Full Circle – Part 2

James 1:5-8 “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

Pastor Obie continued to unpack the lessons that he learn for the story of his life. A musician friend invited him to go work at a Christian youth camp in Hawaii and it was there that he found and met the Lord. He found that the greatest gift that you can ever give someone is an invitation to know the One true living God. He found that it is so worth it to risk of being a fool for a moment in inviting someone to know the Lord for the slight chance that that someone may find eternal life. It is so worth it to step out of your comfort zone, for just a moment that someone you know may find forgiveness and salvation. Hope and pray for others to experience Christ and His Love. God transforms our doubt into a real relationship. We find that God deserves more than our Sundays; He deserves our everydays. When we connect with the Creator, our response is that we want to love Him back everyday in true relationship. We start digging into the Scriptures, praying and connecting with Him, because we wanted to know this God who loved us. This relationship changes our desires and who we are because He begins cleaning us up.  We don’t have to be cleaned up to come to Jesus. You don’t clean a fish before you catch it, and neither does the Lord. As a matter of fact, being a sinner is a pre-requisite. It starts with love and then the faith journey life process begins.

Proverbs 3:3-6 ^“Let not mercy and truth forsake you; Bind them around your neck,
Write them on the tablet of your heart, and so find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

In American Public schools, atheistic science on Darwinian Evolution caused doubt of the intelligent design of God in Creation. But the unexplainable complexity of life and the universe reveals the fingerprints of our Creator as the Holy Spirit tugs at our heart. Life is not about purposeless random chance by survival of the fittest. Evidence supports the Bible account, so the logical decision is to follow the Lord. God has a plan and its way better than your plan or my plan. Nobody is a hopeless case for God. We are blessed to see a reward of eternal value in people coming to Christ. God brings things around in a circle and we see the amazing grace of God that Jesus Christ is a part of our family story. Obie’s dad was in a touring Christian band that evangelizes and ministers to people, and now Obie is in a touring Christian band that evangelizes and ministers to people. And he has come “full circle” as his band performed and preached the gospel on stage at the same Christian youth camp in Hawaii where he found and accepted the Lord himself so many years ago. His plans for our hope and future.

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

In Christ, Brian