Terminus (Luke 5:36)

Good morning ladies,

The word of the day is “terminus.”  Last night I was thinking about coming back to our regular schedule.  It's always bittersweet at the end of this particular holiday season.  I love Christmas and everything that goes with it.  But with the terminus of one season comes the joys of something fresh.  Bringing in the New Year always makes me feel rejuvenated and ready to take on the world.  But, the most fun that I have is looking forward to new beginnings and a continued journey.

“And He was also telling them a parable: "No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old.”

~Luke 5:36

My question is: what do you have in store for this year?  Remember that God wants to continually make your relationship with him new each day.  As you make your New Year's resolutions take some time and effort to add God and to those.  My prayer is that each of you burns away the old stuff that gets in the way of your relationship with God and puts on the new clothes of the Savior.  Let's have a great year!

Praying for you,

Mo

Meander (Psalm 119:9-16)

Good morning ladies,

The word of the day is “meander.” This psalm is the longest in the Bible. There are some really good nuggets of information and wisdom in these verses. The psalmist wanted to make sure that people understood what it meant to follow God and live a life of purity. This was very tough in the old days, just as it is now. Each word was specifically meant for the reader to build positively upon his or her relationship with God.

“I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”

~Ps. 119:11

It's one thing to read God's word, but quite another to store that word into one's heart. My question is: how often do you read God's book, and of the time that you spend how much of it do you retain to memory? I think that too many times we just want to get our reading in for the day, just to feel good about spending some time in God's word. But, I think we need to look back and see the quality of the time spent with him. My prayer for you is that you take the necessary amount of time to move through God's word, and stored up in your heart. Rather than meander through the Bible, write God's word on your heart and let it meander through all parts of your life.

Praying for you,

Mo

Clarion (Philippians 4:4-9)

Good morning ladies,

The word of the day is “clarion.”  The Apostle Paul lived a pretty crazy life. When he addressed the church in Philippi he was avid on letting them know how he felt about them and what their duties as Christians was.  It was important for them to understand the need for clarity of mind and spirit would drive them to seek a better relationship with God and his will.

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

~Phil. 4:8

My question is: do you have a clear mind when it comes to your relationship with God? I am not talking about having a perfect life or one without sin. We all know that we will struggle through stuff.  what I am talking about is the ability to see Jesus in all your decisions.  One of the homies from APU back in the day used this as her life verse. She would always quote it and remind me and others of the necessary role that God plays in out lives.  My prayer is that you give God both the good and bad stuff in your life.  Live a clarion life, unmasked by the smoke the evil one wants to use to distract you from an honest relationship with your creator.

Praying for you,

mo

Alembic (1 Peter 1:3-9)

Good morning ladies,

The word of the day is “alembic.” Peter's audience consisted of a lot of people who needed the healing hand of God. Although these people had not seen the Messiah, they could be touched and moved to relationship with him. Peter uses the analogy of a precious metal being refined by fire to make it more pure. This was a process that put a lot of stress on that precious metal to get rid of all of the bad stuff.

“These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

~1 Pet 1:7

My question is: are you allowing God to refine you through the fire? Just like with precious metals, when we are refined through the Messiah's fire we have a ton of stress and pressure put on us. That is what it means to be a Christian. The reason stuff hurts so much sometimes is that we choose not to stay the way we are. Every time you want to become better it causes you to go through pain, stress, and other stuff that you would rather not deal with. My prayer this morning is that you embrace the alembic of the refiners fire. He will make you knew again.

Praying for you,

mo