OUT OF THE WILDERNESS

(WRITTEN 4/24/11)
Forty days ago we started the Lenten Season, a time of reflection on our relationship with God. As Christian, there should be a desire in us to mature in the faith and grow closer to God. I have found there is no consistent growing but more a stop-grow, stop-grow pattern to maturing in Christ. The Christian life is not a sprint race but a marathon where you must pace yourself to finish this life on earth well. In my forty days, I felt at some moments very close to God and then moments I could not feel God at all. When I feel God's presence I grow.

When I do not feel God's presence I grow also but in a different way. In the dry times of the wilderness, I had to cling ever tighter to my belief in God and His love and caring for me and in this, my faith grew stronger. In the times of being in the grace of God my resolve to serve and love Him grew and my desire to be in the study of the Holy Bible burned within me.

My point is I do not want Christians to think that they are going to be in a euphoric spiritual state of being constantly while on this fallen earth. This belief would lead one to think something is wrong with their faith the minute they felt a missing of the feeling of bliss. But you can help yourself be in the "spirit" more often by a few simple practices. These are time tested tried and true starting with daily prayer and taking time to read daily in the Holy Bible even if it is one verse to ponder. Then I have found fellowship with other believers is encouraging and strengthening. Hopefully, you are attending a strong Christ-centered church to worship Almighty God. There you have it, four simple practices to help you stay in the joy of the Lord.

1. Prayer
2 Reading the Holy Bible
3. Fellowship with other Saints
4. Worship in church.

May our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ walk with you in and out of the wilderness of life.

Comments

POISONING THE FRUITS OF THE HOLY BIBLE

The Holy Bible has many beautiful truths within its pages and the most wonderful story in the world of how a loving and gracious God came from Heaven to Earth to save us from sin and ourselves. What I have seen that saddens my heart is when men and women distort the Bible's precious truths. Sometimes they play mental gymnastics with a rubicon of verses to put together their own view of a topic and make the Bible appear to support their side. Both the liberal and conservative Christians do it and even those who are not even believers play this game. People who want all answers to life and faith but only from the Bible are some of the most toxic and unhappy people I know. Where is their Christlike love? Jesus dealt with this kind of mindset in his mortal time on earth and they were called Pharisees. We must be willing to take the Bible as it is written and what the writers led by the Holy Spirit meant. We must be authentic and transparent. Some things in the Bible are uncomfortabl

WHAT VOICES ARE YOU LISTENING TO?

Since the internet entered our homes and social media dominates the culture of the world we as a human race have rapidly lost our humanity in many ways. People are so vicious to one another and it is so sad to see how narcissistic we have become as a species. I am often balancing what I read and what I listen to so I do not become toxic and filled with false understandings and beliefs. So it is very important to consider just what voices you are listening to and what voices are you reading. What is the mindset of the people, shows, and music you are allowing into your life? We need to be more alert to not allowing trash into our minds, ears, and eyes. Let us not become a landfill for society's useless trash. If you let garbage in soon it will be garbage out. What is most in your heart will eventually come out the mouth both spoken and written. Matthew 15:18-20

ELECTION YEAR 2024! OH BOY!

Yes, folks, it is an election year and of course, both parties believe they are going to save the world. Sorry, but Jesus Christ already did that some 2000 years ago. Now the other fun fact about this is every election year it is a Chicken Little story all over again, which is the sky is falling if the Republicans get into office, and the sky is falling if the Democrats get into office. This reminds me of how news on the weather is nowadays. There will be one inch of snow coming which is the great white death from above so stock up on everything. The exaggeration from political parties and the news is absolutely off the charts in this day and age. Gone are the Walter Cronkite and Tom Brokaw days of newscasting. Social media can be used for good and even to spread the gospel message but also it can perpetuate lies and deceit. I hope it is used more responsibly than what I have been witnessing. So back to politics and voting, I would say do your best to try and find reliable informati

Rewired for the Journey

Search This Blog