“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”                               Proverbs 3:5 and 6

We are probably all familiar with this promise from God and I expect we have all claimed it more than once in our lives. It’s easy to understand what it means to not trust in our own, or in any human understanding or wisdom, but to instead seek and trust in God’s wisdom and leading; but what does a straight path really look like? I had an experience the other night that illustrated it for me.

I live about four miles from the church and on my way home there are 13 traffic lights. Needless to say, if I hit one or two lights at the wrong time it can be a long, slow trip home. While stuck at a light I have often fantasized about how cool it would be to have a traffic signal controlling strobe light on my car just like the ones on fire engines and on a recent trip I got to find out just how cool it would be.

While driving home, about two blocks into my drive a fire engine pulled in front of me with lights and sirens going. After it passed me I tucked in behind it at a safe distance and had green light all the way home. Thanks to the light controlling strobe, my path was cleared of all obstructions, it was like God parting the Red Sea and made for the best drive home ever.

That experience got me to thinking about how it is when God is leading in our lives, when we are following and He is making our paths straight. When we seek His will and His way, He opens the doors, turns the lights green, and removes obstacles from our path so that we are able to go the way that God has planned for us.

And the opposite is often true. When we are moving against God’s will, pressing to get our own way or to do things in our own time, we can encounter road blocks and difficulties that God intends to stop us so that we will turn back to Him and seek His will, in His time and in His way.

Of course, not every road block or difficulty means we are on the wrong path, James 1:2 and 3 tell us that God will use our difficulties to produce perseverance in us. However, when we seek God’s will, seek His way, seek His timing, and follow as He leads, He will allow us to know His will and will open the door and clear the path that He has set for us.

It’s my hope and prayer that the promise of Proverbs 3:5 and 6 would become the norm for each of our lives and for our church family as we seek and follow Jesus.

God’s Grace and Peace,

Mark

“Do everything in love.” I Corinthians 16:14

Becoming a grandparent is one of the coolest things in the world. Although our grandson Jack is only 2 1/2 months old it seems like every time we see him he has grown and changed more than we could imagine. With our own children, their growth happened gradually over each day so it was easy to miss, but not seeing Jack every day makes his growth much more obvious to us.

As we live in relationship with Jesus one of the things that should always be growing in us is love. In John 15:13 Jesus set the definition for love when He said, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” He then proceeded to demonstrate what He meant when he laid down His life on the cross for His disciples, and for us. And Romans 5:8 tells us, “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners. Christ died for us.” Even when we might be what we would consider “unlovable,” God showed His love to us.

As we think about how to grow into this kind of love Romans 13:8-10 give us some great direction:

“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not covet,’ and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”

As we grow in our relationship with Jesus, who is the ultimate example of love, may we continue to grow in love and in the ways that we demonstrate the love of God to the people around us.

In the days to come, invite Jesus to open the door for you to show His love to the people in your life and be looking for the ways that He leads you.

In God’s Love,

Mark

Happy New Year!

When I was a kid these words always held out so much promise and hope. The promise that the next 12 months would be different than the last 12, and the hope that I could leave behind my failures and struggles of the past and that things would go the way that I wanted and I could become the guy that I wanted to be.

That was a lot of hope to put on three words and on one moment in time, and try as I might, most of the time the new year ended up being so much like the one before it, with me having the same hopes and struggles as before. However, after submitting my life to Jesus He began making changes in me and taking me to places that I had previously only dreamed about. And the promise and hope that I desired as a kid was no longer something that was only available to me at 12 midnight on January 1^st of each year, but as Lamentations 3:22 – 24 reminds us:

“Because of the Lord’s great love, we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.’”

Another good part of living my life submitted to Jesus  is that I no longer have to make the plan for my life and then try to make it happen, but instead, I can trust Jesus and as I live for Him, seeking His plan and His will, He will guide me in the way I should go. In Jeremiah 29:11 God made an incredible promise to His people, a promise that extends to us as His people today:

“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.’”

This promise doesn’t mean that God will make us all healthy and wealthy, but it does mean that even though we will encounter the difficulties of life, God will work for our good, giving us a hope and calling us to a future with Him.

As we begin this new year, take time each day to submit your life to Jesus, be open to who He is and all that He is doing in your life, and then join Him in the work that He desires to do in and through you!

Expecting Great Things Each Day,

                                                 Mark

Monday – Read Isaiah 59:1-2

Why does unforgiven sin disrupt our communication with God?

What can we do every time that we sin? See I John 1:9.

Invite the Holy Spirit to reveal any unforgiven sin in your heart so you may confess it and be forgiven.

Tuesday – Read Hebrews 6:9-12

Thinking about the faith heroes in your life, what are some of the qualities that you notice in them?

Why are we warned to not become spiritually lazy?

How does this passage challenge you? How will you respond?

Wednesday – Read Numbers 14:1-45

What got the people of Israel into trouble?

What reward was given to those who wanted to obey?

How does this apply to our lives today?

How does this passage challenge you? How will you respond?

Thursday – Read Psalm 51:1-19

This was David’s prayer of repentance after being confronted by his adultery with Bathsheba.

What jumps out at you in this Psalm?

According to verses 16 and 17, what does God desire from us more than our religious sacrifices and activities?

Which is easier to do; religious activity or pursue God with our whole heart?

How does this passage challenge you? How will you respond?

Friday – Read John
4:7-26

What do we know about the woman Jesus was talking to?

What was Jesus offering this woman?

According to verses 23-24, how are we to worship God?

How does this challenge you? What will you do?

Saturday – Read I
Thessalonians 5:12-15