God, You, and Others ~ Powerful !

Jeremiah 29:11 New International Version

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Your future includes those around you. God will continue to bring into your life those with whom you are to walk, those people that will sharpen you like iron sharpens iron. Those people who will help you accomplish those goals and dreams that God has placed inside of you.

And in turn you will help them to accomplish theirs as well.

God’s plans are excellent. You can trust them and Him completely.

He will bring you out of the junk that you may have found yourself in and will place you inside a destiny, a future, a hope that is magnificent.

And if you will let Him take the reigns of your life and keep them, your future will unfold bigger and better than you ever imagined. It is your destiny and it is God’s way.

Hope for a Beautiful Future… Jesus

Hello my friends.

Sit back, listen, and enjoy this video of beautiful music and graphics. God has planned a magnificent year ahead for you. Set your eyes on Him, on Jesus and as you do, as you put His purposes and His Kingdom plans first, you will be set in place for the miraculous to happen within your own life.

Trust Him and watch Him do the impossible in your life as you seek His face this year.

Love you my friends. And Jesus loves you too…. a bunch.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year My Friends!

 

Wishing you the best year ever with Jesus leading you every step of the way.

Happy New Year my friends!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

It is amazing. The God of the Universe, coming in the flesh, all because of His Love for you and me.

What amazing Love.

Let us rejoice.

Let us sing.

Let us praise the One who is Worthy…

The King of Kings!

Jesus!!!

Jesus is the Reason

Christmas is a fabulous time of year. But with all the hustle and bustle, we can forget what it is really all about.

How about you this year? Have the shopping and the family gatherings and parties gotten you tired and grumpy? Or are you relaxing in the knowledge that it is because of God’s perfect gift of Jesus that we have reason to celebrate.

His ways are wonderful. His love for us is magnificent.

I challenge you today to take a few minutes and focus upon the One who loves you more than anything. His name is Jesus.

Let Him pour His peace upon you and radiate His goodness throughout you. I guarantee you that your day will be much better for the time you spend at His feet.

Enjoy your holiday.

And remember… Jesus is the Reason for the Season.

Merry Christmas!

The Journey Begins in Rome

JOURNEY 1

TEXT: Luke 2:1
IN THOSE days it occurred that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole Roman empire should be registered.

The journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem actually begins in Rome.
Caesar Augustus was concerned about many matters in his kingdom.

One of them was its size… One way to monitor the growth was with a census.
The census would work an Advent blessing. It had been prophesied the
Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). Caesar had expected the census would be one of the marks of his greatness. He listed it as eighth among the thirty-five “Acts of Augustus.” 

As we begin our Advent journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, we are
reminded that what may seem like the innocent events of government,
under the blessings of God, have a profound impact on how God’s
grace is released into the world. This act of Caesar had a profound
impact on God’s grace to us.

There are many governments involved in many decisions these days.
Many of them appear to have no impact on the message of God’s love
for us and His people, but they do! We give thanks for God’s blessings
on the acts of leaders and their governments in times’ past. We pray He
might bless those acts and decisions of government these Advent days.
For as He acted to release His love in the days of Caesar Augustus, so
He acts to release His love to us and through us today.

THE PRAYER: O Heavenly Father, we pray Your blessings upon the
acts of those who govern these days. Use their acts for Your glorious
purposes. Amen.

By:  Vern Gundermann

The Journey to Bethlehem – An Advent Journey

Over the next days and weeks covering the time until Christmas we are going to take a journey to Bethlehem.  This journey has been retold many times by many people. In keeping with this tradition, our advent journey will include contributions by different authors as well. So enjoy this journey as we celebrate our Lord and King… Jesus!   

 

From Nazareth to Bethlehem

 During the Christmas season people often travel to visit family and friends. If it’s not a trip across town, it might be a trek out of state. More often than not, it probably involves a passage in one’s mind too—darting back to Christmases past and time spent with family and friends. For Joseph and Mary (pregnant with Jesus), that first Advent season involved no small journeying either.

 From Nazareth to Bethlehem, written by Pastor Vern Gundermann, takes readers alongside Joseph and Mary as they travel dusty roads, seek shelter, meet dignitaries from the East and lowly shepherds, encounter angels, and make their way down to and back from Egypt.

This journey—a seemingly unpromising beginning for a couple bearing the Son of God—reveals again God’s hand at work in the events of history as He guides and directs those who are obedient to Him.

 In the end, Joseph and Mary’s far-flung journey and the birth of Jesus were but the prelude of greater things to come. The Christ Child would not remain the babe in a manger. He would mature into manhood and would humble Himself through His ultimate journey to Golgotha. There, the apostle Paul says, He became “obedient to death—even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8b).

From the Gospels and their retelling of one couple’s journey, there emerges for us the prologue to the world’s greatest story: the birth of a Savior, who is “Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11b). Join Pastor Gundermann as he recounts this story with depth and insight. 

To be continued…

 

Give Thanks to the Lord!

Psalm 96

 ¹ Sing to the LORD a new song;
       sing to the LORD, all the earth.
² Sing to the LORD, praise His name;
       proclaim his salvation day after day.
 ³ Declare His glory among the nations, 
       His marvelous deeds among all peoples.
 ⁴ For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; 
       He is to be feared above all gods.
⁵ For all the gods of the nations are idols,
       but the LORD made the heavens.

 ⁶ Splendor and majesty are before Him;
       strength and glory are in his sanctuary
⁷ Ascribe to the LORD, O families of nations,
       ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
⁸ Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His name;
       bring an offering and come into His courts.

 ⁹ Worship the LORD in the splendor of His holiness;
       tremble before Him, all the earth.
 ¹⁰ Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns.”
       The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved; 
       He will judge the peoples with equity.

 ¹¹ Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
       let the sea resound, and all that is in it;
 ¹² let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them.
       Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy;
¹³ they will sing before the LORD, for He comes, 
       He comes to judge the earth.
       He will judge the world in righteousness
       and the peoples in His truth.

Our God is good! And worthy of all our thanksgiving and praise!

Let us sing praise to Him when we arise and sing praise to Him when we lie down. For our God alone is worthy of our praise.

Who else can place the stars in the heavens or hang the moon in the sky? Who else can create something out of nothing? Only our great God for He alone is God of all and He reigns forevermore.

Psalm 98

 ¹ Sing to the LORD a new song,
       for He has done marvelous things; 
       His right hand and His holy arm
       have worked salvation for Him.

 ² The LORD has made His salvation known
       and revealed His righteousness to the nations.
³ He has remembered His love
       and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;
       all the ends of the earth have seen
       the salvation of our God.

 ⁴ Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth,
       burst into jubilant song with music;
 ⁵ make music to the LORD with the harp,
       with the harp and the sound of singing,
 ⁶ with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn—
       shout for joy before the LORD, the King.

⁷ Let the sea resound, and everything in it,
       the world, and all who live in it.
⁸ Let the rivers clap their hands,
      Let the mountains sing together for joy;
⁹ let them sing before the LORD,
       for He comes to judge the earth.
       He will judge the world in righteousness
       and the peoples with equity.

Our God alone is faithful. He remembers His covenant to us forever. He brings goodness and joy to us, His people and He blesses us and protects us with His mighty right hand. Give thanks to Him for He is good and His mercy endures forever.

Psalm 103

 ¹ Praise the LORD, O my soul;
       all my inmost being, praise His holy name.

 ² Praise the LORD, O my soul,
       and forget not all His benefits-
³ who forgives all your sins
       and heals all your diseases,
⁴ who redeems your life from the pit
       and crowns you with love and compassion,
 ⁵ who satisfies your desires with good things
       so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

God inhabits the praise of His people. He renews us day by day with a youthfulness and a joy that keeps us strong and allows us to soar. Sing His praises out loud. Can you sense His presence all around you as you praise and give thanks to Him along with the psalmist and with me? There is power that wells up within us as we praise and give thanks to the One who loves us more than anybody or anything. His name is Jesus, the Great I AM, the Master of the Universe. Let’s praise Him.

Psalm 103:8-13 & 17

 ⁸ The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
       slow to anger, abounding in love.

 ⁹ He will not always accuse,
       nor will he harbor His anger forever; 
 ¹⁰ He does not treat us as our sins deserve
       or repay us according to our iniquities.

 ¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
       so great is His love for those who fear Him;
¹² as far as the east is from the west,
       so far has He removed our transgressions from us.  ¹³ As a father has compassion on his children,
       so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him;

¹⁷ But from everlasting to everlasting
       the LORD’s love is with those who fear Him,
       and His righteousness with their children’s children

God has forgiven us and keeps forgiving us as we repent before Him. His love for us never ceases. He lifts us up and establishes our feet, our footsteps, on solid ground. He keeps His promises to us always. He is a God who can be trusted. He blesses us with good things. He places His thoughts within us and then grants us the ability to carry them out. He grants us good success. This is our God.

He is compassionate and kind. And His love endures forever. Praise our God forever for He is Good!

Fruitful Growth in the Faith means Good Success

Don’t Put It Off

2 Peter 1:4-11     The Message (MSG)

Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received! We were also given absolutely terrific promises to pass on to you—your tickets to participation in the life of God after you turned your back on a world corrupted by lust.

 So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus. Without these qualities you can’t see what’s right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books.

So, friends, confirm God’s invitation to you, his choice of you. Don’t put it off; do it now. Do this, and you’ll have your life on a firm footing, the streets paved and the way wide open into the eternal kingdom of our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The Word of God speaks.

Take it. Run with it.

Don’t put it off for another minute.

It is yours.

 

The Power of Passion and Purpose

Passion!…  Is it a part of your life? What about purpose? I know for myself, there have been times in my life that the answer to these questions would have been a resounding… NO! But God didn’t leave me that way, and He won’t leave you that way either. He has a much better plan.

God wants us to live in His abundance, abundance of knowledge, abundance of love, abundance of His peace. His plan is for us to live the blessing. The Bible calls it the blessing of Abraham and according to the Word, this blessing is huge.  See Galatians 3:13 – 14 and Deuteronomy 28. And God’s ultimate desire outside of salvation, which by the way includes the blessing, is for us to walk in this grace, this favor, without measure.

I don’t know about you, but this gets me excited! It gives me zeal and an enthusiasm to go after all that God has for me and to go after it with all that is within me. Once we see, in the Word of God that we can live in the fullness of God and His blessing then nothing can stop us. The passion and excitement begin to rise up within us and we become a powerhouse for God.

There is much that He wants us to do, much that we have been called to do, for His Kingdom. But we will never get it done unless we begin to tap into the resources that God has made available to us. How do we do this?

Joshua 1: 8-9   AMP  This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success. Have not I commanded you? Be strong, vigorous, and very courageous. Be not afraid, neither be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

How do we make our way successful and prosperous and full of the blessing of the Lord in order to fulfill our calling in the Kingdom? By meditating on the Word of God day and night. How will this help, you may ask. First of all, to do so solidifies the truths of God’s word way down deep into your spirit, so that it becomes like the very breath that you breathe, which in turn means that when situations arise, you will automatically take the wisdom of the Word which has become a part of you and begin to walk it out.

This in turn will make you prosperous and successful to whatever you put your hand to, because God’s truth and wisdom supersedes any other wisdom out there and you will have an advantage you have never dreamed of.

So get excited! Your purpose is before you dressed in the passion and excitement and success of the Lord. Go for it!