God often uses our painful journey' s to bring hope to a world searching for that hope

““He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” 1Peter 2:24

I believe.  In the book entitled 'God's not dead 2,  the right to believe and tell someone the powerful redemption story is being placed on trial because someone was offended by the mere mention of the name of Jesus.  In God's not dead 2 we discover that a public school teacher risks losing her license to teach simply because she answered a student's question about the historical figure Jesus in her history class.

The significance of this book was highlighted further when I read  what was currently happening in Russia when the president of that country signed a law that took effect in July 2016  that would make it unlawful to talk about God and evangelize anywhere outside the church, including on-line.  

Why is it ok to openly discuss the historical philosopher's from Emmanuel Kant, Socrates, to the modern-day atheists like Richard Dawkin's, but it isn't Ok to discuss the evidence that give credence to the bible?   While society would love nothing better to tape the mouths of Christian believer's, they fail to see the powerful impact the Holy Spirit has in motivating people to share God's love.

Take, for example, the  thousands of people that  are called  to travel to all parts of he world because of a dream God laid on their heart to share his message.

The bible, for example, is filled with story upon story of people of all ability levels to be God's mouthpiece. to speak God's message.

God uses imperfect people to bring his message of hope to a world searching for meaning and a solution for their inner pain.

 In God's not dead 2, the family who brought the lawsuit against the teacher had suffered the loss of their son just months earlier, and were in my opinion in the throes of anger toward God for 'taking their son'. 

Instead of accepting the reality that they live in an imperfect world where occasionally bad things happen to good people they decided to 'blame God' for what he did to them. Like most of us have done, I'm s sure they rationalized that 'if there truly is a loving God then this wouldn't have happened to us. A fallacy if I ever heard one base on my own experience of losing a child.

People need the message of hope that the bible has for them. What better way to receive that message than from the very people who successfully traveled this painful journey with the help of the loving Savior, Jesus Christ? 

 As long as I'm still living and breathing, I am obligated to share this message of hope to people hurting by the losses in their lives.  

God is certainly not dead, but he is alive.

I am a living and breathing child of the king who has been redeemed. I am no longer to be tossed like a small boat on the sea of public opinion and volatile news feeds

Now I stand on solid ground,
and I will publicly praise the Lord.Psalm 26:12

Lately, I have been feeling as though I were a rudderless ship out on the open sea being tossed every which way by the 10-foot waves made bigger and stronger by the perilous seas. Each time I reach the peak of the next wave I see another one coming and I grab for dear life the sides of the boat hoping and praying I wouldn't be thrown overboard.

That is sort of what it feels like when I read the sensationalize news from the networks. Forgetting that the news they create is meant to sell advertisings dollars, I allow the impact of their news to filter into my mind where it ferments my brain cells until I start feeling the effects.

I have to keep reminding myself that I am a child of the King made in the very image of God, and for that matter so are you. The book of Ephesians refers to this very thing of what is presently happening to us with these words: 14 [g]As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness [h]in deceitful scheming; 15 but [i]speaking the truth in love,

Lately, I have taking control over what I allow to enter my mind by unfollowing these sensationalize news feeds. My faith as a believer in Jesus Christ was built on solid ground, not the tumultuous sea of public opinion and sensationalize news.

Remember, my friend, the next time you are feeling the effects of reading too many sensualize newsfeeds that you are a child of the King made with a better purpose. I would encourage you to fill your mind with the encouraging words of Jesus by memorizing those verses so, in time, you will find encouragement in them. If you are interested in memory packs, I highly recommend this system and I am posting this link here for you.

You are a child of the King, made in the very image of God who has given you a solid foundation to stand on!

 http://www.navigators.org/Tools/Discipleship%20Resources/Tools/Topical%20Memory%20System

God gives us a story- to see the conclusion of our story we have to ride the roller coaster of emotions of whatever we are experiencing.

27 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with great (transcendent and overwhelming) power and [all His kingly] glory (majesty and splendor).28 Now when these things begin to occur, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption (deliverance) is drawing near. Luke 21:27-28

When my kids were little we often read to them their bedtime story from the comfortable Lazy boy chair in the living room. As a father, I  loved that responsibility. It was a chance to bond closer to my children To my children it was a chance for them to relax with a happy thought from whatever children's book we read to them. 

They loved stories

I've learned in time that God is the author and perfector of our stories.  

So often, we forget that when bad things happen in this life. 

 Yet, I am reminded that if we stay the course with our grief, God will reveal to us the epilog of our story, But first, we have to get through all of the pain, abandonment, the emotional wounds. 

A real life novel is like that. The pages of the book take us on a roller coaster ride of emotions,that keeps us captivated to every page. We keep reading until we reached the story conclusion- the epilog.

Our lives are like that.novel.

If we stay the course we will see how all that messiness of our lives fits in God's plan.

This is why I am not afraid to attend funeral services, or what I like to call the celebration of life services.

Yes, it can be very sad to recognize the finality of the person  who has died. Yes, there are feelings that I would rather not conjure up inside me, and yes, I would rather be driving my 2016 rental Ford Mustang on Route 66,

But that isn't the point. The person who's timeline has ended had a life and a story to share with the rest of the world. We may not have known the person who had died, but we get to experience their life through the pictures the family share.

God is the author and perfector of our lives. He is our redeemer and the one who gives us a story to share with the rest of the world. Just as he was able to use the lives of  the people in the bible, he wants to give you a voice and a story to share with the rest of the world- of God's redemption for our lives.

Our job is to cling to the very promises of God and one day we will see how everything fits together.