DO YOU SEE WHAT HE SEES? God has ANOTHER gift to give us! We’ve just celebrated the Gift of His Son, Jesus … and now He’s placing in front of us a new year. Never yet opened. Never yet used. Never yet lived. Do we know what this gift will hold? NO! A million times NO! But what a wondrous gift it is! We get to open it one second at a time … one moment at a time! And we get to spend it, fill it, use it, give it, learn from it, treasure it, invest it, and thank God for it! TIME ~ what a gift. God sees down through it and leads us through it. He sees what it will hold, for He’s planned each moment from before the very beginning of time as we know it. For Him, there never WAS a beginning. How I love knowing that while I don’t know what today – or – tomorrow will hold, God knows. He’s already been there ahead of me. When I first walk into a new day, He’s already been in that place and time, and He’ll remain there with me. And now as we walk into the New Year of 2011 … He’s already there! He’s created it, ordained it, planned it. I’m sure He’s excited about this gift He’s giving us, but He sees it much differently than we do! We tend to look at a new year as being something brand new, clean, and pure. Like a blank, empty slate. Like a fresh start. It’s kind of like looking out of our windows this winter season and seeing the billions of snowflakes that have piled up into “mountains” of snow everywhere. Everything is sparkling white and pure right after a snowfall. The earth is covered in perfect form and all imperfections are invisible. Then the falling snow stops – and life happens all over the snow. Tracks, footprints, the grit of sand and salt. It’s not so white anymore … not so perfect in its covering. The beauty of the wintery design has gotten marred and rearranged. Soon there comes another snowfall – and within minutes the snow-prints are filled in and covered up, as if they’ve never been. No longer visible. I think that’s the difference between how God sees the new year and how we see it. We see at the outset only the fresh, clean start – hoping we’ll do better this year. Hoping we’ll make less mistakes. Hoping we’ll not disappoint those we love, and most certainly, God. Hoping for less trauma and heartache and lack. Just out of the starting gate – we begin strong and sure. Then … we stumble and fall. Suddenly there are prints and splats in what used to be the perfect snowscape. Those marred spots scream failure and hurt and bewilderment. We cry out, “God, we’ve messed it up already!” He turns and looks and sees something so much different. He sees us getting back up again – because He knows He’ll help us up! He sees us getting up stronger – because He knows He’ll renew our strength and increase it. He sees us emerging more powerful and more free – because He knows He’ll give us all we will ever need, even as He is setting us free. He sees the wandering tracks and the full body-splats covered by His love and His blood … and they remain to be seen no more! That’s just the kind of God He is. And that’s just the kind of gifts He gives! But His gifts don’t stop there. He looks a bit further down the snow-covered lanes, and while we are wishing that we could be so much more than we are right now – He sees what we CAN be, what we WILL be! In all those tracks and footprints and grit, He’s been preparing us for the next plateau. He’s elevating us to the next opportunity He has in mind for us. While He could have chosen to use angels in His Kingdom work … He chose to use US! But He knows we’ve got to be equipped and prepared and ready to step into that next appointment He has planned for us. So He allows us to wade through the sometimes deep, hard snowbanks … and all the while, He’s holding our hands. And just when we feel as if we cannot plunge through one more snowdrift, here comes the Son and He rescues us – literally. His answers start raining down much like a picture-perfect, soft, peaceful snowfall. The one-of-a-kind snowflakes of God’s love begin filling in the holes in our heart left by discouragement and hurt and sadness, and soon the scars and mars are no more. No longer visible. And God looks at us and sees beautiful, powerful daughters and sons of the King ~ for that’s who we are. Not just in His eyes – THAT’S WHO WE ARE! We just need to walk into our God-given potential and destiny! As the final seconds of 2010 tick down to the birth of 2011, let these moments be a turning point, a change-point in your life. Desire to see your life and this new year as God sees it. Claim all He has for you, declare it and speak it into being. Quote from the Lord’s Prayer, “Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven” – and mean it! (Matthew 6:10) For His will is for us to be reflections of Christ … and He will daily continue to love us and nurture us to our fullest potential in Christ! How exciting! And that leads us right into our new church theme for the new year: “Reconnect with Heaven ~ in 2011!” May we expect God to be at work in us and through us, with miracles and signs and wonders! Let’s expect them … see them … live them … all for the glory of God!
IN A NUTSHELL . . .
IN A NUTSHELL . . .
- WHAT BETTER PLACE TO BE the day after Christmas, than in God’s House! And what a blessed time it was as we gathered together to worship and exalt our Lord and Savior! God’s goodness always shines through our circumstances when we let it … and how He honors our faith in Him! He’s been faithful all year long at Elevation North and this last Sunday of the year was no exception! To God be the glory!
- A SPECIAL WELCOME to Wayne and Verla, our brother and sister, who worshipped with us and shared so many blessings during their visit … and to Amber, Zoyee, Timmy, Leon, Kristin, & Kenyin ~ how we loved having you in our midst and we pray that you sensed God’s blessings and presence!
- OUR SPECIAL THANKS to Mary for devotedly serving as our church treasurer this past year, to Isaac and Pam for adding their wonderful voices to our worship team, and to Isaac, as well, for faithfully taking care of sound and powerpoint and set-up and tear-down each week! We are so grateful, and we know God has been blessed because of your loving service to Him! To everyone in our church family who helps and serves and gives from their heart … thank you … you truly bless us!
- LOOKING AHEAD . . .
- THIS SUNDAY, JANUARY 2ND: 10:00 A.M. – PRAISE & WORSHIP centering around a service of challenge and commitment for the New Year of 2011 as Pastor Doug preaches about “Seasoning Your Getting”. Sharing from Luke 1:26-38 and I Thessalonians 5:18, he will remind us that how we serve not only meets the need of God’s people, but it overflows in expressions of our thanks to God! (2 Corinthians 9:12) Don’t miss this call to action!
- 11:15 A.M. – SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASSES with opportunities to dig into God’s Word and learn more … to share with other believers … being renewed with the Word of God! Plan to join us after worship!
- MID-WEEK BIBLE STUDIES will resume on Wednesday, January 26th … be looking towards an uninterrupted time of gleaning treasures from the Word of God!
- RE: FUEL YOUTH sessions with devotions and activities are being planned – see Pastor Doug for more details!
- A NEW CALENDAR OF CHURCH MINISTRIES & EVENTS is underway for 2011 … you will be seeing this soon!
- PRAYER OPPORTUNITIES . . .
- THIS IS A PERFECT TIME to praise our Almighty God for His wondrous works in our lives throughout this past year … and as we look to the new year, recommit to standing in the gap in prayer for others who needs God’s touch!
- REMEMBER . . . “Every ending is a new beginning!” ~ unknown
Serving Christ Joyfully . . .
Pastor Doug and Debbie
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