I am not posting this on Monday like I usually do.  It is actually Good Friday today.  And I hope that all of you who are reading this are not skipping over a day like this to get to Easter.  We need to take time and remember all that Jesus did for us on this day almost 2000 years ago.  In fact, as I was reminded while reading my devotions this morning, we are only about 8 years away from that 2000 year mark when Jesus was crucified (most likely in 33 AD).  So take a moment to think about all the pain and suffering Jesus undertook in or that we would have salvation from our sins.

The song that we sang on Sunday has been going around in my head for the last several days.  And it connected perfectly with Pastor Joe’s message.  The chorus goes “Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blest. Finding as He promised, perfect peace and rest.”  There is not a more pleasant place than to be in the center of God’s will.  When we fully trust in him, we will find the peace and rest in his goodness and mercy that Joe talked about.  When we trust him with all of our tomorrows based on his faithfulness with all of our yesterdays, we will have a restful today.  Are you trusting in all that God has done for you?

I asked a very probing question at the end of my message yesterday and I believe it is a question every Christian needs to be asking God and thinking carefully about.  The question is “What new thing is God calling me to do?”  What is God wanting to accomplish in your life?  I hope this question spurs you to look at your life and how God wants to work in and through it.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day.  Hopefully you are wearing green.  For you Bible trivia fans, the word Green is uses 22 times in the Bible (NIV) usually used to describe plants.  Probably the most famous passage with the word green is Psalm 23.  Do you know what it is without looking it up?

God does not need much in order to make a big difference.  This is seen very clearly in the miracle in John 6 about his feeding of 5000.  And so the question I left pondering yesterday was, “What are some little things that I think are small or insignificant that I have which God can use to make a huge difference?”  It is the idea of the mustard seed of faith that Jesus expresses in the 3 synoptic gospels (Matt 13:31, 17:20; Mark 4:31; Luke 13:19, 17:6). If you look up those verses you see that small things can grow into large things (a small seed into a large tree).  But in two of them (the second ones in Matt and Luke) Jesus likens it to our faith.  It does not take much faith to do incredible things.  But what I find interesting is that, when you compare those two verses in Matt Jesus says that you will be able to command a mountain to be moved, where as Luke says a mulberry tree.  This tells me that most likely, even though these are similar comments, since they are so different, they probably were not spoken on the same occasion.  So Jesus speaks about having a small faith capable of doing mighty things on multiple occasions.  (Context also seems to put these sayings at different points of Jesus’ ministry). So this is not a one off type of saying or Jesus using hyperbole in one sense.  Jesus is saying many times that you do not need much faith to do incredible things.  So put your little faith in God and he can help you do incredible things.

We are in a new month and the transition from winter to spring is starting.  Maybe you need to start thinking about the spiritual transition from winter (deadness) to spring (new life).  If this is you, please feel free to reach out to me.  I would love to tell you how Jesus can make a real difference in your life (and more importantly in the life to come).

The water coming over Niagara Falls is powerful . . . to say the least.  But do you realize that water much more powerful than that can live inside your heart.  Have you tapped into that power?  If not, maybe you need to.  It is there waiting for you.

There are many ways to describe being saved.  Salvation, justification, made righteous, cleansed from sin, baptized in the Spirit, made new, etc.  But the one John uses is born again.  Born to make you as fresh and new as if you were from your mother’s womb.  But also born from above with God’s righteousness.  But the aspect that I like the most about being born again is the completeness that comes from rebirth.  All of the old things have been wiped away.  The past is gone, dead, and buried.  So we can start again with a clean slate.  But the challenge comes when I ask, “What are we going to put on that clean slate?”  Do not ruin it with more sin and disobedience.  Make positive steps toward becoming more like Jesus.  And you can start afresh today!