Ooops! Can I get a do over?

Well, I haven't blogged for quite awhile now, so here is another peek into the unknown areas of my mind.


Have you ever had one of those days when you wake up in the morning, and you start the day off with some great devotional time with God, and at the end you dedicate your day to God, and proceed to have the most God honoring day that you possibly can and then ............... five minutes after you start your devoted day to God, you screw it all up?

What you intended to be a great day of serving God: keeping your cool, having God-like patience with everyone and everything around you, saying all of the right things at the right time, etc... all seem to go just the opposite. You lose your temper, you have no patience at all, you say all of the wrong things, but your intentions are all good, and you just can't seem to understand how you could act that way being a christian.

Let me give you some words of encouragement. Take a look at Romans 7:14-25. The Apostle Paul was faced with the same problems that you and I face from day to day.

"And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can't. I want to do what is good, but I don't. I don't want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway." Romans 7:18,19 (NLT)

We all act this way. It can be extremely aggrivating, but at the end of the verses, Paul brings us a glimps of hope and clarity.


"Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God's law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin."

Then he ends it in Romans 8:1. A verse we all need to memorize.

"So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus."

I know as belivers we all mean well in what we say and do, and at times we will still hurt others around us. Do not let it get to you. Ask for forgiveness, and then keep pressing on toward the prize.

If I have hurt or offended you, I do apologize, I always have the best intentions for all of you.

Remeber that each day is an Etch-a-Sketch. Just shake it all clean, and start a new day. God doesn't hold it against you, and we shouldn't hold it against others in our lives.

In His Service

PJ

God's Humor

God has a sense of humor.

I know for years people have tried to make God boring and monotone and stuffy and .... , but the reality is He has a sense of humor. Have you every really read the Bible? His humor is all over the place.

I was reading my Bible this morning during my devotional time with God, and I just had to stop and laugh. In Acts 9:1-31, it tells of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. It just struck me as funny when I was reading through this. God takes the guy most well known in the area as a murderer and persecutor of the Way, and converts him on his way to bring punishment and pain to the church in Damascus. When he gets there, he is blind, can't fight, can only pray. God then takes one of the very people that Saul was on his way to arrest, and brings him to Saul and has him pray for him and heal him.

As Saul can see, he immediately goes out into the town and instead of arresting and persecuting everyone, he starts to preach the Good News. No one is sure what to do with him. It's amazing, awe inspiring, and hilarious all at the same time.

God's timing is always perfect. If God can reach Saul, who later became Paul, for His kingdom, I don't think we should ever give up hope that the people in our lives, no matter how hard they may fight and resist the truth, will someday have an unshakeable faith in the One True God.

Have an awesome day, and please smile and at least laugh once today.

God bless!!

Testing the blog.

I have to admit, that as techie as I am, I have never done a blog. So this is the first for me. I am writing this to see how it works, and what happens when I do this. Please have patience as I check this out. I will have more to come in the future.