I deal in real estate. I have grown up loving land and the buildings that inhibit it. My career is heavily vested in it and GOD has blessed me so. 

I was having this moment of heaviness in my heart. I get that for no reason and those are the times that I cry the loudest to JESUS. That is when all I can muster up is a groan, yet it is the time when I am needing and desiring HIS presence the most. As difficult as it can be - there is beauty in its vulnerability. 

It was at that moment when I heard or felt the SPIRIT lay on my heart that "I am just renting space here in this world" and that my final home, the one that will be mine will be when I am with JESUS. When I start to lose sight of my wonderful, merciful, and awesome GOD- because I am renting in this place- I must remember that I am vested in the best real estate around... With each praise, prayer, repentance and worship; my FATHER helps me make it through noisy neighbors, leaky pipes, low on rent days in this temporary house I am in.  

We have heard them…. Life isn’t fair… Because I said so…. That’s the way the cookie crumbles (okay I am not sure why I added that one, I think I am hungry).

Life isn’t fair but it does not mean that it cannot be good. We can walk with joy in all circumstances. GOD provides us that choice. We see what happens in this world and if we believe this is “it” then we will walk around sad and hopeless. BUT….. I tell you there IS MORE!!  

GOD promised us so much more. We have so many gifts; the beatitudes provide so many returns on a GODLY attitude. Godfidence, as I coined it. Well maybe it was not me, but I use the term.

I thought I would just list the BEATITUDES here and then you can see the wonder of them:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, 
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

Blessed are they who mourn, 
for they shall be comforted. 

Blessed are the meek, 
for they shall inherit the earth. 

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, 
for they shall be satisfied. 

Blessed are the merciful, 
for they shall obtain mercy. 

Blessed are the pure of heart, 
for they shall see God. 

Blessed are the peacemakers, 
for they shall be called children of God. 

Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, 
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

 SO, whatever is going on in your life, no brooding, no moaning or groaning about it. PRAISE GOD! We are blessed at every point and corner of our life. You just need to choose, GOD or suffering? Seems like an easy choice to me. When you are feeling at the end of your rope, read the beatitudes above but more than that, SO CHANGE YOUR BAD ATTITUDE TO A BEATITUDE!!!. See what happens!!

Do you know that GOD has created you specifically? All of us are uniquely created. There are none two of us alike. NOTTA!!! That is miraculous in itself. AND furthermore GOD has created us with a purpose. Some of these purposes run across the board for us all but some are distinctive to our abilities (that HE in fact created as well). Perhaps you sing well, that is a gift from GOD. IT makes GOD happy that we use these gifts for HIM and HIS purposes. Sometimes we may feel we lack, but when we rely on GOD, we do not lack in or for anything.

I have a hard time with speaking in small groups. I am okay with making a predetermined presentation in front of many but get me in front of a few people I do not know well, and I stutter and stammer. Praying out loud in front of people does the same to me. I felt horrible that this very issue came up recently where an event I attend regularly requires prayer at the beginning and there was the awkward silence, and I said nothing. It ended up with someone saying “Amen” and that was it. Not that that is awful but it made me feel bad.

That being said, even though GOD provides us our gifts, this does not mean we are not to stretch ourselves in HIS name. This past Sunday I heard a speaker who I could tell had issues possibly with stuttering but worked past it and gave a wonderful testimony of his works in JESUS. I so admired him.

MORAL of this: Use your GOD given talents for GOD and you will be rewarded. But also reach for JESUS when you believe you can’t because through HIM you can!

Romans 12:16  In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you.

 Philippians 4:13  I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Temptation……. It is like the “F’ word. WE know it is there but we do not want to talk about it. Each of us deal with temptation every day. When trying to eat healthy, you know what temptation is. It is physical, emotional and visual. The smells of food, pictures and commercials on television, recipes popping up on Facebook pages, can all trigger the temptation to just take a taste of one morsel. That is when the temptation has grabbed you right in. There is deception with temptation….. the little voice in your head that says “one little bit will not hurt me”. Food is just one example but there are some really serious temptations that can lead to the opening of deception and before you know it, you are drowning in the dread and dealing with the consequences.

In Mathew 5:29, we are told that “If your right eye causes you to stumble, gauge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose your eye than your whole body be thrown into hell.”

Whatever you are tempted by sounds great in the moment…… and often it comes when we are vulnerable. Marriage may not be going great. You feel lonely. A man you know from afar provides a bit of attention. (Temptation) Before you know it, you are flirting, telling yourself that it is a little innocent bantering (deception). Voila! You find yourself in a compromising situation and eventually it all catches up. Saddest issue is that you start to go deeper in and to forget about how bad it all is, you look for more and more and then eventually it all crumbles beneath you. If children are involved, they get hurt. Your spouse gets hurt and the list goes on.

Did you know that Satan tempts Jesus? He takes him high on a mountain and shows him all the world’s glory and offers it up. All Jesus had to do is kneel to him. Keep in mind that JESUS knows what is coming up for him. HE knows the cross he will bear. But in Mathew 4:8-11, we see him tell Satan just where to go. And JESUS makes sure that Satan knows who HE serves. JESUS says “For the scriptures say Worship the LORD your GOD and serve only HIM”. Satan leaves and the angels came and take care of JESUS.

Each day, each moment we make decisions that will ultimately affect our life. Each day and each moment we are faced with temptation. Each day, each moment, we must say “Satan, get thee behind me for I worship MY LORD, JESUS.” When we say then we release the power of JESUS and he comes and takes care of us.

What are you sitting with? What is tempting you? Is it a hard day at work and all you want to do is to have a drink when you know where it will lead you? Are you anxious about financials and you use your credit cards to the point of no return? Are you lonely and looking for love in the wrong places? We have all been there. I have been there. I have been lonely, anxious, tired and fed-up and wanted to reach for that quick fix (temptation) and my head and the world tells me, “just do it” – “it is only one” “we are just messing around” “it feels good to get that attention” “I can forget about life for a while” (Deceptions).

Obviously we are not going to gouge out our eye but we can remove the problem. WE can leave the place where the temptation is, we can change our mind on how to move forward, we can get down on our knees and pray. Because praying in JESUS’ name will release us; will prevent that deception from becoming a temptation and then that temptation becoming a big mess.

Two options, one choice……………………. Temptation OR GOD? 

I read something interesting about empathy. We all are so uncomfortable when one we care about is hurting. It is easy to throw a “this is what you need to do” or “pray” or whatever advice we seem to throw out there. I do it myself. After Job lost everything, his friends actually acted like this. Some told him he needed to repent, others said it was his sin or his families sin and so forth and so on…. Read Job, great story of one man’s faith while literally going through everything one could endure.

We do not know. We may be able to imagine. Our hearts can feel for someone, but we truly do not know what it is like to walk in someone’s pain. And that is by the grace of GOD. We all have our own paths to walk and our own problems to endure.

As hard as it is to do, sometimes one just needs to know that you are there with them, you are praying for them and you hurt for them. That is all. No bible verse to point to, no advice, just a simple, I hurt because you hurt. 

Myself, being an action oriented person, wants to take away the pain of others. It is so difficult to watch but truth be told, that is MY issue. OF course we are uncomfortable when one of those we love is suffering. 

JESUS felt all that we feel. HE knows. And HE is there holding us and giving us hope. That is where there is hope. HE wept when there was sorrow, HE hurt when there was pain, HE got angry when he saw people straying from GOD…… We can do no more or no less….

We can be there for someone in prayer….and reassurance, perhaps a hug; and when appropriate perhaps a comforting bible verse. That is what stitches us together all under HIM.

John 11:35 Jesus wept.

LORD, help me to understand that sometimes all we can do is to pray and cry for others. The problem cannot simply be solved. But empathy and truly being there in all can go a long way. JESUS let me understand that YOU wept when Lazarus died. YOU hurt when we hurt but by YOUR grace WE have hope and everlasting life by the ultimate cry YOU did for us on the cross. IN JESUS NAME I PRAY, that we can sometimes just be there for others, a hug, a prayer and ultimately THY WILL BE DONE. Even though I sin and truly am afraid I will not be able to handle YOUR WILL – I do know that YOU provide all of the tools to. Thank YOU JESUS, there are not enough THANK YOU’s! I love YOU LORD, AMEN!