No Temptation has Overtaken You!!!

“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭10

Tim took a few minutes to encourage the kiddos to be strong in the Lord and to lean into His promise that He will ALWAYS provide a way out when you are tempted.   Temptation is not just about big things.... like sex, drugs and alcohol.   We are faced everyday with temptations such as deciding to listen to Gods still small voice or not, sharing gossip or listening to gossip, wasting time on tv and gaming instead of spending time with real people.... these temptations will form our lives and habits.   Making wise decisions now about these temptations will set the tone for a solid foundation in Christ all the days of our lives.

Trust Him.  He is faithful. He will provide a way out.... always!!!

My Heart, His Home

I love the beautiful concept of our hearts as homes. That we would make our hearts His home. 

When we have family or friends over to our home we all usually jump in and run around cleaning up!  Scrubbing down surfaces and tucking clutter in closets so that things appear "together" and somewhat clean!  Lol 😂 

With Christ, we don't have to do that!  He doesn't want us to!  He wants us to be as we are , and just invite Him in.  

No need to scurry around trying to clean it all up and make things look perfect BEFORE He comes in ! He sees us and He is okay with entering into our chaos and living there and helping us clean up the mess. 

What a relief! 

It is a high privilege to welcome, to serve, to please and to know Him in my heart, His home. 

 

Consider it all Garbage!

 Paul is desperately trying to tell the Church "Wake up! Rejoice in the Lord ...Put your hope in the Lord.... and consider it ALL garbage, rubbage, a loss ..."

Your career

Your house

Your car

Your money

Your accomplishments 

All of this is garbage in comparison to knowing Jesus.  If you put your hope in these things they will ALWAYS disappoint and you'll find yourself exhausted. 

Put your hope in Him and rest!

*Good word from Pastor Brad Tate yesterday!!!*

 

Don't Calculate Without God

"Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He will bring it to pass."  Psalm 37:5

God seems to have a way of upsetting the things we have calculated without Him.  We get ourselves into messes and we realize we have been calculating everything without Him.  Ouch. 

One thing that keeps us from the possibility of worrying is bringing God in as the greatest factor. No wonder we are worked up when everything else has been given the same value as God when we calculate.   Love does not calculate evil, it's not ignorant of the existence of evil, but it does not take it into account as a calculating factor. 

We cannot calculate properlyand in full faith without God in His rightful place of being first and as the greatest factor NO matter what we are up against. 

LET NOT your heart be troubled .... haul yourself up and put God in the center where he belongs. calculate with HIM as the greatest factor!!!

 

Wonderfully Made !!!

We talked a bit this morning about how we were made.  When you stop to think about the intricacy of our human body and every little thing that works together it is quite amazing.  We are truly wonderfully made. 

On top of our physical anatomy add the unique character and personality of each of us and the ways in which we develop and mature based on our experiences and surroundings. We played this video this morning called "still face experiment" which displays the way we were made to need love and acceptance in order to thrive in life.  (This video was played in my class last night called "Living from the Heart Jesus Gave You." ) 

No matter what we experience in life - good, bad or ugly GOD can restore and heal and cause us to live a full life in His love.  We've seen it, we've experienced it! 

 

Celebrating that we are all wonderfully made today!!

https://youtu.be/apzXGEbZht0

 

All Things Work Together

In a world where distractions of what is truly important run deep and difference of opinions run high we celebrate an artist who has made a forever impact on our kids lives. 

Speaking truth and boldly proclaiming God's promises with a creative music presentation Lacrae does it again with his new album, All things Work Together.

Check it out: 

https://g.co/kgs/WYxise

We talked a lot this morning about our country, our faith and our responsibility to  both.  It's so easy to get caught up and worked up over so many things and yet God helped us to bring it all down to loving God and loving people.  That's what God does, he keeps it simple.  We, tend to  over complicate ! 

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself." -Matthew 22: 37-39

 

The usefulness of my Life

We read a story this morning written by Brennan Manning about a man who he spent some time with working and serving in France.  A group of them were talking about substandard wages and how their employers were never seen at church on Sunday, etc... and this man responded with a tear rolling down his check, " they don't understand."  

It immediately reminded him of what Jesus said on the cross.... " forgive them for they know not what they do."  

This same man ended up dying at 54 years old of cancer.  The last years of his life he spent working and sharing the love of Jesus daily at a local park.  When he did not show up one day, the people who looked forward to his daily visits at the park reported it and found out he had passed in his small apartment. 

In his journal by his bed - his last entry read: 

"All that is not the love of God has no meaning for me.  I can truthfully say that I have no interest in anything but the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. If God wants it to, my life will be useful through my words and witness. If he wants it too, my life will bear fruit through my prayers and sacrifices. But the usefulness of my life is his concern, not mine. It would be indecent of me to worry about that."

We are embracing the lesson for us this morning that ...we should not worry or work hard at the significance of our lives, let God use us how He will.  Let us pray for a heart settled with God on who we are and who we are not and live a life of love.