Happiness is a good thing

Keys to happiness.

I know it has been a good little while since I wrote anything. I have been very busy with work and school, however I am still learning things!

I want to talk about how to be happy. Everyone wants to be happy, right? However the only way you will be completely happy is if you are in Gods will. I wanna cover some steps that are helping me, I hope, to get there. 

I’m not saying these are perfect. This may be just a testimony of Gods recent working on my heart.

(And this will probably only make since if you are a Christian. Which salvation comes first always)

The steps I have seen are these. Recognition. Resolution. Contentment. Trust. Obedience. Then come joy, happiness and Gods blessings in abundance.

RECOGNITION.                                                                                

First, recognizing who is who. Remember. God is the only God here. He made us. Not we, Him.  He makes the rules. We must recognize that we are sinful man. Although Jesus’ Holiness saves us, we are still below God and will never equal Him. So we have to recognize that The Lord Jesus is the boss of our lives and doesn’t subcontract. He lone is worthy and able to posses the throne.

So in recognition, we must identify who God is and what His supreme role for eternity is. Also, we must recognize a few things about ourselves. We are the creation. We aren’t the plan; we are the tools to accomplish the plan. The plan is to glorify God, and in that goal we find our every purpose. Lets look at us in a different perspective. We are sinful people. We are the lowest of the low. However, we are bought with a price. The payment of the debt of our sins was the only means of reconciliation and always be the only means. So now our standing is as perfect in Gods eyes. But we must finally conclude that by Gods grace, we are recognized as His slaves. An occupation far grander than anything we could attain too on our own.

Lastly, who are the people around us? They are people just like you and me. But they fall into too categories. They are brothers and sisters in Christ, or unsaved masses. If the first, then praise the Lord! If they are the second, though, we must approach them vastly different. We must recognize our role to them is to be an example of Christ, and to love them. While remembering that their favorite name is theirs, and their favorite agenda is their own as well. (This is sadly close to the case in many Christians lives as well as mine most of the time I am sure)

In conclusion of this area, here are the basics we have to recognize.

GOD: He is on the throne, and He is the boss.

US: We are His servants and must see that we are nothing without Him.

OTHERS: You WILL affect them, and your attitude is the difference maker.

Now to pull us into the next step of serving, we must have a resolution. That will be tomorrow or sometime. J

Man I am quite bad at blogging. Since I got the last post up I have gotten a five day a week job at Chick fil a. I guess I should clarify that the strengths for life "series" will be in the future Whenever that is. So sorry! God bless yall!
jdd

27 DAYS LATER

So the one on prayer is still coming! The "one week" idea is crazy though..... Im sorry! :-/
I will get it out with in the month! Heh..... Thanks!
jdd

Strength for Life

Strength for life.
Ah where to start? First off, sorry for the long delay in getting up a post. I have been lazy as far as that goes! Of course I have about 3 readers so.... ;)

Anyhow, I have been considering ideas on a new project. And I am going to try something a little bit new. I am going to go through basic disciplines of the Christian life.  But they are not only disciplines, meaning things that we need as Christians to keep us going against our nature, and helping us break free from it and go how God wants us to. I'll call them strengths for life. After the  title in the last few devotions of "daily light" morning and evening devotionals.

Some general facts about this.
What are these Strengths? they are as I said disciplines that we all need to work on. They are practices all of us not only should take part in, but also need to! If you do these things you will be so much stronger spiritually in your day to day walk.  I find just with reading the Bible and spending time in prayer, it is SO much easier to resist temptation! Lord knows I have a long ways to go, but I am thankful to Him every time my flesh looses against my spirit. I know that I am being prepared for bigger things in the future, so winning small battles is important.
Oh I forgot to mention them. The strengths are prayer, obedience, solitude, Bible study, fellowship, hope, faith, and love. I believe that is all at the moment.

When will these be posted?
I shall try to get to one a week! Some areas I know a little bit about, like prayer. Others are completely new in a sense, like solitude.

Why? I see a decline in how people my age think about their Christianity. It wasn't until recently that I realized they have these problems because we are not practicing these christianity as we ought. We are not strong enough to say no when temptation comes up. That is where the strength comes in.  And I'm not saying we have to be monks or anything, just that we need to focus more on preparing for everyday small battles. "he who is faithful in little will be faithful in much"

Where? Here at pumachap.blogspot.com of course!

I encourage you to pray about each of these strengths ahead of time. I am looking forward to see how God will lead me. Some people may be able to do these more than others, but however you can, I'd encourage you to do these. And I am not making them up either. I will have references etc. nor will they be exhaustive, just little chips of ice bergs.
Thanks and God bless y'all!
Jdd
"Redeeming the time, because the days are evil"

My testimony I wrote out for Children's Program. Might as well post it.

What lead up to my salvation?

I had never really realized that I needed to be saved before I was. I grew up with everything being reality that yes, Jesus died and took my punish meant for my sins, so I could be right with God and go to Heaven, however I never realized I had to DO something about it. I was in Sunday school, and I was only five years old. The teacher was teaching on salvation, and that is the only Sunday school lesson I actually recall from those days. Anyway, I prayed and gave my life to God. I had no idea EXACTLY what that meant at the time, but I do believe that was when the Lord Jesus saved me.

What Scriptures people or events did God use?

Like I said. God used my Sunday school teacher and verses on heaven and hell to show me my need, but He has used many others to help me understand more.

What battles went on within you?

I really think I was blessed to be saved that young, in that I didn’t have a horrible past and I cant recall anything big that I struggled with before my salvation. He did show me in a strong way that I needed to call on Him, because without Him, I am nothing. I recall the felling that I needed to do something about it, but I wasn’t all the way sure what, until my teacher actually told me that I needed to believe in my heart and confess with my mouth.

How did God change my mind and heart?

At the time, He really made it clear just the basic need to be saved, but since then He has continued to work in me. He has more recently helped me to be content. The verse Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart”, has taken on whole new meaning. I have resolved to accept and rejoice in HIS will in different big and little situations lately. He has helped me to surrender in a real way, and He has made the desires of my heart, turn into a gratitude and thriving for ONLY His will. I am not saying I have mastered contentment at all, but it is great to see how He works.

Why did you need to be saved?

I needed to be saved because I was a worthless sinful human worthy of nothing more than complete separation from God forever. Except for the Lord Jesus coming into my life through His grace, I was potentially a horrible murderous, lying thieving sinner. I sinned before I was saved and I have sinned since then. There had to be a punishment for my sin, because I have turned away in contempt against the perfect God. He sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ to live a perfect life, but die a horrible death in my place. He took the punishment I deserved in my sin and suffered and died in His righteousness. It is like we did a swap in Gods eyes. He looks at Jesus Christ His perfect Son, and sees the horrors of my sin, and then He looks at me, the one that despised and rejected Him, and sees the perfection and righteousness of His Son, Jesus on me. This is a miracle topping the Creation of the universe. 

What were the results immediately after my salvation and the results since?

I was joyful. I had to tell people. I felt like I was on top of the world. It was great. Since then I have had times pretty rough. I have been stupid, reckless, careless, and rude. But the Lord Jesus has worked in my and shown me that He can change me, and He has been and is. I don’t know the way, but He isn’t done yet because I do know what the finished product is, because He is going to bring my salvation to perfection and end me up spotless in heaven with Him, so I can trust in that move with faith and victory.

What was the main obstacle to you?

The main obstacle that has been and will be is having the focal point of self. I am seeking to put myself on the throne of my service sometimes, but the Lord Jesus is there and H doesn’t subcontract. So I hope He gets rid of myself, and ill do what I can. Not that He needs it. =D

jdd

Redeeming the time. Because the days are evil

Holy?!

Now I know a lot of my stuff is “You have to do this! You have to do that!”, but in this post I want to kind of just dwell on a great truth God recently showed me. This is probably something obvious I missed, but humor me.

Been thinking a lot lately about Romans 12:1

 ¹I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Especially the first part. We are to present our bodies, as a living sacrifice. This is something we do ourselves, for God. We are presenting ourselves, but aren’t we sinful? How can God use us? Well that’s what I want to focus on.

The living sacrifice is what we so often focus on. But I was thinking about the rest of it. We are so lame. So sinful and inadequate, but here it doesn’t even say we are that. It says when we present ourselves as a sacrifice to God, it is HOLY! Remember, sacrifices have to be without blemish, perfectly without flaw. But it even gets better! We are ACCEPTABLE to God!!! Acceptable! Think about how powerful this is: there has not been a person able to rightly serve God since Adam. But through this other One man (Jesus Christ), we don’t just become His servants, we are acceptable, holy sacrifices! Living, breathing ones at that. The more for God to use us!

 So how is this possible? When we are under the Blood of Jesus, His Righteousness becomes what God sees on us. When we are saved, we are no longer the sinful man that we once were. But my words don’t quite grasp it, It says it perfectly here: By the mercies of God.

Well that’s it, just wanted to jot something down real quick. I hope it’s a blessing. I hope that you will make sure that your name is covered, then present your body COMPLETELY as a sacrifice to Him, and let Him use you. God bless,

Jdd

Eph 5:16

 ¹⁶Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

Lights

I was listening to a song today. It is a song we are all very familiar with.  I was out walking a dog. It gave me a mental picture I have never thought of before. "this little light of mine. I'm gonna let it shine..." and we all know the rest. I was walking on a street I am very used to so I easily pictured myself as a light, moving and walking down the street of complete black. This is such a true picture. The light is illuminating this dark, fallen world.

We are reflections of Christ, who is the light of the world. How are different then the dark? First off, we do not lack the redemption that inwardly sets us apart. But what about what people see? Don't get me wrong, it is God that judges us and He doesn't look on the outward like man, but on the inside. That is just it. We are told to be witnessess and let our "light so shine in the darkness". Who is looking in the outside? The Bible tells us: man. That is who we are witnessess of God to. So we are to stick out, even to shine. Now, not shining from ourselves. We are not supposed to be exalting oursleves. We have to be close to God, and reflecting His light. That is what will make us shine.

Finally, what will this look like? Think about a few things. We (Christians) are to be not of the world (darkness) but in the world. We are being watched. Is the church and Christians going into the world or is the world coming  into the Church and our hearts? We are to be the ones influencing. What will set us apart? Many areas, but what people see is what will witness. What do we wear? Or don't wear....0_o. Who do we hang out with? What do we listen to? Do we use Gods name in vain? Even slang is in most cases wrong! When we talk about stuff or look a certain way, people associate us with everyday random Joe. Now I am not attacking exact things as morally wrong, (not is this post anyway) rather, I'm saying this: Christians, stand out! Shine as lights, do not be average and do not be mediocre. Be lights!!!

jdd