What is it About His Love?

A few weeks ago my lifegroup was asked a similar question to "What made Christianity real for you?"  This question made me think, because I have grown up in a christian home, and I have always "believed" in God.  But one thing I realized is that believing in God is not the same thing as having a relationship with him, and true Christianity is about your own personal relationship with God, not wether you believe in him or not.  So that got me thinking... "What drew me to an intimate relationship with my creator?"
There are many things that God has done in my life that have drawn me closer to Him.  Through everything the one thing I could think of that kept me connected in our relationship is His LOVE.  I've always hear "God is Love" but I didn't really understand that till recently.  In life there's more than just one kind of love, and God is all of them.  God has really shown me who he can be for me in different times in my life.  Any kind of Love you need at any point in life God is there to provide it.
God provides the love of a Father.  A Father is someone whose roll in life is to protect his family and be the leader.  A Father's love is one that is very secure, very safe, and is very much needed.  A Father is suppose to be a man you can approach with anything a man who will protect you in time of need and be there for you as a leader and when the time is right, a Father will tell you what you need to hear.  What I mean by that is a father doesn't always give you advice you want to hear but he gives advice that is needed.  God is someone who I can run to for protection, someone who I can bring anything before and he will accept me without judgement, I can ask him anything and he will tell me what I really need to hear not what I want to hear.
Along with being a loving father, God also loves like a Mother. A Mother's love is a love that is irreplaceable.  It is a nurturing love.  A Mother will rejoice when her child rejoices and will hurt when her child is hurting.  A mother's love is sweet.  In the same way a mother loves, God loves.  God loves to see his children happy, when his kids are happy so is he.  When he sees his children taking the wrong turn in life or when he sees them hurting, he will hurt with us.  Just like a Mothers love, God's love is very nurturing and loyal.  He will not leave us in the hard times.
The third kind of love is the love of a friend.  When you have a true friend you can approach them with anything.  They won't judge you, they won't tell anyone, and they are there to listen. This love has been the most recent kind I've experienced in life.  God is there for you to talk to.  God is there when you have no one else to vent to.  God is the best listener, and he won't judge you for any of your mistakes.  God is also the best secret keeper.
The fourth kind of love I found from God, is the love of a companion. People in this world look and look for their soul mate.  They look for that happiness.  People want someone who they can share the weight of the world with and who will stand with them through thick and thin. That's not a bad thing, but it can distract us from who we really need to seek companionship from. A companion is someone you can come to at the end of the day.   A companionship is very unique and is made for only for two people.   Although God has relationships with all of his children, no one else has the unique relationship I have with him. At the end of the day, when everyone has gone of to do their own thing, God is there. You can have a relationship with God no one else can. If someone can't be satisfied with God as their companion how in the world are they going to be satisfied with anything less?
So many times, I've realized I try to search for these loves through other people. That's not wrong, but what I've realized is when I can't find the love I need in other human beings I don't need to keep searching, I need to look towards God; He should be my first option.
He is always there with arms wide open, being the love you need the most.

A Priceless Gift Given to the Underserving...

So many times in life we get used to the nice things and think nothing of them.  We often take the things that were meant to be special for granted.   Why is it we think more of material gifts that will eventually rot away given to us by people of the world then the more valuable gifts that never stop growing given to us by our Heavenly Father?

Recently I have  realized how much my life is a gift,  a gift given by God to someone undeserving.  Going through 2011 I thought it was going to be the hardest year of my life but looking back it has been the most rewarding and blessing filled thus far.  The other morning in my quiet time, my mind started to wonder, I began to ask myself, "Would I still be the man of God, the christian that I am today without the family I grew up in or the friends and leadership I have now and have had along the way?..."  

As that question Lingered in my head and I thought about it more I became more unsure of the answer.  I realized God could have done anything he wanted with my life, he created me.  He knew about the many many many times I would and have failed him, he knew about the times where I would completely shut him off from my mind.  Even though he knew these things he still decided to make me the guy I am today and bless me with the things I have today and my relationship with him.  Yes God gave me free will to make my own choices,  but I realized throughout my 19 years of living the Lord guided me every single step of the way to make the right choices.  He guided me to my high school youth group, where I now have the honor to be a part of the team of leaders,  He guided me to what are now my closest friends (Besides my own family) I could not picture my life with out this family, He brought me to my very own mentor, five years ago I didn't even know what a mentor was now I don't know what I would do with out his spiritual guidance.  One other thing in my life I found to be a very precious gift from God is my family.  God knew exactly where he wanted me, he knew that I would be the most productive for him in child slot number six.  He gave me godly parents, one who has left a tremendous legacy here on earth and the other who has a rock star ministry as a high school janitor... of all things.  After I kept these thoughts fresh on my mind I realized these things, the things that I mostly take for granted, these are the gifts I need to be most grateful for.  Without God's use of these people in my life I would not be were I am today.  God could have easily let me go off the deep end but for some reason he placed each and everyone, who I mentioned, in my life to guide me to the growing relationship I now have with him.  These are the gifts I need to be most thankful for, not the new clothes or watch that go know where, but the gifts God gives that keep growing.  I am very much undeserving for these people and experiences in my life, but words cannot describe the joy and thankfulness I have in my heart because My Father decided to give me these priceless and timeless gifts, gifts that lead me to the most priceless undeserving gift... my relationship with Him.   

God's Hidden Message In Disney: The Little Mermaid

        In the Little Mermaid, Ariel longs to be human so bad she ends up risking her life and freedom to become one.  When Ariel gets fed up with her father she is convinced by Ursella's, the sea witch's, minions that Ursella can grant her wish.  So Ariel goes to Ursella's lair and for the price of her voice Ariel becomes human.  Ursella gives Ariel three days to fall in love or Ariel is Ursella's prisoner forever.  What Ariel doesn't know is that Ursella does everything to prevent her from falling in love.  At the very end, after the battle with Ursella, Ariel's dad, King Tritan, transforms Ariel to human form with no strings attached. 

        Most of the time in life we are Ariel.  We long for something so we pray and pray and pray, when God does not answer the prayer in our favor we try to fulfill our desires on our own. Satan and his evil minions (demons) then comes in and acts like he's our ally and works with us. All we have to do is pay a small price, he tells us it's not a big deal.  Then Satan shows his true colors, he attacks us to make us fail.   Like Ariel, it can almost cost us our lives.   Just like in the movie, it is always better to wait till we have the peace of our father, to do anything.  Even when we screw up in life God, our Heavenly Father, is still willing to come to our rescue because he loves us. 

God's Hidden Message In Disney: Beauty and The Beast

God speaks to everyone in unique ways, today he spoke to me through Disney. 

    I'm pretty sure we have all seen the Disney classic Beauty and The Beast.  In the beginning of this movie we see Maurice, Belle's dad, on the way to the fair and he gets stuck at a fork in the road.  There is a road that is clear and less threatening, then there is a road that is dark and foggy. Maurice wants to go down the dark and foggy road while his horse wants to go down the clear and lit road.  Maurice ends up going down the dark and foggy road; he runs into wolves that attack him and then he reaches the Beast's castle, there the Beast holds Maurice  captive for what Maurice thinks to be for life. 
    Now Belle goes searching for her father and when she finds him The Beast exchanges Maurice's life for Belle's.  Now if we look at this movie from Maurice's point of view we see that at the beginning he has an instinct to go down the dark and foggy road that leads to attacks by viscous wolves and eventual imprisonment of his daughter and through out the movie Maurice is trying to find a way to rescue Belle.  At the End we see a turn around,  the Beast is transformed back to human and the whole castle goes under an extreme transformation leading to a joyous ending for belle and all who live in the castle.  When you think about it, this all happened because Maurice went down that dark and foggy road. 

      I believe we can all learn something from Beauty and The Beast.  Take Maurice at the fork in the road, when we come to forks in our lives we need to be willing to go down that dark and foggy road when God tells us even though opposing forces in life are telling us to take the easy, clear, well lit road.  Even if there is tremendous amounts of suffering,  when we listen to God and go down that dark and foggy road we experience and unimaginable amount of riches and rewards that cannot compare.  There is no telling what God has waiting for us at the end of that dark and foggy road. 

What lies on the other side of Fear...

 Many times we let our fear get in the way of living out what God created us to do.  I feel like most people get really intimidated when they reach a challenge God has put in front of them and pull back without thinking about what could lie on the other side.  We let our fear and uncertainty get in the way of God's plan for our lives.  So many times we miss out on the beauty that's reached at the finish line because we are to afraid to begin the race. 

This reminds me  a lot of someone who is afraid of heights that is standing at the bottom of the Empire state building looking up in fear.  Going up to the top to see what is up there is not even an option.  What that person doesn't realize is that if they were to get over their fear and embark on the journey to the top of the Empire state building they would see an awesome view of the New York City scape.  An experience that's absolute beauty is only truly experienced in person. 

Much of the time we are the same way.  We run into an obstacle in life and because of fear we stop and turn away without knowing the beauty that lies on the other side.  Without God, Yes getting over our fears is NOT an option, but with God we can achieve anything.
Some times, most of the time, we have to take that leap of faith and embark on that fearful journey,  because with faith we can be sure God WILL show up and help us along. 

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 

Hebrews 11:1

So what's it going to be... THIS 

 

or THAT

 

 

Death: We don't accept it as a gift

Death is often looked at as a dreaded thing of life.  People don't want to die.  But what if there was something more than this world, some place you could live in eternal paradise after death?  If that is the case wouldn't people be lining up to die? As children of God we can look forward to an eternal paradise.  Heaven is that eternal paradise, but only believers "get in."   So if there is an eternal paradise waiting for Christ followers, wouldn't people be trying their best to follow God?... No the don't, WHY?... It doesn't make sense...

That's the beginning of a journal entry I wrote last April right after my mom stopped treatment.  When I wrote it I didn't realize how hard it would be with out her here, but I realized one thing at her funeral.  Mom did her "job" as a Christian.  It was so encouraging to see the number of people that showed up at her visitation and funeral service.  Mom's walk with God really did reach out to people, she had a relationship with God that's admired by many.  Mom knew where she was going and where she would be today, but that wasn't enough.  Mom wasn't going to let it be here fault that people didn't know about Christ.
It's not an easy or fun thing to get home and come to the realization that I won't see mom for a while, but I know she is up there with God and has received her rewards.  Now when I think of God I not only picture him in heaven but I picture my mom sitting right there in his lap. 

See you Later mom. 

Finding God in a Hostpital Bed.

The past few days have been strange, they've been surreal.  There is always room for miracles, but my mom seems to be very close to starting eternity with God.  When you grow up thinking about the future, you never anticipate loosing a parent early in life.  My mom's cancer has taken over her body.  This past Monday Hospice brought in a hospital bed for my mom and she's become almost unresponsive.  It's probably been the hardest thing to see the one lady, that I've looked up to the most, dying in front of my eyes.  To tell you the truth it kinda sucks. 
Dealing with all this this week God has made his presence known in my life so much.  I look at my mom and know that one day I will see my mom again.  It is unreal the amount of support my family has had through all this, the amount of food we have for dinner, the love we've experienced is unreal.  God has not left me in this time of trouble, if anything, he has wrapped his arms around me even more.  God has given me a peace about my families situation, soon my mom is going to be sitting at the feet of our Savior.  What greater gift is there?  I'm not taking this peace and using it to replace grief, but it gives me hope.  These next few months to a year are probably going to be some of the hardest for my family, but I am thankful and sooo grateful to say that I will see my mom again one day.  Don't get me wrong it is an EXTREMELY hard and saddening time but it's a I'll see you later sad not a goodbye forever sad.  God has made himself known through my mom lying in her hospital bed.