Being thankful when life doesn't work out as planned

Most people nowadays if you asked them would tell you exactly what they want to do in there lives and exactly what it'll take to get there. But what happens when God takes control and changed your life into a direction that wasn't in your step by step life plan, then what?  Then you walk it out and you thank God for whatever it is that you're doing because it's apart of his plan for your life. Even though where you might be right now might be a place you didn't want to be at in this point in your life, you have to understand that God knows every single thing about you and he knows where your life is right now and he knows where it's suppose to be going, and if that's all that you know you're more ahead than most people. Because most people when life doesn't work out exactly how they want it to, they blame God and they become angry at him and they stop depending on him. And that's one of the biggest mistakes that you can make is giving up on God and that you stop believing Jeremiah 29:11 that God has better plans for you than you have for yourself. Just let that sentence sink it, God has better, more successful, happier, and greater plans for you than you could have for yourself! So even your wildest dreams, Gods are ultimately bigger than that. And that God that has dreams that created this entire universe, he has plans for you. He has a will for your life, that if you follow where he wants you to go can make you the happiest that you could possibly be. But you've got to walk through life with God in order to get the reward that he wants to give you. And honestly that's not that hard, because I don't know how you would travel through life without God as your center and how you would ever be happy. And so when you want to take a left and God takes you to the right, thank him for his guiding and and where you're going in life and that where he is taking you is more than you could've ever imagined for yourself. Because God never said that traveling through this life with him would be easy, but he did say that it would be worth it and that it would give you a happiness and a peace that will last an eternity. And that should be the bottom line of what you want out of life. Being in Gods presence and doing his will, and just with that will give you a joy that you couldn't ever get anywhere else. 

When you only see one set of footprints

Like the poem that says when there is only one set of footprints that is when God has carried you. With having a relationship with God that you walk out everyday trying to be more and more like his son and to try little by little to change the people around you. But when the sunshine of that seems to dim, people feel well since I'm following God my life should be perfect and I shouldn't have any problems and when I do have problems it's because God left me and he doesn't love me anymore. There is nothing further from the truth then thinking that God has left you and that he could ever stop loving you, and when you have a day to day walk with God you're going to have some bumps in the road there's no doubt about that, but you also know who's directing your steps and that the God that sits in heaven is the God that knows every detail about your life, everything that's going to happen today will come to no surprise to God. Because he knows everything about your life, and like Jeremiah 29:11 says God has plans to prosper you and to give you a wonderful life! And not to harm you. 

       Ask this question to yourself, if God feels that you're so unimportant then why would he send his only son to earth to live a life here just to die for your sins? To me that seems that God cares a lot, because I don't know of anyone that would send there first born nevertheless there only son, to die. And so the next time you feel that God doesn't care about you and that God isn't directing your steps, think about that. Because the devil wants nothing more than for people to think that God doesn't care, because the devil is here on this earth to do three things and those three things are to kill, to steal, and to destroy. And the devil would love to see nothing more than a person trying to follow God but to just give up because they have one bad day. Because another way of looking at it, is I don't know anyone who has a rock solid relationship with God that didn't get that relationship by doing nothing, but that got it because they walked through the valleys of life and they walked through them with God and they made it to the other side, and that's what trusting God is all about, knowing that he loves you and that he has a plan for you that far exceeds your humanly expectations and that he sees everything and nothing comes to a surprise to him. And that he's waiting to comfort you and he's waiting to give you a peace that can only come through his presence, but you have to make that first move. Because the Holy Spirit can't make you do anything that you don't want to. And I can guarantee that if there's something that's going on in your life that if you would trust God through that valley, and walk through that with him. That you'll end up on the other side knowing without a doubt that God never once left you side. Because once you ask the Jesus into your heart, the Holy Spirit comes and he never leaves. And he's the ultimate comforter.   God loves you more than you could ever know and he's waiting at the door to comfort you and to give you the best life possible, but it's your job to open the door and receive it. 

Keying into Gods presence

I've heard the verse James 4:8, "When you draw close to God, God will draw close to you." But not until recently did I really come under the full understanding of what, in all it's depths what that verse is saying. It's saying that when you come to that point in your life when you're wanting more out of it than you're getting. That you want that happiness that only comes with being in the presence of the Holy Spirit and radiating that joy that can only come from serving the one true God. That when you get to that point, because God is always with you. When you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior, the Holy Spirit comes into your being and comes to guide you for all the days of your life, and when that happens God is always next to you and living life with you until the day that you die. And so when you gravitate yourself away from God, it's your doing, not his. And when you feel that distance between yourself and God, you need to know and take the responsibility to know that it's your doing and it's your responsibility to get back in track. And that's where James 4:8 comes in, that we've become aware of the distance what you must do is pull back to God. By reading his word, and reading the wisdom from others in the source of a devotional or book and prayer. And until recently I couldn't be a true advocate of saying that really works. Because until recently I never was genuinely wanting God and all his presence around me all of the time. But once I got down to the nitty gritty and was completely honest with myself, that's when I really started searching for God and all that he could offer. And I'm not saying read the bible once and pray a little prayer and you've got the presence of God for the rest of your life now. No, that's not at all it. Being a true follower of christ isn't an easy job and it isn't a job that takes vacation days. It's a 24/7 job that you never get a break from, and to be honest you should never want one! Because when you dedicate your life to serving God and to bringing more people into the kingdom of heaven, you realize that there isn't anywhere else you would rather be and that there isn't any other kind of thing on this entire earth that can bring you the happiness that being tuned into Gods presence can give. And so when you tune into Gods presence, you really get serious for God, you read his word daily, you're constantly in communication with him, and you surround yourself with people who want the same thing. It's hard not to see God working life changing miracles in your life. And serving a God like ours, there isn't anything more pleasing than serving him and his kingdom. Because it's knowing that he sent his only son, to this earth, to die!! He died. He came to this earth, just to die. For you, for your sins, for your mistakes, for the little secrets that no one knows about that keep you up at night. He came to kill all of those tactics that the devil uses to steal your happiness and your drive for following God away. Because when Jesus died, he covered his blood in every mistake, every sin, every little thing that you could've ever possibly done. So that you could follow God while heartedly and know without a shadow of a doubt that God had washed you white as snow and when you know that, it's like an infectious disease. That you can't help but spread because of how much that means to you! And that.. That is what having a genuine relationship with God looks like. 

When living by faith and not by sight turns out to be a harder path to walk down then you ever imagined.

 When life seems to be going easy and everything's falling into place, that's the easiest time to say that God is guiding the way. But what's said when you're at a cross roads and God has to guide the way. But hearing that voice of direction turns out to be more difficult then you expected. With me personally I feel that if God doesn't write in sharpie on my refrigerator white board then I'm completely lost and feel like he doesn't care. But with having a relationship with God it's more complex than that, God wants to talk to you and he wants to guide you. But sometimes as human beings we feel that the path we've chosen for ourselves is better than the path that God has chosen for us, and you might think that right now. But in the long run you will grow to realize that you made a bigger mistake than you ever imagined by using your own knowledge than Gods. Because at times when you come to a fork in the road, God wants you to stay in prayer and wait for him to guide you in the right direction. And I know what you're thinking right now, how can I just wait for God to tell me where to go? Well let me tell you how! You've got to stay in constant prayer about whatever situation it might be. It might be whether to move to a different town or it might be to end a relationship that you know deep down isn't a relationship from God or maybe it's changing schools, you feel that Gods leading you a different way than you're walking right now but you aren't positive. And whatever your situation might be, the accurate ways to walk it out with God stay the same. Because if you really are praying for Gods will and you really want to follow wherever he is leading,  he'll get you there. That's a no brainer, but how hard you tug and pull in the different direction is up to you. So when you're at a cross roads in your life, and you know that there's a way God wants you to go, but you aren't sure. Pray it out, involve other people to pray for you and with you. Because the bible says that when two or more come in agreement than he is there, and you want him there! Gloria copeland says this, "Gods directions come from Inside, not outside, of you. Tune into today to that inward witness, to that quiet knowing, that urging, prompting and leading arising within you."  And what she means, is that the Holy Spirit that is within you all the time, is the voice that is guiding you where God wants you to go. with that little inner voice is the Holy Spirit speaking to you through thoughts, that you might not know if that was a thought from God or if that was a thought from yourself, but that's when prayer comes in again. Thank God for going before you and working everything out that needs to be, so that when you know where he wants you to go, you can move forward with the battle already being fought and won by God. Because when Jesus died on the cross for our sins, he won every future battle with his blood! God knew what he was doing when he sent his only son to die for us. Because Jesus went before us, covered our situation with the blood of the lamb, and conquered that situation by dying for us! And that's all that we need to know in these times of waiting, that Gods already been there and already knows what's going to happen, so stay in prayer and wait for that prompting, that pulling by the Holy Spirit to lead you where you need to be! Because if you wait on God long enough he will get you where he wants you to be. 

Trusting God more than you trust yourself

If you're anything like me, I find it most comforting when I am in control of anything and everything I physical can be. Because I feel that if I'm in control then it's going to be alright, whatever the circumstance may be, because I know myself better than anyone else does and I have my best interest and so If I'm in control then it's better than someone else. 

But with having a relationship with God, he completely proves that point wrong and wants you to know that. With having a relationship with God, it means that you have more trust in what God can do than what you can do. And in the end that's how you win, that's how you have the happiest life that you can, because you trust God. Now I never said that trusting God was easy, especially when you cannot see the path in front of you and that's extremely intimidating. But when you reach out your hand to God in those hard moments, he will brighten the path more than any earthly light could. Because all God wants is the best life for you! And that's exactly what you deserve, but God won't give you that if you can't trust him. 

And it's even harder when the enemy attacks, saying all kinds of things that just mentally tear you down. But you have to fight back, just like Jesus did when he was in the wilderness for forty days and was being tempted by the devil, the devil would say something that should've tempted Jesus but Jesus just came right back with scripture that proves the devils comment wrong, and that's how I feel that we as followers of Christ should be. When the enemy attacks with harsh words, we fight right back. When the enemy attacks we act as if we're unable to do anything to protect ourselves against them! We fall victim to what he says, and feeling bad for ourselves or changing our outlook to see that God isn't working. When all of those are lies. So why when someone at our school says something hurtful to us we go straight up to them and confront them and say our piece and we feel better because more times than not they fall back. But yet when we deal with the devils attacks we just sit back and take them! God tells us to be stronger than that, and Jesus shows us just how to do it! In Matthew 4 it was a back and fourth fight between the devil and Jesus with what the scripture said, but the thing that won that whole battle was just a few words, Jesus says "get out of here, satan!" And then the next verse it says and then satan went away. And that was it! There wasn't any hair pulling or cat fighting within that whole time! Jesus knew that the only way to overpower the devil and what he was saying by using his fathers words as a sword of truth. And once he did that and he told the devil to leave. The devil fled and that was the end of that. So why can Jesus do it but we can't? When we have a mental battle with the things that the devil is trying to deceive us with we just take it? So maybe the next time you feel that the devil is trying to bring you down or to act as if God isn't working in your life, fight back! Use scripture to prove how mighty and awesome your God is and see how long that battle will last! Because I can guarantee it won't be long. 

And that's what having a relationship with God is all about, it's trusting him and then putting actions to prove that you trust him! You always have to remember that God is fighting for you all the time! God has never once left you alone or forgot about you for one second. God is working in your life everyday and he has a plan for your life and exactly where you are is exactly where he wants you to be, it might not seem like it. But that's the truth, God is taking you along the path that he has created you for. But in order for you to have the life he intends you to have, you've got to trust him. And even when you can't see the path ahead of you, you've still got to remember that God has never once let go of your hand and he never will. Like Mary Gardiner Brainard says, "I would rather walk with God in the dark than go alone in the light." And that is so true, you've always got to know that the dark path with God is always better than walking a light one by yourself. Thomas Merton says, "My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you." Which means that your desire to always want to please God even in the darkest moments, in fact does please God. 

Relationships: what society says about them, what the bible says, and what you should know.

I asked a friend what she wanted my first post to be about and she said relationships, so here it goes.  I believe that relationships are something that can be absolutely wonderful and life changing in a very good way, if there the right kind of relationship.  But I also feel that relationships with the wrong people can go very badly and change your whole life for the worse without you even being aware of it.  I feel that society makes relationships out to be something that everyone has to have in order to live a happy life, you look on the covers of magazines and you see these happy couples just getting engaged or whatever the topic might be, but they always look happy.  And in my personal opinion, out of experience is that until you are in a healthy relationship that God intends for you to be in, I feel that the person won’t ever be completely happy.  And what I mean by that is when you just feel that you can date and become close to anyone you lay your eye on, and then you begin to give your heart to that person and then you begin to realize that there are some things about that person that you don’t particularly like, or agree with, but you say "you know what?  They love me and I love them so it’s not that big of a problem."  And so you hold your tongue and you sweep it under the rug and you try and act like whatever the problem is, its not there anymore.  Until that problem has gotten so out of hand that you might not even see it anymore, and that’s where the scary part I believe comes in, because when you are too deep into a situation that you cannot even see with your own eyes the destruction that it is doing do your life, the other persons life, and the relationship, its already almost too far for you to even get out.  Because when a person is so unaware of the issues that are right in front of them when they have friends and family telling them the issues that they are seeing, that person can’t see it and with that, can’t fix the problem.  So with all that, I feel that if God hasn’t brought that one person into your life that changes everything for the better, stay single, work on yourself, I believe that you must be the best version of yourself in order to love someone else in a healthy way.  Because if you're just looking for anyone that’s looking for trouble, but also I believe that you’re looking for trouble when you don’t know what you deserve and haven’t promised yourself that you will NOT stop until you find that person who treats you exactly the way that you deserve and even better.  And so when you are the best you that you could possibly be, then when God does bring that right relationship in, its not about changing each other because you both have problems that need to be worked on; like past relationships, drug addictions, and so on.  And so when you begin to stop looking for someone else to make you happy and you look to yourself and you come to the realization with God that until he brings someone in, you will work on being the best you possible.  I can say from experience that realizing that with God wasn’t an easy point to get to, but once I had realized that me looking on my own for someone that was good for me hadn’t worked out so well so far, that God knew better and I had to let him take the lead, which no doubt is incredibly difficult.  I am a person that feels that I must always be in complete control of everything in my life because of past experiences, that if I don’t have complete control over everything then I become uneasy.  So getting to the point with God to giving him all of me and telling him that this is all I have, do your way with me, cleanse me and make me new again so that I can be the best me possible, was hard.  I remember driving home from church one day (went to church alone btw) and stopping at a red light and thinking to myself. "I really wish that I had someone that wanted to go to church with me and someone that just loved me as much as he could; someone that has such a strong relationship with God that it strengthens my own.  That I just want to be with someone who is good for me and makes me a better person."  At that time I was involved with a guy who was opposite of a guy I had ever thought of being with.  He didn’t put me first, he cared about me when it was convenient, and he never went to church with me.  Now that was only a few of the problems that this guy and I had.  But having someone to go to church with was something that was very important to me, I want someone that I can talk to with about God and have us bond over things like that, and this guy could have cared less if he went or not, and that was something that really had an affect on our relationship, not just because he didn’t go to church with me but just the whole issue about it.  I gave and gave and gave, that never seemed to be enough. I would have gone to the moon and back if it meant that it would have made him happy.  But I had to get to the point mentally, not by with anyone else, or the advice of a family member, but all on my own I had to realize that I deserved better and that this guy wasn’t the best that God could do, and when I did that I tell you my life turned around.  I felt as if a million pounds had just been lifted off of my shoulders and that I was coming out of this dark tunnel.  I knew from that day forward I was going to work on my relationship with God and I was going to work on myself.  So what I did and what I recommend to anyone that hasn’t met someone yet, or you are with someone but you aren’t sure that they are the best out there.  Make a list, doesn’t matter how fancy or how long, but make a list with everything that you would want in your future life partner, I don’t mean six pack abs, super nice truck, and thick blonde hair with dreamy blue eyes.  I mean you can add that but it’ll be a little harder to find, write what you find important in a life partner, someone that goes to church with you, someone that loves God with everything he can, someone that treats you like a princess, and someone that wants to always be around you.  This can be for guys to don’t get me wrong; it’s just more likely for girls to do this than guys.  And what I believe that list will do it will help you to know what to look for and how to know that you’ve found someone that’s worth your effort to get to know.  I know that God hears every prayer that you ever pray and that whatever is important to you is important to him, but also that he loves you more than you will ever know so why wouldn’t he go to the moon and back if that would make you happy since he created them?  I know that God intends for people to be happy, everyone to be.  But I don’t exactly think that with that means to be in a relationship, I think that some people have more to be than just being with someone, or whatever the case may be, I just don’t think that everyone is meant to be in relationships.  I also know how hard that relationships can be, there things that take over more than just your heart, and that the wrong ones can really hurt your life in more ways than they should.  I can say from experience that if you just wait for Gods best for your life, and you continue to pray and to grow in your relationship with him that when that right person comes along it means so much more than if they just came in a bag and all you had to do was add water.