COMFORT ZONE CHALLENGES

       

 Recently I heard a couple of sermons, although from different perspectives, they both covered the need for us to get out of our comfort zone and be all that God has called us to be. One pastor challenged us in two ways.  First he encouraged us to pray and make sure that the things we’re doing in the church are for the sake of the Kingdom of God and not for our own glory. I would add to that, and not so that we can have control over a particular area in the church. Then he challenged us to step out and be passionate about the things of God with the understanding that we will one day be judged for how we lived our lives for the Lord.

     Now before you jump the gun, his message was not a “salvation by works” message. Rather it was an enlargement of James 2:17 which says, “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”  We must prove ourselves that we are truly serving Jesus.

     The second pastor I heard preach made the following statement: “Getting comfortable spiritually will lead to complacency.” He said this statement was shared among some ministers who realized that they had grown satisfied with where they were at spiritually and had lost their passion to win people to the Lord.

     Perhaps you have grown complacent in your passion for the things of God. Or, maybe God has been speaking to your heart about stepping into a particular area of service and you’ve been holding back in fear of not being qualified. The first thing I’d like to share with you is a quote I’ve heard often. “God doesn’t call the qualified, he qualifies the called.”  In the Amplified Bibles, look at what 2 Corinthians 3:5 says. “Not that we are fit (qualified and sufficient in ability) of ourselves to form personal judgments or to claim or count anything as coming from us, but our power and ability and sufficiency are from God.”  We can’t do it on our own!  So, what are some things we can do to feel more prepared to step out of our comfort zones?

Be Mentored – “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” 1 Pet 4:10

     I have shared this with you before.  If you know God is speaking to your heart to serve in some capacity, find a Christian who is mature & has experience in being a leader and place yourself under their mentorship. Being mentored means learning and serving under the one whom God places you so that when the time comes for you to branch out on your own you will understand both serving and leading. Thus you will be a “Servant Leader.”

Be Studious - Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15

     Most importantly, read the bible!  However, there is an abundance of books, courses, and workshops out there for you to learn from.  Just make sure that whatever you expose yourself to that is in line with the bible.  Ask the person mentoring you if they have any recommendations of what to study.  Now a word to pastors & church leader… Next to receiving our salvation. There is nothing that can give us more joy than to pour our lives into another person to help spread the Kingdom of God through their lives.  As leaders this is what we’re called to do – equip, train and edify. (Ephesians 4:11)

Be Empowered – “…Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the LORD of hosts.” Zechariah 4:6

Be Ready – “14 Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. 15 Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. 16          Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.” 1 Timothy 4:14-16

    Remember, when we try to do things in our strength they will not last. We must rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to lead us in all that we do.  And we must make sure that what we’re doing is a “God thing”, not a “good thing”. I tell my students all the time – “Something may come along that’s godly, even something that God could bless, but it might not be his best for your life.”  We must be sure that Satan is not deceiving us when he disguises himself as an angel of light. (See 2 Corinthians 11:14)

     Until next time, be a modern day Peter and step out of the boat to let Jesus lead you!

Are You Letting the World In? - Part 2

    

           In our last post, we looked at three areas of life where the devil likes to set traps for us. First, we looked at the Lust of the flesh.  We learned that this is where the devil tries to get us to choose our own will instead of the will of God. We talked about how the devil disguises himself as something good, causing us to doubt God’s will for our lives. 

     Next, we talked about the Lust of the eyes.  This is where the devil tries to get our eyes off of the Word of God. Satan brings things along that appear to us to be more important than the Word of God in our lives. If we’re not careful, that very thing will pull us away from the scriptures, and we will miss out on the truths God has for us.

     The last thing we discussed was the Pride of life. This comes against our worship of God. We want to worship ourselves, or other things or people, instead of God. We become caught up in what “we” want to do, what “we” think is best, etc.

     Now I want us to take a few minutes to see how we can escape the traps that Satan tries to set for us.

     First, Capture your thoughts – For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:4-5

     We must take our thoughts captive. We can’t allow them to run wild or be the controlling factor in our lives.

     Second, Evaluate the thought – “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy-- meditate on these things.”  Philippians 4:8

     Assess what you’re thinking. Does it line up with the scriptures? If I act on it, what will be the result? Can I praise God for the thought?

     Third, Confess the wrong you’ve done – “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” 1 John 1:9

     Confessing our sin means to admit that it’s there. Once we can admit the problem, the next step is to repent of the sin. Repent means to turn away from. In other words, you make a decision to walk away from that kind of behavior and turn to God and his ways.

     Fourth, Resist – “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” James 4:7

     Resisting temptation cannot be accomplished by will power alone. You need the power of the Holy Spirit. That’s why this verse tells us to first submit to God, and then we can resist the devil. Now let me share something about this thing called sin that may help you more easily resist temptation. What is happening when we face a temptation? Here it is: we’re tempted to meet a legitimate need in a wrong way, through the world, the flesh, and/or the devil, by living independently of God. 

     Here’s an example. You’ve been rejected in the past and desire so badly to be loved. So you go to the clubs, meet someone of the opposite sex, and allow yourself to live in a promiscuous way. After going through various relationships, you’re still not satisfied. Why? Because you are trying to get the love you need from sources other than God. Author Neil Anderson says this about temptation: “Temptation’s hook is the devil’s guarantee that what we think we want and need outside of God’s will can satisfy us. Don’t believe it.”

    Here’s another scripture about the process of temptation. “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” James 1:14-15

     Space does not permit me to expound on this verse, as much as I would like. Simply put, when we “toy” with fleshly desires and thoughts instead of resisting them, we will eventually fall prey to them. And that will lead to spiritual death. My friend, nothing and no one is worth missing heaven for!

     As we close, let’s look at one more scripture that will help us to have victory over these areas. Look at what Zechariah 4:6 says. “… 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the LORD of hosts.”  The bottom line, my friend, is that in and of ourselves, we do not have the power to overcome temptation or anything else in our lives. We must rely on the power of the Spirit of God to strengthen us during our times of weakness. You are not alone in your battle. Jesus is standing there just waiting for you to ask for help. Ask him. I know you won’t be disappointed.

  

Are You Letting the World In? - Part 1

     What I am sharing with you today was provoked by some recent-mails, regular mail, and conversations I’ve had with people. The common thread was a concern about being Christian and yet being worldly. One friend wrote me about a Christian rock concert she went to where the dancing and body language was very suggestive. Now, before you put this down, hear me out. I am not against good contemporary music. As long as the music brings glory to Jesus Christ I am okay with it.

     The concern I’ve heard voiced is this. Why does the church feel like it has to compromise it’s standards, morals and values to bring people in?  Brothers and sisters, remember we are in the world but not of it. In 2 Corinthians 6:16-18 it says,  “16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 17 Therefore "Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. 18 "I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."

     Let’s look at some of the traps the devil tries to use against us to draw us into worldly living. They are found in the following scripture. “16 For all that is in the world-- the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life-- is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” I John 2:16-17 - Here are three main areas of temptation that we face. Some of the things that we’re tempted by aren’t always what I call “the big bad evils”.

The lust of the flesh - preys on our physical appetites.

     The lust of the flesh is what led to the fall of Adam and Eve to fall. Satan stirred Eve’s interest by making the fruit appealing to her. (Genesis 3:1) So an example of something that is a lust of the flesh could be over-eating. (Remember, we’re not just looking at the “big sins” here.  As Christians, the devil won’t draw us away with things that are obviously wrong.

     Back to Eve... We know the story how Satan twisted the will of God to confuse Eve.  He will often try to do the same with us.  Look at what 2 Corinthians 11:14 says, “And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.” He will make something appear to be real desirous to us and he will attempt to twist the word of God in our lives. The lust of the flesh draws us away from the will of God. It’s choosing our will over his will.

The lust of the eyes - appeals to self-interest/preservation.

     The lie that the devil tells us here us that we must have a sense of self-preservation, what appears to be” my best interest.”   The next lie that Satan told Eve was – “Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die.” Genesis 3:4 He was twisting the scriptures again. It’s the old argument, “God won’t me make die for doing this.” The death in Genesis 3 was a spiritual death, not a physical death. After they ate the fruit Adam and Eve were still physically alive, but they were now spiritually separated from God and found themselves in need of restoration.

     It’s no different today. The lies the devil tells us are things like ”You’re young, just live it up.” Or “I’m not hurting anyone.” Or “I have my rights.”  And the list goes on. Reality is that every choice we make not only affects us, it affects those around us. Friend, be strong, don’t follow the crowd. Be willing to make wise choices according to God’s word instead of being worried about what others will think. The devil will make things come up that cause us to think we don’t have time to read the bible, etc. The truth is, we cannot afford to not read the bible for it is the ONLY truth out there.

The pride of life- self-promotion/self-exaltation

     This one is obvious; it is about thinking you’re better than others. It’s like the story in Luke 18:10-14 where the Pharisee said: “ 'I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.” He thought that appearing religious made him better than others. There’s no such thing as different levels of sin. Sin is sin whether you kill someone or tell a lie. We need to walk in humility before God.  A good definition of humility is “confidence properly placed.”  If our confidence is in God, we can be assured that we’re living as he would have us live.

     Sometimes pride can cause us to hold on to things that we think are important, or make us better than others, and we think even better than God. Things like position, possessions, intellect, our feelings, job, and family, to mention a few.

     In closing, I leave you with one more scripture. “1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”  Romans 12:1-2

     Next week in part two we will look at how we can escape the traps the devil tries to set for us.

Consumed By God's Fire!

     Recently I found myself singing the words a song titled “Take Me In” by Dave Browning. “The words are: “Take me past the outer courts/And through the holy place/Past the brazen altar/Lord, I want to see Your face./Pass me by the crowds of people/And the priests who sing their praise/I hunger and thirst for Your righteousness/But it’s only found one place. So take me in to the Holy of Holies/Take me in by the blood of the Lamb/So take me in to the Holy of Holies/Take the coal, cleanse my lips, here I am”.  Thinking about this led me to Hebrews 12:28,29 – “28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.

     Let’s look at how the fire of God can affect our lives.

The Fire of God Purifies - "But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire and like launderer's soap.” Malachi 3:2

     It is only the Lord who can purify us. There is nothing we can do to make our self  “more clean” for God. The only thing that can cleanse us is the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Once we accept God’s gift of salvation the cleaning process begins. And it is just that, a process. While some things may change instantly, for most of us it is a process of growth and maturing in our relationship with the Lord.

The Fire of God Consumes - For our God is a consuming fire.” Hebrews 12:29

     The fire of God will consume us. The definition for the word consume here is “to do away with completely.”  In other words, the fire of God will remove everything from our life that is a hindrance to his life flowing through us. This happens when we spend time in the presence of God.  I’ve said it before, when we’re in the presence of God in a matter minutes He can radically change our lives.

The Fire of God Empowers - John answered, saying to all, "I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire”. Luke 3:16

Another scripture - Acts 1:8 -"But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

     In the natural, wherever there is a fire you can see power. A fire is a powerful thing of destruction. When God’s presence is in our lives we will have power. When we allow the fire of God to consume us, and the Spirit of God to come upon us, we will be empowered to live godly lives, to fulfill his calling on our life and be a witness to others.

     Having said this there is one more point to consider. What will keep the fire of God burning in our lives? . We need just a spark to keep it going.  Let me explain that with a short acronym

Submission - humble ourselves under the authority of God’s Word daily. – James 4:10
Prayer - pray daily  - Ephesians 6:18
Approaching - seek God’s face in intimacy – Psalms 27:8
Repentance - turn from our sins – Acts 2:38
Kneeling – Worship Him! – Psalm 95:6

  If we will be diligent to do these things we can be assured that the fire of God will not burn out in our lives.  I would like to close with the chorus to a song titled “Refiner’s Fire”. Let it be a prayer for each of us as we walk through the process of becoming more like him. Remember, for gold to get it’s worth, it must be burned in the fire but the goldsmith.

Here’s the chorus: “My heart's one desire/is to be holy/set apart for You Lord/I choose to be holy/set apart for you my master/ready to do your will.”

     Until next time, let the fire of God burn!   

Being Strong and Stable

   

    Upon reading the following verse I felt led to encourage you with it. 1 Peter 5:10 -  “But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.” In the first part of the verse is the phrase “God of all grace”.  One of my favorite definitions of the word grace is, “God’s ability in me to do that which I don’t have the ability to do.” I like that! It reminds me that the things I cannot do in my own strength, God will help me to do. Of course, we have to ask for his help.

     What I really want to focus on today are the last four key words in the verse – perfect, establish, strengthen and settle.

PERFECT – “…but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever Amen.” 2 Peter 3:18

     The word perfect in the Greek this word means “to mend (what has been broken or rent), to repair, to complete, to fit out, to equip, to put in order, to arrange, to adjust, to fit or frame for oneself, to prepare or ethically, to strengthen, to perfect, to complete, to make one what he ought to be.” (Emphasis mine)

    Imagine that, God desires to make us all that we ought to be!  In other words, God wants us to mature. He wants us to allow him to make the necessary changes in our lives so that we can be a reflection of him for others. This reminds me of Philippians 1:6 which says, “being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;” What a promise! He WILL complete the work he has started in us!

ESTABLISH/CONFIRM- “But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.” II Thessalonians 3:3

     Establish in the Greek means “to make stable, to place firmly, to set fast, to fix, to strengthen, to make firm, to render constant, to confirm (one's mind).  The idea here is that God wants to build your life and character so that when the storms of life hit, you will have firmly placed in your mind and heart the promise of God’s protection and grace to get you through that time.

STRENGTHEN – “Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the LORD.” Psalm 31:24

     The meaning of this word is pretty basic - “to make strong, to strengthen; used of one's soul.”  Simply put, the Lord wants to make you stronger in your character and in your walk with him.  In times of difficulty as we turn to God for help he promises to strengthen us. Some of the ways we can gain strength is trough a bible study with other believers, by being part of a local church and most importantly by our time spent in the presence of God through prayer, praise and worship.

SETTLE – “Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times, and the strength of salvation; the fear of the LORD is His treasure.” Isaiah 33:6

     This word means to “lay the foundation, to found, to make stable, to establish.” The word I want to focus on here is stable, but before I do that let’s consider the word establish in this definition. For those of you that are Christians you may be trying to find “your place” in your local church. You know you want to serve the Lord. You may even feel called to a particular area of ministry but you can’t see how it will ever come about. Let me encourage you with this thought. (I have to remind myself of this often!) Be patient. God will establish you where he wants you in your local fellowship. We’re all part of the body and we each have our particular function that God has designed for us. We just need to be willing to do what he wants us to do, not what we want to do.

     Now, getting back to the word stable or stability. What I want to focus on here is that God wants to make you a stable person. If you call out to him, as the above verse says, he will be the stability of your times. Jesus Christ is the only person that can give us true stability in our lives! The truth of the matter is that your life will never be ‘settled” until Jesus Christ has come into your life.

     What troubles you today?  Look at what Psalm 37:5 says, “Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.”  You see, that’s the key. We must commit everything to the Lord. We have to have settled in our heart and mind that no matter what we’re going through in our life, we are going to live for him.

     Commit everything unto the LORD, and He will establish your thoughts. Do things His way; do them unto Him; turn them over to Him in prayer; and trust Him for the results. He will take care of you. If you’re going through a struggle at this time contact a leader in your church or someone that you know who is a mature Christian and ask them to pray with you.

     Until next time, be strong in the might of the Lord!

Thinking About Easter

     With all that happened just before the crucifixion of Jesus and afterwards, the disciples and other followers experienced a wide range of emotions. As we look at these feelings they had let’s see how we can apply some principles to our life today. Our main test is  Luke 24:1-4 but we’ll be going throughout the whole chapter. It reads, “1 Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. 2 But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. 3 Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. 5 Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 "He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee...”

Confusion: Luke 24:1-4

     In the original Greek language the word perplexed means “to be left wanting, to be

embarrassed, to be in doubt, not to know which way to turn.” Imagine the thoughts they must have had swarming around in their minds. Could this really be?  What if it isn’t, where is his body? Thankfully, Jesus isn’t bothered by our questions. He doesn’t condemn us for having questions. He would rather us ask the questions than to ignore him.

Fear / Sadness: Luke 24:17 & Luke 24:5 –

     What were they afraid of? I think they wondered if they had been duped by Jesus. Was he really who he said he was? Did he fool us? They fear for their lives wondering if they would be arrested, even killed also because of their association with Jesus. Think about it,

Peter denied Jesus  You might say, “Well I would never deny the Lord. But have you ever had an opportunity to speak up for him and didn’t because you were afraid of being embarrassed?

JOY: Luke 24:30-32

     Think about this – right in the middle of their sadness Jesus was right there and they didn’t even know it… until He opened their eyes. Once we recognized that Jesus is revealing Himself to us and we acknowledge him, great joy comes into our lives. I don’t know about you, but before Jesus was in my life I had no joy, no hope... just negative thoughts and feeling down all the time. As believers joy should be a mark of our lives. That’s not to say we never have tough times but that we don’t have to allow the tough times to steal our joy.

Doubt: Luke 24:9-11 & 35-38

     Ever have someone tell you something and you’re like “yeah right…” And then later you found it to be so? I can only imagine the doubts that must have flooded their minds when things happened as they did. After hearing testimonies they wondered; “Is it true that he’s risen?” Just like us, they didn’t remember the promises he had given. How many times do we go through a trial and we forget about earlier trials that God brought us through? Doubt… we all experience it at times. 

Adoration: 47"and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48"And you are witnesses of these things. 49 "Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high." 50And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them.51 Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven.52 And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen.” Luke 24:47,48 51-53 (Emphasis added)

     This is the heart of the Easter Story – WORSHIP – We’re to worship Jesus as King of Kings & Lord of Lords…. He is risen indeed! According to verses 47 & 48, once we have received Jesus into our lives it gives a sense of mission. We’re now to be his witnesses telling other of the hope found in a relationship with Jesus Christ. And in our mission we’re to preach verse 47 – “repentance and remission of sins.”  You see my friend, one cannot experience the joy and worship of the Lord until they first have repented of their sin and surrendered their life to Jesus Christ. Does that mean life is problem free after salvation? Not at all! But, we now have the Lord to walk with us through those difficult times.

     I would like to close with a quote from a pastor (Tom Lovorn) that was used in a recent sermon I read. “ With hope, you can claim the Holy Spirit's guidance and power. And, with mission, you will have a reason for being where you are. You'll be purpose-driven to win your world for Jesus. Your whole image - the way you dress, talk, and walk; your attitude and outlook; your reaction to people and things – everything about you will be different. When people ask you, "What happened to you?" You can answer, "Easter happened, that's what!"

     Until next time, let’s rejoice that we have a risen Savior!

New in You

     I’ve been thinking about the New Year we’re all about to face. I know for many of us 2014 was a difficult year.Some faced the loss of work or the loss of a loved one, or major sickness.   From a personal standpoint in my life and ministry it has been a year of transition and many questions.  Some questions answered but still have many.  If it were not for the strength of the Lord, my family, friends and my church family I don’t know what I would have done.

     Well, that is all behind me now and I am looking forward to 2015!  My husband and I always do the 21 Day Daniel Fast at the beginning of the year.  I am believing to get greater understanding of several things during this fast. 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.  It's time to move forward! 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 2015.

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?  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!  To my brothers and sisters in prison- Continue to seek the Lord he will give you a fresh start!

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 rejection, 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

     In our next blog post we will take a deeper look into the idea of moving forward and what might hinder us from doing so.

     Until next time, have a most Blessed New Year!