Words and Flaws

One of my personality FLAWS is I take criticism personally. Being in ministry means you will be criticized and there isn't any way around it.  I’ll go one step further being married means you are going to be criticized. Having teenagers, neighbors, friends, family, I think you get the point.  Not everyone is going to agree with you and that is alright.  As I write this I realize my choice of words is reflecting my flaw.  Just because someone disagrees with you doesn't mean its criticism!  Maybe they are just trying to help you, what is their intent?  Most people I know have good intentions and truly don’t want to cause harm, but truly want to help you.    

I have two thoughts, first is thankfulness. God is forever working on me to be better. He loves me and wants me to be more like him in every way and thus he uses other people to help shape me. The second is grace. God extended me grace, even when I am stubbornly defiant. He has done this in the past and continues to extend me grace to guide me along, to learn to trust him.

The question for us all then is how are you going to handle the person who takes what you said wrong and runs with in directions you never thought of or intended? Do you lash out at them, or do you try to love on them and extend them grace? Do you say I'm sorry or do you take a stand?

Proverbs 15:1-2 says, "A gentle answer turns away anger, but a harsh word stirs up wrath. The tongue of the wise makes knowledge attractive, but the mouth of fools blurts out foolishness."  How we respond matters.  What we say at the moment we read or hear something reflects our hearts.  Jesus said in Matthew 12:34b “For the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.  When I read this Proverb I see the heart of the person.  The heart that loves God and loves others is the one who answers gently and who answers not to prove a point or to win the argument for argument sake, but wants the other person to grow in knowledge of truth. Plus I want to stay humble to know there may be a lesson for me to learn from the other person!  

The heart that is centered on self throws out the harsh words and is quick to criticize for the sake of being right.  In the process that person ends up being the fool.  Sadly, I know this not by observation but by experience, for I have played the fool far too many times in my life and in ministry. 

Paul said in Ephesians 4:29, “No foul language is to come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear.  “No foul language”, looks like this in Greek πᾶς λόγος σαπρὸς, and literally means (no word rotten) Paul is using the word σαπρὸς (sapros), which means something that is in decay or unpleasant.  The word is meaning something has died and is rotten.  So the question to ask in light of this is, are your words killing or are they giving life?  Are you building up or are you “killing” something with your words. 

I am trying to be less the fool and more like the wise man. I love the people God has placed in my life. From my wife, my sons and family to my extended family in the church and everywhere else. And I am thankful he uses every one of them to help me grow, especially those closest to me.  I want my words to give life to others, to build them up and to help them grow in Christ. 

You should ask yourself a question before you say something, Are my words going build the other person up or kill something.  Something to think about.  

Knowing the Will of God

As a pastor I get asked a lot of questions about “God’s will” in life.  People want to know if what they are doing is in God’s will.  It could be in relationships, in their jobs, buying a big ticket item, giving in the church, and the list goes on and on.  I know there are time in my life that I have struggled to find God’s direction.  There are those moments when you are unsure of what is next, where do I go from here type thoughts.  I have asked God to give me a sign and when I say sign I mean “a sign” as one right outside my window that tells me exactly what to do. I can assure you though I have asked for such things I have never received them.  So, the question comes back to “how I can know the will of God in my life?”  There are certain bible verse that come to mind when I think about this and the main one for me is Romans 12:1-2

“Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.”

Paul in answering this question to the Romans urges the members to start by offer themselves wholly to God.  Which means if I want to know the will of God it starts by knowing God, getting close to God. A good way to get to know someone is to go on a walk with them.  In Paul’s time walking was the way people got around.  If you wanted to go visit somewhere you walked and if you took someone with you really got to know them.  To know the will of God we need to walk with God.  We need to go a distance with Him in prayer and reading scripture.  By walking with God we start to follow what you learn in his word, we become doers of the word as James tells us. This can only be done by walking with God, a quick hour visit on Sunday mornings is not enough.  We have to spend time each day.   

As you start to live out the scriptures—God starts to change you from the inside out.  He starts to slowly change your desires.  Things that use to matter begin to slowly fade into the background and your priorities start to rearrange.  As you walk closer and closer to God something else will start to emerge in your life.  You will start to know God’s will because God’s will, will become your will.  God doesn't want you wandering through this life aimlessly, but he wants you to be purposeful in what you do.  And it starts with a closer walk with Him.  I want to encourage you this month to take time with God, walk with Him in bible reading, prayer, and serving one another.  Live the way God wants you to live and I promise you will learn the will of God for your life and it will be good, pleasing and perfect—just like God.  

-PS  

Live as an Ambassador

“Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that in a case where they speak against you as those who do what is evil, they will, by observing your good works, glorify God on the day of visitation.”  (1 Peter 2:12 HCSB)

Peter’s letter to suffering Christian’s is one of my favorite in the bible. In it we hear the now wise Apostle Peter urging believers to hold fast to the faith and to glorify God with their lives.  He reminds them they are strangers in this land.  He reminds them there will come a day when Christ will return and we are to look forward to that day.  He also gives them strong words to live by to protect from the world around them.  The Roman world was an evil place.  From the top down everywhere a Christian went they would face the challenge of not compromising their beliefs. 

Peter doesn’t tell to blend in and become like the Romans.  And he doesn’t tell them to draw attention to themselves and bad mouth the government.  In those times that could get one killed, but he tells them to live honorably.  He encourages them to live in such a way they will have to glorify God.  In others words when they compare their lives to yours they will have to acknowledge God and give him praise! 

Today we live in an ever changing world and it is difficult to see some of these changes.  The world around us is becoming increasingly “ungodly” in that many live their lives without even acknowledging God exists at all.  This reflects in all levels of society and we have to pass more and more laws to govern the masses.  It’s easy to become discouraged in this as a follower of Christ.  But we have to remember this is the world Christ died for and he has placed us here now, in this time for the purpose of displaying Christ to this generation.

I recently read a post form a pastor I know and he said, “God is all powerful, all knowing and ever present.  Live like a person convinced of this truth.”  I think we lose sight of who we are and what we are here for.  I think we lose sight of the God we serve.  We are not here to uphold a nation or a politician we are here as representatives of the King of kings, we are ambassadors to an eternal kingdom.  We need to start living in light of this truth and represent our King honorably.  We need to live to bring glory to Him and our future home.    By "living kingdom minded" we can be used by God to show his love towards those who don’t know him.  Live your life in such a way that when the people in your life examine your life (and they will) they will want what you have.  They will want the fruit of peace, love, kindness, self-control, patience and joy that is displayed in your life.   The time is short and when Christ returns let us not be found living like the people around us, but let us be found living for Christ and his glory.             

~PS

I Ask You?

I have been reading through Jeremiah and Ezekiel now for a few weeks.  It has troubled me greatly.  And I know you cannot connect America, the Church with Israel and the Jewish people.  But God’s character is clearly displayed.  He hands the people over to their desires. God hands the people over to lust for sex, money, material things, greed and to the oppressing of the poor.  He hands them over to their idols and the killing of their children to those same false gods.  He then judges them and he pours out his anger on them for one purpose…to make his name known.  In the midst of destruction people turn to God and pray for his mercy.  He is their only hope from themselves.  

People say they don’t want this kind of God, they shake their fist in his face and curse his name.  He then turns them over to the desire of their hearts.  They plunge themselves into the depths of their sin without restraint, whatever their hearts desire they do.  They engage in sexual sin at the expense of thousands lured by the possibility of easy money, in turn they use the innocent to inflame the lust of the people who enslave millions of young children and young adults to further satisfy their desires.  They abort the millions whose voice cannot be heard in the name of freedom of their genital and exchange the truth for a lie and natural relations for unnatural.  

Their quest for lust of things cannot be satisfied, they sacrifice their futures and the futures of their children for the satisfaction of the now.  God hands them over to the desires of their stomachs and thus we create an entirely new line of medical problems never seen before in the history of man.  GURD, diabetes, hypertension, knee and hip replacement to hold the weight, cancers and on and on the list goes.  

God Hands us over to the technology and toys which enslaves us to mindless entertainment and endless distraction around us.  On the other side millions are enslaved who toil in mines of needed metals to eke out an existence for the promise of a better life, while other grows fat by their labor.  Factories workers work 16 hour days in city factories to produce the next fruit phone or big screen television.  In this pursuit of self-desires we sacrifice our children and abandon them to the machines of mindless games, fatherless refuges, which grow up strong in youth without moral restraint and the character needed to control their anger and rage…and cannot understand why one would walk into a classroom and shoot children dead.  We'll give up freedoms in return —with the hopes of controlling their broken and sick hearts with words written on pages of books for lawyers and judges. 

This is just a little piece of what’s going on and how long will a just God sit back and let this happen before he steps in.  I ask you.             

Why Church??

"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:23-25 ESV)

  I was awakened early in the morning thinking about the church and this verse was set upon my heart.  I have seen the trend in America concerning the church.  I have attended churches that turn all the lights down low and make the room very dark.  The music is loud and when the pastor speaks the only light in the room is focused on him.  What this does is focus everything on the individual sitting watching and for a moment, everything is all about them.  Understand me when I say this, I am not knocking those pastors or churches.  These churches are just giving the people what they want.  The pastors know it and are trying to reach people for Christ, using the culture.  It’s reflective of our narcissistic society.

But what if I told you it’s not Biblical?  What if I told you church service had nothing to do about you directly, but it was about Christ and the person sitting in the seat next to you?  One of the things I absolutely love about scripture it how relative it is to us today.  Something written thousands of years ago can still apply to us in 2013.  The reason this is true is because the human heart hasn’t changed, we still act the same way regardless of our setting. The human on the stage never changes, just the settings around him changes from scene to scene.  

The writer of Hebrews was faced with a problem, members of churches were falling away from the faith and he reminds them “why church” is important.  He reminds us to “hold fast” to the confession of our hope, that is Christ.  Christ is the living hope and we are to hang onto Him as if our lives depended on it.  Think about a ship on the sea and you are on the deck, and the ship is being tossed about by the waves.  In the middle of the deck is a large mast.  As the waves increase and you are being tossed around, you grab hold of the mast and you hang on for dear life, because if you don’t you will perish over the side.  We want to hold fast to Christ as the waves around us grow in fury, because we know God is faithful.    

Next the writer says, “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another.”  Here is the thought here, we are to gather together regularly, we are to hold fast to Christ and encourage others around us to do the same.  The way we hold fast is by focusing ourselves on Christ and loving one another and loving others.  In fact the writer uses the phrase “to stir up” and the reality is—we are moved by the love of others.  We are motivated by the encouragement of others going through the same thing we are.  

I recently attended a band concert at the local middle school.  It seemed like most of the town was packed into the gym that night.  My family and I had to stand off to the side.  This was my youngest son’s first concert and he plays the trumpet.  Joe has gotten up early for months to practice before school and his band teacher Mr. Achilles has also sacrificed to teach him.  It would have been a great disservice to my son Joe and Mr. Achilles not to attend, why?  Because as a father I want to encourage my son to continue working at learning an instrument, because I know how this will benefit him for the rest of his life.  Secondly, I want to encourage Mr. Achilles and to thank him for his dedication and service to our community.  I can do both simply by attending, being their physically to show my support.  Having the large crowd stirred my son and he was excited to play in front of so many people.  Not because he is a glory hound, but because he had worked hard and wanted to share with others what he had learned.  By attending we stirred Joe up to continue to get up early and to practice…to continue to discipline himself to get better.

As we attend church or gather together for fellowship with one another we encourage each other, we stir up each other to love.  From the time we arrive to the time we leave it’s about encouraging each other to hold fast.  This love displayed carries us and fills our hearts.  We take it with us and it spills over onto everyone around us.  The fact is we cannot live out our faith without the love and encouragement of others.  We can try for a time, but eventually we will fade away and be tossed over the side.  This is especially true when the waves of life grow more violent.  

I have seen so many people struggle in the faith and when this struggle begins the person begins to “unplug”.  They stopped reading the bible, their prayer life dries up and they stop attending church.  Once this happens it’s just a matter of time before they are tossed off the ship and will need to be rescued if they can be found.  The way we avoid being lost in the sea of discouragement and sin, is we hold fast to Christ and encourage others to do the same.  This can simply be done by just showing up.  By you being there, the person next to you or across the room will see you and be encouraged by your presence.  From here things start to happen, you will encourage and start to love each other.  You will miss seeing someone and you will call them and pray for them when they are not there.  You will stir up the hearts around you and when the storms of life hit, to will cling to the mast of Christ and you will hang on together.  

Church is not about you it’s about the person next to you.  With that thought in your mind, remember there is a person next to you who is there for you, you are not alone.  By giving of yourself for others, you receive much more in return.  Let’s commit to church and fellowship in 2013!       

~Pastor Steve            

Big God

"In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, and His robe filled the temple. Seraphim were standing above Him; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another: Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts; His glory fills the whole earth. The foundations of the doorways shook at the sound of their voices, and the temple was filled with smoke."
(Isaiah 6:1-4 HCSB)

The prophet Isaiah had a life changing encounter with a holy God.  He sees in a vision God in his temple.  The imagery used by Isaiah is awe inspiring, the Lord's robe flowing from the throne fills the sanctuary.  God is high and lifted up and the massive angels called Seraphim are crying out while circling above the throne, holy, holy holy is the LORD of Hosts.  Their voices shake the foundation of the temple.  This picture tells us something of the nature of God that is very important for us to know.  God is big, I mean BIG.

Why is it important for us to understand how big God is?  Firstly just trying to understand the size of God, makes us seem very small!  Humility is the first step to knowing God.  Humility, brings us to our knees and causes us to cry out for help.  Humility allows us to say, "Lord forgive me", Lord help me to repent and put my faith in you.  Secondly, having a big God helps us deal with big problems.  If your problems are bigger than God, how can he help you?  Knowing I have a God who is bigger than my sin strengthens me to resist.  Having a God who is bigger than my marriage, helps me love my spouse the way Christ loved me and showed me grace and having a big God helps me when I receive that phone call about my teenager who just crashed his car and is on his way to the hospital.  

Having a Big God makes all the difference in the world.  Life will have it's ups and downs and if your problems seem overwhelming open up a bible to Isaiah 6 and start reading.  Think about the size of God and then think about how this big God is.  Think about how this big God sent his only Son to die on the cross for your sins and in doing so displayed his big love to you and the world. Get a big view of God, ask God today to show you just how big he is and trust in HIM.       

Let Christ Be Yes

"For all the promises of God find their yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory." ~2 Corinthians 1:20

Who is the "him" in this passage? Who is the yes to all of God's promises? Whom does God establish us in, anoint us, seal us and fill us through the Holy

Spirit.

Who forgives us of our sin, who died for you while you were still a sinner? Who was buried in the grave for three days and rose again? Who promises to go and prepare a place for you and return for you and where he is you will be also? Who promises to wipe away the tears, to end death and suffering? Who has defeated our enemy death? Who comes into the hearts of people and changes them forever, who give life that is full and abundant? Who is the author of peace, joy, hope beyond measure?

Who comforts us when we are afflicted and helps us comfort others? In whom do we find the strength to overcome sin and temptation? Who gives us the sunrise and the stars by night and has named them? Who is beyond any knowledge we can possibly fathom, in fact all the treasure of knowledge is found in him? Who is love, the essence of love, the embodiment of love, love defined? Who is Jesus Christ? In Jesus all of God's promises find their YES!

Trust Jesus today! Let him be the YES in your life, by giving it to him.

Christ in Culture

Christ didn't come to run for political office, or try to persuade the religious leaders of his day. He didn't rage against the Roman government system for which he was under. He started with a few followers, one heart at a time and he gave his life as a sacrifice. And on the third day he rose from the grave, by doing so the whole world came to know his name. Christ didn't come to change culture but to redeem culture unto himself.

The gospel saves us and drives us to live sacrificially for others, in order that they too may be redeemed by the blood of Christ. Share the gospel, live your salvation out in front of a culture that needs to be redeemed by Christ.

Sermon: To God's Church (1 Corinthians 1:-1-3)

I have finally settled on a book to preach through.  I was originally looking at trying to spend a year in the Old Testament and highlight some of the major stories.  But on my heart was 1 Corinthians.  Because the more I prayed and the more I thought about us, our church—1 Corinthians seemed like the place we need to go.  

So here is the plan as of right now.  We will go through 1 Corinthians together (it will be our main text) and when we start reading the Bible together in April, if s subject or story grabs me or interest you we can cover it.  

Why Corinthians?  First I have always been drawn to the letter for some reason.  I think it is reflective of the church today and especially the church in America…in some ways.  But mainly when we look at our church we have many new believers and we have experienced some pains from change.  As we move forward it is and will be important to avoid the mistakes made by the Corinthian church.  So what do we know about the Corinthians.  

Introduction to 1 Corinthians

We know that is was an important trade center for the Romans. It was destroyed by them in 146 BC and a century later refounded as a Roman colony.  Because of its geographical position, merchants and sailors would send goods through the city because it was safer than navigating the water around Achaia.  The city was busy and people from all over passed through it.  With them came goods, but also ideas, different religious practices.  

It had a reputation as being a city where any goes.  There were lush fields around the city were grapes grew and there was famous Isthmus games held nearby.  It was an important city, prosperous, and morally corrupt city.  

One writer said this about Corinth:  “The ideal of the Corinthian was the reckless development of the individual.  The merchant who made his gain by all and every means, the man of pleasure surrendering himself to every lust, the athlete steeled to every bodily exercise and proud in his physical strength, are the true Corinthian types:  in a word the man who recognized no superior and no law but his own desires.”   

This is where a Christian church had been established and Paul spent roughly 18 months there helping it get started.  When he came to the city (Acts 18) he first spoke in the Synagogue were the Jewish believers asked him to leave.  Paul being who he was set up shop right next door to the house “Titius Justus, a worshiper of God.” (Acts 18:7), where he preached to the Gentiles and the church grew.  Even “Crispus, the synagogue ruler, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptized.” (Acts 18:8).  

After he left he visited the church once more for sure and he wrote them four different letters, two of which we have in our Bibles, and no one has ever found the other two.So what do we know about the church itself.  It was a large church—many Corinthians had converted to Christ.  It was full cliques and snobs, materialism had taken root in the church.  It had both the very rich and the very poor.  At fellowship meals the rich kept to themselves and the poor were left alone.  

There was little church discipline and a very lax attitude about morals and doctrine.  Members took part in the pagan religion around them, many of the religions were sexual in nature.  They were unwilling to submit to authority, even Paul’s ‘credentials’ were questioned.  There was a lack of humility and consideration for others.  Members were taking each other to court and other members were flaunting there new found freedom in Christ, regardless of the effects on fellow-believers.  

They were abusing and ignoring gifts of the Spirit, the church in Corinth was a mess.  They were not walking in a matter worthy of their calling and were spiritually weak.  Paul addresses these issues and more in this letter. 

Paul starts this letter by establishes himself and the church as a whole, he is going to remind them who He is and who they are.    

     

Paul Called

“Paul, called as an apostle of Christ Jesus by God's will, and Sosthenes our brother:  2  To God's church at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus and called as saints, with all those in every place who call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord--both their Lord and ours.  3  Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”  (1 Corinthians 1:1-3) 

Paul first established his calling as an apostle of Christ, by Christ’s will and not his own.  He is reminding them of his calling who he was in Christ.  This was important because some of the believers actually questioned if Paul was an apostle at all.  He was going to address issues in the church and he was reminding them of his authority, an authority that came from Christ himself.

But he was also reminding them of a common link between them.  They were in Christ as He was in Christ.  Called by Christ, saved by Christ, baptized in Christ, “There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to one hope at your calling--  5  one Lord, one faith, one baptism,  6  one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:4-6).  

   

To God’s Church (v.2)

“To God's church at Corinth, Paul again is reminding them that it isn’t their church in Corinth, but God’s church.  That they belong to the entire body of Christ and there is only one body.  

   

          -Sanctified and Called

They were sanctified by Christ himself, set apart and made holy through the cross.  Christ who also sanctified them, called them as saints (the set apart ones) or (it’s the same word for holy).   Then Paul drives this point home by finishing the verse with these words, “with all those in every place who call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord--both their Lord and ours.”

Grace to You (v.3)

Paul closes the opening remarks with verse 3 “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”  Paul reminds the reader everything is grace, they do not deserve anything from God and yet He loves us.  

“It was by grace we were saved, But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us,  5  made us alive with the Messiah even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!  6  Together with Christ Jesus He also raised us up and seated us in the heavens,  7  so that in the coming ages He might display the immeasurable riches of His grace through His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.  8  For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God's gift—“  (Ephesians 2:4-8)  

None of the Corinthian church deserved grace, but he not only gives them grace but He also give peace, or shalom in the Hebrew.   

          -Peace from God

It was through Christ sacrifice that the church had peace with God.  No longer were they enemies of God and objects of judgment and wrath, but now were at peace with God, having received mercy, in that God didn’t give them what they did deserve, but gave them salvation and peace through Christ.  So what does this mean for us today?   

You are God’s Church

Firstly and most importantly you are God’s church.  First Baptist Church of Rocklin is God’s church and is not Pastor Steve’s church and it doesn’t belong to any of you either.

The church is not a physical building; it is the people who make up the church.  We have been given a building and we have a responsibility to be good stewards of what God has given to us and we should care for it to the best of our abilities.  

But we must keep in mind that if some terrible event was to blow these buildings down, or if somehow the property was taken from us and we were all evicted, we would still be a church.  It is the body of believers who make up the body of Christ. 

This means we are also part of a larger body….the body of Christ, which is spread out over the entire world.  It means when the one part of the body suffers the whole body suffers.  When Islamic gunmen riddle a church with bullets while it is in a prayer service in Nigeria, killing ten people this last week it affects us all.  

We are the church and we work together to share the message of Christ with the world.      

   

You are God’s Sanctified and Called

You are called by God, saved and sanctified by the precious blood of Christ.  Therefore walk worthy of the calling you have received.  Put away the sins that so easily ensnare you, put away course talking, sexual sin, indulging every fleshly desire, materialism, think about others before you exercise your ‘freedom.” Think of other more than yourselves.  Walk in love as Christ walked in love, imitate Christ, love as Christ.  

Understand the effects of your sin, your behavior reflects on the entire body of Christ.  People will make judgments about Christianity by the way you live your life.  People are watching! 

Understand who you are in Christ.  You are not your own--you were bought with a price.  You have been made an heir to a throne an heir with Christ.

What you do, how you live your life in front of others reflects on Christ himself, the same Christ who loved you and gave His life for you.We need to remind ourselves of this important truth.  We need to be humbled by these realities, because we are to live… 

Live in Grace and Peace

In grace and peace.  We cannot live the Christian life apart from God’s grace.  It is His grace living through us by the Holy Spirit that we can live the life worthy of the call of Christ. 

If you attempt to live the Christian life apart from grace, under your own power, by your own standards, you will sink into legalism.  

You will fail to live up to the standards you have set and will impose those same standards on everyone around else around you and judge them for not meeting your ‘standard’. (By judging you take the focus off of your own failure.)  You will be miserable and you will make others around you miserable.  

We are to keep our eyes on Christ, humbled by understanding the incredible sacrifice he made on our behalf and the reality of our own sin. That we are all sinners saved by grace, all of us helped nail Christ to the cross.  And it was by his willingness to die for our sins that we are saved.  I am not saved by any ‘righteous’ standard I set or keep, it is all be grace.    

It is through Christ we have peace, we have peace with God and so when Jesus says, "Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  29  All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves.  30  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."   (Matthew 11:28-30), He means you will have peace and rest in Him.  

He is the Prince of Peace, He is our Lord and savior, He is Jesus.  Live a life worthy of your call, live in such a way that others see Christ in you and want the grace and peace you have. 

We are his ambassadors, ambassadors to the King, His representative, the body of Christ here on earth, called and sanctified by Jesus Himself.  

Go out from here and love as he loved you, forgive as he forgave you, extend grace as you have been and continue to be extended grace, live in humility as Christ lived humble, full of grace and truth.  Bring glory to Christ in all that you do—you are the church—God’s church.       

God's Sanctuary

A flash and I stir. Another flash and I’m awake.  I get up and the sound of thunder reaches my ears and I can feel the weather.  It’s July in California, I’m both concerned and filled with wonderment.  Could it be raining, do I hear rain on the metal roof of the sun room?  I walk out and yes it’s all true, I can hear the rain and I quickly open the windows and pull back the drapes to take in all that is happening.  A gentle breeze pulls in the scent of freshly fallen rain and I smell it as it makes its way pass me. I step outside and in the corner of my eye I see color and shape.  A double rainbow just above the neighbor’s house!  The morning rays of the sun have just begun to make their way through the big oak tree beside our house and there is a rainbow beautifully displayed for the world to see to the West.     

I am reminded of the glory of God, the weather, the morning, the rain, the clouds and the rainbow. The Psalmist says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky proclaims the work of His hands.”  I cannot help but to be thankful, to raise my heart in praise and give thanks for the simple pleasures of life. God is good and I am a thankful.  Thankful for the reminder of the Lord’s glory in everyday life, thankful for the eyes I have to see.  I am thankful for my ears to hear and the nose on my face to smell.  I am thankful for the chorus of birds that are singing their praises.  This natural sanctuary that surrounds me cries out in worship and I can only sit here in awe of the glory displayed.    

What an incredible way to start my day.