Changing My Perspective in Storms

With all the cities everywhere experiencing their own set of wintery weather and rain, I was hoping we might get some but alas, it is not meant to be despite the threat that appears in the sky. It seems our local weather guy can't even get it right either.

It's not to say however that others in Southern California are getting their fair share of weather and some rain and even hail in odd parts. A friend just shared a photo on Facebook that it snowed at his house which is just a block away from the beach. Yet nothing here except other types of storms going on.

While I am still, yes still, recovering from my kidney stone procedure that happened little over almost three weeks ago, I am progressing. In fact on Thursday last week, my doctor apologized for not setting some correct expectations on what to expect afterwards so at least that put my mind at ease that despite how "easy" it was, recovery is still a bit ongoing.

It brings me to where I am blogging about things today and that is blanket statements that you might post on Facebook that offends people. While you are NOT targeting any one particular person in general, people still are offended and see it as a direct attack on them, which was NOT my intention.

The issue I had was with the way some "Christians" use the word "Karma" when referring to anything that happens in life. From the way it is used generally or intentional, for me, it bothers me. I, for one, as a Christian don't believe in Karma nor do I sit back and wait for someone to get their just desserts as some would say, just wait, Karma will get you.

What this comment did generate was a healthy debate on my Facebook page about why people feel the need to use the word in their speech and their justified reasons for doing so. I hate it when it is used because if you substitute it for what they really mean, it's still wrong in my opinion. Karma for me, is a Hindu belief that shows that your actions have consequences and while you might not get it right when you deserve it, you will at some point in time. When punishment ensues, you're getting your Karma. For some in my family, they immediately felt I was attacking them personally by my blanket statement because they had just used the word on their post within minute of me posting mine. Again, it was strictly a statement to say I don't like it when people use the word and claim they are Christians. If they took it as a personal attack on their character, that is up to them and not something I feel I need to apologize for. I apologize in the same general sense in which I posted the statement, that I was not attacking any one person in particular and if someone was offended by the statement it was NOT my intent.

Facebook posting is funny like that. You can post something on YOUR page, and other people feel the need to comment as if you have personally attacked them instead of opening up a great debate opportunity. You would think it would never severe your relationship with your family over such a statement, but apparently it seems to be the case. While I have apologized for my intent, I don't feel the need to apologize over how someone took it and subsequently reacted in haste and 'unfriended' everyone in my family from their pages.

I've bothered by this since it happened and then came across this in my devotional this morning as if God was providing me the insight I simply couldn't see in the midst of all of this.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking in anything. " James 1:2-4

"I can't say that I am mature enough to be joyful when a trial arises in my life, but I have progressed beyond curling up into a fetal position with a blanket over my head, whining incessantly or crying to my friends. Okay, I still cry to my friends sometimes. But I have begun to rely on God. This is huge.

Instead of going directly into "Why me?" mode, I am beginning to be more interested in the lesson. What are you trying to teach me here, Father? I am open and willing; please help me. Once I switch gears and get my head out of the circumstances, at least enough perspective to see as far as the next step. The testing of our faith is in trusting the next step to be illuminated, and perseverance is when we continue to walk along His path. This is a lifelong journey, to be sure.

I read do want to move to the level of joy. I know people who live there. I want to actually celebrate when the next trial appears. I will start by praising God first, and then asking Him for my lesson. After all, if He sees me as a worthy candidate for more training, maybe He has an assignment in mind for me."(pg 61 - Heart of My Heart).

So for now, I have apologized for my intent because that is what God put on my heart for now and the rest is up to them to decide how to move forward. For me, I will continue doing what I believe and hope in time, differences may resolve on their end. .

If God Loves Us, Why Does He Allow Bad Things to Happen?

In light of the recent controversies surrounding our Right to Die, I thought I would share this. I hope it reaches just who needs to hear it the most.

“Dear God….”
Why do you allow people to die before they should?

Someone died before his or her time. Don’t we assume that we have a timetable slated when we are supposed to live a full life, like into our older years like 70’s or 80’s? When does the Bible say that? It doesn’t. It states that there is “a time to be born and a time to die”. (Ecclesiastes 3:2) God is in charge of that. We don’t have a say about when we get to be born or when we get to die, but we have everything to do with the time in between and how we choose to live it. Psalm 90:12. “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” means to make the most of our time. Don’t take any of your loved ones for granted. Don’t put off telling someone in your life just how much they mean to you, because no one knows how much time you have left. You don’t have a guarantee on how much time you have left.

There is a book that tells you about “The Things You Must Do Before You Die”, with some of the examples such as going to the academy awards, or running with the Bulls? Running with the bulls? Isn’t that a way to die? Did you know that the author of this book died at the age of 47 after hitting his head after a fall in his home, and he only completed half of the things in his book. The goal isn’t to do all these things but to glorify God. Sure it’s ok to do some of things but they shouldn’t be our life’s focus.

God will give you a peace that passes all understand not give you an understanding.

Don’t worry about it, pray about it and he will give you enough strength to get you through it day by day.

Psalms 61: Here my cry of God; listen to my prayer. From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

No one ever said that you would live a trouble-free life in this world.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

Bad things happen to Christians as well, problems with our families, dying in unexpected accidents, getting cancer. No one is guaranteed a problem-free life.

Why is it that the words trial and problems occur in the same sentence. Why doesn’t God remove my problems if He loves me? Because God loves you, it’s your definition of how He should show that love that is our mistake and what we think good means in our life. No pain, no suffering, no death, a problem free life with the sun shining and birds singing. Doesn’t that sound appealing?

John 16:33, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Our definition of good is what benefits us in the here and now and not in the by and by. We are interested in what will benefit us temporarily while God is interested in our eternal benefit.

We are interested in what will make us happy, while God is interested in what will make us holy.

He doesn’t always remove suffering because it makes us stronger and keeps us closer to Him. We can also be used in our situations to glorify Him and bring others to Him through our problems.

Why does God allow it?

1. Adversity levels us and keeps us humble. Prosperity has a tendency to make us proud. We don’t need God when things are going smoothly, the bills are paid, we have a great job, family life is incredible and there is money in the bank. Hopefully however, when adversity comes, we turn to God and see what really matters. It is during times of prosperity we will forget God. When tragedy and adversity hits, we pray and pray a lot.

2. Adversity teaches us eternal truths we would not learn on our own. Our basic objective is to avoid pain at all costs. We want to be comfortable. We want to look good, but we don’t want to sweat, we don’t want the muscle aches and pain, but pain reminds us of a deeper need. Hunger pains, birth pains, back pains, you get it.

God teaches us lessons in those pain filled valleys we wouldn’t have learned on the mountaintops of our life. Things we need to know, things we need to share while we are passing through this life into our eternal one.

3. God allows us to go through these adversities so we will have compassion for others in pain. Never minimalize someone’s pain, but reach out for him or her.
Success builds walls but failures build bridges. When things are going well for you, you got that promotion, you kids got all A’s again, you just bought a new house, paid off all your debt, and you’re sharing that with someone whose life isn’t going well. They are losing their home, they don’t have enough money to put groceries in their home, and their kids are failing in school, it puts up a wall between you and them.

But what happens when a friend comes to you and tells you that they need prayer, that they were just diagnosed with cancer. You care and you want to help them. You should. When we go through adversity, we can help others.

2 Corinthians 1: 4-5 “ who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.”

It was only through the death of Stephen that the worst Christian killer, Saul of Tarsus, was brought to God and became Paul. So sometimes good comes from adversity and tragedy. We just need to look for it and seek God every minute of every day.

Life Sucks!

Sometimes I think that being a Christian can be a whole lot more difficult than it is to simply be part of the world. When tragic things happen, people expect us to act and behave a certain way. They often look to us to see how we will weather the storms of life that truly seek not only to drown us but to overtake and kill us.

Just this week, while browsing my growing Facebook feed, trust me it takes awhile, I notice two very significant prayer requests. One was from a blogging friend I met a few years ago who is still struggling with the loss of her husband just a few months ago, and the other from a woman facing a cancer scare.

Both are Christians.

Both are dealing with something most of us pray never crosses our path.

Both are struggling and finding it beyond difficult some days to even catch a breath.

It feels like someone has let all the air out of their balloon or worse has popped it. 

And life sucks for them. It sucks because no other words seems to justify how they can feel during this time.

They don't always feel that way. It's just the way it is today!

But why as Christians, believers in Jesus Christ, who know that one day, none of these things will matter. Death will no longer be an issue. We will never have to attend a funeral or cry over anything in life again. Cancer will be defeated once and for all and we will be forever healthy.

Perfectly!

Forever!

Because we are still living in a sin-filled world, dealing with the effects of sin, grief, emotions, loneliness, pain, fear, insecurity, depression, while still believing in God.

Being a Christian doesn't mean we won't have to deal with these or even walk through them multiple times.

The things that bother me, is people often times want to band aid things. They tell us stuff like it will be okay, in time, things will get easier; that what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger; that God must have a purpose in all of this; God wanted to take this person home; or my favorite, they are another angel in heaven now.

Scripturally that last one doesn't even wash. Angels are beings created by God and when we die, we don't get wings and join the flock.

We, as believers in Jesus, will join all the other believers who have died and will step into God's presence in Heaven. No wings for us.

Yet, as believers, we know all the other statements, but at those low points, we don't want to hear them. We want people to understand we have need to grieve, to fear, to worry, and at times when no words will do, cry til there is literally nothing left inside of us. We may have those days quite a bit, and there might be days where everything is fine and then we relapse again.

We need to be able to vent what we are feeling and to be able to say, this sucks! It's not fair! Why me?!!!

We aren't looking for explanations, it's just a part of dealing with these things. We will get better at handling them at some point in the future, however long that may be. It will never be the same for everyone.

What I believe we need to understand is that we can pray for them. We can pray for comfort, for people to give up their time, and if they can let them know they are not alone. To run errands, send cards, help out around the house, bring things like their favorite dessert or coffee, just to let them know they are NOT alone in this life, even if they feel like the walls are closing in. Like they are out of strength to try to hold on any longer.

Prayer is the thing that we need to employ more than ever in this life. It is definitely more powerful than you think and the last thing the enemy wants us to do. So will you do me a favor today and add these two very admirable and strong women who are dealing with the worst life has to offer? Pray for encouragement, courage to get through this day, to find joy in the small things and for God to reveal to them in mighty ways, that they are NOT alone in this struggle. We all need friends and neighbors who can come alongside us and help us get through these dark days.

Let us help them find ways to put air back into their balloon or better yet buy them a bunch!

Proverbs 11:25, "He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed."

Stick To It!!

Oh now that we find ourselves quite literally on the cusp of what could be the next World War, there is so much going on in the debate issue. Some people are claiming Armageddon is coming, others are claiming it needs to be addressed and still others refuse to acknowledge anything at all, preferring to take the same stand they always have, that this has nothing to do with religion and just how is telling us the truth anyway.

Which got me to thinking about all the recent Facebook arguments when it comes to what people believe. You know that's always going to be up for debate, but lately it seems more so than ever before that even when you talk about your beliefs in Jesus, you are almost threatened with those that don't want anything to do with what you have to say or even for that matter that you'll pray for them. It can often get downright hostile.

Yet it all boils down to one thing. Who's right? Who is telling the truth?

Jesus was debated by Pilate on who Jesus claimed to be during his inquistion with this very question in the book of John 18, beginning with verse 37:

"You are a king, then!" said Pilate. 

Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."

Did you catch that?

"Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."

That means people who believe in Jesus Christ and who believe He is whom He says He is. In other words believers in Jesus Christ.

One thing to remember is that "truth" is fluid in the world by most people's standards. It is not absolute but is relative to those who believe it is. It is their perspective that is their fact or their opinion.

We, as Christians, are people who rely on absolute supreme truth, not in feelings or opinions.

When we look at Psalm 119: 1-6 we read,

Look upon my suffering and deliver me, for I have not forgotten your law. 
Defend me cause and redeem me; preserve my life according to your promise. 
Salvation is far from the wicked, for they do not seek out your degrees. 
Your compassion is great, O Lord; preserve my life according to your laws. 
Many are the foes who persecute me, but I have not turned from your statutes. 
I look on the faithless with loathing, for they do not obey your word. 
See how I love your precepts; preserve my life O Lord, according to your love. 
All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal." (NIV)

So why is absolute truth necessary?

There has to be a measuring stick that defines truth from opinion. We need stabilization that is something outside of ourselves that we can rely on to tell us what the absolute truth is.

John 14: 6, " Jesus answered, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 

Romans 7:12 " So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good."

What does this mean?

That God's Word is from the Creator of Heaven and Earth and He alone answered that very question.

What do we gain from absolute truth as believers?

1. Redemption or deliverance from our burdens in this life, the storms we encounter.

Psalm 116:8 ~ "For you, O Lord, have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling." (God has delivered my soul from dying from eternal death to eternal life.)

John 1:1 ~ "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (The truth has been around from the creation of the world).

Exodus 15:13, "In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling.( God brought you to Him).

2 Timothy 4:18, "The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom."(He will redeem you from evil).

Afflictions in this life can wear on us and make you question your faith, your belief in God's Word and in His promises. That is why we need to draw on God's Word to strengthen us in those difficult times.

2. Revival - we need vitality and faith in our lives to help us deal with tough times and from calamity.

Psalm 51:12, "Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me." (God will restore your joy and lift you up from your difficulties. We don't have to stay where we are.)

Isaiah 57:15, " but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite." (You can revive your heart and spirit, by spending time in God's Word).

Psalm 143:11, "For your names sake, O Lord, preserve my life; in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble ." 

Only God's truth can revive us! We need to get back to God because it's right. It's NOT about YOU, it NEVER is! In your life, what we do, what we say, it's all for God, NOT YOU!

The world wants truth that centers on their opinion, they are their own god.

Isaiah 59: 1-8 defines how the wicked believe. See if this doesn't sound like the way most of the world nowadays sounds.

" Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wicked things. 

No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case with integrity. They rely on empty arguments and speak lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil. They hatch the eggs of vipers and spin a spider's web. Whoever eats their eggs will die, and when one is broken, ad adder is hatched. Their cobwebs are useless for clothing; they cannot cover themselves with what they make. Their deeds are evil deeds, and acts of violence are in their hands.

Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are evil thoughts; ruin and destruction mark their ways. The way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths. They have turned them into crooked roads; no one who walks in them will know peace."

3. Reassuarance and restoration are given to those who believe in the absolute truth.

Proverbs 13:12, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life."(The right way according to the world leads to death).

No matter what the opinion, the only thing that makes a difference is to hold on to God's Word.

1 Samuel 12:20-21, "Do not be afraid, Samuel replied, You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you because they are useless."(Turn from God and you will go after empty things that will never satisfy).

It will not bring you admiration but division, destruction, and hatred by sticking with God's absolute truth. Even within our own homes whenever people are confronted with the absolute truth, don't give up!

The darkness does not like the light.

No matter what the cost, it must be done. Stick to God's truth. Doesn't matter how things look like or what others are saying, if God says it, He'll make it happen.

Psalm 118:6 says it the best, "The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"

God is my reassurance and confidence, not what the world deems is right.

God works the impossible.

God sees the unseen.

Without God's assurance, we have no peace.

Truth that is not absolute is speculation, theory, opinions, feelings.

It's like saying a tofu burger is a burger, no matter how you dress it up, it's still tofu!

So endure and keep on sticking to God's Word. We'll be able to face whatever comes our way holding on to what God says and what His promises are. He is never changing and never fails. 

The Bitterness of Life

Who hasn't heard of Warheads?

Supposedly if you haven't, let me enlighten you.

These are small candies that are suppose to pack a powerful bitterness that most can barely handle. Unless of course if you love sour things like lemons and sour candy. Yet the impact is the greatest when you first pop the powdery hard candy in your mouth.

In fact, just thinking about this is making my mouth water. My husband and my youngest daughter can handle them. I have to hold on tight for the ride because I know if I can handle the bitterness for a minute or two, the true sweetness comes out when you get closer to the center.

In fact, check out these young faces and see what I mean. (If the video loads slowly, simply double click on the video to open it directly in YouTube.




So where I am going with this. Well God's great like that, in that I can be doing something like simply watching the video you just did above, and He uses that to shine a light on a message for me to share with you. It's simple but powerful.

The storms of life that we all have to endure are a whole lot like taking on a warhead. For some, they thrive in those types of situations. They smile and just get through it because they know it won't last long. Then there are those that can barely stand it when they find themselves at the beginning. They can't handle it for any length of time and spit it out. They completely miss out on the blessing they would have discovered if they simply endured the bitterness for a time.

Just like the Warhead candy, there are some that are easy to deal with than others. The blueberry ones the worst for me, I can barely hang on to get the end of those ones. Much like there are certain storms of like I don't deal well with like ones having to do with financial impacts I am not expecting. For others of you health issues, family relationships or job difficulties may be your blueberry Warhead.

What God is trying to teach us all, is that it will come to an end.

We have to endure these trials for a short time in His eyes so that the sweetness can come into our lives by simply weathering that storm He has placed in front of us. We will be used in the most amazing ways if we simply push on through that day and ask for God's help to get through it.

We'll never know just how close we were to getting to that sweet part of our storm if we simply give up and spit it out.

Trust in God in all things!

Sweetness always seems hidden beneath the bitterness of what life brings us if we are simply willing to wait it out and deal with it with God's help.

"I can do all things through Jesus Christ, who strengthens me." ~ Philippians 4:13

If God Loves Us, Why Does He Allow Bad Things to Happen?

This was a post of mine from February but with so many people hurting, I felt a calling to repost this for all of you. ~ Love and Hugs ~ Kat

“Dear God….”
Why do you allow people to die before they should?

Someone died before his or her time. Don’t we assume that we have a timetable slated when we are supposed to live a full life, like into our older years like 70’s or 80’s? When does the Bible say that? It doesn’t. It states that there is “a time to be born and a time to die”. (Ecclesiastes 3:2) God is in charge of that. We don’t have a say about when we get to be born or when we get to die, but we have everything to do with the time in between and how we choose to live it. Psalm 90:12. “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” means to make the most of our time. Don’t take any of your loved ones for granted. Don’t put off telling someone in your life just how much they mean to you, because no one knows how much time you have left. You don’t have a guarantee on how much time you have left.

There is a book that tells you about “The Things You Must Do Before You Die”, with some of the examples such as going to the academy awards, or running with the Bulls? Running with the bulls? Isn’t that a way to die? Did you know that the author of this book died at the age of 47 after hitting his head after a fall in his home, and he only completed half of the things in his book. The goal isn’t to do all these things but to glorify God. Sure it’s ok to do some of things but they shouldn’t be our life’s focus.
God will give you a peace that passes all understand not give you an understanding.

Don’t worry about it, pray about it and he will give you enough strength to get you through it day by day.

Psalms 61: Here my cry of God; listen to my prayer. From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

No one ever said that you would live a trouble-free life in this world.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

Bad things happen to Christians as well, problems with our families, dying in unexpected accidents, getting cancer. No one is guaranteed a problem-free life.

Why is it that the words trial and problems occur in the same sentence. Why doesn’t God remove my problems if He loves me? Because God loves you, it’s your definition of how He should show that love that is our mistake and what we think good means in our life. No pain, no suffering, no death, a problem free life with the sun shining and birds singing. Doesn’t that sound appealing?

John 16:33, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Our definition of good is what benefits us in the here and now and not in the by and by. We are interested in what will benefit us temporarily while God is interested in our eternal benefit.

We are interested in what will make us happy, while God is interested in what will make us holy.

He doesn’t always remove suffering because it makes us stronger and keeps us closer to Him. We can also be used in our situations to glorify Him and bring others to Him through our problems.

Why does God allow it?

1. Adversity levels us and keeps us humble. Prosperity has a tendency to make us proud. We don’t need God when things are going smoothly, the bills are paid, we have a great job, family life is incredible and there is money in the bank. Hopefully however, when adversity comes, we turn to God and see what really matters. It is during times of prosperity we will forget God. When tragedy and adversity hits, we pray and pray a lot.

2. Adversity teaches us eternal truths we would not learn on our own. Our basic objective is to avoid pain at all costs. We want to be comfortable. We want to look good, but we don’t want to sweat, we don’t want the muscle aches and pain, but pain reminds us of a deeper need. Hunger pains, birth pains, back pains, you get it.

God teaches us lessons in those pain filled valleys we wouldn’t have learned on the mountaintops of our life. Things we need to know, things we need to share while we are passing through this life into our eternal one.

3. God allows us to go through these adversities so we will have compassion for others in pain. Never minimalize someone’s pain, but reach out for him or her.
Success builds walls but failures build bridges. When things are going well for you, you got that promotion, you kids got all A’s again, you just bought a new house, paid off all your debt, and you’re sharing that with someone whose life isn’t going well. They are losing their home, they don’t have enough money to put groceries in their home, and their kids are failing in school, it puts up a wall between you and them.

But what happens when a friend comes to you and tells you that they need prayer, that they were just diagnosed with cancer. You care and you want to help them. You should. When we go through adversity, we can help others.

2 Corinthians 1: 4-5 “ who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.”

It was only through the death of Stephen that the worst Christian killer, Saul of Tarsus, was brought to God and became Paul. So sometimes good comes from adversity and tragedy. We just need to look for it and seek God every minute of every day.