God is for us, not against us!

Arg!!  We have had over 8 inches in 8 days and things are getting tense...moods seem to go along with the weather and I've been trying to keep mine pleasant despite the ongoing rain!  However, this is tough when one is an outdoors adventurer who loves trail riding and horse showing but it's too muddy to go and everywhere is closed.....with that being said I guess it gives me some time to blog.

The thing I've been most recently reminded of is this, "Does God want me to have fun?"  And what does it mean to "Keep the Sabbath day holy?" 

For example, I was raised an Apostolic Christian and it's pretty bad if you miss a Sunday (I should know I'm a Sunday school teacher--there were questions to answer)...unless you are visiting another church.  (That's from my perspective though)  So when I miss an occasional Sunday doing something fun I automatically think that God will strike me down for not attending a church service!  As if he keeps a record of who goes to church and how many times and if they miss a certain amount of services...WHAM!  God will kill you or cause terrible things to happen to you!   This is exactly what Job's friends told Job:  That he had done something wrong in God's eyes and God was punishing him.  But by the end of Job God clearly stated that we humans don't know a thing when it comes to HIS whole plan or His expectations for us.  

Church can't save you.  Jesus's blood did that.  It's not that I am against church.  It is good to be with fellow believers. I just don't think it is wrong to miss church.  I do think it is wrong to toss your relationship with God out the window and then somehow expect him to be there again when you need him by going to church to get some brownie points.   I was actually pondering this question alot last Sunday as I could have skipped church but decided I probably shouldn't because I didn't want God to hit me down with a bolt of lightning!  So I was kinda upset because I felt that God hated me and didn't want me to have fun...so I began to get intimate with Him and ask Him what He thought about my situation.........let's speed past the frustrations of missing the fun event completely and it didn't even rain much (which was why I decided to go to church).......He answered me with a song on the radio and the only part I heard was "I (God) am for you not against you!"  Romans 8:31 

....so I kinda just smirked at it because I was still quite sure that if I had missed church I would have been dead or in pain somewhere.....God understands me though so He gave me another sign and it read "In life it's not where you go, but who you go with."  There is absolutely no place I can go in this life that God can't reach!!  Where ever I go, He's there!!  Whom shall I fear? What should I fear?  Nothing.  (Phil. 4-6-7) Because God is for me NOT against me!  

Yes..God does want you to have fun!  And do you know what?  You can still keep the Sabbath day holy!!! There are many times while camping, that I find myself closer to God than any other place I could go, or how about just going outside to sit in the breeze and inhale His flowers and just look up into the sky and worship Him. For me everyday needs to be Sunday because I just want to get closer and closer to Him!  Thankfully, no matter what I do or where I go, God is still for me!  :)