God Has Abandoned Me?!?!?!?!?

Psalm 77

I usually read a few chapters for my devotional, but I had to stop this morning and share something that really hit home for me. Many times, working with the youth and hearing about ministries with adults, people will say that God has abandoned them. This can be to numerous reasons that range from the foreclosure of a home to a dreadful death that has just plagaued their family. It can be anything, and it is understandable to feel like God abandoned you; however, I am glad to say that this way of thinking is not only wrong, but extremely flawed.

            

 I encourage you to read this Psalm (don’t worry it is not long). Within it, you will find an author that is asking those questions that you make be asking. “Has your steadfast love forever ceased? Has your promises come to an end for all time.” He is wondering where God is in his time of trouble, and it is only natural to feel that way. But there is an important transformation in this man’s thoughts. He stops himself from asking the Where are you questions, or the Why questions. He begins to remember who God is and what he has done in his life. Why would God abandon him after building him up so much? Why would God leave after working on things in his life?

        

    If you are struggling with this way of thinking, there is something that is important to remember; you are a masterpiece that God is working on. He is not going to abandon his work to go do something else. That is not who God is. He is faithful even though you may not be faithful. He is the loving Husband who refuses to even leave a wife that constantly cheats on him. This is the God you serve; you don’t serve no fickle lazy god. You serve someone who is mighty and true. When you find yourself in a time of need or even doubt, remember all that God has done in your life. Not only this, but remember what he has done in the Bible. Remember all the promises he gives you. You are not abandoned.

Anyway, Peace out homeskillets

-The Bread Man 

“I will remember the deeds the deeds of the LORD;

yes, I will remember your wonders of old” Psalm 77:11

Hmmmmm I Wonder What it Would look like

This will be a short post, but I still wanted to share my thought that I had today. I have been reading Exodus, and in that book, God does some crazy things. He makes bread come down from heaven, there is a pillar of fire leading his people at night, he made a sea split in two, etc. It is not only in Exodus but throughout the whole Bible that we read this; however, in this book there is a verse in chapter 15 that states that if we follow God’s commands he will bless us.

          

  So I began to wonder, what would happen in my life if I follow God with my all? What would happen if I follow the examples and teaching of Jesus? Where would God bring me? What would he do in my life? Would crazy miracles happen like it did for so many in scripture, or would it be a more subtle thing? I just wanted to challenge you to think about what God can do, or even think about the things that you have heard about him doing. Is that something you would want to experience? For the everday Christian (like me) who doesn’t necessarily give their all (or very little) to God, think about the cool things that he might do in your life if you decide to seek him and give your all. Anyway peeps, that’s all I was wondering.

Peace out Playas

Hmmmmm I Wonder What it Would look like

 This will be a short post, but I still wanted to share my thought that I had today. I have been reading Exodus, and in that book, God does some crazy things. He makes bread come down from heaven, there is a pillar of fire leading his people at night, he made a sea split in two, etc. It is not only in Exodus but throughout the whole Bible that we read this; however, in this book there is a verse in chapter 15 that states that if we follow God’s commands he will bless us.

             

So I began to wonder, what would happen in my life if I follow God with my all? What would happen if I follow the examples and teaching of Jesus? Where would God bring me? What would he do in my life? Would crazy miracles happen like it did for so many in scripture, or would it be a more subtle thing? I just wanted to challenge you to think about what God can do, or even think about the things that you have heard about him doing. Is that something you would want to experience? For the everday Christian (like me) who doesn’t necessarily give their all (or very little) to God, think about the cool things that he might do in your life if you decide to seek him and give your all. Anyway peeps, that’s all I was wondering.

Peace out Playas

Don’t Mess it Up for the Rest of Em’

“Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me,

O Lord God of hosts;

let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me,

O God of Israel."

            I must admit that I am usually very hesitant to use one verse out of a huge chapter, especially in using the book of Psalms. The reason is that there is a danger of misusing a verse without considering the context of the entire chapter. Looking throughout the rest of the Bible though, this verse seems to apply to a larger usage.

            This Psalmist is being true and honest with his cry to God. He is being pushed and prodded by his enemies but in this moment he is sincere and this verse is evidence of that sincerity. He cries out to God on the behalf of the people and the image of God itself. He does not want to be responsible for being that negative example that often so many people have. For instance, throughout the Hebrew Bible (our Old Testament) Israel constantly brings dishonor by God for how they live. It seems to be a common occurrence. Israel’s enemies mock God and defame him constantly all because they see the often corrupt and hypocritical nature of its people.

            I am not being harsh on Jewish history; this same thing happens today in Christianity. The biggest hindrance for people to become Christians, or even to entertain the idea of its truth claims, are the Christians. It’s really sad, but a lot of people see the hypocrisy and the violence that Christianity has brought and continues to bring.

            We can’t right the wrongs of all history; however, we can show people the truth by how we live our lives. My challenge for you today is to look at yourself and see if you are bringing this shame on the image of God, his message that is found in Jesus, or your fellow believers who are really trying to live the right way. Does this verse ring true in your life, or do you just call yourself a Christian but live in such a way as to bring shame to the message that God has for others? It is a harsh challenge, but we all have to look at our lives and the way we live to see if we are doing more harm than good. You might be a sincere follower of God, yet there might still be things in your life that are giving others the wrong impression. It can range from how you treat your family to what you do outside of church. I know that for myself, I need to check my own heart as well because there are still things that I do that may give people the wrong idea.

Anyway, sorry for the super long message, but I hope you will accept this challenge and see where God can bring you.

Sincerely,

Just another dude.

Giving a lot up then grabbing what appeals

Letting go of security

King Amaziah is an interesting charater in the Bible. He was one of the kings of Judah after Israel split in a Northern Kingdom and Southern Kingdom. Amaziah was a person who dedicated his life and kingship to doing things God's way. There are many lessons that stick out with his life but there are two that I want to mention (ill post the other one later tonight).

The first crazy thing is Amaziah did something not many people do today. He was about to wage war on a foreign kingdom; however, to be more assured of the victory he hired soldiers from the Northern Kingdom (Israel). He spent tons of money hiring 100,000 soldiers, but after he bought them and before the battle, a prophet of God told him to send all these troops home and rely on God to do the work. Remember, Amaziah already paid a fortune for these soldiers; however, he obeyed and place faith that God would lead his army to this battle. He sent all those troops home and then he destroyed the enemy. The question I have for you today is would you be willing to give up something that you invested in and took great pride in. For Amaziah, he found security in expanding his military, yet he let that go to put his trust in God instead. Could you give up your car (if you have one), your savings, home, job, or even plans to trust in God? It's interesting to see that in many cases we just make excuses not to; however, in this passage.

So what is it in your life taht God might be challenging you to let go in order to put more trust in him? I challenge you today to examine what's in your life and open up your heart to the potential request that God has been making all along in your life. 

This is something that I personal have to do in my life

Peace out homies

Today's reading is found in 2nd Chronicles 25

Messed up Christians

 

 

This week I have been wrestling with a few things about myself. Constantly, I continually see my flaws and shortcomings. My biggest issue right now is just being lazy. In Romans 12:11 it states “Do not be slothful (it means extremely lazy…. Like a sloth lol) in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.” (ESV). This is the essence of my life, I constantly want to do things for God and serve him, but I am to dang Lazy… anyway, I have a point to this. God likes to use people like me that have problems or have major screw ups. So if you a person that keeps messing up in life; God has a plan for you.

Take Jacob, the Son of Isaac who is the Grandson of Abraham. Jacob’s name is actual Israel and he became the father of the Israelites (hence the name). However, do you know who this man actually was? All this favor that was upon him in life he stole. Literally, he stole the favor of God. See, Jacob had a brother named Esau who was technically the first born. The first born in those days would receive all the inheritance and birthrights, so if there was any blessings, Esau was meant to get it; however, Jacob was a deceitful fellow and stole all that inheritance with the help of his Mom. Thus, this sly fellow became the founder of the Israelite people by stealing all of the inheritance from his brother. Now I won’t get into the whole story for it is long and you can just read the Bible for it, but essentially after the theft his brother wanted to kill him. I mean he was full of rage and his bro was one of those muscular hairy guys that like to go hunting with his bare hands. So Jacob ran (I don’t blame him lol)….

The crazy thing is that even though Jacob stole all of this, God began to do an amazing work in him. God took a man who was technically not supposed to be the one with his entire father’s inheritance, and transformed him into a man of God. This is shown in Genesis 33 when Jacob runs into Esau after seven years of running. He walked up to him, gave him gifts and repented. I mean this dude was preaching to Esau (they had a very emotional reunion). Anyway, this Jacob ended up being the father of the Israelite people, which if you don’t know the story, is how we essentially get Jesus lol.

See God takes people like me, you, Paul (he was a killer), Peter (he was a liar and abandoned Jesus in his time of need), and many other messed up individuals and uses them for his purpose and glory. He transforms us from the inside out and all we have to do is seek him first. So if you have been discouraged about your usefulness, take heart knowing that God has got you. He is going to take you and use you in such a way that is it is going to blow your mind. All you have to do is seek him first. As Christians we say that phrase a lot, but it is completely true. There is no way that you are going to find your true worth, confidence, acceptance, (fiil in the blank) to the extent that you desire in anything else but him. So yea… this is my spiel and I know not many people read it, but I just had to share all this with my peeps… peace out people…

For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. 2 Chronicles 16:9

Don't Forget

“How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?” Psalms 13:1

                This thought is kind of a short one tonight. This weekend I have really struggled with this. Not in what you think. I did not struggle with crying to God about him forgetting about me. I struggled with just the opposite. It was  me forgetting about Him. If there was a theme form my week it would be about my forgetfulness of God. Many times during the day, or even throughout the week, we completely forget about God. We don’t think about him, we don’t wonder what his will is for us on a given day, we just go throughout our day in a haze. We get distracted with life and the business; however, he doesn’t forget about us. We have to constantly remember about God. It’s like when you first fall in love, you think about that person throughout your day; my challenge to you, is do the same thing with God. There is plenty to think about when it comes to him.

                There are some of you reading this that might honestly feel like what this verse says. I just want to encourage you to seek God out in the mists of the suffering you’re going through. He is there and he is listening. The harder it gets to bear, the harder you should seek.

                Peace out playas.