To Bring Him Joy

A while back, I was challenged by a young preacher, as were the rest of the Christians sitting in the auditorium, to share my testimony.  I was delighted to hear his story of how God drew him unto Himself. It is so cool that God saved a "hungover college student" and has so radically changed his life that he was sent out about a year ago by Desert Springs Church along with 50 adults and over half that many children to plant a new church, Redemption Church in Rio Rancho . Well, today God is saying remember that testimony blog that you barely started. It is time to finish it. Share your testimony. I am one of those people who sometimes thinks my salvation testimony is boring, especially compared to some of the dramatic testimonies of being saved out of drug addiction or alcohol abuse or right before they were going to commit suicide. For some reason, God, in His great mercy spared me from those things. He called and saved me when I was 6 years old. I grew up a Southern Ba...

             " Lord , how long will You forget me? Forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?    How long will I store up anxious concerns  within me, agony in my mind every day? How long will my enemy dominate me?    Consider me and answer, Lord my God. Restore brightness to my eyes;  otherwise, I will sleep in death. My enemy will say, “I have triumphed over him,” and my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.    But I have trusted in Your faithful love;  my heart will rejoice in Your deliverance.    I will sing to the Lord because He has treated me generously. " Psalm 13 HCSB How I identify with this Psalm of David.  So very often I feel as though God is far off or that I am a continual failure.  I have struggled with this downward spiral thing a great deal in my life.  I feel as though Satan has my number on speed dial.  He rea...

 “ Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I Am gentle and humble in heart, and 'you will find rest for your souls.' For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 Here is another verse that we tend to interpret and apply to our physical, earthly situations when Jesus was more than likely speaking in spiritual terms. What makes you more weary than carrying around guilt and habitual sin? Is not salvation the key to rest? Jesus yoke was the cross. When we take on His yoke, we share in His righteousness, we enter His rest! He paid the the price, took the weight of the cross, the debt and guilt of sin! I have always had trouble with understanding how a yoke could be easy and a burden be light. I think I couldn't get past the physical picture of it all. Easy can also be translated comfortable or pleasant! Does this mean our earthly life will be problem free, without pain o...