Encouraging Word

What God says about you is more important than what others say or have said about you. As we talk about changing into the image of Christ, it is vital that we realize there is really only one opinion that matters, and it is God’s! We often end up with a warped identity, or one that is twisted or colored by words that have been spoken over our lives. Because words do have the power of life or death, words spoken to us, or about us have the power to bring death or life to us. That is one reason as parents, the words we speak to and about our children need to line up with God’s Word. Perhaps you know the negative effect of words from personal experience. Unfortunately, many people have identities that are shaped by words spoken years and years ago. The echo of words spoken reverberate over and over in their mind, and all too soon, they are believed, and that is who the person becomes. So let’s think about the sentence I said at first. What God says about you is more important that what others say or have said about you. Even if you believed negative words and became who they said you were, you can change by renewing your mind to the thoughts that God thinks about you. So let’s start right now. Whenever you think a thought that lines up with the old you, immediately grab a hold of it, and capture it. II Cor 10:4-6 reminds us that the weapons we fight with are not flesh and blood, but are mighty through God to pull down strongholds. We have weapons available to us that can tear down wrong thoughts and win the battle that goes on in our mind. We can believe differently when we begin thinking differently. I want to encourage you to think God’s thoughts and begin to discover who God says you are!

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Do you remember the passage of scripture when Jesus asked, who do you say that I am? Well, He still asks that question of us, but let’s turn it around and ask, who do you say that you are? This week as we go about finding our true identity and becoming our best self for God, we will look at the importance of our thought life. It is so good to know that when we change what we think about and what we say , we can change our life. As we start this new season of spring, we can become more Christ-like by making simple changes in how we think. The Bible tells us so clearly when thoughts come into our mind, we have to capture them immediately. If we allow random thoughts that enter our mind to determine who we are, we will find ourselves believing things other than the truth. Your personal identity and self image are shaped by environment and by experiences, but most of who we are right now, is determined by how we processed life experiences and how we see ourselves. If we want change in the here and now, we must examine the thoughts that we think. What is interesting is we can’t control a thought coming to our mind, but we immediately can determine if we will continue thinking about the thought, or will we take them captive and replace them with the Word of God, which reveals truth to us. If we get diligent about processing our thoughts through the filter of God’s Word, and begin immediately casting down thoughts that are contrary to God and His Word, we can begin to see dramatic changes take place in us. What a great start for a new season! The new you can be revealed by taking control of your thought life! What a great step toward being more like Jesus, and becoming the person He says you are.

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Intro:
Do you know that every day we have new mercies available to us? Why not draw on the new mercies and make some positive changes in your life starting today! It’s a new season! spring is here! You became a new creation when you received Christ, but as we continually walk out this new life, daily we can make positive changes and become more Christ-like. Hi, this is Dorette Schaal with your dailyeword. This week we will concentrate on finding our true identity in Christ and letting others see Jesus in us. You are who God says you are. You are the person God created you to be. You can live the abundant life God has for you! Here is your dailyeword.

Do you plan to be your best self for God? I know that it is my greatest desire, to not only be who God called me to be, but complete what He called me to do. I wouldn’t be surprised if that is your heart’s desire too. Have you ever wondered how can we do that? We will take this week to find out how as we talk about finding our true identity in Christ. During this week we will begin to understand that we really are who God says we are. One of the key factors to changing from the inside out is to get a correct picture of who you are. This statement is so true – how you see yourself controls who you are.. If you see yourself as a victim, others will treat you like one. You see yourself as an over comer, and victory will manifest in your life. You see yourself as a world changer, and you will change your world! What you think about yourself is the most powerful influence in your life. The Bible says how you think in your heart, so you are. Often we think it is the things on the outside that define us. How often do we let our age, our race, our gender, our social status, or things in the natural be what we identify with? There is a much better gauge than outward things, and that gauge is God’s Word. What is revealed in the Word of God about who we are will help us find out how we should think about ourselves, and help us have the ability to overcome areas that may have held us back in the past. So this week our key to finding out who we really are in Christ will be in finding out who God thinks we are and getting our thinking in line with God’s thoughts. How encouraging to know that we can change from the inside out, as we begin to change how we think about ourselves. I hope you are encouraged to be your best self for God!

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Happy Easter to you. On this beautiful resurrection day, we celebrate the victory that Jesus paid for with his blood. What a day of rejoicing for all mankind. God’s liquid love was spilled for us. It was actually his blood that was spilled, but it demonstrated his love for us. His desire to make a way for us to be part of his family was the greatest love story ever. Because of Resurrection morning, we are now part of a family, a family with favor, passion and purpose on the earth, God’s own family. The Greatest Love Story Ever! We definitely got the best end of this arrangement! Let’s step back to Good Friday in remembrance and really discern what happened to the body of Christ. It definitely wasn’t a pretty scene. Darkness covered the earth as an outward expression of the somberness of the moment. The Bible says that the time would have been about 3:00 in the afternoon. Jesus said with his last breath, “Father into your hands I commit my spirit”. Immediately following His final words, there was an earthquake and the curtain in the temple was torn in two, from the top to the bottom.This moment was what Jesus’ life was meant for. He came to fulfill purpose and that is exactly what He did. The veil was gone, and the bridge was opened. Jesus paid the penalty for our sin so that we could be totally forgiven and accepted. God made a way for family, for connectedness and togetherness. Now mankind could not only be just God’s creation, now we could accept his sacrifice and become a part of God’s family, one of God’s own children with all the benefits and privileges of being family. The bloodied body of Christ, His sacrificial death, and triumphant resurrection made provision for the body of Christ to be beautiful. We, as Christ’s body on the earth, are His representatives, and we display His beauty as we fulfill our primary purpose on the earth to go and make disciples of all people. As we love God whole heartedly, and love people fervently, the beauty of Christ’s body is revealed. How beautiful is the body of Christ. His actual body, and the church body, which He bought with His blood. Truly it is the Greatest Love Story Ever. Let’s be committed to the purpose Jesus gave His life for. It was for people who were, and who are, worth the cost. It was for you.

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Jesus rescued us by his death on the cross! He said yes to God’s will. How amazing! It didn’t look amazing to the ones who witnessed the crucifixion. As his body was taken from the cross and placed in a tomb, everyone was so sad. It seemed that all was lost. All the good that Jesus came to do was over. He was dead. They buried him in a tomb. Little did His friends know what would happen in a short time. Jesus would come busting out of the tomb, alive and well. His Father would raise him from the dead. That is why we celebrate Easter. He made a way for us to have a relationship with God. And that is why we can be part of the family of God! The world may celebrate Easter with bunnies and eggs, but we get to celebrate Easter with new life in Christ and being part of God’s family. One of the best benefits of what Jesus did for us is that we can have total and complete relationship and friendship with God. We become friends and family! Jesus circle of friends got bigger when Jesus came out of the grave. His family keeps getting bigger as we tell our friends about the wonderful relationship with Jesus that we have, and they accept Him as their Lord and Savior. There is no more need to be sad anymore either. Jesus can bring them joy! Say yes to sharing the good news. Jesus died for us, and now lives for us!

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This is the day of destiny. The day that Jesus was born for was the day He would die on a cross. It’s hard to see the sweet baby Jesus and realize that He was born to die. For believers, this is a sad day. As Christians we take this day to remember what Jesus did for us on the cross of Calvary. It is Good Friday, but it is also destiny Friday. The reason we can have an intimate relationship with Jesus is because He was willing to take on the weight of the world, through the stripes across his back, and through His crucifixion, and then his resurrection. The proof of His love for us was the scars that he bore on his body. He bore the marks of death, but was dead no longer! On Sunday morning he arose. Maybe you can use today to think about the hurting people around you. They have scars and wounds. God put you in their world to be his mouthpiece. Tell them about his love, and his healing power. You can say yes to helping someone else on their path to healing. Usually the very thing you have overcome in your life can be an avenue of blessing in someone else’s. One of my favorite verses is in II Cor 1:3 where it says that the very areas you have received comfort from the Lord, He will use you to comfort someone else. You really do become a minister of reconciliation to your world. That’s the power of the cross. That’s the power of knowing the love of God. That’s the power of obedience! That’s the power of saying yes.

If you live in the Magic Valley area, we invite you to join us for Easter services this weekend at Amazing Grace Fellowship. It could be a great fit for you and those you love. So join us at AGF, every weekend at one of our Sunday services, either at 8:30 or 10:30. We are proclaiming the goodness of God!

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It is hard to imagine the agony Jesus went through on his path to the cross. Through His struggle in the garden of Gethsemane we see what we might call the flushing out of the flesh. He said yes to God’s will and said no to the flesh. We all would rather take an easy path. It is the path of least resistance that we all prefer. Discipline, self control, and patience are all part of walking the path God has for us. The path Jesus took wasn’t easy at all. His flesh wanted another easier option. I think we have all been there on a much smaller scale. We may want to do one thing, when we know that something else is the plan of God for us. Jesus wanted to redeem the world, He just wanted to make sure that this really was the only way to do it. When He said, “not my will, but Thine be done,” he was saying, I won’t choose the selfish path. I choose the path of righteousness. He said yes! That can be our response as well, when we are faced with decisions. Often our decisions to follow God really are just an act of self denial. To think that Jesus was willing to sacrifice it all demonstrates the kind of love that He had. “Amazing Love, how can it be, that my king would die for me.” So our encouragement today is that whatever decisions we need to make to have intimacy with Jesus Christ is well worth the effort. Say yes to God’s plan for your life. Take time today to meditate on His word, to look introspectively, and then to celebrate all that He has done for you so that we can have complete communion with Him.

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Easter is the Greatest Love Story Ever! God chose us, accepted us, and established us in His love. What a wonderful place to be in Christ! We become chosen, accepted and established, not by our works, but by His work in us. Now we just receive the love that God has for us. When we are in His Presence, we benefit the most when we take time to just receive the love of God. Can you say yes to receiving the love of God?
Love was manifested in a manger. Love was crucified on a cross. Love was raised from the dead to bring resurrection life to us. Jesus is love personified. Through Him we are accepted, forgiven, and received into the family of Go d. His love is placed in our heart, and that heart to heart connection is what breathes life into us. We get to experience intimacy with God all because of Jesus’ willingness to pay the price for our sin. Once we receive all of the love God has for us, we can begin to love like Jesus. The people in our lives get to experience the love of God manifested through us. We get to let them know they are chosen, accepted and totally loved. We then get to see the power of God at work in the lives of those who we come in contact with. Let’s be aware, and have our spiritual senses fully awake and alert. Someone you know needs to know they are loved and accepted. Jesus made the way for them, and He wants to use you to be his hands to them on earth!

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What a wonderful season Easter is. This week we are focusing on how Jesus said yes to the will of God. Easter demonstrates the love of God in the best way possible. Easter is the Greatest Love Story Ever! God’s love came to earth in the form of a baby, to grow up to die on a tree for you and me. Jesus came to bring love close to us, and now because of the love we’ve received, we find ourselves, loving God, loving people and then loving this amazing life we get to live! During this last week of Jesus life, before he went to the cross, things got ugly. He was brought before officials who let another criminal go, so that Jesus would be crucified, at the people’s demand. Jesus we know triumphed over death,

My prayer for you is that you have a wonderful Easter celebration, full of victory and triumph. Beyond Easter, I hope you live in the victory Jesus bought for us. Because of Jesus’ victory, we have been made more than conquerors, and overcomers in this life. To be more than a conqueror is to be the recipient of all of the benefits, without having to do the work – like a boxer who is declared the champion, when he hands his wife the victory check! Jesus took on death hell and the grave for us, and handed us the victory! Who would do that but Jesus. He did that for you! That sounds like God, and that’s called grace!

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Easter is this week, and we are in the season of preparation for Easter called Lent. Hi, this is Dorette Schaal with your dailyeword. We have discovering a few things that might make this time more meaningful. We’ve already seen that Lent can be a time of GIVING UP, PARING BACK, REACHING OUT, RESPONSIBILITY, REPENTENCE, RECONCILIATION, and REFRESHING! We’ve made a decision to say yes to God. Jesus did that too on His last week on the earth. Let’s follow His example and continue to say yes! Here is your dailyeword.

Monday (march 25)
Easter is just days away, and I’m really excited. We had an awesome Palm Sunday at our church with loads of fun for kids. There were 15,000 eggs in an egg hunt and great games, horse rides, bouncy houses, train rides, and amazing fun in a carnival setting. There were kids everywhere! We love reaching kids at Amazing Grace Fellowship. We know very well that Easter is not about a bunny or eggs. What Easter is about is new life through Christ. He did everything that was necessary so that we could have LIFE in Him. We usually don’t like to think about His suffering and the pain that He went through, but it is important we remember that, because it shows how much God loves and values you. God wanted His family back so badly, that He was willing to do what was lawfully necessary to make it happen. It started by sending His son as a baby, and then culminated by sacrificing His Son on a cross, so that we can have salvation. Once mans sin, redeemed by one man’s sacrifice. We probably have taken for granted the wonderful life we have in Christ, but it cost Jesus dearly. He agonized over it. His friends deserted Him when He needed them most. He carried the weight of the world on His shoulders for you. I hope you remember and are thankful for the miracle of LIFE we have in Christ. Even though Jesus asked if there was another plan, ultimately He said yes to the plan of God, and that was a big yes for us.

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