FROM PASTOR’S PEN Making the Right Moves - Once I was given a checkers set. On each checker there was a crown. That’s because each checker was created to become a king. Each checker was created to be crowned. Every checker won’t become a king; it all depends on the moves they make. But each checker was created to reign. If you’ve trusted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, you have a crown on your head. You are created to rule. The Bible says that the grace of God gives us the ability to reign. When Jesus died on the cross, He paid for our sins, but when He rose from the dead, He guaranteed our victory. That’s why the Bible says we are more than conquerors in Christ because we are made to rule. Satan wants to take your crown from you, like checkers that have to be removed from the board because they didn’t make the right moves. We want to make the right moves so that we get the crown that God has for us—the ability to rule under His rule. When we submit ourselves to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, we find His rulership being delegated to us so that we experience the ability to rule with Him. In fact, Scripture says that grace has seated us with Him in heavenly places. Where is Jesus seated? On a throne on the right-hand side of His Father. Who sits on thrones? Kings. there is a crown on your head He rules, and we’re seated right beside Him because we are supposed to rule with Him. The beautiful thing about grace is that it ups the ante of your human existence. It means that you now get to call the shots under God’s authority for the kind of life He has called you to live and the experience of victory He has called you to have. I want you to start thinking about yourself differently in spite of how you were raised, in spite of what people said about you, in spite of your circumstances, all of which might say, “You have no right to a crown on your head.” As long as you belong to Jesus Christ, you have a crown on—you just need to make the moves so that you experience that crown that grace has offered you to rule under His authority. You’re not to settle for anything less than the ruling authority that Christ offers you. If you become His full-time disciple and don’t settle for being a part-time saint, you’ll get crowned and you will not be removed off of the board of victory that God has preordained and called you to experience.

Show Your Joy To The World “But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the LORD’s praise, for he has been good to me.” Psalm 13:5-6 (NIV) When you think of the phrase, “Christmas is coming!” … what sort of emotion does it evoke?It might be any one of these: Panic: I only have three more Saturdays of shopping before Christmas. I’m never going to get it all done! Frustration: Ugh. There are so many activities this month. We are going to be running all over the place with very little time to just be together as a family at home, enjoying each other’s company. Regret: Why did I say we’d host the family get-together? Now I have to straighten and scrub this place from top to bottom AND make the dessert I signed up to provide, as if I didn’t already have enough to do this month. Envy: I noticed on Facebook the gorgeous holiday decorations my co-worker has in her home. They look like they are straight from an HGTV Christmas special. Our place looks like we bought ours from the clearance bin at the local secondhand store. So many sentiments can invade our hearts and minds. But these emotions don’t stay there. Often, they weasel their way into our behavior. We appear distracted when talking with a friend. Our frustration morphs into hurry as we frantically try to get it all done. Our regret makes us a grumpy and ungracious hostess. Our envy leads to ungratefulness and can prevent us from experiencing the joy that should come from the whole reason for the celebration of Christmas in the first place. Are these the attitudes we want on display during the month of December? Or should we choose the attitude reflected in the old familiar hymn, Joy to the World? Joy. The emotion that ought to be deeply experienced during the Christmas season — and, in turn, displayed in our behavior — should be joy. Today’s key verse states, “But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the LORD’s praise, for he has been good to me. ” This verse declares that our reaction to the salvation God freely offers — which began when Jesus came into the world as a baby that very first Christmas — should be that rejoicing. In this Old Testament verse, the word translated for rejoice actually means “to exult, to go about or to be excited to levity.” What a stark contrast to the emotions we usually display during the yuletide season! But what if we tried to take our roller coaster of emotions to God, asking Him to replace them with joy instead? If we choose to consciously thank God for the indescribable gift of salvation through Jesus, perhaps we could learn to recapture the joy of Christmas. And not just to feel it in our hearts, but to go about during the season, excited to the point of levity, exulting God in the process. The word exult means “to leap for joy,” and it’s usually connected with a triumph of some kind. Through Jesus’ birth, death and resurrection, He triumphed over death. We need not fear the future because of the miracle of Christmas. If we have responded to the gospel — the good news about Jesus offering us salvation — we too can experience a victory over the grave and dwell with God forever in heaven someday. What a reason to rejoice! Today, let’s chase down some Christmas cheer. But not just keep it to ourselves. Parking our minds on the truth of salvation through Jesus helps us show joy to the world during the Christmas season. A spotless house and homemade fruitcake are optional. Father, may my mind dwell this season on the incredible gift of salvation through Jesus that is the source of all joy in this life and the life to come. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

But You, Lord, do not be far from me; You are my strength; come quickly to help me. Psalm 22:19 (NIV) - Elohei Ma’uzzi, gird me with Your great strength. Make my heart strong and my mind wise. We’re used to doing things for ourselves. We admire the DIY mindset, in which individuals take it upon themselves to create or fix anything and everything. And while this self-sufficiency is admirable in many ways, we shouldn’t take a DIY approach to all aspects of our lives. Sometimes it’s imperative that we look to each other for help, and beyond that, we need to look to God. He created the earth—the ultimate DIY. And He continues to create anew. His creation testifies to His power and strength, and we need to remember this during those stubborn times when we’re determined to walk in our own limited power. He is Elohei Ma’uzzi, the God of my strength, and we need Him. Go ahead and breathe a big sigh of relief. You’re not a failure if you don’t DIY it all. You don’t have to juggle everything on your own. No matter what you’re struggling with, no matter what temptations you face, God is there to bring you through and strengthen your resolve. Don’t be afraid to dream big and have big plans. We need to think big because we serve a big God. But if we aim for big things and don’t look to the Lord for help, we’re destined to fail big. Instead, we need to rely on God’s incredible strength and access it on a regular basis. When we do this, we live out our destiny.

The One Sure Way To Deal With Your Stress “Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.” Isaiah 12:6 There’s a man I heard about who went to the doctor one day suffering from stress. The doctor gave him a regimen of exercises to do. But one thing he told him to do first was to go off by himself for a while and look at something big. “Look at something big?” the man asked. “Yes,” replied the doctor. “The first step in dealing with stress is to get perspective on yourself.” In Jesus’ life on earth, He often slipped away from the crowds to spend time with His Father and reflect upon His greatness. We, as believers in Christ, can learn from His example, taking time away by ourselves to gain perspective on our own lives and reflect upon the greatness of God. The key to overcoming stress is to walk humbly with God every day. Take time at the beginning of your day to reflect upon His infinite vastness. When you do, you’ll find that reflection will energize you and melt away whatever stresses you face! SPEND TIME DAILY REFLECTING UPON GOD’S GREATNESS AND YOU’LL BE ABLE TO OVERCOME WHATEVER STRESS YOU FACE.