WHEN GOD WANTS OUR ATTENTION, sometimes He puts things in front of our face more than just once. Like this Scripture verse, Isaiah 45:8. Searching my heart and seeking God’s direction as I prepared to write these words today, God amazingly pointed this verse out to me ~ from two completely different sources. Don’t you just love hearing from God? Listen to what He says … and let’s check it out in three different versions for the fullest understanding: “Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the Lord have created it.” ~ “You heavens above, rain down righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness grow with it; I, the Lord, have created it.” ~ “Open up, heavens, and rain. Clouds, pour out buckets of my goodness! Loosen up, earth, and bloom salvation; sprout right living. I, God, generate all this.” (The first two verses do not give the Bible version; the third is from The Message Bible). Sometimes you hear of things that make your heart ache, and then you wonder what that does to God’s heart, especially when it concerns His people! But having these verses put in front of my face, I did some searching and had the point driven home that salvation and righteousness go hand in hand. God put them together. He didn’t give us the gift of salvation without righteousness becoming an outgrowth of it. But then I began to wonder about all of this when I see things happening around me. Though we can receive God’s gifts, it seems that for them to take hold and have results that benefit God’s Kingdom work on this earth … we’ve got to make sure we’re actually living them out in reality. In other words, we accept and receive salvation through Jesus. What happens then? Do we then live as if we’re saved … changed … delivered … and following Christ, our example? Do we grow into righteousness along with our salvation? Do we then live right … act right … behave right … talk right … etc. You get the picture! The Lord says He created it to be this way! But when we look around us – in our churches, our Christian leaders, other Christians – do we see righteousness being lived out? Would Jesus be proud of us? Or would we make Him sad? I recently heard someone say that we can believe God’s love to be real, we can talk about it and even know it … but if by our actions we do not live it out, then we make it nothing more than a joke. How sad! Lord, we don’t ever want to diminish the power of Your love, the purity of Your love, the beauty of Your love. It is what it is – with us or without us. But we never want to have it distorted because of our actions. We never want to have others assume that our wrong living is what Your love looks like. So help us, Lord, to live right. May we live with excellence and authenticity. May others see that we are the real thing … true blue to the bone! May we not waver – not only before those who do not know Christ, but also before each other in the Lord! Our brothers and sisters in the Lord deserve our love and respect and support. Oh, that our right living might resonate within the realms of our churches - as well as wherever in the world God has us when we are not at church! I mentioned “wavering”. We almost wavered last week when circumstances popped up that looked like we would not be able to get away for a few days to see our oldest son and his family in E. Grand Forks. Initially, you sense the despair of having worked so intensely for so long, and feeling like what you were looking forward to is not going to take place. Then … God’s Word arose inside of me, and I began enlisting the prayers of family and co-workers, claiming the miracle! What looked like an impossibility – became a possibility through God’s intervention and provision!!! And what an oasis those few days were in our lives! I was able to celebrate my birthday away from jobs … arriving to birthday dinner with our family, complete with a yummy birthday cake! God orchestrated the timing of us being there for our 9 year old granddaughter’s tooth surgery. We got to see one grandson’s soccer game, and be at the site of the other grandson’s new workplace. We loved the opportunity to see our kids’ newly accomplished landscaping in their yard, and take in the Farmer’s Market on a picture-perfect day that we wanted to just bottle up for upcoming not-so-nice days! We loved ample moments to just sit around together and relax and capture memories via digital photos! Thanks, DJ and Melissa, and Tyler, Wade, and Lindsay … for making our time away so very special! Truly, the Lord has done great things! May we all continue to pursue right living in our daily lives. By His Spirit, we CAN, you know!
IN A NUTSHELL . . .
IN A NUTSHELL . . .
- OUR HEARTFELT GRATITUDE to Jimmy and Isaac and Pam, as well as Christian and Sean and all of you who put things together for us in our absence this past Sunday! We know God’s presence was at Elevation North – because you gave Him your best and served Him faithfully. Thank you for ministering to us and our needs, but more importantly, to the Lord and to each other! May God bless you abundantly, is our prayer!!!
- SPECIAL BIRTHDAY WISHES to Cierra, who will be celebrating on September 13th! May God show you His loving favor in every way ~ all year long!
- SPECIAL BIRTHDAY WISHES to Cierra, who will be celebrating on September 13th! May God show you His loving favor in every way ~ all year long!
- LOOKING AHEAD . . .
- THIS SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 12TH: 10:00 A.M. – ALL-CHURCH FALL KICK-OFF proves to provide an exciting time for all ages as we begin our fall ministries! Be in prayer for God’s blessing upon every facet of this day, as we worship and learn, sing and give adoration – all to our Lord of lords and King of kings! Bring someone with you for WORSHIP with COMMUNION, for SUNDAY SCHOOL, for the POTLUCK LUNCH that follows (everyone is asked to bring a dish to pass with all meat, beverages, and table service being furnished! Then, the “BLAST FROM THE PAST” GAMES will bring lots of enjoyment and laughter and relaxation as we fellowship together in fun! Don’t miss out!!!
- NEXT SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 19TH: 10:00 A.M. / WORSHIP & PRAISE ~ 11:15 A.M. / SUNDAY SCHOOL
Pastor Doug will be preaching on the fifth fingerprint of God: “Blessings of Prayer”. This may well be one of the most important messages in this series! Plan to come and take notes!
- COMING UP IN SEPTEMBER: MID-WEEK BIBLE STUDY! We are SO excited about this ministry opportunity! Who do you know who is interested in learning more from God’s Word?!
- OCTOBER 22-23: WOMEN OF FAITH CONFERENCE / this is one of those conferences that you don’t want to miss out on! Imagine being with thousands of other women who also long to experience a refreshing time of renewal in Christ! Plan to be at the Xcel Energy Center and drink in all that God provides! See Tina or Debbie!
- OUR GUYS are planning a “Food/Fun/Hanging Out” night at Pastor Doug’s on the Friday evening that the gals are gone to Women of Faith! More details to come!
- PRAYER OPPORTUNITIES . . .
- THERE IS NEVER A TIME when God is not listening! He loves it when we come to Him in faith believing! And that’s just what we’ll do this week as we lift up - all of our students as they have returned to school and college; La Fawn and Cherry, Tina, Julia and her brother, Mary’s dad, Merv, Shirley, Jimmy, and others for healing; & the miracle of a building to house Elevation North as we grow and expand our ministries. May God be glorified!!!
- THIS WEEK . . . Remember, “Attitudes are contagious – is yours worth catching?” ~ LaJeune
Serving Christ Joyfully . . .
Pastor Doug and Debbie
