Nothing is impossible

Our Daily Bread
I remember the old revival hymn "Nothing is impossible with God" based on Matthew 19:26:
Nothing is impossible when you put your trust in God;
Nothing is impossible when you're trusting in His Word.
Hearken to the voice of God to thee;
"Is there anything too hard to Me?"
Then put your trust in God alone and rest upon His Word;

For ev'rything, O, ev'rything, yes ev'rything is possible with God.

How often do we really sing this song and believe it? I firmly believe that nothing is impossible with God, however, discerning what should be possible is a whole 'nother story! What should we pray for? How do know for sure? The movie Evan Almighty had a great example of answering prayers -- millions of folks prayed to win the lottery. Evan thought that was a good thing, so he answered all their prayers. Each person won about $3!  Yes, their prayers were answered, but not in the way they expected.

One last song and I will close out this entry. A secular song by Garth Brooks offers insights into Unanswered Prayers.  

Believe in God and Trust His ways. Yes, they can be a mystery to us.

Teaching Tuesday
This week our chapter in church history was about "To Make the World Protestant (1700-1914).  Much of the past few chapters was about the movement of the Catholic church and the Muslim religion moving across the planet. This chapter focused on the Protestant religions.

There was a lot in this chapter about how different religions viewed and processed the slavery issue. There was a lot about the missionary work in Africa, Asia, New Zealand, Australia, and the good ole US of A.  

My big "a-HA" moment was realizing that God has used the separation of mankind into different religions to spread His message around the world. The Protestant religions seemed to be more successful in Africa, where Catholicism  seemed to fall flat over the centuries. Christianity in general fell flat in India where the caste system conflicted directly with the message of Christ (all folks are equal in Christ). 

I promised myself that I would make more of an effort to learn about other faiths. Learn about how the message of Christ persists in these faiths despite the fact they don't use the same language as the Christian religions. The ways of God are mysteries to us all!

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We know we were made for so much more than ordinary lives
Its time for us to more than just survive
We were made to thrive
- Thrive by Casting Crowns