Psalm 3:2-3 Many are saying of me, "God will not deliver him." But you, LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high."
This morning, as I wiped the sleep from my eyes, I realized that another day was upon me. The lake was once again smooth as silk, not ripple except the occasional ripple from a fish jumping. The reflection from the sunrise was almost blinding as it filled my room with glows of orange. My thoughts began to wander to what it would be like to wake up with no hope, no belief in any one or any thing except yourself. Hopelessness, emptiness, and sadness would be the only way I could ever begin to describe how it might feel to wake up not believing in God. Although those who don't believe may deny this, I truthfully don't believe them. To have hope only in yourself, to have faith only in what you can do, to believe that whatever happens in your life is totally in your hands, seems dumb. Sorry if that offended anyone, but that's how I feel. God is my deliverer. No matter how hard my life is, God is my shield. No matter what anyone else thinks, God has delivered me from some of the toughest times in my life. Did He cause those tough times? No! Most of the time, I did. Did He allow them? Yes! I needed to grow and learn to rely on Him, no myself. If everything is fine and peaceful, then I will learn nothing. I once heard a very wise lady say the following, "I would rather believe in something and be wrong than believe in nothing and be wrong because eternity is a long time." You see to me belief is an intricate part of our human life. We believe that when the weather man says rain, it will rain. We believe that there is oxygen in the air that will keep us alive. We believe that when there is a red stop light, the other cars will stop. We believe it when a doctor says this medicine will heal us, it will. Why is it so easy to believe is these things and not to believe in God?
Oh maybe it's the Jesus thing that trips you up? Well here again we face a dilemma, do we believe or not? For me there is no debate. Jesus Christ was real and He is the Son of God who died for my sins. He died for me to have relationship, not a religion, not a certain denomination of religion, not a set of man made rules or rituals. Jesus Himself said that He did not come to judge or condemn, but to love. May of us know, believers as well as non believers, that it say that God so loved the world that He gave His Only Son. We see this verse plastered all over the place. Golf matches, ball games, foot ball games, soccer matches almost everywhere we go there someone holding a sign or wearing a T shirt that says John 3:16. Many of us believers have it memorized. Non believers don't really care but occasionally become curious enough to look it up. Jesus is love, God is love. People are afraid of love. Afraid to be hurt, afraid to be disappointed, afraid to commit to anything or anyone. We don't want to face judgement, we don't want to be condemned and feel guilty, we don't want to be told what to do or how to behave. If we don't believe than we don't have to worry about having to face the judgement. After all it's sometimes better to believe in nothing than face another disappointment, right? Some non believers, heck even some believers, picture God as this judge with a gavel. Sitting in the judges seat, God is ready to throw the book at us and throw in hell. Some picture God as this angry ogar, ready to point the finger and condemn us. People this is not God. Not the God I know and love.
John 3:17-18 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.
God does not want to condemn us, He wants to give us eternal life. He wants us to experience the love that only He can give us. Trust me you do not know real love until you fully embrace the love of God. God loves us so much, yes that means He loves you also, that He sent His only Son to die so that we could fully receive the love He had for us. It is only through Jesus Christ that we can receive this love. It is only through believing in Jesus that we can truly have a relationship with God. God wants to talk with us, walk with us, deliver us, shield us, love us and change us. Oh Oh! There's that word, change us. "I don't need changing! I am perfect just the way I am right now!" Really? honey let me tell you something, none of us are perfect. Our life is a mess and our hearts are a disaster. Look in the mirror and be honest, our life is not what we pretend it to be. Get real! We all need to change from the inside out ad the only one who can do that is God. He can only do that when we believe in His Son Jesus Christ. Sound scary? It is, but it has ben the most rewarding journey of my life. I cannot begin to explain the change in my life, my heart and the deep peace I feel because I am no longer in charge of my life.
Listen, Jesus did not die for us to have a religion. Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant, Methodist, Baptist, or any of the many other denominations around the world are meaningless, pointless and empty. The most important part we miss out on when we get involved with denominations is a personal relationship with God by believing in His Son. You see many religions say they believe that Jesus is the Son of God, but they never really verbalize it our loud. Oh it's contained in prayers they recite and repeat week after week but without verbally accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, they are missing out on a connection that is so deep and profound, that it boggles my mind. I have a connection with God that is mind blowing. Although I alway believed in Jesus Christ, it wasn't real or personal until I said a Salvation Prayer our loud. Believe or not, the choice is yours. Say it or not the choice is yours, but let me tell you there is a God who loves you more than you may ever comprehend. There is a God who wants to have a relationship with you. There is a deliverer who has a shield that will protect you fro the fiery darts of Satan, will you accept? If so, please private message me today so I can pray with you. I love you all!
May the love of Jesus Christ invade your heart, your soul, your mind and your strength. May the deliverer who died to set you free shield you from the fiery dart of the wicked one. May His peace invade your life today so that you will wake with hope and love tomorrow, in Jesus name I pray, amen!
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