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When you were a kid, you probably couldn’t wait to drive. I couldn’t wait either! Whenever I could, I would just go sit in the driver’s seat of any car and pretend to drive, until the day at 15 years and 9 months old, I got my learners permit. Boy was I happy! My brother who is older and wiser (3 years to be exact) 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!!!! I really do like to drive….one of my uncles who lives in Switzerland calls me Doretti Andretti, after the famous race car driver. Okay, enough about me. Cars and driving can give us a great lesson for life. 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. You can turn the car on and just sit there in park and go nowhere. But that is no fun. 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.” When we were first learning, we had to go very slowly, taking it very easy and being very cautious. There are times in life, when we have to do that; we don’t want to jump the gun, and get into a mess, or a wreck in life. We should always watch for road signs and places where danger might be lurking. 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. What does that mean for us? Life is like a ride in the car, we have to get in the car, turn it on, and then get in drive if we want to go anywhere. For the Christian, if we want to do anything for God, we need to quit sitting around in park, and start moving. God has great things for you in your life, and I know Greater Things Are yet to Come! I also 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!

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Yesterday we talked about all the things we get with being a part of the family of God….God’s blessing, abundant life, and favor. Today we’re going to talk about what we get to give since we are part of God’s family. Don’t get scared, this won’t be painful at all! We have the spirit of God on the inside of us who is the biggest giver of all, so none of us should have any issue with giving….it should be as natural to us as breathing. If it all belongs to Him anyway, giving some of it away shouldn’t hurt at all! I want to encourage you to develop your giving spirit and generous heart. We want to look like and act like our Father, so one thing we can start doing is giving more! The tithe that we give to our local church demonstrates obedience. We move a decimal over to the left, and tada…we have one tenth. That’s easy math, but that doesn’t make us a generous person. You only make what you make! It is the size of the offering that demonstrates our generosity. The tithe is set, but offering is optional. We can give a spoonful and get a spoonful back, or give a dump truck load, and get a dump truck load back…. it’s our choice. One thing that is important is that we lead with your seed. We lead our families with them watching what we do…..if we want generous children, we demonstrate generosity in front of them. The Bible tells us to cast your bread on the water – it will come back with every wave. If you’ve tried that with bread, you may have gotten soggy bread back! That’s not what it means! What it means is that if we give of what we have, it will come back to us, over and over again. Give away a couch, you might get back another couch!, or car, or house, etc… Give and it shall be given unto you! I’m believing for more seed to sow this year. Each year I want to give more than the last. Wouldn’t you like to give more this year than you ever have before? I want to encourage you to increase – so God can increase back to you! 

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This is the time for overflow, unexpected blessing and abundance of favor. I think we should say that to ourselves everyday! Those words encouraged me! I love overflow, blessing and favor! If we look at the full counsel of the Word of God, we can see that Jesus came to bring not just life, but life in abundance……that sounds like overflow. Even in Psalms 23, it says our cup runneth over….that sounds like abundance. If we looked at the Beatitudes in Matt 5, Jesus gave nine ways that we will be known as blessed….if we are:

#1) humble
#2 contrite
#3) meek
#4) hungering and thirsting for righteousness
#5) merciful
#6) pure in heart
#7) a peacemaker
#8) persecuted
#9) insulted.

It sounded pretty good until we got to 8 and 9…..but it should be no surprise that the world’s system doesn’t like to see God’s people blessed. They get a bit jealous, and testy, and will persecute you and insult you. But if that happens, know that you are blessed! One of the blessing (!) of being blessed and favored is everyone is not going to like you. That is a good thing to learn early on! God’s favor is on you, because you’re part of His family. We’re favored because of Jesus, and that favor spills over, not only in the family of God, but in the world as well. You will get the best parking spots, the shortest lines, and people will be helpful wherever you go. That happens to me a lot! Not always, but God goes before you… so expect His blessing. So are you ready for some more overflow, blessing and favor in your life? Why not start expecting it…..you’re God’s favorite!

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This is your moment. Right now God wants you! Are you sure he wants me? YES! It is you He wants. Your age, social status, body shape, personality, all the things that make you uniquely you – that is what God wants! He doesn’t do copies, and he made you an original. What is different about this moment from any other? It is the moment that you have right now, and now can be the best moment of your life! Why not choose to make it amazing? Think about these things and be encouraged

Live for God now! (Eph 5:15,16)
Don’t get stuck in yesterday. (Phil 3:13)
Don’t be waiting for your big break in the future (Phil 4:6)
Choose to be joyful and happy now! Live fully alive today (Phil 4:4)

Now is your time:

To seek God’s face (Matt 6:33)
To become more intimate with God (Phil 3:10)

And then – help someone else with what you learn!

That comes right out of one of my favorite scriptures in II Cor 1:3,4 where it says that what God has done for you, in you and through you, you can use to help someone else. How awesome is that! God’s comfort in your life, is a seed sown in you to comfort someone else! He has begun something great in you. He wants to see it come to completion as it says in Phil 1:6. So live today – full on for God and expect great things! This is your time! This is your moment! Seize the day! Carpe diem!

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One verse that keeps coming up in my heart is one most of us don’t like to think about. It is in James 4:17 and it says, “He who knows what is right to do and doesn’t do it, to him it is sin.” I’m not feeling very encouraged after reading that verse. I know there are things that I know I should be doing that I don’t do. I hope you’re agreeing with me, I don’t want to be alone in this!!!! What is important for us to discover and put into operation in our life is the difference between conviction and condemnation. The Holy Spirit will convict us of sin, and we will know it in our “knower” – our spirit – the real us on the inside. But the devil is the accuser of the brethren (and sistern!) and he will bring condemnation to make us feel bad on the inside. The difference is, with the Holy Spirit’s conviction there is hope. With the enemies condemnation there is hopelessness. The Bible says in Romans 8:1 that, “there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, because the law of the Spirit of life has set me free from the law of sin and death”. So instead of letting condemnation try to intrude in our life, why not choose to obey if the Holy Spirit convicts us? If we know what is right to do, why don’t we just do it? Obedience really is best! Let’s be doers of the Word and no hearers only. That is the only way to live.

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It is important for us to keep our faith active and alive. When God’s Word speaks specifically to us, we need to put action to our faith. Here are some things that I am believing for our church and community. They are things that together we can believe God for in your sphere of influence and in mine. Let’s pray for:
• People to be saved every week – altars in Bible believing Christian churches filled with people who are hungering and thirsting for the fullness of God. (That’s what it’s all about!)
• People to grow in the Word of God, and be obedient to walk the walk – becoming true disciples.
• People available in abundance to do the work of the ministry. – Connected and plugged in – being doers of the Word and the specific assignment God has for them.
• An abundance of finances to press ahead and do more, build more, expand more, and reach more – for the Kingdom of God!

James says that faith without works is dead! Not just broken, or dying, but dead! Let’s have alive faith! If we have faith, there should be evidence! We should see some breath on the mirror to prove it is alive! There should be some movement, some kind of action! Let’s make sure there is enough evidence in our lives to prove that faith is living and active. God’s Word doesn’t go out and produce nothing, and so it is with faith. Faith with corresponding action produces results! Be encouraged today, to change your world and use your faith!

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Don’t you just love it when you have something drop in your heart that you know is right from God? That happened recently, as a staff we were trying to decide on a theme for our 25th anniversary celebration during the month of May. The words that felt right were these, “Great Things Are Yet To Come.” We know that God has great things for our city, our valley, our state and our nation. We glance back with joy and press forward with anticipation. We have an outstanding line up of speakers each weekend in May with Dean Yates, Greg Fritz, Pastor Rex Baker (on Wednesday the 15th), Pastor Casey Treat, and Pastor Mark Boer our former youth pastor who now leads a great church in Boise. Each message will hit the mark, and every one of the speakers will encourage us in our faith. Greater things are yet to come! Here is your dailyeword.

Monday
Hebrews 4:2 says that the Word profits us when it is mixed with faith. The message Bible says it this way, For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed. The key for us to keep moving forward, expanding, and increasing – is for us to mix faith with the promises. We want to be those who share the faith and obey! God will do for us what we believe Him for!

None of us are batting 1,000 at our faith walk, but that certainly shouldn’t make us discouraged. It should encourage us to believe for more! We can all improve in the area of believing! All God wants is for somebody (you and me) to believe something (His Word)! We all know that we need to base our faith on THE BIBLE. It is important to have a solid foundation, and there is nothing more solid than the Bible! But believing alone isn’t even enough. To make our faith produce, we must believe it in our heart, and then speak it with our mouth! Faith speaks! If it is not speaking, it is not faith! Just like cars drive, planes fly, and shovels dig, faith speaks. It is the corresponding action that goes along with faith.

Just like the car needs a key to start, to activate our faith, we need to get our engine going and shift into gear to move ahead in God. In other words, get our rear in gear! Let’s get out of park, out of reverse and neutral, and start moving toward God’s will for our lives. It isn’t that we need an army tank to move ahead, we just need to get moving in our vehicle. (In other words, we don’t need more or bigger, more impressive faith. We just need to use the faith we have!) Just put your car in drive! We need to be disciplined and be reminded to keep moving forward by putting our words in line with our faith, and believe God for great things!!! Let’s not go backward, or roll backward. Stay out of neutral and never sit around wasting gas on idle – especially at these gas prices! God is into progress….let’s get moving….!

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Sleep in heavenly peace. Those are words right out of the song Silent night. At our home, we say that every night, except I say it in German. Slaf im himlissher ruh (phonetically). After I say it to our kids and my sweet husband, they all repeat it back to me in German too, and not just at Christmas time when everywhere you go you hear the song Silent Night. Peaceful sleep really is a wonderful thing. To have a comfortable bed with warm covers and, if you are married, someone to snuggle up next to is really a delight. I know many people deal with lack of sleep, or with sleep problems of many kinds. There are lots of you I am sure who are just not being able to sleep well for a variety of reasons. We need rest. In fact, peaceful sleep makes you a happier and a healthier person. If you don’t sleep well, you don’t function well. So how can we get the physical rest we need when our lives are overcrowded with stuff that calls for our attention 24/7? One great way to get good rest is to just do some things in the natural that facilitate it. Taking time to wind down is a good thing. Turn off your computer, turn off the tv, get in the bathtub, drink something warm without caffeine, and gear your body down. Do that spiritually as well. Take a few minutes to read the Word, or a good godly book. Listen to some soft music. Fill your bedroom with things that bring peace to you. Get rid of clutter from your mind and your surroundings, and then close your eyes and go to sleep. The bible tells us in Psalms that God gives His beloved rest, and you are his beloved! So sleep in heavenly peace, tonight and every night! You require it, and you deserve it! Great sleep helps you thrive in live!

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What is it about kids that they just love to stay up all night? When my kids come home from an over-nighter with friends, they are so proud of the fact that they stayed up late. I think young kids (preschool and younger) think that as soon as they go to bed the party begins. For most of us, we have to get some great rest, because we are up early to get kids off to school, or to teach an early morning Bible Study or to go work out before the day begins. Maybe you have animals to feed, or other chores to do before you head off for your day. Life requires sleep to be able to function at our best the next day. Sleepy people do crazy things. They drive off the road, or they forget important things. So while you’re young – take advantage of all the sleep you can get! When you get older you’ll have lots of reasons to stay up later, and most of them are doing stuff that isn’t all fun, like catching up on laundry, doing dishes, or paying bills. Peaceful sleep is really hard for some people. They can’t shut their minds off, or their body clock is messed up and they will just lie in bed for hours, looking at the ceiling. Sometimes it is because they are worried or anxious about something. Sometimes there is no explanation. My prayer is that you get in the habit of making restful sleep an important part of your life. Make your bedroom a peaceful organized place to be. Make it a habit to read your Bible and pray before you snuggle down underneath the covers. Talk to God, cast your cares on Him (I Peter 5:7), let peace rule in your heart (Col 3:15) and learn to sleep in heavenly peace.

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The word peace is translated Shalom in Hebrew. It means nothing missing and nothing broken. The world has a way of breaking us into little pieces. Unfortunately, so many believers think that God is the one who causes pain and breaks them to pieces. If we look at the ministry of Jesus, we can see that God’s plan for humanity was that we be healed and whole, and He sent Jesus to accomplish that on the cross. We live in a fallen world, and on an earth with a curse, but Jesus’ blood and His death on the cross made a new dividing line. When the New Covenant was established, the veil was torn in the temple, from top to bottom. When Jesus said it is finished, it was. He had done all that had to be done to redeem man back to God. The law of sin and death no longer had a hold on believers. Jesus became our Shalom. We read that He is our peace, who has broken down every wall. He came to restore us to the place of nothing mission and nothing broken. He is our peace. We have peace through Him. We can be healed and whole, and live as if the fall of man has no affect on us. That really is pretty amazing. When the enemy tries to break us into pieces, we serve a God who heals and restores us. He is our peace. He restores what was missing and fixes what was broken. What a wonderful God we serve, and what a wonderful way to live, in the peace of God. There we are healed and whole, spirit, soul and body, and helping others walk in that same peace that we know.

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