What Are You Chasing?

 

A Christian thought to ponder ...

What are you chasing? Are you chasing after riches? Are you chasing after some woke notion? Or are you chasing after the One who created all things, including you?

Chasing after the things of this world will never bring you true happiness. Chasing after materialistic items on this earth will only bring you heartache and destruction. Even if you possess all the treasures on this earth, you will always be empty deep down inside your heart and soul. You will never have true happiness or peace.

In 1 John 2:15-17, we are told not to love this world because the things of this world will come to an end, and those who rebelled and turned away from God will face His wrath.

"Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever."

There is only one thing that can bring you true happiness and peace, and that is Jesus. He is our Redeemer. He is our Guide in this life and the answer to all of your problems. He is faithful and true. He gives you strength when you are weak. His love is everlasting. Chasing after Jesus will bring you peace and wisdom. The peace and contentment that Jesus gives will satisfy you just as it states in John 14:27

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid."

Rest in the love of Christ. Lay all your worries and troubles into his hands. 

Chase after Jesus! Reach out to him and say his name. For it is only He that can truly satisfy your heart and soul and bring you true peace. 

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for you Son. Thank you for giving us a Redeemer and that he gives us true happiness and peace. Thank you for Your promises and for the freedom to come before You and seek You in times of trouble. Help us to stay on course. Help us to guide others to You. Help those who are blind to see the Truth, and help them to see that it is only You who can truly satisfy one's heart and soul and bring true peace. 

Amen.

Pray you all have a blessed week!

Carol Moore

I Will Be With You

Even though you may be facing great, fiery trials, whether it be cancer that is spreading and growing throughout your body, financial hardships, or a broken marriage there is hope and joy in the Lord.

You may not think so, but you will find peace in the Lord, if you cast all your worries and doubts on to Him. The Lord cares for you and He loves you. NOTHING can separate you from the love of God.
Trust in Him. Draw upon His strength and guidance and He will walk you through the fiery dark trial. 

And you will find encouragement in His Word. The more you get to know the Lord, you will see that your worries, anxiety, and depression will diminish. And as your faith and trust grows in Him, you will realize that He has always been there and He will never leave you.

Do not let the enemy win. Do not let the enemy discourage you. The enemy wants to drag you down into the deep, lonely, dark waters, whereas, the Lord will see you through those deep, dark waters. He is your Light in the darkness as it says in Isaiah 43:2 " When you go through the deep waters, I will be with you"

Heavenly Father Lord God,
We ask that you would give people strength, trust, courage and hope to overcome the present battles that they face. Help keep the enemy at bay and prevent him from dragging people down into the dark areas that he loves to dwell in to weaken and destroy people. Help those struggling to have a desire to draw closer to You and to seek You during the dark trials of their lives. 

We ask this in Jesus Name.
Amen 

Staying Focused on God

photo sxc.hu

A Christian thought to ponder ...

There are times when I will worry about whether I said something wrong to someone or if I offended someone to the point where I will be stressed out about it all week. Sometimes, I focus so much on what people think about me and what I do or say that I take my focus off of the most important one – God. I have let the enemy distract me by focusing on myself, my insecurities, and my doubts. I have ignored the fact that I need to surrender all that stress and worry into God's hands. I need to let Him be in control. When I am so focused on myself, I set my faith and trust aside so, when I step into the water, I am not walking with Him, but I am sinking into the depths of the murky water, just as Peter did in Matthew 14: 25 – 31.

Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.

When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

“Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” Matthew 14: 25 – 31.

So, why do we doubt God? Why do we tend to focus on ourselves and not God? Why do we let all those minute events that take place daily in our lives take precedence over God?

It is because of our sinful nature that we focus on ourselves. Satan wants us to be distracted. He wants us to be at odds with one another, and Satan wants us to doubt. Satan wants us to have fear; and to question, judge, and condemn one another. Satan wants us to do everything that is the opposite of what God wants us to do. Satan wants to thwart God’s plans for humanity. The enemy wants us to focus on anything but God. He doesn’t want us to love each other, help each other, or forgive each other. The enemy wants hatred, bitterness, anger, doubts, and fear to harbor in our hearts instead of faith, trust, and love. If we were to just lay all those trivial daily events in our lives into our Lord’s hands, let him handle and take care of everything, and leap out into the waters with blinding love, faith, and trust, we CAN walk on the waters with Him through the storm.

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for loving us. Thank you for reaching out to us despite our waves of doubts and fears. As we go about our daily lives, help us to stay focused on You. Help us to surrender all our troubles and worries to You and rest it all in Your hands. Help us to grow closer to You and develop a stronger relationship with You. Help us to be loving, kind, and forgiving towards one another. May Your love shine through each and every one of us each and every day.

I ask this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

God Bless,

Carol