10
Jun '19
What Are You Choosing Today?
10
Jun '19
Each and every day, we get to choose which path our day is going to follow.
We can choose to be positive and look at the day with excitement and enthusiasm… or we can be a negative, pessimistic person and look at the things we need to get done with a negative perspective.
We get to choose how our day will start and end.
What a privilege and challenge at the same time.
Psalm 143: 8
Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.
When we put our trust in Him and listen to what He wants us to do in life, our path seems to take on a positive vibe even when things don’t go our way. It’s not always an easy path to find – but once you do – it is well worth it.
Lately, I have tried to make a conscious decision to start my day with a positive attitude.
Does that happen every day? Absolutely not. Do I make it my goal? Yes.
Over the past few years I have been dealing with chronic back pain to which no treatments have been successful. There have been so many ups and downs and even though I believed and trusted God would take care of me, I still struggled. It wasn’t until after a recent treatment that made me worse than before, did I realize that I needed to change my prayer life.
While driving to church, I heard a song by Natalie Grant. The chorus to “More than Anything” really hit me hard:
Help me want the healer more than the healing
Help me want the savior more than the saving
Help me want the giver more than the giving
Oh help me want you Jesus, more than anything
In my mind and prayers over the years, I would ask for healing in His time.
As patient as I thought I was being, I realized I needed to change my mindset of what God was teaching me about himself.
When I decided to turn my wants and physical needs to more of a relationship-prayer life –
focused on learning more about the heart of God – did I come to this realization:
Each day is a gift from God.
I need to live in the moment of where I am right now.
I need to want the HEALER more than the healing.
Don’t get me wrong, it is absolutely okay to pray for physical healing – He wants us to pray for it.
But He also wants us to focus more our relationship and the discovery of who He is.
What an amazing God we serve that he tells us in Isaiah 46:4-13
I am your God and will take care of you until you are old and your hair is gray. I made you and will care for you; I will give you help and rescue you. “To whom will you compare me?” says the Lord. “Is there anyone else like me?
Matthew 6:26-27
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
So who are we as Christians to worry about tomorrow (or dwell on our aches and pains) when he promises He will take care of us.
We can remind ourselves of this daily and choose to be a positive, optimistic person – choosing to have faith in God’s great love for us.
Choose today to be positive and joyful. Choose relationship. Choose discovery of Him.
Author:
Faith Kids Ministry, Faith Assembly
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20
Jan '19
New Year, New You
20
Jan '19
Do you ever feel like you are not enough?
Like you may be in a position at work (or church) and you just don’t feel you are “Christian” enough. Maybe you find yourself at the crossroads of life and have a life changing decision to make. Your first thought may be “What if I make the wrong choice?” The next thought might be, “God, I’m not good enough, strong enough or wise enough to do what is before me.”
Let me start out by saying that you aren’t alone in feeling this way. I personally have this feeling often, and it’s been a recurring theme throughout my Christian walk. I also know that other Christians – yes, even pastors, elders, deacons, board members and worship team members – also struggle with this feeling as well. No one is immune to self-doubt.
Let’s be honest about this feeling of inadequacy. It stinks and can make us feel worthless.
Here’s the truth about this feeling: it’s a lie the devil wants us to buy into. Decide and make this declaration right now with God: “God, it’s a new year and I want to be a new me.”
No matter how much the world around you tries to beat you down or tell you that you are not good enough, it’s never enough to overshadow this fact – you are a new creation and a child of the One True God.
When God sent his son Jesus to live among us and then die on the cross, we were given the ultimate gift. Through this gift, we have a personal relationship with a God who will give us the power to rise above the lies of the world and find strength and confidence to accomplish what he lays before us each day.
As we are now into the New Year, be encouraged! This is a new year and you are a new you.
Fortunately for us, the grace, love and mercy of God allows us to be a new person each and every day. Just like the following song says: Your grace so free, washes over me. You have made me new now life begins with you.
This couldn’t be any truer about our lives when we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
Author: Ryan Bivins
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07
Nov '18
Faith of the Next Generation
07
Nov '18
As my wife and I had our third of five children turn 30 this past week, it was an opportunity to stand back and say thank you God. We wonder aloud how the time passes so quickly! I mean, these five children were just learning to ride bikes, skip stones, climb trees and splash in the crick. In addition to watching our own children grow up, we now have the opportunity as grandparents to do the same with our grandchildren who are growing up as fast as our children did. Instilling faith in the next generation is a privilege and responsibility.
We pray all the time that we will be found faithful to have been used by God to have poured into the succeeding generations. When trials and tribulations come (which they will), we pray the next generation will choose Jesus and the principles of righteous living. In a world that competes nonstop for the hearts and minds of our children – and children’s children – with things that conflict with the Fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control), we need to be deliberate to not just talk about Godly living but model it too. Guess what… when we fail we need to talk about that too.
We want the faith of the next generation to be their own. We want their obedience to be out of thankfulness and not simple compliance, so when trials, tribulations, and temptations come, they will make the right decisions… which often are the hardest ones.
Deuteronomy 4:9 reads, “Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.”
So as parents and grandparents, we are first warned to be careful and watch so we don’t forget. The strong declaration here is that we too…
-can be distracted
-can forget who and what must be first
-can take the easy way out
-can grieve the Holy Spirit
-can forget who and what must be first
-can take the easy way out
-can grieve the Holy Spirit
When this happens, the direct consequence is we affect our ability to teach our children and their children, our grandchildren. I am thankful when I am distracted (and my wife never is – wink wink), God gives me as many do-overs as it takes to get it right.
Do you need a do-over? God knows we can’t parent or grandparent without Him and appreciates the humility to recognize this early (or late) in our tenure as parent and grandparent. Wherever you are in this process, reach out to Him for help every step of the way. The Lord will bless you with the wisdom, endurance and courage to parent and grandparent in His ways and in His love.
Author: Randy Ortgiesen
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31
Jul '18
There Is Hope
31
Jul '18
What do you hope for you in your life? What keeps you pressing forward when life become tough?
For me, there are several things that keep me moving forward.
I grasp onto the things that matter.
I hang on to those most dear to me- my wife, my kids, my close friends.
I hold firmly to these concepts:
There has to be something greater than me.
There has to be something greater than this life.
I hang on to those most dear to me- my wife, my kids, my close friends.
I hold firmly to these concepts:
There has to be something greater than me.
There has to be something greater than this life.
Some people call it a higher power, while others refer to a superior being. I call Him Jesus.
I believe that deep down, everyone hopes to have a good life- a life filled with the basic needs we all have- love, family, shelter, food, peace and happiness. A life without fear, knowing that things will somehow work out for the best.
Sometimes they don’t always work out for what seems the best, but we can still grasp onto those things in life that give us hope. I want to encourage you with this one thought: THERE IS A HOPE.
A hope deep in your soul that confirms there is something bigger than this life.
A hope there is someone greater than the troubles of this world.
A hope there is someone greater than the troubles of this world.
A hope that someone that will give you the strength to face your trials, worries, fears and temptations.
There is that someone. His name is Jesus Christ. He is our hope.
Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. If He is for us then who can be against us? Isaiah 41:10
In the face of life’s difficult and heart-breaking trials- death, addiction, lies, betrayal, infidelity, depression, and more-
you can find hope.
We all hope for something. Why not take a chance on God and put your hope in Him?
What do you have to lose by putting your hope and trust in a God who loves and cares for you more than anyone else…
more than you can ever possibly know?
Be encouraged friend. Put your hope in Jesus today.
Listen to this song by Tenth Avenue North titled “I Have This Hope” and let it sink deep into your soul.
Author:
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19
Jul '18
Lessons We Learn From Our Children
19
Jul '18
As parents we often think about all the responsibility and important life lessons we are called on by God to teach our children. While here on this earth, He has given us these wonderful blessings to teach, nurture and care for.
All too often we get caught up in what we can teach them throughout the day, when sometimes we need to sit back and observe the things they are teaching us daily. Here are a few things I’ve observed lately, and maybe you have too:
Childlike Faith
When you look at the life of a child, you see the unwavering faith they have in their parents. They know their parents will pick them up from school without even thinking twice. They know they are going to be caught at the end of the slide while playing at the playground. If we could only have this type of faith in our relationship with our heavenly Father…how much better would we live life unafraid!
Matthew 18:2-3
Jesus called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Worry Less
We tend to worry about something on a daily basis…
- What will we have for dinner?
- How am I going to pay that bill?
- What if the load of laundry with our kid’s baseball jersey won’t be done in time for their game tonight?
- What will that other mom think of my child’s lunch I packed while walking out the door?
All of us have stuff stress out about. While our children are young, they may not have those types of stresses in their lives, but they do remind us to stop worrying so much about the small things in life. They live life day to day without thinking about things that don’t matter.
While kids can rest in the care of their parents, so can we rest in the care of our heavenly Father. That issue that’s restlessly plaguing your mind? He already knows all about it, and desires for you to let Him handle it in His way and His time.
Philippians 4:6Don’t worry about anything, instead, pray about everything.
Enjoying the Simple Things
When very young kids open presents, often times they end up playing more with the box than the actual toy itself. They enjoy the simple things in life: playing peek-a-boo, picking flowers outside, walking to the park, throwing a baseball. It does not take trips to Disney or shopping sprees to please them. All it takes is spending time with them to enjoy life to its fullest. If we could only realize that life does not exist around things and more around relationships… the simple things in life, how much more would we enjoy life and not always be needing (or wanting) the next best thing.
Focus on what matters and practice gratefulness in the simple things every day. We are God’s children and He has given us so many simple things- and relationships- to delight in.
Proverbs 15:16Better a little with the fear of the Lord than great wealth with turmoil.
Author:
Children’s Ministry Lead at Faith Assembly
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05
Jun '18
Stand for the Truth
05
Jun '18
Pastor Jon’s sermon last week on honesty really convicted me, as well as the many people kneeling before the Lord at the altar.
Every day, it seems we have opportunities to make big and not-so-big choices. But are there really “not so big” choices?
Sure, in our way of thinking a choice to not be truthful (more appropriately called a lie) is much worse and more condemning when compared to exaggerating how many or how big the fish really were… or embellishing a real achievement to make ourselves look just a little bit better.
But according to God’s way of thinking, a lie is a lie- pretty cut and dried.
As we learned, every time we exaggerate or embellish the facts, it gets a little easier to do it the next time. We stretch it just a little further each time we embellish. Eventually, this is who we become and reflects our way of interacting on everything- from what we say and how we act to what we get in the habit of doing.
Some of my friends and I- way back from high school- still talk about a person we knew who always “climbed a little higher” or “ran a little faster” than we all knew to be true. It is sad to see how these seemingly insignificant embellishments (over several decades) now have affected his employment, marriage(s), reputation and walk with the Lord.
As for me, I can easily be tempted to wear the Admiral’s star or the sheriff’s badge. Meaning this: when I use inappropriate leverage to get more help, drum up additional resources or win additional funding for a new project. This can often include an embellishment (a.k.a. an outright lie) regardless of whether or not it’s a “not so big” exaggeration.
Consider this example. Do you recall growing up and saying to your siblings, “mom said you are supposed to go do this” when really she told you to do it. This is where it starts, little by little. Before you know it, it turns into exaggerating a project requirement at work to be competitive since you know others are doing it. Yikes! It’s an all-too-easy, slippery slope that so often we don’t even realize is happening.
The Bible has a lot to say about truth-tellers (those that don’t exaggerate, embellish, pretend, tell outright lies), as well as how God feels about those that practice deceit.
One of my favorites though, is what Jesus says in the gospel of John verses 31-32: “To the Jews that believed Him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free’.”
Bottom line? Run from falsehood whenever temptation strikes.
Run towards Jesus and His revelation of Truth in every part of your life.
Be a truth-teller and be set free.
Author:
Randy Ortgeisen, Elder at Faith Assembly
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