Missing God

Have you ever really missed someone? It's really not been that long since you've talked to him. Just a few days. You just wish you could see him again. It feels like it's been forever, but it's only been a week! You just want to sit down and talk to him face to face.

We value our relationships with other people so, so much.

But have you ever just missed God?

It hasn't really been that long since you've talked to Him. Just a few days. You wish you could see Him again. It feels like it's been forever, but it's only been a week! You just want to sit down and talk to Him face to face.

Jeremiah 29:13 says, "And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart."

I just love this verse because it tells me that I don't have to go around missing God. He says that He is there, and when I search for Him, I will find Him. I can find Him in His Word. I can find Him in prayer. I can find His hand in all kinds of little ways throughout my day.

You know, we may not be able to sit across from the coffee table with God face to face right now. But He did let us know that He is right there for us all the time. And one day, hopefully soon, we will be able to talk to God face to face. If you know Jesus Christ as your Savior, you will get to be with Him every day for...well, forever. You won't ever miss Him again.

The Thing We Never Hear About Lot

I was recently reading in Genesis and I came across this verse:

And while, he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the Lord being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city. - Genesis 19:16

There are so many things that I learned from this verse right here. Here are a couple of the lessons.

First, we see our human nature. Lot was forcefully removed. I think that we often hear the story as “Lot left.” Not as “Two angels forces lot to leave the city.” They set him outside of it. We can see so many things about ourselves from this verse. Lot was warned. He knew full and well that Sodom was going to be destroyed. He had a conscience at some point because the New Testament tells us that he was a just man, but his conscious was so seared that he was satisfied in his sin. He was content to stay and be destroyed by his own stubbornness and love for sin. Don’t you think that we often do the same thing? We get so stuck in our sin. We are satisfied. We are content to stay in Sodom. It’s comfort, it’s constant exposure, it’s contentment in sin. But this brings me to the second point.

Second, we see God’s nature. God is merciful. We often don’t care enough about ourselves to remove ourselves from bad situations. But God does. He loves us so much that even when we are stuck in our own sin, He wants to help. So sometimes, he has to forcefully remove us from a situation. I can think of specific times in my life where God has done this for me. If you are a child of God, you can probably think of some too. It could be an ended relationship, an exposed secret sin, a humility check. You know. And sometimes, we’re tempted to be mad at God. Why would He do that to us? How could this ever be okay? Because of His love. God is so merciful to us even when we have no desire for His mercy.

Human nature versus God’s nature. What a contrast! I’m so grateful that my nature is not the nature of God. If it was, boy, would we be in trouble! But in spite of my sin and stubbornness, God is perfect. He is love. He is merciful. 

It's Not Easy

It's not easy to get up every morning.

It's not easy to have your devotions every day. (Check out the previous post for more about this!)

It's not easy to pray every day.

It's not easy to love.

It's not even easy to serve God consistently.

Why? Your flesh is the enemy. Satan is the enemy. You are fighting an uphill battle. Sin is trying to push you down. It is not natural for us to serve God. It is a choice that we have to make.

Joshua 14:8 says, “Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the Lord my God.” This was Caleb's testimony. He chose to serve God with his whole heart. When did he make this choice? Maybe it was when he was a child. Maybe it was when he was a teenager. Maybe it was just before his spy mission in Canaan. But it was before he was put into these situations. He chose to serve God wholly and completely? Will you?

I have to warn you though. It's not easy. But the Bible promises us that it is completely worth it because your uphill battle is already won! Jesus conquered all. He defeated sin, death, and the grave. Will you choose the winning side? Will you serve God wholly and completely today?

No Devos, No Facebook

Consistency is one of the hardest challenges of the Christian life. Hypocrisy is something that many outside the church complain about. This is exactly why they don't want what we have. Our mouths say one thing, but our lives say another. We may not drink, smoke, or be caught up in some major sin, but what about all the little every day things, the things that people around us really notice?

Probably one of the most over-looked areas that Christians struggle with inconsistency is in their devotional life. It's easy when you have a routine. Wake up, do your devotions, get ready, eat breakfast, brush teeth, go to work, etc. But what happens when the routine changes? For me, I've been at school the last several months, and it was so easy to get into a routine! I had it all figured out, and I was able to spend time in God's Word and prayer. Now that I'm home, I have to develop a new routine. One that will keep my devotions in check. So, I decided to sit down and figure out how to do this.

Here is where you come in. I once was challenged to a “No Devos, No Breakfast” challenge. That didn't have much effect on me because at school I don't really eat breakfast (I know, not good). Needless to say, it didn't work very well, so I decided to change it to something that will affect me. For the next two weeks, I want to challenge you to with the “Consistency Challenge.” I have decided that for the next fourteen days I will take on the motto “No Devos, No Facebook.” If I don't have my devotions, I don't have Facebook that day. It may be something else that will work for you, Google+, Pinterest, or maybe your favorite TV show or hobby. I really think that if you accept the challenge with me, you and I will see God work in great ways! You'll see that the more you get to know God, the more you love Him. We often underestimate how amazing He really is.

Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” God wants us to seek Him. He wants to spend time with you! Let's not pass up the privilege we have to spend just a few minutes every day getting to know our Savior.

Are you up for the challenge?