Tag Archive for: God

On the Rock

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Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. (Matthew 7:24)

I grew up in Sunday School class and we would sing the song that went along with this passage of Scripture.  We sang, “You gotta build your house upon the rock… You have a firm foundation on a solid rock…  The storms may come and go, but the peace of God you will know…”   The song lyrics have changed a little bit, but the meaning is still the same.  Yes, children continue to sing this song and learn that a life built on the Rock is a life that stands firm forever.  So what kind of foundation is your home built on?  Do you have a life built on sand, eroding daily as the tide comes in?  Or is your life built on the Rock; standing firm for eternity?

A life built on the Rock is a life that puts the words of Christ into action.  Let’s see how solid our foundation is…

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Missing Puzzle Pieces ~ Pt. 2

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And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

I hope you were able to take a look at Joseph’s story.  Did you see how the puzzle pieces of his life didn’t exactly fit?  His life was an up and down roller coaster ride.  A ride that he didn’t sign up for.  Today, we will find the ride starts to ease a bit.  Everything begins to make sense in Joseph’s life.

In Genesis 41, we see that two years had passed since David had interpreted the dreams for the Cupbearer and Baker.  That would seem like a good length of time in prison, especially when your innocent.  How’s that puzzle looking now?  Well, we see that Pharaoh had a dream that troubled him.  In fact, he had two dreams.  These two dreams really disturbed him.  He sent for the wise men and magicians of Egypt to interpret them.  Unfortunately, no one in his company could interpret the dreams.  This was good news for Joseph, as the chief cupbearer remembered the day Joseph interpreted his dream.  He shared with Pharaoh how Joseph had correctly interpreted a dream for him, so Pharaoh sent for Joseph.

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Missing Puzzle Pieces ~ Part 1

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Therefore we do not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

It’s that time again, time to reflect back and remember what God is doing in our lives!  How was God faithful to you?  Did you see God answer prayer for you?  Did you see God give you strength when you thought you couldn’t possibly go any further?  Were you simply amazed by the beauty of God in creation?  I would love to hear how God has been faithful to you.

God’s faithfulness has been evident to me once again this last week in many ways.  The one thing that God seemed to be working on the most was how I see things.  I was convicted this last week about my perception of reality.  I’ve been looking at all the facts in my life and honestly they don’t line up in some areas.  I keep trying to put the pieces together, but they just don’t fit.  My life feels like a puzzle at times and quite frankly I’m always missing the important pieces!  Well, that’s what I keep telling God anyways.  Do you ever feel like that?  Do you ever feel like you can’t get the puzzle of your life together?  Is there always one piece missing?

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I CAN

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“I CAN do everything through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13)

Today I had the privilege to watch a video that really touched my heart strings.  It’s about a man who was diagnosed as a spastic quadriplegic with cerebral palsy.  This diagnosis was given to him at his birth and his parents were informed to institutionalize him.  However, they saw something special in their son.  They knew he was brilliant.  He had a purpose in life.  His parents believed in him.  One day, the son asked his dad to enter a marathon.  They entered and when they were done… Rick Hoyt said, “Dad when I’m running, it feels like I’m not handicapped.”

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Bearing Fruit

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No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.  Each tree is recognized by its own fruit… The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart.  For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. (Luke 6:43-45)

This passage of Scripture seems so simple.  I mean shouldn’t we expect good things to come out of someone who has good stored up in their heart and shouldn’t we expect evil from the same.  Honestly, I don’t expect to get apples from an orange tree.  And I don’t expect to get peaches from a plum-tree.  That just doesn’t make sense.  I expect to find oranges in an orange grove and apples in an apple grove.  So why is it that we expect good things to come from those who do not store up good in their hearts.  Hmmm….  Good question!

Let’s look at what kind of fruit a good tree should bear!

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23)

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