Recognize.....!

As I sit here thinking upon the Lord and His presence I am overwhelmed with the fact that there is absolutely nowhere that I can go to get away from Him.  I often forget to remember that when I am being tempted and walking into sin.  However even in those moments when I don't acknowledge that God is still with me doesn't mean He has left me.  It is easy for me to recognize God all around me when I walk around outside and see the beauty of the ocean, the amazing mountains early in the morning with dew on the trees and the sun filled sky!  There are colors that absolutely breathtaking and I can't help but stand there in awe of God.  However I do find it difficult to pick those things out when I've had a bad day, or a fight with a friend or a loved one.  Again it doesn't change the fact that they are there, I am just choosing to ignore the splendor of them because I am stuck on myself and not interested in seeing anything else but myself.  Psalm 139:7 "I can never escape from your Spirit!  I can never get away from your presence!"  This is a great reminder to me today.  David goes on to describe all the possible places that he can think of to go and still there God is waiting for Him.  What a great revelation!  If only I could take this section of scripture and really truly live it out.  My life would be so much better for sure!  There are certain people in my life that when I am with them I just enjoy things so much more.  This is how I want my life with God to be ALWAYS, sure I have my moments where I'm positive that I am in the presence of God, and I feel it and it just makes me feel so much better.  Recognizing the presence of God is something that I am not always actively doing, I get caught up in my own things and forget.  It is a work in progress for sure, the more we begin to recognize him deliberately the more naturally it will come to us.  It is just like anything we have to teach ourselves how to do it and then after continually doing it we learn and finally can do it without much thought.  I had an awesome example today as I watched a mom teach her child how to ride a bike.  I kept observing the mother pushing the child and holding onto the back of the seat to stabilize the bike and allow the child to keep balance.  However there came a point where in order to truly teach the child she had to let go.  She had to build his confidence up and then slowly remove her hand.  It took a few attempts but in a matter of minutes the child was riding the bike with the mom simply standing there smiling and cheering the child on.  I know for a fact that this child will be practicing this new found "talent" and before long he won't even remember the feeling of not being able to ride because it is just so simple!  This is what we must do in our lives with God.  Teach ourselves to recognize His presence, acknowledge Him in all we do and simply appreciate the fact that He truly doesn't ever leave us.  When we are faced with temptation all we have to do is turn to Him, and remember He is right there with us waiting for us to call upon Him.  

This week I want to challenge you to take some time each day and just reflect upon God.  Go for a short walk and take in the colors of the turning seasons.  Feel the breeze upon your face and take a deep breath of that fresh air, and then think about how God designed you.  The ability to see, breath, feel, think, taste, hear, all our senses are designed by Him for our pleasure.  We are truly wonderfully made, read all of Psalm 139 and meditate upon it as you become more and more aware of His presence in your life.  There is absolutely nowhere you can turn to flee from Him.  What a great comfort that is for us to know we are never alone and we always have God to share in the beautiful moments of life and in the struggles.  Be aware, recognize, and acknowledge Him in all things!

What's your gift?!

As I'm sitting here trying to collect my thoughts on what to write exactly I can't help but think about PEOPLE!  How unique we all are in our lives.  I mean we are all unique in so many ways, physically, mentally, emotionally in everything!  However different we all are we all have common desires and needs.  I know there have been times in my life where I haven't really felt "up to par" with those around me.  Feeling inadequate and of no use to the task at hand or people around me.  I'm sure everyone has had a few moments in their life like this.  For me it frequently occurred in school when teams were being picked for sports.  I wasn't ever one of the first ones picked.  Then it was with my grades, never did I feel I had the ability to get straight A's, I was happy if I could get C's!!  However there seemed to be other things that I could do without much thought, I could talk!  When I got older and began working in construction it seemed like whatever I needed to do I could do after a little explanation was given.  Painting quickly became a great job that I stuck with and got quite good at.  I didn't have to really think about it, I enjoyed it and I was great at it!  I was able to paint whole buildings and houses in a matter of a few weeks with little or no help from others because I could just rock and roll on it!  1 Peter 4:10 says "God has given each of you a gift from His great variety of spiritual gifts.  Use them well to serve one another." No matter what you may think, God has given you gifts and talents.  They may come in the form of anything from sports, to cooking, to the job you do, working with children, being hospitable, being generous, kind, joyful.  You could be a gifted writer, artist, scientist, teacher, gardener.  The list can literally go on forever!  This is a promise that we have from the Lord that He does gift us all in some way with the intention that we will bless others with it.  This verse is a great reminder to me.  That all that I am able to do, I am to use these gifts to serve others.  How do I go about serving others with my gifts?  Well first I need to discover and acknowledge my gifts.  Then I must decide how I can use those gifts to serve others.  It isn't that difficult, all I have to do is find out what I like to do, what I'm good at and then in turn bless others with that!  So many times in my life I have found myself focused more on the things I can't do then the things I can do.  I get so bugged down and upset that I'm not able to do this thing as well as other people.  However I know that there are things in me that I can do better than others.  It is a matter of identifying those and putting my time and energy into those areas of my life and serving others in it!  

I want to challenge you this week to take some time and make a list of the gifts God has given you.  Maybe you will need to take time to pray and dig a little deeper than you thought but I guarantee that you will find something and more than likely multiple things that you are gifted in.  Then I would encourage you to take that gift and serve others with it.  It can be just a small little something but the feeling you will get from blessing someone with something that comes so easily to you is incredible!  Someone may be so grateful and all you'd be thinking is WOW that wasn't really anything for me!  It will bring a smile to your face, other peoples faces, and most importantly the face of the Lord!  Go do some inventory of yourself and discover ways you can help and serve those around you this week!  May the Lord bless you all in your serving of one another!