I can't see it, but I still have hope

2 Corinthians 5:7--"For we walk by faith, not by sight."
To be honest, times have been challenging lately. The money isn't there like it should be; work can be stressful at times. In short, what we had expected since moving to Texas has not panned out. There are moments where I just want to run away from it all. But deep down, I know God is good. I know He doesn't always give us what we want, but He does give us what we need. And sometimes, I guess what we need is to do without so we can come closer to Him. I am certainly blessed to be married to such a wonderful woman, and there have been many times where, when things all seemed to be against us, we turned to the Lord and to each other as the only seeming places of refuge. I pray that when things do get better in our daily lives, I will still treasure time with God, my wife, and other dear relationships as the most wonderful of blessings.

Overflowing in God-ordained purpose

I like this tweet from TGIF (The Glass is Full): "When you discover your purpose in life, your glass will be full & overflowing! Take the time to discern your purpose & live fully into it!"

How true, I believe. When we live what God has given us to be & do, He'll go all in with us.How can we expect to overflow otherwise?

How would your church handle this?

Quite telling article about a woman who, when she was in favor of abortion, did not receive the most loving or
helpful reception in the churches she attended. I hope that your church would be more loving, even if you didn't accept her into membership (which I can certainly understand).

My recent time of abiding in Christ

While I recently wrote about the importance of abiding in Christ so that we may be of significant worth to God's kingdom, I must admit, however, that for an ADD-ish mindset like mine, stopping my mind from racing for any reason other than sleep isn't the norm. But maybe because I had just posted about abiding on my blog, I decided it's time to give it a whirl. So as I lay in bed early this morning, unable to sleep, I pictured myself in Jesus's arms, resting my head on His breast. I thought about His great joy, and the peace He offers. I thought about how He loves us so much that He wishes we would abide with Him more often. I think He was pleased at how I spent those few moments. I didn't get back to sleep, but I was refreshed in knowing I made a deeper connection with my Lord. I pray this will be a more frequent occurrence, both in my life and in yours.

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Abide or fail

John 15:5 states it quite clearly: Either abide in Christ & bear much spiritual fruit, or go our own way & fail miserably ("apart from me [Jesus] you can do nothing"). I know this is not popular to read, especially in light of the many atheists, agnostics, and other-than-Christ followers who are doing pretty well in life AND who are generally nice people.

It's no wonder that Christ (that is, the Christ of the Bible, not the Christ many have created according to their own preferences) is anathema to many who dictate their own terms of success, who consider those who follow Him as cripples relying on a crutch. People like me have discovered we are crippled in the sense that even if we can succeed in the temporal things of this world, such is not true success in God's eyes if we do it apart from Him. Many would respond by calling us pathetic. We would have to agree; well, we were pathetic apart from His grace, and only by a close relationship with Him (He in us & we in Him) can we abound in a way that's meaningful to His kingdom.

Now, to take a slight turn, I'd like to focus on this passage in relation to its power for the Christian's life. For so long I wondered why I couldn't follow the Lord as I should. I'd read such and such is His will, and I this or that offends Him. But I've come to understand that all the passages in the Bible that define what a Christian should think or how one should act are not meant for us to try to memorize and then force ourselves to become those things. I believe they are meant to help the Christian understand what he or she will do as a natural result of abiding in Christ. For the non-believer, it's a picture of true Christianity (and, sadly, too often it shows us Christians up for being too far removed from that picture). I believe the more I abide in Christ (and vice-versa), the more I'll become the Christian the Lord expects. And while I can (and should) look in Scripture for God's word because of its inherent power and wisdom, by making time with Him a priority I'll gradually line up more and more each day with His will as expressed in the pages of His book.

My best friend on earth

I must confess that I've been remiss in that I've focused so much on ideas & stories regarding this blog's purpose that I have failed to mention the person in my life who has been such a huge blessing to me--my wife. She has put up with my faults, encouraged my strengths, & in general has been the one person who I love to spend time with (& she's a great snuggler!). Thank you, my Kim, for being my partner and the love of my life. I pray that God grants us many more years together, because I'm loving you more & more as we grow older together.