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Saturday, November 28, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
Church Sign: Google
Silly or Sad
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Remember, through all the hustle and bustle, the real reason for the season is Love, Faith, and Peace.
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All posts are the sole property of the Heart Like Jesus blog. You must obtain permission to use any of the information on this blog.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Thanksgiving Makes You Happy
"I will praise God's name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving."
Psalm 69:30 (NIV)
Giving thanks to God for who He is and for what He has provided for your life - will make you happy!
In this day of bigger houses - nicer cars - faster computers - fancier clothes we have positioned ourselves at second-rate. It is difficult to "keep up with the Jones's". Life... marketing... our acquaintances have told us that our lives are not complete unless we fill our lives with stuff- expensive, useless stuff!
We are programmed to think that if we don't have enough money - if we don't have the latest HD TV - the big SUV, then we aren't "in" with the socioeconomic society. No wonder we get depressed, stressed and ultimately discouraged. We've become slaves to ourselves.
Change the posture of your heart. Stop focusing on what you don't have and be thankful for the priceless things you do have. The intangible is more important than your fleeting possessions. Life, Love, Friendships, Faith, Family, God, and Health.
If you were to make a list of all the intangible things you have, I guarantee they will out-weigh all your tangible stuff you possess.
"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.
And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:1-10 (NIV)
Stop "gratifying the cravings" of your desires- wants- and selfish thoughts. Realize our gifts, our possessions are out of this world! God is wanting to give you gifts: Gifts of Great Love, Rich in Mercy, Incomparable riches of His Grace, and Kindness. He is giving you an invitation to the best "Thanksgiving Party" ever! Seating you with Him in heaven.
RSVP by putting your faith in Jesus.
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Monday, November 23, 2009
When You Hear the Word "CHRISTIAN" What Comes to Mind?
POLL RESULTS
Thank you for participating in this poll.
Here are the results:
Majority of you said, "Christians" are KIND
In 2nd place, by only one vote, was a three-way tie: HYPOCRITE, LOVING, and FORGIVING.
Thank you for participating! Was this eye-opening? It was for me.
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All posts are the sole property of the Heart Like Jesus blog. You must obtain permission to use any of the information on this blog.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
"Father's Love Letter"
"Father's Love Letter is a compilation of bible verses from both the Old & New Testaments that are presented in the form of a love letter from God to the world. What began as a simple sermon illustration is now an international best seller, translated into over 40 languages and seen by millions of people around the world. Father's Love Letter is a rich expression of the love of God, a moving and memorable video for all ages."
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All posts are the sole property of the Heart Like Jesus blog. You must obtain permission to use any of the information on this blog.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Walking Away from the World
Think back to the origin of your faith. Think about what you were going through before you encountered God's grace. Maybe you were far from God and were looking for answers. Maybe you were lonely and depressed and looking for hope. Maybe you were deep in addictions and you needed a spiritual break-through. Maybe you had past hurts that kept rewinding over and over in your mind.
The common thread is all of us needs to be rescued. Rescued from our hurts, addictions and from our eternal destination. Who was it that took a risk? Who was it that walked across the room and invested time in you? Who was it that shared God's love and grace with you?
In Bill Hybel's book "Just Walk Across the Room", shows a graph. It shows how new Christians have a broader network of lost people vs. a veteran Christian of 15 years.
It’s illustrates our years walking with Christ verses how many people we interact with who are far from God.
- On average, a new Christ-follower knows about 20 people who are far from God.
- By year two, it drops down to half.
- By year four, the average Christian may interact with 5 people far from God.
- By year seven, you only know 2 people far from God...
- By your 8th birthday as a Christ-follower, you have completely insulated yourself from the outside world.
Why is that? We draw closer to the One who is the greatest people-person who ever walked the face of the earth, but we insulate ourselves from the world. We were once fired-up to share this radical love we found with people all around us, but now we insulate ourselves with other Christians.
We fill our lives up with church services, church meetings, church programs... while steadily, and maybe unintentionally, drifting farther and farther away from those who need Him most.
Somewhere along the way you've lost your focus- you forgot the origin of your faith. You lost the lustre that once drove you to wild encounters with people all around you. Jesus wants us to walk closely with Him... and He wants us to continue His mission here on Earth. The Bible says, "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."
Not to build greater programs at church. Not to hold multiple leadership meetings. Not to envelop ourselves with those with like faith. Jesus wants us to go and taking risks, search for friendships in the making, and share His story with those far from Him. There is a world of hurt out there and they are waiting to encounter God's love, grace, and Christ's healing on their lives.
Gain Him back! Go back to the day you first encountered Him. Ask God to revitalize those feelings- making them fresh and exciting. Find that passion for people, the same passion for people that caused Jesus to die on the cross.
"And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!" Philippians 2:8 (NIV)
I HIGHLY recommend the book by Bill Hybels, "Just Walk Across the Room"
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All posts are the sole property of the Heart Like Jesus blog. You must obtain permission to use any of the information on this blog.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Did You Miss The Deadline?
DEADLINE: AUGUST 31ST FOR REDEMPTION
Attention All Backsliders: You have missed out on the right to be granted a pardon for your shenanigans. You continue to sleep in on Sunday mornings- causing you to fail in meeting your weekly quota of attending three church services a week.
"In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding." Ephesians 1:7-8 (NIV)
Thank goodness there isn't a deadline when it comes to Jesus. He is always ready to forgive us of our sins! Sorry, there is a deadline... Death! Make sure you make things right with Him before it's too late.
If you want a relationship with Jesus, then go to the right top corner of this blog and click on "Who Is Jesus". It will be the best decision you ever made- eternally!
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Wednesday, November 4, 2009
"Signed, Sealed and Delivered I'm Yours"
In 1970, this song hit #3 on the charts. Stevie Wonder sang, “Signed, Sealed and Delivered I’m yours.”The Bible says, Well, we are signed, sealed and delivered by the Holy Spirit.
"And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory." Ephesians 1:13-14 (NIV)
If it’s true- that we abide in Him and His Spirit in us, then, when it says that the fruit of the Spirit is Love... Growing within us should be a harvest. A harvest that holds an endless resource of love.
If you were to measure the fruits of your love, what would it look like?
Would you be holding a brown lunch bag with only 4-5 love fruits to give out on a day to day basis?
You have to ration your very limited supply for love in the morning, because your kid is screaming. One for lunch time because your co-worker is driving you crazy. Two in the evening, one for your spouse and one for the dog.
Or do you carry a splintery, wooden crate with 20-30 love fruits to give out each day? You have enough for your family, you even have enough to share at work, but as you get to things at church and serving God, your supply starts to deplete quickly. You get burned-out. Your attitude becomes negative. People start to really get on your nerves. All because you ran out of love for the day.
Are you that special someone who always seems to have an endless supply of love? Do you know someone like this? It’s like a big dump truck full of love fruits. The truck backs up, unloads and love is scattered everywhere. Wherever you look there’s love -- Ready for the taking. Wherever you go, there’s this sign that follows you, Saying, “Need love? Come on over, I’ve got plenty to hand out!”
The Holy Spirit gives us the power to love others deeply- the power to forgive them often- the power to give abundantly to everyone we come in contact with. If God is love, and God’s spirit is within us- then we should never run out of the resource. If we do, then we need to see where the assembly line has stopped. We need to find where the connection was cut off. Because it’s not God holding back his love- it’s us.
"Love, like the human heart, needs to be exercised often in order to grow stronger." ~ HLJ
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All posts are the sole property of the Heart Like Jesus blog. You must obtain permission to use any of the information on this blog.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Love Pursues Restoration
“Love covers over a multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4:8
God has created each one of us uniquely. Our appearances, our abilities, our personalities and the way we think are diversely different. What a boring world we would live in if everyone looked the same, acted the same and thought the same.
Unfortunately, with diversity come conflicts. Our personalities don’t mesh well with someone who is more outspoken, more direct, more in your face. Our hearts don’t connect well with someone whose convictions are different than ours.
This diversity can cause a chasm between us and a loved one. How many of you have hurts right now? Hurt by words. Hurt because of someone’s different stance on an issue. Hurt because someone shared something deep about your life with someone else? You feel betrayed.
Your marriage is failing. Your friend really hurt you. A family member used words that really cut deep. There is brokeness in your life.
Ephesians 4:2-6, "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."
The word "bearing" stuck out in my head. What does that really mean? Here's what I found:
BEARING: 1. Dignified manner or conduct. 2.Withstanding a weight or strain.
1. Respect. Our actions and our words need to be with respect. Always having the best interest of the other person in mind. Being Tactful, not just truthful.
2. Taking on the pain- the stress- the drama with them. Saying, "How can we get through this together?"
This means we need to suffer with them.
"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." Colossians 3:12-14 (NIV)
No matter the conflict. No matter the hurts. No matter how difficult it will be... we need to forgive! You see, when your love is greater than the affliction, then Love will always pursue Restoration.
"Forgive as the Lord forgave you." He forgave all our debts.
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All posts are the sole property of the Heart Like Jesus blog. You must obtain permission to use any of the information on this blog.
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