Live Your Life!

Prayer Sunday

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 21:29:53 -0400

Jesus’ prayer recorded in John 17 is a beautiful prayer that we should use as an example when we pray to our heavenly Father. When Jesus prays to God, he is focused, relaxed, humble, shows respect and honor, and longs to be with him. In this prayer, Jesus acknowledges the work he was set out to do has been completed, he prays for the safety of his disciples, and for the believers to come.

Jesus worked day and night being a true servant and never hesitated when opportunities came to share the news about God – he was focused on his mission and purpose. Not only did he want to share God’s word with others so they would believe, but to also teach the disciples in preparation for their responsibilities as apostles after he died. Jesus connects with the Father to let him know that the work he was set out to do on earth has been completed, and he is ready to return to be with him in heaven as he was before the earth was created.

Even though Jesus will be led to his death very shortly, he doesn’t pray for comfort even though he is left alone while he is praying, he simply prays for his disciples. He asks God to protect them and keep them safe as he did while he was with them. He also specifically asks God to keep them safe from the evil one. This specific request reminds us that the evil one is just as active today as he was then, and we should earnestly pray for the safety of our brothers and sisters. Jesus has experienced first hand how cruel the world is even though everything he did while here on earth was to benefit others while serving God.

Finally, Jesus prays for the believers to come. Jesus wants everyone to have the opportunity to hear about God and experience a one-on-one relationship with him. Jesus confirms there is no other love that compares to God’s love and once this love has been experienced and established, it bears fruit. Fruitful lives are made more joyful, meaningful, and heartfelt.

We are so fortunate that Jesus paved the way so that we can have a relationship with our Father and learn and experience what true love is. Take time to pray today and acknowledge God for his goodness, pray for your brothers and sisters in Christ, and those who you have the ability to reach out to and touch their lives.

Tonyia

God’s “Fringe” Benefits

Mon, 8 Mar 2010 22:18:21 -0500

The book of Daniel is a wonderful book that shows us that if we take our relationship with God seriously, we will be expected to make decisions that affect not only our own lives, but the lives of those around us. Not only can we have a positive affect on those around us, but Christians do get quite a few fringe benefits for serving our awesome God.

In the first chapter, Daniel was selected from a few Israelite royal family members to train for three years in preparation of serving in the king’s palace. During this training period, Daniel did not want to defile his body by eating the royal food and drink. He was more concerned about offending God than the king, so standing up for his belief was very important to him. Daniel handled the situation diplomatically and offered an alternate solution. Daniel’s solution to eat vegetables and drink water not only made him healthier and better nourished than the others who were on the royal diet, but Daniel’s decision had a positive affect on them as well. They, too, began using Daniel’s diet and became healthier and better able to serve the king. Many times it seems easier to take the path of least resistance to avoid standing out, but when we take this path, we limit our blessings and the blessings that could be poured out on others.

Have you ever thought of the “fringe benefits” we get when we follow God? God continued to bless Daniel with knowledge, wisdom, and the ability to interpret dreams, which I call “fringe benefits.” In the second chapter, we see how Daniel’s fringe benefits were used to glorify God which enhanced his ability to serve God. The king had a dream that no one in the kingdom could interpret, so as a result, the king wanted to kill all the wise men. Daniel prayed to God and asked to be granted with the knowledge of the king’s dream and the interpretation so the lives of the wise men would be spared. God granted Daniel’s request and Daniel went to the king to tell him what God revealed to him. The first thing Daniel did was give all the glory to God letting the king know that there was no man on earth who could give him what he asked for, only God because God knows everything. After the king received the interpretation, he, too, praised God and rewarded Daniel for helping him (another fringe benefit).

In the end, I believe that a healthy relationship with God is a tag-team effort. We serve God by being obedient; he blesses us with special gifts, abilities, and rewards; and we use our blessings to glorify him and give him the honor he so greatly deserves. When it is all said and done, all blessings start and end with God.

Tonyia

Wooden Hearts

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 21:24:19 -0500

Good morning everyone. We are now in Jeremiah.

Jeremiah certainly had to live one day at a time. There were no planning vacations, getting married, building a new home, building friendships, or doing any of the things we strive for today. God’s plan for Jeremiah was to use him as a communication tool to warn Israel and Judah of his wrath if they did not turn from their evil ways.

When God spoke to Jeremiah, you can clearly see how frustrated he is by his chosen people bowing down to man-made gods, offering sacrifices to their gods using the protocol set up to sacrifice to the one and only true God, and in addition to asking their gods for help in their daily lives. Doesn’t it make you wonder where the logic is in serving a god that can’t do anything for you as compared to serving a God who can do everything for us?

Jeremiah remained on task and continued to relay God’s messages to the officials even though he was beaten, jailed and thrown into a cistern to die (a well used to store water) all because the officials did not want to hear what Jeremiah had to say. God warned them that if they didn’t leave the city, the Babylonians would overtake and kill them. But because they had “wooden hearts”, they refused to listen. Instead, of leading their people to safety, the officials advised the king that Jeremiah should be put to death because his news was too discouraging for the soldiers and people to hear. Can you imagine having a leader who cares more about your feelings than your life?

Sure enough, no one listened to God’s warning, and the Babylonians overtook Jerusalem; and all the things that God said would happen, happened.

I don’t know about you, but one clear message that can be taken from this is that we need to continually pray for our country’s leadership to make the right decisions on behalf of the people and not based on things that really don’t matter. And like Jeremiah, we need to trust God that he will take care of us regardless simply because he said that he would.

Tonyia Gonzalez

Three Times and You’re Ouch

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 10:37:13 -0500

There are so many lessons to learn from the book of Isaiah. One underlying theme is how much God loves his people and provides for them, if they obey him. Isaiah reveals God’s wrath for those who are disobedient and that he always honors his word and warnings. God has no problem with follow through.

I remember when my sister and I were young, we would get into a brawl, and my mom would holler (old southern term) at us to knock it off. She would then holler a second time at us to knock it off. We always knew that she wouldn’t holler a third time - she would come to us with her ”weapon of correction” and settled the score once and for all! See, she set boundaries and honored them so as kids we always knew what to expect because she consistently followed through. I so love her for that.

Over and over, God tells us what actions and behaviors we should stay away from - one of which is disobedience. He knows disobedience will negatively impact our relationship with him. It is often times easy to think about how loving, caring, and forgiving God is and forget the fact that when we are disobedient, he becomes unhappy with us and will allow us to pay the necessary consequences.

Not only does God reveal to us what he doesn’t want us to do, but he goes one step further by providing us with examples showing how he dealt with disobedience – especially with the Israelites. For example, he told them not to bow down to other gods because if they did, he would punish them in very specific ways which involved family members, famines, death, etc. God followed through with his discipline. One thing is for certain, God will do what he says he will do.

When we are tempted to be disobedient, keep in mind there will be a consequence to pay. So the two questions before us are:

1) Is it worth making our Father unhappy?
2) Am I willing to pay the consequence? (because there will be one)

God leaves it up to us…

Tonyia Gonzalez

A Man After God’s Own Heart

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 06:37:29 -0500

Learning about David is quite an honor. We are able to see that a man after God’s own heart can be very successful in all his endeavors such as winning battles, being rewarded with many wives and children, and with increasing livestock and property. God gave everything to David that he could ever possibly want, and then some.

David’s example of obeying God is tremendous as he spoke w/God in prayer and trusted his every word, and quite frankly, his life depended on it. If God was to give nations over to David during battles and David didn’t follow God’s instructions on how to approach the battlefield, there would be a huge price to pay, not only for his own life, but the many casualties that would come with it. David’s concern wasn’t about his success in winning the battles, but how his wins glorified God and showed the world that God’s people are victorious and can’t be beaten. Amen!!

Unfortunately, David had a weak moment and determined he wanted someone else’s wife, Bathsheba. In order to get Bathsheba for himself, he plotted to have her husband killed. His sin just didn’t affect him, he involved others. Isn’t this how sin usually works? It isn’t self-contained, but reaches out and affects the lives of those around us.

David was fortunate to have Nathan give him the rude awakening about what God had to say about the error of his way. As we know, there are penalties of sin, and David’s penalty was quite great, the death of his son. Even though the sin that David committed can be viewed as huge, God forgave him, continued to love him, and blessed his family with a new son.

It is wonderful that even though we, too, make mistakes, God knows that when we are chastised, it will lead us back to him, and keep us on the right track. His forgiveness is complete, he doesn’t hold our sins against us, but continues to love us.

Always remember that sin is serious in which the penalty of our sins can truly impact the lives of others in a way that we never thought.

Tonyia Gonzalez

The Wicker Basket

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:12:04 -0400

The story is told of an old man who lived on a farm in the mountains of eastern Kentucky with his young grandson. Each morning, Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading from his old worn-out Bible. His grandson who wanted to be just like him tried to imitate him in any way he could.   One day the grandson asked, 'Papa, I try to read the Bible just like you but I don't understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bible do?' The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and said, 'Take this old wicker coal basket down to the river and bring back a basket of water.'    The boy did as he was told, even though all the water leaked out be fore he could get back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, 'You will have to move a little faster next time,' and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again.

This time the boy ran faster, but again the old wicker basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was 'impossible to carry water in a basket,' and he went to get a bucket instead.
The old man said, 'I don't want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You can do this. You're just not trying hard enough,' and he went out the door to watch the boy try again.   At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got far at all. The boy scooped the water and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty. Out of breath, he said, 'See Papa, it's useless!'    'So you think it is useless?' The old man said, 'Look at the basket.'   The boy looked at the basket and for the first time he realized that the basket looked different. Instead of a dirty old wicker coal basket, it was clean.   'Son, that's what happens when you read the Bible. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, it will change you from the inside out.'    Moral of the wicker basket story: Take time to read a portion of God's word each day; it will affect you for good even if you don't retain a word.    Thought for Today: Gods Love is like the ocean, you can see its beginnings but not its end.    I really like this story because I don't retain things too well anymore...old age may have something to do with it but I just figure my brain just gets overloaded! God isn't concerned about your brain anyway, He's more concerned about your heart.