Are you stuck?

Have you ever felt stuck?  Not, been stuck, but felt stuck?  I've been stuck in the mud, stuck in the snow and stuck in a rut... but all those places are easy enough to get out of.  A chain, a push (I recently got stuck in the snow and two very buff women pushed me out, thank you my amazon friends, whoever you are!) a pull and you're out and on your way!

But when you feel stuck it's a different story!  Depressed. Addicted. Oppressed. Abused. Exhausted. Confined.  Stuck. And no matter how hard you are pushed, how desperately you are pulled you still feel stuck.  You're sure everyone is out to get you, that God hates you and that the end is near.  Whatever you were running from... or running to has landed you smack dab between the baggage that follows and the uncertainty of what's to come.

That's where the Israelites were as a nation.  Stuck.  The baggage of their past lives as slaves to the Egyptian government was pressing hard after them.  Their lack of reverence and worship of the One True God had come back to bite them.  Their fears and questions and pessimism had pushed and pulled them right to this point.  Stuck.  Stuck between their past and their future, which in this case was a large body of water that dipped 5,000 feet below them!  Like you and I often feel they were not only stuck they were sure they were going to die!  There was no way out, water to the left of them the entire Egyptian army to the right.  Family problems.  Marriage on the rocks.  Disobedient, messed up children.  Flat-lined career.  Car won't start.  Bills piling up.  Laid off, beat up and kicked out you're sure of one thing, the end is near.

And just like the Israelites the only one who can get you unstuck is God.  Impassable obstacles don't mean anything to God.  Just like the water in the gulf he'll dry up whatever you happen to be currently drowning in and put your feet on dry ground!  And not only that, he'll destroy the baggage of your past in the very waters that threatened to take your life!  God loves to take people out of the grip of their enemies and turn your grave into theirs.

Are you stuck?  No where to go?  No hope?  No way out?  Then you're in just the right position for God to reveal Himself to you and show you that no matter what your past or the path you're heading on, He can not only rescue you but save you from it all!  He wants to give you a new start!  He wants to give you a new life! He wants to give you a new land and place to call home!

Here's what YOU need to do:
Tell God the truth - God I've screwed up my life 'cause I thought I could do it on my own without you but I've only made a mess for myself and those I love.
Ask God to help - God I recognize that I need You to help me, to take away the junk and baggage in my life and give me a fresh clean start because I can't do it on my own.
Give all of yourself to Him - So I give you myself, all that I am, I trust You to direct and lead me and I'll follow You from now on.
Thank Him - God I thank You for giving your Son to die for me so that I might live for You.  Please accept His sacrifice in my place.
Tell someone and get plugged in - Get up and tell someone you've made a decision to give your life to Jesus and then find a Bible believing/teaching church that can teach you about baptism and growing in your knowledge and walk with God.

Good advice for daily life

I like King David from the Old Testament.  I like him for several reasons:
1.  He's not some super-smart dude like his son Solomon which means I can relate to King David (he had only a handful of wives compared to Solomon who had nearly 1000! I know, not TOO smart!)
2.  David's life story is full of screw-ups.  As I said, I can relate.
3.  God used David in incredible ways to do incredible things David still messed up - which gives me hope!
4.  Even though David messed up often he still was very close to God and displays so many incredible character traits that are worth copying even today.

So the other day I was reading in 2 Samuel about when Absalom, David's son, staged a coup to try and overthrow his father and take control of Israel and Judah as king.  While David was fleeing Jerusalem with his family and personal body guard there was a guy Shimei who yelled curses at him and threw rocks.  When one of his military advisers said, "let me go cut off his head."  David actually says that God was using Shimei to "preach to him" and that he could not be cursing if God didn't let him so who was David to stop him.  Incredible!  David. KING David lets some peasant scream insults and curses at him and does nothing to stop him.  That's a guy I could look up to because my reaction would have been to take the sword and off his head myself!  (I've got a lot of work to do...).

Anyway, once David is safe back in Jerusalem with Absalom dead and the country again safe in his hands he sings a song to God.  And I love the way David lays it out, so plainly, so perfectly.
2 Sam 22
21 God made my life complete when I placed all the pieces before him. When I cleaned up my act, he gave me a fresh start.22 Indeed, I've kept alert to God's ways; I haven't taken God for granted.23 Every day I review the ways he works, I try not to miss a trick.24 I feel put back together, and I'm watching my step.25 God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes.

You can't break it down any more plainly then that!  When we lay the pieces of our broken lives before God He is able to make us complete, fill in the gaps and glue it all back together!  If we are willing to "clean up our act" by working to obey Him in our daily lives then He gives us a fresh start every day!  (come on now, if you're not willing to adjust your lifestyle but want salvation there's a problem.  Don't expect God to do His part if you don't do yours).  David then says that he pays attention to the way God works in our lives so that he doesn't take God for granted (giving luck or karma the thanks for what God is doing) and so that he will not miss what God IS currently doing - blindly flying through the day without recognizing God's hand at work (I need to pay attention to this more!).  The result is that David feels like his life is ordered, that it makes sense and his new life makes it easier to watch his steps as he tries to follow God.  And here's the best part!  God rewrote the text of his life!  Would you like your life text to be read aloud somewhere?  in front of your parents?  your spouse?  We all make mistakes but God can rewrite our stories so that He's the center and our lives become a living testament to His glory and goodness.  When we open our lives to Him and His scrutiny (eyes) He reveals the sin, convicts us of it, forgives it (been paid for in Jesus already) and then shows us how to live according to His standard.

How incredible.  God, reveal my sin, convict and forgive and rewrite the story of my life with You as the main character.

Now enabled for your phone!

That's right folks, this blog is now mobile enabled!  Which means that you'll get the same stuff on your phone that you can on your comp and it will look cool too!  Check it out now!  I know your phone is probably right next to you... in fact, you probably just got done texting someone about how cool this blog is so it will be handy to check it out!