Thursday, February 11, 2010

Connection

Is it just me, or have the last seven days been long and seemingly endless to you too? As I was reflecting this morning on my life in the past week, it seems that it revolves around SNOW! Between you and me, I am now officially tired of snow. Yes, it is beautiful to look at, I even enjoy pushing it around on my driveway from time to time, but it is no fun when your vehicle is buried up to its gills in it! One of the blessings of the past week is that many of us have had more time to reconnect as families which is a great thing. I think one of the things that has made the past week drag so slowly for me is that I have not had the opportunity to interact with my church family. There has been little of no connection with many of my spiritual family. We were designed by God to function in relationship with one another. When we are hindered in coming together, as we were this past Sunday and Wednesday, we are not able to experience the joy of encouragement and fellowship. When we come together as a church family this coming Sunday, I expect that there will be an excited energy, the kind of energy that comes when you are really looking forward to seeing the ones that you love. For many of us, it will have been two weeks since we have seen one another. It is my hope that by not having our time together this past week that we will be hungry to be together this week, that we will not take for granted the time that we have each week to spend together in praise of our Great God and hearing from His Word. Sunday is going to be a great day of reconnecting together as a part of the family of God. It makes me look forward to the day when God’s entire family will reconnect together for good in the presence of God. I am looking forward to reconnecting with you this Sunday.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Facing any Giants?

"For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."  When I heard these words come from the mouth of someone near to me that is facing a giant in their life, I was amazed.  We all face giants, some of our giants are emotional, some physical, but for the believer ALL of our giants are spiritual in nature too.  This Sunday morning we will contemplate David's battle with a giant named Goliath.  He could have also been named FEAR, because he put fear in every Israelite's heart except for David's.  What made David different?  I think the answer is in the words of Paul to Timothy at the beginning of this entry.  God does not give fear, God does not give confusion, God does not give anxiety, God gives us power, He gives us His never failing love and He gives us clear thinking.  Fear clouds our minds and is one of Satan's well used tools to cripple God's children.  No one invites a giant into his or her path, but God, in His infinite wisdom often places giants in our way so that we can witness and experience His loving care, His awesome power and His wisdom.  The next time you face a giant, instead of recoiling in fear, return to the loving arms of a powerful and faithful heavenly Father.  Hope you can be at JIBC this coming Sunday and learn how to face the giants in your life. 

PD