Check Your Account

"It is not your gift that I value but rather the interest increasing in your own account." - Philippians 4:17

In a way, our prayer life is like a bank account - we have to deposit in order to be able to withdraw when we're in need. We often have this false perception that God needs our prayers when He doesn't. We might think that we are obliged to pray to make God happy, but we are the ones that need daily prayer urgently. When we spend time with God in prayer, we give Him our time, we give Him our thoughts, our ideas, everything. In turn, He starts building us up. The work of God in the soul is hidden and you might not realize it, but with each second spent in prayer, God is fortifying your soul and preparing you for what you'll need in the future. Down the road will come a time that you will be in need, you will need assistance and you will feel alone, but because you went depositing in your divine bank account by praying to God and He went depositing faith, grace, strength, and virtues into you, you will be able to withdraw whatever you need from the Lord and even more… He knows you'll be good for it!

Think about how sad it will be for those who never deposited anything and have nothing to show when they are most in need. What can possibly be left for us if we are spiritual poor as well? A healthy prayer life is the way to making sure we are always increasing in value with God.

Today's Prayer:
My God, show me how much in need I am of You. My account with You can never have enough in it. Help me to work hard to fill it and be able to increase in worth for You. In Jesus' Name we pray, amen.

First Comes Desire

"It is God who makes you not only wish but also carry out what pleases Him." - Philippians 2:13

I attended a Divine Mercy Holy Hour tonight and after the service, the priest asked my friend if he wanted to be a priest. My friend smiled at him not knowing how to respond politely. For most of us, the thought of being a nun or a priest is out of the question, but God will never call you to do anything you don't have a desire to do first. This is how it is with all things in our lives. When I started to look for God and find ways to serve Him, I had the desire for it first, before I ever did anything about it.

So many of you might feel in your heart that there is something you want to do for the Lord and don't know where to start. Maybe you want to read during Mass, maybe you want to volunteer to help the poor or at a soup kitchen, or maybe you want to teach religion classes to children studying for their First Communion or Confirmation. Whatever you feel in your heart you want to do, God wants you to do as well. Pray about it, ask God to show you the path and lead you in what to do next. In this way you'll see that whatever road God leads you on, He'll lead you with love and never out of obligation.

Today's Prayer:
Lord, You know the desires of my heart. I want to follow You and serve You. Give me the desire to work for Your Kingdom and let me follow what You have put in my heart. In Jesus' Name we pray, amen.

God Does Not Tempt

"Let no one say when he is tempted, 'This temptation comes from God.' God is never tempted and He can never tempt anyone. Instead, each of us is lured and enticed by his own evil desire. Once this desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when fully grown, gives birth to death." - James 1:13-15

I know people who get angry at God for their own sins. They think that it's God's fault that they're an alcoholic, for example, or that God put them in a sinful situation to test them. As Saint James wrote in this epistle, God does not tempt anyone. On the contrary, it is our own desires that lead us to sin. You are fully aware of what is right and wrong, and when you have the option to sin and you take it, it is nobody's fault but your own.

Don't blame God for your weakness. We are all susceptible to certain evil desires and it is our job to rely on God and ask for help in combating them. God doesn't get you into sin, but He's the only way out of it.

Today's Prayer:
My Lord, help me identify those areas in my life in which I am weak and sin. Help me to realize that it is nobody's fault but my own. I ask for the strength and conviction to do Your will everyday of my life. In Jesus' Name we pray, amen.

Be Still

"Be still, know that I am God." - Psalm 46:11

Although we somehow think life is supposed to be fair and easy, it's really not. Situations come into our lives that make us want to explode. Sometimes it's financial issues, sometimes it's drama with family and friends, or sometimes it's an illness that brings us down to rock bottom. How could we not scream out in despair and totally lose it when things seem to be getting worse? If you believe in God, He will give you the strength and the peace to endure.

I had the chance to put this into practice recently. I was so upset, but usually when I would cry, I told God it's in His hands and I felt fortified. You see, if you believe in God, then you know that He prepares you for whatever happens, no matter how difficult. You have to trust that, and when you trust that, you are confident in His promise. You can be still although things are crumbling around you… you can be still because He is God… and being God, He controls all for your benefit. If you show fear and anxiety, that means you don't trust God, you don't know Him… it means you have a bit more to walk until you allow yourself to surrender into His protection.

Today's Prayer:
My God, it's really hard for me to just let go and let You handle these things that are hurting and worrying me, but I want to surrender. Help me from this day forward to just be still and know that You are God, and You will show me the way. In Jesus' Name we pray, amen.

Over Already

"Make us know the shortness of our life, that we may gain wisdom of heart." - Psalm 90:12

Today, my 17 year old twin brothers learned what death is. Two of their friends were killed in a car accident in front of their High School on the way back from lunch. Their white mazda was pretty much wrapped around a telephone pole.

No one can ever explain why some lives are taken so soon. Jordan and Jonathan lost two of their friends. One of them was Jonathan's lab and gym partner. How is he going to understand the emptiness he'll feel when there's no one sitting next to him tomorrow? There are families grieving over their sons right now with no comfort. These are the reasons why we have to ask God to help us number our days. We will all face death one day, but are we ready, or are we counting on getting older to make the changes we need to make in our lives? If you were to meet with death tonight, are there people you should be apologizing to? Are there people who should know how much you love them? Are there mistakes you need to correct? Are there things you need to set right with God? I'm sure Quinntin and Saul would have used their last hours in very different ways if they had known.

I'd like for the Lord to help me get over the shock of their early death, and allow for this to show us the reality and fragility of our lives. It can be over in a second and we never know when that will be. Let's make sure we're right with God for when our turn comes.

Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I ask You for the souls of Quinntin and Saul, two kids who know find themselves in Your presence today. I ask You to provide extraordinary comfort to the parents and families of these kids as they deal with this tragedy, and I ask You for all of the students and friends mourning their loss, especially Jordan and Jonathan. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Jesus Freak!

"Not everyone who says to me: Lord! Lord! will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father in Heaven. Many will say to me on that day, "Lord, Lord, did we not speak in your name? Did we not cast out devils and perform many miracles in your name?" Then I will tell them openly: I have never known you; away from me, you evil people!" - Matthew 7:21-23

Why is it that I am met with so much resistance when I want to pray with someone or talk about God? It seems to me that I would have more friends and people wanting to talk to me if I spoke about wild nights and getting wasted as opposed to the fact that God wants to be everything for us… He wants to make up for the friend that betrayed you, give you love for the partner that doesn't show you affection, be a crutch when you need support. Yet the people that don't want to hear about God now become expert knee-benders, church goers, and bible-holders when an accident leaves a loved one in a coma, when a serious illness hits, when someone goes to jail, or someone is about to lose their house because they can't pay their bills. Where are they when life is good? The fact is, that soon or in a couple of years, I, like each and every single one of you, am going to die, and on that day, I will have to face my God, and on that day, I WILL NOT care about who calls me a "Jesus freak" today, who avoids talking to me because I want to talk about the love of God, or who tries telling me that I should take things easy. The only thing I care about, that matters to me, is that when I die, Jesus will know who I am. Therefore, I am NOT compromising on my faith and I WILL continue to try to do the will of God, because as far as I am concerned, when I call out "Lord! Lord!" I'm getting through those doors and joining all the other Jesus freaks!

Today's Prayer:
Jesus, it is so hard to live with Your joy and do Your will when most of the people around me only seek their own needs and desires. Help us to remember that this life is short and in order to live it righteously we need to put ourselves aside and do as You have taught us. Give us the strength to persevere. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Holy Ground

"Yahweh said to him, 'Do not come near; take off your sandals because the place where you are standing is holy ground.' And God continued, 'I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.' Moses hid his face lest his eyes look on God." - Exodus 3:5-6

Respect is something we all want people to have for us. It is said that we have to give it in order to earn it. Unfortunately, we don't see much of it anymore. People cross so many lines and hardly anything is sacred nowadays. Imagine a neighbor you hardly know just barges into your house one day. They demand to be invited for dinner but give you very little courtesy while in your presence. After dinner, they leave and show no gratitude for your attention with them. This is how many of us are with the Lord and how we act when we enter His house, the church.

Some people walk in late. They talk to the people next to them during the homily, or gaze off at something, not paying attention. Many come in chewing gum or not properly dressed. Many of these are also the first to leave before the blessing is even given. Do you not know that the house of the Lord is a sacred place? A holy place? We have lost the meaning of what is sacred and holy. Before the presence of God, the Creator of the Universe, Moses had to take off his shoes because he was in the presence of the Most High! Open your eyes and see how what we experience during the Mass is the mystery of God the Almighty! What you see going on before you is what Jesus Christ Himself taught the apostles to do before the faithful. The priest who gives the Mass has taken the place of Peter, John, James, Andrew and the rest, and is breaking bread with you, just as Jesus did! And God has invited you to the feast! Pay attention! Involve yourself in the works of God!

And besides having respect for holy and sacred ground, have you fully removed your shoes? Moses was a shepherd, his shoes must have been so dirty. There's no way he could have entered holy ground with them on. Are you bringing filth into God's presence? Are you approaching Him with things you know are separating you from Him? He is holy and pure and deserves at least our respect before Him. When God identified Himself to Moses and Moses recognized he was before God, he hid his face from the Lord because immediately Moses knew how small he was and how infinite and holy God is. In the same way, all of us, since we are all sinners, should bow down before the presence of God out of respect for His Name with the reverence He deserves, especially when we enter His sacred house.

Today's Prayer:
My God, in my ignorance I follow my own will and neglect the fact that You are God, my Creator and rob You of the reverence and respect You deserve. Please give me the humility You gave to Moses before You so that I can honor Your Name. In Jesus' Name we pray, amen.

Your Prayer Life

"The fact is, you do not have what you want because you do not pray for it." - James 4:2

Those that really know God can tell you that our prayer requests are a weakness to Him; there is nothing God wants to deny us. Over the past year, I have really been amazed at the things He does for me. Things that I even asked for in jest because I thought He wouldn't bother to listen to me about certain things… but He's showing me He always listens. And He always listens to you, too. James, someone who was close to the Lord, wouldn't write this verse if he didn't know it to be true. You don't have what you want because you don't pray for it. Do you pray with faith and dedication? A relationship with God isn't shooting up prayers when you want something and then not talking to God for a few weeks until you want something again. The Lord is faithful, be faithful to Him! Live in constant communication with Him and you will see God blessing you and showing you that He is listening and watching. He wants to love you, He wants to bless you and help you with all those things you carry around. Don't turn your back on His love, but develop your prayer life to see the good He wants to do for you.

Today's Prayer:
Lord God, sometimes I'm tired and sometimes I doubt… but despite all this, I do know You're there and that You love me. Put in me the desire to seek You day and night so that Your thoughts are my thoughts. In Your Name we pray, amen.

A Contrite Heart

"Draw close to God and He will come close to you. Clean your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you doubters." - James 5:8

We all want to draw close to God and be better people. The great thing about our God is that the second we seek Him, He draws closer to us. I've heard people that claim to try to look for God with no success but that's hard for me to believe. It's a fact that God let's Himself be found by those who seek Him but there is always one condition - as James puts it here - clean your hands, purify your hearts. When you look for God it's because you know that things in you need change and you know that only He can help you, therefore, when approaching God, it must be with an attitude of repentance and a willingness to give up your former way of living/ thinking/ being and let God guide you. It's the only way. How else can you become a better person and see more good things come your way in life if you don't first acknowledge that God needs to shift some things around? Once you are open to this, you will see God come into your life in an undeniable way.

Today's Prayer:
Lord God, I want to be closer to You but I know that my heart needs to be humbled. Search me and bring to light things that I need to change, things that are standing in Your way. Come close to me Lord, for I just want to be close to You. In Your Name we pray, amen.

God's Work

"What we are is God's work." Ephesians 2:10

Do you ever find yourself worrying about what you're going to do? As if things were really up to you or if you actually had the power to change anything? Sure, you can put in the effort and work hard, but at the end of the day, for anything we do or want, God is the one with the power to open the door. What you've achieved in life you can be proud of, but be sure that only a little credit goes to you, for nothing happens in Heaven or Earth without the Father's consent. Therefore, trust in Him. Be sure to acknowledge and respect Him in all things so that His guidance is with you all your life. It doesn't matter how weak you are, shy you are, or scared… you are the work of His hands and what He wants for your life will be… and if you learn to honor and respect Him, what you want for your life will also be.

Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank You for making me. Thank You for all You have helped me achieve in my life. Guide me every step of the way so that I may never stray from You. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Return to God

"I, Yahweh, have not changed in anything; just as you, children of Jacob, are always the same. Since the day of your ancestors you stray from my ordinances and do not practice them. Return to me and I will return to you, says Yahweh of hosts. But you ask: 'Why do we have to return?' Can a man deceive God? Yet you cheat on me and moreover ask: 'How did we cheat you?'" - Malachi 3:6-8

The thing that always happens when we forget God in our lives, or don't give Him the place He deserves is that we start to think, "what do I need God for? I'm fine. I'm having fun. I don't need that right now." And you can think that all you want but the truth, whether you accept it or not, is that you were created for one purpose - to love and serve God. When you stray from Him and occupy yourself with other things, examine yourself, you are missing something. Something inside is empty, something inside feels hurt. Often times, that empty feeling inside us leads us to go further from God because we seek superficial things to fill us, thinking we'll be happy with certain things. What you don't know is that our God is a jealous God. He loves us and wants us for Himself so when He sees that we stray, He'll let us go, but His grace won't follow us as we step into sin because His goodness is not compatible with evil. Yet, He'll always put someone or something in our paths to remind us of Him and of His love.

Like the verse says, "why do we have to return?" we ask ourselves and we ask others who try to guide us? Well, if for no other reason, then return to stop the hurt, to stop the pain. To stop those insecurities that can depress us or those problems in life that seem like huge mountains ready to devour us. And what happens when we return? God is there with open arms. When we return, God will tell us like He said to the prophet Jeremiah, "When you call on me I will listen. You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. I will let myself be found by you (Jer 29:12-14)." This is all the reason I need.

Today's Prayer:
Loving and merciful God, I thank You that Your goodness is much greater than my sin. I thank You because You overlook my shortcomings as long as my heart is in the right place. Help me to never ever stray. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Be Set on Fire!

"May He enlighten your inner vision, that you may appreciate the things we hope for, since we were called by God. May You know how great is the inheritance, the glory, God sets apart for His saints; may you understand with what extraordinary power He acts in favor of us who believe. " - Ephesians 1:18-19

I've been asked a few times why I started to write about God and when I read Paul's letter to the Ephesians, I feel my heart race faster because this verse is exactly why I'm doing this. I have a need to express the love of God because I don't think a lot of people know Him very well. I feel like most people don't understand what He wants from us. It's not about rules or taking away things from our lives. On the contrary, it's about giving us so much more. We are all broken and each of us has wounds that never seem to heal. To me, God is this incredible, all encompassing force that surrounds me in the air I breathe. He's so strong and yet so gentle and when I'm in His presence, it's like being a child again cuddled up in my mother's arms. And this is what I urgently need you to feel. This is how I need you to see my God, your God, your Creator and your Lord Almighty. And like Paul says, I need you to understand what an incredible, fulfilling feeling it is to know that you are loved by God. How at the moment you come into the Lord's presence, your heart beats faster and the love you feel bursting forward cannot be contained. God wants to take care of you, nurture you. When you begin to experience this, you will be so humbled when you see how He goes over and beyond anything you could have ever expected from Him. I can't tell you how many times, just this week alone, I've broken down in tears because I've seen what He's done for me, the care He's shown me. Just when I think I know what to expect, He gives me so much more.

This is what I want for you. This is how I want you to feel. I want the Lord to open your eyes to His love and I want you to accept it, with all of your heart. Be set on fire. Seek Him every day. When you feel it, don't let it dim. Keep on nurturing the Spirit of God in you so that it grows bigger and you begin to live the life of abundance Jesus promised.

Today's Prayer:
Lord God, I am so humbled by Your power and Your love. Thank You for letting Yourself be known to me. Thank You for revealing Yourself. I don't ever want to take You for granted or push You back further in my life from where You are today. Instead, help me be light and salt of the Earth so that I can make You proud and with others share in this love You have given me. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Out of the Box

"The heavens and their own heavens cannot contain You! How much less this house that I have built." - 2nd Chronicles 6:18

My father always tells people that God is not a feeling. People tell him, "but if I don't feel like going to church, I shouldn't go," or, "but I just don't feel like praying." In these things, we try to conform God into the areas we want Him to be. It's like we put Him in a box on a shelf; when we want something or need something, we pull Him out, but most of the time our relationship with Him is kept separate from the rest of our lives, collecting dust. I was thinking about this today on the train and it got me so upset! Who do we think we are that we feel we have the right to have God fit into our lives the way we want Him to?! In this verse in 2nd Chronicles, it says that not even the heavens' heavens can contain God, so how dare we try to define Him, tell Him what to do and how we want it done? If the heavens cannot contain Him, much less my little mind that has no idea about what's even good for me!

Here's the deal, we need to take God out of the box. He should be in control, not us. God shouldn't have to bend for us, we need to stretch for Him and allow for Him to do what's best for our lives. And don't think, "well, this just isn't for me" because there you go putting God in a box again! If that small box is all the space you give Him, then small things is what you'll see! He cannot be defined and you cannot tell someone who created the entire universe what to do in the little itty bit of time you have here on earth. He is so much bigger than our minds could ever comprehend. Once you tell God you agree to stretch for Him and let Him define who you are, I guarantee your life will change because you will finally have the right perspective.

Today's Prayer:
Lord, I have such a small mind and cannot possibly comprehend even a little bit of Your works and Your wonders. Forgive me for believing myself wise or smart enough to tell You what to do for me. Open my mind and help me to know that You're the one that should define me, not me try to define You. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Speak, Lord, Your Servant Listens

"The boy Samuel ministered to Yahweh under Eli's care in a time in which the word of Yahweh was rarely heard; visions were not seen. Samuel did not yet know Yahweh and the word of Yahweh had not yet been revealed to him. But Yahweh called Samuel and, as he went again to Eli saying, 'I am here for you have called me,' Eli realized that it was Yahweh calling the boy. So he said to Samuel, 'Go, lie down, and if he calls you again, answer: Speak, Yahweh, your servant listens.'" - 1st Samuel 3:1,7-9

A young boy hears the call of God at a time when God's word was hardly heard and visions were not seen. Sounds a lot like today, right? Regardless of the fact that we might not have angels appearing to us, telling us the will of God for our lives, we do have a small, inner voice that tells us what we should do and what we shouldn't do. Or sometimes we get instincts about things, places, people. A lot of times these feelings are cloudy and we're not too sure about what to do. Probably like Samuel, we confused the message and go to others thinking the answer is somewhere else. Samuel knew he heard a voice calling him, but didn't know it was God. How do you know it's God if you've never heard Him speak before? Thankfully, Samuel had Eli who told him to try to listen to the voice of God, as I'm sure you have those who tell you the same. Upon his moment of confusion in regards to the call, Eli told Samuel to lie down still and just say, "Speak, God, your servant listens." And this is exactly what we should do. God puts a message in our hearts that we might not be too sure of, but if we just stay at peace and ask Him to speak, He will clarify everything for us. It might not be trumpets blasting but He will talk to you and tell you what He needs to say.

Today's Prayer:
Lord God, after this busy day, help me to find Your peace. There is so much I need to hear from You and now, I want to find the time to listen. I'm not sure what my path is, but I know You guide me. See me here resting with You…speak Lord, your servant listens.

When You're Off the Path

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my thoughts. See if my steps have gone astray, and lead me in your eternal way." - Psalm 139:23-24

Are there ever moments when you look at yourself and don't like who you have become? Do you ever yearn to go back to a time when you were more innocent and life was simpler? A time when you were stronger and had more passion for life and God. I've been feeling like that lately and the Lord just put this verse in my heart tonight. As we all know, life has its ups and downs and somehow we always tend to look at ourselves in the past and think of how much happier we were then than we are now… but the truth is that God knows how to bring our lives full circle. He always restores us and makes life more fuller when we ask. He prepares us in moments we've been weak to be stronger in the future. I know that I can't discount anything I may be feeling now because it is all part of God's plan for me, although I might not see how it fits, but He certainly makes no mistakes. Therefore, wherever we are right now is ok with God, as lost and confused as we may feel, as long as we take the time to ask Him to search us and show us the right path to follow.

Today's Prayer:
Lord, help me to fully accept Your love for me. I know that I am probably harder on myself than You are on me, but I would love to follow Your will completely and need Your direction. Help us to listen to Your voice and let ourselves be guided by You. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Science Vs. God

"The fool says in his heart, 'God does not exist.'" - Psalm 14:1

In college, I took a class focusing on the functions of the brain. We learned about all of the amazing ways our brains process information and direct our bodies. It seemed so automatic that I had to ask my professor how God fits into this from the scientific point of view. He recommended a book to me called "Why God Won't Go Away," written by two neurologists who have years of lab experience and yet cannot prove the case against God. They studied Catholic nuns, Buddhist monks, everyone under states of prayer and meditation and could not explain why their brains began to trigger in certain ways. All this seems opposite to what we're taught today in our school systems. They teach that religion is a form of social control and that God does not exist. But as followers of Jesus, we should know that the way we live our lives is not the way the world does. The world values power, money, riches, and Christians value humility, faith, and kindness. The same then goes for the belief in God - the world sees Him as a fable and we equate unbelief with being a fool. In fact, the root of being a fool is this lack of faith in God, totally contrary to what so many scientists would say today. While science creates all these theories on how things were created without God which they have never been able to prove, despite all this time, money, experiments, and technology, remember this verse and know where truth originates from - faith in the One, true, living God.

Today's Prayer:
Lord God, man always seems to be on a quest to say You're not there, when all You want is to show us You love us. Open our eyes of faith so that our hearts can prove Your existence to an incredulous, impious world. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Through the Valley

"Although I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for you are beside me." - Psalm 23:4

The moment that something bad is happening to me, I start to beg God to get me out of it. Whether it's my job or being stuck in bad traffic, I ask God to bring me out of the situation without even considering sticking through for a bit longer. But if you think about it, most of the times in life, we end up sticking through all the bad stuff until things get better. This psalm teaches us that for some reason, God leads us through these bad periods in our lives, but along the way, He is with us. We all want better things - a great new job, to get married, a new house - but with all of these things come great responsibilities. These bad periods build us and make us stronger so that when we finally reach the next level, we're ready for it! Instead of telling God to relieve you of a situation, ask for strength and endurance to make it through and you'll see how He walks with you along the way, building you for better things.

Today's Prayer:
Dear God, open my eyes of faith and allow me to see the good that You do in my life, even in the things that I don't like. You know my faith can be weak at times, but show me the power of Your hand and walk me through until I'm grown. In Your Name we pray, amen.

When The Ground Shakes From Under Us

"God is our strength and protection, an ever-present help in affliction. We will not fear, therefore, though the earth be shaken and the mountains plunge into the deepest ocean, though its waters foam and roar, though the mountains quake and totter. For with us is the Lord of hosts, the God of Jacob, our stronghold." - Psalm 46:1-3

The earth definitely shakes underneath us at times, doesn't it? It might not literally happen, but things happen in our lives that shake us to our very core and bring real pain and despair into our lives. The psalmist knew this clearly. He lived in a time where the people studied nature and the seasons because any disaster or change could severely affect their livelihood. Therefore, he was wise in comparing despair in our own lives to a violent natural disaster. It affects our whole being and leaves us feeling without hope and no way out. But despite the initial fear, the psalmist, finds the faith to say that no matter what goes on, he will trust in the Lord, his source of strength.

Of course this is hard to do! But by putting your faith in the Lord, where your own strength fails, the Lord will pick up. That's how people get through so many tragedies in their lives. They trust in the Lord. Though the ground shakes right under them, they trust in the Lord.

Today's Prayer:
Lord God, without You I have no place to turn and no solution for my troubles. Deliver me Lord as I choose to trust in You and look for You for strength. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Led Into Exile

"And Yahweh says, 'When you call on me, I will listen. You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.' For Yahweh says, 'I will gather you from among all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you and bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.'" - Jeremiah 29:12-14

Sometimes we get so lost when it comes to God. It feels as though we're abandoned by Him and its such a lonely and scary feeling. This is being in exile and sometimes the Lord sends us off into a place where we feel this abandonment so that we can become stronger in that place; we can learn to rise above our own problems and fears. But it is the Lord who sends us there, sometimes because He wants to strengthen our faith and other times because we need to be corrected and pass through trials to be cleansed and purified. Although we are in this foreign place in our lives, God always knows where we are. He makes sure we absorb what we need from there and then He gathers us back into His love. But here's the key to this - "when you search for me with all your heart." If you haven't taken the time to develop your faith to the point that you learn to stand on your own two feet, you will not be drawn back from exile because you are not searching with all your heart. If you have been cast off into exile because you have committed a grave sin before the eyes of the Lord and you do not recognize that sin and repent, you will not be drawn back from exile since you have yet to search with all of your heart. Searching with all of your heart is to put the Lord in first place. You're in exile - how much longer until you realize that you cannot make it on your own? Searching with all of your heart is to do away with the doubting, the selfishness, and the control of your will and surrendering it to God…only then are you really, truly searching. Don't lie to yourself and say that you do look for God, but in the back of your mind want an excuse to validate your own will and your own doubts. It doesn't work that way! If you are in exile, if you feel abandoned, you need to recognize that your one and only true source of life is the Lord. Look for that source and He will let Himself be found by you. He can only work the miracles and bring you the blessings when you let go of what's holding you back. He will listen to you. You will have God's ear and compassion when you just give up the control to Him. Just by seeking Him in this way, He brings you close again to where He is. Your fears, pains, worries, loneliness…this all disappears when He gathers you back from where He sent you. The reward is to be that close to your creator who seeks to bless you and guide you through all the scary parts of life and all the good as well.

Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I seek to surrender myself to You. Gather me back Lord, and bring me close to where I can be guided and led by You. Grant me the blessing of letting Yourself be found by me and having Your ear when I cry out to You. Let this always be the desire on my heart. In Your Name we pray, amen.

God Calls You By Name

"Thus says the Lord, "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; for I have called you by your name; you are mine." - Isaiah 43:1

We hear so many words during the day that we hardly give significance to them, but to the ancient Hebrews, words were vital. In the book of Genesis during creation, the author wrote that God spoke the world into existence. He said "let there be light" and there was light. His words made it happen. Even the names the Hebrews gave their children were of the utmost importance. The angel Gabriel was sent from Heaven directly to Joseph to give him the name he would give the baby Mary was carrying. To the Hebrews, words were life. They spoke truth and held promises. That's why the gospel is called The Word of God and Jesus Christ is the Word made flesh, in other words, the promise of God made reality. Therefore, your own name is of vital importance. It is not only what your family and friends call you, but the essence of who you are to God. And just like the Word of God becoming flesh took so many years to come to pass, so are you a developing story to the Lord. When you read this verse, I want you to know that no matter who you are and what you have done, God has redeemed you so you should not be afraid of anything. You may be carrying a shameful sin, be struggling with addiction, depression, guilt, low self esteem, or so much stress and tribulations that you doubt the very existence of God, but still, He has redeemed you. You had nothing to do with that. Your redemption is God's personal, free gift to you.

This is why He has called you by name and told you that you already belong to Him. By calling you by name, He is looking directly at you and all of your faults and all of your doubts and still telling you not to be afraid. There is nothing you hold in your heart that the Lord doesn't already know. By calling you by name, He is calling the essence of you, not your sins and struggles. Your life is a work in progress to the Lord and where you are now does not define you as the way God sees you. He sees so much more in you, after all, He made you in His image. Whatever you're going through right now, listen to the voice of God in your heart - do not be afraid, He has redeemed you. He has called YOU by name and you are His…and nobody can't take you away from Him.

Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank You so much for looking past my sins and my faults and still calling me by name. Thank You for Your mercy and always being patient when I am so weak and even doubt You. Strengthen me, my Lord, so that I get rid of the fear I have in me and enjoy Your salvation. In Your Name we pray, amen.