"Sugar and Salt" by John Rice

One of the most challenging teachings I've ever listened to took place in an even more challenging setting. A group of us were huddled together on a cold and rainy day in one of the barracks of the former concentration camp, Auschwitz, in Poland. The teacher, a Messianic Jew who was directing this tour for us through Poland and Israel, was asking us if we thought the Holocaust could have been prevented. A big question, for sure, and the answer we agreed upon was that it could only have been prevented if enough people had stood up to the Nazis all along the way.

The teacher began to describe how the Church, for the most part, had stood silently by or even participated with the Nazis as innocent people were rounded up and taken away from their towns and neighborhoods. Certainly there were protesters, some very heroic individuals who risked their lives, or lost them, because of their opposition to the regime. But how could the Church turn such a blind eye to what was happening? There are lots of possible answers, fear being the most obvious.

Our teacher began to explain the difference between sugar and salt. A surprising and confusing tangent it seemed! She said that although sugar tastes so good and is used to celebrate all kinds of special occasions, in reality it is a substance with less-than-positive after effects. Sugar is one of the main culprits in causing obesity, diabetes and heart disease. It is also credited with tooth decay. If placed in a wound, it draws bacteria to it and accelerates infection.
There are very few real benefits to sugar other than that it tastes good.

Salt, on the other hand, will sting if put in a wound. It hurts, but at the same time it has healing properties. Salt is used with food to bring out the flavor, as well as to preserve the food so that it lasts longer. The only negative effect salt has is if it is eaten in too great a quantity. But then, that can be said of just about anything.

Our group, huddled together in Auschwitz, got the point being made. The modern Church, in Europe as well as America, has bought into the lie that we are to be sugar in the world; we settle for being nice and cooperative and hope that those around us will notice and appreciate us and maybe join us. But Jesus never called us to be sugar, He called us to be salt. Salt and light. Of course we are to be kind and loving and patient as Jesus and Paul tell us. But we also want to affect the world by being who God calls us to be. In being salt, we might have to stand against corruption or evil. In being light, we might have to expose darkness. These things don't necessarily make us popular and they may even carry some risk. But these are the things that flavor the world with Jesus' presence and power. Being salt brings out the flavor of the goodness of God. Being salt heals the wounds of people around us. Being salt may even be responsible for saving lives.

"Unwavering Faith" by Joseph Scheyer

We were blessed to hear a great sermon on Sunday from Quinton Williams (or Q as he is often called). Q started things out by describing a family outing where the intention was to witness one of our most scenic natural wonders at Multnomah Falls. This journey then detoured to a scene of remarkable feats of human ingenuity interacting with nature in the kite surfers on the Columbia at Hood River. I very much appreciated his opening the sermon this way because it seems sometimes easy to lose that sense of wonder at what God is creating all around us. I use the present tense here because it feels to me as if God’s creation is ongoing. The beauty of a towering waterfall or the majesty of a mountain easily sparks that sense of wonder but I think we may often overlook those wonders that occur each day around us in less spectacular (but just as wondrous) ways.
 
The earth itself and its variety of persistent life is indeed a miracle of major proportions. Our ability to create sounds with our vocal cords (or to type out sentences with our fingers) so that others can understand the thoughts that rumble around in our brains is absolutely wondrous. The fact that we are walking around on this orb of rock and water, with our opposable thumbs and hair growing in surprising places, is perhaps the biggest miracle of all. Photosynthesis, the carbon cycle, Coriolis forces… the electromagnetic spectrum… I could go on and on but the point is that I pray I never lose that sense of wonder at what God hath wrought here on this remarkable surface of our existence.
 
Ahem… ok, back to the sermon. 
 
Q got us back on the message track by describing some of his story growing up in Alabama as a football player with aspirations of taking that endeavor to the next level. He decided instead to follow God’s direction... much to the puzzlement of his friends and family. It was pointed out that we all have our stories and that it is not uncommon for the journey of our story to reach that place where our wheels spin and we feel stuck. Faith is our greatest tool in that battle to gain the traction we need to transform our stories in a way that will expand God’s presence in our lives and in the world around us.
 
Q took us through two stories of healing through Faith as told in Luke 8:40-56. Miracles created by faith; the first from a father seeking healing for his critically ill daughter which was seemingly interrupted by a woman ostracized by her medical condition. These are stories of contrast unified by the faith to know that the power of His touch could bring about a transformative miracle of healing. Such steps of faith are never easy but the reward is always worth the risk and both Jairus and the woman found that once they made that decision to give their lives to the Lord, they could no longer stay hidden: Two people transformed through faith by the power of Love in the person of Jesus Christ who is the greatest wonder of all.
 
Once we make that critical decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God, most of us will do our best to author our stories with works of service and kindness and then humbly place that before the Throne with the expectation that God will bless the decisions we’ve made and sign off on our stories of good deeds and intentions.  Q wrapped the sermon with the compelling notion that true faith means not authoring our own stories. True faith is, instead, placing the blank slate of our lives at His feet with a faith that allows God to author of the story of our lives. What an amazing and beautiful concept… that God would understand how to script our lives to bring fulfillment and the power of love to our existence and to those around us.  Hallelujah.

 

"Forgiven and Forgiving" by Betty Fletcher

I just bought a shirt that says “Happy Camper” on it. I hope to be wearing it as you read this. Earlier this summer I was camping with friends. Every year we have a campfire conversation that centers on spiritual things. This year I asked the question, “How do you forgive?”  But I wasn’t asking the general question. I was asking “How do you forgive”—personally…when you’ve been wronged…when there’s no reason in the world to forgive but every reason in the kingdom to do so. I knew each person had been wounded, mostly by people in the church. So I wanted to know their experiences with the act of forgiving. I’d been blindsided by a situation that had devastated me, and I was struggling.

One woman said she prays every day for the person. Somehow in praying for the person who had wronged her, she reaches a point of surrender. One of the men said that twice he’d gone to the offenders and asked forgiveness for his own resentment.  Another said that the choice to forgive had come a long time before the experience of forgiveness. One by one they shared...

I came away from the evening with new ways of looking at forgiveness.  I realized again that forgiving is hard work, and often more of a process than we might hope. Even more, I was deeply touched and encouraged that each of these people were quietly pursuing forgiveness as an active part of his or her Christian life. I saw how making the choice to forgive had added depth and character to my friends’ lives. And I felt enriched and challenged, stirred up to love and good works (Hebrews 20:24) and ready to forgive again…and again.

 

"Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." (Colossians 3:12-14 NIV)

"Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times." (Matthew 18:21,22)

"All Things New" by Terry Sheldon

I know some of us don't like change, but there is one type that I think everyone can agree is good - change for the better. There is a spiritual, mental and psychological health available to us all as we allow the Lord to occupy new areas in our battle-weary temples. But sometimes - no, frequently - it seems like one step forward, two steps back, when the most common phrase from the Lord seems to be "Ok, let's try that again". Will I ever change? Glory to glory seems to be an infinite distance to travel. 

According to science, you and I are brand new every 5 years - in terms of our cells, that is. At that basic core level our bodies, in a constant flux of jettisoning old and dividing anew, purges and begins again. So if true, why can't I get out of bed in the morning without feeling like I'd spent the night being drug behind a truck? Surely after my 20,440 or so nights on this earth, prying myself up from the sheets should be old hat, right? 

But all too often, my spirit feels the same as my 6:30 am body - sore and lifeless, and the bad habits I've been working on all these years don't go away just because I sing soulful songs at SouthHills. Why is that? The Apostle Paul said as much in Romans 7 in his classic description of the epic struggle of spirit vs. flesh. His lament: "I do what I don't want to do, and I don't do as I should.” Sound familiar? 

I am no psychologist, but it seems to be an issue of both our willingness and our readiness for change. At first glance these brothers seem like twins, but although similar, they are not the same. They work in tandem and must come together at the same time. Sometimes I am willing to change, but not ready. Other times the reverse is true. I think I am ready - tired of the pain, but not willing to do what it takes to step away. 

It's been said that there is a certain safety in our emotional pain. I think we settle for less because it's common, easy, and known. But the good hard work of spiritual change is the opposite - uncommon, hard, and risky (what if I fail?). Like getting out of a warm and cozy bed, it takes work, but it also takes a readiness. I think our Lord understands this. I hear him whispering "Are you ready now?" and "Are you willing to put in the work?"

"Our Air Supply" by John Rice

Although the Wisdom series ended officially two Sundays ago, Dusty's sermon this last week seemed to me to add another piece, an extremely important piece to the study of wisdom. If the fear of The Lord is the beginning of wisdom, as Psalm 111:10 says, who better to look to than the Holy Spirit to help us in our quest?

Recently in a class on the science of the brain, I heard a teaching on the "Wise Brain". Developed by a secular psychologist, the thought here is that combining our logical brain and our emotional brain will give us a wise brain. Although I understand the theory that the emotional brain alone or the thinking brain alone is incapable of making consistently wise choices, it seems to me that a REALLY wise brain must be submitted to the Lord if our thoughts and actions are to be of eternal significance.

So here's where the pneumatic tool illustration fits so well. What does a pneumatic tool have to do with any of this, you may ask? In case you weren't in church Sunday,  Dusty gave the analogy of our souls needing to be infused with the Holy Spirit, kind of like a pneumatic power tool needing to be attached by a hose to an air supply if it's to be of any use at all. Our souls, our minds, need the infusion of the Holy Spirit if we're truly to live wisely and in accordance with God's will.

Randi Nelson put it so well in her teaching on "Walking in Wisdom" when she said, "Wisdom is not so much about a HOW as it is about a WHO." To whom are we looking? To whom are we listening? To whom are we submitted? Who are we following? If the answer to these questions is God, then we are attached to the ultimate power source, the ultimate source of wisdom, and we can be assured that we will be used for Kingdom purposes and that the wisdom He brings just might spill out of us and season the community around us in substantial and even miraculous ways.

John 14:26
But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

John 16:13
But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth.

"Walking with God's Spirit" by Darla Beardsley

I find it amusing when I set out to do something that I feel is ministry to someone else and then God uses it to teach me something. That happened recently. 
 
A couple of months ago, Pam approached Sue Paris and me to do some acting for this year’s kid’s camp. So we got together to brainstorm on an idea that had been floating around in our heads. Sue felt she had a scripture and a direction, so we took off from there.
 
Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
 
As the Epic Kingdom camp criers we would proclaim these attributes as proper kingdom deportment and hopefully drive home to the kids that this was only possible by walking with God’s Spirit. So I took notes while we laughed and devised screwy characters. Afterwards I took all our ideas and put it to dialog. A funny thing happened while we were memorizing and rehearsing. I found that the lines said more to me than I had been aware of when writing them down. Ideas connected that I hadn’t thought of during the brainstorming and laughing. I felt like we had received a word that we didn't fully hear until we attempted to share it with the kids.
 
I found myself looking for the Fruit of the Spirit in my life. I wondered if I really understood what it meant to walk with God’s Spirit. How do I do it? Is it an action? Is it an attitude? Can I measure it? I am sure that praying, reading His Word, worship and fellowship are all part of the process. As I pondered this another scripture came to mind—the revelation of which was life changing for me many years ago.
 
Jeremiah 29:12-13
Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
 
I know I don’t have all the answers, but I have a direction. I don't know how to do everything, but I have a great, wise and patient Teacher. I know Who to ask. And He promises me that if I put my whole heart into it, I will find Him. So I will seek to learn to walk with God’s Spirit, something I am sure will take me all of my life. Sometimes I see this fruit in my life and sometimes it is greatly lacking. But my prayer is that next year I will look and see more of it, more often and so on year after year, from glory to glory.
 
Last Sunday John spoke on the proper perspective of work in the bible. We are not saved by our works, but work has been prepared in advance for us to do. If we have faith but no works that give evidence to it, then our faith is dead. I have an additional thought. I cannot work my way into heaven by exhibiting all the attributes in Galatians 5: 22-23, but because Jesus took care of my sin on the cross I can seek to walk with His Spirit and see these things become a part of my life. When I fail and fall flat on my face, God’s grace gives me the option to get up and try again.
 
Encouraging Words:
 
Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

Jeremiah 29:12-13
Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
 
Isaiah 30:15
For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:
“In returning and rest you shall be saved;
In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.”

"People of Wisdom" by Randi Nelson

There is something very attractive about people of wisdom. For example: 
   Joseph’s wisdom brought him favor wherever he happened to be (except at home with his brothers) until one day the king of Egypt said, “… there is no one so discerning and wise as you are. You shall be over my house …” (Genesis 41:39-40). 

   Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah comported themselves in such a way that the king of Babylon found them to be “ten times better” than the other royal advisors in “every matter of wisdom and understanding about which [he] consulted them.”  (Daniel 1:20). 

   1 Kings 10:24 says, “The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God put in his heart.” Backing up that statement is the story of the Queen of Sheba who traveled far to test the rumors she’d heard about his wisdom. She found that “the half had not been told her” (1 Chronicles 9:6).

   Bible scholar C. Hassell Bullock says that the terms “wisdom” and “wise” in the Bible “apply to men and women who represent a way of thinking and conduct that is orderly, socially sensitive and morally upright.” It makes me think of 2 Corinthians 2:15: “for we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.”   I’ve always known that wise living has tremendous value and blessing for me. What I’ve not considered before is how that wise living affects the people around me. Those who live wisely catch the attention of a wisdom starved culture. In the cases of Joseph, Daniel and Solomon, the people who paid attention to their wisdom also noted that their wisdom came from God. There was an aroma of the “wisdom that comes from above” (James 3:17).
   And so it is dawning on me that learning to live wisely is two-pronged: it not only brings blessing to my life; it also brings glory to God and Christ in the eyes of others. Luke 2:52 says, “[Jesus] grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” I think we can conclude that wisdom is an attractive and powerful evangelistic tool! Does the word “evangelism” make you hyperventilate? Live wisely. The world will notice and God will get the glory.

Randi Nelson

Encouraging words:

 "… making mention of you in my prayers that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him."

Ephesians 1:16-17 

"Oh the depth of the riches of the wisdom of God!"

Romans 11:33 

"I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict."

Luke 21:15 

 

 

Easter Photos Are Now Available...

Thanks to Bob, Lauren and Madison you can access some great candids and portraits taken during our 2014 Easter Service.  You can now access them on our website at the following link: 

http://www.southhillschurch.net/easter-photo-gallery/

The page is password protected so that access is limited to friends and members of our congregation. When you visit the page simply enter in the the following password:

faith252

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at info@southhillschurch.net. Enjoy!!! :)

 

Volunteers Needed This Saturday, May 31st!

Volunteers Needed This Weekend!

This Saturday, May 31st from 10am-1pm for a work day in preparation for the upcoming Grand Opening (June 21st) for the new Washington Jefferson Skate park here in Eugene.  I will be joining some of our Whitaker friends to help support the community and would like to invite you to come join us!  

Volunteers will be helping to plant a large number of native sword ferns at Washington Jefferson Park just north of the horse shoe area.  The park located between Washington St. and Jefferson St. at 1st Ave. beneath the I-105 bridge. Eugene Park Stewards will supply, gloves, tools, and a snack.  If you just dress for close contact with the soil that’s all you need.  It is covered so you won’t get wet even if it’s raining. 

If you haven’t been to the Skate park since it opened, this is a great opportunity to serve your community, get some exercise, meet new people, and check out the perpetual energy of the skaters and bikers. It is a great addition to our city!
 
If you can make it on Saturday, please RSVP by noon on Friday so I can relay the number of volunteers coming from our church. You can reach me by email at dusty@southhillschurch.net.

Hope to see you Saturday to help spread some love to this great city!  :)

Pastor Dusty

"Life" by Betty Fletcher

     I love life—most of the time. I love how confusing and hard and sweet and glorious it is.  This beautiful life has many challenges, not the least of which is a creeping numbness that can spread through our souls as the decades go by. Then one day, because God is gracious and because we really do love him, we wake up and sense the profound loss. It’s painful, but we’re glad because we’re actually feeling something again.
     And slowly, if we are quiet and begin to open up to God about the doubts we’ve been hoarding and the fears we’ve been hiding, we begin to feel life flowing through our spirits again. 
     After a friend passed away last week, another friend asked to go hiking. I knew she wanted to grieve together and very likely pray. I normally say no to this kind of closeness. I’m afraid of praying, especially in public. Afraid of throwing piles of words at God and feeling I should duck as they fall back down. But lately in the depths of my being I’ve been practicing just being with God. And I’ve begun to experience his compassion. So in an unimaginably beautiful setting, we simply sat and quieted our hearts. We gave God room to show us how he felt about our friend. Then we prayed our guts out. And God breathed on us, bringing us one heartbeat closer to him.

Encouraging Words:

Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.

 Psalm 46:10

Seek the Lord while He may be found,
Call upon Him while He is near. 
Let the wicked forsake his way,
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
Let him return to the Lord,
And He will have mercy on him;
And to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.

Isaiah 55:6,7

 

 

"Love is Waiting" by Jennelle Schnabel

Is there something going on in your life right now that doesn’t seem to fit what you thought?
Are you spending hours upon hours dissecting everything that has happened up to this point, trying to figure out why you are in this place?
If so, I have some words of wisdom for you, “put the shovel down.”
You will NEVER get there. You can keep digging, keep searching, but you will never be able to figure it out – and even if you did, think of all the time you could have saved by doing one very simple thing (not easy…simple).

Talk to Him.

I’ve been there. God had made me a promise a few years back. Flash forward & I felt like I got another word from God that did not seem to be matching up to the promise. Nothing made sense.
I was SO afraid! I actually didn’t want to talk to Him (you know, God), because I was afraid of what I might “hear.” Not a smart move. It paralyzed me. It sent me into depression. It literally kept me bed-ridden. I missed A LOT of work! I ignored friends – their texts, calls, even house- visits! It was terrible. And I don’t recommend it!

A word of love from someone that’s been there, it is way way easier on your mind/heart/soul/body to just talk to Him. Tell him what you’re afraid of. Find someone you trust, a friend/family member, to confide in. 

And you know what, whatever it is that you’re afraid of – God is bigger than that. He will give you the grace for whatever it is that He’s asking of you. TRUST HIM. He really does LOVE YOU!

 

Encouraging Words: 

“ Trust in the LORD with all your heart;
    do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek his will in all you do,
    and he will show you which path to take.”

-Proverbs 3:5-6

"No Fear" by Terry Sheldon

Recently I was confronted with a new situation. Well it wasn't completely new because the older you get, the more things cycle around. The opportunity was new, but the load of negative emotions that followed wasn't. Picture this unfortunate vehicle caravan - a shiny new car glistening in the sun, and towing a Jed Clampett-like trailer piled high with rusted junk, items that had certainly outlived their time. Pretty sad, to be honest, and the primary emotion in tow? Fear.

This was a classic case of mixed emotions. On one hand the challenge was fresh relief from a drought, a long chunk of time filled with The Whys. Why wasn't a particular good thing coming my way? I do have rights as a child of God, don't I? Yes I know it's wisdom to wait for the right time, and I certainly cannot comprehend the celestial time-keeping upstairs. But really (speaking heavenward), hadn't I learned some valuable lesson from my trial yet? The wait was getting so old that the hopes-raised/hopes-dashed wave was getting flatter and flatter, like ripples in a pond that quietly disappear.

And with this "calm" came a certain complacency. No pain, no gain. And no stress, like an over-medicated patient. But not facing fear doesn't make it go away. It just postpones the inevitable confrontation.

Yes the other side of this was fear, that rusty old nemesis who had tortured me in the past. I instinctively started the tap dance of excuses, why I couldn't do this. Outwardly I rationalized everything in a logical manner. Inside, I knew the ramifications of "put up or shut up". Was it fear of failure or its equally evil twin, fear of success? Likely both. I felt like a pimpled 16 again, trying to put a cohesive sentence together to ask the girl to the prom.

What do we do when fear attacks? 1st John 4:18 tells us, "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love." Perfected in LOVE. In prior situations where I felt betrayed by others, I didn't feel safe, and I certainly didn't show love either. But I realized that maybe I had learned a few things during my desert time. I am better at giving and receiving love now.

I asked someone who I know loves me for their perspective. They pointed out some things that helped me process. And I went to the Lord and asked Him too. He said, "Just lean into me. You're safe here." I felt a renewed sense of confidence.
So I started walking. One foot after another, baby steps. I remembered that classic scene near the end of the movie "A Beautiful Mind", where the gifted but flawed mathmatician didn't rid himself of his imaginary tormenters, but he learned to deal with them. They were still there, but now they were almost friends. In the process, he learned to live again.

- Terry Sheldon

Encouraging Words:

"There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love."

1 John 4:18

"Great Expectations" by Dusty Johnson

Like me, some people have a love-hate relationship with their expectations.   I love it when mine are met, and hate it when they are not. The upside to high expectations is the privilege to dream and contend for extraordinary outcomes.  The downside is the disappointment when the preferred future does not materialize.  After a few years of these experiences, some continue to dream big and deal with the downside later, while others dream small to avoid the risk of disappointment altogether.
 
The strength in an expectation is absolutely dependent upon the reliability of the person or circumstances in which we trust.  As you consider areas where you are feeling discouraged, I want to encourage you to put your hope and future in the hands of Jesus Christ--the author and perfecter of our faith, who takes great pleasure in you (Hebrews 12:1-3).  When Christ is given the role of Lord and Master, we can surely trust him to bring his preferred future to pass, and to care for us when we feel the loss and disappointment of an unfavorable outcome.      
 
Though imprisoned and facing many setbacks, the apostle Paul understood disappointments, yet trusted God’s love and plan for his life.  No matter where you are on your journey with disappointments, may you be encourage by Paul’s words in Ephesians 3:20 as you aim high and keep trusting Him “who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.”   
 
Unto Him,
 
Pastor Dusty

 

Encouraging Words:

12 In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. 

16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 
 
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Ephesians 3:12, 16-21

 

"Hezekiah's Challenge" by Darla Beardsley

"Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah, and he did what was good and right and true before the Lord his God. And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, in the law and in the commandment, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart. So he prospered."   2 Chronicles 31:20-21

Hezekiah was one of the good kings of Judah. He loved God. He was dedicated to cleaning up Judah and turning wayward hearts back to God. These two verses sum up the previous chapters chronicling Hezekiah's reign and God blessed him for it. 

Now read on in the next verse...

"After these deeds of faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and entered Judah; he encamped against the fortified cities, thinking to win them over to himself. " 2 Chronicles 32:1

I think that when things get tough or go wrong in our lives, we tend to look for reasons why. We want to make sense of it, even if that means blaming ourselves. How many times in your life have you heard someone say something like, "What did I do to deserve this?" On the other hand if we have been seeking God and serving Him with all our heart than maybe our thoughts go the other way. Why would God let this happen? Doesn't He appreciate my efforts? Interestingly, Hezekiah doesn't do either.

In 2 Chronicles 32, Hezekiah, it would seem, accepts the fact that the attack of an enemy is always possible, even likely. He does not waste time placing blame. This is just the way life is on this planet. In a broken and fallen world, stuff happens. There is evil to be contended with. We have enemies that don't like to see us get ahead. If anything, his obedience and that of the Israelites had prepared them for this moment. It had set the stage for God to act on their behalf, to show them who He was and why He was different from the idols they had allowed to infiltrate their lives. Hezekiah immediately faces the challenge head on. He behaves like you would expect a king to behave. A king who trusts in a powerful God.

When faced with a formidable challenge, I think we can learn something from Hezekiah in chapter 32. Just because we face difficulty, it doesn't mean we did something to deserve it. Stuff happens. And if we seek to serve God with all our hearts, we have opened the door for a powerful God to show up in a mighty way during life’s toughest moments.

--Darla Beardsley

 

Encouraging Words:

“Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid nor dismayed before the king of Assyria, nor before all the multitude that is with him; for there are more with us than with him. With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battles.”  2 Chronicles 32:7-8

"These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”  John 16:33

"The Freedom of Easter" by Sarah Moorhead

The Holy day is over. The chocolate bunnies have been eaten and the pretty dresses put away. As Christians, we are grateful that Jesus died for us and was resurrected. But I think Easter sometimes raises the question - is there something more I should be doing? We may be inclined to treat Easter as a kind of spiritual New Year’s, resolving to be better Christians.

But what is the bottom line? How would God have us live in light of Easter? I believe the answer is simpler that you may imagine. In a word - rest.

Rest. Cease striving. The Bible says God created us for His pleasure. We are objects of His affection and delight. He does not want our efforts. He wants to be in relationship with us. Rest from self effort. Rest from worry. Just be with Him. If this seems too difficult, ask Him to help you.

Think of it this way. When you first held your newborn child, did you love that baby because he had cleaned his room or done his homework? No. You loved him simply because he existed. He didn’t have to do anything to earn your love.

That’s how it is with God. He loves us simply because we exist. Learn to rest. Learn to simply be with Him. He will take care of everything else.

-Sarah Moorhead

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”  Matthew 11:28 (NIV)

"The God I thought I Knew" by Kayla Erickson

We all know who Jesus is, right?  The Messiah.  Our Savior.  God’s Son.  King of Kings.  But what happens when we pass through something that doesn’t have room for the God we thought we knew?  We experience something that is so beyond the scope of how we thought God worked that we suddenly realize, “Maybe I don’t know God like I thought I did.”  How can we know him when all our previous attempts got us to a place that, when it came down to it, wasn’t enough?

A few blessed men and women had a unique way to know God: those who lived with Jesus during his earthly life.  How did they know Jesus?  They loved him.  Maybe they didn’t even know exactly why they loved him.  They certainly didn’t understand everything he said or did.  But there was a way about him, I imagine, that made them know suddenly that there was a beautiful “right” out there, that it was possible to truly belong.  If I had been a disciple, I imagine my favorite times would not have been the feeding of the multitudes or the calming of the storm, but the talks to pass the time while on the road from one place to another.  I suspect that when Jesus was near, broken things inside those followers and friends began to shift toward wholeness.  And I can imagine their confusion and concern when he would talk about death and blood, when he would go off by himself for hours to pray and they would hear his groans and sobs.  There was no room in their knowledge of Jesus for something that would make Him act like that.

But what was it like in that eerie predawn waiting for Pilate’s sentence?  Surely, Peter must have thought, I will hear news that he has miraculously escaped.  Crucify?  Even then they must have believed that angels would descend to protect him.  Maybe it was the moment they saw his face dripping with blood and his back revealing all that flesh where skin should have been.  Maybe it was the moment they heard his cry of human suffering as the nails secured him to the tree of death.  Maybe it was the moment they heard his divine suffering as he cried out in deprivation of his father’s presence.  At some point during that horrible day, their experience far surpassed the Jesus, the God they thought they knew.

Yet God kept them.  Somehow they survived those three excruciatingly disorienting days.  Then the unbelievable news, “The tomb is empty!”  Then meeting him face to face again.  Sitting, roasting fish on a cold morning, being restored, being in his presence again, they must have realized: It’s still Him.  It’s still the one I love, the one who loves me. 

Just to be with the God who loves me- that’s the only answer that satisfies... But this whole thing is going to look a lot different than I thought. 

-Kayla Erickson

 

Encouraging Words:

Rom 8:38-39 NIV
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Psalm 66:8-12 ESV
Bless our God, O peoples;
let the sound of his praise be heard,
who has kept our soul among the living
and has not let our feet slip.
For you, O God, have tested us;
you have tried us as silver is tried.
You brought us into the net;
you laid a crushing burden on our backs;
you let men ride over our heads;
we went through fire and through water;
yet your have brought us out to a place of abundance.

Revelation 21:3 ESV
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."

"An Attitude of Worship" by Kim Phelps

Several weeks ago I had a disappointing event that took my breath away. In the scheme of things it was a small ripple in a big ocean, but I was making a tidal wave out of it. My heart was set on attending an event, but by my own fault I ended up not able to go. My reaction to this was far short of mature, let alone Godly and I knew I needed to change my attitude. But I sure did not want to. I was angry and sad. I felt a loss of entitlement and just plain ugly.

This minor setback was challenging my faith and my relationship with God. I could give up now and seek Him, thus avoiding the rigmarole of having to learn this lesson a harder way (it was not my first choice). Then the thought came to me (very much inspired by the Holy Spirit I might add) that I could use the time I would have spent at this event to pray for those who were there. So I began to pray. I prayed for their success, for their learning new things, for all that God had for them. And I began to have fun! I praised God, worshiping and singing and dancing and in the middle of all this I realized that I was exactly where I was supposed to be and each of them was exactly where they should be.  I was at peace. 

 What I was not inclined to do, God in His mercy and grace accomplished. My attitude was changed and I was ok with the entire situation. And I felt loved and ministered to by God. This last Sunday as Dusty, John and Randi talked about worship and drawing near to God I realized what had happened. I worshiped and God met me and I was change by His grace.

-Kim

Scripture References:

1Peter 5:6-7 Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

Luke 16:10 "He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much....”

Psalm 42:5 Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him For the help of His presence.