I have a request!

Windy night playing with fire! :D

Dear people of the online world, bloggers, followers, passing by-ers, and if you do not fit any of those categories...then you too!,
I have been contemplating over this particular ... thing (specific, I know). It's a question that has somewhat to do with my last post and I would really appreciate each and every one of your thoughts on the specific subject.

Category: Doing something to keep peace.
That's the broad side of it! If you would like to help me out by giving me your opinion than please email me at baileymuller@gmail.com so I can share with you the further story.

And for those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, or what I'm trying to say...just email me anyway! It is must easier to explain in detail.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and the picture was just to get your attention ( :


Verse of the day: "So be strong and full of courage. Don't give up serving the Lord. The work you do for Him will be rewarded." 2 Chronicles 15:7 (Clear Word)

Stoking the Fire Within

Human: God, please protect me.
*Hit by stone*
Human: Why God? Why!?
Jesus: I'm sorry, did I miss one? Are you alright?

                This is a rather general post because too much information is never always necessary. In due time, however, I believe God will use my stories, my encounters, my trials, and my simple testimony to help strengthen the walk of others. As of now...I’m hoping these little notes will suffice.

                Although my Thanksgiving break was rather uneventful, entertainment-wise, God never lets me down spiritually. Faced with a struggle that was diffusing my inner peace and tempting me to lash out at a certain individual, God gave me strength and showed me the amity that can evolve from a deep walk and total dependence on the Deliverer.

                Many things this weekend have erected new questions within... many things have grown me and rooted my life deeper in the Source... and many-a-time did God know explicitly the reason behind each one. Every time I was discouraged, it led to more fervent prayer and study. Every time I had the urge to throw out a few harsh comments to set things straight, it led to the cementing of verses such as “Love your enemies” in my heart.  Whenever I had a question, God was listening. Whenever I was confused and knelt before Him asking Him to forgive me and my war opponent, He forgave and lent me a helping hand.

                So a question I’ve been running through my mind...Should we do things just to keep peace? It depends on the variable, am I right? I believe God calls us to treat everyone as brothers and sisters in Christ. Siblings fight? Sure thing! Usually over simple things such as who gets the bigger piece of cake, who gets to sit in the front seat, who’s right. Jesus calls us to keep peace in these situations; but when something bigger arises...such as watching a certain movie that defiles God’s name, listening to a song that hails Satan, surrendering our beliefs to allow the “comfort” of others...does God want us to give in for the benefit of those around us? No. We are called to not waver like the waves of the sea, but to stand firm in the Lord. We just need to “pick our battles” and know when it’s okay to lay down our arms.    

                Should we run from every hurdle that seems virtually too high for us to conquer? Never. God places certain struggles, certain people, certain entertainment, specific things to help us grow! He never does so to tear us down and see when we will collapse. He is testing our faith. When we can say no to that movie, find something else to do than listen to that tainted song, and stand up for our beliefs no matter what others think it shows our Heavenly Father that we care about Him and not the view of man.

                So back to my weekend. Boring? Oh yeah! But did God work in my heart and continue to stoke my fire for Him? More than you know. (:

When Death is Immanent...

            Praise the Lord for His divine protection! My dad, brother and I were on our way home from a nursing home where we were playing instruments and singing hymns for the elderly who came to listen, and were reiterating the good time we had...when there were lights heading in our direction; there was a car coming directly toward us. My dad luckily had just enough room on the edge of the road to veer off, scarcely evading the vehicle. My heart was hammering as my dad hastily turned our car around and trailed behind the Sierra GMC pick-up. The truck was pulled to the side of the road sitting there for approximately 5-10 minutes before driving a few inches, hitting the breaks, stepping out of the car in attempt to reattach his sock, glancing at our car, and stumbling his way over in endeavour to talk to us. After explaining to us that he was on his way home (which apparently wouldn’t take long at all), that he was limping because he was shot in the leg at work, readdressing his story and elucidating how he was shot in the ear, and telling us it wasn’t necessary to follow him home because he lived in London (30+ minutes away)...he faltered his way back to his truck and slowly lurched out into traffic once again. By this time my dad had the phone in his hand and dialling 911 in effort to reach the police. My dad was on the phone the entire time as we continued to pursue the red vehicle; as we approached a round-about, he stopped (seeming as though he didn’t know where to go) and then entered it...driving in the opposite direction!! He exited the entry ramp as a car was approaching and was feet away from another deathly collision! We followed again, and the truck stopped, did a u-turn, and came to the round-about once again (this time travelling in the right direction); as he exited, he stopped, did another u-turn, and when he realized we were still following he stopped in the middle of the road and walked toward our car (remember, my dad was still on the phone with the police at this time)...he came over and said his house was right up the street and that we could leave (we had barely gotten anywhere) but as he went back to his truck the cops showed up and escorted him to the police car. We remained there and after conversing with the outwardly appearing 55 year old man, a police woman came to our car asking for candy saying that the man was a diabetic and needed it. Having none, she thanked us for the call and we were waved off to go home.
            Now, does it seem that this man was a diabetic? Perhaps, maybe that was a factor, yet there seemed to be more wrong when you think about it, doesn’t there?
            Either way, we left it at that. We were praising the Lord all the way home and thanking Him for sending His angels to keep us safe through the almost unavoidable accident, and from a man that potentially could have been much more dangerous. We live to see another night, which we spent reading Psalm 91...what we call the 911 verse of the Bible.

Taking a Stand

            Last night I faced a struggle that I could no longer push to the recesses of my mind. I could sense God calling me; beckoning in such a way that could not be ignored. Conviction in my heart was stirred and I am now striving to attain what I've been entitled to do. I previously asked God what He required me to do so I could grow and root myself still deeper in Him. God knows of my weaknesses and comfort zone limitations and He has asked me to extend my limits to the breaking point.
            Today at school I knew unerringly what God wanted me to do...He reminded me that “If you deny me in front of your friends, I will deny you in front of my Father.” Matthew 10:33. Praying in front of anyone that I know won’t understand is an existent struggle that I have yet to accomplish. Today I heard God’s voice calling and asking, “Is you’re comfort more vital than I am?” I promised Him that I would not eat my lunch at school if I couldn’t pray and show gratitude to the Lord for the food He so graciously provided for me.
            Sad to say, I went without eating lunch today. I sat there with my mind off in the distance thinking of what a cowardly Christian I am and how much more I need to focus my ENTIRE being on Christ. I opened the Fountainview Academy devotional and today’s quote was from Help in Daily Living pg 26, “We are to live, not to guard our feelings or reputation, but to save souls.” God is speaking directly to me and I need not to harden my heart, but to break out of this warm little bubble I’ve surrounded myself in and proclaim His name. God obviously has a lot of work to do in my heart...but I am willing. I will still not eat lunch until I have overcome my fear of the criticism others may throw at me. He is working, now it’s my job to respond with an eager heart.  

Innocence of a Child

“Unless people are as trusting as these little children, they cannot possibly have part in God’s kingdom.” Mark 10:15 ClearWord

            School was always an occasion of excitement, chaos, and learning. Running around, participating in class, then partaking in an assortment of games during recess were some of the reasons I loved going to school. However, I remember one particular day when my class had the opportunity to enjoy show and tell. Being in grade 1, the teacher had requested each of us to bring in something we cherished to class and illustrate it to the other students. There was no doubt in my mind what I loved and wanted to share.

            Being called up to the front of the room, I didn’t have the jitters or even second thoughts on what I was about to say. I didn’t care what people would think of me or my favourite thing. I was going to share with the class what I loved and that’s all there was to it.

            “For show and tell I brought my favourite thing; my Bible. I love my Bible and I read it every night.” I exclaimed as I held up my pink precious moments Bible for the entire class to see.

            Today, I am apprehensive when it comes to sharing my faith and why I do or don’t do certain things because of my religion and beliefs. I have second thoughts when I’m about to share Christ with someone who won’t accept, and I tend to care what people think of me and my desire to serve God. However, God is stirring conviction in my heart and reminding me that I should be as innocent as a little child. Whenever I think of this story of my past...it is reminiscent to me in that I should act the same way I did then, as I do now. God wants us to act like children in faith because of their innocence and because they don’t analyse things over and over in their mind to come up with the least painful outcome. I am working with God right now and praying for courage, faith, trust, and boldness like that of a child. I want to be able to proclaim His name wherever and whenever needed.

"I AM"

               Say you’ve been dreaming to go somewhere your whole life...or maybe just for a long time. You know it would be a great place for you to advance your relationship with God. You know you would be a blessing there. You know you would meet many new Christian friends, and in turn, have a great life. This place is all you’ve been thinking about. People want you to go there and are praying earnestly for there to be a way. You pray as well, “Oh Lord, IF ONLY there was a way. You can do it Lord, I know you can. You could also work it out in the future. You could have allowed it to happen last year as well. Lord, I want to go there. It would be best for me. Lord, do your will...but please allow me to go.” Reading this prayer we think to ourselves...man this person is selfish. I would never pray like that. I wouldn’t tell God what to do because I totally trust in His ways.

               Truth be told, we all have prayed like this at one point in our lives and MOST are still praying this way today. Our prayers point out the obvious: God is a God of the past. He was with Abraham, Moses, and David. He has worked in people’s lives before. We know God will work in the future. We know He has big plans for us, and that he will bring His people home at judgement time; however, we fail to remember that God is a God of the present. We neglect to see that God is working right now, that He is the “I AM”. He is working something magnificent in your life right this very second. He knows you want to go certain places, do certain things, serve certain people...He is the glorified Clock Maker. God is running your life so precise, that when the time is ready...when YOU are ready, it will fall exactly and perfectly into place.

               The “I AM” is showing you things such as patience, trust, faithfulness, and humility so that you will be even more ready to share the gospel and be a blessing to those that surround you. Serve Him one day at a time and don’t worry about tomorrow or the day’s that follow, for worrying will do nothing and go nowhere. Pray that He will shine through you and that He can remind you that He is the “I AM”. Remind yourself that He did not only work things out in the past, that He will not only help in the future, but that He is working right now.

God's Direction

“We know that God is able to bring something good out of every circumstance, as long as we trust Him and remain true to the purpose for which He called us.” – Romans 8:28

            We were at a cross road and unable to determine which direction we were required to take. Biking that day had been great! My family and I had been exploring and cycling all through the mountain train trestle routes in British Columbia, and now was our time to hit the steep slopes down into the city and back to our hotel; one problem...the map we had didn’t show us which direction to take because some roads were cut off. My instincts told me to take the road to the right that had a steeper downhill; my uncle`s sense of direction, however, told us to venture straight ahead.

            We all took the path that my uncle suggested and biked about 2 miles out when we saw a car stopped in the middle of the gravel road. Arriving closer to the car we found that he wasn’t stopped to look at the scenery, but rode right over a hole about a foot and a half to two feet deep. The front lights of the car were smashed and there was no way he was going to get the back end of the car over the rut. My uncle and dad immediately dispersed off the bikes and went to find logs, rocks, and other materials to build a bridge the car could cruise over; meanwhile the man in the car was complaining to my aunt, brother and I about the lack of road work in the mountains. We smiled and tried our best to comfort him. Soon enough the man was over and on his way, but it seemed to me he was complaining so much, he barely said an appreciative thank you.

            Continuing down the road, we got another 5 miles down the gentle slope when I asked once more to see the map; it felt as though we were making no progress homeward, but rather heading deeper into the mountains. I took a glance at the directional paper and become conscious of the fact that we had passed the big lake that was on the opposite side of the city. I stood there, looked up at the hill we’d have to travel back up and was quite frustrated. If only my family would have listened to me in the first place, we wouldn’t have gone 14 miles out of the way! Setting my thoughts and feelings aside, we all journeyed back up to the alternative road. While biking up the hill, I began to appreciate what God just did. He took a simple family bike ride, and turned into an opportunity for us to help someone and witness to them by a gentle smile and kind words. My irritated attitude was then transfigured into praise and thanks to my Heavenly Father. Even when I’m struggling in my walk with Him, and it seems everything is going wrong...I will always remember that God can create something good out of every circumstance, as long as I trust and remain true to Him.

One More Night with the Frogs

“He wants men everywhere to search for Him with all their hearts, and if they do so, they will find Him, because He is not far away. He overlooked our past ignorance. But now He expects people everywhere to turn to Him and change their ways.” – Acts 17:27, 30 ClearWord

            Ever have that feeling when you know you’re doing something wrong and you realize you’re sinning but don’t want to give it up just yet? God is trying to transform our lives, but we can’t seem to let go of this! Stubbornness is a part of every human’s life; one person we could see living this dangerous characteristic was Pharaoh.

            I’m sure we are all familiar with the story of Moses and the deliverance of the Israelites from the Egyptians. 10 plagues were placed upon the Egyptians...9 of which Pharaoh would not budge...I don’t know about you, but I’m sure I would have been convinced that Moses’ God was the God of all gods when the first plague hit and the ENTIRE Nile River turned to blood. Blood, frogs, gnats, flies, killing of all livestock, festering sores, hail (wiping out everything), locusts, 3 days of utter darkness, and lastly the death of all firstborn sons...only the last of which Pharaoh surrendered. He was the king of obstinacy.  

            I heard a sermon by my father, of which he borrowed ideas from other pastors that made me think of the frogs the people had to deal with. There weren’t just a few toads here and there...but, it says in Exodus 8:3, 4, “They will come into your bedroom and even into your bed...They’ll get into the kitchens, brick ovens, and all over the baking pans. They’ll jump on you...whether you’re sitting up or lying down.” Pharaoh called back to Moses and Aaron to take the frogs away, and they simply responded they’d pray and just like that, the frogs would disappear; all Pharaoh had to do was say the word, yet his response was...tomorrow. TOMORROW!? It was driving everyone bonkers and God was willing to eliminate the frogs immediately, but Pharaoh said, “Tomorrow. I’ll take one more night with the frogs.”

            How many times have we said, “Just one more night. I know it’s unhealthy, I know it’s wrong, I know it’s hurting me, I know it’s sin...but I want just one more night! One more night with my personal bitterness, with my stubborn self, with my refusal to forgive, with my evil desires...just one more night! I’ll stop sinning Lord!!! ...Tomorrow.” We tend to find ourselves famous for what we’re going to do tomorrow. Hebrews 3:7, 8 says, “TODAY when you hear His voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled, when they tested me in the wilderness.” When the plea comes asking to give your life to Christ today, or fully surrender your life, talents, and money to God’s glory today, most people realize and know they should, plan on doing it sometime...but fail to do so and put it off until tomorrow.

            Hardening your heart is the most dangerous thing a person can ever do. If God is working, blessing, and protecting, yet you are still solidifying your heart, that’s as serious as it gets. Why should we want one more night with the frogs? The Lord is waiting right now for us to turn from our sins and stop waiting for that day we like to call “tomorrow”. If today God is stirring repentance or conviction in your heart and you hear God’s voice speaking to you, don’t harden your heart but repent of your sins. Come to Jesus, accept and obey Him, and follow His path so that you too may be saved while there’s still time left.

Strength in Numbers

“Two people are always better off than one because they can work together and enjoy each other’s company. If one of them falls, the other can help him up. But I pity the man who walks alone, because when he falls, he has no one to help him. Two can resist an attack better than one trying to do it alone. A rope made from three strands is much stronger than a rope made from one.” – Ecclesiastes 4:9, 10, 12

            Summers are a great opportunity to work, keep busy, and best of all...accumulate a bit of pocket money. One summer while working at my dad’s business, he gave me the simple job of shredding papers. Boxes and boxes of files, receipts, notes, and miscellaneous documents were placed before me and as I began my job...hours passed by.

            With time alone, I began to think about what the Lord had done in my life, and the amazing friends He had brought to support and encourage me in the difficult times. Suddenly, my shredding became a mission; as I was grabbing and placing the stacks of paper through the inevitable tearing they had awaiting, quite often I would seize a pile the shredder could not handle and it would jam, shutter, and stop. It reminded me of a book I had read not long ago, Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris. They wrote about a study that had been revealed to them; a single horse can pull an average load of 2,500 pounds. The test was then repeated with a second horse added. You’d expect the weight towed would double, making it a total of about 5,000 pounds; Not so. The two steeds working together could manage a load of 12,500 pounds! That’s five times the load a single horse could pull alone! There’s something in living beings that rises to accomplish exponentially greater things when part of a team.

            Keeping this in mind, I began my experiment with the shredder. I began with one sheet, than added a piece in numerical order until I reached the max the shredder could take in. The total was fourteen, but that’s beside the point; persisting with the test, it showed that each paper added to the bundle made it harder and harder for the machine to destroy those documents.

            The same applies in our own lives. Satan is the machine destroyer...as soon as he has a foot-hold of you it’s practically impossible to get out unscathed. When we have our spiritual friends and family to back us up and help us work through problems and hardships, it’s harder and harder for the devil to gain control. Jesus is there as our Rock. Mentally and physically he can jam that shredder and save us all from losing our faith. With mounds of papers and our Rock, that shredder has no chance. Keep your friends and family close and continue building healthy relationships with them and God, because there is vast strength in numbers.

Mulligans

“I will forgive them for what they have done and will remember their sins no more.” -  Jeremiah 31:34 ClearWord

            Chess, checkers, Uno, Sorry, and Monopoly...all games I have had the joy and pain of playing, and all games that I have mistakenly made the wrong move. We’ve all done it; positioned a knight right into the enemy’s headquarters, been forced to move that piece we’ve tried keep situated, laid the wrong colour down and opened the field for our opponent to pone, relocated our pawn directly outside home and gotten kicked right back to the beginning, and bought the erroneous properties that no one lands on...losing all money accumulated. Those moves can cost you the game in each situation...but what about mulligans!? A mulligan is a second chance, a do-over, to perform a certain move or action. In every game I have participated in, the other players weren’t willing to allow me the second chance; they didn’t want me to win by allowing a do-over.

            There is Someone, however, that distributes an unfathomable amount of mulligans. Without the second chances the Lord offers, we would lose the game; the game of life that everyone is playing. Every time I place myself into Satan’s centre of operations, when I don’t have the strength to say no and I end up moving myself into open territory, as soon as I make a little mistake where the Devil can overpower, even when I’m growing in my relationship with God and I make a big slip and fall back, and when I do the wrong things and don’t harvest hearts for Him...our Saviour is there to forgive, redeem, lift up, and give us a second chance. How awesome is it to know that we have a God who wants us to make it to the finish line and who desires our hearts to be set on Him. Let us remember that though His mulligans are endless...we should strive to please Him and lessen our faults for the eternal award of everlasting life. We are His children, and like a father forgives and nurtures his children, so our heavenly Father forgives and nurtures us.