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  Love Your Neighbor (Matthew 22:39)   What does it mean to “Love Your Neighbor as Yourself?” It’s easy to say “I love the Lord,” or I love Jesus;” or even to love and take care of ourselves. Some days it’s hard to love my neighbor when my neighbor doesn’t love me. When social media posts of people you considered friends are so hateful and divisive. But who REALLY is our Neighbor ? Jesus has commanded us to love each other, in the same way we take care of ourselves and are concerned about our own interests. It means we should take care and have concern for the interests of others. Respect, honor and dignity. If the love of God is real in our lives, it will be shown by the presence of love for God and for others. In Genesis chapter 1, God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…” God created all of us – mankind – the same; we are made in the image of God, His likeness, His representative. Even though we come from different backgrounds, God’s comm...

How Do We Respond We as Christians are not to live in fear, regardless of our circumstances. The coronavirus reminds us that there are indeed some things beyond our control. It’s an invitation to remember that our times are in God’s hands—that hasn’t changed. The news is swirling with accounts concerning the coronavirus. So many are sick, some have died, and all are impacted by the resultant events in their local communities. God promises to be a safe refuge for us in times of trouble. Psalm 46 begins, "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.” The Lord is our strength who will never abandon us. We may not understand why things happen, but we can always trust that God will sustain us. Praying for each of you to have calm hearts and confidence in our Great God who is in TOTAL control - who reigns SOVEREIGN over every single de...

You Are a Generation Changer “And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”  (Esther 4:14, ESV). You and I are created to be generation changers. This about it. Jesus didn’t die so we could hang on until the rapture and try to do our best until we get to Heaven. There’s a reason He put you on this earth, and it’s to make a difference in your world! God has called you, chosen you, anointed you, and appointed you for such a time as this!

Nobody like you  “ You are the Author, the Creator of it all. You stand alone.” One of the most important facets in our relationship with Jesus is to give Him praise. It’s part of why in many churches around the world we spend at least a portion of the service singing Jesus’ praises through music. Sometimes those praises speak to the goodness of God the father, or Jesus our savior. We praise Holy Spirit for being on our side, or God for his unstoppable might. In the bridge of “Nobody Like You” we give praise to Jesus by recognizing that He is set apart in perfection. And while we recognize that there are indeed kings and rulers here on Earth, NONE of them are King above Jesus Christ. He is king above all. In the same way, there are beautifully built thrones inside of amazing structures all around the world, but all of them are lower than the throne Jesus sits upon. As the author of our salvation and One with God, Jesus’ name is higher than any other name.  The thing...

Life Lessons from the Book of James Each lesson I will be helping you deeper into the book of James—one of the books of the Bible that is most clearly practical to our lives, especially our chosen vocations. Each week, I will focus and reflect on a few key verses from James that are particularly relevant to our busy lives as Christ-Followers; especially those who are embracing the Call to Create. Lesson 1 - Click Here  - Godly Wisdom Lesson 2 - Click Here  - Favoritism Lesson 3 - Click Here  - Self-Ambition  Lesson 4 - Click Here  - Evil Planning Lesson 5 - Click Here  - Living in Luxury The Christian life is a matter of trusting God to provide all things, including wisdom as we work. Take a moment to humbly ask God for wisdom for specific things regarding the work ahead of you each day. Be blessed and be a blessing!

Create in the Spirit  The Spirit of God gives life! If we have life in the Spirit, we must also make our living from the Spirit. Our relationships, our working, our garden-tending, our coffee making, our bread baking, and our resting.  As creatives, we are invited to do our creating in the Spirit. We can write, paint, sing, craft, and dream from our life in the Spirit. Our creative work is a function of the Spirit of God at work in our lives, even if we are not aware. This does not mean that we are bound to insert the name of Jesus into everything that we make, but it does say that our creative inspiration has a common genesis in the activity of the Spirit.   This is the animating force of God that turns the things of death into the stuff of life.   Artists join God in the work of giving context to creation. We are called to shape creation and in that shaping, tell a story about humanity. We tell stories about our life apart from God, and...

Walk By Faith “(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)” ‭‭2 Corinthians ‭5:7‬ ‭[KJV]‬‬ 2 Corinthians ‭5:7‬ ‭(NLT)‬‬ declares, “For we live by believing and not by seeing.” Choose to believe God. Choose to believe His Word. When things are dark around you, choose to lean upon God’s Word. When things are cloudy, choose to be guided by His Counsel. Feed yourself His Word daily. Meditate and focus on His Word both day and night. When you’re walking by faith, you’re choosing to be led by His Word and not by how you may feel. When God tells you to do something, choose to submit and surrender to His command.   ‭‭2 Corinthians ‭5:7‬ ‭(AMPC)‬‬ declares, “For we walk by faith [we regulate our lives and conduct ourselves by our conviction or belief respecting man's relationship to God and divine things, with trust and holy fervor; thus we walk] not by sight or appearance.” Walk in faith and trust God. Choose to trust God. Let His Word regulate your mind, thoughts, and actions...

“Peace, be still" With hurricane Dorian increasing in strength and changing direction with every weather forecast; you might be like me wondering if the decision to stay was a good one. For those of us who live in Florida, we are very familiar with the “hurricane season.” With a hurricane this size and strength might be causing a lot of anxiety. Dorian appears it will not only impact us in Florida but also Georgia and South Carolina. So we must be diligent and heed all the warnings and be prepared to move. These are the words of Jesus: “When evening had come, he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ And he awoke a...

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,   because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. James 1:2-3 (NIV) Count it all joy… James 1:2-3 (NKJV) What does it mean to “count it all joy?” To respond to difficulties with joy seems absurd. James knows this, and so in verse 3 he offers his answer to our natural question: Why should we rejoice in the face of trials? He doesn’t say if you face trials, but whenever you face them. He assumes that we will have trains and that it is possible to profit from them. The point is not to pretend to be happy when we face pain, but to have a positive outlook (“consider it pure joy”) because of what trials can produce in our lives. James tells us to turn our hardships into times of learning. Tough times can teach use perseverance. Trials have a purifying quality; they are the arena in which and the process through which something good develops. Here in James is ...

What kind of pressure do you face at your job? How do you deal with pressure in your relationship? Is peer pressure a problem? In science the concept of pressure in relation to volume also applies in the spiritual world; the more the volume, the less the pressure, and the less the volume, the more the pressure. This is what it means: increase the volume of your prayers, and see the pressure in your life go down. One spiritual tool any child of God can consider as a successful key to life is prayer. When you’re a Christian, prayer becomes a lifelong  devotion  that constantly requires you to understand the word of God and know the will of God.  For a Christian, prayer is one of the most powerful spiritual ingredients that sustain you in this world, which is why you don’t wait for problems before you start doing it. In fact, a prayerless Christian is a borderline Christian who gets worried with things the Bible says are bound to happen. But a prayerful Christian...

Give God your Treasures in Faith  Giving is often considered an act of love. God gave us His Only Son as the truest expression of His love for mankind. God gave us life, salvation, hope and continues to bless us with His wisdom, grace and strength for each new day that we face. What can we give as an expression of our love for God? We can give Him what we treasure as an act of true worship. We might feel the need to give to family because it’s our responsibility. We sometimes give gifts to friends and acquaintances out of formality. We help the poor because they are in need. But God is not our responsibility and He certainly lacks nothing. God doesn’t require our gifts, especially not as a formality. He is God; He can well survive without our meager offerings. It’s important that we choose to give what we treasure to God. Not just what money we have left over after our expenses, tidbits of our talent, or pockets of time when we’re bored. We must give wholehear...

Wisdom From Humility Wisdom is packaged with humility. It is an intricate part of humility. Humility contains an enormous amount of valued content. Indeed, wisdom is one of its highly revered resources. If you want wisdom, you will appropriate humility into your heart. Humility delivers wisdom as a chauffeur delivers his client. Wisdom travels with humility. In some ways, wisdom takes a back seat to humility. The humble understand their need for the wisdom of God. Gone is the pretense of a self-appointed guru who thinks he already knows everything. Humility is crystal clear in its need for Christ’s thoughts to intersect its intelligence. Humility is smart enough to confess what it does not know. Too much of life is beyond the reach of human reason. There has to be more than man’s comprehension. We are not objective enough to figure out the best choice with our own limited understanding. We need the wisdom of God to wash our thinking and leave His righteous residue. H...

A Few of My Favorites Psalm 27:4-7 (NIV) 4  One thing I ask from the  Lord ,      this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the  Lord      all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the  Lord      and to seek him in his temple. 5  For in the day of trouble      he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent      and set me high upon a rock. 6  Then my head will be exalted      above the enemies who surround me; at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy;      I will sing and make music to the  Lord . 7  Hear my voice when I call,  Lord ;      be merciful to me and answer me. See, I am doing a new thing!      Now it ...

God created us to have great friendships and not to do life alone. As Christ Followers we have the greatest opportunity to be the type of friends that are always there, always consistent and always reliable.  One of the keys to life is to surround yourself with friends who will weep when you weep, rejoice when you rejoice, are blessed when you’re blessed and who will champion you on in all stages of life. There is power in friendships and so many good times to be had too.  Be that friend!

“Unconditional Love” If you want to love the way Jesus loved, if you want your life to be characterized by love in a way that reflects the heart of God to everyone you meet, then pay attention to how you respond to people who make you uncomfortable. You know… the ones who are different from you in significant ways, the ones you don’t like, don’t understand, and don’t enjoy. The people who hold different beliefs, practice different lifestyles and hold distinctly different priorities from your own. As painful as relationships can sometimes be, we are relational beings, created in God’s image to belong, to serve, to worship and to live in community. We’re called to be his hands and feet and God often touches our life through those around us; relationships are the lifeblood of the Church. While there are many different dimensions to Christian love, I believe the ability to love unconditionally is the one that most characterizes the spacious, abundant life we have in Chri...