God Says... "He is able to bless you abundantly."

By Peter Pollock

I say I have faith that God will provide, but only when it’s easy.

Somehow, Ginny has managed to pick the topics which are by far the most personal and hardest for me to write on

The text that Ginny suggested I use is 2 Corinthians 9:8:

"And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work."

Now, to me, that verse has always spoken about material needs. God will give us all the money and all the materials we need to do whatever it is he calls us to do.

That’s AWESOME – and I totally believe it, with all my heart.

Ginny pointing me to this verse though and suggesting that I write about us saying “I'm not able” and God replying “I AM able” has made me see this verse in a new light.

If God is able to bless us abundantly in all things… then he must be able to bless us abundantly in ALL things, not just material things.

In other words, God is saying I can give YOU the tools YOU need physically, emotionally and mentally to do what I’ve called you to do.

WHOA!

There’s a part of me that can believe that but at the same time, it’s so much harder to trust God for.

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God Says... "I forgive you."

By Nick (My Experience As...)

So often we say we believe one thing, but live another.  It’s easy to see in the “party Friday and Saturday but show up to church Sunday” Christians. I mean, come on, we have a great acronym for them, pfasbsutcs. So memorable isn’t it. We see it in some big ways in our own life.  We say “reading the Bible and praying is important” but spend more time on Facebook than we do in the Book.  I could go on and on, but instead of focusing on all that stuff, lets dig a little deeper.

I think we all struggle with living our belief that God is the biggest of the big.  I mean, God is infinite, He is omnipotent, He is eternal, and there are literally no limits on Him.  When, I was 16 we went on a trip to Montana.  Back then they didn’t have speed limits, but there were limits.  The sign said “safe and reasonable” but the police would pull you over and give you a reckless driving ticket if you went too fast.  I had in my mind “no limits” and got kind of excited.  Time to find out what this Dodge Caravan with a family of four and a ton of luggage can do. Then my dad explained the whole reckless driving thing and I ran into the limit.

I think we are looking for God’s limits. Can he really heal this disease?  Can He actually reach my lost loved one? Is my sin too big for God?

That’s the big one.  Right now you are thinking of that sin.  Maybe it is some past thing, maybe it is this ongoing struggle, but you remember, and you feel guilty.  The truth is, I know I am.

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God Says... "Nothing is impossible for me. "

By Jason V (Ponderings of a Pilgrim Pastor)

"With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26)

I have a friend who has now been cancer-free for five years, but five years ago, things did not look very good for her.  She was in intensive chemotherapy and was not given a good prognosis.  She was suffering such terrible side-effects from the chemo that she elected to stop the treatment.  The cancer went away and has not come back in five years.

I've also been praying for a little girl who has brain cancer.  She was showing remarkable signs of progress and was in remission until a few months ago, when the cancer came back.  Her parents are trusting Jesus for a situation that just seems impossible from a human perspective.

Life often seems impossible.  It's not just cancer.  I lead a men's recovery group on Wednesday afternoons.  The bondage of addiction and the side-effects of sin are devastating beyond description. 

Impossible.

Such a word seems so heavy, so all-encompassing, so utterly and devastatingly absolute.  For God, it is ultimately meaningless.  Impossible is simply impossible for God.  Of course, that doesn't mean He always does what we want Him to do.  His actions don't always make sense to us, but God never runs into a problem or situation and says, "Wow!  I didn't see that coming.  What am I going to do?  This just seems impossible!"

If anything were to be impossible for God, these things would certainly have to be near the top of the list:

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God Says... "I have not given you a spirit of fear."

By Dusty (Reflections on the Life of a Christian)

I have been afraid of a lot of things in my life. They range from the common to the unusual. Some fears cripple while others nag. Every one of them has kept me from doing or enjoying something in my life.

I believe most everyone has suffered from such fears. While some may deny it or hide it, everyone is afraid of something. Here is a list of common fears:

• Disappointment
• Failure
• Ridicule
• Rejection
• Injury/Death
• Unknown
• Abandonment

None of those have ever applied to you? Are you sure?

Well then, maybe I am the oddball (but I think not!) because I can think of a lot of instances where I suffered from one or more of those. For a guy, a lot of them might come into play when seeing a girl we like and wanting to ask them out. For a child, they may surface in their desire to please their parents or other authority figures. But fear is not limited to gender relations or age.

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God says... "Sin's pleasures are fleeting but its sorrow is lasting."

By Kely Braswell (Dangerous Breeze)

You Say: Sin is fun!
God Says: Sin's pleasures are fleeting but its sorrow is lasting.

Oh, please, excuse me while I go spit up in my mouth!

Here’s the deal. Some things are just stupid beyond imagining.

Like these statements:

“I’m going to go dip myself in butter and lie in a horse trough of snapping turtles.”

“Listen, y’all, I’ve got a GREAT idea… I’m going to strap myself to the face of a large silverback gorilla in the Congo.”

“Wait! I’ve got it! Let’s all stick a nine foot length of barbed wire up our left nostril, pull it out our right one, and hang ourselves from a rafter. That sounds like fun!”

NO. No one has ever said any of those things.

Why?

Because they are stupid.

In fact, they’re more than stupid; they’re redneck stoopid.

Let the words of Jesus speak a little truth into our day, and then let us all go peacefully about our lives, knowing that in His heart is, for us, a deep desire for fun. True fun. Lasting fun.

Here’s what He says. Hear the contrast.

“The thief (that’s the one that says “sin is fun”) comes only to steal and kill and destroy.”

Hear that? The author of sin, the father of lies, he only wants three things for you, and he loves for you to think that sin has some other golden effect than those three things. But it doesn’t.

He wants to steal from you.

He wants to kill you.

He wants to destroy you.

And he never, EVER, wants to let up. He never has an inkling of a smidgen of a moment when he says, “Wow, Bob’s had a really bad day. I think I’ll let up on him just for a little bit and give him a break.”

Nope. Never compassion.

Steal. Kill. Destroy.

Sin is fun, huh?

Now, how ‘bout Jesus side of things?

“I come that you might have life, and have it abundantly.”

Which sounds better? To be stolen from? Killed? Destroyed?

Or to have abundant life?

Just as satan (I don’t even wanna give him the dignity of capitalizing his name, the conniving sniveler) never, ever lets up in his desire to steal, kill, and destroy…

Jesus never, ever – not for one little nano-second of YOUR EXISTENCE – Never! – has He ever desired for you anything other than abundant life.

Excuse me. Does this whole discussion of sin being fun fall into the category of a “no-brainer?”

Don’t be redneck stoopid. Please.

Parting thought, and it’s a big, encouraging thought!…

“In Your presence is fullness of joy;
                at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

(The Bible, John 10:10 and Psalm 16:11)

(As a long-time redneck, I can say “redneck stoopid” without being bigoted in any way. I ain’t bein’ bigoted because I am one.)

Kely is the senior pastor of Antioch Community Church in Knoxville, TN. He has a B.S. in Secondary Education, and he’s a lawyer on top of that (go figure that combination!). He has also been an overseas church planter off and on for the last 20 years. Kely is a husband and father to six, and enjoys running, reading and writing. You can find more of his writing over at his blog: Dangerous Breeze.