– Today’s Community Scripture – 12/16/2024

Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute! Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

Philippians 4:4–7 (MSG)

– Reflection:

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

Yesterday while in Church our Pastor Spoke of Joy vs. Happiness, I knew the differences between the two, but it placed a question in my mind. How many of us truly know the difference? They are the same. Joy is inside us; it is what GOD left in us when Jesus went to the cross. Happiness is around you, laughter, the way a joke makes you laugh, the way you feel around certain people. Those are traits of Happiness. To be Joyful, it is something that you have, nothing can be taken away from you because you have it. You know things are going to be ok because GOD said so.

– Where do we go from here?

If there is no reason for you to be joyful, I suggest you try GOD. He is the only one that will have your best interest at the heart of it all. He sent his son here to our world to die for us because we couldn’t get our stuff together. You can’t tell me that is not someone in our corner. After you have accepted Jesus as your savior, the work begins, but at your pace. Following Jesus is like anything. You will only get out of it what you put into it. GOD will always do his part, but we have to do ours and truly believe that Jesus died for us on the CROSS all those years ago. When you can do that, you will notice a joy like no other because you know he is real.

– Our Prayer for Today

Father, thank you for another day to be glad in and rejoice. It is our pleasure to walk with you on the paths you have set before each of us. Thank you. Amen.

– Today’s Community Scripture – 12/13/2024

Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track. Don’t assume that you know it all. Run to God! Run from evil! Your body will glow with health, your very bones will vibrate with life! Honor God with everything you own; give him the first and the best. Your barns will burst, your wine vats will brim over. But don’t, dear friend, resent God’s discipline; don’t sulk under his loving correction. It’s the child he loves that God corrects; a father’s delight is behind all this.

                                Proverbs 3:5–12 (MSG)

– Reflection:

                               Don’t Assume You Know It All

How in the world did I get here?

Why me?

Why now?

What’s next for them?

During what I call my “dark times” while raising my children, many important questions weighed heavily on my mind and heart. My children are the greatest blessing I could have ever received. It’s disheartening to see any of them struggle, and it can make me feel a bit defenseless. They have also blessed us with grandchildren, and we love them. The daily struggles are real for everyone, including our kids. As parents, we want to improve their lives, but as a coach told me years ago, “I can’t go in the game and play for you.” Being a spectator in their lives allows me to see firsthand how each person’s choices can cause ripples throughout their lives.

Where do we go from here?

Reflecting on the past, I can now see God’s hand clearly in the people He placed in our lives, the doors He opened for us, and the positive directions they seem to be heading in now. Listening to my heart daily about where to be and how to guide each of them is becoming easier. It is not my life, as I have often been reminded while they were growing up. The decisions we all had to make now rest on them, and their choices will determine their future. As parents, we only want the best for our children, just as God wanted for His. This is why I rely on the abovementioned scripture whenever they come to mind.

Our Prayer for Today

Father, We thank You for how You have guided us and the people You have placed in our lives. We see Your hand in the paths we’ve walked and trust in Your wisdom as we continue forward. Grant us peace and clarity as we listen to the guidance of our hearts in shepherding those we love. As our children grow and make their own decisions, surround them with Your love and wisdom. Help them to choose paths that align with Your will and into futures filled with hope and prosperity. We entrust their lives to You, knowing that Your plans for them are good and that You desire the best for them just as You do for all Your children. Give us strength and grace as parents to support them with love and understanding. May Your scripture provide comfort and guidance whenever they cross our minds. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen

– Today’s Community Scripture – 12/10/2024

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. 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.

                              Romans 8:1–4 (MSG)

– Reflection:

                    Life on God’s Terms

Many people struggle with negative feelings about themselves. When they sin or make mistakes, rather than accepting God’s mercy and moving on, they pay attention to the voice of the accuser. This voice continuously reminds them of their errors, including failed diets, outbursts of anger, and personal shortcomings. Over time, this can lead to a heavy burden of guilt. The enemy’s aim is to deceive them into living under a sense of condemnation.

– Where do we go from here?

The last four words of today’s Scripture are incredibly important. When you sin and make mistakes, if you focus on the flesh, you may find yourself beating yourself up. You might feel guilty and unworthy, living in a state of depression and defeat. However, choosing that response will only lead you down a dead-end street. Instead, embrace the Spirit and say, Yes, I made mistakes. It was my fault. But I know that the moment I repent of my sins and ask for forgiveness, God will forgive me and forget my sins, allowing me to move forward. Jesus Christ paid the price for my sins and failures two thousand years ago on the cross at Calvary. I am redeemed. I am free.

Our Prayer for Today

Father, Thank You for the gift of forgiveness, for the redemption that comes through the blood of Your Son, for paying the price for our sins once and for all. We accept Your love and forgiveness and choose not to live under guilt or condemnation. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.