Thought for the day...

Saving money God’s way
By Pastor Mark Jeske
As recently as the mid-1980s, Americans were saving money at a 10 percent rate. That is, for every $100 they grossed, they would save $10. Do you know what the savings rate is these days? It’s around 0 percent. Yep, you heard me—0 percent. That sounds to me like the behavior of people who either think they have no future, think only about NOW, or who are simply assuming that someone else will take care of them when they are old.

The Bible does indeed warn us of the dangers of materialism. Money can easily become a god that people adore and trust. Loving money is indeed a root of all kinds of evil. That doesn’t mean, however, that poverty should be a life goal for Christians. God vigorously approves of the concept of building wealth for you and your family.

A few fortunate people build their retirement funds through a large inheritance or gift. The rest of us need to grow it bit by bit. It is a wonderful discipline to spend less than you make and save the difference. Here is Solomon’s advice: “He who gathers money little by little makes it grow” (Proverbs 13:11). Financial security means not only being able to pay your obligations and not be a burden on others. It also means that you can be generous to ministries and projects that you care about.

Start young. Time and compounding are your friends.

 

Light a candle for hope
By Pastor Mark Jeske
Back in the day, candles or oil lamps were the only way you could illuminate the inside of your house after dark. Candles were a big deal.

Today, not so much. In the age of electricity, only a few uses remain for candles. One of them is for emergency preparations. Disaster relief organizations want all homes and businesses to stash bottled water, blankets, some canned food, and candles and matches in the event that all utilities are disabled or cut off. Candles are part of survival gear.

A sweet, ancient Advent custom is to light a candle each week for the four weeks in the run-up to Christmas. It strikes me that lighting an Advent candle is a reminder that our coming Messiah, Jesus Christ, will help us not only survive the coming judgment but triumph with him.

As you light the first candle, ponder the powerful Christmas reality that our Advent waiting anticipates: Jesus Christ is God himself, come in human flesh to relive your life for you and die your death for you. While you are waiting for Christmas, and waiting for the second coming, rejoice that God is with you. “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14).

Let that first candle remind you of the hope that Jesus brings

 

November 28, 2019
Verse of the Day
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.
1 Chronicles 16:34 NIV

 

Great things
By Sarah Habben
“What have you done for me lately?” Maybe that question has crossed your mind (or lips) recently. It’s in our DNA to object when someone wants something for nothing. Why should we expend effort, time, or money on someone who has nothing to offer us?

Maybe you feel like that about God. Maybe you are out of a job, out of love, out of money, out of options. “What has God done for me lately,” you wonder. “Why should I pray/worship/offer my time or talents when I get so little out of the bargain?”

It’s true—you may be having a tough week, or year, or life. You might feel forgotten by God. Nevertheless, such a view of your relationship with God is shortsighted. It’s not too different from a kid denied in a Dollar Store who hollers, “You never buy me anything!”

This Thanksgiving, let’s remember exactly what God has bought for us with the blood of his Son—not just anything, but everything that matters: Pardon from sin and release from guilt. Peace with God and a home in heaven. We come empty-handed to this banquet of blessings. No marshmallow-topped side dish of good works can earn us a place at this buffet. We have nothing to offer God in exchange, yet “the LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy” (Psalm 126:3).

So go ahead. Bring your hungry heart to God and ask, “What have you done for me lately?” Then prepare to be filled . . . with joy.

 

What Difference Does Faith Make?
By Rick Warren — November 27, 2019


“Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ” (Romans 10:17 NIV).

All that God wants to do in your life, he does on the basis of faith.

Everybody has faith. Even an atheist has faith. It’s just a matter of what you put your faith in and the amount of faith you have.

Would you like to have more faith in your life? Romans 10:17 says, “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ” (NIV). The Bible says we get faith through listening to the Word of God. Over the next few days, as we look at Scriptures that illustrate and explain how positive faith can make a difference in your life, your faith will grow.

So, what difference does faith make in your life?

Faith determines what God can do in your life. The Bible says, “According to your faith let it be done to you” (Matthew 9:29 NIV). God says you get to choose how many blessings you have in your life. You get to choose how many answered prayers you have. You get to choose how much he can work in your life. It’s according to your faith. There are thousands of promises in the Bible, and faith is the key that unlocks those promises.

You don’t have to pray, “Dear Sir, if you’re not too busy and if you can afford it, here’s my request.” Matthew 21:22 says, “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer” (NIV).

Faith is so powerful that when you put just a little of it in a big God, you get big results. Faith turns dreams into reality. It’s the basis for any miracle in your life. Does God do miracles today? Of course he does! He does them through people and through prayer.

The Bible says in 1 John 5:4, “This is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith” (ESV). Faith gives you confidence. It neutralizes fear. It gives you the ability to press on. Imagine Moses and Aaron standing before the Red Sea and Moses turning to Aaron and saying, “You first!”

Faith gives you the confidence to move ahead, which produces success in your life.

 

November 29, 2019
Verse of the Day
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
John 3:17 NIV

 

Becoming intimate
By Jason Nelson
If you read on hoping for some sex talk, you’re in for a letdown. Sex and intimacy were decoupled a long time ago. Intimacy has little to do with taking your clothes off in front of someone. It has everything to do with letting your guard down and baring your soul. That is the kind of naked that really makes us afraid.

Jesus had disciples and intimate disciples. He invited Peter, James, and John to see him suffer from the inside out (Matthew 26:36-46). Too bad they slept through it. Intimate friends are hard to come by. It is a wondrous love to know someone and be known by them through and through.

There are over 500,000 sensory fibers on our skin connected through our spinal cord to our brain. God wired us for lots of touching. We can distinguish affectionate touch from sensual touch. A bear hug, two-handed shake, or little poke in the ribs is the language of people who really like each other.

Intimacy doesn’t happen by appointment. It develops when we have the leisure to talk over a nice meal or on a long quiet trip in the Prius. We break our silence. We tell a little more, and some honest feelings spill out. Someone tries to understand us.

Mark Twain said, “I can live for two months on one good compliment.” We might not get one that often. Any affirmation and encouragement from a confidant has lots of staying power in our lives. Therefore, “encourage one another daily” (Hebrews 3:13).

 

November 30, 2019
Verse of the Day
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Romans 12:21 NIV

 

Pass the salt
By Sarah Habben
Salt has a humble spot on our grocery lists. It’s not fancy or expensive. But imagine life without it! Salt preserves crunchy pickles, melts stubborn ice, adds zing to a bland steak, and helps heal a sore throat.

God also wants salt to season our speech. “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone” (Colossians 4:6).

So how well-seasoned is your speech?

Salty speech preserves relationships. It stops the rot of resentment with words like “I’m sorry” and “I forgive you.”

Salty speech melts stubborn hearts by being quick to encourage and compromise.

It sparkles with thanksgiving, putting zing into a bland day.

Or it helps heal the rawness of death by pointing to the Savior and his promise of heaven.

Salty speech is full of grace, ready to answer watercooler questions about our faith.

Sadly, the meals I make are usually better seasoned than my speech. I can talk all day without ever once giving away a clue to my listeners that I am a child of God. Instead I grumble, hold grudges, gossip, go dumb when I should share grace.

Forgive me, Jesus, for being stingy with the salt of your grace. You rescued me from the rot of sin. You melted the grip of death and the devil. Before I speak, let me pray, “Please pass the salt!” And teach me to season generously.

 

Where else would we go?
By Jason Nelson
It was a roller coaster week for Jesus. “A large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs.” These were hungry people who tagged along. Jesus tested Philip: “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” Philip had no idea. Andrew found a kid with a lunch. “Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted.” The people liked what they saw. “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”

Jesus said something obscure: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” He became explicit: “For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.” Now it was getting weird for people who liked what they saw but didn’t understand what they heard. “After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.”

He turned to the ones he picked: “Do you want to go away as well?” Peter could have been a little more diplomatic. He said, “Lord, to whom shall we go?” It was like he was saying, “We thought about it, but you seem to be the best messiah available.” Peter clarified: “You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed” (John 6). An awkward confession is still a confession of faith.

I also follow Jesus because I don’t know where else I would go

 

December 1, 2019
Verse of the Day
A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
Isaiah 40:3-5 NIV

 

December 2, 2019
Verse of the Day
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV

 

December 3, 2019
Verse of the Day
But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
Matthew 6:3 NIV