I wrote a song a while back that my father and I are currently working on in the studio.
It's title is "Don't Follow Me", and it offers a reminder that while I have a roll to play in the lives of other believers and non-believers ... my most important task is to point each individual to Jesus Christ and scripture.
John 14:6(NIV)
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
After all, I am flesh and flawed like everyone else, and just because I'm a follower of Christ and a published author certainly doesn't mean that I have it all together.
I continuously struggle with control, wrestling matches with pride and all out wars with financial struggles. My current mode of transportation is hanging on (barely), my master closet shelves have fallen to the floor (twice now) so our clothes are all over the house ... and while there are more examples to give, these things add additional stresses through the relationship shared under the roof as well.
James 1:2 tells us to consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
I think that the word "know" should get some serious attention here. We are going to face trials ... we simply need to know that and accept that. I assure you, I am not a fan of the discomfort my trials create, but to complain about them and fight against them is pointless. To worry about them is counter-productive.
Know that God has a plan and purpose in all that He does (Romans 8:28) and if we choose to recognize that, the joy can come through our trials a little more naturally. It doesn't make the trials any less comfortable, but perhaps a little more tolerable.
Feeling down? Defeated? Check out the story of Job, the most righteous in the land. Does your life bear any close comparison? In the end, does Job not prosper for his faithfulness?
I know that some of these 'trials' we go through seem so tedious and controllable, but that is where the danger usually lies. It's when we attempt to solve the problem ourselves and apply our fleshy methods to them that we add to the stress load. We are quick to think we know it all, have all the answers, understand what's really going on - but we don't. We need only to first turn to God, seek His will, His way and make our way through the trial peacefully to its end (and quite often we get to the resolution quicker).
You will see it throughout the pages of my book 'Encourageman' ... God first!
When you choose you, you lose. When you choose Him, you win.
Let go and let God be the hero in your life.
God bless you all!
For His Glory
After all, I am flesh and flawed like everyone else, and just because I'm a follower of Christ and a published author certainly doesn't mean that I have it all together.
I continuously struggle with control, wrestling matches with pride and all out wars with financial struggles. My current mode of transportation is hanging on (barely), my master closet shelves have fallen to the floor (twice now) so our clothes are all over the house ... and while there are more examples to give, these things add additional stresses through the relationship shared under the roof as well.
James 1:2 tells us to consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
I think that the word "know" should get some serious attention here. We are going to face trials ... we simply need to know that and accept that. I assure you, I am not a fan of the discomfort my trials create, but to complain about them and fight against them is pointless. To worry about them is counter-productive.
Matthew 6:25-34 (NIV)
Do Not Worry
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[a]?
Feeling down? Defeated? Check out the story of Job, the most righteous in the land. Does your life bear any close comparison? In the end, does Job not prosper for his faithfulness?
I know that some of these 'trials' we go through seem so tedious and controllable, but that is where the danger usually lies. It's when we attempt to solve the problem ourselves and apply our fleshy methods to them that we add to the stress load. We are quick to think we know it all, have all the answers, understand what's really going on - but we don't. We need only to first turn to God, seek His will, His way and make our way through the trial peacefully to its end (and quite often we get to the resolution quicker).
You will see it throughout the pages of my book 'Encourageman' ... God first!
When you choose you, you lose. When you choose Him, you win.
Let go and let God be the hero in your life.
God bless you all!
For His Glory
