Kindness Never Fails!

Many years ago, when I still lived in Iran, my dad and I along with a couple of my cousins went fishing in a small beautiful pond in the city of Babol (Northern Iran). While Fishing was my favorite thing to do, I always enjoyed goofing around and catching frogs or playing in the mud to find warms to use as bait.

In one occasion as we were fishing, one of the natives of that area, who spend most of his time around the pond to provide for his family, asked my dad for help with something. To be honest, I don't even remember what he needed, but I do remember that my dad was happy to help him. As soon as his problem was solved, he took his shirt off, jumped into the water (the same pond water that we would not dare to jump into due to all the plants that your feet could get caught on, or all the leaches). After staying down there for a little while he came back up with some green plants in his hands which he handed one to each one of us. He had gone down there and collected lily pad seeds. He taught us how to eat them, and I have to tell you that after trying them, I fell in love with the flavor immediately. He had returned a small favor to my dad, by jumping into that water and getting us each some lily pad seeds.

This story might not have a significant meaning for you, but as a child, I learned that when you bless someone, you get blessed even more. In this case, my dad blessed someone, and through that, his whole family was blessed with something new and unique. There is always a reward for an act of kindness.

Luke 6:38 
Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

I Am Yours!

So many people often do things in pursuit of love or being loved. People make decisions upon decisions to feel wanted, needed, and loved. Yet, often, it just seems like there isn't any love left in the world. Often it seems like you are all alone surrounded by a lot of people whom do not know how your heart really feels. You desire love, but no one loves you the way you want. Then you start asking yourself  "What is wrong with me?", "Why doesn't anybody want me?". When you start asking yourself these questions, the enemy knows that you are an easy target, and tries to lead you to a trap of hatred. You start looking at people differently. The love you desired so long, becomes a vivid memory which you have given up on. Life becomes nothing, but YOU! It becomes all about you and you forget others. You say to yourself, "If no one loves me, then I will love myself the most?". You start doing everything for your own.

The sad reality is that you, forget who you really belong to. You forget your true love. You forget that God has never left you. He has never stopped loving you! He wants you in His arms and wants to show you the affection that no one else can give you. You seek love, but you have forgotten the source of it's existence is within Him. What if you go back and let Him love you? What if you give yourself to Him and instead of all the silly questions you ask yourself so often you tell Him, "I am yours!". Would you still lack love! I guess you can never find out until you try! 

Psalm 31:7-10 

I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul. You have not given me into the hands of the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place. Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and body with grief. My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak.

Would You Just Listen???

This week, my daughter who is two and a half years old, would ignore pretty much everything my wife and I would  tell her not to do. We would tell her to not touch something for her own good, she would not listen, and in one extreme case, my wife told her to not drink the soap, and she did it anyway. After drinking the soap she got sick and threw up everything she had eaten that day. When I was holding her and trying to comfort her, I thought to myself, is this what we do to our Heavenly Father? Does he keep telling us to not do some things for our own good, yet we keep ignoring him, till we get hurt? Think about this for a minute, as a parent I don't want my daughter hurt in any way, but I also want her to listen to me when I ask her to do things that are for her own good. When she doesn't listen, it hurts my heart, and when she hurts herself because of not listening to me, it hearts my heart even more.

What if we listen to God more carefully and obey Him? Have you tried paying attention to what He is telling you not to do lately? If not, know that when you ignore Him, you will get hurt because you will make wrong decisions, and more than that you will hurt His heart. He loves you way more than wanting to see you get hurt and He wants to embrace you in His arms.

John 8:47 
Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.

John 10:27-28
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.

Know That Your PM

A couple weeks ago I wrote about your AM (Attitude Matters). Today I want to remind you of the importance of knowing that your PM (Prayers Matter).
Often we underestimate the power of prayer, but the reality is that prayers do work. Your prayers are one of the ways that God unleashes His power in your and other people's lives. If your prayers were not important, would God constantly tell us to pray in His word. In fact through out the scripture, the power of prayer is evident and we need to take prayer seriously. If you don't believe me, do a Google search on "Prayer in the Bible".

One of the most important things to know about prayer is that prayer is the way you communicate with God. That is why Apostle Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-8 "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." If you don't talk to the person you are trying to have a relationship with, then you won't have much of a relationship. The same thing applies to God. If you want to have a close relationship with Him, then you need to make sure you pray continually.

So, perhaps every time you see PM, you can remember that your prayers matter and God enjoys talking and listening to you.