Jesus Take the Wheel

If you haven’t heard about the independant Baptist group protesting at military funerals, check out this video.

My first reaction was, “This chick’s crazy!” My second reaction was, “Man, all the people she is turning away from Christ.” Their protest signs and her speech seem to be using selective memory in their Bible thumping. Whatever happened to “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.”–1 Cor 13:1? 1 Corinthians 13 is often called the love chapter.

“4. Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;
5. does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;
6. does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;
7. bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8. Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.”

Of these characteristics of Godly love, Ms. Roper definately does not embody kindness, not parading itself, not behaving rudely, does not rejoice in iniquity, and rejoicing in truth.

The biggest thing that irked me, though, was when Sean Hannity said, “I’m a Christian. I don’t hate God,” and she responded with, “You’re not a Christian.” (Because he’s Catholic.) No one besides me and God knows where I stand with Him. As a Christian, I am to make my own judgement based on people’s actions as to whether I think they may be a Christian or not, but I have no authority upon which to tell anyone whether they are or are not a Christian. “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”–Luke 6:37

Before It Was Said–FFH

Everyday I sit and pray that God above will watch over me and my family,
But everyday I seem to pray the same old thing in the same old way and I start to think
That maybe I should change and find something better to say
But I’ve learned to believe that you always hear me when I pray

(Chorus)
So I get down on my knees ’cause I’m stronger than these voices inside of my head
They try to deceive me and make me believe that I would be better instead
To take my requests and put them to rest but You’re already one step ahead
You know just what I would say before it was said

Every night I lie awake wondering if You’re listening to every heartbeat
You’ve told me that You know the deepest part of me, you’ll watch over me and my family
So I guess I shouldn’t change ’cause You hear every word that I say
I know You are here when I come to You this way

(Chorus)

So I guess I shouldn’t change ’cause You hear every word that I say
And I knew You were here when I knelt down today, yea

(Chorus)

One day when I was about thirteen, or so the pastor at my church’s yearly week-long revival spoke about prayer. He talked about how sometimes we, as christians, get stuck in the rut of cookie-cutter prayers. He then proceeded to give an example, which was word for word almost exactly what I prayed (and still pray) every single night. “Lord, thank-you for this day. Thank-you for my food, friends, and family. Thank-you for my church, and help me to do Your will. Amen.”

I was aghast. Had my whole prayer life become nothing more than habit? Was I ineffective when it came to portraying to God how I felt and what my desires were? Since then, I’ve often revisited this subject in my mind. I’ve learned that what we say in our prayers should come from the heart. It should be whatever we want to express to the Lord. Sometimes I don’t have the words to express what I feel, but I know that the Lord knows my mind and my heart. I know that when my words fail, that’s when the Spirit takes control.

I still pray those words every night because that’s what’s in my heart. They’re not habit or laziness or my cookie-cutter prayer. I don’t let doubt nag me and draw me away from my relationship with God. I could probably come up with a different way to say those things everynight, but then I’m focusing on the prayer and not on who I’m praying to.

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord” James 1:5-7

“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” Romans 8:26

Revelation 3:14-22

The book of Revelation is an account of things witnessed by John while imprisoned on the island of Patmos. The title in Greek is Apokalypsis Ioannou, “Revelation of John.” It is also commonly called the Apocalypse, which is a transliteration of the word apokalypsis, meaning “unveiling,” “disclosure,” or “revelation.” A better title for the book, however, comes from the first verse: Apokalypsis Iesou Christou, “Revelation of Jesus Christ.”
John was exiled to the island prison because of his testimony for Christ. Patmos was a small, volcanic island in the Aegean Sea where the Romans would banish political prisoners. During this time, Romans were beginning to openly persecute the early church.

v. 14 Jesus wanted each church to know without a doubt who was the true author of Revelation. From the introduction, we can learn a lot about the person of Christ:

Amen—it is so; so be it
Christ bears witness to the glory and power of God and also intercedes on behalf of His disciples
Christ was, is, and always will be in existence. Without Him, nothing without Him, nothing was made that was made. (Jn 1:3)

v. 15&16 Our lives do not go unnoticed. God knows everything we say and do…even before we do it. The Laodicean church was luke warm, therefore Jesus said He would spew them out of His mouth. The Bible states firmly that nothing can separate us from the love of God or His grace, but when we won’t give ourselves over fully to Christ, we will often find ourselves on our own.

v. 17 Because of man’s sinful nature, he does not realize that he is a wretched being. We are tricked by Satan into believing that we do not need a thing—that we can make it on our own. He tells us we are rich when we are poor, happy when we are miserable, and that we can see when we are really blind.

v. 18 Jesus offers us everything that the devil wants us to think we already have. With these gifts, we truly have everything we need.

v. 19 As a gardener prunes his plants, so does the Lord shape and mold His followers. Being a child of God is not a guarantee of an easy life, but all things work for the good of those who love the Lord.

v. 20-22 Christ’s invitation is open to all. We only have to open the door, and Christ will come into our lives.

When we are on fire for the Lord, there is nothing we cannot accomplish. Lukewarm christians not only aren’t effective for Christ, they also drag other christians down with back-biting, division, and uncommitment. Christ said that He’d rather us be on fire for Him or not even associate ourselves with His name at all.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valey of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely good ness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

In today’s hectic world, how could anyone not love that psalm? It talks of peace, security, fulfillment…all the things that to many, seem so elusive and out of reach. An unknown author once said,

“Peace. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.”

That is the peace that God gives. Isaiah calls Christ the “Prince of Peace.”

God knew way before man what stress does to the body. Many of the laws given to Isreal were not intended to keep them from evil, but rather to improve their health. Want to lower your cholesterol…lose weight…at risk for heart attack? Seek out a healthy spiritual diet as well as a physical one. As Jesus said to the devil, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Let God fill you with His peace.

Jesus take the wheel
Take it from my hands
Cause I can’t do this all on my own
I’m letting go
So give me one more chance
To save me from this road I’m on
Jesus take the wheel

While I was driving down Interstate 8 this morning on my way to exchange the little Nissan rental car that got rear ended on Shelly’s way to work, I was in a pretty bad state. I was frustrated, angry, sad, disappointed, and many more. On top of wrecking my car last night, why had this now happened today?

It was at this moment that Carrie Underwood’s new song, ‘Jesus, Take the Wheel’ came on the radio. It was a gentle reminder that in the midst of all our trials and tribulations, God is in control.

Just like the woman in the song, many people reach out to God in their most desperate times, but in my own personal experience, I’ve learned that those are the times that God reaches out to me. Everytime I feel defeated, burdened or at the end of my rope, God reaches out to me to remind me that He has a plan and it’s all in His hands.

God reaches out to you, too. Paul calls Him “the God of patience and consolation.” When you’re in your deepest, darkest moments, He’ll be there. Encouraging and uplifting you. Sometimes, you just have to know where to look. Who knows…maybe all this happened just so God could remind me that He is in control?