Trust and walk with God

Greetings:
We know that sometimes doing things that you are called to do by God may look to other people, who see only through their own eyes, as being foolish or irrational.
How many of you know that God's plan for you might have you stepping out in faith and doing something that is different, out of your own character?
How many of you know that our lives are unpredictable?
Have you ever watched the swell of  ocean waves that looked menacing from far away become only a ripples by the time they arrived on the shore.
Life is that way. An approaching problem may look menacing, like a huge wave coming toward you, but by that time it confronts you it may not be nearly as bad as imagined in our minds that many times don't see the whole picture or the whole plan.
Being obedient to God is want matters.
The key is to pray, and learn God's plan for your life and act on it, even if it takes some faith and stepping out into unknown waters where you can't see the bottom and don't know what lies ahead with each small cautious step forward.
The place to start understanding is reading God's Word –– the Bible.
It's the road map, the instruction manual, the fix-it guide, the source that has more answers to your questions than Google, Yahoo or any online search site.
When God calls you out, you’ll find yourself in a totally different environment–a place you’ve never been before, a place you’re not used to, a place where you’re different or doing something totally different from everyone around you,  a place where you must depend on God and no one else or no one else can or is willing to help you.
Be encouraged. God is not calling you out for nothing. God is up to something. God has a plan, and his plan is always for your good.
In Jeremiah 29:11 we read: “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."
In Hebrews 11 we also read that 'without faith it is impossible to please him'.
So, if you find yourself in an unfamiliar place, and you don’t know what to do, there’s really only one thing to do – trust God.

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Feel blessed for your blessings

Greetings:
Life comes at us so fast and it seems the older we get more it seems like the days, weeks and months just fly by.
Many  times good things happen, and other times we face an onslaught of difficulty after difficulty. When the waves of strife drive our faces to the ground, we must not give up, lose heart, or stop trusting God.
God has ordained things for us to do to keep our minds fixed upon Him. It is a willful act that we must do to think upon him and remember who he is and what He has done.
Paul says in Colossians 3:2, “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.” We are vulnerable to getting overwhelmed by the nonsense of this world, and it is imperative that we remember some things, particularly, that which is true about the many blessings which we have in Christ."
Even when we are feeling down and out,  surely, we can think of instances of answered prayer, of God’s provision, of God’s graces, of God’s good and perfect gifts to us, and of the mercy of God.
God is so gracious, and we cannot take his grace for granted. Rather, we should thank him for his provision, trust him in the present, and think on the great blessings coming to us in the coming kingdom.
Paul said in 1 Timothy 6:8, “If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.”
There is so much to be thankful for, and so many blessings to count.
If only we could see all that God does, we would have more mercies than we could ever account for. Let us not let the fiery darts of the devil knock us down such that we forget that we have Christ and the many blessings of God. We should never lose hope, and we should always have reason to be thankful.
Be blessed.
These morning messages are now available by email. Simply write me with you email address at schneider.nick@gmail.com, and I'll be happy to forward them to your in-box. Also, all of the photos in my blog are for sale. Contact me for pricing.

Angels all around us

Greetings:
How many of you believe in angels?
They are watching over us, all around us.
They are protectors of physical and spiritual dangers.
Angels are commanded to "encamp all around us”.
I shot some photos at an early morning wreck last week and I can tell you the woman driving one of the cars surely had some angels encamped around her. Her vehicle was smashed, twisted and turned upside down. You had to look twice to see that it was actually a car.
Yet, she suffered only a broken leg and was treated and released at the local hospital.
It was miraculous, but reminded me that we do have angels with us.
The angels we are talking about are not the chubby little baby angels that are often depicted. Those angels are not biblical. 
This is not fiction stuff, but the truth that is confirmed in the Word of God. Angels are powerful, spiritual agents under God's sovereign will.
God's holy angels are not passive, but active and powerful in nature.
Ask daily for God's angels to be dispatched around you and your family.
We may have even encountered and entertained angels without even knowing it or without being aware of it. That's an eye-opening thought. It makes me want to always treat people with love and respect.
Protection is vital since that roaming lion hides and lies in wait for us and evil spirits that rule this world that seek to destroy His own. However if God is for us, who can be against us!?
And since God's Word is true, then why should we fear what anyone can do to us?
We should take comfort that angels are there for us.
The New Testament in Luke 16:22  mentions that Lazarus was "carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom" after he had died so it may even be that even we may have more than one angel who is assigned to us.
Take comfort in the knowledge that we are secure in Christ's very own hands and in the hands of the Father and that he's dispensed angels for our physical protection and strengthening.
Let us remember Psalm 34:7, “The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.”
We can be thankful that God has his angels watching over us, every move we make and every step we take.
Be blessed.

These morning messages are now available by email. Simply write me with you email address at schneider.nick@gmail.com, and I'll be happy to forward them to your in-box. Also, all of the photos in my blog are for sale. Contact me for pricing.

Fix your thoughts on whatsoever is good

Greetings:
We all go through periods of trials, difficulties, pain, and suffering in this life.
The Lord's message today is one of hope and encouragement.
Regardless of our age, intellect, responsibilities, or experience various trials will likely come our way.
When those events happen –– and they will –– God wants us to come to him to seek his will and his direction and to quit attempting to carry the burden ourselves. 
This requires faith.
Faith means trusting him in everything
Pray for help to forget the pain, the failures, and the fear from the past.  Forget the past glories and achievements.  Then move on day by day, in faith, towards the promise of God that lies ahead.
Let's all be encouraged by the words of  Philippians 4:8,  which states: "Fix your thoughts on whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy - meditate on these things."
Do not fix your thoughts on the problem. With a thankful heart dwell on all those things God has blessed you with ... and dwell on the hope and the promises found in Jesus Christ.
Remember it’s his will we seek, not our will, his time, not our time, and his way, not our way.  Only God knows the end from the beginning.  Don’t be discouraged when prayers aren’t answered exactly the way we want or when we want. 
We will not escape the pain, heartbreak, sorrow, and distress found in this life, but the Lord promises to help us, strengthen us, and to see us through all of them.  His promise is not to take us out of the bitter storms of life, but to safely lead us through the storms.
He truly cares and knows what is best.
Be blessed.

These morning messages are now available by email. Simply write me with you email address at schneider.nick@gmail.com, and I'll be happy to forward them to your in-box. Also, all of the photos in my blog are for sale. Contact me for pricing.

Find peace

Greetings:
Many times in life things happen that we don’t understand, and we may wonder why.
Life is supposed to be fair and just, for it is not.
What is a Christian to think and do when life isn’t fair and hardship befalls the righteous?
We must understand and accept the reality that the rain falls on the just and the unjust as it says in Matthew 5:45.
In this life, sometimes the wicked prosper, and other times the righteous reign victorious. Sometimes evil people get away with things, and the righteous are unduly condemned. In this world, we will experience trouble.
Our hope is in Jesus.
We believe he will settle all accounts, avenge all wrongs, and make all things fair and just. But in the meantime, things will be out of balance, unfair, and unjust. Thus, we must accept the reality of being in a fallen world, and we must then look forward to the day when Christ will make all things right. We will be rewarded for our faithfulness and stewardship because God sees all.
We must by faith trust that God hasn’t forgotten us or betrayed us as if He is giving somebody else preferential treatment or answering their requests and not ours. God knows what He is doing, and He shows no partiality.
We must understand that though God understands all things, we don’t understand everything.
Paul says in Philippians 4:7, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Paul is saying that not only is the peace of God so wonderful that it defies our minds’ ability to understand it but that the peace of God is even preferable to our trying to figure out our lives and understand our circumstances. We are not God, and we don’t have all understanding.  However, we can have His peace despite our lack of understanding as we trust God that He will help us know what we need to know. 
Peace makes it possible for us to have rest even when things don’t all make sense to us because we trust God that they make sense to Him. 
We only see such a small part of the entire picture that we are much better off simply trusting than trying to understand God’s every move. Life on this earth is not always smooth and easy, but God has not forgotten us. 
He is always busy at work causing all things to work for our good.
In confusing times, we can still have rest and a supernatural peace that is a fruit of the Spirit.  This internal tranquility and comfort requires that we trust God, that we rest in His plan, that we cast our cares upon Him, and that we accept the fact that we may not understand what God is doing.
Be blessed.

These morning messages are now available by email. Simply write me with you email address at schneider.nick@gmail.com, and I'll be happy to forward them to your in-box. Also, all of the photos in my blog are for sale. Contact me for pricing.

Lord, teach us compassion

Greetings:
This morning I've been been impressed to look at compassion.
We would all like to think we have plenty of compassion.
But the reality is far too many people have become callous rather than compassionate in our world and the communities where we live.
It may be we’ve lost sight of the compassion of Christ and the teaching He left us on compassion, as well as other things that are important and impact upon our eternal lives. If we are to learn to be compassionate, we could go to no greater, more perfect source than the compassionate Christ.
Webster's Dictionary defines compassion as “suffering with another, hence, sympathy; sorrow for the distress or misfortune of another with a desire to help; pity; commiseration.”
We need to practice compassion.
In order to learn compassion, we need to turn to the source of it. We need to cry out, “Lord, teach us compassion.”
In biblical days people were fearful of lepers and the terrible, contagious disease leprosy. Lepers were pitiful, outcast individuals separated from society. Yet, Jesus was willing not only to heal them, but he reached out to touched them.
Jesus was willing to touch the lives of all men, regardless of race, regardless of social or economic standing. Jesus Christ, the compassionate Christ, had time for others. He had time to touch the children who were brought to Him. He had time to pray for them.
Do we have that kind of compassion?
Jesus taught compassion as he lived among men by His touch, by His willingness to touch others. The hands of Jesus touched those who were sick to heal them.
In Matthew 9:36-38 (NIV) we read: “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.  Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
Jesus was willing to touch the lives of all men, regardless of race, regardless of social or economic standing. Jesus Christ, the compassionate Christ, had time for others. He had time to touch the children who were brought to Him. He had time to pray for them.
Jesus touched those shunned by the religious elite of His day, the Pharisees and others who were His critics and His enemies. Jesus answered His critics with  powerful lessons on the value of one soul, one individual.
Are we willing to do that?
The apostle Paul, the man who admonished us to follow him as he followed Christ in  was one who learned well this attitude of compassion.
How many tears are being shed today for millions who’ve never known the compassionate Christ?
When we are sensitive to the soul’s value, to its immortality, the impending judgment, and the destination of the disobedient, hearts will be filled with compassion as tears fill the eyes. But, we will not only weep, we will work as did the Jesus to take the saving message of truth into all the world.
Our compassion will compel us to do so.

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Mercy come close to me

Greetings:
How many times have your heard, "I don't get mad – I get even."?
This seems to be the way many people view the world nowadays. We should be more than thankful that God takes much different view of things.
Although the Bible makes it clear that God is the Great Judge who hates all evil-doing, he is also the God of Mercy, who forgives and accepts people who turn to him.
It's that amazing grace that we sing about in our church.
Mercy is a precious gift to be cherish and practiced.
The word mercy means compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or any person in one's power. A second definition is the disposition to be compassionate or forbearing. Another meaning of the word mercy is something that gives evidence of divine favor or a blessing.
Mercy may be hard for us to understand, but with God it's a way of life.
We read in Matthew 5:7," Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."
When we as believers see ourselves as we really are, when we have mourned over our pitiful condition, when we have walked in meekness before God and have hungered and thirsted for his righteousness, then it will produce mercy in us. We will be more merciful, because we recognize how much mercy has been extended to us.
Mercy is something we do, not just something we feel.
Mercy means to help a person in need, to rescue the miserable and to pour out an act of kindness – expecting nothing in return.
Mercy means a sense of pity, plus a desire to relieve the suffering.
Simply saying, "I feel your pain" is not mercy. Mercy is meeting the need, not just feeling it. Real mercy is pity plus action.
Mercy is taking a step forward, sometimes in faith, and doing something –  not just thinking or praying about it.
The gospel tells us that some things are excusable and everything is forgivable.
Mercy
If we give no mercy, we can expect none. If we show mercy, we shall—absolutely for sure — obtain mercy.
Be blessed today.

These morning messages are now available by email. Simply write me with you email address at schneider.nick@gmail.com, and I'll be happy to forward them to your in-box. Also, all of the photos in my blog are for sale. Contact me for pricing.