Author Archives: Matthew, Karen, and God

Being thankful

How often do we give thanks to God for all of the things He’s done and given us? I would have to say not nearly enough. Waking up taking that first stretch and breath of fresh air, or being able to walk, to kissing a spouse goodbye as you head off to work. The fact that you have a job and clothes to wear, having a vehicle or being able to take a vacation. We all have so many things to be thankful for, and yet we don’t always take the time to thank our Heavenly Father for these wonderful things that He is providing. Sometimes it takes something horrible to happen just to really realize what we had. The loss of a spouse or child, loss of your legs, job, car or home. I try and thank God for everything He’s done and it can take a while, so usually I will do it on a walk, it can be the perfect time to reflect and appreciate all the gifts we’ve received, plus it helps the walk go quicker and often times you will go a bit further. Heavenly Father thank you so much for all the gifts you have given us that we over look sometimes in our day to day activities. We want to thank you for the first breath that we take and the fact that we can get out of our beds in the morning, till we lay our heads down to sleep and everything in between. In Jesus precious name AMEN. 2 Corinthians 4:15 And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.

Trust in God

A couple of years back I was wanting to get into the honey business, but needed to transition out of construction. This process was going to take a while because it takes quite a bit of money to buy all that is necessary to have a successful business. I started buying things little by little with every pay check that I brought home. I hadn’t asked God through prayer however if the honey bee business is what I should be doing, I just thought it would be a fun hobby that would turn itself into something bigger. I finally had enough hives to put out in the fields and bring home a little bit of money but not enough to live on. I was so excited but still needed to do construction to pay the bills, so back to work I went. I went to work to install a 9 foot window, the homeowner needed to help me carry it from the back house where it was being stored and hoist it into place for there new bathroom. We both grabbed a side and slowly headed out the door when I suddenly realized that this particular window wasn’t going to fit in the window opening. After telling him of the discovery we started backing up to place the window back where it was. All of the sudden my leg hit something really hard and it was just enough of an impact to push me over sideways! My leg was still planted firmly on the ground and felt a huge sharp pain in my calf, the window was bending as I fell so I pushed it with my left arm as not to break it, landing straight on my shoulder really hard! Standing back up was extremely difficult with pain shooting throughout the left side of my body. There was a warm wet feeling in my leg kinda like blood running down and wasn’t able to put any pressure on it, it hurt so bad I was crying and laughing at the same time. It took me an hour to get home but it felt like it took a full day, I went to bed hoping the next day it would feel better. The next day I went to the doctor because the pain was worse and the doctor told me that my calf muscle and hamstring were torn, plus I tore two spots in my rotator cuff. He asked me if I wanted to have surgery and I declined, opting for physical therapy instead. It took me a better part of a year and alot of prayer be fully healed and lost almost all of my honey bees in the process because I hadn’t the strength to lift the beehives to care for them. In this time frame however I was still working construction and God told me to write the book, “ARE U UP FOR THE CHALLENGE”, and what a blessing it was and still is. All we need in life is to trust in God and He will get us through even if it is painful.

Good

Galatians 6:9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. The minute that I grow weary from helping others is the minute that The devil has crept into my head trying to fill it with selfish thoughts. If we are not doing good, then what are we doing. It is OK to spend time with family or by yourself if it’s productive, but if we are filling our time with selfish things then we are playing into the Devils plans. When we are tired and someone needs our help, God will give us the strength to persevere and if you need that extra push, just say a prayer for the strength that is needed to complete the task at hand. If we keep ignoring good we will no longer want to do good.

Temptation

James 1:13-14 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me”. For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each of you are tempted when you are dragged away by your own sinful desire and enticed. I have to admit something to all of you out there, I am a sinner and a bad one at that. I decided to take a walk last night and it was pretty dark out. The path was only lit up by faint lights every twenty feet or so but it made the walkway look so very clean. Every once in a while I would see a little pebble and would kick it away trying to keep it nice looking. The farther along in my journey, the more rocks would be there, so many in fact that it was impossible to get them all off the track . This feels like the sin in my life, once I let one pebble in it just produces more sin than can be handled. After you have sin so much you start to feel a huge distance between God and yourself, like you’ll never get back to where you were with Him. That is why it’s incredibly important to when you are being tempted to pray hard and know that God is with you, but also to walk away knowing that you want to be with God more then the sin that is tempting you. The devil will entice you with a full arsenal of evil desires so we need to stand firm in our faith. Are you tempted or overwhelmed by any type of sin in your life today? Do you want to keep on God’s path and taste the victory over the evil one? If your answer is yes then let us bow our heads in prayer. Heavenly Father thank you for blessing us with the power of prayer to help us conquer the temptations in our lives. Lord we ask you to place a shield of protection around us today to block any and all attacks from the devil. In Jesus precious name , AMEN

Growth

Karen and I started a class at the Oakdale Rescue Mission attempting to reach our homeless friends through Christ Jesus and the turnover has been awesome to say the least. We never know who is going to show up and what God has planned for us that day. We do plan the meeting out, sometimes reading from our book, having an open discussion, and on occasion just listening to what problems may have come up throughout the week. We always pray that the Holy Spirit leads us, from whatever comes into our minds to the the words that come out of our mouths. Whatever we are doing and thinking we want it to come from God. It’s so easy to lean on our own understanding, giving advice quickly and without much thought. There are two guys in our group that have made quite a bit of progress and it has made an impression on me. One man doesn’t usually attend our events if he knows that we will be talking about the bible. I’ve been taking him to and from multiple doctors appointments and telling him of our group and the fun we’ve been having. He not only showed up for our group but to sabbath school and church! The other man is a very quiet person and had attended our group and taking a seven day challenge. His challenge was to work on getting out more because he is a recluse, not only has he been attending all our group sessions but he has been going to church every weekend and it’s events! God is good and faithful, I love the fact that He impressed us to start this group. Being able to see the growth in other individuals is nothing short of a miracle and it keeps Karen and I coming back for more. We cannot wait to see what the next week will hold, Praise God! 1 Samuel 2:26 And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the LORD and with people.

God’s hands

Learning to ride a bike was probably the hardest most fearful thing to do. I remember climbing the little pup fence in front of the house just to get on my bicycle. The handlebars rocked side to side terribly as I tried desperately to keep my balance. The bike would end up tipping over before I even began to pedal leaving me with a couple of scratches and damaging my pride. Going in the house for dinner I told my parents through a couple of tears that I was afraid of falling and that, “I’ll never learn to ride this bike,” or so I thought. The next day after work my dad came outside and held the back of my seat then showed me how to mount the bike without the use of the pup fence. When he held the back of the bike the way he did, my hands didn’t shake the handlebars near as much, it was steady and suddenly I felt a sense of security. With this new strength, I was feeling there was an instant change in my mind, “I CAN DO THIS”!!!! With the strength of my father behind me, I felt secure and confident, like the fear had just melted away. The same is with our Heavenly Father if we trust in Him and believe that He will back us, then and only then will we succeed. Do you want to feel His strength today, is your wish to be stronger in the Lord, then let’s bow our head in prayer? Dear heavenly father thank you so much for always protecting us and loving us Lord, today we want to trust in you and ask you to give us your strength Lord to get us through any problems or troubles that we have today. Be our rock and our foundation, helping us to prevail and triumph over fear, in Jesus name, AMEN

Light

Psalm 119:105, Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. Matthew 5:16, In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. There are so many verses in the bible about being a light in the darkness and it is so inspiring to me. Because my past was so full of darkness and coming to the light was such a huge change and I want to use that to inspire others. Every morning I pray God sends me someone who needs help and that we can be a light in their life in some way or another. One day I had my son with me and we were running late so we said a prayer in the car on the way to the bank. I had asked God to put someone in our path that morning, turning into the bank parking lot I noticed a friend of mine standing on the sidewalk. Pulling up to him I asked what he was up to and he told me he was having problems at home and got kicked out, he hadn’t had breakfast yet and was very hungry. We invited him to come with us and get something to eat so he hopped in the car. We all sat down to eat and he went on telling us of his problems and we all bowed our head in prayer. He decided to walk home so we said goodbye and he went on his way. My son turns to me and says,”Dad, God answered our prayer”. God did three things that day that we could plainly see. He gave strength to a lost soul, made my son see His light, and made my light stronger. Amen

The Doctor

Matthew 9:11-13 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said, ” It is not the healthy that need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘ I desire mercy, not sacrifice. ‘ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” These verses left such an impact on me when first cracking open the bible. Knowing that God was not in search of an angel, but of a lost, broken and sinful me. The more damaged and incurable we are the more God has victory when we finally let Him into our hearts and except Him as our personal Lord and savior. I was so far down in my life that all I could think of was dying and I couldn’t even do that right. My heart was so very broken and so full of sadness that I thought it unfixable. Jesus loves all of us and all He wants is to help mend our broken hearts, leading and guiding us to a better life. If you are looking for the way, the truth, and the light, then bow your head with me in prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this beautiful day. Come into our hearts today and begin the healing process from all the damage that we have done over the years. Show us a new way of life in which we put you first and die to our old selves. In Jesus precious name AMEN.