Found

First I wanna think everyone for reading my blog. I do not expect anyone to put up a comment. I know there are sometimes there really isn’t much to say or to comment on. That’s ok. I have a hard time responding to others myself sometimes. The only thing I want people to get from my blog is just a better understanding of me. I just wanna share my thoughts and daily ventures with anyone who wants to know about them. I wanna use this blog to open up conversations with people. I usually come off as the “Class Clown” or joker and I have so much more to give. It’s easier for me to be funny than serious. It’s easier to keep things on the lighter side of things so feelings and people don’t get hurt. I say the wrong things sometimes and don’t like confrontations. So I figured if I just keep it all light and funny then I won’t ever have to face disappointing someone I love.

Ok after yesterday’s posting, I made some realizations with some things that came across to me today. I thought I would share what started the turn around for my gloomy mood. My mood was basically compiled of several things. (1) Sunday School for 5-4-08 was about sharing my story of Christ and Christ’s Story… it frightened me that I could not come up with a story to tell others about Christ. I felt really lost, like I had invested all this time and effort for something in vain. Like I was trying, but not getting it, type of vain. I was doing it because I loved watching others at church get that relationship. I wanted that relationship, but my attitude for having the relationship was not the right one. (2) Finances, they have been extremely tight and toward the negative side this week. I still haven’t learned to give that to God yet. HA! If I had, that probably would not have affected me. (3) I hadn’t been to church for awhile and felt out of touch with people and disconnected from those relationships I hold dear. (4) I had made some wrong choices last week and was beating myself up for it. (5) I had messed up the online forum I worked so hard on for our Sunday School class. That was just disappointing to me. I tried to be cool and move things around and messed them up more. I was upset that I knew I was going to have to reinvest all that time again, setting it up again for what seems to me to be almost pointless. Pointless,
#1
Our Sunday School has a daily devotions and this is what was emailed to me today…
Cause for Hope
1 Corinthians 15:12-34

Monday – Read (1Corinthians 15:12-19; 1 Peter 3:15)
· The gospel proclaimed to the Corinthians revolved around the crucial facts Paul listed in today’s passage, culminating with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If the resurrection did not occur, then the consequence of that logic is that the Christian faith is useless and their belief in vain.
· It is important for Paul to push people to examine the logic of their beliefs. He desires for believers to have answers and clearly thought out reasons for what they confess they believe.
· If someone walked up to you in the grocery store today and asked you why you believed in Christ, what would your response be? Have you clearly thought out why you believe what you believe? Take today’s passages as a challenge to begin to develop your reasoning for your faith.
That phrase (from daily devotions provided by www.misitrypoint.org), hit home hard. I thought hard about my Faith. Was my faith in vain? NO i quickly thought. And then I felt God just reach down and touch me. I could feel His love consuming me. It was at that moment that I didn’t have to think about my faith that God just reached down and showed his love and mercy to me. At that moment I felt my heart fill with joy again. I was at work so it was somewhat difficult to contain my feelings. I was so overjoyed that tears started to well up. It seems like forever since I have felt that from God himself. I remember feeling that when I first asked God into my life, and asked Him to guide me. Since then I have felt love from people around me. I am sure God has shown his love to me on many other occasions but, it was like the First time again. It was so unbelievably AWESOME!

I recently shared my blog link with a lot of people that I love again. And I had some very encouraging replies to my email. Here is one of them…

Hey,
Interesting thoughts. The great thing I know about Christ is that once we are His…we are His forever. Just like our children. After they are born (get the similarity) they are ours forever. That helps me get up in the morning when it’s hard. I am His even when I don’t feel like I am His. I am saved even when I don’t “act” or feel saved. I am His no matter what I do. He won’t disown me or kick me out. That’s what I need to know!!!!

What an affirmation that was for me. I just kept thinking DUH!!!! Why didn’t I think of that. But then I remembered that’s why we have brothers and sisters in Christ. To encourage each other and to life each other up. Of course I replied to this person in response to remind them that they are very special people in my life and how much they mean to me and my family.
Here is the second response…

Richard,

I appreciate the fact that you consider me and my wife XXXXX not just as friends but family.
We miss you and your wife and the sense of humor you both bring into our Sunday School and our lives.
We have prayed for your wife and somehow failed to send her a card from class, but I’ve already talked to the teacher about this mistake.
Your courage is always to be admired.
Sincerely,
Your brother in Christ,
(p.s. Superman is Jesus)

I was touched that someone thought I had Courage. I have been told I have a lot of things in my life but Courage was not one of them until now. WOW! It reminded me of how I really affect other people’s lives. It also made me realize that God is doing something in my life. That joyful moment of over joy came back again. Wow! What an amazing God. What an amazing privilege it is to Honor someone that Awesome.

Then my wife told me that someone else read my blog but didn’t know how to reply but mentioned to her that what I had written was “DEEP”. I snickered when she told me. It was funny how most of the people that know me don’t think of me as a “DEEP” kinda person. I am not a deep person up front. I have know all of these people for over 2 1/2 years now and I don’t think that any of them thought I had a deep bone in my body.
Hearing these thoughts and reading these words was such an awesome encouragement today. I wonder how many of us feel like this and never reach out to our brothers and sisters in Christ? Why are we not leaning on each other more? We all have so much to give each other in encouragement and love that sometimes our busy lives get in the way and we just rely on our spouses or closest friends to help us. We have so many brothers and sisters in our family at church and we are really not utilizing them as much as we should. What if? What if we all started reaching out to others that we don’t normally reach out to? What would happen? For real! What would happen?
You think about that. Until Tomorrow. Thanks for Reading.
Love you all so much.
In Christ’s Love
WLBC-Webmaster
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