The Broken Cross

When I was in high school a friend of mine who was a fellow Christian gave me a cross. It was green and made of glass. I loved it, the color was my favorite, the cross felt so nice in my hand.

I wore it every day and everywhere.

One day at the favorite local hang out spot (the arcade) I was playing a game called Dance Dance Revolution. After the game was over, I noticed my cross had fallen from my neck and shattered.

I was heartbroken, there was no fixing the cross. My friend later asked me where the cross was? I had to solemnly tell him the news. You could tell he was disappointed.

He got over it quick because quite frankly his life had one tragedy after the other. It was a hard and cruel life.

Years later he now openly mocks God and faith on Facebook.  

The broken cross he gave to me ended up being a metaphor for what was to come, his faith would be broken.

It grieves me to think about and sadly of all my friends from high school I can think of only two who are believers in Christ.

Even worse they’re not just unbelievers but many of them bash God and hate Jesus Christ.

It breaks my heart.

I often times feel hopeless for my high school friends. But then I remember there is hope.

Hope in Jesus Christ.

Because truly in high school, I was broken. That broken cross could serve as a metaphor for me. I was vile, deep in sin. Filled with hatred and pain. I was completely shattered and seemed to be unfixable.

But then Jesus truly saved me from myself.

I owe all to God.

All glory to God!

Praise His Name.

Have a Blessed and Hopeful Week,
Chris

My Wife’s Biblical Approach to Chronic Pain

I’ve decided to share something my wife wrote on her Facebook page about dealing with chronic pain, it is short but really speaks volumes. Here it is…

“I have chronic pain but I am thankful that I am finally at a place in my life that I can understand what having this pain truly means. And I also realize that there are many others who suffer more than me and that He endured the ultimate suffering on my behalf. Do I want the pain? No. But I’m okay with it because I know it won’t last forever.”

She also supplied some Bible verses from Romans to go along with what she said…

Romans 5:3-5

“More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

What a wonderful message.

Have a Blessed Week,
Chris

Scripture Reading Plan:

Monday – Job 1:1, 2:1-10

Tuesday – Psalm 126

Wednesday – Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12

Thursday – Mark 10:2-16

Trust

Proverbs 3:5 ESV:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.”

In all moments both good and bad we must trust in the Lord.

In your struggle, pain, heartache, anxiety and grief we must trust in Him.

When you feel overwhelmed by problems lay them at His feet in prayer.

We may not understand why something is happening but God knows why and He knows all things. He is with you through all things, He is with you to the end.

While we don’t know all like God, we do know what happens in the end.

At the end of our race, at the end of our life, we will be with the Lord eternally.

Knowing this we can trust in God and when we do so we find true joy and true peace.

Have a Blessed Week,
Chris

Scripture Reading Plan:

Monday – 2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10

Tuesday – Psalm 48

Wednesday – 2 Corinthians 12:2-10

Thursday – Mark 6:1-13

Bible Verses on Trusting God
https://www.openbible.info/topics/trusting_god

Anger

Today I am writing about anger. This is hard to talk about because one of my biggest struggles is my anger. Out of nowhere something occurs, could be major or could be small and I lash out. I shout, I bang the table, throw something, kick something. Then comes the shame. Whether a short outburst or a long one, the shame comes.  My wife and I were watching the new Thor movie and there is a scene right after the Hulk has an angry moment. He calms down and is pouty, looking like  a child ashamed of himself. My wife looked right at me and motioned to the screen, I could tell what she meant. We both laughed as it reminded us of me.

While that moment was funny often times when I’m in the middle of my anger I get angry at God. I’ll question him, wonder why the thing I’m upset about is happening. Or I’ll be wondering why he won’t just take this anger from me?
The harsh truth is because I won’t let him. When I feel angry or let little things get to me that will lead to a sudden explosion later, I don’t take any steps or call out to God to help put a stop to it. I do that sometimes, maybe even often but not enough to truly overcome my anger. God can do it. I even have an example of him doing it.

It happened during a very rough time in my and my wife’s lives. My Dad had died the previous year, now her Dad had just died. We were living with her father to take care of him and now that he passed we didn’t know what to do next. Neither one of us worked full time so we couldn’t afford a place to live. On top of that the stress was making us get at each others throats. After we had a heated argument I decided to yell some more but this time at God. After a tirade I told God if he truly loved me he could take all this anger away.

You know what happened?

In an instant the anger was gone. I have never had my anger go away  so fast.

Less than a month later my wife had a full time job and everything turned out fine. Just like the Lord said it will. We have to let God take control, of our anger, our worry, our lives.

God Bless.

Here is some links I hope help those that may also struggle with their anger.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/anger-management/art-20045434

https://www.biblestudytools.com/topical-verses/anger-bible-verses/

Times of Struggle

God is not going to make life perfect for us on this Earth. We are going to go through struggles, pain, suffering and loss. The key is to continue to trust in him. Things always work out well in the end. Remember this life is a blink of  an eye compared to entirety with the Lord. John 15:18-19 “If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first. If you were of the world, it would love you as its own. Instead, the world hates you, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.”

Remember to continue to do Gods Work during your time here. Always trust in him during your times of struggle, in the end you will be at peace.

God Bless You All