There is so much information available to us through the internet, the media, books etc. It is no wonder that people find it hard to accept one single source as truth. Nevertheless, one thing is sure –God’s truth never restricts us and it always sets us free! We read in the gospel of John (8.32) “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” It is one thing to know the truth which can bring freedom. It is yet another thing to experience the freedom that God’s truth brings us. Let me encourage you to seek God’s truth and experience true freedom!

The angels bypassed Jerusalem, the religious center of Israel and appeared to a band of shepherds tending their flocks. Back then no one thought God would be interested in shepherds, or that shepherds would be interested in God. Shepherds were notoriously irreligious, ranked by the rabbis with prostitutes and other “habitual sinners.” They were outcasts, barred from the synagogue and polite society. They assumed that God would never accept them, and they feared Him. But God spoke to them. I think He knew that these shepherds, like so many people who appear indifferent to spiritual things, were quietly longing for God.
All of us have a longing for something more. And no matter how hard we try to appear self-sufficient, sooner or later we run out of something essential—love, money, time, or life. Isolation, loneliness, and fear of death lead us to acknowledge our need for a Savior. But where can we find Him? The angel’s words to the shepherds were simple and direct: “There is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).

‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

The longer I live, the more I realize how our loving God is an expert at taking whatever we have to offer and turning it into something incredible. There are days when I feel like a lemon: inadequate, weak, and not worth much. But God by his grace can take our trade in, the sacrifice of our life (Rom. 12:1-2), and transform it into something beautiful. Our weakness/inadequacy turns into his strength. And by the power of Christ in our life we can be a super person in God’s economy.

He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you (Matthew 17:20)

Today’s news reminds me that many of us have situations to face that seem insurmountable. Jesus reminds us that it only takes a little faith!

We often think of ourselves not having much faith. We look at others and think they have a lot more faith. But Jesus said here that even if we had faith as small as a mustard seed we could do incredible things in God – nothing will be impossible, because with God all things are possible. We can speak to our mountains and conquer them with our faith firmly placed in God.

The problem as I see it is that we limit ourselves. We need to take our mustard seed of faith today, and see what God can do. It only takes a little bit of faith, to conquer the mountains that we face!

Years ago, I remember hearing my daughter sing the song she learned from Children’s Church, ”The Joy of the Lord is My Strength,” and the verse of laughter when they sing, “Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha,” and so on. What a blessing, hearing the pure unadulterated joy and laughter coming from those precious children as they rejoice in the Lord. According to Nehemiah 8:10, “The joy of the Lord is our strength.”
But do we as adults share the joy? How long has it been since we’ve recognized His joy in our own lives, and how does that joy manifest itself?

In the Old Testament, we read about King David who was returning the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. The joy King David felt as he ushered in the presence of the Lord was almost more than he could contain.

“And David danced before the Lord with all his might, wearing a priestly garment. So David and all the people of Israel brought up the Ark of the Lord with shouts of joy and the blowing of rams’ horns” (2 Samuel 6:14-15, NLT).

It goes on to say that King David leaped and danced before the Lord. In those days, the presence of the Lord, the God of the universe, rested upon that one spot, the Ark of the Covenant. Today, that same presence of the Lord rests within us. Oh the joy that comes when we recognize this fact. Something to think about!

2 Corinthians 10:5, we read; “We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” An amazing principle that reminds me that the ultimate freedom we have, the greatest freedom we know, the freedom that they cannot take away from us is the freedom to decide what our minds will dwell on.

For My people have committed two evils:
They have forsaken Me,
The fountain of living waters,
To hew for themselves cisterns,
Broken cisterns
That can hold no water.” (Jeremiah 2:13)

The people in the Old Testament were accused of using cheap and fragile cisterns. They were not using the “real thing”. Of course this passage has to do with lifestyle choices. Cheap substitutes can’t satisfy. Cheap substitutes can’t hold the living waters. Even worse, they have taken the place of a genuine and deep relationship with the living Lord.

Starting a new series on Sunday. Can’t wait! The main text is John 7:37-39; “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. Basically, I hear Jesus asking the question … Is our bucket full? This should be an interesting journey…discovering how to fill the bucket and how to keep it full!

Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. (2 Corinthians 4.16.
Our hope does not lie in the preservation of the outer body. It lies in the developing nature of the inner person. Our soul and spirit is in union with God and we are being renewed day by day. We will eventually lose our physical life, but not our spiritual life. Our emphasis should be on what is eternal not on what is temporal. A powerful thought that brings a sense of peace and identity to the followers of Christ! PTL!

Prayer:

Faith is about conviction; hope is about confidence. Hope pulls you forward into the future, knowing no matter how bad things get, when we are pursuing the life God created in us to live and the future he calls us to create, nothing can stop us. The question is; “Am I willing to risk everything I have to create the life that I could have?” This was the choice that Abraham had to make in Hebrews 11: “By Faith Abraham was called to go to a place he would later receive…” Creating the life of our dreams might be as simple as letting go of what we have now to be able to obtain what God has for us tomorrow!