TEAM SPORT

Good Morning!! Christanity was meant to be a team sport. Each person on the team matters,...and everyone has a role. I suppose it’s possible to play a team sport alone,...you could throw a popup into the air and stand under it and catch it. Or you could kick a football and then run after it,...but I wouldn't really call that playing the game.

Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.—Hebrews 10:25 (NIV)

There are all kinds of reasons for avoiding community worship,...but there are more and better reasons to worship together, and join our hearts, voices, gifts, and prayers as we encourage one another and share in Christian fellowship. This kind of community worship on earth is a foretaste of how saints will gather before the throne in heaven, and join with others to worship the Lord.

If you're not already a part of an active worshiping Christian community, you're not taking full advantage of your opportunities, to share your gifts and talanets.
Father in Heaven, thank you for opportunities to meet together for worship. Amen. Amen.

"Man must cease attributing his problems to his environment, and learn again to exercise his will,...his personal responsibility."
(Albert Einstein)

How Do You Solve A Problem

Good Morning!! Our natural tendency is to be more focused on what we can do to solve a problem. But I've learned that taking immediate action might make us feel useful,...but often it'll only makes things worse.

When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.—Nehemiah 1:4 (NIV)

When we go to God first, we find fresh insight and renewed strength. When we take the time to share our hearts with Him, we receive peace and assurance. Allowing God to be in charge assures us of accomplishing what He wants done, in His good time.

So many times, our conditions are the direct results of our disobedience, and unfaithfulness.
Father in Heaven, forgive us for turning to you last,...and we ask that Your Spirit help us to go to you first. This we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

"Man must cease attributing his problems to his environment, and learn again to exercise his will,...his personal responsibility."
(Albert Einstein)

Say Thank You

Good Morning!! Did you know; that every year, in the weeks prior to Christmas, the post office gets thousands of letters addressed to Santa Claus,...but that in the weeks after Christmas there is not a single letter addressed to Santa. It's like my father always said; "In a race, our petitions always outrun our gratitude."

Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?"—Luke 17:17 (NIV)

If we count our many blessings, but fail to recognize their source, then we still don’t get it. God is looking for a faith in us that will recognize the giver behind the gift. For that will be a sign that we have received the best gift of all,...Jesus Himself. "Get up and go on your way," He says to us, "your faith has made you well."

Many say "please",...but few say "thanks."


Father in Heaven, we praise and thank You, for all You have done, and all You continue to do. Please forgive us for allowing the gift to mean more to us than the Giver. And forgive our atituude of ingratitude,...Thank You God! In Jesus' name, Amen.

"We never stand so tall, as when we kneal before God ."

His Witnesses

Good Morning!! As He prepared to ascend into heaven, Jesus called the disciples to be His witnesses. Acts says that after the disciples witnessed Jesus’ ascension they were found gazing into the sky. The angels asked the obvious question: "Why do you stand looking up toward heaven?"

...But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."—Acts 1:8 (NIV)

In light of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ and the Great Commission He has called us to fulfill, we can’t afford to stand around sky-gazing. As individuals and churches, we must worship the Lord, build up the body of Christ, and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. These are the basics we must faithfully and diligently put into practice.


When we begin to understand God’s glory and what he has done for us,
...we will respond by worshiping Him.



God of mercy, mold us by your Spirit into followers and churches who upwardly praise your glorious name,...inwardly build up the body of Christ,...and outwardly testify to your saving grace. In Jesus' name, Amen.

"We never stand so tall, as when we kneal before God ."

Tears

Good Morning!! What triggers your tears? I can tear up, at the drop of at hat, when I'm watching something that has to do with hurt feelings or heart break. It can even be something I'm reading, or I can just be thinking or reminiscing about,...and suddenly a tear streaks down my cheek. I've found that if you can name what it is you’re feeling at that moment, you have some insight into what really matters to you.

As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.—Luke 19:41,42 (NIV)

Luke says Jesus wept over Jerusalem. What triggered his tears? The longing for peace, and the sense that it was not to be. One thing that makes for peace is acceptance, a perspective that helps us come to terms with life when things don’t go our way. There is a time to struggle and fight. But there is also a time to say “thy will be done.”

You can cry, because you can feel,...you can love and be loved.
Lord, we thank You for helping us to see, and show what matters most. Amen.

"We never stand so tall, as when we kneal before God ."

Pass It On

Good Morning!! If you are a Christian, it's because someone somewhere planted a seed. It may have been a parent or grandparent, that read you bible stories, taught you to say your prayers before bed. For two thousand years people have been telling other people the good news, until finally somebody told you.

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed,...'—Luke 4:18 (NIV)

There are millions who still haven’t heard, and many who once heard, but have now forgotten, and need to hear it again. I hope you’re not keeping the good news to yourself. It’s your turn: whom will you tell? Whom have you told?

You heard the Word, and was changed. Don't you want to pass that on?
Lord, help us be the witness, we were called to be. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

"We never stand so tall, as when we kneal before God ."
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Self-Assessments

Good Morning!! Self-assessments, we all do them from time to time. The question is when you perform a self-assessments, are you looking up, or down? The Pharisee considers himself a virtuous man,...but how did he arrive at his self-assessment? By looking down,...he chooses a lowly tax collector as his standard,...and of course the difference between the two men is considerable. It’s easy to look tall when you stand alongside someone short.


"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'—Luke 18:13 (NIV)

The tax collector views himself as a sinner,....and how does he arrive at his self-assessment?...by looking up. God’s searing righteousness is the standard by which he measures himself. No wonder he pleads for mercy.


Sometimes we're so busy congratulating ourselves for not being like other people, that it never occurs to us how much we’re not like Jesus, either.




Father, forgive us for thinking more of ourselves than we ought, and using anyone other than Your example as our standard. God, be merciful to us, poor sinners.
Amen.

"We never stand so tall, as when we kneal before God ."