Reality With Hope

Responsiblness is incomplete without a for what in which one is responsible

We are frozen by the icicles of time as man walks so hardened. Only melted by the cross his only hope in the midst of this cold world

We can't reach a world lost in cold darkness.
An artic of restless voids.
Hearts that are covered by miles of desert sand that burn us as a race into the deepest core of inner emptiness.

Pains that are unknown even to the self of the suffering soul.

All seems so dark "But God being rich in mercy"

Take heart because God answers prayers in the exact way we ourselves would if we had infinite knowledge of past, present, and future. Even what seems like a resounding no from God is only such because of the trillion different factors that God alone is capable of seeing.

And thus the key word in "all things work together for the good for those who love God and are called according to his purposes"
is the word "All".
All is in fact all inclusive. It includes suffering, pain, joy, and gain. It also includes all those plans we planned that didn't go the way we intended and the people who have hurt us.
All things actually means all things my friends.
We think the gospel means we must rise up and live a divine life.

No:

The gospel says God came down and lived a human life in the form of Jesus Christ


Know your worth:

Matthew 10:29-31
"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows."

Faith Unshakable

Gen 50:20 Joseph replies to his brothers who sold him into slavery because of their utter hatred for him  "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today."

How can you know what God has ordained for your life? Before we answer this question I'd like you to realize that if you can answer the above question with confidence by grace you have been given an unshakable faith which will ultimately lead to abundant peace. Due to how important this question is to our faith, allow me to break down the ways in which we can answer it.
We are not omnipresent like God so we must tackle the three sections of the question past,present, and future separately.

Past: I know whatever has happened in my life was ordained by God because it happened and thus God had a plan in it.

Present: I know God has brought me to this current place and he did so for a reason.
Future: I have a firm conviction that God is using all of my past and present circumstances to mold and shape me into his image. Even my evil nature cannot separate me from God's perfect plan.
Now let's understand why these three replies can be challenging.

It is no secret my childhood was a painful experience. I have fought depression, family crisis, and addiction to drugs, but the single most overwhelming weight I have carried is a deep understanding of just how broken this world is. When I research history, I see a human race that is littered with agony. When I look out into the world, I see millions of people born into suffering.

Imagine a happy family sitting around the dining room table having a jolly good time. All seems well in this moment but the truth is one of these family members will live to see all the others die.
That happy family will presently experience the guarantee of certain death and even their moment of joy around the dining room table will be taken from them as its memory will only deepen their sense sadness at this cold fact.

Yet through all the pain and suffering there was a man named Paul who wrote from prison close to his death the following passage
Philippians 4:11-13 "Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me."

Paul also writes in Romans 8:28-30 "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified"

Paul uses the past tense when describing glorification because he realizes that our glorification is not an abstract future accomplishment, rather, we have virtually been glorified even in this moment.

God's will for us is exactly what we would choose for ourselves if we only had infinite wisdom. I want to leave you, my reader, with this hope. 

There are no mistakes in God's economy. Take heart, my dear readers, God has a plan and his plan will soon become our reality.

The Meaning of Life is_______?

Happiness equals reality minus expectations
Ah but joy equals reality plus expectations.
When all around reality offers nothing but pain we must realize in Christ we have nothing but gain.

You see brothers and sisters although reality is tough we know if God does anything He does it for a reason, and oh how God loves us in Christ Jesus, but yet there are no mistakes in God's systematic way of operation.

This can mean but one thing and it's beautiful. Reality is really plus our wildest dreams or expectations. God must be so worth this painful process.

John 16.33 Jesus who is God is quoted saying
"I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Identity

My dear readers, I know I have not written in a few months. Unfortunately, time is scarce for me so without wasting time allow me to dive right into tonight’s point. Identity in the dictionary is defined as “the fact of being who or what a person or thing is”. Identity is our very core being--what we truly live for and what makes up our very being. Why we choose to live could be summed up as our identity. Here is the problem: deeply rooted there is a pain in all of us. Something is amiss. The realization of certain death hangs over us as a dark cloud. But why we live tortures our reasoning souls. Ladies and gentlemen you do not have to believe in God to believe in the curse.
Leo Tolstoy, when he was an atheist, wrote the following:

"What's the point? We all get up in the morning, go to bed in the evening, eat, sleep, work, eat, sleep, and work, day after day after day, but . . . What's it all about? Why? Where is this all leading? "Imagine a happy group of morons who are engaged in work. They are carrying bricks in an open field. As soon as they have stacked all the bricks at one end of the field, they proceed to transport them to the opposite end. This continues without stop and every day of every year they are busy doing the same thing. One day one of the morons stops long enough to ask himself what he is doing. He wonders what purpose there is in carrying the bricks. And from that instant on he is not quite as content with his occupation as he had been before. I am the moron who wonders why he is carrying the bricks." Do you see it, my friends? “If your origin is insignificant and your destination is insignificant have the guts to admit your life is insignificant” In Psalms 37:4 we read “Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Due to our identity being defined as “the fact of being who or what a person or thing is,” I’d like to challenge my readers to push their imagination deeper into this verse. Is it possible that God is saying that the desire of our heart is our god? And that only if the desire of our heart is in the Lord will we ever have meaning or purpose? Is it possible that when we read “Delight yourself in the LORD” that He himself will become the desire of your heart? Readers, I am of the firm belief that when we place our purpose for life in any other source than God himself, then the thing we place our identity in will kill us. This is so dangerously deceptive because I am here to tell you that you can place your identity in doing God’s work which is not God himself and thus deadly.

Allow Your Imagination To Run Wild: If Time was a Bubble

Quote one "The basic truth is God's will" ----> "not your will for God" 
Quote two "One of the great truths of the Bible is that God is always working" 

It has been awhile since I have last written. The break was a waiting period for me to discover how to share the single greatest secret to success.
     Have you ever felt the weight of life become overwhelming? Have you ever reached a point of breaking and though you try so desperately to stay strong you simply feel yourself cracking?
     Welcome to the place life brings us. This is the reason one's outlook on WHY they are alive will shape how they handle adversity. We all know the quote "if a person's why is great enough they can achieve anything". The truth of the quote can be logically drawn out as follows-----> What you are trying to accomplish (fill in the blank)________ will at some point inside of time probably sooner rather than later be placed under the attacks of life and or the attacks of time. When the going gets rough (and it WILL) the very first thing a human being will ask themselves is as follows
              "Why do I desire the  (fill in the blank)________)"
Whatever you answer in the slot will determine if your WHY is big enough and therefore determine if you continue to pursue the task at hand.

     First quote to understand is  "One of the great truths of the Bible is that God is always working".  This concept if fully realized will make your Why unstoppable.
              

Crucial Theory From Quote

    We see glimpses of this truth as we go through life when we can look back and see that all though at the previous place or time we felt him furthest Jesus was actually closest.
Take that knowledge to your present situation reminding yourself that in your future situations you will look back on today seeing the revealing hand of God at work.
This pattern when realized enables one the strength via God's purpose to overcome our past, enjoy our present, and inherit the Kingdom in our future.
This is also a systematic way of thinking only possible with Jesus' death on the Cross.

  

    When you feel the adversity setting in remove your mind from the circumstances and reference the truth you know  which is Jesus is coming. I will certainly be with my Savior by 2100 AD.

Imagine if time is a bubble and when you die you are removed from the bubble into eternity.

This means if you are capable imagine YOURSELF after life re-looking inside the bubble and seeing the vivid images of God's hand working.

Then remember that the same God you will see working is working even when you can't see it.

You will see when you live this.

Finally the quote of the day now has a place. With the above concept in your mind read the following "The basic truth is God's will" ----> "not your will for God" .

Until next time thank you for your time inside this time. 

        

The Greatness in The Simpleton: Small Town Southern Man

         Quote of the Night "What you do for a living will say a whole lot about who you are" 

Donny Garner

     When I asked Donny for an interview, I would never have imagined obtaining such a golden quote. The background behind why I chose good ole D.g for the interview dates back years to the memory of our typical Tuesdays. During my time as a college baseball player, the Garner family welcomed players to their home every Tuesday night for a grill out.

     The Garners portrayed the picture perfect image of southern hospitality. The man of the house, Donny, raised two of the most outstanding children. Donny's son, Tyler, has the character of a true southern gentleman. The youngest of the family is Donny's daughter Bailey, a Junior in college successfully going through nursing school. 

     All of the players on the Chattanooga State baseball team always looked forward to Tuesday nights filled with stress free games and some of Donny's wife, Kathy's cooking. Kathy has always been one of the most kind hearted women I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. Those Tuesday nights, that may have seemed small at the time meant so much to our team; The memories we made will be cherished by all of us throughout life.

    The best part about those Tuesday nights was experiencing the Garners open their home to us in such a classy way. They never failed to treat each of the players as if we were all family. It is because of this southern home that I find hope for small town America today.

    So it is two years later and for those of you who have watched the YouTube video a lot has come to pass in my life. In my search to reveal the true meaning of life,  I wanted to dive into Donny's life to uncover all the benefits of this southern way of life.

The Insurance Man

        As Donny and I started our talks on how he had become the man he is today, he tells me Ben "What you do for a living will say a whole lot about who you are". Mr. Garner sells Insurance very successfully for Nationwide. I asked Donny what he believed his purpose in life to be? Donny replied, "I wake up everyday to take care of my family's way of life." Donny proceeded to tell me a little about his personality "Ben I have never been that millionaire risk taker. I have always been the play it safe kinda guy because insurance is protection for a lifestyle and I want to protect my families way of life" 

I could not help but smile because he was spot on. 

Donny is buying into the role he sells. Donny sells insurance, a very essential part of our society. Donny continued " I don't want one mistake to ruin someones life. That is why I sell insurance. I don't want one wreck to destroy your dreams". America needs more small town guys like this who go out everyday working hard for their family. America needs more role models who sell not just a product but sell themselves and qualities that every man needs. 

      As our friend Ravi Zacharias says, "If a person does not understand that the purpose of life defines lifestyle, then the lifestyle itself is hollow and the life is squandered."

       Donny shared a story with me of how he went through many life changing things in his past. He struggled every day to keep his head above water; Donny did not quit. I could not be more thankful that he persevered and was able to show me what a happy, simple southern home is. If he had gone and taken another job typical Tuesday's would never have happened and I would never have witnessed that true happy family. 

     THINK! 

   What are you doing today that you feel to be unimportant? Realize you do not have to be the President to positively impact lives around you. People are starved for good ole America to return.

Purpose is the key to greatness in the simpleton.

P.S If you need insurance in the Chattanooga area Donny Garner is your man!

I Can Only Imagine: The Glimpse

        Here is our promise. Before God created mankind He knew He would have to become flesh and die on a cross in a very very painful fashion. He also still created us. Now if God does anything He does it for a reason.

       Whatever Paradise is like it's so so great that it was worth Jesus going thru what He went thru to get You and I there.

      It was worth nights by the toilet throwing up. It was worth all of the alone pain and suffering. It is worth the knowledge that not every human would choose Jesus and thus by creating creation all manor of everlasting suffering was created (aka hell) BUT yet God is good and He knows paradise is so so worth every hurt and every pain. If we just knew our promise:)