God's Word. It doesn't take a college degree to know the difference between right and wrong. I don't remember how old I was when I realized the difference, but it was early in life...and that still did not stop me from doing a lot of wrong either...I realize it takes strength and God's help to overcome the temptation to do wrong...I don't know about you, but I still have a lot of right still left to do to even balance the scales.

On the day we stand before God, we’ll be judged based on what we did with Christ...then we’ll be rewarded for the works we have done in the flesh. So in this life, we need to take responsibility for our actions and stand up for and do what’s right.

I pray that God will give us a strong sense of personal responsibility to do what’s right when we are tempted to do wrong.As an individual...as parents...as a family...as a neighbor and as a nation.