Finding Direction in Life and Faith

Finding Direction in Life and Faith

by | Apr 7, 2025 | Forgiveness, Hope, Mercy

Christmas Joy

Two of my sons and I were riding the subway in NYC recently. After looking at a sign on the train, I noticed our train line didn’t stop at our destination. Big mistake. Two lines ran side by side for a distance, then split. It took us out of Manhattan, and across the river into Williamsburg, just north of Brooklyn.

At the first stop in Williamsburg, I knew we had to get off and take a train headed back into Manhattan. I was nervous about the unknown. We walked up to street level into a questionable neighborhood and walked across the street to catch a train traveling in the opposite direction.

I was so glad to get back on the right track, literally!

God’s mercies never end

Have you ever felt like you have gotten on the wrong train? Got off on the wrong path? And you’re clueless about how to turn yourself around? Maybe you feel hopeless or guilty over a sin or neglect. Or experiencing conflict in a relationship. Does your spiritual walk need a re-vamp? Or do you simply long for a change?

You are not alone.

No matter where you are, how stuck you may seem,

“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases. His mercies are new every morning. They never come to an end.” (Lamentations 3:22)

God will give us the strength to turn and set our face toward Him.

Total Transformations

Zacchaeus found himself on the wrong path, but one encounter with Jesus transformed him. He came for a glimpse of Jesus from the branches of a sycamore tree. Maybe what started with curiosity and a search for more ended in a breakthrough. His life was no longer the same. (See Luke 19:1-10.)

I think after the rooster crowed the third time; Peter’s heart must have sunk. Peter denied he knew Jesus. His denial must have been the lowest point in his life. But his story didn’t end with his mistakes and betrayal. He experienced God’s mercy. He repented and with Jesus’ love and forgiveness, He turned his life around and brought the message of hope and joy to all those he encountered. (See Luke 22:54-62.)

Paul was on a journey with an evil purpose. A shining star among the Pharisees. But after a life-altering experience with Jesus, he turned his life around. He turned from a persecutor of Christians to a preacher of Christ throughout the Roman Empire. (See Acts 8:1-24.)

The name of Jesus changes everything

I think we can learn from the author of Lamentations. When we end up on the wrong path, we can remind ourselves of the truth.

“But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The LORD is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’” (Lamentations 3: 21-24 ESV).

Maybe we need to evaluate and turn from the path we’re on. Jesus will not leave us stuck. God’s mercies never end. A single encounter with Jesus can lead to significant change and hope. He welcomes sinners and gives us the means to change direction and move forward on the path He has for us. We can call on Jesus, the name that changes everything.

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Don’t know Jesus? You can.
It would be my greatest honor to take your hand, introduce you and walk you through how to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and how to have a personal relationship with Him. Find out more here.
Knowing God

Knowing God

by | Aug 15, 2024 | Belief, Joy, Mercy

Knowing God

We witnessed the magnificent view from a distance. Experiencing it up close was quite a different story.

After viewing Whitewater Falls in North Carolina from a lookout point, my sons and I took a side trail to the top of the waterfall. Halfway there we stopped to read a sign warning us of the danger going forward.

Pressed for time, we almost turned back but decided to keep moving forward. The treacherous path failed to deter us. We made it to the main plateau, step by step, across mud and wet rocks, and even climbing down through a rock cave. Water danced around smaller rocks upstream, surging over the menacing rock cliff downstream.

We squinted to see the lookout point where we had first stopped.

An awe-inspiring sight

If we had turned back along the way, we would have missed the source of the falls. We would have missed the exhilaration of being that close, of seeing a view of awe and wonder, far better than the one from the manmade viewing deck.

As we hiked back to our car, I voiced my thoughts. “There’s got to be a lesson here.”

Words of wisdom flowed out of my 16-year-old. “It’s like going to church but not really knowing God.”

He was right. Like seeing God from a distance or maybe through someone else’s experience, but missing the overflowing love mercy and grace He offers us individually.

We can attend church weekly and only go through the motions. We can even be in God’s presence and not even know it.

We may sing the songs and hear the teaching, but until we know Him, we won’t experience the joy, the awe of being in the presence of a Holy God.

Think on this

“It cannot but be a major tragedy in the life of any man or woman to live in a church from childhood to old age and know nothing more real than some synthetic god compounded of theology and logic, but having no eyes to see, no ears to hear, and no heart to love!” — A. W. Tozer, American Christian pastor, author, magazine editor and spiritual mentor.

We can experience Him though. The Creator of the universe wants to connect with His creation.

As believers, we have access to God the Spirit. He dwells in all believers, going where we go. He sealed us and promised to stay with us always. Why would we choose not to worship Him as the preeminent giver of life?

Being in church is one thing. Being close to God is quite a different experience.

May we no longer be satisfied to know about God. No longer satisfied to watch someone else’s God story. Let’s move beyond seeing God from a distance and find Him in a living, personal experience.

The Lord is full of awe and wonder. Our lives may be messy along the way, but when we know Jesus, we will experience the powerful, transformative and joy-inspiring presence of God.

“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?,” (Psalm 8:3-4 ESV).

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Don’t know Jesus? You can.

It would be my greatest honor to take your hand, introduce you and walk you through how to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and how to have a personal relationship with Him.

Find out more here.

Eyes Wide Open

by | Jan 28, 2023 | God, Grace, Mercy

 

In the middle of Job’s heartache and despair, he speaks something profound.

What is man, that you make so much of him, and that you set your heart on him. Job 7:17 (ESV)

Let that sink in. God loves us. So much that in His mercy, we don’t get what we deserve — an eternity separated from Him in a place of constant torment. Yet, in His grace, we get so much that we don’t deserve.

  • We can have a relationship with Almighty God through His Son Jesus Christ and spend eternity with Him in paradise.
  • We can have meaningful relationships with people here on earth.
  • We can enjoy the beauty around us.
  • We can enjoy food that not only sustains us but tastes good.
  • And we can listen to music that brings joy to our souls.

God sets His heart on us.

There are many places in the Bible that tell us to set our hearts on God. But in this verse in Job, we find that God also sets his heart on us. We can rest in that fact. We can find love, experience care and receive blessings.

I recently listened to a song by Jeremy Camp – Keep Me in the Moment. This song encourages us to live with our eyes open so we don’t miss what God has for us. It goes on to say that nothing is wasted when everything is placed in His hands.

I had to think on that. I waste time when I don’t place things in his hand — specifically the time worrying about something that may or may not happen.

The cool part is that when I was writing this post, the scripture at the bottom of that day’s page in my journal spoke directly to this same thing.

Give your burdens to the LORD, and He will take care of you. Psalm 55:22 (NCV) 

I have worried about a decision I needed to make — unable to get it off my mind. But when I placed the burden of that decision in God’s hands, I could focus and spend my time on what God DOES have for me. And I could be confident that He is not withholding blessings from me.

He blesses us when we hand our worries and fears to Him.

And not only that, but our sweet surrender of every moment to God brings peace and joy. While Jesus said He would go to prepare a place for us so that we could be with Him one day, He also said that we could have joy in THIS life.

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. John 15:11 (NIV)

God is sovereign. He is in control. Yet He sets his heart on you and me. Let’s live with our eyes wide open and look for joy in the moment.

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