“Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding.” – Proverbs 3:5

The Apostle Paul wrote much of the New Testament of the Bible. Many of those were letters to churches that he wrote while in prison, locked away because he was a Christian. He didn’t want to be in prison and he didn’t do anything to really earn a jail cell other than worship God, but there he was anyway.  He had two choices, either give up on Jesus or trust that Jesus would take care of him. Paul chose to trust Jesus and the rest, as they say, is history.

We may struggle with our current situations, thinking that God must not care that we are having such troubles. The reality of it all is that nothing that happens, good or bad, escapes God’s sight. Whether it was a flat tire on the way to work or a even a bad medical report, realize that none of that came as a surprise to God. He created it all and has it all in His hands. He knows about the good times and bad times in your life, but like the Bible says in Romans 8:28, “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.”

No matter what your situation or circumstance, know that God loves you and has a purpose for those good and bad times. It’s all for your good and the good of all of His children. It may not seem like it at the time, but our view of life is narrow at best.  Prison for Paul wasn’t then ideal situation, but it was needed for what God wanted to accomplish in the bigger, more God-sized view of it all. Paul had no idea of the amount of people that his preaching would touch for Jesus, even 2000 years later. All he knew was that the Holy Spirit was working in and through him. Honestly, if Paul had not spent time in prison, he may not have had the ability to sit calmly and truly listen to God’s words. What was meant for Paul’s destruction was one of the greatest blessings that he could have been given. And it wasn’t just Paul who got blessed out of that situation, it was all of us. 

So next time you think that God has abandoned you in your troubles, think again. You have no idea of the blessings that God is setting up for you this very minute. Praise Him in the best of times and the worst of times, for He is making the path for you to Heaven right now.

God’s blessings to you. 

DH

“And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth.” – Luke 2:39

In Luke chapter 2, we see Mary and Joseph going to Jerusalem for a feast per the Jewish custom. After the feast was over, they started home to Nazareth with their relatives. The only problem was that Jesus, who was 12 at the time, was not with them. Mary and Joseph got worried and turned their caravan around to look for Jesus, eventually finding Him in the temple speaking with the teachers and elders.

You may ask how these parents would forget their child, especially the Christ child. The wording the scripture lets you in on a big clue. It’s a problem that many people and especially many different denominations of Christians do commonly. Joseph and Mary focused on the customs and responsibilities of the church rather than keeping an eye on Jesus.

The Bible mentions about “when they had fulfilled the days” they returned home. Those words are small, but important views into the mindset of people who are trying to obey the laws without keeping their thoughts on Jesus Christ. Depending on your particular faction of Christianity, you may have numerous obligations to fulfill. While I’m not downgrading anyone’s religious beliefs or customs, I am saying that it is easy to get swept away by laws and customs and totally miss out on what God really wants you to get. Don’t just look to fulfill your days and obligations, look instead to Jesus and what He’s directing you towards.

Thanks to Moses, there were 613 laws overall, 10 of which being from God’s Ten Commandments. Jesus broke it down to just 2, which sums up all ten of the original commandments.

“Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” – Matthew 22:37-40

It seems as though many people have gotten back to the addition of many supposed laws that Christ says just aren’t as important as one main law. Love.

Don’t put too much emphasis on how many times per day you pray. Instead, put your heart and soul into each prayer no matter how many times you do it. Also, don’t look forward for specific days to worship, but instead, worship God in all you do every day. Unlike other faiths where they must pray five times daily while kneeling toward the East, we as Christians have access to God our Father anytime and anywhere. The Bible teaches that God is always with us, His children, and hears our prayers. We don’t need to attain a higher level of consciousness or sacrifice enough things to get to Heaven, we only need to strive to love God, because He first loved us.

If we mess up, we are not instantly in fear of damnation and hellfire. God is God and He knows all we do. He knows for a fact that we will mess up. That is exactly why Jesus dies for our sins. In dying, He destroyed our death; in rising, He restored our life. Because of His saving grace, we don’t need to lose our minds fulfilling every single custom just to get a chance to go to Heaven. We simply need to come close to Jesus and enjoy the relationship He wants to have with us.

Christ said to His disciples that unless you become as little children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven. By that He didn’t mean young and ignorant. He meant loving your Father and trusting of what He says. A young child believes his parents without needing proof, they take it all on faith. The child doesn’t need to know how there will be food on the plate or clothes on their back, they simply believe that the parent will supply that need. The child knows that they mess up, but they never question whether or not their parent will still be there the next day because of that mess up. The child always comes running to the parent when the storm comes, they never try to weather it themselves because they know they can’t. They know the storm is bigger than they are and accept that.

Don’t be more focused on your works than you are the finished works of Jesus Christ. You can’t out-give God. You can’t out-work God. You can’t even be on the same level as God, so don’t kill yourself trying. Just be His child. That being said, if you feel like you connect more with God if you fulfill customs and obligations, then good for you and keep trying your best at what you believe is important. Just try not to lose your mind while doing it. Nevertheless, you can lose your mind but please never lose your heart, because Jesus is in there.

Just be His child.

God’s blessings to you. 

DH

“For everything that was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope.” – Romans 15:4

It seems like I hardly ever talk on the phone anymore. Whether in business or personal life, I’m texting many times throughout the day.  If you count the number of text messages per day that I write, the number is pretty high. On the other hand, the number of actual phone calls placed per day from me is low.  It’s not that a text message is always impersonal. Sometimes I’ll even send a quick, “Love you and see you soon!” to my wife to let her know that I’m thinking of her.  I enjoy hearing her voice when I can, but I’m happy just reading a message from her saying that she loves me.

Not too many people have physically heard the voice of Jesus or His angels, but that doesn’t mean He isn’t thinking of us. God sent us a text message a long time ago through His Holy Spirit. It’s called the Bible. When we read it with our whole heart and mind, we can see that not only is God thinking of us, but that He loves us and wants the best for us.

I remember one time that my mom left me a note about how to make meatloaf. She wrote me directions that, if I followed them, the meal would turn out good. I’m sorry to say that I glanced at the note without really having it sink in. I didn’t follow the directions and sure enough, the meal was a disaster. The same thing goes for God’s Word. He’s telling us about this life and how to live it, but when we don’t really take the time to let the scriptures sink in to our hearts and minds, we are headed for a disaster.

I hear many people say that they wish God would just come right out and tell them what to do about certain situations. Well, He did. What would Jesus do is more than just a bumper sticker. Whether in our personal or professional life, God told you and I how to live. All in all, God said one word to us. Jesus. He’s got nothing more to say. Jesus is our example and is the embodiment of the message God wanted us to hear. To put it plainly, if Christ wouldn’t do it, it shouldn’t be done. On the other hand, if Christ did something, you’d better believe that we should be following in those footsteps.

Don’t think that God stopped communicating to us just because we don’t physically hear Him. One day, we will come home to paradise and see our Heavenly Father face to face. For now, God sent us His text message. In our fast paced world, you may not have the time today to read all 805649 words in the King James Bible, so please allow me to sum them all up into one short text message.  ‘Love you and see you soon! – God’

God’s blessings to you.

DH

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” – Psalm 46:1

You’ve got to love Texas weather. It’s a place that’s big enough to have all four seasons in the same state. And if you don’t like the weather, just wait a couple hours because it will change completely. I bring this up because we were caught in the first North Texas tornado of the year.

My family and I were staying in a Dallas hotel when the news started saying that a tornado was touching down just southwest of us. It was heading straight in our direction, so we get the kids and head to the only interior room we had, the bathroom. The kids hunker down in the tub, while my wife Monica and I are on the floor and listening to the TV in the background. The lights go off. The only sounds were the rain, wind and hail outside, but also my kids and wife. They were all praying. At that point, amidst all of the commotion, I was washed over with a sense of peace from God. I knew that when situations go too far out of our hands, nothing is ever out of God’s hands. On my phone, I pulled up my go-to Psalm in tough times, Psalm 46. It ends with the lines saying to “Be still and know I am God,” and that our Lord is with us always. It was kind of perfect that the Word of God was the only light on in that dark room for a while. I’m happy to say that the tornado passed without causing too much damage, the storm broke up, and we all were safe. Not all tornado stories end on a good note, but ours did that day. I know it wasn’t from anything I did, but what God did.

Life has many good times, but it does have its share of trouble as well. God has a plan and I promise that it’s better than what you and I could come up with. That’s hard to think about when there is sickness, wars, and death all around us. The truth is that we cannot see the big picture the way God does, so we have to go on faith; and it’s those trials and troubles that test our faith daily to see how real it is.

Steel only gets hardened when the fire is really hot. I knew my parents loved each other, but I only saw true and complete love when my mom got sick with cancer and my dad stayed at her bedside. She took her last breath and I saw this old man suddenly jump to his feet and rush to kiss his beloved bride one last time. That was a man of steel, hardened and tempered in the fires of life.

I’m crying as I’m saying this, because I miss my parents so much. I’m not sure of God’s plan most of the time, but I am sure that I love the Lord as much as I can and that He’s got us safe in His arms. I believe in Jesus Christ; His life, death, burial, and resurrection. I know without a doubt where I’m going when I die, not because I think I’m all holy and stuff, but because of Jesus and His finished work on the cross. That’s where my whole faith is. Jesus Christ and nowhere else.

There will always be tough times. The storms of life are inevitable, so you’d better know where to turn. And when things get so bad that you would like to pray but don’t know what to say, “Help Jesus, Help” will always work. Better yet, speak God’s promises back to Him straight from the Bible. He says that He will be our ever present help in trouble. He is our refuge and He is always with us. Believe in the Lord, our rock and our eternal salvation.

God’s blessings to you.

DH

“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” – Psalm 23:1

Psalm 23 is a commonly read scripture. It goes, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside still waters…” If you are not familiar with this verse, I encourage you to please read this. It is beautiful.
 
There is one part that many people read, but don’t clue in on. “You prepare a table in the presence of my enemies.” This is saying that God isn’t going to take your troubles and your enemies away from you completely. Instead, God is going to bless you in the midst of your troubles. Food is meant to sustain you so you can keep up fighting the good fight.
 
Don’t worry when troubles come your way. We all are given problems to fight through. Just know the old saying that if God brings you to it, He will bring you through it. This is one of many scriptures that make that promise.
 
God is for you and not against you. He will not only sustain you, but will make you a champion. Don’t avoid the enemies, because they need to be present for you to eat the banquet that the Lord has in store for you.
 

God’s blessings to you. 

DH

“Where no oxen are, the crib is clean; but much increase is by the strength of the ox.” – Proverbs 14:4

There are times where people can be harsh or overly critical of your actions, your ideas, or even you as a person. I have experienced this at different jobs or stages of my life and it always got me down, until a good friend and mentor of mine said, “If they aren’t talking about you, you aren’t doing anything.”

People, for the most part, fear change. They like the status quo and they don’t like to make waves. One thing I hear in business is, “That’s how we’ve been doing it for twenty years.” To which I reply, “Well, you may have been doing it wrong for twenty years.” Just because somebody did something along time ago doesn’t mean that it was the best or safest way of doing it.

My point is that you have to challenge the status quo now and then. Question the answers. Some people won’t like that, but that’s ok. People talk to me about Jesus all the time with questions, but if you can make me not believe just by asking a few questions, then the Holy Spirit isn’t really what is driving me.

It was once unprecedented for a runner to break the 4 minute mile, but everything is unprecedented until somebody does it. The impossible can be achieved, but it takes hard work and dedication to something bigger than yourself. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says that everything is possible for God. He created it all and has it all within His power. God will definitely help you fight the good fight, but you can’t just sit idle hoping that something is going to change. You can’t let people’s talk stop you from achieving the greatness God has planned for your life. If you want better, you need the courage to do something about it. You can’t just think your way to a better life, you need to put forth some effort and break through some barriers. You need to do what, in legal terms, is called an “act in furtherance.” You have to show and prove that you really mean what you say. Don’t just talk about it, be about it or you’ll live without it.

It’s true that you could avoid many mistakes by never trying anything new and that you could make fewer waves with people if you just follow the status quo. You won’t get your hands dirty if you go with the flow, but remember, dead bodies always float downstream. You are not dead; you are alive and reading this right now, which means you have opportunity to change something for the better. God placed you in this exact moment at this exact time. The Bible says that you are wonderfully made, you have a purpose, and that God is always with you. You can achieve anything that God is pushing you towards, because He will always give you the strength and resources to accomplish His divine will.

Failing hurts and gossip hurts, but I promise it will hurt worse to never accomplish your dreams and look back wondering, “What if…” Don’t worry about what people will say or think, worry about what God will think. When this life is over and you stand before Christ, don’t be sorry about a life spent letting opportunities and blessings pass you by.  Instead, be joyful when he says to you, “You have been wise in using what I gave you. Well done my good and faithful servant. Now at last, enter into the joy of your Master’s house.”

God’s blessings to you.

DH

With the upcoming year upon us, I wanted this sermon to be the gospel in a nutshell. I wanted to make this sermon brief, but bold, in order to keep Christ at the front of your mind this next year.

In the beginning, God created the heavens, the earth, and everything in between. I know that because I’m here too. You and I are not here because of some one-in-a-zillion random chance. You and I live because God wants to be loved. And because of that need for love, He gave us the freedom to choose Him or reject Him. Love is a gift, and a gift that is forced is no gift at all.

As ignorant humans, we often pull away from God’s desires for our lives. We do bad things, called sins. Those sins can’t just disappear, or else what have we learned from them? The Bible says that the wages of sin is death. Plain and simple, if you commit evil, you can’t get into Heaven. That’s why there is Jesus.

Jesus is God in human form. God lowered Himself from His heavenly throne and was born of the Virgin Mary. She needed to be an untouched virgin to let there be no doubt that it wasn’t of human means, but God’s. Jesus was born to not only experience what God’s children experience, but to show us a better way to live the life He’s blessed us with. However, remember earlier when I said that the wages of sin is death. We deserve punishment because of our bad choices, but Jesus took that punishment for you and I on the cross. Then, just to show that God has power even over death, Jesus rose from the grave. Life, death, and eternity; nothing is too far out of God’s reach because it’s all His.

When we accept Jesus and His finished work on the cross, we are telling Him yes, please take our sins away. He can have them all. All of the sins we’ve done and all we will ever do, He has washed them away by His blood. In dying, Jesus destroyed our death. In rising, Jesus restored our life.

This upcoming year, keep Christ first in your life. Let Him go before you in all that you do so that you may prosper in every area. His promise to you is that He will work all things for the good for those who love Him. Accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, because if you do, you will be forgiven of your sins and experience a love so complete and wonderful that it will take all of eternity to show you just how much God truly loves His children.

God’s blessings to you.

DH

“Behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is the newborn King of the Jews? We saw His star as it rose and we have come to worship him.” – Matthew 2:2

One the night Jesus Christ came into this world, there was a particular star that shined brightly above His birthplace. That star was many things to many people. To the wise, it was a symbol of hope and freedom. To the sinner, it was a stop sign. To the kings and pharisees, it was an eviction notice. To the entire world, that star was a sign that nothing would ever be the same again.

Whether you believe in Him or not, Jesus Christ has changed the world forever. Our common calendar is based off of Christ’s birth. Phrases used every day, such as “Go the extra mile,” “blind leading the blind,” “wolf in sheep’s clothing,” or “straight and narrow” are all words straight from Christ’s mouth. This whole time of year especially is because of Jesus. You can say happy holidays all you want, but the truth of the matter is that Christ is the reason for the season. Even in places that are cynical of Christian values, I have heard Christmas music playing. Take the time to listen to those songs. Those are songs of praise and worship and they are being played all over the place and even all over the world this time of year.

To paraphrase the book of Acts, if this whole Jesus thing was just of men, it would turn to nothing. However, if this really is of God, there’s nothing in this world that can stop it. It’s been over two thousand years since the birth of Jesus and there is no silencing the believer, no matter what heretical laws are passed and no matter how politically correct this country becomes. Why? Because the person who has been forgiven of much shows the most love for the Lord. I have been forgiven of many wrongs in my life and, if by chance I am ever rendered mute, my actions and my very soul would still sing out in praise of the God Most High.

That’s why there was a bright and shining star. Even the universe shows praise to the Creator. So remember this time of year, Christmas time. Praise Jesus for what He has done and for the promises He’s given us. A believers’ future is sealed by complete and boundless love and it all started because a star was born, and His name is Jesus Christ.

Merry Christmas and God’s blessings to you.

DH