Intro

Starting this year, we celebrate 400 years of having the Bible written and printed in English! The KJV of the Bible was first printed in 1611 and how thankful we are that we can have multiple copies of the Word available to us. So to commemorate the anniversary, I want to talk about the importance of giving God’s Word high priority. Hi, this is Dorette Schaal with an encouraging word for your day. From reading the Word, to taking time to study it, to meditating on it, and to memorizing and living it out, God’s Word is our guiding force. To make right choices, and to live the victorious life God has for us, let’s give God’s Word preeminence always! We’ll start this week by talking about reading and studying God’s Word. Here is your encouraging word for the day.

Word for the Week: II Tim 3;16,17 Study to show yourself approved unto God…..

Monday

What does it mean to study the Word of God? I know lots of you read your Bible everyday, but do you know as Christians we are to study the Word of God as well? Remember the scripture “study to show yourself approved unto God in Ii Tim 3:16,17”? The word study really is in there! When you study something, it isn’t just a casual read through. We should study the Word like we would study for a test. There might be a couple of them on on your journey!

What tools can make it easy to study? There are a couple of things I always use when I study the Bible. The most valuable tool to me is my concordance. I use a Strong’s Concordance, and it is fabulous. It is called an exhaustive concordance, because it is! Anything you need to find is in there. Additionally, there are all kinds of Bible helps available on computer, that I encourage you to use as well. A second thing that I always do is have something to write on or have my computer handy. When you receive some clarity on a scripture or a passage in the Word, I write it down. I would encourage you to write down your thoughts about what you have learned. Think about it, do some cross referencing which means finding other scriptures that say nearly the same thing, or relate in some way. Then do a word search to find other scriptures that have the exact word you are studying within them.

The greatest encouragement I could give you when it comes to studying God’s Word is to find a place to start. Why not make today the day you start studying to show yourself approved unto God. Then, don’t get down on yourself if you miss a day…..keep right on going! Make a plan, work the plan, and get ready to grow in God as you grow in your knowledge of the Word.

Tuesday

The Bible is a sharp sword….Eph 6:17, and a two edged sword as it says in Hebrews 4:12. Because not too many people we know use swords as weapons anymore (thank God!) those scriptures don’t have the same meaning to us as they might have to a new Christian who lived in the first century when a sword was an invaluable too. But even today, when cooking in the kitchen, sharp knives make life easier. A dull knife is just about useless, it makes things take longer and can even be dangerous because of the extra force needed to make even a simple cut. The Bible is a sharp sword! It has a point that gets to the point. As we talk about studying God’s Word this week, I think it is good to remember that the Bible is our best weapon against the enemy’s attacks. A good chef will sharpen his/her knives. A military man or woman will make sure they clean and care for their weapons. Even a hunter will make sure their arrows are sharp or their gun is well cared for. When we realize that we are in a war, but the weapons we fight with are not carnal as it says in II Corinthians chapter 10, it would be to our advantage to know our weapon. Knowledge requires study! We should become well acquainted with how the Bible is set up, why there is an old covenant and a new covenant. We should know who are the major men and women surrounding the most important person in the Bible - Jesus. It is great to know our weapon so that when we are attacked by the enemy, we have an artillery of scripture that can help us stand strong and not be shaken. Because we have studied, we will know the character of our God, and know how He operates and what He would want us to do in each situation. What great benefits we have from taking time to study His Word. Why not study your Bible today!

Wednesday

Yesterday we talked about the value of having the word of God hidden in our heart so that we can stand firm against any attack of the enemy, our adversary the devil. The Bible tells us to stand firm and be inflexible in Heb 10:23. We are to hold fast, tightly , rejecting all attempts of anyone who tries to steal it from us, not fickle in our commitment, but determined to be inflexible and unmoving in what we believe and confess as it says in another version of the Bible. Most of the time, it is good to be flexible. Certainly your muscles and joints feel better when we stretch them and are flexible. Dealing with people, we just can’t be pushy and inflexible when it comes to opinions and preferences. If you’re married you’ve certainly learned that being flexible enough to compromise is beneficial!!! Each opinion is important, and for peace in the home, we can be flexible. But when it comes to the Word of God, there should be no wavering. We stand firm! We will not be shaken! A huge key in having the ability to do that comes from reading, studying and meditating on God’s Word! Taking the time before an attack comes is so much easier than trying to read the manual during the battle. Advance preparation is key. So today remember this, we do have weapons to fight with, but they are not carnal. They are powerful, because they are our tools provided by our Heavenly Father to overcome in this life. The weapon is…..the Word of God. Read it, study it, be prepared to use it!

Thursday

It says in Col 3:16, for us to make God’s Word feel at home in your heart. Are you comfortable with it, and know it inside and out? In real estate, the mantra is location, location, location. I want to encourage you to find your perfect location in the middle of the Word! We can find our home and live and abide in the promises of God which are all wrapped up in His Word. On a daily basis we can have the freshly spoken word of God – the “rhema” become manifest in our lives as we read and study the building blocks or logos or foundational princples of God’s Word. Everything we do should be measured against the standard of the Word of God. Whenever we wonder about anything, we should find out what God’s Word has to say about it. When something comes out of our mouth, we need to make sure it lines up with God’s Word. A great question to keep in mind is …..where did you find that in the Word? So much of the time, we hear something repeated and because it sounds good, we take it for truth. But the enemy really finds joy in deceiving believers. The way to avoid deception is to be aware when God’s Word is being twisted or taken out of context, because you have knowledge of the context. When the Word of God is hidden in your heart, you won’t be easily deceived. The Bible tells us to pay attention to my word. All through the book of Proverbs, continually there is the admonition to pay attention to God’s Word. I want to encourage you the same way! Pay attention to the Word, plant the seed of God’s Word in your heart, and you will reap the harvest. Start planting today!

Friday

The Bible: God’s instruction Book….read it, follow it, live it! You’ve probably all heard the song that says the word Bible is an acronym for Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. I’m not sure who came up with that, but I think it is great. The time that having the Word of God planted deeply in your heart benefits us the most - is on this side of heaven. When we reach glory, we will be in the presence of the Word made Flesh – Jesus himself. So the Bible really is our manual for “doing life” on this planet. And truly the Word of God isn’t really complicated. The basics are pretty simple. When we love God with all of our heart, soul and might, and love our neighbor as ourselves we have summed up the whole book. Loving God is the easy part, sometimes we make the next part complicated. When we can love ourselves like God loves us, we can love others. When we take time to study the Word of God, we can learn the value God places on us, and begin to value and cherish what He has put on the inside of us. When we have love to give, everyone around us benefits. A great word study to do is to look up all of the scriptures on love. Study to find out how you can love more completely, and how love is supposed to act. You could probably take a year on that one word alone. We can get creative doing the Word. James 1:22 in the Greek means this: Put your heart and soul into finding ways to act on what you have heard. The NKJV says it this way, be a doer of the Word. The best way to do something is to know about it, to have read up on it, and to study it. So study away! To be an effective doer, get the Word of God planted deeply in your heart!

Saturday Eword for Kidz

Do you know that starting a positive habit in your life when you are a kid has great advantages for the long term? There are lots of things that you can do in the natural realm that help you live healthy, just by developing a positive habit. How about the habit of getting exercise daily, instead of being a couch potato, or eating fruits and vegetables, instead of eating Twinkies and drinking Dr. Pepper, or exercising your mind by reading or playing games, instead of watching tv or playing video games all day. One awesome habit to begin is to read your Bible everyday. What is so great about God’s Word is that it is jam packed full of wisdom, and it is full of life! The Bible tells us when given the choice between life and death, to choose life! So one way to do that is to read the Bible! It is great to have a reading plan, and be systematic, but actually, just getting the Word of God in your life any way possible will have tremendous benefits. The Word of God is a light to your path. It is wisdom for your life. It has the power to change your behavior. It gives your courage to face your fears. The list could go on and on. So why not read a chapter from the New Testament and a Psalm and a Proverb everyday. It will take you less than15 minutes, and you will gain more than you can realize. When you digest God’s Word, and make it a priority in your life, not only will you be empowered to succeed in the plan God has for you, but you will have mastery over the areas in your life that could have led you down a wrong path. So what kind of habit can you begin that will bless every part of your life? Read the BIBLE daily!

Sunday

I love the verse that tells us to study to show ourselves approved unto God, like a workman that doesn’t need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth. Most people as soon as they are done with school put study behind them forever. As Christians we are going to be life-long learners and life-long “studiers” of God’s Word. There is so much meat for us to digest, that truly in a lifetime, we can’t exhaust all the riches to be found in the Word of God. Each day as we read and study the Word of God, we are on a treasure hunt. What new “golden nugget” will we find today? What question in your life will be answered by taking time to read and study the Word of God? What preparation is taking place so that you can overcome any fiery dart the enemy may throw your way? What great foundation is being built so that when the storms of life hit, you will stand strong, and not be blown out of the water.

So how can we make reading and studying God’s Word a priority? One way is to put it in your planner. Make an appointment every day, just like you do any other important thing in your life. If you have a daily plan, you give yourself permission to take time to do something for yourself that is important. Probably most of you take time to exercise several times a week. (If you don’t you should!!!) Probably most of you go to church every Sunday to spend time worshiping God. (If you don’t you should!) Probably most of you take time to get to the grocery store to buy good healthy fresh fruits and vegetables at least once a week. (If you don’t, you should!!!) So why not make it a priority to eat some living bread, and drink some living water that will not only build your spirit, but give you wisdom and strength for your life. That sounds like something that is too good to pass up!

So make this commitment today. From this day forward, I will not only feed my body, I will feed my spirit. I will make sure that I nourish the most important part of me. My body is temporary, but my spirit is eternal. I will give God’s Word top priority in my life. I believe you can do it!

Intro

Starting this year, we celebrate 400 years of having the Bible written and printed in English! The KJV of the Bible was first printed in 1611 and how thankful we are that we can have multiple copies of the Word available to us. So to commemorate the anniversary, I want to talk about the importance of giving God’s Word high priority. Hi, this is Dorette Schaal with an encouraging word for your day. From reading the Word, to taking time to study it, to meditating on it, and to memorizing and living it out, God’s Word is our guiding force. To make right choices, and to live the victorious life God has for us, let’s give God’s Word preeminence always! We’ll start this new year by talking about meditating on God’s Word. Here is your encouraging word for the day.

Word for the Week: Ps 119:105 Your Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against You.

Monday

Can you find some time this week to just meditate on the Word of God? I hope you do! I thought it might be a good idea to give you a little explanation on what it means to meditate. Meditating on the Word is simply taking time to think and ponder on a specific scripture or passage from the Bible. Meditating on God’s Word is really a great way to fill up the reservoir of your spirit. Everyday things drain life from us. The drains could be a result of a difficult relationship, an unhappy boss, insecurities, low self image, overwhelming bills, a job loss, too many responsibilities, not enough time, or a myriad of things. One way to refill your reservoir is to meditate on the Word of God.

Some of the most spirit-led people I know are those who have discovered the value and necessity of meditating on the Word. What meditating does is makes us more sensitive to the voice of God, and instead of just trying a million different things to bring change in their own lives, we just ask God for His specific directions for our life. So what is one area where you would like to become an overcomer? Why not search the Word and find scriptures that relate specifically to you? You might find one word or phrase that jumps out at you that can be your personal encouragement in that area. If you are believing for healing, a new job, even a raise, or new friendships and relationships, there are tons of scriptures that will specifically speak to you. Search them out, and then make them a part of your life. Get the Word of God working on the inside of you. Let it work on the inside and then let it change you on the outside. You will find that meditating on the Word of God brings success, even in natural areas!

Tuesday

Another reason to spend time meditating on the Word of God is so we can live in the overflow. If someone has a need, I want to be willing and ready to help meet their need. To do this, we should be filled up to the brim to be able to “spill” on someone else. Meditating on the Word gives us the opportunity to continue being refilled, so that we always have enough in our reservoir to have extra to give away. This kind of spilling isn’t messy like a toddler spilling their food. This is the kind of spilling that is like oil rubbed on dry skin. It is like ointment on an open sore. This kind of spilling brings refreshing to the weary and gives strength to the weak. It is like a cup of cool water in a dry and thirsty land. We become as the Word of God states that surely out of our bellies shall flow rivers of living water! (John 7:38)

A few years ago, I was asked on a moments notice to share about being filled with the Holy Spirit with our children’s church. Because it is one of my passions to pray for people to be filled with the Spirit, I have spent a lot of time studying and meditating on the scriptures that relate to that subject. As I was sharing with the kids, I first asked if there was anyone who wanted to be saved, and 2 girls got saved. I shared about the scriptures on the Holy Spirit and 12 kids (first through fourth graders) got filled with the Holy Spirit. How exciting! Then I went back to the adult service, and a young man came up as soon as church was over to be filled with the Holy Spirit as well. Praise God for living water flowing from us to those who want to be filled! God does want to speak to us through His Word, and He does want us to be full enough to have something to give. We are prepared and flowing over when we meditate on His Word.

Wednesday

One of the greatest things about meditating on the Word of God is that it makes day dreaming respectable! Isn’t it great that God wants us to sit and rest and think? His desire is that we mull over His Word, ponder it, think about it, wonder about how it applies to our life, and then actually do that…..apply it to our life. This is easy to do, all day long. If I begin the day by thinking about a specific scripture, and say it over to my self a time or two, then when I have a moment to ponder, I do just that….I think about it. Then I ask if I am being obedient to what it says. Do I understand what it means? Sometimes straight from heaven, a fresh revelation will penetrate my heart about that scripture. Just by thinking about it, God will reveal some aspect of what I was wondering about, and shazam!!!, it becomes totally clear. Sometimes I’ll think about, ponder and meditate on one scripture for a week or more. It will be one that keeps coming up in my heart. One that has captured my attention for quite a while now is in Eph 3:20,21 where it says, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we could ever ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be the glory, in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever, amen.” The three phrases that have captured me are “above all”, “power that works in us”, and “to all generations”. As I think on these verses, I realize that God wants to do powerful things on the earth that are way above what we can dream, that will affect all generations, through His power in us! Is that mind blowing or what! Think on that a while! That will encourage you!

Thursday

“Word of God Speak”, is a song you’ve probably heard on the radio. Another song by the duo Branded with a similar theme says this – speak to me words of life, speak to me words of truth, speak to me words of healing, to my heart, to my soul. I know just about every Christian I have ever talked to wants to be led by the Spirit of God. No one wants to take a misstep, or to walk the wrong direction, or to turn away from the will of God. We want to hear what the Spirit of God is saying to us. In my life, I have found when I need a specific word from God, in a specific instance or circumstance, when I take time to meditate on the Word, God will lead me by His Word that has already been planted in my life. His Word will speak to me! He will bring back to my remembrance what He has previously taught me when I was meditating on God’s Word. That means I can have confidence that when I meditate on the Word of God, even if what I am meditating on right now doesn’t apply to my life specifically right now, it is being stored up for future reference. So think of your time meditating on scripture like this….it is an account being stored up for future use. It is the best kind of account to have, because it is advance preparation for exactly what you will need in the future….How encouraging is that! It definitely encourages you, but God can do the same thing for other people too! You can know inside your knower, (your spirit) that God wants you to share a specific scripture with a specific person. So be sensitive and be ready. Keep filling up the reservoir so there is more than enough to give away at a moment’s notice!

Friday

Did you know that taking time to meditate on God’s Word is one avenue of receiving supernatural revelation in your life? Having the mind of Christ, as it says in I Cor 2:16, comes as we are led by the Spirit of God. As we talked about earlier this week, being led by the Spirit of God is often a direct result of spending time meditating on the Word of God. In I Cor 2:9,10, it says that eye hasn’t seen, nor has ear heart, or has it even entered into our heart what God has prepared for those who love Him. Verse 10 says this… But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit! It is like the light being turned on our path. The things that were once concealed are now visible to us. When we spend time meditating on the Word of God, the Word becomes not just ink on pages, but line upon line, and precept upon precept of living letters written specifically and directly to us. God’s Word will speak, and we will hear and understand. Above the noise, above the crowd, I can hear Him speak. I am His sheep and I know his voice. My ears are attentive to my shepherd. Those are words that we should say on a regular basis, not only because it is directly from the 10^th chapter of John, but because we believe them, and we operate in them! God does want to give us specific direction. He isn’t hiding His will from us. He gives us liberally all the wisdom we need if we ask of Him. He even has given us the mind of Christ, so we can know in our knower what to do in every circumstance. He said His Word is a light to us! He doesn’t want us walking in darkness…..so expect there to be light on your path, expect to be His sheep who not only knows his voice, but listens and obeys.

Saturday Eword for Kids

Have you ever eaten anything that makes your jaws tired? One thing that really does that to me is beef jerky. It tastes so good, but it can be hard to chew. You can chew and chew and chew, and still not break it all down enough to swallow for a long time. Well this might sound a little funny, but I want you to think of God’s Word like beef jerky. If you want to meditate on God’s Word, you need to chew on it a while. That really means, think it over, mull it around in your brain, and just bring it back around to your thoughts again and again. Kinda like beef jerky. The best part about chewing on the Word of God is that the more you meditate on a specific scripture, the more real it becomes in your life. God can bring fresh ideas of how to put it into practice in your life, and even give you some specific information that will bless your life through the words you are meditating on. The Words that you read in the Bible won’t just be black ink on a white page, it will become the very Words of God, that He wants to speak specifically to you. So just like you’d chew on some beef jerky, chew on God’s Word, take a little bit at a time, and then chew away. Soon it will be broken down into bites you can swallow, and will bring amazing nourishment to your spiritual life. Why not try meditating on God’s Word today. Your jaws don’t even have to get tired! Hey, where’s the beef jerky…..I’m hungry!

Sunday

When we hear about how “new age” people meditate, sometimes we as Christians shy away from any type of thing that would connect us to them. What is interesting is that God thought up meditating, and everyone else who does is just trying to imitate what God invented!

Joshua 1:8 is a terrific scripture to look at when we talk about meditating on the Word. It says very clearly that if we want to experience prosperity and success, we should keep the Word of God on our tongue and on our mind all the time, and then be obedient to do what it says. Experiencing prosperity and success can also be translated from another version of the Bible as dealing wisely in the things of life. I know I want to deal wisely in the things of life, and be able to give good advice to others who want to deal wisely in the situations they are in. That makes it so important that you and I spend time meditating on God’s Word every day.

I often use the illustration of a cow chewing her cud to make a visual reference to how important meditating on God’s Word is for a believer. We should daily take a morsel of God’s Word, and chew on it all day long. If we have an area we need to work on in our own life, we should find the scriptures that relate to our situation, and get them down deep into our heart. If we want real change in our life, we have to renew our mind to the Word of God. Rom 12:1 and 2 says that transformation takes place in our life as take the old thoughts out, and put the new thoughts that are “the truth” in their place. In II Cor 10:3,4,& 5, we can see that thoughts become imaginations, and imaginations can become strongholds. A strong hold is anything that holds us strongly. That explains the progression of how we can be in bondage because by the way we think. How do we change our thinking? A great place to begin is by meditating on God’s Word. Most of the time when we need an answer, God is just waiting for us to ask Him. We will go to everyone else to find out their opinion or what their solution for us would be. God wants us to ask Him, and then meditate on the Word that applies to your specific situation. As we do, be encouraged, God will make His Word become freshly spoken to you.

Intro

We have just celebrated a blessed holy day of the Birth of Jesus, and now we are embarking on a new year. There always is new mercy available, and fresh grace from God. Let’s make this a banner year for spiritual growth. Hi, this is Dorette Schaal with an encouraging word for your day. This year is a year for joyfully celebrating the Word. I’ve determined to live filled with the joy of the Lord, and filled up with God’s word. I hope you will too. Here is your encouraging word for today.

Monday

Before we move on to the new year, let’s take 2 days and celebrate the love of God that came in the form of a baby. We talked about hope, joy, peace, faith and love, and because we only spent one day on the topic of love, I want to expand on it just a bit. The day had finally arrived. After expecting and preparing, Christmas day has come and gone. But we continue to celebrate the gift… we celebrate Jesus. After being in captivity for 700 years, and then a period of waiting to 400 more years, Jesus, God’s gift, came to earth to deliver God’s people. He came as a baby, innocent, fragile, and holy. He came as a King, longed for and long expected, who was mighty to save. On Christmas, we celebrated the birth of Jesus who changed history forever. Jesus came to be God with skin on. God came to be with us. Everyone longs to know that they have someone who will never leave them, disown them, or desert them. Jesus came as Emmanuel, which means, God dwells among us. That means we are never alone. In the moment of our greatest joy, or the deepest season of despair, Jesus is always there. His Name means that He is always with us. What can take comfort in His permanent presence. As we prepare for a new year, let’s make a commitment to enjoy His presence every day. Take time to talk to Him and listen for His voice, and become more aware of what is happening in the unseen realm than in what you see with your eyes. Then you will be an expression of God’ s love in a greater degree than ever before. What a great way to start a new year!

Tuesday

Jesus came as love personified. He came as a baby, lived, died, and rose again all because of the love of God. God is love, and he who abides in love, abides in God, and God in him. (I John 4:16) The God of love has come to never leave us, and to abide with us in love. Love is the greatest of all (I Cor 13:8). We should pursue love and be love to the world. One thing love does is cover - love is like the snow. The beauty of snow is in what it covers up. Everything can be dirty underneath, but put a blanket of snow over the top, and everything looks beautiful. That is just like love. We can bring beauty all around us when we cover other’s mistakes and when we extend grace to others. When we make an effort to cover everything in love, just like a fresh dusting of snow, beauty emerges. If you look at each snowflake indidvidually, you notice that each snowflake is unique. God demonstrates His love to us in unique ways… what could be more unique than a royal king born in a manger? When each of us, like individual snowflakes, begin to manifest the love of God, the beautiful body of Christ can be revealed. And, when each member loves like Jesus, we can envision the purity of fresh fallen snow, covering ugliness and bringing loveliness to this earth.

Wednesday

As the month of December comes to an end, and as the new year approaches, everyone starts thinking about new beginnings. What I love about January is that it comes right after Christmas. Not only are the days beginning to get longer, but we just finished celebrating the arrival of the King of kings and Lord of lords. When Jesus comes on the scene, doesn’t He just make everything better? The new little baby, gives us the opportunity to start fresh starting today. He is alive and living big on the inside of you and me. Whatever you and I are facing is not insurmountable. Jesus is here. What a great start to a New Year. We have a fresh slate, a blank canvas, a clean sheet of paper to begin working with. What happens when Jesus comes? We get new life, new hope, new joy! He brings rest and peace, and power to overcome. Jesus came to reverse the curse of the devil. He actually came to destroy the devil’s work. He did it right out in the open, on the cross of Calvary, and in the belly of the earth as He took on the powers of darkness and triumphed over them. Jesus came onto the scene and changed destiny. When Jesus comes where we are, we got all those same benefits. As we prepare for what God has for us in 2011, recommit yourself to living life full…full of life, full of hope and full of joy. What is in the past is just that, in the past. Why not live your very best life right now. That’s God’s desire for you!

Thursday

Moment by moment, day by day, we have new mercy and grace applied to our lives. There is new mercy for each new day. There is grace for the next moment, even if we messed up in the last moment. We have hope to start new at any time. That helps us have a heavenly perspective. We don’t have to look only at what we see, but we can see through the eyes of faith and our faith become sight as we walk it out. So did you mess up real bad last year? Or did life mess with you last year? Was it a year you want to forget? Well, the Bible says we can forget those things which are behind and look ahead to those things before us. One thing we should always do is to check our heart and learn from our mistakes. We don’t want to have to take this same trail again, so learn the lesson and then live it! If what you learned is that you stand on the Word of God and never quit, keep on standing. If you learned you shouldn’t hang around with people who pull you down, make some new relationships. If you learned that your mouth gets you in trouble, keep a tighter rein on your tongue. If you learned to be more sensitive to others, put it into operation. God is giving us clues and reminders all the time. Let’s be listening to His Word, and paying attention to the Spirit of God, so we walk in God’s ways, and live and love like Jesus wherever we are.

Friday

Was last year a banner year? Hallelujah!! Let’s believe for an even better one in 2011. Jesus is here. He came to dwell with us permanently. He will never leave us, and His love lives inside of us. What great joy and comfort that brings. We are loved with the purest, most abiding love available – God’s love. Let’s be as committed to loving Him as He is to us. Let us never leave Him and let us always demonstrate His love to others. As we finish this year and begin the next, let’s operate in hope, joy, faith, peace and love all through the year. We have experienced His presence. We know His promises are yes and amen to us. We know who we are in Christ, and we walk in His grace and mercy. Let’s make it our goal in 2011 to see as many people come into the kingdom of God as possible. Let’s be faithful to pray for God’s will to be done on the earth as it is in heaven. Let’s see the enemy be defeated and God be glorified in our lives more than ever. Let’s make this a banner year for proclaiming the goodness of God. More obedience, more faithfulness, more sensitivity to the Spirit of God, more growth in the spiritual realm, more confidence in who God is, more blessings, more joy, more peace, more rest, more victory! If all we want is more of Him, He will reward us, because He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. I believe that is who you are…a diligent seeker of the Lord! And as you diligently seek the Lord, you will become more Godly, more gracious and more generous! Those are all attributes of heaven, and exactly what we want to see manifested on the earth! Let’s believe together for more attributes of heaven in 2011!

Saturday-Eword for kids

Have you ever been disappointed by someone who said they would do something for you and then they didn’t? I know we all have. You know what? There is someone who will never disappoint you, who will never leave you, and who loves you unconditionally. I bet you already know who it is. It is Jesus. We celebrate on Christmas day that He came as Emmanuel which means God is with us. He will never leave you. He came to stay by your side, and to always be there for you. He also came as the most perfect example of pure love. God is love, and when Jesus came as a baby in a manger, He became love to the world. When we live in Him, we have that same love living in us. So we never have to be alone, and we can always know we are truly loved by God.

As we start the new year, I hope you know better than ever that God is with you. He will never leave you. The presents you received should be a reminder of God’s love that came as a present to the world. He wasn’t wrapped in wrapping paper and a bow, but in swaddling clothes! He came to bring joy and peace, and He still does that today. There is great joy in knowing that God is always near, and great peace in knowing you are fully loved by God. This New Year share some of what you have with someone else. Most importantly this New Year, give God all of you. Let Him know you are as commited to loving Him as He is to you. Let Him know that you will always love Him, and that you will never, ever leave Him. Happy New Year!

Sunday

Did you know that the Bible says that God rewards those who diligently seek Him? What do you think it means to diligently seek God? When you are diligent, you are actively trying to do your best in every area where God gives us direction - like reading God’s Word, talking with God, living out the principles of the Bible, and becoming more like Jesus every day. So another way of saying that God rewards those who diligently seek Him is this - God gives good gifts to those who do their best to do what He asks of them. What is cool about God is that He is Good and loves to bless us. It almost sounds like you’re his favorite! YOU ARE! And I am too! It is the diligent ones who get rewarded.

Isn’t that how life works on the earth too? Those who do a good job get rewarded. Those who aren’t diligent, probably won’t get any special recognition. God wants us to get the best out of this life, and He gave us a huge hint how to get it. Be diligent. If you haven’t been diligent in the past, choose today to start! Today can be a great new beginning. You don’t have to wait until every one else is making resolutions to make changes in your life. Be one who decided on a consistent basis to make right choices, when it comes to actions and attitudes. We are world changers, and we can start by changing ourselves, in our own world, by becoming more like Christ. Then others will be drawn to the Jesus in us, and we can model to them how to diligently seek Him. How rewarding!