January 25th, 2021
Philippians 2:3-7
“Don’t be selfish; don’t live to make a good impression on others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself. Don’t think only about your own affairs, but be interested in others too, and what they are doing. Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. He made himself nothing, he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form.”
Care more about pleasing God than making a good impression on others, in a world that rewards self-promotion and put celebrities on pedestals. God calls us in these verses to assume a lowly place-as Jesus did when he came to earth to serve, not to be served.
Jesus made himself nothing. He humbled himself. We need the desire to please God more than to impress people. We need to care more about others who are in need.
Acts 4:34-35 Matt. 9:21 2 Corinthians 8:9
-Stan Hibbler
January 5th, 2021
It was an interesting Christmas season; our church was on pause for a couple of weeks. I am very much looking forward to being able to gather together again this week, the tenth. I personally was in isolation during Christmas, it was a different Christmas. My family and I along with many others were forced to change the traditional gatherings or postpone them.
Yet, the real reason for Christmas remains the same, it’s about Jesus and whether we worship and celebrate Him alone or with others, it’s all about Him.
In Luke, chapter 2, we find the shepherds in the fields watching over their flocks. An angel appears to them proclaiming the good news about the birth of Jesus, the Messiah. The angel then said to them, “This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger”. So the shepherds hurried off and found Jesus just as they had been told. I’m sure they then took every opportunity to share with others what they had experienced and seen.
One of my favorite Christmas songs is “Noel”. A song performed by Laura Daigle. In this song is the line “Come and see what God has done.” It’s the essence of the invitation to the shepherds to see for themselves what God was doing. Right after Christmas I ran across that phrase again in reading Psalm 66, David says, (verse 5), “Come and see what God has done, His awesome deeds for mankind !”
Not only Christmas season has been different but almost the entire last year has been but God is in control. I believe that “In all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.” So if God has been working through this entire covid – pandemic time in history what will be our response when it is all over? Will we print up T-shirts that say we survived the pandemic of 2020, or will we be able to say as David did, “Come and see what God has done, His awesome deeds for mankind !”
The shepherds could not have shared their story had they not looked for themselves. Are we looking to see what God is doing?
In conclusion, I’d like to share one other thought something I read during the holidays. Jesus didn’t come to earth to occupy a manger. He didn’t come to occupy the cross or even the tomb. Jesus came so that through the power of the Holy Spirit which He sent, He could occupy our hearts.
I’d like to add, Jesus came to “Seek and to save that which was lost.” I’m glad He did.
Blessings, Craig S.
December 15th, 2020
November 17th, 2020
I was watching a hunting program on television titled, The Adventures of Colorado Buck. This particular episode featured a hunting trip to Mongolia. Upon arriving at this airport and standing at one of the baggage claim machines he realizes that he was in a foreign place. All around him were dark complected, short in stature, and Oriental-looking people. Colorado Buck is a Caucasian, approximately 6’ 4” and about 240 pounds, really long blonde hair, and wearing a fur coat with even longer furred cuffs and collar. He looked at the camera and his first words were, “We ain’t from around here.” I couldn’t stop laughing—what an opening line. He stuck out like a Bald Eagle at a bird feeder.
Do you ever feel out of place? How about with your values? Do they match up with the world around you?
Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-His good, pleasing and perfect will.”
This verse should be a type of gut-check gauge in our lives. Do you find yourself conforming to the pattern of this world we live in? Is the Holy Spirit transforming you, and renewing your mind? In many cases, we know what God’s will is, it’s just that we make decisions that either follow His will or our own will. Whenever I find myself struggling with my ways versus God’s ways I’m reminded that I don’t belong to myself anymore. I have given my life over to Jesus Christ who has purchased my life at the cost of his own. We belong to him now. “We ain’t from around here.”
With love,
Kevin VanAtta