Pain

Rejection hurts. Love heals. After a painful experience, it can be

difficult to believe that the pain of rejection could ever be healed

or that you could feel all right again. I know this from experience.

If you have been rejected by someone you loved--or someone you

thought loved you (or should have)--God can heal that pain. I know

this to be true from experience as well.

Peace, security, and well being begin in a relationship with God.

Seek this first and above all else. Healing begins from that place.

  The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and

  gives life to the world." "Sir," they said, "give us that bread

  every day of our lives." Jesus replied, "I am the bread of life. No

  one who comes to me will ever be hungry again. Those who believe in

  me will never thirst. But you haven't believed in me even though you

  have seen me. However, those the Father has given me will come to

  me, and I will never reject them. (John 6:33-37 NLT)

Regret and Grief

Regret and grief: Some are paralyzed by it while others are

propelled by it. It all depends on one's response to it.

Do not grieve over your past, regardless of what it has been. It has

value: It got you to where you are today. That is important, but not

the most important thing.

The most important thing is not as much where you are today, but in

what direction you are going. (Paraphrased from a quote by Oliver

Wendell Holmes)

God does not grieve over your past because He has a future for you.

    By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.

  There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked

  us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, "Sing

  us one of the songs of Zion!" How can we sing the songs of the LORD

  while in a foreign land? (Psa 137:1-4 NIV)

Miss understanding

When some people hear "God will do all that He has promised.", their mind interprets it to mean "God will do everything I want when and how I want it." I have even heard it taught that God "has" to do so-and-so because of the way they interpret certain verses.

I hurt for those who have been damaged by erroneous teaching. God is loving and faithful, however, He--in love--will not allow us to impose our will on Him in such a manner.

God will do all that He has promised; that is indisputable and absolute. It lies with us to understand what He has promised and bring our lives into agreement with it.

    In the fifth year of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel, when  Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat began his  reign as king of Judah. He was thirty-two years old when he became  king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. He walked in the ways  of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for he  married a daughter of Ahab. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD.

  Nevertheless, for the sake of his servant David, the LORD was not  willing to destroy Judah. He had promised to maintain a lamp for  David and his descendants forever. (2 Ki 8:16-19 NIV)

Boot Camp

What is spiritual training and how do we do it? There are

similarities to athletic training, as Paul suggested in today's

Scripture. We must study, communicate, exercise, and be tested--

the part we least like.

1. Maintain a relationship with God (communication);

2. Read the Bible and follow Godly teaching to learn (study);

3. Put what we learn into practice every day (exercise);

4. Use what we have learned in difficult situations (testing).

Someone would be downright silly to go to a gym to build muscles

without resistance training, e.g., lifting a bar without weights.

The same principle applies spiritually: No one will build any

significant spiritual strength without resistance.

    People tell silly stories that don't agree with God's truth. Don't

  follow what these stories teach. But teach yourself to be devoted to

  God. Training your body helps you in some ways. But devotion to God

  helps you in every way. It brings you blessings in this life and in

  the future life too. Here is a true statement that should be

  accepted without question: (1 Tim 4:7-9 ERV)

Honesty

Honesty question for the day:

Is it more important to you to get what you want, when you want it,

and how, or, to wait for what God wants for you, when He wants you

to have it, and how--even if it conflicts with what you want?

"There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to

God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end,

"Thy will be done." - C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce

   There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity

  under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant

  and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to

  tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a

  time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a

  time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time

  to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw

  away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a

  time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and

  a time for peace. (Eccl 3:1-8 NIV)

Promises Promises

Has God ever promised you something that did not happen? (I can

almost hear the counting going on right about now...)

There are two primary reasons why this happens:

No. 1: We do or do not do something that prevents, modifies, or delays what God promised. He has given us authority to do that. It is called "free will"--think of accepting or refusing a gift. 

No. 2: We have not reached the time of the promise's fulfillment. In other words, "It's not over yet."

  Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take  the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. (James 5:10-11 NIV)

Know your Value

Is it just me, or does there seem to be a pandemic of arrogance

these days? Being arrogant has been defined as "having an

exaggerated sense of one's own importance or abilities or showing an

offensive attitude of superiority."

While there is no shortage of those who think they know more,

better, or everything, do not be concerned about them. Why? Like

Jesus, you will likely never please them no matter what you do.

Find your value and identity in your relationship with God. As long

as you are right with Him, it really does not matter what a few

"know-it-all's" think about you. (And God really does know it all!)

  Mary went to the place where Jesus was. When she saw him, she bowed

  at his feet and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would

  not have died." When Jesus saw Mary crying and the people with her

  crying too, he was very upset and deeply troubled. He asked, "Where

  did you put him?" They said, "Lord, come and see." Jesus cried. And

  the Jews said, "Look! He loved Lazarus very much!" But some of them

  said, "Jesus healed the eyes of the blind man. Why didn't he help

  Lazarus and stop him from dying?" (John 11:32-37 ERV)