The last goodbye is not the final goodbye.

This morning as I sat at my desk and started to review my email, I was sadden to receive notice from a dear friend that their Mom had passed away. Though I had never met this person, I somehow had this overwhelming feeling of loss for my friends. I truly understand how they are feeling ,because just a few short months ago my Mom went on to be with the Lord ,and I to had to undergo the same hard ,unwanted situation of having to say “goodbye” to someone I cared so very deeply for.
We have all been in those situations where we have had to say goodbye to a friend as they move away, goodbye to children as they have grown up, or goodbye to a dying loved one. We have all been in those situations. Some have been in the situation where someone precious to you is dying such as your mother or father or husband or wife. It comes to the point where you are spending some of your last moments on earth together. You want to say something significant to each other, but the primary significance is in the loving silence that you share together. In that moment, you say goodbye and you hope you will never forget. You want to remember your last goodbyes. You may forget the actual words, but you will never forget the moment, the significance of that last time together. It’s never easy to say goodbye, yes, most “last goodbyes” are tough.
We All handle these last goodbyes, these final farewells, in different ways. Some of us are rather social, we shake hands and say goodbye. “Son, be good and take care of yourself.” Some of us are more stoical, controlling our feelings. Others of us are criers. We cry. We weep. We can’t talk because we get all choked up. Still others of us are “happy go lucky” people, and we try to make our final farewell a good time and we laugh it off. And still others of us avoid these situations all together. That is, we never get caught in the situation of having to say the last goodbye. We avoid that situation at all costs. We can’t say the last goodbyes and so we avoid the situation. Each of us handles these delicate situations differently.
Let’s look at an example of saying “goodbye” .we read about it in the book of Mathew chapter 26 starting with the 17th verse and we see the mood of the disciples. During that meal, they were so overwhelmed by the pain of the moment, they could not see the possibilities of the future. For three full years, these twelve men had learned to live and love each other. They had been together night and day for three full years, three years of meals, three years of miracles, and three years of teaching. They had shared so much life and so much death together. Jesus had trained them for three years to be his disciples. And there they were in Jerusalem together on the last night, the last meal, the last words, the last parting comments to each other, their last goodbyes. The disciples knew that Jesus was soon going to die. This was their last moment together.
So… during that last supper, the disciples listened intently to the words of Jesus, hanging onto his every word. They knew that this was their final lesson, his final word, . Words of wisdom, Gems for future generations. They listened carefully and wanted to understand and remember as much as they could.
As I endured the final days of my mother’s life, I seemed to become so absorbed in my own pain I couldn’t see the future. I didn’t understand that our relationship wasn’t over. And so it is with most of us. We are so absorbed in the pain of the moment that we cannot see the possibilities of the future, the future that God has prepared for all of us.
And so it was with the disciples. They thought they were having their last goodbyes and they didn’t comprehend his teachings. They couldn’t comprehend his words because they were so absorbed in their pain of loss. So often in life, we think it is all over and we have said our last goodbyes.
So I encourage each and every one of you, take time my friends to embrace one another, talk, say “goodbye: and remember it’s not the last goodbye. I have now come to realize that that last conversation between my mom and myself were not our last goodbye. The last goodbye is not the final goodbye. The future continues. God’s future continues. Jesus does not leave us orphans but God comes to us with his spirit who lives within us, heals us, and prepares us for the future. God’s future always overwhelms the sadness of today and yesterday. The last supper was not the last supper but the beginning of the feast for all eternity.
Blessings Tim

Change,,,What?? Uhmmm,,,

We are going through a season of change at our church, and for some it is going to present to them one of the greatest challenges they have ever encountered, and for others it going to be a relatively painless procedure. You see we all encounter change on a daily basis, and that change can be difficult or easy, it’s really dependent upon the individual and their mindset during the change. So were do we look for answers when we encounter change, other people, books and commentaries, how about God? James 1:5 says, “If any of you need wisdom, you should ask God, and it will be given to you. God is generous and won’t correct you for asking”. God wants you to ask him for advice, and he wants you to be specific. He’s waiting for you to ask!
In 2 Corinthians 4: 16-18 it says, therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. Paul says you need to get the right perspective when you are going through a problem. Don’t look at the temporary problem; look at the long-term reward. Don’t look at the temporary pain; look at the long-term gain. Don’t look at it with the short-term view, “What’s happening to me right now?” Instead, look at the character that you are building because you haven’t given up. You’re hanging in there.
God is more interested in what you are becoming than what you accomplish. This past weekend God presented “change” to my heart. My wife Becca and I were having a very interesting and insightful conversation with some dear friends, there were some great questions presented, along with some great thought provoking answers. That’s when God asked me the question “Do you truly believe I direct your paths”? My immediate response was “of course”, and then the thought process began. I’ve always believed When God asks us to do something open and closed doors are meaningless. If He is asking you to do something He will make a way. This made me think that sometimes we may pursue things that are simply not his will, so does that mean God will close the door to prevent it from happening?
I am so grateful that God places his children in the “perfect “ place at the perfect “ Time” and that they are willing to bring forth His word ,and being a child of God is a never ending learning and growing process for which I can never be grateful enough for. I encourage each and everyone, don’t become close minded about anything, always leave room for the Holy Spirit to work within you, and possibly “change “something you thought was "unchangeable". Remember everything and every situation is first and foremost about God and His plan.
I close with this, Philippians 4:6-7 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Blessings !!

“ Be Quiet, be Still “

Habakkuk 2:20, “But oh! GOD is in his holy Temple! Quiet everyone a holy silence. Listen!”
In my younger years I used to think that I could fake being a “ Good Listener”, I was more than able to remember and repeat what was said to me ,thinking that I was impressing the person or people that were talking to me. I wasn’t really listening at all, but talking to myself and thinking of this great and wise response that I was going to give them as soon as they paused to take a breath. You see the truth is I often only heard but truly never listened. You see silence was and still is difficult for me, and at times I feel it may have actually hindered my relationship with God. In my prayers, I never shut up, not for a minute. I was always giving God lists of requests and needs. It’s almost as if I was not really talking to a person at all. Have you ever bumped into and old friend, long lost relative and all they did was talk about themselves? I wonder if God ever feels that way around me.
Silence with God and being silent before God are two different things. When we get mad at someone and give them the “silent treatment “it doesn’t mean that we are listening to them, it probably means that we are totally blocking them out.
We read that Habakkuk cried out to God about how evil the Jewish people were being and that God didn’t seem to be listening or do anything about it. When God didn’t seem to take any action on his first complaint Habakkuk quickly began his second complaint. Why,, Because Habakkuk wasn’t really listening. I think Habakkuk was already working on his next response while God was trying to talk to him. Habakkuk had assumed that he knew what God was going to say and so he began working on his next words.
as soon as God takes a breath, Habakkuk decides to speak again. After God’s second response, we see Habakkuk’s actions are a little different.
We see in chapter three that Habakkuk’s attitude begins to change,,,, why? Well the answer is given to him in the scripture, Silence and stillness.
I present this question to you then, how can we expect God to speak to us, when we can’t be quiet before Him? In order to hear from the Lord, we must realize what godly silence is.
Its so comforting when God speaks to us isn’t it, well do you ever wonder how God listens to us? And you would agree that when you speak to God you want him to hear every word right? How do we listen to God?
To listen to God I feel you must do it with respect, we need to give him our complete attention stop talking and be quiet before him. We must be willing Listen without bias; you can’t listen with criticism, superiority, indifference or out of obligation.
Have you ever asked yourself this question, what’s the point of praying if God already knows my needs? Well here’s the answer, because He wants us to know that He is interested in us, and we need to listen so we can learn not only what He wants from us but so we can learn more about Him personally.
We need to take time and go to God personally, we need to realize that when we pray we are not just talking to the walls, the sky or the ceiling, we are talking to God and he so wants to hear what you have to say. We must also be willing to be quiet,,, No we need to “ Shut our Mouths” and listen to him. If you want to hear a word from the Lord, well its simple my friends,,, LISTEN !!!

Blessings 

Letting God Be God !!

Psalm 25:4-5, David said, “Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.” Trust that God will let you know which feelings to feed and which to starve. How many times have you read that scripture, ten twenty times, never? Or possibly more times than you can remember. Have you taken anytime to meditate on it, or what it is trying to say to you’re heart? Well maybe its time to do just that. The Bible is not just a bunch of words on pages, it is the truth given to us by God, our loving father in Heaven. That statement may seem obvious to you, but I think all too often we don't deeply pursue God's Word as the absolutely faultless truth that it is. Gods word is what it is, we don’t have to add to it, spruce it up or make it our own, God gave us the word just the way he wanted us to receive it, so why do we find it so hard to accept it the way it is? We should ask God to show, teach, guide and instruct us in his ways, paths and truth. We must set aside our preconceived ideas that the corrupted world we live in has placed in our minds and we must desire to know the truth. We need to learn to accept Gods word organically, without additives or anything extra added to it, its really good just the way it has been given to us.
What makes people hesitate to share their faith? Here are some of the fears that have been mentioned to me: "I am afraid I might do more harm than good." "I don't know what to say." "I may not be able to give snappy answers to tricky questions." "I am afraid I might fail." Perhaps the most common fear, however, is that of being rejected. A good witness isn't like a salesman, emphasis is on a person rather than a product. A good witness is like a signpost. It doesn't matter whether it is old, young, pretty, ugly; it has to point the right direction and be able to be understood. We are witnesses to Christ, we point to him.
In the coming weeks our pastor at New Life Assembly Of God,,for those that haven’t yet attended a service , Pastor Troy, will be bringing forth a God inspired message on Organic Christianity. I believe that organic Christianity is more about renewing our minds as to who you and I really are, instead of trying to become someone we aren’t.
So I want to encourage you to let go and let God, meaning that God has given his holy word to his children so that they may apply it to there everyday life, really without having to put a whole lot of effort , but by simply accepting it as it is.
Remember all people were created for one thing. We are here to glorify God with our lives. We need to stop living for ourselves and ask God to help us live for Him. If God is first, then His message should be more important than our reputation. Who cares if people hate you because you told them the truth? Do you believe or don’t you? Prove it by spreading the Word. Blessings 

Who's your Guide ?

Who’s your guide?

Many times in Scripture, God asks us to do what doesn’t make sense to our logic. For example, Mark 10:43 says, “Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant” To most people, that verse doesn’t make sense; you’d think great people would have others serving them. Jesus says it’s the other way around; the great people are the ones serving others. I need to trust what God says about greatness, not what I think. Anytime we demonstrate faith, we’re relying on something, you see Genuine faith is relying on God's direction and on who he is. God is reliable and I’m sure He knows what you need, and he wants to meet those needs, unfortunately, we think we know better and We think we have a better plan. We want to use our logic and get to the answer in a way that makes us look good and doesn’t require risk. But God wants us to grow, so he takes us a different way. Did you know that admitting your hopelessness to God can be a statement of faith? ,Hmmm interesting right?
Trusting God yet feeling despair at the same time, in Psalms 116:10, David wrote “I believed, so I said, I am completely ruined”! Trust God to keep His promises and don’t be troubled by trouble. we must realize that our Circumstances cannot change the character of God. God’s grace is still in full force and He is still for you, even when you don’t feel it. Focus on who God is and his unchanging nature Regardless of circumstances and how you feel, and hang on to God’s unchanging character. Remind yourself what you know to be eternally true about God, He is good, He loves you, is with you,knows what you’re going through, He cares, and He has a good plan for your life. God wants you to be you, You don’t have to try to pretend to be someone else and you don’t have to hide who you actually are. The most attractive people I know are not the best looking; rather, they’re true to who they are. You are God’s masterpiece, a work of his own hands.” By the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me” 1 Corinthians 15:10
Many of you are on face book today,as am I ,and I was reading a post the other day and it said ,” Living life based upon how you feel is a shipwreck waiting to happen “that is such a true and very accurate statement. We need to realize that if we intend to live out our life day to day, based on the way you feel when you wake up you will be riding on the roller coaster of life that is constantly out of control, and its bound to derail one day, thus sending you into a tailspin that is going to be very difficult to get out of.
When we take trips, we generally plan ahead; how much it will cost, where we will go, what to take, what we will do when we get there and my favorite ,, what kids to leave at home, ( just kidding ). God guided so many in the Bible, He lead The children of Israel out of Egypt ,Jonah to his destination, Nineveh , Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness and he lead Paul along His missionary journeys. The Word of God says this in Psalms 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. It points us in the right direction and keeps us on the right path. I remember reading a story years ago having to do with life and the journey it takes one on. A small girl had been promised the privilege of climbing to a nearby hilltop where her brother enjoyed playing. But when she came within sight of the steep, rough path, she drew back in dismay. ’Why, there isn’t a smooth spot anywhere. It’s all bumpy and stony!" she exclaimed.
’Yes," said her more experienced older brother, ’but how else would we ever climb to the top if it wasn’t? The stones and bumps are what we step on to get there." God’s wisdom is truly amazing and perfect, even when we don’t think so at the time We don’t have to worry that our guide will take off on His own adventure and leave us stranded.
He will never abandon us, even when we sin, Isa 58:11 says , The LORD will guide you continually, And satisfy your soul in drought, And strengthen your bones; You shall be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. Are you letting God guide you or are you trying to guide God? Blessings 

How's You're Alignment?

How’s your alignment?

This past Sunday our pastor delivered a very challenging message,,,wait let me rephrase that, was it really challenging or do we make it challenging? we read in the book of Romans, chapter 12 verse 1 and 2, And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. 2,Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. So let me present that question to you again, was it a challenging message or do we make it challenging? There is no doubt in my mind that God wants nothing but the very best for his children, he wants each and everyone of us to experience healing, happiness, and victory in all areas of our lives, but to truly experience all the great and good things God has for us ,we first and foremost need one thing, and that’s to be in alignment with the will that God has for our lives. I can hear some of you right now saying, “ I just don’t think that is what God has in store for me, that’s for someone else”. STOP SAYING THAT! Read this and believe it, Mathew 17 verse 18 through 20 says this, And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once. 19, then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not drive it out?" 20,And He said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.
Look what Ezekiel experienced, the Bible says this, the hand of the LORD was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “Sovereign LORD, you alone know.” maybe you’re thinking like Ezekiel thought, “God all I can see before me are difficult things, why are you leading me through this dark valley of dry bones, there’s nothing here, no source of life, NOTHING! You see in that valley there was no other source but God, and while in that valley we have no power, breath, or strength of our own. The valley of death brings us to a place of total dependency. We need to be like Ezekiel and totally trust in God, aligning yourself with Gods will for your life and believe it.
A few years back around this time of year I went to a doctors appointment with my wife, and at that meeting with her doctor she was delivered with some life changing news, My wife had be diagnosed with Breast cancer. I can never begin to explain the feeing or the thoughts that consumed me at that very moment, nor can I begin to imagine how my beautiful bride felt at that moment either. I can tell you this, I didn’t ask God if maybe he would heal her, no I made a very bold demand of him, and I stood firm on my request. I asked God to heal her and I wasn’t and would not accept any thing less than that. There was no debating; he was going to heal her. Yes there were many that thought I was crazy, stupid ,totally out of line in doing that, but not me. I stood firm on Gods promise, and I refused to doubt his ability to heal her, and he did. He can do the same amazing and awesome miracles for you also, never doubt the awesome power and ability of the Great God we have the privilege to serve and believe in. Don’t diminish the power of God because things don’t happen in the timeframe we set, remember Gods timing is not our timing. Grab on to Gods promise for your life. Align your heart with Gods heart.
Dear Lord, see me through the hard and troubling times, help me hold on strong, Through trials and storms, and to hold on to my faith even the darkest hour. Stay with me Lord, and show me your way. In your Holy name I pray. Amen. Blessings 

We Will Overcome,End of Story !

We Will Overcome,,end of story!!

We read in Isaiah 49:8,This is what the LORD says: "At just the right time, I will respond to you. On the day of salvation I will help you. I will protect you and give you to the people as my covenant with them. Through you I will reestablish the land of Israel and assign it to its own people again.When God gave us a new covenant he didn't set up a new system with new rules and regulations , but instead he sent us a new person,and that person was Jesus .It seems as though we as Christians today think that we need to tweak Gods Old covenant ,but you see Jesus didn’t come to tweak a covenant, he came as the covenant .we need to keep this in mind, Jesus didn’t come to show us the blessing of grace ,he is the the blessing of grace.
My friends ,Jesus has so much for each and every one of you,he wants us all to prosper and live life to the fullest , and most of all experience his great gift of grace. It's time we quit saying the same old thing,” I’m no good,worthless, I’m nothing but a burden , look how many times I’ve messed up lately, i’ll never change.” we need to stop listening to that voice, the voice of the accuser. we developed our relationship with that voice way back in the garden of eden,but when Jesus came he declared “ that ends right now” Satan’s accusations are one thing that Jesus came to deal with as our living ,breathing covenant.God didn’t send a theology to crush satan’s lies, he sent Jesus. We read this in Revelations 12:10-13,10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:“Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God,and the authority of his Messiah.For the accuser of our brothers and sisters,who accuses them before our God day and night,has been hurled down.11 They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony;they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.12Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them!But woe to the earth and the sea,because the devil has gone down to you!He is filled with fury,because he knows that his time is short.”We read that satan would bruise the Messiah’s heel, but Jesus would crush the devil’s head,and over two thousand years ago Jesus brought that reality int our lives.
When Jesus delivered the beatitudes ,it was given to a broken body of believers, He reassured them ,” blessed are the broken,those who mourn,poor in spirit”. He said you are blessed right now, not because you have done a single thing to earn it, but because I am with you.Isn't that the greatest revelation ever, we are blessed simply because Jesus is with us,you need to understand this, the blessing of Christ presence in our lives is going to silence the voice of our accuser.
We read in John 8:10-11 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”11 “No one, sir,” she said.“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” we are going to sin the bible makes that clear, but when we do we have access to the Holy spirit ,he brings conviction for our transgressions,but yet its a hopeful conviction,one that leads to a joyful repentance, not to despair.
So let us trade in our sorrows for joy, we have been given the greatest gift of all, Jesus,and in our times of despair and discouragement we can hear his still small voice above all others.Remember Jesus destroyed the lies of our accuser on the cross,the Son has set You Free,may we stand on that promise.Trade it in,don’t take it back!!
BLESSINGS.:-)

www,get God .Com???

2014 has arrived and I would like to present this question to you “To what are you giving your attention?” Your life experiences will give you the answer. Are you giving your attention to what you don’t want? Are you dwelling on your problems, on lack or limitation, illness or troubles in relationship? If so, know that the attention you give to these areas of your life magnify them in your experience.
In this world of social media it’s so easy to get caught up in our cool gadgets, in our phones, on our online profiles that we forget that real life is happening right in front of us and if we don’t take the time to unplug for those things we just might miss those moments.
Social media in itself is not such a bad thing. But just like many things in this world when you have too much of a good thing it can turn into a not so great thing, and for that reason I have closed my Facebook page.
Jesus is calling us to become close to Him, I believe closer than we have ever been to live in His Presence and to live a life of closeness with Him. Even with busy lives it is necessary to be constantly aware of His grace and His Presence. So many are involved in these social media activities as a replacement for seeking this daily closeness and abiding in Him.

What does your social networking activity look like, Do you catch yourself streaming never-ending social feeds? Ever lose track of time because of your social networking habits? Psalm 26:2 says this `Examine me, GOD, from head to foot, order your battery of tests .Make sure I’m fit inside and out

I want to challenge you to examine your daily habits and routines and see if you do find yourself stuck in societal addictions of posting, reading and uploading.

As a Christian, I have often sat in awe, thinking of the times we are living in, and of how easy God has made it, for us to spread the gospel throughout all the earth. Think about it ,we don’t have to travel hundreds and thousands of miles to spread the gospel to all the earth. We don’t even have to spend lots of postage, mailing tracts to people in other lands. If we do things properly, we can spread the gospel throughout all the earth from the comfort of our home or office through the Internet and social media. I truly believe that if the Body of Christ does not get it, then we could be left behind. What a shame it would be for the Body of Christ to miss the opportunity to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to the extent that God wants us to.

We have access to knowledge, people, places and information at the click of a button, so we should be wise in how and when we use these tools.

1 Corinthians 10:31-33 says .“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.”
Social networking isn’t necessarily bad in moderation. It can be good, depending on what you use it for. If it is time-wasting, distracting or if social networks lead you away from the Lord or from your family or job, then it should be monitored and should be used sparingly.
If you need to vent because of a hard day, talk to a close friend about it in person. As Proverbs 17:17 says: “a Friend loves through all kinds of weather, and families stick together in all kinds of trouble. ‘ Even better, talk to God! He’s a better listener than any human Philippians 4:6-7 says Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.
No matter what we may be experiencing, we can always choose where to put our attention or direct our consciousness – even in life’s most difficult challenges.
We need to let Go and let God lead us , and not limit Him to lead us in one direction but lead us in “all “ directions. May 2014 be a very Blessed year for all. Blessings 