A hardship, blessing in disguise it is!

The topic of divorce isn't an easy one nor is it really a subject that I am so much fond of, but it is on my heart. Just awhile ago at dinner, there were some people that I was sitting with that were discussing divorce and how it's really common now'a days. Which, they're right, it is common. Yet, what stood out to me about this was what a young woman stated, "I feel that everyone who goes through divorce, after about 5 years later they are rather mean or bitter. Not everyone, but majority." I strongly disagree with that statement? Why? Because it hits home for me. (I am not saying that what she said is right or wrong, but that is a very strong generalization that is not good to assume people will become bitter over time from that form of hardship.) Why do I disagree with this? 1) Not all divorces that happen were due to horrible reasons, but for the better in some cases; ie: possibly sustaining stability and emotional health for children. 2) For a possible reason for not being in love anymore and want to do the right thing by not holding each other back from a form of happiness or something along those lines. 3) Could be abuse going on and needed to get the law involved so that divorce would occur. And whatever other reasons that could have caused divorce, but we do not want to discuss those reasons nor really extend the list due to numerous reasons not being healthy or good. I feel that whenever someone discusses divorce they may go by the generalizations so much because to experience is a completely different sense of understanding that is brought to the plate of divorce. One can know and hear of divorce from family or friends, but to experience and know the emotional toil that brings to the heart is something one will never understand unless they face it. To not bring in personal matters so much, but the reason I firmly cannot agree with this young woman's statement is for the fact I know plenty of people very well who have unfortunately experienced divorce and aren't bitter people. Divorce in a sense has brought these people strength to know it's okay and can move on. Or, it's taught them that it was for the better for them and the other person, despite how hard it may have been for others impacted. My mother is a wonderful person. She has experienced 2 divorces, yet, 1 of them is from my older sister's father and he is still great friends with my mother and family today. He's a great guy. Very mature of them to sustain something there for Erica's sake, despite that was years ago..and she's 38 years old now. As for the other divorce for a better reason and personally, I am glad that it happened, well..so is all of my family, especially my mother despite she faces fear and hurt from what came of the marriage and divorce process. This one really hits home for me... for four years of my life my mother was married to a man who really hurt my family emotionally and physically. To escape that marriage for my mother was the hardest thing she ever did, but did it! She had the strength to say no and leave him. At 15 years old, I didn't know what to really do or say especially living in fear, yet I didn't feel fear around this time so much because at 14 years old I was saved by Jesus Christ and came to know within that year God didn't want fear in my heart... by using that form of love, I shared that with my mother and said to her, "God knows the pain and will take it away. Don't fear Mom, be strong and God will do the rest." I asked her to trust not only what I suggested, but mainly in God because being a 15 year old kid, I couldn't really do much. Words are powerful, but for me, I was a bit actionless. Anyways, I'll never forget whenever she said she was done and fought with him for so long over us leaving. What did she do? Took us kids, (brother and I), and left. We moved in with my older sister. There, hope was restored. Looking back on that time, I bring this up to strongly say, my mother is not bitter over the experience, but VERY strong. My mother has a strength that I don't know many to have. My mother is a strong woman who is someone I immensely look up to for her iniative to take action to protect and care for her family out of love. That love my mother had shown us, she sacrificed so much for us. She sacrificed a home, items, and many possessions that she paid for and owned (yes, my mother owned the home we lived in) and gave ALL of that up to protect the family (us kids) and said, "To hell with all of this. Nothing is more important than my family. The love and happiness of a family is all that I'll ever need to live and you can keep all of this. We don't need it because my family knows what it means to love and be a family." And dang it, we did. We sacrificed a TON to stick together. What's funny about this, a lot of our things...we lost over time from this experience and we didn't care. We had each other. We had a love that was sustained by sacrificing worldly attributes. That divorce taught us to be strong in the love we have for one another and others. I remember whenever I was 18, my mother discussed with me further her thoughts (being that I was a kid at the time, you shouldn't discuss so much of those matters with a child)..well, she said, she regrets ever being with that man due to us hurting, but right there I told her that what we went through, as hard as it may be to believe is God's way of us gaining so much more. We gained wisdom, understanding, love, what it meant to be sacrificial, to live a happy life with one another despite losing so much of this world...we gained understanding what it meant to be truly happy even if we didn't have everything to share within the world. Because, we realized it wasn't important compared to what we shared the most, that being love. The love we shared then and do now is GOLD compared to that bronze. All that she gained as a divorce woman is golden and she as a single mother has a strength and the ability to be a great mother by her own is something she deserves all the more praise for. Okay, I know that I am about to get mushy gushy and everything over my own mother and brag, but I cannot help, but say, I AM THANKFUL AND REJOICE IN THE LORD OF THIS EXPERIENCE BECAUSE OF GOD GIVING HER THE STRENGTH THAT SHE NEEDED IN THAT TIME AND EVEN NOW TO BE A GREAT MOM. Also! If it weren't for them getting married, I would have never met the people who God used to help with the decision of being saved by Christ or just becoming a disciple of God! If it weren't for that also, how else would I have helped bring my parents and family closer to God? Divorce isn't easy, but this experience made us stronger and rejoice in God, our Savior. Honestly, my mother is the greatest mother in the world. I love her so much and she's one of my best friends. I can tell her anything and she's there for her family in the drop of a penny. No matter where you're at, what time it is, anything, she's there for her family and drops what she's doing for the family out of love. She is...definitely one of the most sacrificial people that God has blessed me with because she knows what it means to love and so much more. My mother has a heart of gold and with her attributes as a mother, I want to be just like her in that sense. It's rather funny to me because we're such complete opposites in personality, but the sacrificial and altruistic attributes are gained from her. My mother went through much hardship, but gained so much. She is happier and still just as loving. By that, I defend to say, not all people who face divorce are bitter. Despite God may not agree with divorce nor does He like it, I firmly feel that God had my family go through such a battle to only triumph so much more to really grow closer to Him. I know that's really odd to say, but I can't help yet feel that way. What does He think and have to say? Well, in Mark 10 Jesus discusses that ever since the beginning of creation God created a man and female to leave their families to only be joined together as 'one' in flesh and God joined them together and man shall not separate them. Although, He also states that anyone who is to divorce their wife to marry another, vice versa, is committing adultery. The covenant of marriage is broken by the sin of man, leaving divorce. God says that to divorce, you must give your wife a certificate of divorce and not marry again. (I feel a lot of people do not follow this nor do they fully understand the importance of marriage and how vital it is to be prayerful about a marriage...) Despite God does not agree with or like divorce there is an: important matter to remember is that we were born under the curse of Adam being sinful by nature. What man does to sin, can destroy what is good in God's eyes, but by living a Christian life we can help guide our hearts and minds to not be sinful so that what is good isn't destroyed. Unfortunately, in this case of my mother, what man did was sinful in nature and destroyed what God placed together. I question whether or not this man's intention was good from the start or just changed over time, but that isn't for me to know or even really ponder over, neither is it for anyone else. As to why God may have placed them together is unknown and I know that what is unknown from God is usually better to be in that lost place because it protects our hearts. God understands that we aren't perfect and are sinful, but this is why He sent His only son our Lord, Jesus to save us. God knows we aren't going to be leading perfect lives that live by His 10 commandments, but wants us to really live a life that does abide by the Law so that we can use the Law to help people see Christ within us, by also living of the direction of what Jesus taught us in the Gospel. (This makes sense right?) What people who have divorced can do right by is, by loving. John 15:11-17 New International Version (NIV) 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit —fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other. We are to continue on with great strength and love for one another giving God all of the praise, thanks, and rejoice for what may have been a hardship, now is nothing more than a memory that is to be dissolved into the world... something that won't and doesn't last. What lasts, is love. It goes beyond generations and is everlasting. By the hardship of divorce and great love that God taught and shown us through His son, Jesus, we gained a stronger and greater love that is everlasting. Praise be to the Lord, the King of Kings, and the great Morningstar, for we go through rough times, but only to come out stronger and loving by His great power, strength, and love! <3 Mak PS. Mother's Day is coming up. Remember to thank your mom for everything. She deserves it more than you may realize! I love and adore you, Mom. :)

What is a right relationship?

"A right relationship with God produces right relationships with fellow human beings."-Dr. Martin Luther (Note-Large Catechism-Commandment One)

Luther comes right out and says the very direct truth as he does with everything.
In order to have a right relationship with anyone, you must have a right relationship with God.

What is having a right relationship with God?

Let's break this down:

Firstly,
within the Ten Commandments the very First commandment is:
"You shall have no other gods."

Meaning, "you shall have me alone as your God."

-"To have a God means that from which we are to take refuge in all distress. So, to have a God is nothing other than trusting and believing Him with the heart...."
"If your faith and trust is right, then your god is also true. On the other hand, if your trust is false and wrong, then you do not have the true God." (18, Luther's Large Catechism.)

To have God in your life is a vital need because we need a God to help us know how to live our lives according to His plan, rather than our own. Also, with God, He has given us a Savior; Jesus, to help us know that we are saved and redeemed.
He displayed such great love by making the ultimate sacrifice.

With that said, what do you think that is a god in your life?
Would you be willing to make a (or a few) sacrifices in your life that show how much you really want that relationship with God?

God wants you to have a relationship with Him before anything and anyone else.
In order to do so,
a believer must first make their relationship with God right and true before one can advance in knowing that their relationship with anyone else in their life is the type of relationship God would want for them.

That relationship with God is the best relationship any human being could ever have and want.
Therefore, if one can make that relationship with the -only- true and faithful God, couldn't they know that is the type of relationship you should have with another human being?

To have a relationship with God is also about sharing what is true, contrite, loving, honest, faithful, and so much more.
I could go on with a long list, but will save that for you to pray and learn about from God, alone.

What I am getting at really is,
to have a healthy relationship requires a healthy relationship with God first.
If you do not have a healthy relationship with God, how can you have a healthy relationship with anyone at all?
This isn't a romantic relationship that I speak of, it's any form of relationship that we can formulate.
Being with anyone in relation to you (family-parents, siblings, etc), friendships, significant others, relationships within the Church family, etc.

I cannot stress this enough as Luther did...
To have a right relationship we must first learn what it means to have a right relationship with God.
To know God.
To feel that relationship above all others.
To trust in Him before anyone and anything else.

What God also taught us was to Love.
God is the very example of love.
He made the ultimate sacrifice to display that love for us by sending His only Son, Jesus to die on the cross for the sin of the world.
What other Love is greater?
None.
Because, that Love was the only Love that is willing to lay down everything for us so that we may live a life according to His plan, rather than our own.
We were saved by the blood of the Lamb.

What do you know? Blood is red, which is a color that is often reacted in a psychological way of meaning one of the many meanings; Love.

The blood is a display of what Love meant is still means today throughout the generations.
That was God's way of showing how much He loves and cares about us...
So, obviously, God cares and loves us so much that He WANTS a connection to and with us.
God wants a relationship with the believer because He loves and cares that much.

We should know what it means to love so that we can share that love with others, but first we must learn to do it with God, faithfully.
Once we understand what love truly is and meant to be, especially with God, we can continue on with other relationships and
be confident in our faith with God by putting on the armor of God, displaying that love He wanted us to know and share confidentially with others so that others may know us by HIS love.

Let us rejoice in knowing that we are indeed, loved by the God who made the ultimate sacrifice for us
just so that we can know the true Love and what it means to have a relationship with Him and His people by displaying His love and ways...with confidence.

By His grace,
we can have the right relationship with Him and others.
By Love.
By Faith.
By Trust.
By Truth.
By Hope.
By Confidence.
By His Commands.


The hope that lies within me is that we as believers of Christ, will trust in God; alone, and endure life by dedicating ourselves to one triune God in the up most loving and earnest way possible.
With such hope and dedication, we can know what love means by the right relationship with God and what it means to share that within our other relationships.

I have hope and confidence that -you- can, too.

Faithfully praying and hoping in the God that loves,

-Mak

PS.

John 15:11-17
New International Version (NIV)
"11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other."

Exodus 15:13
"In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling."

Also: Deuteronomy 6 tells us to Love the Lord your God.
Love the Lord your God before anyone and above all us. He will teach you how to love because He's the only way and one who can.

Daring to be a Daniel-Restart

Greetings.

It has been quite sometime since I've actually written anything dealing with the life I live in the faith.

To start, I am going to share a bit of memorabilia.

It all started 2 years ago, one Wednesday evening at St. Luke Lutheran Church. We, the youth group with a volunteer youth leader; Becky were sitting outside on the wooden benches in the wooded area, gathered.
There, we had shared of our highs and lows of the week, opened in prayer, and jumped right into our Bible study for the evening. (FYI: We had planned previously on what book we wanted to focus in on as a study. We had chosen Hebrews.)

Hebrews. The book of Hebrews. The book that speaks so lively about Faith. I remember us reading through a few chapters, while stopping to discuss it. The chapter that stood out to me, til this day is Hebrews 11. It's titled, "By Faith."

At the time, in chapter 11 I was really surprised at how many generations of God's people had kept the Faith and how the Faith in Christ carries on til this very day, to only go on for generations.
What these past generations of His people did was this;
Hebrews 11:13
"All these people were still living by the faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance."

What does that say about us today? Are we living by the faith to where we aren't fearing what is to come of God, but simply welcoming it from the distance?
We shouldn't fear the gift of Faith because we are given grace by the blood of the Lamb.
(Hebrews 9:14-15) How much more, then will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance--now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant."

By the faith we have in Christ coming to save us, we are given such grace to live a life serving God, one God who reigns in Spirit, the Son, and as the Father.

Anyways,
having a faith that is active is quite important. We as believers cannot just simply live a life of faith that is not active.
While asleep, no prayer, no spirit within, makes one weak.
To have faith...is so much more than what is often depicted.

Having faith is not only believing in what Christ has done for you, but it is about trusting in the unseen.
That's what most still cannot fathom over and tend to live a life full of 'faith' in something mistaken as a filler. With that, could be anything depending on what that person may use to fill in the gap.

To have faith, like I said is also about trusting in the unseen and we are told that in 2 Corinthians.
"18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:18

Christ died so that we may have an eternal faith and life in Him. What people not to be able to fathom with that is the fact it is, indeed, unseen.

Yet,
looking back on this subject from that period of time discussing the faith that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses...and so forth through out the generations and genealogy.
Whenever looking back, I had never realized just how much of a strong faith that God's people had. Yet, reading through the OT (Old Testament) about the faith His people had then, reading in the NT (New Testament), then examining my life...
I didn't think so much that I could relate to them, but knew we all as His people indeed had faith.

Today,
doing the exact examination it is so clear to me that these people did suffer the same trials, feelings, climaxes and lowest of lows in their faith, too. Not the exact same ways at all, but the experiences that bring on the matter of emotions, the need of confession and absolution, and everything...the same.

We as the people in faith, I cannot help, but wonder...have we lost some form of the faith?
I say this to only make you, the reader, think.
After attending numerous church services, studies, etc, do we actually share the MANY MANY MANY stories of faith from the Old Testament to help us understand we were never alone even through the New Testament, til this day?
How often is it that we just focus on the New Testament, the Gospel, Jesus, and everything?
When do we actually mention the Law and how important it is to have that foundation in our lives in order to live a life according to the Faith that God commanded from us, especially by sending His only Son, our Lord, Jesus in the flesh to TEACH us about living an active life in THE FAITH.
By Him teaching us, yes, that helped us to trust, but when do we mention in our services and lives daily, how much the Old Testament stories we can relate to just as much because of how we tend to trust in God with everything.

We are to trust in God with an entire entity of the faith, but we don't because we don't understand what it actually means to live faithfully to God and trust in Christ; alone.
To trust in the God who is triune.

Faith isn't about just trusting in what has been done for you, but to live it as God instructed in the 10 commandments, with the reminder of Jesus teaching us to Love.
To have faith is to Love.
To have faith is to Believe.
To have faith is to Trust.

To have faith is to share what God commanded of you; the promise and Gospel of Jesus Christ. The root of our faith is in Jesus and the love He had shown for us.


Hebrews teaches us that in the Old Testament we can be reminded of how others may have trusted in Him, while living their lives dedicated to Him, alone.
In the OT, it mentioned of a Savior to come and save the world.
That, God promised AND fulfilled.


In Christ alone, we have faith and can trust in the unseen because it is by His holy works that we are here and enabled to share the Faith.

Share the Faith. Be courageous with your faith, just as Daniel was.
Daniel was not only courageous, but he trust that God had control and would protect him.
Indeed, God had control and protected Daniel. Daniel was faithful to and trusting in God.
He rescued Daniel from Nebuchadnezzar sending him to the den with the lions, despite what Daniel had interpreted from Nebuchadnezzar's dream to be true.
Although, he couldn't believe it.
After what Nebuchadnezzar had seen, he released Daniel and agreed that the God Daniel kept his faith in, was true, faithful to His people, and saves.
With that, we start to learn that God is a faithful God, despite we read and learn that before the book of Daniel.
What stands out about Daniel and his faith before all of the events with the den with lions is...
within the earlier chapters, Daniel would open his window, close the bedroom door, and would get down on his knees three times a day, praying to God.
Then we see again that he prays and gives thanks to God.
Daniel 6:10
"Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before."

Previous generations, Daniel, and others within the New Testament had great faith.
All, endured hardship and times of greatness within the faith. Yet, no matter what the situation was, these people trusted in the unseen because their eyes were set on the promise God made.

In this current generation, times are hard. We ought to be courageous, standing firm with great strength of what we believe.
To have faith that is strong, we must do what our previous believers did; closing a door, opening the window, and praying 3 times a day giving thanks to the God who is faithful.
Opening the window to those to hear our prayers of thanks and concern to the God who loves, sharing that same love and faith in what is so much more than what the Earth has to offer.
Closing the door to the ways that turn us crooked. Keeping a mentality that is focused on what is to come of the Kingdom of God.
That, we can stand firm, sharing the love and faith of Christ Jesus.


To live courageously as Daniel in a life of active and complete faith through Hebrews, is...
what we should be doing.

It's what I should be doing. It's what I want to do.

This is me writing to -you-, sharing my thoughts and faith...saying, if it is what God wants of me, you, us, we ought to obey and give it our all. He gave it all for us.
We should dedicate all that our hearts have to offer to and for Him...to bring Him glory, not ourselves.

The times of faith and understanding what it is to have a life that is OF THE FAITH is hard, but with that we our reminded by Jesus making this statement;
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

The moments we are weak in our faith, by trusting, believing, loving, and sharing, we can remember to be all the more glad that it is okay to be weak because we are only made stronger in those areas and altogether, stronger for what is to be faced in the world we live in.

Living a life of Faith, isn't meant to be easy as I mentioned. It's also about knowing what it means to be weakened to only be stronger, putting on the breastplate of love and faith, having hope in the salvation as a helmet (1 Thessalonians 5:8)

Yet,
we are to pray faithfully no matter where we are, so that we may perservere because God also taught us to do so.
In James it is mentioned to pray faithfully and to keep praying no matter what the circumstance is.
Take heart, courage, trust, belief, and faith, it is okay to pray and God wants you to do so.
James 5: 13-19
The Prayer of Faith

"13 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
17 Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

19 My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, 20 remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins."

Pray for strength, courage, love, and what it means to live a life of faith just as Daniel did.
Live a life as mentioned in Hebrews.
To pray for those who need the faith and are living it, is one of the many blessings we share together because we are given the gift of prayer to help encourage

a believer to live a life, Daring to be a Daniel.

I pray that not only all of you can follow the examples and take something so precious from this entry,
but to know to live a life of faith is so much more and we, as believers, can do it by the love, grace, and strength given to us from our God.



(I know this is probably a jumpy entry. A lot of thoughts, but I hope that you get the jist.)

In the Faith,
-Mak