Finding Our Destiny

                                                          

     I was talking with some friends the other day, and one of them spoke of how they were going to move out of state.  She said that she and her husband have felt for a long time that they should move there...and with doors flying open they know that Texas was part of their destiny.  They were destined to live in Texas.

     That made me think about my own life and all of the places that I have lived and the experiences that I have had.  They were all a part of my destiny.  They have made me who I am today.  God had a plan for my life, and I believe that these things were all a part of His plan for me. 

     He placed the people in my life that would help to shape and mold me.  He placed me in the places that I have been to show me bits and pieces of Himself in different areas and sections of the country...and the world.  He was with me in all of the life experiences that I have had to help me share my view of life with the people I was to meet in the future.

     At times we wonder what our destiny is.  What are we supposed to do?  Does God really have a plan for us, or does our life just randomly happen?

     Jeremiah 29:11 states:  For I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD; plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
God does have a plan for us.  We can miss it though, due to rebellion and disobedience.  We can miss out on our destiny because we are looking in the wrong direction.  Instead of looking at God and where He wants us to go, we can get distracted and veer off into rough terrain.  We can get stuck and not go forward, because we keep looking backward and get lost, living in the past. 

     God will not force us to go where He wants us to.  If He did, we would be no more than puppets on a string.  It is up to us to look to Him for direction to where He wants to place us...and not to get too comfortable when we arrive!  He may only want us there for a short time....but we will never know if we become complacent and break our communication with Him.

     Communicate with God?!  Some may think that is impossible...but it is not.  God created us to love Him....and that means He wants us to have a relationship with Him.  Again, He will not force our hand....we have to take the step to WANT to communicate with Him.  He is only waiting for us to take that step....to pray.  Praying is simply talking to Him, as you would a dear friend.  He will communicate back.  There is no doubt in that.  Keeping in communication with Him will ensure that we will have the full life that He wants us to have...and hope for tomorrow.

     What is your destiny?  Find out.  Ask your Creator, and He will show you!

Luke 11:9  So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

What Are YOU Full Of?

                                                   

     Certain things may come to mind, but we won't go there!  I'd like to take a different look at a few common words that have been used to describe people.  What do these words REALLY mean?
     Are you thoughtful?  Full of thought for others. If given a choice between yourself and another person...who would you choose?  Would you automatically think of yourself and what you want, or do you consider the other person, and what they may want...or need?  How about in your conversations?  Do you think before you speak?
     Are you prayerful?  Is your life "full of prayer"?  Do you talk (and listen) to God throughout the day....or do you only give Him a shout out when things aren't going well?  Do you read His Word on a regular basis, or grab your Bible as you go out the door on Sundays?
     Are you thankful?  Do you have a heart full of thanks?  Do you look at what you have, and are grateful for it?  Or do you mostly focus on the things you DON'T have, whining that life is unfair? 
     Are you graceful?  I don't mean are you ballerina material...but do you have a heart full of grace?  Do you realize that all you have is a gift from God?  Or do you think that you have earned all that you have and you deserve every bit of it?
     Are you careful?  Are you full of care about things, or care-less with them?  Do you do your best at work or in school, or do enough to barely get by?
     Are you joyful?  Is your life filled with joy?  If it is not, the Bible tells us that we can obtain that joy. Psalm 16:11 states:  'You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy.'  How can we have that??
     Through prayer, the Lord guides us and lets us know the path that He wants us to go down.  The grace of God brings us into His Presence. We cannot be in that Presence if we only call out to Him when we feel like it.  It takes thoughtfulness on our part.  We have to put God first...not our wishes or desires. We have to treat our relationship with God with tender care.  It takes time and effort to keep that relationship alive.  It is then that we can have the fullness of joy.  We can be joyful in hard circumstances, knowing that God is with us through it all.  With thankful hearts we can know that God will never leave us or abandon us.  He is our Fortress and our Shield.
     Jesus says that He came so that we can have Life and have it to the fullest.  Thank you, God!!  Fill me with your Love today!

The Cure

     William Munny was asked to go and commit vigilante justice on a no good, vicious scoundrel.  He refused, stating that, "My wife, God-rest-her-soul, cured me of drink and wickedness."  This was a quotation that Clint Eastwood's character in the 1992 western, "Unforgiven", repeated many times throughout the film.  Now, eventually Mr. Munny did go and take care of the scoundrel, and a few others that needed some 'old time western lawfulness', but he knew that inside he was a changed man.  The old Bill Munny was "dead and gone", he was now a different person.
     Steve and I have watched that movie on AMC about 150 times, it seems.  He loves that quote.  Steve said that Munny reminded him of himself.  In fact, we are watching the History Channel and Steve just said, out of the blue, "I love you.  You have cured me of my evil ways!"  :) 
     Now, Steve does know that it REALLY wasn't me that 'cured him', it was God.  He is the Great Physician, the Healer.  God is the one that does the changes in all of us who are believers.  All we have to do is repent, and give our lives over to Him.  He is the One that does the work, not us. 
     I have heard people say that they didn't want to become a Christian, because they didn't want to be a hypocrite.  They had seen other members of a church sin, and they didn't want to do that.  News flash:  You don't stop sinning once you become a Christian.  You do become a new creation.  Once we ask the Lord in our lives, the Holy Spirit comes and resides in our being.  That Spirit is the One that  changes us.  He will make the transformation that we need.  We just have to be willing participants. 
     A willing participant...what is that? It is someone who wants to be reformed.  We have to voluntarily give up our control of our life.  To move from the driver's seat into the passenger seat, and let Jesus take control of our 'vehicle'.  Let Him guide us where He wants us to go.  But is the transformation that simple?  Yes, and no.  Yes, it is basically simple, but we do have to take some action in our growth process.
     In a way, it is like having a visitor in our home.  We eagerly ask the person in, and make sure they feel comfortable and then...what?  Do we continue to acknowledge their presence, or do we forget about them, and only speak to them when we feel like it?  Hopefully, we recognize their company, and do all we can to make them feel welcome.  We speak to them and listen to them.  Over time, we develop and foster a relationship with them...a close relationship.  If we didn't speak to them on a daily basis, our relationship would suffer.  The same is true with our relationship with God.
     If we don't acknowledge God in our lives, don't read His Word or have fellowship with other believers, our relationship will suffer.  If we don't talk with Him (pray) every day, we will grow cold and distant from Him.  If we want to grow close to the Lord, we must work at our connection with Him, as we would any other friendship.  Through this bond, He slowly begins to change us...to change our heart to reflect His Heart.  He changes our mind to mirror His Mind...our actions to coincide with His.
We can't change ourselves.  It is a supernatural thing that only God, through His Holy Spirit can do. 
     Sometimes we may be like the character of William Munny.  Perhaps we have been changed, and we fall back into some "evil ways".  God is waiting for us to turn back to Him with sincere repentance and rededicate our life to Him.  It's never too late to accept His forgiveness.
     Are you sick?  Do you feel an illness of the soul?  Go to the Doctor.  He alone can dispense the cure.  
     2 Corinthians 5:17 ~ Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

When Life Throws You A Curve Ball

                                              
     Springtime...it is such a beautiful time of year!  New blooms are sprouting, the weather is perfect, and there is excitement in the air.  It is BASEBALL season!  Folks around town are talking about the Rays, and you can't drive down 9th Street in Bradenton, because the Pirates are playing spring ball.  The thrill of the game.  You never know what is going to happen next.  Will the pitcher throw a fastball, a changeup...or a curveball?? 
     Life is like baseball.  You never know what is going to happen next.  We can go along with one fast pitch after another, it can almost seem routine...and then we are thrown the unexpected curveball.  Something happens out of left field, and it changes the game.  It changes our lives.  What was the Pitcher thinking?  Why would this happen to me?  What am I going to do? 
     Sometimes the game is changed because of a poor decision that we have made.  We have perhaps gotten into a slump, and decided that we didn't need the Playbook anymore; we can play the game of life however we want to.  That usually causes problems, and can alter the sport not only for us, but for other people on our 'team'.
     What do we do, when life throws us a curveball?  First...take a 'time out'.  Breathe...regroup.  Then pay attention to the Coach...God.  He will guide you in the direction that you should go.  Pick up the Playbook...the Bible.  It has solutions for anything that may come flying at you.  Whether the curveball has been thrown because of something you have done, or someone else, or maybe no one's fault at all, God is there for you.  He wants you to turn to Him for the answers.  He has promised in His Word that He will help you with all of your burdens.  And God cannot lie.  Matthew 11:28
     In the Playbook, there are chapters and verses for all of life's situations:
                    When you are in sorrow:                      John 14
                    When someone fails you:                      Psalm 27
                    When you have sinned:                         Psalm 51
                    When you are worried:                         Matthew 6: 19-34
                    When God seems far away:                   Psalm 139
                    When your faith is weak                        Hebrews 11
                    When you are lonely and afraid:            Psalm 23
                    When you feel down and out:                Romans 8:31
                    When people are unkind:                       John 15
                    When your purse is empty:                     Psalm 37
                    When you lose confidence in people:    1 Corinthians 13
                    When you are depressed:                       Psalm 27
                    When you are afraid:                             Psalm 34:7
                    When you need assurance:                     Mark 8:35
                    When you are insecure:                          Psalm 121:3
     Many times after being thrown a curveball, we can become fearful.  The world can be a scary place. We need not be frightened.  I have heard that it tells us 365 times in the Bible to "do not fear".  It's as if God knew we would have to be reminded every day not to be afraid.  He is with us.
     So take the fast pitches of life as they come.  Anticipate the curve balls, but know that with God, we can learn to knock them out of the park and produce a home run!