Tax Collector

^{Reputation, such a hurdle that we all must jump over. All of the assumptions and all of the ideas that come from one title.}

^{Luke 19:1}Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. ²A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.

It seems here that Luke wanted us to understand the type of man Zacchaeus was. Calling him a tax collector tells us he was a traitor to the Jewish people and working for Rome. He also adds, wealthy....making sure we understand that Zacchaeus probably wasn't an honest or noble man. Maybe, just maybe, he had a reputation for gouging his fellow Jews.

It can be so difficult to overcome who we are. The flaws of our character so evident. Or, if not evident, so hidden that we ourselves can't admit of our wrongs. I can't say that I carry a title as hefty as Tax Collector for everyone to know immediately what I am. But, I have a few. You could call me a lier, a gossip, a cheat, self-absorbed, snobby. This would be just the beginning of a long list of my sinful nature.

I must echo the words that Paul utters to Timothy:

^{1 Timothy 1:14} The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

¹⁵Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. ¹⁶But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.

Thank you Father, that in spite of who I am, You sent your son to die for me. I am humbled to know your gracious love.

Eternal Life

^{Luke 18:18} A certain ruler asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

There it is..... the question we all ask ourselves at some point or another? What must I do?

We will look into the Rich Ruler this week and undoubtedly find out we are more like him than most of us care to acknowledge. Don't deceive yourself, you know you have asked the question. Here is an answer from Paul's words in Ephesians 2. (emphasis mine)

⁴But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, ⁵even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), ⁶and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; ⁹not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship,created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

It seems pretty clear to me that eternal life comes to us by our faith through the freedom of grace. All the things you are doing to earn it, really have very little meaning. God has a plan for you, no doubt, but that plan is when you are in Christ Jesus. When you are the new creation, born again, God will use you as a tool for His kingdom. Until you believe, your efforts are fruitless. A little faith, a free gift of grace and the inheritance of eternal life is yours.

Poverty

Proverbs 10:15
The rich man's wealth is his fortress,
The ruin of the poor is their poverty.

Most of our lives can be lived within a state of mind. The rich often have an easier time living a free life than the poor. It can be harder to see the other side of a situation when you are hungry. It can be harder to see the other side of the coin when you pockets are always empty.

In the United States, we make more money, even on welfare, then almost 99% of the rest of the world. Is it our fortress or do we still live in a state of poverty? Do we allow our wealth to lift us up and allow us to do for others or do we live as though we never have enough?

Wealth and Poverty are the states of mind we choose to live our lives in. All money aside, we are truly wealthy in all that Christ has given us. After a week of Proverbs that have asked me over and over about my behaviors in my speech, I need the riches of heaven. I need Grace. After a week of being reminded that I lack in wisdom and knowledge of the one God I serve, I need the treasure only He can give. I need Mercy.

Praise God that each day is given to us new. That His grace and mercy fill our cups. We are rich, abundantly. Build your fortress on the Rock. Stop living a life of poverty, you are Forgiven, your sins are covered. Live free and be willing to give the gifts you have overflowing to all those that still live separated from our Father.

Abba~I come with reverence today, Lord. In awe of the grace you poor abundantly into my life. Thank you Lord that when I lift my hands to you, you pick me up. Thank you for your comfort, thank you for you strength. Thank you that you have come and overcome this place. Remind me Lord that you are my Rock, my Salvation. ~In Jesus Name

Amazing Grace by Todd Agnew




Pray for healing for Bonita that is suffering with the flu.

Pray for Kameron's safety, pray for his living situation to change, pray for his emotional security. Thanks LEW

Thank you for praying for Sam Y this week. Please continue to lift Sam and her husband Julz up in prayer.

It is only 11 weeks until the Oligers leave for Africa. Pray for continued provision. Pray for peace in their hearts and minds. Pray for a renewing in their marriage and family as they prepare to follow God's calling in their lives.

Please pray for safe trips for everyone on Spring Break.

It is hard to believe after 6 months of preparing the Marathon is only a week away. Please pray for peace of mind and a strength that only comes from God. I will need it. ~Angela

I would like to say a special Thank You to everyone that takes the time to comment on our posts. Agree or Disagree with us, we love to hear from you. Please continue to make this a community by creating great conversations. God Bless you for the courage to say what is on your heart and mind.

Angela, Day 3

Don't leave me alone.

If you have read this blog for any amount of time, you know that I can be pretty attiment about our role as the "Body of Christ". I really don't think we understand that concept very well.

I was saved while going to youth group in high school. It was hard for me to live in an un-Christian home and try to "become" a Christian. While a few people were loving and guiding me, there were not very many people from our church that would come along side of me and lift me up.

• First: I was never told that "trying" to be good enough for God doesn't work. I failed every single day, not realizing that His sacrifice for me wasn't based on my abilities to be or do good.

• Second: No one, even teenagers, at church want to associate with the real obvious sinners. So, I felt judged and frustrated because I didn't know better.

• Third: I didn't understand anything and no one took the time to teach me. There was an assumed "salvation" and then the idea that I should just "get it".

• Fourth: I didn't know how to pray.

• Fifth: I was alone everyday with questions I was too afraid no one would answer.

I drifted from my faith for many years because I felt worthless. I was unable to attain the one thing everyone told me I had. God didn't leave me. I may have been messing up but He didn't give up on me. In my mid-twenties I was brought back into relationship with God. Being old enough to understand a little more, I asked more questions and grabbed on to the one thing that had answers, His Word.

It has taken many years and tons of support from other Christians to come to the place I am now. I had to relearn (and I am still learning) everything I had been taught to live the life I live now. I am blessed. Blessed by a God that gives His grace to me freely. I am free to live a life in response to His perfect love for me.

I serve people and share His message in response to His Word and His mercy. I know that when I see a Christian that struggles with their flesh and their unknowing that it is part of our fellowship to stand together with them. If you have been in the church your whole life or are new to the family of God, remember that some people really don't know. And YES, even in the United States, there are people and families and generations of unbelievers that don't understand Grace and don't understand Forgiveness and most of all don't know how to Pray.

Acts 2:42~47 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

If there is nothing else I teach you, let me teach you that we are not meant to be alone. We are to do this together. Let us come together, serve God and see His power through His entire body. We all have something to give. We all can teach the saving grace of God to one another.

Thank you for continuing to be a part of this community of believers.

Please continue to pray for Kelly H (WA) this week.

Angela, Day 2

If I had a mission statement it would probably say:

Love without Expectation.

I believe loving someone involves action. I believe to love someone as God loves us we have to do it without being loved back or at least without expecting anything in return.

There are days I struggle with this in a huge way and there are days it seems effortless to pour into lives around me.

1 Corinthians 4:4-8a Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

A few years ago I was watching a movie or some type of show, I don't remember anymore what it was. They talked about how people say I love you only to hear it back. Do you think that is true? I do. I did a little experiment and for a time I wouldn't respond back when people told me they loved me. I just appreciated the words, but even my husband would wait for the typical response. I asked him once if it was okay if I didn't say it back, he said "NO, I want to hear you tell me you love me too". He knows though, after much discussion, that when I tell him I love him I am sincere and am honoring him without expecting that love returned.

I take the verses about loves characteristics seriously. Love is not self-seeking. Wow, that is a hard one. It is hard to step out and love people without the return of gratitude. My hope is that even my kids will feel loved when their chores aren't done and when they have had a bad day and didn't speak to me. I don't need them to show me a thing in order for me to put my arms around them and love them.

Love keeps no records of wrong. Hmmm. This one makes me think of when I do things and I want someone to notice. I want to be appreciated. Didn't anyone see how selfless I am and how I serve without even being asked? Love me, I serve you!! Okay that is a little drama, but the truth is, this is the hardest part of love. Giving beyond ourselves, loving without the response. More often then not when we don't get the reaction we think we deserve, or expect, we will keep record and next time we won't serve.

Everyday that I wake up I am given the opportunity to respond to God's amazing grace. When I go about my life and my day, I want to love God's creation. All of it. Without expectation. Isn't that what He does for me everyday?

Please continue to pray for Kelly H (WA) this week.

Wonders, Day 2

There are days that I speak of grace and the perfect love that comes from a personal relationship with our Father.

There are days when I look around and see His majesty, His creation and I can't breath because He is so Big.

There are days I give testimony to his healing and miracles and I am confident in my adoption into His family.

There are days, like today, that I remember our King humbled himself, sacrificed, so that we all may be saved.

Zechariah
9:9Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!Shout in triumph, O daughter of
Jerusalem!Behold, your king is coming to you;He is just and endowed with
salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey,Even on a colt, the foal of a
donkey.

Matthew 21
The Triumphal Entry
1When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at the Mount of
Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,
2saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me.
3"If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord has need of them,' and immediately he will send them."
4This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

5"SAY TO THE DAUGHTER OF ZION, 'BEHOLD YOUR KING IS COMING TO YOU, GENTLE, AND MOUNTED ON A DONKEY, EVEN ON A COLT, THE FOAL OF A BEAST OF BURDEN.'"
6The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them,
7and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their coats on them; and He sat on the coats. 8Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road.
9The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting, "Hosanna to the son of David; BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Hosanna in the highest!"
10When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, "Who is this?"
11And the crowds were saying, "This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee."

Please continue to pray for Bonita E this week.

Vocation, Day 3

Vocation, Day 3

Looking Back

I remember the day he started at the church. I went in to meet him. He was different than I had pictured, much taller. His name is Matt Smith. He was starting his position as the College Ministry Pastor. The short time he served at our church, he taught me and no doubt hundreds of others, what it meant to be "in love" with God. He served along side my husband and Pastor Jim, the Student Ministries Pastor. The three of them formed a tight bond and we joked many times that Jim was the Father, Dale, the son and Matt the Holy Spirit. Of course we were not trying to put them in the position of the true trinity, but they complemented each other by their ministry abilities. Knowing Matt meant that you were going to learn something from him. It also meant that you could tell right off that he was family, but that he was not going to remain at the church forever, he was called to bigger, greater things and eventually God caught his attention. After convincing half the church that we should give up the worldly view of Christmas and buy livestock for families across the country we will probably never meet, Matt announced he was going to Africa. This last year we had the privilege to pray for Matt as he went on his journey to respond to the call in his life. Matt is back and wrote a great letter for us all, I wanted to share it with you. Hopefully you will be as blessed as I was reading it. Maybe you will even visit his blog site to read more about his calling. Please take a moment to read the letter he wrote:

Dana Da ru, (Amharic for: How are you?)
It is Saturday afternoon in Sisters, Oregon and I'm behind a big bay window that opens up to a view of roaming horses, rippling water, and floating leaves. The last whisper of falls warmth has said good-bye and winters chilly dry breath has settled in over this small town. Tiny trout are splashing around with freedom before the freeze sets in and the sky is sparkling with a never-ending misty blue. It's scenic and it's peaceful and it's perfect.
It has been eight weeks to the day since I set foot back on American soil. I have sequestered myself in the woods of central Oregon desperate to be alone and quiet and thoughtful. The chaos and misery and overwhelming reality of life in Addis Ababa created a deep reverent desire for stillness and rest. I learned that my life has always been a chorus of voices clamoring for my attention. This summer voices of the past came back and collided with hopeful whispers from the future. And in the middle they met the voice of the present standing stubbornly on patrol. In the ringing calamity of it all was the soft glow of eternal truth and it is that voice for which I long. It is for that voice that I wait and pray and rest and listen.
I have discovered during the last eight weeks that the previous twelve weeks in Ethiopia were a contradiction in terms. It was draining and fulfilling. It was exhausting and energizing. It was heart breaking and life giving. It was tragic and beautiful. It was everything I expected and nothing I assumed.
This journey began with a yearning for transformation. I had numbers and statistics about poverty piling up in my head and I felt like they were driving me towards a theoretical meltdown. So I stepped off of a plane in Addis Ababa and spent twelve weeks walking the streets of Africa. Our time on the ground with homeless orphans helped me to find the names behind the numbers. Every statistic I had committed to memory is now a story with a heartbeat.
I came to understand that poverty is both tangible and intangible. There are physical things, like using a street for a toilet, sharing a cramped concrete slap for a bed, and not having money for toothpaste. There are also invisible obstacles such as mental exhaustion, psychological warfare, and a condemning spirit of rejection. But, my greatest revelation from my time in the trenches is: hope. Numbers no longer scare me. I am not overwhelmed by this black hole we call poverty. Scraggly teeth and filthy hands no longer intimidate me. There is beauty in the deepest mire.
We found life in the most unpredictable places. Beneath bridges, shinning shoes, begging for change, walking for water, waiting for taxis, serving meals, sipping coffee; life was all around us. We found life in people with needs, like Samson, a homeless man with a wounded hand. And we found it in need-meeters, like Dr. Ferdo, an Ethiopian surgeon with a heart to heal. We found life in a little girl named Mekelete, an eight-year- old orphan who roams the streets. And we found it in different ministries like Hope For Children, an organization that rescues children from the streets.
In the middle of all the life-needing/life-giving stories I found something invaluable. It poured from the lips of every smiling stranger and filled my soul. It rung out crystal clear in innocent voices of street children shouting my name. It wrapped me up in hugs. It found me over meals and in church. It laid me down at night and woke me in the morning.
In Amharic, the national language of Ethiopia, the most common greeting is, "seulam no?" They borrow the word 'seulam' from the Hebrew word 'shalom.' Literally translated the greeting means, "do you have peace?" I love that question because peace doesn't mean absence of conflict. It doesn't mean two fingers in the sky or a charm on a necklace. Shalom means, 'complete.' Put together. And that's the strange something stirring inside me. A sense of completeness whispering with a soft voice, "Matt, this is worth your energy. This is worth your time. This is worth your life."
Thank you. It needs to be said a million times. Thank you. Ethiopia was simply too far for me to reach on my own. You got me there and you brought me back. Your prayers lifted my spirits and kept me safe. Your questions challenged me and made me think. And now your encouragement is moving me on.
I've been accepted to Fuller Theological Seminary's school of Intercultural Studies and am planning on beginning my studies within the next year. For the time being I am in Sisters working on some writing projects. I posted lots of pictures and thoughts during my time in Africa to my website. If you would like to know/see/read more you're invited to visit at web.mac.com/mawordsmith. As always I'd love to hear your thoughts, questions, and stories so please call. Even if it just to say hi, call.
Thank you for journeying with me and sharing my dreams. You have my eternal gratitude and prayers. I hope during this advent season you find the complete peace of Christ. There is so much hope and beauty in the story of Immanuel. It is life-giving and profound and we can't hear it enough. Blessings on you and your family.

"May the Lord bless you and protect you.
May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace."
- Numbers 6:24

Love and Peace,

Matthew A. Smith
__________________________
call: 720-635-2650
write: mawordsmith@gmail.com
visit: web.mac.com/mawordsmith


I think that was enough for today. May his prayer be fulfilled today.

Please join me in praying for Kathy L. this week.

Vocation, Day one

Vocation, Day 1

Vocation
A call or invitation to a profession or way of life. But in theological discussions, the word "vocation" is not used in reference to the professional trade one pursues.

Vocation refers to the invitation God has given to all people to become His children through Christ's work.

This vocation, or calling, does not come to people because they deserve it; it comes strictly as a result of God's Grace.

2 Timothy 1:9 For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. 10 And now he has made all of this plain to us by the appearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior. He broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the Good News. 11 And God chose me to be a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of this Good News.

Wow, it is good to be back from vacation. My husband shared our story with the church we visited while in California and it reminded me of God's amazing power and Grace. How he calls us all when we are willing to listen.

Here is a little bit of our story, many of you may already know it:

In 2002, we were enjoying life. We owned our own very successful photography business, making enough money to give us the luxuries of eating out, entertaining others and spending money on whatever we wanted. 2002 was also the year that God caught our attention. Our friend, Leif, drowned. Leaving behind a new wife and baby girl. Shortly after, our employee, Brandy lost her battle with CF, she had just graduated High School. My husband was the first to respond to his need to have a spiritual life. He was raised with the knowledge of Christ. I was fine being my own boss, in control of my life. Shortly after attending church, my husband felt called to join the choir, in doing so, he caught the attention of the youth pastor, Ish. Ish asked Dale to join him in ministry by doing announcements on Wednesday nights. It wasn't very long before my husband was eager to serve and minister to the youth. I had started attending church, since I no longer had anything to do on Sunday mornings and I occasionally hung out on Wednesday nights with the youth. One day, Dale came to me and said he felt called to minister to the youth. He told me how it was perfect that he knew all the teens through our business, especially the High School Seniors. So he spent more and more time there and his life began to change. Not long after that, Ish announced he was leaving the church, that another pastor was going to come in, but that there was going to be a short gap in between and he wanted Dale and myself and a few other key people in the ministry to keep it together until the new Pastor arrived. Shortly after that pastor arrived, my husband told me he was feeling called to be the middle school pastor. I laughed and said that he was crazy. He said he would be a pastor in a year and that we needed to start cutting back in our spending. I told him I would never be on board with that. about 9 months later, God met with me and let me know Dale was going to be the youth pastor and that he would take care of us. It was one of the hardest things I had to do, telling my husband that God had confirmed this Call in his life. Now, almost 7 years after this started, our lives are overflowing. We make about 1/3 of what we made doing Photography full time, but God has worked through the details. We still work the photography business on Fridays and Saturdays and my husband gets only one day off, but for now, God has called us to where we are and I have to admit that I wish I would have been more willing to accept his call earlier on in our lives.

Is there a call in your life that you may not be listening to?

Have you been called into a Vocation, serving the Lord? Please share your story with us.

Dear Lord, I am so excited to share our life with those who read this devotional. I know you purposed our story for others to hear, so please use me this week to bring glory to you and open up the hearts and minds of those who will read this, that they may be blessed by your CALL in our lives. Please help those who you have called to share their story as well. I am excited to see the response to your call in their lives this week. In Jesus name, Amen.

Please join me in praying for Kathy L. this week.

Undefined, Day 3

We are a week into our New Year. How are your resolutions going? Have you made it to the gym? Some things about us can be very predictable like our new found commitment to health at the beginning of every new year.

One of the reasons I chose the word undefined this week is because it is actually one of my goals this year. In 2008 I learned more about myself then I could ever have imagined. I found out I am stronger then I thought. I realized I have more courage and also more weakness then I would ever like to admit to.

Because of this blog I have also started to taste what it means to be an overcomer. There were a few moments last year where I truly felt my life was a response to the grace I have been given. In some of my weakest moments, I was able to find the conquering spirit that lives in me. I want more of that and I want people to wonder what it is that is different about me. I want to be undefinable. I want to stand up when I am knocked down. I want to love the people that are unlovable. I want to live outside of the stereotypical boxes that society tells me to live in. I want to live and experience the freedom my faith has given me. I want to Praise His name in all of it.

Romans 8:35-39 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation,
or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or
sword? Just as it is written, "FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO
DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE
SLAUGHTERED." But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him
who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels,
nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor
height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from
the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I have to admit I don't have a game plan. I don't know how to be undefinable but I have confidence in my God and know He knows what I desire and how I want to respond to His grace. I pray the same for you. I pray that you too will be known as someone that overcomes and has something people just can't put their finger on. I pray that the Spirit that lives within us shines through so brightly that lives are changed.

Please continue to pray for Sue O this week.

Surrender, Day 2

Give Up

Surrender

Do you ever feel like you have fought and fought and still are getting nowhere? Your working hard, doing the right things, pushing through with everything you have. Still, there is no answer, no solutions to the big questions you are asking.

It is so aggravating how frustrating life gets sometimes. I don't get it. If I am working hard enough, why aren't there more blessings in my life? If I take care of myself, why do I get sick? I love my children, why don't they obey? I make my marriage a priority, why is intimacy so difficult?

Why not just give up?

Actually, that is exactly what you should do. Stop fighting. Stop pushing for the things of this world but focus on things eternal.

Time to wave the white flag. Surrender to the only one that can answer all of your questions with His Life.

May I remind you once again, faithful servant, that there isn't a single thing you can "do" to earn more blessings from God. You have already been given the greatest gift, free(Eph 1:6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved) Grace gives you eternal life(Titus 3:7 so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.) . Sacrifice of His Son covers your sin (Hebrews 9: how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?).

You see, there is very little hope when you are separated from God. When we surrender and find rest in Him, we find purpose in everything. It is in our time of surrender that we find the nourishment, purpose and strength to keep going.

1 Corinthians 23-25 I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it. Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.

Please continue to pray for Anna B this week.

Thanksgiving, Day 3

Do you have enough?

How much is enough?

Is the sacrifice God made for you enough?

Do you have enough to be thankful for this week and always?

Romans 5 (msg)

18-19Here it is in a nutshell: Just as one
person did it wrong and got us in all this trouble with sin and death, another person did it right and got us out of it. But more than just getting us out of trouble, he got us into life! One man said no to God and put many people in the wrong; one man said yes to God and put many in the right.

20-21All that passing laws against sin did was produce more lawbreakers. But sin didn't, and doesn't, have a chance
in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace. When it's sin versus grace, grace wins hands down. All sin can do is threaten us with death, and that's the end of it. Grace, because God is putting everything together again through the Messiah, invites us into life—a life that goes on and on and on, world without end.

When you loose focus this season; remember the best gift ever given is free and available for everyone to receive. Be thankful and let let Him be enough. Find rest in the chaos and know He Reigns.

Thanksgiving, Day 1

Thanksgiving, Day 1

A thankful heart

Thanksgiving week around my house this year will be different from any other. This is our first Thanksgiving at our house. In the past we have traveled to my husbands grandparents house for a short visit. Grandma Ada will be remembered but not present this year and Grandpa Dale moved to be closer to his family. We then go to my grandmothers house for the rest of the day, sometimes overnight. This year, she is in Tennessee, visiting Angela and her family. The same trip we took a year ago. This year we will open up our home to Dale's parents, my mom and sister and to a friend of mine, Donna and her daughter, Hannah. The dynamics have changed.

One thing stays the same, the age old question, "What are you thankful for this year". We used to write down what we were thankful for and put it in a shoebox and read all the responses from the previous years. That question usually doesn't cause any need for reflection, it's not hard to find things to be thankful for. This year things have changed. You don't have to look very hard to find people who are struggling. Even in our immediate family we are facing the unknown. Turn on the TV or the radio and you hear about the economy, politics and death. Friends and family members are being laid off or loosing their jobs, businesses are closing, loosing revenue. Vehicles are breaking down, marriages are breaking up, and there is still poverty among us. So what do we do, how do we find joy in the midst of all this? Is there really anything to be thankful for? I believe that we must seek God and be thankful for all the blessings we have in our lives. The fact that we had the money to invest in the first place, a home, a car, clothes, marriages, relationships, jobs. A few weeks ago our pastor said that if everything were how we wanted it to be then we would not be able to bear fruit. We would have never been given the opportunity to learn patience, gentleness, self control, generosity, peace, joy, the list goes on. All of the things that come from living through a storm. So, looking at our responses to the poll we took on what we are thankful for, it makes sense that we would vote Salvation, Grace, and family as the most important. Though our families may change in numbers, those who are in our family hold a place in our hearts and memories, either good or bad. But beyond that, we are all a family, those who believe in God. Because of who we are in Christ, there will be an overflow in our lives, there will always be something to be thankful for. I am sure we all have our own lists, but it is not surprising that we would find these three words among the lists. Grace alone brings us into thanksgiving. I encourage you to bring the overflow with you as you go this week, wherever it is that you will visit. It is with this spirit of thanksgiving that we will find this week more bearable, where we can see beyond our current situations and circumstances. What a blessing that is.

Don't forget to add one more person to your list of guests. God will be with you in the midst of all the chaos and differences you may find at your thanksgiving table this year. He will give you the grace you need to get through it all, who knows, maybe you will bear more fruit where you weren't before.

2 Corinthians 4:15
All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
2 Corinthians 9:11
You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

I call the above verse my 911 emergency plan. On every occasion, even those that are not my favorite, I can be generous, I can share the overflow of thanksgiving.

1 Timothy 4:4
For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,

Dear Lord, I invite you into my thoughts and my home this week. Through the activities and the gatherings, the relationships and the family time, I ask that you be here in the midst of our plans, of our gathering. That I will glorify you in all that I do and that you will feel welcome. Lord, I ask that you be with each of those who read this, that they will feel your presence. Lord, we give you praise in thanksgiving for all the blessings in our lives. You are amazing, Amen.

Love, Day 3

There are so many forms and yet one simple word.

After having my first child, I think I started to understand what it truly meant to love. Up to that point every form of love that I had was not unconditional. From the moment I saw Madi's face, I loved her. Actually, if you want to be technical, it was from the moment I new we were pregnant. The responsibility of loving another was overwhelming. Understanding that she required everything from me. She could not do it on her own.

I think that is a small taste of how God loves us. "Papa." He loves you with all of the responsibility and understanding that comes from parenting.

Madi turns 9 this week. She has grown so fast. She still needs me but sometimes doesn't say it. Even at 9 she is finding her independence separate from me. My heart hurts when she hurts, even though I want to hold her close I now have to wait for her to ask. How many times has God waited for me to ask for His comfort?

There is a part of God's love that is hard for me to give to people I love. The unconditional kind. Even with Madi there are boundaries. I probably shouldn't admit this, but I am human and will trust that I am not the only one that struggles with this. I talk to my children about grace all of the time, but give very little. I can be a very, well, "get your stuff done and then you can have my time and attention" kind of parent. Don't get it done and you will get an earful and a cold shoulder. I do my best to lighten up a bit but I have a very "get it done" attitude. Sometimes I can't see beyond the to-do's to the things that need real nurturing in our lives. Yes, laundry needs to be done but at what sacrifice to relationship?

I am so thankful that our God is more merciful then that. Asking me to abide (rest) in Him so that I may know His love. No to-do's first. Just resting. When I come home (in prayer), I rest, then respond to that Love by serving. His focus is on reward, not punishment.

1 John 4:13-19
By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.
We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.
We love, because He first loved us.

Heavenly Father~ WOW!! Lord, you are so amazing. I am overcome with thoughts of how you love me. Lord, I need to know how to love. I want to Love my children first. Be my guide, Father. Show me the ways to love my family. I desire to be a vessel for your Love. I want to put my requirements and my judgements aside so that I can Love as you Love. ~In Your Precious Name.

Love, Day 2

Love is patient.

Love is kind.

It does not envy.

It does not boast.

Most of us know the verses in 1 Corinthians 13. If you don't know them, I am sure you have heard them at a wedding or two. Maybe even had the words recited at your own nuptials.

It is pretty easy this day and age to get our Love mixed up. Our Bible has taught us one thing, our society another.

Love is right here-right now.

Love is jealous.

Love is competition.

Love is self-serving.

Learning how to Love in a Godly manner is difficult. I grew up with a world example of love. Cycles that I still to this day have trouble breaking. Love to me was how I gaged if I was good enough. I needed to know if I was worth any ones affection. I spent a lot of time filling up my life with artificial Love. Seeking attention that was steeling my value. I didn't know what I was doing but I knew that I needed something I couldn't find in myself. I knew the right here, right now kind of love. I didn't know the kind of love that was intimate and unfailing.

The only real difference between one Love vs the other is Grace. There is good love in our world but it always comes with a to-do list and proof of our value. Only one Love is given freely. Only one Love forgives sin. Only one Love made the ultimate sacrifice for you. Only one Love waits patiently for you to receive it.

May I challenge you to evaluate the type of Love that you show the world around you. Especially your children. We are how they learn to receive love. We are the ones that open the doors to the everlasting Love of Jesus or the Love that steels the things of God from our children. Help your children understand that even though you Love them it is the Creator of the Universe that Loves them above all else. Fill the need in their lives to be loved with the Truth. Don't let them fall into the trap I did, looking for Love in places that are self-serving and temporary.

1 John 4:15-17

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.

Please pray for Danielle D this week

Love, Day 1

What is it about LOVE?

I tried to think of a thousand other L words to go with this week. Just can't steer from the Truth. Love has it every time. It is the reason I write this devotional. It is the reason I get out of bed every day. It is the thing that keeps my heart beating and my feet moving.

We are created to need Love. We are created to need God.

In this life, no matter how we try and get it, how we conditionally give it away, it never compares to the perfect Love of God. It can never compare to his Loving sacrifice.

1 John 4:8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

Heavenly Father, Praise your name today for all that you are. When I take the time to admire you majesty, I am overcome with how much you Love us. Standing between mountains and valleys, with colors more imaginative then I could even dream, Your beauty is astounding. On my run this morning Lord, my path was lit with the light from a perfect full moon. Your perfect moon that moves the oceans and creates the tides. Thank you Lord for Your perfect sense of timing in all things. Use me this week to express the power of your Love. The power that you breathed into us. Help us acknowledge our need for Your Love. Lord remind us all that through your sacrifice we are freely given your gift of grace. Through our faith Lord we may receive your Divine Love. May my mustard seed of faith be a song to you, my life a response to your amazing grace. ~In His Holy Name

Please pray for Daniell D this week.

We would like to say a special thank you to everyone that takes the time to read our daily devotions. We are in the process of updating our weekly prayer calendar. Would you take the time to respond to this post with your first name and last initial? We would love to take the time to pray for everyone that is a part of our community. We love you all very much. God Bless.

Freedom Day 3

Because of Adam, we are all born to sin; death. We are separated from God

Because of Jesus, we are a new creation; alive. We are in relationship with God.

What is Freedom in Christ? Christ paid the price for you. He is the living sacrifice. You have been given the opportunity to live a life filled with the same spirit that rose Christ from the dead.

Romans 8:1-2 With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ's being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death.

Romans 8:3-4 God went for the jugular when he sent his own Son. He didn't deal with the problem as something remote and unimportant. In his Son, Jesus, he personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all. The law code, weakened as it always was by fractured human nature, could never have done that.
The law always ended up being used as a Band-Aid on sin instead of a deep healing of it. And now what the law code asked for but we couldn't deliver is accomplished as we, instead of redoubling our own efforts, simply embrace what the Spirit is doing in us.

Do me a favor today, look at your life and ask yourself if people that see and know you believe you live a life of freedom. It is easy for some to believe, it is easy for some to have knowledge, it is even a gift to trust God for provision. In our world of to-do and need-to-succeed, even our Christian walks become competition. We spend days in prayer wondering what God wants us to do and how he wants us to respond. Although this is important, sometimes it takes away from the confidence we should have in our Savior.

Look at the highlighted scripture above. 1st says that we are no longer slaves, "freed from tyranny". AMEN!! Second says to "embrace what the Spirit is doing in us". Freedom isn't about what you are doing, how you are serving or how successful you are at your Christian life. It is about what the Spirit is doing.

Okay, for all of you that are wondering how to do this, I don't have that answer for you. I think it is a very personal experience. In my own life I embrace the Spirit in times of worship, in praise and thanksgiving. When I am acknowledging God's amazing grace, my perspective is transformed. My freedom in Christ isn't about how I feel when I get up everyday or how I end the day. For me, it is about knowing my God has conquered the world (John 16:33). I try to focus on things bigger then my struggles. Part of me refuses to live my life consumed by the bumps in the road when I know that in the end I will be with the Creator of the Universe, my Papa.

Heavenly Father, Your beautiful words from Romans 8 reminds me of Your sacrifice and my need for You in my life. You know my heart Lord, overwhelmed by Your grace and desiring nothing more then to live in response to You. Forgive me when I loose focus and cloud the freedom You have given me. Show me Lord the fruit of an embraced Spirit in my life. Some days, I am so human and desire the how-to's and the to-dos. Remind me today that it is our relationship, my reaction to your love that keeps my perspective focused on the things of you. ~Desiring more of You in your Precious Name.

Please continue to pray for Julz Y this week. Tomorrow is Friday so send in your Prayers and Praises to share. If you have a testimony of how Christs gift of freedom changed your perspective toward a situation, we would love to hear it. Please email us at womenofworship1@gmail.com or simply add it to the comment section. God Bless

Freedom Day 2

Romans 8:5-8 (msg) Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God's action in them find that God's Spirit is in them—living and breathing God! Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life. Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God isn't pleased at being ignored.

May I encourage you to read all of Romans 8. If you don't completely understand what Christ has done for you or have moments where you can't remember, it is a great place to be reminded of the sacrifice and the inheritance.

Freedom in Flesh

Freedom is a beautiful thing, allowing us to live lives in response to the promise of Eternal life. The scripture above says that attention to God leads us out into the open. Wow!! Have you ever stood in a field or on a mountain and breathed in the freedom of Gods serenity?

Freedom has a funny way of bringing fear though. On Monday when I stood in one of the most beautiful place I have ever been or seen, I knew it was majestic. Other than understanding the basic need to respect the boundaries of nature and laws of gravity it was time to start making the rules. The overwhelming sense that someone was going to do something they weren't suppose to do.

We like to do this to our faith. We start creating Religion in our freedom, doctrine and ideas to help guide people in the right direction. We become obsessed with measuring every ones moral compass. Instead of allowing people to focus, pay attention to God we show them what to do. Give them the to do list. Give ourselves the rules and lists to follow. Sometimes the best of intentions can steal away what God intended freedom to be.

Sometimes freedom in flesh is also the misunderstanding of what grace is. Grace is the gift that is given to reconcile us with God. Sometimes people think this is a license to go about "free" from ever being responsible for their sin again. Forgiveness requires a repentant heart, one that comes from understanding that we need Him to be reconciled to Him. There is no doubt that we battle with flesh even when we are new creations in Christ. We are still responsible for every choice we make, in this world and the eternal one.

The pendulum swings in both directions. Those that live by law and forget they can't earn their freedom by following all the rules and those that accept their freedom without ever focusing on the source. It is time to find the beat that comes with living a life in the true freedom that God's grace brings through His Living Word.

Heavenly Father, Your beauty and majesty of creation takes my breath away. A reminder of the freedom your sacrifice has given me. You know in my heart Lord and that I desire a life that lives in the wide open space of your freedom. Lord, don't allow me to bind my life with rules and restrictions. Be my strength when fear overwhelms me and takes my freedom from me. Renew my mind, be my discerner so that the deceiver won't tell me the lies that come from fear and law. Lord, be my focus so that when my flesh becomes a struggle I may focus on your truth and your love. Remind me that I am an example of your freedom and live my life as a response to You. I love you Lord ~In your precious Holy Name.

Please continue to pray for Julz Y this week.

Disappointment, Day 2

I am a huge fan of the Olympics. Last night I was watching the women's gymnastic competition. Amazing athletes that have committed every piece of themselves to be perfect at what they do. When you see on one of their faces the disappointment of not winning the gold medal, you want to cry for them.

Failure to meet expectation. It happens to all of us. Someone disappoints us or we fall short of those expectations ourselves. It is even harder to deal with failing at the things we have set out to perfect in our own lives. There is not a solution that makes disappointment easier. In fact, I think the more heart and soul you put into something with hopes of success can hit the hardest when they don't work out as we plan.

Take the gymnast for example. She had performed to the peak of perfection but due to things out of her control she now holds the silver medal in her event. While you and I see the blessing in the silver, she sees the failure in not wearing the gold. Perspective has a lot to do with disappointment.

In Romans we are told we are hemmed in with troubles. Okay, that doesn't sound good. So, no matter how hard I try, will I fail, will people fail me? No, that isn't it. Sometimes though there are things in this world that will cause pain and disappointment. Although many of us like to think that we can control everything, we really can't. If you think for a moment that you can, I am thankful not to be hemmed in with you and your troubles. We are not suppose to dwell in our pain, we fight the good fight and learn the lessons of patience that becomes virtue. If you continue to attempt control, disappointment will become despair because nothing will ever meet your expectations. Dealing with disappointment in this life prepares us for the promises of God. With Him we will never be "shortchanged" but blessed generously by the Holy Spirit.

Romans 5:3-5 There's more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we're hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we're never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can't round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!

Heavenly Father, I praise your name for all that you are and the beauty of your majesty. I read your inspired words in Romans 5 this week and I am weak with the knowledge of your gift. Lord I find myself holding back from challenges and relationships because I don't want to feel the pain of disappointment. Lord, the next time I am given the chance to love a little stronger or try a little harder remind me that when the disappointment can be great that the gift is more amazing and greater then anything I could imagine. May I never store up my blessings but share them with those you wish to see you. ~Your precious Holy Name.
Please Continue to pray for Annemarie M this week.

Prayer Request: Hello, This Saturday a family, the Brewers, in our church lost their home to a house fire. They were not home when the fire started and they were not able to recover anything but 2 Bibles. They are a young family with 3 children, 6, 4 and 2 years of age. Today they are coming back to town to share with their children why they are not able to "go home". Please pray for them as they have lost everything they have ever worked for. They are thankful that they are safe and have each other. Praise God that our church has come through and that they may have a place to stay and temporary comforts, but the grief and the loss is hard. Please pray for them. If there is anything you would like to do or if you would like to encourage them, please forward on to womenofworship1@gmail.com and we will make sure to let them know. Mostly though, the prayers will be needed, so thank you in advance.

Disappointment, Day 1

dis·ap·point (dictionary.com)
1.to fail to fulfill the expectations or wishes of
2.to defeat the fulfillment of (hopes, plans, etc.); thwart; frustrate: to be disappointed in love. –

A double edged sword. We fail to meet the expectations of others and inevitably people will fail to meet ours. This week we will take the time to look at human relationships and disappointment.

Today, I would like you to take time to read Romans 5. Meditate on it. Remember that we were born into sin and have disappointed God. Because of the free gift of Grace we are reconciled, justified in Christ. If you, through faith, believe that Christ died for you then you have this amazing gift of ultimate forgiveness. God no longer sees you as a disappointment but as a son or daughter and an heir of the Kingdom.

Romans 5 (Message)
Developing Patience
1-2By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us—set us right with him, make us fit for him—we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that's not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God's grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.
3-5There's more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we're hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we're never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can't round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!
6-8Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn't, and doesn't, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn't been so weak, we wouldn't have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him.
9-11Now that we are set right with God by means of this sacrificial death, the consummate blood sacrifice, there is no longer a question of being at odds with God in any way. If, when we were at our worst, we were put on friendly terms with God by the sacrificial death of his Son, now that we're at our best, just think of how our lives will expand and deepen by means of his resurrection life! Now that we have actually received this amazing friendship with God, we are no longer content to simply say it in plodding prose. We sing and shout our praises to God through Jesus, the Messiah!

The Death-Dealing Sin, the Life-Giving Gift
12-14You know the story of how Adam landed us in the dilemma we're in— first sin, then death, and no one exempt from either sin or death. That sin disturbed relations with God in everything and everyone, but the extent of the disturbance was not clear until God spelled it out in detail to Moses. So death, this huge abyss separating us from God, dominated the landscape from Adam to Moses. Even those who didn't sin precisely as Adam did by disobeying a specific command of God still had to experience this termination of life, this separation from God. But Adam, who got us into this, also points ahead to the One who will get us out of it.
15-17Yet the rescuing gift is not exactly parallel to the death-dealing sin. If one man's sin put crowds of people at the dead-end abyss of separation from God, just think what God's gift poured through one man, Jesus Christ, will do! There's no comparison between that death-dealing sin and this generous, life-giving gift. The verdict on that one sin was the death sentence; the verdict on the many sins that followed was this wonderful life sentence. If death got the upper hand through one man's wrongdoing, can you imagine the breathtaking recovery life makes, sovereign life, in those who grasp with both hands this wildly extravagant life-gift, this grand setting-everything-right, that the one man Jesus Christ provides?
18-19Here it is in a nutshell: Just as one person did it wrong and got us in all this trouble with sin and death, another person did it right and got us out of it. But more than just getting us out of trouble, he got us into life! One man said no to God and put many people in the wrong; one man said yes to God and put many in the right.
20-21All that passing laws against sin did was produce more lawbreakers. But sin didn't, and doesn't, have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace. When it's sin versus grace, grace wins hands down. All sin can do is threaten us with death, and that's the end of it. Grace, because God is putting everything together again through the Messiah, invites us into life—a life that goes on and on and on, world without end.

Please pray for Annemarie M this week.

You

Who are YOU?

wife, mother, daughter, husband, father, son, manager, teacher, minister, pastor, engineer, friend, lover, musician, counselor, runner, banker, accountant......

loving, caring, compassionate, strong, beautiful, friendly, giving, busy, affectionate, funny, honest, sad, angry, happy, temperamental, right, faithful.....

Christian? Saint? Sinner?

Free?

Galatians 2:19-21
"For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God.
"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
"I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly."

Day 2

We all have ways to identify ourselves. Job descriptions, personality traits, gender roles, beliefs, talents and gifts all define who we are as people. Who are you?

I have spent the last 9 years defined as "stay at home mom". I love being home with my girls but it has become the definition of who I am and what I do. This fall my youngest will start preschool and be gone a few hours a week learning to socialize with other children. All of a sudden I have a dilemma, I will have a few hours a week that I will not be "mom" or "wife". The prospect scares me a little. I have gotten so caught up in my roles that I haven't defined myself outside of them. If I am being completely honest, I have no idea who I am without my kids or husband. I think it is very easy to define ourselves by the roles we play in life. I have many passions in my life and forget that they deserve my attention too. Even though my priorities are my children and husband I have an opportunity to explore the other pieces of my identity.

Life is in continuous cycle of change. God himself guides us, loves us and encourages every step of the way. I also know that He will nudge me out of a defining role in my life when it becomes self serving and not God serving. Have you ever found yourself in a job or position that you no longer find joy in? Do you continue the same routines out of habit and pride rather then out of serving God? Have you ever allowed people around you define you with a label or role definition?

It is important to remember that however you define yourself that it aligns with what God desires for you. With every part of who you are you are giving a part of yourself, either in your job or your relationships, you are serving someone or something. Ask yourself if you are serving God or yourself or even attempting to please society's standards over God's desire for your life.

2 Corinthians 9:7Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Day 3

Romans 12: 1-8
1Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
2And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
3For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.
4For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function,
5so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
6Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith;
7if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching;
8or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

Who are you?
Do you consider your talents important?
Do you know that your role in God's family is just as important as everyone else's?
Can you embrace the gifts and talents God has given you and still be humble and know that you still need God?

Day 4

It really isn't about you at all. When we grasp the greatness of the gift of grace in our lives it becomes about God. Can you define yourself by your response to God's love for you? It is important to understand that all of your qualities, your gifts, your imperfections and your experiences are exactly what the Body of Christ needs to change lives. By being an active participant in your faith, defining yourself as a believer, understanding that you are an important player in God's plans, together we can transform lives.


Lyrics to "If we are the body" by Casting Crowns
It's crowded in worship today As she slips in Trying to fade into the faces The girls' teasing laughter is carrying farther than they know Farther than they know CHORUS But if we are the Body Why aren't His arms reaching Why aren't His hands healing Why aren't His words teaching And if we are the Body Why aren't His feet going Why is His love not showing them there is a way There is a way A traveler is far away from home He sheds his coat And quietly sinks into the back row The weight of their judgmental glances tells him that his chances Are better out on the road CHORUS But if we are the Body Why aren't His arms reaching Why aren't His hands healing Why aren't His words teaching And if we are the Body Why aren't His feet going Why is His love not showing them there is a way Jesus paid much too high a price For us to pick and choose who should come And we are the Body of Christ Chorus (2x) If we are the body Why aren't His arms reaching Why aren't His hands healing Why aren't His words teaching And if we are the body Why aren't His feet going Why is His love not showing them there is a way Jesus is the way

Day 5

Who are YOU? I hope you have taken some time this week to look in the mirror. I hope that some of what you saw was beautiful and brought you joy. I know that when God looks at you, he sees one of His children, made clean by the Blood of Jesus. I hope that when he sees each of us, he sees people willing to be molded by His mercy and grace. Willing to be shaped into a Body of believers capable of stepping out and changing the world with His message of hope and truth.

Heavenly Father, Praise your name for your gift of grace. Again Lord I come to you with a desire to be defined by my life's response to your love and mercy. Forgive me for lacking the confidence to step out in faith and know you can use all of my gifts, my experiences and my imperfections to help and serve your people. Remind me daily Lord that it isn't about just me and my battles but it is about the Body of believers and all of our needs; all of our struggles; all of our gifts; and all of our faith together that will make things happen in your precious Name. Bless my friends, Lord, show them all that you see in them. ~In Jesus' Name.