Trials

Time has shown me that trials are not punishment from God. I was brought up with a legalistic religion that focused on the need to right every sin made. My inability to have children felt like a punishment for sin. However, that was a lie from Satan, I gained more insight into life as I turned my life over to His plans.

Life is filled with steep mountains to climb. We don’t have to go it alone.

My need to orchestrate my life, my career, my marriage, my potential family to be, left no room from God to be my one and only God. I was on the throne as my own God. What a thought.

Over time and trials, I am seeing how God has been molding my character and life by showing me the places I need to hand over to His plans. What do you need to hand over to God? Is it your health, your family or friend relationships? What is blocking your path to growing with Him?

Our trials bring us two options: we avoid His direction and love, which brings more fear and stress or we can bring our trials to Him and have His help for the journey. When we realize our inability to control anything in life and give it all to Him. He can work out His purpose.

If I have an unrepentant heart for past sins the enemy brings heaps of shame and guilt on our life over grace and mercy. Talk to God, repent of the sin ( my pride was an obstacle). Remove the obstacles to your relationship of love with Jesus.

Our trials may be the experience we need to realize how much God loves us and how much we need to be refined in the trial. I definitely learned, it is not about my plans but His.

“Jesus loves me” is a popular children’s song. The lyrics expressed that “when I am weak He is strong”, I wanted the yes, Jesus does love you, “the Bible to tell me so.”

We must seek relationship with God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit!

The more I broke free of the Spirit of religion, ( yes, it is a spirit from the enemy set to destroy our relationship with Jesus), by seeking God and His truths in scripture, the more I was amazed at how Jesus loved me.

You see, it has always been about Relationship with our Creator God, Jesus.

When we choose to submit our whole life to God, He brings more wisdom to equip our day. He brings more hope even if we or our loved one has cancer, or if we struggle to love ourselves, or are challenged by addictions, or mental health. We can not do life alone.

Hebrews 13:20-21 NLT
Now may the God of peace- who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood- [21] may he equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. All glory to him forever and ever! Amen.

Psalm 31:7 NLT
I will be glad and rejoice in your unfailing love, for you have seen my troubles, and you care about the anguish of my soul.

Jesus, the answer to the broken relationship of human and God, brought restoration and repair to the broken covenant. What an amazing gift of Jesus to our broken world. We need Him. He died for us, even though we are sinners.

What love Jesus has for us, His Holy Spirit is a gift of wisdom. Jesus loves you, obey His call, accept His help.

John 14:16-17 AMP
And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), to be with you forever— [17] the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive [and take to its heart] because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He (the Holy Spirit) remains with you continually and will be in you.

Amazing grace and mercy is within our grasp, just open your heart, mind and soul!

Open you hands, bend your knees and bow before the only One worthy of all our worship, Jesus.

God does have good plans for us. We must act in faith, believe He will work for our good, even when things seem impossible.

“Good plans”, a song by Red Rocks Worship, has been on my playlist daily. What an anthem to the goodness of God no matter the trial.

Good plans by Red Rocks Worship

John 14:26-27 AMP
But the Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will help you remember everything that I have told you. [27] Peace I leave with you; My [perfect] peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid. [Let My perfect peace calm you in every circumstance and give you courage and strength for every challenge.]

Photo by pexels.com

Blinded

Our weather patterns have been so manic lately! One day, the sun shines, the temperature is balmy, the next day, a snow storm ( or what’s lately called polar vortex) takes over the region. Another day, we have found a dense fog that seems to hover for more than just a morning. This dense fog stayed into the evening with scattered areas of fog in the valleys and bright sun in the hilltops.

The other day, as I was driving with a family member. We were struck by the comparison of the weather and our walk with God. It feels as if we are caught in a blind fog of climate and information. We may feel our anxiety raise its ugly head. We may feel short of breath, but we must push through to get to our destination.

Here’s a photo my daughter took for reference:

Driving through a dense fog brings uncertainty as we continue to accelerate to the unknown intersection. The dense fog is not much different than our walk with our God, Yeshua! We must fix our eyes into a future without seeing His physical form. We must trust Him in our steps.

We must have faith in the unknown. There are hazards along the way, our friends and family may express concern for our Jesus freak faith. We may be seen crazy as Noah,who built an ark even though there was no flood yet. We may be ostracized for our willingness to be bold as the Holy Spirit is guiding our words and actions.

John 12:37-41,43-50 NLT
But despite all the miraculous signs Jesus had done, most of the people still did not believe in him. [38] This is exactly what Isaiah the prophet had predicted: “LORD, who has believed our message? To whom has the LORD revealed his powerful arm?” [39] But the people couldn’t believe, for as Isaiah also said, [40] “The Lord has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts- so that their eyes cannot see, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and have me heal them.” [41] Isaiah was referring to Jesus when he said this, because he saw the future and spoke of the Messiah’s glory. [43] For they loved human praise more than the praise of God.

Do you want to be caught blinded by the praise of men or the praise of God? Our hardened hearts are a block to our relationship with Jesus.

In John 12, we read further what Jesus said to the crowds. We must choose to follow Him, personally! No one can make this decision for us. Your parents walk with God does not cover you.

John 12: [44] Jesus shouted to the crowds, “If you trust me, you are trusting not only me, but also God who sent me. [45] For when you see me, you are seeing the one who sent me. [46] I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark. [47] I will not judge those who hear me but don’t obey me, for I have come to save the world and not to judge it. [48] But all who reject me and my message will be judged on the day of judgment by the truth I have spoken. [49] I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it. [50] And I know his commands lead to eternal life; so I say whatever the Father tells me to say.”

Yeshua ( Jesus) came to save the world. He wants us to choose Him. Don’t reject His message for love and eternal life. He wants us to choose life over death. Open your heart, Open your eyes, cry out to the only One who can save, He loves you!

John 3:16-17 NLT
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. [17] God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

ARE YOU A FOLLOWER OF JESUS?

Have you invited Jesus into your heart? Now is the perfect time. Pray this sinner’s prayer found at Gotquestions.com.

“God, I know that I am a sinner. I know that I deserve the consequences of my sin. However, I am trusting in Jesus Christ as my Savior. I believe that His death and resurrection provided for my forgiveness. I trust in Jesus and Jesus alone as my personal Lord and Savior. Thank you Lord, for saving me and forgiving me! Amen.”

What has your heart?

Are you tied up in knots? Do you long for happiness and peace? Is that your end goal… to be happy? It is a fantasy to believe we can get happiness from another person, a circumstance, or words from another. What has your heart? What is your idol?

I know it sounds cynical. I am just sharing what God is revealing to me. Our happiness is emotion, our emotion fluctuates. It is unstable. Did we get enough sleep, did we eat healthy today? Did we spend time with God or just run out the door without giving Him a second thought? If it is not social media, what has your heart? Are we seeking happiness from scrolling on social media? (This is a dead-end coping mechanism that the devil uses to bring discontent.)

B.U.S.Y = Being Under Satans’ Yoke I have heard this anachronym before. It is an obstacle to our time with our Creator Father God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. The enemy wants to cause us to stay fixed on social media. When we stay stuck in this cycle, we feel trapped by time and forget what God says in His Scripture.

So untie the knots of social media, the cultural narratives, and the distractions of comparison traps. Social media can be used for good things such as sharing faith in Jesus, along with spreading love and lessons learned. It can be an amazing source to spread the gospel message of grace, mercy, hope, and forgiveness.

Social media can also be a trap of time. How many of us have found ourselves looking at the time we spent scrolling? Next thing you know hours have passed. We feel spent with more negative emotions and unfulfilled.

Doesnt it make more sense to spend time getting the wisdom to guide our steps? Seek the peace and wisdom from God.

Time to change your routine: Here is a solid truth from Psalm 34. Meditate on each scripture. Speak it aloud for 30 days each morning before you get out of bed. Start your day in His truth with His promises. Decide for yourself the trajectory of your mindset for His plans over the World plan. I plan to make a change in 2024 personally. What do you have to lose, challenge yourself with a 30-day fast from social media!

Psalm 34 (MSG)  I bless God every chance I get;

my lungs expand with his praise.



2 I live and breathe God;

if things aren’t going well, hear this and be happy:



3 Join me in spreading the news;

together let’s get the word out.



4 God met me more than halfway,

he freed me from my anxious fears.



5 Look at him; give him your warmest smile.

Never hide your feelings from him.



6 When I was desperate, I called out,

and God got me out of a tight spot.



7 God’s angel sets up a circle

of protection around us while we pray.



8 Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see—

    how good God is.

Blessed are you who run to him.



9 Worship God if you want the best;

worship opens doors to all his goodness.



10 Young lions on the prowl get hungry,

but God-seekers are full of God.



11 Come, children, listen closely;

I’ll give you a lesson in God worship.



12 Who out there has a lust for life?

Can’t wait each day to come upon beauty?



13 Guard your tongue from profanity,

and no more lying through your teeth.



14 Turn your back on sin; do something good.

Embrace peace—don’t let it get away!



15 God keeps an eye on his friends,

his ears pick up every moan and groan.



16 God won’t put up with rebels;

he’ll cull them from the pack.



17 Is anyone crying for help? God is listening,

ready to rescue you.



18 If your heart is broken, you’ll find God right there;

if you’re kicked in the gut, he’ll help you catch your breath.



19 Disciples so often get into trouble;

still, God is there every time.



20 He’s your bodyguard, shielding every bone;

not even a finger gets broken.



21 The wicked commit slow suicide;

they waste their lives hating the good.



22 God pays for each slave’s freedom;

no one who runs to him loses out.

Dont be a slave of social constructs, find freedom in fixing your mind with Christ!! Be open to a makeover. Let Him revive your heart! A new year brings new promises for a new life. Worship the Lord with your time, your heart, mind, and soul. You will be rewarded with more peace beyond understanding.

Proverbs 3 (MSG) ^1-2Good friend, don’t forget all I’ve taught you;
take to heart my commands.
They’ll help you live a long, long time,
a long life lived full and well.

^3-4Don’t lose your grip on Love and Loyalty.
Tie them around your neck; carve their initials on your heart.
Earn a reputation for living well
in God’s eyes and the eyes of the people.

^5-12Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
he’s the one who will keep you on track.