Thursday, December 26, 2013

ELEVATION NORTH has NEWS for YOU!


EMPOWERED!  Empowered to what?  The days of this year have flipped around the spiral calendar pages almost faster than we can keep track of.  Some days are so delightful and memorable you just want to go and flip them back so you can relive them again!  Other days you want to give them an extra push so that your spinning wheels can just be done for that day!  As God’s child, there is something really rewarding about reflecting on the many ways He has been with us all year long!  How I love that when we take a peek at the year that is about to end, we see a definite signature mark of God’s faithfulness stamped all over our past 365 days!  Sometimes He leaves love marks on us … His whispers of love at desperately needed times – or out of nowhere … have served to ignite within us the reminder that someone (Someone!) loves us for who we are!  Yes, loves us just like we are – but too much to leave us that way!  Isn’t that empowering?!  It is simply that amazing love that enables us to face another 365 days of the unknown – without fear or dread.  His love causes us to embrace our future days with solid hope and even with joyful expectation that He has it all in His control!  Isn’t that, too, empowering?!  It is so heartening that the God of the universe knows us personally down to the most insignificant and unflattering detail and loves us still!  That alone brings great significance to our lives; it tells us that He values us and sees the treasure that He has placed within us!  Empowering, yes!  That God has once again chosen us as His star characters in this life on His earth in 2013 to be used in specific ways that no one else could accomplish is mind-boggling – when it should be empowering!  Recognizing that fact should make us smile, should melt our hearts, and should touch us immeasurably!  Yes, God could so easily do it ALL by Himself – at the command of one spoken word or at the slightest movement of His hand.  But … HE CHOOSES US and offers us the privilege of working alongside HIM!  Talk about empowering!  On day one of the new year we could not even imagine in our wildest dreams what all God would walk us into ~ what all He would allow us the deep joy of being a part of!  But He has!  And He does!  This year has brought with it a myriad of opportunities to live out the love of Jesus!  Besides the pastoral ministry – the preaching and teaching and leading - there’s the utmost necessity of seeking God, there’s the planning and then the implementing.  There are all the behind the scenes, not-so-glorious opportunities to be a blessing.  The hands-on help with physical labor:  moving, carrying, cleaning, fixing. The emotional support given: sitting in a hospital or emergency room for hours, waiting with the sick and injured for the diagnosis. The physical presence shared: just listening and caring, holding hands and praying together.  The counsel and direction offered:  seeking God for wisdom that we lack, and then speaking boldly by His Spirit the needed words.  The smiles, the notes, the phone calls, the messages:  taking time with a personal touch to make a difference in someone’s life.  And so much more!  You see, we are all ministers of the good news of Jesus Christ!  Are you taking a backwards glance at how God has placed you in perfect spots at pre-determined times for His planned purposes?  Doing so will re-energize your desire for God to do more in you and through you!  What all will this new year of 2014 hold?  Well, only God knows!  We can only imagine!  But God’s Word gives us constant clues that no matter what comes, He will be with us!  This new year of 2014 is going to hold never-before-experienced opportunities to be Jesus to many others.  Even one person that is changed for eternity because God put us in the right place at the right time – is more than worth any struggles we may have to endure!  Circumstances may get more difficult rather than easier, but we have God’s presence and His promises!  We are empowered by the Spirit of God to embrace the days to come, because by His Spirit … WE CAN!  A prominent world figure, now deceased, once said, “There is no passion to be found in playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.”  (Nelson Mandela)  God’s Word is filled with similar words showing us God’s desire for us to become ALL that He has ordained for us to be!  We may not rise through the ranks in 2014 to become a world leader or president or celebrity … but He has a specific role for us to play and a specific audience needing to hear our voice and His message.  His empowering will ever be available!  Remember that what God calls us to do … He will always enable us to do!  In fact, our church theme for this new year is:  “Called To Do MORE ~ In 2-0-1-4!”  Called, as led by God.  And not just to DO more, but to BE more!  And you can, and we can … because we are empowered by the Spirit of the Living God!  Let’s arise to the greatness that God has placed within us!  This is our time!  Awaken!  Arise!  Do! Be!  All for the sake of the One who gave Himself for us!  Welcome, 2014!  We embrace your arrival … eagerly!

REMEMBER . . . When you think you are not good enough or cannot do it, read this scripture again and again!
“Now when they saw the boldness and unfettered eloquence of Peter and John and perceived
that they were unlearned and untrained in the schools (common men with no educational advantages),
they marveled; and they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” ~ Acts 4:13 
(That’s it!  Get with Jesus!)  


Serving Christ Joyfully . . .


Pastor Doug and Debbie










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