Living Above the Sun Ministries

  "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." -1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 The cardinal perfectly perched on the wooden fence.  The roses in the background.  The rusticness of the shed.  This caused me to pause, smile and enjoy the moment of beauty in my backyard as I looked away from my work computer screen. These are moments that can be easy to thank God for.  This beauty invites feelings of happiness and peace.  But what happens when things take a sharper emotional turn?  When beauty isn't there, when the unexpected hits.   The deaths we encounter in this life, the hospitalizations, the family emergencies, unexpected expenses...the list goes on and on.  I've mentioned in my few writings this year that it's been a hard year.  I've cried my eyes and heart out at all of these situations listed above.  I lost a friend of 26 years to a motorcycle accident....

Tonight's post is simple, because God is simple and He speaks to us through things that are simple. Tonight my sister and I were watching Hoarders. We love that show because it makes up feel better about ourselves, if that makes sense. We were talking about the show, and other things that were bothering me. I told my sister, "You know, our hearts are like Hoarders." My sister and I never want to be a hoarder like we see in TV, but how many times do we not let things go in our heart? We all come to Jesus with messy hearts, and He cleans us up. Then we keep looking forward, and stop looking back trusting Jesus till the end. My adopted mom puts it this way, "We have to make up our minds to be delivered, and to have joy in our hearts." I pray today that what ever you are holding in you heart you will let Jesus take it and clean you up. We use a lot of energy when we relive offenses over and over, it leads us to bitterness. When we become grateful people f...

"Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again- rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon." -Philippians 4:4-5 You cannot seek God and not find joy! Profound. This is what Paul wanted us to learn in Philippians. Paul would know, he wrote Philippians in 61 A.D. from Rome while imprisoned there. The purpose of the book of Philippians is to thank the Philippians and to strengthen them by showing that true joy comes from Jesus even in ones darkest hour. We truly find joy in Jesus. Have you ever walked away from the Bible or church feeling miserable? Well, sometimes it can happen, I understand. But, in your quiet time whether you are reflecting or meditating on a passage of scripture or talking to God great joy is found, is it not? Why do you think this is? In my opinion, I think when we really live to our fullest potential as a Christian, casting our cares of Jesus, and really seeing Him as our Savior and S...

 Casting Crowns - Set Me Free .mp3 Found at bee mp3 search engine I heard a table full of guys at school talking today. I was listening in, of course. They were talking about how they felt like they went through the motions at church anymore, like how they couldn't get excited about God anymore, and how it didn't have any meaning for them anymore. It broke my heart, one, because I could identify with them, and two, because already at a young age God was becoming uninteresting to them. So being the deep thinker I am, I got to thinking why we go through the motions of church? Does it really get that boring? Are we really that unattached? Then I thought the awesome sermon my pastor preached yesterday, it wasn't anything I had never studied for myself, but it's good to be reminded what a good worship service is like. We were in what I call "the joyful book" Nehemiah 8. Here is what my pastor highlighted based on this chapter....yes you need to go read i...