Read: Nehemiah 8:9-12          

Life can be hard and difficult at times.  Sometimes we are at a loss to explain or understand things that happen.  But in the midst of those challenges we must remember to celebrate the good things and the blessings in our lives.  It’s often too easy to focus on the hard things and forget to celebrate those good things.  Truthfully, the good most often outweighs the bad.

In Nehemiah 8 we are reminded that the “Joy of the Lord is your strength.”  It is in this joy, the joy of God and the love of Jesus Christ that we find strength to make it through the hard and difficult things of life.  Joyce Meyer says “At times you have difficulties and at times you don’t.  We all deal with issues in life.  Celebrate the victories.  Focus on the things going right.”

Joyce is encouraging us to focus on an attitude of celebration instead of an attitude of defeat.  And focus is the key word there.  Where are you placing your focus?  Is it on the joyful things of life as Nehemiah mentions, or is it on the things that tend to bring you down?  Do you hang around people who drag you down or lift you up?  Where are your thoughts most of the time?

Joy in our life can be like a magnet that pulls people in.  People desire to be around those who are joyful and celebrating life.  We all have the choice to be that kind of person.  It begins by celebrating who you are in God.  You are fearfully and wonderfully made by the Lord, as David proclaims in Psalm 139.  Celebrating life begins by celebrating God’s love for you.

No matter what your past looks like or what you are facing today, God’s love for you remains the same.  Jesus came to bring you peace, joy, contentment, and reasons to celebrate.  Dwell and focus in on those truths and don’t let the challenges of today distract you from the many reasons you have to celebrate life.  Remember, The joy of the Lord is your strength!

Make it Personal:  What is weighing you down today or this week?  Name it, but then release it to the Lord.  Ask God to help you focus on the many blessings in your life there is to celebrate.  It begins with you.  God celebrates you as his own.  Join the Lord in that celebration today.

Read: Matthew 6:25-34 and 11:28-30         

Who hasn’t felt the weight of worry, stress, or anxiety in their lives?  It is something we all deal with, struggle to cope with, and desire to be free of.   Corrie Ten Boom once shared this truth that is good to keep in mind.  She said, “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.”

Recently we have had a small bird sitting on the front window sill of our home and pecking at the window at all times of the day.  After further investigation I noticed that the bird had made a nest in one of our front porch decorations.  Inside that nest is several eggs that the bird is watching over.  Perhaps the bird is protecting its nest from those big human beings that keep coming and going out the front door?  Surely, it has no worries.

In Matthew 6:26 when Jesus was talking about worry he said, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they?”  The answer to his question is an obvious “YES!”  Jesus then goes on to say, “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”

Corrie Ten Boom was directing us to what Jesus is saying in these verses.  Why should we allow our worries to sap the energy, joy, and strength of this day, when it accomplishes nothing for today, tomorrow, or any point in the future.  Instead we should place our faith in God to calm us, bring us peace, and deliver us from the things that tend to weigh on us.  At the end of his life, Sir Winston Churchill said, “When I look back on all these worries, I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which had never happened.”

The bird on my front porch pecks away without a worry in the world, I too want to live that way.  I want to take my worries, my anxiety, and my stress to Jesus.  It’s interesting how Jesus promised that exact thing in Matthew 11:28.  He said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you….”  What?  REST!  Which results in worry free peace.

 Make it Personal:  Jesus wants to take the weight of your worry upon himself.  Will you give it to him?  Will you trust in Him?  Will you have faith that he will look after you even more than the birds of the air, whom already have all they need.  Perhaps today is the day to redistribute that weight to the one who promises rest for your soul.

Have a blessed week,  Pastor Glen Rhodes

Read: 2 Timothy 2:14-19          

This past week I heard that baseball games before 1859 had home plate umpires that would sit in  padded rocking chairs while calling balls and strikes.  After doing some in-depth research, (Google) I learned that some reports said umpires would sit in their chairs 20 feet behind home plate.  I’m not sure how accurate you could be from that far back.  I’m also not sure how accurate my research was, because how do you know what to trust and what not to trust on the internet?

Mark Twain once said, “If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.”  What he meant by that was that truth remains truth, and the facts don’t need to be remembered because it will always remain true.  Falsehoods are made up and are therefore more difficult to recall.  By the way, one website claimed that a young Mark Twain was one of those early umpires that called games from a rocking chair. 

In a world filled with deceptive websites, dishonest tweets, fake Facebook posts, and biased news reporting, how are we to know what to believe as honest truth?  In each situation the answer to that might be different, but each of us needs to seek after truthful sources and not be swayed by unreliable chatter.  With life situations, God’s Word is always the source to start with.

In 2 Timothy 2:14-19 we are encouraged to handle the truth correctly and be honest in our business, relationships, and interactions with each other.  It says, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”

We can’t always control the honesty of others, but we can choose to be truthful and honest in our own lives.  Proverbs 12:22 says, “The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy.”  It may not matter too much if umpires, such as Mark Twain, once relaxed on rocking chairs behind home plate.  But it does matter if our family, friends, and colleagues can count on us to be honest with them.  Make honesty something you are known for!

Make it Personal:  How is honesty and truthfulness in your life?  Some people struggle with this more than others, but for all of us the temptation is there.  Ask God to help you overcome the temptation to deceive or twist the truth.  Live a life of integrity and truth that honors God and your life will be much easier and less complicated.   In fact, Mark Twain says that you won’t have to remember anything.