Failure

There are times in all of our lives that we tend to fail. We miss passing a class by a couple of points, or miss a getting a certification because we get one question too many wrong. Yet, at some point in our walk with God we see ourselves as a complete and total failure. This may be due to a sin that we have struggled with for years and are just not able to stop for one reason or another. We may feel that we have failed in God's eyes because we are able to further His kingdom in the manner that we should, we look to others standards and try to out do or achieve their goals in a short time. Failure is one of those deep emotions that can run to the core of the soul. It cause one to often think of them selves as less valuable then they are. It can stir up a deep sadness within the person and may go as far as leading them down the road of depression, because they have failed.

Failure is not word that is in the vocabulary of God, when He looks at you. He sees you as His child that He loves and cherishes. He knows the hurts and the pain in your soul and is willing to take it from you if you are willing to let go. God does not see your faults and sins daily, rather, He sees you as His child that He loves. He knows that sometimes we fall and it is then that we get up and brush ourselves off, and walk with Him again. In the brushing off the dust and dirt is the time of growth in God. It is then that we are able to see Him in a new light and fully come to Him in our time of need and He will provide for you. His love is there overflowing for you His precious child. He knows that by you falling and calling out to Him that you are willing to grow, and be guided by His hands. The only other option we have is when we are down in the dust, dirt and grim that we continue to wallow in the mud.

Yet, this is no excuse for us to continue to sin and ignore God in our daily life. Even if we fall, fail at something we are to pick ourselves up or ask for the help of others and move forward. We as Children of God have the ability to be forgiven for all our sin because of the blood that was shed on the cross. We are cleaned in the Father's sight, after all we are His beloved. There is nothing that we can do that would make God turn form us completely and walk away. There is not a sin that we are able to commit that He will not forgive and welcome you into His loving arm once again.

When we stumble and fall into that deep mud hole, it is then that we learn to walk again. We are able to grab a hold of the hand of another and start to walk again. In those moments we are growing in God and in our relationship with others in the Church, whether it is with the priest, pastor or another leader of the church. We always have the chance to reach out to others and ask for a hand, prayer, or just time to talk so we can lighten the soul and all that is on our heart. In these moments God is there, after all when two or more are gathered He is there with you.

After we are up, brushed off and ready to walk again, we are able to learn from all that has happened. We are able to look at the situation, causes or reasons that lead us to slip and fall into that muddy hole. We get up walk forward and do not look back at all that has happened. Rather we move forward and grow in God. Since we are now once again seen as clean in God's eyes. He does not recall the sins of the past once we confess them to the Priest, Pastor or to God. It is able to show us how much we need God's love, forgiveness and His mercies in our daily lives.

We are not a failure in His eyes, rather a child who is growing and has stumbled along the way. He is there to help us up, brush us off, take the sin from us and then love us as His beloved child.

A child of God

It is so easy to become caught up in the world, and all that is going on in our lives at the moment. We tend to forget that we are children of the high King. That no matter what we are the children of God, we are a descendant of Abraham, since he is the Father of many nations. We too are a part of that linage and can then therefore be a Child of God. As children of God we have a special place in God's heart and he cares about us, and loves us without end. He is there helping us walk in the world, even though we are not a part of the world, because our true home is in heaven with the Father.

God is an amazing God, in that He is able to forgiven and forget all the sins that we have committed against us once we ask him for forgiveness, that is granted to us by the blood of his Son that he sent to die on the cross. By the blood that was shed on the cross, we are totally forgiven and all those things that we had done against God in the past are no longer present. Rather, as His children we are loved, and seen as clean in His sight. Even when we slip up, and see ourselves as a disappointment in God's eyes; yet, God see us as His beloved children who are always able to run to Him no matter what has happened. This is because God does not see us as a disappointment, or a failure in His eyes, rather, he sees us as his beloved sons, and daughters. He is able to separate the sin from who we are in Him because we are forgiven in His eyes.

Since we are His beloved children we are those in the world who always have hope. We are able to hold onto hope in the bleakest, most tragic situations because we have God at our side. We know in times of struggle and in times of need that we have God there at our side. When we are weak He is there and His strength will pull us through the situation. We have hope because we know that God is faithful in all that He promises to us in the Bible. It states there in the book of Jeremiah that God will give us a hope and a future; he has no plans to hurt or harm us.

It also states in the Bible that God is near to those who seek Him that He will answer then when we call out to God. That God is good to those that are His Children. He will never forsake us or leave us as it states in the book of Hebrews in the Bible. Thus He is near when we call or are in time of need because He cares for us as His beloved Children. He is there willing to help heal us and make us whole, cleanse us of the past and allow us to walk forward with Him at our side because He loves and care for us. It states in the book of Matthew that if we are willing to pray with another that God is there with us. He is there and He will indeed hear our prayers, but will only answer then according to the plans of the Father in Heaven. His plans far succeed any that we are able to make here on earth. He wants to give us a hope and a future and along with that we will be able to reside in His house in Heaven, it has many rooms as it states in the book of John. God wants us all in his Mansion be has the space to accommodate all His beloved children. After all we are His beloved!

He Knows

It is amazing that we are able to live in a country that values all people, races and cultures. A place where we are able to freely worship God without fear of jail, death or any other sever consequences for the faith that we hold so dear to our hearts. We are able to seek out counsel, medical treatments and any other therapy that we so wish to engage ourselves in at the moment. We can play in Yoga, that has roots based in Buddhism, then walk into church and not have any thoughts as to if the Yoga moves that some say is a form of worship to Buda.

We are able to send children to schools, and know that they are safe and being educated by people who love them in a way that no others can because they have that drive to teach young children. We share our family and very young children with daycare workers and with nannies in our homes so our lives are less complicated and able to keep some sort of sanity as we move through out the day.

Then there is the other side of the coin, where there are those who long to be parents, and are not able to conceive a child for one reason or another. Children are a gift that the Lord gives to us at a time in our lives that it is right whether we think it is a right timing or not, all things happen in God's timing and according to His plans. God is the one that is there always looking over our children as they attend school, sports etc. He is there watching the children and loves to have them come to His house and learn about His goodness. God, love all the children young and old. We all are a child of God, and share in His everlasting love along with His blessings. We are able to reach out to Him at any time without making a formal appointment.

He also thought ahead, God knew that we would need others to help us along the road of life. Thus He gave us priests, pastors, nuns, deacons, and associates that we are able to call upon in a time of need, worry, sadness, and in times of joy. Yes, we can call to God directly but sometimes we long for the words of another to help guide and comfort us, to show us the Love that the father has for us and that we are not forgotten by God or by the church that is there to help us along the path that we are traveling. God gave us Priests, and Pastors to help us reach heaven and His holy throne. He is there with us when 2 or more gather in His name and pray. He is there with us when the tears fall, when the joy comes in the morning. The question becomes will we reach out to those who know how to help in the times we are seeking or do we wonder in the desert and look at dry land.

God knows our heart, he knows that you worry about your children; He hears the prayers that you say nightly or every morning that we send them out the door for school. He send angels to protect them if we so ask. God is there with the children, they are often more open to the things of Heaven because they are able to will always listen to the little ones.

God knows our hearts and is willing to help and be there for all our needs if we are open to Him and all that he has for us.

Vacation

Every so often we get to go on vacation. We all love going on vacation, we plans for months where we are going to go, what we are going to do while we are there and we may even plan some of the meals that we are going to eat out. We take all the time to research the area, to find what events will be happening while we are there, we look at the local paper to see the news, the weather and all the current events so as we go out on that daily adventure we are able to take a sense of adventure into the unknown city. We love to explore the world around us, yet sometimes it is so nice to see the new and unexplored land, that state we always wanted to visit, the little island in the Caribbean, the state park that looks so beautiful online and in pictures that we have to go and see it with our own eyes. We need to take in all that beauty for ourselves because the awe of it all is so breath taking that we want to hold onto that moment forever. We try to accomplish that by taking the camera on the trip and shoot all the pictures so that we may never forget all that we seen, and the beauty that surrounds us along with the joy that we felt as we were exploring the new places together.

Yet, before we are able to travel out that door for the weekend adventure or maybe a week or two away we spend months planning and saving to ensure that we have the best time ever. We spend evening researching all the information, and preparing to leave home for a short time span. Yet, the night before we leave we are so excited to think that we are actually getting to go away for a short time. We get the suitcase out of the closet to start to pack all that we are going to need for the journey. In this suitcase we place all the things we need to live outside the home, the clothes we need to wear, the personal care products that we will need on the trip. We place all these things in the suitcase so we can carry it with us, so we have a piece of home with us as we travel. We all have our favorite jeans, sweatshirt that has to go no matter what, like a child takes his or her favorite teddy bear because they just cannot sleep without them at their side throughout the night.

Although, have you ever noticed that when we travel away on vacation, we seem to leave out one thing that we tend to cling to during the weeks at home. We leave God out of the vacation. We pack and plan for all the wondrous things that we are going to do, but we leave the Heavenly Father at home. Well, we cannot place the Father in the suitcase it just won't work. We often take the week and walk a road that is not close to God, rather it is one that we just do what we want tend really enjoy the world that is around us. It is like that dog that keeps going back to the vomit, because they are not able to walk away from that sin or pain.

Often when we are on the wonderful vacation from the daily life, we stop praying or talking to God. We enjoy the full weekend away, and never even stop to look for a church to stop by and worship at while you are away. We will leave the Bible on the coffee table at home instead of packing it in the suitcase or placing it in the car. Why would we want to focus on God while we are traveling, when we can have so many other conservations with those who are with us. Yet, the moment we return to the real world of work, school, activities, stress reenters our lives and we cry out once again to God to come and help us through the day once again. Besides if we stop to pray and worship while we are away, how would we know all that we are going to the right church, and would the people there be welcoming to us knowing that we are there just passing through on our way home. Why, would they want us there intruding on there service, sitting in their pew in the church. We all know that it is our pew, and how dare someone new or old sit there, knowing that we sit there every Sunday. That it is part of our Sunday routine. Oh, when someone else sits there we suddenly become annoyed and have to actually look for another seat in the church. It is almost like God just won't talk to us if we are not in the right pew. It is as if God won't be able to find us if we are not in the right spot in church. Yet, deep down we know that it is not true. We know that God is there in the Church, in our hearts, our actions and in our words. Yet, we get so caught up on the little things we stop paying attention to Him on a daily basis, because we are so caught up in that routine at home.

So when we travel on vacation we take this luggage that we pull all over town, our bag of stuff that we just could not leave home without even if it is for one night we pack this bag of stuff. Yet is God in that bag, do you invite Him to travel with you. He is there when you are traveling keeping you safe on the road, in the air, or out on the sea. Yet, God is always there if we take the time to get to know Him, we may ignore Him at time or wishes he would close His eyes when we walk into sin, but He is right there with you in the midst of it all, because He promises that He will never leave us nor forsake us. He is there in the joyful vacations. He is there with you as you admire His handy work. After all it is all His creation that you are out there admiring. His love does not stop; He does not withdraw that love because you are caring that luggage with you in another town. God travels with you, His hands, His Love are there with you if you are sitting there at home, in your pew at church or if you are thousands of miles from home. His love does not stop. It is always reaching, and guiding you through out the day. All we have to do is simply cry out to God, and He comes to us His children because He loves us. That love that he has for us is not contained to a place, a pew, if is simply because we are His children and He cares for us.