I’ve been thinking lately about prayer. Sometimes, during another person’s prayer, I won’t bow my head with the other people in the room. I don’t close my eyes but instead I will just look around. I don’t know why I have the impulse to do this; I think maybe it is because I feel like I am being preached at.
Do people view prayer as a mechanism for getting their points across? Do I?
So what if one day someone high-up in the church said that “all prayer will be non-verbal from now on”. How would our words change without any one to hear them but God?
Would communicating to God be simply that? Communicating?
I want to talk to God, tell Him my problems, and ask for wisdom without talking to those around me. I want my focus to be on Him, He deserves that much when I talk to Him.
Has anyone ever told you to look at them when you’re talking to them?
I want to look at God, praise Him and just talk.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Monday, January 22, 2007
Faith?
Does it ever seem like life can go down hill so quickly that you hardly even notice it before you hit bottom? Do trials seem to come in a 3 for 1 special? If you'd ask me, the answer would be yes.I don't know why God is having me experience these things right now, but I'm trying, the best that I can, to trust Him. To rest on the fact that He is so much bigger than me, and only He can give me the comfort I so desperately need right now. I’m not afraid to cry out to Him. I know He can handle my tears.
Faith, that’s what I need, I truck load…no make that two truck loads of Faith.
Faith in God seems abstract at times of great trials. It is so hard to see a better future when a horrible present is…well present.
I am not claiming that I have found such a faith in God but I am declaring my search for it. The world is “a Hell” right now. It is not how God intended it to be, but somehow in that Hell, God’s existence is so evident. My love for Him has never been this strong, how is that? At no other time in my life have I desired to “know him” than like right now.
Don’t deny yourself of remorse. God loved you enough to save you from Hell. He loves you enough to hear your pain, your agony, your confusion.
A wise man once said “Life is more than the words we speak”
Life is not a bed of flowers, it’s not perfect but God is.
Faith, that’s what I need, I truck load…no make that two truck loads of Faith.
Faith in God seems abstract at times of great trials. It is so hard to see a better future when a horrible present is…well present.
I am not claiming that I have found such a faith in God but I am declaring my search for it. The world is “a Hell” right now. It is not how God intended it to be, but somehow in that Hell, God’s existence is so evident. My love for Him has never been this strong, how is that? At no other time in my life have I desired to “know him” than like right now.
Don’t deny yourself of remorse. God loved you enough to save you from Hell. He loves you enough to hear your pain, your agony, your confusion.
A wise man once said “Life is more than the words we speak”
Life is not a bed of flowers, it’s not perfect but God is.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Our Gift
As a Christian, the hope I have is undeniable but dangerous. If I focus on that hope, create an attitude within myself of “this Earth is not my true home”, I could miss out on the amazing things God has for me. This Earth is my home right now and the people on it, my ministry. What kind of an example of Christianity would I be if I wasn’t an environmentalist?
Have you noticed that the majority of environmentalists are Atheist? Why is that so?
I am not denying the fact of Heaven nor am I saying that we should forget about it as are true home. I am saying that as image bearers of Christ we must be concerned with the gift this Earth is to us. God gave us this world as a gift, He gave it to us to cherish not destroy.
I was never one to recycle nor did I ever think I would someday consider myself an environmentalist. I considered myself a “good Christian” because I went to church and told other people that I was a Christian and that they should go to church too. What did my example give them to go by? How did they see Christians? As a social group that sings songs and talk about some distant God?
Do you believe in Natural Revelation?
Why do we not care if we ourselves or others are destroying that natural revelation of God?
We all hear about pollution and the disappearing rainforests but many never stop to realize how clearly one can see God in his own creation. Atheists refuse to see God in His creation but that does not mean His creation is not screaming his existence every day. If you want to see God’s presence open your eyes to wonder in awe at His awesome creation.
I used to live in Florida, a place most people view as paradise, beaches, the sun, and some days, blue skies. Thinking about it now, I was surrounded by the glory and grace of God. Even now as I live in the mountains of Northeast PA, I am awe struck by His work. It is almost like God is saying, “Hey! I am here; I exist, look, and worship me!”. I realize that after the Fall of Man in Genesis the world became a different place, a place with famine, drought, HURRICANES, tornados…the list could go on. But, on a clear day here in PA, when the mountains light up and the colors of autumn burst out, I realize how great our God is. I think to myself, “I don’t deserve this, thank you God.”
“The most selfless thing a perfect being could do is create others to worship him.”
- Searching for God Knows What
By Donald Miller
This Earth He has created is a gift, a gift that gives a tiny glimpse of how amazing God is. He created it for our enjoyment. It and everything on it declares His glory. The mountains, hurricanes, tornados, beaches, forests…even the people who refuse to admit His existence.
Don’t think they do? Listen to some secular music, not the words, their voices…some of those people have the most beautiful voices I have ever heard!
Can you see God, hear Him in that beauty. Do you know how they got those voices?
Denying God does not erase the deceleration of His presence with every breath.
This Earth is ours; it reveals God to those who otherwise would refuse to see Him. Let’s take care of it, and show others what we see, and tell them how we are so lucky to see it!
Have you noticed that the majority of environmentalists are Atheist? Why is that so?
I am not denying the fact of Heaven nor am I saying that we should forget about it as are true home. I am saying that as image bearers of Christ we must be concerned with the gift this Earth is to us. God gave us this world as a gift, He gave it to us to cherish not destroy.
I was never one to recycle nor did I ever think I would someday consider myself an environmentalist. I considered myself a “good Christian” because I went to church and told other people that I was a Christian and that they should go to church too. What did my example give them to go by? How did they see Christians? As a social group that sings songs and talk about some distant God?
Do you believe in Natural Revelation?
Why do we not care if we ourselves or others are destroying that natural revelation of God?
We all hear about pollution and the disappearing rainforests but many never stop to realize how clearly one can see God in his own creation. Atheists refuse to see God in His creation but that does not mean His creation is not screaming his existence every day. If you want to see God’s presence open your eyes to wonder in awe at His awesome creation.
I used to live in Florida, a place most people view as paradise, beaches, the sun, and some days, blue skies. Thinking about it now, I was surrounded by the glory and grace of God. Even now as I live in the mountains of Northeast PA, I am awe struck by His work. It is almost like God is saying, “Hey! I am here; I exist, look, and worship me!”. I realize that after the Fall of Man in Genesis the world became a different place, a place with famine, drought, HURRICANES, tornados…the list could go on. But, on a clear day here in PA, when the mountains light up and the colors of autumn burst out, I realize how great our God is. I think to myself, “I don’t deserve this, thank you God.”
“The most selfless thing a perfect being could do is create others to worship him.”
- Searching for God Knows What
By Donald Miller
This Earth He has created is a gift, a gift that gives a tiny glimpse of how amazing God is. He created it for our enjoyment. It and everything on it declares His glory. The mountains, hurricanes, tornados, beaches, forests…even the people who refuse to admit His existence.
Don’t think they do? Listen to some secular music, not the words, their voices…some of those people have the most beautiful voices I have ever heard!
Can you see God, hear Him in that beauty. Do you know how they got those voices?
Denying God does not erase the deceleration of His presence with every breath.
This Earth is ours; it reveals God to those who otherwise would refuse to see Him. Let’s take care of it, and show others what we see, and tell them how we are so lucky to see it!
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