Devotions for Teens

[Soldier4Christ]

  Love in the midst of eternity

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18

Sitting at camp this summer during a church service I was struck by the thought that relationships nowadays never last. What is worse is that even Christian relationships seem to be fading away quickly! Being the culprit of one of these relationships I was mortified. Here I was in a situation where I had given away my first kiss, and compromised on many other firsts. What was I doing?  And in the midst of worship, God gave me a vision. In it I saw myself and Him dancing on a ball room floor.

I saw God and myself on a dance floor with people surrounding us all around. I was dancing with God as people watched in awe and admiration. A time came when a young man wished to dance with me, and I didn’t ask God but just went. The young man however didn’t know the same dance as me, and se we both tripped over each other and fell. God came back and took my hand and began teaching me once again our dance. Another young man came along, and once again I went to dance with him. The first dance he knew beautifully, and we did it practically perfect. When the next dance came though we tripped on each other and both fell down. God came back again and picked me up, and started over showing me how to dance our dance. Yet another young man came though, and I wasn’t even hesitant to let him dance with me. The first dance we tripped all over each other, but I stuck with it anyways. The second dance however he knew every single step to it, and so did I. It was awesome.

God knows every single possible dance, and dance combination there is, He is the master, the Lord of the dance. The moment he creates you, He begins to teach you also how to dance. People, in particular for girls it will be young men/guys, and for guys it will be young women/girls are going to come into your life at all times. But there is only one of them that will be a master at the same dance as yours.

As Valentines Day nears, and the romance of new and old couples burns into flames, stop and take the time to ask God, “Is he/she the one? Do they know the same dance as I?” After all why waste your time on a love that won’t last, when you can have a love for eternity?

[Soldier4Christ]

  Just Listen

By: Doug Bischoff
mailing@TDDM.org

><> §«:*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»§« † »§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»§ <><

“Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10

I’ve always had a thing about loud noises – I don’t like them!  It doesn’t really matter what it is.  I especially hate the buzz or feedback through a sound system.  That sends me right up the wall.  But in a strange work of irony, I’ve never been very good at being quiet.  In elementary school, my grade card always said the same thing, “Doug needs to learn to leave others alone.  He is too social!”  Can I help it?  I like people.

I was horrible at hide and seek.  I was the kid that if you didn’t find me pretty quick, I started making sound so that you could find me. The cruelest and usually most effective lesson my mom made me learn was to just sit still.  I wasn’t allowed to speak, move or anything – it’s a miracle I survived. 

Survival as a Christian is also tightly related to our ability to be still.  In fact in the passage above it tells us that the way we know God is by being still.  Why?  Because our God never shouts, He doesn’t have to!  Check out I Kings 19:1-13 for a picture of this. 

What God has to say to us is so important that we are to take the step of listening, God won’t shout over all the “noise” of our lives.  Go ahead and try it right now.  Put some headphones on without any music or sit quietly and just listen to the silence.  If you’re like me, it will sound very weird and uncomfortable.  But keep listening.  What do you hear?  As I sit here I can hear the windchimes on our back porch, the fan motor on my laptop and my own breath.  Wow, I haven’t heard myself breath any other time today.  But of course, I wasn’t listening. 

Practice the art of being still before God.  Don’t speak, just listen.  I doubt that you will audibly hear the voice of God – but that would be cool!  Instead your heart will hear what God might have been trying to tell you for weeks or months.  Just listen . . .

[Soldier4Christ]

  Facing Temptation

"Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts." Romans 13:14

Temptation is Satan's tool against us...to thwart our walk with Christ. All of us suffer from various forms of temptation. What are you struggling with? Is there an area of your life that Satan constantly attacks you in? While he can't read our minds, he can very well watch our behavior and know our weaknesses. Those are the very areas he's going to attack us in every time. In order to be able to fight temptation when it comes, we have to prepare ourselves for battle.

Don't feel like you're the lone ranger out there. We all face temptation. Some temptations are small and some are large. But remember, we have power over that temptation. We don't have to react to that temptation in our weak flesh. That's why it's so important to put on Christ every day.

As you pray today, ask God to help you see areas where you are weak. Ask Him to let you see the areas you struggle with. You may already know some areas that you need help in.

One thing you need to remember is that temptation comes to us from Satan in the way of a thought. After the thought, Satan will use lies to help us justify or believe that the thought is really okay, that it's not really a sin. He'll appeal to our flesh, our wants, our desires...our lusts. Be on guard. Expect temptation to come and when it does, you can overpower it because you'll be prepared. Don't be foolish and think you have temptation mastered. You may be strong one day and be weak the next. Don't be afraid when temptation comes, Christ has conquered Satan's power. If you have Christ living inside you, the Holy Spirit will help you in times of weakness. Take comfort in knowing you don't fight the fight alone!

[Soldier4Christ]

  A New Creation

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

The Bible tells us that when we come to know Christ as our savior that all the old things pass away and everything becomes new. As I was reading my Bible this morning, I was reminded of how much God loves us and renews us daily. In Romans chapter 5, we are reminded of our old sin nature, the inheritance we received from Adam. We are constantly fighting against this old nature even after we accept Christ as our Savior.

Picture your life as a door. Before you became a Christian, your sins were like nails being pounded constantly into the door. Pretty soon, your life (the door) became full of nails, big nails, small nails, all sizes of nails. The nails were set in there pretty good and would take some doing to get out. When you accepted Christ as your savior, He removed all of those nails but, your life (the door) was left with tons of holes of various sizes. Those holes represent the destruction that sin made upon your life. Although your sins were forgiven by Christ, there was some damage done and healing needs to take place. As God began to work in your life, he began to slowly patch up and heal all of those holes. That's when you become a new creation in Christ! All of your sins are forgiven. All of your hurts from past sins are healed and removed. As we struggle in our daily life, Satan tries to thwart us by tempting us and causing us to make wrong choices in our lives again so our door (our life) continues to be pounded by sin. If we choose to sin, another hole is driven into our door. When we choose to live the way God wants us to live, we don't have to worry about the effects of sin on our lives. Jesus wants us to be unscarred by sin. He wants us to be victorious.

Paul struggled with temptation. In Romans 7:15 through 8:2, he explains his desire to do the right thing but not always doing it. We know that we have the assurance that the Holy Spirit is guiding and directing our lives if we will trust and obey the Lord. When we choose not to obey, we sin. The Holy Spirit prompts our conscience when we are tempted. He reminds us that our thoughts often lead to action and the action produces the sin. If He can show us that our thinking is not in line with the will of God, He will empower us to overcome sin before it takes root in our mind and our heart.

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:2

We are going to face struggles and temptations daily, that's a given fact. But, we have the ability, through Christ, to overcome those temptations. Praise God that He has given us His Son...He has given us a way out!

[Soldier4Christ]

  Desperate For Jesus

Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.  When Jesus saw their faith, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven."
Luke 5:18-20(NIV)

How many times have you been ready to give up in your faith?  How many times did you feel like Jesus just wasn't listening to your prayers?  How many times have you felt like He was unreachable?  When these guys felt that way, they did what they needed to do to get their buddy to Jesus.  They didn't look at the odds and just simply give up.  In our walk with God and in our path leading to Jesus we need to not let obstacles stop us from getting to Jesus either.

As you read through the gospels you will find some amazing stories about the work Jesus did and the people Jesus loved.  I don't know how this has escaped me for so long but most of the people that we see these amazing stories about were desperate to get to Jesus and did whatever they needed to do to make it to Him.  They weren't stopped by fear, they weren't stopped by bad things that happened to them, they never gave up, they never quit and Jesus rewarded them for that.  He will reward you for it too.

Look at the example in the scripture above.  So many times as Christians when we hit a little resistance in our walk, we turn away, we give up or we try to pray it out of the way.  These guys weren't willing to wait for that, they were desperate to get their friend to Jesus and not only did they not give up they probably looked a little silly as they were getting there.  They saw a huge crowd knowing that there was no way they would be able to get to Jesus, so they became resourceful, they didn't let the crowd scare them and they didn't get sidetracked by anyone around them.  They got on top of the house and they dug a hole.  They did what it took to put this man in face to face contact with Jesus.

In our walk with Christ and in our attempts to get closer to Him, we are going to face resistance, we have our choice.  We could turn away and get upset because Jesus wouldn't move the crowds when we prayed for them to get out of the way.  Or we can do like our example and not let the crowd bother us, we could not care what people think and not care what we look like as we desperately try to come face to face with Jesus.  We need the healing power He has, we need the guidance He gives and we need to be desperate for it.  When we become desperate to get to Jesus and not moved by the obstacles in our way, we will see Him, we will be face to face with Him and He will reward us for it.  Never give up, never give in, and never surrender.  This, my friends, is called faith.

[Soldier4Christ]

  Bad Witness?

There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs. Luke 12:2-3

Does this sound familiar? I'm walking away, biting my lip, because I've just said, done, or been entertained by something not very Christ-like, in front of non-believers. Again.
Since the first time I believed in Jesus, I was plagued by that problem. I laughed at the wrong jokes, I took part (or lead the pack) when someone was being made fun of, and I often repeated alot of the junk I heard being spoken around me. To be honest, I was more influenced by my environment than it was by me. There are certain people who would help bring the un-Godly out of me every time I was with them, and every time, I walked away realizing I just presented an evil witness as a Christian. Most of these people were co-workers, family, and people I couldn’t just stop seeing.

This presented a serious problem. I claimed openly to be a follower of Christ, and yet openly, I repeatedly presented a bad witness to those who don't believe. I know I am saved, I am a repentant man, and yet the foul words or bad humor just poured out on their own! The last thing I wanted to do was turn people away from God with my behavior, and the last title I wanted to hold was hypocrite. How could I stop? The only way I would be a good witness at this rate was if I disappeared from public completely!

After being a Christian all this time, I think I've finally found the answer. I came to realized I suffered from a gross lack of private worship and communion with God. I wrote about it in past devotionals, the bible convicted me about it, and I decided to make up for it. The recent times of prayer and worship have had such an impact, I considered that if I did it more often, my public witness might improve drastically. At that exact moment, the Holy Spirit reminded me of today's verse.

What Jesus is saying, is that no matter how you attempt to appear good to other people, the way you are in private (including the most private place, your mind) is going to become public. When he said "what you whisper in the ear will be shouted from the roofs", he was addressing issues exactly like what we're dealing with now. If you cannot keep your words, your thoughts, or your walk clean when only God is present, you certainly aren't going to be able to keep your condition from becoming clear to the people around you. It will be just as evident to them as if somebody yelled it from your roof. And if you are not bringing God's presence into your private time, how will he be evident in your public expression?

The answer? Fill your private time with God's presence. Jesus' words in Luke 12:2-3 are depressing when viewed in the context of our bad behavior, but they can just as easily be uplifting and exciting. If you spend as much time as possible not praying, not reading the word, but doing both and worshipping, then you are allowing God access to you. That is holy. If your private life is given to God in holiness, then that holiness, that Godliness that is whispered in the ear and spoken in darkness, will be shouted from the housetops and heard in the daylight. Soon not only will you learn to keep your tongue, the righteousness of Christ won’t be able to help but come out in who you are, for "out of the overflow of a man’s heart, so he speaks."

I’ve had plenty of time to practice and experiment with getting God into my private time, and while I could always squeeze in more time with Him, what I have managed has improved things drastically. My walk has advanced dramatically, and my public demeanor is much improved. Now much more than not, I am able to hold my tongue, keep from joining in when someone is ill-spoken of, and learn how to dodge when the ball is being passed to me in a bad conversation. In general, I am keeping my tongue from evil, and it feels great. Follow this example and test the scripture; I promise it works.

[Soldier4Christ]

  I'm Getting Dizzy

“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I that full well.”  Psalm 139:14

The complexity of the human body is amazing.  Scientists have discovered the amazing work of DNA and how it blueprints each cell in our body.   Each cell contains about 2 meters of DNA which if added to all the other cells in our body would stretch to the sun and back almost 50 times.  I’ve been on trips before that I could barely pack all of my clothes into a suitcase without sitting on it.  How in the world does God pack enough DNA inside of us to stretch out for almost 10,000 Billion miles!!!   How does God cause our heart to beat?  We know that electrical impulses make it happen, but why?  What causes the electrical impulses?  If you think about all of this enough it will make your head hurt.  And isn’t that amazing?  Thinking too much about the complexity of your body is something your body can’t really handle!  Whoa!  I’m getting dizzy.

In the verse for today, the word translated wonderful is the Hebrew word, pala’.  One of its meanings is “hard.”  So you could read the verse, “your works are hard.”  The difficulty of God’s task is amazing.  Only creator God could form, mold and make you into the intricate, complex and completely unexplainable thing known as you! 

Sometimes we just need to remember that there is somebody that has cared about us for a very long time in a really big way.  God took the time to create all the cells in our body.  Remember the old saying, “love is spelled T-I-M-E.”  God showed his love for you by taking the time to make you.   The understanding of this great truth is what caused the Psalmist to praise God in v. 17 & 18 by saying, “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!  How vast is the sum of them!  Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand.  When I am awake, I am still with you!”  Tomorrow when you wake up, praise God that He is still with you.  No matter who you are or what you’ve done, He’s not going anywhere.

[Soldier4Christ]

  Living Water

The water that I give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life" (John 4:13-14)

I love to go hiking in the North Georgia Mountains! It's so peaceful and just being outdoors makes me feel so alive. One of the things I like most about hiking is accidently discovering a beautiful waterfall . Just listening to the sound of the water as it sings over the stones stirs my soul. I could sit beside the water for hours and just enjoy listening and watching. As much as I enjoy waterfalls, I enjoy even more the fact that Christ is our source of Living Water.

So why do we go through times of dryness, times when we don't feel the presence of the Lord? It's not always sin that causes us to feel distant from God. Sometimes it's just the effects of a fallen world.

When Jesus met the woman at the well, he could tell that she was very thirsty. Jesus asked her a question. "Will you give me a drink?" The woman was surprised that a Jewish man would speak to her. She was fearful and did not answer. Jesus spoke softly to her and said, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty.

Are you thirsty? The Holy Spirit, our living water, will always be within us. We can be refreshed as His love washes over us. Come to the spring of eternal life. Come, there's a cool sip waiting just for you.

[Soldier4Christ]

  God of Healing

We live by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7

For the past couple of weeks I have somewhat been performing an experiment, in the sense of I haven’t taken any medication besides my thyroid(which I cant live without). The reason for me doing this was because I noticed a pattern among Christians, they don’t have the faith to get healed. Whether its because they think that God won't heal them or they can't be healed, I don’t know. The Bible specifically says that healing is ours, all we have to do is believe we are healed.

I have really bad allergies and a lot of the time my nose is stuffed up. A few years ago my aunt introduced me to Afrin. Well I got hooked. It was like a drug to me. Without it, I couldn’t breath. After being hooked for a few months I finally convinced my mother to take me to an allergy doctor. After the doctor looked at my nose the first question she had was, ‘are you using any kind of nasal spray?’ Of course our answer was yes, Afrin. The doctor went on to say how bad that is for people to take, they get hooked on it, and although at first it makes your nose clear, after awhile it makes it so that if you don’t take it you just cant breath, and your nose wont get clear. Sounds kind of like sin doesn’t it?

My family has quite a few health problems, and being blessed with the gift of faith I always tell them, ‘Healing is yours, take it!’ The irony of it is though, that I don’t use my own faith to get healed. Everyone knows that there is a pill for everything that could possibly be wrong with you, so when we're sick we take it and feel better. Well my experiment per say, was that if I didn’t want to have faith I was healed, I should just suffer. The first week I got terrible headaches, but I didn’t want to have faith to make it better, so I suffered. After awhile I got fed up and prayed over myself, can you guess what happened? I got healed.

This past weekend I caught the ever popular virus known as a ‘cold’. Again, not wanting to practice my faith and receive healing I took some pills, and felt somewhat better. While lying in my bed this afternoon it occurred to me, if only we could learn to have as much faith in God as we do in pills. I mean, we have no doubts if you take a Tylenol your headache will go away, take a benadryl and your sinuses will be cleared. We know we will get results. As Christians who believe in a God that heals, shouldn’t we know that when we ask for healing we will receive it? Or does that fear creep in again, what if I don’t get healed? Its so much easier to just take a pill, and make it go away.

I urge you to put your trust in God, not only is it cheaper money-wise, but also life-wise.

[Soldier4Christ]

  The Challenge


For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.  For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. 2 Peter 1:5-9 (NIV)

Christianity is like trying to walk up an escalator that is going down; you are either going in one direction or the other, if you stop for long enough you will find yourself back where you started from.  The same holds true for our walk with God, we are either growing in our faith and adding to it or we are heading back to where we started from.  I have a 30 day challenge for you if you are serious about growing in your faith. 

It's so hard picking up a bible some days. It's so difficult to find the time to have some one-on-one with God but sometimes it's all about our commitment.  In our walk with God, Satan is going to come against us and he is going to try to do whatever he can to stop us from growing.  I firmly believe Satan is the author of busyness.  Unfortunately, bible study time and prayer time is not just going to pop up.  It's only going to happen if you make it happen.  Even if you schedule it, you are going to have to fight for it because Satan will do everything he can to make sure you've got other things to do.

Try setting aside 30 minutes a night at 8:00pm.  This is going to be a time when you are off the computer, not doing homework, not on the phone and not having to talk to other people.  Go in your room, close the door, turn off the ipod or stereo.  Make a list of all your friends that you want to pray for, and then pray for them every day.  When God answers a prayer, mark down the date and what He did to answer it.  You will be amazed at how many prayers God answers in a year.

The next thing that will be important in this time is to read your bible.  Get in to the word of God.  You need to know what it says.  There are many different reading plans you can use, I personally use the 1-year bible for my daily readings because it gives me a reading goal each day.  You don't have to follow it, but make sure you are reading and going through the bible each day.  If you follow these steps each day and if you truly put your heart in to it, you are going to see a big difference in your spiritual life when the 30 days are over.  I challenge each and every one of you to do this and I want to hear from those of you who try this.  E-mail me if you need a reading plan or any extra help.  If you do this, it will change your life completely.

[Soldier4Christ]

  Getting Back on Track

“It is because of your sins that he doesn’t hear you.  It is your sins that separate you from God when you try to worship him.” – Isaiah 59:2

So it’s a new day and I hope you have a good one.  I wish I could say that each of us have left the old behind us but I know I haven’t, and I know many of you haven’t.  Too many of us have started the new day as the same person we were yesterday.  We’re one day closer to the Lord’s return yet no better prepared for His coming.  And what’s the worst part?  We don’t want to change.  Simply put, we’re lazy.  Most of the time, we know we’re in the wrong yet we don’t want to make that turnaround.  We’re still slacking off with our prayer lives yet we stay on top of the latest gossip whether it be church, friends, or family. We use up our free nights and weekends minutes on the cell phone to get every penny’s worth but are too tired to talk to God at the end of a long day.  We fail to read the Bible regularly yet stay on top of email and internet networks and every possible entertaining distraction we can find on TV.  We’re still abusing substances failing to recognize that the human body is a temple of God, created by God, for God.  We’re still acting immorally, letting our dating practices get out of hand and letting ourselves sink into sexual sin long before we even think of marriage.  We’re still dishonoring our parents failing to realize that every time we dishonor them, we’re really dishonoring our Creator. We’re hot for so many things whether it be a certain style or a boyfriend or girlfriend or getting to some level of wealth and success, yet we fail to be on fire for Jesus.  Sadly, we've been calling ourselves Christian for years, yet we fail to recognize that it is Christ’s name we’re bearing.

The Bible tells us that we are separated from God because of sin.  It is time to finally take that step in our lives and stray away from those human desires that keep us from God.  There are a few steps toward erasing our sins and earning forgiveness.  First we must confess our sins.  Whatever it is, we must say “Yes, I did this.”  Confessing our sins is important because we are letting God know that we know that we are wrong.  It is agreeing with God that we have sinned.  Next, we must pour out our hearts to God and tell Him that we are truly sorry. This lets Him know that we want Him to help us rise from sin, that we do want to grow closer to Him.  Then, we must repent.  Now repentance isn’t just confessing our sins.  It involves us turning away from our sins.  For some of us this means putting down the shot glass.  For others it means turning our attention away from impure thoughts.  For others it may mean a getting up and walking away from a setting that could potentially arouse desire or temptation.  Yet for others this may mean a breakup with a significant other who is leading us to sin.  Once we have repented, the last step is to ask God to forgive us.  It is important that you ask God for forgiveness as the last step because you want to let Him know that you’re as serious as He is.  Don’t let Him forgive you until you have made a true change within yourself.  And from this day forward, let’s make Christ proud and use every temptation as an opportunity to do good, instead of making the Devil happy!

[Soldier4Christ]

  He Said, She Said

“They worship Me with their lips but their hearts are far from Me. They worship Me in vain…” Matthew 15:8,9

In my life sweet nothings have become all too familiar. It’s natural for me to want to believe someone is being sincere to me. But as the years have gone by I have learned to be more aware of the brown nosers and I’ve come to terms with the realization that I can’t always put much value on someone’s flattering words or actions, even if the flattery seems too good to pass up.

I’ve learned to deal with people calling me their “friend” only to find that they’ve been slandering me behind my back. And the story with guys in my past… sweet nothings have been so sweetly exchanged only to have to be taken back later. The words and actions so easily flaunted at one moment were a lie the next. The exchange of endearment didn’t endure and stand the test of time, causing unneeded heartache.

I’m sure you can relate to what it felt like for me to have my reputation defamed from slander by those who claimed to be a friend. Or the heartbreak that took place with guys because the romantic exchange was just a passing feeling. Most of us have been in these places. I know I’m not alone in this. 

With our lips we express kindness and flattery to others but our hearts are far from them. Our expressed feelings towards others are in vain. When what we say and do to another doesn’t stand the test of time we paint the wrong picture of who God is. How we treat others is a model to the world of who God is to us and who we are to Him. We should make sure that the way we show someone we care is not done in vain and can’t be taken back later. When our hearts are close to God our words and actions towards another should last forever. When our hearts are close to Him we learn how to love and care for people the way He intended.

We need to first love God with all of our heart and be sincere in our worship with Him. And the second commandment is like the first… we need to be sincere in our relationships with others too. When you have something to say don’t say it like you mean it, say it because you mean it. Don’t just “feel” the love, live it.

[Soldier4Christ]

  Faith Like a Child

And he said to them "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kindom of heaven." Matt 18:3 (NIV)

Looking through old albums, I came across old Christmas pictures from my childhood.  These pictures reminded me of Christmas seasons where the magic was real to me – those days when I believed in Santa Claus with all my heart.  I remember spending days decorating, preparing and wishfully waiting for Santa’s coming.  There was a magic to this wait and there was no trying to fool me that Santa didn’t exist.  These pictures go back to those days when I thought that if the cookies weren’t gone, it only meant that Santa knew how much I loved chocolate chip and left some cookies behind for me.  My faith in Santa was too strong.

My faith in Santa remained unbroken even if my wishes didn’t come true, even if I didn’t get the presents I wanted, even if all the cookies weren’t gone.  This is the kind of unbreakable faith we need to have in our Savior.  Faith doesn’t ask God to always show visible, physical signs of His presence.  It knows that the Spirit is in every breath we take.  Faith doesn’t stop when you can’t find the perfect person for a spouse.  It knows that God wants you to learn patience and love through embracing another’s imperfections.  Faith doesn’t give up when you fail an exam.  It knows that God has a better plan for your future.  Faith doesn’t pause when every cancer patient doesn’t make it.  It rejoices because another soul has been called to eternity.  Faith doesn’t slow down when you can’t have it your way.  It understands that His way is what’s best.  Faith knows that the journey won’t be easy, but God will walk with us.

Fifteen years later, my faith now knows Santa can’t fit through the chimney, but Jesus can fit through our hearts

[Soldier4Christ]

  Breathe on Me

“All Scripture is God-breathed. . .”  II Timothy 3:16

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I kind of miss the cold.  I grew up in Missouri where the winters can get really cold.  Sometimes we would get over 12 inches of snow and have a blast sledding and playing in the snow.  Now I live in Texas and the version of winter I’m experiencing here is pretty different.  So I’ve come up with some ways winter is interpreted in Texas.  In Texas, winter means you have to turn off the AC at night.  In Texas, winter means the ice cream truck only comes once a week instead of everyday.  In Texas, winter means I wear socks and shoes instead of just sandals all the time.  In Texas, winter means that one day it actually got below freezing.  In Texas, winter means an ice storm is something that happens when too many people try to ice skate at the mall. 

Yeah, I kind of miss the cold.  One of my favorite things is when you breathe and you can see your breathe.  Now, I know I’m alive.  It’s just kind of cool to see it confirmed in such a visible way.  Breath means life!  When a baby is born, the most important moment is when the baby first begins to breathe.  It’s like now it’s all for real. 

What does it mean that all Scripture is God-breathed?  Well, it means God has breathed His God-life into the words.  It’s much more than just the fact that God, through His Holy Spirit, told some people what to write down.  It means it is the very life of a Christian.  As a child of God I am to breathe and the breath I breathe is God’s Word.  Reading your Bible may not seem real important, but next time remember – it is your breath!  Breathe in the words of God, it will give you life!

[Soldier4Christ]

  Rocks: In Our Way or PART of Our Way?



As a minister, it is very easy to get discouraged when we don't see God working around us or what we perceive God should be doing around us.  A Sr. Minister wants the congregation to grow.  As a youth minister, I want the youth group to grow.  As a body, we want the church to grow.  When we don't see it happening, we think something is wrong.  I've personally even made the comment "I don't understand what is going on, this is a great church."  I was reminded of a perfect sermon illustration during lunch today that talks about this very thing, so if you are feeling a little discouraged or worn down then read on.

There is a story of a weak sickly man. The man was so sick and he could not afford going to town to the doctor.  The man lived in the deep back woods in an old log cabin, his condition seemed to grow worse.  Out in front of his cabin was a huge boulder.  The rock was massive in front of his place. One night in a very real vision, God told him to go out there and push the huge rock all day long, day after day.  The man got up early in the morning, and with great excitement he pushed the rock until lunch, then he rested a while and pushed the rock until supper time.  The man loved pushing against the rock, it gave him meaning.  The dream was so real that it was with great excitement he pushed against the rock. Day after day he pushed. Day rolled into week, and week into months, he faithfully pushed against the rock.

After 8 months of pushing the rock, the weak sickly man was getting tired of pushing the rock so much, in his tiredness he started to doubt his dream. So one day he measured from his porch to the rock, and after daily pushing the rock, he would measure to see how much he had moved the rock. After two weeks of pushing and measuring, he realized he had not moved the boulder not a 1/32 of an inch? As a matter of fact, the
boulder was in the same place as when he started. The man was so disappointed, he thought the dream was so special and now after 9 months he saw his work had accomplished nothing, he was tired and his dream seemed dashed upon the rock.

The man sat on his porch and cried and cried, he had invested many hundred hours into nothing. Nothing, it was all nothing! As the sun was sitting in the west, Jesus came and sat down next to the man as he cried. Jesus said, "Son, why are you crying?" The man replied, "Lord, You know how sick and weak I am, and then this dumb dream gave me a false hope and I have pushed with all that was within me for over 9 months, and that dumb old rock is right where it was when I started."  Jesus was kind and said to him, "I never told you to move the rock, I told you to push against the rock." The man replied, "Yes, Sir, that was the dream." Jesus told the man to step in front of the mirror and look at himself. As an act of obedience the man stepped in front of a mirror and looked at himself.  The man was amazed, he had been so sickly and weak and what he saw in the mirror was a strong muscular man. The man realized that he had not been coughing all night. The man started thinking of how well he felt for several months and the strength that he had built by pushing on the rock.  Then the man realized, that the plan of God was not for the rock, but for the man.

So, I suggest to you today, that God is building people. God is building churches. The storms, the trials, the heartaches, the disappointments, are all but part of the process. We should never use people to build the church, we must use the church to build people. Don't start measuring your success, trust the God that will take the process, and build His people. God is stretching you, God is growing you! Understand the plan! Trust His Hands!

Since I don't want to ruin a great illustration, I will add nothing except to say that "God is very much alive and very much at work in you.