Doesn’t that seem like our struggle too?  We fail to grasp the promises of God because we have the wrong perspective.  God’s perspective is always positive, it is always sees victory and success, no matter the struggle.  No problem is bigger than God’s ability so His perspective sees problems and challenges as small.  Man’s perspective sees problems as larger than ourselves, overwhelming and unconquerable.

So, back to Hebrews 4, I believe the rest that he is talking about is not just what we receive after we die, but a promise for life.  The Israelites failed to enter the rest of living in the promised land, being able to have an abundance, being able to build homes, and all of the other things that come with settling in.  The rest is our ability to live in the promises of God.  What do you think life would be like if we were able to realize every promise of God in our lives?  It doesn’t mean that there will never be giants to fight, it just means that we will see them from God’s perspective and put them in their proper place.

I am reminded of one of the verses from “Standing on the Promises;”

Standing on the promises I can not fall,
Listening every moment to the Spirit’s call,
Resting in my Savior, as my all in all,
Standing on the promises of God.

Standing on the promises allows us to relax and rest knowing that God has everything under control and through His strength in our lives we can overcome ANY challenge we might face.

In verse twelve of Chapter four we see the statement, “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.“  This immediately follows all of the admonishment to seek His rest, so in that place of resting in Him and listening to His Word He is able to do surgery.  This surgery is the kind that exposes our weaknesses and removes them.  It helps to change our small human desires into HUGE Godly desires. 

Then in verses fourteen through sixteen he tells us that because Christ understands all of our weaknesses and because He has taken the punishment for our sin we are able to come boldly to throne of God and ask for the things that we need.  Because of the Sacrifice of Christ we are able to stand before the Mighty King of the universe and call him “daddy.”  Just like human fathers, I think that word melts his heart, I think he loves to hear us relating to him as Daddy instead of as an untouchable God, this is the relationship He created us for!

So, learn to rest in the knowledge that “if God is for us, who can stand against us?”  Seek the revelation found in His Word, allow that Word to do surgery, changing you into the person He created you to be, a child of the most high God that can come boldly (without fear) into the throne room of God, crawl up  into His lap and utter the words, “I love you daddy.”

Thanks to my brother Mark for helping me to remember these things!

Freedom is often misinterpreted as the ability to do anything we want to, the problem with this thinking is that we “default” to our human nature and end up doing what the “power of sin” dictates.

Sin is addiction; it gets us started small and pulls us deeper into things that we would never have dreamed of doing. A heroin addict didn’t start out thinking they would be doing such a hard drug; it usually starts with something small and progresses to something worse.

Sin may feel good, but it ALWAYS takes a toll on us. Sin came into the world to destroy our relationship with God, and its purpose is still the same. The enemy wants to draw us deeper into sin so that we will be further from God.  We often believe the lie that we need to run from God when we’ve done something wrong, when in reality He wants us to run TO Him for forgiveness. His forgiveness is always free and always available, no matter how many times we have to ask. He isn’t waiting to punish us; He’s waiting to forgive us!

Freedom from the power of sin means that we now have a freedom from the control and authority of sin that we were born into. That freedom allows us to live in a place of relationship with God that creates a desire in us to serve Him.  There was a song years back that said, “You’ve got to serve somebody.” The truth is that we never truly serve ourselves; we either serve the gods of this world or the God of the Universe. Serving ourselves is merely serving the selfish sin-nature that we were born into.

A selfish person is never truly happy, that’s because selfishness goes against the very nature of God and therefore it is sin. But when we look at “self-less” people, we see someone that is generally happy and content with life.

So in my mind the freedom that this passage is speaking of is a freedom from selfishness that gives us the ability to be selfless and serve Father-God. The lie that we often believe is that if we give up that “self-control” to Him we give up our happiness. The truth is that this freedom is the only real path to happiness. You may find some joy in sin for a while, but it will always leave you feeling empty and wanting more. True relationship with Father-God will always leave you feeling complete and content.

I know that I am not perfect, I make a lot of mistakes, but I am trying to learn to always run to Father-God and not away from Him when I make a wrong choice. I have found that I am always the most content when my relationship with Him is right.

So what is true worship?  In His encounter with the woman at the well, Jesus tells her that those that worship God must worship Him in Spirit and Truth.  What does that mean?  How does a person worship God in Spirit and truth?  The amplified bible puts the word “reality” after the word truth in this passage. 

What is reality?  Is it what we see, hear, feel, taste?  Those things are our earthly reality, but not our spiritual reality.  God is Spiritual Reality!  As I was looking at this passage I looked it up in the message version, I like the way he’s translated it:

John 4:23-24 (MSG) But the time is coming—it has, in fact, come—when what you’re called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter. "It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration."

The last line is the key here, “Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration."  Our worship needs to flow from our very core, from that person that is in love with Father-God and can’t help but adore Him.  True worship isn’t a song, but it can be expressed through a song;  true worship isn’t words, but it can be expressed in words.  True worship is anything that conveys our deepest love for Him. 

True worship is a spiritual connection with our Heavenly Father, it is the place where our relationship with Him grows.  True worship can be in studying His Word, meditating on Him, talking about Him to others, singing songs from the heart, and many other ways.  Too often we put “rules” on worship; how, where, when, none of these really matter.  True worship should be an unending flow from a heart in love with Him.  It should show up in every aspect of our lives.

We don’t worship to get, we worship to give, otherwise it’s just manipulation.  We don’t get the gifts of God because we worship Him, we receive the gifts because he loves to give them to his children.  I believe that it’s in the place of true worship where God begins to pour out those gifts.  When my kids are in relationship with me I want to give them everything I can, I don’t want to hold anything back from them.  Father-God is the same way, except that he has no limits, He can give us anything He wants to!

Psalms 91:14-16 (NLT) The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name. When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them.  I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation.”

Notice He says He will do these things for those who love Him, I think we put too much effort into pursuing the gifts of God instead of relationship with Him.  When we truly begin to worship Him, His gifts will naturally begin to be released.  Learn to Love on Him with no more expectation than spending time with Him and everything else will flow from there!

Living by faith can be quite a journey, and like any journey, there are challenges along the way.  There are days, when faced with the challenges, that it would be really easy to give in to discouragement, and trust me, I’ve had days when I let the discouragement take hold in my life and thoughts.  Somehow Father God always manages to put someone in my life to encourage me.  I’m reminded Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 7:

2 Corinthians 7:5-6 (NLT) When we arrived in Macedonia, there was no rest for us. We faced conflict from every direction, with battles on the outside and fear on the inside. But God, who encourages those who are discouraged, encouraged us by the arrival of Titus.

Notice the battles here, battles from without and from within, let me just say that it’s not the battles from without that are the most discouraging, but the battles from within.  Fear can cripple us, cause us to lose sleep, and ultimately get our eyes off of God’s plans and goals. Fear is one of the greatest tools of the enemy to stop God’s work in our lives.

Then those two words that should make us sit on the edge of our seat, “but God.”  Let me translate into my own words, “We were having a tough time, BUT GOD knew where we were and just what we needed, and he sent us the right answer at the right time.”  God has never forgotten about me!  He has never been distracted from seeing my situation, and he has never gotten tired of helping me!  He is my Father, the one who knows me best, the one who cares the most, and the one who wants to help always!  Even when I get off track, He still cares and still wants to intervene in my life and situations.

Isaiah 41:10 (NLT) Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.

God is ALWAYS with us!  He is always looking for a way to help and strengthen us. 

Psalms 121:1-2 (NKJV) I will lift up my eyes to the hills– From whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.

I need to keep my eyes on Heaven, that is the source of my help, It may come in the manner of another person, but ultimately it comes from God.  I have found in the past few months that help has most often come from unexpected sources, those that I wouldn’t have looked for.  When we get our eyes off of God and on man, we limit our ability to see His provision because we may not be looking in the right direction.

Let me conclude with a couple of definitions;

Courage: the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear; bravery.

Discourage: to deprive of courage, hope, or confidence; dishearten; dispirit. (2) To obstruct by opposition or difficulty; hinder.

Our courage should come from our relationship with our Heavenly Father, He is our source! He is the one that gives us the power to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear!

Notice the definition of discourage, doesn’t that seem like a job description for the enemy of our souls?  His goal is to deprive us of courage, hope and confidence, to get our eyes off of the source of our courage.

Please understand, I am not discouraged, and I wouldn’t go back and change anything in my life at this point, God is at work in my life and situation and He is providing all that we need!

Where do you need courage today?  Get your eyes off of the situation and on the source of your help, God!  I will lift up my eyes to the heavens, to the One Who created everything and has the ability to intervene on my behalf!

Be Encouraged Today!

2 Corinthians 5:20 (NLT)

As Christians we are representatives of Christ in this world. How are we doing at representing Him in the small things?  It’s easy to stay on track in the big things, but sometimes it’s the small things that can “taint” our witness to others.

I have a coffee shop inside a full serve Italian restaurant, sometimes that can be a little confusing to customers.  Yesterday I had two groups in at about the same time.  The first group was a group of women, they came in expecting full service, which I happily gave them even though my sign at the front door instructs customers to order at the counter.  They spent about an hour and a half, during that time I served them coffee, scones, cinnamon rolls, and took good care of them.  During my visits to the table I could tell that they were a group of “church” ladies from their conversation.

The second group was a group of men, two of them local pastors.  They have begun an inter-denominational men’s bible study on Thursday mornings.  This group knows the “coffee shop routine,” ordering at the counter, not expecting table service, even though I do wander around and refill coffee cups.

Both groups spent between 15 and 20 dollars total, and left about the same time.  When I went to clean up the tables, the ladies had left 75 cents in tips, while the men had left 5 dollars.  Now I don’t normally expect tips in the coffee shop, but I would think that the group that got the table service would have been a little more grateful.

I’m sure they had no intention of slighting me, and that’s not the way I took it, but it was a good reminder to me of how we need to be sure we represent Christ in the small things.  My oldest daughter was here at the time so it was a good chance for a life lesson for her.  Which group do you think better represented Christ?

How do we represent Christ to people around us?  Are we stingy, grumpy, ungrateful?  Or are we gracious, merciful, compassionate and loving? I’ve been told that Christians are some of the worst tippers in restaurants, that is hard for me to understand.  If I don’t have the money to leave a good tip, I don’t go in the restaurant!  Count the cost first!

Working in the coffee shop and in the restaurant has helped to open my eyes in a new way.  I pray that I am representing Christ in the best light possible, even in the small things.  I pray that everyone around me sees His grace, mercy, compassion and love in my every action, and when I know I’ve blown it, I apologize.

Let’s take time to evaluate our representation.  Let God point out those places where we have been less than fully committed to representing Him and take steps to correct that.  The bottom line of our faith is this, “love God and love people.”

It seems the last chapter was pretty short, and the one before that was quite long. I guess that’s the way it is, you never know when you will "turn the page" and find yourself at the end of a chapter. What do you do now? Do you sit back and wait for the next chapter to play out on it’s own, do you pick up life’s pen and start writing the next, or the third possibility, do you turn back and try to stay in the last chapter?

The problem with going back is you don’t go anywhere. I don’t want to be stuck reliving the same series of events over and over, I want to move forward and see where the adventure leads.  It’s no good to just let life write the next chapter, that would just be boring.  I don’t want to just float through life with no impact.

I want my life to read like an exciting journey, filled with adventure, close calls, a little drama, some humor, (hopefully no horror) and a victorious ending.  I want it to challenge others to step out and live every adventure that comes their way.

I don’t know which chapter will be the last, maybe I should be writing each as if it could be. I want to make it a captivating read, something that will keep the reader on the edge of his seat. I want to fill it with adventure and excitement, living on the edge of the unknown so that you are waiting to see what is on the next page.

Jeremiah 29:11 in God’s Word Version says, “I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord. They are plans for peace and not disaster, plans to give you a future filled with hope.”   God has a plan for every life, and every one of His plans is good!  God doesn’t plan disaster for anyone, Psalms 23:4 says that even though I walk through the valley of darkness and evil, He is there to guide me.  “Walk through” are the key words here, don’t camp out in the valley of death!  Keep moving, watch and listen for His guidance, and He’ll get you through the tough times.

As I write this our family is beginning a new chapter, we are making some adjustments and looking forward. I wouldn’t change anything that has happened in the last chapter because that has brought us to this one. We are excited about the future and the ministry that God is leading us into, I think this will be the most exciting season yet!  We aren’t leaving Carlton, we know that God has placed us here for a reason, it’s in His plan.  We have begun to attend New Horizon’s in McMinnville and we are excited to see how God is going to use us in connection with this church.

Is it time for another chapter in your life? Embrace it! Be excited about writing something new for your life, live on the edge of the unknown, take some risks! As long as you are on the Journey with God he’ll help you stay on the right track.

John 12:26 (NLT)

I was in Seattle one time with a group of men for a conference, I was one of the drivers.  We left our housing to go to the Kingdome (yes a few years back), on the way the person I was following suddenly switched from the middle lane, crossed the right lane and went up the exit ramp.  I was talking with the other guys in the van and by the time I saw what was happening it was too late to get over.  We ended up going another exit north which ended up being downtown Seattle.  It took us a while but we finally got to the conference and reconnected with our group.

I did a quick count in my NLT bible this morning, and in the Gospels Jesus uses the words “follow me” 20 times.  Sometimes in my spiritual life I think I am following and then all of the sudden I realize that He has changed course and I failed to notice.  It’s pretty easy to into a routine, put ourselves on “auto-pilot” and forget to keep an eye on His lead.  Just like on the freeway, sometimes it will take a bit of work to get ourselves back “in line” behind Him when we’ve gotten off track.

1 Corinthians 16:13 (NKJV) says, “Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.”  Notice the first word there, watch!  It is important that we keep our eyes on Him! He is always leading, but we need to take care to keep our eyes on Him.  Situations can change quickly in our lives, God may call us in a certain direction for a short season.  I don’t always understand why God chooses to do things the way He does, but it doesn’t matter whether or not I understand, I just need to purpose in my heart to follow knowing that He knows the best way.  When dealing with people, there is always free will, meaning that people have to choose how to handle the direction that God is leading.  In other words, sometimes the choices of others can affect our ability in a given situation.

That doesn’t mean that God removes his call on your life, in fact, Romans 11:29 says, “the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”  This means that God doesn’t remove his call on your life, but He may have to change the method in which He makes it come to pass.

This is why it is so important to keep our eyes on Him, if we get our eyes off of Him and on the situation we may miss His leading in a different direction.  We can come up against a wall and, knowing that it is in the way of our call, try to tear it down when God is standing off to the side trying to show us a way around it.  Other times he may be standing there holding the sledge hammer for us while we are trying to find a way around.  We must stay focused on Him so that we know His will and purpose.

I can be a pretty stubborn person sometimes, just ask my wife!  Sometime that stubbornness can serve me, but other times it can cause me to lose time and momentum.  I am doing my best to keep my eyes on Him, to know His direction.  Remember, seek FIRST the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness, THEN all you need will be provided.  Seeking means watching, looking for, and pursuing. I follow Him and He provides everything I need to accomplish what He has put in my heart.

Finally, lets be people who can truly say as Paul did, “follow me as I follow Christ.”

1 : firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values : incorruptibility
2 : an unimpaired condition : soundness
3 : the quality or state of being complete or undivided : completeness

So, integrity could be defined using the three words above, incorruptibility, soundness and completeness.  In our culture today, integrity is getting more and more difficult to find.  Psalms 15 opens with a question, “who can be in the presence of God?”  The writer then goes on to answer the question and in verse five he says, “those who swear to their own hurt and do not change.”  In other words, a person of integrity in God’s eyes is someone who keeps their word even when it costs more than they expected.

When a ship has run aground they will say, “the integrity of the hull has been compromised,” meaning that they can no longer trust this vessel to safely carry people and goods until it is repaired.  The owners would then take the ship out of commission until the repairs could be made or if it is beyond repair, it will never again be used.

Where is your integrity?  Are you the type of person who “swears to their own hurt and does not change?”  I’m amazed as I watch politicians these days who change their positions on a seemingly daily basis.  Integrity is not as important to them as political gain (yes, I’m even referring to the ones I voted for.)  We’ve seen legislators who opposed a bill change their position because money has been offered to their state or district.  Where is the integrity?

It’s not just in politics friends, its all around us.  People will compromise their own morals and ideals for personal gain, or they will “change their mind” about a commitment they have made because keeping it would be more difficult than they originally thought.

Proverbs 11:3 says, “The integrity of the upright will guide them, But the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them.”  Here is another word for those who lack integrity, unfaithful.   Integrity should be one of our guides in life, it should cause us to evaluate every situation and see that we are not compromising our own standards and morals for ease or gain.

“The perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them,” when someone compromises their own integrity too often, it eventually destroys others’ trust in them to the point that no one trusts them anymore.  This would be a position I don’t ever want to find myself in.

There are times when we will find ourselves in situations that are different then we were led to believe they would be, times when another person has failed to keep their word or follow through on a commitment to us.  If another person has failed to follow through on their word, we need to assess the situation and ask ourselves if we have an obligation to stay in the situation or not.  When a contract is broken by one side, it is broken.  It is our responsibility to make sure our own integrity remains intact, but that doesn’t mean that we have to continue on in a situation that is different than we agreed to.  I will swear to my own hurt and not change, but I can’t allow someone else’s broken word to compromise my own integrity.

Let’s commit ourselves to being people of integrity, not changing our stand even if it costs more than we originally thought.  Being a person of integrity will “buy” you more than compromise could ever achieve.  A person of integrity is known as such, and that is extremely valuable to me.

Ephesians 5:15-20 (NLT)

So, according to this scripture, we are to make the most of every opportunity and understand what God wants us to do. I believe that we are given opportunities every day to affect lives around us with the love of God. Too oft en people say that they don’t understand what the Lord wants them to do, well, really, you only need to look into scripture to see.

Verse18, the literal translation of the Greek word for “be filled” is “be being filled;”

· It is in the imperative mood, which means it is a command.

· It is in the present tense, which means it is a continuous thing, not a once for all experience.

· It is plural, which means it is for every believer.

· It is in the passive voice, which means the subject (you) is receiving the action.

o Meaning, it is not our doing, but it is done to us by the Father.

When you are in a place of “being filled” it is a constant flow, like being plugged into the power source. I use the example of a desk lamp, it has the potential to produce light, but it will only produce that light when 2 criteria are met. One, the lamp must be plugged in, and two, the switch must be activated so that the bulb will produce light. It is the same way for us, we need to be plugged into God’s power through the Holy Spirit.

You can only be continually being filled if you have some way of using what is coming in. Again, using the lamp as an example, it isn’t really using any power until you turn it on. God isn’t continually filling us for our own purposes, He is continually filling us for His purposes. We use the power of the Holy Spirit to do the will of God.

God’s will is that we reach people, but what is our motive for reaching people?

· Is it to make our church bigger?

· Is it to make ourselves look better?

· Is it because God requires us to?

· Is it because we have experienced His love, acceptance and forgiveness and we want others to do the same?

Being Christian, means being “Christ-Like,” in order to be Christ-Like, we need to understand what He was like. I believe that most of His interactions with people who were in need could be summed up with one question, “What can I do for you?”

The Love of God working in and through Him affected every interaction. I believe that even in His interactions with the established church leaders he still showed love.

Love is an action, not a feeling! I love because I choose to, not because I feel like it. Loving someone is caring for them, seeing the world and the person you are looking at through the eyes of a loving God.

1 Corinthians 13 tells us that love is the greatest gift, in fact it tells us that we could have every other gift of God, but without being based in His love, they are useless to us.

Who should be the recipients of God’s love through us?

1. Other Christians.

John 13:34-35 (NKJV) ³⁴ A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

Look at the church in the 2^nd chapter of Acts;

Acts 2:44-47 (NKJV) Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

I hear a lot of talk in the church today of wanting to be like the “Acts” church. If we truly want to be like them we need to act like them.

They interacted with each other daily. I believe part of the reason the church grew was because people saw the incredible sense of community that existed among the believers and wanted to be a part of it.

In John 13 He tells us to love one another the way He loves us. His love is sacrificial, unconditional, patient, well, just read 1 Corinthians 13. Through love we are Christ to each other. When I love you, it is the Father loving you through me, because I don’t think I would be the person I am without His influence in my life.

Love for each other creates a healthy church body. A healthy body grows naturally, I believe that we put too much emphasis on getting people in the door and not enough emphasis on just loving people.

2. Our Neighbors.

Mark 12:28-31 (NKJV) Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, "Which is the first commandment of all?"
²⁹ Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
³⁰ And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.
³¹ And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these."

Anyone around us is a neighbor. Luke 10; Jesus interacts with a young man who is asking who his neighbor is, and Jesus tells him the parable of the good Samaritan. To a Jewish person the Samaritans were dogs, they didn’t want anything to do with them. We are Christ to those around us, especially to the ones that we see as “un-lovable.”

3. Even our enemies.

Matthew 5:38-48 (NLT) “You have heard the law that says the punishment must match the injury: ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ ³⁹ But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also. ⁴⁰ If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too.
⁴¹ If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles. ⁴² Give to those who ask, and don’t turn away from those who want to borrow. ⁴³ “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. ⁴⁴ But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! ⁴⁵ In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. ⁴⁶ If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. ⁴⁷ If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. ⁴⁸ But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.

We are even Christ to our enemies. Do we recognize the work of the enemy in the lives of those that we would call our enemies? Why do we get upset when worldly people do worldly things? We aren’t called to judge people, we are called to love them!

So, if we are to love people the way Jesus did, what does that look like?

Woman caught in Adultery…

John 8:2-12 (NKJV) Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them.
³ Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, ⁴ they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act.
⁵ Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?" ⁶ This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. ⁷ So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first." ⁸ And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.
⁹ Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. ¹⁰ When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, "Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?" ¹¹ She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more."
¹² Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."

This all happened in the middle of a crowd, the Pharisees were trying to put Jesus on the spot, in public; they wanted to make Him look bad in front of the crowd. But look at how Jesus treated this woman;

· He didn’t condemn or judge.

· He didn’t lecture her on her misguided ways.

· He didn’t give her a speech.

· He didn’t ask her to repent.

· He didn’t even address the situation to the crowd after she left.

Why do we feel like we have to do all of these things? If someone is truly repentant, then they don’t need us telling them how messed up they are, they already know it!

We are the revelation of Jesus to the world around us. Our interactions should be as “Christ-like” as we can achieve, and that is only achieved in the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the reason we need to be constantly living “plugged in” to Him.

I am the church, Christ’s body in this world, I am His representative, am I representing Him correctly? Are people getting a clear picture of Jesus in me, or is the picture distorted by my own human thinking?

I want to make a difference in my world for Christ, I want people to experience the love, acceptance and forgiveness that I have received.

(This post contains a lot of thoughts spurred by two books I’ve read, “Love, Acceptance and Forgiveness,” and “The Monday Morning Church” both by Jerry Cook. I highly recommend these books, but be warned, they will challenge you.)

Anyone that’s ever taken any kind of time management class has learned the importance of prioritizing.  We’ve learned about the “tyranny of the urgent,” that if we don’t have our priorities straight we’ll be controlled by things that are pressing in around us.

As Christians, we need to learn to prioritize God’s way.  This is laid out pretty well by Jesus in Matthew chapter 6. In this chapter He talks about;

• How to pray, a structure for our communication with God.
• The importance of forgiveness.
• Being Kingdom minded, building up treasure in Heaven instead of on earth.
• Being careful about what our eyes allow into our spirits.
• That we can’t serve two masters, we can’t have one foot in the world and one foot in the Kingdom of God.

After all of this he talks about not worrying about tomorrow, that God manages to take care of all of nature around us.  If God cares that much about the things around us how much more must He care for us? 

Then comes the statement in verse 33, seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and everything you need will be provide.  In other words, if we put our priority on living in relationship with God and putting His priorities first, everything else will fall into place around us.

Righteousness, simply put, is being in right-standing with God.  We can’t work to be righteous, we receive His Righteousness by accepting the sacrifice of Jesus for the forgiveness of our sin.  It is a free gift from Him, that means that I only have to receive it and apply it to my life!  living righteously means living in right relationship with Him, making choices based on our relationship with Him.

So, when my first priority is relationship with my Heavenly Father and doing what He has called me to do, everything in my life will fall into place.  This is a principle of God, meaning that it works for everyone!

This week will be our first week of “officially” being pastors at Carlton Assembly of God, I have made this verse my New Year’s resoulution, and already we have seen God do some great things.  Just today God provided us with a bigger, nicer house (in Carlton) then the one we are moving out of, for less money than we are currently paying. He has seen the desires of our hearts and as we put His Kingdom first, He is providing us with those things.

We serve an amazing God!  I want to challenge you to make this your verse for this new year, let God transform your life!