3 Solutions To Any Problem: Part 1

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13

In my opinion, faith, hope and love are the solutions we need to solve any problem that life brings our way. No matter what life brings to you or takes from you, there are 3 things that always remain: faith, hope and love. No one can take these things away from you because they are attitudes that you choose in your mind to have. We do lose our faith sometimes, but that is not because someone takes it away, it is because we decide to give it up. There are many scriptures in the Bible that have both the word faith and hope in them together. They are so closely related that sometimes they are hard to distinguish from each other. But the greatest of these is love. Love is what “makes the world go round.” It is so important that we choose every day to have the love of God in our lives and to give that love away to others. But, let’s talk about faith for a while.
What is faith exactly? Well, the Bible gives us some answers. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--,” (Ephesians 2:8). Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” And Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” So, if you put these three verses together, the Bible tells us that faith is believing that God sent his son Jesus to die on the cross to save us for our sins. It is believing this to be true even though you were not there to witness the whole event. It is believing that God will do what He says in the Bible and clinging to these promises.
Now that we know what faith is, how does this help us through the daily struggles of life? For example, say that you lost a loved one unexpectedly. How can faith in God help you through this time? It might seem like an impossible mountain to climb and that you cannot get through life this way, but the Bible tells us, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20). The incredible thing about a mustard seed is that it is one of the tiniest of all seeds, yet when it grows turns into one of the bigger plants. It is an incredible analogy, because all you need to do is believe in God and trust that He will take care of you. Even if you don’t know how that is possible. Just give God the amount of faith that you can, and He will take it and help you through trials and temptations in ways that will make your faith big enough to move mountains. He starts where you are at this point in time. Whether it is just a speck of faith or quite a bit, He will help your faith to grow big enough to move mountains. It all starts with the choice to trust God with the outcome of your situation. 2 Corinthians 5:7 tells us that “we live by faith, not by sight.” We don’t know the future, we don’t know the great plans God has for us. It may look as though you are at the bottom of a mountain and you cannot see your way to the top. That is true. You cannot. But if you put your faith in God, He will carry you up the mountain because he knows the future. So even though things may not LOOK endurable, they are. Psalm 56:3 says, “When I am afraid, I will trust in you God.” If we put our trust in God, he is faithful to take care of us. Even if we decide to lose faith in God, faith will always be there waiting for us to change our minds. It is just a simple choice of trusting God for our todays and tomorrows. When we make this choice, then we begin to have this thing called “Hope”. We know this because the Bible says in James 1:2-3 to “consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” Earlier in the book of Romans, it is stated, “we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance [produces] character; and character [produces] hope.” So if we put these two verses together we can deduce that trials and suffering enable our faith to grow which helps us to keep fighting, which in turn will give us hope. Hope will be the topic of my article next week. Then we will discuss love. And finally, we will tie all three of them together so that we can solve any problem that life brings to us.

"Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow . . ."

In this world today, it is very hard not to concentrate on the negative. Just watching the nightly news gives you a negative impression of our world. Most all that is reported on are fires, murders, wars, bombs and natural disasters. Yet there are so many good things going on in our world and especially in America, but they are overshadowed by the negative. Therefore, we have to make a conscious effort to dwell on the good things in our lives. It is especially difficult to dwell on the good things when you are going through a trying situation, but these are the times when we need to do this the most. Every day when you get out of bed, you are faced with a choice whether to dwell on the good things in your life or the bad things. Satan continually throws these bad things at us all day long, but God requires us to resist this temptation and find a way out (1 Corinthians 10:13) which He provides for us in several different verses of the Bible. God tells us in 2 Corinthians 10:5 to, “demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” So, lets say that you and your husband had a fight about some financial struggles you are having, Satan wants to throw these thoughts into your head constantly to make you more angry and to keep you from doing what God wants you to do today to further His kingdom. So, when those thoughts pop into your head, you have to make the choice to stop thinking about this negative situation. This is assuming that you have already taken the whole situation and given it to God in prayer. After you have let God have control of the situation, you do not need to be constantly thinking, analyzing and dwelling on the subject. So, you take hold of the thought and say to yourself you are not going to dwell on this any longer. Then you must replace it with things found in Philippians 4:8, things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy. Psalm 77:11-12 reveals to us what fits that description. “I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds.”
According to the Bible, we are to think about all the good things God has done for us and all the blessings we have received from Him. If you are having financial struggles as my example states, you may be tempted to look at your neighbors and all the things they have and you don’t. But if you think about someone living in Guatemala where some people do not even have running water, you should have no problem realizing how many blessings you really do have. Every single American is truly blessed. Satan wants us to look at every one and think about all the things that they have that we don’t and he is winning this battle. We are so materialistic, thinking that we just cannot survive without a dishwasher (now don’t get me wrong, I love having a dishwasher) or a two-car garage, that we overlook how truly blessed we are in regards to most other countries in the world.
Then there are the situations that are bothersome to us and we can’t really do anything about. I have a friend with two small children who is forced to work because her husband left her, but she would rather stay home with her kids. She could become bitter because she has to work. But she is doing everything she can to make life normal and structured for her children. Just trying to make every day normal can help immensely. My sister-in-law was having some physical problems where her doctor could not figure out what was wrong with her. She had a million blood tests and possibilities of what could be wrong with her. Instead of worrying about things, she told me that she was just trying to go to work every day and make life as normal as possible. Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” We have to let God take control of our lives and when we let him take care of it, there is nothing to worry about. Whatever God allows to happen is for the best. So, whenever you are upset or starting to worry about something, remember all the good things God has done. Last night I was laying in bed thinking about a million things. I didn’t know when sleep was ever going to come. Then I remembered to think of the good things God has done for me. I started listing off every good thing I could think of in my entire life. A peaceful sleep came to me pretty quickly after that and I know that God will be faithful to you too. Like the words of the song say, “He has done great things. He has done great things. He has done great things. Bless His holy name.” Bless God and you will be blessed.

Friend or Foe? Part 2

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their forefathers to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Deutoronomy 31:6-8

Last week, I talked about being a true friend both in their presence and away from them. This week, I want to talk about what to do when conflict arises between you and a friend or when a friend fails you in some way. When we are faced with a situation of conflict or disagreement, a lot of women tend to get angry, hold a grudge and stop speaking to that person. I see that happening a lot in churches. People who had a disagreement twenty years ago, still pass each other in the hallway without even a kind hello. So, think right now about the people in your life that you are related to, work with, or go to church with. Are there people that you aren’t speaking to? If so, why? Have you done all that you can do to restore this relationship? Humbling yourself before God and others is a very hard thing to do. I think most everyone struggles with that. But at what cost? How many more meaningful relationships could we have if we did this? I have noticed something in our society that bothers me greatly. The saying goes, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going!” I think that is true in a negative sense. It seems that when a situation gets hard, we get a divorce, quit a job, find another church, or end a relationship with a friend. Instead of working hard to resolve the situation and restore the relationship, we just leave and run from our problems. But what good does this do? It may alleviate some pain temporarily, but what will happen the next time we come across a similar situation? So, instead of leaving, we must stick it out and learn from the situation so that the next time conflict arises, and there will be a next time, we will have a better understanding of how to deal with it and it won’t seem like such a big deal. Now, I must say that there are certain situations where leaving is the only option, but this is only when personal safety is and issue and all avenues to restore the relationship have been unsuccessful. Most people do not even attempt to restore, instead they take the easy way out of leaving.

If you find yourself repeatedly in situations of conflict with others, you must not play the blame game. Instead you must examine your own heart and life first to see if you have a certain attitude or behavior that contributes to these problems. Maybe your expectations are too high. You might expect others to always fulfill your needs or to always do what is right (in your opinion), and when they fail you in this way, you give them the silent treatment as punishment for their failure. Chances are though, that person has no idea what has caused this and therefore the silent treatment does absolutely no good. The truth is that we all sin at times and we all fail. What you have to accept is that you fail others as well. Let God be the judge of their motives and behaviors. The Holy Spirit convicts us when we do wrong, and so if others “convict” us too, that doesn’t help us change our ways, it causes more problems. Maybe we could try to restore that person in love. Loving them and guiding them towards God will help them so much more. You cannot change anyone but yourself, so it is wasted energy when you judge others and try to change them. What that person really needs is your love.

Maybe today you are the one being left by others. Maybe they are giving you the silent treatment or blaming you for a bad situation. If so, let me assure you that you are not alone. Many of us are in or have been in a situation like this in our lives. The Bible tells us in 1 Peter 4:12 ,”do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.” It is painful and it is to be expected in this life. It breaks your heart and causes you to doubt yourself. If someone claims that you have failed them in someway, what are we to do? Pray and ask God to reveal the truth to you. If you have failed that person, you should go to them and make things right. Ask God to forgive you as well. Take responsibility for your part of the problem and let God take care of the rest. Remember, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We all have failed because we are human. Do not let this pain cause you to become bitter. You must forgive those who have hurt you and cling to God. He will restore your soul and heal your heart. As Deutoronomy 31 says, you are never alone because God will never leave you nor forsake you. No matter how others may hurt you and leave you, God does not want us to be afraid or discouraged. Instead he wants us to be strong and courageous, knowing that He is going with us every step of the way, in fact he is already in front of you preparing a way for you to make it through this situation. He will give you the strength you need. If you turn to God throughout this time, you will be a little bit closer to being the person God meant for you to be. Through trials we are made more like Him. Because of that, it is worth it.

Friend or Foe? Part 1

The question I have for you to ponder today is this: what kind of a friend are you? If your best friend knew everything you have ever done or said in regards to her, would she consider you a friend or a foe? I believe that there are a lot of us who would be considered a foe, or enemy. We appear to be someone’s good friend, but when we are with other people, we are not loyal to that person and say things we shouldn’t. This is not only hurtful to that person, but hurtful to ourselves. But most importantly, it separates us from God. It builds a wall between us and God, not because God turns away from us, but by doing these things, we are turning away from God. There are things we do to our friends that are very displeasing to God. Pray right now and ask Him to show you if this is a problem area for you. There are many things we do to jeopardize our friendships, such as gossiping, talking bad about others and judging others. Do you make it a habit to do these things and do your friends do these things as well? Most likely, if your friends do them, then you do too, because we tend to associate with people who have similar attitudes as we do. Now, we all know that these things are wrong and yet we do them anyway. Why is this? Because whatever comes out on the tongue is a result of what is in the heart. If you struggle with issues of the tongue, such as gossiping, you can try to tame your tongue and keep from speaking those things, but the real issue is what is in your heart that is causing those hurtful things to come out. Psalm 39:3 says, “My heart grew hot within me, and as I meditated, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue . . .” What came out of the author’s mouth was a result of what was in his heart. You have a choice every day whether your words are going to tear people down or build them up. “A man who lacks judgment derides his neighbor, but a man of understanding holds his tongue,” (Proverbs 11:12). “Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing,” (Proverbs 12:18). “The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit,” (Proverbs 15:4). The Bible is clear that it is our responsibility to choose what will come out of our mouths in order to either bring life to a soul or to kill it. Every day, I hope that we will choose life. If we would build each other up daily, we could do so much more for God and impact others so much more. So what can we do to tame our tongues? What causes us to be so hurtful? First of all, it is a result of sin in this world. It is our nature to be negative and hurtful. That is why we have to work so hard at it. If you don’t put forth the effort by taking care of your heart, your fruit will be diseased. So, first, we must make things right with God. Asking for forgiveness for our bad attitudes and killing words. Then ask God to show you what is in your heart that is causing these bad attitudes to come out. Is it that you have been hurt yourself by someone and you have never completely relieved them of that debt? Maybe your unforgiveness has turned into bitterness, which is causing you to have a negative attitude in life. Or maybe your spiritual journey is at a stand still. Maybe it is dry and neglected. There is a song I used to sing in Bible school called input/output. It goes, “Input, output, what goes in is what comes out! Input, output, that is what it’s all about. Input, output, the Bible tells us all about. Input, output your mind is a computer whose input, output daily you must choose.” If you fill your mind with godly thoughts and attitudes, then godly thoughts and attitudes will come out. If you are filling it with gossip, slander and judgments of others, then that is what is going to come out. Following are some positive things you can do to make your attitudes and words more positive:

1) Before you get up out of bed, pray to God that everything that comes out of your mouth will be pleasing to him. Ask him to help you to know when to speak and when to be silent.
2) Spend time everyday reading the Bible and searching for what God has to say to you. Not just in “devotions” because all good Christians do that, but really desiring to spend time with Him and learning more about Him. This also is a heart thing.
3) Search your heart for any bitterness or unforgiveness towards anyone, even yourself or God. Ask God to show you this.
4) Think about your attitude and how you look at life. Do you see the glass half empty or half full? If you see the glass half empty, then you will be more apt to have a negative attitude towards others, which will in turn, bring out gossip, slander and judging towards others. Attitude is a choice.
5) Memorize Scriptures that will be helpful to you.
6) When you are faced with a situation where others are talking about another person, try saying something nice about that person. It really cools the fire of gossip. If this doesn’t work say, “I am uncomfortable with this conversation.” And leave.
7) Try complimenting someone you are having problems with thinking bad about. Try to see the good in people.
8) Understand that many times, when people hurt you or do something you don’t agree with, it is all a misunderstanding. Give them the benefit of the doubt.