Words from the Pastor
Paul tells us in Philippians 4:6 this: “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done (NLT).” I believe that one of the things that we need to do as Christians is learn to thank Him for everything that happens in our lives. We always say that we trust Him and that we know that He is in control, but do we really put that into practice when the push comes to shove? When hard things come in my life, do I allow the Spirit of God to have His way in my life or do I kick and scream like a brand-new baby Christian? I think that I have gotten stronger after all of these years but I still have a long way to go.
My niece posted the following quote on my Facebook page this last week: “If you can trust a puzzle company to make sure every piece is in the box to complete the puzzle, then why can’t you trust God that every piece of your life is there for a reason?” Isn’t that the truth? He is the one that pieced this whole earth together, hung every star in the sky and set this whole thing in motion, so why can’t we trust Him to know what He is doing with our lives?
Now I do know that somethings that happen to us are just from us reaping what we have sown. I mean, that is just a principle of life. If we live a promiscuous lifestyle, we just may pay for that. If we drink and drive, we just may pay for that. If we live in sin, we are going to reap what we have sown and we should never think that God is being mean to us! He gave us our own free will and He allows us to make our own choices, that is just how our Heavenly Father operates. But there are times that He will allow things in our lives that are out of our control just so we can grow in our walk with Him. If you don’t believe that just read the Book of Job. Or read the story of Joseph in Genesis. Both of these men were righteous men, but God allowed things in their lives just to prove to them that He is in control. His desire for us is that we can grow constantly and that our walk with Him will be one that is constantly getting stronger.
In the 7th verse of the 4th chapter of Philippians Paul tells us, “Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” So, if we don’t worry about anything and we pray about everything then we can experience God’s peace. And His peace will guard our hearts and minds. What does it mean to guard something? It means to protect something. It’s interesting that Paul writes “guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” That’s where all of our problems start you know, in our minds. And that’s why Paul writes in the 8th verse, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things (NIV).” Think about good things. Fill your mind with good things. There are plenty of things out there that beg for our attention and it is up to us to fill our minds with things that will glorify God and bring us that kind of peace that exceeds anything that we can imagine. His desire for us is that we have this peace no matter what our circumstances. All we need to do is reach out and take it!
Please let me know if you need anything. Naomi and I love you all. -Pastor Steve