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Showing posts from November, 2010

Thanks In Thanksgiving

“Enter His gates with Thanksgiving, and His courts with praise! Give thanks to him; Bless His name.” Psalm 100:4 (ESV) This year, don’t miss the THANKS in Thanksgiving… Traditions. Turkey…Dressing…Pumpkin pie…Football…Macy’s day parade. All fun. And for many, a part of family gatherings. Traditions that give us pause to share warm memories, and the opportunity to make new ones. Occasions to relish in the old traditions passed from generation to generation, or perhaps, to even begin a new one. Holiday. A time to knock off for a day. Rest. Relax. Forget the bills, the problems, the pressures of life. Slow down from the hectic, insane pace that drives us to exhaustion, emotionally, physically and spiritually. Take the day off…and enjoy it! Attitude. An attitude of self-less-ness. In sports, one bad attitude on the team can, and usually does, hurt the whole team. Self focused and self absorbed attitudes destroy the heart of Thanksgiving. This year…have an attitude…of gratitude. Nation. Tha

Can We Resist Temptation?

In 40 days Jesus was in the desert He faced trials and temptation just like us. Luke 4:3-10 1. Tangible needs: the temptation to separate yourself from God to get what You need . v. 3 2. Own power: the temptation to use your own gifts and power to gain profit for Yourself v. 6-7 3. The temptation to locking onto a power other than God. V. 9-10 It is so easy in our recovery to fall into the temptation trap. Ironically it is when we start to make progress in our recovery that we may be hit from the enemy even harder. We can get rolling in our recovery and see tangible changes in our life, our relationships and even our over view of our self as children of God. Why is it that we fall into this? Well, it is important to know that none of us can escape temptation. You might be thinking, "Wow! Rodney, that really gives me hope!" But the truth of the matter is that we will always be in a good spot from time to time and then the next moment be faced with some sort of temptation.

Jesus Wants To Heal Your Heart

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. (Psalm 23:1-3). He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. (Psalm 147:3) Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise. (Jeremiah 17:14) But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. (Malachi 4:2) He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing. (Luke 9:11) For some reason this has been lost in the recent offerings of the church. Perhaps it has been our pride, which has kept us from admitting that we are broken. Lord knows I've done that for years - probably am still doing it now. Perhaps it is our fear of getting our hopes up; it seems too good to be true. Perhaps it's been the church's almost total focus on sin and the cross. But the Scripture is abundant and clear: Christ ca