IS THIS REAL? PROVE IT

 The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the foundation of our Christian faith but for some of us, it's a sticking point where doubt clouds our vision. The Bible tells a story about doubting Thomas, one of Jesus closest followers before his death and crucifixion. This guy was part of the inner circle. He spent intimate time with Jesus and his chosen twelve. He saw Jesus heal the sick, walk on water, cure diseases and raise a man from the dead, yet he wasn't on board 100%. The night Jesus died Thomas ran away and hid. He ended up not being around when the Resurrected Savior appeared to the disciples. When they told Thomas about this supernatural event he scoffed at them like they were delusional. 

"Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, and put my finger where the nails were and put my hand into his side I will not believe." (John 20:25 ) 

A week passed until the disciples were in the house again, and this time Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked , Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you."  Then he said to Thomas , "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side  Stop doubting and believe." Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God." Jesus didn't condemn him, or shame him. Instead he challenged Thomas to stop doubting and believe.

Have you ever been there, where part of you believes but the other part is screaming Prove It.  I have.

 Like Thomas, I was supposed to know Jesus. I was raised Catholic. I went to church. I knew the Bible. I professed to believe...just not 100%.  One day, many years ago, I came to a tipping point in my life. I was broke, raising two children and my marriage was a disaster. My relationship with my husband hit rock bottom and we were headed for divorce. In desperation I cried out to Jesus. I literally prayed "God, if you are real,,,do something with this mess of my life." I ended the prayer and walked away disillusioned, confused, my heart full of doubt, and a mind overflowing with questions. The crazy thing was, Jesus showed up. Shortly after praying that prayer, even though I did not believe God heard me or cared, I started to read the Bible. Little by little my mindset and attitude changed. First, toward the reality of a God who sent his son to die for my sins, and secondly toward my relationship with my husband. He saw the change in me and began his own reading program drawing him closer to Jesus. Needless to say, its been 56 years and we are still together, navigating the ups and downs of marriage with the Resurrected Jesus. In effect, I did what Thomas was told to do...stop doubting and start believing.  When Jesus was finished proving himself to Thomas he said,"Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (John 20:29)

THREE TIPS TO JUMP START YOUR DAY

How many of my fellow readers wake up most mornings stressed out after another restless night of anxiety? You roll out of bed, grab a quick cup of coffee and mindlessly check the internet (again), looking to find a solution for your multitude of problems. Then, in a fog like trance, you come back to reality realizing you are late for work and  have just enough time to throw on some clothes before rushing out the door to begin another hectic day. On and on we go, day after day, running on the same burned-out emotions, getting nowhere.

 Stop! 

I have good news and a few tips to change your emotional chaos into supernatural strength.

First.  Change the way you do mornings. Just coffee, and your Bible. Jesus invites us to sit and have coffee with him. He says, "Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and we will share a meal together as friends." (Revelation 3: 20 NLT)  Spending mornings with Jesus is an invitation, not an obligation.The Creator of the Universe is asking you to take a few minutes from your hectic life to center yourself on him. In exchange for your chaos, He offers you peace. If you need less drama in your life, and who doesn't, talk to Jesus.

Second.  God doesn't just want a surface "hi and goodbye", and you're out the church door Sunday mornings. He wants a relationship where you get comfortable, everyday, speaking to him and confiding in him like you would a trusted friend. As I found out when I started having coffee with Jesus, he actually wants to help us with difficult decisions. "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God who gives it generously to all without finding fault and it will be given to you."( James 1:5)  Maybe you feel lost and need guidance or direction for your life. Jesus promises to help you navigate the choppy waters of everyday living in the 21 st century. "I will guide you along the best pathways for your life. I will advise you and watch over you. (Psalm 32:8)

Third.  Spending time to center you thoughts in the word of God will help you anchor yourself in God's truth and the things that really matter. We become less stressed when we connect with God so we can refill our mugs and recharge our focus.  If you are tired of being strung out...have coffee with Jesus. He is the answer you need. I could go on and on. There are literally 7,487 promises in the Bible written for you. That equals one promise a day for the next 20 years of your life. If you open the door of your heart to Jesus and believe he wants you to have an abundant, blessed life, He will provide all you need.

FAKE NEWS

"Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves."(Matthew 7:15)

Remember as kids we were told little white lies were no big deal? If you think back to those days, maybe you thought your "fibs" were not that bad. However, in time you might have gotten comfortable fabricating the truth, first to your parents in order to stay our of trouble, then as you grew up the white lies grew in size too, until you were comfortable with fudging your resume to get your dream job or telling an outright lie to your spouse as to why you got home from work so late. Lies, like all other sin grows and mutates and can become habitual when left unchecked reeking havoc in our relationships and lives. No wonder Satan is called the father of lies.

Deception is not confined to our own private lives, it is an invasive intruder, and over the years has crept into the very fabric of society eroding our trust at all levels including our marriages, parenting, national government and our source of information...the news media. The information we ingest has conditioned us to accept the broadcasters word as gospel although many times we are being fed propaganda making it almost impossible to tell truth from lies. To further complicate matters we now have AI altering the images we see for the purpose of  controlling the narrative. Why you might wonder would our leaders and journalists want to deliberately give us false information that manipulates our thoughts? Simply put...the wolf is in the sheep pen.

How are we to discern the signs of the times if we are constantly being gaslighted? How can we keep our families safe when our leadership does not have our best interest at heart? There is only one source of ABSOLUTE truth. Jesus said to those who believed Him "If you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed. And you shall know the TRUTH and the TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE." (John 8:31-32)

God is saying when we accept His teaching, and obey the gospel message we will understand the truth and that wisdom will free us from error. If you have accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, don't become discouraged by the evil that is surrounding us in the world. Get connected with a Bible believing church and allow God to fill you with the Holy Spirit, the source of all truth. 

The good news is...its never too late to get ourselves right with God. "If we confess with our mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in our hearts God raised Him from the dead we will be saved." Romans 10:9

WHAT ARE YOU FOCUSED ON

 Our thoughts have incredible power. We think our minds are our own private space but whatever is going on in our heads eventually comes out in our words and actions exposing the demons we are trying to hide. 

If you have been focused on anger, bitterness or hatred at the way someone spoke to you or treated you and keep playing it over and over in your mind those feelings will take root, like an invasive weed in a flower garden, until it is almost impossible to pull out. There are countless other scenario's and you probably know first hand how these emotions lock you into a self made prison cell within your mind. 

So how do we get our negative thoughts, feelings and emotions to line up with positive action. 

The Bible calls it the Renewing of your Mind.  Simply put, we choose to let go of the offensive words and forgive the offender instead of holding onto it. Let it go. Think about how many things the Lord has forgiven you for and forgive on purpose. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  Hebrews 9:11 

Your bad attitude won't just magically disappear. It will raise it's ugly head over and over again but each time it does say a little prayer for the person who hurt you. When we take that small step of obedience, God takes care of the rest. When we focus on what God says in the Bible our lives find positive reinforcement. After all...It's easier to pick flowers than it is to pull weeds.

ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS

With all the news feeds, opinions, and op-ed's floating around the internet it's no wonder our minds are on information overload. The way we all tend to shoot off our mouths you would think we were the most informed, understanding and wise generation that ever graced planet earth with our intelligence.

All joking aside... the wisest people among us are not those who have thousands of likes and views on their social media feeds. They are not those of us who have spent years and years studying in the top universities to acquire their Doctorate. 

According to God, wisdom and understanding are something tangible, profound, and much more personal.

In James 3:13  God asks us us a point blank question..."Who  among you is wise and understanding? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in humility that comes from wisdom." 

God's wisdom has nothing to do with how many degrees we can list next to our names. The wisest people in the Kingdom of God are not those of us who are considered the smartest. Instead, wisdom is applied to the people who put God and others first in their lives. In the Bible humility has to do with servant hood. The verse goes on to say "wisdom is pure, peace-loving, considerate , submissive, full of mercy, good fruit, impartial and sincere." Wow! What an incredible list of character traits we should all aspire to.

God also tells us if we lack wisdom to ask Him for it and he will give it to us generously. We are to imitate God who is always ready to forgive us for our sins when we confess our failures and turn away from our transgressions. Because of his mercy and faithfulness he encourages us when we're down, leads us when we have lost our way, and loves us even when we don't deserve it. To boil it down, if you want to be considered wise,  "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." (Matthew 7:12) WISDOM IS LOVE IN ACTION.
 

PERSPECTIVE IS EVERYTHING

 

"Into each life some rain must fall." This timeless phrase comes from a classic jazz song sung by Ella Fitzgerald and quickly became an anthem for everyone who perseveres through hardships. We certainly don't look forward to having setbacks in our lives but the good news, when we have Jesus as our anchor, we always come out victorious. 

Rain and storms symbolize hardships...so when the rain starts falling it's best to get our focus on the One who helps us in our time of need. The Bible gives us lots of perspective on adversity when it hits home. 

1) When trials come...REJOICE.  That sounds crazy but our reaction to trouble when it hits will show our enemy, Satan, we choose to trust God with the outcome and we refuse to cave to fear of our circumstances.

2) Obstacles, big and small, test our faith. "Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." (Hebrews 11: 6)

3) Faith produces steadfastness that empowers us to stand firm, immovable, confident in God. When we make it through, God tells us we are perfect and complete, lacking nothing. 

Best of all, the promise of victory is found in First Peter Five verse Ten  "After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen , and establish you."  So remember...when bad news comes... perspective is everything so hang on and..DANCE THROUGH THE STORM.

HOPE IS ON THE HORIZON

It's crazy how much time I invest in doomscrolling or doomsurfing as it's called. Seriously. It is a term that means excessively scrolling through bad news on social media. I get it. I'm guilty of it... but there is very little good news anymore. The world we live in is black as pitch especially when you look at current events through a secular worldview. The main stream media has us constantly on high alert as we wait for the next traumatic event to light up the computer screen. We are bombarded with statistics on crisis fatigue and we wonder where and when all the chaos will end. 

Let me give you some good news. When we are feeling most burned out by the events surrounding our lives and what we read on social media that is precisely the moment when we must push back harder in prayer. I'm talking warfare prayer. On our knees. Focused. Thankful. Filled with Faith. Think of the world you see on the news today as a smoke screen. It's the enemy trying to keep us filled with fear and dread about the future. Instead, look around...we are winning these battles. Think about all the positive things that are being exposed to the millions and millions of us who are waking up to see who is creating all the problems. There is no doubt we are engaged in a spiritual war for our country, our people and our faith and we need to engage the enemy with spiritual weapons of war. Make no mistake, God is working behind the scenes and in faith we need to keep looking at the horizon.

"Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer . (Romans 12:12)