Far Away?

For all of those who feel really far from God. Know now, that you aren't alone. Not only God is there with you, but I'm here praying for you.

Right now, I feel like I am miles away from God. It's hard to understand!! I've been in prayer, studied the WORD, spent time with the LORD - why am I so far away from God?

That's where the problem comes, when we allow human feelings and earthly emotion to fool us. Most time when you get very close to God, and feel very close to God, God is going to want to see whether your love for Him is genuine, and real.

Knowing that our true heart is seen when we are facing trials of faith, God will allow testing in you, so that it's out in the open whether you are for real or not. And if you are, then you will grow tremendously in faith! You'll feel alone and deserted by God, as if He never loved you. You see, human feelings and human emotions are not stable or trustworthy. That’s confusing…

Just as the strength of a human boy is not trustworthy or stable enough to defeat a giant, so human feeling and emotion are also not trustworthy or stable. We must trust that God's strength and God's power are within us.

Even when all we see is a boy standing next to a giant (an armed giant), and even when our minds cannot fathom the thought of that boy containing enough strength to defeat the giant, we must trust in God's strength, instead of trusting in the boy's, even when the boy is all that we see.

When you look in the mirror, you may see a mere man or woman who feels very far away from God, facing all kinds of trials (armed giants). Even when all we see is small faith in a weak body, we must believe in the power of God, rather our feelings or our emotions; For you know, mere human strength is not trustworthy enough to face the giant, well, mere human feelings and emotions are not trustworthy enough to face any trials of faith.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds"
James 1:2

Now, when I feel far away from God, I rejoice; I trample over satan with laughter! My God reigns, now and forever! I can laugh because whether I feel God by my side, or whether feel like I'm alone in this cold world – I will always know that He is there, and I will always know that He is always within me, to the very end of my very last breath.

And so I make this promise for you to hold me accountable to; I will do my very best to not allow my human feelings or emotions to control any area of my life. Whether I feel joyous or depressed, I will stand none-the-less. Whether I feel close to God, or far away, I will fight.

To the Glory of God,
Chris Hinzman

Elimiate the Drain of God's Strength (2)

The principles were taken from a message by James MacDonald, a pastor in Rolling Hills, Illinois.

1. Teacher Principle (2 Timothy 2:1-2)
"TRANSFER WHAT YOU LEARN"

2. Soldier Principle (2 Timothy 2:3-4)
"FOCUS ON THE MISSION"

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3. The Athletes Principle (2 Timothy 2:5)
"FOLLOW THE RULES"

We need to live according to God's rules. Athletes who don't follow the rules are disqualified for the prize. Even if an athlete sets the FASTEST and LONGEST and FARTHEST and GREATEST record, if he was pumped with steroids, everything he did is now worthless.

We know the Ten Commandments, we know the rules. We need to follow them with all of our hearts. Because if we don't give effort, if we don't put our heart into God's WORD, then we will be disqualified for the prize on judgment day, and everything we have done to further the kingdom would then be to no benefit of ours in eternity.

4. Farmer Principle (2 Timothy 2:6)
"FEED YOURSELF FIRST"

If you don't feed yourself first, you'll have nothing to give to people! Be faithful to lifting others up in prayer. Be faithful in hearing God's WORD for you at every given day, every given moment even.

The dead sea has INput, but no OUTput. How terrible it would be if a Sea had no INput, but seven OUTputs. The sea would quickly dry up, because of the water flowing into the seven branches. Not only that, but because the sea would be dry, the seven branches off of it would also dry up, because the sea had no water to provide the seven branches with.

If we as Christians have others coming to us for answers, and for the WORD of God, how could we ever keep giving them what they need to hear, if we have no IN-Flow of God's WORD into our own lives? When we fail to give time for God's teaching into our own lives, we will have no WORD from the LORD to provide anybody else with.

Transfer what you learn. Focus on the mission. Follow God's rules. Feed yourself first.

May you all recieve strength from God this day.

Eliminate the Drain of God's Strength (1)

This is for those who seem to have struggle with containing God's strength in the hard times. The problem isn't that God doesn't provide the strength you need in those situations, because He is the GREAT provider. However, we tend to drain God's strength in our everyday lives, and therefore - can't stand up to the trials we face when they come.

ELIMINATE THE DRAIN!

Here are some principles taken from a sermon by James MacDonald.

1. Teacher Principle (2 Timothy 2:1-2)
"TRANSFER WHAT YOU LEARN"

The thing's you know, teach others. Don't hold back the wisdom that you are given for yourself, that's a good way to drain the strength of God in your life. The way to get is to give.

For instance, many Christians are like the dead sea - 6 1/2 million tons of water flow in daily. However, there is no outlet or out-flow, so no fish or even plant can live in it. Which is why it's the 'Dead Sea' - I suppose! Don't be like the Dead Sea. Allow wisdom to flow in, and then share that with others. Sooo... Don't drain God's strength; "TRANFER WHAT YOU LEARN."

2. Soldier Principle (2 Timothy 2:3)
"FOCUS ON THE MISSION"

From the beginning of mankind, the beginning of time up until the year 1999, all of the information (EVERYTHING ever recorded... names, dates, events... all information) amounted to 12 exabytes. One exabyte alone amounts to 50,000 times the information in the Library of Congress.

Get this... in the past three years alone, that amount has doubled because of the use of computer and other technology.

The world is full of all of this information, everywhere! Ads, television, internet, newspapers... don't get distracted with all of this stuff and drain God's strength; "FOCUS ON THE MISSION."