Hope In The Unknown

Today I have some good news and some bad news for you:

Pain is real. Heartbreak is real. Sadness is real. Poverty is real. War is real. Backstabbing is real. Loneliness is real. Failure is real. Death is real.

BUT..... So is hope. Hope is real. 

"What we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory He will reveal to us later."
-Romans 8:18

I lost my 18 year old brother a little over 2 years ago in a way that no one should ever have to lose a family member. I can still remember the feeling I had when my dad called me after work and told me to pull my car over because he had something he needed to tell me. My whole world changed that day. October 24, 2013 is a day that is forever engrained in my head and in my heart. That is the day that I found out what real hope is. 

In the days after, leading up to his funeral, I felt a pain that I have never felt in my life, but I also felt this weird sense of peace that I kept telling myself was delusion because "it hadn't set in yet". Today I know that's not what it was. People who saw me that week kept telling and asking me things like "You seem so at peace.", "How are you smiling right now?", "Why aren't you a total mess?"

I have two words for that: Jesus & Hope.

Jesus IS hope, my friends. He is the author and creator of hope and He longs to love on you and hold you through the battles of this life. You weren't put on this earth to fight alone. You have a Saviour that literally longs to fight FOR you. He wants you to rest in Him. To rest in His goodness and faithfulness.

Today, I have used the tragedy of losing my brother to minister to so many people that have gone through what I have or have gone through what he did in the years before he died. The Lord gives purpose for pain. He brings healing in times of not understanding why bad things happen. I challenge you to trust Him and have hope in Him. He has never failed me. Not once in my 23 years of living on this planet.

Trust him in pain. Trust him in the sadness, in your failed relationships, unemployment, in the strife of life, when friends betray you, when your heart is broken, when you're rejected...... Have hope in the unknown.

 Jesus/Hope changes everything.

" We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure...."
-Hebrews 6:19

Love you all.
-Nikki 

 

How Do You Minister To Those Living In the Homosexual Lifestyle?

One of our favorite teachers of today here at WeLivePure, Francis Chan, breaks down a really taboo subject that a lot of us seem to avoid these days. Listen to him explain it with such grace yet complete boldness.
 

“If you disagree with God on an issue, would you still submit to him? I really believe that’s the core issue here.”

Love you all. 
-Nikki

Sometimes I cry...

Sometimes I cry…

When no one is watching,

Cold and alone, the air becomes heavy and graceless,

The pain devours me like a fire engulfing an abandoned building,

Flashes of lightning burst across my sky,

Sometimes I cry…

When no one is near,

Fear and all consuming guilt rage inside my heart,

The thrashing of sorrow plays boisterously,

whispering lies into my ear,

Sometimes I cry…

When surrounded by crowds,

Swallowed up by the company of strangers who know me,

Following the footsteps of familiar shadowy figures,

Covered by billowing, blackened, smokey clouds,

Sometimes I cry…

In the presence of the King,

He shares my burdens and brings a refreshing song,

Healing my wounds and diseases, treating my sores,

Granting me access the ever fleeting, yet eternal peace

“Come, let us return to the Lord . He has torn us to pieces; now he will heal us. He has injured us; now he will bandage our wounds. In just a short time he will restore us, so that we may live in his presence. Oh, that we might know the Lord ! Let us press on to know him. He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or the coming of rains in early spring.”

Hosea 6:1-3 NLT

Life is filled with many ups, downs, and unexpected turns. At times, it can feel like life itself is unpredictable. Unanswered questions and unresolved issues can hinder us as we try to find our way on the road of life. Have you ever felt like giving up? Has it ever felt like every turn of life was more unbearable than the last? As you read this, I challenge you to change your perspective about the issues in your life. Believe it or not, you didn't create the problems that are present in your life all by yourself. Negative thoughts and degrading self images are your biggest opponent because they directly object the word of God. God has amazing plans for your life and the only thing that can stop or slow them down is your refusal to believe it. Stop whatever you're doing right now and pray to God for His will to be done in your life. This means that all of your deficiencies are planned for. All of your flaws are covered. It is in God's plan for your future for your addiction to be broken, for your hurts to be healed, and for your unresolved issued to be addressed and corrected. Make a decision to believe God right now and witness His faithfulness!


-SiccsFo

Why Does God Allow Suffering?

Why does God allow suffering?

I have been in a tough spot this past week.  My six year old son had surgery on his hips and has been in quite a bit of pain every day.  He has a cast on both legs so he cannot roll over or anything.  It’s stressful on myself and my wife because he is nonverbal so he can’t tell us what hurts or how we can help him.  I think it’s the unknowing that makes it worse.  This then drives a wedge between my wife and I because we are on edge.  Luckily we know God is bigger and we talk to each other (she’s better at this than I, that’s one of the things I’m working on).  

That begs the question, why does God allow us to suffer?  We suffer because of sin.  I also believe that suffering brings us to Christ.  We turn to Him when we are in need.  He has always been faithful to me and has always prevailed.  

1 Peter 1:6-7 says “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ”

The struggle is real though, I still get angry sometimes.  I. Get. Angry.  Very angry, very quickly.  I struggle with this from time to time in stressful situations.  It is usually fleeting, but strong none the less.  I’m never angry at God, but I do get angry at the situation and have to be reminded that this too will pass and God is good.  I think God is trying to get me back to the patience that I had before, and I’m working on it.

If you take a look at Job 42:5, he says “My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you.”  Job endured much suffering, but it brought him an intimacy with the Lord.

I also believe that suffering and healing will help me in my journey to minister to people in their time of suffering.  I can walk alongside them since I have been on this journey before.If you are suffering, reach out to God.  Tell him you love him, tell him of your pain, and ask for healing.  Just know that this triall will pass, and you will be closer to Him because of it.

-Adam