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!