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.

Relationship Woe?

Have you ever wanted to be friends or date someone who wanted you to be a certain way, look a certain way, talk a certain way, etc. Basically be somebody you're not. No matter what you did, or even how you did it, you would eventually fall short.



This past week we were studying Mathew 23 on the seven woes. Basically Jesus is blasting the Pharisees because they are so focused on the religion, that they have removed the relationship. They took God's Law (10 Commandments) and twisted it by adding so many rules and stipulations that it was impossible to follow. The Pharisees also wanted everybody to know how holy they were by making sure people noticed their prayers, giving, and religous rituals making then the biggest hypocrites of their time.

Yes, we have rules or commandments that we should follow, but Christ became a human in order to have a personal realationship with you. He doesn't care what you look like, what you have, what you've done, or where you've been. He does however love you too much to leave you there. He wanted to have a relationship so bad with you that He defeated death for you.

• Romans 8:1-4 (NIV)
  1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,[a] 2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 3For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature,[b] God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.[c] And so he condemned sin in sinful man,[d] 4in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

So do you have have a personal relationship with Christ? Have you had that relationship with Him, but have fallen away from Him? Maybe you're tired of bad relationships and running away from God. He's with you:

• Matthew 11:29-30 (NIV)
  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

• John 5:24 (NIV)
  24"I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.

If you are not sure, have questions, or maybe you've made a decision, please let me know: steve@soulrestored.org

May God Bless You,
Steve

Did you hear what Steve did?

Did you hear what Steve did? He did this with that person and that person is dating a different person. Can you believe that He would even talk with her after he did what he did. Let's text this around and tell everyone what he did...




Has that ever happened to you? For most of us, it has. Whether true or not, people have talked about us or we have been talked about them. With technology you can ruin someone literally seconds. Back in the day it took a day or two to get the word out there. In our youth group Sunday morning we talked about gossip and the immediate and long term effects of it. We also talked about what we can do to stop it.

Webster Dictionary defines gossip as: a person who habitually reveals personal or sensational facts about others2 a: rumor or report of an intimate nature b: a chatty talk c: the subject matter of gossip

Why do people do that? Envy, revenge, hate, jealousy, greed, etc. Basically it is for selfish reasons. In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul gives us a better way to respond to gossip:

• Ephesians 4:29 (NIV) 29Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

We have a choice when gossip comes our way or when tempted to gossip. Maybe we need to examine our heart.

• Luke 6:45The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.

My challange to myself, and you, is to take the opportunity to build people up instead of gossiping. If you have an issue with someone, go to them instead of everyone else.

In His Service,

Steve

What is Love?

For Valentine's I decided to do something different for my wife. Instead of the typical flowers and candy I choose to buy the movie "Fireproof" and "The Love Dare" 40 day devotional. For those who have not seen the movie, it's a great movie.

In the movie the husband just doesn't get what love is. His focus is himself. The more I thought about it, most of us don't. So what is true love? If you watch TV and movies, listen to music, etc you would think it was about power, revenge, sex, everyway but the right way.

God gives us a pretty clear picture of love.

• Matthew 22:36-38 (NIV)
  36"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'[a] 38This is the first and greatest commandment.

If we would follow this one command, the world would be a much better place. Think about it? It's against our worldly nature because most of us are self-centered.

• John 15:12-13 (NIV)
  12My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

Do you care enough for someone enough to die for them? God did. He cared so much for us that He sent His son Jesus to do just that, even for those who hated Him. Maybe you would die for someone you really cared for, but what about someone who has hates you or you hate them?

• 1 Corinthians 13 (NIV)
  Love 1If I speak in the tongues[a] of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,[b] but have not love, I gain nothing.
  4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
  8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
  13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

When you think about the person whom you love can you match the way you feel to these verses? When God led me to the person I was to marry, I based our relationship on these principles to make sure it was right. Before that, I could not say that I did. It's hard not to trust someone when you have been hurt or even abused. It's also hard not to be jealous of someone flirting with your boy/girlfriend or spouse.

Take some time to go through these verses and see if this is how you feel about others.

In His Service,

Stephen Linhart

Lighten Your Load

Have you ever been on a hike with a heavy pack and the further you went the heavier it got. Our lives are like that. We carry around all kinds of weight from our lives. We care the bad things we've done, quilt, abuse, lies, etc. The Bible calls this sin a burden.

Matthew 11:29-30 (NIV)
29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

• Check out the video "Lighten your Load"

Jesus want to have a personal relationship with you and He loved you so much that He died for you to be able to have that relationship.

In Christ, Steve Linhart