But God, I can't handle all of this!!

How many times have you heard the phrase, “God will never give you more than you can handle” and wondered why He thought you could handle so much? I know I have tons of times!

I know the people telling me that when I am going through a tough time or some hardship all mean well, but I have to remind myself that they must not be studying their Bible very closely if they truly believe that! Why? Because it just isn't true! 

You see, I know that God DOES give us more than we can handle, on our own. There is something key in that last statement, 'on our own'. It did take me a very long time to realize this, but now that I have, it seems like those tough times have gotten a little easier. I

know that no matter what I am going through, if I will put all my trust in God to get me through it, He WILL! The reason He lets us go through difficulties is so that we will pull closer to Him. Maybe not always, but most of the time, when He allows something that we feel we just can't handle to come into our lives, it is because we have made the decision to distance ourselves from Him. Remember, God will NEVER leave us nor forsake us, but we are always leaving Him. There is always some area of our lives that we just don't want God 'butting into'! Right? 

If we will turn to the scriptures when we are feeling overwhelmed, we will find exactly what God has in store for us! We can search and search for the scripture that tells us He won't give us more than we can handle, but we will never find it. It just does not exist!

The scriptures never say that the Lord won’t give you more than you can handle. In 1 Corinthians 10:13 it does speak of God giving us an escape from temptations so that it’s not too much to bear. But, when we have to deal with pain, trials, heartache, and burdens– not once does it say it won’t be more than we can bear. Instead, it beautifully says this instead:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matt. 11: 28-30)

The words struck my heart, as you can imagine. Christ is speaking to those of us who are carrying burdens much too heavy for our own shoulders. And in that one verse he simply states the reason why we are given more than we can handle: It’s so we can come to him. It’s so we can trust him enough to hand over our heavy, crippling burdens and let him carry the load.

You might be heavy laden right now, searching for some kind of relief. You are probably full of questions. Maybe you are wondering why you have to be full of sadness or drowning in debt, why did that person at church say that to you, why are you stuck raising your children all alone? Perhaps you have recently discovered that you are not able to have biological children, or an adoption you had your heart set on has fallen through, and you know that as a result, the child or children you were planning to give a loving home to, will continue to suffer. Someone you know and love, or maybe yourself, is dealing with a terminal illness and you question what is going to happen to the children or spouse when the inevitable happens. You know that you need someone to help you through these difficult times, but you really just don't want to depend on someone that you cannot see or hear or touch. You know that you should have faith that God will do what He has said He will, but it is so hard to blindly trust! He does promise that He will carry us through those difficult times, so why can't we trust Him to do what He promises? 

Maybe it’s because of pride that we believe we can do it our self. We know we are strong and tough and that we always help others through their difficulties while keeping our own hidden from sight. However, when we become overwhelmed we realize that we are so totally wrong with this way of thinking!

We don't really understand exactly what God is capable of until we totally trust Him to get us through whatever we are dealing with, when we have no other choice. Knowing that He will get us through when we have no other avenue for help, why don't we just trust in Him from the beginning? Why do we insist on making everything much more difficult than it has to be?

Did Daniel hesitate to trust in God when he was placed in the lion's den? Did Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego hesitate when they were placed in the fiery furnace? We have these examples, and many more, to look at and compare our present circumstances to, so why are we still so hard headed?

We need to stop and remember that, no matter how difficult life gets, God is always right there with us. He is always ready, willing, and able to help us through. He just wants us to trust Him. 

ALL MY BLOGS......

I have more than just this blog that I SHOULD be writing on. I always have good intentions of keeping my writing up and then something happens and I just let it go. I am going to attempt to be much better at keeping at least this one up this year! With that in mind, I am going to provide a link to my other blogs, both in this post as well as a more permanent location on one of my sidebars!
I have so many different things that I like to talk about that I easily confuse myself! With that in mind, I think I will attempt to keep each blog going, and have each one with a certain topic 'focus'. For example, this one would be more about the aspect of my life related to any kind of work or job.
Now, since I am presently unemployed, I will have to be creative with this. I won't be including only discussion about a job in which I am being paid! (Although, if that does occur, I will most certainly be telling you all about it!) I have a couple of things in the works so hopefully you will be seeing, and enjoying, more written works from me in the very near future!
In the mean time, I invite you to take a look at my other blogs as well! Please, feel free to like or follow each one! I can certainly use all the followers I can get!! Isn't that one of the reasons that bloggers write in the first place? So people can read their words?? I know it is for me. I do hope you enjoy them and will provide me with some feedback through the comments!!

I will be sharing stories of my family life on http://fghallfamily.wordpress.com/ . Please, check us out and, yes, you can go ahead and tell me just how crazy you think my family truly is!! Trust me. I already know this!!

My walk of faith and belief in Jesus Christ will be documented (for the most part) here: http://simplewordsofachristianmom.wordpress.com/ .  I am most certainly not a Biblical scholar, in fact I consider myself a mere infant when it comes to Biblical knowledge, but I do have bits and pieces that I have learned that I like to share. I am also typically very anxious to share when I learn something new! So, beware!! LOL I am always excited to read other people's opinions or interpretations of  God's word. However, I will NEVER tolerate anyone bashing my Christian beliefs. While I do believe in religious freedom, to me that means that if you do not believe in Jesus Christ, you are free to express that fact elsewhere other than on MY blog! Thank you very much!!

One of my hobbies is scrapbooking. I love to document special moments and occasions through the decorated pages that hold my precious photos! I also love to share those pages and ideas. Of course, I am also always looking for new ideas! So feel free to let me know what you think about what I am presently working on, as well as to share your ideas on http://msjsscrappin.wordpress.com/ . If you visit this blog today, you will notice that it is in dire need of work! In fact, it is in need of more than just a title!! Please check back, or subscribe, so that you will know as soon as I get some stuff posted there!!

You may be asking what is going to happen to this blog, other than to be a relay site for my others. Well, this blog will be my 'everything else' blog. I have always wanted to write, (and preferably be paid for it!), so hopefully something that I write about, or say here will be noticed by someone in the publishing world, or even just a small paper or magazine! Who knows? It sure doesn't hurt to dream now does it? Please leave words of encouragement, advice, or just share bits of your dreams here. I truly don't mind. But know that if you get selected to be published through my blog, I will expect an autographed copy of whatever you have published!!

So, with all that being said, I look forward to staying busy with these various blogs in different aspects of my life. Will all these blogs have new posts each day, or week? I honestly don't know! That depends on what I have to say, and how busy I am in other areas of my life. Just know that if I haven't posted on your favorite recently, you are welcome to respond on my most recent post on one of the others and let me know that you miss me!! Trust me. You won't hurt my feelings telling me that!!

God bless and have a beautifully blessed day!!

Walk the walk if you are going to talk the talk!

I know it's been a while since I've been around, but I am BACK! And I have so many things I want to say and share with as many of you as possible, so be ready for numerous posts!
Earlier today I posted to Facebook how I feel about how some people love to post the "Jesus loves you" type posts that have been shared thousands of times, I've done it myself! But, my point was that there are so many that seem to think just posting things like that, or claiming to be a Christian, makes everything okay for them, for their life. My post argued with that. Here is my post....

One thing that really just drives me crazy is to see posts from people about how much they love God, "I'm a Jesus girl", etc., yet they do nothing from day to day, in the real world to show that. Their treatment of others demonstrates something other than the love of Jesus. The way they live also. If you are going to proclaim to be a Child of the King, how about you do so in such a way that there is NEVER any doubt? Live a life that shows people that you are truly serving Jesus. Be so filled with the Holy Spirit that you don't have to repost all those things telling folks what a good Christian you are. PROVE IT!! LEAVE NO DOUBT!! Don't just talk the talk, walk the walk as well!! I AM a CHILD OF THE KING! I serve a true and living God! If you have any doubt about that, come see me and let's talk.

I think most people will understand what I was saying, but for those few who may not, let me explain it a little more in-depth. I am a daughter of the KING OF KINGS, the ONE and ONLY GOD. I have been saved through my belief in the life, death, and resurrection on the third day of MY LORD AND SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST. I have been washed by the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ. I do attend church with my husband, and we have our usual seat that we sit in. My reason for attending church every opportunity that I can is not just so I can be counted as present and give the appearance of having it all together. I want to know more about Jesus! I want to know Him better, be drawn closer to Him. 
 My reasons for attending church are to be 'fed', refueled, etc. I know that every day,  every minute of every day, my 'tank' of love, Holy Spirit, Christian life has some removed from it for various reasons. Whether it may be talking with someone about our similar issues that we deal with daily, helping a family member understand what needs to be done in a situation they are going through, or just plain living day to day without screaming and yelling, getting aggravated at the smallest things, or not behaving in a Christ-like manner. I have to have my tank refilled on a regular basis so that I can share the love of Christ that is within me. I need to ask the Holy Spirit to refill every molecule of my body each and every day, to the point of overflowing, so that some may splash out on others that I come in contact with.
If you are just playing the part of what you think a Christian should be, maybe you need to go back to the instruction book, aka THE HOLY BIBLE, and read what is expected of you in all situations. God plainly tells us what we are to do, how we are to behave, what our language is supposed to be like, how we are to treat others, and the fact that we are to share the Gospel of the Good News of Jesus Christ with everyone we come into contact with. We are also not to be hypocritical, living one way on Saturday night and then another on Sunday morning. 
I know from personal experience how easy it is to profess to be a Christian, but not act like one. Do you give of yourself to others, without complaining about it? Do you give to the church as you are instructed to do, with a cheerful heart or are you reluctant to give more than $20 because you don't think you will have enough to make it until payday? Do you bow your head in church as if you are praying, yet the only time you may say a prayer is if you find yourself in a crisis of some sort? Are you one that attends church regularly, but you never participate in any of the extra activities the church may have, much less volunteer to help! Do you ever tell anyone else about how they can come to know Jesus Christ and receive the gift of salvation He has for each of us?
I'm guessing there are quite a few 'no' answers to those questions. So, what do we do about it? Well, it's a fairly easy fix, but, it is also highly likely that there will be some consequences, or hurdles to leap. 
First you have to PRAY. When you pray, don't just say some rehearsed words that you have heard others say when they prayed at church. Your prayers, each and every one of them, needs to come from your heart! Keep in mind, your prayers are your conversations with God, the creator of the universe, the ONE who has known all about you since before you were born. God knew all about you even before He created the universe! God knows how many hairs are on your head, today, tomorrow, and every day! He already knows how long you will be on this earth. God, our heavenly Father, knows the day, time, and how you will leave this earth! And once you leave this earth, where will you go? Heaven you say? Are you sure? Are you absolutely, 100+% positive? How do you know this?
What have you done to deserve the opportunity to go to heaven and be with Jesus? You say you have been a good person? That's not it. You say you go to church at Christmas, Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, and maybe another time or two in there just for good measure. Nope, not it either. So, you read your Bible? Good to know, but that won't get you through those pearly gates either! So, what is it going to take for you to KNOW, without a doubt, that you will spend eternity with the One who created you? To spend eternity with the One who loves you, even though you continue to mess up, day after day? How can you be positive that you can go to be with Jesus upon your death, or at the time of the rapture, if you are still living?
It's not as difficult as we try to make it. Do you believe that Jesus is the son of a virgin named Mary, that He is GOD'S son? Do you believe that Jesus walked the earth, was arrested for a crime He did not commit, beaten savagely, nailed to a cross between two thieves, as if He were a thief Himself. Do you believe that Jesus died on that cross after pleading with His, and our, Heavenly Father to "forgive them for they know not what they do"? Do you believe Jesus was buried in a borrowed tomb and arose from that tomb on the third day? Do you believe that the ONLY reason Jesus did all this, that He went through all of that pain, was that He loves us, you and me, and everyone, so very much that He agreed to take all of our sins, ALL OF OUR SINS, even those you have not committed yet, upon Himself, so that we might have the opportunity to live with Him in heaven for all eternity? Do you believe that the only reason a sinless man, a man named Jesus, was so brutally murdered, was to cover all of our sins by His blood?
If you truly believe all of that, but have never professed it publicly, find a pastor that you feel comfortable with, one who leads a church that believes in teaching the true Gospel of Jesus, and talk with Him. 
"For God so love the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that none should perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16

Now, I hope you will excuse me because I want to go and study about my wonderful Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I want to learn about Him more and more each day. I pray that you do as well. 
I will have more to say in the next few days about these posts that could be considered hypocritical. I hope you return for more!