The life and trials of a growing Christian - The Last One

As the title says, this will be the last of this series (if I can call it a series). I had set out to write something every day for a year, in fact, I felt, and still feel that God put it on my heart to do so. I wrote every day for almost half a year and in that half a year something happened; Writing turned from a privilege to a chore. It turned from something that I wanted to do into something that I had to do and reflected it at times. So, I believe that God just took it from me. We had a tremendous thunderstorm with winds that gusted in excess of eighty miles an hour and some pretty bad lightning which fried the internal something or other wire in our computer causing us to have no internet access for a week. (Thankfully the cable company was able to bypass it and make us wireless.) God knew that I was just halfheartedly writing on some evenings and that I felt as if I were chained to this blog but I wouldn't give up so He just pulled the plug for me.
Before anyone thinks that this is just a cop-out please consider that God wants and deserves our best and He also wants us to give cheerfully. Giving isn't always a financial thing, in fact I dare say that money is what the Lord our God wants the least. He wants us to willingly, freely, and cheerfully give of ourselves. I didn't always give Him my best and I certainly didn't always give cheerfully so I believe that instead of accepting my leftovers He just cut me loose of the obligation. I'm saddened that I wasn't able to keep going but I'm also relieved and now I will only write when I have something on my heart and therefore give our Lord the best I have.

The life and trials of a growing Christian - Day One Hundred Seventy Eight

I was going to write about my wife and I celebrating our sixth anniversary today  (I'm very happy and blessed to have her as my wife) but while writing I heard a very disturbing story on the news and I have to share it. A social worker found a ten year old girl locked in a closet and severally malnourished. They went on to say that they found her by tracing the strong smell of urine which led them to the locked closet. They said that she only weighed thirty eight pounds and was wearing a 2T t-shirt. For anybody who doesn't have children let me put this into perspective, my three and a half year old son weighs that or more and wears a 4T t-shirt. One of the neighbors said that the little girl was in the fetal position, clinging to the social worker and that her little legs were so skinny and bony that it brought her to tears. I'm having a hard time writing this because I can't fathom why or how somebody could do something like that to a dog, let alone a child. The
most ironic, horrible detail that I've left out is that the mother was out eating with the girl's other two siblings.
How in the world could somebody treat anybody like that? Especially their own flesh and blood? This sick, disgusting world is worsening and worsening with every new day. It breaks my heart to think about how depraved people are getting and what new evils they will invent for no apparent reason other than some kind of sick, hateful amusement. Romans 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting.  
This is the only thing that I can think of which could possibly explain the behavior of this little girl's mother and all the others in this world who are just plain evil.

The life and trials of a growing Christian - Day One Hundred Seventy Seven

Tomorrow, if I wake up on time, I will be able to go to Sunday morning worship service for the second consecutive Sunday. That's not a big deal to some people but it's huge to me. For over two years now I haven't been able to go to church on Sunday mornings due to work but now... Now, since my delivery schedule has changed, I am able to go in and work five hours and go directly to church. (I always have to have a short day because I always stay over on delivery days.)
 I don't know if anyone read what I wrote two weeks ago but I was upset that my delivery schedule had changed and I wasn't going to be able to go to the Tuesday morning bible study that I always attended as well as (I thought) missing Sunday mornings but I have been pleasantly surprised. I believe that this happened  because God heard my prayers and answered favorably!
Before Sunday mornings were taken away from me I kind of took them for granted. I didn't always go to worship with the right attitude. Maybe God allowed me to get taken away from it to teach me a lesson. Maybe He wanted me to truly long to be in the house of the Lord before allowing me to go. Whatever the reason I am grateful to be able to attend and want nothing more than to worship and praise my Lord, Jesus.

The life and trials of a growing Christian - Day One Hundred Seventy Seven

I know that I write a lot of things about working in my yard and garden but it's just about all I do this time of year, that said, I have two things that I'd like to mention that happened in the yard/garden that led me to think about the Lord. The first happened a few times this week. While I was outside planting blueberries my three and a half year old son decided that he was going to throw handfuls of loose,dry dirt into the air which was like dust landing all over our heads and shoulders. It reminded me of Joshua 7:6 Then Joshua tore his cloths, and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads.
This, of course was when the Israelites were defeated in Ai for not listening to the Lord. I'm so glad that Jesus did what He did on the cross, forgiving all who would repent and be baptized once and for all. I don't have to throw dust in the air and sit in sackcloth and ashes every time I sin. That doesn't, however, mean that when I realize I'm guilty of sin that I shouldn't confess it to Him and repent of it.
The second was this evening when I was pulling up the beans to make room for cantaloupes. Seeing those plants come out of the ground roots and all reminded me of what John the baptist said in Mathew 3:10 "And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."
He was telling about Jesus coming and what will happen to those who don't accept Him. We all have a chance to accept Jesus and bear good fruit for Him but if we don't.... We too will be like those unfruitful trees; only the fire we will see will last for eternity.

The life and trials of a growing Christian - Day One Hundred Seventy Five

Last night I wrote about wanting to have a better prayer life. This morning I woke up (if you can call it waking up, I hardly slept) pretty close to time for work and prayed while getting ready for work. That's not what I wanted to do. I said that I want to talk with the Lord but this morning it was as if I walked by Him on the street, said hello and kept on going. I really don't want it to be that way, I want to get so much closer to Jesus that I can't stand it but I keep on letting everything get in the way. If I would have just taken five or ten minutes to get down on my knees and thank Him and praise Him for the blessing of another day.....

The life and trials of a growing Christian - Day One Hundred Seventy Four

I want to have a better prayer life. I pray every day whenever the urge hits me but I really want to pray more meaningful prayers. Sometimes I find myself praying the exact same prayer as the day before. Kind of like it's out of habit instead of out of a desire to talk to my Creator. Sometimes I pray for my own needs and wants and forget about everybody else. I don't mean to be so selfish and when and if I realize what I'm doing I repent of it and change my prayer but I don't want others to be an afterthought. I want to be someone who has deep conversations with the Lord. Not for show, not for any purpose but to glorify Him and serve Him by lifting up others. I want to have a heart that cares for and loves my neighbor as myself and that sees peoples needs and prays for those needs to be met. I want to have a deep desire to love, serve, and pray for non-Christians especially. I think that by strengthening and rejuvenating my prayer life I will become a much better equipped servant of Christ.

The life and trials of a growing Christian - Day One Hundred Seventy Three

Genesis 9:11 "Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth." 12 And God said: "This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: 13 I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth."
The rainbow is a sign of God's promise not to destroy the earth again by flood. Homosexuals have distorted and desecrated this beautiful colorful sign of the covenant and used it as the sign of their homosexuality. I can't judge anybody but I can judge their actions, especially when Gods word calls it abomination.
It's not enough that they are involved in this lifestyle but they have to take something as pure and beautiful as God's rainbow and cover it with the stench of their sin? I don't think that there are as many people who see the rainbow as what God made it for as there are who see it as a sign of homosexuality. I just hope and pray that this despicable world will repent before it's to late.