Does it sometimes feel like you are walking in circles and there is not sign of God directing your steps? “He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.” (Isaiah 40:22) Does life ever feel like all you are doing is going ‘round and ‘round in circles and getting nowhere? Do you feel like you make a little progress, only to find yourself back where you were only a day or so ago? God sees us--walking those circles. It might be like the verse above where God looks down on us and sees us as tiny as grasshoppers. The notes on this, suggest that this passage in Isaiah is full of rhetorical questions used … [Read more...]

Do you ever think you may be exempt from daily giving since you are ill? Don't let your circumstances determine how much you think that God will use you. Dorothea explains... “Now, who is willing to consecrate himself today to the Lord?” (1 Chronicles 29:5) King David’s simple question captures my attention in this passage. It also becomes a challenge to me, making me stop and really think about my approach to daily living. After David commands Solomon, who will become Israel’s next king, to be courageous and build the temple of God (I Chronicles 28), David goes on to list his contributions to God’s temple. Then, he poses the question about consecration. He asks about a personal commitment to attach themselves to God. I … [Read more...]

Feeling like your life is being chipped away? Rev. Chris shares how God is using your pain as one of the tools to mold you into His masterpiece. "I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” (Philippians 3:10-12) When I was a boy, I often worked with my dad and grandfather in the woodworking business they owned jointly. I loved working in “The Furniture Clinic.” While I always believed my pay to be woefully inadequate--my … [Read more...]

Have you reflected on how you have changed this past year? Has God made you a better person-- or are you more bitter because of circumstances getting the best of you? Kerryn shares her journey. “Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the skies” (Psalm 36:5). 2012 is coming to a close--fast! • What has changed in your body, your faith, your life this year? • Where have you struggled? • Where have you grown? • What has been your greatest joy? • What has God revealed to you through illness? I seem to have no more energy now, than I did when my body initially collapsed with chronic fatigue immune deficiency syndrome and multiple chemical sensitivities. My feet drag every day. The simplest of … [Read more...]