A Strong Foundation

We are gearing-up for our next building drive, A Strong Foundation, realizing that in order to expand our facilities and build our sanctuary we need to pay down our debt so that we’ll be in good financial shape when we do build. We need to take care of our own personal foundations as well, so that we can be equipped for the journey to which God has called us.

Our foundation is what makes us who we are. Our egos and our souls make up this foundation, influenced by our heritage, faith, environment and actions. To have a strong foundation, God has to have a central place. If God comes into your life for just an hour on Sunday that is a sign that your foundation is not as strong as it might be. The strong foundation that Jesus wants us to build is our spirit; Jesus wants us to strengthen the light within us. By doing this, we grow in faith, love and devotion. We become the light of Christ for the world. Build your foundation by spending time alone with God, reading and contemplating God’s Word, in prayer and meditation, and perseverance. The spirit grows on it’s own time.

God of Light, look upon me with favor, and help me to realize and grow the light that is within me.  Amen.

First Things First

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells his followers not to worry so much about the everyday concerns of life, but to “seek first the kingdom of God.” Well, where is it, and how do we find it?  The kingdom of God is within you and you find it by looking for it.

Jesus said “I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30) and in verse 38, he goes on to say that “I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” God’s kingdom is in you.  Jesus says “Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened. (Matt 7:7)   

What Jesus is telling us is that we should raise our own God consciousness or our awareness of God’s presence within ourselves by going inward and looking for it and praying for it to be revealed. The difficulty we have doing that is that our egos block anything that tries to dominate them. Prayer, meditation, and contemplation of God’s Word are the tools we need to use if we are to experience God’s presence within and find the kingdom of God.

Gracious God, help me to experience you presence within so that I know that you are in me and I am in you.  Amen.  

I Have Seen the Lord!

The resurrection of Jesus is the seminal event of his ministry.  The physical body of Jesus died on the cross on that terrible Friday but his spirit survived. He was seen in his glorified body by his followers on that following Sunday morning.   Christ took the punishment we deserve so that we might claim the salvation given to us through his sacrifice. For us, this means that this life we live is not all that there is.  Our spirit, united with Christ, will live on after we have completed our span of years.  That is the great hope we have as followers of Jesus.

As believers, we should be doing everything in our power to carefully follow the teachings of Jesus, so that our spirits can develop and grow.  In John 6: 63-64, Jesus says that “it is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless.   The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But among you there are some who do not believe.”   Jesus came that we might have life, and have it abundantly.  [John 10:10].  It is there for us to grasp.  Read the words of Jesus; contemplate them in the quiet of your heart.  Let them bring you to fullness of faith and a life of unimaginable joy so that you, like Mary, might proclaim, “I have seen the Lord!”

Holy Jesus, grant us the wisdom and the tenacity to focus ourselves upon you and the marvelous gift of eternal life that you offer.  Amen