Doesn' t seem right .....does it?

I read the blog of my dear friend Ann tonight and as I read I felt the Spirit speaking to me about the recent adversity that she faced and how we had gone through similar struggles. I read a long and seen several parts about how they had struggled to get to church and with every step forward , Satan managed to push them three back. Funny how people call adversity a struggle, but we refer to Satan as the adversary! I think that we as people allow are selves to be pushed around just a little too much. As I read on, my friend talked about the financial struggles and then the feelings of unworthiness....Now if you know Ann and Matt at all there is no unworthiness issue there ever, those two are pillars in spiritual excellence! I think it doesn't seem right, how Satan could whispered in her ear and she listened for a minute.

A fact of the matter is that we as people don't view Jesus and Satan as tangible individuals, we don't see them as if there able to be right there. We think all too often that they are just vapors that float around or story's told in books and that neither really has any effect on the mind. Sad part is Satan is able to be right on top of us at all times, and if we don't cry out to our Savior to come help, well then we stand and listen to the devil tell us lies.I have been in situations plenty of times in my life were the thoughts I was having were not in conjunction with what the Savior would have me be thinking about and if I festered long enough in my own thinking and let Satan keep picking at me, then I started to believe the lies he was spreading.

I kept reading on down further in the blog post and Ann had took a new perspective on things , Just as she always does. She is truly a Saint in all aspects of the word. As I continued, I read that they had success and were able to make new friends and as I read further down I began to see something that I found hard to come by myself....humility! It took pushing me hard several times to get humility out of me and I didn't have nearly the faith my friends here have. As times got harder though I realized that as I called upon the name of Christ , every time He would come and save me, oh how sweet our Savior is. I know that every time I have been in a situation where I have been given opportunities to change something, God allows me to be tested if you will just a little to kinda make me earn it. I told my friend that perhaps there was something our Father in Heaven wanted her to know or learn, He always seems to teach me this way.

I try to listen to three very special hymns daily.........." I need thee every hour" " Love one another " and " Keep the commandments" With those songs in my thoughts all day, I seem to do quite well with any obstacle.

Don't it Hurt?

I find myself in an awkward position from time to time. I get caught up in the things of this world and let them drag me down to the point of not feeling worthy of God's grace. Grace and forgiveness go hand in hand you can't have one without the other, but for me I have a hard time dealing with feeling as though I've been forgiven of a sin . I struggle so, trying desperately to be as good as I can be and without warning ...there I've done something again. Does it hurt for you too? Is it hard to feel worth the forgiveness, even when it seems to be a reoccurring sin? I struggle to do what is right in the eyes of God, and yes we are all our own worst critic,but for me it seems to break my heart when I do something wrong.

I found myself listening to a Christian radio station.....something I do often, when I heard a preacher speaking on the topic of having to have faith in grace. Not faith alone mind you, but faith in grace , then he went on to describe how our Father in Heaven gave His only begotten to die for the transgressions of man. How we need to be able to accept that grace from Jesus Christ and realize the purpose of that which He had suffered so greatly for. I began to think to myself , How do I feel when I repent?. Then it occurred to me that yes I was heart felt in my prayers , and yes I truly was meaning the words which I spoke and yes I was humble. So if all those things were in check....then was I having faith in grace? No , I believe that when I pray to ask for forgiveness I believe that He hears my pleas and forgives the sin , but if I don't forgive myself and don't have that faith in the grace of a Father who loves me so much then I never really get forgiven now do I.

I would admonish all who read this to pray on the topic at hand and ask this very hour .... Lord do I have sin that I am in need of repentance? I do I'm sure, If you say you don't then your a better person then I could ever be and if that is so then would you please leave me a note at the comment box and tell me how perfection feels. I , we have got to come to terms with every wrong we have ever committed , even those that lie in the darkest part of our memories. I feel as we aspire to be more forgiving of ourselves, when we have humble asked Father in Heaven for forgiveness, then we must have faith in grace and know that his mercy and grace is sufficient to all.

So with that I leave you , begging to have His mercy and grace, praying for faith in His grace, and believing that it is sufficient for me ...just like it was for the Apostle Paul.

Christians and Politics

I always have wondered when the country was going to be prepared to have a person of another race become president. I never thought it was going to be in my life time, I must say even though he ( Obama ) does not stand for the same moral values as I do, I was impressed with the general public in there ability to vote in an African American to the office of president! Some say that this will bring about terrible things...me personally I feel it is a step in the right direction as far as loving our fellow man as our brother. Perhaps we as people can get rid of the racism we have so long suffered from in this country. I had the pleasure of reading an article written by my brother Tom which I will post in the next paragraph , but the funny thing about his article is that I heard the same comments on a local christian radio station and had thought on the very topic earlier this week.

Tom says......

"Our country has spoken and elected a new President. Pray that during the upcoming days and weeks, over the next crucial months in our nations history, pray for our outgoing President and our incoming President. Pray that Mr. Obama would appoint people in his administration that will hold the values of God. That the name of God would be re-established in our great nation and the name of Jesus would be exalted above all things. Pray that Mr. Bush would make decisions that the transition between them would be smooth and successful. Pray that the upcoming changes would be made in a way that will glorify God and bring His name to the world. He is what our country was founded on, lets pray that one day it will be again."

Good stuff from other opinions other than my own! I have taken to prayer in these past few days as to how the Spirit will guide Mr. Obama as he takes seat in the desk in the oval office. Much like that of so many more in this country are doing , I heard a striking number of more than 6o million people had voted for the McCain administration , so that means alot of us out there still have good moral values. At a breath taking 48%-52% overall voting polls , I would say that it was close .We have the ability to pray and lets face it ....no one , is out side the reach of God's hand!

Enough on the political field , I made mention of it because we as Christians need to stand for the things we believe in, this is not the end nor a reason to give up hope. We must stand fast in our efforts to still instill in our children what is right and wrong, I know that its hard with all the influence of the media we are exposed to these days , but honestly we are the ultimate ones responsible for the teachings of our children. It is still our job as Christians to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the world especially to our next door neighbors , but really to keep building His kingdom up on Earth today. Even in spite of struggles we must press forward...When Job in the Old Testament had asked of God why must he struggle , why must he be tempted so greatly....the answer " The Son of man hath descended below them all; art thou grater than He?" With that thought in mind I would ask you ..... are you willing to still stand for what you believe in. Of course you will !!! So lets not look at our current situation as one that is bad but embrace it as a time to pull together as believers in Christ from all walks of life and pray that the things we are in need of will come to pass. He already knows what it is we need ..... He wants us to ask for it , its called humility. Funny how that works.

I have spent a great deal of time these past few weeks thinking about my own spirituality, and sometimes there is alot of struggles and sometimes there aren't many. Its the times when I"m not in tune with the Spirit that I don't have the struggles, why you would ask? Because that's when Satan doesn't have to work as hard because I'm listening to the wrong side! Its been my experience that when I am doing as good as I possible can and am trying to be as Christ-like as possible that I'm faced with opposition! I know that it is because Satan tries to break those down who confess the name of Jesus, so stand fast brothers and sisters. We are not alone in our fight for what is right .... He is ever mindful of the world around us.

Be ever prayerful, ever mindful , and ever loving of those around us. They need us and we need them , tell your wife and kids you love them and show the world that your bigger than any color or any political party. Be a Christian. I love you all.