New Year, New You... by Heather Clark

We hear it every year, new year, new me…We set these goals to be faster, lose weight, become successful, and so forth. My question is always why… why do we wait for a new year to finally decide the changes we want to make and see happen in our lives? Is pointing out our flaws really a good way to start our year?

I personally don’t believe New Years day should be different than any other day. Don’t get offended with me, as I don’t mean to steal your joy or excitement for the New Year! I love holidays as much as everyone else, in fact any reason to get together with friends and laugh I’m all for. But how often do we set our New Year’s resolutions and then fail after a couple months? It happens all the time because without a serious mental breakthrough they will never work. You see it’s more than just saying and writing on your calendar your goals. We have to address the underlying issue.

For example, if you’re into double cheeseburgers on the regular basis and you want to quit fast food going into the New Year… you have to figure out why it is you order the cheeseburgers in the first place and go from there. I guess what I’m saying is; is that we should turn away from old resolutions and focus on going into the New Year with a new mindset or attitude that will allow us to make better choices. Stop being so harsh on ourselves and writing these long-to-do lists of what needs to change, and start doing things that feel right for us and our lives.

This year lets not get so caught up in all our bad that we forget all the areas in which we’re good. New Year resolutions are not meant to focus on our flaws but rather to keep improving. I hope everyone has a Happy New Year, and remember this life is a gift from God!

2017 here we go!

The Book of Hosea can teach us a lot! by Mandy Greer

In the beginning of the Book of Hosea it talks about God telling Hosea to marry a promiscuous woman. Hosea marries Gomer and conceived three children. The children were all named by God. But she was not faithful to Hosea. It then goes on to talk about God speaking to his people and the promises that were given to Abraham. A new leader will bring Israel and Judah back together. In Chapter 2 it talked about the punishment and restoration that took place. God is the ultimate judge in life. In this chapter Hosea mentions that God will decide what to do about Israel. In this case, he wants his children to argue with their mother and that he wants Gomer to return to him. Gomer will pay for her sins. But God never stopped loving her.

This parable teaches us that God is always in control. We will be judged for our lives. But God loves us with a very special love. A love that we cannot understand. How wonderful is that? Even though we can stray away in life, God will always love us and be here for us. We need to repent of those sins and start fresh daily.

We are God's people! When we are born, we need God. But throughout life, we allow things to take the place of God. It can be things like social media, our family, work, TV, and any number of things. But what we need to realize is that we need to make time for God, every day! This is not a "when I feel like it" statement. This should be a blessing to us. Being able to have time with the ONE who created us and who has so graciously given us life, should be honored and respected. We should look forward to that time. God loves us so much that he sent his Son to die for us. We may stray away but know that God is here and will never stop showing that love. We need to slow down in life and meet with him daily.

I pray for everyone reading this that you will allow your time with God to be special. I pray the Holy Spirit fills you and gives you peace and love in your life. You are so special and created for a purpose. You are God's child and are blessed. I pray we all can slow down in life and really take time to spend with our Heavenly Father and thank him for his love and blessings.

God bless each of you.

Naughty or Nice... by Heather Clark

It is make or break it. Your whole year has built up to this point. Children will wonder if they will get a car or celery? Candy or coal in their stockings. As Christmas gets closer, they will then try extra hard to suck up to the gift givers, call up relatives they haven't spoken to in a few months, refrain from attacking their siblings; no matter how annoying they seem to be, and try to make an A in their classes.

But what is the real meaning of Christmas? Is it the gifts, the trees, the lights, the cards, the dinners, the shows, family time, stockings, and Santa? For many people that is certainly not it. They don't have the money, they don't have the kids to buy presents for, or maybe they're missing a loved one no longer around. Despite these things Christmas is still a holiday that brings much joy, because it is a time when we're reminded of God's great love for us.

Christmas is when we celebrate the birth of Christ. God sent his son Jesus into the world to be born. He sent his son into this cruel hard world so that one day he would bring salvation to us all, otherwise we all would've died in our sins. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life."

Regardless of what is happening in our lives we can be happy knowing Heaven will be our home one day. I want to encourage you to invite Jesus into your heart this year, and to remember it's not the gifts, trees, lights, or even Santa but rather Jesus is the reason for the season. Enjoy your family and friends and thank God for sending us his one and only son. 

Have a Merry Christmas!

Do you Desire a Changed Life? by Debbie McGrath

Salvation is not the end - it is the beginning of a changed life.
A changed life involves a journey toward a deeper relationship with Christ.
Every day we should desire:

• To learn, understand and apply God's Word to our lives     
• To obey God's command
• To store God's Word in our heart
• To evangelize - sharing Christ with others
• To encourage other believers
• To renew ourselves spiritually every day

Every single one of us should be closer to Christ today than we were a year ago,

or even a month ago.  

How do you make sure that your spiritual life is thriving and not stagnant?

The first thing is you have to be a self-feeder and teach others to be a self-feeder.

We have to read our bibles - not just on Sundays - but we strive to read our bibles

daily!  Bible study and prayer are the basic keys to having a deeper relationship with God.  

When we spend time in God's word, the goal is not to learn new information, but also be transformed by what we are learning.  We should expect to be challenged by what we read. 

Note to remember: As you study and grow, being a self-feeder - you are not merely learning for your own benefit, but also for the benefit of others.

Living a life of Thanks-living!

While many associate Thanksgiving Day with family, overeating and over-shopping, it should propel us toward a heart of gratitude. It is a time to consider God's goodness, grace, and provision for us. He is the Author of encouragement, help, and hope. I like to think of Thanksgiving as trust-giving and thanks-living.

It is an act of trust-giving to be thankful even in the hard places of life. When things go well it is easy to forget to pause and say thank you to the Giver of those good things. Thanksgiving should not be a one day event, but a life committed to thanks-living each day. Paul exhorts us to give thanks in all circumstances. He said the Bible points us in the right direction. "Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope" (Rom 15:4).

God's covenantal relationship with us is the basis for thanks-living. God said, "I will maintain My love to him forever, and My covenant with him will never fail" (Ps 89:28). The psalmist said, "He provided redemption for His people; He ordained His covenant forever- holy and awesome is His name" (Ps 111:9). We partner with God when we affirm that we are holding on to Him and His goodness. Our thanksgiving testifies to others that He is worthy of trust.

Thanksgiving is a lifestyle, not a day. Can we commit to willing everything that God wills and cultivating a grateful heart that finds the goodness of God in all things even the hard things?

May you be blessed daily with a heart ready to praise God for all things in sincere trust-giving and thanks-living. 

Written by Sylvia Gunter

His Presence Refreshes- Debbie McGrath

Acts 3:19 - teaches us that "times of refreshing" come to us when we spend time in God's presence.  Until we come to the place where we want God's presence more than anything else, Satan will have an edge over us.
Once we see God's truth Satan loses his advantage and we begin making radical progress in our relationship and fellowship with God.

Most of us will try almost everything else before we finally learn that what we need is not what god can give us, but God Himself. These times often represent years of frustration and misery.  But thank God, His Holy Spirit lives in us, teaches us, and reveals truth to us as we continue to study, read, and listen to the Word of God.

God wants to bring a refreshing into your life, like a mighty wind.  Do not be poverty-stricken in your soul when the answer is so close.  If you are too busy to spend time with God, then make some adjustments to your lifestyle.  Do not get burned-out, upset, weary, and stressed-out when times of refreshing are available to you.

Learn to separate yourself from the busyness of life to spend time with God the way Jesus did.  I tell people. "You had better come apart and spend time with God before you fall apart."  I encourage you to take those personally and do the same!

How do I "pray without ceasing?" by Rachel Wojo

I read this and had to share.

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. I Thessalonians 5:16-18

If you’ve read this verse and thought, “How do I really do that?” then you’re not alone. Should you never leave your prayer closet? Should you walk around with your eyes closed? We know that this type of prayer life is not humanly possible, so what did Paul really mean when he said to pray without ceasing?

Whenever I spend time in nature, I think about what it must have been like in the garden of Eden. Adam and Eve walked with God in the cool of the day. Imagine that! To physically walk with God. To be close enough to feel his breath as he spoke. To hear his voice speak directly to you and then respond with your own words while looking him in the eyes.

Adam and Eve lost this beautiful fellowship when sin entered the world. And since then? Every one of us are born longing for the return of intimacy and deep relationship with our Creator. We may not recognize the desire for what it is, but as Christians, we know that the more we are searching for is a relationship with Jesus.

But how do I pray without ceasing?

Prayer is the communication tool of an intimate spiritual relationship. Back to our introductory verse, Paul is telling us to maintain an attitude of prayer because prayer contains different methods of communication. Keeping a prayer-like attitude means to be purposeful and conscious of times to connect with the Father and not only talk to him, but listen. It means to be aware of his presence and how he is working in my life personally. It means to have my heart so in tune with his that I won’t miss the moments throughout the day that are available to give him praise, listen to his voice, and ask for his guidance.

So how can we practically do that? We can analyze our daily living and make the most of the opportunities we have. We can practically look for ways to keep a prayer attitude throughout the day and make the choice to do so. Easier said than done, right? Let’s take a look at these ways to truly “pray without ceasing.”

1. Enjoy scheduled times of prayer.

I know, this is not new news, is it? Daniel turned to Jerusalem three times a day to pray. Many of us have been taught to pray before meals, a natural time to remember to give thanks. We teach our children a bedtime prayer. Keeping scheduled times of prayer is one way to communicate with our Father.

2. Be a noticer of things to be thankful for and breathe thanks to God.

Choosing to consciously give thanks for life, breath, and all good things is a beautiful way to practically follow through on the command to pray without ceasing!

3. Give God your worries.

It’s easy to foster a spirit of worry and forget to give our cares to the Lord. Train yourself to trap initial thoughts of worry and turn them around to thoughts of prayer. An example of this for me is when I begin to worry about my daughter, Taylor, and her special needs. When I feel myself getting anxious over her terminal disease, I try to immediately give that thought to God. It might sound like this:

“Lord, you know it’s easy for me to worry over the details of Taylor’s disease. I ask you to prevent her from having seizures and give her the quality of life only you can give. Give her continued strength and help me to remember that you are in control of every detail of our lives. We love you, Lord and we know that every breath we take comes from you. Thank you for it. Amen.”

I’ve found that the sooner I trap these thoughts and catch myself before the downward spiral of negativity hits, the stronger my prayer life grows.

4. Open your eyes to the needs of people whose paths you cross and lift them up in prayer right then.

While I’ve tried to become more aware of opportunities to pray aloud for folks right on the spot when they have needs, the timing is not always appropriate. I don’t want to make someone else uncomfortable with praying aloud, especially if I don’t already have a relationship with the person. When I’m in the grocery store and I see people with canes or oxygen masks or any other hint of physical impairments, I try not to rush through and look over their needs, but instead, I want to remember to pray thoughts of mercy and grace for them. A simple “Lord, be with them” is one more way to keep a prayer attitude.

5. Keep a prayer journal.

Writing out our prayers is a wonderful way to choose a life of prayer. Using and keeping a prayer journal is a topic very close to my heart. One benefit of keeping a prayer journal is that we more easily remember what we write down. This practice will help us choose an attitude of prayer even when we aren’t wholly engaged in practicing prayer.

6. Use tangible tasks to remind us to pray.

Life is full of daily maintenance. There are tasks we do over and over and over again that can be monotonous yet they are purposeful. Transform the mundane task into a simple time of prayer. One way I’ve enjoyed teaching this point in the past is through the task of hand washing. When I wash my hands, I focus on the cleansing and I ask God for forgiveness for my failures and shortcomings. What a fabulous way of using a daily chore to become a prayer trigger!

Praying without ceasing isn’t impossible as we initially think upon reading the Bible verse. To pray without ceasing is to keep our hearts open before the Lord in communication with him. Have these ideas helped you? Which one stands out to you? I’d love to read your thoughts in the comments today.