STUMBLING BLOCKS... Sunday

Devotional for 10/6/13

There are many things in this life that can get in the way of having a good relationship with God - forgetfulness, distractions, love of money, addictions, etc.  Even people can become a stumbling block.  We try our best to be helpful to others.  Sometimes, in spite of our intentions, we get in the way.  

We try not to take advantage of those who are weak or helpless, but rather build them up and help them:

“Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the Lord." Leviticus 19:14 (NIV)

Our desire is to lead others to Christ.  If we must correct someone's actions, we must do it lovingly and be careful not to be judgemental of the person's soul so that we do not turn them away from God:

Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. Romans 14:13 (NIV)

In doing things that we know in our hearts are not sinful, such as eating or drinking certain things or dressing a certain way, we must be careful not to lead others astray to things that interfere with their faith in God.  They are still ultimately responsible for their own actions, but at the same time there is a healthy balance and we should not purposely confuse or tempt them:

Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak.  1 Corinthians 8:9 (NIV)

Again, we do these things all in order to be good witnesses to Christ:

We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. 2 Corinthians 6:3 (NIV)

But at no time should we sacrifice the telling of the gospel, the preaching of salvation through Christ, Jesus, in order to not be offensive to someone else. Then, and only then, are we to be a stumbling block:

Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom,  but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 1 Corinthians 1:22-23 (NIV)

Dear Lord in heaven - Thank you for giving your life for me on the cross so that I would have a way to heaven.  Make me a witness of this to other people.  Help me not to be a stumbling block for others but rather a stepping stone for them to follow you. In your name, Amen.

written by Jan Andersen

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Here is a song to listen to...

"Make Me a Channel of Your Peace"   

               sung by Susan Boyle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGHOtR-v4yQ&feature=player_embedded

ALL THINGS...Friday

10/4/13

"Jesus looked at them and said,

 'With man this is impossible, 

but with God all things are possible." 

-- Matthew 19:26

     I am convinced that if we all really believed these words of Scripture that our lives would be dramatically different.  What size is our God?

     We could take to heart that we believe in an eternal, all knowing, all powerful God who loves us with a love so deep that we cannot comprehend it.

     What affects us doesn't affect God.  The barriers we have to overcome aren't insurmountable to Him.  He doesn't grow tired and weary.  He doesn't sleep.  He says ALL thing are possible for Him.

     So, do you need wisdom to make a decision, healing for your worn body, help finding a job, strength to meet daily challenges? -- look to God.  Have faith in God and trust His promises.  God wants to be all things to us and with Him all thin gs are possible for us.

Written by 

Carol Steficek 
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Here is a song for Friday
Sung by Mandisa and Toby Mac

"Good Morning"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4Sj6TmSG4w

Let Everyone Who Has Breath....Thursday

10/3/13

“Praise The Lord”

 

My husband and I are blessed each morning to witness Pacheco Pass route 152 in California and sing praises to our King as the majestic sun comes alive with the brilliance of color being cascaded across the San Luis Reservoir and the magnificent golden hills.  As I see the master at work painting this beautiful picture I, too, cannot help but sing His praises.  Let everyone that has breath praise the Lord.

Hallelujah!

Praise God in his holy house of worship, 

    praise him under the open skies; 

 Praise him for his acts of power,

    praise him for his magnificent greatness;

Praise with a blast on the trumpet,

praise by strumming soft strings;

Praise him with castanets and dance,

    praise him with banjo and flute;

Praise him with cymbals and a big bass drum,

praise him with fiddles and mandolin.

Let every living, breathing creature praise God!

    Hallelujah! 

(Psalm 150 Msg)

Written by,

Kathryn Hanson
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Here is a song for Thursday
sung by Hillsong

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNhfTYWljY8

"His Steadfast Peace"...Wednesday

10/2/13

There is one thing the world cannot give us and that is Peace. Only our Precious Jesus can give us His Steadfast Peace.

When the storms in my life and yours are roaring, we can be sure of one thing. As we call out to Jesus to help us, He is there. He will calm our storms and give us His beautiful peace.

Just this past week my heart was heavy over one of my children.  I will have to admit, I hung out for quite awhile letting that heaviness weigh me down. After a few days I finally decided I had enough! I chose to draw closer to my Lord and lay all of that heaviness at His feet. Slowly it began to lift and God's perfect peace took the place of all that heaviness.

Whatever is keeping you from experiencing God's peace in your life, lay it down at the foot of the cross. Then rest in His Wonderful, Steadfast Peace.

  For He Himself is our Peace,
who has made both one,
and has broken down
the middle wall of separation...

Ephesians 2:14

In His Steadfast Peace,

 Sandy Billingham

Here is a beautiful song for Wednesday
"The Song of Peace"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcyfwiaQawE

Time to Reach Forward....Tuesday

It is time to move from our perfect one bedroom home to a larger one. Why are we doing this if we are so content where we are already? I’m reminded of Abram and Sarai who packed up because the Lord told them to move out and move on. So it is with us, the Lord has told us it is time to move.

What we didn’t realize when we first started this process was that it would mean downsizing. How can that be? The new house is bigger. Lord, what is going on? It doesn’t make sense. Then His answer came to us, "Let go."  But! But! There are no buts about it, it’s time to clean out our accumulation of “stuff.” Oh, pain and agony!  Rented a storage unit and will sort it out for the annual church rummage sale when we have MORE TIME.  We have more wall space here but no “hidey holes” in the house or 2-car garage. It sounds so simple as I write this but we are both sacrificing as we figure out how to do this bit by bit.

Solomon, the wisest man who has ever lived, searched for the meaning and purpose of life, his observations in Ecclesiastes 3 are helping me focus on God's plan for me.

 

There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven.

 

A time to give birth and a time to die. I've done the first three times, but dying to myself has been on-going. 

A time to plant and time to uproot what is planted. The past was good, now it is time to pass on the blessings.

A time to kill, and a time to heal. I must choke the life out of the bad attitudes that want to creep into my heart and prevent forgiveness and compassion. 

A time to tear down and a time to build up. Tearing self from the past and looking forward and taking steps into the future.

A time to weep and a time to laugh. “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy cometh in the morning." Psalm 30:5. The laughter may not come the very next morning, but it does come.

A time to mourn and a time to dance. I have lost and grieved, but I have also danced for joy like the sugar plum fairies!

 

A time to throw stones, and a time to gather stones. Many times the things I want to hold onto are perfectly good things, yet if God says to let go, it is time.

A time to embrace, and a time to shun embracing. I embrace the work load to get it over with, do not accept the rejection and judgment some people send my way. 

A time to search, and a time to give up as lost.  Couldn’t find my keys for two weeks!  The woman looked for her coin & finding it, called the neighbors to rejoice with her– except we don’t know our neighbors yet:) I am grateful God doesn't give up on any of us as lost. 

A time to keep, and a time to throw away.   Here it is – the theme of our lifestyle this month.

Having had my say, I leave you with a few more of my favorite verses:

 

"Forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead.” Philippians 3:13.“All things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28.    Ahhhh, now I take a deep breath and fill my heart, mind, and soul with “The joy of the Lord is my strength!" Thanks for stopping by and allowing me to share this new development in my life in light of Scripture! God is with us! Amen, sisters, amen! 

Click here to hear Tenth Avenue North sing  "Let It Go": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PEWianth7s

Written by Sandy Schott

Seasons...Monday

9/30/13

Perhaps it was the way
Peter,Paul, and Mary
crooned its lyrics in the 60's which
caused Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
 to captivate my heart.
 It is a masterfully written passage.
As a literary piece it certainly lends itself to music.
It's message is profound
and has a wistful pensive tone.
This selection penetrates the soul and yields to numerous personal interpretations.

As you read the words of 

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 

may the Holy Spirit guide you in relating them to your own life experiences. I hope you find that this passage of scripture gives you peace and assurance concerning past, present, and future seasons of your life. May this literary work, originally written by King Solomon, encourage you with confidence in the wisdom, sovereignty, and providence of a loving God. 

                                                                Ecclesiastes 3:1-8                                                                  

1 “There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:

2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down anda time to build,

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
 a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

The epochs and eras of our lives serve to craft us into who we are. The Master Potter uses them to refine our character and to help us to see things through His perspective. As the words of Ecclesiastes reveal, in life there are processes of comings and goings, tearing down and building up, of wounding and healing. It is sometimes only in retrospect that we can see the hand of God in the times of our lives.

As born again New Testament Christians, despite our changing circumstances we have an ever present constant joy in the knowledge that this earth is not our final destination. We are pressing on toward an eternal Kingdom where...

 “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes;
and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow,
nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain:
 for the former things are passed away.” 
Revelation 21:4

By Cathy Friberg

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Here is a song by Nichole Nordeman...
"Every Season"

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=you+tube+song+about+seasons+christuan&FORM=VIRE1#view=detail&mid=086A801C05C1964F92FD086A801C05C1964F92FD

SCARS... Sunday

Devotional for 9/29/13

Most of us have some sort of scars from things that have happened to us.  I have one on my arm where I fell on a broken bottle as a child.  It cut right through the thick sleeve of my jacket into the delicate flesh on the inside of my left forearm.  That was so many years ago, it is now just a barely noticeable shiny patch the same color as the rest of my skin.  But I can still find it if I look for it.  I also have some intentional internal scars - where a surgeon purposely "microfractured" a small area on the surface of one of my hips.  This was done in order for my body to form scar tissue where I had a small divot in the cartilage covering the ball of the joint.  Cartilage is our shock absorber, and is called arthritis when some of it is damaged or worn away.  This cartilage does not heal. The surgery forced my body to form scar tissue in that spot, which became my new "shock absorber" on that place in my hip.  Then there are the emotional scars from past troubles and traumas.  Those scars cannot be seen, inside or outside, even with a magnifier.  But the results of those scars can be felt in the heart, or can affect current thoughts and actions.  Each of these different types of scars are from wounds that have healed, some better than others. Scars are a natural part of the healing process of a wound, but they leave marks, evidence of something that has happened.  

Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, died in our place.  He was nailed to a cross, creating wounds on his hands and feet.  Adding insult to injury a spear was also thrust into his side.  Those wounds healed after his death and resurrection and left marks of evidence on his body.  He later appeared to the disciples on earth, and those scars bore witness to the disciples that the person they were seeing was indeed Jesus.

They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost.  He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds?  Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”  When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet.  Luke 24:37-40  (NIV)

Our Savior was wounded because of us.  He did not deserve the crucifixion nails in his hands and feet or the spear in his side, yet he endured them for our own salvation.  His scars are good - healing us from our own brokenness. 

“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” 1 Peter 2:24 (NIV)

Our scars can also be a good thing.  Physical scars are what heal wounds.  Without them we would be left with gaping holes where they did not belong.  Emotional scars can be a sign of lessons learned and create a point of contact with others.  Healing can grow our faith as we learn to trust God more fully.  How we deal with our scars and rely on God can be a witness to those around us.  Scars can actually be a beautiful thing!

written by Jan Andersen

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Here is a song called "Scars"

It is sung by Jonny Diaz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhVDhUlUX88#t=90