Author: debo

God’s desire is for the body of Christ operating in unity. How creative is our God in fitting things together. It is incredible how He strategically places people in particular areas so that He can accomplish His will upon the earth. He can see the big picture, and knows how everything should function properly. His greatest desire is that we demonstrate His love to a godless world. We can do this as a body we walk in love and in unity. Great things happen when people operate choose to do things God’s way. All we have to do is look at the book of Acts and see in Chapter 2 as the people were in unity, God introduced the wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit to the earth. We know that great things happen when we agree together in prayer (Matt 18:19). There are Christians all around the world doing phenomenal things because they have rallied around a vision and many people are working together in unity to do something great for God. What a wonderful witness we are to the unsaved when we as believers come together as a unified body. Do you know that would be an answer to one of Jesus’ prayers? I know He is always answering my prayers! Wouldn’t it be excellent if we as a body would answer the prayer of Jesus for unity in the body? One of His prayers was in John 17 (in the Message Bible translation), “I’m praying not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me because of them and their witness about me. The goal is for all of them to become of one heart and mind- just as You, Father, are in Me and I in you, so they might be of one heart and mind with Us. Then the world might believe that You, in fact, sent Me. Then they’ll be mature in this oneness, and give the godless world evidence that You’ve sent Me and loved them in the same way You’ve loved Me. As the body of Christ, as a great company of women at our Rejoice 2016 Ladies Conference, we can do this!

I love it when the “body” of Christ comes together to do something wonderful. Our Rejoice conference each year is a time of gathering, a time of belonging, and a time of ministering to women in the body of Christ. Jesus is the head, and much like a conductor, He knows which instrument and notes we are to play. He has given us the talent and the gifting, and places us in His orchestra not to just to spectate, but to participate. He is already giving direction, and now we should “play” exactly what He wants us to “play”. When everyone in the orchestra plays in harmony, beautiful music is made. I can just image the applause in heaven as the angels around the throne dance and sing at the beautiful music that is a result of the body of Christ operating in unity. Operating in unity makes it easier on those who are carrying more than their fair share of the burden. I know that I am guilty of saying yes too often, and spreading myself to thin. What I do realize is that there are probably many believers who would love to help in various areas if they knew they were needed, and had a true understanding of unity. If you want to bless your church, find a way to be part of the team that proves the 20/80 Pareto principle wrong! Make your church body the one that has 100% of the body doing what God has gifted them to do. That is our prayer for Amazing Grace Fellowship all the time, but for me, especially during our Rejoice Ladies Conference. If we would each “play our instrument” to the glory of the Lord, we can minister and serve in unity, so we can win the lost, and change our world.

As we gather for our Rejoice conference this week, with a great company of women from all over the northwest, it is a visual reminder that as Christians we are all part of one body. It is a body where every member has a function, and if we want to be at maximum function as a body, we all need to be doing our part. It has occurred to me that the 20/80 rule wasn’t God’s design! You’ve probably heard of the Pareto principle that says 20% of the people do 80% of the work. God’s idea is that 100% are involved, and everything gets accomplished! What a great idea that is! If we go a step back from the body or the church, and relate it to the home, we could say that if you are a part of a household, you have chores to do to make the household run smoothly. If everyone does their part, weeds are pulled, grass is mowed, laundry is done, dishes are washed, furniture is dusted, and the toilets get cleaned. When everyone works together and does their chores, things can be done quickly and efficiently. To operate together as a body, we have to have an understanding of unity. Unity doesn’t mean we all do the same thing. It does mean that we all stand together to do whatever job it is that needs to be done. Harmony might be a better description of how we are to function. If an orchestra would all play the same note, there would be no diversity. To make a beautiful sound, each instrument plays what the conductor tell them to, and they follow the directions of the leader. What a beautiful example that is for the body of Christ. Let’s make beautiful music as the body of Christ, and sing together until the whole world hears.

So how is your journey going? I hope you are enjoying each step of your race. Instead of just enduring it, I hope you are experiencing great contentment along the way. Even after we choose to celebrate each day, and live in the moment, there are joy thieves that show up to crush our optimism. Two big thieves of joy are regret and dread. Too often we live in regret for the past, or dreading the future. Regret has a way of stealing the joy of now. We can find ourselves stuck in the past, regretting decisions and actions. Dread has a way of stealing the joy of tomorrow. We can live in fear of what will be, or what could be. Dread leads to procrastination, which then leads us back to regret – regretting that we didn’t do what we should have done. (What a vicious negative cycle!) The Bible tells us to forget the past, and to boldly face the future. Proverbs 23:18 says that surely there is a future hope for you. Praise the Lord! God has a bright future for us, and the path of the righteous just gets brighter and brighter! So enjoy the journey, be aware of joy thieves, and then face them head on. When we do, we can live full and run this race with joy, looking unto Jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith. (Hebrews 12:2)

Do you believe you are Set Apart for greater things yet to come? As we prepare for our Rejoice Conference this week, I hope you remember that we are! God has great things for our city, our valley, our state and our nation, and he wants to use you to see it accomplished! Hi this is Dorette Schaal with your dailyeword. I’m excited for our guest speakers to challenge us to live life full on, and keep pressing forward as we run our race on this earth. Be encouraged today that your future looks bright. Rejoice! You are set apart for great things in your future.

We are all in a race… this journey called life, is a race. Sometimes it feels like a rat race(!), but really this is the race of life, the one race that we really want to win. What is interesting about this race is that we don’t compete against each other, but we strive to reach for the prize that God has set before each one of us.
In the New Testament, Timothy talked about our race, and Paul said that he finished his race. So how is your race going? I don’t want my race to end until I’ve completed all that God wants for me in this life. Too many people live empty lives, and die full of dreams and unfulfilled potential – let’s make sure that doesn’t happen to us! We are set apart by God to do live full! We can live abundantly and joyfully enter heaven – only when our purpose here on earth is complete. Our journey can be fruitful and joyful! There is joy and satisfaction is seeing the process and the progress along the way. So keep on running, don’t get distracted by any kind of negativity, and get to your finish line. On your way, enjoy the journey!

We started driving lessons yesterday, 1 is pay attention, number 2 is turn on the key. Lesson Number 3 is put your car in gear. You can put it in reverse, but you have to go slowly, and very cautiously. You can leave it in neutral and just rev the engine, but you are not going anywhere. To go somewhere we have to take off the parking brake and put it in “Drive.” It is easier to steer a car that is moving, so get moving!
Lesson Number 4 is Keep Paying Attention. There are times when the road is wide open and you can go all the way up to the speed limit. But when the road has twists and turns, you had better slow down. When we were first learning, we had to go very slowly, taking it very easy and being very cautious. Eph 5:16 tells us to be careful how you live (drive) not as unwise, but as the wise. We always have to stay attentive and keep our eyes wide open. We don’t want to jump the gun, get into a mess, or have a major wreck in life. We should always watch for road signs and places where danger might be lurking.
Your driving lessons for life are to get in the car, turn it on, and then get in gear. For the Christian, if we want to do anything for God, we need to quit sitting around in park, and start moving. James 1;22 tells us to be doers of the Word, not hearers only. You can be a doer and start by serving, giving and blessing someone around you. Read your Bible, talk to God, live a life worth imitating. I believe that you will fulfill your purpose and destiny in life, because you’ll know how to drive wisely- putting your pedal to the metal. (Just kidding! Really, please don’t do that!). Just make sure your rear is in gear! Let’s get to our destination!

Cars and driving can give us a great lesson for life. Every time you turn on your car key, I hope you remember some of these lessons. When you were a kid, you probably couldn’t wait to drive. I couldn’t wait either! . Our son just started drivers lessons. Happy day! My brother who is older and wiser was my driving teacher and he was determined I wouldn’t drive like a girl. He taught me all the important things to know, and to this day, he is a great driver, and so am I, and our son will be too! I really do love to drive. One of my Swiss uncles calls me Doretti Andretti, after the famous race car driver. A few years ago I was following him in a sports car over a Swiss mountain pass, and kept up right behind him. He was trying to ditch me!
The first major lesson we can learn this week is Pay Attention! Keep your eyes open and be aware of your surroundings. If you are driving a semi over a bridge in Idaho on a windy day, hang on for dear life!
Lesson number 2 is if we want to go anywhere in a car, you have to have a key. Let’s pretend that is salvation. Salvation is the key that starts your car. We are saved when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior and chose to make Him our boss. You can turn the car on and just sit there in park and go nowhere. But that is no fun. That is like being saved and never growing. Tomorrow we’ll talk about Lessons 3 and 4!

RSVP actually means please respond in French. Our response to God’s love is worship. It is what we are created for. We worship God by all the ways we respond to his love. That can be through discipleship, church attendance, devotion, but most of all it is learning to love like Jesus loves. When we see things from Jesus’ perspective, it gives us compassion, understanding, and definitely enlarges our heart for others. When we relate to others like Jesus did, our relationships improve. Relationship is what Christianity is all about. Our first relationship is with God, and then with others, which fulfills the law of Love. The Law of Love tells us to love God with all of our heart, and to love others as ourselves. So we are created for worship, it is our response to being loved by an amazing God. The most important thing we are created for is love. We are loved by God, and we are created to receive His love, and then give it back to Him and those in our world. Now, let’s go do it! We can change our world, one life at a time.

How do you respond
To the Love of God?
Does it make you worship
With all your heart?
Does it make you love
Others as yourself?
Or are we consumed
With self and wealth

God knows our heart
But they see our deeds
Do our words and life
Reveal truth or need
Let’s let God’s love
Invade who we are
So they can know
Pure love from God’s heart

Worship reaches to our very core. I love worship, and know that as believers our main purpose in life is to worship God. You probably know that worship isn’t just the singing part of a church service or even the entire church service. It is a lifestyle that should be our very anchor as believers. It is our response to God, and it should happen all day long, everyday of the week, every month of the year. It is communication that involves both talking and listening. We speak (or sing) to God and He speaks to us, through His Word and to our spirit. I like to call my spirit, my “knower”. Because I am God’s sheep and KNOW his voice, I have a knower on the inside of me. I want to positively respond to God’s voice, and let Him know He can trust me to obey.

I am your sheep
I know your voice
To follow you
I’ve made my choice
My heart and hands
Are yours to use
Speak to me Lord
Your way I choose

Genesis 12:2 is my life verse, and it says, I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great and you will be a blessing. (NIV) Here are some suggestions to be a blessing to others in your world:
Why not do a random act of kindness to someone close to you. If you’re married, or have kids, do it right at home. See what happens. It might surprise you too!
Have you ever thought about being a mentor? You can do it in simple ways. Being a helper in your child’s classroom, volunteering in Children’s Church, or teaching a kids class, helping someone learn English as a second language, are all ways you can give of yourself to someone else.
Can you pray? How is your prayer life? Do you have a list of people you are praying for? How about those needing to be saved.? If you haven’t made it a part of your day, include prayer for others daily. What a beautiful way to be a blessing to someone in your world.

Kindness shown can lead the way
For someone who has gone astray
Your words or deeds can loudly speak
That God’s love is not out of reach
His loving arms reach out through yours
And often leaves them wanting more
More of what you have to give
The love of God, in which we live