Have you ever felt that God has called you to do something, but then started to doubt whether that calling was really from God? To be honest… I have. I know that the enemy is always there trying to get inside of your head. His name means “The Accuser” and he’s always prepared to try to convince you that we are failing; particularly when we are trying to do something that God wants us to do. This past week has been that way for me. I’d actually started to wonder whether this blog was really what God wanted me to do or whether my fleshly self was trying to win God’s favor through works. Doubts kept coming into my mind every time I began thinking about it. All week long I’d been praying to God about those doubts, but the more I thought about them the stronger they seemed to get. Yesterday in frustration I cried out to God saying, “God, You have to show me what to do to get rid of these doubts!” As soon as I asked He answered. Continue reading
Lord
Time with God
October 14, 2013 by Sojourner’s Tales
Why don’t we listen for God?
A series of events prevented my family from traveling with me down to Tennessee this weekend. In hindsight, that was one of the best things that could have happened to me. The journey from Missouri to Tennessee is a trip of about five and a half hours. I spent the whole trip down there thinking about myself, my problems, my worries, my wants, my desires, and how I needed God to help me. I thought that I was having a great conversation with my Lord when, in reality, I wasn’t even listening for his response. Needless to say the trip down to Tennessee left me feeling exhausted, and when I arrived there was no feeling of peace in my heart at all. Most of the weekend that followed wound up being a typically enjoyable and relaxing visit with family. Little did I know it at the time, but neither the Sunday morning church service, nor the drive home would be typical. Continue reading
Worthless Idols (Struggling with our desires)
What is an idol? As a youngster idols are usually thought of as objects from the past or things seen in a Hollywood production. Scenes of the hero taking a golden idol out of an old temple, or a view of a group of “ignorant natives” bowing down before their deity are easily found in movies or on TV. Even the Bible teachings guide us toward thoughts of a similar image. Exodus 34:17 says, Do not make any idols. and Leviticus 19:4 tells us, “Do not turn to idols or make metal gods for yourselves. I am the Lord your God.”
Idols are obviously a very important subject in the Bible. A quick word search using the word “Idol” in the Bible brings up 223 different references regarding Idol, Idols, or Idolaters. Why is it so important that we recognize what Idols are? Continue reading
Build Your Kingdom Here — Rend Collective Experiment
07/23/13 by Sojotales
This song has been running though my brain and pulling at my heart for the past couple of weeks. The first time I heard it I’d turned on the radio a little over halfway through it and only heard the end of the song. Something about the words that I heard that afternoon just seemed to reach inside my chest, grab hold of my soul and pull. When the song finished that longing pulled on me so hard that I ached to hear it again. The thoughts that this song evoked in me were all focused on Christ and his return; how glorious that day shall be. Those feelings welled up in me and everything else that came out of the radio after that just seemed to be white noise. I was focused on Christ, His kingdom, and what His return would mean for mankind. Continue reading
Sojourner's Tales 