Don’t Leave Me Alone With My Thoughts

According to The Boston Globe people prefer Electric Shock to Time Alone.

What do you say to yourself when you have a few minutes alone? In this day and age it’s rare that we don’t have some stimuli to keep us company. Would you prefer electric shock instead of being alone? I know I sure wouldn’t.

How can this possibly be! An opportunity for solitude and reflection and people would prefer to have an electric current run through their body rather then taking that time! Many spiritual leaders including Jesus advocate time alone. These leaders went to the mountains and farmland to get away from the crowds and be alone with their thoughts. How can it be we’ll do anything to a similar experience?

One of the reasons is probably die to what we say to ourselves once we enter that stillness. Instead of allowing our thoughts to uplift us and enlighten us, or use the time not to think at all, we allow the negative things we say to ourselves to empower us. Most people talk to themselves in such a negative way that they have to do it in their heads- they would probably never speak negatively out loud to another person!

When time alone is the opportunity to ruin your life, beat up on yourself for where you are or where you are not, and examine every wrong thing you have ever done, what sane Peter would want to be alone with that! An electric shock might be preferable to feeling as though you’ve been beaten down by the very person you thought you could trust – yourself.

Alone time is very important. The space between action and ongoing thoughts is where creative ideas are born. It’s where you may have a chance to see something about yourself you didn’t realize before. It’s where you may have your best brainstorm for how to get somewhere you want to go, or how to get out of some mess you are in. Without quiet time surrounded by constant stimulation- a lot is lost.

So If your thoughts are not the company you want to keep, what can you do? Here are some steps you can take to become better company for yourself

  • Choose to spend time alone. Take a walk without your iPod or cell phone. Walk the dogs at your local shelter if you do have one of your own. Drive without the radio on, do talk on your cell when driving. The more conscious choices you make to be by yourself, the more comfortable you will become with it.
  • Catch yourself in negative self-talk. Notice what you say. Become interested in it, “Hmmm… isn’t that interesting how hard I a. On myself right now. What’s that all about, I wonder?” Don’t judge it, but become aware of it,
  • Choose positive self-talk. Have sayings or quotes ready. (Try putting them in your bedroom, bathroom or other places your see them easily), say things like, ‘I am a calm and confident person,” “I enjoy my own company and find I use this time alone to be morphed creative.” “I get my best ah-hah moments when I’m by myself.” You may find the things you tell yourself and the choices you made are good for you.
  • Tell your mind you need answers to something. Ask your mind to work on problems while your alone. Practice pushing negative thoughts out, to make positive ideas or new creative brainstorms to enter.
  • Be excited about spending time alone. Tell yourself you look forward to it and that you’ll enjoy it

Practice make perfect and with some changes, and some time, you may find that you really can be your own best friend.

The City On A Hill

Jesus said “you are the light of the World. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” These words were directed to His disciples, yet became identified with an entire civilization and revealed the unique greatness of America. The foundation of American civilization must ultimately be traced back to Nazareth. The vision of America originate with the great commission, the charge he entrusted to his disciples, Conceived for the purpose of being the light of God and spreading to the ends of the earth. Even if mainstream American society has forgotten The reason for America’s existence, you don’t forget; Live as an all out disciple of Messiah. America needs that more than ever. In an age of darkness, light Smithtown all the more. And age of compromise and moral sliding, you must all the more live your life above reproach, as a light, a witness, as a city on a hill. As the darkness becomes darker. Strive to be the called, the sons and daughters of salt and light, keep praying and keep shining.

Recipe For Overcoming Challanges

Sometimes there is no logical solution to life’s challenges but faith. Fear says your situation is permanent. Logic says your solution is impossible. Facts say it doesn’t make sense. Science says follow logic and consider the facts. Math says it doesn’t add up. Time says it’s too late. Age says you’re too young or to old. Education says you’re not qualified. Experience says you’re a novice. People say it never been done before. The past says check your history. Scars say you’re about to get hurt again. Comfort says it is really not worth the trouble. The future says you don’t belong here. The pocket says I can’t afford it. But faith says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” Philippians 4:13). Don’t seek logical solutions to every life’s challenges. Sometimes you just have to believe. “We walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 6:7). Feed your faith and all the other negative voices will starve to deathM Face 2022 with faith in God and all your dreams will come true. Remember we are partners in this journey of life. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says “No temptation has taken you except what is common to man. God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will with the temptation also make a way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

Fighting Fear

Fear has a horrible way of lying to us. Fear removes God from the equation, causing us to envision a scenario where He does not show up. On a day to day basis the reality is we could fill a deck of cards with lies we believe about ourselves and our situations. Our fear sometimes whisper subtly, and sometimes screams aggressively. Either way fear will try its best to disarm us, and discourage us from our primary purpose and calling in life.

The greater truth we must take hold of is the truth Paul outlines in 2 Corinthians, namely that God’s power grows in our weakness. What ever area of weakness that might be – financially, physically, emotionally, or relationally. When our abilities, our patience, and our love runs out, God remains to be more than enough. Maybe even more comforting is that He’s far more committed to our desires than we are.

When fear whispers that we are unqualified, ill-equipped, a failure and way past Hope, we must flip that lie in our mind and remember exactly what our God says about us. We are His children, we have been made clean by the work of Jesus,and we have been called to be the light of the world.

God is ready, willing and able to bless us abundantly in the things we face today. He will not fail us when we need Him. He has what we need to endure, persevere and be faithful. There is no moment when He’s not paying attention and able to supply us with what we need. And walking with Him, empowered byHim, we will abound in the work He sets before us.

God is like a magnet to those who admit their weakness and need for Him. It’s a perfect setup for God to show up in power. With His help, we can put a finger right on our fear that has its nasty hook in our heart and tell it the truth. Flip the lies over, and remember His truth. His strength is made perfect in our weakness.

Our God is stronger than all of our fears.

2 Corinthians 12:6-10

Choosing Faith Over Fear

Child psychologists studied toddler’s behavior at night time and discovered that children tend to she shadows in their rooms, (if you’re a parent you know this is true). Then interpret and imagine the shadows as scary things, becoming fearful and then struggling to sleep. But when the light was turned on in the room, everything changed. They could see that everything was okay and then were able to sleep at ease.

Have you ever let your own fear of shadows become all-consuming? While having faith is something we strive for, we’re human and fall short. We often fear the unknowns and what-ifs of life. Even though fear and faith can share the same heartbeat, they don’t share the same perspective. Fear focuses on the shadows, and faith focuses on the Shepherd.

Psalm 23 teaches us this. What words come to mind when you think of the valley? The first part of Psalm 23 paints a picture of green pastures and abundant waters. It’s a restful, sheltered, and restorative place where every need is met and God’s care is evident. Some valleys, however, are inhospitable passages with deep shadows and restrictive views of what lies ahead. In the “valley of the shadow of desth” Psalm 23:4), travelers feel vulnerable to all sorts of dangers.

For Christians, green pastures and dark valleys are both a part of life. There are times when God’s abundant outward blessings are obvious and we respond in joy and gratitude. But on other occasions, we’re surrounded by darkness, loss, and pain. Obscured by shadows the path to the future is filled with fearful uncertainties the way seem long, with no end in sight.

However, the same Shepherd who cares for us in the green pasture also remains by our side in the dismal valley, determined to lead us through. We can count on His comfort and protection throughout life’s journey until we safely reach our Father’s house,

Just like small children, when fear takes over in our valleys, we often only see darkness. But faith sees the light of the Shepherd giving us the comfort we need to walk confidently. What has your perspective been in your valleys? Are you focused on the shadows? Or have you locked eyes with your Shepherd? Maybe if we spent a little time asking Jesus to give us more faith-filled perspective and directing our focus to Him, our valleys wouldn’t seem so deep.

To Obey God Or Not Obey? It’s A Choice

I’ve never taken a dog to obedience school. If you have, perhaps you can confirm something I’ve heard. Obedience School is more for the human that the dog, This may be an urban legend. If it is, the only thing it’s bound to harm is our human egos. The promise behind this statement is most dogs are basically obedient. The problem is with the owners. They aren’t consistent enough in giving commands. Consequently the dog doesn’t always get the right message. With the right training a dog learns to consistently respond to commands. So dogs and owners have a lot to learn. But let’s be clear on one thing, the dog has no say in this,

One of our unique characteristics of being made in the image of God is our ability to choose. We may practice doing something a thousand times, but if we choose to do it differently, we will. God has given us free Will to choose or reject whatever we want. This is envelope true of specific commands to obey. As you would expect the Bible has much to say about obedience. I want to call attention to some observations I have made about obedience from God’s word. Read through then if you are struggling in any area of your life about whether or not to obey God.

  • Jesus is our example of obedience. He obeyed the Father (John 6:38, Luke 22:42).
  • Obedience is a demonstration of love for the one we obey (John 14:23, 1 John 5:2).
  • We have the choice of whether or not to obey. Jesus doesn’t allow the wind and the sea or demons to disobey Him (Matthew 827, Mark 1:27).
  • Believing in that Jesus died, was buried and rose again to pay for our sins is described as obeying Jesus. Those who obey and believe in Him receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:32, Hebrews 5:9).
  • Whoever doesn’t believe Jesus died was buried and rose again to pat for his/her sins is described as not obeying Jesus. Those people will experience God’s wrath (John 3:36, Romans 2:8: Thessalonians 1:8).
  • We can obey Jesus with our thoughts. This means we can disobey Him with our thoughts (2 Corinthians 10:5).
  • We are to obey, like Abraham even if we don’t know the outcome of our obedience (Hebrews 11:8).
  • Other than God there are two types of people we’re to obey. We are to obey our parents, if we’re children (Ephesians 6:1). We’re to obey our leaders in the church (Hebrews 13:17).
  • If there are conflicting commands, we’re to obey God rather than men ( Acts 5:39).

There are many reasons to obey God. The most compelling reason is that it’s an expression of our love for Him. In spite of all these reasons, obedience is still a choice. Show the Father and Son and Holy Spirit how much you love them by choosing to obey,

Coronavirus Covid-19-Response According To The Bible

History has taught us a simple truth plagues are not new. The first plague mentioned in the Bible is recorded in General 12:17 when God sent a plague upon Pharaoh because of Abram’s wife.

The book of Exodus refers to ten plagues that God inflicted upon and uncooperative Egyptian Pharaoh through the prophet Moses (Exodus 7:12. The words plague and plagues occur seventy-one times in the Bible, the book of Revelation. God has prophesied that a long series of plagues will come upon the earth in the future. These plagues are symbolized as Seals and Trumpets (Revelation 8:6-9, 21). And Bowls Revelation 16:1-18). Almost every time the Bible refers to plagues as an act of God judgement.

In Luke 21:11, Jesus tells us that in the last days God will gradually allow the world system to degenerate.

Then He continued by saying to them, “Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be great earthquakes, and in various places plagued and famines; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven..

Like 21:11

Jesus says that in the last days there will be earthquakes, plagues in various places and famine. Notice the word plagues.

Coronavirus

The Biblical evidence is the plagues are normally acts of God’s judgment. According to the Shorter Oxford Dictionary, a plague is an illness or disease, especially an infectious, contagious disease spending rapidly over a wide area with great mortality. But is it possible that a plague such as Coronavirus can occur just because we live in a sinful world? The answer is probably yes! That is Coronavirus could be an act of God’s judgment, but then it could just be the result of a sinful decaying world.

Caringly Yours reports that the coronavirus was first identified in the 1960s, coronavirus is a common virus that primarily infects the nose, upper throat and sinuses. While most aren’t dangerous, some strains have been reported severe. The virus derives its name from it’s crown-like shape.

The current Coronavirus (COVID 19) was first detected in Wuhan, China. The city is the tenth-largest in Cina with about 11 million people. WebMD a well respected medical website, reports,

In early 2029, after a December 2019 outbreak in China. The world health organization identified a new type, 2019 novel Coronavirus which can be fatal. The organization named it COVID-19. [2]

The message of these two reports is that the virus can be dangerous and highly contagious. The current coronavirus spreads quickly.

So, is the Coronavirus an act of God’s judgment or the result of living in a sinful world? Since we do not know the mind of God, we cannot know the answer. But we can confidently say that panic over the Coronavirus that is sweeping the globe should cause every man and woman to be sure that they will go to heaven when they die.

Response To The Coronavirus

But how should a Christian respond to Coronavirus COVID-19? Matthew 8:23-27 helps us discover the answer with an example of the twelve disciples. In this passage, Jesus and the disciples are in a boat during a great storm. Verses 24 and 25 gives us information about their situation.

And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep. And they came to Him and woke Him, saying. “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!”

Matthew 8:24-25

This was truly an amazing event. While Jesus was sleeping, the disciples are in great fear. They beg Jesus to save then. They think they are going to die. If you were Jesusm how would you have responded! Would you try to comfort them? Watch what Jesus did,

Verse 25 says that Jesus rebuked them first, then Jesus calmed the storm.

He said to then, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith! Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm

Matthew 8:26

Jesus shocked them by rebuking them first. In that rebuke, Jesus revealed that they were men of little faith. Why were they men of little faith? Notice what Jesus tells us. They were afraid. Do you see that one symptom of little faith is fear?

About now you are probably wondering how this applies to the growing fear about the coronavirus. The answer is that Christians need to be people of great faith and respond in faith to our God. But how do we become people of great faith? Jesus gives us the answer later in Matthew 16:8-9 when Jesus tells the disciples the fourth time that they had little faith. They were anxious. Now let’s recover what He told them.

But Jesus, aware of this, said, ‘You men of little faith why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread? Do you not understand or remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets full you picked up?

Matthew 16:8-9

Jesus told them that they needed to either understand that He could accomplish great miracles or they needed to remember the miracles that He had done. The miracle Jesus referred to are called the feeding of the five thousand and feeding of the four thousand.

Therefore if you have a little faith, ask God to help you understand and remember what God has already done for you and others in the past. Then trust Him for whatever may occur in the future. 1 Peter 5: 7 reminds us to cast..,

…all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you

1 Peter 5:7

Only in God the Father can we find perfect peace

Those who love your law have great peace, and nothing causes them to stumble

Psalm 119:165

God can protect every believer from the virus. We have a God who is in total control of every situation. But if He chooses to allow you to become infected – trust Him! Ask Him to heal you. You should also consider asking your church community to pray for you (James 5;14-15). John 4:8 reminds us that God is love! We do not need to fear but trust Him for our future. He will never leave us alone (Matthew 28 20).

One possible situation is that you might be left here on this planet to live some more years. The Apostle Pauk said in Philippians 1:21:

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Philippians 1:21

The best possible situation for a Christian is to go to heaven where righteousness dwells and there is no more sickness, pain and suffering, Then we can see our God for the first time in our lives.

“If we live we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.” Romans 14:8