Month: June 2018

Who is God to You?

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In Old Testament times the nation of Israel had the privilege of being the exclusive nation of God. The temple, the priesthood, the ark and the law all belonged to them. But the kings and priests forgot that His blessing was connected to His rule in their hearts.

When Jesus came He found a beautiful temple in a nation that had forgotten God. He came to build a new nation. But His nation is not a geographical place. The nation of God is built on a single foundation. That nation is the place where Jesus rules hearts, words and actions. That is the only place where the blessings and glory of God is found!

So that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:10‭-‬11 ESV

Working Alone

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“I work alone!” Mr. Incredible

This Summer we can hardly wait to see The Incredibles 2. Okay so we’re grandparents but hey we’ve watched every kid movie for the last 16 years thanks to our 7 grandchildren!

In the first movie a young man named Bob also known as Mr Incredible proudly tells his young fan Buddy to get lost. Mr Incredible is in a hurry and has no time to slow down. He’s sure his abilities will be enough to save the day…alone. Later on in the story after he is imprisoned he learns he is not so invincible. He wonderfully discovers that his greatest strength is his family and not his super powers.

In our mission to serve Jesus some of us (or is it only me?) have acted a bit like Bob. We start out feeling super but when we fall into difficulties or temptation we find we are not so strong after all. That is when Jesus” promise to be with us takes on a deeper meaning. He hasn’t promised just to follow us around in case we get in trouble. Jesus has called us on mission to share His teachings with everyone, everywhere, every day. That’s an incredible and impossible job unless we realize that we have all the resources of the universe by our side. The incredible Savior who walked on waves is not just commanding us to go. He is inviting us to dare to walk out on the waters with Him!

Just Passing Through

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Coming home from work I used to pass through a notch in the hills called sugar hollow. The interesting thing about that place was that in late afternoon it lay at just the exact angle to block out most of the sun when it was low on the horizon. You would drive out of bright sunshine into a sort of twilight for a few miles. You never knew you were through the hollow until the shadows lifted and the sun came out again.

That passing through may be what you are experiencing today. Maybe everything seemed pretty normal in your life till unexpectedly the boss called you into the office or the doctor called about those test results. The bright sunshine of your day in a moment changed to a shadowy path. If you are at all like me it feels at those moments that even the most familiar of landmarks seem strangely different in darkness. That is the time to remind ourselves to hang on and keep going. We do not need to panic. Jesus has both called us to the other side and has promised to be with us as we pass through. Whatever deep river, hot fire or dark valley that lies ahead is only temporary. Soon the road He has chosen will lead us into the sunshine and all the way home!

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