Correction

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.

2 Timothy 3:16 NLT
You ever had one of those moments where you just start to realize that their is some stuff you have to get rid of because of what it makes you do?those times where you say to your self I am sick and tired of this? I have! It makes me think about the times where I have randomly opened the bible and start to read and it’s something pertaining to what I am going through, or about to do. God’s word has a way of showing up in every situation I have been through. Sometimes I may not see it fully until I am through the other side of it but it was there.
HERE IT IS…
Don’t get upset at the correction of the word, rather embrace it. 
For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.”

Hebrews 12:6 NLT
Here is a thought worth mentioning. If God didn’t correct you where would you be? If God loves you enough to watch out for you and send you correction through his word, why would we get upset. It’s when he takes his hands off you that we need to worry about. He shows us the way just as a loving parent does. Follow his lead.

Your different

But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.

1 Peter 2:9 NLT

I can vividly remember trying to be something I wasn’t when I was younger. I was trying to act like I was thuggish, and act like I was about that street life. I had no clue what it was about. I tried it and wish I never did because it was like putting a round peg in a square hole. A lot of people didn’t take me serious because of how I was brought up, and what they saw from me growing up. It was hard to try and get that bad boy attitude when you have something much stronger on your life. I tried, I really did it just wasn’t for me at all. That’s because I was not supposed to even be there. Have you ever felt like you were somewhere and you know you weren’t? Felt like you were the odd person? The more you tried, and tried, and tried,  the more obvious it was that you shouldn’t be doing it? Even the ones that were doing told you you shouldn’t be there?

HERE IT IS…

God says, “you are not like that…” . God says that you have been chosen, you are his, you are to pull people out of the darkness and not get pulled in. Things don’t fit you because it’s not your size. It doesn’t fit you because of who you are in Christ. God has called you to a specific purpose and truth is it’s not what we think is cool, or fashionable at the time. When you try to be the opposite it’s uncomfortable. Well Rev. Why is it that God makes it uncomfortable when he wants you to move in his will and out of his will? Glad you asked. It’s in the text he says your royal priest and a holy nation. Show them it’s a better way. Not my will bit his will be done…

Chosen

You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor.

1 Peter 2:4 NLT

We were all rejected before, whether it was by someone we love, we knew, or someone we didn’t know. It’s all happen to bbq us before big or small. Rejection has and will happen to all of us. It doesn’t feel good to be rejected especially by someone you love and know. That is the worst feeling to be rejected and pushed aside by that person. Even with a job that you would love to have and applied for, went through all the interviews, and get to the last one. Go home and wait on that call because you know you passed all the test they administered. Answered all the questions right. Now they don’t call you back, they send you a letter or a email saying they have chosen another person. That hurts.

HERE IT IS…

Even though you were rejected or pushed aside and no matter how much you feel you have wasted your time. The fact is you were chosen for by God for something else. You went through all that so that you can be prepared for what’s to come. Don’t get discouraged, and down on yourself, because God is setting you up for what’s next. See we have to realize that the very thing we see as good for us, God has something better. It’s coming, it’s on its way, your life is about to change in a way you never thought. Even though you were rejected this time, know that you were chosen by the one who is the designer of all… 

Clear your mind

But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at telling others the Good News, and fully carry out the ministry God has given you.

2 Timothy 4:5 NLT
I just heard that a tropical storm is coming this way. Seeing how this is hurricane season they start this season off with a hurricane readiness check. They give you a list of things to have while the storm is coming. They give you a list of things to get, food to get in case power outages, and batteries and flashlights. Their is always a rush of people going to the grocery stores to buy all they can just in case the storm get a worse than what they can predict. They tell you to stay calm in the midst of the storm and to stay away from Windows and be somewhere safe. Often times they want you to get to a place that you can not have any damage done to you.
HERE IT IS…
Paul says to Timothy to not only to be strong in the faith but to keep a clear mind. He says don’t be afraid of what may come because of who God is to you and what you are to God. In our life times will arise where it’s stressful, it hurts, it may seem dismal at times. Because, in times that may come God is still there with you. He tells him to keep a clear mind so that when the do come you will be able to keep your mind focused on him. The bible teaches us to be of good courage. Not to show that you are brave and strong, but instead to show your weakness and God’s strength. Keep going, keep teaching, keep preaching, keep loving, keep doing what God has for you to do.

Grace extended

This time Jonah obeyed the Lord ’s command and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all.

Jonah 3:3 NLT

Grace, what does that mean to you?
What does it mean to give someone grace?
Why is it so hard for us to extend it?
Jonah deliberately disobeyed God, and was given a opportunity to do exactly what God called him to do. Jonah was used as a messenger for God and still went the opposite direction he was supposed to. Yet still used for his glory. Out of his disobedience and arguments with God he still was used to save others. God extended grace to him, the people of Nineveh, and on the boat. Grace! It’s what we all experience it. Scripture says that “this time God…”.
What causes us to be like Jonah?
What inside of us makes us disobey God, yet he continues to save us, deliver us, heal us, fill us, shape us, use us?

HERE IT IS…

Then Jonah went out to the east side of the city and made a shelter to sit under as he waited to see what would happen to the city. And the Lord God arranged for a leafy plant to grow there, and soon it spread its broad leaves over Jonah’s head, shading him from the sun. This eased his discomfort, and Jonah was very grateful for the plant. But God also arranged for a worm! The next morning at dawn the worm ate through the stem of the plant so that it withered away. And as the sun grew hot, God arranged for a scorching east wind to blow on Jonah. The sun beat down on his head until he grew faint and wished to die. “Death is certainly better than living like this!” he exclaimed. Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry because the plant died?” “Yes,” Jonah retorted, “even angry enough to die!” Then the Lord said, “You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly. But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?”
Jonah 4:5‭-‬11 NLT
Grace extended…

Pray anyway

Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from inside the fish. He said, “I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble, and he answered me. I called to you from the land of the dead, and Lord , you heard me!

Jonah 2:1‭-‬2 NLT

I cannot count the times that I have got into a situation, made a bad choice, or even messed up something all because I didn’t listen. I can not begin to tell you just how many times I have been through some stuff that I caused because I wanted to go the opposite direction because it’s what I wanted to do. I would lose track of the amount of times that I have placed people I love in a situation all because of my decisions. However, I also cannot begin to count the times that I have been rescued by God from situations I have caused. I cannot count the amount of times that God places his hedge of protection around me because of the choice I made to not listen. Nor the fact that I messed up then prayed and he heard me and came and helped me.
How many times have you been at the bottom of the situation and you prayed and God heard you?
How many times have you felt almost at the brink of death, or giving up and he brought you back?

HERE IT IS…

Jonah is IN the belly of the fish, in the middle of the of all this mess all because he made a choice to run from God’s direction. He has the audacity to pray and ask for help. He made the decision to jump on a boat and try and run and then place others in harm’s way. Gets swallowed by the fish and finds a place where he can pray. And God heard him. Even in your mess and even in your situation that you caused if you just find a place in the midst of your disobedience and pray, God will hear you. Jonah prayed for 3 days in the belly of this great fish and God heard him. 3 days, which means God didn’t rescue him right away, but he heard him. You may not get rescued immediately, but God still hears you. No matter what your going through, pray anyway.

It’s for God’s glory…

Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship. But all this time Jonah was sound asleep down in the hold.

Jonah 1:5 NLT

Do you have trouble sleeping at night when trouble is going in your life?
Have you had sleepless nights?
Jonah had deliberately disobeyed God and in the same tried to out run God. In the process he put the people in danger he was on the boat with. He even told the people on the boat that he was trying to run away from God. Yet when he was on the boat and wanted to get to away from God in his trouble of running he was able to sleep through the storm that God caused.
Why is that?
Why is it that he was able to sleep through God’s storm and he was the reason for the storm?
Why would he be able to sleep when it’s his trouble that is causing everyone else pain, strife and trouble?

HERE IT IS…

The sailors were awestruck by the Lord ’s great power, and they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve him.
Jonah 1:16 NLT

He is on the ship. He is sleeping through the storm. He doesn’t seemed to be hard pressed about the storm because he knew in his mind he couldn’t really out run God. Then in a attempt to

1. Commit suicide
2. Save the others

He told them to throw him in the sea. They asked who he was and realized just how powerful his God he was running from was.

What are you saying Rev. B?

What I am telling you is that sometimes your mess and troubles can affect others, to save others. We have to realize that your pain that God creates for you because of your disobedience is to actually show his power through you. I am not saying that you can just disobey him and he will use that, but what I am saying is that when it happens God will use your mess as a message. Don’t cry, don’t lose sleep, don’t continue to worry, get some sleep, relax and get some rest because even though your your storm is for you, it will help bring others to believe in the power that God has. 

Follow

But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord . He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish.

Jonah 1:3 NLT
When I am working we use a GPS to go to our next job. When we use it we use it without sound so that we won’t have to keep turning the radio down to hear the next direction. When we do that it’s hard to keep looking at the GPS to find out where the next turn is. Sometimes when we do that if we glance at the GPS we end up going the wrong way because we go the direction of what we think we saw. When we go the opposite direction the GPS has to reroute us and tell is to go a different direction to get back on course. The job of the GPS is to get you there the fastest way possible, but when we make a wrong turn it has to turn is around to go the proper direction. Sometimes we think we know the roads so well thay we just ignore the GPS all together and end up having to trust it anyway. Jonah went the opposite direction from his GPS to actually get away from God and ran from his directions God told him to go.
HERE IT IS…
We often times run from or go the opposite direction God told is to go because of what we think. We try to blaze our own path or just flat out run from the directions because we don’t want to do it. It’s not our job to recreate a path but to follow it.  We try to go the opposite direction to avoid things when in fact the things we would have encountered wouldn’t have been as bad as what we ran into. It’s hard to survey the land when your even with the land, so why not trust the directions of the GPS who has a view from above that can see where all the road blocks are. Going the opposite direction your going to have to be rerouted to the correct path anyway. Sometimes you will even have to make a U turn and go back to where you started to end up going the way you should have in the first place

Seeing is not believing, knowing is believing

When they saw him, they worshiped him—but some of them doubted!

Matthew 28:17 NLT

You ever saw somebody from a far that looked like someone you knew, then you kept going back and forth in your mind trying to rationalize if that was them or not? You start to think about when was the last time you saw them. You trying not to stare at them and look hard, but you can’t because you think you know who that is. Then you come to the conclusion that your doubting who it really is. Your looking and wondering who it is, but their is that doubt in your mind that says, it’s not who I think it is. Even if their is confirmation and people around you say it is who you think it is, yet you still doubting because you don’t think that person should be where you are at that moment.

HERE IT IS…

Jesus rose! He told them to get everybody together and he will meet them there. He tells the ladies to tell the disciples to go to a place, and he will meet them there to show his face to them. When he gets there the bible says, they saw him they worshipped him – BUT some of them doubted.

1. They worshipped because others did
2. It wasn’t genuine
3. They didn’t know it for themselves.

Make sure that we are not doing something in life because it’s what everyone else is doing. We have to make sure that if we so it it has to be within us to do, be genuine. Also know for yourself who and what God has done for you in your life. Truth is God is the same today yesterday and forever, but your testimony is not your friends, mommas, daddy’s, grandma’s or anyone else’s. Know him for yourself.

It’s simple

The teaching of your word gives light, so even the simple can understand.

Psalms 119:130 NLT

As you all know I love working on cars, and my first job when I moved here was at suttle motors as a mechanic. One thing that is tough is that sometimes you will always run into stuff that you have to look up to to make sure that you take it out the proper way. At times the way that they explain it in the instructions is hard to understand to someone that doesn’t know the language of a mechanic. To some it may look like it is another language when trying to explain it to another person that doesn’t have the same level of knowledge that you do. Sometimes the only way for them to understand it is to make it as simple as possible so the person will be able to understand it and know what your trying to convey to them.

HERE IT IS…

My level of understanding of the bible may be different than your level of understanding. My life experiences are going to be different than your experiences. I can’t come to you and try to explain what God is saying in the bible if you haven’t had the opportunity to experience it. God’s word is simple to understand when I have something to relate it to. PLEASE DO NOT MISUNDERSTAND ME. God does not need you to change what it says, however how you relate it to the person is what helps them. Use it as a light that’s seen in the dark, to bring them out. His word is true how it is, it’s our job to help them understand it better.