Prayer Helps to take the Sadness Away.

Holidays can be emotional for some people who are lonely or who are grieving lost opportunities or people that they lost this year or over the years. Sadness is a natural emotion, and we should allow ourselves to feel it. I have suffered with clinical depression for many years now, but my faith seems to always pull me from the terror that invades my mind sometimes. When we have been deeply hurt or had our hearts broken we can related to what the bible calls a broken spirit. What we do with our hearts when they have been hurt determines our recovery. I am 45, and I am convinced that having a broken heart makes us more human. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise. (Psalm 51:17) May I suggest that this Christmas we all be mindful of those who have no home, or are struggling in life. Our churches this year should be filled with people who have never entered a church before, of course it is up to them to come in. Jesus offers forgiveness to all, and maybe all someone needs from you is to pray for them. When I came to Christ in my 20's, I was a very churched catholic person, but God wants a real relationship with us. A relationship that is based on grace and forgiveness, and no matter how hard it is, we need to show that same unconditional love to those who are still hurting in the world. The Lord is with those that are broken, we all want a family and peace. God sets the lonely in families, he leads out the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land. (Psalm 68:6 NIV) I admit, we have all had times in our lives when we just didn't understand our own brokenness, but it is an act of humility to see past another's brokenness and let them into your family and heart. The excuse we give ourselves is that we are just going to end up getting hurt, but that is a very small way to think. We all need to see our pain in the light of a broken and crucified God, and laugh and cry along with all the pain in the world.

Embrace a faith that is universal in the sense that Jesus welcomed the saints and the sinners. If I never experienced heartbreak, I wouldn't know the joy that is in my heart that comes from seeing the world as essentially broken. Brokenness isn't shame. Shame keeps us attached to our guilt, but brokenness can lead us to release our shame and guilt and begin to truly live in the light and love of God. Believers, the world is hurting and they need us to show it that we love each other, and we are not ashamed to make ourselves look silly. When we show our vulnerability, it makes us more human and helps open our hearts (not to sin) but the heart that longs to trust God and relieve the pain and suffering of others. This is Mike.

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Age of Brokenness.

We are living in an age of brokenness, no matter what age you are, you probably have been touched with relationships falling apart, which causes more and more people to live in isolation. In this generation there is less of an incentive to heal and reconcile relationships, but that doesn’t excuse the amount of people who are broken. Why people don’t seem to be motivated to heal relationships is because our beliefs about faith and God have changed, really giving us less of an incentive to do what our religion says. If I act from my personal beliefs, but the person that I am responding to has abandoned religious beliefs, than the response to my wanting things to be better can be misinterpreted and rejected then by someone else. Generally when a society has expectations about broken relationships, loneliness and isolation, and the beliefs are generally accepted, society becomes a more compassionate society, because all value the same things. When religious values are undermined and ...

The Parable of the Ten Virgins.

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The Existence of God

Since the beginning of time, man has learned about the existence of God. It began in the Garden of Eden where Adam and Eve walked and talked with God, however when they sinned, they died spiritually and their closeness with God was severed. In Genesis 4:26 it reads “Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to call on the name of the LORD.” Seth was the third son of Adam and Eve, so it’s fair to say that not too long after mankind fell, we also called upon the Lord. From that time until now, mankind was closer to God then, but it’s a modern shift that the world is in the state it is in now, mainly unbelief, because even 30 years ago from now, mankind was closer to God. It is also true that in ancient Israel’s history, there have been generations that fell away and forgot God, but in the time of the prophets Israel was never left without a word from the Lord. Many generations have come and gone, but there have been remarkable generations all thr...

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