the Passover Lamb of God...

As another Passover is celebrated
The foreshadowing of what was to come
Celebrating a future fulfillment of the promise
A promise made from the foundation of the world
The Passover Lamb of God

His broken body would be pierced for our transgressions
He would be crushed for our iniquities
By His scourging we would be healed
He would be poured out even to death for our sin
His blood would be shed to overcome death’s sting
The Passover Lamb of God

And yet, He was despised and forsaken of men
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him
The Passover Lamb of God

The Righteous One who came to serve
His sacrifice made, the price paid that many might be set free
Redemption accomplished through an act of His loving-kindness
Grace and mercy interceding for our transgressions
The Passover Lamb of God

Salvation is among us, liberty and life anew
Rejoice for He has risen, Rejoice for He is alive
Our Passover Lamb of God
Our Redeemer, Our Savior, Our Lord
Jesus

in the power....

In the power of the Spirit - how powerful is the Spirit of God?
Within the body of Christ we seem to have some concerns regarding His power working in our lives today. If He is the same yesterday, today and His power does not and has not and will not change.
God has graciously given us His Spirit to abide in us and His Spirit comes with power - the power of God to fully preach and live the whole gospel of Christ. It is not a watered down spirit that has been somehow minimized for our day...it is the power of God in all its miraculous working.
Might we fully trust in the Lord and the power of His might allowing the Spirit to work the works of the Lord in and through us to reveal the miraculous power of the gospel of Christ in our daily lives.

...in the power of signs and wonders,
in the power of the Spirit...
I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.
Romans 15:19 

now is the time....

Now is the time.....
for the darkness is raging as the voices of evil attempt to claim their ground...

whatever is true,
whatever is honorable,
whatever is right,
whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely,
whatever is of good repute,
dwell on these things.

Philippians 4:8

whiners and complainers and murmurers...

Abounding in thanksgiving....

Overflowing with gratitude.... 

Rejoicing with praise and worship....

For His mercy and grace and lovingkindness...

We have really become a nation of whiners and complainers and murmurers who focus on what we see as wrong or unjust or irksome to our sensibilities. We seem to have picked up the pace of this attitude over that last several years where it permeates just about all of our lives.

As one who serves an amazing God it has become clear to me that we must move from whining and complaining to praise, thanksgiving, gratitude, worship and Spirit lead prayer....honoring the Lord for all of His lovingkindness and mercy and grace and provision and providence in our lives. As my wife is founding of saying "complaining doesn’t change the problem, only prayer will".

Have it your way?

The struggle with living the authentic, Jesus filled, abundant life has to do with the worldly forces that capture our attention from the moment we awaken in the morning. The draw of the world, its time schedules, its appointments, its daily setbacks, trials and frustrations along with its overly obsessive ways keep us from truly following His Way. And then you have the enemy's deviousness that ensnares us and trips us up from following His Way.

I am reminded of the Burger King commercial - "Have it your way". That is the way that we live in this world - attempting to have it our own way. But having it our own way is not the blessing of abundant life. It is not fulfilling the calling that our Lord has upon our lives. When we set out on the path to have it our own way we no longer live in our new life in Christ, we return to the grave of our hopeless life.

We may believe that living our life His Way will be too onerous, to risky, and might seem foolish to the world. Or that the Lord really doesn’t care about our everyday life - He is just interested in Sunday mornings or when we find ourselves in some sort of a jam. And this calls to mind the old Ford Motor Company commercial - "We have a better idea". How can we have a better idea for our lives than the One who created us? Yet we strive on somehow believing that we have become intelligent enough and so full of wisdom that we do have a better idea than He does for the way we live our lives.  

We need to be either cold (live our way) or hot (live His Way) and not attempt to be luke warm (trying to straddle the line between both worlds). Are we committed and convinced that we need to live our life in Christ - His Way - or are we going to be a fair weather friend who only comes around in time of need? I want to encourage you that now is time to live His Way and that He has promised that the Holy Spirit will lead us and guide us - what more could we ask?