He Will..

"If we confess our sins, He [God] is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)

You've gone a whole week without looking at that website..
You've stayed from the bottle for an entire 7 days..
You've kept from the cigarette, and stopped your mouth from cursing for a week..
You've resisted, and by God's grace, have overcome these addictions.. but then you failed.
You looked at that website and lusted, you drank to numb your pain, you smoked and cursed to make you feel 'better'.. all the while growing further and further away from God.

Failure is hard to deal with, especially after a great period of victory. And when we do fail, we feel as if the whole world was ending because of it. The guilt and shame piles upon us, and we become heavily burdened. We know what we have to do.. we have to run back to God, confess our sins, repent, and trust Him that we truly are forgiven.

Most of the time, when we do this, we 'feel' different. We can literally feel the burden has lifted, and is no more.. but then there are times when, even after we confess, we still feel guilt and shame. This is a scary place to be in, and many doubts could rise in your mind.

• Am I truly forgiven?
• Does God even want to hear from me?
• Have I went too far?
• Am I even being sincere in my repentance anymore?

But do not fear, for God says otherwise. His word says that "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). It doesn't say "He'll think about it", or "will consider it".. no.. it says "He will".. without fail!

So the next time you fail, ask for forgiveness.. and even if you don't 'feel' different, you 'know' that you truly are forgiven. Your Father cannot wait for you to come back home! (Luke 15:11-32)

Just like Paul and Silas...

To all my brothers/sisters in Christ, the saints of God,

Recently, a few of my friends have been going through some pretty tough stuff in their lives. It seemed as if they just got through a certain struggle, only to discover that the battle had only just begun. I know that this has been the case in my life recently as well. And I know that all who are reading this right now are going through some sort of battle, whether that be with relationships, struggle with sin, etc. everyone has their own. But even in the midst of the pain and darkness, there is still a reason to praise God. And this is exactly what I wanted to talk about today.

There are many examples throughout both the Old and New Testaments of great men/women of faith, who despite their struggles, have sung praises unto the Most High. But perhaps the best example I can think of this is the story of Paul and Silas in Acts 16.

Paul had just recently departed on his second missionary journey around Asia Minor and Greece. He had just arrived at a city called Philippi, where he was able to share the Gospel with many hungry hearts. There was a certain slave-girl who could "predict the future". We are not told why this girl was doing this, only that she was possessed by a demon. Paul then got fed up with the demon and said "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" The spirit had no choice but to listen and obey.

However, the slave's owners seen that they would be out of a way of profit (for they were using her possession as a means to gain money), and took Paul and Silas to the local court, where they were sentenced to prison. After they were stripped, beaten, flogged, and had their feet bound up, they prayed and sung hymns to God (note that Luke mentions that "the prisoners heard them" we will come back to this). As a result of their faith, God sent an earthquake that would end up providing them with freedom, and would result in the salvation of the prison guard and his whole family.

Now that we have the long background laid out, I can give you this very, very short message, haha :P

• Just like Paul and Silas... bad things may come our way, and we may feel like we're in a "prison". Whether it was ourselves, somebody else, or circumstance that put us there it does not matter, we are still hurting. But please remember that God cares deeply for you, and hurts when you hurt. (Isaiah 63:9)
• Just like Paul and Silas... you will always have a reason to praise God for His great love and providence in your life. (Romans 8:28)
• Just like Paul and Silas... by your faithfulness in the midst of pain and confusion, God will breakthrough and perform wonders in your life that will result in your deliverance. (Acts 16:26)
• Just like Paul and Silas... when you suffer, you are given a great opportunity to both glorify God and save both those who are around you and even the one who was your "enemy". (Acts 16:25-34)

When the dark clouds of life cast a shadow over all you know, sing until the Son shines through.

P.S. While writing this, a close friend of mine sent me a text: "Psalm 136:23"

Find confidence in HIM.

"Then call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory." --Psalm 50:15 (NLT).

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." --Matthew 11:28 (NIV).

"For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you." --Isaiah 41:13.

When we are distraught, whatever the reason, He wants us to run to Him first. I know in my life, the first person I talk about my problems to is not God, and that is a problem. A quote that I've read often is "Do you pray about it as often as you talk about it?" Why wouldn't we run to God with our broken heart? Look in the New Testament with all of Jesus' miracles: if he can make the blind see, the deaf hear, and the lame walk, he can help us with whatever is causing us grief.

Yes, friends are good to have: they give us encouraging words and reassurance that things will be alright, but that is only temporary. The permanence of God's peace is what we should strive to receive, and He will grant it to us! All we need to do is ask through prayer. The Lord knows our hearts and minds better than any other being in eternity. Even though that's the case, He still loves it when we come to Him on bended knee, telling Him everything. Jesus Calling says this in today's devotional:

"Bring Me all your feelings, even the ones you wish you didn't have. Fear and anxiety still plague you. ... Affirm your trust in Me, regardless of how you feel. If you persist, your feelings will eventually fall in line with your faith. ... Bring your anxieties out into the Light of My Presence, where we can deal with them together. Concentrate on trusting Me, and fearfulness will gradually lose its foothold within you."

 I'm one for worshiping God with music, and there are many places you can see artists showing us the powerful meaning of running to His arms:

"I believe that He's wanting you to know you will be safe in His arms. The arms that hold the universe are holding you tonight!"

Run to Him! Find peace in Him. Tell Him all that is troubling your heart. He will give you rest.

God bless!

Within Reach of a Miracle

Hello fellow Living Proofers! I hope that you are all having a blessed week! And please feel free to send in prayer requests on this page.. Whatever it is, we will all gladly pray for you! :) Today I wanted to talk about persistence in prayer, and how when we are on our knees, we are "within reach" of a miracle. I got the idea for this topic from a song I just recently came by, "Something Beautiful" by NEEDTOBREATHE. In this song, the lyrics that stuck out to me the most are:

"Hey now, this is my desire

Consume me like a fire'

Cause I just want

Something beautiful to touch me

I know that I'm that I'm in reach'

Cause I am down on my knees

And waiting for

Something beautiful"

I thought that the way they worded it was quite interesting, because when we are down on our knees, praying to God, we are in a better position to receive blessings and miracles from God. Our Lord Himself taught about the importance of persistence, especially in prayer, in Luke 18:1-8:

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’

“For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”

And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

How many times do we want something really really bad, pray about it, then just move on and never pray about it again? I know I do this all the time! It is important to bring all of requests to God, but it is also very important to continually do this.. daily!

The more you pray for something, the more you show God how important it is to you. So when God doesn't answer a prayer right away, it may not be because your request is unimportant to Him, it may be because it's not important enough to you! 

Lessons from Grapes

"I am the true vine, and My Father is the keeper of the vineyard. My Father examines every branch in Me and cuts away those who do not bear fruit. He leaves those bearing fruit and carefully prunes them so that they will bear more fruit; already you are clean because you have heard My voice. Abide in Me, and I will abide in you. A branch cannot bear fruit if it is disconnected from the vine, and neither will you if you are not connected to Me." (John 15:1-4, The Voice)

Have you ever in your life been constantly confronted with a passage of Scripture over and over again? Like you read it one day, the next day you hear it on the radio, the next day you hear people discussing it, the next day you find out that you've actually been living it! That was my story very recently.

At that time, I had been experiencing the most excruciating pain in my entire life as a result of giving up something that I held so dear to my heart. But the passage that always recurred in my life had been John 15, the parable of the Vine and the Branches. Especially verse 2 where Jesus says "My Father examines every branch in Me [Jesus] and cuts away those who do not bear fruit. He leaves those bearing fruit and carefully prunes them so that they will bear more fruit;" I had felt God's pruning in my life then.

Trials of any kind, whether it be moving somewhere, the loss of a family member/friend, or when you are called to sacrifice something so dear to your heart, are definitely not easy, and sometimes they can even hurt so much that you can barely move! But rejoice! Even though it may seem like there is no point to your pain, remember that God is pruning you to bear even more fruit!

God is glorified while you go through pain, not because you go through it. God is allowing this pain in your life right now for your benefit. He has in mind what is best for you, and is now shaping you to be the best you can be. God is the Master Vinedresser, let Him prune you!

Gravity wins: Not now. Not ever.

In order to create a successful story, there needs to be a solid introduction, a juicy middle, and an ending that makes the reader's mind explode from surprise yet set their mind at ease because everything is wrapped up perfectly. Our lives as believers, in essence, is a story: a story of how God took our lives--something that we saw without purpose--and, as the rising action progressed, gradually showed us otherwise.

We have the introduction down: our story begins when we take our first breath. We can check off the ending, too, but I'll talk about it later. What about the middle part? What is the bridge that mends the gap between the beginning and end?

Here's something to start the rising action: life as a Christian is tough. When we pray to accept Jesus into our hearts, we are enlisting in spiritual warfare. It's easy to simply say "I don't want to deal with this. Why do non-believers get to live life easily? I wish I could have that," but we shouldn't envy them, "for their hearts plot violence, and their words always stir up trouble" (Proverbs 24:2, NLT). As members of God's Army, we will face hand-to-hand combat with Satan's soldiers--his demons.

That is where the falling starts. Satan knows about our strengths and weaknesses and uses them against us, causing the very ground under our feet to collapse. As we get closer to helping bring people to Christ, the devil works harder at trying to sweep us off our feet. Falling on our faces, we feel defeated, which is exactly what he wants, but "God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him" (Philippians 2:13, NLT). When we fall, God gives us the strength to get back up again.

Here's where the excitement comes in: this battle that you're facing may look hopeless, but God has already won the war! Want to know how I know that? Just look at the cross and what it symbolizes! Jesus Christ died on that cross, taking all of our sin and shame with him to Hell, but he DID NOT STOP THERE. That right there, my friend, is how we are able to stand in the victory circle. That is how we know we are going to stand before our Father when He takes us Home to live with Him forever.

The juicy middle is what keeps us from being a stoic character in our story. God walks us through these trials so we are stronger than we were before--so our trust in Him is stronger as we draw closer to Him. We need to trust God's will and God's wisdom. He knows what's best for us and keeps that in mind constantly. My New Living Translation Bible commented this about the first three verses of Psalm 23:

David compares God's concern for his people to that of a shepherd. When we allow God to guide us, we experience peace and contentment. Our Shepherd knows the "green meadows" and "peaceful streams" that will renew us. We will reach these places only by sticking close to him like a sheep would to a shepherd. How close are you?

 Even though Satan throws you to the ground, don't let his stabbing and kicking you while you are down keep you down. Find strength in your Heavenly Father, and get back up again (you're maybe knocked down but not out forever).

"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me" (Psalm 23:4).

God bless!

The Side Not Seen

People around the world are bashing Christians because of the things we are against, like homosexuality, greed, and gay marriage, but they aren't seeing what Christians stand FOR! Throughout all of the Gospels time, and time again we see Jesus show compassion and love towards those who were "sick" or the unrepentant sinners; yet we today show hate and nothing but.

I challenge you to do as Jesus did, BREAK THE CHAINS of the people around you and show the true colors of The Almighty and Glorious God that we serve... Love, compassion, forgiveness, and mercy.

"For Jesus did not come to this world to condemn the world, but to save it." (John 3:17 paraphrased)

Even the lost are kind to those who are kind back, but I ask of you this. Show even those who frustrate you a smile, show them a friendly face, show them the compassion of Christ Jesus to the best of your ability.

The stand.

"So the last will be first, and the first will be last." --Matthew 20:16.

Twenty-first century life is very competitive: sports teams are shedding sweat, blood, and tears to see who is the best; people are rushing through doors to see the number one movie on the charts; and résumés are being polished to fight for the position in a business. Although this arms-around-the-neck-of-the-opponent atmosphere is in the worldly parts of our lives, we shouldn't let our competitive tendencies be a trait of our spiritual lives.

There are no winners or losers of faith. In God's eyes, we are all equal. How could it be any other way? We cannot make God love us any more or less than He already does, no matter what we say or do:

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).

So wait... what's the talk about being first and last then? When I run to call shotgun and my sister gets to the car after me, does that mean she gets shotgun? I know that's how I've been exposed to that particular verse, but that's taking it way out of context.

The true context is a parable in Matthew 20: A landowner goes to town to find people to tend to his land for the day. He promises every person that he hires a denarius for the work they do. At the end of the day, each person hired gets a denarius, but the problem is that the people who were hired earlier in the day--and, in turn, worked longer--saw that the people who were hired later in the day--and, in turn, didn't work very long--getting a denarius, so they assumed that they were going to get more. The landowner's response to such reaction to his generosity was a question: "I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius?" (v. 13). It was the landowner's money to give, not the men's, so they didn't have any right to judge.

This parable was explaining how the kingdom of Heaven is: God lines us all up and gives us the gift of live through His Son, Jesus Christ, no matter how long we have been following Him in faith. Whether we have been Christians for fifty-five years or five seconds, we receive the gift that God promises us. He even loves those that deny Him. We have no place to say that someone doesn't deserve God's love.

Every one of us have been given our lives: lives that are perfect in God's eyes. We shouldn't be dissatisfied in any way. We all have fallen. We all deserve the penalty of death because of our sin, but we have all been redeemed through the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord and Savior. Thank the LORD for the life He has given you, for it is a life that could never be replaced.

God bless!

Seek First the Kingdom

I have found in my life that sometimes God acts as the "Great Reverser". By this I mean that several times in my life I have planned to do something in order to achieve something else, only to then have God reverse how it is to be done. For example, I went to college with a career focus hoping to grow in life through this pursuit, but God reversed it and told me "No, through focusing on growing in life you will learn what your career is to be." Next I wanted to grow as a Christian, and then I would be able to help others. But again He reversed it and told me "No, it is through helping others that you will grow as a Christian." Next, I really wanted a partner in life, one that I could love and one who could love me in that special kind of way that only husband & wife can. I thought that when I finally had a girlfriend, then I would grow closer to God.. but again God told me the opposite of what I was thinking: "No, take time now to grow closer to Me, and then through this you will find a partner." 

So I guess the only reason I tell you this story is because I want to let you know two things:
1) Every "No" from God is for you good, and every "No" is to guide you to the best He has for you.
2) When we worry about the things we don't have more than we look to God, we will not find the answers to these problems. Instead, by looking to God first and making Him first in your life, then you will given these things (Matthew 6:33).

Role Models (NIV 1 Timothy 4: 11-16)

As we are growing up, we [subconsciously seek role models in our lives] look to others to see a role model. Most would look towards a parent or older sibling, but those are not always the greatest. A healthy role model is someone who seeks after a holy life for God: someone who is selfless, loving, kind, and has a heart for the LORD. As a Christian, you would be looking for someone who is spiritually healthy, just as Timothy did towards Paul. Without these healthy role models in our life or those in the Scriptures we lose the goals that God has given us. Paul shows Timothy how to be healthy a healthy role model in Christ in 1 Timothy 4:11-16

                  11 "Command and teach these things. 12 Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. 13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. 14 Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you.

15 Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. 16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers."

(Bold added for importance)

Going through these bolded parts, each has importance:

Command - set standards and don’t lower them no matter what

Teach - inform everyone of these set standards

Set an example - Show the standards through you in speech, actions, love, faith, and purity.

Devote yourself - Prioritize

Public reading of Scripture - It’s not just tradition, but important to grow with those around you

Preaching and Teaching - Showing others, through words AND action

Gifts - God gave you something amazing as a gift. USE IT!

Diligent - Be an expert in Scripture--in holiness

Give yourself wholly to them - Put your all into the LORD.

Watch - Pay Attention

Life - The way you live

Doctrine - What you believe in

Persevere - Follow through, and NEVER give them up.

Just as Timothy had Paul to guide the way for him, who do you have in your life to do the same? A sibling, relative, or maybe even a friend, but I would recommend an adult the church, if not a leader, or a pastor. Someone who is older and more wise, so they would be able to give you sound advice in times of trouble, and just words of encouragement because they’ve been in your shoes before. I challenge you to find a mentor or a role model if you do not yet have one, because it will change you.