Micah and Simeon are with
us through Friday this week. We are having a blast. Thank you, Jesus. Micah and
Simeon love the Lord. They love church. They love to attend church. Last Sunday
Micah wanted to go to Church at Wesley for the 8:30 AM service. She is
definitely a "people person". It was her first time attending at Wesley. She
wanted to receive the offering. The Usher allowed her to collect the morning
offering. It was a blessing.
Yesterday
Simeon and Micah wanted to play Christmas, complete with one of the small
Christmas trees. Last night Micah and Simeon wanted to hear a story before the
bed time so Alice shared the Christmas story. Alice said God sent His Son Jesus
to be born on earth. Simeon interrupted and said, "Jesus is God". That is great
Christology coming from the mouth of a five year old. The night before last I
was lying down with Simeon, and he said that Jesus is stronger. He is higher. He
is greater.
I was visiting
a family yesterday. Five generation of family members live under one roof. That
is very rare in this day and age. I spent some time listening their story. The
mom, the matrich of the family, shared that her husband, a Vietnam vet, died
very young, leaving her with 7 children. Three of her children became drug
addicts. She said that she prayed and prayed to Jesus, and she told me that
Jesus answered her prayer. Three of her children ended up in jail. "The Lord
answered my prayer", she said. From there the recovery begun and still contnues.
I prayed for three of her children who were there with her yesterday. Life has
its trying moments at times. Some would say, "we have more than our share right
now." The truth is that life is not easy. We only go round once. For most it’s
no merry-go-round ride, but a difficult, bumpy journey.
One Chritian author says, "Life is hard and then we die". People-pressures get us down; problems pile up; worries and anxieties persist. The fires of our faith on the hearths of our hearts slowly burn down. Life has a way of dampening those fires. Our passion for life burns down as our energies are sapped, our reserves are depleted, and our hopes smolder. Disappointments in our personal lives, discouragement over the financial recession and despair over world crises stifle the flame of expectation about the future.
Through it all and in spite of it all the Living Christ is here to put a bellows on that ember until it ignites and becomes a blazing fire again.
Spurgeon was right when he said, “ We have great needs, but we have a great Christ for our needs!” There is no passage in the New Testament that soars with a more magnificent assurance of strength for our struggles than Ephesians 3:13-21. Nowhere does Paul rise to such heights of passion as in this mind-stretching passage. In it Paul prayed that God would grant the Christians, “according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith”(Eph 3:16-17).
To be living in Christ is to live a life full of surprises. The Lord delights to surprise us with interventions that are on time and in time for our times of need. The Apostle Paul promised in one of the greatest “He is Able” statements, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church BY Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (Eph. 3:20-21).
Our Lord promises wonders He has never done before in our lives. There is no limit to his transforming power, no end to His redeeming grace, no exhaustion of His enabling courage when we throw caution to the wind and as a result of a new-found intimacy with Him, dare to trust Him to do mighty things in our future.
There is a poem for tough times which I love to repeat whenever I need fresh courage, (usually every day)! It was written ay Annie Johnson Flint. I think the reason I find it so moving is that it was written in one of the tough times in her life when she trusted the Lord with her physical pain and received strength to press on.
HE GIVETH MORE GRACE WHEN THE BURDENS GROW GREATER.
HE SENDETH MORE STRENGTH WHEN THE LABORS INCREASE.
TO ADDED AFFLICTION HE ADDETH HIS MERCY,
TO MULTIPLIED TRIALS HIS MULTIPLIED PEACE.
One Chritian author says, "Life is hard and then we die". People-pressures get us down; problems pile up; worries and anxieties persist. The fires of our faith on the hearths of our hearts slowly burn down. Life has a way of dampening those fires. Our passion for life burns down as our energies are sapped, our reserves are depleted, and our hopes smolder. Disappointments in our personal lives, discouragement over the financial recession and despair over world crises stifle the flame of expectation about the future.
Through it all and in spite of it all the Living Christ is here to put a bellows on that ember until it ignites and becomes a blazing fire again.
Spurgeon was right when he said, “ We have great needs, but we have a great Christ for our needs!” There is no passage in the New Testament that soars with a more magnificent assurance of strength for our struggles than Ephesians 3:13-21. Nowhere does Paul rise to such heights of passion as in this mind-stretching passage. In it Paul prayed that God would grant the Christians, “according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith”(Eph 3:16-17).
To be living in Christ is to live a life full of surprises. The Lord delights to surprise us with interventions that are on time and in time for our times of need. The Apostle Paul promised in one of the greatest “He is Able” statements, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church BY Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (Eph. 3:20-21).
Our Lord promises wonders He has never done before in our lives. There is no limit to his transforming power, no end to His redeeming grace, no exhaustion of His enabling courage when we throw caution to the wind and as a result of a new-found intimacy with Him, dare to trust Him to do mighty things in our future.
There is a poem for tough times which I love to repeat whenever I need fresh courage, (usually every day)! It was written ay Annie Johnson Flint. I think the reason I find it so moving is that it was written in one of the tough times in her life when she trusted the Lord with her physical pain and received strength to press on.
HE GIVETH MORE GRACE WHEN THE BURDENS GROW GREATER.
HE SENDETH MORE STRENGTH WHEN THE LABORS INCREASE.
TO ADDED AFFLICTION HE ADDETH HIS MERCY,
TO MULTIPLIED TRIALS HIS MULTIPLIED PEACE.
WHEN WE HAVE EXHAUSED OUR STORE OF ENDURANCE,
WHEN OUR STRENGTH HAS FAILED ERE THE DAY IS HALF DONE,
WHEN WE REACH THE END OF OUR HOARDED RESOURCES,
OUR FATHER’S FULL GIVING HAS ONLY BEGUN.
HIS LOVE HAS NO LIMIT, HIS GRACE HAS NO MEASURE,
HIS POWER NO BOUNDRY KNOWN UNTO MEN;
FOR OUT OF HIS INFINITE RICHES IN JESUS
HE GIVETH AND GIVETH AND GIVETH AGAIN!
HIS POWER NO BOUNDRY KNOWN UNTO MEN;
FOR OUT OF HIS INFINITE RICHES IN JESUS
HE GIVETH AND GIVETH AND GIVETH AGAIN!
In Christ,
September 16,2012. Back to Church Sunday. Let us be praying and start
inviting friends and neighbors and family to join us for worship. The Lord of
the Church is going to make it a glorious and victorious Sunday. Let us share ,
rejoice and participate.
