Positive Note/Lesson for Friday;

01/15/2021

WHEN THE RESOLUTIONS FAIL

Dr. Jeff Schreve

For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again, but the wicked stumble in time of calamity.

Proverbs 24:16

Many people I know make New Year's Resolutions. They vow to exercise more. eat right. lose weight. quit that bad habit. get out of debt. put God first. stay pure. etc. But what do you do if you fail and falter in your New Year's Resolution and it is only January 7? What then?

I know what lots of people do. They beat themselves up with guilt and shame. They tell themselves what a loser they are. They heap condemnation on their heads and walk around in defeat mode. That is not the thing God wants us to do when we fail.

GOD'S PROGRAM FOR THOSE WHO FAIL

Proverbs 24:16 is a great verse to help you and me when we falter in our well-intentioned resolutions or commitments to God. Look at it again - For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again, but the wicked stumble in time of calamity.

Notice that God says "a righteous man falls seven times." Even the righteous person, even the one who desires to do right and please God, that one falls. and fails. and blows it - not once or twice, but seven times (over and over and over again).

Now the devil will tell you when you fall, "Give up, you bum! Throw in the towel and quit!! You will never walk in victory over this anger, this worry, this bitterness, this lust, this greed, this addiction, this whatever. You are a loser and a failure and a major disappointment to God." Have you ever heard those words play in your head? Well, the good news is this: "The devil is a liar and the father of lies."

When we fall, God never says, "Give up," He says, "GET UP! RISE AGAIN! Confess that sin. get it out of your heart and under My blood. Take my hand and let's walk together. Keep looking to Me, and we WILL slay this giant in your life."

WE CAN'T DO IT ALONE. AND WE DON'T HAVE TO

My friend, you and I do not have the power to change our hearts. but He does. He can change your sinful desires. He can give you a heart that beats for Him and His righteousness. He can clean you up and set you on a path of joy and peace and victory. The little poem says, "I can't. He never said I could. He will. He always said He would."

If you have fallen, will you quit beating yourself up and start looking up? Will you open your eyes and see a Savior who loves you. who has a nail-scarred hand stretched out to you. who says to you, "Will you take My hand and walk with Me?" What is your answer to Him?

Love,

Pastor Jeff Schreve

01/16/2021

God Is Our Loving Father

Dr. Charles Stanley

The Lord Appeared to Isaac..... Streams in the Desert

 The Lord Appeared to Isaac

Streams in the Desert

And the Lord appeared unto Isaac the same night (Genesis 26:24).

"Appeared the same night," the night on which he went to Beer-sheba. Do you think this revelation was an accident? Do you think the time of it was an accident? Do you think it could have happened on any other night as well as this? If so, you are grievously mistaken. Why did it come to Isaac in the night on which he reached Beer-sheba? Because that was the night on which he reached rest. In his old locality, he had been tormented. There had been a whole series of petty quarrels about the possession of paltry wells. There are no worries like little worries, particularly if there is an accumulation of them. Isaac felt this. Even after the strife was past, the place retained a disagreeable association. He determined to leave. He sought change of scene. He pitched his tent away from the place of former strife. That very night the revelation came. God spoke when there was no inward storm. He could not speak when the mind was fretted; His voice demands the silence of the soul. Only in the hush of the spirit could Isaac hear the garments of his God sweep by. His still night was his starry night.

My soul, hast thou pondered these words, "Be still, and know"? In the hour of perturbation, thou canst not hear the answer to thy prayers. How often has the answer seemed to come long after the heart got no response in the moment of its crying -- in its thunder, its earthquake, and its fire. But when the crying ceased, when the stillness fell, when thy hand desisted from knocking on the iron gate, when the interest of other lives broke the tragedy of thine own, then appeared the long-delayed reply. Thou must rest, O soul, if thou wouldst have thy heart's desire. Still the beating of thy pulse of personal care. Hide thy tempest of individual trouble behind the altar of a common tribulation and, that same night, the Lord shall appear to thee. The rainbow shall span the place of the subsiding flood, and in thy stillness thou shalt hear the everlasting music.

Tread in solitude thy pathway,
Quiet heart and undismayed.
Thou shalt know things strange, mysterious,
Which to thee no voice has said.
While the crowd of petty hustlers
Grasps at vain and paltry things,
Thou wilt see a great world rising
Where soft mystic music rings.
Leave the dusty road to others,
Spotless keep thy soul and bright,
As the radiant ocean's surface
When the sun is taking flight.
--(From the German of V. Schoffel)

Go to the Ant..... Dr. Charles Stanley

 Go to the Ant

Dr. Charles Stanley

Proverbs 6:6-8

God is a masterful Creator. He has integrated many of His principles into the fabric of nature so that we can see His handiwork and learn of Him (Ps. 19:1-6). If you desire to acquire wisdom, do not neglect to look outdoors for His lessons.

Now, of course, the outdoors sometimes comes inside. If you’ve ever battled ants in your kitchen or pantry, wisdom probably isn’t the first trait you would attribute to them—you probably would choose a description more like determination. But to the lazy person, God points out these tiny creatures as an example of wise living. Simply consider how many characteristics of the ant people would be smart to adopt: preparation, cooperation, perseverance, diligence, unity, and the list goes on. So interacting with righteous men isn’t the only way to acquire wisdom. God also wants us to observe the lowly ant that He created to work in community.

There’s much to learn from the created world. By directing attention to the birds, Jesus challenges His followers to consider the folly of anxiety (Matt. 6:26). Birds do not reap or gather grain but rather assume their food will be supplied as it always has been. The lesson in this observation of nature is that the Lord who provides for birds can be trusted to meet His people’s needs as well.

Our quest for wisdom is to be rooted in Scripture and covered in prayer. But don’t overlook the many lessons unfolding right outside the front door. Ask God for “eyes to see” (Mark 8:18). Then take every chance to grow in understanding so your capacity to live by His principles will be strengthened.

Remember the Faithfulness of God..... ANITHA ABRAHAM

 Remember the Faithfulness of God

ANITHA ABRAHAM

“Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, ‘I will give this land to your descendants.’ And Abram built an altar there and dedicated it to the LORD, who had appeared to him.” Genesis 12:7 (NLT)

I tend to forget things. I forget names and faces. I have looked for my cellphone WHILE I was talking on it. The struggle is real — and not just with everyday stuff. It happens with big stuff, too.

When I look back at my journal entries summarizing years gone by, I tend to say the same thing every December 31:

“This year was challenging.”
“It was difficult.”
“This year was hard.”

And then there was 2020. Has there been a year like it before? To say it was challenging, difficult and hard still feels like an understatement. In addition to the worldwide pandemic, I went through some personal struggles as well. As a result, when I reflect on the year, that’s where my mind goes.

In spite of everything, if I stop and really, really think about it, some incredible things also happened in 2020. I hope you can say the same.

Have you noticed it is easy to remember the hard things? Have you also noticed that it is hard to remember the good things? I don’t want my habit of forgetting to push me into a place of doubt and worry. I want to remember the faithfulness of God.

Forgetting is an issue that has been around as long as there have been humans on the earth. Thankfully, God instituted various precepts to help people remember. One of the most common was to build an altar.

“Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, ‘I will give this land to your descendants.’ And Abram built an altar there and dedicated it to the LORD, who had appeared to him. After that, Abram traveled south and set up camp in the hill country, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built another altar and dedicated it to the LORD, and he worshiped the LORD” (Genesis 12:7-8, NLT).

Abram, whose name would eventually change to Abraham, built altars at significant points in his life. We continue to see that practice with other characters in the Bible. Over and over again, God reminds His people to remember because He knows our natural tendency is to forget.

How can we do this now? Building an altar can’t look like what it did in Genesis. That would probably break most city ordinances! But there is still a way: an altar jar.

At the start of every new year, get an empty jar. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy — even an old spaghetti sauce jar will do. Then, as you experience moments of God’s faithfulness, write them down and put them in your jar. You can do this at the end of the day, once a week or whenever something good happens.

Write down the big stuff — “My friend was healed from cancer!” or “I reconciled with my dad today.” Write down the moments we usually take for granted — “It is freezing outside but my heater is working!” Or something you are celebrating — “My child turned another year older today!”

The fact that we will remember the year more accurately is pretty awesome on its own. But there’s more. Every time you write something down, it is an opportunity for worship and expressing gratitude to God.

In addition to that, every time someone else sees your jar, it becomes a conversation starter. God commanded Abram’s descendants, the Israelites, to recount His faithfulness in their lives: “In days to come, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ say to him, ‘With a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery” (Exodus 13:14, NIV).

Let’s step into 2021 with faith and expectancy. At the end of this year, I believe your altar jar will be full … and so will your heart.

Dear heavenly Father, I know I can look ahead to this year with confident hope. You are good and faithful. You will fulfill every purpose You have for my life. I thank You for all You have done and all You will do. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY:
James 1:17, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (NIV)

3 Ways Jesus Showed How To “Die Daily” ..... By Emily Massey

 3 Ways Jesus Showed How To “Die Daily”

By Emily Massey

“I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily” (1 Corinthians 15:31)

As Jesus’ disciples, we are called to follow Him. That was Paul’s mission in life – to imitate Christ. And it is what he and the rest of the apostles literally gave their lives to preach to the world through their words and actions. We may not ever get the honor to literally die for Jesus Christ because of our faith in Him, but by God’s grace, we can imitate His selflessness every day.

How do we imitate Christ in our everyday life? Here are three ways Jesus lived a selfless faith on earth.

1. Jesus humbly approached the Father through prayer.

Even though Jesus was God in the flesh, He still leaned upon God the Father for everything He said and did while He walked this earth. Jesus would rise early to pray and seek God for His will for the day.

2. Jesus obediently submitted Himself to the will of the Father.

Each day, we are faced with the temptation to satisfy our flesh and go outside the boundaries of God’s perfect will. We discover what that will is when we read the Bible and study it for ourselves to learn God’s ways. We are not perfect, but thankfully Jesus was, and because of His sacrifice on the cross, we have been given the precious gift of the Holy Spirit as born-again believers.

We read in Luke 22, when Jesus was praying in the garden on the night before His crucifixion, He cried out to the Father: “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22: 42).

At His most desperate hour, He yielded His life to God’s plan, even when it meant that He was going to die a very painful death. Yet, He knew that wasn’t where the story ended; there would be a resurrection.

3. Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve others.

Jesus ministered to thousands upon thousands of people during His time here on earth. John 22 tells us that if all the things Jesus did were all written down, the entire world could not contain the books that would be written!

Who is God asking you to serve? What selfish desires do you need to lay aside to put someone else’s life before your own? Are you too busy or too distracted to serve others?

Are You in the Belly of a Big Fish?..... by Fred Alberti

 Are You in the Belly of a Big Fish?

by Fred Alberti

But the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.
Jonah 1:17

Being a homeschool family we sometimes have some rather interesting experiments that we get to enjoy as a family. George is one such experiment. George is a goldfish whose bowl-mate sadly perished. My son's task was to teach the goldfish to come to the top of the bowl when he tapped on the glass. After several weeks of tapping and feeding and tapping and feeding the fish finally learned to come to the top of the bowl.

Big deal right? Right, that is until the fish started to do more. Anytime someone would walk by the bowl he would get all excited and start moving his mouth like he was yelling at whoever it was that was walking by the bowl. This became rather normal and we would just ignore him or comment that he was yelling at us in Spanish.

Then one day my kids were listening to an FFH song titled "Big Fish." It was then that George decided to really show off what he could do. When the song played George would begin to swim around like he was dancing in the water and would seemingly move his mouth to the words (move over Ashlee Simpson).

I particularly like the first verse of the song which goes like this:

Are you in the big fish
Are you sitting in the belly of a world gone mad
Have you turned your back in His wish
On His will for your life, have you made Him sad
Do you want to get out of the big fish
Listen to God and follow His plan
And you won't be part of the main dish
 He'll spit you out on to dry land

I've sometimes felt like I was in the belly of a big fish. I had decided to do something my way instead of first seeking the Lord's guidance and leading.

You, whoever you are, God has a plan for your life. Maybe you feel like you are wasting your time at a dead-end job. Or perhaps you have no job but would desperately like one. Maybe you think you have the dream job but the Lord has been speaking to you in a still small voice to give it up for something else. Like Jonah, you may not particularly like the mission God has for you but He has the intention of making you ideally suited to carry that plan out.

Will you follow His plan or will you turn your back?

Maybe you've already chosen to turn your back and feel that there is no way out now. If that is the case I've got good news for you. The Bible has this to say about Jonah, "From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God" (Jonah 2:1). God is the God of second, third, and fourth chances.

Commit your way to the Lord today.

Intersecting Faith & Life: Buy a goldfish if you don't have one already. As you feed it remember that the Lord has a purpose and a plan for your life. Ask Him to reveal it to you daily. 

A Prayer for the Winter Blues..... By Meg Bucher

 A Prayer for the Winter Blues

By Meg Bucher

You have fixed all the boundaries of the earth; you have made summer and winter. – Psalm 74:17

Winter pops up in the Bible as early as Genesis 8:1. The literal Hebrew translation of the word means,“harvest time” or“autumn,” but when I dug a little deeper into the word origin I found that winter has been associated with feelings of disdain dating back to ancient times! “Charaph,” the root word, also carries a definition relating back to harvest time, but also this one: “to reproach, taunt, blaspheme, defy, jeopardize, rail, upbraid.” Our modern-day definition of winter links the season to cold temperatures, but there’s no denying the depressive state of the Winter blues that can set in months under gray skies and dead trees.

“It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth; you who made both summer and winter,” the psalmist praises in v. 17 of Psalm 74. Amidst dire conditions of a city in ruins, he still becomes overwhelmed by who God is. The VOICE paraphrase of this verse reads, “You have arranged the earth, set all it’s boundaries; You are the Architect of the seasons: summer and winter.”

Winter and Summer are completely different seasons, yet God has a handle on both of them …and us. He doesn’t rip the rug out from our seasonal barometer, taking us from hot summer nights to a frigid blanket of snow. He eases us into the change, walking us from one season to the next with Autumn and Spring in between. God is so creative, He seized the opportunity to create a time for the beauty of transition.

In an environment that experiences a full four seasons of change, we seem to constantly live in flux. Maybe that’s the lesson God is teaching us. The moment we linger too long in our comfort zone, we stop growing. Even challenging changes mature the human heart. Through all weather, He remains unchanged. We change, the earth shifts and groans, but He never does. He never changes. He never fails.

When the winter blues threaten to steal our joy, remember that God reigns over all seasons, of the weather, and of our hearts. Let’s pray:

Father,

Praise You for the seasonal change that so many of us witness first hand each year. Even though we can predict an inevitable shift in weather, each time a new wave of beauty ushers onto the scene we are reminded of the amazing way You have created the earth. The beauty in each season reminds us of Your creativity and finite care for life, especially ours.

Winter brings its own set of characteristic landscapes, with blankets of snow and powdery tree branches. Though the winter storms batter us and chill us to the bone, the sun shines onto the sparkling snow thereafter, reminding us that You make beauty out of all things.

Your creation is marvelous. It has the power to pull us out of the doldrums. Thank You for Your faithfulness to remind us through Psalm 74 today how powerful our remembrance of Your character is. Even in the darkest depressive state, buried under a snowfall that has turned shoveled sidewalks into tunnels, we know that worship can spin our hearts on a dime.

The new change is exciting at first, as is every new season that ushers in. It’s easy to let the excitement of the first snowfall and the Christmas Season fuel our childlike wonder for the change of Fall to Winter. A White Christmas and the sound of kids sledding brings a refreshing change to our souls. But once the twinkling lights of Christmas have faded, and the first snowfall has drifted away into dead grass and gray skies, we struggle to remember the glory of this particular season.

Forgive us for allowing the cold, gray skies and short dark winter days to steal the joy of our hearts. Help us use extra downtime to restore our energy and slow our schedules. Soften our hearts to look beyond the inconvenience of the season. For we know that without the tiring leg of the current season, the next one wouldn’t be so welcome and exciting of a change.

Thank You for bringing us to another Winter, and another New Year. Resolutions can seem like impossible tasks to take on when it’s cold outside and the lack of daylight makes the days seem shorter.“You are the Architect of the seasons.” The Architect of our hearts. You have gone before us, and know what lies ahead. You are a good Father, and Your love for us is perfect. We can trust You to pull us through the winter.

Bless us with hearts more like Jesus, patient and perseverant. Watch over our cloud of despair that threatens to set in with the gray skies. Bring bright memories of sunshine and warmth to the top of our minds when we need to be reminded that just as sure as the winter came, it will go. Help us to enjoy every day You bless us with on this earth, seeking Your purpose first, and always, through every kind of weather.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Getting in Shape for the New Year..... by Robin Dugall

 Getting in Shape for the New Year

by Robin Dugall

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. —1 Corinthians 9:24

Well, it’s that time of the year again for people to begin their New Year’s diets and exercise plans. If you’ve ever made a resolution to get in shape and haven’t been able to stick with it, you understand how difficult it is and just how diligent you need to be to make progress. Well, growing as a Christian is something that is a lot like working out. We are training to become more and more like Jesus. It doesn’t just happen. It takes persistence. From the earliest centuries, Christians have identified certain practices that have been helpful to the "disciple in training.” Here are some that you might want to work on as we begin a New Year:

PRAY- Try always to remember that God is not out there someplace. As a Christ-follower, we have the assurance of the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives. Prayer is not just talking to God but living and breathing with an awareness of His presence. For years, some Christians have formed the habit of praying, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me" throughout the day. Not difficult or complex, this prayer manages to capture the humility that is to mark Christ-followers everywhere.

FASTING– Everybody eats. Restricting foods by simply declining favorites for a time of prayer or spiritual focus is a way to physically demonstrate your humility and devotion. As an additional benefit, fasting can strengthen your "willpower muscle" – and who among us wouldn’t benefit from that? An athlete doesn't lift weights just so he can lift more weights. Those healthy muscles are ready for any situation. Turn down a doughnut today and tomorrow you might be able to resist calling the person who cut you off on the freeway an idiot.

BITE YOUR TONGUE- Yes, not calling someone a fool, jerk or idiot is a frequent theme in Scripture and early Christian writings. Both place great emphasis on controlling anger. “Sticks and stones” may not break their bones but they do affect our hearts. Sometimes it is best just to keep our mouths shut.

MIND YOUR THOUGHTS- Jesus said that to lust in the imagination is the equivalent of actually committing adultery. I find that extremely challenging! Nearly all sins begin with thinking about sin. Control the thoughts and you’ll have a better handle on your behavior. You may not be able to keep thoughts from popping into your brain but you can decline to entertain them.

When the Apostle Paul wrote that we should be “working out our salvation with fear and trembling,” he was not trying to discourage us but to motivate us. This year, as we exercise our faith and trust in Jesus our faith will grow stronger.

GOING DEEPER:

1. In the spiritual disciplines mentioned above, which area do you need to work on most? What steps will you take today to begin focusing on that area?

2. Pray, asking God to give you wisdom and persistence as you seek to stretch your ‘faith muscles.’

FURTHER READING:

Philippians 1:3-11, Philippians 2:12-18, 1 Corinthians 9:19-23