Trust Your Needs

Years ago, I had crazy spiritual beliefs. I believed that if I wanted to be a holy person, I should NOT trust my needs. Because I figured my desires are most likely from the flesh, not from the spirit.

The message I received was this: “Fear yourself. Fear your desires. Fear your selfishness. Don’t trust yourself. Instead, trust God. Trust your group. Trust your leader. Trust the system…” Oh, what a terrible thing to believe! This is the reason there is so much spiritual abuse happening in religious groups.

Priests, preachers, and pastors love to emphasize this message: “Don’t trust yourself!” Directly or indirectly, they will ask their members to simply rely on the leaders’ wisdom and decisions. Unintentionally, they produce people who are infants in their emotional and spiritual growth. Instead of freedom, religion shackles us to immaturity. God calls us to be childlike, not childish.

God Trusts You—When Will You Learn To Trust Yourself?

Instead, we need to hear a new message. What message? That you’re made in the image and likeness of God! That you’re not just good. You’re very good! So trust yourself because God trusts you. He trusts you by calling you His child. He trusts you by planting His Kingdom in you. He trusts you by dwelling within you. He trusts you by commissioning you to be His presence in the world. He trusts you to love the way He does…

Wow! Believe me, when I pray, when I read the Bible, when I listen to God’s voice in the depths of my heart, I say “Wow!” many, many times.

And one way of trusting yourself is to trust your needs. Not your sinful needs. That’s what you need to deny. But your legitimate, valid, and God-planted needs. Meet those needs. Even your need for joy.

Some people view all pleasure as bad. Their unwritten motto: “If it feels good, it must be bad.” That’s not true. I believe life was given by God to be enjoyed to the full. To be savoured with delight. So taste. Breathe. Relish. Dance. Sing. Live!

Ever wondered why some religious people are so stuck-up, they don’t allow anyone to enjoy life? When we enjoy life, we allow others to enjoy as well.

Love yourself!

— Bo Sanchez

Meditation: Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. – 1 Timothy 6:17

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Letter from God

From: GOD

To: All those who believe in me

Date: Today and Everyday

Subject: Life’s problems

I am God. Today I will be handling all of your problems. Please remember that I do not need your help. If the devil happens to deliver a situation to you that you cannot handle, do not attempt to resolve it. Kindly put it in the SFJTD (something for Jesus to do) box. It will be addressed in MY TIME, not yours. Once the matter is placed into the box, do not hold on to it or remove it.

Holding on or removal will delay the resolution of your problem. If it is a situation that you think you are capable of handling, please consult me in prayer to be sure that it is the proper resolution.

Because I do not sleep nor do I slumber, there is no need for you to lose any sleep. Rest my child. If you need to contact me, I am only a prayer away.

As with all good things, please pass it on.

— Author Unknown

Meditation: casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. – 1 Peter 5:7

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

On the Other Side

A sick man turned to his doctor, as he was preparing to leave the examination room and said, “Doctor, I am afraid to die. Tell me what lies on the other side.”

Very quietly, the doctor said, “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know? You, a Christian man, do not know what is on the other side?”

The doctor was holding the handle of the door; on the other side of which came a sound of scratching and whining, and as he opened the door, a dog sprang into the room and leapt on him with an eager show of gladness.

Turning to the patient, the doctor said, “Did you notice my dog? He’s never been in this room before. He didn’t know what was inside. He knew nothing except that his master was here, and when the door opened, he sprang in without fear.

I know little of what is on the other side of death, but I do know one thing…I know my Master is there and that is enough.”

— Author Unknown

Meditation: “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” – John 14:1-2

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

U-Turns

“Thanks for inviting me to go to church with you next Sunday, Uncle Al.”

Tim and his uncle were on their way to Bonny Lake. They had heard the fishing there was great.

“I…I don’t want to hurt your feelings,” continued Tim, “but . . . well . . . I’m not sure I want to get into this religious stuff. Besides, Mom and Dad don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Oh?” asked Uncle Al in surprise. “I thought you said that your parents wouldn’t mind if you went with me. You sounded quite interested last week. You even said the Gospel was beginning to make sense to you.”

“Yeah, but since then I’ve done a lot of thinking,” Tim said slowly. “I don’t think I feel like getting ‘saved’ right now. The crowd I hang around with at school wouldn’t understand, and I like being with them. Someday I’ll start going to church, but I think I’ll just go on the way I am for a while. I know I’m not perfect, but I’m not so bad, either.”

Tim’s uncle drove on silently for a few minutes. “Oh, no!” he exclaimed as they passed a road sign. “I was so intent on our conversation that I missed the turnoff! We should have gotten off this road five miles back!”

“Guess we’ll have to turn around and go back now, huh?” asked Tim.

But Uncle Al shook his head. “I don’t feel like turning around right now,” he said. “I guess we’ll just keep going this way. I kind of like this road, and the scenery is nice.”

Tim looked at his uncle in amazement. “But we have to turn around to get to Bonny Lake,” he protested, “and the longer we keep going this way, the longer it will take to get back. If we wait too long to turn around, we might not even get there in time to fish.”

Uncle Al smiled at Tim as he slowed down for the next turn. “You’re right,” he said, “and what you said just now is exactly what I’ve been trying to tell you about spiritual life . . . that when you’re travelling down the wrong road, the sooner you turn around, the better. If you wait too long, you might never get to your goal: Heaven.”

— Author Unknown

Meditation: Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’ – Ezekiel 33:11

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Prayer For Guidance And Protection To Those I Love

O heavenly Father, our protector and guide, You are the greatest Friend and joy we have! To be able to come to You in prayer like this is the most beautiful part of our lives!

It is not for myself that I want to pray today, dear Father, but for those who are near and dear to me and about whom I worry. You know what they are facing, dear Father. And You know most of all the deepest reasons why these things have come upon them!

And You know how I want to help. Truly I think it would be easier if I could only face what they are facing. But You know how helpless we are to help another even though we know what is just and right.

Only You are left, dear Father. Do be with them in all things at all times. Protect them from enemies and evil, my Father. Forgive them their sins and put love of others in their hearts.

O to make them happy in their lives at home, dear Father, and help them live as You wouldst have them live. Above all, put love in their hearts for You.

And thank You, my Father, for Your goodness to them and to me. Thank You for Your love and guidance and protection! May we honour you all the days of our lives. And be happy and uplifted even as I feel right now!

Amen.

— Author Unknown

Meditation: pray without ceasing, – 1 Thessalonians 5:17

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

One Solitary Life

He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman.

He grew up in still another village, where he worked in a carpenter shop until he was 30.

Then for three years, he was an itinerant preacher.

He never wrote a book.

He never held an office.

He never had a family or owned a house.

He didn’t go to college.

He never travelled more than 200 miles from the place he was born.

He did none of the things one usually associates with greatness.

He had no credentials but himself.

He was only 33 when public opinion turned against him.

His friends deserted him.

He was turned over to his enemies and went through the mockery of a trial.

He was nailed to a cross between two thieves.

When he was dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing, the only property he had on earth.

When he was dead, he was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.

Nineteen centuries have come and gone, and today he is the central figure of the human race, the leader of mankind’s progress.

All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man on earth as much as that

One Solitary Life.

Do You Know Who He Is?

— Author Unknown

Meditation: Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, – Philippians 2:9

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

A Glass of Milk

One day, a poor boy, who was selling goods from door to door to pay his way through school, found he had only one thin dime left; and he was hungry. He decided he would ask for a meal at the next house. However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door. Instead of a meal he asked for a drink of water. She thought he looked hungry so she brought him a large glass of milk.

He drank it slowly, and then asked, “How much do I owe you?”
“You don’t owe me anything,” she replied. “Mother has taught us never to accept pay for a kindness.”
He said, “Then I thank you from my heart.”
As Howard Kelly left that house, he not only felt stronger physically, but his faith in God and man was also strengthened, as he had been ready to give up and quit before then.
Years later that young woman became critically ill. The local doctors were baffled. They finally sent her to the big city, where they called in specialists to study her rare disease. Dr. Howard Kelly was called in for the consultation. When he heard the name of the town she came from, a strange light filled his eyes. Immediately he rose and went down the hall of the hospital to her room. Dressed in his doctor’s gown he went in to see her. He recognized her at once. He went back to the consultation room determined to do his best to save her life.
From that day he gave special attention to her case. After a long struggle, the battle was won. Dr. Kelly requested the business accounts unit to pass the final bill to him for approval. He looked at it, then wrote something on the edge; then the bill was sent to her room.
She feared to open it, for she was sure it would take the rest of her life to pay for it all. Finally she looked, and something caught her attention on the side of the bill. She read these words…
“Paid in full with one glass of milk.”
Signed.
Dr. Howard Kelly.
Tears of joy flooded her eyes as her happy heart prayed: “Thank You, God, that Your love has spread abroad through human hearts and hands.”
Meditation: Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back…And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. – Luke 6:30, 33
You will succeed in Jesus Name!