If someone on his death bed made a request…what would you do?
Right before Jesus’ death on the cross, He prayed for all of us who would come to believe in Him through the spreading of His Good News.
What did He pray?
“That all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in me and I am in You.” -John 17:21
Are you one with other followers of Christ…in encouraging, supporting, loving relationships as Jesus was one with God and the Holy Spirit? If the answer is no, here is some more good news:
Growth Groups are starting next month! Join one and experience what it’s like to be in true community with others…it’s God’s desire for you!
When I first met my husband, we thought hiking would be “our thing”. We climbed some smaller mountains around Lake George, and then we thought we were ready for the big time..the 46 High Peaks of the Adirondacks.
On our first attempt (trying to do Algonquin…the 2nd highest at 5100 feet!) we were told by a forest ranger we couldn’t do it. Even though it was a beautiful day, he told us the weather could change in an instant and we wouldn’t be prepared. We didn’t have any warm clothing, any gear for an unplanned overnight (which apparently happens often to hikers!) and no flashlight. You definitely need a flashlight in the Adirondacks because if you’re caught in the dark…boy is it dark.
Just as we were turned away from hiking in the Adirondack wildnerness due to lack of essential gear…if we’re not reading our Bibles, we’re lacking some essential gear…especially a light for those dark times in life!
Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” (NIV)
What’s lighting up your path? Is is the 42” flat screen in the living room lighting up the path of what’s popular? The light from your cell phone lighting up the path of what all your friends are doing at every minute? Or maybe you’re lighting your own path…what feels good, what seems right to you. The problem with that though is–we’re not that bright!
We need the light that comes from God’s Word. It will never misguide you! Consider it essential gear!
“Abraham was the father of Issac.
Isaac was the father of Jacob.
Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers.” (Matthew 1:1-3)
Keep going for 16 more verses of genealogy and we end with:
“Jacob was the father of Joseph, husband of Mary.
Mary was the mother of Jesus, who is called the Messiah.” (Matthew 1:16)
The book of Matthew starts out with the lineage of Jesus, going all the way back to Abraham and tracing thousands of years of genealogy. In the mix are heroes of our faith, like Isaac and David, some shady characters, and–most encouraging to me– ordinary men and women.
How cool is it that God uses all these different kinds of people to accomplish His will?
We also have a part in God’s Big Plan! Say “yes” to God and you’ll never know how He’ll use you for His work in history! What will your genealogy say?
A few weeks ago was Arbor Day, which maybe is a very important day on someone’s calendar. Not mine. I didn’t even know when it was. I just looked it up, and lo and behold, apparently I had just missed it by a couple weeks. Maybe next year.
On second thought, maybe I should think about Arbor Day, or at least trees more often?
Jeremiah says,
“But blessed are those who trust in the LORD
and have made the LORD their hope and confidence.
They are like trees planted along a riverbank,
with roots that reach deep into the water.
Such trees are not bothered by the heat
or worried by long months of drought.
Their leaves stay green,
and they never stop producing fruit”. -Jeremiah 17:7-8
Wouldn’t you like to be a tree like that? Wouldn’t you like your loved ones to be trees like that too? Flourishing, not languishing? Bringing blessings to others with life-giving oxygen and shade? Producing fruit with our lives, and possessing roots that reach down deep into the river of life…branches always stretched toward heaven?
Happy Belated Arbor Day. May you flourish like a tree planted along a riverbank!
If you’ve been in church or around “church people” for any amount of time, you have probably heard that Jesus died for your sins. If you just stumbled across this website by accident and you have never heard that before, let me tell you: Jesus died for your sins!
Growing up in church, I heard that a lot. I knew that! The thing is, I was a “good kid.” My father was the principal of our school so I wouldn’t dare cross the line to “bad kid”. Yes, maybe I had taken the last Maple and Brown Sugar oatmeal packet that I knew my brother wanted for breakfast, but did Jesus really have to be crucified for me because of that?
So every year I looked forward to Easter for the candy and the sunrise service and the pancake breakfast that followed, but I never really grasped how much Easter was for me. Sure, the mass murderers and thieves had a lot to be thankful for on Easter–what with all that sin and all–but I wasn’t sure He really had to go that far for my oatmeal resourcefulness (Hey, I DID get up first, right?)
It wasn’t until I got older that the implications of Romans 3:23 really hit me…”for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”…Just because we’re not murderers and thieves doesn’t mean we’re not sinners. There’s always the thought life. And the motives. And the unhealthy emotions. Bitterness? Gossip? Anger? Pride? Ok. You got me Jesus.
Nobody is too good for Easter.
If you went to Growth Group this week (by the way, all the cool kids are doing it, you should try it!), you read Ephesians 1:15-23.
In that passage is a prayer that Paul wrote to the people of Ephesus (we had a little discussion over the pronunciation in our group, but that’s beside the point).
The thing is, it’s also a prayer to us! Whenever you see a prayer like this in the Bible, read it as if it’s for you too! Try it like “Dear _____” (insert your name here)….It’s a powerful reminder that the Bible is God’s Word to YOU!
About a year ago today we were sailing along in the process of selling our house. Got a quick offer, found a new home, and had started to box up 12 years of life as a family. And then came the inspection.
Everything from old wiring, a furnace on a near-death bed, and code violations galore was brought to our attention. The revelation of all of these problems at once was overwhelming and threatened to put an end to our negotiations. Thankfully, we were able to work out solutions with our buyer and continue moving forward.
Jesus is also in the inspection business! When He met the Samaritan woman at the well, in her own words she said, “He knew all about the things I did. He knows me inside and out!” (John 4:39 MSG)
How often do you ask God to do an inspection of you? In His loving kindness He never overwhelms us by revealing all of our shortcomings to us at once, but we should continue to ask Him to point out our hidden motives, misplaced affections, wrong desires, and other areas that don’t match up to His glorious standard. It is only then that we can ask Him to remove those things and transform our character to His purpose!
As Jesus revealed the life of the woman at the well to her, ask Him to reveal you to you!
I love journals. Fat ones, skinny ones, colorful ones, fancy leather ones, cheap dollar store ones– you name it, I have one for every occasion. I use them for ideas, thoughts and quotes from books, things I’ve learned at conferences, funny things my kids say, big prayer requests, and a 10-Year journal that allows me to look back and see what happened on say, December 29, all the way back to 2004 (“pulled girls on sled and tied dogs’ leashes together for walk in woods” it says, in case you cared to know.)
In the book of Numbers, the Lord Himself commanded Moses to keep a sort of journal as the Israelites were led out of Egypt. Verse 33:2 of the NLT says, “At the Lord’s direction, Moses kept a written record of their progress.” By doing so, Moses had a record in writing of their spiritual and geographic progress.
This year, why not keep a written record of your progress in following the Lord? Write down your thoughts, your prayers (and how they were answered), your spiritual growth goals, your mistakes and lessons you learned from them. If you read a passage of Scripture or hear a sermon that speaks to you, write it down. Going through a tough time? Write down how God is getting you through it each day. Seeing how God helped you in the past will strengthen your faith in future trials and seeing progress is a great way to stay motivated to keep growing!
When my kids were in their Elmo-crazed days, one of our favorite videos was “Elmo Saves Christmas.” To be honest, I’m still crazy about this video, but my kids must think their 2nd-and-3rd-grade-selves are too cool for Elmo these days. The video is no longer in our collection.
The video starts out with Maya Angelou explaining to Muppet characters how Elmo once got his wish that every day could be Christmas–and soon regretted it. I don’t remember all the things he started to regret other than that his best pal, Snuffy, was off visiting relatives every day and Elmo missed him. I would imagine things might be tough on Sesame Street with there never being any mail delivery and Mr. Hooper’s store being closed every day also. So pretty soon, Elmo wanted to take back his wish.
Even though we love Christmas, it’s not hard to imagine that there is such a thing as too much of it. Too much shopping. Too much overeating. Too much spent on our electric bill for all those pretty lights. Too much vacuuming up pine needles.
But if we think about what Christmas is really about…the birth of the King of Kings, come to bring us the message of Good News for eternity and for the here and now…And when we as His followers share His love and make this Good News a reality for everyone, can we ever have too much of that?
Maybe it should be Christmas every day.
The other day my nine-year old wanted to make cookies from scratch. I said no since I didn’t have time to help. Not a problem, she said, she wanted to do it herself. Gulp. I all I could picture was the mess, the myriad of questions, the wasted ingredients, and some concoction of a final result that she would be proud of and I would be obligated to eat.
Everything in me wanted to repeat the “no,” but then I thought how much she wanted to prove– both to herself and to me– that she could do it. So I flip-flopped. “Go ahead,” I said with probably more than a hint of exasperation. She replied with something to the effect of, “Thank you, now please stay out.”
I tried to remain calm as I heard her climbing on the counter to get a mixing bowl down and turning pages in cookbooks. There were a couple questions…”Yes, 2/3 cups means use the 1/3 cup twice” and “Yes, that means a whole stick of butter..” But she did it…sugar cookies that were actually quite good! By giving her a chance she had earned 2 dozen trust points with me.
How often are we like that with God? We want to be able to trust Him, but all we can picture is the worst. What if He doesn’t come through? What if we tithe and He doesn’t provide? What if?
But do we ever give Him the chance to prove He’s worthy of our trust?
Sometimes we need to trust Him and stay out the kitchen!