Life Landscaping

I was recently cutting grass and realized that cutting grass can be like your walk with God.  It had been a while since I had cut grass so the grass was tall and it took longer to cut.  I thought that this was a metaphor for those times in your life when you stray from your walk with God.  The grass grows tall and isn't pretty and there are weeds everywhere.  When you stray on your walk with God your prayer life goes crazy,   just like the grass grows and isn't pretty to look at.   Sin will also make its way into your life as you stray,  just as the weeds start taking root in your yard.  The sin can be difficult to pull out of your life just as its difficult to pull those weeds from the ground.  However it can be done with Gods help.


When you have been off track and you haven't been walking with God it will be difficult.  I think though, one of the first things that can help you start getting your walk back in line with God is to pray.  Ask God for forgiveness and ask Him to help you.  I think the next thing is to is start reading your Bible.  I admit at this time in my life, I have read my Bible more than I ever have in my life.  I have read things that have encouraged and challenged me.  Another important aspect of walking with God is finding a church and getting there every time they open the doors.  Read Romans 12:4-5

For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. 

 I think God is telling us here that we are not meant to function in life as individuals passing through life.  We are meant to come together as a body of believers.  I especially like the passage:  'but all the members do not have the same function'.  When I think about this it strikes me that God is telling us that we will all have our strengths and weaknesses but when we come together as one body in Christ we will help each other.  You may be struggling with your walk with God, but when you come together with the body of Christ at church there is going to be someone there that has walked the same path you are coming down and can help you.

Now, back to cutting grass, even if you have been cutting your grass regularly you will still have those patches of really thick grass or that occasional weed that you will come upon that will slow you down, bog your mowers engine down, but your mower will push through the tough patch and move one.  I think this to is similar to your walk with God when you are walking with God and you haven't strayed.  There will be times when you stumble and/or sin.  Just like your mower though, you have to motor through those tough times and rely on God.  Remember this scripture John 15:1-2

I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.  Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

Even if the grass doesn't look that bad, you still have to cut it, the grass will be healthier and better after the cutting.

Feel free to share times in your life where you have felt that your let your grass grow to tall, or even times when you've just had tough patches here and there.

Love Yourself, God Does

When I was in middle school and puberty hit, I experienced bad acne.  During this time in my life, my self esteem took a nose dive.  I was ashamed of how I looked.  I never was a really outgoing person to begin with but during this period I found if hard to put myself out there and talk to new people.  There are many things that cause different people to loose their self esteem.  A lot of you at some point in your lives have experienced something that caused your self esteem to drop.  I know several times in my life, when relationships ended I would always question myself...what's wrong with me?  I would examine myself under a proverbial microscope to look for things that were imperfect.  I have heard before that we are our biggest critic.  I believe that is true.  Honestly we will notice more things about ourselves that anyone else in this world will ever notice, and several things that we may see as our worst feature may not even be noticed by anyone else. 


I was reading Genesis recently and found this scripture, Genesis 1:26-27:


Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.


In reading this, I realize that we are all made in God's likeness.  God has created each one of us, and we all know that God is perfect.  God doesn't make mistakes, this fact alone should help us love ourselves more.  God created us exactly as he wanted us to appear.


Think about it, God loved us even before we were ever born, and even before your parents were born.  One of the most quoted passages of the Bible is John 3:16


For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.


No one currently alive today was in existence while Jesus walked this earth.  However, God loved the world so much that he sent his only Son to save us.  Our Heavenly Father, who had only one son... sacrificed his son Jesus Christ for us, if that's not love, then I don't know what is.  You find this to hold true, read John 15:13.  You see a similar statement of God's love in Romans 5:8 and in Ephesians 2:4.


As I read these scriptures, I've found myself thinking that if God made me perfect, and loves me so much that even though I am a sinner he still loves me, its is an awesome thought.  God loves all of us. The people of this world can be cruel, they will take your self esteem and try to knock you down. Remember this though, God made you in his likeness, you were not some random creation, no God specifically made you just the way you are.

Prayer:  Pray today that God will open your eyes to the things that are wonderful about you, attributes that He has specifically given you so that you may glorify His kingdom.

Are you a Godly Husband/Wife?

In my life, I have been in relationships where God was not the center of the relationship.  However, in my relationship with my wife, our faith is important to us.  When looking at our Bible, there are specific instructions for the husband and the wife.  Early in our relationship, my wife told me that she wanted a Godly man.  I will also mention that at that time in my life I wasn't saved, and had never really been taught what God wanted husbands to be.  I've learned a lot of what God tells men in regards to being a husband.  I think one of the most important is found in Ephesians 5:25-29.  The very first statement in this passage is:


Husbands love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her.


When I read this, I see a very clear instruction for me as a husband. We all know that Christ loved the church and would do anything for the glory of his Father, up and including giving his life. I heard my dad say several times growing up when we talked about marriage and how you knew when you were with the right person. He told me one time, when you get married you should love your wife so much that you would give your life to save her's... now I don't know if that's word for word what he said, but it is close. Little did I know then, my father was giving me instructions directly from the Heavenly Father. When I look at my wife today, I do love her so much that I would willingly put myself in harms way so that she could live. I also hate when she is in pain and wish that I could take her pain and carry that pain instead of her.

I want to take you back to Genesis 2:24, which says:

Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh


As you read on in the Ephesians passage you find Ephesians 5:28:

So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself.


In reading both of these passages, when one gets married you become one flesh, in that if your spouse is hurt, then you will also hurt. If your spouse enjoys triumph then you will also experience triumph. Man is instructed to love his wife as he loves himself. When I read this, I also not only take this as I am to love my wife as my I love my own body, but i believe that part of loving is caring. In that, I believe that on top of loving my wife as my own flesh, I also care for her as I care for my own body.

God also intends for man to be the spiritual leader of the house, in 1 Corinthians 11:3

But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.


This statement is telling us who should lead us spiritually, some could read this as...ahh man is supposed to be in charge of the woman... that is not what is being said here.  God tells us here that Christ shall lead the man, man shall look to Christ as the leader in his spiritual life.  The verse continues saying that the head of the woman is the man, meaning that Husbands should be spiritual leaders in his household, not only leading his wife but also his children.


We have seen how God has instructed men in marriage, but what does he say about women?  Look at Ephesians 5:22-24:


Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.


This passage in basically tells wives to submit to their husbands as the church submits to Christ.  Men, this doesn't mean that your wife is there to do what you tell her to do, and that you have the authority to tell her how to live every moment of her life.  If you look at the church, the daily operation of the church is is in the hands of the leaders.  Notice the plural there, the leaders of the church will decide when the grass should be mowed, what kind of decorations are to be put up, when the bills are paid, etc...  Now, when the church is facing decisions that will affect the church as a body you will see much prayer, to Christ for guidance.  The same holds true in your own household.  Husband and wife will make the every day decisions together.  The husband is tasked as the spiritual leader of the home, however.  The husband submits to Christ and his leadership, as the woman submits to the man.  If the husband is a man of God, he will follow Christ's leadership meaning that when the wife submits to the husband, she also is simply following Christ's leadership.  Don't believe me:


Genesis 2:18:  And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”


In this scripture, it doesn't say that God will make Adam a helper which is subordinate to him, no it says "a helper comparable to him"  in other words - the man and woman are comparable or equal.  I read this as in a relationship the man and woman are equal in that the husband shouldn't be domineering over the wife, nor the wife domineering over the husband.  The two should function as one unit, just as instructed by God in Genesis 2:24.


Pray today and ask God to to lead you in your marriage, that he show you ways in which that you and your spouse can grow closer with God and that your marriage can be used to glorify Him.  As you grow closer with God so shall you grow closer to each other.  

Getting on God's Timetable

Many times in our lives most of us have probably prayed to God to do something in our life.  When we were kids our prayers may have centered around the newest toy.  However as we grow older the things on our prayer list changes drastically.  Now, as adults our prayers may center around a new job, our parents health and different financial needs in our lives.  One thing that we must all realize is that although we may think we need the things we pray for immediately, God has an ultimate plan and his plan is, was, and always will be perfect.

A little over three years ago, I was married but there were problems.  At the time, I wasn't in church, and hadn't been for over 4 years.  However, I still had faith in God, but wasn't living with God as the lord of my life.  I prayed at the time for my marriage, however, in February of 2009, my marriage fell apart.  This time in my life had the potential to be a very lonely time in my life.  However, due to a wonderful family and good friends, I never felt alone.  I remember one night in particular that I had been reflecting on my recent past and decided that night that I did not want another relationship unless it was one which would be a healthy relationship where both of us would be walking in the same direction.  That night, I said a prayer asking God to take that burden, I asked that he bring someone else into my life when it is time according to his will.

I've told you this brief history to explain how perfect Gods timing has been in my life.  Read Ecclesiastes 3:1-11.  In this scripture it's very clear that in Gods will there is a time for everything in our life.    When reading this scripture, I realize that there is absolutely no part of my life that God is not in control of.  Granted, there are times that I "think" I am in control, but ultimately, God is controlling everything.  Read Ecclesiastes 3:11:

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 

When I read this verse, the meaning that I got was that if we allow God to work in our lives he will make our lives beautiful.  When we try to control our own lives without consideration to God it usually ends up much worse than what it would have been if we had stepped out of the way and allowed God to be the lord of our life.

Look at Psalms 37:4:

Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart

As you can see from this verse, if we make God the lord of our life and follow his path, then he will do wonderful works in our lives.  There are many times in our lives when we worry about things, when we pray over and over again for something that we think is important in our lives.  A lot of times God may not answer the prayer, well He may answer, just not in the way that we want. 

Proverbs 3:5 : Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;  

 There are many times in our lives that we may ask Why is God doing this?   Why is God allowing this to happen?  I encourage you in those times to look back at Proverbs 3:5.  We may not always if ever understand what God's will is for our lives.  However, we can trust in the fact that God will always be there for us.


I will say though that I don't believe that God intends for us to just sit and wait on him to do things in our life.  I think that we must in faith act, get your feet moving in the right direction.  When praying for God to do something in your life begin to take steps toward that goal.  Some of these steps may be huge steps of faith.  Other times, it may be something simple.  If you are praying for a new job, I don't think there is any of us out there that think that God will simply drop the new job in our laps.  When praying for a new job, take the steps to search for that new job, go out and apply for those jobs, and trust in God to be your guide. 

However I will mention that there are times in our lives that we think that we are ready for a change, but God still has a plan for us right where we are at.  If you are pushing for a change in your life, praying for change, but nothing seems to happen, it may be that God still has a plan for your life where you are now.  It may be wise to ask God to open your eyes in your current situation to any opportunities to serve him. 

Now, back to how all of this lead to up perfect timing in my life,  well in December of 2009, I was first introduced to who would become my wife.  I will never forget the night I first met her.  I had just gotten home from work, I mean I had just walked in the door, and a friend of mine called and a bunch of people were all headed to Athens to hang out.  The friend mentioned my future wife and said that she was going through a bad time, and that her marriage was ending.  Since I had just recently experienced the same thing in my life, I could identify with how she felt, and I knew myself on of the greatest things that got me through that time in my life was friends.  During that evening I tried to talk with her some, but didn't push.  After she left headed home that night I sent her a text, I wanted her to know that she wasn't alone and that if she ever needed anyone to talk to that I would be there to listen. Shortly after, we started hanging out, just talking about life and what had happened in each of our lives.    The more we talked the more we realized how much we had in common.  A love of reading was probably one of the biggest.    In April of 2010 Allison invited me to go to church, and thus I was introduced to Pleasant Grove Baptist Church.  From the first service I knew that I had found a new church.  The music was awesome, and the message encouraging.  A few short months later we were married...in Vegas no less.  I believe through our broken relationships that although it was a difficult time for both of us, God used this time to build us into stronger people.  I may not be perfect now, but I know I've grown and am continuing to grow as a Christian.


To sum it all up, God has an ultimate plan for our live, called God's will.  He will allow us to turn from his will, but it's only when we are putting our lives in line with God, is when God will move in our lives in wonderful ways.

Fear or Fearless?

I spent a large portion of my life, up to this point, confused when someone mention fearing God.  I thought of the definition that most people think of when the word fear is mentioned.  According to Dictionary.com Fear is defined as:

a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil,pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid

When I attempted to apply this definition to God, I  had a difficult time.  I couldn't figure out why you would ever want to be afraid of God, and it always seemed backwards to me.  However, over the past two years as I have grown in my faith, I've discovered a much different meaning of fear.  

In Deuteronomy 28:58: If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, THE LORD YOUR GOD

This verse I believe clears up what it means to fear God.  When we are growing up, our parents placed rules on each on of us, these rules were meant to guide our lives and protect us from danger.  I don't think there is anyone out there anywhere who can say that as a child, you obeyed your parents rules all the time and you never got in trouble.  I think the fear of God is much like the fear that you felt as a child when you did something wrong...or was about to do something wrong and you knew that you were going to get in trouble.  I remember as a kid, when I did something, and I knew my parents would be upset, that i would get that feeling of dread in the pit of your stomach and I feared what my parents would say or do when I got home. I think this fear is a lot like the fear of God.  God has set down rules for our lives, and there are definitely consequences to our breaking God's rules.  

There are several places throughout the Bible where God's fear goes hand in hand with a person's faith in God.  Read Genesis 22:1-12.  In this scripture God is testing Abraham's Faith, when He asks Abraham to sacrifice his only son.  Go back now and read Genesis 22:12:  And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”  As you can see, your faith in God depends a lot on your fear of God.  When God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only Son I'm sure that Abraham had to be taken a aback.  However, Abraham had faith in God, that God had a perfect purpose for this request.  He had a healthy fear of God in that he went forward with what God had asked him to do.  

If as Christians, we can develop a fear of God, our relationship with God will grow stronger, see Proverbs 2:5 Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, And find the knowledge of God.  As our relationship grows with God, our Fear of God will also grow, and in that we will be able to better see the paths that God has directed us to.  There are other scripture which tells us that a fear of God is vital to following God.

Psalm 128:1  Blessed is every one who fears the Lord, Who walks in His ways.

Proverbs 1:7  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction

To me the easiest way to look at it is this, Look to God as your heavenly father, He had given us an entire book which should be used in guiding how we live our lives.  Just as our earthly father may have told us not to climb to high in a tree, our heavenly father has given us the Bible which contains commandments for our lives.  Our earthly Father put rules in place to protect us from harm, so does our heavenly father.  

Trials and Troubles

In everyone's life there will come times when we have trials. These trials can come in the form of financial troubles, relationship problems, or sickness. Over the past 6 months my family has experienced a trial the likes of my family has never experienced. In January, my father had a stroke. Anyone out there who have had family members that have had a stroke or have been a care giver for a stroke survivor, you will know how stressful it can be. My mother and brother are my father's main caregivers, they are there day in and day out, I greatly admire both of them. My brother, I have a lot of respect for, he is a young 22 years old, and has taken on the responsibility that some men much older than him would not.


James 1:2-4 says My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.


This one verse tells us that although sometimes we may ask, why would God ever put me through this? We can rest in the fact that God has a purpose for everything that occurs in our lives. Not only that, but our faith can be built out of it. Recently at church there was a discussion about troubled times in our lives. God will allow you to experience trials in order to use your experience in that you receive while going through the troubled time to allow you to do a wonderful work for him later. If you read this scripture again, you will see the phrase: But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. This is an amazing thought, in that, God is telling us here that the trials that we experience will actually build us into a more perfect person, and be lacking nothing in our lives. Think about that, some of the hardest times in our lives can make us into people who lack nothing.... an absolutely amazing thought.


Many times we all can become very stressed and sometimes depressed when we experience troubled times in our lives. One thing that I have learned is that when things are wonderful in your life and you haven't got a care in the world, that it's easy to pray and praise God. However, when those difficult times come to your life it gets much more difficult to trust God, to pray and study his word. During those difficult times we have an amazing opportunity to grow our relationship with God.


My challenge to myself and all of you is the next time you begin experiencing a trial in your life to use that time in your life to grow closer with God, get in his word and absorb everything he wants you to learn, and praise, yes praise him for allowing you to experience this and know that his plan is perfect, and that God has a perfect purpose for allowing you to experience whatever it is that is occurring in your life.

Welcome!

Hi Everyone, I want to welcome you to my blog.  My hopes for this blog is that it will allow me to share my walk with God, verses that mean something to me or that have encouraged me.  New blog posts will be coming soon as I already have several topics roaming around my mind just waiting to be put into words.   Thanks for reading! and come back soon!