2008: Firsts

As I was thinking about 2008, I began to realize how many "firsts" I would be accomplishing this year: graduating high school, turning 18 and be able to buy all those TV offers...(LOL I'm kidding about the last part), beginning college, getting to vote in the up coming elections, etc.

But wait a minute! It seems just a short while ago my "firsts" were riding a bike without training wheels, loosing my first baby teeth or five and starting kindergarten.

I know that in the years ahead there will be many more "firsts" and I'll be wondering what happened to the "firsts" I am facing this year. Today is here and gone before you know it.

There is no way to stop time. That's why it is so important to live in today...not yesterday or tomorrow. I am guilty of that. Wishing I could go back or go forward in time. But that's not how we should live. We should live in today. We can't go back to yesterday so no point in wasting time wishing we could. Also there is no way to go forward to tomorrow, we aren't even promised that we will have a tomorrow.

What can we accomplish today?

Wherever He Leads. Will you go?

I've played the piano for years...and year...I was 5 years old when I began learning and have fallen in love with it. I have fun with piano and get a lot of personal enjoyment from it. Also if I am stressed or upset, I can just sit down and start playing and I start to relax.

But God had more in mind for the piano and me than that. I have to admit I have not always like the thought of what He now has me doing. Even still the only reason I'm doing it is because of Him. What am I talking about? Playing the piano in the worship team at our church. Sure I've played in church before, for offering and prayer...but never in the worship team. I dislike being on stage in front of everybody. I like blending in with the crowd.

When I was asked to do this I agreed to pray about it. And I began to seriously consider it. I told God that I would not get up on stage and play the piano unless He went with me. I wanted to make sure this was His will. And I came to realize that it was.

When I played for the first time, I was surprised to find that I wasn't as nervous as I figured I would be. He went with me.

And I know that He will continue to go with me...as long as I go with Him.

Is God asking you to do something that pushes you outside of your comfort zone? Trust Him, obey Him and go because you will not go alone. He will be there every step of the way. I'm finding that out...!

(I would appreciate it if you would pray for me as I begin this new adventure with my Lord. It is not easy for me and I need His help and I need your prayers! Thank you!)

Christmas or CHRISTmas?

I don’t know. There’s something about this time of year that makes people want to pull out their Christmas CD’s, dust them off, and pop them in the CD player. There’s something about this time of year that calls for hot chocolate, a blanket, and a good (clean) Christmas movie. There is something about this time of year that demands lights, Christmas ornaments, and a tree.

Also this time of year…Stores are overcrowded. Slushy snow is on the streets (depending on where you live). Houses are being cleaned and prepared for uncles, aunts, grandmas, grandpas, and cousins to arrive for the holidays. Presents are being wrapped. Cookies are being baked and decorated. Menus are being planned.

I don’t know…maybe it’s the weather. The ugly gray skies and trees with bare limbs make us feel so depressed we just have to do something to liven up our surroundings.

But is all of this stuff really Christmas? I mean, is this what Christmas is? No, it isn’t.

It’s easy in all of this hustle and bustle to forget the TRUE meaning of Christmas.

Christmas celebrates the birth of a baby that was born over 2,000 years ago. A baby that was no ordinary baby. A baby who was fully human…but at the same time fully God. Someone that would later grow up and become the Savior of the world. One whose name is Jesus Christ.

Christmas is His birthday.

But in all the hurrying and rushing around this time of year…it’s easy to forget it.

Let’s remember not to forget Him this year. Yeah, we’re busy…but so is Jesus. If He had a calendar think of how full it would be. But yet He doesn’t forget us…let’s not forget Him either.

Prayer: Why's it necessary?

Little children do not need any particular reason to talk. They just talk (and talk and talk) even to the point of driving you crazy. They question this and question that. At first a child’s favorite word seems to be no. Then the favor tends to shift to the word why. So parents of a young child never seem to have trouble conversing with their child. It just comes naturally and easily.

Then comes adolescence. And for some (notice I said some. . .not all) kids the chitter chatter and questions end here. Then it is all parents can do to squeeze just a little bit of conversation out of their once so talkative kid. He/she no longer shares things with them—fears, dreams, activities they’re involved in, etc. And the relationship begins to fail. Why? Communication—a vital part of a good, strong relationship—has been cut off.

When we don’t communicate with God (who is our Heavenly Father) our relationship will grow weak. Yes, our walk with God is a relationship. Not a religion. And in order for that relationship to be strengthened, we have to communicate with Him. He is willing to talk with us. He is willing to share what’s on His heart with us. . .but we have to be willing to listen to what He says and then in turn talk and share with Him too.

Prayer is a great privilege that we’ve been given. It is a gift. And God doesn’t want us to just set it on the shelf to look pretty. He wants us to use this gift He’s given us! He wants us to talk with Him and pour out our hearts! All those frustrations that we lock inside He wants us to unlock for Him. And those times when we are so happy we can barely stand it, He wants us to open up and allow Him to share in our happiness!

God is there through good times and bad. He’s committed to us. . .but are we committed to Him. Do we show that we are serious about our relationship with Him by spending time with Him? Or do we ignore Him and talk to anyone and everyone but Him?

The times we spend with God should be one of the things we most look forward to because it truly is a privilege. I think if we would just view prayer this way it would take on a whole new light. A whole new meaning. Instead of something that just “has to be gotten through” it would become a treasured part of our lives.

What an awesome thing it is to be able to have a relationship with the King of kings and the Lord of lords! To be able to know Him and talk with Him! Prayer is a wonderful gift that God has given to each of us. How are you using yours? Is it getting dusty on the shelf? Or is it getting worn with use? Something to think about. . .

Where's Your Focus Point?

"We Fall Down" by Chris Tomlin is a simple song. It is not one of those songs that takes a long time to memorize. Sing it a few times and you’ve got it. It may be simple but the meaning of the song, the message, is anything but simple.

It is a song that gives Christ the glory. A song that sings praise to Him and only Him. It doesn’t dwell on our problems; it dwells on His greatness and mercy. It gets your mind off yourself and instead gets you thinking upon Jesus.

We need to sing more songs like this. We need to listen to more songs like this. More importantly we need to live more like this. What do I mean?

Well, if we think upon God and His greatness instead of the problems in our lives, He becomes greater and our problems become less. He is our focus. Not us. When the apostle Peter took His eyes off of Jesus and started focusing on the waves around him, he began to sink. What would have happened if Peter had kept his eyes on Jesus? He wouldn’t have sunk. Simple as that. He would have reached Jesus without any difficulty.

The same truth applies to us today. Right now.

If we keep Jesus as our focus point, we will not fall. But the minute we take our eyes off of Him and glance around us, then we begin to fall.

We need to constantly look to Him. And to thank Him and praise Him for being who He is. We need to get our minds off of ourselves…and instead get our hearts and minds on Jesus. And to praise and worship Him with all that we have. We need to just “fall down and lay our crowns at the feet of Jesus.” He deserves nothing less.

We Fall Down

Verse:

We fall down
We lay our crowns
at the feet of Jesus

The greatness of
mercy and love
at the feet of Jesus

Chorus:

And we cry holy, holy, holy
And we cry holy, holy, holy
And we cry holy, holy, holy is the Lamb

By Chris Tomlin

"Jesus Loves Me"

Have you ever just stopped and realized, “Wow, God loves me!”? We sing about it in church and hear it preached. As kids, a lot of us sang the song "Jesus Loves Me." (I sang it all the time. My parents would grab the video camera and a lot of the times would ask me to sing "Jesus Loves Me." Now that is a great song. I have nothing against it. And I believe (actually I know) Jesus loves me. But it’s kinda like why couldn’t I have been asked to sing some other songs too? Maybe the B-I-B-L-E, Father Abraham, etc.. . .LOL! Anyway, back to the post….) But I think too often we forget the true meaning of it.

Jesus loves me is something we say and know in our minds, but do we grasp the meaning with our hearts? Is it ingrained into our souls? Or is it just a thought that passes through our minds every once in a while that never truly sinks in?

In God’s Word over and over He shows us his love and mercy. And when you think about how wicked this world is and how wicked our hearts are, you begin (Note that I said begin. We can never fully grasp the meaning of His love. Maybe in Heaven, but certainly not while we’re here on earth.) to see and understand just how much He does love us. Think about it: God is a God who is perfectly holy. There is no sin in Him. We are wicked and deceitful. Stained filthy with sin. But He still loves us. And He proved it by dying for us. So that we could be made holy and pure. So that we could enjoy eternity with Him. Now can you begin to see His love? Can you begin to understand it?

Why did God tell us in His Word about His love for us? Because He wants you and me to know that He loves us! God wants us to realize and understand that!

So, whether you are just getting up out of bed or are in the middle of the day or are getting ready to go to bed. Stop and just think about His love. Let the realization of it just soak in for a minute. ‘Cause you know what? He loves you!

(Note: This post was written for my Christian readers. If you aren’t a Christian, I want you to also realize that Jesus loves you too. And He wants to forgive you and save you, but you have to ask Him. If you would like to find out how to get to know Jesus, please, please click here. Deciding to follow Jesus is the best decision you could ever make! If you have any questions at all about Jesus, please email me. I would be more that happy to answer them!)

Bad Day? Maybe It's not Afterall!

Have you ever had one of those days? (I'm sure you have.) Days where everything seems to go wrong and nothing seems to go right. Maybe this sound familiar:

When you first get up in the morning you bang your head on the door. When you are fixing your breakfast you realize the you're out of your favorite cereal. At lunch you spill your drink all over you lap. And if that wasn't enough you get a D on your math test and a C on your grammar test. Etc.

Probably you've not had a day that went exactly as I described above, but maybe you had one sorta like it. And when the day is finally over you are so thankful! And you wonder how in the world it could be any worse?

Believe me! It could be a lot worse!

We all have days that we consider "bad days." But guess what? If you are a Christian, every day should be a great day. In fact every day should be an awesome day! Why, you may ask? I'll let the chorus from one of FFH's songs explain:

Say hey, it's a good day

Even if things aren't going my way

Jesus is Lord and I am saved

So, say hey, it's a good day

FFH: Ready to Fly (Song: It's A Good Day)

Every day is a good day because (if you're a Christian) you are on your way to Heaven! You have been rescued! You are saved! And you are not going to Hell!. Next time you think you are having a "bad day" just remember that Jesus is Lord and you are saved, so it's a good day!

[Note: Please realize I have written this for Christians. If you aren't a Christian but would like to become one, please click here to find out how you can recieve Jesus into your life. Then everyday can be a good day for you too!]

Makeovers (on the inside): They Can Be Painful!

You have finally decided to surrender everything to God. You have asked Him to make you into the godly young man or woman that He wants you to be. You know that what God is going to do with you will be great once He’s finished.


So now God starts working on you. He starts chipping away at you. Shaping you. Molding you. And maybe this shaping and molding starts hurting a little bit. You start getting worried. You start wondering what He’s doing. And now you’re not so sure if the finished you will be so great.

I really like the TV show Extreme Makeover Home Edition. (You know the show where they come and tear somebody’s house down and rebuild it bigger and better.) Well, the families that get chosen for the Home Makeover are really excited and happy. They readily give them permission to re-do their house. But once they come and start tearing down the house, you wonder if the families ever start getting worried. I mean, come on! They at least had a house even though maybe it was in bad shape. And a house is better than no house! Even though at first they realized the finished house would be great, when they start bulldozing their house you wonder if they ever start doubting whether this was such a great idea.

It’s the same when God starts working on us. He starts tearing things down, re-doing, rebuilding, and rearranging. And sometimes that gets painful. It gets uncomfortable. But one day, the work He has begun in us will be completed. And the finished us will be so much better than anything we could have ever hoped for or even imagined! Just hang in there and trust God. Because you know what? He’s trustworthy!

...being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Philippians 1:6

There For Us. Always!

School is getting really tough. A close friend moves away. A family member or close friend becomes seriously ill or dies.

We all go through hard times. And sometimes it seems that we have to go through it alone. We feel that there is no one who we can run to for help or comfort. So we try and bear it all by ourselves. We forget that there is someone who is always there for us.


Jesus is always ready to help us, we just need to ask for His help. He said “Ask and it will be given to you….” (Luke 11:9) And I have found that to be true. So many times I’ve needed help with something, and He has always been faithful to help me if I ask Him for His help. He has always been there for me. And He is there for you too.

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)

Okay.....What Next?

Yesterday, the sky was blue and there were fluffy white clouds.......ahhhh! Spring is just around the corner!

Then guess what?

It started snowing! And I’m not talking about little itty bitty snow flakes, these were pretty large snow flakes. Then all of a sudden it was beautiful outside again! The sun was shining and the sky was blue! [The weather continued to be crazy for awhile even after this!]


Can you imagine what it would be like if God changed like the weather? One minute He loves us and the next minute He doesn’t. One minute He is with us helping us and the next minute He’s gone and has left us by ourselves. Can you imagine how terrible that would be? We would be in constant fear that He would suddenly decide He didn’t love us and would decide He didn’t want to save us anymore. How could we ever feel safe? How could we ever be happy? We would always be afraid.

But thankfully God doesn’t change like the weather. He doesn’t change. He says that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever! God loves us, God saves us, God forgives us, God helps us, God is faithful to us. So since He never changes, He will always be that way! How comforting it is when we realize He will never stop loving us, He will never leave us, He will never change!

Picture from FreeFoto.com

Trusting God

God is love: I think we have to realize this before we can completely trust Him.

Sometimes we think we know what is best for us. And we are afraid to let God take complete control of our lives because we are afraid of what He might do. We are afraid the He might close the door when we want to go through it. But if He closes the door, He does it for our own good.

How do I know this?

Because He loves us. He would never do anything to hurt us because He loves us.

Take for example a child who is running towards the street. To them it looks like a fun place to play because they don’t realize they could get hit by a car. But the mother of the child know the danger, realizes that her child might get hurt. So the mother quickly goes and prevents her child from getting in the street. She did this because she loves her child. She didn’t do this to spoil her child’s fun, but she did it to protect it from harm.

Sometimes we are like that little child running towards the street. We are oblivious to the danger we are heading into. But God, like the mother, sees the danger and He protects us from that danger because He doesn’t want us to get hurt. Because He loves us!

Think about this: God, who created the universe, the stars, the sky, and the sea, He loves us and cares enough to take interest in our everyday lives. The One who is King of kings and Lord of lords loves you and loves me!

When we realize God’s amazing love for us, then it is not so hard to trust Him. Because we know that He will do what He know is best for us. We can only think we know the right thing for us. God knows the right thing for us.

Are you ready?

One day Jesus is coming back. But when He will return, is unknown to us. God is the only one who knows the day, hour, and second. He could come back today, tomorrow, next week, next year, or in 100 years. We have no idea when that time will be. It is a mystery to us. But one day, this mystery will be unveiled for all eyes to see. Are you ready for this unveiling?

God is going to invade, all right: but what is the good of saying you are on His
side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else—something it never entered your head to conceive—comes crashing in; something so beautiful to some of us and so terrible to others that none of us will have any choice left? For this time it will be God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature. It will be too late then to choose your side. There is no use saying you choose to lie down when it has become impossible to stand up. That will not be the time for choosing: it will be the time when we discover which side we really have chosen, whether we realised it before or not. Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance. It will not last for ever. We must take it or leave it.

(Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis: page 65)

Anthony Evans has a song called I Choose Now. The chorus goes:

I choose now
To be humbled in your presence
I choose now
To fall on my face
Cause one day
Every knee will bow but Jesus
I choose now.

[bold added]

Have you chosen now?

Jesus Christ’s Death

The cross of Jesus Christ has been called “the central fact of human history.” To the entire world the cross is the primary symbol of Christianity; it crowns church spires, highlights church auditoriums, and even dangles on jewelry counters.

This spotlight on the cross declares God’s planned purpose for the coming of Jesus Christ into human history. For both God and our world, the cross carries monumental significance, “the weight of glory,” as Paul expressed it (2 Cor. 4:17) and C.S. Lewis echoed in his book of the same name. It was the climatic fulfillment of God’s covenant, His design to close the gap between Himself and humanity.

Jesus Himself said the cross was His intentional, redemptive goal. “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). “The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10).

The death of Christ on the cross also singles out the “uniqueness” of Christianity. Here God has done for us what we cannot do for ourselves. He has provided the way for each one of us, prone to sin and distant from our Maker, to be forgiven and brought into vital relationship with Him. All this is based not on something we must do, but on something God Himself in His Son has already done.

Every other religious system in the world is essentially a “do-it yourself” proposition. Only in Christianity is salvation a free gift, not because we deserve it, but prompted by the incomprehensible goodness of God’s love. It is true, the cross of Christ is the central fact of human history. When we grasp the full meaning Christ’s death has for us, we can enthusiastically join all creation and declare He is worthy to receive our worship (Rev. 5:9,12,13).

Taken from Know What You Believe by Paul E. Little chapter 4, pages 51-52

Picture taken from FreeFoto.com

The End of Time

Sounds scary doesn’t it?

But for Christians it shouldn’t sound scary at all because it is the time when our Lord Jesus will come back to take us home to be with Him. He will take us to Heaven where we will never experience pain or sadness again. We will be completely happy and satisfied. But most of all we will finally get to see Jesus, face to face, and like Thomas, put our hands where the nails were, and place our hand where He was speared.

In the book Adventuring Through the Bible by Ray C. Stedman in chapter 77, pg 792-793 it says:

At the end of the book [Revelation], we are admonished to wait for the coming of Jesus—and to
work for it, to be diligent and faithful and obedient until the Son of God
comes. You may be surprised to know that this is a book of extreme optimism.
Although Revelation is better known for its scenes of death, horror, upheaval,
and mass destruction, it truly does not stop there. Revelation looks beyond the
Tribulation, beyond Armageddon, all the way to the final victory of God, more
sure than tomorrow’s sunrise. C.S. Lewis writes this commentary on that glorious
coming day:

God is going to invade, all right: but what is the good of saying you are on His side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else—something it never entered your head to conceive—comes crashing in; something so beautiful to some of us and so terrible to others that none of us will have any choice left? For this time it will be God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature. It will be too late then to choose your side. There is no use saying you choose to lie down when it has become impossible to stand up. That will not be the time for choosing: it will be the time when we discover which side we really have chosen, whether we realize it before or not. Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance. It will not
last for ever. We must take it or leave it (Mere Christianity, [1943; reprint,
New York: Macmillan, 1960], 66).

Revelation is filled with encouragement. It is a book that will either inspire your faith—or fill you with fear. It will give you great comfort and encouragement if you know the Lord of all time and all space. But it is also a solemn book designed to make us understand that the One who unrolls the scroll is the One who was once here, the
One who died on Calvary’s cross, the Lamb led to slaughter so that He might win
the right to be the Lion, the King of all the earth.

The Lord is coming—and it won’t be long now. Those who know Him welcome that day and work and pray to hasten it. People who don’t know Him either scoff at that day—or dread it. The book of Revelation concludes with this promise of Jesus
Himself:

He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen ([Revelation] 22:20)

We should look forward to the day when our Savior returns! Because He will welcome those of us who have accepted Him with open arms.

A Day to Dread: What to expect at the end of time

“Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.”

[Mark] 13:33

Fast forward a few days beyond this event of Mark 13 to the time when Jesus is prodded by Roman soldiers toward the place of execution. A group of women follows behind, hysterical with grief. Suddenly Jesus turns and silences them with these words, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children…For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?” (Luke 23:28,31).

As chapter 13 spells out in grim detail, Jesus does not expect the war against God’s kingdom to end with his own death. He predicts that evil will only intensify until, after one final spasm of rebellion, the earth gives way to God’s full restoration.

This chapter echoes, and quotes from, the Old Testament prophets. At the end of time, God will take off all the wraps. And when Jesus returns, he will appear in a new form: not as a helpless babe in a manger, not nailed to a crosspiece of wood, but as “the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.”

When Is the End?

Some of Jesus’ dire predictions find fulfillment in A.D. 70 when Roman soldiers break through the walls of Jerusalem and demolish Herod’s temple—the same temple Jesus’ disciples are admiring when Jesus first speaks these words. Other predictions apparently have not yet been fulfilled.

Just a few decades after Jesus’ death, scoffers mock the notion of the second coming of Christ. “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation” (2Peter 3:4). For all such scoffers, Jesus and the prophets have one ominous word of advice: Just wait. God will not let you go on scoffing forever. One day, the earth and the sky will flee from his presence.

By Philip Yancey and Tim Stafford (NIV Student Bible)

Words Are Not Enough

You can believe all the right things, yet still be dead wrong

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

[James] 1:22

Where there is life, there is motion. Some antelopes, as well as the cheetah, can sprint faster than some cars on the highway. Bighorn sheep, charging one another headfirst, collide with such force that the sound echoes like a gunshot through mountain ranges. Canada geese, fanned out across the sky in an orderly V, battle winds for 1,000 miles, nonstop, before dropping back to earth.

Sometimes we keep relics of life: an elkhead hanging above a fireplace; a fragile, perfect seashell; an exotic butterfly mounted on a pin. But these are mere mementos: Life has gone from them, and with it motion.

A Sure Sign of Life

Authors of the Bible often look to nature for analogies to express spiritual truth. And the book of James, controversial because of its emphasis on “good works,” is perhaps best understood through the analogy of motion. In the spiritual realm also, where there’s life there will be motion.

When a person becomes a Christian, new life begins, and inevitably that life must express itself through “spiritual motion,” or good deeds. In James’s words, “What good is it…if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?” ([James] 2:14).

Movement does not cause life, but it does invariable follow life. It’s a sure sign that life is present. Similarly, genuine faith in Christ should always result in actions that demonstrate faith.

Does James Contradict Paul?

James is not writing about how to become a Christian, but rather how to act like one. Having all the correct beliefs about God will hardly suffice: Even demons believe in God. Real, life-giving faith should produce motion, and James minces no words in describing the specific spiritual actions expected of Christians.

Christian thinkers, notably Martin Luther, have struggled to reconcile the message of James with that of Paul, who so firmly warned against slavish legalism. But Paul never belittled holy living. When he wrote to carousers, such as in his letters to the Corinthians, he railed against immorality as strongly as James.

Evidently, James’s readers were not even flirting with legalism. They lived at the other extreme, ignoring those laws God had clearly revealed. James had a simple remedy: “Do not merely listen to the word…Do what it says” ([James] 1:22).

Straight to the Point

Unlike the apostle Paul, James was no urban man of letters. He was a simple, homespun preacher, perturbed at people who were not living right. His letter covers a wide range of topics, applying the Christian faith to specific problems and commanding readers to live out their beliefs.

Be humble! James orders. Submit to God! Stop sinning! James is as forthright as an Old Testament prophet; it’s hard to miss his point.

Modern readers of James face the same dilemma as the first recipients of this unsettling letter. His words are easy enough to understand, but are we doing what he says? What kind of motion characterizes our spiritual lives? As Luther himself said, “You are saved by faith alone, but if faith is alone it is not faith.”

By Philip Yancey and Tim Stafford, Student Bible

Pictures of butterfly and Bighorn sheep taken from © 1999-2005 www.barrysfreephotos.com

Picture of geese taken from FreeFoto.com

Serving

Once when Christ was speaking with his disciples, a well-meaning mother approached him. She was concerned for her sons’ futures and hoped that by networking with this up-and-coming young carpenter-leader, they would be set for life. “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom,” she asked the thirty-something Jewish leader (Matt. 20:21). No bones about it—she knew that to get ahead in this world, her boys had to capitalize on their contacts and make the most of their opportunities. This guy Jesus was going to be a mover and a shaker, she could tell.

When the others heard her request, they became indignant, not because of the selfish absurdity of it but because they, too, wanted such status and power. Jesus, however, saw through them all. He must have smiled as he called them together and shook his head as he corrected them. Gently, he then gave them the real definition of success: “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:26-28).

Our ultimate example of how to live our lives is found in the one who came not to be served but to serve. For the Christian, then, the wonderful thing about service is that our only qualification is willingness, and our greatest reward is God’s pleasure (which, of course, spills over into our hearts!). We are not driven by it, we are called to it, revealing the gracious relationship between the Son of man and the one who has been ransomed by him. As we all know, service will probably never make us famous, rich, or powerful, that is, in the worldly sense, though it will in God’s eyes. Though the world might never honor a servant’s efforts, it will almost always respect it, if even anonymously.

Taken from Feast of Life by Jo Kadlecek

Pictures taken from FreeFoto.com

Unique Service

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

Unique Service

The beautiful thing about serving as a Christian is that it happens after we’ve met with the one who gave himself in the ultimate act of service; we don’t have to serve to get to him. This unique quality of service in the Christian faith is astonishingly different from other world religions. Many other belief systems, for instance, suggest that good works or proper, moral deeds can provide the path to salvation, perfection, or heaven. The emphasis in these others is on the individual’s efforts to live a good life in order to atone for his sin or bad life; for the Christian believer, however, Christ has done the work already on the cross and gives us his grace, character, and Holy Spirit to live a life “worthy of the calling” (Eph. 4:1). We do nothing but open our hands to receive his compassion, which then spills out of our hands into gracious acts of mutual service.

Taken from chapter 4 of Feast Of Life by Jo Kadlecek

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Speaking Words of Wisdom

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly.

Proverbs 15:1-2

A wise man’s heart guides his mouth, and his lips promote instruction. Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

Proverbs 16:23-24

Job’s friends pelted him with unrelenting words. Like torrential rains on parched soil, their words gouged deep gullies. Job attempted to escape like a tired swimmer, only to be crushed with a fresh wave of words. His comforters rapped him with anger, guilt, idle chatter, ignorance, and faulty conclusions. And he remained crushed instead of wrapped in comfort.

Do your words rain down comfort? Love chooses to cover instead of condemn. Job’s choice confronts us daily. Some people provoke us to exchange blow for blow, gossip for gossip, curse for curse, rebuke for rebuke. To speak as Job’s comforters spoke requires no wisdom or strength from God. That kind of speech comes naturally. But if we choose to use our words to encourage and comfort, we will need supernatural strength.

God is ready when you are.

By Jan Carlberg

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Stop and Think

Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice.

Psalm 55:17


Praying Daily

Prayer is sort of like an unlocked door with a giant, red-lettered sign on it that says: “Welcome. Feel Free to Take Whatever You Need.” Inside is the storehouse of all that God is. He invites us to share it all. He doesn’t intend for us to stay on the outside and struggle all alone with the perplexities of life, and He not only invites us to come in but to stay in, in order that His “Grace and peace be yours in fullest measure, through the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord” (2 Pet. 1:2, NEB, emphasis mine)….

It is an ongoing process, not just an occasional religious-sounding speech we make to a nebulous divinity “out there somewhere.” Prayer is meant to be a part of our lives, like breathing and thinking and talking.

By Gloria Gaither

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