John Cliver

[Judy Harder]

8:34am Jan 2 
"Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom." Psalm 90:12.

life is so short. It just seems yesterday that I was young. Now I am not. And life will get shorter as I get older. We do not have a lot of time to do what the Lord wants of us, so we need to do the best we can with what we have and not waste it, not procrastinate or goof around. We do not have any assurance of anything beyond today. Wisdom realizes that.

[Judy Harder]

7:51am Jan 3 
"For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God," Titus 2:11-12.

We were not made for doing what we wanted in this life. If we belong to Jesus, we will try our best to do his will, to bring about his desires in our lives. And as we live, we show the love of Jesus in our lives and through our actions. We are not our own. We are his and we live to his glory.

[Judy Harder]

8:45am Jan 4 
"No, O people, the LORD has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God." Micah 6:8.

One of my all-time favorite verses. The Bible never says to keep doctrine straight, nor to make sure all the boxes are checkmarked, nor even to defend your faith like so many think they have to. The Bible, over and over, says that the proper response to God is to do what is right in your life and to show his love and mercy to others. Helping others, living in such a way that people see God in you and to remember that he is your God. That is true religion. And if that were done by Christ-followers, people would come to Jesus, just as they did in the first century.

[Judy Harder]

 8:32am Jan 5 
“Wash yourselves clean! I am disgusted with your filthy deeds. Stop doing wrong and learn to live right. See that justice is done. Defend widows and orphans and help those in need.” Isaiah 1:16-17.

All of the church-going in the world will do no good unless it is internalized into your heart. Otherwise, it is rank hypocrisy. Quit holding worthless “worship” services and start bringing your worship into the world. Touch people, love people, defend those who are defenseless, feed the hungry, be friends to those who desperately need friends. In other words, put up or shut up. God hates empty religion. He loves a full heart.


8:49am Jan 5 
Ella's platelet level has come up a bit from the steroids they are pumping into her. I will be coming home this afternoon to get ready for tomorrow. Mary and Georgia will be singing in our praise line and I thank them for that. It will be a good day tomorrow and I will be speaking on the Book of Job. What happens when a lot of bad things keep happening. How does a Christian deal with it? Does it mean that God is angry with you? Has he ceased to care for you? Does he send them on you as a test of your faith? Is there a purpose for the problems? It may surprise you to hear what I will have to say. Be sure to be there and bring a friend to eat some tacos after church.

[Judy Harder]

7:22am Jan 6 


"So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world." 1 Peter 1:13.

As a culture, we do not value self-control. We want what we want right now and are willing to go through a lot to get it. But there are some things that are worth waiting for, the revelation of Jesus to the world is one. One day he will be known for who he is to everyone and every eye will see him, every tongue confess. The key is to both name him now and wait for his coming. One day things will be good, no matter how bad off they are now. And the Christ-follower waits.

[Judy Harder]

9:39am Jan 7 
"Be alert and think straight. Put all your hope in how kind God will be to you when Jesus Christ appears." 1 Peter 1:13.

There is a mindset a Christian has in knowing that the kindness and mercy of God rules all the time in his life. No matter whatever else may happen, God loves him and is working in him. And as long as we keep our minds on him, our thoughts on him, we can have that mindset in our lives. It gives us a clear-minded way to approach our lives that those outside of Jesus do not have.

[Judy Harder]

8:38am Jan 9 

"Don't store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be." Matthew 6:19-20.

You care about where your money is. If it is in the stock market, you are constantly checking your stocks. If in your possessions, you are constantly checking your stuff. If it is in God and the kingdom, you are constantly checking that. Jesus said the only place that is truly safe is the kingdom of God. There is no inflation, n o deflation, no fear or losing everything. You know it is safe and doing good things it could not do other otherwise. It is feeding and clothing, it is helping and saving, it is glorifying and bringing grace to the world. That is real savings.

[Judy Harder]

7:25am Jan 10 
"But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, 'You must be holy because I am holy'" 1 Peter 1:15-16.

Being holy doesn't earn you anything in the kingdom of God. Instead, we are holy just for the reason that God is holy. If we follow him and are trying to be like him, we want to be like him in every way. We are holy because he loves us, not to make him love us. He loves us even when we are a miserable failure.

[Judy Harder]

 6:31am Jan 11 
"In my distress I prayed to the LORD, and the LORD answered me and set me free. The LORD is for me, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?" Psalm 118:5-6.

There is a freedom that comes in being in Jesus. And that freedom is the freedom of worrying about dying. All of us are scared if dying and do not want to face it. But in Jesus, he tells us that we do not have to worry, because he has overcome dying. There is no reason to be afraid of it/ he has overcome it and will give that victory to us if we are in him. There is no great unknown there because he is there and will take us with him. So somebody threatens to kill you? All you have to say is. "Go ahead, threaten me with heaven."

[Judy Harder]

 9:54am Jan 12 
"For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus." Galatians 3:26-28.

When we accept Jesus as our Savior, when we are immersed into him, when we become his, we become also family. And when that happens, there are no longer ethnic barriers, there are no longer socio-economic barriers, there are no longer sexual barriers. We are all equal in the sight of God. We are all children of his and family together. We belong to a family that spans time, that spans the world and all its cultures and that is universal in its scope. He is our God and we are his people.