The Sun

"And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he Edwards those who seek him." - Hebrews 11:6

"We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete." - II Corinthians 10:5-6

"And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God." - Colossians 1:9-10

Dear God, 

In order to please You, I must have faith believing that You are real and that you reward those who seek You. Keeping You at the center of my every thought, word, and action IS a challenge though! I must take captive every thought and make it give up and obey You. I need to study Your word to find out pleases You. Please do be the sun of my world and shine in my life. Today, I give You my thoughts about what the republicans are doing to destroy healthcare again. This time in a way that would charge the elderly more and would potentially turn insurance into nothing more than the junk plans that were allowed before the ACA. They have a plan that is far worse than the ACA and is still short of universal care. Today, I give You my thoughts about their proposed cuts to HUD which helps house homeless veterans and disabled people. See, they complain about those of us against the wall and refugee bans not being for veterans yet their own party is cutting programs that help veterans!!! I can care about both the refugee and the veteran and I do care about both. God, help us all the next several months. God, do Your will here. God, prepare our hearts and minds and keep them awake against the devil child Trump. He lies. His party lies. And we need to be alert to the lies so we are not misled. You will know them by their fruit. Rotten fruit is rotten fruit. 

Thank You.

In Jesus' Name, 

Amen

Your Amazing Mind

Genesis 1:26-27 - Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Romans 8:6 - To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

Dear God, You created each and every one of us in Your image. That is why when someone, anyone, whether a Christian or not, abuses or bullies or hurts or mistreats someone else in any way, shape, or form, it is an assault on You. So when people disrespect the president, they disrespect You because You created him. When Tom and the leadership at his church abused and bullied me for having autism, they abused You. I gladly trade You any of the not good thoughts that lead to anger, doubt, and rebellion for the love, faith, and peace You offer. That is why I want to exercise a measure of grace beyond my human strength to seek reconciliation and restoration with Tom and maybe even with his church. Stir them for the good things ahead and teach them how to love as You love and show grace as You show grace. When You allowed Your Son to die on that cross, that was a HUGE amount of grace on display, God. And we should all be willing to do just that if called upon to do so. Otherwise, the world will never see Your goodness and Your kindness or experience Your love as today's "Christians" become more resentful and hateful and bitter and selfish. Today's "Chrisitans" are in favor of stripping people of their right to have affordable healthcare via insurance, SNAP so they have food to eat, disability benefits that they need if they are disabled and unable to hold jobs, veteran's healthcare, Medicaid for the poor and the disabled, WIC for the women and their children to have food and basic essentials for the babies they want to force the women to have, and Pell grants which help college age students afford college so they can learn marketable skills in order to hopefully get a job. Instead today's "Christians" are acting out of the LOVE of money which is the root of all evil. They have forgotten You and. Your Words in favor of "protecting the Constituiton." Wait a minute. The Tea Party extremists of the Republican Party are more interested in protecting the Constitution than in protecting and defending Your Word while they claim to be Christians? That is what is wrong with them! They have misplaced the priority. NOTHING IS MORE VALUABLE AND DESERVING OF PROTECTION THAN YOUR WORD-THE BIBLE. The Bible is a roadmap for life, an instruction manual for life. It was written by You through the hands of men whom You breathed Your words through. The Constitution was written by men as well, but it was not Your doing. Thank You God for giving me a mind that can think and reason. While I do not know what my furbabies think, and I know they do, I am appreciative of the stretched mind that You have given me. Autism and all. In Jesus' Name, Amen!

Don't Be Tricked

I Corinthians 13:13 - So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

II Corinthians 4:18 - ...as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Ephesians 3:20-21 - Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Dear God, According to this, You are most definitely sovereign. But it seems that we, as humans, often forget this fact. If only we would rest in Your sovereignty then maybe we might actually stand a fighting chance against all that is evil and against Your word. By that, I don't mean that we call a president names or speak ugly about him just because we might disagree with something he does. God, please bless President Obama as I know that he has been trying to bring America back to You through actions of trying to make sure that those who most need assistance have it. Healthcare for one. It seems that in light of everything that has been happening in America, people, including those who claim to be Christians, have forgotten You and what Your purpose for our lives really is. They have allowed color to blind them and their integrity. They have shown that racism is still very much alive in America. And they have proven that greed is abundant in their attitude toward poor and sick people. They do not want to make sure that everyone has food or healthcare because they think that people are just lazy. But that is simply not the truth at all. If it were not for taxes, there truly might not be any charity at all in America. Americans are greedy. I know. I am an American, and it is hard for me to want to part with whatever little bit of money I might have. When a church discriminates against someone because that person has special needs and then they go so far as to even say comply with our discrimination against you, give us permission to abuse you more than we already have or else we will not show you any mercy no matter what the situation, it proves how greedy and how corrupt and how vile churches have even become when it comes to people in need. It breaks my heart. Faith, hope, and love. They are eternal. But sometimes it is hard to keep them when people keep knocking you down and beating up on you and bruising your spirit. Help me God to keep them strong though. Help me this next week to finish the letter and the chart to go with it. Help me to actually send it. Help me not be afraid and to keep trusting You. Thank You. In Jesus' Name, Amen!

Three Little Words

Psalm 27:14 - Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

Psalm 27:14 (ICB) - Wait for the Lord's help. Be strong and brave and wait for the Lord's help.

John 14:1 - "Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me."

Hebrews 6:13-20 - For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, "Surely I will bless you and multiply you." And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

Dear God, Faith begins with TRUST. Trust is hard God. Really hard. Look at what happened with Tom. I trusted him to keep his promises. But he broke every single one of them in a moment when grace was most needed. Because he believed lies. Which he spread. Which severed some vital relationships. Which severed all chances I might have ever had at having friendships, church, and a job. In one moment where he had a chance to stand up against what he knew and acknowledged to be wrong, he failed and he allowed the abuse and the bullying to happen. And then he became the a user and the bully as a result. Trust? I trusted him because he said I could, and then he broke it when grace was most needed. He broke YOUR word God. He violated YOUR commands. And worse, the presbytery did too. And that really makes me angry and hurt because they know about the abuse that happened there and they did nothing and won't do anything. Which means MORE people will be abused, especially more people like me because Oak Mountain HATES YOU God or they would make effort to correct their wrongdoings and to listen about why what they did is wrong and take steps to make sure it doesn't happen again to others. So if Tom earned my trust and then broke it so badly, how can I truly trust YOU God? How can I trust You even though I want to and long to? I can't see You God and I can't hear Your voice God like I can with someone who has flesh. What can You do to help me KNOW that YOU CAN be trusted? WAIT? God, I need You to move. If the biggest proof that I can trust You might be found in You bringing about the much needed conversation with Tom either so there can be restoration or there can be closure I need in order to move forward, how much longer are You going to make me suffer before You make it happen? It has already been too long and I have to make a decision based on statute of limitations. Wait with HOPE? I have done nothing but hope God. And nothing has happened yet. Except for ONE thing and even that didn't lead to restoration or closure. That may have brought some financial relief for my family, but not a lot. We need a miracle for that to happen. Those words are NOT so little God. They are HUGE when everytime I have practice with them, someone DESTROYS all progress. But God, I will try this week to exercise those with You. In Jesus' Name, Amen!

Heaven's Door Film Review

The film is a bit of a tearjerker. Probably did not help though that I am wrestling right now because of a friend and worried that we will not be able to make things work as friends because everything has fallen apart so quickly-the boundaries, he never seems to have any time any more, we have not seen each other in a long time; how can we make it work? But this little girl has discovered that she has a gift. Riley can heal people just by touching them. But she only heals those who she is supposed to heal. She sees an angel. She thinks it is her grandpa who died. She shows her family what she experienced when she fell out of the tree but tells them that if she helps anyone there will be consequences. Unfortunately, there is a news woman who seems very adamant about getting a story about Riley and her gift. Riley's mom and dad reunite because of Riley. Riley takes every illness from people she heals. Riley's last act is a friend who is in the hospital being treated for cancer. The little girl tells Riley's parents that she knew she was supposed to go and that there were angels around Riley. A blind man also tells Riley's parents to believe. Just as Riley is declared dead, she awakens to the pleasant surprise of her parents. Riley learns though that her grandpa had nothing to do with her being saved from her fall. And her grandma realizes a new baby is coming. Riley's angel was the baby before he was born.

Essentially, this film is about renewed faith, renewed hope, and restored relationships. It is certainly what some may call a story of redemption. I would love to have enough faith to believe that the friendship will survive, but I struggle with this so much.

Dear God, please help me believe. Please renew my faith and trust. And please help my friendship with Tom survive if it's really Your will that he and I be friends. And if it's not, then help me to survive as Tom is the first real friend that I have had and the first person who truly cared enough to take the time to learn about how You created me and how it makes me different yet didn't let it get in the way of pursuing friendship with me. In Jesus' Name, Amen.