LET’S DO THIS TOGETHER

There are communal and public dimensions of the spiritual life that must be experienced and without which the soul is impoverished. David knew this, and accordingly he exhorted his friends, “Come, let us tell of the Lord’s greatness, let us exalt His name together.”  (Psalm 34:3)

There is a delightful naturalness about this exuberant invitation. When we are excited about something, we spontaneously want to share it. “Did you see that?” we ask those sitting around us at the ball game as an athlete shows extraordinary skills. Of course they saw it. We know they did, we just want to share the excitement. “Have you seen the latest movie?” we inquire. Why? Because we enjoyed it and our enjoyment is not complete until it is shared. So it was with David’s experience of the Lord. He was so excited that his excitement needed to be shared and thus multiplied. In effect David was saying, “Let’s do this together, and in so doing let us intensify the joy and multiply the blessing!” 

-- Adapted from Stuart Briscoe in “Daily Study Bible for Men”

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OVERFLOWING HOPE

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." (Romans 15:13 NIV)

When you meet a person who is really excited about something it shows. Their zeal is obvious to all and they are a chatterbox talking about "their thing." Every aspect of life has some connection with this item of excitement. In short, they are overflowing with the goodness of this thing in their life. It may be a new job, car, relationship or other happening in their life. But, regardless of what it is, they "work it in" to every conversation. They simply cannot contain their new happiness and it overflows to all aspects of their life.

What about your friend Jesus? Have you gotten excited about our Lord?… Does it show? Does your zeal overflow? Do those around you see Christ at work in your heart?… We can feel the joy of the Lord and stand and shout for joy and let the world see the Spirit overflowing into all areas of our life. Practice joyfully and thankfully seizing the day and recognizing that God has given us another gift of "today." And that kind of attitude is catching!…

Do you "overflow" with the good things of God? Does your attitude of loving the Lord bubble to the top for all to see? 

-- Pastor Gary Stone 

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ABUNDANT LIFE HERE AND NOW

Jesus said… “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”  (John 10:10 NRSV)

I believe that when Jesus Christ comes into our lives, He not only saves us for an eternity after death, He brings eternity into our lives here and now. To the degree that we allow our Lord to do so, He helps us to sleep better, eat better, talk better, love better, and laugh better. He brings a kind of continual excitement into life. The Christian life is wonderfully earthy; we don’t seek, in our beliefs, to escape from this life, but we do expect to get hold of something beyond this earth. Not simply when we die; heavens, no! We expect a quite out-of-this-world touch on our lives here. 

-- J. Ellsworth Kalas in “Life from the Upside: Seeing God at Work in the World”


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