As a follower of Jesus I totally and completely believe in the abundant life that Jesus spoke of for those who choose His way of life over this worlds corrupt ways. I believe that as Christians we should be the most positive, most passionate, most outgoing, most hopeful, most loving and most alive people on this planet all because of Jesus. Does that mean because you choose to follow Jesus that you'll always be surrounded by loads of friends and people that love you? Does it mean that your bank account will be overflowing and your wallet bursting at the seams full of wads of cash? Does it mean that every single dream you have will automatically just come true? No. Jesus never promised those things. I've seen many people bend and twist the Bible to say that Jesus will make you rich, famous and overflowing with lavish prosperity but I just can't agree with that seeing as Jesus made himself a servant to us and asks us to imitate Him in order to build His Kingdom here on earth. I'm gonna be up front now because you guys don't need another fluffy 'perfect world' pick me up - what we all need is the truth.
The thing is life can be hard... sometimes really, really hard. Bad stuff happens. People die. Dreams are cruelly crushed and fade in the winds of time. Friends betray. People walk away. Hard earned money is stolen and lost. One day you can be a beauty queen in a pageant and the next day contract a vicious debilitating disease that robs you of almost all the life you had making even just day to day duties feel you're like fighting an entire army on your own. One day you can be absolutely full of joy celebrating a new life coming into the world with the person you love only to find out that the precious little life won't survive and that unborn child never sees the light of day. For you it might be a mother or a father that you called on your phone every single day just to let them know what was happening in your life only to see them fade away in the cruel hands of cancer never to be able to answer that call again. Or maybe you might see your children choose a path of drugs, crime, pain and suffering and have to visit them behind bars blaming yourself without reason. Yeah, I know this is pretty heavy but hang with me. Life can deal out some really bad blows sometimes and there are times when it seems like it's all just too much, that you just can't take it anymore.
What I wanna say is this... Jesus knows and cares about your pain. If there's one person that understands it fully - its Him. He never, ever wanted this planet to be broken and full of pain like this and that's precisely why He came for us. And He hasn't stopped coming to those who call on Him. If that's you today and life has been really rough can I encourage you to read Romans 8 from the Bible? It speaks of us as followers of Jesus as being co-heirs with Him. Royalty. It speaks of the power of His love and that there is nothing in Heaven, Hell or Earth that can separate us from that love. Even if you don't fully understand every part of what you're reading I really encourage you to read it through to the end. The Bible is not just a book, it's words hold far more power than our human intellect can ever fully grasp or explain. It's a living book. It's words hold the power of life and activation. It has the ability to awaken and change things that cannot be changed by any other means. You don't need to understand how that part of it works though, just reading it will start to speak to your spirit - the real you inside - and help heal and guide the parts that need it most.
The Bible holds the same power that Jesus himself had when He walked this earth. The same power to heal, guide, comfort, enlighten and save us. And hey, if that's you today and life's been really tough like that I'd be happy to pray for you that God comforts, heals and guides you. I do my absolute best to be the most positive person I can be on this earth and to encourage as many people as I can about the love and truth of God. Am I positive because everything in my life goes right all the time? No. If I honestly shared with you the amount of tragedy, loss, pain, betrayal and suffering my eyes have seen and my heart has endured you'd probably want to check yourself into counselling after hearing it. I'm not positive because every goes right, I'm positive because nothing and I mean NOTHING can take away God's love for me. That's the reason I stay positive. God's love. His love is truly that powerful. I'm not kidding. It's the most powerful force in this entire universe. Nothing even compares. Jesus has the ability to make even the worst looking things and most hopeless situations into trophies and monuments of His love and grace. In the very end, its love that wins. It's love that endures forever and ever.
Jesus can make beauty out of the ashes of your life no matter how badly things have been scorched and charred. He specializes in redemption and needs only one ingredient in His formula for it work... your heart. Call out to Him and let His love lift you from where you are to where He sees you to be. I'm praying today that for every single one of you that reads this that God speaks to your heart, heals your pain and lifts you by His love. God loves you.
The thing is life can be hard... sometimes really, really hard. Bad stuff happens. People die. Dreams are cruelly crushed and fade in the winds of time. Friends betray. People walk away. Hard earned money is stolen and lost. One day you can be a beauty queen in a pageant and the next day contract a vicious debilitating disease that robs you of almost all the life you had making even just day to day duties feel you're like fighting an entire army on your own. One day you can be absolutely full of joy celebrating a new life coming into the world with the person you love only to find out that the precious little life won't survive and that unborn child never sees the light of day. For you it might be a mother or a father that you called on your phone every single day just to let them know what was happening in your life only to see them fade away in the cruel hands of cancer never to be able to answer that call again. Or maybe you might see your children choose a path of drugs, crime, pain and suffering and have to visit them behind bars blaming yourself without reason. Yeah, I know this is pretty heavy but hang with me. Life can deal out some really bad blows sometimes and there are times when it seems like it's all just too much, that you just can't take it anymore.
What I wanna say is this... Jesus knows and cares about your pain. If there's one person that understands it fully - its Him. He never, ever wanted this planet to be broken and full of pain like this and that's precisely why He came for us. And He hasn't stopped coming to those who call on Him. If that's you today and life has been really rough can I encourage you to read Romans 8 from the Bible? It speaks of us as followers of Jesus as being co-heirs with Him. Royalty. It speaks of the power of His love and that there is nothing in Heaven, Hell or Earth that can separate us from that love. Even if you don't fully understand every part of what you're reading I really encourage you to read it through to the end. The Bible is not just a book, it's words hold far more power than our human intellect can ever fully grasp or explain. It's a living book. It's words hold the power of life and activation. It has the ability to awaken and change things that cannot be changed by any other means. You don't need to understand how that part of it works though, just reading it will start to speak to your spirit - the real you inside - and help heal and guide the parts that need it most.
The Bible holds the same power that Jesus himself had when He walked this earth. The same power to heal, guide, comfort, enlighten and save us. And hey, if that's you today and life's been really tough like that I'd be happy to pray for you that God comforts, heals and guides you. I do my absolute best to be the most positive person I can be on this earth and to encourage as many people as I can about the love and truth of God. Am I positive because everything in my life goes right all the time? No. If I honestly shared with you the amount of tragedy, loss, pain, betrayal and suffering my eyes have seen and my heart has endured you'd probably want to check yourself into counselling after hearing it. I'm not positive because every goes right, I'm positive because nothing and I mean NOTHING can take away God's love for me. That's the reason I stay positive. God's love. His love is truly that powerful. I'm not kidding. It's the most powerful force in this entire universe. Nothing even compares. Jesus has the ability to make even the worst looking things and most hopeless situations into trophies and monuments of His love and grace. In the very end, its love that wins. It's love that endures forever and ever.
Jesus can make beauty out of the ashes of your life no matter how badly things have been scorched and charred. He specializes in redemption and needs only one ingredient in His formula for it work... your heart. Call out to Him and let His love lift you from where you are to where He sees you to be. I'm praying today that for every single one of you that reads this that God speaks to your heart, heals your pain and lifts you by His love. God loves you.
