Make Room for New Blessings

To grab hold of your blessings you must let go of your problems. - Anon

Mary took the angel Gabriel at his word, and the rest is His-story. AMEN!

Garage sales, flea markets. Great concepts and outlets for getting rid of things you no longer need. After all, it's been said "one person's trash is someone else's treasure!" But the idea behind these events is to get rid of stuff you no longer need and possibly make a little money to apply toward something else you want. In other words make room for something new. I wonder if we ever consider such logic in our faith walk. Many of us are seeking the blessings and favor of God, who is ready and willing to give it, but we so often don't want to release or give up the issue God points out to us that is standing in the way, or even the problem we brought before Him. Though God doesn't withhold any good thing from us He surely would like us to use it in a way that glorifies Him, therefore He often waits on us. If your blessing seems to be held up in transit, maybe you should check your heart.

Until tomorrow...

Pastor Botts

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." - Hebrews 11:6

Faith for the Questions of Life

Accept what is, let go of what was, have faith in what will be. S. Ricotti

It's stunning! On their way to the Promised Land after being in bondage 400+ years, the Israelites often pestered Moses with "why" when things got a little tough. Hmm!

Why? A little 3-letter word that comes with a big, wide-open telescope. We search for reasons and answers to our questions, life situations, hurts, pains, and unfulfilled desires. The question of 'WHY'. And it often brings along its cousin - worry. Nobody really searches deeply for answers or worries about the joy they have, the blessings they receive, or the happiness in their lives, but let things go wrong and that 3-letter word pops up - WHY? It's a 2-fold reminder to us that life is temporal and not always about us, and also that we are not God. He alone knows tomorrow, we do not. There are some questions we have where we will not get the answer to on this side of heaven. And believe it or not, when we get to heaven we really won't care anymore as we put on the perfection God has in store for us.

Until tomorrow...

Pastor Botts

"...You asked, 'Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?' Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know." - Job 41:3

Heart Storage

Accept what is, let go of what was, have faith in what will be. S. Ricotti

David said when he 'confessed' what was hidden in his heart life got so much better. Amen!

Ask anyone who's moved recently and I'm sure you'll hear them lament and say something like 'I didn't know I had so much stuff!' Whether they were moving from a small apartment or a 4-5 bedroom house the saying is the same 'so much stuff!' Stuff they didn't even know they had or seldom used. It's a marvel how it all fit in there. Truth is, we brought it in ourselves and just got comfortable with it being there, allowing it to possess space in our arena. It begs the question, do we have too much stuff stored up in our hearts? Dangerous stuff that we've grown comfortable and complacent with. Stuff like laziness, grudges, bitterness, hypocritical thoughts of others, jealousies, greed, etc. Things like these tend to hinder our spiritual ability to grow. maybe we need to do a little housecleaning ourselves to give the Holy Spirit the freedom He needs to grow and flourish in our lives. A good cleansing is always refreshing.

Until tomorrow...

Pastor Botts

"O Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart and be saved. How long will you harbor wicked thoughts?" - Jeremiah 4:14