A New Year's Glory

Good Morning! As this year comes to a close, many of us will be looking back at the year behind us and the looking ahead to the new year ahead of us. We think about what we would change, how we would change and then we resolve to make that change a lasting success. Some will resolve to excel at work, some to make more money, and some to lose more weight. And some will resolve to look to the LORD and trust Him in everything. The latter is where I want to focus today. I feel led to share Ecclesiastes 3:1-14, which is the passage that Pastor Ray preached on yesterday. I think this morning it is appropriate to look at these "mirrorisms." With the beginning of the new year and the end of the old year. The new year will be filled with many changes and seasons for all of us, and we need to remember that ALL of these things are in His incredibly capable hands!
"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
What does the worker gain from his toil? I have seen the burden(task) God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil--this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing can be taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him."
Ecclesiastes 3:1-14

As this New Year begins, I pray that you would "set your hearts on things above" and know that He has you firmly in His grip! Happy New Year to you!

Friday's Morning Glory

Good Morning! There is a beautiful blanket of snow covering everything outside and the air is still and quiet. How peaceful it is! As this year is coming to a close, I reflect on all that these last twelve months held. There has been joy, sorrow, health, sickness, life and death. In all of these things the LORD has been utterly and completely faithful! What blessings, seen and unseen, He has bestowed on me. How Awesome is our God!! Take time in these next few days to focus on the blessings He has given to you, and thank Him for them. Spend a little time alone with Him, in the quiet, peaceful stillness of His presence.
"Sing for joy to God our strength;
shout aloud to the God of Jacob!
Begin the music, strike the tambourine,
play the melodious harp and lyre."
Psalm 81:1-2

Thursday's Morning Glory

Good Thursday Morning to you! As the new year approaches, and I hear the news starting to amp up their coverage of the upcoming election, I think about the LORD's blessing on this country. I want to clarify that this isn't a political statement, its a faith statement. Our nation has become corrupt and detestable in the LORD's eyes. Not that I feel I can put word's in His mouth, please don't get me wrong. In reading these last few days about the Israelites and their behavior, I can't help but compare our nation to theirs. Look around, its not just the war on Christmas. The Pledge of Allegiance is under attack, marriage is under attack and ethics have gone completely out the window. Has His blessing been removed from our great nation? I believe it has. This nation used to be "the rule, not the exception," if you will. The LORD instructs us to respect and pray for our leaders and the government set up by them. So, no matter how you vote, please pray fervently for the new leader and our country. Pray that the LORD would guide this decision and restore favor to this nation.
"Restore us, O LORD God Almighty;
make your face shine upon us,
that we may be saved."
Psalm 80:19

Wednesday's Morning Glory

Good Morning! I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas Day and that you felt the LORD's peace and joy fill your hearts and your homes. This last week, leading up to Christmas Day, I caught a number of conversations about the War on Christmas. Brian Williams did a segment on NBC Nightly news by that name. The segment discussed how political correctness is overtaking the public view of Christmas. Everything from city councils having to vote on whether or not to leave the Nativity outside of their building to calling the Christmas tree a "Holiday Tree." We have heard shopkeepers and sales staff say "Happy Holidays" for years now, I had to when I worked retail, and it is always refreshing to hear someone say "Merry Christmas!" My point in all of this is that the "world" will continue to take Christ out of Christmas, and as His followers we will become outnumbered and ridiculed for what we believe. This will be the case in every situation and season in life. But we have Hope, they do not. And it is up to us to share that Hope with them. Remember the children's song, "This Little Light of Mine?" Such wisdom in simple words!
"We are objects of reproach to our neighbors,
Of scorn and derision to those around us."
Psalm 79:4

A Christmas Glory

Good Morning to you all! I want to wish you a VERY Merry Christmas and I pray that the LORD would bless you and your families tomorrow and always. This morning I want to share with you the glory of Christmas from the book of John. Our Pastor preached on this passage a few weeks ago in preparation for Christmas and I feel it appropriate to share with you today, Christmas Eve.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
Through him all things were made;
without him nothing was made that has been made.
In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John.
He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men
might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.
He was in the world, and though the world was made through him,
the world did not recognize him.
He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name,
he gave the right to become children of God---
children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision
or a husband's will, but born of God.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only,
who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."
John 1:1-14

Friday's Morning Glory

Good Morning!! Its Friday, the end of the week, and appropriately the end of
Psalm 78. Again, trying to process through it. Asaph illustrates how God transferred His favor from Joseph, the tribe of Ephraim and the sanctuary at Shiloh to Judah, because of their lack of faith and respect. He then chose another leader, a leader that no one expected. A leader who was a faithful servant and earned special favor in the eyes of the LORD. That leader was David, a shepherd boy who, trusting in the LORD, went up against a giant. Sometimes, God will use the least expected person to accomplish His greatest work. Do not underestimate how He is using you! You may feel like the child going up against a giant, but trust in Him and He will bring you to victory!
"He chose David his servant and took him from the sheep pens;
from tending the sheep he brought him
to be the shepherd of his people Jacob,
of Israel his inheritance.
And David shepherded them with integrity of heart;
with skillful hands he led them."
Psalm 78:70-72

Thursday's Morning Glory

Good morning to you! In trying to figure out what I would write this morning, as Psalm 78 is a lot to digest, I can't help but focus on God's mercy and grace. Today's section is verses 31-60 and again, Asaph points out all that the LORD did for the Israelites, and again they tested Him and turned their backs on Him. The LORD extended His mercy and grace over and over, and when His wrath came upon them, they turned to Him as their Rock. However, that was short lived. Think about mercy and grace. Mercy is not getting what we do deserve, and grace is getting what we don't deserve. How much do we deserve? Certainly, if left to our own understanding and will, we would deserve death. How wonderful it is to know that the Christ child we are focusing on right now came to take our punishment for us. That my friends, is true mercy and grace!
"Yet he was merciful;
he forgave their iniquities and did not destroy them.
Time after time he restrained his anger
and did not stir up his full wrath.
He remembered that they were but flesh,
a passing breeze that does not return."
Psalm 78:38-39