When Are Things Going To Get Better?

How many times do you know what God is asking and wanting you to do and yet...you choose to stay exactly where you are? You continue doing exactly the same things that have been making you unhappy for the past several years. You talk about making the tough, yet necessary changes but somehow you continue to rely on your own strength, will and might. It is never quite enough to get your life back on the right path to happiness.

I'm going to be very frank with you. There is one constant and continual problem. It is something that we all struggle with...pride. We think we can handle everything on our own. But the one question I have to ask you is, "How's that been working out for you?" Do you still feel, lost, sad, alone, afraid and unable to stand strong and change the areas of your life that are out of control? The very thing that got the devil kicked out of heaven was pride. Unfortunately he uses that weakness in your life to continue to lie to you. He isolate's you and then fills your head with thoughts of defeat, and hopelessness. He tries to make you feel weak if you need to ask God for help. He does not want you to go to the very source of love, truth, light, wisdom and hope.

Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:7, 9-10

Jesus came to give you life through a relationship with Him. This relationship is built on getting to know Him and His Word through prayer and scripture study. As you spend time with Him daily, He begins to heal your wounds through His love and truth about who you really are. He slowly begins to take away the desires to do the things that are causing you heartache. He leads you beside still, calm waters; allowing you to take all of your pain, addictions, heartache, and loneliness and hand it over to Him. He will fill you with a peace that is incomprehensible. A peace that defy's all human logic. As you lean on Him, He builds you up and reminds you of how special you truly are. You are not your sin, you are not your addictions, you are not unworthy, you are not unloved. You begin to see who you truly are in and through HIS EYES. A person of great importance and value in advancing His Kingdom. A person worthy of giving His life for. 

"I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me." Proverbs 8:17

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." 1 Peter 5:6-7

Do not continue to struggle alone. Do not feel ashamed to go to the Lord and ask for forgiveness. Do not feel unworthy of being loved. Do not feel the need to control everything in your life and feel like a failure when you can't. You were not made to travel this journey alone. You've been made for a love relationship with Jesus Christ. That emptiness you constantly feel is the huge gaping hole that God created in you to be filled with HIS LOVE. Do not continue to weather your storm alone through the deception of pride. Look to your Savior, your Redeemer, and your Healer. He stands at the door waiting...will you let Him in to your heart and your life?

"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." Revelation 3:20

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." John 3:16

Is Your Life Like A Toothache?

story by: lisa petrarca

My son had a terrible toothache, off and on for years. He was over 18, so unfortunately I couldn't make him go to the dentist...which he was deathly afraid of. But what he didn't realize was that below the surface, it was being eaten away, little by little. When the pain would subside for several months, everything was great, but suddenly the aching and throbbing would get worse, forcing him to face the fact that once again, there really was a problem.

Eventually, it became so severely infected that he had no choice but to go to the dentist. Unfortunately, it was too late to save the tooth. He'd waited too long to take care of the problem. Now it was going to have to be removed and a bridge built, costing him more money than if he had originally taken care of the problem at the first sign of symptoms.

Our life is often like a toothache. We let sin slowly eat away at our insides. Small things at first, things that we can justify. Things that we think aren't really a problem that needs attention. But slowly, it starts to take root, take hold of us, deeper and deeper at our core. The sin will often flare up, causing trouble, hurt and anger with loved ones or friends. But we push it down and continue on, not addressing the problem. But it's there, rotting inside of you.

You don't realize that you need to go to the source that can take that sin away from you, just like a dentist can remove a toothache, the forgiveness offered from our Savior Jesus Christ can remove sins grip. It's simple and costs nothing. Take the first steps, begin by praying, ask for forgiveness and ask the Lord to help you to overcome the sin. Then spend time daily, talking to Him, as you feel yourself becoming weak in a certain area, PRAY and read a scripture in the Bible (medicine to remove the ache of sin.) The Lord is faithful to answer, but you have to take the first steps and go to Him. Don't wait until you feel you have no other options and you've lost all that once mattered to you. You can remove the pain. Get down on your knees today. He's waiting to lift you up and carry you. His love for you is unending, HE CAN AND WILL MAKE ALL THINGS NEW.

2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"

Ephesians 1:7 "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace."

Ephesians 2:1 "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when were were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved.

Jeremiah 15:19-21 "Therefore this is what the Lord says: If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me; if you utter worthy, not worthless, words, you will be my spokesman. Let this people turn to you, but you must not turn to them. I will make you a wall to this people, a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you to rescue and save you," declares the Lord. "I will save you from the hands of the wicked and redeem you from the grasp of the cruel."