New in You

         I’ve been thinking about the New Year we’re all about to face. I know for many of you 2015 was a difficult year. I can relate as I went through a some battles of my own.  If it were not for the strength of the Lord, my family and friends, I don’t know what I would have done.

     Well, that is all behind me now and I am looking forward to 2016.  As we face going into a new year I’d like to encourage you to allow the Lord to do some new things in your life. Some of you might be comfortable with you life. To that I say, the Lord loves us too much to allow us to remain as we are. We need to always be growing in some area of our life. Others of you may be fed up with life, disillusioned, even fearful.  For some of you there’s been a dream that you’ve held in your heart for years but you just don’t see it happening. Hold on, you might be delayed, but you are still destined!

     Now let’s look at some new possibilities for 2016.

New Pursuits

“There are many plans in a man's heart, nevertheless the LORD'S counsel-- that will stand.”  Proverbs 19:21

     God might lead you to a new job position. He might send you back to school for some more training. Ask the Lord what he wants to do with your life.  If you’re a Christian maybe he’s calling you into ministry or to go on a mission trip. Be open to new ideas in the New Year. Get your steel-toed shoes ready…. It might be that you need to change some of your relationships that are leading you down a wrong path. In the bible it says, “Don't be fooled by those who say such things, for "bad company corrupts good character."  1 Corinthians 15:33 NLT - You have more worth than you realize. Don’t let yourself be dragged down by those who are on a destructive path in life.

New Reputation

"Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore.” Isaiah 54:4

     Perhaps you’ve failed in some area of your life.  Have you done something that brought you shame? Or maybe it wasn’t something of your own doing, but the false words of others against you. It can all be made new when you call upon the Lord. I could share some stories with you about how God has turned some things around in my life! 

New Heart

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3

     Has your heart been wounded, broken and shattered? Maybe your heart has been so hardened that you feel you just can’t reach out to others or allow people to reach out to you. If you will ask the Lord, he will give you a new heart.  Look at this scripture – “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” - Ezekiel 36:26

New Beginnings

 “And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.” Col 3:10

     If you life has been full of pain, abuse, addictions and failure, whatever – God wants to give you a new life, a new beginning. I can testify to the reality of having my life taken out of the gutter and being made brand new. My life was such a mess at one time that I am in awe that the Lord has changed my life as he has.

     Friend, if you have tried everything else and it hasn’t worked, perhaps it’s time to give things over to the Lord. I know he will help you live in a new way. He will give you hope. If you will just surrender to him, he has a good plan for your life.  “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11

     Once again I must share with you one of my favorite scriptures –  “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”  2 Corinthians 5:17

     Until next time, keep your eyes on Jesus because He never fails!

Comforted by the Lord

     Wow! The month of December has been busy and Christmas is just 8 days away! But for some it’s a month of pain. Some have lost loved ones due to death. Some have been through the pain of separation and divorce, or having a child go wayward. This time of year often brings painful things to people. However, there is hope. God through his son Jesus wants to bring comfort to your life during this season.

     You may think I don’t understand, that I’m just writing my blog. But let me share that this year our family experienced the loss of my Uncle Bob in January and my brother Matt in July. What I share with you today I have been applying to my own life.  So, once again let’s use an acronym to see how we can receive God’s comfort in our lives.

Cares – “casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7

    We must cast all of our cares on the Lord. Despite what you may feel or what others have told you, God does care for you. But it requires faith and trust to believe that.

Omniscient – “When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then You knew my path. In the way in which I walk...” Psalms 142:3

     The word “omniscient” means, “all knowing.” God knows everything from the beginning to the end. He knows the paths our lives will travel. As I have often heard preachers say, “Nothing comes to our lives that doesn’t first go through the hand of God.” His grace and his all knowing can be trusted to carry us through any situation.

Meditate - "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” Joshua 1:8

     One of the best things we can do to receive the comfort of the Lord is to daily read the bible. Did you know that the book of Psalms is the most read book of the bible? Why? Because David shows that he is human, which we can all relate to. Many of his psalms start off with a trial but he always end with giving praise to God for providing a way out of troubling situations. W can do the same. Things may look bleak, but if we will hide God’s word in our heart, the praises will begin to flow from our lips before all is said and done.

Faith -  “… if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20

     Do you see that? Even if your faith is as small as a mustard seed it is enough to move mountains. So don’t accept the lie from the devil that your faith is too little to do receive strength and comfort from God. Put to use what you have and the Lord will multiply it.

Omnipotent – “Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; his understanding is infinite.”

Psalms 147:5

     Here we see another interesting word. Omnipotent means “all powerful.” God is more powerful than anything else in the world.  When you find yourself feeling weak and defeated ask God to show up in his power to remedy things as only he can do.

Rest –"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28

     What an offer! Jesus was telling us in this verse that if we will give him all of our burdens, he would give us his rest. That’s a great promise to hold on to when the going gets tough.

Trust – “5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6

     This may be a familiar scripture but it is so true. If we lean on our understanding we will mess things up every time. No matter how difficult this season is, make an effort to trust the Lord. Trust him that he will help you with the pain, with the memories, with whatever it is that you need in your life right now.

     All of this takes me back another familiar scriptures found in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

“3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

     Oh my friend, how the Lord wants to comfort you! He wants to comfort you so that you have peace and are comforted. But, he also wants to comfort you so that someday you will be able to share that same comfort with someone who crosses your path and is need of healing from the scars of life.

     In closing, While the pain you’re experiencing is real I want to encourage you that it’s not the end. God wants you to move forward with your life. He wants to heal you of your pain so that you can be his instrument of comfort to someone else along the way in your journey. I am speaking this to myself as much as I am you!  Be encouraged, the best is yet ahead!

Who Are You Looking For?

     The closer it gets to Christmas the more we hear of people talking about the birth of Jesus. I overheard an interesting comment in a store recently that went something like this: “ I don’t understand why everyone wants to make such a big fuss about a baby being born in a manger.” They made that statement as if to say that’s all Jesus ever was, just a baby. They seem to forget that he grew up to be a man. They forget that he died on a cross so that you and I upon repentance could receive forgiveness of our sin. They forget that he rose from the dead conquering death, hell and the grave. They forget that he made a promise that he will one day return to the earth to take his children home with him. He won’t be coming back as a little baby. Look at Revelation 19:16 – “And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.”

     Jesus Christ will return to earth as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He will come to receive his people to himself and judgment will begin. He is not just a baby; he is the Savior of the world. This week I want to focus on Jesus being our King. Yes, I am going to use an acronym again, this time with the word “Know”, to share how we can make him king of our lives.

Know Him - “…for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.” 2 Timothy 1:12

     It is not enough to just know “about” Jesus.  We must know him personally. We must have a relationship with him. Just because you’ve attended church all your life doesn’t mean you know him anymore that parking a bicycle in a garage makes it a car. Attending church doesn’t make you a Christian. Being born-again by repenting of your sin and asking Jesus to rule your heart and life begins the process of getting to know him in a real and personal way.

New Beginnings – “Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them." Isaiah 42:9

     God wants to free us from our past, even from our difficult present. But we must be willing to give him the reigns of our life. He wants to give you a fresh new start. Sadly many want to come to God on their terms rather than according to the scriptures. Because of that they often miss out on the blessing of having new beginnings in their lives. I saw a bumper sticker one time that said, “God loves us too much to allow us to remain as we are.”  He wants to change us so that we can grow in Christ-like character in our daily lives.

Obedience - "If you love Me, keep My commandments.” John 14:15

     When we know him and can truly love him we will keep his commandments. Now, that doesn’t mean we can “pick and choose” what we will believe or obey. No, we must believe all of the word of God. And, if he calls something sin then we must do the same. If choose not to walk in obedience we will have God’s peace and blessing in our life.

Worship Him – “Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.“ Psalm 95:6

     One of my favorite things to do is to spend time in praise and worship unto the Lord! Praise is a great weapon of spiritual warfare. When facing difficulties in life or need an answer to a pressing issue, often we can receive our answers and our comfort through taking time to worship Jesus as the king of our lives.

     Now in closing let’s look at a scripture that sort of pulls together everything we’ve just discussed. “Whoever offers praise glorifies Me; and to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God." (Psalm 50:23) I think verse makes it pretty simple for us.

     If we give praise to God he will be glorified in our life. It’s easy to give praise when we “order our conduct aright.” In other words when we live in line with the word of God we can than receive the promise of salvation. This means that life combined with right living and giving praise unto God will lead to living in the blessings of having salvation through a relationship with Jesus Christ.

     My friend, do you know him today? I mean really know him? If not, pray this prayer:

"Lord Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins.  I repent for all sin I have committed. Please forgive my sins and give me the gift of eternal life.  I ask you in to my life and heart to be my Lord and Savior. Help me to serve you for the rest of my life." In Jesus’ name, Amen.”  If you prayed that prayer for the first time, or maybe you’re coming back to the Lord, let someone know. Call a pastor, call our ministry or tell someone you know who is a Christian so that they can help you grow in your relationship with the Lord.

     Until next time, in the midst of the holiday rush, remember that Jesus is the reason for the season!

Abiding in the Rush

    

When most people read John 15:1-14 they usually end up talking about bearing fruit for the kingdom of God.  That is an important principle for us to live by.  If we’re true disciples of Jesus Christ we should desire to bear much fruit for the sake of the Gospel.

However, as I read this recently I had a different perspective on it.

      In this passage in John 15 two verses in particular stood out to me. The first is in verse 5, which says, "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” As I read this I thought about how we all are in the “rush mode” getting ready for Christmas. The Lord spoke to my heart through this and reminded me that we must keep our focus on God, his Word and his son, Jesus -the reason for the season.  Maintaining this focus will help us be less stressed with more opportunity to bear fruit for the Lord.

     Understanding that in this passage Jesus is the Vine we’re to abide in, let’s see what we can learn about abiding in the Vine. I have made an acrostic of the word “abide” from which we can glean five principles of abiding. Apply Build Involve Deny Examine.

Apply – “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 2 Timothy 2:15KJV - If we’re going to walk in tune with the Lord, we’re going to have to know his word. I don’t mean that you have to be a scholar or read twenty-five chapters a day. Just be consistent to read something from the bible everyday.

Build – 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. Galatians  5:22-23   Ask the Lord to help you build these qualities in your life. They will certainly be helpful in the crowded stores! (smile)

Involve – 46And day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, 47 praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. Acts 2:46-47NAS  The believers in the early church stayed in close contact encouraging each other and they were committed to involvement in their local church.

Deny – “Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”  Matthew 16:24 Again, if we keep Jesus first in our life, and think of others more than ourselves, we’ll be less apt to growl back at another tired shopper.

Examine –“Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?-- unless indeed you are disqualified.”  2 Corinthians 13:5 We must regularly take inventory of our lives to make sure that we’re living in righteousness.

     Earlier I mentioned two verses that stood out in John 15. We looked at verse 5. Now let’s look at verse 11.   John 15:11 - "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”  “These things” refer to the scriptures Jesus just share in verses 1- 10. So, what Jesus is saying to us is that if we abide in him we will have JOY.  What a promise to hold on to for the rest of this month and next! The stress of shopping, the pain of being alone, missing a loved one, financial strain, etc.  As we abide in Jesus in the midst of it all we can still have joy in our heart.

Be encouraged my friend.  Even in the stresses of life, even in the rush of the holiday we can call on the grace of God to strengthen us as we abide in him. If you are struggling, pray the following: “Lord, I am hurting, I am tired, I feel so alone. Please send your Spirit, the comforter to come alongside me. Help me to focus on You so that I may have joy in this season of celebrating the birth of your Son.  In Jesus name, amen.”

     Until next time, I pray that you are filled to overflowing with the joy and love of the Lord!