Thought of the week for Feb 21st.

How many of you have listened the song by Mandisa "He is with you"? Every time I hear the song I am moved!! Here are some of her lyrics that stand out in my mind. "He is with you when your faith is dead", "He is with you in the ICU when you dont even know what to do", "He is with you when your hearts are stone". Besides the fact she has a beautiful voice, her message gives us assurance and comfort that our God is with us when we feel dead inside, hopeless when we see a loved one sick or suffer, or just feel plain stuck in life. Matt 28:11 says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Do you need to feel God's presence in your life right now? His word promises us that when we call upon him for hope, healing, and love, "He is with us." There is just something about God's character that lets us deeply know He loves and cares for us when we are hurt, afraid, or dont know which way to go. I challenge you this week to find something in your life that demonstrates, "He is with you."

Thought of the week for Feb. 6th

If you havent had the chance to see the movie The book of Eli, I encourage you to do so. There was a saying in the movie that struck my thoughts I would like to share with you this week. I'm not sure if the words are verbatim so please excuse me. At various parts in the movie, Eli kept saying, "keep your eye on the path, dont stray from the path." You have to see the movie to really get a sense of what he was saying. The message I took was its so easy to allow outside circumstances distract us from continuing on your God given path. God gives us opportunities to choose our path in life, are we willing to choose the right one?? I believe most of us want to choose the right path, but lets face the truth, in this world it is easy to get distracted!! Eli was committed to carry out the vision God had given him until the very end, through thick and thin. He literally "walked by faith, not by sight." Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." I believe a faith that says, I'm not sure how this is going to work out but I'm going to continue to press on and leave it in God's hands, is what allows us to stay focused on our God given path. Is there something in your life you need to exercise a greater faith so you can continue to march on the right path? Eli was a great example for all of us to stay focused on God's truth (the bible), so we don't allow ourselves to get distracted from walking the right path.