Do You Need a Timeout?

“My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry." James 1:19

“I can’t wait until I graduate, then I can make all the rules, I can stay up all night, and watch whatever I want whenever I want.  No one will tell me to get off the phone, turn the computer off or turn the music down.”

 “Since when have Twinkies been considered junk food, I mean really, they have bread and dairy – 2 of the most important categories in the health food triangle.” 

“You treat me like a child, you know nothing about my life or my friends.  I hate you !!!”

If you, like me are a parent, you’ve heard these or similar statements from your teenagers.  Those tender hearted, impatient, self proclaimed young adults that seem to capture your heart while they rip it from your chest at the same time.  There is that point in every young person’s life when they switch over from listening and following the instructions of their parents and adults to knowing it all and making decisions on their own.  Despite the efforts of those around them to teach, mentor and guide them through these decisions in life; their confidence, stubbornness and rebellious nature takes over.  I must say it is frustrating to watch our youth struggle with problems in life when the advice of their elders is rejected and ridiculed.  I’ve seen so many kids get into trouble simply because they wanted to do it their way.

God is looking at you today.  He’s laid out the perfect and best plan for your life.  Are you listening, following His guidance or are you capable of doing it better your own way?  We are no different in our relationship with God the Father, than the young adults we observe around us each day trying to live their life independent of our leadership.  God, the Father asks three very simple things of every one of us:

1)      Believe in My Son, Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord

2)      Trust that I love you and forgive you despite what you have done

3)      Follow Me wherever I call you

His word is true and can only bring goodness to your life.  Whatever He is asking for you to give up is only going to make you stronger.  If we look deep inside ourselves, we know that His plans for us are good.  But like every teenager our tendency is to pull away, try to rationalize it and then find a more comfortable way to reach the same goal.  The thing is, what God is asking from you can only be achieved when you are within His plan.

We need to realize when we are to be still and listen to what God is saying.  He speaks in the stillness, the whisper’s in your deepest thoughts and your most humblest attitude.  He is laying out His plans for your life and it isn’t intended to be a 2 way conversation.  So many times our first reaction is to defend our position in life rather than listening and acting.  Trust me, when God speaks, there isn’t anything you can put in front of Him that is unknown to Him.  He is omniscient, all powerful and completely sovereign in this world and the heavens.  Arguing with God is a futile exercise, which results in coming to the realization that His plan is better, albeit more painful perhaps.  Quiet yourself, listen to the Lord, resolve to follow His lead and trust that He will not leave you, nor lead you astray. 

Remember:

            QUIETLY LISTEN
            FOLLOW
            TRUST

Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
You alone are God.  We stand and lift our praises to You on high, that Your name might be lifted up for all to hear.  You have given us purpose in this life and asked that we follow Your call in order to fulfill that purpose.  Help us to put aside our fears, reservations and independence to hear Your word and follow You.  We trust in You, Lord, as our strength, wisdom and knowledge in pursuing Your purpose in our life.  Walk with us and guide our steps.  In Your name we pray – Amen

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©Sondove Enterprises, 2011

What Say You?

“Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me.”  – John 10:25

It all comes down to faith and belief in the truthfulness of the word of God.  You have heard the Verizon commercials, “Can you hear me now?  Good.”  The word of God, namely the Bible, was written to speak to you.  The question is, can you hear it?

Jesus Christ walked the earth as God in flesh.  He proclaimed throughout His ministry that He was of God, the Messiah, the Light of the World, the Good Shepherd and so on.  His works were of the Father, and the miracles He performed were of the Father.  It’s captured in Matthew 11:5, he healed the blind, healed people and even raised them from the dead.  These are not things of demon’s or evil, for as Jesus tells us Himself in Matthew 12:26; Satan cannot cast out Satan.

The same ridiculous arguments exist still today as people challenge the authenticity of Jesus Christ as the Messiah.  Many will acknowledge His existence, but claim that He was a prophet.  Some will say He was surely a righteous man and demonstrated the love of God, but he was not God incarnate.  Other’s claim him to be just a man who led a cult of followers down a path of misbelieve that has warped the mind’s of millions for centuries.

What do you believe?  Why?

You must make a choice.  Yes, plain and simple – YOU have to choose what you believe and why.  Is Jesus Christ the Son of God?  He claimed it to be so.  For those of you who like multiple choice questions, the answers are A) He was the telling the truth and by example of His works demonstrated His authority and power from God; or B) he was a good person, perhaps a prophet or an imposter trying to convince the world at that time to follow his teachings for his own personal gain which resulted in his brutal crucifixion; or C) he never existed and the entire New Testament of God’s Holy Scriptures is an amalgamation of lies and deceit that have been handed down over thousands of years as the truth.  

Which is it?  This question isn’t difficult and the choices are no more complicated than I’ve described.  There is no other alternative answers or D) none of the above.  It’s A, B or C and your choice is eternally recorded.  If you believe that B is the correct answer, then you must believe that the Messiah has not come yet, and that Jesus was a liar and his life was a complete contradiction.  He clearly stated multiple times in different ways that He was from God and “the Son of God”.  If you believe he existed, yet don’t believe this statement to be true, than he must have been a liar.  Therefore he must have been evil, unrighteous and filled with sin, just like every other man ever born.  Yet, the entire record of his life demonstrates otherwise, his actions which were righteous, miraculous and pointed people to God not to himself.

If you believe C is the right answer, then you must believe that all of the first century writings and manuscripts detailing his existence have been fabricated to continue the lie.  You must believe that the detailed records from the 1^st century were also falsified when they account for the killing of Christians and followers of “The Way”.  At some point, people would have realized that dying for a lie was ludicrous and it would have faded away, not gotten stronger. 

Billions upon billions of people over time have held strong to the belief that Jesus Christ was who He claimed to be.  They have chosen A because they have faith that God’s Word is true in it’s entirety.  This then points to the return of Jesus Christ as recorded in Revelations and throughout the New Testament.  If Genesis through Jude are considered factual than we must accept that Revelations must also be factual.  Therefore, we must realize there will be a judgment of all mankind and there is an eternity spent in heaven or hell. 

If we believe in Him as the Messiah, the Son of God, we must agree that He was sinless, perfect and incapable of deceit or unrighteousness.  Therefore, when He claims that He is the only way to heaven, we must believe it to be truth and live our lives as such.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
You have given us Your Word as the single version of the truth.  In it we find Your love, grace and mercy demonstrated through Your Son – Jesus Christ.  We acknowledge that He is who He says He is and that His instructions are truthful indeed.  Thank you for sharing Your Son with us that we might find salvation and redemption through His sacrifice and the shedding of His blood.  We long to be in Your presence, help us to live within Your will until that time is upon us.  In Your name we pray – Amen


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©Sondove Enterprises, 2011