Have you ever felt like an eternal victim? I have known people that felt that way. Some of them seem to be just looking for attention and then some of them just can't seem to get a break. Every time they make it through one challenge they walk right into another. Sometimes, it just seems like everyone they trust lets them down or maybe every decision they make is cursed. With some it is health, with some it is finances, and with others it may be relationships or something else. They know they have to play the hand life dealt them but sometimes they would like to call misdeal.
To the second group that really just can't seem to get a break, God wants you to know that He is with you. I know that we've all read the poem "Footprints in the Sand" that says during the times of life when you only saw one set of footprints God was carrying you. It sure would be nice to be able see the view during these times from God's shoulders while He is carrying us wouldn't it? The thing is that we could, if we could only focus on God rather than the challenge or trial that we're going through.
I know that is easier said than done but that's life, it's the hand you've been dealt. God wants you to know that you aren't alone. There are people in the bible that have felt this way too. Job for one couldn't catch a break. In his worst time his wife told him to curse God and die. Even his best friends told him that his problems must be his fault. Joseph was abandoned by his family, put unjustly in prison, then forgotten by his friends and left in prison. When Nehemiah was rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem he was constantly being challenged. Jesus was constantly challenged by the Pharisees. Paul said "every time I do good, evil is always present" (Rom 7:21).
God wants you to know that He loves you so much and He cares about your situation. In the parable about the lost sheep, Jesus basically said that He will leave the 99 sheep that He has with Him that are protected to retrieve the one sheep that needs His help. The problem that the one sheep has is that while he/she is lost, he/she has no idea that Jesus is looking for him/her. Please know that sometimes in your trial help is on the way. You may not know Jesus is coming to help or you may not know that He is already carrying you on His shoulders. But just because you can't feel it doesn't mean it isn't happening.
The message I have for you is to hold on during the storm. Matt 7:24-27 talks about the house that is built on the rock standing strong during the storm. This scripture does NOT promise that the storms of life won't come. And it also doesn't say that all houses will face the same amount of storms. It is a very personal message to you that if you will live your life in the house that is built on His rock, you will be able to weather the storm because of His protection.
God loves you so much (John 3:16) and He cares if you are hurting. I do too. If you need prayer, please post a comment to this post and I, as well as the others that read your comment, will pray for you....YOU ARE NOT ALONE!
God loves you and I do too!
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Thursday, January 5, 2012
A Sinner's Prayer
We know that none of us are perfect so it is so important to repent daily so that we will be washed as white as snow AND so that we can teach others His ways. In times of hurting, many of us use Psalm 51:17 but until this week, I really have ignored the rest. I used Psalm 51:17 recently in one of my blogs when I said that God loves a broken and contrite heart. But yesterday, my pastor (Brad) posted the same scripture on our churches Facebook site. That prompted me to read the whole psalm today, Psalm 51 is my prayer and it will continue to be my prayer. I challenge you today to read it and make it your prayer:
1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. 5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. 6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place. 7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. 10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. 13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you. 14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Savior, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. 15 Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise. 16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. 17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise. 18 May it please you to prosper Zion, to build up the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous, in burnt offerings offered whole; then bulls will be offered on your altar.
God loves you and I do too!
1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. 5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. 6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place. 7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. 10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. 13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you. 14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Savior, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. 15 Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise. 16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. 17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise. 18 May it please you to prosper Zion, to build up the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous, in burnt offerings offered whole; then bulls will be offered on your altar.
God loves you and I do too!
God's little surprise today
I have had Unconditional Love on my list of topics that I wanted to discuss on my blog for a long time. Yesterday, God finally led me to discuss it and gave me what to say. For those of you that don't know me, I'm not much for preparation. So when I blog, I just sit down with the computer for 10-30 minutes and just type what is or has been on my mind. Yesterday was no exception. I knew at some point I wanted to share my thoughts about unconditional love and yesterday I finally had the opportunity. As I sat down and began to type, God just began to show me things and speak through me. As much as I have considered unconditional love I have never paired it with "for better or worse" until last night.
I've always said that God has a sense of humor, especially when it comes to me anyway. After he showed me what to talk about regarding "for better or worse" last night, He decided to put Kim and me to the test so He compelled us to renew are vows today. Yes, you read it right. We renewed our vows today.
All of our marriage, we have both shared the view that renewing of vows was at best corny and more often than not, just stupid. Even in the movie "Fire proof", as appropriate as it was, we both thought it was kind of dumb. God showed us the error of our thinking today.
I took today off, Kassidi and Kalli had school, and Kelsi was with her Papaw (Chalk) all day. Kim and I were talking about what we wanted to do and Kim said "I'd like to do something memorable today". Kim and I did a turn-around in our marriage on January 4, 2011 by deciding to recommit our lives and our marriage to God. This decision has led us through a process that has brought us closer to God than either of us has ever been either individually or together. Although it went against what we would have ever done, we decided that today was the perfect day to recommit ourselves to each other and renew our vows.
Now, I know what you men are thinking because I thought the same thing. You're thinking that I did this just because Kim wanted to. You're thinking that I did it just to make her happy. Well, this time, you're wrong. Kim and I love each other with all of our hearts and we wanted the chance to kind of make it official with God. The first time we got married, we were so excited (and dumb) that we just went along with the standard vows. It really didn't matter to us what the vows said because all we cared about was getting married. This time, the most important thing was to make up our own vows so we would know that we believed in what we were committing to. I don't feel led to share our vows now because they are so personal to us but I will tell you that we both promised to love each other for ever, even during the times when we didn't want to.
If you are serious about committing your marriage to God and truly having a Godly marriage I think that renewing your vows is a good thing. I don't know that I would start with it but you and your spouse can decide when the time is right.
If you have any questions about our experience, feel free to leave a comment on this blog or email me directly at johnkn.home@gmail.com.
God loves you and I do too.
I've always said that God has a sense of humor, especially when it comes to me anyway. After he showed me what to talk about regarding "for better or worse" last night, He decided to put Kim and me to the test so He compelled us to renew are vows today. Yes, you read it right. We renewed our vows today.
All of our marriage, we have both shared the view that renewing of vows was at best corny and more often than not, just stupid. Even in the movie "Fire proof", as appropriate as it was, we both thought it was kind of dumb. God showed us the error of our thinking today.
I took today off, Kassidi and Kalli had school, and Kelsi was with her Papaw (Chalk) all day. Kim and I were talking about what we wanted to do and Kim said "I'd like to do something memorable today". Kim and I did a turn-around in our marriage on January 4, 2011 by deciding to recommit our lives and our marriage to God. This decision has led us through a process that has brought us closer to God than either of us has ever been either individually or together. Although it went against what we would have ever done, we decided that today was the perfect day to recommit ourselves to each other and renew our vows.
Now, I know what you men are thinking because I thought the same thing. You're thinking that I did this just because Kim wanted to. You're thinking that I did it just to make her happy. Well, this time, you're wrong. Kim and I love each other with all of our hearts and we wanted the chance to kind of make it official with God. The first time we got married, we were so excited (and dumb) that we just went along with the standard vows. It really didn't matter to us what the vows said because all we cared about was getting married. This time, the most important thing was to make up our own vows so we would know that we believed in what we were committing to. I don't feel led to share our vows now because they are so personal to us but I will tell you that we both promised to love each other for ever, even during the times when we didn't want to.
If you are serious about committing your marriage to God and truly having a Godly marriage I think that renewing your vows is a good thing. I don't know that I would start with it but you and your spouse can decide when the time is right.
If you have any questions about our experience, feel free to leave a comment on this blog or email me directly at johnkn.home@gmail.com.
God loves you and I do too.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
For better or for worse...Really?
Have you ever given unconditional love? Have you ever received unconditional love? We think of God's love as unconditional. We think of the love one spouse has for another as unconditional. If the love between man and wife is unconditional both ways, why is the divorce rate so high even among Christian couples (38% - 42%)?
One of the things that we accept as truth about unconditional love is just the simple definition that unconditional love has no conditions, the love I have for Kim has no conditions, she doesn't do anything to deserve my love nor can she do anything to keep me from loving her. The character Quincy on "Meet Joe Black" said it best when he said 'she knows the worst thing about me and it's OK'. His wife knew the worst thing about him and she loved him anyway, in spite of his short coming.
This is extremely noble but it has an inherent flaw. This line of thinking assumes that the giver of unconditional love always WANTS to give the love even though it may or may not be deserved.
What happens when one spouse no longer wants to give unconditional love to the other? Our topic just got a little deeper. I know that most of my thinking regarding unconditional love has placed the lack of deserving conditions on the person receiving the love. What about the giver of the love? As married people (or those in or looking for serious relationships) we must realize that unconditional love doesn't just mean that "I'll love you even when you don't deserve it" but it also means that "I'll love you even when I don't want to".
You see, when we think about God's unconditional love, we want to make ourselves the center of that love. When in reality, unconditional love is more about the giver than the receiver. Now, let's get back to that divorce rate. How many marriages could be saved if both spouses thought about unconditional love from a giving perspective rather than a receiving perspective? It's a heck-of-a lot easier for me to love my spouse when I want to rather than when I don't want to. Did any of you married folks use "for better or for worse" in your wedding vows? Kim and I did. Let me give you my spin on "for better or worse". Rather than saying "I take thee Kim to be my bride for better or worse..." I should have said "I take thee Kim to be my bride and I promise to love you when you deserve it and when you don't and I promise to love you when I want to but especially when I don't".
And really, I should be speaking from Kim's point of view. If you know me and you know Kim, you know that I got the better end of the deal in this relationship. She is smarter, better looking, better tempered, a better cook, and a better parent than I am. She is much more loveable than I am. I can guarantee that she has taught me about unconditional love. There have been times in our marriage when I didn't deserve her love and worse, there have been times in our marriage when I was so unlovable that she just didn't want to love me. She has always known how to love me unconditionally and that is why we aren't part of that divorce rate.
You may have a perfect marriage or you may be struggling. Either way, I encourage you to look to God for your strength like Kim does and love your spouse whether you want to or not. Don't be another divorce statistic. Also, teach your kids how to love like this by loving your spouse like this in front of kids. If we really want to save our families it must start with us.
God loves you and I do too!
One of the things that we accept as truth about unconditional love is just the simple definition that unconditional love has no conditions, the love I have for Kim has no conditions, she doesn't do anything to deserve my love nor can she do anything to keep me from loving her. The character Quincy on "Meet Joe Black" said it best when he said 'she knows the worst thing about me and it's OK'. His wife knew the worst thing about him and she loved him anyway, in spite of his short coming.
This is extremely noble but it has an inherent flaw. This line of thinking assumes that the giver of unconditional love always WANTS to give the love even though it may or may not be deserved.
What happens when one spouse no longer wants to give unconditional love to the other? Our topic just got a little deeper. I know that most of my thinking regarding unconditional love has placed the lack of deserving conditions on the person receiving the love. What about the giver of the love? As married people (or those in or looking for serious relationships) we must realize that unconditional love doesn't just mean that "I'll love you even when you don't deserve it" but it also means that "I'll love you even when I don't want to".
You see, when we think about God's unconditional love, we want to make ourselves the center of that love. When in reality, unconditional love is more about the giver than the receiver. Now, let's get back to that divorce rate. How many marriages could be saved if both spouses thought about unconditional love from a giving perspective rather than a receiving perspective? It's a heck-of-a lot easier for me to love my spouse when I want to rather than when I don't want to. Did any of you married folks use "for better or for worse" in your wedding vows? Kim and I did. Let me give you my spin on "for better or worse". Rather than saying "I take thee Kim to be my bride for better or worse..." I should have said "I take thee Kim to be my bride and I promise to love you when you deserve it and when you don't and I promise to love you when I want to but especially when I don't".
And really, I should be speaking from Kim's point of view. If you know me and you know Kim, you know that I got the better end of the deal in this relationship. She is smarter, better looking, better tempered, a better cook, and a better parent than I am. She is much more loveable than I am. I can guarantee that she has taught me about unconditional love. There have been times in our marriage when I didn't deserve her love and worse, there have been times in our marriage when I was so unlovable that she just didn't want to love me. She has always known how to love me unconditionally and that is why we aren't part of that divorce rate.
You may have a perfect marriage or you may be struggling. Either way, I encourage you to look to God for your strength like Kim does and love your spouse whether you want to or not. Don't be another divorce statistic. Also, teach your kids how to love like this by loving your spouse like this in front of kids. If we really want to save our families it must start with us.
God loves you and I do too!
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