Do you long to have just one day where everything clicks; just fits into place? When things just flow together with such rhythm that it lays all your worries and concerns to rest. What you long to experience is not an impossible fantasy. You can live such a life. One filled with so much promise and expectancy that it causes everything prior to you living it to pale in its light. Where can such a life be found? In Jesus Christ alone! Jesus spoke so vividly of the life He promised in these words found in Matthew 11:28-30: “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (The Message Translation) And the kind of life Jesus came to secure for you is not a brief one time high or a temporary fix. It’s 365 days of not just existing but really living life in abundance. (John 10:10b) The effervescence Jesus brings to your days never fizzles out because the matchless life He offers is like a powerful geyser that cannot be capped; “gushing up to eternal life.” (John 4:14b New Revised Standard Version) You live it to its fullest every day! The clock never clicks down on the enriching, rewarding, and satisfying qualities of life you experience by simply placing your faith in Jesus Christ. And living under its blessing never gets old. 22bBecause His [tender] compassions never fail. 23aThey are new every morning; (Lamentations 3:22b-23a Amplified Bible) Place your trust in Jesus and such a life is yours!

Every Day

Have you ever been there, or maybe that’s where you are right now, finding it hard to just breathe because the weight of the world seems to be piled on top of you? And it never seems to let up! You do your best to clear out one big pile of heartache and draining demands only to find two more like it taking its place. You think if you could just find that one secret ingredient that’s missing from your life, everything in all its wonder and potential would open up before you. Well, there is no such state where anyone ever lives completely carefree. But there is a state of life that you can experience that enables you to live high above the hope bursting and energy sapping effects of the very things that once weighted you down and constantly squeezed the life out of you due to the pressure they placed on you. And that key ingredient is the grace Jesus Christ injections daily into our lives. Troubles come and go, but the promised help and supply of God’s grace never diminishes and it always provides more than what we need. David knew this ever so well and spoke of the power of grace in His life in these terms:  This poor man cried to the Lord—and the Lord heard him and saved him out of his troubles. (Psalm 34:6 Living Bible) The good man does not escape all troubles—he has them too. But the Lord helps him in each and every one. (Psalm 34:19 Living Bible) In life, none of us are ever exempt from trouble. But when we depend on Jesus to bring us through them, and by that, I mean not just coming through them barely surviving but thriving; becoming stronger because of them, He always piles His grace on us. And He does it again and again, grace on top of grace! As Paul put it in in John 1:16, For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.[a] (English Standard Version), this is the promised favor God bestows upon those believing in Christ. In faith, trust Him to do just that for you.

Piling On Grace On Top Of Grace

When someone tells you they’re going to do something for you, and then they don’t follow through on their commitment, well, it’s certainly a trust buster! Confidence goes down the tube fast whenever this happens. You find it harder and harder to expect anything good happening in your life based on what someone says they will do and how that has played out time and time again. Are you tired of being hurt and feeling shorted due to credibility issues? Have you had your fill of empty promises and wondering if a loyal friend even exists; someone you can always count on doing exactly what they said? If this is where you’re at, then you’re standing at a threshold of discovery that can erase all your doubts about the reality of a faithful friend. For there is One who has never failed to deliver on every single promise He ever made. And His Name Is Jesus! By penning your trust on Him, you can be sure of this: Now we can look forward to the salvation God has promised us. There is no longer any room for doubt, and we can tell others that salvation is ours, for there is no question that he will do what he says. (Hebrews 10:23 The Living Bible) You can count on Jesus fulfilling every promise He’s ever made. He always does what He says and He has pledged Himself to bless and help you. If you are one that has heard what others have said, only to be let down by their failure to follow through, then listen closely to this promise Jesus makes to you: “I’ll never let you down, never walk off and leave you,” (Hebrews 13:5b The Message Translation), then take hold of it in faith, and you’ll find that you have a Friend in Him like no other; One who is always faithful!

10/15/2021

For I Know My Lord Is Always Faithful

Do you need to just get away from it all? Are you desperately seeking to find yourself at a point of peace so you can rest your weary mind and body? Are you crying out from deep inside desiring to experience calming assurance and confident stability even in the most troubling situations of life? If this, is you, then know that peace is available for you to experience that exceeds the ability of the human tongue to articulate, or the extent of one’s mind to ever fully fathom and chart its many comforting facets. This Peace is not something but Someone; Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace! (Isaiah 9:6) He came as our Messiah; as our Kinsman Redeemer, giving us the greatest gift, anyone could ever receive, the gift of peace with God, others, and ourselves. Turn to Him in faith and you will know “peace that passes understanding”! (Philippians 4:7) And the promise of such peace is the very heart of Christmas, for the angel announcing Christ’s birth declared to shepherds that holy night saying: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” (Luke 2:14) Peace awaits you!

Song Cover Graphic Credit: Megan Lutes 2021

12/12/2021

It's Christmas Time

Your life has purpose. You did not take in your first breath just to live out your days in aimless pursuit of answering the question: Why am I here? This is so because God has set in place a special work that only you can do. Let these words of His register deep within you: “Before I shaped you in the womb, I knew all about you. Before you saw the light of day, I had holy plans for you: (Jeremiah 1:5a The Message Translation) Yes, in His providence, He set in motion a strategy to have His influence dominate every aspect of your life, and in turn, influence those around you with that which is good and true. If you think your life is boring and not making any difference, just turn to Jesus with your total self at His disposal, and He’ll show you what life is meant to be; challenging, exhilarating, and rewarding. Things will change! You will not want to lose one minute of doing things to please Him and to inform others of how loving He is. You’ll never want to stop embracing grace and enabling others!

Embracing Grace, Enabling Others

Do you feel trapped? Like you’ve been lured into an inescapable life of pain and constant let downs. A life that at first seemed to promise you everything, only to find, it’s left you feeling robbed of all your hopes and dreams. If this is where you are, you can be sprung from the snare life has you in. It’s not ironclad! You can live free and happy, even with false representations of life prowling all around you, seeking to have you bite into the mirages they claim to offer. How can this be? Simply give Jesus the reins of your heart, and trust Him to do extraordinary things to bless and help you. Place your confidence in Him, and the same One that conquered death and the grave, will not fail in doing miracles for you to establish you in His promised “newness of life”! (Romans 6:4)

I Believe In Miracles

If you got up this morning it wasn’t by accident. God in His mercy and grace, is the sole reason you are alive and reading this song description. Yes, every person on earth having breath in their lungs, have it so, because God has filled them and caused them to function in sustaining their lives. You are alive right now not because of anything you have done to extend your life or to safeguard your physical health, but as a result of God’s benevolent and merciful involvements carried out in your behalf to bring you safely to this point. 

Whether your present state is filled with one unexpected positive experience after another, or you are being pushed to the limits of your human endurance, you are a ready recipient of opportunities to experience life at its fullest possible level. You have been given the precious gift of time to experience life that’s not detrimental in its affects upon you, but instrumental in causing you to realize life as it was meant to be; steeped in fulfillment, purpose, reward and lasting satisfaction. Acknowledge God as the only One responsible for your destiny, and “Let him have all your worries and cares, for he is always thinking about you and watching everything that concerns you.” (1 Peter 5:7 The Living Bible) So much good awaits you! But you must come to the place in your life where you realize how bad things would be if it were not for God working ever faithfully in your behalf, and saying with all conviction of heart to Him: How sad things would be for me dear Lord, if not for You!

If Not For You

Do you feel like life has stopped you dead in your tracks? Does each day seem more monotonous than the previous one? Do you begin your days with anxiety and despair squeezing any chance of change right out of you because you’ve come to expect being held somehow in an inescapable déjà vu experience where you’re always frustrated and tired of the way things are? Then you need to know that you can break out of that vicious depressing cycle of life into a lifestyle that is never devoid of welcomed refreshing and renewing change. Your life can become brand new! How you may ask? By simply turning to Jesus Christ in faith and asking Him to turn things around for you; to free you from the drudgery of living one day after the other lacking fulfillment and satisfaction, to experiencing life that never ceases to amaze you with its newness and sense of worth. Just acknowledge your desperate need of Jesus to alter your present undesired state, and He will make you NEW, through and through.

Being Made New

Jesus said that nothing, not even the gates of Hell could prevail against His Church. (Matthew 16:18) He also said that He would never leave nor forsake those comprising it. (Matthew 28:20, Hebrews 13:5) Yes, as Christian believers, we are unconquerable as we follow unswervingly after Jesus. That is Jesus’ promise given to each of us, and He never fails to keep His promises.
 
But in ourselves alone, Christ knew that we would never be able to live such overcoming lives. He knew how desperately we needed to receive the promised gift of His own personal Presence; the Holy Spirit, living within each of us, for it is only through the work of His indwelling Self within us that we are enabled to live the lives we are created to live; lives exemplifying the glory of our Heavenly Father. Jesus stressed this great need of all us, of not only believing in Him, but being filled with His Spirit when He told His disciples: "4bDo not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5For John baptized with[a] water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." (Acts 1:4b-5 New International Version)

And on the Day of Pentecost, His Church was born through the earnest prayers of His disciples in the Upper Room who waited for the precious gift of the Holy Spirit to come upon them. And when He did, a mighty wind swept over them purging them of their sin with holy fire and filled them with the fullness of God, empowering them for the task of faithfully testifying of Christ and spreading His Gospel, so much so, that they went out into their world with unstoppable momentum; turning their world upside down (Acts 17:6) by boldly declaring the wondrous works of God.” (Acts 2:11) Lord, send Pentecost again! Give us fresh wind, fresh fire, fresh power!

Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, Fresh Power

Love, the one commodity of life that none of us can do without. And oh, what extent our Heavenly Father went to that we might experience it in its truest form. How far did He go? The Bible tells us exactly in John 3:16 where we read: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (New International Version) As incredible as it may sound, God goes out of His way to see each of us in a love relationship with Him. And loving Him does what nothing else can do. It makes us complete, content, and happy. You can be sure that He loves you far beyond what any words could ever convey. Trust Him to love you with a love that stays white hot in its fervency, with a love that never fails to surpass your highest expectations. Let Him keep your heart warmed by the assurance of His endless commitment to lavish His enduring affection upon you no matter what. Live into His pledge to love you without end given you through His prophet Jeremiah: Long ago the Lord said to Israel: “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself. (Jeremiah 31:3 New Living Translation) Do this in faith and find that His love is amazing!

If Not For You

Pastor Jakes

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