Everything We Need

Everything

It's an extraordinary truth that God sent His perfect Son, to be the perfect Sacrifice, to pay the price for sins He did not commit. And having paid that price, God then opens the doorway to heaven so that you and I can enter into a relationship with Him, through faith in His Son's offering. If the story ended there, we would have nothing for which to complain or any ground from which to demand or request more.

Amazingly, the story doesn't end there!

Not only does God bridge the gap that allows us to enter into relationship with Him, but then within that relationship He gives us "everything we need" to live a godly life that is pleasing TO Him, and rewarded BY Him. He doesn't just want us to be saved from our sinful condition, He wants us to flourish in life as we cling to Him.

So whatever is happening in your life today, whether you are experiencing the joyful view from the top of the mountain, or you're feeling the cold angst of being trapped in the valley of the shadow of death, remember that all you need is at your disposal. Cling to Jesus and find Him sufficient to make your joy greater or to shine a light in the darkness.

Keep Your Eyes on Jesus

Focus

As we continue to invest full-time in students here in Kalkaska county, we are reminded that we must make a conscious effort to fix our eyes on Jesus, and not lose sight of Him and what He is doing in our lives.

Whatever it is you are facing in life, don't forget to give yourself a regular spiritual eye exam: make sure you are staying fixed on Jesus! Spend time with Jesus, every day, listening to Him through His Word and through constant and regular time in prayer. Don't wait for that connection to happen...create the space and opportunity so that in all things, at all times, you can keep your eyes fixed on Jesus!

Jesus doesn't promise us an easy path, He just promises to walk with us through any path. So whatever path you are on, keep your eyes fixed on Him. And THANK YOU for praying for us to do the same as our journey into rural America continues.

Whatever You Do...

Commit to the Lord

Thinking back to when Traci and I moved our family to Michigan five years ago, it must seem funny to God what plans we had made. We knew we were following His lead, and without a shadow of doubt we know that everything that transpired was because of His perfect planning, but we thought we knew the details of His work. We thought we had grasped the precision with which He orchestrates life events and we were trusting our understanding as much as we were trusting His leading.

When everything hit the fan, we understood the difference between what we know, and what He knows; between our planning and His. As created finite beings, we can only work with what's within our realm of knowledge and understanding, but with God, He sees the first from the last, the start from the finish and He sees all of it for everyone at any given moment.

These words of Solomon (put together by my good friend, Danny Ray), remind us to commit our work to the Lord, while leaving the setting of plans and course to Him. Yes, we must make plans and prayerful pursue the works/paths/passions/love that God has put in our hearts, but ultimately we must do so with an openness for the Almighty Creator God of the universe to intervene in order to give us what's best according to His limitless knowledge!

I hope you are committing your ways to the Lord, but leaving room for Him to establish the path. Then, no matter how difficult the journey, you know you are exactly where He wants you to be.