THE FEELING OF PAIN IS ACTUALLY A BLESSING

Have you ever thought how things would be if you could not feel pain? Suppose that baby who puts her hand on the hot stove could not feel the heat. Suppose the young boy who is always in trouble never felt the pain of the father's belt. Suppose while you were doing your hair you never could feel the curling iron burning your scalp. I could go on and on, but pain is an essential need to our life. Pain causes us to stop what we are doing, assess the situation, and change. Our pain makes us go to God more than we normally go to Him. Our pain makes us live a more pleasing lifestyle.

Our pain hurts, but it helps!

Stay In The Left Lane

I have learned not to rush into decision. Life moves fast, but that doesn't meant that you have to move fast. The Bible says wait on the Lord, and be of good cheer, again I say wait. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. My faith is tested to give up, to say what's the first thought to come to my mind, to take the easy way out, and to rush and make bad decisions.

So if we stay in the slow lane, then when our exit comes we will nor miss it. When we are in the slow lane, when God gives us direction, we aren't too busy to hear Him. When we are in the left lane we become more calm and alert to the will of God.

What is interesting is that when I wait, God always shows up, and works it out. THANK YOU JESUS!

Learning To Be Empty

When I am weak, that is when I am strong. God uses me best when I am empty my wants, thoughts, and feelings and allow him to pour the right spirit in me which is in Christ Jesus. This emptiness is not a good feeling. It requires humbleness, selflessness, pain, struggle, and a purpose-driven life, but it makes me a better husband, father, preacher and christian. I wish that I can always say, "Lord not my will, but thou will."

Ups & Downs

Sometimes I feel invincible, like I can move mountains, and then there are times I feel like the mountain has fallen on me and there is no way to get up. What I have come to realize is that is just how life is. We have ups, and downs, but is important not to allow our high points to raise us too high and our low points to take us too low.

Of course we all would love to live a life that never had any downs, but in order for God to take us to where we are suppose to go, we must experience trials and tribulations. The storms have made me a better preacher. The test have made me understand that God is in control, and truthfully the spiritual warefare has made me surrender my will for God's will. So in some crazy way, I guess we should thank God for the our storms.

IT'S TOO SOON TO GIVE UP

I know you feel battered, bruised and beaten down. The easy move is to flip out, go down the wrong street, and give up. The hard thing to do is to hold on, continue to do right and live as if you know the end result.

That is the problem, we don't know the end result in every trial and test, but God expects us to live like we do. He says that we are more than conquerors. He says that all things work together... He says that many are the afflictions of the righteous, but He will deliver us from them all. And so although we don't know when, where or how, we do know that we will be fine. We are encouraged that God is still in control, and that we must stand through the test, endure the storm and understand that IT IS TOO SOON TO GIVE UP!

Treasure in the Trash

I am currently going through one of, if not the hardest trial of my life. While I was in my pain, and feeling hopeless I realized that I have not been through a storm in a while (the last was two years ago when my daughter was born) and that I have been living in a position of favor since the recovery of my daughter's health. Once I realized that I too must suffer the storms and challenges of life that God makes us all go through for one reason or another, I stopped crying and started focusing my attention on him, trusting him that He knows what's best for my life, and trying to learn the necessary lessons that He is teaching.

While I am in my trash, while I am in my mess, while I am in a place that I wish no one else to be in, I found the treasure of what God wanted me to know. That gave me HOPE that if I did not go through this torture, I would not have changed for the better. I still hurt, I still feel the pain, but I see that God is still in control, and is growing me up even more in wisdom and leadership. Those who know me know that God has placed a specialness on my life, and like I am - expecting a major movement in the Lord through me (not being arrogant). But if that is true, God needed to get me ready to be more disciplined, more responsible, more conscious, more prayerful, and more faithful. This storm is my preparation for the blessing!!!

When this is over - the testimony that you will hear will have you rejoicing, and more excited about the power of Jesus!

Loosing Control

Today God said to me as clear as day, "Your job is not to fix it. Your Job is to trust me." That cleared all of my anxiety to know that God is right by my side. It gave me assurance that God was not watching my life (ride this roller coaster), but is involved in my life. As a husband, father, preacher, and business owner I realized that most of the times I am working out plans to fix problems. Most of my day is spent on coming up with ideas on how to make things better. Even my prayers at times are asking God to bless my ideas and efforts. Therefore, I realize that far too often I am trying to drive the car, and not allowing God to drive. Far too often I am busy attempting to come up with ideas to make things work smoother, but God clearly said to me, stop trying to fix it, trust me.

And what I have come to understand is that giving God total control is one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life. Now I am not saying that I am going to stop acting and moving in the right direction, but I see that the things I can't change, I shouldn't force it, allow God to work, and He can do what I can't do. Loosing Control to God is what Paul suggest when he says to die daily. The hard part is knowing that he will work on your behalf, but when, and how is the problem.

Either way - I have lost control