Will You Choose God, Or The World?

So many of us consider ourselves to be “Good Christians” these days, but how many of us are really choosing God? Are we so caught up in the things that are best for us that we are missing the big picture? It is so easy in these times to forget what the Lord wants of us. I’m not necessarily speaking of things such as money, television, or other things of that nature, but focusing so much on ourselves and our own well-being that we neglect those who need us.

                “By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.”  Hebrews 11: 24-27

                Moses it would seem had anything that he could have ever needed in life. He had riches, status, and a great future that most anyone would take in a second. But Moses knew that he was a Hebrew and chose instead to deny the Pharaoh and suffer with his people. Because of his faithfulness, God used Moses to free His people from slavery.

                Hundreds of years later we see another example of such faithfulness. “And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers; Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, ‘Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.’ They immediately left their nets and followed Him.” Here were men who had lives going. They had a good job which in those days would have been considered stupid to just give up. But they were faithful. They didn’t take time to make sure their affairs were in order, or to go and get their things first. They right away dropped the nets they were using and followed Jesus.

                Today we see a similar situation going on in the world. There are hundreds of people out there who are suffering and in poverty. Not of physical things but of the gospel of Christ. We are all presented with many opportunities to help somebody who is lost by sharing the truth with them. I’m sure many of us are given the chance many times a day; however pass it up for one reason or another.  Every single person in this world who is a Christian is a missionary for Jesus and has the duty to share the message to the world.

                A good portion of the world is lost and in the dark, yet so many times we ignore these people and choose to focus on satisfying our own needs. We say we are doing well because we attend church every week or read our Bible and pray each day. These are good things to do, but how will we feel when we are in Heaven and find out somebody was not saved because we had the opportunity to share the message with them but chose not to.

                A great song by the Christian band “Adam’s Road” states, “Those who don’t love or follow God are your enemies. Show them love by telling them the truth so it can set them free.” We can choose to follow the example of Moses, Peter, and Andrew and share what we know, or we can choose not to. The choice is up to us. We will receive the rewards or we won’t. Let us all have the spirit of God come into our lives. Let’s all turn our lives completely over to Him. Jesus should come first above all else in our lives; above our possessions, our jobs, even our families. We need to be an example regardless of how everybody else acts or what they may say. Be that witness of Christ, help to save someone who is lost and doesn’t know the way to go. Be that light for them and don’t hide your light under a bush. And I know we will all receive such a grand reward we won’t know what to do with it.

Clean Blood

John 3:16   For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.


This is one of the most well known scriptures in the Bible. But how many of us really ponder what this means for us? God loved us so much, that He gave up His only Son. Ask yourselves, would you do the same? 


I first read this story a few years ago and have always remembered it and the message it put into my heart. Please take this time to truly reflect on how much your God really does love you as you place yourself in His situation.

Clean Blood

Imagine this ...

You're driving home from work next Monday after a long day. You tune in your radio. You hear a blurb about a little village in India where some villagers have died suddenly, strangely, of a flu that has never been seen before. It's not influenza, but three or four people are dead, and it's kind of interesting, and they are sending some doctors over there to investigate it. You don't think much about it, but coming home from church on Sunday you hear another radio spot. Only they say it's not three villagers, it's 30,000 villagers in the back hills of this particular area of India, and it's on TV that night. CNN runs a little blurb: people are heading there from the disease center in Atlanta because this disease strain has never been seen before.

By Monday morning when you get up, it's the lead story. It's not just India; it's Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, and before you know it, you're hearing this story everywhere, and they have now coined it as "the mystery flu." The President has made some comment that he and his family are praying and hoping that all will go well over there. But everyone is wondering, "How are we going to contain it?"

That's when the President of France makes an announcement that shocks Europe. He is closing their borders. No flights from India, Pakistan, or any of the countries where this thing has been seen. And that's why that night you are watching a little bit of CNN before going to bed. Your jaw hits your chest when a weeping woman is translated into English from a French news program. There's a man lying in a hospital in Paris, dying of the mystery flu. It has come to Europe.

Panic strikes. As best they can tell, after contracting the disease, you have it for a week before you even know it. Then you have four days of unbelievable symptoms. And then you die. Britain closes it's borders, but it's too late. South Hampton, Liverpool, North Hampton, and it's Tuesday morning when the President of the United States makes the following announcement: "Due to a national-security risk, all flights to and from Europe and Asia have been canceled. If your loved ones are overseas, I'm sorry. They cannot come back until we find a cure for this thing."

Within four days our nation has been plunged into an unbelievable fear. People are selling little masks for you face on the street corners while others are to afraid to leave their own houses. And everybody is wondering, "What if it comes to this country?" And preachers on Tuesday are saying it's the scourge of God. It's Wednesday night, and you are at a church prayer meeting when somebody runs in from the parking lot and yells, "Turn on a radio, turn on a radio!" And while everyone in church listens to a little transistor radio with a microphone stuck up to it, the announcement is made. Two women are lying in a Long Island hospital, dying from the mystery flu. Within hours it seems, this disease envelops the country.

People are working around the clock, trying to find an antidote. Nothing is working. California, Oregon, Arizona, Florida, Massachusetts. It's as though it's just sweeping in from the borders.

And then all of a sudden the news comes out. The code has been broken. A cure can be found. A vaccine can be made. It's going to take the blood of somebody who hasn't been infected, and so, sure enough, all through the Midwest, through all those channels of emergency broadcasting, everyone is asked to do one simple thing: Go to your downtown hospital and have your blood analyzed. That's all we ask of you. When you hear the sirens go off in your neighborhood, please make your way quickly, quietly, and safely to the hospitals.

Sure enough, when you and your family get down there late on that Friday night, there is a long line, and they've got nurses and doctors coming out and pricking fingers and taking blood and putting labels on it. Your spouse and your kids are out there, and they take your blood and say, "Wait here in the parking lot, and if we call your name, you can be dismissed and go home." You stand around, scared, with your neighbors, wondering what on earth is going on, and if this is the end of the world.

Suddenly, a young man comes running out of the hospital screaming. He's yelling a name and waving a clipboard. What? He yells it again! And your son tugs on your jacket and says, "Daddy, that's me." Before you know it, they have grabbed your boy. "Wait a minute, hold on!" And they say, "It's okay, his blood is clean. His blood is pure. We want to make sure he doesn't have the disease. We think he has the right blood type."

Five tense minutes later, out come the doctors and nurses are crying and hugging one another - some are even laughing. It's the first time you have seen anybody laugh in a week, and an old doctor walks up to you and says, "Thank you, sir. Your son's blood is perfect. It's clean, it is pure, and we can make the vaccine."

As the word begins to spread all across that parking lot full of folks, people are screaming and praying and laughing and crying. But then the gray-haired doctor pulls you and your wife aside and says, "May we see you for a moment? We didn't realize that the donor would be a minor and we need... we need you to sign a consent form."

You begin to sign and then you see that the box for the number of pints of blood to be taken is empty. "H-h-h-how many pints?" And that is when the old doctor's smile fades, and he says, "We had no idea it would be a little child. We weren't prepared. We need it all!" "But... but... I don't understand. He's my only son!" "We are talking about the world here. Please sign. We... we... need to hurry!"

"But can't you give him a transfusion?" "If we had clean blood we would. Please, will you please sign?"

In numb silence you do. Then they say, "Would you like to have a moment with him before we begin?"

Could you walk back? Could you walk back to that room where he sits on a table saying, "Daddy? Mommy? What's going on?" Could you take his hands and say, "Son, your mommy and I love you, and we would never ever let anything happen to you that didn't just have to be! Do you understand that?" And when that old doctor comes back in and says, "I'm sorry, we've got to get started. People all over the world are dying," could you leave? Could you walk out while he is saying, "Dad? Mom? Dad? Why... why have you abandoned me?"

And then next week, when they have the ceremony to honor your son, and some folks sleep through it, and some folks don't even bother to come because they have better things to do, and some folks come with a pretentious smile and just pretend to care, would you want to jump up and shout, "MY SON DIED FOR YOU! DON'T YOU CARE? DOES IT MEAN NOTHING TO YOU?"

I wonder, is this what God is saying to us? "MY SON DIED FOR YOU. DOES IT MEAN NOTHING? DON'T YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I CARE?"

Father, seeing it through your eyes breaks our hearts. Maybe now we may begin to comprehend the great love that you have for us, amen.

 Author Anonymous 

Happy New Year's!

What a wonderful week this last one has been! So many feelings and emotions come from taking the time to ponder upon and reflect on the last week of the Savior’s life. What was He feeling during these times? How did He spend His time when He wasn’t teaching or performing miracles? This last Sunday we recognized Palm Sunday where Jesus made his triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Yesterday, Good Friday, we had the opportunity to remember that He was placed on the cross and killed for each and everyone of us. Now tomorrow we get to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. How important this is for all of us to truly ponder. How important this is for each of us to remember not just on Easter Sunday, but every Sunday…every DAY…..Every minute of our lives! 


This last week my wife and I were pondering why the ending of Jesus’ life had to happen the way it did. After all, God is all powerful and if it were His will, I have no doubt it could have just been done by His word. But was a great and wonderful act of symbolism He gave to us. What a perfect time of year that this happened during. When winter is melting away and the Earth is going through a re-birth. Trees and plants are coming back to life. Baby birds and other animals are born. When Christ died and was resurrected it was a new life for humanity as we know it. Because of this act, sin and death had now been beaten. We were now free from Satin’s grasp. We now had new life.


Each year on January 1st we celebrate New Years. It is a time were people start over and make resolutions for the upcoming year to better themselves and others. Whether it is to loose weight or to spend more time with family, people take these goals seriously and try there best to accomplish them. As Christians, we have our very own version of New Years. As Easter comes each year, we should take the opportunity to commit to a new life in Christ. Look deep into your own life, and pick out some of those things that you struggle with, cause we all have them. Make some “New Years Resolutions” for those things you would like to accomplish. Make a goal to read the entire Bible this year. If you read only 3.3 chapters each day, you will finish the entire bible in one year. Take this time to be re-born again. Romans 8:11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. 


Once a month all of the men in the Christian community here in the Bridger Valley get together on a Saturday morning for a Men’s Breakfast. It is a time for fellowship, sharing, and learning between all of us. This morning the conversation rotated around becoming one with God and having a TRUE relationship with Him. One man said that his goal was to follow 1 Corinthians 10:31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Whether we are in church, at work, or with our families at home, we need to take EVERY SINGLE action we do and ask ourselves, “Am I doing this for the glory of God?” He should be first and foremost above everything else. 


As Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday there were crowds of people shouting “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! The King of Israel!” How sad to see that five days later these same voices were now shouting, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” We are so quick to look down on those who betrayed Jesus in the last days of His life, but in all reality, how many of us betray Him each and every day. Whether it is to look popular, or satisfy worldly needs, or to gain profit for ourselves. Not that we may deny Him, but when we put ANYTHING before Him, we are betraying Him. Matthew 10:37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. If the Lord is not #1 in our lives then we have no hope. All we do should be to lift Him up and praise Him in all things. Please take the time to watch this video and think about how much Jesus loves you! Remember Him always and He will always remember you. Galatians 5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Isn't There An Easier Way?

It has now been so long since I have sat down and taken the time to post anything on this blog now. I apologize for this to everybody who enjoys reading them. It can be such a mystery of life how things can suddenly turn bad for no apparent reason. In the last month or so we have had many sudden, unexpected, and most of all unwanted surprises come at us all at once that we have had to deal with. But as He always does, He provides us a very great and profitable lesson in each of our trials. A little while ago, all at about the same time, I lost my job, we had to sell our house and move, and almost ran completely out of all money before things started to get better. It was really as if the Lord waited until the very last moment before he decided to step in and help us with the problem. It reminded me of the story of  Job. He went through more than most anyone could imagine. He remained faithful with the Lord, but still God will sometimes test us to the very breaking point and then answer our prayers. I also was reminded again that while God will always answer our prayers, it is not always in the way we are expecting or wanting. Maybe the Lord didn’t want us in that house. Maybe we needed to be here for a greater reason that we don’t understand. 


So my question to pose tonight is this, “Why does God allow life to become so difficult for us?” There are so many people who have done nothing wrong but the Lord puts us in these situations that can just make us ask, “Why? I am strong in the Lord, I have my faults as does everybody but I try my best. So why do I need to go through this? Why do I need to prove myself in this way?”

I am sure that each of you have felt this way at some point in your lives. For me the clear answer didn’t come fully until after the fact. But there were so many different ways we were taken care of despite all that was going on. If this would have happened any time other than when we received our tax returns, we would not have been able to get into another place. The truth is that the Lord is always with us and watching over us even when it may seem that He has abandoned us. He wont let us fall completely. 


Hear is another thing to keep in mind when you go through these things. God knows our hearts, our thoughts, our intentions, and everything else. He knows how faithful we are. And because of this there is no need for Him to test us……..for Him. HE IS TESTING US FOR US! This is not to prove anything to Him. He knows what’s going to happen. This is to prove to ourselves our devotion to Him. Yes, sometimes it is hard, sometimes it may seem that the world has fallen out of place and all is hopeless, sometimes we are asking, isn‘t there an easier way? But the truth is that life is hard. This is our time to be tested, to come to know Him, so that we may return one day to live with God. 


If Jesus Christ can come in the night, fall to the ground, sweat drops of blood, and shout out, “Abba, Father (Daddy in a sense), if there is anyway this cup can pass, then let it pass”, then surely we are allowed, we are invited, we have the opportunity and duty to spend a few minutes on the cross. A little time in Gethsemane. Now don’t misunderstand me, I’m in no way saying that we need to go through anything like what Jesus did, but hopefully you understand my point. 


Friends, the next time your life gets difficult, and you find yourself wondering if there isn’t another way?…..You remember that you are not the first person to ask that! Somebody a lot greater….and a lot grander asked that question on that night so long ago. “Isn‘t there an easier way?”


The next time you feel like God has abandoned you because things get hard and your prayers aren’t being answered in the time frame or way you want them to be, remember that Jesus Himself, while hanging on the cross, shouted, “Father, why have you forsaken me?”





Jesus has gone through every sorrow, every bad day, every worried feeling that any of us have been through or EVER WILL GO THROUGH. He knows how we feel, He understands it. He will NEVER abandon us. He knows what is best for us and will guide our lives in the best way there is. We may not understand it at the time. We may never understand it throughout the rest of our lives. But we can rest in the fact that He is taking care of it. Psalms 139: 1-6 says, “O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold. O Lord, You know it altogether. You have hedged me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it.”


Proverbs 3:5 ,”Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”


God is good, God is great! God knows us, and is an expert on what we need and when we need it. He is taking care of things for us. It is our job to trust that He knows what He is doing. To sit back and say, “Lord you are great in all things and You know what is right for me. I am turning my life over to you and trust in what you decided for me.”


I promise you we will all face many more troubles in the coming days and it is my greatest hope that we can just put it in the Lord’s hands and know He is God.

Pride: Our Own Worst Enemy!

Here we are in a vicious battle with our greatest enemy of all time. He is crafty and knows each and every one of our weaknesses. He has millions of resources to use against us and his armies are huge. His war against us appears to be in his favor in every way. However, we have one weapon at our disposal which will conquer this enemy in every case. Yet most of us rarely use it. Most of us have the attitude that we can handle the situation on our own, that we are more than capable. How foolish are we?!?! How many going into a war wouldn’t take an M-4 or some sort of weapon? The military has a creed they recite concerning their weapon. This creed states:

“This is my rifle. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My rifle is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. My rifle, without me, is useless. Without my rifle, I am useless. I must fire my rifle true. I must shoot straighter than my enemy who is trying to kill me. I must shoot him before he shoots me. I will”......”Before God, I swear this creed. My rifle and myself are the defenders of my country. We are the masters of our enemy. We are the saviors of my life. So be it, until victory is America's and there is no enemy, but peace! Amen”

Now suppose for a minute that a soldier didn’t think this was important. Imagine if he believed his rifle was only a tool that would be nice but not necessary. Because sometimes when we get onto the front lines and have left our weapon back at base, it may be to late to go back for it. What I want to talk about today with all of this is PRIDE.

Proverbs 16:5 “Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured, he will not go unpunished.” Be assured that the pride we hold in our own lives is the greatest weapon against us. Satan knows that this is his biggest resource. If he can only get us to believe that we don’t need God in our lives then he has us for sure. Why does he know this? Because Satan fell to this great evil himself. Satan was not always evil, but was made up to perfection. I feel this is one of the greatest examples of pride we have to learn from.

Ezekiel 28: 12-19: “You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: carnelian, chrysolite and emerald, topaz, onyx and jasper, lapis lazuli, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared. You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings. By your many sins and dishonest trade you have desecrated your sanctuaries. So I made a fire come out from you, and it consumed you, and I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were watching. All the nations who knew you are appalled at you; you have come to a horrible end and will be no more.” 

Satan had everything going for him. But he began to think that he was greater than he was. He believed he could do it all by himself. As a result of his foolish thinking, he was cast into the ground and made into the worst of everything. He became evil in every sense of the word. All because he because prideful and thought he didn't need God or anyone else. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Galatians 6:3

But here we are in today’s world and we are making the same mistakes. Maybe not on quite a grand scale but we are being prideful nonetheless. I remember my father always telling me the story of the man nailing shingles onto his roof when he suddenly slipped and started falling down the roof. As he was falling he prayed to God saying, “Please Lord, if only you’ll stretch forth your hand and save me I will be a better Christian. I will stop smoking and cheating on my wife. I will go to church each week, just please save me.” At the very last second before falling off the roof, his pant leg caught on a nail stopping him. He then stood up and looking toward the sky said, “Never mind God, this nail saved me.”

How many of us in our own lives are lacking at asking the Lord for help with the things we need? Are we really foolish enough to think that we don’t need His help? We truly are fools if we do. I’m sure each and every one of you have found, just as I have, that when we stop trusting in the Lord and asking for His help, we suddenly find our lives spinning out of control. It is during the times when we think we don’t need the Lord, that He takes away the blessings and shows us how much we really DO need Him.

Remember, everything that you have in this world came from God. You haven’t earned anything in your life without God’s helping hand. Without the Lord, we are nothing! Lower than dirt of the Earth. He is Supreme in all. Don’t get proud in your own lives. Acknowledge the Lord for EVERYTHING you receive. He has given us everything we need for our lives to make us happy, and to prosper, and return to Him. And the ONLY thing He asks of us in return is to remember Him and give Him the praise. How hard of a task is that for us. Work on it this week. Because I know that each of us need to. We are all lacking to some degree in our pride. I was given this idea when I was a child and I’m challenging each of you to do this in your own lives. Each and every day set aside a little bit of time for a “Gratitude Prayer”. This is one prayer where you don’t ask God for one thing. All you do in this prayer is thank Him for all He has given you. Give Him the praise and glory for all that He is and all that He does for you! May God continue to bless you all in your lives and all praise we give to Him, for He is supreme, grand, and all wonderful!

"Letters To God"

The other night my wife and I got onto Netflix to find a good movie to watch. While scrolling down the list we came across the movie “Letters To God”. I vaguely recall once hearing about this movie and we decided that although it would probably make us both cry, we’d give it a shot. 





This is probably one of the best movies I have ever seen. And yes, we both cried. I will recommend it to anybody wishing to see a great spiritual movie. For those of you who have not seen it, the movie is about an eight year old boy named Tyler who has cancer in his brain. Throughout the movie this boy stays faithful by writing letters to God and sending them in the mail. Through his faith and devotion, many others in the movie start to come to know God in their own lives by writing letters to Him as well. By the time the end of the movie comes, it is amazing to see how many lives this child has touched by his letters to God.


At first this doesn’t seem like much to everybody. They think it is cute and his own way of staying strong. As the movie progresses, however, they discover it is much more. This young boy has a TRUE relationship with God. The kind of personal relationship we all should strive for. This is Tyler’s way of praying. So many of us get caught up in our own lives that by the end of the day when we are tired and ready for bed, our prayers become less meaningful. Just one more thing to add to the “Before bed” list along with putting on our pajamas and brushing our teeth. 


How wonderful would it be if all of us could learn to have that true relationship with our Father in Heaven? The kind of relationship Jesus had and taught us we need to have.  The grandmother in the movie says at one point, “Prayer is just telling God what‘s in your heart and asking Him to help you with it.” 


The key point that we need to remember from this is that He is not just God….He is OUR Father in Heaven. Think about a child who lives with his family in California moving to college in New York. He wouldn't have the opportunity to visit his father that often but his father would still love to hear from him on a regular basis. Do you think that our Heavenly Father, with all of His infinite love for us, wouldn’t want to hear from us on a regular basis as well. Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”


God hears and answers our prayers. It is always through His will and not ours but they ARE answered if we believe in Him. 


In addition to just focusing on ourselves, we are at the same time being an example to others. When we are close to God it shows on our continence for all to see. They become inspired by what they see in us. Tyler just wrote letters to God in this movie, yet his example cause so many others to come to know God a little closer as well and their prayers were answered too. 


I would encourage each and every one of you to go and watch “Letters to God” if you haven’t already. It is a wonderful movie with such a great message for each of us. Let’s all do better with our relationships with God. Always have a pray in your heart. Talk with your Father. Tell Him about your day, your goals, your worries, and your sorrows. Ask Him for help with anything you need. HE WANTS TO HEAR FROM YOU. May God bless each of you in your own lives forever!

Just A Really Good Video To Keep Us Thinking Of Christ Throughout The Week.

This is just a quick message for all of you this Monday evening. I found this video yesterday and wanted to share it with all of you. As you go throughout the week, keep your thoughts focused on Christ. Think about how Jesus suffered so much for you of His own free will. There was not a force on Earth that could have kept Him on that cross. The only thing that kept Him up on it was LOVE. His love for each and every one of us! Praise be to Him! Thank you Jesus!!

Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff......And It’s All Small Stuff!

This past week was a pretty rough one for me. It seemed as the week went on, problems seemed to come at me over and over again. I was extremely stressed out with how things were going and had a hard time keeping in a good mood. I felt depressed and nothing seemed to bring me out of it. I prayed to God, read my Bible and for the most part, even worked a lot of these things out. But I still wasn't really happy. Finally, one day at work, I walked to a place where I was alone and knelt down in prayer again. This time, however, I wasn't praying to have all my issues resolved. I simply told God that I was not worrying about these things anymore and was trusting in Him. Almost immediately my spirit was lifted and I went back to being my normal, happy self.

God wants us to be happy, and will do everything in His power to help us. But we need to remember is we are not meant to focus on “worldly things”. We are only meant to live our lives to the fullest and praise God in all things. When you consider what this life is all about and what our purpose here is, why do we let little things matter? Who cares if a certain person doesn’t really care about you? Who cares if you miss a payment on your car or house?


Now don’t get me wrong, I am in no way saying that we shouldn’t bother taking care of things in our lives. If we stop paying for our house, we loose it and don’t have a place to live. We need to take do what we have to to survive. But we shouldn’t worry so much that we forget about the more important things. Matthew 6: 25-26 says, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body; what you will put on. Is not life more than feed and the body more than clothing? 26. Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”


When we put the Lord 1st and put everything else 2nd, He will take care of us. He may not do this in the way we would like but we can be assured that no matter what happens, it will be for the best. God won’t lead us astray. Sometimes it can be extremely hard to trust in the Lord. Our ways and His ways are not always the same. But God knows us better than we do and knows what is best. 


A couple of years ago I couldn’t find any employment. I searched and searched and eventually had to take a job at a local hardware store making minimum wage. I was upset and frustrated about how life was going. I never thought that God had a plan for me and He does everything for a purpose. It was after two months of working there that a new girl started in the same department. This girl is now my beautiful wife. Had I not taken that job, I might not have met her. God had a plan for me and I didn't trust in Him to take care of me. I am so thankful now for what He does. I may not understand it but I know it will always work out.

We can all be much happier if we stop focusing on the conditions of our lives and start focusing on the good that is in our life. My father all of my life would say, “Don’t sweat the small stuff....and it’s all small stuff.” Trust in the Lord, praise Him in everything. He will take care of you if you only trust in Him with all your heart. Amen.

God's Love For Us

So this has been an amazing week for me. I have felt the Holy Spirit so strongly in my life each day. Today I would like to share with you some thoughts I have about our Heavenly Father. The more that I have studied about Him, the more marveled I become. So many times we focus more on Christ and all that He did for us. Jesus came down from the Kingdom of Heaven and die for each and every one of us. To think that He would love us so much He not only did this, but did so voluntarily. But what about His and our Father? How hard must it have been for Him to give up His only Son?

I am not currently a father, but I have a dad who loves me more than life. I know he does because I can feel it each and every time I talk to him. Every time we share a moment of bonding. I can’t imagine how hard it must be for a father to loose his son. How can we even attempt to comprehend how hard this must have been for our Father to give His Only Begotten Son?

John 3: 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 

God knew from the beginning what was in store for His Son. He knew the pain and the suffering Jesus would go through. But He also understood that this had to happen so that each of us could be saved and return to Him. I heard this story a while ago and would like to share it with you now. This gives such a good illustration of God’s love. It is called “Clean Blood”.

The day is over, you are driving home. You tune in your radio. You hear a little blurb about a little village in India where some villagers have died suddenly, strangely, of a flu that has never been seen before. 

It's not influenza, but three or four fellows are dead, and it's kind of interesting. They're sending some doctors over there to investigate it. You don't think much about it, 

But on Sunday, coming home from church, you hear another radio spot. Only they say it's not three villagers, it's 30,000 villagers in the back hills of this particular area of India, and it's on TV that night. 

CNN runs a little blurb; people are heading there from the disease center in Atlanta because this disease strain has never been seen before. 

By Monday morning when you get up, it's the lead story. For it's not just India; it's Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, and before you know it, you're hearing this story everywhere, and they have coined it now as "the mystery flu." 

The President has made some comment that he and everyone are praying and hoping that all will go well over there. But everyone is wondering, "How are we going to contain it?" That's when the President of France makes an announcement that shocks Europe. He is closing their borders; no flights from India, Pakistan, or any of the countries where this thing has been seen. 

That night you are watching a little bit of CNN before going to bed. Your jaw hits your chest when a weeping woman is translated from a French news program into English: "There's a man lying in a hospital in Paris dying of the mystery flu. It has come to Europe." 

Panic strikes! As best they can tell, once you get it, you have it for a week, and you don't know it. Then you have four days of unbelievable symptoms. Then you die. 

Britain closes it's borders, but it's too late. South Hampton, Liverpool, North Hampton, are already affected. 

It's Tuesday morning when the President of the United States makes the following announcement:  "Due to a national security risk, all flights to and from Europe and Asia have been canceled. If your loved ones are overseas, I'm sorry. They cannot come back until we find a cure for this thing." 

Within four days the nation has been plunged into an unbelievable fear. People are selling little masks for your face. People are talking about what if it comes to this country, and preachers on Tuesday are saying, "It's the scourge of God." 

It's Wednesday night, and you are at a church prayer meeting when somebody runs in from the parking lot and says, "Turn on a radio, turn on a radio!" While the church listens to a little transistor radio with a microphone stuck up to it, the announcement is made, "Two women are lying in a Long Island hospital dying from the mystery flu." 

Within hours it seems, This thing just sweeps across the country. People are working around the clock trying to find an antidote. Nothing is working. California, Oregon, Arizona, Florida, Massachusetts. It's as though it's just sweeping in from the borders. 

Then, all of a sudden the news comes out. The code has been broken. A cure can be found. A vaccine can be made. It's going to take the blood of somebody who hasn't been infected, and so, sure enough, all through the Midwest, through all those channels of emergency broadcasting. 

Everyone is asked to do one simple thing: "Go to your downtown hospital and have your blood type taken. That's all we ask of you. When you hear the sirens go off in your neighborhood, please make your way quickly, quietly, and safely to the hospitals." Sure enough, when you and your family get down there late on that Friday night, there is a long line, 

They've got nurses and doctors coming out and pricking fingers and taking blood and putting labels on it. Your wife and your kids are out there, and they take your blood type and they say, "Wait here in the parking lot and if we call your name, you can be dismissed and go home." You stand around scared with your neighbors, wondering what in the world is going on, and wondering if this is the end of the world. 

Suddenly a young man comes running out of the hospital screaming. He's yelling a name and waving a clipboard. What? He yells it again! And your son tugs on your jacket and says, "Daddy, that's me."  Before you know it, they have grabbed your boy. "Wait a minute, hold it!" And they say, "It's okay, his blood is clean. His blood is pure. We want to make sure he doesn't have the disease. 

We think he has got the right type." Five tense minutes later, out come the doctors and nurses, crying and hugging one another and some are even laughing. It's the first time you have seen anybody laugh in a week. 

An old doctor walks up to you and says, "Thank you, sir. Your son's blood type is perfect. It's clean, it is pure, and we can make the vaccine." As the word begins to spread all across that parking lot full of folks, people are screaming and praying and laughing and crying. 

But then the gray-haired doctor pulls you and your wife aside and says, "May we see you for a moment? We didn't realize that the donor would be a minor, and we need you to sign a consent form." 

You begin to sign and then you see that the number of pints of blood to be taken is empty. "H-h-h-how many pints?" And that is when the old doctor's smile fades and he says, "We had no idea it would be a little child. We weren't prepared. We need it all!" "But, but..." "You don't understand. We are talking about the world here. Please sign. 

"But can't you give him a transfusion?" "If we had clean blood we would. Can you sign? Would you sign?" Ask this of yourselves. In numb silence you do. Then they say, "Would you like to have a moment with him before we begin?" 

Can you walk back? Can you walk back to that room where he sits on a table saying, "Daddy? Mommy? What's going on?" Can you take his hands and say, "Son, your mommy and I love you, and we would never ever let anything happen to you that didn't just have to be. Do you understand that?" 

And when that old doctor comes back in and says, "I'm sorry, we've-- we've got to get started. People all over the world are dying." Can you leave? Can you walk out while he is saying, "Dad? Mom? Dad? Why, why have you forsaken me?" 

And then next week, when they have the ceremony to honor your son, and some folks sleep through it, and some folks don't even come because they go to the lake, and some folks come with a pretentious smile and just pretend to care. 

Would you want to jump up and say, "MY SON DIED FOR YOU! DON'T YOU CARE?" 

Is that what God is saying? "MY SON DIED FOR YOU. DON'T YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I CARE?" 

"Father, seeing it from your eyes breaks our hearts. Maybe now we begin to comprehend the great love you have for us. Amen" 

- Author Anonymous 

This brings tears to my eyes no matter how many times I read it. God has so much love for each one of us. How can we sit there and not care about it? How can we put anything in the world before Him? How can we go throughout each day and not even take the time to talk to Him. To tell Him how grateful we are for what He did for us.

We truly have a Father in Heaven who loves us. He knew that as hard as it was to do, it was something that "Just had to be". He gave up His ONLY begotten Son for each and every on of you! And I can promise you this, if you were the only person to ever come to this Earth, our Father and Christ would each do the same thing. Even if it was just for you and nobody else. 

If you would like a great set of scriptures which speak of the love God has for us, I challenge you to read the book of Malachi. It is absolutly amazing! 

Malachi poses a question to us in this book. How can we take comfort in the love of God if we don't feel loved? What if circumstances seem to say that God is ignoring us, that He has abandoned us to our own pain, and that He is deliberately withholding from us what He could so easily grant? 

Malachi, a messenger to God's "chosen people," assures us that we are not the first to ask such questions. He gives us a chance to see why the love of God is one of the most misunderstood truths in the Bible.

           -Martin R. De Haan II-

God loves us! God wants us to be close to Him. Just as any earthly father of ours would. He wants us to talk to Him, to rely on Him, to trust in Him. It is my prayer and my challenge for each of us to come to know God just a little better in our lives. He has done so much for us so that we can return to be with Him, let's all take a little more effort of our own to return the favor!