Nothing is Impossible!!

This week has been a great week for me.... I'm not sure why but I am just excited to give you this rumination for the week!  I am continually reminded in my life DAILY that I have limits.  There are things that happen that are totally out of my control and I alone can't fix them.  Sometimes this fact overwhelms me and it sometimes even upsets me.  Being a person that likes to do things by myself and fix things it makes things difficult at times.  We are always faced with things that are to big for us to handle by ourselves.  I was reminded this during this last week.  I have a mind that can go crazy and dream up these amazing elaborate things that I want to do.  Desires and dreams that when spoken to people some would say THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE!  YOU CAN'T DO THAT!  YOU'LL NEVER MAKE IT!  IT WON'T HAPPEN! YOU ARE CRAZY FOR EVEN THINKING THAT!  COME BACK TO EARTH AND WAKE UP YOU WEIRDO!  People around us can have some of the most encouraging things to say to us when we come up with these magnificent dreams and desires! It has always been like this for me, some people standing behind me and supporting me and others shooting down my dreams because they don't see any possible way of attaining them!  One verse that I love to cling to and I was reminded of this week when i had a crazy dream and desire was Mark 10:27 "Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God.” I find it so cool that Jesus He spoke into this specific area of our lives.  He is revealing to us that there are things in our lives that we will face that it is impossible for us to do.  We can't do everything on our own, however there is a way that we can do ALL THINGS and that is with God.  He makes the impossible possible for us!  God is ready and willing to help us in any and all situation.  He wants us to dream big and step out with our complete faith in Him.  I have seen so many people thinking that situations are hopeless and that nothing more can be done and God pulls through for them.  It is a matter of just coming to Him with all of our needs and desires and dreams.  He wants us to be successful, and to be healthy and happy.  All we have to do is fully believe in God that nothing is impossible for Him.  He can move in each and every situation.  

I want to challenge you this week to dream with God!  A quote that I have in my living room says " You never know what God can do with what you have until you bring it to Him."  or "All you have is all God needs to do something Great."  He wants us to dream about doing great things, He wants to lead us into those great times and moments.  He has a plan and a destiny for each of us and it all involves us doing the thing that will bring us the absolute most joy and Him the greatest glory.  There isn't anything that will limit God.  Think about that, is there anything in your life that you want out of your life but you can't seem to figure out how to remove it?  Ask God, He'll help you!  Is there something that you desire to do but don't see how to do it?  ASK GOD and join Him in accomplishing that desire!  Dream big, and don't let anything stop you, because WITH GOD EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE!!

Trust in the Lord!

I bet many of you are expecting me to pull the whole Proverbs 3:5 verse out and expand on it today!  Well..... I thought about it but maybe next week!  :o)  Man I don't even know where to begin on this one.  There are so many things in our lives that are unpredictable.  The more we try and control what goes on in our lives it seems everything falls apart all the more.  Or is that just me?  I have found it pretty easy my entire life to not really worry to much about the uncontrollable, but let me tell you in the last few years I have discovered a greater place to put my trust.  I have always had faith in my life, so I have always had the security of God keeping me afloat!  However not always have I fully placed my trust in God.  I am discovering now more than ever how important it is.  When I realize that God has the master plan, He knows exactly what every situation that I am going through will turn out like.  When I come to Him and seek His guidance I am able to walk through even the most difficult times in peace and confidence in Him!  Jeremiah 17:7 says:  "Blessed is the person who trusts the LORD. The LORD will be his confidence." When I read this verse and let it penetrate into my heart and mind I am overwhelmed with complete relief of seeing what will happen when my trust is placed in the Lord.  This is a promise from the Lord to us, that we will be blessed when we put our trust in Him, and He will be our confidence.  Now what does that promise mean though?  What does it mean that the Lord will be our confidence?  Well to me I personally think of it like this.  That my complete trust is placed in the Lord, whether I am facing a financial crisis, a job situation, a conflict with another person, a health issue, or just going through a dark valley in life.  Despite our circumstances we are called to place our complete trust in the Lord.  He wants us to run to Him with every situation and circumstance that is to big for us, so He can come alongside us and be the loving God that He is.  So when I can come with whatever is weighing down my heart, and place my full trust in God believing that He will work out every single little detail to His glory, and what is best for me.  He has my best interest in mind, in the midst of our difficulties we do not ever see how going through a painful season is what is best for us but when we look back on those times, that is usually when we have a breakthrough with God, or grow even stronger in our relationship with Him and our faith increases.  So by placing our Trust in God, taking it step by step and fully believing in who He is we can boldly walk in confidence no matter what our situation may be, because we know without a doubt that God is working.  We can rest in Him and put our mind at ease and be confident in our trustworthy Lord to lead and guide us.  

 I remember this summer when we were in Guatemala there was a 25 foot waterfall our group was all jumping from then a larger 35 foot one.  I am not one that really gets kicks out of jumping from high places, it just kinda scares me.  However it looked like so much fun and it was really hot and I just walked right out on the larger of the 2 jumping place and jumped off the 35 foot fall!  It was great, it wasn't so bad at all!  As you can see in the pic below there is proof that I did it!! However I know for a fact that if I had never been with a group of people, and saw others doing it I wouldn't have done it at all!  I got confidence from others around me and seeing that they were ok when they did it.  Seeing someone do a dive off this was kind of the last confidence builder that I needed to get me to jump.   When we put our trust in God, He goes with us and surrounds us with words, people, and things that will continue to build our confidence and give us the strength to do the scary things, the tough things, and what sometimes seems like the impossible things.  We can endure any situation with our confidence being the Lord!

This week I want to encourage you to come to God, give Him that area in your life that is pressing down on you.  The area that is weighing you down and causing you to worry or stress.  He wants to work in your life and He is just waiting for you to release it and invite Him to work.  He longs to reveal His plan to you and lead you though your valley!  It is a promise He has given us that Blessed is the person who trusts the LORD. The LORD will be his confidence. We can face the day with confidence and strength because we are walking and trusting in the Lord!!   That is the key right there... to face the DAY, it is a day by day journey continually trusting in the Lord today.  Don't worry about yesterday or tomorrow just walk with the Lord today trusting completely in Him! 

The goodness of God

Sorry this didn't get posted last week.  I was off island on vacation in St. Thomas and then St. John!!  This time away really got me thinking and really opened my eyes up a bit.  Lately it seems like every thing I read or notice and talk about revolves around my life of holiness.  What I am expected to do, how I am to live my life not simply as a missionary but as a Christian.  Yes I admit being a missionary I know people look at my life and compare theirs to mine....Is that right? Who knows.  However as a Christian we are called to a higher standard of living.  God gives us direct commands on how to live and when we live those out we are pursuing God the way He intended us to do.  This verse has been really speaking to me for the last week and I just thought it was a great one to pass along!  But be sure to fear the Lord and serve Him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things He has done for you. 1 Sam. 12:24 What a great verse in my mind!  It seems to cover all areas of our life if you think of it!  We must be sure to FEAR the Lord... In a high reverence and respect kind of fear.  We aren't to shudder in fear when we think of the Lord but much like a child recognizes the difference between right and wrong and thinks through the consequences of doing wrong.  I know there has been times in my life that I chose not to do something because I didn't want to hurt my parents, or bring shame upon them.  I respected what they would say or think about my actions and that out weighed my desire to do whatever I wanted to do.  That is how we should fear God, we should care so much about what He thinks about us, that we don't want to hurt Him, disappoint Him, or represent Him in a wrong way.  We should honor Him with all we do and say.  By doing this we are able to serve Him faithfully; now we are all human and we all are tempted.  We can't live perfectly faithful lives all the time.  That is why Christ came!!  However we must do our best to faithfully serve Him, we must seek to please Him and follow His commandments to us!  With our whole heart we are to serve the Lord.  A cool picture I got on this is the fact that the heart pumps blood to our entire body, if the heart stops our life stops!  So if we can serve the Lord with our whole heart then our entire body will be serving the Lord.  Our thoughts, our actions, our words everything will be faithfully serving Him!  

Let me tell you this last part of this scripture is so awesome.  Many times I take for granted all the things God has done for me.  I know for a fact that I don't always even realize what He has done for me.  Taking time to think upon where I have come to over the years is incredible.  To think of His faithfulness, provision, grace, mercy, love, compassion, wisdom, comfort in my life blows me away!  It immediately takes me to a place of worship when I can come before Him and thank Him for all He has done.  I know for a fact that I would not be anywhere without Him working and moving in my life on a daily basis.  All I can do is thank Him that He got a hold of my heart and has been transforming me into the man I am becoming.

This week I just want you to take some time think upon where you are right now.  Think about all the bad things that you may have thought you'd never get through but know that those times helped mold and shape you into who you are today.  The fact that God is able to turn around all our bad situations for good is so amazing.  Think about the way God has been there for you.  Think about all the good He has done in your life and thank Him for it.  None of us could be where we are today without God moving in our lives.  He has blessed us all in such unique ways some obvious and some not so obvious but I just want you to spend some time to think about His goodness in your life and make adjustments today to live more faithfully to Him!