He is my Prince of Peace

My 'friendboy', who is a deputy, sent me something today that he received from the chaplain at the jail.

He sent me an email this morning that pricked my heart. I generally write blogs and hope that people read them. If people read them...GREAT! If not, it is okay too. This blog is different. My prayer is that all people read this blog...especially those who are not believers!!!!!!

I am sure that you ALL know that I am a lover of Christ. I don't PREACH TO people about my faith aka trying to beat Jesus into your heads, but I am very expressive on how much I love Jesus. Many of you know the 'before and after' of my life...you can all confirm accepting Christ in my heart has been for the best. I never understood 'religion' until Dec. 15th, 2006...I still don't. I do understand the power of Healing, Wholeness, Peace, Joy, and Love of Jesus Christ.

For those of you who might not believe, sort of believe, believe but don't care...please read this below. As I said before...it pricked my heart:

"We pride ourselves in being logical creatures who demand proof before believing most things. Yet, a professor can tell us that there are 100 trillion stars in the sky, and we accept it without question. We accept as absolute fact that an atom has neutrons and electrons spinning around a nucleus, even though we have never seen any of them. We know that light travels 186,000 miles a second even though we've personally never measured it. And we agree that Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg Address, and that E does, in fact, equal mc2. We accept all these things as facts without ever demanding the proof of their authenticity.

Yet so many of us will reject Jesus- risking our eternal souls even when presented with solid proof, what proof? The witness of thousands of people who saw the miracles of Jesus and Testimonies from dozens who witnessed His death then saw Him alive AFTER His resurrection. And what about the fulfillment of prophecies concerning Jesus? Yet even after being shown so much solid evidence, many enlightened, logical people reject Jesus as "just some myth for the gullible." In fact, the divinity of Jesus is just about the only thing people refuse to accept, even when EVIDENCE is OVERWHELMING. Tell me, where is the logic in that?"

I know too many loved ones that have not accepted Christ into their hearts...they have been blinded by sin, turned away from hypocritical christians and/or the church, brought up in households with teaching as such as mormanism and JW's....the list goes on. I was there at one time in my life. I didn't believe in God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit. I don't want to leave this earth with ever thinking that I might have said 'just a little more' to people that I love in this lifetime. So...I won't preach. I just pray that you read this blog with an open heart.

There are moments that I ask God, "Why do 'bad people' seem to get away with things in life? Why does Jason, April and Derik seem to get away with lying, cheating, manipulating, conning, etc...while 'good people' who serve God get the short end of the stick? As always, I look upon scripture for answers because God is faithful...here is what I found:


Question: "Why does God allow good things to happen to bad people?" This question is similar to its opposite: "Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?" Both questions refer to what seems to be the perplexing injustice we witness every day. The 73rd Psalm is our answer to the very same questions that also tormented the psalmist. Finding himself in terrible distress and agony of soul he writes, “But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked” (Psalms 73:2-3).

Answer:

The writer of this Psalm was a man named Asaph, a leader of one of the temple choirs. Obviously, he not a wealthy man, but rather one who had dedicated his life to serving God (see 1 Chronicles 25). But, like us, he had experienced some difficulties and questioned the injustice of it all. He watched the evil people around him living by their own rules, enjoying all the wealth and pleasures of the world and piling riches upon riches. He complains, "They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong. They are free from the burdens common to man; they are not plagued by human ills" (Psalms 73:4-5).

Asaph was looking at these people who didn't have problems. They could pay their bills. They had plenty to eat and plenty of luxuries. But poor Asaph was stuck with directing the choir and trying to live godly. And to add insult to injury, it didn't seem to be getting him anywhere. He began not only to envy these people, but even to question God as to why He would allow such a thing to happen!

How often do we find ourselves relating to Asaph? We dedicate our lives to serving God. Then we witness the wicked, the ungodly people around us get new cars, luxurious homes, promotions, beautiful clothes, and take fabulous trips, while we struggle to pay the electric bill. The answer lies in the rest of the psalm. Asaph envied these evil people until he realized one very important thing. When he entered the sanctuary of God, he fully understood their final destiny: “When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny. Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin. How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors! As a dream when one awakes, so when you arise, O Lord, you will despise them as fantasies” (Psalms 73:16-20). Those who have temporary riches on earth are in reality spiritual beggars because they do not have true riches—eternal life.

There are many times when we do not understand what is happening to us, nor do we understand how providence works. When Asaph entered the sanctuary of God, he began to see that there was no need for him to be envious of the prosperity of the wicked because their prosperity is in reality an illusion. He began to comprehend that the ancient deceiver, Satan, had played tricks with his vision and used lies to distract him from the reality of God. Upon entering the sanctuary, he realized that prosperity is a fleeting fulfillment, a fashion show of what is to pass away, like a pleasant dream that pleases us only for a little while but when we awaken, we realize it was not real. Asaph rebukes himself for his own stupidity. He admits to being “senseless and ignorant” to envy the wicked or to be jealous of the perishing. His thoughts then returned to his own happiness in God when he realized how much more joy, fulfillment and true spiritual prosperity he had in the Creator.

We may not have everything we want here on earth, but we will one day prosper for all eternity through Jesus Christ our Lord. Whenever we are tempted to try the other road, we should remember that the other road is a dead end (Matthew 7:13). But in all truth, the narrow road before us through Jesus is awesome and is the only road that leads to eternal life. That should be our joy and our comfort. “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you. But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge . . .” (Psalm 73:25, 27-28)

We need not concern ourselves when good things seem to happen to bad people. We only need to keep our focus on our Creator and enter into His presence every day through the portal of His holy Word. There we will find truth, contentment, spiritual riches and eternal joy.