WAR!

     Lately I feel like I am under attack. The devil is trying to stop me from doing Gods work. He has tried to stop me from getting to church. He has tried to stop me from getting to bible study. He has even tried to stop me from getting this blog written.
     In the past two weeks my car has been in the shop twice, the oil burner was acting up and I seem to have a hard time finding time to write this blog.
     In war you are usually not in any danger until you come out of the trenches and start fighting. We are soldiers in Gods army and the devil is going to try to attack us. He is going to try to stop us from doing God's will. He will try to stop us from being active Christians.
     The devil will also try to draw us away from God by tempting us.  So we need to be aware of who is tempting us and resist. James 4:7 Submit yourselves to God resist the devil and he will flee from you.
     The only way the devil can win is if we surrender. So resist him and keep on fighting the good fight. In Ephesians 6:11 Paul tells us to "put on the full armour of god so that you can take your stand against the devils schemes."  in vs 16 Paul tells us to "take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one."
     And when you are under attack don't just stand there with your shield blocking the devils attack fight back with the word of God That is what Jesus did when he was tempted. When Jesus was tempted he just quoted scripture.
     The devil can attack us but he is powerless against those who resist him with the word of God!

Chris sherman

Holey People, Holy God

I was raised by my grandmother, and she spent the last years of her life in my home, while I cared for her. I've learned many life lessons from her, one of which I remembered today. 

She had a favorite gray, woolen sweater that was so well worn, it had developed several holes. When I offered to darn it one day, she objected, saying that the sweater had now become an indicator to her of how much she really mattered to someone. She said that when visitors came calling, if they couldn't take their eyes off the holes in her sweater long enough to pay attention to what she said - then, that was their last visit. Her time, at 95, was too short to waste on superficial people!

I kept that sweater after she died - as a matter of fact, I'm wearing it now - and it makes me smile to think of how much we matter to God, despite our many "holes". As a matter of fact, it's because of a certain God-shaped hole in all of us, that we come to desire a knowledge of spiritual things, which hopefully leads us to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. It doesn't really matter how many other holes we may have, God is ALWAYS waiting with open arms to welcome us, and lavish His love and attention on us!

So, needless to say, if you see me wearing a certain gray sweater . . .;-)

Maria McKiernan

Descending Into Greatness

by Jim Corbin

Remembering childhood experiences can often be difficult given the biblical command to ‘become less’. What kid ever enjoyed being last in line at a party with piping hot pizza? Most high school boys rarely wanted less in the muscle department and few girls ever wanted more ugly. In borrowing this title from pastor and writer Bill Hybels I would like to call our attention to an important matter of depth as Christ followers: God and his will are always first and foremost. Jesus said it this way – Not my will but your will be done. Do I have an idea? It must fit into his idea. Do I have dreams and ambitions? They must meet his criterion for the future. Do I want to do great things? I really have to know how to define great! ‘He must become greater; I must become less,’ says John the Baptist.
Pursuing greatness often results in blurred vision. Our initial pursuit seems outstanding combined with energy and awesome reason for our chosen path. “This is gonna be great,” we say. Sometimes we even enlist others to go along for the adventure. So what’s the big deal you may ask? Your mission may be an iron clad reflection of God’s heart. However, the heart of the human is drawn to those things that feel good and bring pleasure. Instead of staying simple in God’s call for us we begin noticing all the perks along the way. We gather more and more stuff as we go. We begin to lose sight of the simple call of God to love him and others. We ignore the prayer he taught us to pray when he only mentioned possessions once: give us this day our daily bread. Just enough for today! Descending into greatness takes hard work. It means giving sacrificially. It requires submitting to your leaders even when you want to prove your point. It calls for a return to a life of peace, joy and serenity based in a trusting relationship with God, through Jesus.
Joy. Peace. Contentment. Wow – that sounds great! Happy New Year.
It is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest. Luke 9:48