Remembering To Be Thankful

     Deck the halls with boughs of holly, fa la la la la...BLAH!  I am beginning to despise Christmas songs.  Why you ask?  Maybe for the simple reason that I begin to hear them right after Halloween!  Isn't that ridiculous?  What makes it worse, we seem to have forgotten a holiday in there.  Oh yeah..........Thanksgiving!

     First of all, how did we lose Thanksgiving?  Oh we celebrate it, we take the time off, see family, but our focus is on Christmas (Don't even get me started about Christmas.)  How is it that our society has turned it's back on Thanksgiving?  Does anyone remember what Thanksgiving is all about?  Remember the pilgrims?  They didn't come to the New World on vacation, they came to live in freedom;  Freedom from persecution of their faith.  They are the founders of our good ol' USA.  You remember the USA right?  Baseball, mom and apple pie?  It was in all the papers.

    So Thanksgiving is not only a time to remember the freedom we have thanks to those people in the funny outfits, but to remember what they were thankful for.  Thankful for what we take for granted here in America.  Look around you, are you thankful for what you have?  Are you thankful for family, a roof over your head, clothes on your body, food on the table?

   Lets put Thanksgiving back on the calendar (It is really still there, just not so noticeable).  This year when you and your loved ones sit around the Thanksgiving bird, remember what Thanksgiving is all about and give Thanks...............to who?.... well who else.........the same person that those people in the funny outfits gave thanks to so many years ago....God.  Let Him know you are grateful for all He has done in your life.  I know I am.

Chappy

Why Doesn't God Answer Prayers?

     First of all I am not going to sit here and tell you I have the exact, definite answer, because I do not.  It has taken me years to understand and come to my own conclusion.  I've been there, wondering why God doesn't answer prayers, as a matter of fact I walked away from God for a long time because I did not understand how he could let children starve to death.

     Let me say this, what happens on this planet has nothing to do with God, it has everything to do with man.  See, at one time we had the privilege of being spoiled by God.  He gave us all we needed, we needed to do nothing but enjoy his company and obey His rules.  Oh yeah, the rules.  That's where it all fell apart.  Mankind broke the rules.  We decided that we knew more than God, or wanted to know more than God, and disobeyed him.  So because of our disobedience we no longer live in a world of God, but in a world of man.  Don't get me wrong, God is still here, He just has given us the freedom to screw up, and boy do we ever.

     Now, where is all this leading?  Why doesn't God answer prayers?  Well He does, but not in the way we would like Him to.  We would like to win the lottery, be free of disease, stop wars, stop crime, have a big house, but we forget.............this is no longer God's world, it is man's world.  I know, I know God made the world yes, but he made it with the intention of us living in it with no sin, but remember.........we screwed that up.  God doesn't want a world full of sin, and really who would?  God works through man's evil to produce good.

How?  

Romans 8:28 (NIV)
²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

God teaches us patience, love, understanding, commitment and more through His word.  When we turn to Him and His word, we find comfort and understanding.  We might not like the answer to our prayer, but there is more than one can imagine.  We are to become strong through adversity:

 Isaiah 41:10 (NIV)
¹⁰ So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

     I wrote this blog because I have a friend who just lost someone dear to him from cancer.  Prayers were said, but to no avail.  Right now my friend struggles with why God did not answer the prayers.  I wish I could tell Him, but I don't have an answer, other than we live in a fallen world; a world of disease, war, starvation.......people are going to die horribly and there is nothing we can do about it, but pray.  So why pray, right?  If God isn't going to intervene, why bother?  We pray for strength, we pray for guidance, we pray because we know God still loves us. link     

     Well what about Matthew 21:22?  Good question, and sometimes He does.  We do see miracles, but what about answering every prayer?  My belief is that if God answered every one of man's prayers, we would no longer want to do His will, we would expect Him to do it all.  I know, sounds like an easy answer, but think about it.  What is the Body?  The Body is everyone using their gifts and talents, to make disciples, to spread God's word and love to all those still in darkness, and we do it because we love our God.  Would we still love our God if He did everything for us or would we be the like the Israelites who whined and turned away from Him?  I am getting off track here.......

     OK, So why doesn't God answer all prayers?  My belief, we live in fallen world, where mankind has created a mess that unfortunately we must live in.  Disease, starvation, war are all the doing of man, not God.  It is our mess, we must live in the mess until the time we are called home.  Is it sad when a Christian man or woman suddenly die of a disease like cancer?  Of course it is.  Should we blame God? No.  It isn't His mess.  We should be thanking God for not just leaving us here.  The fact that He sent His son to die for our sins so we could one day stand next to him with new bodies, free of disease, free of starvation and war is something we should be praying about and thanking God for once again, giving us another chance.  Remember my Christian brothers and sisters, this planet is not our home, we are just visitors.

Chappy