Your Problem Isn't That You Don't Love God Enough......

@RickWarren: Your problem isn't that you don't love God enough - it's that you don't realize how much He loves you!

Ephesians 3:17-19 NLT
Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

There is great power in the unconditional love of God. When you know you are truly loved, you are set free to take risks. You don't have to constantly be proving yourself. You are now free to care for others. With God's love we are complete, lacking nothing.

If you're worried that God can't love you because you've been too bad or you just don't feel good enough, I have two quotes for you that really spoke to me.

First, "God's love for you is based on who He is, not on what you do." Rick Warren

Secondly, C.S Lewis writes, "(The Christian) does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us."

My prayer is that we will not just know intellectually, but fully experience the unconditional love of God today.

Joe

Which cycle will you be a part of?

Have you ever gotten in a pranking war? I remember a few years back, one of our younger staff members, thought it would be a great idea to line my office floor with dixie cups filled with water. I walked in and literally every square inch of floor space was covered. It's a perfectly annoying prank because you literally have a limited time (before the water soaks through the paper cups) to individually dump each cup and throw it away.

So what do you think happened next? Upon learning the identity of the perpetrator, some youth, on my behalf, went to strike revenge. They happened to know that the person that pranked me hated pickle juice, so not only did they cover their office in cups, but they also poured pickle juice in many of the cups as well. Once they were done, the office was filled with the putrid smell of pickles.

As fun as these little stunts were, one thing it made me think about was the fact that one prank truly leads to another. Once you start the pranking warfare it never seems to reach a point where everyone feels like it's even. Each prank always takes it up a notch and there is never any end to it.

I was talking with a friend yesterday and we were discussing how we get caught up in cycles in our relationships. Often these fights are over our definition of 'fairness.' In marriage we get in conflicts because our spouse isn't carrying their part of the 'load.' When we lash out at them, they simply lash back at us and state how we're not carrying our part of the 'load'.

I have found that the only thing that breaks this cycle is grace. Someone has to bite the bullet and begin a cycle of blessing rather than a cycle of cursing. Just as it takes one curse to start a negative cycle, it only takes one graceful blessing to start a positive cycle. The passage below out of Matthew 5 reminds me that we are supposed to be different as God's children:

38 "Here's another old saying that deserves a second look: 'Eye for eye, tooth for tooth.' 39 Is that going to get us anywhere? Here's what I propose: 'Don't hit back at all.' If someone strikes you, stand there and take it. 40 If someone drags you into court and sues for the shirt off your back, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it. 41 And if someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. 42 No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.

May you start a chain-reaction of blessing today in your workplace, school, neighborhood and home!

in Christ,

Brian

Is My Vision of God Too Small?

@matt_papa: the most important & helpful tool the worship leader carries onto the stage is not talent or skill but a terrifying staggering vision of God.

I've been a worship pastor a long time. I've worked at becoming skillful in leading worship and leading a team. I believe we should be skillful as worship leaders. Psalms 33:3 says, "Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy."

However, I hope my growth will be greatest in my knowledge of God Himself. To know God more and to make Him known.

In Isaiah 40:12 it says about God,
"Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,
or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?"

Have you been to the ocean lately? I always feel the same thing when I go to the beach. I look out and think, "Wow," that's big!!!

Have you washed your hand's lately? (I hope so, it's flu season.) Cup your hands and hold a bit of water in your palm.

Now think about God's hand holding all the ocean's water in His palm. Now that's big. (understatement)

Job 11:7-9
“Can you fathom the mysteries of God?
Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?
They are higher than the heavens above—what can you do?
They are deeper than the depths below —what can you know?
Their measure is longer than the earth
and wider than the sea.

Today may our view of God expand.
For Our God is an Awesome God!!!

Joe

Is Your Learning Outrunning Your Doing?

Yesterday, I was reading in Revelation 3 and came upon this passage from Jesus' words to the seven churches:

1 "To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you."

This passage convicts me because so many times in the church we like to consume the latest sermons, tweets, and podcasts and afterwards say, 'wow, that was challenging' or 'wow, that was really good' and we step back and admire this little nugget of truth like a work of art in a museum.

The problem with doing this is that truth is not just to be admired but it is meant to change us. I remember a friend of mine used to challenge me by saying, 'Don't just ask someone 'what are you reading in the Bible?' but rather 'How is God's Word changing you?'

So often I start something or God starts to really reveal something in my life and I stop the process. Jesus is telling us to strengthen what remains and to complete the deeds we started. Maybe it's time to just take a simple verse or a simple line from a praise song or a simple command from the Gospels and allow it to penetrate deeper in your life.

Instead of learning something new today, what about actually doing something with the knowledge we already possess. Maybe that action step is praying for a lost friend or inviting someone to church or resolving a conflict with a friend or praying with your spouse or starting something that God has been prompting your heart about, etc. I believe that an obedient action today from you and me would be worth more than learning 20 amazing new theological truths and doing nothing about them.

in Christ,

Brian

Yearning.

To preface this entry I have to mention that the young adult, "Indie", group has been reading and discussing our way through "Crazy Love", by Francis Chan. The last couple weeks have been very challenging if whatnot is to be "lukewarm" in our pursuit or Christ, how that reflects in outlives and how that is not healthy, in a growing sense. So, this weeks discussion was all about was about the battle between Intimacy and Reference for God.
But,wouldn't you know, given outlast weeks of discussing lukewarm behaviors and traits, we ended up discussing how to be more on fire for God. Specifically: What ignites your flame in your relationship wit Christ?
For me, God's love is its own lighter fluid. His love is what brings out His grace, mercy,faithfulness, but the physical occurrence that brings the brings this truth to the forefront of my mind is worship. For my,worship is largely a music based thing. I tend to find one worship song that expresses my deepest need for God and cling to that. Most recently,in an unusual turn of events, the song on my mind has been more like a challenge to me than an outpouring of emotion.
You'll Come, written Brooke Fraser, starts out saying:
I have decided, I have resolved
To wait upon You, Lord
My rock and redeemer
Shield and reward
I'll wait upon You, Lord

I'm not always the most patient of people but this song reminds me that, as I wait upon the Lord, I can strive to be.

We will sing this song this Sunday ad I hope the you will get the opportunity to sit down and listen to the words.

You'll come, let Your glory fall as You respond to us
Spirit rain,flood into our thirsty hearts again.
You'll come.
You'll come.


You'll come,
Hailey

How to find God's Will.

@RickWarren: To know God’s will, stop listening for a voice and start looking for a verse.

Psalms 119:105
Your word is a lamp to my feet
And a light to my path.

2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

So What is God's will for everyone?

John Thomas from focus on the family writes,
"Scripture makes it abundantly clear that God first and foremost wants us to know Him, to have a relationship with Him, to bring glory to Him by the way we live our lives, by how we relate to Him and others, summed up best in this Scripture passage: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself." (Matt. 22:37-39; Mark 12:29-31).

I believe if we truly desire to know God's will it will be revealed both generally and specifically. And the best place to search for God's Will truly is in God's word.

"Seek and you will find." Matthew 7:7

Joy in the journey,

Joe

A Beautiful Mess.

Sunday night was quite the chaotic scene at our house. We went outside to enjoy the beautiful weather and were riding bikes and throwing frisbees and flying our little remote control helicopters we got for Christmas. We then decided to pull out the firepit, gathered some wood, and lit a roaring blaze. Pretty soon we had some neighbors over and even some kids from the neighborhood gravitated towards the fire and hung out.

The next thing we know we are pulling out marshmallows, chocolate and Graham crackers (from aross the street) and we are cooking up some smores. While that's going on we crank on the oven to try and throw some stuff in there for dinner. We've go kids going and coming in and out of our house, using the bathroom, washing marshmallow stickiness off of their hands, etc. As the night goes on we make some hot chocolate and even bring the helicopters out for a night mission over the front yard.

Yesterday as I woke and headed towards the coffee pot, my eyes met with a scene of wreckage and junk everywhere in my kitchen. On one hand I was thinking, 'wow this is going to be quite the cleanup' but on the other hand I saw it as a beautiful mess. There is a little verse in Proverbs 14:4 that says, 'Without oxen a stable stays clean, but you need a strong ox for a large harvest.' This verse is basically saying that if you want to reap a great harvest, you are going to have to endure some messiness along the way. Oxen were the 'tractors' back in those days that greatly increased your ability to have an abundant harvest but they were messy creatures that had to be cleaned up behind and fed.

In a little bit different way, if we want to reap an abundant spiritual harvest, we need to be willing to embrace some beautiful messes in our life. Having kids, practicing hospitality, helping those in need are all messy endeavors. If we avoided all of them, we could maintain a lot cleaner life and yet that life would become hollow and empty. It's in the messiness of relationships where God shows up and we experience the 'spiritual harvests' that Jesus references in John 4 where He says, 'Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.' (John 4:35)

So, let's be people who choose the beautiful mess of relationships!

in Christ,

Brian

Sin will Always Betray you.

Mr. Snake approaches Mr. Turtle on a river bank and asks Mr. Turtle for a ride across the water since he can't swim the river himself. Mr. Turtle politely refuses to oblige, reasoning that if he were to give Mr. Snake a ride across the river, he would surely be bitten. Mr. Snake protests saying that it would be foolish for him to bite the one carrying him, since it would result in him perishing also. Mr. Turtle considers the argument, then agrees to ferry Mr. Snake over the broad river. When they are half-way across the river Mr. Turtle feels a sharp pain and realizes he has been bitten by Mr. Snake. As the venom is beginning to take effect, Mr. Turtle sadly and resolutely asks Mr. Snake why he bit him, since the biting will also result in Mr. Snake's demise. A wry smile came upon Mr. Snake's face. "I bit you because I am a snake Mr. Turtle; that is my nature."

@matt_papa: sin will always betray you. it starves your joy and feeds your boredom. look to Christ.

Romans 8:1,2
Life Through the Spirit
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.

Live in the Spirit.

Joe

Priestly Worship.

In Revelation 1:5b-6 it says 'To Him (Jesus) who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father--to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.' According to this verse whoever has trusted in Christ for salvation is now a priest. In the Old Testament, the priests were from the tribe of Levi, and their whole existence and inheritance was wrapped up in serving God.

I was studying recently about the different types of offerings that the priests helped with at the tabernacle. There was the burnt offering where the whole animal was burned and it signified dedicating your life to God. There was the grain offering where you offered the first fruits of your harvest to God out of gratitude. There was the peace offering where you sacrificed an animal and part of it was shared as food for the priests and it symbolized fellowship and peace among you and others. Lastly there was the sin offering and the guilt offering that were animal sacrifices where the shed blood of the animal paid for a sin (unintentional and intentional) that you committed.

In these offerings I saw some different pictures of worship. Just like the burnt offering, worship is about dedicating your whole life to God or offering yourself as a 'living sacrifice' as it says in Romans 12. Just like the grain offering, we worship God by giving back to Him for He is the One who has given us the talents, abilities and energy to work and make money.

Just like the peace offering, we worship God by being at peace with one another and loving the people God has placed in our path and life. Just like the sin and guilt offering, we worship God in honesty, confession and repentance and realize that sin not only affects others but it first and foremost is against God Himself.

So, in what ways do you need to worship God today? May your worship be full and meaningful and life-changing.

in Christ,

Brian

Hoarding and Chasing.

So, I have been watching Hoarding: Buried Alive and I can safely say that I'm more confident in the organization of my apartment after each episode.
In reality,though, the health, relationships, careers and lives of these individuals are all effected, shaped, by their hoarding. They collect more and more material things to satisfy themselves. Usually they have experienced some sort of trauma and are now trying to fill a need, an empty hole, inside them. But if you think about it, if this need was truly met by the items they collected that would mean at some point they would have enough. Yet they continue to search and collect.

We all have a deep need inside of us.
But, luckily, we don't have to fill it with "stuff".
God is that one thing we've been searching for consciously or as a nagging in the back of our mind. And once we have Him we are full. Full of His love, mercy, grace, salvation so we don't have to go on collecting other things!
The more I think about that,the more exciting it becomes especially since my apartment isn't all that big. Material things are ok as long we realize that they are not what we are meant to chase after and they can never satisfy us.

What are you chasing after?

Hailey

Ask God for a Glorious Burden.

We sometimes yearn for a problem free life, But that would be death by boredom. John Ortberg

Boy was this hammered home this week. I spent the last 5 days home in bed trying to kick the flu bug. After a day or two I felt better but still had fever. This meant I needed to rest and let my body throw off the infection. It was ok for awhile, there was some football and the dvr had some good shows. But after that I thought I might go crazy.

I am stating now retirement is not in my future. Give me a problem to solve, or a song to learn, or a service to plan. Then I come alive. Give me a music team to take to the urban center to serve the homeless. Let me join in on a mission team to care for the orphan.

Sure I want to break 80 more often, but that isn't the glorious burden that God is wanting for me. It is much bigger than that. How can I use my influence to bring someone to Christ or mentor someone in ministry. How can we be a part of a worshipping church that God is using through the power of the gospel to transform lives. These thoughts capture my heart and imagination.

So I think it might be said all play and no work makes Joe a dull boy.

So what is your glorious burden? Here are a few suggestions from Isaiah.

Isaiah 61:1-3
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord ’s favor
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve

Joe

Three Little Verbs.

Yesterday I was reading in Revelation 1:3 which says, 'Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things which are written in it; for the time is near.' Three simple verbs just were jumping off the page at me.....read....hear....keep.

There is a blessing available to us in the book of Revelation and in the entirety of Scripture. The blessing comes from being connected to the living God who inspired the words of this Holy book. He is ready to reveal Himself to us today. But....

We must do our part. We have to set aside time to read. Do you have planned into your schedule a time to read the Bible? If not plan it in. Do you have a reading plan? If not get on one (Get the You Version app and pick a plan).

It's not enough just to read though. It says that we have to hear. Reading is a mechanical exercise of pronouncing words, but it is worthless on its own. We have to ask God to help us hear the truth and receive it into the context of our daily life. You have to have a 'distraction-free' environment and sometimes you have to re-read a passage a few times before you really hear what you're supposed to hear.

Lastly, we have to keep the things we have heard. In other words, It still falls short if all we do is read and hear. The blessing isn't fully realized until we live out and apply to our life what we have heard. This is the 'working out' of our salvation and we get to see how God shows up at work, in our home, and in our neighborhood as we obey Him and trust Him.

So may you read, hear and keep His truth today!

in Christ,

Brian

Money & 2013.

This year, I must confess, I have waited to pay my property taxes until January. Which means it's going to be a pretty thin month. (Don't worry, we won't miss any meals.) The reason I share this is that, I also have a deadline on some ministry giving we committed to several months ago. Suffice it to say I was on the computer seeing how "creative" I could be with my spending this month and was getting a little stressed.

I could tell I was not feeling a true joy in giving. I was disappointed in myself. So I took a break. During my break, I was reading on twitter and came across this quote from John Wesley and immediately got my joy back.

He wrote, "Not, how much of my money will I give to God,
but, how much of God’s money will I keep for myself?

Once again I realized how much of God's money I am keeping for myself and my immediate family. It is a much larger percentage by far than I will be giving away in 2013. It made me once again see how generous and loving our Heavenly Father is. With this perspective my generosity both in giving and in spirit were restored.

We serve a very generous God.

Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. James 1:17

Joe

The Romans 1 Warning.

Check this out from Romans 1 (the Message paraphrase):

"21 What happened was this: People knew God perfectly well, but when they didn't treat him like God, refusing to worship him, they trivialized themselves into silliness and confusion so that there was neither sense nor direction left in their lives. 22 They pretended to know it all, but were illiterate regarding life.

23 They traded the glory of God who holds the whole world in his hands for cheap figurines you can buy at any roadside stand. 24 So God said, in effect, "If that's what you want, that's what you get." It wasn't long before they were living in a pigpen, smeared with filth, filthy inside and out.

25 And all this because they traded the true God for a fake god, and worshiped the god they made instead of the God who made them - the God we bless, the God who blesses us."

What foolishness and what waste.....to give our greatest affections, energy and talents to man-made stuff and temporary pleasures and pursuits. Let us not forget like it says in Exodus 34:14 that our God is a jealous God. Like it says in the song When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, 'Love so amazing so divine demands my soul, my life, my all.'

Am I treating God like God today? What areas of my life am I not surrendering over to Him? Am I more excited about getting more success or more stuff or more fame? Or am I most excited about getting more of Christ today?

in Christ,

Brian

A Song, A Symphony.

Today's devotional...
Oh, If only I could write you a devotional with music.
Notes, rhythms, dynamics, emotion,rubato...I might even write you a song.
I remember my piano teacher would tell me to play songs with "feeling". I didn't understand that for the longest time(years). After feigning the emotion she was seeking I finally understood what is was to put real feeling into my pieces, my work.

Now, after this holiday season and a short break from teaching piano, it is a similar lesson. I knew I enjoyed teaching my kids. If I didn't I wouldn't teach, right? They grow on me, each one as an individual.
Ashlyn is so sweet and LOVES the owl stickers. Austin is smart but stubborn. Kolby struggles but adores our time together. Shadia is reluctant but excelling now more than ever! I could go on.
Yesterday, I will admit that my mindset was somewhat, "Back to longer work days thanks to teaching", and now I'm somewhat embarrassed by that thought.
I loved it.
It had only been 3 weeks but I had no idea how much I had missed my kiddos. Even the more difficult ones. I just couldn't help but laugh at how we would be back to our usual routine and how much I loved these kids with their sweet personalities, bright minds, quirks, and difficulties.

I need to remember that every week.
Every normal week.
Every long, hard week.
Every easy, "just want to relax", week.
Every day.

Psalm94:19
When anxiety was great within me, Your consolation brought me joy.

Psalm 33:3
Sing to Him a new song, play skillfully and shout for joy.

This is the joy and inspiration from which I write to you today.

Joyfully,
Hailey

Need Some Energy For 2013?

This quote from Max Lucado knocked me out.

"We so fear failure that we create the image of perfection. The result?
The weariest people on earth. #GRACEthebook

This is what David said about denying our weakness and sin.

Psalms 32
"When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away.......
My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer."

It takes a tremendous amount of time and energy to be something we're not.
Living the Lie is a heavy burden.

David further writes,
" I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I did not hide;
I said, “ I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”;
And You forgave the guilt of my sin."

Humility and transparency are light loads

Jesus said his burden is light.
To trust our life with Christ is to admit our total dependence on Him and put no faith in the flesh.

Prayer itself is an admission that I am unable to handle all the stuff of life
and must depend on the grace of our Great God.

Humility is prerequisite for prayer.

2 Corinthians 11:30 says,
"If I have to boast, I will boast of what pertains to my weakness.

1 Corinthians 1:31 says.
“ Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Time for me to boast of my weakness and the Lord's Greatness.

Suddenly feeling Energized,

Joe

The opposite of discouragement.

This past year I and some others on our staff team took a personality inventory. When I got the results back it described me as an 'idealist'. As I thought about that I realized that is a very true description of me, as I am always thinking up ideas and dreaming about how things could be. One of my favorite things to do is to participate in a brain storming session where the goal is to generate lots of ideas.

As you can imagine, people like me go crazy when it comes to New Year's resolutions. In minutes I can generate multiple pages of all of the ways I am going to change and how this year is going to be different than the last year. As I look at the pages I am filled with hope and excitement. Unfortunately, there is this one little thing that tends to stifle all of these grandiose ideas....it's called the 'real' world. Life doesn't happen in a vacuum but happens in a world that is constantly changing and unpredictable.

So on a daily basis I feel discouragement coming at me like a tenacious pit bull wanting to suck the wind out of my sails. I enter the day with idealist expectations and through the course of interruptions, fatigue, lack of support, problems, and unforseen events my idea of how things were going to go ends up being dashed to pieces.

So what do I do? I heard a pastor recently ask the question, 'what is the opposite of discouragement?' His answer was......'determination.' This is a powerful word for me because it's a good thing to have ideas and a vision for how things could be....it's what motivates us. Determination is that powerful internal force supplied by God's Spirit that keeps us going when we've been knocked down and gives us an even greater tenacity than the pit bull of reality.

In closing, let's receive this word from 2 Corinthians 4 today that says, '8 We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed and broken. We are perplexed, but we don't give up and quit. 9 We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going.'

in Christ,

Brian

New Years's Resolutions, Will they Stick?

Thomas Chalmers on addiction recovery: "The only way to dispossess the heart of an old affection is by the expulsive power of a new one."

Nature abhors a vacuum. We are going to fill our lives with something. The void in our lives can't be left empty.

When our children were young, part of what we tried to do as parents was not just to say no or take something away from them, but we tried to give them something better or point them to a more compelling activity.

I am struck by the quote from Matt Papa that says, "we worship our way into sin, and we must worship our way out of it.''

The old affections must be replaced by a greater affection for Christ.

So let's not just stop doing stuff, or we may fall back into an even greater addictive behavior than before.

Instead let's find the momentum of God's power to renew and transform our lives,

Ephesians 3:19
and to know this love that surpasses knowledge —that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

May God's love fill the void in your life and mine in 2013

Satisfied in Him,

Joe

How to Stay Pure.

Yesterday morning I was reading in 1 John 3 the following three verses:

'1 See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God ; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.'

So how do we stay pure in a world that is enticing us into sin? How do we avoid getting pulled down paths of lust, materialism, envy, revenge, gossip, and apathy? By fixing our eyes on Jesus today. In Jesus, we see a picture of our future. God raised Him from the dead and crowned Him with a new resurrection body as God's beloved Son, who will one day come back and reign forever.

God has lavished His great love upon us as well and has legally adopted us through the blood of Jesus. We now wait the final consumation of our adoption when He will come for us and give us a new physical body that will never die, and we will live in perfect union and joy with Him forever. Right now He is preparing our new home for us and making all the final preparations.

For an adopted child, the most special day of the year for them is their 'Gotcha Day.' A 'Gotcha Day' is the day that their new parents come for them and finalize the adoption. We are still awaiting our 'Gotcha Day' when God will come for us and take us home. Fixing our hope on that incredible reality purifies us and keeps our priorities in line with what God wants rather than what the world tries to offer us.

So don't forget Who you belong to today,

Brian

New Year, New You.

The new year has begun and ‘til the season for new year’s resolutions. For some people that means committing to better financial responsibility, strengthening relationships and for even more people that means hitting up the gym. Andy Savage posed a good question on Facebook about how we make new year’s resolutions to “renew the mind toward a more hopeful and optimistic outlook”, but he went on to mention that, through Christ, we have that reason all the time. You don’t need a new year to make a change, you need Christ.

In my Jesus Calling devotional for January 1st it said, “A close walk with Me is a life of continual newness. Do not cling to old ways as you step into a new year. Instead, seek My Face with an open mind, knowing that your journey with Me involves being transformed be the renewing of your mind.”

Romans 12:2

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.



Changed through Christ,

Hailey

Dead or Alive.

i was struck by this quote from Louie Giglio as he spoke in Atlanta for the Passion 2013 Conference tonight.

He said,"Sin didn't make us bad, it made us dead.
And we won't belittle Jesus by urging you to fix that."

So often we create categories for other people and ourselves as either good or bad.

But the word of God says that we were dead in our transgressions and sins.
Ephesians 2:1

And Jesus came so that we might have life.
John 10:10b "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

Ephesians 2:4-5
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions —it is by grace you have been saved.

So this year I wouldn't just say to you or me, be good.
I would say, through the grace of God, be alive in Christ!!!

Fully Alive,

Joe

He makes all things new.

Happy New Year! Today is a day of 'newness' as an old year has gone and new year has come. Check out some of the 'new' things that God has for you as you trust in Him in a deeper way in 2013:

Psalm 40:3 NAS

He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God ; Many will see and fear And will trust in the LORD.

Isaiah 40:31 NAS

Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength ; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.

Isaiah 42:9 NAS

"Behold, the former things have come to pass, Now I declare new things ; Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you.

Isaiah 43:19 NAS

"Behold, I will do something new, Now it will spring forth ; Will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert.

Lamentations 3:22-23 NAS

22 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Ezekiel 11:19 NAS

"And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh

John 13:34 NAS

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

Ephesians 4:24 NAS

and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth

May you receive the new song, the new strength, the new things, the new ways, the new mercies, the new spirit and heart, the new way of living, and the new identity that comes from a life resting upon Jesus!

Let's dedicate this year to Him,

Brian