| Some interesting reflections; learned during A time of great struggle and trial?
At first glance you may think that the issues listed here really do not have much to do with Church, employer, marriage or family relationships but I urge you to look a little deeper, think a little harder, for these issues do indeed effect all our interpersonal relationships, and they can and will do much damage if we are not sensitive to the areas in our life that need correction and proper biblical application of Gods word and counsel. 1. Never try to fill the void that only God can fill? never try to replace what God has given you with something or someone else, do not look to find what God has for you outside of Gods provision and storehouse. “ but my God shall supply all my need..” aaAnd never reject or take for granted Gods gifts, and when it comes to marriage there is no such thing as a refund or a return merchandise credit policy? no deposit no return? if your mate is broken or flawed guess what? keepers weepers, in other words its yours for the long haul your stuck ( blessed) with it you see your suppose to know what your getting into before the marriage not after and its your responsibility to use hindsight and wisdom, maybe you should go into the marriage with both eyes open but after keep one eye closed! There is no marriage assembly line and there are no test products and no such thing as a test drive, (no shacking up, living together or pre marriage sex trials not if you want to do it the bible way) and no updating the product (mate) as a trade in, the only warranty you get is that its an eternal union with Gods blessing and favor matter a fact its a divine institution, a sacred ordinance “ for this cause shall they leave their father and mother and cleave one to another, and the two shall become one and are no longer two“ Matter a fact some people need to go back and reread their marriage warranty again ( the vows) remember them, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, till death due us part, and in Gods words “ let no man put asunder ” put not away your mates but be ye reconciled ” if anyone puts away their mate and marries another they commit adultery ” now that’s straight up and right out of the mouth of the good Lord himself! can’t argue with that, you can try but it will cost. oh how if only we would have listened to the gentle whisper of God as he called us to repentance, if we would have only realize that we had a divine gift from God; whether it be a wife, a family, a job, a home, a ministry, etc We have no business looking elsewhere for the pleasing of this flesh, his provision and blessing which we sometimes take for granted, was and is all we need, more than I needed, Yes we all make mistakes some big and some small but we must all learn from our mistakes and realize we are ALL accountable for our actions. THERE IS NO PLACE FOR MAKING EXCUSES OR IGNORING THE HURTS WE CAUSE OTHERS. SOMETIMES WE CAN BE SO SELFISH, SO SELF CENTERED, SO IGNORANT OF THE PAIN WE CAUSE OTHERS. So blind to our own faults and failures, behavior and actions. That all we can do is see our own wants and needs.Its time to grow up and pay our dues...and quit taking the love of others for granted. ( some will say that I’m just saying this to impress others, no its just the plain truth I’m telling you all his gifts are more than I could ask for, more than I deserve, and yes I didn’t act like it, didn’t appreciate it, and oh how I regret it ) I say all this so that someone will learn from my mistake and realize that when you make vows to God and others you should honor and keep them, we should have honored and cherished our God and his gifts to us, be more faithful rather than unfaithful even if the unfaithfulness doesn’t get any further than your heart, my head or my eyes, it is still wrong.. 2. Never try to fault God for yours or anybody else’s present situation or circumstances, never blame God for the injustice you see around you, never blame God for seemly unanswered prayers ( get one thing straight Gods timing is not our timing and God does not jump when we say jump, he sometimes answers in ways we do not understand, but never doubt his care and concern nor fault him, for when you begin to blame God u then begin to question God and when u question God you demonstrate faithlessness which in turn breeds fear and the end result of fear is failure and defeat! Because when you question God you show that he is not really Lord in your life, you make as if he has to answer to you and has to explain what he does and why? I don’t think so! realize sickness and death, pain & misery is a direct result & consequence of sin, not punishment from God. We should realize that a negative & critical attitude and outlook only contributes to a moral breakdown and more marital problems & dissatisfaction within the marriage union, the job, or the family etc, quit blame shifting & faulting others, get your attitude right & quit worrying about others remember it rains on the just & unjust just the same, we are not immune to troubles & trials. But we do have access to divine assistance, learn the privilege of prayer rather than criticism) my my I should have known better my constant complaining & criticizing caused me to be insensitive to the needs of those around me, & to the correcting influence of Christ thus my bondage became stronger, my will weaker, my ministry futile, my RELATIONSHIP more in danger. 3. Never try to keep God locked up only in the rustic pages of history, never confined nor consign him only to your future? but let him into your present situation, your home, heart, place of employment, marriage and life, don’t just hear about him or read about him, don’t just think about him, ask him in, let him have his way in your life and over your life. “ behold I stand at the door and knock..” Don’t be like Martha and Mary? Luke 10:38-42 remember Martha choose to stay so busy she didn’t have time to sit at the feet of Jesus. Then there was her encounter with Jesus in John 11:20-26 Notice she believed in Jesus for needs in the future vs. 24 “ Martha sayeth unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day” she was willing to believe in his power for the future in the last day, then back in vs. 21, she believes in him for the past? “ Then sayeth Martha to Jesus Lord if thou had been here, my brother would had not died “ if thou had been here, hum seems like she could believe for yesterday and tomorrow but left him out of her today, her present situation, we to are like that many a times, Jesus want to be a part of your life for always, present, past, and future! he here’s to deliver today as well as yesterday and tomorrow. Sure wish I would have let him in my heart and life when he asked, let him correct me when he tried, let him be God for my today and my yesterday even my tomorrow 4. Never discredit his works or divine providence, nor demean or criticize his creation including yourself? “ for you are wonderfully and fearfully created..” The heavens declare the glory of God” self-esteem is essential to self respect, and self respect recognizes the worth that God gives ones life! “ for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.. that who so ever believeth in him should not perish “ self respect is not the same as self adulation or conceit which brings self destruction. Some people can believe in him for the needs of others but not for themselves thinking their not good enough, not holy enough, not wise enough, not saintly enough, this attitude really reflects a flaw in our perception and understanding of just who we are in Christ, a blood bought, blood washed, redeemed, justified and sanctified saint and child of God! And we receive from God not so much according to our goodness but by his grace and goodness, yes we struggle daily but his grace is sufficient! he will not put on us more than we can bear, but by the same token we should not take his grace for granted, perhaps had I shown more respect and concern toward others, more gratitude and sincerity, then I would not be in the predicament that I am now? Sometimes we get to used to being so critical and bias towards people and Gods creation, our outlook on life reflects our attitude on God? thus we eliminate God out of our life and his ability to effect change in us and convict us is inhibited, nor is he able to bless and encourage us, so seldom have we any laughter & encouragement to give or share with others causing us to become more miserable and empty inside ( you see there is a direct connection between giving, sharing and encouraging others and our feeling of Gods love and effect in our lives ) so we continue on in our sin and in the end we tend to self destruct... I should know.. 5. Never limit God to your way of doing things, never limit him to mans means or capabilities, do not expect him to function or operate according to your finite conceptions.. “ behold my ways are not your ways, neither are my thoughts your thoughts..“ lean not unto your own understanding but in all your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths” “ is anything to hard for God “ “ with God all things are possible” to many times we try to figure him out and put him in a box, we tend to listen to human logic over Gods counsel, human will over divine will, “ blessed is he who sitteth not in the seat if the counsel of the ungodly.. but his delight is in the law of the Lord ” Quit trying to figure all things out, trying to figure out sin, figure out the whys, its amazing how we sometimes expect to understand why something happened? let me share an example with you lets take my situation I had the most wonderful and perfect gift God could give me? albeit a home, a Christian family, a job, a ministry, my health, yet why and how could I do what I did in taking it for granted? that’s just it there is no excuse, no logical reason, sin doesn’t make sense, doesn’t care who it hurts or destroys, sin has no boundaries, no concerns, went it gets a hold of you, it try’s to destroy you and those around you, so how could someone who is in bondage, who’s mind was twisted, do right or think right, let alone appreciate such precious gifts from God ? But make no mistake I did and still do love my God and the woman who was once mine! Do you think for one moment I wanted to do what I did to her and God? that I wanted to hurt her like that? wanted to shame her or humiliate her? of course not!! (And for those of u who are curious what I’m talking about by the way. Let me get a bit more open and honest with you, I’m not talking about adultery either, but what I did do was something hurtful, neglectful and bad period. And for that I am guilty with no excuse, you see some years ago I was involved in a serious relationship with a very precious woman. However fool that I was I took that precious gift of love for granted, neglected her, shamed her, hurt her, I’m so ashamed of myself. You know I‘ve had many girlfriends in the past only to brake up with them eventually. And yes it hurt to some extent but eventually I got over it. But there’s something about this last young lady, a part of her still lingers with me, my heart still longs for her touch, her smile, her warmth, even after so many years it still hurts and seems like just yesterday. You would think I‘d just get over her by now? Unlike any other woman she has affected me for life. Sure one day I will heal, how longs who knows? One day I will love again, smile again, hope again, but until then I keep my head up and my heart open. ) But why did I do what I did? why take for granted such a gift? you see it would be ridiculous to think had I control of my actions and thoughts and would still have done what I did to her, I was just blinded to my own selfishness and sin I was out of control I expected things to be my way & to go my way, and to many times I looked for God to answer my needs and questions my way. I looked for an answer that pleases the flesh rather than practicing faith, for me I was so busy trying to understand Gods ways, and why he did this and did that, how he did this and that, so busy trying to look like him but I was not acting like him, I studied so hard to know his story, his ways, his word, his teaching that I was to busy to apply what I learned to my life, to busy reading and praying for my teaching and preaching engagements that I lost touch with his intimacy, his truth, his presence, his power. I was blinded in my own foolish hypocrisy and so called spiritual knowledge that I misunderstood what his truth and word really meant and how to apply it in love to others, what real relationship really is, what real forgiveness is, real Christianity is? dare I say what real love is? but now I’ve learned these the hard way. Sometimes we just need to listen and obey his word without question and reasoning, without trying to figure it out, without trying to justify, quit judging his word and what he ask of us by whether it feels good to us and for us, he knows what is best .. “ lean not unto thy own understanding but in all thy ways acknowledge him..” In closing let me say that when you find yourself going through some of the troubles and trials as were mentioned here, be sure to get plenty of rest and exercise, eat well and above all do not neglect your prayer life! let me share something with you exercise is also very important along with your prayer routine? for I found that when I would neglect my daily jog I would then find myself feeling lethargic, depressed and discouraged, but when I jogged routinely, I notice that I felt less depressed, less spiritually weary, less discouraged, so there is a direct tie between my stress level, my emotional state, my prayer life, my spiritual condition and my exercise routine, yes the bible saids “ bodily exercise profiteth little.” but it does have some benefit, especially when combined with an active prayer life oh the benefits are more than worth it.. Prepared by : George R. Nava 2170 e. Market st. Stk, Ca phone -46-59731 |