I’m so hungry…for God. One of the biggest lessons I have learned so far during this 40 day food fast has been how to be hungry for God. I have learned that if I can be this hungry for food then I NEED to be even more hungry for God. I have always been really good about keeping God in everything that I do, but I am loving this time with Him. I love that in everything I do I take Him along and ask Him loads of questions. I spend time loving on Him and receiving love from Him. I have had to learn how to receive love from Him even though I don’t “feel” it. 

What I have discovered about God’s love is that it is ever present. I know that isn’t anything new, but I have seen His love in a deeper way. I have seen Him be faithful in times where I have been unfaithful. I have seen His love for people when they are acting completely against Him. I have seen His passion for the lost and I have loved to see them grow and find Him. His love for us is so consistent and constant. He loves us beyond measure. He loves us greater than we can ever fathom. I love the idea that God’s love in inexplorable. It cannot be explored enough. I love that I have all my life and eternity to find out how and why God loves me so much. 

Thank you for your love Father,

Dustin

closest picture of a paradox I could think of.

Something to think about…

God is a paradox. Just so we are clear a paradox is-

1. a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth.
2. a self-contradictory and false proposition.
3. any person, thing, or situation exhibiting an apparently contradictory nature.
4. an opinion or statement contrary to commonly accepted opinion.

On one hand He is a righteous judge who demands justice for sin, and on the other He pays the price Himself. He hates sin, but created a way for you and I to avoid it. He gives us chance after chance. He loves us more than anyone else could. He is my God. How much sense does that make?

God is absolutely unpredictable. Sure we can know that He is always going to love us and He is never going to leave us, but how he does those things will vary. Sometimes He loves us by showing us a beautiful sunset or by how a friend comes to us in a time of need. He will always be there for us in our time of need. I often forget that He is there for me at every moment of every day. 

I have learned that I cannot control God and He won’t control me. He will open doors that I must choose to walk through. He gives me direction, but doesn’t force me into it. He walks along the path with me even when I walk the wrong way. That is often a paradox to me simply because I have never known anyone to do that. I always have experienced people who have abandoned me when I messed up and have betrayed me to fit their need. God is a paradox because he is contrary to everything that I would expect. I know that I can trust Him with every aspect of my being. God is so good to me and He will always be true. 

God is always seeking to make ways for us to fall in love with Him. He is constantly being creative in His approaches to love on us. Have you made yourself available for this?

I must begin with a quote from Chuck Missler. “A God small enough to fit inside your head is not big enough to meet your needs.” 

I don’t believe there is a better way to describe my frustration with most Christians. If you can understand God you can’t possibly know Him. Now don’t get me wrong we can know His character, His personality, or attributes, but we can’t always know His ways. God is consistent in His love for us, but He is also unpredictable in how He deals with us. He is more dedicated to us than anyone in our life including our parents…Sorry mom!… 

How many times have we said, “God wouldn’t do this or that” only to find out later that He does? How often does He surprise us? I love not trying to figure Him out. I personally don’t think that He wants to be explainable. I just believe He wants us to grab onto His characteristics such as His love, kindness, joy, laughter, forgiveness, grace mercy and the list goes on and on forever. We can never say enough good things about Him. There are no words in the world that could even come close to declaring God’s goodness. I think that is why we are supposed to give Him our lives. Our lives are really all we have, so it must be all we can give. 

When was the last time you tried to put God in a box? God is the only one who can put Himself in a box and it was called the Tabernacle, and He said, “If you touch this thing I’ll kill you!”. Besides that I would let God be God and you be His beloved. He will be the only person to pleasantly surprise you on a daily basis. Keep your eyes open for His blessings every single day. God can’t contain Himself, so He will love you at every possible moment He can. 

Open your eyes and give Him the credit He deserves and for crying out loud take Him out of your box!

Alright, so how does one go about forgiving someone? I mean anyone can say, “I forgive you”, but somewhere in my mind I always remember the issue. I have always had major issues forgiving my dad for all the pain and suffering he caused me. The issues that I struggle with seem to fade away for a while and then come back to haunt me. Did I forgive him when I said I did? Well, I thought I did.

I was severely hurt at church a few months ago, which caused me to leave that church. I keep thinking that I am over the pain, but it always seems to come back. So I ask again, “How does one go about forgiving?” My current pastor recommended that I write the pastors at the previous church a letter to forgive them. He basically wants me to write down a blessing for the pastors and the church. I think this is an incredible idea. I will do that this week I suppose.

Anyway, will they ever find out how much pain they caused? Probably not, but that is a good thing. I don’t need to let them know because I can go to God to heal me from my pain. Telling them they hurt me doesn’t do anything, but hurt them. I don’t need to retaliate even though my flesh wants them to hurt as much as I did.

I am so incredibly thankful to have a God who heals us from pain and suffering. When we face pain we need to crawl up into the lap of God and share our pains with Him. He longs for us to need Him that way. He is a God who loves to take our pain and make us more like Him. I guess I just answered my own question. When we seek to forgive someone we need to confess the pain to God. Confessing the pain to Him releases us from it. God then takes the pain and gets rid of it, and we get His love in return. We never give God pain without Him giving us comfort.

Seek out those who have hurt you and bless them tremendously. Help them in ways that they never helped you. Refuse to hold onto your pride and bitterness because God is waiting to hold you as His son or daughter.

Hey Guys, Well, as you can see, I’ve already written a few posts, but here is the ”official” kick off of endurelife. To get a little more info on the heart behind the site feel free to read below: 

My main purpose for establishing this site is to let people know that there is hope out there. I am not claiming to have all the answers, but I do hope to encourage andinspire people to press through difficult circumstances in their lives.

2 Timothy 2:11 Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; 12 if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; 13 if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.

Enduring this life isn’t something dreadful, although it feels like it during trials. Endurelife is about fighting the good fight. It’s about chasing after God with such a passion that no obstacle, tragedy or problem will get in the way of receiving and returning love to Him. Verse 13 is a great picture of what I mean. God is always faithful to us and will never leave us. We only need to endure to become more like Him.

James 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds 1:3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 1:4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

How can James tell us to count it joy when we suffer? I think this verse is often used as a quick remedy when someone is going through something difficult. This verse isn’t a remedy, but a way of life. The principle that James is getting at is to teach us how to perceive our life and the trials in it. Our perception of God in trials directly affects how we make it through those trials. If we see God as absent then we will only see our solitude. But if we see God as right next to us helping us along then we are full of courage, confidence, and focus to make it through the trial. Our view of God in life shapes how we live as His kids. The problem is that when we enter trials the first thing we often do is blame God or just get caught up in the trial. We never really take the time to analyze what it is for.

Graham Cooke says, “God allows in His wisdom what He could easily prevent by His power.” We need to understand that God allows us to go through trials because they will make us more like Christ and increase our intimacy with Him. Our intimacy with God is a great tool to fight the enemy. We need to utilize our relationship with God to know Him, love Him, and draw as close to Him as possible. Trials will change us in ways that will purify our hearts and increase our passion for Him. If we are to be mature as James says then we need to get serious about persevering through trials. We need to draw close to God when we don’t understand, and we need allow Him to shape and mold us even when it seems painful. He is a gentle God and will be kind to us the entire way.

James 4:8- Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

My hope is that this site will encourage you wherever you are in life.

Please share with us! Stories, testimonies, trials and victories are welcome. click.

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