Never forgotten hard work

Have you ever worked extremely hard for something just to have others forget or not even notice? 

I believe that as a Christian it's easy to think that God has briefly forgotten about us. There have been many times in my life where I have done good things over and over again and it never seemed like there was a payoff. I felt like nobody noticed what I was doing. I felt good about it because I knew I was living obediently, but there certainly wasn't much significance in the way that I was feeling.

During those times I was under the impression that I was supposed to receive some sort of positive affirmation from others. God never forgets about us. But Satan deceives us into thinking that by trying to make us worry about the recognition we receive from others vs. always being recognized by God.

Sometimes I just think about certain ways in which God calls us to live. We are commanded to love one another. Well sometimes when I am loving everyone around me I don't really feel like anyone is noticing it. That is a feeling that comes from Satan because we serve a God who is not unjust. 

It's crazy to me that we get worried about others not noticing the good we do when the one person who will always remember always notices the work that we are doing. Our minds are so easily twisted...

God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. (Hebrews 6:10)

I know it might seem like it sometimes because we are easily deceived but God will never forget or overlook our hard work for him. Presently you may not be receiving rewards and acclaim, but God knows your efforts of love and ministry. Let God's love for you and his intimate knowledge of your service for him bolster you as you face disappointment and rejection here on earth. 

Your hard work is never forgotten so please don't ever be discouraged. Keep on pushing! 

Ever-present

I simply want to encourage you all with one thing today...

Before I get there I really want you to think about something. I want you to sit as your read this and evaluate your whole life. Really think it through and try to identify something that is always there. No cheating either...you can't say your family, significant other, or best friend. Don't even try to say your pet either! 

It's harder than you thought isn't it?

Those things I listed above are things that are there but am I with my family every living and breathing second of the day? Am I with Rach every second of every day? Am I with my best friends? 

Absolutely not! I can see all of those people at my expense and theirs...

God is our refuge and strength,

an ever-present help in trouble. (Psalm 46:1)

When the authors of this Psalm wrote this - they could've said that God is present or that God is there...But they clearly wrote that God is 'ever-present' and there is a lot of power in that. 

God is always there at every moment during our days. We have the freedom to pray, to talk to God, to seek God and to pursue God all of the time. I honestly believe that we don't do that enough because we are too distracted.

I am pretty disciplined but even I get distracted very easily sometimes. Why do we waste our time on things that are not ever-present? 

Ask yourself that very question as your reflect on your life...are you distracted by things that are not ever-present or do you give your time, energy, and effort to the one who is always there? It seems like a no-brainer to me. 

As you move forward this week, remember that God is the only part of your life that is always there to fulfill all the needs that you will ever have. Focus on God and don't miss out on his ever-present presence. 

The goodness of God

I believe that most of us are well aware that God created all things. Sometimes we take that for granted and don't really think about how significant God's creation actually is.

What do I mean by that?

God didn't have to create all of the feelings that go along with the things that he created.

I was listening to a podcast yesterday called 'As for me and my house,' and the topic was about sex. As the married couple were talking, they made some really good points that got me thinking. In the confines of marriage they were talking about how God created sex to be an intimate experience with your spouse. That intimate feeling is a gift from God. He made it for us to enjoy with our spouses...I don't think animals enjoy it like humans do. God could've made sex like a handshake but he didn't. He made it so much more than that because the goodness of God is so great that we cannot fathom it.

I know that using sex as an example isn't something I have done before, but it helps make the point here.

Another example that comes to mind is food. Think about all of the amazing flavors and tastes that are out there that God created. God didn't have to make food taste good...he could've made it taste like cardboard.

God didn't just create everything on a surface level...God is way too good for that.

I challenge you to find the enjoyment in the goodness of God beneath the surface. I believe when we start to do that we will really get to experience the goodness of God and his amazing creation...

...As I sit here and write this post...this milky way latte doesn't have to be refreshing and give me energy, the pretty fall leaves that I see outside don't have to be orange, yellow, and red, I don't have to feel excitement after having good meetings today, I didn't need to enjoy the taste of the chocolate chip pancakes and bacon that I had this minoring, I didn't need to feel an extreme amount of love when I talked to Rach on the phone about 20 minutes ago, I don't need to feel any of these things but because of the goodness of God I get to feel these things and enjoy them, and feel absolutely fulfilled.

Really start to shift your mindset about how truly amazing the goodness of God is. We don't have to feel these things but we serve a God who allows us to because he loves us.

eliminating deceitfulness

Satan has the unique ability to make us feel like horrible people whenever we make a mistake or do something wrong. Have you ever made a mistake before or said something that you regret and felt horrible? That feeling is called deception. It's a pretty horrible feeling honestly. There will be days where everything is going really well and then all of a sudden I say something wrong or think wrong thoughts and Satan uses that to make me feel like nothing good even happened.

Deception happens to everyone, and most of the time people don't even realize that it's happening. I know that sometimes before I was more aware of God's presence, I didn't realize that I was being deceived. At the time I just thought it was natural to feel really guilty and that I wasn't that good of a person.

This feeling can be eliminated through encouragement.

That might sound a little too good to be true right? I am telling you that it's 100% true. Encouragement is one of the most powerful ways to make others feel loved.

We need to make sure that we are constantly around encouraging people and we need to make sure that we are being the encouraging people as well.

I know for a fact that I would not be who I am today if I didn't have the encouraging people in my life that I am so blessed to always have there. I am not perfect at all! I suck sometimes and I feel bad easily. I am easily deceived but have constant encouragers around me. Rachel, my family, friends, and coworkers are always encouraging me all the time and they help shape who I am.

I challenge you to really think about this and if you don't have at least 5 people in your life who are consistently encouraging you, maybe your need to find some more encouragers in your life.

On the other hand, we need to take a look at ourselves in the mirror and ask ourselves if we are being consistent encouragement. As important as it is for us to be around those types of people it's almost more important to be that for others.

It goes both ways. Be that person that others go to when they need encouragement.

But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called "today," so that none of your may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. (Hebrews 3:13)

When we are encouraging one other daily that will being to eliminate us being hardened by sin's deceitfulness.

That is my challenge for all of you as you read this post. Deceitfulness is dangerous and I would love for it to be eliminated for as many people as possible. So encourage one another daily and we will slowly being to eliminate it.

Cast Away

One of my favorite movies is Cast Away with Tom Hanks. It's an older movie but I have seen it so many times. For those of you who have never seen it, Tom Hanks was an employer of FedEx and while flying over the ocean their plane went down. Tom was the only survivor and managed to find his way to an island in the middle of nowhere. 

He was on the island for four years. He never gave up hope. It was just him and his volleyball that he named Wilson. Wilson became his best friend along with any other sign that he might be able to find his way back home. Eventually, Tom made a raft and a cargo liner found him out at sea. 

That probably wasn't the best movie summary that I have given, but I hope you get the point that Tom was stranded for four years and never gave up hope.

Much like Tom in Cast Away, God gives us all sorts of signs that we must pay attention to. 

"God testified to us by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will." (Hebrews 2:4)

All of the time God is testified through sings, wonders, miracles, and through gifts. If we are aware of what is going on, we should never drift away. There are enough signs that we shouldn't miss out on them. The key is just being aware. 

See, in Cast Away, FedEx packages were always washing up the shore on the island and those signs reminded Tom of things from back home. There were times when he would get extremely down, but all of a sudden a package would wash up and restore hope. If packages weren't washing up on the shore, there always seemed to be other signs off in the distance. 

A key to Tom recognizing these signs is that he was paying attention to them. He was looking out for any little sign to give him hope. This is something that we need to do. When times get tough and it seems like there ins't any hope out there, it probably means that you aren't paying attention. 

I promise you, that God is always giving you signs of hope. 

We must pay attention to the signs...

"We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away." (Hebrews 2:1)

The moment we stop paying attention is when we miss out on all of the good things that are out there. It's a slippery slope once you stop...It's a slippery slope right into a pit and how are we ever going to escape if we ignore such a great salvation? 

The thing I want you to all understand with this is that we must pay attention to all of the signs that are out there from God. The moment that we start to ignore those signs is the moment we forgot where out salvation comes from. 

We need to be like Tom Hanks in Cast Away...he was alone for four years, didn't have anything, and he never gave up hope. He fought to find every good sign that he could and because of that he made it home. 

Pay attention and fight! 

hahahaha Satan

"Sit at my right hand

until I make your enemies

a footstool for your feet." (Hebrews 1:13)

Our outlook on certain things affects out mindset. I know that spiritual warfare is a real thing and it's something that we face every day. Sometimes when we get caught up in what is going on it is really easy to get down and feel like there isn't hope. 

Tonight I want to let you in on a little secret on how I view it. It's a clear-proven fact that Christ already defeated Satan. There is scripture all over the bible to back it up and prove it. It's everywhere. When I recognize that I am under spiritual attack I will laugh it off. It's quite funny because most of the time I am totally alone and I recognize it and I literally have a conversation to myself saying "hahahahaha good try Satan...you already lost...why are you even trying dude."

This sounds like it's really silly but it has helped me make work of spiritual warfare. I am still not perfect - and there are times where I still give in. But laughing Satan off has radically changed my mindset when it comes to spiritual warfare. 

I encourage you to try this out. Spiritual warfare isn't really a laughing matter because it's super real...what is a laughing matter is that Satan tries to deceive us when he has already lost that battle. 

A thirst for God

Our lives depend on God. When we feel lonely, depressed, stressed, or anxious we need to meditate on God's kindness and love.

As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, my God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I can and meet with God?
My tears have been my food
day and night. (Psalm 42:1-3)

This afternoon I 110% hit a stressed and anxious breaking point. Everything that could go wrong seemed to be going wrong. I had a closing meeting over the phone at 4:30 so I had to merge a client and a colleague over the phone. I decided to get in the elevator and the called completely dropped. It was just about 5 o'clock and my client showed up for our 5:40 meeting 40 minutes early and I had a 30 minute drive. I needed my navigation to drive to my meeting and couldn't use it since I was on a phone call.

Everything seemed to be going wrong at this point...my phone was dying and I had no idea where I was going. For those of you who know me, I am normally very calm but I was at the point where I just screamed in the car.

I had been in this spot before in my life and I always know that there are two ways in which I can handle it. I can either continue to wallow in my self-pity and be super negative or know that all I need to do is rely on God and have my soul thirst for him.

The most amazing thing happened during this time. I was on the phone with Rachel and in the midst of me rambling about all the negative things that were happening she told me that we should pray.

As soon as she started to pray I felt all of the stress and anxiety go away. It was the most amazing and super natural feeling ever. It was one of the most refreshing feelings I had felt in a long time. My thirst was being quenched and I was so fulfilled.

In that moment I was reminded of how thankful I am that we serve a God who does that for us and to have such a perfect person in my life to help steer me towards Christ everyday.

I encourage you all to remember that God quenches are thirsts no matter what we are going through always. So no matter how bad your day is going or how amazing it is, the only thing that can truly make you feel fulfilled is God.