Why Did I Do That????

I don’t know about you, but after many years of belonging to Christ, I still do things I know to be sin. I don’t want to…. I don’t plan to…. I hate the fact that I do these sinful things, but somehow they still occur. Am I really saved?  Can God love me?  We know that He hates sin, so how can he love me, an obvious sinner? I wish I could write or even know the clear answer to this question. I can’t, I don’t. I only know that which I have read in God’s Word, the Bible, and what His spirit speaks to me as His child.

I do know that I have accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior. I am confident in His word that I have not turned my back on Him, and neither has He cast me out. So, yes, I really am saved. And yes, although he hates the sins I still do from time to time, He loves me…. I don’t understand it, but I know it to be true.

Anger… quick temper… words spoken in anger….. God, I hate those sins which still come from me. Every time I do this, I despise myself immediately. I have asked forgiveness and You have immediately given it every time. For this I am eternally thankful. But although You can forget these sins, those to whom I have lashed out and spoken words or actions of anger sometimes can not. I am deserving of the consequences of my anger and sin, but those I love and have verbally abused are not. God I pray for peace for them…. Relief from my anger and harsh words.

"…I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do."(a).  The apostle Paul, the most prolific scripture writer, said that almost 2000 years ago, so I guess I’m not unique. But I take little comfort in that, for my heart, my spirit tells me clearly this is not what Jesus wants for me. What then? Do I just go on doing these things in comfort with impunity? No! Not at all. The apostle Peter, one of Jesus’ inner circle, said " Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing…..seek peace and pursue it…"(b). And "Therefore be clear minded and self controlled so that you can pray."(c). Paul also said "Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, mind your own business…"(d).  And then there are Jesus’ own words "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the sons of God"(e)

Yes, God is God and I am not. Yes, He is perfect and I am not. Yes, Jesus’ blood has done its work in me, but I still sin…. often against my own will. Still, there is little comfort in all that after I have spoken harshly without regard to God’s love and purpose for me and the one to whom I have been harsh.

What to do, then? First, I know that God expects me to humble myself and apologize to the person I have offended. Whether my statement was right or wrong, my attitude and delivery were not. It is up to that person to forgive or not…. I cannot require forgiveness from them as a response to my apology. God will forgive every time, if the repentance is sincere and humble.  Second, I can only take comfort in Paul’s words: "Not that I have already obtained all this (righteousness), but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me…… one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."(f).

Since Your word is clear that you ordained and wrote down all my days before I was born (g), I guess I just keep on keeping on.

DaveH

(a) Romans 7:14; (b)1 Peter 3:9; (c) 1 Peter 3:11; (d) 1 Thessalonians 4:11; (e) Matthew 5:9;
(f) Philippians 3:12-14; (g) Psalm 139:13-16

GOD, WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!!!!

Me: “I’ve tried and tried…. I work till I fall from exhaustion… I pray over and over… I try so hard to live right… I spend so much time at church….. I… I… I….  God, Why don’t you answer my prayers?”

God: “Just stop….  Give up… Give in… I don’t want your work and worry.. I WANT YOU!”

I don’t know about you, but I struggle way too much trying to do things… good things.. that God never told me to do. I’ll get a little insight or inspiration from God’s word (printed or spoken) and go off setting the mechanics in motion to “get-R-done”. The thing might get done, but unless God “got-R-done”, it was of little significance. What then, does God want of me… us?

For me, the best, most direct answer is Philippians 4:6,7 where Paul writes: "Don’t worry about anything, but pray about everything. With thankful hearts offer up your prayers and request to God. Then because you belong to Christ Jesus, God  will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand.  And this peace will control the way you think and feel. (Contemporary English Version)

Kinda sounds like the popular song a few years ago…. “Don’t worry, Be happy!” Could that be?  Could God want us to just depend on him for everything?  But, God helps those who help themselves, Right?… WRONG!  God takes care of those who depend on Him!

What God wants from us is dedication, closeness, dependence, love, life… He wants friendship and kinship with us. He loves us as his own children. He wants to laugh with us and be around us. He wants our prayers, not to jog His memory of our needs and wants, but to talk, walk, laugh, and joke with us. He wants our closeness with Him. Remember, we serve a LIVING God. He is not a collection of stories and legends… He is alive now!  Jesus is alive now!  There are no bones or other remains of Jesus because He has risen!

Yes, God wants our prayers, and He wants us to ask things of Him. But note the promised answer to our prayers quoted a few paragraphs before:  “… peace that no one can completely understand.”  Getting the things we asked for as we expect them is not His promise… The promised answer is the peace of God.

A few years ago, my church passed out prayer cards where we logged the amount of time each of us spent in prayer for specific things, mostly our city and its leaders. After a month or so, our pastor was very proud to announce that collectively we had logged several thousand hours of prayer. That was wonderful, but I felt then and now that we missed the point. The Bible tells us to “…Pray without ceasing.” That means always. That really means belonging to Him to the point that my spirit is in contact and sync with His Holy Spirit 24/7. I cannot do that, but if I submit, He can!

Jesus said in John 15:4, ” Stay joined to Me, and  I will stay joined to you..”  and in verse 7, “…If you remain  in Me and My words remain (abide) in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given you.” The operative phrase here is “remain (or abide) in Me.." not “ask whatever you wish..” If we are abiding in Him, our wishes will be in sync with His wishes for us.

So then, what does God want from me?  …nothing!  everything! All He wants is me… my rights to myself. What does he give in return?  ….everything, life, eternity. Also, he gives the most valuable thing imaginable while we are here on Earth.  The peace of God that passes all understanding.

So, go on… Don’t worry… Be happy. He approves!
DaveH

ALOHA OBAMA

Oh well, my candidate for President did not win. Bummer! Now what?

In a previous writing (Vote for Obama???) , I spelled out a dozen or so reasons why Mr. Obama should not be our President. Unbelievably, not everyone followed my lead! In fact, less than ½ the U.S.A. did! In fact it seems that some in my own family did not follow my wise counsel….. Can you believe that?

One in the family, whom we love very much, replied in part, "Adios Bush, Aloha Obama. The whole country needs aloha spirit." (No, it wasn’t my wife…. she pretends to agree with me most of the time.) You know what, she’s right! President Bush will soon be leaving the office and Mr. Obama will soon be President Obama. Now, that may be hard to say, but we might as well get used to it.

The "Aloha" spirit… Hello and welcome President  Obama…. is just the spirit we need. Aloha also means good bye and god speed… hopefully we will feel that way when he leaves office down the road. But hey,  I  didn’t vote for him, so he’s not my president, right? WRONG! He is (or soon will be) the president of my country, therefore he’s my president (elect). Whether I agree with him or not, he will be my, the American, President, duly elected by a free people in a fair, democratic election.

"Yeah, Right" you say, "You drank the Obama Kool-Aid and now you agree with him." No, not at all. I still believe the same as before, and included in that belief system is the Judeao-Christian Bible. As mentioned before, the Bible is clear that NOTHING happens without God knowing it. Barack Obama was not elected while God was yawning or something. In fact that Bible tells me that I must respect and honor those He puts in authority over me. I’ll willingly do that. That same Bible clearly demonstrates that God created us with free will and a good mind. I believe God expects us to use both within the parameters He has made clear.

For many years I have said that the President can do very little on his own except inspire and lead. Congress and the courts have equal power and probably effect our daily lives far more than the Executive. In my lifetime I can remember ten U.S. presidents. Of those ten, Obama is only the third one who has the obvious gifts of high intelligence, public speaking, charisma, good looks, and believability coupled with such a great following in the American people. Those 3 are John Kennedy, Ronald Regan, and Barack Obama. Clinton had the chance to be included, but his overt dishonesty in little matters made him not believable in important things.

Great forward strides were made for America under Kennedy and Regan (space program, Cuban crisis, fall of Berlin Wall and Soviet Communism, etc.). Now Obama is staged for similar greatness. That greatness will depend directly on his ability and willingness to lead us as Americans… Not as conservatives or liberals; Not as Republicans or Democrats; Not as Christians, Jews, Muslims, atheists, or any other religious belief system, but as Americans.

While we all need to embrace him as our President, he must be the President for ALL of us. His greatest challenge early on will be in himself. He must abandon partisanship for leadership. We all want a president who can inspire and lead; who can stand up against his opponents or his own party for what is right; and who can  show the world that America is still the greatest nation on Earth. I believe Barack Obama is capable of that and truly hope and pray that he will. We all desperately want him to succeed as president for the sake of America. Success or not us up to him and those he puts in power around him.

So, as Christians, now what ? It is up to Christians to use our most powerful tool, prayer. In our selves, we are nothing, but God is all powerful. This God we serve has told us that we have not because we ask not, so ask! pray! Pray first for safety, protection and good health for Mr. Obama and his family. Second, pray for Divine wisdom for our President. (God doesn’t need instruction on what is wise, so let Him decide).  Pray that God keeps us, as Christians, humble in spirit and steadfast in faith. Remember, God resists the proud and empowers the meek. (It’s  hard, but I’m working on it.)

Now, having said all that will I set back and let come what may without complaining? Not a chance… I still believe in and will practice my right of free speech as well as the right to make a fool of myself and regularly embarrass my family and loved ones. My wife and I fully intend to live long enough and be loud enough to become a problem to our children. It’s only right… After all, we survived all of their teen age years without abandoning or killing even one of them!

DaveH.

Should I vote for Mr. Obama…. Let’s see…

He wants to take away ALL limits and restrictions on abortion, even withhold life saving measures for live babies born by accident during abortions

He wants to expire the Bush tax cuts thus automatically raising taxes without being blamed for it, then raise taxes on the “rich” whoever they are.

He considers all who do not agree with him to be … bitter Americans who cling to their religion and guns. (Hey, I’m not bitter!)

He claims to be Christian but believes: there are many ways to Heaven… the Bible can’t be taken literally… Muslims, animists, Buddhists, and all others are as right as Christians or Jews… he follows a pastor/mentor who takes God’s name in vain by demanding from the pulpit for God to damn America from the pulpit. (see John 14:6 and Exodus 20:3 and 7)  If you doubt, just follow this link:  <a href=”https://www.christianadc.org/pages/page.asp?page_id=45179″>https://www.christianadc.org/pages/page.asp?page_id=45179</a>

He claims to be qualified to run the country but,  except for local activism and politics, his total experience is 100 days in the US Senate.

He is more liberal than a self avowed socialist senator from Vermont…. His answer to being called socialist was not denial, but stated only that selfishness is not a virtue (Is government redistribution of the wealth by force a virtue?).

For at least two years he has  been trying to get us to abandon Iraq and let them fend for themselves, allowing Al-Qaeda and Taliban to return there. (Whether we should have attacked Iraq may be a ligitimate arument. But to abandon them after we conquered them would be just wrong. We broke their government and caused destruction that we must fix. Anything else would be irrsponsible and wrong.)

He wants make us energy independent with tire inflation, solar, and wind, and thinks we should be happy with $5.00/gal. Gas… He wants no nuclear, no new oil drilling or refining, no new coal (clean or otherwise).

He considers Iran, North Korea, and Venezuela small and unthreatening countries and  believes he can negotiate peace with terrorists and murderers who hate us.

Yup, That’s the guy I want to vote for…NOT!

All the above and much more have come directly from Mr. Obama’s mouth and/or his history. It takes very little research to find out.

The list really goes on and on. But we have all heard the rhetoric from both sides so much we are sick of it. One great thing about election day is that we get a short somewhat of a break from the incessant politicking and polling. However it comes out, we as Christians and Americans will go to and survive until we can thrive. Remember, the Bible is clear that we, as Christians, are to respect those in authority over us and honor our leaders. If our candidates do not get elected, we still will respect the new leaders, while adamantly exercising our right of free speech to disagree with them.
Dave

Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%? We have all been in situations where someone wants you to GIVE OVER 100%. How about ACHIEVING 101%? What equals 100% in life?

Here’s a little mathematical formula that might help answer these questions:

If: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Is represented as:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.

If:

H-A-R-D-W-O-R-K

8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%

And:

K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E

11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%

But:

A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E

1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%

THEN, look how far the love of God will take you:

L-O-V-E-O-F-G-O-D

12+15+22+5+15+6+7+15+4 = 101%

Therefore, one can conclude with mathematical certainty that:

While Hard Work and Knowledge will get you close, and Attitude will get you there, It’s the Love of God that will put you over the top!

A Christian is a follower of Jesus Christ. A Christian has a growing relationship with Jesus Christ, tries to obey Him in all things, and draws on His strength to help with problems.

God made us for Himself and our souls are restless until they find rest in Him. Only God can fill the void in your life. The answer to your search is accepting Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of your life. To become a Christian, you need to know these basic facts from the Bible:

1. God loves you. Because of God’s love for all persons, He desires that you have unbroken fellowship with Him.
   (John 3:16; Ephesians 2:4-5)
2. You are a sinner. All persons are sinners in that they disobey God. Sin is choosing to go your own way and do your own thing as opposed to being obedient to God.
   (Isaiah 53:6; Romans 3:10)
3. Sin separates you from God. Sin forms a barrier that prevents you from entering into unbroken fellowship with God, Who is holy. As an unholy sinner, you cannot have fellowship with God. You are headed for a Christless eternity that the Bible calls hell.
   (Isaiah 59:2; Romans 3:23)
4. You can’t save yourself. People often think that through their efforts they can overcome the sin barrier between themselves and God. That isn’t true. There’s nothing you can do to restore the broken relationship with God. You can’t earn God’s salvation.
   (Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5; Romans 4:4-5)
5. God sent His Son Jesus to remove the sin barrier. The death on the cross of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, removed the sin barrier between you and God, Jesus died for your sins, taking your punishment on Himself. God did for you in Jesus Christ what you couldn’t do for yourself.
   (1 Peter 2:24; Romans 5:8; 2 Corinthians 5:21)
6. You can receive Jesus Christ through faith. Faith is trusting in what Jesus has done for you rather than trusting your own efforts to restore fellowship with God. Faith is complete reliance on Christ to put you in right relationship with God, allowing Him to live His life through you. Faith also involves repentance or genuine sorrow for sin and willingness to turn away from sin.
   (John 14:6; Acts 16:31; Romans 10:9-10)
7. Through prayer you can trust in Jesus Christ. Admit to God that you are a sinner. Express sorrow or repentance for your sinfulness. Ask Him to forgive your sins. Invite Jesus into your life as Savior and Lord. Thank Him for entering your life. Commit yourself to live for Him.

Accepting Christ is the beginning. After accepting Him, be obedient by following Christ in baptism and by uniting with a church. Talk with another Christian about your decision for Christ.

In today’s world where homes are being repossessed at a high speed of rate is there any wonder that more then ever we need to lay our concerns at God’s feet,the following verses help me, maybe it will help someone else: reading Matthew 6:25 thru 6:34 (NIV):
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink:or about your body, what will you wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air: they do not sow or reap or store away in barns. and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow.  They do no labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like of these.  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you. O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, &quot;What shall we eat?&quot; or&quot;What shall we drink?’ or &quot;What shall we wear?&quot; For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But you seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.