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I have hesitated to write about my trip to Cambodia until now because I have had so much to ponder.  So many details and so many pictures in my head that I needed to develop and find each and every emotion that went along with them.  Since I have been back (its been almost a week now), I have had many people want to hear about the trip, but as I tell the stories I realize there is a lot missing that can only be found from actually being there.  I have wondered in my mind what I would write about and which stories I would choose to tell.  I have wondered how can I write about the depth of feeling and emotion one feels being in a country that has so little yet lives so big.  Are there enough words to describe what I experienced? Are there enough pages to list what I have seen?  It seems I must choose to abbreviate what I experienced for others, in hopes that they too will go and experience the people and nation of Cambodia for them selves.  

It was nearly a year ago when I heard the call to go to Cambodia during a Sunday morning service at church.  If I remember it right, I was a bit distracted in the service because I was sitting near a glass door that clearly showed the day would be filled with rain, again.  I don’t much like the rain so the distraction was enough to make my mind wander.  It didn’t help that we had a guest speaker that was talking about a country on the other side of the globe.  I simply wasn’t interested.  Through the distraction I figured I should pay attention since I was at church and I was a little curious what God was doing on the other side of the world.  God works in funny ways sometimes, because a short time latter I felt my heart being tugged on and the call to go to Cambodia. 

It was like the seen that is described in Mark 16:7, one of those verses that says so much about Jesus’ love for us in just a few words.  Peter is describing his memories about the resurrection of Jesus.  He recalls the story that Mary told about an angel who said Jesus had risen from the dead.  In verse 7 the angel said, “but go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”  Did you see the hidden statement that shows Jesus’ love so deeply?  Look again, and focus on the bigger seen right before Jesus was crucified on the cross.  Who denied him three times? It was Peter!  Who did Jesus specifically mention that he wanted to see in Galilee? It was Peter!  This is exactly how I felt on that day in church.  Jesus wanted a sinner like me to GO and minister to people on the other side of the world he was promising to go before me and prepare the way. 

The gospel message is one of hope and second chances for each of us to include the people of Cambodia.  I’ve done a bit of traveling in my time so I was fairly prepared for the sights and feelings I would have once I arrived in Cambodia.  The weather was in the mid 80’s to low 90’s with a bit of humidity.  The people all around seemed to move at a fairly slow pace in every aspect of life except while driving.  Smiles were sparse unless they were first initiated by others.  The buildings are brightly colored and as we drove towards the guest house I could see that the city, as well as the people, were in a run down state.  There seemed to be a lack of hope and little motivation to improve.  I am not saying that all of Cambodia is like this; I am only describing how I saw it in the first hour or two when I arrived. 

Each day of our trip started with a few songs and devotions.  We prayed for God’s protection, healing, and to go before us and prepare the hearts of those we were going to see and interact with.  Then we traveled down the bumpy dirt roads to a village where a bright pink, yellow and red tent was set up to announce our presence.  We would set up each of the stations to include intake, vitals, doctors, dentists, glasses, pharmacy, and the gospel message and prayer.  Then we would start seeing patients.  Each village seemed to have different needs and there tended to be one issue that was more predominant in each village.  One village seemed to need glasses more than the others.  Another village needed their teeth tended to.  And another village seemed to have more medical conditions and needs.  My favorite part of each day was my interaction with the people and their children.  I wanted so much to see smiles on their faces and a glimmer of joy in their eyes.  If nothing else, I wanted them to remember that crazy smiling American man that talked to them and treated them with respect and honor.  I know that most of them could not under stand my jabbering, but the smiles I received in return told me that they understood my heart of joy to be there with them. 

We closed each day by packing up our things and cleaning up the site.  Then we climbed into the two vans and a truck and headed back to the guest house to clean up for the evening.  During our evening hours we did a number of things that were fun.  Some evenings we went to the English school and helped to teach the children.  Other evenings we played games, and talked into the wee hours of the night.  Our meals during the week consisted of a breakfast at the guest house with an omelet (with no cheese), fried rice, bread, and coffee.  Our lunch was a consistent diet of peanut butter and Jelly with a side of various flavors of Pringles potato chips.  Dinner was at a restaurant that was just a couple of blocks from the guest house and the food was a good variety of Cambodian dishes, Yum! Yum!  I actually gained 3 pounds during the trip because I liked the food so much.    

Somewhere in all of the busyness of each day I realized that even though the Cambodian villagers had few possessions, houses that were barely large enough to live in (from a westerners view point), no running water or electricity, and little to no money, that they still had love.  The interaction I saw between moms and children and between the children in the villages showed me there was love among the people.  I also saw that there was fear amongst the people.  In one village the children were so afraid of me and the other team members that even with my back turned to them I could hear them cry and turn away when they noticed me.  I love children, so as the day went on our team gave toys and candy to the children of that village and by days end their fear of us was gone. 

My hope is that the tracts and the message that was shared with them will lead them to the local churches that we partnered with in each village.  That the experience of these Americans that helped them to overcome dieses, regain sight, and the removal of pain will be enough to bring them to the hope that our Heavenly Father offers each of us. 

By the end of the week I wanted to stay longer to experience more, but our time there was done, and the memories I had gathered would have to be enough.  I left my contact information with the Cambodian friends I made and hoped that we will again be in contact.  I said my good byes and boarded the plane for home.  Cambodia, I will never forget you nor will I forget the people within your borders that touched my life. 

Thank you to all who prayed for and financially contributed towards this trip!!!  Your willingness to give of your self has changed the lives of over 700 people that were seen at our clinic and 23 people that went to be a blessing to the people of Cambodia.  Your generosity has changed our lives forever, we will never be the same nor would we want to!  I pray that God will bless you 100 times what you have given be it time or money so that you will give it again next time He guides you to do so.  Again, thank you!!!   

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I sit here, behind my computer, thinking of a way to explain the thoughts in my mind.   As a brother in Christ I must speak my mind and share my thoughts, but I think that it has more to do with the love of Christ that flows from my heart for all to become closer to Him.  You and your children are precious to Jesus.  Each of you were created and designed for a particular calling and you were each given a hope and a dream to fulfill.  This letter is one that is written to encourage and build you in the faith and I know that you will hear my heart even as I am now pondering your response.

In some of my writings I have presented messages about renewing the mind and becoming all that God wants us to be.  This message is one of hope and a better tomorrow.   The Lord wells up in me as I think of the many people that need to hear this message.  I have chosen to give the Lord my all, my entire life and I will follow Him where he leads me to go.  This is also my hope for others that they may have the peace and love that I feel in me, from Him.

It all starts with a choice!!  What do we choose to allow in our life?  Things that are pleasing to God, or things of this world?  We choose our attitudes, we choose to be happy and grateful or sad and miserable.  We choose our friends, those who build us up or those that tear us down.  We choose the God we serve, Yahweh the creator of the universe and everything in it, or gods of our own making.  We choose the reality we live in, one of the spiritual and the physical or one of just the physical world.  The thing is even if we don’t choose our subconscious chooses for us.

This life is made up of choices that touch every part of our existence, there is nothing in your life that does not require each of us to make a choice.  For this reason I need to also explain that the attitudes in our minds affect the choices we make.

Ephesians 6:10-13

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

The mind is the battlefield, if Satan defeats you in your mind, he will defeat you in your life.  You must choose your thoughts carefully.  You have to learn to recognize the lies of Satan, and you have to stop believing them.

Satan attacks us in our thoughts and our attitudes, he wants us to be held back before we do anything at all.  He wants to defeat us in our minds so that we will not act and be available for God’s work.  Satan wants to steal your dreams away from you, by making you passive.

There is this story in the Bible, about a crippled man who laid by the gate beautiful for 38 years trying to get into the healing pool.  Jesus came to him one day and asked him, do you really want to get well?  It is interesting to notice that the first thing the man does is give excuses why he can’t get into the pool.  The man knew he wanted to be healed, but his attitude about his situation held him back from actually achieving what he wanted.

Are you going to wait 38 years to change your attitude?

The truth is that if we sit passively by, and do nothing, and we wont take responsibility for anything, the Devil has us right where he wants us. But if you are active, energetic, on fire with zeel and passion for God. If you love the word and you pray and you bless other people, the Devil is not going to know what to do with you, because he will be defeated in your life.

I know that each of us has a past that Satan brings up to the forefront of our mind, and pelages us with the memories of it, and how terrible we are because of our past.  But the truth is that, your past does not dictate your future.  God wants to turn the bad in your life into good, but you have to have a Godly mindset in order for that to happen.

Isaiah 61:7-8 

⁷ Instead of your shame
you will receive a double portion,
and instead of disgrace
you will rejoice in your inheritance.
And so you will inherit a double portion in your land,
and everlasting joy will be yours.

⁸ “For I, the LORD, love justice;
I hate robbery and wrongdoing.
In my faithfulness I will reward my people
and make an everlasting covenant with them.

So I urge you, to give your past to God, sow it as a seed into his kingdom and allow God to bring a harvest of good from it.  Allow God to take the lessons you have learned from the difficulties in your life to help others out of similar situations.

Romans 8:26a & 28

²⁶ In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.

²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who^[a] have been called according to his purpose.

Do you live your life with the thought that everything is already done, or do you question what possibilities can come about?

Hebrews 11:1

¹ Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

From this verse we can say that we must have hope for a future, in order to have faith that we will have a future.

We affect the world around us no matter what we believe, this effect can be a positive affect or a negative affect.   One way that we affect the world is by our words and the thoughts behind our words.  You see our words have the power to build up or tear down.  The same is true with the words we listen to in movies and music. This is why we must sensor what we allow ourselves and our families to listen to.  I guess I think of it like this, if Jesus would be ok listening to the music or watching the movie, then it is ok for me. Otherwise I shouldn’t be listening to or watching it.

The children of Israel took 40 years to make an 11 day journey. Why?? They left Egypt wandered in the wilderness and then finally got to the promised land.  The Bible tells us that only 2 (Numbers 14:20-39) of the original, nearly 2 million people, entered the promised land.  Those two men only entered because they continually put their mind on, and their hope in God.

In our life, the only way to the promised land, is through the wilderness.

How you think, the attitude you have, what you say, and how you act while you are in the wilderness will determine how long you will stay there!

So how long is it going to be for you, 40 years or 11 days?

Proverbs 23:7  for as a man thinks within himself, so he is.

Another words as the man or woman thinks, so a man or woman does.

Colossians 3:2   Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.  

We may think that we can control things in life, but we are just placing boundaries on our own heart, we need to give it to God who is in control.

We can not disconnect our heart and our thoughts.  The two run side-by-side.  Being honest with God and ourselves isn’t a sign of weakness.  In fact, it is often harder to see the truth than it is to see a lies.  Living in denial has never worked out to great for anyone.

Psalm 139 helps us to take stock in our relationship with God and encourages us to examine our thoughts.

When we set boundaries on our heart, we also set boundaries on God in our life.  But with a daily choice to give him everything in your life (die daily for Christ, 1 Cor 15:31) these boundaries can be torn down.

Romans 6:11

Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Romans 7:21 – 8:17

²¹So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. ²²For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; ²³but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. ²⁴What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? ²⁵Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!  So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

¹Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, ²because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. ³For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, ⁴in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.  ⁵Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. ⁶The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; ⁷the sinful man is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. ⁸Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.  ⁹You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. ¹⁰But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. ¹¹And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.  ¹²Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. ¹³For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, ¹⁴because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. ¹⁵For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba Father.” ¹⁶The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. ¹⁷Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

Romans 8:26-31

²⁶In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. ²⁷And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.  ²⁸And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,whohave been called according to his purpose. ²⁹For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.  ³¹What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?

When we take the gospel seriously, this is what will happen, our psychological needs will begin to be met, our capacity to love will be developed, our appreciation of the miraculous will cause us to expect great things from God, and the Spirit of God that possesses us, will motivate us to give ourselves to those who are suffering in a way that we have failed to do to this day.  And when all of that happens, this is the good news, that even though the world is rotten, as it is right now, we know that we have a savior that lives, and a hope for a better tomorrow.

The Bible tells us that that hope, that character, and faith come at a price.

Romans 5:1-5

¹ Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Our hope is to be in God no matter what we are going through in life, the good times and the bad.

We can only lead our children once we understand how our Father in heaven leads us.  Only then, can our commitment to Him affect the lives our children will lead.

My hope is that this letter of encouragement will be exactly what you need at this moment in your life and that it will reach you so deeply that it will grow you closer to Christ.

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I tend to read a veriety of articles and the title of this one jumped out at me.  I just had to read it and once I did I was compelled to pass it along.  Ladies, there is deep truth in this article that I concure with.  A womans beauty is much much more than an outward apearance.

True Feminine Beauty, By Leslie Ludy, GirlsGoneWise.com

For a good portion of my teen years, I was desperately insecure. I remember walking home from school one May afternoon, my skinny legs revealing my glowing white skin beneath a knee-length skirt. A car-load of high school boys suddenly drove by and one of them yelled mockingly, “Get a tan!” I was deeply mortified. (I will spare you the story of my subsequent attempt at using self-tanning cream, which ended up making me look strangely akin to one of those garishly orange Uumpa-Lumpas from that Charlie and Chocolate Factory movie back in the eighties.)

It didn’t matter that my parents had repeatedly told me, “You are beautiful just the way you are!” I spent nearly every waking moment of my life for about two years trying to make myself more appealing to the culture and to the opposite sex. But I never seemed to actually “get there.” No matter how much make-up I put on, I still didn’t look like the cover of Seventeen or Vogue. No matter how much I deprived myself of fries and milkshakes, my thighs never seemed to get as skinny as the girl on the Abercrombie poster. And no matter how many guys showed interest in me, there were always scores of other girls that got far more male approval than I did.

Instead of pursuing the purity, radiance and selfless nobility of a Christ-centered woman, I began pursuing the sensual standard of pop-culture. I traded in my pursuit of true feminine beauty for the cheap counterfeit presented by society. The result was a season of misery; throwing myself at guy after guy, only to be used and carelessly discarded; tossing dignity and modesty to the wind and flaunting my body everywhere I went; exchanging wholesome conversation for profanity and crudeness; ignoring the needs of others and adopting an attitude of selfishness and rebellion; filling my mind and heart with the perverted images of Hollywood and the media. Of course, since I was a Christian, I put limits around how far I let these things go in my life. I always made sure I was a step or two ahead of my secular peers when it came to morality, but that didn’t keep me from being steeped in compromise.

From the world’s perspective, I was on the right track to becoming a desirable young woman; a woman that had forsaken the archaic, restrictive, old-fashioned ideals about feminine modesty and dignity and embraced the “empowerment” of a self-focused, sensual existence. But a couple of years into this pattern, I finally recognized how empty my life was. I had male attention-but it only led to one broken heart after the next. I had a measure of sensual beauty-but it only made me feel like a sex object. I had social status and popularity-but it made me feel fake and shallow. I had parties and entertainment-but they made me feel slimed and dirty.

When I pondered how far I’d strayed from God’s pattern and intent for true feminine beauty, I felt heavy with regret. Could my femininity ever be restored after I had spent years throwing it to the wind?

One night I knelt beside my bed, tears of remorse streaming down my cheeks. “God,” I prayed, “Forgive me for allowing my femininity to become so twisted. Restore me and shape me into the kind of girl You designed me to be. Cleanse me from the filth of the world and make me new.”

God faithfully and lovingly answered that prayer. During the next season of my life, He began to open my eyes to His pattern for true feminine beauty. And here is what I learned:

True beauty does not depend upon clothes, makeup, or malls. It does not come from perfect skin or an ideal figure. It’s not found in the advice of modern magazines. It can’t be seen in the glitz and glamour of Hollywood.

In 1880, Christina Rosetti wrote these words:

How beautiful are the arms, which have embraced Christ-the eyes which have gazed upon Christ, the lips which have spoken with Christ, the feet which have followed Christ. How beautiful are the hands which have worked the works of Christ, the feet which are treading in His footsteps have gone about doing good, the lips which have spread abroad His Name, the lives which have been counted for Him.

True beauty, in a nutshell, is found in a soul completely surrendered to Jesus Christ, a heart consumed by Him alone, and a life eagerly poured out for His sake. That is when our lives will sparkle with lasting feminine loveliness. That is when we will trade the counterfeit beauty of pop-culture for a beauty that stands out among other women like a lily among thorns. (Song of Solomon 2:4)

 

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Recently, I found myself in a situation where I had to ask what my intentions and my desires for the future were.  My heart was screaming that I needed to start dating again, but when I prayed about it God was telling me to wait.  This has been a common theme in the past year, but as each opportunity came and went I remained faithful and waited.  God has a plan for my life that is way above what I could ever plan or do on my own.  As I look to Him, as my guide through this life, He has been faithful and provided what He shows me is to come.  It is almost like a romance that starts with the questions about trust and the feelings of emotional hope.  Then, as time passes and experience grows trust is gained.  Your faith in each other becomes a bond that is not easily broken. Your heart begins to fill with a peace and comfort when your in the presents of the one you love.  Yes, this is how I feel about my Lord Jesus Christ.  He has been there romancing me through every good and difficult time in my life, guiding me, teaching me, growing me into the man He wants me to be.

With any romance there will be difficult times, this life is filled with them.  It doesn’t take much to find an article in the paper, a show on TV, or just talking to a friend to know that relationships are not easy.  So this article is a look at the guidance that is given in the Bible for starting and maintaining a relationship.  What you choose to do with this information is between you and God, but there is only one truth and one way to live.  Jesus teaches us this truth through the Bible.

The starting point of any relationship is as friends.  If you skip this step many of the foundational areas of the relationship do not occur and the stability of the relationship is in jeopardy.  This is a time to grow in your understanding of the person you are with.  This stage is often a place where you feel like everything is right, like the person you are with can do no wrong.  You are full of hope and your emotions are raging.  This is also a place of discovery, where you seek to understand the person’s desires and who they are.  This is the time to determine if the person you are with loves Christ as much as you do.  The Bible says to “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well,” Matthew 6:33.  This is the call that we are to live by.  We must determine if the one we are with can live by this truth with us and if we will grow closer to God as we grow closer to each other.

The next step is discovering each other.  This step is a part of the first step, but it is more of an active stage where a couple makes the choice to move closer to each other.  In this stage the excitement tends to be somewhat less and the discovery of the person you are with tends to grow.  You begin to see them for who they are, the areas that bug you as well as the areas that you find wonderful.  Your communication depends and you truly begin to feel love and respect for one another.

Then there is the choice of commitment.  This is where a relationship truly starts, till this point either person has the opportunity to back away from the relationship or to stay.  This is a stage that most people rush into in order to be able to relax and feel secure.  This stage is an active choice by both people to promise to be a part of the relationship and to work at the relationship.  In this stage the relationship is settled, you know you both want to be together.  Communication is essential in this stage so that the foundation for your future will be properly built and tended to.

After the commitment stage there are other various stages that occur in a relationship, but these stages tend to be associated with the life patterns of the people involved.  These stages include the honeymoon, power struggle, growth, and having a child.  Some of these stages are repeated over and over depending on the couple.  The important thing to remember in these stages is that you need to be your partner’s number one cheerleader.  You need to take time to be together and you need to actively work to grow your relationship.  In this stage the couple must learn to settle differences in their relationship.  A relationship is not about you, it’s about pleasing your partner, but both people have to live by this motto to make it work.

So where does it all start?  Do people really think it is always going to be perfect?

A relationship starts with a pursuit; Biblically this is supposed to be the man perusing a woman, although encouragement from a women is sometimes what helps a man get the nerve to begin the pursuit.  The Bible is clear about the fruit of the spirit (But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.  Galatians 5:22-23) and our continual pursuit to guard our heart (Proverbs 4), these aspects of our life help us to choose the person we desire to be in a relationship with.  Yet, if God is all-powerful and if He is big enough to create the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1, Job 38-42:6) don’t you think He can provide a spouse designed just for you.  The Bible says that God loves us and wants to provide for our needs (Isaiah 58:11) that He will guide us and give us hope (Exodus 13:21, 15:13, Psalm 23:3, 25:5, 48:10).  If all that is true then why do we worry so much about relationships?  God has a plan that is specifically for you (For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.   Jeremiah 29:11) and He will bring it to pass as long as you are following His guidance.

Back to a man pursuing a woman, I am speaking from a man’s point of view so ladies let me know what your view is on this subject.  To start, I need to say that every man is a work in progress.  We all are learning as we go through life and as we trust in the Lord’s teachings.  God calls us to fix our eyes on Him and to run the race He has set before us. We are to throw off all the hindrances in our lives and seek Him fervently.

Heb 12:1-2  “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

When we seek Him first in our lives, then we will find out who we are and who God calls us to be.  Our society tells us that to be in a relationship is to be happy.  But the Bible tells us that we are to seek God first then He will provide all our needs.  We must know who we are and love who we are before we become involved with another person.  A person who is insecure with himself or herself, while single, will carry this insecurity into a relationship and tend to look to their partner to solve their insecurities.   This makes for a difficult relationship because God is the healer of our hearts, not the person you are in a relationship with.

A man of intention is a man who is able to lead with a servant’s heart.  He desires to know and understand the woman God has guided him to and he seeks to know her.  A man of intention thinks of ways to please the one he is with.  He desires to provide for her needs, he learns how she thinks, when she needs space, and how she loves God.  But most of all he learns what her actions are saying that she needs emotionally.  A man of intention will never force her to be with him.  He will explain his commitment to her and allow her to choose him.  God calls the man in a relationship to be the head of the house and to love his wife as Christ loves the church.  Therefore, it is only right for the man to allow the woman to choose him once a commitment is established.

Ephesians 5:23  “For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.”

 

Ephesians 5:25-27  “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.”

 

Revelations 3:20  “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”

To explain further about a man’s role in a relationship, I need to first explain the woman’s role.  A woman is to submit to her husband in everything and she is to respect her husband.  I would contend that it is the same in a dating relationship, but only within the boundaries that are established in the Bible for a dating relationship.

Ephesians 5:24  “Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.”

Ephesians 5:33  “However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

This is a difficult subject because our society says and teaches the exact opposite.  I believe that the reason this is so difficult for a women to understand is because they are not looking at the whole picture.  It is so easy for us to get caught up in thinking this is something I have to do and that it is all dependant on me.  I would challenge you to think otherwise.  God created Eve to be a helpmate to Adam, this would imply that they were a team.  For any team there has to be cooperation and working together in order to accomplish a task let-a-lone a lifetime together.  I believe that if a man fulfills his role in the relationship then a woman will feel free to fulfill her role, one role does not work without the other.  There is a risk involved in being vulnerable, but there is also a reward that is inexplicitly beautiful.

What does it mean to be a submissive girlfriend?

*    Letting your boyfriend lead, even when you know the direction the Lord is leading the both of you before he does.

*    Emotionally only linking yourself to your boyfriend after a commitment is made.

*    Respecting your boyfriend.

What does it mean for a boyfriend to court a woman?

*    Cover her spiritually.

*    Protect her emotions.

*    Be the leader in your relationship.

*    Guide your girlfriend in the ways of the Lord.

In closing I know there is a lot questions about compatibility, do opposites attract or should I seek someone who has a like personality.  I would suggest you go with the person that the Lord leads you to.  The only area that two people must be compatible is in their spiritual life.  This is the key factor in making a marriage work.

I’m confident I haven’t learned all I can in life, nor do I believe I am an expert on this subject.  So if there are questions about what is written above please let me know so I can dig deeper into the topic and grow along with you as we continue towards A closer relationship with Christ.

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I will be a part of a medical missions team that will be going to Cambodia in January 2012 to meet the medical and spiritual needs of many villages in Cambodia.  This is a desperately poor country where access to medical help is out of reach for most
of the people.  This  trip will provide medical and dental services to these wonderful people with the hope of showing the love and massage of Christ to more than 700 people that would not normally hear about or feel God’s love for them.

The people of Cambodia that we will be helping are so impoverished that they are selling of children into slavery to raise money for needed medical treatment. 

Providing for the medical and dental needs of these people does more than any other single method to help eradicate the atrocity of slavery in Cambodia.

Many illnesses that are very treatable, like diarrhea, are fatal in a country like Cambodia. Simple infections are life threatening because of a lack of proper care. We will be able to bring some relief in these people in the name of Jesus. This ministry may even provide the medicine necessary to save the lives of the people we are there to serve.  

Our trip will be from January 6^th to January 15^th 2012 with the destination in a province outside of Phenom Penh. We will be serving five different villages and will be working with a church from each of the villages. Every believer from these villages will be praying for those who do not believe in Jesus (most of those we will see).  These people will receive the gospel message from our Cambodian partners and will have the opportunity to connect with believers in their own villages.   Once we leave, the village churches will have a personal connection with those who were seen.

Our focus will be simple, to bring the healing power of Jesus Christ through hands on medical treatment, prayer, and the truth of the gospel.    

Not everyone can go, but all are called to help. You can be an instrument of God to provide the resources while our team provides the hands on medical and dental care that is so desperately needed.  If you are feeling led to help, you can send a gift as discribed below.  The cost of the trip is $2,200. 

                     Thank you and May God Bless you!      

                                     Brad Pelletier

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There are multiple ways you can help me go on this trip and provide the recourses to help the people in Cambodia. They are listed below.

1)  You can pray for me and the team that will be going to Cambodia.  Below are some suggested items to pray about.

a.  For God to prepare the people of Cambodia so that their hearts will be

open to the Message of Jesus while we are there.

b.  Finances, for each member of the team.

c.   Safety during travel and in Cambodia

d.   Immunity to diseases that are present in Cambodia but not in the US.

2)  You can donate a tax deductible gift to help provide the recourses necessary for the trip.  My goal is to cover the cost of my trip and raise enough funds to help with medical and dental resources for the trip or help another team member go on the trip.

Contributions: payable to—Horizon Community Church

(This will insure your tax-deductible receipt, at the end of the year)

Mail to:  Rick Meacham – Cambodia Coordinator

23735 SW Ladd Hill Rd.

Sherwood, OR. 97140

 Please write “Brad Pelletier/Cambodia 2012” in the Memo of your check.

3)  Tell your friends about my trip and guide them to read this post.

To help monitor my progress I have put a fundraising thermometer below.

Gifts Given By:

Wilsonville Lanes

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I read this article today that was taken from the book, “Fearless”, by Max Lucado.  It touched me in a way that made me want to speak up and share Paul’s ferver for the gospel more than I currently do.  I hope it encourages all who read it and helps each of us to shine the light of Christ in our life more than we do now.

The Fear of Life’s Final Moments,  By Max Lucado

This is the promise of Christ: “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am” ( John 14:1–3 NLT).

He promised, not just an afterlife, but a better life.

We Westerners might miss the wedding images, but you can bet your sweet chuppah that Jesus’ listeners didn’t. This was a groom-to-bride promise. Upon receiving the permission of both families, the groom returned to the home of his father and built a home for his bride. He “prepared a place.”

By promising to do the same for us, Jesus elevates funerals to the same hope level as weddings. From his perspective the trip to the cemetery and the walk down the aisle warrant identical excitement.

Weddings are great news! So, says Jesus, are burials. Both celebrate a new era, name, and home. In both the groom walks the bride away on his arm. Jesus is your coming groom. “I will come and get you . . . ” He will meet you at the altar. Your final glimpse of life will trigger your first glimpse of him.

But how can we be sure he will keep this pledge? Do we have any guarantee that his words are more than empty poetry or vain superstition?

Dare we set our hope and hearts in the hands of a small-town Jewish carpenter? The answer rests in the Jerusalem graveyard. If Jesus’ tomb is empty, then his promise is not. Leave it to the apostle Paul to reduce the logic to a single sentence: “There is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to
Christ will be raised when he comes back” (1 Cor. 15:23 NLT).

Paul was writing to Corinthian Christians, people who had been schooled in the Greek philosophy of a shadowy afterlife. Someone was convincing them that corpses couldn’t be raised, neither theirs nor Christ’s. The apostle couldn’t bear such a thought. “Let me go over the Message with you one final time” (1 Cor. 15:1 MSG). With the insistence of an attorney in closing arguments, he reviewed the facts: “[ Jesus] was raised from death on the third day . . . he presented himself alive to Peter . . . his closest followers . . . more than five hundred of his followers . . . James . . . the rest of those he commissioned . . . and . . . finally . . . to me” (1 Cor. 15:4–8 MSG).

Line up the witnesses, he offered. Call them out one by one. Let each person who saw the resurrected Christ say so. Better pack a lunch and clear your calendar, for more than five hundred testifiers are willing to speak up.

Do you see Paul’s logic? If one person claimed a post-cross encounter with Christ, disregard it. If a dozen people offered depositions, chalk it up to mob hysteria. But fifty people? A hundred? Three hundred? When one testimony expands to hundreds, disbelief becomes belief. Paul knew, not handfuls, but hundreds of eyewitnesses. Peter. James.
John. The followers, the gathering of five hundred disciples, and Paul himself. They saw Jesus. They saw him physically.

They saw him factually. They didn’t see a phantom or experience a sentiment. Grave eulogies often include such phrases as “She’ll live on forever in my heart.” Jesus’ followers weren’t saying this. They saw Jesus “in the flesh.” When he appeared to the disciples, he assured them, “It is I myself!” (Luke 24:39 NIV).

Five hundred witnesses left a still-resounding testimony: it’s safe to die.

So let’s die with faith. Let’s allow the resurrection to sink into the fibers of our hearts and define the way we look at the grave. Let it “free those who were like slaves all their lives because of their fear of death” (Heb. 2:15 NCV).

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I spent this past weekend camping with the singles group from my church and it just felt right.  It was one of those moments in life that you just don’t want to come back from; I didn’t want to let go of it in order to come back to reality.   Life is funny like that, sometimes it is a person or group of people that enter your life and make you feel complete for the moment, yet when they step back you realize it is only you and God.   

I think a lot of people miss out on the full life God wants to give us because they simply are to afraid to give God full control of their life.  When you allow God to have full control you are essentially allowing Him to guide you by His Spirit (the Holy Spirit) along the path He has for you.  Peter, one of Jesus’ followers, said to a huge group of unbelievers, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2: 38). 

Some people try so hard to be a good Christian and they feel exhausted at the end of the day because of their efforts.  They feel like they are not good enough and like they can’t be a good Christian.  The truth is they are right, we can not be a good Christian through our own efforts, eventually we will make mistakes.  The good news is that if we let go, and let God be our guide we will begin to understand the full benefits of the Holy Spirit in our life.  He gives us the power and resources to do the things God wants us to do.  He guides the right people into our life, to provide for our needs.  He gives us hope for a better tomorrow.   

The Holy Spirit also guides us to Jesus, He helps you to want to read the Bible; want to pray; and want to tell people about Jesus. You begin to feel connected to God in a whole new way.  

Have you ever had an old pair of leather boots that looked hard and dried out, then with a small amount of oil the leather becomes supple and beautiful again.  That is a good picture of what the Holy Spirit does in our life.   God says to us (put your name where the blanks are) “To —-________ who mourn in Israel, He will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, _________ will be like great oaks that the LORD has planted for his own glory” (Isaiah 61:3).

During our camp out we studied the parable of the different soils found in Luke 8: 4-15, Matthew 13:1-9.  From this study it became apparent to me that as a sower of seeds I must be aware of the soil I am planting each seed in and that it may take time to prepare the soil prior to planting the seed.  But as a seed I must be aware of the one who plants me and place my hope in Him to tend and prepare the soil I am in so that I may grow strong and fruitful.  As a seed I have no control beyond my ability to die to my self and grow into the plant God has for me to become.  My very existence is dependant on the one who plants me and tends me as I grow and become strong.  When I fall down, he picks me up.  When weeds grow around me, He gently pulls them out so they don’t block my ability to grow.   

God wants to take what is dried up in our lives, the old things from our past and replace them with beautiful, healthy things as we follow Him.  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5: 22,23). 

So spend some time talking with God and let God have full control of your life.  “Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.” Psalm 34:8

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This article may change your life, it may even change the lives of those that are around you.  This article is about a healthy thought life verses an unhealthy thought life and what you can do to change the bad into good. 

Have you ever pondered over those verses in the Bible that talk about renewing your mind?  Or how about the fruits of the spirit, how do they come into play with our thought life?  Then there’s that verse about the helmet of salvation, what’s that all about?

Over the years I have done a bit of studying into the brain and how it functions in relationship with the rest of our body and what I have found is astonishing!  Our brain (our thoughts) control every aspect of who we are and who we become!  Read that again, yes it is a simple concept and it makes complete since, but for some reason we, as people, have separated the concept of our thoughts from our brain.  What I mean, is that we seem to think that our thoughts don’t affect us.  It’s time to wake up and smell the roses, our thoughts have the ability to make us successful or to put us on the streets with no place to call home.  It happens every day, in every thought, in every hope, in every desire and the way we respond to each of them. 

God offers us the chance to transform our bad thinking into healthy, positive thinking.  He offers a thought life filled with peace and joy through a right relationship with Jesus.  This transformation is one that takes some longer that others, sometimes it can take a lifetime, but the results are well worth the effort.

We all have negative thoughts, but we also have the choice on what to do with them.  I find that my negative or sinful thoughts are the hardest to fight off when I am tired.  It seems that the enemy attacks my mind the most when I am week as if he had been waiting for that opportune moment to attack.  Oh and he does attack, he attacks in three main areas:

1)     I am unworthy:  a sense of failure, or lowliness, a loss of inner peace, a feeling of shame for who you are.

2)     Others around me suck:  finding faults in others, being mean to others to make yourself feel better, holding a grudge, not forgiving those who have sinned against you (not allowing there to be peace).

3)     Life sucks: feeling like your life isn’t worth the effort you give to it, constant stress (no peace), being unsatisfied with where you are in life.

Notice that each of the three areas result in a life where there is no peace.  The key is to not allow our thoughts to get that far.  We need to use the truths of the Bible to rephrase our thoughts to change them into the way Christ would have us to think.  This may seem difficult at first but the more you do it the more it will become like a second nature.  Below is how God would have us to think about these same three areas of our life (memorize these) (Scriptures are paraphrased).

1)     I am loved:  Jesus created me perfectly for who I am and He loves me beyond my understanding. 

a.     I believe the word of God (Psalm 19:9)

b.     I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14)

c.     God’s thoughts of me are more than the grains of sand (Psalm 139:18)

d.     God is for me and that’s all that matters (Romans 8:31)  

2)     I can love others: Jesus sees the good in me and gently encourages me to become better in the areas where I fail.  I will encourage others with positive and good statements and hold back the negative statements.  Jesus loves my family and friends as much as He loves me.

a.     I will not pass judgment on others (1 Corinthians 4:5)

b.     I will be kind and compassionate to others (Ephesians 4:32)

c.     I will forgive those who have sinned against me (Ephesians 4:32)

3)     I can Enjoy Life:  I will trust that God has my best interest in mind no mater what my situation is. God created the world and I will trust Him to guide my life.  God created me for a purpose and as long as I follow Him I will reach that purpose.  God is Love.  I will start each day with an attitude of gratitude. 

a.     In Jesus I have peace (John 16:33)

b.     There may be trials in my life, so I will be courageous (John 16:33)

c.     God is always with me.  He rejoices over me for doing good (Jeremiah 32:40-41)

Use these tools (truths from the Bible) to help you think the way Jesus would.  Our goal in life is to know Jesus Christ, to live like he would, to have a relationship with our heavenly Father like Jesus did.  Standing on, and responding to the truths of the Bible is how we get there.  Remember, I mean memorize this; “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think on these things.” (Philippians 4:8)  Truth is truth, it is undeniable, unrevokeable, and it is never wrong.   Truth (Jesus) is what sets you free!  With practice, patience, and prayer, you can change the way you think!

 

 

 

Some areas of this post were inspired by “10 secrets to a Positive you,” by Jan Coates.

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Today I want to tell you a story, not one that is all about me, but a story about all of us. A story about life, a story of dreams, one of hopes, with fear that holds us still, and most of all choices that we make.  My story starts in Grants Pass Oregon with a small boy who walks the mile and a half to the school buss each day knowing that he will be picked on at recess.  His lack of parents and the fact that the state has placed him in a home where he is not loved has made Johnny bitter.  He no longer trusts others and only has his childhood wits to get him through each day.

Two years before, Johnny’s parents were killed in a car accident and his relatives didn’t want him.  This forced the state to put Johnny in foster home after foster home, 10 in all over the two year period.  He grew in his ability to tune the hurt out of his life and looked on the outside to be doing ok.  Then at the age of 8 Johnny began to act out, he thought to himself, “why am I doing this!”  Yet something inside him kept pushing him to act out more and more.  He noticed that each time he acted bad people paid attention to him. As he got into each fight at recess the kids and the teachers began to notice him.  He liked the attention and continued this behavior till he ended up in jail five years later when his strength got out of hand and he put a teacher in the hospital.

Then theirs the story of Sarah, who had a loving family.  She grew up knowing love and joy and all the happiness this word has to offer.  She graduated with honors from high school and proceeded to a well known university.  In her third year of college, she was walking home late one night, when she was pulled into the bushes and rapped.  Yes, the perpetrator was caught and prosecuted, but Sarah was no longer a virgin and the shame she felt held her from any relationship with a man for many years.  She said once, that she wonders if she had missed an opportunity to be with the man of her dreams because of the fear that held her back.

Finally, theirs the story of Jacob.  A young man in his early thirties who wondered if he would ever find that right woman who would love him for who he is.  He knew there was interest from some ladies he knew, but he wasn’t sure which direction God was telling him to go.  Jacob was a God fearing man who wanted to do God’s will for his life.  When God told him a direction to go he went that direction, even when others told him that the direction was a lost cause.  He waited on the Lord and followed His commands.  But there was one area of his life he struggled in, he knew what God had promised at the end of the path he was on, it was the waiting and the uncertainty of how to get to the end that drove him crazy.  Jacob waited on the Lord and a year and a half later was married with his first child on the way.

 

Significance, we all search for it, we want to be noticed, sometimes we do things to help others to see us. Other times we pull back from the crowd to see who will look for us.  We all need to be loved and we have our own little ways to try to get the love we need.  The question is, “am I trying to be loved in a way that will make me feel loved in the end?”  Johnny ended up in jail and more miserable than before.  Sarah, missed out on love by pulling away from life.  Jacob followed the Lord’s command and found joy beyond his wildest dreams.

God calls each of us differently, He has a path laid out before us that leads to the joy He has for us.  But he allows us to choose to stay on the path or to go our own way.  We journey through this life on the choices we make and we dictate our own future with each decision that we store up in our heart.  The Bible says we are to guard our heart and that this is done through the knowledge and application of the word of God.  Our decisions should line up with the word of God.  Our hopes, our dreams, our significance should all line up with the word of God.  But it is our choice to live by the word of God or not.

The apostle Paul told Timothy, “ and the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.”  (2 Timothy 2:2)   The Word of God is a living truth that guides each of us through this life.  Too know it, and understand the significance God places on each of us is more than words can describe.  It is like the sensation of a hug from a lover or the grandness of your first look at the Grand Canyon.  Indescribable!

King David in the Bible describes how God works in our life to help us along the path towards the joy He has for us in Psalms 138.  He continues in Psalms 139 to describe the majesty of God and His greatest gift to us, which is to allow us to know Him.

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes, with your right hand you save me.  The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me; your love O Lord, endures forever – do not abandon the works of your hands.  Psalm 138:7-8

You are all around me. You are behind me and in front of me. You hold me in your power.  Psalm 139:5

Suppose I were to rise with the sun in the east and then cross over to the west where it sinks into the ocean.  Your hand would always be there to guide me.  Your right hand would still be holding me close.  Psalm 139:9

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.  Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.   Psalms 139:13-16

If I could count them (your thoughts for me), they would be more than the grains of sand.  If I were to fall asleep counting and then wake up, you would still be there with me.  Psalm 139:18

We have all the tools we need to feel significant, to achieve the goals He places before us and to live our lives to the fullest, all we have to do, is choose to use them!

 

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Today is a glorious day! I woke up this morning refreshed after a good night sleep and found the sun shinning and the sky filled with a deep blue color.  I heard on the radio it is supposed to be a hot day today and I am looking forward to all that today has to offer.  During the cool of the morning I spent some time with the Lord and He laid it on my heart to write about a parable that we discussed.  There’s something in this parable that we can all learn from and I know that I for one have decided to change a few things in my life because of it. 

None of us are perfect, I have to remind myself of this daily when others are around me, but I hope they understand this about me as well.  We all have flaws and we all do not prioritize life in the way we should.  Oh yes, some of us try, but if we are truly honest do we always stick to the plan that we developed in the time that was allotted?  I don’t want to speak for anyone else, but I know that as a planner and as a very disciplined man I tend to loose focus as time passes.  Today is the day I will reevaluate my goals and set my priorities.

Jesus said it like this (Luke 12:16-21):

“The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest.  He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain.  And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

We are a people that pride ourselves on having things, and many of us find pride in the titles we hold or the companies we work for.  But, in the end what is it all worth?  When it comes to the subject matter of life and it’s meaning I look to the Bible in the book of Ecclesiastes and the life of Solomon the son of king David.  Solomon was also a king that was considered to be one of the wisest, wealthiest, God fearing kings of his time.  Ecclesiastes 1-12 describes Solomon’s walk through life and his accomplishments, his final conclusion to it all is this (I highly recommend you read through Ecclesiastes).

Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the duty of all mankind.
For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil.

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

This conclusion is one that I also share, life is to be lived within the boundaries that God has given each of us, as described in the Bible, but there seems to be a problem.  As I get to know Christians that have been following Christ for many years, as well as new followers of Christ, I see a common hindrance to their spiritual growth.  They don’t want to let go of the control of their life and allow God to guide them in every aspect of their life.  I struggle with this same issue daily with the choice to follow my desires or Gods guidance for my life.  This is why Christ said that we are to take up our cross and follow Him (Matthew 10:38).  The cross, referring to death and His resurrection referring to our new life that came from the death on the cross.  Jesus also says in the next verse, whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it (Matthew 10:39).  So we each must make the choice to allow Christ to guide our life or to choose to believe that we know better than God and live within our own understanding and abilities.

The real issue is trust in God or trust in yourself?  As each of us grow in our understanding of who Jesus is and we begin to develop our trust in Him, we realize that His will and guidance for our life is the best path.  His authority over our life and the world is beyond our understanding and by following His guidance we have an opportunity to participate in the plan He has for this world and the people in it.  God doesn’t allow any temptation more than we can handle in our life (1 Corinthians 10:13) so with His help we can have all of the fruits of the Spirit flowing in our life.  The three basic steps towards this are as follows:

Grow in your relationship with Jesus

Increase in your knowledge of God

Obey what God guides you to do

Life by the Spirit (Galatians 5:13-26)

¹³ You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh^]; rather, serve one another humbly in love. ¹⁴ For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁵ If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

¹⁶ So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

¹⁹ The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.