Tired of the struggle? Want to find peace and feel complete? Read on!

I watched a video last week that really touched my heart. I felt the need to talk about it after which I will share the link. First, I have to say how blessed I feel to live in Canada. We can go out and buy a Bible with so many different translations to choose from. Many local churches will even give you a Bible if you can't afford one or simply don't have one. We can also download a Bible app to our smart phones or tablets or access the Bible online. We are free to buy it, to read it and to talk about it. We have free access to God's Word yet at the same time we have so much excess available to us that we end up keeping ourselves too busy for the one thing that will truly make us happy. We have TV, internet, computers, laptops, sports (both watching and playing), cell phones, tablets, video games, movies, DVDs, CDs, MP3s, music, shopping, etc. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying any of these things are wrong. However, if any of these things are done in excess to the point of usurping your regular responsibilities or alienating your friends and family, then it's a problem.

It is all about relationships. We were created, first and foremost, to have a relationship with Jesus and I'm not talking about a casual "yea I've heard of Him" or "yea I believe in Him" and that's as far as it goes. I am talking about pursuing a deep, personal friendship with Jesus - one where you know Him personally, you trust him completely and you talk to him about anything and everything - because you are well aware of how much He loves you and because you have actually experienced that love, now you want to serve Him wholeheartedly as an expression of your deep love and appreciation of Him. That is the kind of relationship I'm talking about and anyone can have that, you can have that. It's like any other friendship, the more time you spend together the closer you become.

In Matthew 22:37-39 Jesus said:

Jesus answered, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and most important command. And the second command is like the first: 'Love your neighbor as you love yourself.'

Who is our neighbor? Our neighbor is anyone we come into contact with. Notice how Jesus said "love your neighbor as you love yourself." There are plenty of people who don't love themselves so they can't properly love others. Maybe they never grew up having a nurturing, loving parent or parents. There are so many different reasons. Maybe you know exactly what I'm talking about. If we grow up not being or feeling loved we will have a hard time receiving love, love from others and the love of our Father God because somewhere deep inside of our heart we don't fell like we deserve to be loved.

Her comes the good part. When we receive Jesus, God's son, as our Savior He comes to live inside of our heart in the form of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit then begins working on our hearts, healing our pain, mending our brokenness, filling that emptiness, exposing damaging lies we have believed about ourselves, revealing the truth about us and the way Father God feels about us and filling us up with His love.

If we don't feel we deserve to be loved we will have a hard time receiving love from God or anyone else. If we don't feel loved it is impossible to fulfill the second command "love your neighbor as you love yourself." If you don't love yourself how can you love anyone else? You can't give away what you don't have.

Thank God He sent His Son Jesus to intercede for us. In Mark 10:27 (The Message) Jesus was telling the disciples how difficult it was for man to get into the Kingdom of God and his disciples asked who has any chance at all. He responded by saying:

Jesus was blunt: "No chance at all if you think you can pull it off by yourself. Every chance in the world if you let God do it."

Have you ever seen that movie "Jerry Maguire" with Tom Cruise and Renee Zellweger? Once Tom realizes what he had with Renee he returns to her and says "you complete me." We were all created with a God-shaped hole inside of our hearts that is reserved only for God and we will never feel complete without Him. We often try to fill that hole in our hearts with other stuff like drugs, sex, alcohol, pornography, etc., but it never lasts. When you allow Jesus into your heart and life and you begin working with the Holy Spirit, you will finally become complete and full of love, so full of love it will just naturally flow onto anyone (neighbor) who crosses your path. The only relationship that can truly complete us is a relationship with Jesus.

You can begin pursuing a relationship with Jesus right now. Pick up your Bible which is the Word of God and start reading it, I recommend starting in the book of John. If you are new to reading the Bible I recommend starting with a (New Living Translation).

John 1:1 (NLT) says:

"In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God."

John 1:14 (NLT) says:

"So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father's one and only Son."

So Jesus is the Word of God and he was with God before anything was ever created. Jesus (the Word) became flesh and lived among us. God is a three-part God consisting of God - Jesus - Holy Spirit. The Word is the Bible which explains why we would get to know Jesus if we read it. The Word of God is our most valuable treasure on this earth and so many people don't even realize it. So many countries don't have the same freedom we have and you will see in the following video how valuable the Word of God is to those who know what it contains.



It really humbled me and made me realize how lucky I am. If any of my blog posts have touched your heart I want to hear about it. Please leave a comment on the blog post that touched your heart.

I made a deal with God

As I reflect back on my relationship with Jesus, I can remember a time when I used to notice that certain people seemed to talk about Him and their whole face would light up. They talked about Him like they had just recently hung out with Him at Tim Horton's over coffee and enjoyed a good conversation. I could not understand how that was possible and a part of me envied them for finding that sort of connection.

As a young girl my grandmother used to take me to church with her and as a result I had received Jesus into my heart at a very young age. However, from my teenage years and onward I had forgotten all about Him. I decided I was going to chart my own path in life rather than take the well-thought-out path filled with God's blessings that He had made for me before I was ever born.

Of course this path I had chosen to take for my life was filled with a lot of heartache, much of the heartache was the result of my own bad choices. In an effort to fill that hole in my heart that was reserved only for Jesus, I filled it by seeking the attention of men. As long as I had a man or men vying for my attention I felt like I mattered on this planet. That feeling only lasted a short time and then I would move on to the next man who was vying for my attention. My sense of self-worth and value was like a roller coaster ride.

I know now that this need I had to be noticed by men was the result of not getting the attention or validation I needed from my own father growing up. When I hit my teen years I noticed I could easily capture a guys attention and while it lasted it felt really nice. This was the next best thing and I was willing to settle. I had no idea that my Heavenly Father was perfectly willing and capable and desired to give me the attention and validation that I so desired. He desired a close relationship with me but I brushed Him off for a quick fix that would always lead to heartache.

When I got married I was still walking my own path. I was living in a common-law relationship with my boyfriend for about 1-1/2 years before we got married. At the time I was working for a very difficult boss when I quit right before my wedding. After the honeymoon I began a new job and started to have panic attacks only I had no idea what they were at the time. I thought I was going crazy. They would just randomly hit me out of the blue and leave me terrified wherever I was. I can remember my very first panic attack which was while I was attending a training seminar for my job. I was sure everyone could tell I was freaking out on the inside even though I was carefully hiding any symptoms of distress on the outside.

After I had my son the panic attacks worsened. They came on more often and became much more intense. Eventually I stopped going to the places where I had the panic attacks until I was no longer leaving my home. At this point I became a housebound agoraphobic which meant I could not leave my home for anything. During this time my marriage suffered greatly. My husband had to do everything that required leaving home such as taking our son to the doctor, getting groceries, shopping for clothes or diapers and paying bills, etc.

One evening when my son was almost 4 years old he began to suffer severe abdominal pain. He was in a lot of distress and we could not figure out what was wrong with him. His pain seemed to be worsening over time. My husband had to take him to the emergency room of the hospital and I stayed home due to the agoraphobia. This is going to be hard for you who are mothers to understand. I wanted more than anything to go with my baby boy to the hospital but the fear of the inevitable panic attacks that I knew would follow was greater. It was the worst feeling in the world to stay home and have no idea what was wrong with my baby. I felt so inadequate as his mother, not being able to be by his side in his time of greatest need.

I was all alone and pacing the floors while being worried sick over my son. Finally I sat down at my kitchen table and I made a deal with God. God doesn't normally like to make deals with people but if you don't know any better emotionally or spiritually He will meet you wherever you are. I told God that if He would make sure my son had nothing major wrong with him then I promised I would start reading His Word every day.

Hours later my husband called to let me know that our son was fine and only had constipation. I was so relieved and so thankful. I remembered the deal I made with God and I felt like He had made good on his end of the deal and now I was determined to make good on my end of the deal. When my son returned home from the hospital I hugged him tightly and carefully removed the hospital bracelet from his tiny wrist. At the time I saved that hospital bracelet to remind myself of the deal I had made with God and how He had made good on his end. Now I am glad I saved it because that marks the event and day where I began my close relationship with Jesus. I am attaching a scanned picture of my son's hospital bracelet.

I began by reading "Our Daily Bread" devotionals that are free for anyone who requests them. They are short devotional stories with some scripture to read from the bible. If you are interested in feeding your spirit the same way I started, I am attaching a link to the website where you can order "Our Daily Bread" to be mailed or emailed to you directly. https://www.rbc.org/devotionals/our-daily-bread/order-devotional.aspx

At first I was only merely respecting my end of the bargain. The daily reading time was not sinking in and the words I read didn't mean anything to me. As time went on though I began to notice that I was enjoying my daily reading time I spent with God. I was beginning to feel a peace I could not describe. As time went on even further I began to look forward to my quiet reading time I spent with God. In the beginning I didn't even know that reading His Word meant I was spending time with Him but as time wore on I began to feel His awesome presence. Now I enjoy my quite time with God immensely and if I miss a day or two I feel it and I miss Him.

For those of you who felt like I described in the first paragraph, let me explain to you that starting a relationship with your Heavenly Father is not much different than starting a relationship with someone you are attracted to. The more time you spend with a person the better you know them. You think about them when you go to bed. You think about them when you first wake up. You think about them all throughout your day. You find yourself falling in love with them. The more time you spend with that person the more you begin to talk like them and think like them and act like them.Your desire is to please that person. Your desire is to be with that person. That, minus the romantic side, is what a personal relationship with Jesus is like. Just as a normal relationship suffers if you don't nurture it or spend time with that person, the same goes for your relationship with Jesus. If you take the time to nurture a relationship with Jesus, you will reap a harvest of blessings and rewards you never dreamed of or could have imagined for yourself.

Wandering off the Path

While walking my ferret, Duke, I have noticed something that has given me a wonderful idea for a blog post. We always walk along a well-laid path. Duke sometimes stays on the path and sometimes he wanders off. When he stays on the path his walk is effortless, with no hassles. When he wanders off the path he encounters difficult terrain; difficult for a little guy with only 2 inch legs.

Duke will wander off the path into the tall green grass and rub his scent glands (which are on his shoulders) on the stalks of the grass to mark his territory. He repeats this process all over the place until he is completely lost. He will lift his head up as high as his neck will allow but he can't see anything past what is right in front of him. Once he is lost in the tall grass he also encounters the odd thistle which is very unpleasant. He also wakes up the mosquitoes that are sitting in the tall grass and they begin to bite. Duke tries to find his own way out of the tall grass and back to the path but no matter how hard he tries he just seems to get further and further away from the path. Duke is lucky that I am standing there watching over him as I gently guide him back to the path where he, once again, resumes his walk.

It reminds me of my walk with Jesus. When I became born-again God showed me a new path, one that is narrow but leads to eternity. Up until my early 30s I was making my own path; living my life my way. I was causing myself a lot of heartache along the way. I am not saying that once you become a born-again Christian you will no longer have trouble, because the Bible says otherwise. What I am saying is that when you do decide to give your life over to God and let him sit in the driver's seat, you will have a lasting peace and joy that you cannot find any other way. When I was living my life my way I would often get myself into trouble. I could not see past the problem that was right in front of me and I would feel absolutely overwhelmed. Now that I have a beautiful relationship with my Heavenly Father, when trials come my way they are no longer the main focus of my thoughts. I know that I can look to my Heavenly Father for guidance and direction and He always comes through for me.

Sometimes we, as Christians, can find that we have wandered off the path, but as soon as we realize we have lost our way and ask our Heavenly Father for help He gently and lovingly guides us back to the path. Sometimes you can start off by making one wrong move or bad decision which then leads to another wrong move or bad decision and before you know it you are in trouble way over your head just like the tall grass Duke gets lost in. So much so that you cannot imagine how you are ever going to get through it. That is when you need to realize that you were in the driver's seat again and you need to let God take over and steer you back in the right direciton.

Duke would wander off the path, rub shoulders with the blades of grass and end up lost. This represents temptation. Something you know is wrong but looks so enticing. You begin to convince yourself that just this once won't hurt or just a little bit won't hurt and before you know it you have wandered off the path. The thistles in the tall grass which Duke encounters represent sin and temptation which try to ensnare us. The mosquitoes Duke encounters when he wanders off the path represent satan and his evil plans to suck the life and joy out of you.

Matthew 7:13,14 (NIV)
Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Proverbs 4:11 (New Century Version)

I am guiding you in the way of wisdom, and I am leading you on the right path.

Share your Burdens

Galatians 6:2 (NLT)

Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.

Do you ever feel like you are carrying burdens that are too heavy to bear? Perhaps you are feeling that way right now? Do you have someone in your life who will come alongside you during times of distress? Maybe you have co-worker friends, casual acquaintances or casual friends, but in times of distress no one seems to be there to support you. Do you feel like you are left all alone with your troubles? God did not create us to be solitary, He created us for fellowship. The dictionary defines fellowship as, "the companionship of individuals in a congenial (agreeable)atmosphere and on equal terms." God created us for fellowship. Fellowship with Him and fellowship with others.

God actually desires to have fellowship with us but He will never force us into a relationship with Him. Fellowship with God will not happen on its own, we have to want to have fellowship with Him. The New Living Translation of the Bible says it perfectly as follows:

Revelation 3:20 (NLT)

"Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends."

To elaborate a bit on the above scriture, what happens when you share a meal with a close friend? You talk about your life, you share personal experiences, trials, good news and bad news. You rejoice together and you cry together. That is what I feel is the meaning behind this piece of scripture. That is the kind of relationship God wants to have with us through His son Jesus. It is easy to begin to have a relationship with God. You don't have to wait until you are good enough because none of us will ever be good enough, He wants to be your best friend just as you are. He accepts you just as you are. To begin your journey into fellowship with God, all you have to do is believe that Jesus is the Messiah, that He came to earth, died on the cross for your sins and then rose again on the third day and is now seated at God's right side. If you would like to begin your journey into a relationship with God, just say the following prayer out loud right now:

Dear Heveanly Father, I acknowledge that I am a sinner. I repent, right now, for all of my sins and I am asking you to forgive me. You said in your Word, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Romans 10:13). And so, I am calling on the name of your Son Jesus, to come into my heart and be my Savior right now. You also said in your Word, "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9). I believe with my all of my heart that Jesus died for my sins and was raised from the dead so that I may have eternal life. I thank you Jesus, for taking my sins in order that I can be cleansed and transformed into a new creation. Thank you for welcoming me into your family. In Jesus' name, Amen!

If you just said that prayer out loud, congratulations, I am so happy for you because you have just begun a new chapter in your life, one filled with hope, healing and transformation. I would love to hear from you, please do not hesitate to share with me. Once you have received Jesus in your heart, it is always good to share the good news with someone and let them know about your decision. Confess it out loud.

Once you begin having fellowship with God by inviting Jesus into your heart and life, you begin a relationship with Him. The best way to cultivate your new relationship is by spending time with God by reading His Word, the Bible. If you don't have one you can buy one or even read it online. Many churches will give you a Bible as well. There are many translations, but I would recommend the New Living Translation for new believers, it is very easy to understand and written in easy to understand modern-day language. The scriptures I used for this devotion are all from the New Living Translation (NLT).

Your relationship with God is no different than any of your other relationshiops with regards to the level of closeness and intimacy the relationship has. For example, if you spend time every evening going out for coffee with your buddy Linda, your relationship with Linda will be closer than someone you hang out with once a week or month. You decide how close or how distant your relationship with God will be by how much time you spend with Him. Another example, if you only hang out with God at church, you won't know Him as well as if you hung out with Him everyday. He wants to hang out with you every day. To hang out with God, you can read His Word, talk to Him throughout your day just as you would a friend. Also, make sure you take time to listen for his voice talking back to you, if you spend enough time with God, He will talk to you. So you see, it isn't just a one-sided conversation. You can also hang out with God in prayer or by listening to christian music and/or singing praises to Him. There are many ways to hang out with God. There is no set formula. I enjoy having a conversation with God while I am walking my dogs. We have had some very good conversations that way.

I want to make sure I mention something else. When you accept Jesus into your heart, that does not guarantee a perfect life with no more problems, etc. God never said we would never have trouble, but He did say in Hebrews 13:5 (NLT):

For God has said,
“I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.”

When we go through times of distress, God is there with you, walking you through it. Now you never have to go through anything alone again. There is more good news. If you just accepted Jesus into your heart or perhaps if you have but have never found a local church, I strongly encourage you to find a local church to attend regularly. Not only is church a place to go to be fed the Word of God and to worship Him among a community of fellow believers, but also, chruch is a place where you can meet other believers. Remember, when you invite Jesus into your heart you are given a new life, you are born-again into His family of believers (you now have christian brothers and sisters all over the place). Have you ever wished you had a sister or a brother? Or perhaps you have always wished you had a father or mother-type in your life because you either lost your mom or dad or they were not a good parent. Perhaps one or both were abusive in some way. When you enter into the new family of God, His family of believers, you again get to choose how close or distant those relationships will be. When you meet someone at your local church that you really enjoy being around, then cultivate that relationship. Through God's family of believers, He often provides for us the types of people we need in our lives that we never had in our biological family environment. Just remember, don't be too hard on your new brothers and sisters, they are also only human and are not perfect. None of use will be perfect until we get to Heaven.

This is all such wonderful news. Not only do you now have the Almighty God residing within you now, but you have free access to any local church that you feel comfortable in, where you can cultivate friendships with other believers. Just a word of warning though, when you are searching for a church, you need to make sure the church acknowledges Jesus as the Messiah, that He died for our sins and was raised on the third day. Some of the church denominations that I can think of off the top of my head are as follows: Pentecostal, Evangelical, Baptist, Evangelical-Free, Non-denominational and Alliance.

Now when you are going through tough times you, first of all, have God on your side now so you are NEVER alone, you also have a whole new family of believers at your local church who are willing to share your burdens and stand beside you.

Ecclesiastes 4:9 (NLT)
Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.

Exodus 17:12 (NLT)
Moses’ arms soon became so tired he could no longer hold them up. So Aaron and Hur found a stone for him to sit on. Then they stood on each side of Moses, holding up his hands. So his hands held steady until sunset.

In the above scripture, Moses was holding a staff up in the air for a very long period of time in order to help the Israelites win the battle against the Amalekites. Moses was feeling overwhelmed with the staff he had to hold over his head for so long, but his son Aaron and his friend Hur stood alongside him and helped him through. When we are feeling overwhelmed by burdens or troubles, we can lean on God and He will carry us through. Also, our fellow christian brothers and sisters will stand alongside and share our burdens.