Thought for the day...

GOD will be here
By Pastor Mike Novotny
I cringed slightly as I listened to the teenagers from our church answer this question: “What does your faith mean to you?” Because nearly every one of them said, “My faith means . . . that when I die, I will go to heaven.”

Ahh . . . that’s true, but faith is so much more than that. Faith is not just a golden ticket you keep in your pocket in case you die today. Faith is trust in God’s present presence. Jesus died and rose so that every Christian could smile and say, “GOD is here.” He is. Not he will be. GOD is here!

This view of faith is the key to confidence, to peace, to contentment, to joy. “Do not be afraid, for I am with you” (Isaiah 43:5). GOD, the holy, glorious, incredible, thrilling, peace-giving GOD is here with you by the blood of Jesus. That’s the good news. Even though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you will fear no evil, for GOD is with you. Even though there are a dozen messed-up things in your life and a dozen more coming tomorrow, nothing can touch the promise of God—“I am with you.” Those are the words that have changed the world. And those are the words that can change your life. So smile, brothers and sisters—GOD is here!

 

January 14, 2020
Verse of the Day
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.
James 1:22-24 NIV

 

The ruminators
By Jason Nelson
This one is for all the farm girls and boys out there. Y’all know that cattle are ruminators. Cows kill time lying around chewing on what they have already eaten but haven’t completely digested. Much more seriously, this one is also for the rest of us who spend lots of time brooding over what has been happening to us that we just can’t make sense of.

Reflecting leads to insight, repentance, and redirecting our lives. But we can’t do it perfectly, and sometimes dwelling on disappointments and failures paralyzes us. Ruminating feeds anxiety and depression. It drains our energy because it messes up our brain chemistry. Activity is the antidote. Activity jostles our endorphins out of hiding and we feel better. Doing life is a great distraction from worrying about life. Focusing on what we can accomplish keeps us from obsessing over where we have failed.

I would never want to make this sound easy because it isn’t. Telling someone who is bogged down to “buck up” is insensitive and gives them one more inadequacy to dwell on. And we can’t live a productive life in someone’s behalf. But we can show up when they need to get moving. We can bolster their confidence. We can suggest better things to think about. We can point them in the right direction. We can do some constructive prodding. “Rise up; this matter is in your hands. We will support you, so take courage and do it” (Ezra 10:4).

 

Loving the Broken

I was raised in a broken home. Drugs, alcohol, and physical abuse were common and expected. It didn’t take long for me to take on some of the same characteristics that I saw on a daily basis. Before I knew it, I was out drinking late, and stealing drugs from my stepdad’s stash to sell and often consume. I remember walking home at 7:00 one morning to get ready for school after a night of drinking and drug use. I looked in the mirror, unhappy with the person staring back at me. I had become someone I had despised for so long—someone I promised myself I would never be. It didn’t take long for me to justify it and convince myself that this was who I was destined to be. "That’s all small-town living has to offer,” I told myself. "What else is there to do?"

During this same period of time, my grandmother was persistent in inviting me to church. Some weekends I would give in and made sure that I was sober enough or didn’t party as hard the night before. As I said before, I lived in a small town. If you’ve ever lived in one, you know everyone usually knows what you do before you even do it. She was aware of my substance abuse and had been praying God would show me His love and the plans He had for me. They were much more promising and hopeful than I could ever dream or imagine.

Home life was getting worse, and the abuse had turned from moderate to extreme. Looking back, it’s amazing to see how God orchestrated the timeline of events. My grandmother’s love for me and her ability to look past my faults led me to a family who was willing to take me in as their own. They took a chance on a troubled teen. Through their love and acceptance, I was able to see Christ’s love for me. It’s because of that love I am now a changed man. A man with a wonderful marriage and children who will be raised knowing the love that I once was unaware of. I gained all of this because several people were able to love like Jesus.

Danny Duran
Life.Church Overland Park

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:35‭-‬39 NKJV

 

January 15, 2020
Verse of the Day
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
Romans 12:1 NIV

 

Thanks for sharing testimony from Danny, T.Jeff. Our Pastor shared a story one Sunday and this reminded me of it. There was a very popular prominent
Preacher in Chicago who was speaking to the public one Saturday in a local park trying to share Christ, Christianity and inviting folks to church the next day.
An atheist yelled from the small crowd that had gathered and challenged him to a debate. The preacher kindly informed the man he wasn't there for that
and invited him to come and hear his sermon the next day. The man being persistent demanded they have a debate. So to try and end the disruption he
told the man okay we can have a debate but before we do I will bring fifty ex drug addicts alcoholics and prostitutes whose lives have been changed from
believing in Jesus. Sir if you can find fifty lives that have been changed from atheism then we can debate. T.Jeff I could have been one of those fifty and
there is no doubt there are countless stories of people like Danny and myself who have experienced the unconditional love of Jesus. O how the world needs
to know there is nothing like the love of Jesus. You know and thanks again brother for wanting to share it with others.

 

Thanks for sharing your story, brother

 

January 16, 2020
Verse of the Day
Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.
Psalms 143:10 NIV

 

From the rising of the sun to its going down The Lord ’s name is to be praised.
Psalms 113:3 NKJV

 

Can people change?
By Pastor David Scharf
I ask couples in premarriage counseling this question: “Who do you want to marry: the person you are marrying or the person you hope they become?” There’s a right answer, you know. It’s the person you’re marrying! It’s dangerous to enter into a marriage thinking that you can change the other person. Many have tried and been disappointed. Change is hard!

Jesus told a parable about a man who had a fig tree. Year after year he went out to look for fruit but did not find any. He wanted to cut the tree down. It’s a stern warning to us. God is not looking for the superficial leaves of religion; he is looking for real fruit that comes from following him. And too often, the fruit I produce is paltry.

But this story filled with warning also has a hero. The caretaker of the vineyard jumped in between the owner and the fig tree and said, “Sir . . . leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it” (Luke 13:8).

Do you know who the caretaker is? It’s Jesus. On the cross he stood between us and the ax of God. Jesus was cut down so that we could live.

Now he tends you with his Word, and he fertilizes you with the Lord’s Supper because as our caretaker, he knows, “I can put fruit on that tree.”

With the right Caretaker, people really can change!

 

January 18, 2020
Verse of the Day
A person may think their own ways are right, but the LORD weighs the heart.
Proverbs 21:2 NIV

 

Wish not
By Pastor Matt Ewart
On several occasions Jesus instructed people on the issue of worry. “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself” (Matthew 6:34). He warned people that worrying about life is a form of not trusting God. That makes sense. The warning to not worry is easy to keep on the radar.

What often goes missed is a danger that is similar yet opposite. While we shouldn’t waste all of our energy worrying about tomorrow, it is also true that we shouldn’t waste all of our energy wishing for tomorrow.

Sometimes we can put so much hope in what tomorrow might bring that we spend all of the present wishing to be in the future. What is it that grabs your heart’s attention so much that you spend your energy wishing for tomorrow? James brought up a good point: “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that’” (James 4:14,15).

We have an idea of what tomorrow might bring, and maybe it’s even exciting. Don’t let wishing for tomorrow’s possibilities divert you from the purpose God intends for today. Your Savior doesn’t just promise you a better future. He is active right now with you today, empowering you to live out your purpose as a redeemed child of God.

 

January 19, 2020
Verse of the Day
Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
2 Corinthians 7:10 NIV