2013…what will you do??

     With the new year approaching everyone is wondering what 2013 will look like. The question that is on everyone’s mind is how this upcoming year is going to effect their lives. We all know every year is obviously different from the last and brings new changes…both good ones and bad ones. We are all praying over 2013, asking for God’s blessings and guidance in the new year.

     But are we asking Him how we can serve and glorify Him in 2012? 

       With 2012 coming to an end I would like to personally challenge each of my readers to seek God for this upcoming year. Go somewhere where you can get alone with God and quietly ask Him what He wants of you in 2013: how and where He wants you to serve Him,  who He wants you to minister and/or witness to and how you can use your day to day life to glorify and honor the Father. 

        How will you let Him use you in 2012?!?

“Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers-not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.  And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.” 1 Peter 5:2-4

“For the glory of God!”

A bend in the road

   Life is very much like a long country road. The path of life lies as far as the eye can see, stretching and bending into the horizon of eternity. Just as we drive along the seemingly unending road in the countryside, so we also do in the journey of life, traveling along the path towards life’s end and the final destination: eternity. As we reach a bend in the road and cannot see around, so it is in life. We often reach a turn in the road whence we cannot see beyond and it is in moments like those that we have a choice: to allow our fear of the unknown to take hold of us and turn us aside to a detour in the road or look up to the One Who will take our hands and lead us onward. He will lead us through whatever lies ahead and deliver us safely on the other side. These bends represent a moment in our life when the Lord asks us to do the “impossible” or calls us into the unknown.  When we reach these turns let us not take the detour Satan offers but lift our eyes to the hills from “whence comes our help” and plunge head on into the unknown before us. It may be when we turn that corner that we come face to face with the glory of our Lord, hidden in the depths of the unknown.

“While we continue onward in the face of a world of uncertainty we can rejoice, for hidden within it’s mysteries is the honor of a KING.”-‘One night with the king’

"For the glory of God!"

Christmas without Christ?

“Do you find it hard to sleep til' night, Resting by the Christmas lights? Could there be something you forgot?…..
There's more to this than you had ever thought?
Have we lost the reason that we celebrate each year?
What is Christmas?….What is Christmas without Christ?
Remember how the story goes,…….
This is Christmas, It’s all about the Savior wrapped in a manger.. this is Christmas because of Christ!!!” –“This is Christmas”

      Every year as Christmas rolls around people around the world are thrown into the chaos the season and in all this business,  the true meaning of Christmas is forgotten, thrown to the wayside and lost in the mad rush of the secular things this world has created for Christmas….sales, beauty and talent pageants, visits/letters to Santa…the list goes on and on. Christ is slowly being removed form Christmas. In light of the growing popularity of making Christmas a secular holiday, everything that has to do with Christ is slowly being  replaced with the things of this world has created for Christmas. More and more you hear “happy holidays” or “seasons greetings” whilst “merry Christmas” is becoming increasingly unpopular and even frowned upon for being religiously associated.  This new view of Christmas is just another way for Satan to attack Christianity in this world.

       According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, “Christmas” is defined as ‘a CHRISTIAN feast..that commemorates the birth of Christ.”  Therefore without Christ there really wouldn’t be a Christmas!! Nothing but an empty holiday filled with chaos and confusion. Doesn’t sound real enjoyable does it? CHRIST is what Christmas is about. We need to bring the CHRIST back into CHRISTmas.

       So how do we stay focused on Christ in the midst of this chaos? Well….

      The real question we need to ask is how can we be honoring and glorifying God during this season! We should do that all year long but all the more so during this time of the year when the holiday is about and for Him. In order to bring  the focus back to Christ we need to keep our thoughts on HIM through prayer, service and worship to Him. We need to be thanking Him and meditating on His gift that first Christmas. We need to be an example to the world of what Christmas is all about, using our celebrations to witness to the unsaved and bring recognition to our God. Let’s ask God what  He has for us to do or say this Christmas season to honor and glorify Him!

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” 

Isaiah 9:6

"For the glory of God!!"

Change

     As we all know, change is a common part of life as our lives are always changing, but I’ve noticed that change is even more prominent in the life that has made the commitment to follow Jesus. Once you’ve crossed that bridge into acceptance of His will for your life there’s no going back and from than on it’s all change in every area of your life. People come and people go. You go places and than you leave. You form new friendships and end old friendships. Endure heartache and joy. You thwart the enemies plans and fulfill the Lord’s. You fight with the world and Satan and see God at work through it all. Through all of this you really begin to understand what it means to “give up everything and follow..” Him.

     It is truly blind trust. Just as Abraham before us, we know not where we go or what will happen. By that I mean, we only know where we are going at the time He reveals it to us but until than we faithfully begin to prepare ourselves for that journey.  Still, even once we know where to go, we still do not know what will happen once we arrive and begin His work. We simply say “yes” and go, trusting Him to work out the details and bring about His will for the situation.

      Through all the change that has taken place in my life I can honestly say I am truly blessed, never more so than now! In the midst of the things happening in my life I have learned that change in your life also means change in your spirit. One of my favorite mottos now is “without change you cannot grow.” I don’t remember where I heard this, but I know it is true. Without being taken out of your element of comfort and thrown into a strange and often scary place in your life, you will not grow spiritually. God always uses change to deepen your walk and enhance your love for Him. Sometimes that change is painful…the loss of a loved one, sometimes scary….like life threatening illness or going to a foreign place and other times it is simply joyful like marriage, the birth of a child or some other blessing He bestows that changes your life.

      However it happens it is a blessing…disguised or unveiled…and if you let Him God will use it to change your spiritual life forever. Embrace these changes with gratitude and praise, using them to glorify and honor God. Allow each new change to be the thing that takes you to a new level of fellowship with and understanding of God.

“Change is the essence of life. Be willing to change who you are for what you could become.” –Unknown.

“For the glory of God!”