The Easy Path or the Hard Road....

I've been in a funk.

For the past few weeks, I have been cranky, overly demanding, broody, snippy, kind of a "know-it-all" and just an overall unattractive version of myself.

And it has come naturally.

Being angry or frustrated, mean or foul-tempered - is relatively easy as human beings.

It is easy to see what is not going right or to plan in our lives. It is easy to look at someone else and decide they have something I deserve. It is easy to think that one thing or one success will make everything better. It is easy to focus on the lack rather than the abundance. It is easy to wallow in self-pity rather than be content in any situation.

But what I have come to realize is that I don't want to do what is easy. I don't want to go down the easy path. I want to do what is hard. I want to climb the mountain and traverse the rocky path. I want to face the obstacles in my life and with God's help I want to soar over them.

Taking the hard road - the difficult path - is not an easy choice, but it is who I want to be as a child of God. I don't want to fall into the trap of the easy answer - because the easy answer leaves me in a funk. I want to strive for the hard solution because in doing so I will be given the tremendous gift of seeing God's beauty and His presence all around me.

Scripture

Philippians 4:11-14

Quote of the Day

“Happiness consists not in having much, but in being content with little.” Marguerite Gardiner Question of the Day What is the one thing you can focus on that will help you be content? GUMY SUNDAY....

 

You are Not the "Not's"

Whether you are thirteen, thirty-three, sixty-three or ninety three, obstacles will always be present in your life. 

Being told you are not good enough, not smart enough, not pretty enough, not ....just "not", will happen nearly every day in your life. How you choose to react to the "not's" will determine how you grow as a person.

The"not's" or the "not enough's" have a way of tearing down the person you were meant to be. They chip away at your self-confidence, your self-worth and your self-image until all that remains is self-pity.

If you listen and embrace the "not's" your answer will change from "I can" to "I can't". And when this subtle change occurs - with one apostrophe and one "t" - your view of yourself will change. With this shift, you will allow the outside of you to transform the inside of you, and you will lessen the who God has planned for you to be.

Some days, all you will hear is the "not's" about yourself, but when you are bombarded with the "not's" you have to hold onto the "you are's".

You are known by God (Jeremiah 1:4-6)

You are planned to do great things (Jeremiah 29:11)

You are chosen above all others (Deuteronomy 10:15, John 15:16)

You are a part of a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9)

You are loved (John 3:16, 1 John 3:16, 2 Thessalonians 2:13)

You are a beautiful, chosen, beloved child of God.

You are so much more than any "not" this world can throw at you.

But you must believe it. You must hold onto and embrace the "you are's" and allow your inside "you are's" to transform your outside "not's". And in doing so, you will become the holy, chosen, rare gift God created you to be.

Because: you are enough, you are special, you are beautiful, you are worthy, you are...you are just who God made you to be.

Scripture

John 16:32-33

Quote of the Day

‘“Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.”

St. Catherine of Sienna

Question of the Day

What "not" do you believe about yourself and how can you embrace a "you are" to wipe the "not" away?

GUMY is this Sunday...

Sneak preview...you are going to get to throw stuff...

Now...you wouldn't want to miss that would you?



God at Work

When did you last experience the presence of God?

Did you notice Him when you were watching TV last night?

Or how about when you were reading that new magazine?

Did you feel His presence at school or while you were crunching numbers for a new account?

Did you notice God when you were sitting in the pew yesterday morning?

Sometimes we can be so caught up in this world that we do not recognize God in our midst.

All too often we need to take a moment in the middle of the every day common activities of life and recognize God's presence in our lives. When Jesus returned to God the Father the Holy Spirit came to rest upon us, in us, through us and in the world.

The Holy Spirit is God's living, breathing presence in this world. He acts as a conduit of God's grace, truth, righteousness and love in this world. He is God with us.

God is constantly moving and acting on each of our behalves. But if we allow our lives to be consumed with the mundane and the everyday we can overlook God at work.

We are not the first people of God to overlook His work, the disciples even missed God at work and they walked with Jesus, but we should learn from those who have come before us.

We have the distinct and blessed opportunity to see God at work - active and alive - in every single moment of our lives. By recognizing God in small things of life we will know how to call upon Him in the giant things.

God is ALIVE. God is MOVING. God is WORKING.

Don't allow the world to turn your eyes from the glory God creates out of the mundane - you just might miss a miracle.

Scripture

John14:15-17

Quote of the Day

Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God's handwriting.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Question of the Day

How can you carve out time to see God in your "every day"?

GUMY is this SUNDAY NIGHT!

 



And We Wait...

And we wait.

In Galatians, Paul tells us that the fruit of the spirit is love, kindness, gentleness, self-control, joy, peace, goodness, faithfulness and patience.

Patience...

Part of being a disciple - living for Christ - is the patience we have.

We wait patiently for God to move.

We wait patiently for God to answer our prayers.

We wait patiently for Christ's return.

And like the disciples thousands of years ago, we wait patiently this Saturday for Easter and the rising of God's Son - Our Savior.

The gift we have is foreknowledge of what will be; of knowing the future past. We know that Christ rose from the grave. We have the freedom and the joy in that knowledge.

Our brothers and sisters who waited two thousand years ago, did not have that gift.

They waited in fear.

They feared for their lives.

They feared they had lost all hope.

They feared the unknown future without their master.

Their patience turned to fear...and still they waited.

True patience is about trust. Trusting that God is Who He says He is and He will do what He said He will do.

And true patience does not live apart from the rest of the fruit of the spirit. True patience is marked by love and by goodness and by faithfulness and by joy and by self-control and by gentleness.

The men in the upper room had their faith shaken on Friday. They waited through the Sabbath in fear.

But Jesus' female disciples were faithful in their waiting. They knew they would need to return to the grave to anoint Jesus for burial. They didn't know that their faithfulness, love, patience and goodness would be marked with the joy of finding an empty tomb - but they patiently prepared.

As we wait for Sunday morning, we must also remember that our patience in preparing for an Easter celebration is only a foreshadow of the patience we need as followers of Christ in waiting for his ultimate return. We are learning patience to help us bear the indefinable wait of his second coming with joy, love, faith, goodness, gentleness, peace and self-control in our hearts. Because, what happens next?

We wait...

Scripture

Galatians 5:16-23

Luke 23:50-56

Quote of the Day

A handful of patience is worth more than a bushel of brains.

Dutch Proverb

Question of the Day

What can you learn in the waiting?

Don't forget....Easter Sunrise serves @ 7AM at the Log Cabin. Breakfast at the church starting at 8:15. Main Worship Service at 10:30 AM

and... GUMY is BACK next week regular times!

Happy Waiting Day!