“I am your Lord, gracious and loving. Rest in My Love, walk in My ways. Each week is a week of progress, steady progress upward. You may not see it, but I do. I judge not by outward appearances. I judge the heart, and I see in your heart one single desire, to do My Will. So, though you may feel that your work has been spoiled and tarnished, I see it only as Love’s offering. When climbing a steep hill, a man is often more conscious of the weakness of his stumbling feet than of the view, the grandeur, or even of his upward progress.”
“Persevere, persevere. Love and laugh. Rejoice.”
From the book, God Calling
My husband Russ and I attended this HUGE megachurch this morning for worship. It was quite an experience-very different from any church I have ever attended before. I tried to be very open-minded about it all and nonjudgmental, but I’ll be honest with you. I just couldn’t help myself. I found myself critiquing different aspects of the service.
The music was so loud I couldn’t even hear myself sing, so I just stopped singing at one point all together. We were sitting among hundreds, possibly thousands, and not one person said one word to us. Even though the music repeated that God’s presence was in this place, I don’t know why I felt so cold and unwelcome in this lovely, cavernous building. My attitude was just all wrong.
This church is drawing thousands of persons each week who want to begin, renew, or grow in their relationship with Christ. That is great news! This should be the goal of all our churches-to reach out to our friends, family, co-workers, even our enemies with the message that God loves them, God accepts them, and God forgives them. Maybe instead of being critical of something just because it’s different from what I’m used to, I should be praising God that there’s room for a whole lot of varied churches to reach the diverse world that we live in today. Who knows? Maybe New Day will have thousands of persons worshiping and living Christ-centered lives one day. That is my prayer. Will you make it yours, too?
“I am with you to guide you and help you. Unseen forces are controlling your destiny. What of a man walking through a glorious glade who fretted because ahead there lay a river and he might not be able to cross it, when all the time, that river was spanned by a bridge? And what if that man had a friend who knew the way-had planned it-and assured him that at no part of the journey would any unforeseen contingency arise, and that all was well?”
“So leave your fears and follow Me, your Guide, and determinedly refuse to consider the problems of tomorrow. My message to you is, trust, and wait.”
From the book, God Calling
“I won’t give up on you; I won’t leave you. Be strong and courageous! Don’t be timid; don’t get discouraged. God, your God, is with you every step you take.”
This is what jumped out at me during my prayer time yesterday morning. I remarked to my husband that I’m just amazed at how often this theme is carried out throughout the entire Bible, from the Old Testament through the New. No matter where I turn, God keeps reminding me that He is with me. It must be pretty important to God that we know He will never leave us since it is repeated so frequently, don’t you think?
At the start of this new day, if you’re feeling discouraged, reach out to a trusted friend who will support you. Take the risk to be vulnerable. Express what you need. Express your feelings: anger, sorrow, happiness, joy. Don’t hesitate to say you need help and you don’t think you can make it on your own. Connect today, especially with God.
God knows that we all struggle and we all get down from time to time. So God continually, over and over again, encourages us. God gives us hope. “HELLO! I’m here,” God says. “Lean on me. Gain strength from me. I’ll never leave you. I’m right beside you.” My prayer is that you will never forget this!
Be strong and courageous, for God IS with you!
I just got home from our Potluck in the Park. What a beautiful day! The weather was perfect. Horseshoes were flying, kites were soaring, and the conversation was uplifting. The food wasn’t too shabby, either!
I got to meet so many people in the park today who took the first step to come have lunch with us. I just LOVE introducing myself to new people. It’s fun to tell them about our new church and to hear their stories as well. I appreciate the fact that they accepted an invitation from a complete stranger (me), but after talking with them, it was like we had known each other forever. But honestly, it was so energizing to connect with all kinds of people today, whether they accepted my invitation or not.
I’m paraphrasing here, but Martin Luther King, Jr. once said that “Faith is taking the first step, even when you don’t see the entire staircase.” Maybe some of the people I met today will take that first step toward a relationship with God, all because we offered them a hot dog, some popcorn, a bottle of water, and kindness. Oh, and cookies. I can’t forget the cookies! Wouldn’t that be wonderful? To me, that would truly be a beautiful day, the best day I can imagine!
“Withdraw into the calm of communion with Me. Rest–rest, rest in that calm and Peace. Life knows no greater joy than you will find in converse and companionship with Me. You are Mine. When the soul finds its home of rest in Me, then it is that its real Life begins.”
“I shower Love on you. Pass Love on.” From the book, God Calling.
With this new day, my prayer is that you will know the joy, the peace, the love that can only come from a loving God who knows you and loves you from the depth of God’s being. Rest in the assurance that you are loved and accepted and forgiven. And then pass that love on to others.
My mom went to a senior luncheon at my previous church yesterday. Toward the end people were coming up to her saying they had heard I had been fired. Nothing could be further from the truth! Yet instead of going to my mom directly, the woman spreading this false rumor chose to continue spreading it. All my dear friends were so concerned for me, especially in this economy!
Isn’t it amazing how bad news seems to just spread like wildfire? Why is that? And oftentimes we gloat over someone’s misfortune. Does that elevate us in some way? Make us feel better about ourselves somehow?
There’s that old saying: If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all. Do you buy into that? When we do hear gossip, let’s encourage that person to stop and go straight to the source. Let’s vow to spread GOOD NEWS wherever we go. Kind words have power to bring about change in a person’s life. I truly believe that.
By the way, I am still, and plan to be for some time, the pastor of New Day United Methodist Church. 
I’ve just been sitting here working on the worship gathering for Easter while everyone else in my house is taking a nap. Must be nice! But that’s OK, because I’m so excited about our Easter gathering that I didn’t want to stop what I was doing. We’ll be meeting at Town Park in an amphitheater at 6 at night, something I’ve never done before. I started planning for it way before today, but it hasn’t been a burden. It’s my passion. My prayer is that persons with even the least bit of curiosity about Jesus will show up that night. Wouldn’t that be great?
I just read my devotional book, God Calling, and it had a good message for me today as I reflect on the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. It said, “Remember, you are only an instrument. Not yours to decide how or when or where you act. I plan all that. Make yourself fit to do My work. All that hinders your activity must be cured. Mine is the Cross on which the burdens of the world are laid. How foolish is any one of My disciples who seeks to bear his own burden, when there is only one place for them-My Cross…. Listen to Me, love Me, joy in Me. Rejoice.”
Are you ready to lay your burdens down? Do you want to be an instrument in God’s hand to bring about good in our world? Do you want to learn how to truly live? God is calling, knocking, seeking. Will you open the door and let his love come through?
We started a new “conversation” group this morning. It’s all about spiritual growth and following Jesus. The study guide had this to say as an opener:
“Christ loves you just the way you are. Spiritual growth won’t earn you any more of his love. But Christ also has a vision for who you can become: more peaceful as you trust him in stressful circumstances, more loving toward the difficult people in your life, more able to overcome your bad habits.”
Our DVD clip asked the question, “Who do you want to be?” You know, the persons there this morning had different opinions, temperaments, and imperfections, but we all had this in common. We could all acknowledge that we are works in progress. We’re not as good as we could be, but together we’re better than we were yesterday. God’s Holy Spirit is changing us to live life as Jesus did. A life of peace and love and perseverance.
We are growing in Christ together. Want to entrust your deepest needs and desires to God? Come find out how. You may even figure out the answer to who GOD wants you to be.
“So many terrible things happen every day that we start wondering whether the few things we do ourselves make any sense. When people are starving only a few thousand miles away, when wars are raging close to our borders, when countless people in our cities have no homes to live in, our own activities look futile. Such considerations, however, can paralyze and depress us.”
“Here the word call becomes important. We are not called to save the world, solve all problems, and help all people. But each of us has our own unique call, in our families, in our work, in our world. We have to keep asking God to help us see clearly what our call is and to give us the strength to live out that call with trust. Then we will discover that our faithfulness to a small task is the most healing response to the illnesses of our time.”
From the book, Bread for the Journey