Guess what? 2025, it is here and God has been here waiting for us to arrive!

God is never caught off-guard of where we are or in what condition we find ourselves. Jeremiah 29:11 states, “For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you,” says the LORD, “plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

The context of the story surrounding Jeremiah and this message can apply to us as we may see our current situation(s) impossible and hopeless. The time period is after the Israelites had been captured and taken into Babylonian captivity under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar. The Israelites were in captivity for 70 years when Jeremiah’s message came to them. Jeremiah was part of those remaining in Jerusalem and he was sending a message to those in captivity. The ruling class of Jerusalem was unhappy with Jeremiah, and sending this message placed Jeremiah in grave danger.

Jeremiah was sending a message of hope to the captives. Jeremiah earlier in the same chapter stated (vs 5-7):

“Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters, multiply there and not decrease [in number]. Seek peace and well-being for the city where I have sent you into exile, and say to the LORD on its behalf, for in its peace (well-being) you will have peace.”

God is standing in our present with open arms declaring to us, “I’ve been waiting for you to arrive.” God has love to lavish on us because we are His children. He has gifts to offer us through that love. Just as Jeremiah told the people in exile, God has “plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope,” God today is aware of our current condition and circumstances. Our grandmothers in the driveway knew our condition and loved us just the way we were. They were still overjoyed to have us come into their presence. The question is, “Will we stay in the car?”

What does it look like to get out of “the car” and into the presence of God? The first step is admitting we have an estranged relationship with God. While many of us may have gone to church as kids, we have not walked in a close loving relationship with God our Father and Creator. Secondly, we need to ask God for forgiveness, and ask Him to come into our lives as the savior and director of our lives.

Finally, as we get out of “the car” we need to run into the arms of Jesus and begin to read our Bibles and fellowship with other believers so we can get to know the true LOVE NATURE of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

If you have additional questions of what this really means or how to begin this relationship with God, give us a call at (937) 424-1640. We’d love to talk to you about it!

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Definitions

• a coming into place, view, or being; arrival
• the coming of Christ into the world
• the period beginning four Sundays before Christmas
• second coming

Synonyms

• Arrival
• Coming
• Onset
• Appearance
• Approach
• Entrance
• Incoming

Often advent is relegated to the “religious” realm. But, we always have advent occurring in our lives. Anticipation of births, birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, graduations, retirement, and many other events.

Israel was in advent waiting for the Messiah. There was 400 years of silence. Advent implies hope or expectation or an arrival of a joyous occasion.

We are often waiting, “adventing” for some distant event or opportunity, when God wants us to advent (anticipate) His presence today. Lamentations 3:22-23 declares, “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your [God’s] faithfulness.” Do we have that daily anticipation of meeting with God in a scheduled quiet time? We anticipate seeing friends and family, why do we not have the same anticipation to meet with God?

Do we anticipate seeing God demonstrate His realness in our daily lives by a “God wink?” The times you whisper or think of a need, and the solution appears…those are God winks. The sound of laughter or a beautiful sunset is a God wink. Are we “adventing” the answers to long held prayers of healing or salvation for loved ones, or have we given up anticipating an answer?

I’d say, our daily routines distract us from anticipating good things to happen in our lives. Often the world as it is makes us callus and cynical.

The antidote is daily washing ourselves in God’s word and EXPECTING (adventing, anticipating) His fresh response. A song from my childhood that has stuck with me these many years encourages me to anticipate God’s daily presence and His move on my behalf.

Don’t let advent only come once a year before Christmas. Begin a tradition of advent for each and every day. Establish a desire and anticipation to experience the fullness of God, right here, right now, and not in some distant future that lessens our joy and hope of His present reality.

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We as Christians need to begin to see that God does not leave us hanging out to dry in an effort to test us and see if we will make wise decisions to better our lot in life. The wisest choice is to “seek God and His righteousness, and all the things we need will be added unto us” (Matthew 6:33). These “things” don’t have to be material items that can sidetrack us from the true needs within our lives.

Our true needs that might send us over the edge of despair are our needs for safety, health, and peace of mind. The Bible is FULL of encouragement to lead us to the source of hope, as well as the power to provide us with what we need.

Psalm 91 is a vivid picture of God’s provision of hope through many dangers. God rescues us from the snare of the fowler. God protects us under His wings. God fights our enemies. God provides energy for us to keep going forward. All of this provision is because of our trust and dwelling in His presence; not our own efforts.

We need to have a mind shift to trust in God, the unseen, more than we trust in the seen. So many say that is foolish. But Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:27 says, “God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world, to confound the mighty things.”

The many Bible stories and Bible verses we have learned over our lifetime, need to now be put into demonstrated power actions that reveal we have our faith in God who is our rock and fortress (Psalm 18:2), and not in the temporal things of this Earth…even though God will provide things we need…homes, jobs, transportation, food, etc. “Some trust in chariots, some in horses, but I trust in the Lord my God” (Psalm 20:7).

That kind of abandoned faith causes us to say, as the words of the song, “I Surrender All.”

Surrendering to God restores us with His authority and power living in us as “Christ the Hope of Glory” (Colossians 1:27). His power moves mountains (obstacles). His power is creative and demonstrated throughout the Bible with examples of providing out of nothing: manna, quail, and water. His power demonstrated the parting of the Red Sea and everyone crossing over on dry ground while moments later drowning Pharaoh and his army. In the New Testament, Paul was saved from death: shipwreck, beating, and snake bite. God says, “Is anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27). We say God is the same yesterday, today, and forever…therefore we should have that God kind of faith to believe He will use His power to provide us hope. Hope in His love that was so strong, He gave His only son so that we would be brought into His family to dwell (John 3:16).

As we become part of His family, we need to move away from the idea of doing life on our own efforts to the realization that “I can’t do it myself.” We MUST live only through God’s power moving in and through us. That is when we become the Kings and Priests God intended to step out in His Name to do great exploits (Daniel 11:32) to win the lost and to disciple the nations toward His Glory covering the Earth as the water covers the sea (Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 1:8, Habakkuk 2:14).

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I want to show you, from God’s Word, why we have an obligation to influence the direction of the United States of America!

First of all, we are ambassadors for Christ. The Apostle Paul tells us this in Second Corinthians 5:20. What is an ambassador and what do they do? An ambassador is a diplomatic agent of the highest rank accredited to a foreign government as the resident representative of his or her own government. What does this mean for believers in Jesus? Paul said in Philippians 3:20 that our citizenship is in Heaven. If we are ambassadors, then we have been sent from our home country Heaven, by our King Jesus, to represent His values in the land to which He sent us. As citizens of these United States, we’ve been given the right to influence who leads this nation and the direction those leaders take the nation. Luke 12:48 reminds us that to whom much is given, much is required. That verse isn’t just talking about financial resources, it includes influence as well.

So then if we as believers in Jesus Christ, living temporarily as citizens of this nation, are supposed to make a difference here for our home country Heaven, what does that look like? In Matthew 5:14 Jesus told us to be the light of the world. One verse earlier He commanded us to be the salt of the earth. In order to influence this country for our home country we, as followers of Christ, must be Salt and Light!

Salt, before the days of refrigeration was the primary means of preserving food. So, when Jesus says we are to be salt, our job is to help preserve our culture from spoiling or becoming rotten. To be the light of the world is to help dispel the darkness that keeps people wandering around lost. How are we doing? Not so good!

Don’t misunderstand, we can’t make people behave. People that don’t know Jesus, don’t have our moral compass. We should share the Gospel with everyone we can and let the Spirit of God do His work. But there are some things we can do, things that our country still allows us to do and things our Ambassadorship requires of us.

We can speak out about the darkness and rottenness in our culture. We can work to have ungodly practices and laws ended. We can work to get people elected who still believe there is a God to whom we must all give an account.

Using our freedom to vote is a minimum requirement for all believers in this free nation. We have not been called by God and left here to go along and get along. We are here in this temporary kingdom by God’s providence to make a difference for His Eternal Kingdom. So, let’s embrace our Ambassadorship this November and support those issues and candidates up and down the ballot who most closely align with Biblical principles and the priorities of our King of Kings!

Tracy Figley

CEO of Strong Tower Christian Media

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Recently, I tried to describe to my fourteen-year-old son that September morning that seemingly changed everything for those of us who were alive then. I have heard it compared to our parents and grandparents telling us what it was like to hear President Kennedy was killed, but I think for us, it was even more. We all watched it happen in real time, and thousands of people were hurt and killed. I still remember the feeling of just not being able to breathe.

When I talked to my son about the day, there just weren’t words to describe all the emotion. He’ll never know those feelings – well, I hope he will never know. But I had to try. So, we talked about the deaths and the destruction and the planning that was involved, but we also read about the heroes and the helpers and, at least for a time, the unity that resulted from such an attack on us. He should know.

But I think there’s another sense in which that day was different. We learned in elementary school that the phrase “Remember the Alamo!” was used to rally the troops in Texas and that “Remember Pearl Harbor!” motivated our grandparents and great-grandparents to make sacrifices beyond the norm. As the anniversary of 9/11 approaches each year, we are reminded to “remember” the day. Remember both the pain and the deaths but also those who tried to help and to heal. But because of the nature of the attack and now, the time that has passed, we aren’t really rallying anybody to anything, and we aren’t hating and striking at all the people and the countries from which the attackers came.

So as my son was learning, I wondered what real value there is to “Remember 9/11.” Yes, we should commemorate the sacrifices made, that day and in the years following, and the so many innocent lives taken. But I can’t help thinking that what we see from that day, so starkly and so vividly, is that this world needs Jesus. There have been other just as evil events in world history but nothing so striking in our lifetimes. 9/11 shouts that there is immense evil in the world – but not just that. It reminds us that we cannot do much of anything about it. Jesus told His disciples that we would have tribulation in this world. He said that there will be wars and rumors of wars, bitterness and lawlessness, poverty and injustice. But He also said He has overcome the world. When He returns, He will come with great power and glory, and evil and pain like 9/11 will be remembered no more.

While we cannot prevent most of the evil that happens in our world, we can help people who are suffering here without the hope that it will all someday be better. Knowing only the evil without knowing true hope is an awful burden to live with. If you know the One who promises to make our burdens light, share Him with others.

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You can see the story yourself in Genesis 37-50 to get all the details – if you do not know the story already, you will not regret reading it. It’s one of the longest and most picturesque narratives of the Bible, so I do not really even have the space here to summarize it. But I do want to tell you about a particular part of Joseph’s life. Joseph was a favorite of his dad, hated by his brothers, sold into slavery, accused of rape, a prisoner, an interpreter of dreams, a savior of his people, and leader of the known world, but when Joseph is mentioned in Hebrews 11, the chapter that records many people known and commended for their faith, this is what it says: By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones (Hebrews 11:22).

What?? Of all the things Joseph endured and accomplished, this is what the writer of Hebrews praises Joseph for? Mentioning the Israelites leaving Egypt and telling them what to do with his bones? Why does that rate being in the same category with those who conquered kingdoms or left all they knew or were beaten or killed? Joseph was abused, mistreated, forgotten, and used mightily by God, but here in Hebrews, none of that is recognized. What was it about Joseph’s words that revealed such faith?

When Joseph was about to die, he told his family that God will bring them out of Egypt and into the land that He promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and because he knew God would one day do this, Joseph wanted to be part of it and made his family swear that they would carry his bones with them to the Promised Land.

The Promised Land looked further away now than before – none of the Israelites were in the land now, and it would be over 300 more years until God sent Moses. I don’t know if by the time of Joseph’s death, the Israelites were already coming under oppression or if they were just so entrenched in Egypt that they could not get out, but it seems they couldn’t. But Joseph knew one day they would. God had promised, and Joseph believed. The last verse of Genesis says that Joseph was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt.

His faith was so strong that it was passed down from generation to generation. Moses records in the book of Exodus that he brought the bones of Joseph with him out of Egypt because Joseph had made the Israelites swear that they would. So Joseph, most likely in a King Tut-like coffin, was carried across the Red Sea, all around the wilderness for forty years, and then, finally, into the Promised Land, where, according to the very end of the book of Joshua, he was buried in the burial plot of his father, Jacob.

Joseph died before God completely fulfilled His promise – and so did Abraham, Moses, Samson, the prophets, and all the others in the chapter of faith, but Joseph had seen God’s goodness in his life and knew God will one day soon come bring all His people into the place He has promised for him and for us.

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Can you imagine what you would feel If you were in an emergency; hit “on” to your device, and the screen is BLACK? What emotion would come over you?

I had to quickly tell myself, “BE STILL, don’t panic, and pray!” Each experience caused me to do a “troubleshooting” process. What were the circumstances that occurred before each event? Was there anything that was similar between the experiences?

Daily experiences often cause me to have what I call, “God Moments.” I immediately thought about our personal spiritual lives as I thought about the loss of power and black screens to my computers. I realized we need reserves and need to stay charged up in our Christian walk. We need to have faith and simultaneously check our connection to the source and resolve any issues that might hinder our best performance. I summarized what I learned from my black screen experiences that I could apply to our spiritual life.

First, fill the tank (in some manner…plug in to the source).

“God is our refuge and strength, a tested help in times of trouble” (Psalms 46:1). Too often our first go-to is our own strength to get through our crises. We pull on our intellectual wisdom and past experience. However, our strength is not sufficient because the Bible declares God’s words, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts”(Isaiah 55:8-9).

We need to fill our tank with the WORD of God. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105). We need to praise and worship God because, “The joy of the Lord is your strength. You must not be dejected and sad!” (Nehemiah 8:10).

Make sure you have asked Jesus to be your Lord and Savior. He is the only source of power on which we can depend. Jesus died and rose from the grave to restore us to right relationship with God. Jesus promised that he would send Holy Spirit to be our comforter, teacher, and power source to guide us as “an advocate to help you and be with you forever – the Spirit of Truth” (John 14:16-17a). “We get our new life from the Spirit. So we should follow the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25).

Continue to pray and peek (check the battery, is it critical and in the red or is the battery now green?)

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). Prayer is our continued connection to God. Our prayer life should be like the set of a bird’s wings; one side prayer and the other side praise.

Counting your blessings every day is peeking at the goodness of God and the progress of His filling and providing for you. We need to remember the accomplishments of our God. What have we seen God provide for us? Do we count God’s marvelous works as unable to meet our needs for today? “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

Continue praying and keep filling from the source. Be at rest (peace) and give time without continued peeking. Go about doing the next right thing and trust God will make all things right.

We need to realize that we are leaky vessels and do not hold a never-ending charge of God’s presence. Being a Christian is a daily relationship talking to God (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit). As we input the Word of God daily, pray and praise daily, we will gain a peace that passes all understanding and keeps our hearts and minds stayed upon Him (Philippians 4:17).

Stress and worry drains the tank of energy. The Peace of God fills the tank. Holy Spirit and His nudgings of Truth through the word, prayer, and praise also helps to seal some of those cracks in our tank and improves the longevity of the fillings. But, we must NEVER forget, God walked with Adam every day in the cool of the day. God wants to do the same with us, and therefore, we can assume, God is a daily moment by moment filling God that doesn’t want us to store up for a lifetime at one filling.

Remember the first glimpse of screen light turns up our FAITH.

There are times we have been chugging along and we forget the wonders of God’s interventions and blessings in our lives. We can miss the small actions that are the beginning of the refueling of our lives because we are still focused on all the negative and lack we are experiencing.

In my own experience, I have found God doesn’t give the full end of the story’s picture. He gives small glimpses of encouragement that keeps me going, knowing that God knows where I am and what I’m experiencing. I can know that He has never failed me, and He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Our walk with God is by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). But, glimpses along the path sure do go a long way to keep us putting one foot in front of another. I heard recently, “If I can see your Face (God), I can finish the race” (Author Anonymous). God said through Jeremiah the prophet, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (29:11). We need to daily keep seeking for the glimpse of God’s power in our lives.

Trust God to be your source and stay plugged in at all costs.

It was amazing that as I have worked on this article, I’ve had to put into practice my words. I think that is a God Moment to confirm to me that I cannot write to others what I am not living. I woke up this morning with a feeling of dread. A feeling that I could compare to a “Black Screen” moment. I did not have a desire to get out of bed, I didn’t want to go to work, I wanted to hide in my house for the day. Many years ago, this was a daily experience and I had to push my way with Christ through those dark days to where I am today.

I quickly realized I was in a spiritual battle to trust God to be my power source. I needed to recharge and power up at all costs. I sat longer and was quiet before I started my morning routine. During my quiet time I was crying out to God expressing my weakness. I finally had enough energy to open my Bible and complete my normal morning devotionals. As I plugged in to my daily routine, I could sense the fog of my mind and body lifting. By the time I left for work, I was able to pray and praise God with my normal energy and taking in the sounds and sights that continue to remind me of God’s GREAT love and compassion. I could have been defeated for the day if I had not recognized that my power source was needing to be plugged in at all costs.

I cannot afford to function on a low spiritual battery. People in my sphere of influence may need me to be the spark of energy they need in their lives for that day. I pray that you will find God as your power source and that you establish a routine that keeps you charged up and running on full each and every day.

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The older I get the more I wonder, “What is God saying through nature?” I used to think it was a crazy idea that God spoke from the heavens because Disney videos portrayed the sounds from heaven as gods or imaginary characters playing 10-Pin in heaven, and I knew that wasn’t true.

God started telling us the heavens and stars were important in Genesis 1:1 when “In the beginning God created the heavens and earth.” Later in verses 3-5 God says, “Let there be light” that separated the light from the darkness and created the first day. This was not the ending of God’s creation of lights. In verses 14-19 on the fourth day God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years…And God made two great lights – the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.”

Now let’s return to Psalm 19. Verses 2-4 tell us what is occurring all around us, but because of our human nature we are so woefully unaware.

V. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.

V. 3 They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them.

V. 4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.

I ask the question again, “What is God saying all around us that we cannot currently understand?” I find myself listening to the wind blowing through the trees, listening more intently to the rumbles of thunder in the distance, and viewing the clouds, the leaves, and the change of weather with a spoken statement to the heavens, “God, what are you saying?”

In the Bible there are several references of God speaking and those in hearing thought it was thunder or didn’t understand what they experienced.

Matthew 3:13-17: At Jesus’ baptism “as soon as he was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and Jesus saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’”

John 12:27-29: Jesus was telling of his coming death and resurrection to his disciples. Jesus said, “‘Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.’ The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered, others said an angel had spoken to him.”

Matthew 27:32-56: Jesus’ crucifixion records the following nature reactions to his death. “From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli lema sabachthani?’ (which means ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’)…And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.”

Acts 9:1-7: Saul, a murderer of Christians had a conversion to Paul, becoming the anchor of God’s New Testament. Saul had a life-changing heaven encounter from God. “As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ Saul said. ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.’ he replied. The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anything.”

What is God saying to us through His nature that surrounds us today? Realize that it is possible that no one else may hear or see what God is telling you. Maybe God’s words to us may be through the reading of the Bible or an encounter with a person giving us encouragement. However, in each of the Biblical examples above, the people who encountered God’s breakthrough from Heaven to Earth were forever changed, and their change impacted the people and world around them. I encourage all of us to ask God, “What are you saying?”

The post The Heavens Declare His Glory appeared first on 93.7 The Light.

I’m realizing people at times need bite size chunks of information to entice them to God, rather than repel them by offering too much information in one sitting.

So, if I could summarize the three most important attributes of God someone should know they are:

1. God is Beyond Our Imagination

God is above all we can say or think.  That statement may bring a moment of pause. Everything passing through our human brain is finite.  A brain that has a beginning and an end to everything.  A brain that even with extreme imagination comes to a blockade.

That blockade of our mind is what keeps us from an unfettered understanding of the limitless, never-ending, immensity of God.  For a more detailed description of God’s immensity read, “How Big Is God.”

2. God is Absolutely Good

Growing up I knew God was good, but I didn’t understand He is absolutely good.  Key word is ABSOLUTELY.  I walked around waiting for God’s lightning to strike or the next bad thing to happen to punish me.  It has taken reading and searching scripture to see that God has ONLY good for those who LOVE him.  Why do we have the thought of God’s anger?  It is our FEAR that God treats us like we humans treat each other.  Remember the first attribute mentioned: God is beyond our imagination.  As humans it is hard for us to imagine only goodness when we see so much badness around us.

We have to remember badness enters the world through the free will choices of mankind.  The willful choice of humanity to ignore God’s goodness is the badness of this world, not God punishing us.

The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.  The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.

Psalm 145:8-9

I encourage you to read verses 14-21 to see the additional attributes of God’s goodness.

3.  God is Love

It is love that encapsulates the beyond imagination and goodness of God!  If we could know, that we know, that we know God loves us our world would be turned upside down.

God’s love again can’t compare to what we as humans “know” as love.  In the Greek language, depending on where you search, there are at least 8 different words (meanings) to our one English word “love”.  Let’s look at the top four most often referenced in the Bible and then identify God’s love.  This comparison will help us understand why the word love doesn’t fully grasp the depth of God’s love from human comprehension.

Eros: passionate romantic love

Philia: love of friends (brotherly)

Storge: love between family members

Agape: charitable love of mankind

God’s love surpasses anything humans can imagine or offer.  It is this Agape love that God had and demonstrated through giving His only son, Jesus as the sacrificial payment to restore us to right relationship with our Father God.  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that whoever believes in Him (Son, Jesus), they will receive eternal life” (John 3:16).  For a more detailed description of God’s rescue plan read, “The Great Exchange.”

So, if you need to share God to another person, these three attributes of God are a great place to start:  1) God is Beyond Our Imagination, 2) God is Absolutely Good, and 3) God is Love.

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Realizing this darkness is often hard for us to know because we are so engulfed in the world as we know it. However, Isaiah 60:2 describes the world as it is, “Darkness now covers the earth, and thick darkness is over the peoples.” However, God has ALWAYS determined to rescue His creation from the grips of satan and his effort to “kill, steal, and destroy” (John 10:10). The second half of verse 10 has Jesus again declaring darkness to light saying, “I have come that they (creation who believes) may have life, and have it to the full.”

Isaiah 60:1 tells of God’s speaking of light into darkness. God through the prophet Isaiah states, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.” While this is a reference to the coming Messiah, we as Christians are the body of Christ to distribute the light of God to a dark and hurting world.

The first verse of the Christmas carol “O Holy Night” describes the world at Jesus’ birth, but also mirrors the world of today.

Oh, holy night,
The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night
Of our dear Savior’s birth.
Long lay the world,
In sin and error pining,
Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks
A new and glorious morn.

The key line that jumps out to me is “till he (Jesus) appeared and the soul felt its worth.” As I said earlier, we often don’t realize that we are in a dark world without the light of God. Our hope is in our “soul” finding the light of God, not the acquisition of wealth and things.

God never leaves us in the dark. God ALWAYS introjects light into the darkness. God’s light is the good news of Jesus coming as the Savior of all Mankind. Isaiah 61:1-3 declares:

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
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
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion –
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy instead of mourning
and a garment of praise
Instead of a spirit of despair.

This is the “Good News” that God has commissioned us as His children to declare to a dark and dying world. Light penetrates through darkness. Light attracts those who want warmth and direction. Light generates hope of a breakthrough of the darkness that so enslaves us as humanity. Jesus’ light in our life is the true FREEDOM of the “soul finding its worth”. Let us take the torch of Jesus and hold the “Good News” high to draw those who are still in darkness into the light and warmth of God’s eternal plan of salvation. This is the ultimate darkness to light that God provided through His son Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

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George Bailey in It’s A Wonderful Life is a direct opposite to Ebenezer Scrooge in Dicken’s Christmas Carol.  George is the giving soul that helps all those around him, while seeing his dreams of fame and fortune slip through his fingers.  Ebenezer however, is a stingy man that acquires wealth at the expense of creating family and friend connections.

Each man is given the opportunity to see his life in a “dream” state of reflection.  George is able to see how dark and discouraging his town and family would have been if he had not been born.  His presence changed the very trajectory of most of the people in his life.  George did not see them as opportunities to give, he just was doing the loving and right thing as it presented itself.  Through multiple circumstances George begins to believe his life had been worthless and he was more valuable dead than alive, and contemplates suicide so his family can get his life insurance policy benefit.

Ebenezer on the other hand, is able to see the opportunities of love that he shunned for the acquisition of money.  He lost relationship after relationship due to the choice of money over creating intimate family and friend moments.  Ebenezer is shocked to find that no one even mourned his death.

Each man comes to the lowest point of his human existence.  Each is confronted head on to the influences that had been afforded them.  George’s awareness causes him to run with glee and embrace the hardships.  He realizes that family and friends are far more valuable than money and fame.  Ebenezer comes to the same conclusion, but by renouncing his past and stating, “I will live with the Spirit of Christmas in my heart all year long!”

Where are we in the reflection of our life’s journey?  We too often get caught up in the craziness and darkness of the world around us and forget that we have been placed in the world for such a time as this to spread the “Good News” of Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection.  There are individuals that have never heard that Jesus is God’s rescue plan over the sin and darkness we see in the world today.  Even some of our own family and friends need the message of hope that a renewed spirit within us can impart to them.

Neither George nor Ebenezer beat others over the head with their message of hope.  Their lives reflected the change.  With that change, both George and Ebenezer exude joy and gratefulness to live in the moment and not take anything for granted.

I’m thankful for this time of year.  I am able to look around and determine that I will not focus on me, but realize that this life I live is not my own, it is the life that God has given to me as a gift.  What better gift of appreciation to my Lord and Savior than to give my life back to the King of kings, Lord of lords in an effort to reflect His goodness to the dark and dying world around me. 

As we close this year and prepare for the New Year, I encourage you to take time to quietly contemplate (without a life crisis) what is your impact and contribution to the spiritual growth of yourself and those who have been placed in your sphere of influence.  You may be the ONLY light of Jesus they may ever see to influence their choices.

Certainly, the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.  Some people who have set their hearts on getting rich have wandered away from the Christian faith, and have caused themselves a lot of grief.

1 Timothy 6:10

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However, when I notice the seasons flying by I like to go back and reread Ecclesiastes.  Solomon gave us the original  “Seasons in the Sun” stating, “Whatever has happened before will happen again.  Whatever has been done before will be done again.  There is nothing new under the sun.  Can you say that anything is new?  It has already been here long before us. Nothing from the past is remembered.  Even in the future, nothing will be remembered by those who come after us” (Ecclesiastes 1:9-11).  Ecclesiastes Chapter 3 also gives more of Solomon’s musing of the cycles of time. 

When I reread Ecclesiastes I often find that people want to take Solomon’s melancholy reference of the meaninglessness of life as what God has said.  Did you ever realize that his melancholy and sadness is because of his self-centeredness and loss of focus on God?  Solomon was given the greatest gift of wisdom from God.  Along with that wisdom came the riches, came curiosity, a constant seeking, an effort that became very futile and blocked the depth and the joy of life that God had really intended.  As we go through the changes of the seasons, not only every year but even the seasons in our lives, have we missed or lost the true purpose of enjoying God?

“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

1 Corinthians 10:31

“Question: What is the chief aim of man?

Answer: Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.”

Westminster Catechism

If we are always looking at trying to find the joy of the season, the joy of the Fall (Autumn), the pumpkins, the falling leaves, and everything that Fall can bring us…the beautiful holidays, the smells of the kitchen, the desserts and the family gatherings, do we often after they’re all over feel hollow? 

I’ve made my effort over time to not be like Solomon and become disillusioned because I don’t get the same satisfaction and joy in everything I do.  Have you ever noticed that the first time you try to do anything, whether it’s to drive, whether it’s to roller skate, whether it’s to dance, or something; there’s an excitement and a newness in whatever the activity might be?  Do you notice that over time as we repeat the activity it becomes such a routine and we don’t even have to think about it?  We miss the very excitement and joy that brought us into wanting to do that activity in the first place. 

That’s why I’m encouraging all of us to make sure that our number one priority is seeking first the Kingdom of God, His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you (Matthew 6:33).  That was Solomon’s original seeking, the Kingdom and subsequently, God gave him all the other things.  However, all the things became a clutter in his mind and his life and it became a distraction that led him away from the number one priority, seeking God.  Let’s not fall into the trap and miss living in the presence of God.  Psalm 16:11 states, “You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”

Joy is from the heart, it’s not from the circumstances that are around us.  Let us press on to the mark of the High Calling (Philippians 3:14) of Him who set before us a plan, a purpose, a desire to know him (Jeremiah 29:11)…and in knowing Him he will provide all of the other things that we need and help our hearts stay focused so that we do not become bitter and disillusioned like Solomon.  The world around us is dark, very negative, very discouraging; but through Christ in us there is hope of glory (Colossians 1:27). 

Let us renew that childlike excitement as the seasons change and have an anticipation of a glorious season whether it’s this Fall that’s coming upon us or whether it is Winter, Spring, Summer, and then we start all over again.  Let’s make an effort to not get into a monotonous routine and forget what God has done for us.  Let’s not forget also that when we are in the cycles of life speeding by from childhood, to adolescence, to an adult, and to being in later stages of our life; to not be weary and become disillusioned.  God has a great plan and purpose for us no matter what season we are in, but we must seek Him first and He will provide for us all that we need because He’s such a loving father.  He loves to give good gifts to his children.  Things that we didn’t even expect or see coming, He wants to bless us abundantly above all we could ask or think.  Let’s anticipate this change of season, whatever it might be for you, as an opportunity to receive the presence and the gift of God into our lives for today.

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Within that trek for success, individuals are also looking for that perfect spouse, the perfect house, and the perfect everything to fulfill their dreams.  However, I want to distinguish the concept of purpose.  Purpose is different from career or any token of success we may gather along the way.

Purpose is an inward longing that can only be fulfilled by letting it out.  But, how do you find that purpose?  Many individuals may live a lifetime and NEVER find their purpose.  Not having a purpose can lead to a life characterized by chasing after something and everything in an effort to satisfy a deep inner emptiness.

So much of our world today is on “speed-dial” and we miss the quiet moments to reflect on who we are and for what we have been created.  During the time our world was locked and sequestered away I spent much of my time reading, writing, and praying.  I found that the more time I spent seeking God rather than seeking the purpose, my purpose became apparent.  I reflected on my journey from childhood to adulthood and the opportunities and trials that I encountered.  I spent quite a bit of time looking at the path that God had guided me through.  That reflection revealed talents and tendencies that God planted within me before the foundation of the world.

The Bible states in Jeremiah 29:11 (God speaking), “I know the plans that I have for you.  They are plans for peace and not disaster, plans to give you a future filled with hope.”

What I am learning is that God isn’t into always telling us the full plan up front.  If He did that, we wouldn’t need God.  We also might get impatient as children and ask, “Are we there yet?”  God gives us an adventure.  As we seek more of Him, He reveals more of us to ourselves.  I know that sounds weird, but God is a good God and He is a loving father.

Do you remember having the opportunity to play “Hide-n-Seek” or “Scavenger Hunt”?  Do you remember that whether you were the one hiding or the one seeking in either of those games, you were watching the faces of those with whom you were playing?  Everyone was thrilled for the unknown.

Have we ever thought about God as our Heavenly Father wanting to reveal to us our hidden treasure as we spend more and more time in His presence?  In His presence is fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11).  Our number one purpose is to “LOVE God with ALL our HEART, and lean NOT to our own understanding, and in all our ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct our path” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

The Path of God leads to purpose.  Our purpose is to become more like Jesus every day.  As we become “Christ-like” (Christians), then our purpose is to let our lives become a reflection of God Himself.  Our purpose is able to be fulfilled in whatever career we choose.  Whether we are a doctor, a lawyer, a teacher, a nurse, or a parent…our ultimate success is found in the outward expression of LOVE to the people we encounter every day.

Don’t get caught in thinking you have missed your purpose because you didn’t get the right job, finish the degree, or acquire the house with a picket fence and 2.5 kids.  Purpose is more than what you do as a profession; purpose is who you are as a person and how you “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as you love yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39).

Some of you will find that your purpose is demonstrated in acts of generosity.  Others will find your purpose in being a listening ear.  Purpose of God includes “seed planters” sharing the Good News and “harvesters” to usher in new believers to God’s Kingdom.  Purpose is more often found in the little nudges that are triggered in your heart after spending time with God.  The best way for you to really find your purpose is to ask God to reveal the purpose He had in mind for you before you were formed in your mother’s womb.  The Bible states in Psalm 139:13-16 (The Message Bible):

Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;

You formed me in my mother’s womb.

I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!

Body and soul, I am marvelously made!

I worship in adoration—what a creation!

You know me inside and out,

You know every bone in my body;

You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,

How I was sculpted from nothing into something.

Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;

All the stages of my life were spread out before you,

The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day.

The Bible tells us that when we call upon God He hears us and is faithful to answer us.  However, remember, you probably won’t get a loud thunder clap…but a still small voice.  “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7).

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Psalm 18:21 reads, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue”.  This is a parallel to Deuteronomy 30:15, 19; “Today I offer you life and prosperity or death and destruction…I call on heaven and earth as witnesses today that I have offered you life or death, blessings or curses.  Choose life so that you and your descendants will live.”

The creative power of words goes back to Genesis 1:3 when God said, “Let there be light!”  That began the precedent of speaking into existence things that are, out of things not yet seen (Hebrews 11:1-3).  What have we become accustomed to speaking without thinking?  Have we become like the song in Hee Haw, “Gloom, despair, and agony on me?” or the sayings of Job, “What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me” (Job 3:25).

We as God’s children have been given the Holy Spirit as a deposit in our souls (2 Corinthians 1:22; 5:5).  The Holy Spirit becomes our teacher and guide to grow in the grace that Jesus’ redemptive sacrifice afforded for us (The Great Exchange).

Paul tells us to throw off every weight that so easily besets (distracts) us from running the race that is set before us (Hebrews 12:1-3).  Are our words one of those weights that so easily distracts us from the life giving power of God’s Holy Words?  We go back to Psalms 18:21 and Deuteronomy 30:15, 19.  God through the Prophets have instructed that we need to choose life.  Life not only of salvation, but life of the fruit of our tongue.

Every word we speak is a seed.  What type of seeds are we planting with our speech?  Seeds of life or seeds of death.  So often we may not realize the significance and the power our words have on ourself and on others.  Sometimes we just blow it off and say, “I’m only joking.”  Have we ever considered that every word we speak becomes a seed that either God or Satan can take to bring about life or death?

God is absolutely good and provides only perfect gifts of life.  Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17). God says, “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).

Jesus tells us about Satan, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).

Jesus lived and taught many of His parables in a farming community.  He often talked about the seed or the crop.  We need to take seriously that the words we speak are creating a crop…a crop of life or a crop of death.  Don’t be discouraged if to this point the majority of your seeds have been less than life.  That is why Jesus came and bought back (redeemed) our relationship to God the Father.  That is why Holy Spirit came to be alongside us every step of the way…because in and of ourselves…we can’t make the change.

It isn’t a “mind over matter” or a “I can do better” effort.  James Chapter 3 expresses that the tongue is a fire and “is itself set on fire by hell” (James 3:6).  The only way we have a chance to plant better life crops is to turn our lives over to the care of God who loves us so much He gave His only son (Jesus), so that whoever believes in Him (Jesus) will have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Begin planting seeds of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23) and watch and wait expectantly like the farmers for a yet unseen crop to come to harvest as long as they (we) don’t get weary in well doing and not faint in their (our) planting and watering (Galatians 6:9).  Water those life giving word seeds with the scripture, “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing and acceptable unto you O LORD, my rock and my redeemer” (Psalm 19:14).

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Clouds actually benefit the daily cycle of life.  Clouds protect from the burning rays of the sun.  Clouds are like a blanket and trap in the warmth of the sun.  Clouds hold moisture to eventually pour out over the earth to refresh and bring life. Clouds also are used as weather forecasting tools.

When we experience emotional, physical, or spiritual clouds, do we look at the benefits, or only see the dark clouds as ominous and foreboding?  What we need to remember is that behind those clouds, the sun (SON) is still shining.

Jesus said,

“I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

John 8:12

Jesus living in us gives us the rays of light that pierce through the darkness of our eyesight.  We as humanity are so tied to what we see.  Dependence on Jesus is a walk of faith.  The faith walk is a journey that begins with asking Jesus to take you out of the darkness and bring you into the light.

Many people may not realize or want to admit they are living in darkness. 

Isaiah explains,

“See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you.”

Isaiah 60:2

Our daily walk is to believe that Jesus, God’s Son, came to earth, lived a sinless life, died on the cross, rose again, and lives today ALWAYS praying for us to see the LIGHT OF LIFE he provided.

I’d like to share the words of that childhood song I mentioned earlier.  First, the title of the song is “I Found the Answer” as sung by Mahalia Jackson.  The line actually reads, “the sun is shining for me (not on me) each day.”  This song can help you and me remember that JESUS, the SON is ALWAYS SHINING, and He is the ANSWER.

I found the answer, I learned to pray
With faith to guide me, I’ve found the way
The sun is shining for me each day
I found the answer, and I learned to pray.

I was weak and weary, I had gone astray
Walking in the darkness, I could not find the way
But then a light came shining to lead me from despair
All my sins forgiven, and I was free from care.

Keep your Bible with you, read it every day
Always count your blessings, always stop and pray
Learn to keep on believing and faith will see you through
Seek to know contentment, and it will come to you.

I found the answer, I learned to pray
With faith to guide me, I’ve found the way
The sun is shining for me each day, yes
I found the answer, and I learned to pray.

Mahalia Jackson

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Why do we care?

Why do we care so much? It is estimated that Americans will bet about $15.5 billion on this year’s NCAA tournament (right there is your madness). We care with our money. And we care with our time. Many of us will be checking scores during the day and staying up late watching games at night. None of us have a chance of actually participating in these games. It’s been a long time since most of us were twenty. Or tall. Or athletic…. So what gets us so involved?

Unity

I’m sure there are many reasons, but let’s talk about two. I think one reason is that we feel involved. We feel like we are a part of the games, and we feel like we are participating with other fans even if it is only through the television or our phone. Remember how dreary it was to watch the Olympics during Covid with no fans in the stands? A sense of unity and togetherness is important for us not just for how we feel, but for how much we care about something. If this were a March Madness devotional, I might mention here that perhaps the Bible, in telling the body of Christ to work together in unity, is on to something.

Hope

A second reason we care so much is because of the power of hope. We know how strong hope is. We hope for all kinds of things. A better job, better health, better relationships. And at this time of the year, we hold out hope that the other team will lose and our team will win, even if we are a fifteen-point underdog. And if not this year, then next. We long for, we hope for, something that sometime might happen. I understand there are still Cleveland Browns fans.

But because many of you will be disappointed again this year when your team doesn’t win, I want to leave you with a bit of real hope. The Bible speaks of a sure hope, a real hope based not on something that might happen, but something that did happen. Jesus Christ has already made it possible, by His death and resurrection, for us to know and have a relationship with God, to have our sins forgiven, and to spend eternity with Him.

If your team wins this year, celebrate and enjoy the happiness that brings, but even more, remember to rejoice in the victory won by Jesus for you.

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1. To give something to someone and receive something in return.
2. A marketplace where financial securities are bought and sold.
3. A conversation or discussion between two or more people.
4. A point where passengers, cargo, or vehicles change from one form of transportation to another.

You have probably experienced each form of exchange listed.  Can you imagine what the number of exchanges is per day worldwide?  I asked the app to tell me.  It replied that based upon the four listed definitions, it could be billions or trillions.

The Great Biblical Exchanges

Did you know Biblically there have been only two great exchanges?

• The first exchange was when Adam traded the Glory of God as his covering and inheritance.
• The second exchange was Jesus redeeming and buying back the covering of God’s Glory and the inheritance God intended for His children.

Every account within the Bible demonstrates God’s interaction with humanity as individuals and as nations.  The Bible proclaims God’s communication in an effort to showcase how Adam’s and Jesus’ choices affect humanity’s lives today.

Many people live day to day without awareness they are living in a spiritual realm governed by God. This spiritual realm is governed by the choices we make regarding our belief or not in God.  Our day-to-day living is a constant marketplace of whether we receive or deny the gift of Jesus’ redemption to buy back our inheritance.  The destination of one’s soul and spirit after the physical body dies is a transition to either Heaven or Hell. This is an example of the transportation of exchange.

What Are the Great Exchanges?

If you are like most stock traders, they never make an exchange without researching the commodity in which they are interested.  Here is a brief overview of the GREAT EXCHANGE that governs the lives of humanity.

Adam and Eve

• Made in God’s Image

“So God made man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

Genesis 1:27

“This is the book of the generations of Adam.  When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God.”

Genesis 5:1

• Communicated With God

Genesis Chapter 2 and Chapter 3

• Administered God’s Authority (Inheritance)

“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”

Genesis 1:28

• Forfeited Inheritance

“The ground is cursed because of you.  Through hard work you will eat food that comes from it every day of your life.  So God sent the man out of the Garden of Eden to farm the ground from which the man had been formed.”

Genesis 3:17, 23

GOD TO THE RESCUE

• We are His Children

“Know that the LORD is God.  It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.”

Psalm 100:3

• This is My Father’s World

“The earth is the LORD’s and all that is in it.”

Psalm 24:1

• Plans to Provide for Your Future

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Jeremiah 29:11

• Knew You Before Your Birth

(King David speaking of God) “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb….Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

Psalm 139:13-16

Jesus and the Cross

• Significance of ATONEMENT (EXCHANGE)

Definition of Atonement: Noun – Satisfaction or reparation for a wrong or injury; amends.

• Jesus the PERFECT SACRIFICE (EXCHANGE)

“God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood – to be received by faith…”

Romans 3:25a

“For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.”

Romans 5:19

What is Our Response?

Not making a choice is choosing to remain in the separated state from God that was initiated by the transaction of Adam and Eve.

God knew His love would be spurned even before time began.  But, He provided the exchange to align His children with the Glory and inheritance He planned from the beginning.  A choice to believe that God has loved us since before time began is the BEST choice we could make.

When we choose to believe in Jesus’ transaction of redemption, we also now choose to allow our lives to be transformed into His image and reflection of His character here on Earth.  We become part of the Great Exchange and tell others of the unimaginable, but free LOVE gift of being brought into the family of God.

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“Most mornings I recite the Lord’s Prayer. I’m not worth much for the new day until I’ve grounded myself in those words.” Our Daily Bread 

If we think about it just for a minute, of all the ways Jesus could have taught His disciples to begin their prayers, He chose those very words: “Our Father” (that’s Matthew 6.9) as a starting point. That’s where we go every day. Was that random? No! Jesus was never less than intentional with every single word. We all have different relationships with our earthly fathers. Some good, some far less than that. However, praying in that way, we should not be addressing my father or your father, but our Father. The One who sees us, the One who hears us, and who knows what we need before we even ask Him. What an amazing reassurance, especially on those days when we might feel forgotten, alone, abandoned, or just simply not worth much. Remember, regardless of where we are, and what time of the day or night it may be, our Father in Heaven is always near. 

I shared this story before, that when my mother passed on to glory I was so distraught. I came home in this place of going, “Lord, I know You’re there, and I know You’re good, and I’ve served You for such a long time, but I don’t know what to do with all this.” I heard Him clearly say, “Do you trust me?” At that point, I had to start saying, “Father, thy will be done. Lord, Father, whatever Your will is.” So, we learn every moment we’ve been given another day to acknowledge Him as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and to pause and begin by saying, “Our Father…” It makes such a difference in our lives. And to remember today that the Creator of the universe knows you, loves you, and has a plan for you. You are individually loved by Him, all the way from here to eternity when You are His. 

Prayer

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’

For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Matthew 6.5-15 NIV

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Psalm 1.1-3 NIV

“Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.”

Help us to remember that You are our provider. You take care of Your children and we have no need to worry. When we start to feel anxious or try to take things into our own hands, we can turn back to You and put our trust in You. We can put our troubles in Your hands and rest. 

Matthew 6.25-27 NIV

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”

Remind us of your love and care every day, even as the world around us feels increasingly inhospitable and cold. Show us how to love others as ourselves and be the hands and feet of Jesus to a world who desperately needs it. 

St. Teresa of Ávila

“Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which to look out Christ’s compassion to the world. Yours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good; Yours are the hands with which he is to bless men now.”

Lord, please draw close and help us to draw close to You. Renew us, and make this a spring season in our lives. Revive the cold and dead parts of our faith and open our eyes to all You are doing in the Earth. Show us the parts You have given us to play and the works You have given us to do. May You be given all the glory and all the honor and all the praise. Amen. 

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“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”

Philippians 4.8 NLT

Don’t Believe the Lies 

“It’s no secret that many of us are weighed down right now by chronic fears or worries- negative thoughts that can run away with you at night and you spiral. Anxious and toxic thinking. We even believe the lies of our enemy, Lucifer. ‘You’re not good enough. You’ll never change. You’ll never measure up.’ Flat out falsehoods that the devil designed to hold you hostage and keep you from the freedom and power that’s your birthright as a son or daughter of God. What we’ve discovered is that most of life’s battles are won or lost in your mind. Your mind is a battlefield. As a Christian, you have a choice: you can believe Satan’s lies to you, or you can believe God’s truth about you.” ~Tim Lucas

Talk Back

“The enemy always has some sort of tool or memory or situation he uses to terrify you, even though the good times are there. The dream is there, the blessing is there, and the goodness is there. There’s always this haunting, nagging defiance that says, ‘don’t you relax. You’re not worth it. You don’t deserve it and it’s not going to last. Everything else went away…maybe this will go away too.’ We talk about faith for bad times, but you also need faith in good times to actually believe the goodness of God is not going anywhere. To silence the voices that keep saying you’ll never make it- you’re about to lose everything. Fear gets in your heart. You can change your outcome, but you have to stop talking to yourself the way you do. If you continue to talk to yourself the way you do, you’ll always be where you’ve always been. It is what you say within yourself that heals you. You see, those voices that say what you can’t do, what you can’t have, what you can’t be, what’s not going to last, what’s not going to work, is how the enemy pulverizes the promises of God in your life. Talk back to those voices- shut the enemy down. The pressure I was going though was coming from the things I allowed to reverberate through my head. I was wondering if there are things echoing in your head right now that are stopping you from living your best life because you will not silence them by speaking back.” ~T.D. Jakes

You Are in Control of Your Thoughts

“Many times the problems we think we have with our lives are actually problems with our thoughts. Proverbs 4.23 says you’ve got to carefully guard your thoughts because they are the source of true life. You are the narrator of your life. So we have to fix our thoughts. Jesus wants to change your pattern of thinking and give you a new pattern. That’s why Romans 12.2 says, ‘do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind then you will learn to know God’s will for you which is good and pleasing and perfect.’ So it’s about the pattern: if you think negative thoughts, you’ll become a negative person. You will likely find whatever you fix your focus on. If you decide to look for what’s good in life, you’ll find the good. If you decide to always look for the bad in any given situation, you’ll find the bad. If you don’t decide in advance to fill your brain with Godly, positive thoughts, your human nature will be more than happy to revert to its default setting, which is looking for what’s negative. 2 Corinthians 10.5 says, ‘We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.’ Listen, your thoughts are not in control of you. You are in control of your thoughts.” ~Ryan Visconti

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