"Later"

Hello everyone,
 I would like to pose a rather interesting question. Do we as children of God really think that we can continue to ask for and receive blessings from God and never give Him any of our time or dedication? This question came to mind as I was having different conversations with people. The majority of them are dealing with various situations and problems in their lives and asked me why I thought God was not responding to their prayers. When I asked if they attended church or prayed regularly (not just when they wanted something), most of the time the answer was no. In a different conversation a person that I share a very close relationship with said although he knows he should change certain things in his life and give more of his time to God, he just figures he'll continue to live life and try to get things right later on. I am by no means being judgemental when I say this but who says that there will even be a "later?" The time is now! It is becoming more and more evident that the prophecies in the Bible concerning the End of Time and Jesus's Second Coming are being fulfilled everyday. Yet, we still walk around like we have an eternity to make things right with Him. Maybe He's saying He will remove obstacles from our lives "later" or bless us with this or that "later" because we aren't willing to give him more of our time NOW.

I said all of that to say that although the Bible does say "Ask and it shall be given you, seek and ye shall find, knock and the door will be opened unto you" (Matthew 7:7), it does not mean that this is something that is just given/owed to us. Our Savior is not just like a magic genie who grants our every wish and expects nothing in return. He deserves our love and commitment to Him because He sent his only Son to die for our sins and because of what He still does for us everyday.

I know there is no way any of us will ever be perfect, but the least we can do is work on changing the little things. If it means spending just 5 minutes a day reading the Bible or praying, then we should do it. Trying is better than doing absolutely nothing. I strongly believe that if we just make a conscious effort to give more of our time and our lives to God, we will see the results we are looking for.

Now is the time...."Later" may be too late!

Until next time remember....Love Is All You Need...

What Is Christianity?

There are several different ideas or definitions of what Christianity is. In fact, I'm sure for every person you asked you would receive a different answer or perspective. I'm going to share a recent experience with you that will also give you an idea of what Christianity is to me.

I was taking care of a patient at the local hospital and she asked me, "Do you go to church?" I told her yes and she went on to tell me that she was recently diagnosed with a chronic illness and the prognosis did not look well. She also explained that at the time of her diagnosis she decided to turn her life over to God, but after she did it she "didn't feel any different" and wanted to know why or if I ever had that feeling when I accepted Christ into my life.

I couldn't help but laugh as I walked over to the woman's bedside and told her that I had indeed felt the same way when I accepted Christ as my Savior at age 15. I felt as though some overwhelming power or spirit was supposed to wash over me and I was to instantly just "feel like a Christian." I know it sounds very silly, but you see I was obviously very spiritually immature. Between that time and the next year when I turned 16 I read the Bible more and spent more time praying and going to church and it was then I started to realize that Christianity is not just a feeling you get when you say you believe, it is a relationship that you have to develop with the Lord. Then and only then will you be able to feel the love of God in your heart everyday.

After I shared this story with her, the woman just looked at me and smiled and promised she would keep praying and studying the word of God because she wanted to develop such a close relationship with Him that she would always feel His love in her heart.

So for any new born again believers or even those of us who have allowed our daily routines and worldly things pull us away from the love of God, remember Christianity is a relationship that we must work on everyday to strengthen. The more time we spend in fellowship with Him, the closer to our hearts He will be.

Here is one of my favorite songs I heard the day that I accepted Christ as my Savior. I hope it touches your heart just as much it touched mine.

Be Blessed and Remember....Love Is All You Need...♥