What happened to my passion for life?

Have you ever met someone who exudes a joy and passion for life that you wished you felt? Do you remember a time when you were excited about living and your future? What happened to that?

Life has a way of beating us down, making us weary, stealing our joy and passion. With everything that life throws at us - with all the bad news we hear every day - with all the struggle to deal with in our quickly changing culture - joy and passion for life drain out of us without our even realizing it until one day we wake up and wonder if it's even worth the trouble to get out of bed.

We can look at all the chaos and trouble around us and feel overwhelmed and defeated. Maybe that's the problem...we've been focused on the chaos and trouble instead of staying focused one the One who gave His life for us. Jesus had a passion for life. He had a passion for those around Him. He had a passion for the Father.

We need that passion. Fortunately, it's His to give and He already gave it when we surrendered our lives to Him. He forgave, saved and filled us with His Holy Spirit - wherein lies all we will ever need to live a joyful, passionate life.

Let's pray that God will restore our passion, fill us with His joy so that we not only find excitement and purpose in life, but so that we can pass that along to others. Our world needs to see that the Christian life is different. They need to see us rejoice and worship God in the middle of trials, in the face of a life-altering diagnoses, in loss, and in the unsettling times we are living in.

Father, we ask you to bring us back to a place of joy and passion for living. Fill us anew with your Spirit and let your passion bubble up inside of us until we are so full that it spills over onto those around us. Amen 

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Code Blue X 2

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength 

of my heart and my portion forever.

Psalm 73:26

Tuesday, two years ago today, started like any other day, but before the day was over, I found myself rushed to the hospital for an emergency heart catheterization and pacemaker implant. Before they could get me prepped, I coded. My heart just stopped beating. They performed CPR and shocked my heart and I came back.  A couple of days later, I coded again and again they brought me back. It was a long recovery, but I'm alive! 

Today is my 

Re-Birthday!

God has walked me through recovery and has really clarified what's important in life. We have grown so much closer and though I am happy to be alive, I look forward to being with Him someday...and honestly, that day seems closer than ever.

He has kept me here for a purpose - maybe many purposes. I've given it a lot of thought and prayer and I've have a new bucket list. There's only 3 items on the list, but they encompass so much.

My Bucket List

• Love God with all my heart, my soul, my mind and my strength.
• Love, encourage and help others as God has done for me.
• Always, always point the way to Him.

In these three lie every purpose for which I am still alive. I don't know how much time I have before I am called home (none of us do). So, I will spend that time focused on those three items, trusting the Holy Spirit to lead me where I am needed. Nothing could be more important than these.

It's wonderful to be alive!

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Answering the Call

What has the Lord called you to do? Some are called to be teachers, some musicians, some artists, some preachers, some homemakers. What is He calling you to do?

For a long time I wondered about this. I didn't feel particularly called to something "special." Then I realize that as a child of God, everything I do is special if I do it as unto the Lord and do it in love.

• Praying for others is a calling.
• Sharing God's word is a calling
• Helping those in need is a calling
• Loving others is a calling
• Feeding the hungry is a calling
• etc....

Nothing is too small to be a calling if God is prompting you to do it. You may read a scripture that you want to share with others and post it on Facebook. You may cook a meal or bake some cookies for a neighbor. You may pick up the trash you find at a park so that others can enjoy a clean space.

Whatever you do, know that God will bless you for it and bless others through you. You are his hand extended, his voice of encouragement, his shoulder to cry on. No matter how small the effort may be, it's huge if you are following God's prompting.

So - are you answering the call?

Make a difference in someone's life today by allowing God to use you for His purposes.

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Why does God Bless Us?

God is able and willing to bless us...but why

Because He loves us? Yes.

Because He promised to provide? Yes.

Because He is good and kind and loving? Yes.

But there's another reason for His abundant blessings and it's found toward the end of 2 Corinthians 9:8. He blesses us so we will have all we need at all times, but for a greater purpose than our comfort. He blesses us abundantly so that we in turn can bless others. He call this "good works."

God doesn't just bless us for our benefit, but so that He can meet the needs of others through us - through our generosity.

So, if today you have more than you need, ask God if there is someone you need to bless.

We are His hand extended to the poor, the needy, the broken-hearted and the downtrodden. 

Prayer:

Father, thank you for your many blessings. Thank you for providing all my needs. When you pour out an abundance of blessings, Lord, open my eyes to see the needs around me and give me a heart as generous as yours is. Amen

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How Bad Do You Want It?

How bad do you want it? 

I’m talking about an intimate relationship With God. We all want to experience his presence, but are we willing to put in the time it takes to develop that relationship? Are we willing to alter our habits so that our behavior is in line with His word?

God says, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13

We long to hear His voice, receive His counsel and feel His Holy Spirit in us, but we are running too fast, overwhelmed by the busyness and noise of this world to take time to slow down and quiet ourselves long enough to hear Him speak.

In Psalm 46:10, God encourages us to “Be still and know that I am God.”

When was the last time you stepped away from your hectic schedule, your electronic entertainment and your stressful workplace just to get alone with God? No distractions, just you seeking God with your whole heart.

He promises that if we will do that, we will find Him. We will experience His presence. He will speak to our hearts and we will recognize His voice.

As believers, we are only as close to God as we truly want to be. We must make our relationship a top priority. We must take time to read His word consistently. We must speak to Him in prayer, praise and worship Him, acknowledge Him as the LORD of our lives. That means allowing Him full access to every area of our lives, allowing Him to change those things in us that need changing and seeking with the predetermined intention of obedience.

So, my friend, if you long for a closer relationship with God, He’s only a quiet moment away. He is waiting, eager to commune with you, but it’s up to you to initiate the conversation. Find your quiet place and give yourself time to really open up to your Lord and you will experience an intimacy you never knew before.

Here's God’s promise…

“Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.” Jeremiah 33:3

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How to Triumph over the Enemy

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:

“Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them!" 

Revelation 12:10-12

How do we triumph over the enemy? By the blood of the Lamb (accepting the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross for our forgiveness and inviting Him to be Lord over our lives) and by the word of our testimony. (Telling all who will listen what Jesus has done for us). Let's not love our lives so much that we shrink from our calling and our purpose - to point others to the saving power of Jesus Christ!

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In Pursuit

What are you pursuing in life?

For Believers, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that we are here for just a short time before we transfer to our eternal home and blissful life in Heaven. We forget that we are here to fulfill God's purposes, not our own. Instead, we live in constant pursuit of our own agenda, not God's agenda. In pursuit of temporal things that bring temporal pleasure, but nothing of lasting value.

How does God say we should live our lives? What are we to pursue?

He says: 

But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:15-16)

Wow! That's a tall order. Who can achieve holiness? Who can be holy in all they do?

First, it's important to know that once we come to Christ, receiving His sacrifice on the cross as payment for our sins and surrendering our lives to Him, God sees us through the holiness of Jesus Christ.

So then, if God already sees us as holy and righteous in Christ, do we really have to do anything?

Yes, for though God sees us as holy, He also tells us to be holy. 

Just what does that mean? Here are some definitions of the words holy and holiness...

• Sacred
• Physically Pure
• Morally Blameless
• Consecrated to God (set apart for His purposes)
• Respectful in our Conduct

2 Corinthians 7:1 says, ."..dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God."

It's an ongoing process. God is perfecting us, but we have a part to play, too. We are to separate ourselves from sin and devote ourselves to God. We are to pursue righteousness, holiness, godliness, reverence, obedience to God's word and His will.

Why? Because we are sacred - set apart for God's use - serving a sacred purpose.

God has plans for our lives (each individual life), more importantly, God has plans for those around us and He wants to use us, His children to accomplish those plans. To bring salvation, healing, provision and blessing to the hurting and the lost.  He wants to do that through us, but how can He use us for His purposes if we are busy pursuing our own?

Does what we do with our lives really matter to God?

Yes! Paul says to Timothy...and to us:

"So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad." 2 Corinthians 5:9-10

This is not a judgement for our sins. Those were already paid for through Christ. No, this is a judgement for Believers only, to give an account for their lives and receive rewards according to what we have done after receiving Christ as Savior.

That should give us pause to consider how we are spending our short lives here. Are we pursuing holiness and God's purposes? Will we be blessed or embarrassed when we stand before the judgement seat of Christ?

My friends, I encourage you to be in pursuit - of God, of His will and of His purposes. Each day He wakes you up on this earth holds the opportunity to serve Him, to behave in a way that honors him and and the opportunity to serve others. Be alert to His promptings to help those around you. This is why you are alive today.


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