Hold your Head High

As Christians we all fall short of the glory of God. We all have sin in our lives. We will continue to struggle until our Savior comes to this earth and takes us with Him to glory.

BUT... Just because you struggle does not mean that God can't use You.
King David, the only man in the bible that was called a man after God's own heart, committed adultery with Bathsheeba and then had her husband killed to cover up the affair. Adultery and murder...the man after God's own heart still struggled. He was not perfect. But even in this sin, David emerged from the pit of sin with a powerful psalm that he wrote.

Psalm 51:10-12
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit.

He wrote this after his sinning with Bathsheeba. David struggled with sin and yet he wrote a majority of the psalms. The same scripture that has transcended 2000 years to minister to us even today. In his sin he did not allow Satan to hold him down. David wrote a beautiful confession of sin with repentence and conviction in his heart. He was used even after this sin. Had he not picked himself up, who knows what God would have been able to do in and through him?

David picked up his head after his sin and God used him in a mighty way.

Another man who picked Himself up was Peter. He denied Christ three times. He was with Jesus during His ministry. He had seen what Jesus could do. He believed in Jesus. Yet when interrogated about his association with Jesus, Peter denied it three times. Not once, not twice, but three times. It says in the bible, shortly after the third denial he heard the cry of the rooster that Jesus had said he would hear. At that point Peter realized the magnitude of his mistake. Its says in scripture that Peter wept bitterly.
When Jesus was raised from the dead, he asked Peter "Do you love me?" Peter responded "Yes." Jesus said " Then feed my sheep." This dialogue was repeated three times. And each time the same answer. Peter dedicated himself to "feeding the sheep." He picked his head up after denying Christ and he went on to preach one the greatest salvation messages in the Book of Acts in the New Testament and 3000 people came to know Christ as their Savior that day. What if Peter had not picked his head up after his denial of Christ? What if he had accepted the defeat of his sin and had not moved on? Who knows?

Peter picked his head up after his sin and God used him in such a mighty way.

I resolve to always pick up my head after I have sinned against God. If I hang my head in shame, I will not be able to see how God wants to use me. What mighty way could I be used?.....but I'm not because I living in the defeat and condemnation that Satan brings.

Pick your head up. Walk with confidence that your God has forgiven you and allow Him to use you mightily!

"Am I hearing from God?"

Confusion and chaos are not of God. Our God is a God of order. He set the world into motion with very specific direction and detail. He has had a plan from the beginning and continues to bring that plan to pass. He is never caught off guard, surprised, confused or overwhelmed. He cannot be led astray or misguided. He is all-knowing, all-powerful, and ever-present. There is nowhere He cannot be found, and consequently He reigns in every way. There is no place that He has lost control over.

So...When we are seeking God for an answer, for wisdom, for direction...if we encounter any of these situations or aspects of life, we can know that they are not of God. Satan brings confusion, God brings order.

"How can I know if I am hearing from God?" Understand who He really is...and you will KNOW.

Men or Grown-up boys?

So I have ventured out to read as much as I can about "becoming a man." Internet articles, magazines, books, and blogs have all provided an interesting look into this subject. I have intentionally only read secular articles in order to get an idea of what the world thinks a man should be. Oddly enough I have discovered some incredible wisdom from secular writers on this particular subject.

I actually have thoroughly enjoyed the realness, bluntness, and even the great detailed explanations on what a man "should be" or "shouldn't be." It made me wonder about how well the Christian world is doing in explaining what it means to be a man of God. I'm not knocking the Christian world, but there is a myriad of secular sources that provide great advice on how to teach a boy to be a man.

My question for myself and other Godly men is " What are you doing to raise up Godly men and not just grown-up boys?"

There will be more on this later...

habits vs. character

Bad character can cause bad habits, but bad habits do not always mean bad character. You can have a mature developed character and still have bad habits. It happens to the best of us. But understand that bad habits don't define you, your character defines you. So address the bad habits head on.

Understand this though...being aware of your bad habits, addressing them, and then forming good habits will ultimately affect your character. Being self-aware and doing personal inventory of your habits is a part of your character development.

So bad habits don't spawn from bad character, but forming new habits can help shape your character.

Now, press on friends.