I WILL NOT! Usually that statement is negative in its connotation. But in the context I want to share it in … it is a very positive and powerful life-choice! Listen to what Helen Keller said long ago: “I will not just live my life. I will not just spend my life. I will invest my life.” To be truthful, there are days that my husband and I really wonder what we are doing – keeping such a crazy schedule. We ask God, “how much longer?” We ask ourselves, “can we really keep on doing this?” And yet, God has not released us. That means He still has a purpose for keeping us at all our jobs – at least for the time being. Listen, if we were doing all this – just to do it … I’d think we were insane – or at the least, less than wise! We keep crying out, “God, what is it that You want? Are we missing something? Can You please show us a less demanding, less difficult, less intense way to survive? In fact, God, we’d love to know what it’s like to thrive on a continual basis!” Now don’t misunderstand me. We DO thrive in so many, many ways. Our love for God and the daily joy we experience as we walk with Him every moment … brings riches untold. The strength we receive for each new day gets poured in fresh and full – and is sufficient to carry us through longer hours than we ever thought possible … and we know that what we are receiving is truly supernatural. We see others around us who are sick, who are fatigued … and God has kept us healthy and renewed us and redeemed the shortened time we actually get to sleep each night. He keeps us going like no one or nothing else can! And He provides always with enough – that’s His promise, after all, and He’s never let us down! Sometimes He throws in the “thriving” part and brings in some extra – and we are amazed! We, being human, would just love that to be the norm, I guess. We’d love to live in abundance and not be concerned about what lack there might be in the budget – but I think God really has us in a place of stretching our faith and growing our trust level. We’ve seen Him do it again and again, and perhaps we haven’t learned all He wants us to know in this area of our lives yet. Perhaps we are in training for something so much bigger that at the present our minds cannot even comprehend it. We wonder sometimes just what God has in mind for Elevation North – will it someday be home-base to a national or global ministry? And if we think we have to live by faith now, just think what increased level of faith it will take then?! SO … we are investing our lives in ways that count for God’s Kingdom. Every day we cross paths with scores and scores of people. We get to share godly influence with them, we get to counsel and nurture them, we get to pray with and for them. Are we in the four walls of the church when all of this happens? No, we are in the marketplace … and all of this ministry is done while respecting the separation of work and personal time while on breaks and meal-time. While IN the four walls of the church, we are so privileged to get to share our passion for shepherding the flock and reaching beyond those four walls. We absolutely LOVE being with our people and meeting the new ones that God is constantly bringing our way. We long to teach them the power of Christ’s love and the endless possibilities of living a life given over to God in full-commitment – no holding back! How fun it is to be creative in ministry! There is no better feeling than being there for someone and standing with them in prayer, when no one else seems to care enough to take the time. Now we just need to discover where God has our church building waiting so that we can be all that He has planned for us to be in this community! Doors open … and we find ourselves at the point of signing the dotted line. Then the door closes. Does that mean that God doesn’t have a door for us? A million times NO! It just means He has a door that can be more powerfully used for what He is up to! We must stay strong and hold on. We must invest our lives in His Kingdom work. Like Psalm 27, verse 4 states, Doug and I join in with the writer, David: “I’m asking God for one thing, only one thing; To live with Him in His house my whole life long.” How do you suppose that happens? It equates to us “dwelling” with Him … residing with Him. Can you picture living like that? You see, we don’t have to wait until we get to Heaven to live with Him … we can do it right here – and right now. For when we invest our lives in the most important Person of all – and - the most priceless Cause of all … we will experience a life most people only dream of. No, I’m not saying that we’ll have all the money and things we sometimes wish for (on the other hand, He may bless you and us with more than we’ve ever hoped for) … but in that “secret dwelling place” like none other, we’ll find that we have ALL we’ll ever need and MORE! After all, we are His children, and He loves having us live with Him. In that special dwelling place, the door is always open to us. And the lights are on, welcoming us to come in and spend time with Him. When we walk through that door and stay with Him all the time - any hour of the day or night … that’s when we can say we are investing our lives in what really matters to God! We will NOT just live our lives! We hope you will not, either!
IN A NUTSHELL . . .
IN A NUTSHELL . . .
- GOD CONTINUES TO TEACH US and bless us through His Word, and this past Sunday morning was no exception. As believers we should be like sponges soaking up all of our God that we can! We love seeing our church family grow and expand in their knowledge of things of God! How exciting!
- OUR SPECIAL CONGRATULATIONS to Sharon on her 1 bronze and 3 gold awards at the Special Olympics Track and Field competition these past few weeks! Way to go, Sharon … we are so very proud of you!
- BELATED HAPPY BIRTHDAY WISHES go out to Alex and Austin and Mary Jo from this past week … we pray your celebrations were joyful and that your year to come will be blessed by God in every way!
- OUR LOVING SYMPATHY is extended to Hazel on the recent loss of her brother in Wyoming; know that our prayers are with you! May God’s comfort surround and uphold you and his family in these days.
- LOOKING AHEAD . . .
- THIS SUNDAY, JULY 10TH: 10:00 A.M. – PRAISE & WORSHIP, and you’ll want to be tuned in to Part 2 of the new sermon series, “Two Words to Change the World”. Pastor Doug will be preaching from the book of Job; you’ll want to have your Bibles with you and open to the texts he will be using! Be sure to call someone new to join you!
- 11:15 A.M. – KINGDOM CONNECTION – Your opportunity to grow in relationship with your church family!
- NEXT SUNDAY, JULY 17TH: 10:00 A.M. – PRAISE & WORSHIP, and moving on to Part 3 of “Two Words to Change the World”. We are SO excited about this series of messages, and we hope you are being fired up for God!!! Pastor D will be preaching from Genesis, chapter 3 this week.
- BE SURE TO PICK UP THE SUMMER/AUTUMN MINISTRY SCHEDULE this week; we invite YOU to participate!
- PRAYER OPPORTUNITIES . . .
- WHAT A FAITHFUL GOD WE SERVE! We are constantly seeing answers to our prayers, including Mitch’s new job; and how grateful we are! We encourage you to lift up in prayer those with urgent unspoken prayer requests, Julia’s brother with bronchitis, healing for Jimmy, Wayne’s recovery, Larry’s surgery, Johnny & Cherry, the Landon’s, and many others! There is nothing too small and nothing too big for our God! Aren’t you glad for that?!
- REMEMBER . . . “A strong person has faith that they are strong enough for the journey. But a person of faith knows that it is in the journey that they will become strong!” ~ Unknown
Serving Christ Joyfully . . .
Pastor Doug and Debbie
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