As a Christians every day we are supposed to put on our armor, helmet and sharpen our spears to battle the devil and his schemes. When I first accepted the lord, the fire burned in me and I was ready to take on any battle. My armor was strong, my sword was sharp and I was positive about myself. Through the everyday battles, big or small, I fought proudly till God got me through them.  Through the battles I thirsted to build my relationship with God and thrived on sharing his love with others. Even though I fought some big battles I have never felt defeated or fatigued till recently.

These last two months I have felt so beaten. Mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually I was drained. The everyday battles seemed to wars and I was losing. The biggest problem I faced was sleep deprivation. I struggled for weeks to get at least two hours of sleep a night. At random times I would wake fully energized thinking or dwelling on random things. It got so bad that I started taking a couple of different sleeping pills but those didn’t work. Because of the lack of sleep I found myself tired throughout the days witch lead to more problems for me. I unconsciously found myself secluding myself from my wife, son family and friends. I was physically there but not emotionally or mentally. My body took its share of pain from simple bruises to sprains to a cold that I still cannot shake. Feeling so beaten, lost and drained I struggled to find hope.

I constantly prayed and read my bible but still felt or saw no change. I know this was a test, another way to show Gods love and grace. I struggled to find rest, answers and the patience to get through these attacks. I finally saw the doctor about my sleeping deprivation and he diagnosed me with a mild case of OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). To help me get sleep the doctor prescribed me some pills and most importantly told me to ask for prayers from friends and family. Taking pills was not a big deal but asking others to pray for me was harder than I thought.

I don’t like telling everyone my problems or letting people know my personal business but I really felt I had to. I know my family prays for me always but I felt I need others to pray for me so emailed some friends. I openly told them my about my lack of sleep do to the OCD and asked them to pray for me. I was over whelmed by the response of positive thoughts and prayers. That night I fell asleep easily and even though I only slept about 4 hours it was more sleep then I’ve had in a long time.  I felt at ease and secure because I knew I had friends and family really praying for me.

That was it! That’s what God was showing me! Through our everyday battle, God equips us with our bibles (sword) and his love (armor and helmet), but that’s not all. Through all the battles we are not alone God has placed an army friends and family to fight alongside us.  We can strengthen our relationship with God and others by praying for each other and being there in times of need. Sometimes we can’t do it all alone; we need others to lean on.

To all my friends and family that have, are and will pray for me, thank you! I keep you all in my heart and prayers. We are not alone, we are an ARMY.

“And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working”. (James 5:15-16)

Joe~
IE Daddy Division

The past two weeks have been so mentally draining for me.  I found myself stressing out about the smallest things and dwelling on them constantly.  Every night I struggled to get sleep because of these small problems. I would be lucky to get 4 – 5 hours of sleep with no chance of going back to sleep.  The days dragged because of the lack of energy and my mind did not stop thinking about every small problem.  It stopped me from spending time and talking to family like I wished.

I could not figure out why I couldn’t stop myself from stressing about all these small problems.  I knew I couldn’t fix them and I knew I shouldn’t worry about them.  All the major parts of my life where doing well like my marriage, family, finances and health. The devil tries to attack us in so many different ways. In this case I felt like the devil was just trying to overwhelm me with tons of small things. Then he tried to isolate me from my supportive family by making me either wanting to be alone or being easily irritated to start an argument.

The devil can attack us anytime and any way possible. We have to realize when and why is he attacking us.  I think sometimes we ask God for help but mostly for big problems. Those little issues get left out because we figure we can fix them ourselves or they are not as important. We are impatient and grow aggravated because these problems are not solved in our time frame.

The thing that seemed to work for me was to strengthen my relationship with God.  Even though I read my bible daily, I started reading it for a longer period of time. I talked to God every time my mind started to dwell on those small problems.  I’m still struggling with sleep but find comfort in prayer when I can’t go back to bed. My faith with God’s love and guidance will get me through ALL problems.

“Even the youths shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.”  Isaiah 40:30-31

Joe

When you die, will you go to heaven? What about the family and friends that have already passed away? Are they in heaven? When someone passes away its common to say, “They’re in a better place now.”  As a Christian, I know that just being a nice or good person doesn’t get you into heaven. So, not everyone is in a,” better place.”  I recently attended a funeral that had my emotions so mixed up leading me to ask this.

I started thinking about all the people that passed away that where close to me and if they were in heaven. I would consider them all nice and good people but that’s not enough. Some of them claimed to be religious but only God knows their heart. Now that I really thought about it, more than half probably are not in heaven, which is really sad. I started to wonder if my passed loved ones truly loved God and did their best to follow Gods word.  The bible tells us what to do to make it into heaven but only God knows if they truly followed His word. I guess all we can do is pray for them and that God shows them his love and mercy.

So what about us? Are we following Gods word or are we just pretending to have faith? So many people claim to believe in God but following his word is another story. Going to church and reading your bible every once in awhile doesn’t count. You can’t say you believe in God yet pick and chose what rules to follow or which sins are ok. Those are the people I’m scared for because I was once that type of person. As I develop my relationship with God I hope he sees my hearts intentions and passion to follow his word so that one day, I will be in heaven.

Joe
IE Daddy Division

The holiday season is over and the New Year has begun.  We have begun to settle down from the hustle and bustle of the shopping and party planning. We celebrated the gift of Jesus Christ with our friends and family. We counted down the seconds to a New Year of hopes and dreams. As we look to a better future a we can’t forget the past.

We must remind ourselves that all the great thing that happened last year were gifts from God. As for the hard times and all the problems we had last year, we must continue to thank God.  With God’s love and our faith we have made through those hard times and are able to look towards a better future.
This year and the years to come, we must give thanks to God for the past and the future. We must celebrate God everyday not just on holidays. This year will be filled with highs and lows but the one thing that will be consistent will be Gods love for us.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

God does give us more then we can handle but with his love, grace and mercy GOD will get you through anything.

Joe
IE Daddy Division

VISIT – http://lifecoachlopez.webs.com/

fell in love with basketball when I was a young teen. It was all about the Bulls and being “Like Mike”. I taught myself how to play basketball from pickup games at the park and T.V.  The basketball court became my second home.  There I could be by myself with friends or make new friends.  On the court you were always in control and the only thing that mattered was the next point.  It was up to you to score or stop your opponent from scoring. On the court I felt peace and balance. It gave me happiness and let me release my angers & frustrations. It was my getaway, my love and passion for a long time. Anytime I had a problem I’d grab my ball and head out to the courts to deal with my emotions.
This last week I’ve been dealing with a few hard things. Even though as Christians we are supposed to have faith and try not worry, I found myself worrying constantly. I‘ve been praying to fix the problems, get through them or just to understand them. I know God loves me and everything happens for a reason but waiting to find out what that reason is, is a killer.  After all day of prayer and deep thought I picked up my ball and headed out the basketball court.
It was just like old times. I was able to get my frustration out and was able to put my worries aside. When I took breaks in between my games I still praised God. When I was done playing I was re-energized and at peace. Even though my current problems are not fixed…I am patient to see Gods plan.  I sat in my car and realized God has allowed basketball to be my outlet. My love for God and basketball is a powerful combination.
Prior to this situation I have never combined Faith and basketball. The combination for me was so powerful, energizing, peaceful and fun.  It says in the bible to give praise to God in all you do, but we don’t do it in all situations. Most people include God when times are really bad or turn really good. We also need to combine God with our daily activities and hobbies. When we do that, we can see how much more we enjoy those things because of God.

Joe
IE Daddy Division