God Says... "Nothing is impossible for me. "

By Jason V (Ponderings of a Pilgrim Pastor)

"With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26)

I have a friend who has now been cancer-free for five years, but five years ago, things did not look very good for her.  She was in intensive chemotherapy and was not given a good prognosis.  She was suffering such terrible side-effects from the chemo that she elected to stop the treatment.  The cancer went away and has not come back in five years.

I've also been praying for a little girl who has brain cancer.  She was showing remarkable signs of progress and was in remission until a few months ago, when the cancer came back.  Her parents are trusting Jesus for a situation that just seems impossible from a human perspective.

Life often seems impossible.  It's not just cancer.  I lead a men's recovery group on Wednesday afternoons.  The bondage of addiction and the side-effects of sin are devastating beyond description. 

Impossible.

Such a word seems so heavy, so all-encompassing, so utterly and devastatingly absolute.  For God, it is ultimately meaningless.  Impossible is simply impossible for God.  Of course, that doesn't mean He always does what we want Him to do.  His actions don't always make sense to us, but God never runs into a problem or situation and says, "Wow!  I didn't see that coming.  What am I going to do?  This just seems impossible!"

If anything were to be impossible for God, these things would certainly have to be near the top of the list:

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The Storms of Life

By Pat

Another thunderstorm rumbled through early this morning, about one A.M., and right on cue, the bedroom door flew open and in dashed our six-year-old granddaughter, Kendra. As always in these situations, she hopped into bed with us, snuggled up in between us, and went back to sleep, safe and secure in the knowledge that we would protect her from the storm.

God tells us very clearly to run to Him during the storms of our lives, no matter what kind they are. He is always there, waiting for us, just as we were waiting for Kendra to seek our protection. Kendra came to us immediately, but I have to admit that sometimes I wait and try to weather the storms myself, refusing to admit my fears and worries. Whereas Kendra's first instinct was to run to our arms for safety, sometimes running to God is my last choice; it's the one I make after nothing else has worked and my own attempts have failed.

God wants us to have "childlike" faith and trust, and I know what He means! I need to learn that even though the storm may rage on, the winds continue to howl and the thunder crash, God is a God of promises, and I must run to His arms first, trusting in His protection and garnering courage from His strength. Perhaps if I do, the storms won't seem so scary after all...

"Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?" He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm." (Mark 4:38-39)

Pat is a good friend who is passionate about her faith and her family. She works from home supporting a family business, and loves to read, write and garden when she can, and spends every spare moment with her grandkids.

God Says... "I have not given you a spirit of fear."

By Dusty (Reflections on the Life of a Christian)

I have been afraid of a lot of things in my life. They range from the common to the unusual. Some fears cripple while others nag. Every one of them has kept me from doing or enjoying something in my life.

I believe most everyone has suffered from such fears. While some may deny it or hide it, everyone is afraid of something. Here is a list of common fears:

• Disappointment
• Failure
• Ridicule
• Rejection
• Injury/Death
• Unknown
• Abandonment

None of those have ever applied to you? Are you sure?

Well then, maybe I am the oddball (but I think not!) because I can think of a lot of instances where I suffered from one or more of those. For a guy, a lot of them might come into play when seeing a girl we like and wanting to ask them out. For a child, they may surface in their desire to please their parents or other authority figures. But fear is not limited to gender relations or age.

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God says... "Sin's pleasures are fleeting but its sorrow is lasting."

By Kely Braswell (Dangerous Breeze)

You Say: Sin is fun!
God Says: Sin's pleasures are fleeting but its sorrow is lasting.

Oh, please, excuse me while I go spit up in my mouth!

Here’s the deal. Some things are just stupid beyond imagining.

Like these statements:

“I’m going to go dip myself in butter and lie in a horse trough of snapping turtles.”

“Listen, y’all, I’ve got a GREAT idea… I’m going to strap myself to the face of a large silverback gorilla in the Congo.”

“Wait! I’ve got it! Let’s all stick a nine foot length of barbed wire up our left nostril, pull it out our right one, and hang ourselves from a rafter. That sounds like fun!”

NO. No one has ever said any of those things.

Why?

Because they are stupid.

In fact, they’re more than stupid; they’re redneck stoopid.

Let the words of Jesus speak a little truth into our day, and then let us all go peacefully about our lives, knowing that in His heart is, for us, a deep desire for fun. True fun. Lasting fun.

Here’s what He says. Hear the contrast.

“The thief (that’s the one that says “sin is fun”) comes only to steal and kill and destroy.”

Hear that? The author of sin, the father of lies, he only wants three things for you, and he loves for you to think that sin has some other golden effect than those three things. But it doesn’t.

He wants to steal from you.

He wants to kill you.

He wants to destroy you.

And he never, EVER, wants to let up. He never has an inkling of a smidgen of a moment when he says, “Wow, Bob’s had a really bad day. I think I’ll let up on him just for a little bit and give him a break.”

Nope. Never compassion.

Steal. Kill. Destroy.

Sin is fun, huh?

Now, how ‘bout Jesus side of things?

“I come that you might have life, and have it abundantly.”

Which sounds better? To be stolen from? Killed? Destroyed?

Or to have abundant life?

Just as satan (I don’t even wanna give him the dignity of capitalizing his name, the conniving sniveler) never, ever lets up in his desire to steal, kill, and destroy…

Jesus never, ever – not for one little nano-second of YOUR EXISTENCE – Never! – has He ever desired for you anything other than abundant life.

Excuse me. Does this whole discussion of sin being fun fall into the category of a “no-brainer?”

Don’t be redneck stoopid. Please.

Parting thought, and it’s a big, encouraging thought!…

“In Your presence is fullness of joy;
                at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

(The Bible, John 10:10 and Psalm 16:11)

(As a long-time redneck, I can say “redneck stoopid” without being bigoted in any way. I ain’t bein’ bigoted because I am one.)

Kely is the senior pastor of Antioch Community Church in Knoxville, TN. He has a B.S. in Secondary Education, and he’s a lawyer on top of that (go figure that combination!). He has also been an overseas church planter off and on for the last 20 years. Kely is a husband and father to six, and enjoys running, reading and writing. You can find more of his writing over at his blog: Dangerous Breeze.

From Scraps to Blessings

By Pat

I often feel like I have made such a mess of my life that I can't possibly serve God in the manner he wants me to. I have missed so many opportunites, taken so many wrong paths, and passed up so many chances to truely be the servant God created me to be that I feel it's just too late. I'm not so young now, and I despair that I have wasted so much of my life in ways that I know can't possibly be what God would have been pleased with. But there's hope!

In the famous story of Jesus feeding the large crowd of people with five loaves of bread and two fish, the great power of Jesus is shown by how he miraculously feeds five thousand people with just these small food items. A miracle indeed, and the meaning and magnitude is not lost on me. I know that Jesus made something big from something small, but what I have recently focused on is what Jesus did with the leftovers; the scraps that were left behind by the crowd.

"When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten." (John 6:12-13)

Jesus did something miraculous by feeding the crowd with the small amount of food, but what he did with the leftovers is, to me, both miraculous and comforting. I am not finished. I might not be perfect, and I might feel like all that's left of me is scraps, but God sees me differently. God can gather up my scraps and make something wonderful of me for His use! He doesn't see scraps, bits and pieces. He sees baskets filled with usefulness. He sees something wonderful, and if I allow Him to take control and do what He does best, wonderful things can happen. I am so thankful that, no matter what I have done, God can make something good come of it.

Pat is a good friend who is passionate about her faith and her family. She works from home supporting a family business, and loves to read, write and garden when she can, and spends every spare moment with her grandkids.