Speaker of the House Pelosi says that those who disrupt and protest at town hall meetings are un-American, however check the video out, and see her commending protestors and disruptors during protests agaisnt the war. I guess it only applies when people protest agaisnt what she supports, what a hypocrite.
Students, teachers and local pastors are protesting over a court case involving a northern Florida school principal and an athletic director who are facing criminal charges and up to six months in jail over their offer of a mealtime prayer. Story Here.
This morning during my devotional time I read from 1 Corinthians 9, is a chapter were Paul shares with us his views as it pertains to sharing the Gospel. He left us with some helpful hints about how to share God's message with others. He shows us that if we want to communicate, we must first take the time to understand the other person. Paul was a master at listening to his audience and afterward finding common ground with them. He did this before he told them about their need to change. As we seek to help others, we do well by applying Paul's method. We must begin by gaining their confidence. We don't need to be good at winning arguments; which seems to be the popular thing to do now a days. Instead we need to be good at listening to them and showing them we care. We should be like Paul who listened to the needs of people and then presented his message in a way that met their specific needs. We can do the same as we carry the message of hope to hurting people.
If you are like me, you have probably felt at one time or another that doing God's will is bringing lots of opposition in your life. Well we are not alone, this morning I was reading the book of Nehemiah (very practical book by the way) and as I read, I realized that carrying out the will of God will always bring opposition. My, and your and even Nehemiah's experience is no exception. We may face ridicule, or sarcasm and those things may sting. But we must not focus our attention on the sarcasm or the ridicule; we must continue to look to God as we seek to obey His plans for us.
So then the question to be asked is; how do we counter ridicule and disdain? Well it is essential that we seek God and also keep our guard up. We must counter ridicule with prayer. But we must also remember that prayer must be accompanied by action. And finally we must also realize that there is a cost to obeying and following God's plan, but spiritual growth is always worth the pain and sacrifice.
This morning I was reading the Book of Ezra the tenth chapter, is a hard chapter to read. I can say that God was being harsh in dealing with His people, I mean making them divorce their wives and leave them and in some instances with their children. But these were the consequences that sin brought to their lives, and is the same with me, I have to know that sin in my life will always have terrible consequences, and not only for me but for those around me that love me and care for me. This reminder must help me in my choices.
I also must remember that if I do nothing about the sins in my life, I will never move forward. I must confess these sins to God and then take action against them.
In this chapter we read that the people did not stop at mere confession; they also committed themselves to reform, redirecting the course of their lives back into alignment with God's commands. It is never enough to just acknowledge that we have sins in our lives. We must follow the example of these Israelites and follow our confessions with action,accepting responsibility for our sins and then taking active steps to eliminate sinful and destructive behaviors from our lives.
We continue to go through the book of Jonah we are currently in the 2 chapter. Pastor Pedro named this teaching the Insider and it focused on Jonah 1:17-2:10. This is what I took away from the teaching today:
>God prepares a way. God will cause storms in our lives to bring us back. He will do whatever it takes to bring me back to where I need to be.
When we run from God, we miss out on His purpose for our lives.
>God hears us pray. It must be real prayer, we must be honest when we pray. We must own up to our mistakes our prayers must be repentant.
>God gives us a new day. No matter what we have done, God will give us another chance if we are sincere in our repentance.
If we want to go anywhere in life we need to die to self.
If you run from God you will always get burn.
God will restore the years that the locust has eaten.
The White House strategy of turning supporters into snitches when they see "fishy" information about the health care debate may run afoul of the law, legal experts say. Story Here.
"Congress treats the American taxpayer like an all-you-can-eat buffet ... Pelosi and Reid, you need to put yourself on a diet, or we'll do it for you in 2010". Lynne Marino.
Congress plans to spend $550 million to buy eight jets, a substantial upgrade to the fleet used by federal officials at a time when lawmakers have criticized the use of corporate jets by companies receiving taxpayer funds. Once again our representatives laugh in our faces and spend our hard earn tax money. Read Story Here.
I don't know about you, but there have been times in my life when I have made a mess of things, and is during those times when I find myself calling out to God in desperation. I have to say that He has never failed me although some times I have failed Him. Anyways, I have always felt great joy and gratitude when He has picked me up and does not allow for my problems to defeat or destroy me. Sometimes I have gone through some long, dark nights struggling with my problems before experiencing the joy of victory. All these things have taught me that there are times I must wait on the Lord. But when I do finally overcome, the joy of success is only that much sweeter.
I have also realized this, that sometimes we may be in the most danger when everything in our lives is going well. We tend to get overconfident and think nothing can happen to us. But we must remember that pride and overconfidence usually come before a fall. We must always remember that we can't make it alone. How do we keep things practical, by practicing spiritual disciplines, by staying close to God, seeking Him through prayer, meditating on His Word, and worshiping Him. These are all key spiritual disciplines that will help us in our spiritual walk.
If you were having problems posting on Twitter or Facebook, this might be the reason why. Twitter, Facebook, LiveJournal, Google Blogger and other Web sites were hobbled Thursday Twitter was completely down for many users and it all appears to have been because of a coordinated online attack on one political blogger in the Republic of Georgia. Read it Here.
There are some things about God that I still can't wrap my mind around, one of them is that He has had a good plan for us, yes for each one of us from the beginning of time. If we ask Him to work in our lives, that plan will come about. No matter how many mistakes you or I have made, God can still turn things around so they work according to His plan. Our part in all of this is simple, we just need to surrender our lives to Him and seek to follow His will as He reveals it to us. No matter what you or I have done in the past, God still loves us and can work His restoration within us.
Sometimes we might feel as if we have lost our direction, and our tendency is to blame God or feel that somehow He is making things worse. Well it is during those times that we must remember that He has wonderful things planned for us, things even more wonderful than we could ever imagine. We must remember that if we surrender our lives to God, He can build new lives for us that are beyond our wildest dreams.
This all may cause some of us to wonder how we could ever know God's will and plan for our lives. This is a valid question and one that I have asked myself many times, and the answer is that we can know God's mind and heart because He has given us His Holy Spirit to live within us, to communicate with us. What a privilege that is! God's presence in our lives will guide us in the way He wants us to go.
Sometimes when I talk to people about God and starting a relationship with Him, they tell me that they are not ready to commit because they don't want to lose their friends. Some also tell me that they don't want to deal with people mocking them. I can understand and even relate to what they say, however, I also tell them that we ought to look forward to what God is doing with our lives and not look back and become depressed or discouraged. I remind them that God has a new life for us that He has yet to unfold, and one day we will be made sinless just like Jesus.
We also need to remember that when we decide to be real about our relationship with God there will be opposition. When God starts to do a great work in our lives, enemies almost invariably rise up against it. There will be adversaries against our work as we seek to obey God's plan for our lives, but we must trust in the Lord to help us persevere in obedience to His will. Today, we must accept the reality that many will not be supportive of our new way of life. We must never allow such people to stand in the way of our spiritual transformation.
