Letters To God.

Silly Disclaimer: Yes, I know it's been a while, but I've decided to get back into the world of blogging.

Last night I watched a movie entitled "Letters To God". It was about a young boy battling a rare form of cancer and everyday he wrote a letter to God, and gave it to the postman.In these letters, he never once asked God why he was sick, or even to make him better. He just asked God to help those he cared about. [I won't mention anymore, I don't want to ruin the movie.] This got me thinking though, if I were to write a letter to God, what would I say? You want to know something, I had and still have no idea. I think most of my letters would be something like "Dear God, why is this happening?" or "Dear God, what do I do now?" or even, "Dear God, don't hate me, but I screwed up...again."

Someday, I want to be able to write a letter to God, and not have it be all about me and the mistakes I've made. Someday, I want to be able to write a letter that goes something like "Dear God, I took your advice, and my life is so much better because of it. Thank you, and I love you." I want to listen to God, more than I listen to myself. I want to be able to write a letter that makes God smile. 

If you were writing a letter to God, what would you say?

 2 Corinthians 3:3 - You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

Inspired.

To get this out of the way, I know that I haven't blogged in quite a number of months. I have no real excuse for not doing so, other than the fact that I got kind of lazy, and I didn't really think anyone read this. Anyway, with that said..Time to blog!

2 Corinthians 5:17 - "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, a new creation has come: the old is gone, the new is here!"

Today is a very special day for me, for two reasons. It's my Aunt Vicki's Birthday today, she passed away at the end of 2008, at the age of 35. Two years later, I was still having a hard time understanding just why she had to go so young [and I still wonder this]. I ended up hearing about a concert at a local church from one of my best friends, was a skeptic at first, but then I thought "I need a place to come to terms with the loss of my Aunt," and in my mind, no place made more sense to me then a church...so I went, and 1 year ago today, November 7th, 2010, I was saved. My life has really been forever changed since then. I'm forever thankful, and now blessed with an amazing church family.

Lately though, I've been really down on myself, and I sort of blocked out that I have God in my life for a while. Ironically enough, it took another concert [Third Day/Tenth Avenue North/Trevor Morgan] to show me that God is still here, just as He was before I even accepted Him into my life. That's what really inspired this blog today. Sometimes, we all need a little reminder...Today, I'm thanking God for continuing to show me You are there, just when I start to think You aren't. Thank you for saving me. I love you.

Never Alone

Deuteronomy 31:8 - The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.

Last night before bed, I was reading Traveling Light by Max Lucado. I got to the chapter about the burden of loneliness. This chapter talked about how we are never alone, and showed many examples where we are told this - the above verse is just one more example. It's said so many times in the Bible, He wants us to know that we are never alone. In Traveling Light, Max pointed out that sometimes when we are alone, we may do something because we are bored or have nothing else to do. When I read that, I thought, "yeah, Max is definitely right", he points out that maybe God wants us to do that very thing we wouldn't normally do for one reason or another.

When I think about it like that, I realize how far from true loneliness we really are. Next time you think you're alone, take that time to get even closer to God - I know I will, because He's there even when no one else is.


P.S. If you haven't read Traveling Light by Max Lucado - look into it, I think you might enjoy it.

He Is My Strength

Exodus 15:2 - The Lord is my strength and my defense; He has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise Him,my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.

Every now and then I think we all need a little reminder of why we're here, and who keeps us going everyday. For me, that is the Lord. My life has been pretty hectic lately, (honestly, who's hasn't?) but I sat back and realized all the wonderful things I've been blessed with recently. Amazing people have come into my life, my life has been more fulfilled than it has in a long time. What I'm trying to say is this -- to get to the good times, you need to get through the bad ones first. The only way you can get through bad times is with strength. The Lord will give you the strength to get through anything in life as long as you trust in Him. He will never fail you.

Take Delight in the Lord

Psalm 37:4-6 - Take delight in the Lord,and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,your vindication like the noonday sun.

This was one of the last things my Pastor said to close out last weekend's service. He said to us "take delight in the Lord." Up until that point, I didn't realize that I wasn't taking delight in Him. I have absolutely given my life to Christ, but I wasn't realizing that everything that has been happening in my life was His plan for me, not my plan for me. If we can all realize that if we take delight in the Lord, He'll give us the desires of our hearts..we may learn to be thankful for everything that happens in our lives - the good and the bad. Why? Because everything that happens is just more direction in the path He wants us to take in our lives!

Let's embrace the plan He has for each of us, let's take delight in the Lord.

Speak

"Speak, you have my attention. You have my attention, Lord."

I don't normally take the time to blog about a song, but this particular one really hit home for me today. I was having a tough time earlier this evening, and I said some things I wasn't proud of, just because someone hurt my feelings. After the anger passed, and the hurt set in, I realized something. I was angry at what happened, yes, but I was even more angry at the things I had said because of the content, and I was hurt because I know my actions let Him down.

I'm trying to move on with my life, but I realized tonight [better late than never] that I wasn't letting God lead the way. So here I am, via blog...saying speak, you have my attention. You have my attention, Lord. Show me what to do, show me where to go, without Your guidance, I'm lost.

To close this out, all I can say for anyone reading...He's always listening, He's always there when you need help [even when it takes us a while to realize we need help]. Wait for Him to show you the way, He should always have our attention.

Easter - Not All About Peeps!

I believe in God, the Father almighty,creator of heaven and earth.I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate,was crucified, died, and was buried;he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Let's not forget what Easter is all about. It's not all about the candy and the amazing food [although we do love all those things], it's really about the resurrection of Jesus. He was crucified, He died for our sins. We all need to remember that, not just on Easter, but we need to remember,and be thankful for that every single day. I, myself am guilty of forgetting this, especially recently. I've been going through a lot of emotional battles lately, and found myself questioning everything once again. Something triggered within me a few days ago, I realized Easter was approaching, and I remembered just what Easter was all about [No, I'm sorry - it's not Peeps!], and I said to myself "what am I doing? How could I be so miserable when someone so wonderful gave His life for me?" I needed that realization, and He knew that. So now, I'm asking anyone reading this to realize today and everyday here after, that He gave his life for us. I know I will be forever thankful.

Happy Easter Everyone!