Patience my Love by Corina Spinazzola

This is a copy of my Daughters blog; Meditation of my Heart!

Patience my love.
The past few weeks have been filled with waiting. Waiting on answered prayers. Waiting on direction from the Lord. Waiting to hear if I had a job. Waiting to find the right car. Waiting for this season of loneliness to pass. Waiting for God to heal, orchestrate, and weave my desires into His will.

Waiting. Waiting. Waiting.

But, the thing is, I'm not really the waiting type of person. When I want something, I normally go out and get it. If I don't like how something is going, I go fix it. I don't like sitting around and waiting for something to happen. I guess you could say patience and I aren't much of friends. I value patience, but I don't necessarily like it.

After an accumulation of waiting for small things, I got a bit angry with God. Things haven't necessarily gone my way this year. The simple fact is that some things are out of my control and in God's, but when that reality hits me in the face, I tend to get frustrated that I can't do anything about it.

God and I had a short conversation, and after me doing all the talking, I told Him I was mad at Him and that I wasn't going to talk to Him until I got what I wanted. Really mature, I know. But at that point in time my heart was really hurting and I was simply frustrated with my circumstances. I just wanted a break.

Patience was a reminder like the throbbing of a fresh wound. It hurt.

And, after a week or two of being angry and stubborn with God, I apologised. We sat and had a long chat, in which I finally shut up and listened to His heart. Listening to His heart beat for me overpowered the pain of my hurting heart, and I realised patience was for my good. Because He adores me.

I'm not going to pretend like I've got everything together. I'm definitely not going to pretend like my relationship with God is always peaches and cream, or that I don't get upset, angry or hurt at times either. But I do know that He is in control, and that even when things don't go my way, they are going for my good. And in that I can rest, and enjoy patience.

If you're in a season of waiting I want to encourage you to wait with God. Don't run away from Him because things aren't going your way or you aren't getting what you want. Allow your lack of control to motivate yourself to lean into Him more. Listen to His heart beat for you. Know the truth to change your impatient heart: He absolutely adores you as His son or daughter. He is working on your behalf. Wait with Him.

Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides You, who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him. Isaiah 64:4

He tends His flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads those who have young. Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded? "To whom will you compare Me? Or who is My equal?" says the Holy One. Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? Who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. Isaiah 40:11, 21, 25-26

Our God created the heavens, galaxies, earth - everything, all the way down to the atoms that you are made of. He created the stars, and calls every single one of them by name. Who can you compare Him to? Yet this is the same God who tells you that He carries you close to His heart, in His arms, tending to you and leading you. This is the God who promises you that if you wait, He will act on your behalf.

When you're waiting, lift your eyes and look to the heavens. Fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith, and know that God is working for your good.

Patience my love.
Posted by Corina Anne Spinazzola at 3:22 PM 

The Billboard Battle by Ken Ham

This a reprint from Answers in Genesis by Ken Ham.

Yesterday marked the beginning of our new billboard campaign to reach atheists on both coasts of America. Residents and tourists in New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area (and in a few days, Los Angeles and Hollywood) will see these new billboards that encourage them to visit AiG’s website and to read articles and watch a video that present the case for God’s existence. (For more information on the campaign, read our press release from yesterday.)


I recently learned that two other major billboard campaigns began over the last couple of weeks—both from major atheist organizations. Now, we’ve seen a number of atheist billboards go up over the last few years—especially around Christmas time, when atheists work to convince people that Christ didn’t really exist or that He was not truly God. Many of the atheist billboards directly attack Christianity. Yes, it is a billboard battle of sorts, but in reality it’s a spiritual battle. The battle has been going on for 6,000 years—since the event of Genesis chapter 3 when Adam rebelled against God and sin and death entered the world.

One of these new atheist billboard campaigns—put together by the Center for Inquiry—tries to convince people that they can be just as happy without God. One of the billboards (located in Michigan) reads, “Millions of Americans are living happily without religion.” Of course, atheism, a blind faith that believes life is the result of natural processes, is in itself a religion—something held to with ardor and faith. What they really mean is that people are supposedly “living happily with the atheist religion!” God’s Word makes it clear that one is either “for” or “against” Christ—there is no neutral position. One either walks in “light” or “darkness.”

Actually, true happiness can only be found in knowing Christ. These atheists may have found temporary pleasure in the world, but ultimately they’re going to spend an eternity in hell unless they repent and believe the gospel. For those who rebel against God, He gives them what they want—eternal separation from Him. But God is a God of mercy and love—He stepped into history to pay the penalty for sin and offers a free gift of salvation. God wants to save people from an eternity in hell. He wants us to live with Him for eternity.

Now, the assistant director for the Center for Inquiry–Michigan explained, “The point is to help people who aren’t religious know there is a community they can be a part of. The second purpose is to help people who don’t know a lot of nonreligious people dispel some of the stereotypes.” There has been a recent emphasis on showing atheists that they aren’t alone in their beliefs and on trying to demonstrate to Christians that atheists are happy, moral people. But as I said earlier, these aggressive atheists want to impose their atheist religion on people and the culture. That’s why they are usually the ones trying to get Christian symbols out of the culture or seeking to remove the Bible, prayer, and creation from public schools. They want students to be taught that the whole universe arose by natural processes—by naturalism. And you know what naturalism is? It’s atheism! It’s an anti-God religion.

In fact, another ongoing atheist billboard campaign put together by the Coalition for Reason recently put up billboards in the Bryan–College Station area of Texas. These read, “Don’t believe in God? You are not alone.”

Of course, because morality comes from the absolute authority that Scripture presents and because God has given us a conscience, unbelievers can (and many do) live moral lives (understanding this by and large means Christian morality). But that’s not what saves them from their sin. There’s only one way to salvation—through Jesus Christ, the God-man, who lived a perfect life, died on a Cross in our place, and rose again the third day.

And that’s what we at Answers in Genesis want to share with atheists everywhere through our new billboard and media campaign. You cannot be saved or experience true happiness through being “moral” (whatever that means to a person) or by being in community with fellow atheists. And you’re wrong when you say there’s no God. There certainly is a God—and He offers salvation freely to all who will believe:

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

Please pray for the “battle of billboards,” that God will use AiG’s latest public campaign to give many Christians the opportunity to challenge those who don’t believe and present the gospel to them. And pray that those who read the billboards will be challenged to think carefully about their worldview and then go to our website for more information and learn the truth of the Creator God—the truth that is written on their hearts and is crying out to them (Romans 1).

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken



This blog post was written with the assistance of Steve Golden.