Where's God

Have you ever had one of those days (weeks, months, years) where every thing falls apart, your friends bail on you, you feel like boy/girlfriend/spouse don't care, school/work is horrible, and your dog won't even come to you. I think we all have. At church this past Sunday we discussed this topic and two people in the bible who were ultimate examples of this.





In the book of Job, Job had it all. He was blessed. Then within minutes, he loses his workers, animals, and children. Can you imagine what he must have felt? I would have probably lost it. But Job didn't curse God, even when his friends and wife abandoned him, he kept on trusting in God. I'm sure he was wondering where God was in all of this.

• Job 1:20-22 (NIV)
  20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. [a] The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised."
  22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

WOW!!!!

Then there is Jesus. He came and lived a perfect life, a life without sin. I don't think I can make it a day without some kind of sin. Can you? Jesus was loved by most, except religious leaders (ironic huh?). Just one week before dying, they welcomed him with palm branches (Palm Sunday). By the end of that week most had turned on Him and with mob mentality, demanded He be crucified. Even his closets followers ran in fear. But even Christ, from His human perspective, felt abandoned by God at His last moments on the cross

• Acts 2:22-24 (NIV)
  22"Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men,[a] put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.

Maybe you feel like that way Job or Jesus did. Maybe it appears that everyone has turned their back on you or ditched you. No matter what has happened or will happen to you in this world, as a follower of Christ, God will always be there.

• Joshua 1:5 (NIV)
  5 No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.

Checkout this this song from 10th Avenue North: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J95rAr0gOFU

May God bless you this week and always. Steve

Pure as the Driven Snow?

Finally, we get a decent snow. It started while at church and snowed almost blizzard like. It was beautiful... Have you ever noticed how the snow makes everything pretty? Even the when my wife and I cleaned up our new bunny's corner of the room. We swept the mess up and threw it out in the snow. Within a few minutes it was covered over.

Kind of like our lives. We cleanup, bathe, put on nice clothes, fix our hair, some where makeup. All fixing up the outside while on the inside we are ugly from: hurts, abuse, bad decisions, lies, abandonment, revenge, hate, etc.

The good news is Christ works on us from the inside out:

• 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)
  17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

So, are you covered in snow on the outside, but on the inside your a mess? Jesus came to wash you whit as snow if you will invite him in:

• Luke 11:10 (New International Version)
  10For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

So open the door and ask Him in.

I pray that you regular time with God so that you can get to know Him better.

Steve

What's Your Story?

Ever been to a party or some social event and had to speak with people you didn't know? You try to find common group and talk about things familiar. Usually one of you will come up with a story about something interesting in your life, like who you've met, somewhere you've been, or maybe what you've done. What about what God has done for you?

• 1 Peter 3:15 (NIV)
  15But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,

Peter probably wrote this from prison because of his stance for Christ. This would have been a time when Christians were started being persecuted. So he telling people to risk imprisonment to tell what Christ has done for them...






What about you? What's you stroy? It doesn't have to be a story like: I was a drug dealer/murderer/devil worshiper, shot 99 times, crawled accross the desert, bitten by a rattlesnake, and 5 scorpians, and God spoke to me through a palm tree... Just tell people what God has done for you. You know, God does things in our lives every day, we just have to look....



Don't worry about what to say, God will help you with that and don't worry about what people think. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus puts it this way:

• Luke 9:26 (New International Version)
  26If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

Maybe you don't have a story yet. It's not to late to start with Jesus. He is waiting for you to have have a personal relationship with you. He has plans for your story to help someone that may be going through something similar, that only you would understand.

So what are you waiting for go out and tell your story.

Have a great week,

Steve

• Luke 9:26
  26If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.