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Have you ever been on a long trip and out of boredom you begin to count mile markers on the side of the road? I’m sure we have all done it….. especially if you are crossing Wyoming in June or July! We usually do that each summer! It can be a really boring drive on the way to Denver, but I have come to love long trips with the family, because it is a great time of togetherness. You definitely are in a confined space, and it makes you either tune each other in, or tune them out. You can all be tuned in to your own thing, or you can be “plugged in” to each other. It can be a time of learning about goals and dreams of your kids, or finding out about their favorite things. As you pass the mile markers on the road, it is good to remember that life is just like that. We have little road signs in our life. They can remind us of the “daily humdrum of life”, or they can remind us of the majesty and splendor of life! Let’s make it the latter! Life really is beautiful. From birth to the grave, we have tremendous glimpses of God working in our life, let’s celebrate those mile markers and make life meaningful, mile after mile.

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Most of us don’t plan a party everyday, but in reality, each day is a gift and party worthy! And today is the present, so why not celebrate! Hi this is Dorette Schaal with your dailyeword. I got a new camera for Christmas, and I decided that each day, I would try to take at least one picture….and call it the picture of the day for my life. Well, I haven’t always remembered to take a daily snapshot, but it has made me more aware of special moments in each day. Now with an iphone, photos are easier than ever! I am not a great photographer by any stretch, and that isn’t the issue. It’s all about making a memory. We can decide to gather daily memories long before we start to realize our life is almost over. Let’s make the most of every day and celebrate each day as a gift from God. For those celebrating graduations this time of year, congratulations! Be encouraged today!

Mega moments happen to each of us. Some mega moment in my life are, the day I met my sweet husband, our wedding day, the day our first, second, third, and fourth daughters were born. The day we adopted our son. The day we pioneered our church. The day we celebrated, 5, 10, 15 and now 25 years of ministering to people in the valley where we live. Those are some mega moments. It’s incredible that the tapestry of life gets more complex as we begin watching the ones we birthed and adore having their own mega moments. When daughters go to university and graduate! When they win a state championship in high jump. When they become a “title holder” and broaden their sphere of influence. How exciting to see our children’s mega moments begin.

What happens in between the mega moments are those quiet moments that make up daily life. Can we celebrate our son finishing a math assignment, or our daughters doing a good job on a pottery piece at school, or doing well on a speech? Can we celebrate the first robin in spring, the first jonquil, the first time you mow the grass in spring, the first batch of spinach or peas from the garden? In the big picture, those aren’t mega moments, but worthy of celebration, because we are alive, breathing, and experiencing even a quiet moment of life. Those moments hold for us a finite experience of breathing in the presence of God and thanking Him for what He has begun, what He is doing, and what He will accomplish in our lives. Let’s live a life of celebration. Deeply breathe in each moment of life. Don’t let life pass you buy doing things that don’t matter. Don’t waste your time on things that don’t matter in the long run. Fill your life in between the mega moments with precious quiet moments of celebration. It not only makes life a whole lot more fun, but keeps you in an attitude of gratitude and you get to celebrate the goodness of God daily!

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What joy it is to see 25 years of blood, sweat, and tears (!) being manifested in the great house that we get to worship in together each week. Of course, the body is not the building, it is the people. Over the years, we have seen many grow in their giftings, as they have labored for the kingdom in our church body, and they have produce great results. Some of those whose lives we invested in have moved on to other cities and other churches where they have become fruitful in new soil. Some started the bus ride with us, and are still on the bus!

The ones with longevity have grown deep roots. They have allowed themselves to be planted. They remain fruitful and faithful even as they grow older. (Ps 92) Their commitment to Loving God, Loving People, and Loving Life is obvious in the fruit of their lives. There is a generational mentality that is evident, that not only does today count and the memories of yesterday, but also our many more tomorrows together.

May we never forget – treasure is found in the family of God. Fellowship and communion are what the world longs for and can never be found outside of Christ. May we never forget what Jesus accomplished on the cross for us. May we never forget the finished work of redemption and the celebration of new life when we look into the tomb and find it empty. May we never forget His lives in us everyday of every year. He’s called us family, so let’s do life together and bring heaven to earth, and see more of heaven manifested in THIS House in the next 25 years! Greater Things Are Yet To Come.

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God has some incredible divine connections for us! Visitors to the church body are not just people who have come to take your seat or your parking place! They can be seen as long lost family God has been waiting to reunite us with! A sermon on Sunday is not just a way for the Pastor to tell everyone what they should do, it is heaven’s nourishment – bread of heaven that is needed for our health and direction. Newborn Christians are not only new converts, but new family members, precious people who we get to help see grow up in the family of God and become His disciples. We are divinely connected with new people in our body, the Word of God, and even new converts within the “House”.

As we do life together, there are some things that are absolutely necessary. Food is necessary for our bodies, and the Word (God’s very own manna from heaven) is necessary for our spirit. To grow strong as a body, we need to eat both ways – the Word of God and natural food. Doing communion with the body of Christ is necessary, and eating natural food is necessary. True fellowship takes place as we eat together, invite each other over, go out to dinner together, eat breakfast together. Take time and make time to be in the company of other Christians and eat together. Enjoy life together – do fun things, laugh, create memories – live life to the fullest – bring on the party! Company comes from the Latin word compani, which broken apart means together – bread. It literally means to break bread together. It has wonderful natural and spiritual ramifications and we should not neglect the company of our brothers and sisters. That’s how we “do life together”, and experience the greater things that are yet to come.

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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? 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, we can do this!

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This month more than ever we know that we are 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 load. I know that I am guilty of saying yes too often, and spreading myself to thin. I did a lot of that during this month! 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. If we would each “play our instrument” to the glory of the Lord, we can win the lost, and change our world!

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This month we have focused on the fact 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, beds are made 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.

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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) What a great way to live.

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As a staff, we decided the theme “Greater Things Are Yet To Come”, was perfect this month for AGF’s 25th anniversary. We know that God has great things for our city, our valley, our state and our nation. Hi this is Dorette Schaal with your dailyeword. We glance back with joy and press forward with anticipation. We have had an outstanding line up of speakers each weekend in May. Each one encouraged 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. Greater Things are YET TO COME

Monday
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 Bible, 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. Those thoughts remind me of a great book Lynn and I have read called “Live Full – Die Empty” by Rick Godwin. 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 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 negativity, and get to your finish line. On your way, enjoy the journey!

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One of my favorite verses in the Bible is in the book of Genesis, chapter 50 and verse 20. It is at the very end of the book of Genesis, after Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers. If you remember the story, Joseph remains faithful and is promoted even while in captivity. In the end, he helps his brothers survive a famine and offers them forgiveness. How powerful that is! Joseph was kind and comforting to ones who had been cruel to him. He remembered their treatment, and he forgave them anyway…. Amazing! Then the Bible says that Joseph told them, what you meant for evil, God has turned around for good. On that day, many people were alive and safe, because of Joseph’s ability to give them food and comfort. One of the most extraordinary things in the Bible is how God can bring good out of terrible situations. Joseph could have gotten stuck in the past, and treated his brothers just like they treated him. But he chose a higher path! He chose forgiveness. Joseph is such a great example of a pure heart, in the midst of unbelievable adversity. He looked beyond the present, and God used his gift of influence to save his family. The lesson learned is…. learn from the past, but don’t let it hold you there. God will use you when you remember God’s faithfulness and walk on…..demonstrating love and forgiveness even for people or situations that make trouble for you.

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