God doesn’t seem to be listening to me. I hear that a lot. People use that to say God is not real. God says He always listens, the real question is are we listening to Him?
How do you know if someone listened to you? By allowing them to respond to what you said. Do we give God a chance to do that?
I often ask people, “What is prayer?” The response I usually get is, talking to God. Sounds like a good answer, but that answer is the problem. Have you ever been talked to? Of course you have, it is when the other person does not allow you to get a word in at all.
We pray and ask God all kinds of things, and then what do we do? We say amen. What happens when you say amen? The conversation with God is over. It is like hanging up the phone. We don’t allow God to say anything and then we conclude God doesn’t listen.
Imagine you meet your friend for lunch and talk about your life and about your problems. Then you say well I have to go before they can say anything. Later you complain that your friend was no help at all. That they don’t listen. But the real problem was not the friend but that you did not give them a chance. We tend to do that with God. And then we wonder why nothing happens in our lives.
What really is prayer? The correct answer is talking “WITH” God. When you talk with someone you give them the chance to talk back. With infers a back-and-forth conversation.
God is listening. God listen very intently to all that you have to say. God is also ready and willing to talk back and have an amazing conversation with you. However, most times we don’t give God the chance to have His say. The question is will you give God the chance to do so?
If you are a Chrisitan and you wonder if God cares, give Him the chance to show it. When you do, your relationship will go to a whole nother level.
If you don’t believe in Jesus, why not give Him the chance to speak for Himself to prove He is real and that He does love you. What do you have to lose?
How do you do that? Start a conversation with God and then don’t hang up. Don’t use the word amen. Stop ending your prayers with amen. I have a question why would you ever want to stop the lines of communication with God in your life?
Communication is the key to all good relationships and God wants to communicate with you. He is a great communicator, but we have to give Him room to talk with us. When you do you will see the God really does listen and has something special to say to you all the time!
You want God to be real in your life, talk with God, not to God. and don’t hang up too early. Don’t hang up at all.
Remember Jesus loves you; I love you, and you are awesome!
Sometimes it doesn’t really seem that God cares about my situation.
Many go where is God in all of this? Why would God allow this to happen? This is a common question that many of us wrestle with, and we sure wish we had a good answer. I hope to give that to you today along with a solution.
The absolutely joy of being a real Christian is that no matter the situation you don’t have to really worry about it or give it much thought. That is tough concept to wrap our heads around, because we think if God loves us, why does He allow those situations to occur in our lives.
Everyone in this world will face some situation where they just are overwhelmed. No one is exempt. You can tell someone all the time how great Jesus is, but for most of the world, they just don’t get Jesus. What they do get are the problems that arise in their lives that they need solved. They want someone or something to help them. They don’t trust Jesus yet, so Jesus allows us to face issues, as a living example to them that Jesus really does care in a way they can absolutely relate to.
Jesus even said we would face trials in this life. What Jesus said next is when you go through them if you are with Jesus, it will be so different for you than the rest of the world.
We do that by overcoming our doubts and fears (and you will have them) and just go on with life like nothing is wrong and give the problem to Jesus. That is hard and we will wonder is God there? Does God care? As we go through our situation. We, like everyone else, want things taken care of right away and the way we think it needs to be done. So, we wonder, the key is can we continue to trust God even when it looks bleak. When we do, Jesus shows up in so many ways, because He is in a relationship with you. When you are in a relationship your partner doesn’t want harm to come to you, but sometimes they can’t do anything about it. Jesus can and is ready willing and able to come through for you.
His way might not be your way or even in the time frame you want. God does say is He will take care of it and in the end, it will always be good for you (Romans 8:28). Sometimes it takes patience and understanding. A couple of things most humans have in short supply. When we chose to do this then God can do things for us that will completely blow your mind because you gave God your trust and freedom to do whatever it takes. Jesus promises to do for you things that will blow your mind and in turn affect those around you.
This is hard work, and Jesus says in 2 Timoty 2:6 that the hardworking farmer is to be the first to partake of the crops. This means before God helps anyone, He will be there to help you first.
When you are in a quote “troubling” situation now you can look at it differently as an opportunity to serve Jesus. Those around you will relate to what you are doing though. Then when Jess shows up for you, they will say how did that happen for you. That will open the doors to the hardest of hearts.
One last thing. Many people say they want to see miracles. In order to see a miracle you have to be in a situation where you need one. When we are in that situation stop looking at the problem and start expecting the miracle! The sooner we do that the sooner Jesus will respond and the more of an impact it will have on you!
Jesus says give Him all the stress and worry. Not a bad idea for a better quality of life!
Remember Jesus loves you; I love you, and you are awesome!
Have you ever heard the phrase “Just give it to God.”
Many people say that and then they are disappointed because nothing happens. Then they begin to question if God is really for them and some even then wonder if God is a liar, because they gave it to God, and nothing happened.
The problem is when people say this phrase “just give it God.” They then sit back and wait for God to do something, but nothing seems to happen. We wonder, does God not want to help? The thing is God really does want to help! He can’t wait to help you.
When people say this phrase, they tend to hinder God moving in their lives by doing the following.
When we just sit back and wait for God to do something. The problem is that the issue is still there in front of us. We begin to dwell even more on the problem because we continue to look at it. This then causes us to doubt if God will do anything. It is like watching a clock just tick away and it seems like time does not pass.
We also tend to give God only one option to fix the problem. God has many ways to solve the issue. When God does move, we tend to say, “Well, God I don’t think this is the right thing to do.” It is like putting God in a box and limit what God can do. When He is in the box, He can’t do what you need done.
When we sit back and just wait for God to move, we become a sitting duck for the devil to continually go after us. It becomes easy to do down the dark roads of doubt, depression, anxiety, and woe is me. We create an atmosphere that God cannot move in.
Another reason why God doesn’t seem to move when we just wait, is that where we are waiting is the worst place to be. God needs to get us out of the way so He can do something amazing. God is saying, move, so that I can really take care of it.
How do we really “Just give it to God”? Give the issue to God and then DO something. Get moving. You want the devil to leave you alone, remember it is hard to hit a moving target.
You want God to be free to do what is absolutely best for you, get out of His way, don’t meddle, and stop dwelling on the issue so God can get to work right away for you.
When times are rough, we tend to just wait around. God says press in closer. Get more involved in the services, go deeper in worship, deeper in the Word, and go to the altars. Get involved in serving others. Find a ministry to do. Do something to show God, you have totally given it to Him to deal with it.
That is what you want, right? You want God to deal with it, not you. God says, so live that way. Jesus sees that type of effort, and it does take effort to go on with God when you are experiencing these tough times. This shows Jesus that you love Him more than words can say. Isn’t that what we are looking for in our lives? Don’t you think Jesus is looking for that as well? He is, and Jesus will respond in miraculous ways in your life.
The next time you need to “Just Give It to God,” do exactly that and leave it behind.
Psalm 55:22 Cast your burden on the Lord, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.
The key word in this verse is cast. When you give it to Jesus, cast it as far away from you as you can. Take your mind and hands off of it and then go do something else and watch Jesus move in your life like you have never seen Him move before.
Once you do it once, and see the results, it will get easier and easier. One last thing. When you truly learn to do this, the devil will leave you alone more because the devil will see that picking on you does him no good.
Remember Jesus loves you; I love you, and you are awesome!
Let’s start with an undisputed fact that doesn't change whether you believe in Jesus or not. You will be dead a lot longer than you will ever be alive. For example: in Punxsutawney where I live, there are graves that are over 200 years old. Those people have been dead a lot longer than they were ever alive.
If your perspective on life is, "this is all there is", then anxiety, depression, and hopelessness will abound. No matter how advanced we become as humans, we cannot defeat the fact that you will be dead longer than you are alive. Clinical cases of anxiety and depression are at an all-time high, based on just the reported cases. Yet humanity as a whole is more advanced, wealthier, and has access to more pleasure than at any time in all of human history.
What if we had a different perspective? Another option? What if there is something more to this life? What if there was something better to come? What if one day, all that is wrong with this world will come to an end, and we can truly leave that behind? Wouldn’t that be worth looking into?
That is what Jesus offers us. Hope for a future (Jeremiah 29:11). Not just any future, but a glorious one where there is no death, no tears, no sickness, nor any pain. A future where Jesus is waiting to welcome you and then provide for your every need for all of eternity. Heaven is not made for Jesus, but for us.
What is the price? Just ask Jesus and you get in. How do you know you are in? Jesus will begin to have a real relationship with you, so that you will know. Jesus wants you to know.
JRR Tolkien who is most famous for writing, "The Lord of the Rings", which almost everyone is familiar with. What you may not know is He was also the person who led C.S. Lewis to Jesus. He was a born-again Christian. JRR Tolkein has this quote: “The birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus means that one day everything sad will come untrue.”
There is a lot of sadness in this world, but with Jesus that does not have to bother you, because one day it will all be gone! This is absolutely true. If there is nothing more beyond this life, then sadness will be gone, because you will simply not exist. However, if there is something more, you have a choice to be in a place where every kind of possible sadness is not just gone but is replaced with a happiness that is unimaginable.
Unimaginable is truly the right word. If we could imagine how great Heaven will be and how much Jesus actually loves us, then we would be disappointed. Jesus gives us glimpses of what that will look like, to wet our appetite and let us know that is only the beginning!
Which perspective leads to a happier life? This is it, or there is something more that is way better?
The undisputed fact is, you will be dead longer than you are alive.
If there is nothing else, how hopeless we all are, but if there is something more, then all that happens in this life is really no big deal.
What is the price of this hope? Start a relationship with Jesus today, not a religion, a real loving relationship. You will know that you are in one because Jesus will become real to you.
Any time we enter into a relationship we are awkward about it, so if you need help, just pray the words in the following paragraph and mean them. Jesus will do the rest and your perspective on life will change.
"Jesus, thank you for wanting me in your life. Thank you for coming to earth to die for me even though I don’t deserve it. Thank you for coming back to life to prove to me that there is hope for a future. Jesus, I want to have a real relationship with you today!"
Remember Jesus loves you; I love you, and you are awesome!
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