Wednesday, February 1, 2006
My grandson is 26 months old and, for some reason, he enjoys numbers, shapes and letters. He can name all the letters in the alphabet and all the letters. A few weeks ago he was sitting on my lap and counted to 16. He recognizes shapes like circles, hearts, triangles and squares. When I asked his mother, our daughter, if she was working with him on these things all the time she said she worked with him some but that he picked up on a lot of it on his own.
That may work with small children but when it comes to learning about the things of God, most people do not just “pick it up on their own.” People need mature, disciplined, learned Christians to teach young Christians the A,B,C’s of the faith. I look at it this way;
A is for the attitude that it takes to teach others.
B is for the beautiful attitude it takes to teach others.
C is for the constant beautiful attitude that it takes to teach others.
So then why is it that it is so difficult to find teachers in the church these days? Must have something to do with attitude!
– Lyn Sahr
-Phil 2:5-11 NIV
Our attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7 but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death-
even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
While walking to school, children often day dream about what they are going to do with their lives when they grow up. Most of us had some kind of dreams or aspirations as children only to discover that “adult life” is different than those childhood days. Yet, in the walk of faith Jesus said that our faith should be that of children. I understand the innocence and expectancy of children when it comes to God but I have since considered the obedience factor. Children are expected to obey their parents and in our faith we should be like children, obeying our heavenly Father. Children also want to please their parents and we too should be like children, wanting to please our heavenly Father. Childlike faith opens heavens doors of possibility to the impossible!
– Lyn Sahr
-Phil 2:14-18 NIV
Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15 so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe 16 as you hold out the word of life-in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing. 17 But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. 18 So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.
Monday, January 30, 2006
God wants to bless us but He desires even more to have fellowship with us. It would seem to me that He will withhold His blessings for the sake of bringing us to a place of fellowshipping with Him. However, too often in the midst of feeling “unblessed” or in the peak of our needs we break fellowship with God instead of clinging to Him.
If you want to and need to be blessed, run to the One who is able to bless you!
-Lyn Sahr
-John 1:14-17 NIV
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.'” 16 From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Looking in the mirror requires braveness. Yesterday I looked in the mirror for a moment and thought to myself, “I have got to lose some weight!” Yes, it takes courage to pause for a moment and evaluate our physical condition. Often we recognize the problems but do little to make the changes needed for optimum health.
So it is in the spiritual world. Many people never take the time to look in the spiritual mirror on their own. And the focus of many of our churches practices today is to be non-confrontive with the congregation.
As a pastor, I thought that it was my job to periodically pull out the big spiritual mirror, hold it up in front of the congregation through a sermon and get them to take a good look at themselves and ask the questions that matter:
Have you made a decision for Jesus Christ?
Do you have any unforgiveness you are harboring?
How is your spiritual condition?
Is there any need for change or improvement in your walk with God?
Who are you kidding? Certainly not God!
Can I pray for you right now for strength and courage to be honest with yourself and seek God’s divine help to have a closer walk with Him.
Spiritual change is often a slow process requiring many challenging mirror experiences. Often it brings out the worst yuk in people and splatters all over the church creating hatred, bitterness, anger, destruction and division in the body of Christ. But God is in the business of yuk cleanup if we will just look in our spiritual mirror.
Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who has the most yuk of all?
Father God up in heaven,
May my heart be the unleavened.
But someone has to hold up the mirror. When was the last time your pastor held up the spiritual mirror to your congregation and asked the questions that matter?
– Lyn Sahr
-John 6:32-40 NIV
Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 “Sir,” they said, “from now on give us this bread.”
35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Saturday January 28, 2006
I learn so much from my kids. My three-year old is in that stage that when she does something she knows is wrong, she will sometimes deny it to my wife and me.
The other night at dinner we had chocolate cake. Afterwards, we placed it in the refrigerator and went downstairs to work on a project. Several minutes later our 11-year old daughter called us upstairs to a chocolate mess in the refrigerator. We had a pretty good idea who had made it, and when we called to Kathryn, our 3-year old, she came slowly down the hall with chocolate frosting all over her face. We asked her if she made this mess, and of course she said “no,” it wasn’t me. Well, the proof was on her face and we cleaned up her face and disciplined her for lying.
The bible says that God know all of our mistakes (sins), and we cannot hide any from him. In fact, he knows all the mistakes that we will make before we will make them, and he still loves us. The problem is, many of us keep making the same mistakes, and never “fess up” to making the mistake. When God tugs at our heart about some area with mistakes in it, we many times tell him “No God, that’s not a mistake in my life.” In other words….God has caught us with “frosting on our face.”
As my daughter learned, had she only told us the truth (which we already knew), we might have shared a bit of laughter over her chocolate beard, instead of having to discipline her for not telling the truth. God is the same way.
No matter what kind of “chocolate mess” you have in your life, God is willing to clean it up! He’s ready, willing and waiting to talk to you about your mistakes today.
-Garrett Novak
-1 John 1:9 (The Message)
On the other hand, if we admit our sins–make a clean breast of them–he won’t let us down; he’ll be true to himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing.
Friday, January 27, 2006
The betrayal of a friend whose heart has been poisoned by evil is hurtful and may have long term consequences. But when that person is a brother or sister in Christ who is supposed to love you, the consequences could be eternal. But even Jesus had a friend, Judas, who betrayed Him. Interestingly enough the eternal consequences appear to be the lost soul of Judas, the betrayer. The betrayer is always the one at eternal risk, not the betrayed.
If you have betrayed a friend, confess and seek forgiveness from your friend and God as the eternal consequences may be too great for you to bear. Losing a friend is one thing, losing eternity is another!
-Lyn Sahr
-Matt 16:24-28 NIV
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. 28 I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
Thursday, January 26, 2006
The good news is not so much that Jesus saves and God loves you but rather that you accepted His salvation and freely share His love with others. Now that’s good news!
-Lyn Sahr
-Zeph 3:17 NIV
The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
For those who think that life is supposed to fit into a nice, neat box, remember that throughout the entire story of creation God did not create a single box! But I do remember reading after the fall about pain, thorns, thistles and sweat.
-Lyn Sahr
-Gen 3:16-19 NIV
To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” 17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
The business community is pretty smart. They have developed a holiday every so many weeks to encourage spending. What if God thought along these same lines, allowing a crisis every so many weeks to encourage prayer!
-Lyn Sahr
-Heb 3:12-13 NIV
See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
Monday, January 23, 2006
(Today we are putting the finishing touches on a short term mission’s trip to Mexico March 10-17th with teens from a Christian school. Please begin to pray for these kids now and their safety and ministry while they are in Monterrey . This will be a wonderful experience for them.)
God brings something to every table that is often forgotten by many Christians, the opportunity to say “Thank you!”
Don’t take your daily bread for granted. I meet people everyday who don’t have any.
-Lyn Sahr
-Prov 30:7-9 NIV
“Two things I ask of you, O LORD;
do not refuse me before I die:
8 Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.
9 Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God.
Sunday, January 22, 2006
What did you have for dinner today? Some people sat down to eat a nice Sunday dinner after church but dined on “Roast Preacher” for the main course. It is very, very sad what we are seeing in many churches today. Neither the pastors nor the people respect, show love for or pray for each other. We should not be surprised because losing our secondary loves is the result losing our first love.
The fracturing behavior that we are witnessing in the church today is a result of the fractured relationship people have with God, not each other!
– Lyn Sahr
-Rev 2:4-5 NIV
Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5 Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.
Saturday, January 21, 2006
God created us in His image, which included the ability to give and receive love. If we were created only in His appearance physically and not characteristically, we would be creatures without conscience and with empty souls. I believe He placed His image (of His heart) into our hearts and as we grow spiritually that image turns into a clear picture of His love for us, in us and through us.
I am convinced that I will never look like God but perhaps my heart will take on a resemblance of His love and make a difference in the lives of others.
– Lyn Sahr
-Ps 33:12-15 NIV
Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance. 13 From heaven the LORD looks down and sees all mankind; 14 from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth– 15 he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do.
Friday, January 20, 2006
Yesterday I got up early and headed out to tow a minivan, that we are fixing the transmission, behind our big white 12 passenger 1 ton van on a tow dolly. It started snowing so heavily I decided wait until today to make sure I would not get stuck in the snow. I left the vans at a business in town so I wouldn’t have to back in or turn around in the morning. So this morning I left the house at 7:15 a.m. to pick up the vans and tow the minivan to the transmission shop.
The first thing is that someone had parked in front of me so I could not drive straight through, meaning I would have to back up the van with the tow dolly and the minivan on behind. The second problem was that it snowed four inches yesterday and the parking lot wasn’t plowed and there was ice under the snow. Sure enough, I got stuck, had to take car off the dolly and and have the big van towed out. Then I had to reload the minivan and finally got on my way after stopping for gas and putting air in the trailer tires.
The twenty five minute drive to the transmission garage was fine. The shop is three miles out in the country from a town north of here. When I got to the shop there was a gas truck stopped in the other lane facing me and two cars approaching from behind it and two more coming behind me as I began to turn into the driveway. Suddenly I realized that the driveway had not been plowed and there was a couple of tire treads through the snow guiding my way. As I made the turn, the van started to spin on the ice under the snow and veered off the track. For the second time, I was stuck and would need to get towed out. So I walked up the inclined, rather long drive way to the shop and the door was locked. The sign said his hours were 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. I looked at my watch and it was 9 a.m. but no one was anywhere to be found. So I walked over to the owner’s house, he lived only a short distance from the shop, and knocked on his door. No answer. I called his number on my cell phone and, no answer. So I walked back down to the end of the driveway and across the road to see if he was working on the stalled gas truck but it wasn’t him.
I unloaded the minivan off the trailer and tried to drive the van up the driveway with the trailer behind. I was so close so many times of making it out on my own but I just couldn’t quite make it. Suddenly I noticed a man walking by the shop and he went over, got on the tractor, started it and backed down the driveway. It was the owner of the shop. He already had a tow strap attached to the tractor so I could tell he was used to pulling people out who were stuck in his driveway. Once he attached the tractor to the van he pulled me to high ground and safe going! Then I drove the minivan to the shop leaving a trail of red transmission fluid up the driveway, marking my path. Funny thing about automatic transmissions, there is no power without that red fluid.
I drove home in relative peace thinking about what a rotten day I was having. I thought about how on Calvary , it wasn’t such a good day for Jesus either. Things didn’t appear to be going to good for Him. I realize that it is because of his shed red blood that we have the power to overcome circumstances that sometimes seem to get the best of us.
How I felt being stuck the second time today is a little about how I feel about funding Home and Away Ministries (Ruby’s Pantry). We are financially stuck, we can’t seem to get out and we need a financial tow from God and His people. It is hard to understand how we can knock on God’s door repeatedly and He doesn’t seem to answer. Then like the man on the tractor, He quietly, confidently tows us out of the rut we are in. We are waiting for a desperately needed financial tow for God. Please continue to pray for our ministries.
-Lyn Sahr
-Rom 12:3-8 NIV
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
I stopped at a McDonalds yesterday and walked by a table where a young man was eating french fries with his catsup! He had a small order of fries and he had a large drink cover lying on the table which he had heaped with catsup. As I looked at the peculiar sight for some reason I thought about so many churches today, they want a small order of the main course and a whole lot of condiments!
-Lyn Sahr
-Ps 119:105,111,112 NIV
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.
111 Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart. 112 My heart is set on keeping your decrees to the very end.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
In recent weeks we faced the reality and the most difficult decision that Ruby’s Pantry (Home and Away Ministries) did not have the funding to maintain the ministry and, therefore, we are listing the building for sale. It sure doesn’t seem to make any sense as we are in a position to help the rural communities in northern Minnesota and Wisconsin where there are many people of low resources and who have great needs. Often the ministry of surplus food distribution in larger quantities is being done only in the larger cities and the rural communities do not have the same level of access. So, from a human standpoint, it makes no sense to us that we do not have the funds to do this and share the gospel at the same time.
Some obviously think and say that God must not be in this or it would be blessed. To a certain degree I agree except that there are many good ministries facing closure these days because of lack of funding. These ministries depend upon God, as do we, for their needs but God depends upon people to carry out His will. In other words, if God speaks to people about contributing to certain ministries financially and the people do not respond, chances are the ministry goes without until someone is obedient to God’s call.
In our case, I cannot speak for God. We as a board do not understand the lack of response and the lack of funding from people. But we are guided by the reality of finances. Therefore, we place it in God’s hands and we accept it. So will Ruby’s Pantry continue? Will the building be sold? Even the ChurchMouse has viability questions although it has little overhead. Will our Mexico ministry cease to exist? It really is up to God. We have done and continue to do all we can and we are leaving the rest in His hands.
You see, there is usually no sin in the failure of something we are trying to do that is good for people and beneficial to the kingdom of God . The real sin is never trying to do anything.
(Ministry has never been easy. Read below the words of Paul.)
– Lyn Sahr
-2 Cor 6:3-10 NIV
We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. 4 Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; 5 in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; 6 in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; 7 in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; 8 through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; 9 known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; 10 sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Without repentance, man cannot have peace with God.
– Lyn Sahr
-Acts 3:19 NIV
Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,..
Monday, January 16, 2006
History tells us that each of us, no matter how important we may be or think we are, plays a very small role in history. Some people are remembered for generations as they are immortalized by books and legends but most people are forgotten by the time two generations pass. But God will never forget us and has made a place for us in eternity to be with Him forever. Considering this, I find it difficult to comprehend why people run to the world temporal and away from God the eternal.
Perhaps even the bigger question is, “Where is the church running to?”
– Lyn Sahr
-1 John 5:20-21 NIV
We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true-even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. 21 Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Focusing on worship is impossible when we stand before God with unforgiveness in our hearts. Perhaps this could explain all the strife we see in our churches today.
It reminds me of when I was a little boy and my mother was trying to water the flowers. I stepped on the hose and the water would not come out to water the flowers. As long as I had my foot on that hose, the flowers went without water and they would eventually face the risk of dying if I continued in my ways. So it is with people in the church with unrepentant and unforgiving hearts. Not only does their attitude and behavior destroy their relationship with God it also causes others to lose joy and face the road of spiritual dryness. In fact, whole churches are often destroyed by even one or two people who have hearts of stone.
If your heart is turned to stone you better seek the “Rock” of your salvation. You can start by taking your foot off the hose!
– Lyn Sahr
-Ezek 11:19-21 NIV
I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. 20 Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God. 21 But as for those whose hearts are devoted to their vile images and detestable idols, I will bring down on their own heads what they have done, declares the Sovereign LORD.”
Saturday, January 14, 2006
When we wait for God, we must remember that we live on His timetable. I have learned that God is much more patient than I am. I say, “I want it now!” God says, “I want it in the fullness of time.” Too often we interpret waiting as a no from God. Because we can’t see over the hill doesn’t mean the road doesn’t continue!
– Lyn Sahr
-2 Chron 20:15-16 NIV
This is what the LORD says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.
Saturday, January 14, 2006
When we wait for God, we must remember that we live on His timetable. I have learned that God is much more patient than I am. I say, “I want it now!” God says, “I want it in the fullness of time.” Too often we interpret waiting as a no from God. Because we can’t see over the hill doesn’t mean the road doesn’t continue!
– Lyn Sahr
-2 Chron 20:15-16 NIV
This is what the LORD says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.
Friday, January 13, 2005
Many people gauge how “good” they are by comparing themselves to others . A wise many gauges his goodness by God to get an accurate view of humanity.
– Lyn Sahr
-Phil 2:13 NIV
“…for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Martin Luther was convicted that there needed to be reforming in the Roman Catholic Church. So he went against the authority of the church and stood for change. It cost him dearly but it paid huge dividends even through today. But he didn’t do it on his own. Going against the grain takes a lot of God!
– Lyn Sahr
-Ps 18:30-33 NIV
0 As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him. 31 For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God? 32 It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. 33 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights.
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
If money was the light we were to live by, the early church fathers would have had it put in book form, bound in leather and told us to read it everyday!
– Lyn Sahr
-Heb 13:5 NIV
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
When a local church depends more on money than on God, they will have neither!
-Lyn Sahr
-Matt 6:24 NIV
“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
Monday, January 9, 2006
The level of the love of God that one has allowed in their life is directly related to the radiance of His love shining on the lives of others through us. Perhaps it is said best in the old children’s chorus, “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine.”
More love, more light!
-Lyn Sahr
-Ps 112:4 NIV
Even in darkness light dawns for the upright,
for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man.
Sunday, January 8, 2006
This week Ruby’s Pantry received 28 pallets of corporate surplus food and goods to distribute into the rural communities. This morning, as I write, two churches in two rural communities will be passing out food to approximately 365 families. This is activated ministry as people gather before they get the food and they are ministered to briefly through the Word, testimonies and a devotional. And there are prayer requests. This is a wonderful ministry in those churches.
There are many ways to reach out in the name of Jesus to touch people’s lives. But the question I have for you today is, “What is your church doing to reach out and touch the lives in your community?” Write it down and email ( lyn.sahr@churchmouse.net ) me as I would love to hear what your church is doing outside of its walls. If you can’t think of anything, I would like to hear that too. And then I would like to hear from you as to what you are doing personally to reach out to people in your life. If you can’t think of anything, I would like to hear that too.
Reaching out to those in need is a real risk. You may have a life changing experience that makes you as crazy as I am!
– Lyn Sahr
-Ps 69:32-33 NIV
The poor will see and be glad– you who seek God, may your hearts live! 33 The LORD hears the needy and does not despise his captive people.
Saturday, January 7, 2006
I cannot change my past, but because of my past I am changed!
-Garrett Novak
-Phil 3:13-14 NIV
Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Friday, January 6, 2006
If gossip is the queen of sin, repeating it is king!
– Lyn Sahr
-Jer 51:45-48 NIV
“Come out of her, my people! Run for your lives! Run from the fierce anger of the LORD. 46 Do not lose heart or be afraid when rumors are heard in the land; one rumor comes this year, another the next, rumors of violence in the land and of ruler against ruler. 47 For the time will surely come when I will punish the idols of Babylon ; her whole land will be disgraced and her slain will all lie fallen within her. 48 Then heaven and earth and all that is in them will shout for joy over Babylon, for out of the north destroyers will attack her,” declares the LORD.
Thursday, January 5, 2006
The lessons of life are often learned by the mistakes we make and, although it can happen, rarely do we learn from the mistakes of others. When people mess up, which is going to happen, we must find the place of understandings in our hearts to give them the ultimate grace. Too often we want grace for ourselves but find it difficult to allow others to receive it or for us to extend it to them. Grace is not just a girls name but rather a name that God gave to an action of His love.
– Lyn Sahr
-1 Cor 10:13 NIV
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
Wednesday, January 4, 2006
Over the last few days there has been tragedy for thirteen coal miners and their families in West Virginia . First the message came that all were alive but one and then three hours later the families and the world found out that it was a miscommunication, all were dead but one. Miscommunication is heart wrenching.
Miscommunication usually causes unneeded pain. Often it comes in the form of gossip and in the church we call it sharing. Churches can be ripped apart and dear people wounded for life because of miscommunication. Don’t mistake gossip as ministry or helping people, even if the gossip is true!
The coal miner’s families experienced unneeded and unmerited pain because of miscommunication. The same holds true for people in our churches. Miscommunication never helped anyone.
– Lyn Sahr
-Luke 6:45 NIV
The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.
Tuesday, January 3, 2006
We live by faith, not in what we have control of or know for fact except one thing; that God has each of us in His hand and He loves us! So as we begin the journey of 2006 seeking God for direction as His children. The songwriter wrote, “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness.” Perhaps we could sing the song, “My plan is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness.”
– Lyn Sahr
-Prov 14:22 NIV
Do not those who plot evil go astray?
But those who plan what is good find love and faithfulness.
Monday, January 2, 2006
We should not quickly forget the signs of the times to 2005. The natural disasters around the world even caused the nightly news programs to talk about the end of the world. But we should remember that even the end of this world will not be the end as God’s people continue to hold to the promise of eternal life.
– Lyn Sahr
-1 John 5:20 NIV
We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true-even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
Sunday, January 1, 2006
A new year has many opportunities for change but most of these changes can only happen with God’s help. Don’t forget to include Him in your plans.
– Lyn Sahr
-Ps 33:11 NIV
But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever,
the purposes of his heart through all generations.
