Devotional Blog

Thanksgiving

11/22/2017

Two words can wonderfully and powerfully change your life. Two words can change your perspective and touch lives around you with love and joy. What are those two words? -- Thank you! Learning to thank God and others is one of the great keys to a happy life and a hallmark of a life of greatness. There is no better time of the year to make a change in your outlook on life or renew your focus on gratitude. Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday to be with family and friends, to enjoy a great meal and spend quality time together, but it is also a time to renew a spirit of thankfulness. Thanksgiving reminds us that one of the great secrets in life is living with an attitude of gratitude. Early pilgrims faced a grueling winter their first year in America enduring a harsh New England winter and the loss of many family and friends, yet chose to continue to have a deep faith in God and an attitude of gratitude. In the spring their new Native American friends showed them how to plant corn with a more plentiful harvest. That first harvest they reached out with an attitude of thankfulness and invited these new friends to a wonderful feast of thanksgiving celebrating God’s goodness and provision. Living with an attitude of gratitude is more than a once a year thing, it is learning to focus on the things for which we have to be thankful each and every day, and allowing that attitude of gratitude to touch the heart and lives of those around us. We all have so much to be thankful for: gifts and talents, friends and family, seasons of the year and seasons of life…Take a moment to say two words that can rekindle your joy for living and brighten someone’s day--thank you! And take a moment to say thank you to God. . . Whatever your circumstances know that God loves you and God is there to see you through. Take a moment each day to say thank you to God. You will discover a deeper power and greater joy in your life. Surrounded by the cold, dark walls of an ancient Roman prison, the Apostle Paul writes these surprising words of encouragement to people undergoing adversity and persecution:

(Verse of the week)
Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for us in Christ Jesus. (1Thessalonians 5.18)

Thank you! Wishing you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving!
--Pastor TJ

(Prayer of the week)
Gracious and loving God, thank you for the many blessings with which you have touched my life. Thank you for the challenges of life that shape and strengthen me. Give me faith to trust in your plan and your strength. Mold me and make me that others may see your true reflection in me. Most of all may I experience your great love anew every day. May I be joyful in all things, and may I treat others with love that they may see the light of your love in me. Amen.

(quote of the week)
Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulty. Happiness cannot come from without. It must come from within.—Helen Keller

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God Calls Us By Name

11/17/2017

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What wondrous news! –that God, who created all that is, calls us by name. There are times in our lives when we hear our name and our heart is warmed just by the sound of our name spoken by someone who loves and cares for us deeply. God knows us, loves us, and calls us by name. It is the call of love and forgiveness. It is the call of the One who formed and fashioned us. It is the call of the One who has a plan and purpose for our lives. Listen for a moment. . .and hear God’s call. Hear your name spoken lovingly by God. Come to Christ and know God’s love. For God loves you and calls you by name like a loving and forgiving parent. And God’s promise comes to us, come what may, like a quiet, comforting whisper, “I will be with you!” Trust God. God loves you!

(scripture of the week)
Fear not for I have redeemed you,
I have summoned you by name; you are mine. . .
I will be with you. (Isaiah 43.1,2)

(Prayer of the week)
Almighty and Loving God, thank you for your great love and the way you know us and call us by name. Open my heart and mind to trust in your plan and purpose for my life and your power to see me through. Renew within me a fresh appreciation and confident hope in your love and plan and purpose for my life. And may my life, radiant with your love, touch others today. Amen.

Open your heart to God's amazing love!
--Pastor TJ

(quote of the week)
Love is the abridgment of all theology—Francis de Sales

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God-Your Artist in Residence

11/10/2017

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Have you seen the beauty of the autumn leaves, like the colors of the sunset spilling onto the leaves? Have you ever watched the dawn break over a ridge or mountain? -- Suddenly the sky goes from the inky blackness of twilight to bursting with color as the sky is painted bright hues of orange and red as if from a heavenly palette. We too can experience a new dawn in our lives, as God’s hand paints a new life of promise from the dark failures of the past on the canvass of our lives. It is a work of art continually in progress. God not only forgives us but also continues to transform our lives with the skill of a master artist painting with the colors or Christ’s glorious love and grace! Is God your artist in residence? Invite God into your life and see what happens . . .

(verse of the week)
“because of the tender mercy of our God,
like a new dawn breaking eternal
from heaven will God come
to shine on those living in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet
into the path of peace
(Luke 1.78,79)

Open your heart to God's amazing love!
--Pastor TJ

(Prayer of the week)
Almighty and Loving God, thank you for the way you work miracles of life all around us and in each one of us. Touch my life today with your promise and power. Grant me forgiveness for past failures, and renew my life with a new vision of your plan and purpose in life. Thank you for your Spirit that gives life in all of creation and in me. Give me a new sense of your purpose and power in my life. Fill me with your love, and may others see you in all I do, and give you thanks. Amen.

(quote of the week)
Believe in God like you believe in the sunrise. Not because you can see it, but because you can see all it touches--C.S. Lewis

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Drawn in Loving-kindness

11/2/2017

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You have been designed with love. You are engineered with compassion by the Great Designer! The word for drawn in this week’s verse also implies “stretched out” or “to grow.” We are not simply designed in love, we are also nurtured in love as God stretches us and challenges us to grow in faith and life. Some of the challenges of life are designed by God to stretch us and draw us out to a greater level of faith and strength. God has a plan for our lives, and God continues His work in us even in adversity. We are God’s artistry “created anew” in Christ Jesus, a painting with the story of grace painted on the canvass of our lives with the artist’s brushstrokes of love for all to see. Won’t you help God paint your life with the colors of love and faith that all may see and be touched by the work of beauty? Trust God for His plan and purpose in your life. Let the great Artist continue His work of love in your life as you touch the lives of those around you.

(Verse of the week)
I have loved you with an everlasting love;
I have drawn you with loving-kindness. (Jeremiah 31.3)

Open your heart to God's awesome love!
--Pastor TJ

(Prayer of the week)
Gracious and loving God, thank you for the challenges of life that shape and strengthen us. Give me faith to trust in your plan and your strength. Mold me and make me that others may see your true reflection in me. Most of all may I experience your amazing love anew every day. May I be joyful in all things, and may I be loving to all people, that others may see the light of your love in me. Amen.

(quote of the week)
“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”
― Corrie ten Boom

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Thanksgiving

God Calls Us By Name

God-Your Artist in Residence

Drawn in Loving-kindness

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