Why Live a 3-D Existence

How many times have you faced perplexing situations that you thought would never end?  Perhaps things are happening right now beyond your control, and you cannot grasp why it is happening to you.

Depending on the circumstance and the depth of anguish it brings, some people feel like pointing their finger at God and asking, “Why me?” or “What have I done to deserve this?” 

Disappointment brings ensuing anxiety and can cause bitterness to raise its ugly head.  The subconscious mind begins to manifest negative connotations regarding unanswered questions.

When answers evade questions, individuals that grapple with need-to-know pressures, disappointment turns to discouragement if the mind is allowed to continue its focus on unanswered questions.  A feeling of helplessness can find a foothold if things continue southbound.

It does not take long before discouragement descends to doubt, and helplessness turns to feelings of uselessness, while doubting that God even cares about the hardship that is pursuing them.  The whys may turn to, “Leave me alone; I don’t want to talk to You anymore!” referring to God.

These horrific declines are called 3-Ds.  They assault our faith, which are designed attacks to disrupt and isolate us from God.  I believe it is a scheme of the devil to interrupt a growing relationship we have with the Lord.  Disappointment, Discouragement, and Doubt are not of God.

I am thankful that I can factor in the love that God has for me when facing difficult situations.  When a negative thought, regarding God’s promises, try to breach my God-centered mind, I ask myself, “Do I really think God takes pleasure in seeing me struggle with the mounting levels of 3-D attacks?”  The answer is always a robust, No! 

I try to halt the onslaught that is attacking my confidence in God at the disappointment stage.  Patience certainly enters the equation of trust, but impatience is certainly a factor, which creates mounting frustration with self, others, and God.  Thus, discouragement is just around the corner if disappointment lingers.

We are in a computer age where quick answers are a part of living.  When personal attacks take longer to resolve than our mind is willing to allow, natural thinking uses the term Human Nature to justify asking the question, why.  

Christians live in a different mindset.  We are in the world, but we are not of this world.  God is our source of strength.  We can rise above human instincts to question God with the help of the Holy Spirit to halt the 3-Ds from overwhelming us.  We can trust the person of Jesus Christ with all our emotions because He cares for us.

The Lord said that we can cast all our cares upon Him.  He will carry our burdens and make our journey a fulfilling one, even in times of 3-D offensive. 

(1 Peter 5:6,7) “Therefore humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, (7) casting all your care upon him for He cares for you.”

When a sparrow falls to the ground, is the Lord not concerned?  Yes.  Then, how much greater are we than the sparrow to God?  Jesus said that we are of more value than many sparrows.  He loves us dearly.

There is no greater love than God giving His Son to die on a cross for our sins.  Jesus paid the ultimate price for a world of sinners.  We have all sinned.  Not one person in this world is without sin.  Jesus was the only perfect man who walked the face of the earth and died to bring us salvation from sin.

The Lord was viciously beaten 40 slashes save 1 before being crucified to bring healing to our body, mind, and spirit.  We can claim victory over anything because of Jesus’ suffering, even before disappointment, discouragement and doubt tries to destroy our relationship with God Almighty. 

The Lord said that we can ask anything in His name, according to His will, and then receive.  We have not, because we ask not.  We need to ask for healing and then believe that our healing has already been paid for.  It was accomplished at Calvary.  His death was not in vain when we plead the blood of Jesus over our circumstance and maintain faith. 

Jesus is our hope.  We need not allow 3-Ds to take root and reduce us to tears.  Jesus suffered in our stead.  We can walk in His strength when troubles come our way.  His strength becomes our strength when we cast our cares upon Him.

As we totally surrender our will to the will of God, we are made strong, because of who He is.  He knows how to work things out for our betterment.  God will never leave or forsake us.  His attention is ever on us.

God knows us by name and His desire is that we live an abundant life through His Son Jesus.  We need only to trust Him in every area of our life and call out to Him when issues are beginning to press in.

When we call upon the Lord, circumstances cannot overtake us and push us to the ground of disappointment, discouragement, and doubt.  God is greater than the 3-Ds.

To help discomfort and hurt to not take place in our life, we can do what the Bible says in (Philippians 4:8) “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—mediate on these things.”

By meditating on positive thoughts, we program our mind to resist negative occurrences of 3-D thinking, which is bad for not only the psyche, but maintaining faith in God.

Written by,

Papa Boyd

The Gift

I am sure you’ve heard the adage, “Jesus is the reason for the season.”  Christmas is without a doubt my favorite time of the year.  It is a perfect reminder of how blessed we are to have the freedom to celebrate the birth of Christ on December 25^th.

When I was a kid, Christmas was all about decorations and receiving gifts, oh yes, and getting time off from school.  They are great memories for sure. 

As a married man having three children and a house full of grandkids when everyone gathers at Nana and Papa’s house, Christmas has taken on a different feeling and meaning in my senior years. 

Family gatherings at our home are very important to my wife and me, especially at Christmas.  We look forward to sharing a meal with our kids and their families and carrying on a wonderful tradition that my Father-in-Law started of reading the nativity story of the birth of Jesus, which is the true Christmas story… (Luke 2:1-14).

I have concluded that giving gifts is more fulfilling than receiving them.  The grandkids and no doubt our three children can hardly wait for dinner to be over, and dishes washed and put away, to begin the fun time of opening gifts.

I love passing the brightly wrapped packages out to everyone and watching the expressions of excitement and gratitude on each face as the gifts are opened.

My mind is reminded of the wonderful gift that God gave to mankind, Jesus, who was born in a manger, because there was no room in the Inn for Mary, who was with child, and her husband Joseph.

How sad it is when people, for whatever reason, reject or refuse to reach out and take God’s precious gift that is offered freely—His gift of love to humanity.

(John 3:16) “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.”

I speak from personal experience of the joy that filled my heart when I reached out to God and received His perfect gift.  My old nature of self-centeredness took flight and the desire to share this gift with others became paramount, because I received what I had been wanting my whole life but didn’t know exactly what or who it was that could fill the emptiness inside me.

I guess you could call this voidness, “The God Vacuum.”  It is shaped like Him and only He can fill this empty space completely.  People try to fill this vacant cavity with material things, fame, fortune, and becoming power mongers, but the fullness of God’s glory is not in things, but in Him.

Manmade counterfeits can only bring temporary pleasure and supposed fixes to the vacancy of joy and peace in the God vacuum.  These imitations are nothing lasting, but time-based solutions to the ongoing desire for true peace.

As time passes, the reality of needing something more tangible becomes apparent, yet the search continues, which creates more frustration when happiness evades the one seeking peace.  They are looking in the wrong places for it.    

Substituting forgeries and imitations that present themselves as answers for peace are deceptive and ineffective.  The result is a despairing venture in futility.  Jesus is the Prince of Peace.  He alone fills the bottomless pit of loneliness in a person’s heart.  This hollow, gnawing feeling in one’s gut disappears, quickly, when the Lord takes up residence inside us.  We need only to invite Him in. 

God forgives sin when we seek His forgiveness, rather than trying to satisfy the yearning inside by our own resourcefulness.  We have all sinned and need a Savior to set us free from the bondage that sin brings.

I can only imagine the smile on Jesus’ face when I asked God to forgive me of my sins.  The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit stepped across the threshold of my hungering heart and filled me to overflowing with peace that passes all understanding.  Even the angels in heaven rejoiced when I said yes to the Holy Spirit’s beckoning.

When my family and grandchildren gather around the dinner table at Christmas and I see the anticipation in their eyes as they gaze at the gifts under the Christmas tree, I become awestruck when I think of the awesome gift that my Heavenly Father gave to me.  Jesus Christ is the amazing gift that I was blessed with years ago.  He is certainly the reason for the season and every other day of the year.

I am thankful that I did not reject God’s only begotten Son.  Jesus not only filled the voidness in my heart, but He also gave me the desire to share my experience with you, the reader, so that you too can be filled with God’s glory.

Written by,

Papa Boyd

Who Cares

Got questions like these?  Why do I feel like the heavens are brass and no one is listening to my cry for help?  Why aren’t things going the way I think they should go?  Why do I feel alone in the trials surrounding me?  Why does my faith seem to waver when facing circumstances beyond my control?

I guess the real questions are these... Is God really concerned about the affairs of mankind, or is He too busy keeping the planets in their orbit, preventing them from crashing into each other?  How can the creator of the universe take time to hear my prayers with eight billion other people needing His help at the same time?

In my mind it seems like an impossible task for God to concern Himself with everyone’s needs especially this generation of ungrateful, self-centered people that reject Him.  Does He truly care?  If the Bible is infallible and without error as Bible scholars everywhere claim it to be, the answer is a resounding Yes!

(John 3:16-18) “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.”  (17) “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”  (18) “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

Who cares?  I emphatically proclaim that God Almighty cares!  He stated in His Word that humanity could cast all their cares upon Him, because He loves without measure, which is an everlasting, agape love—free to whoever will.  It is up to everyone what they do with this gift.

(1 Peter 5:6,7) “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, (7) casting all your care upon Him for He cares for you.”

I do not know how today’s society can doubt that an awesome God cares for them.  It must be that His love goes beyond the intellect of the finite mind, which makes it difficult to grasp that there is a Supreme Being who is full of compassion, who is a God of miracles.  We must take it by faith and not lean upon our natural thinking.  Yes, we are undeserving of His love, but He loved us anyway.

The Bible says that our righteousness is as filthy rags in the sight of God, but the bottom line is this, though we are sinners, God still loved us that He gave His Son to die on a cross for our sins.  Jesus paid the full price for our transgressions.

I am living proof that God’s love and grace was extended to me when I was sinking in sin, going down for the last time when He heard my cry for help.  Who cares?  God cares!

I am sure if it were not for the Lord’s intervention, I would not be here today.  He had mercy upon my soul and gave me a new life in Him.  Old things passed away and all things became new in Christ Jesus.  He is Lord of my life and I thank Him everyday for the peace of mind He gave and the hope of eternal life in heaven when I pass from this life.  How much more can a person want than this?

If God did not care about you and me, He would not have given His only begotten Son.  Jesus paid a debt He did not owe, and I owed a debt I could not pay.  Judgement was my lot, but He gave me mercy instead.

Think about it, could you sacrifice yourself for someone that hated you or sacrifice your child for a world of sinners?  God did exactly this.  Does God really care about our needs?  In that God’s Word is true, I can say with confidence that He really cares about us and will supply our needs according to His riches in glory, because He loves us unconditionally.

God has never failed me.  Though I feel, at times, that I want things now, it may take a while for the answer to come, because He might be teaching me patience.  Remember, our timeclock is not God’s timeclock, but He has promised that He will never leave us nor forsake us.

Jesus wants to be involved in every area of our life, whether big or small.  He is never too busy to hear our heart’s cry.  He said that we can ask and then receive.  Our petition is before Him because we left it at the altar.  We can now walk in peace, knowing that He cares and wants the very best for us.

(Matthew 7:7,8) “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”  (8) “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”

Written by,

Papa Boyd