Faith

Finding the Strength of Jesus

In high school I was a distance runner. I would run on the cross-country team in the Fall and for the track and field team in the Spring. Our training involved running every day. Another part of training was hitting the gym a couple times each week. Every time I entered the gym I dream of what it would be like to have muscles and be strong.

Many of us wish we could be strong. It takes a lot of discipline, dedicating yourself to continued time and effort. You can’t quit training once you start. If you aren’t purposeful in continuing your strength will waste away.

Though our television shows, movies, magazines and the internet are full of well-toned bodies, the majority of us are not. We gave up on the routine, or never started it all. As a result we are weak. Strength and muscles remain a dream. But there’s more to strength and weakness than we realize.

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Christian Living

A Fresh Start

It is January 1st. Happy New Year! Whether you stayed up to watch a ball drop or two, or you went to bed early because you aren’t much of a night owl, you woke up to the first day of 2014.

january-calendar

Today isn’t too much different from yesterday, though. The sun still rose in the East and will set in the West. The bills you had to pay are still waiting for you. Your job still needs to be done, even if you get to enjoy a day off today.

When we get to New Year’s we talk a lot about starting over, starting fresh. We look forward to all of the good that is coming during the next twelve months while we try to forget all of the difficult trials of those past. But January 1st isn’t as magical as we would all like to be.

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Christian Living

Don’t Let Christmas Redefine Your Joy

Christmas is the season of many things. At our church we are looking at four aspects of life that Christmas promises and guarantees for us. They are familiar words that you see all over the place at Christmas. One of those aspects of life is Joy.

joy blocks

At Christmas we talk a lot about joy. Joy is in our songs and cards. We plan and attend parties for work, parties with family and parties at church. Sometimes we do it all over again a week later for New Year’s. But is this what joy is all about? Presents, twinkling lights, eggnog, cookies and taking a breather from real life? What happens when real life reappears on January 2nd?

Continue reading “Don’t Let Christmas Redefine Your Joy”