John Cliver

[Judy Harder]

6:44am Feb 23 
"If you plan to do evil, you will be lost; if you plan to do good, you will receive unfailing love and faithfulness." Proverbs 14:22.

It matters how you set your heart. No one has ever lived the Christian life by accident or by slap-hazard design. You live it because you set out to live it. And where your mind goes, that is where your heart will go, invariably. If your mind is set on evil, you will do evil. The thing is, your life has a directional finder, and it always follows your heart. Set your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace.

[Judy Harder]

7:12am Feb 24 
"For I know the plans I have for you,' says the Lord. 'They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.'" Jeremiah 29:11-13.

One of the most loved verses in the Bible. It is amazing how many time you hear people quote this verse in reference to their own lives. And there is a reason: it is that when we give ourselves to God, we allow him to work within us. We trust him and we love him. And the word says that when we do that, we lock ourselves into his view of the world. We allow ourselves to move where he wants, do what he wants, accomplish what he wants. And the Lord never ignores one who wants to live in him. He has plans; but the saddest thing would be the presence of great plans for you in your life which you never accomplish because you are more interested in the mediocrity of your own plans, plans that stop at death if not before.

[Judy Harder]

9:20am Feb 25 
"Jesus replied, You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself." Matthew 22:37-39.

Love is the whole point of the gospel. God loved us and we return that love to him and pass it on to others. Unless we respond in this attitude of love, everything else that we do, no matter how large or noble or well-meaning is worthless. If you look at all the comments that God gives us in the Bible and things he wants us to do, everyone of them is based in love. And not only that, but the love we share with others is as important as the love we give to God. Unless we love others as much as we love God, our love for God is no good. It is the only way we can show the fact that we love him.

[Judy Harder]

Bill Richardson, a missionary to Northern Kenya, will be with us Sunday in morning services. He will give us an update and talk for a few minutes about his work. We have supported him in the past, so his report should be interesting. I remember as a child, the missionary from Africa was always one of the most interesting. And each time, I would pledge myself to go as a missionary to Africa. They would always show slides of Africans dancing and jumping up and down while they sang hymns. It was fascinating to a 10 year boy. I am looking forward to it.




Feb 26 
"God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him." 1 John 4:9.

The gift that means the most to someone else is always the one that required some effort on the part of the giver. A gift picked up with pocket change – no matter how great the amount of pocket change – is just something you kind of throw at the other person. On the other hand, the gift that requires sacrifice is the one that is usually cherished. It may be a laboriously printed hand-made card, or something baked with care, something that the person went out of their way to get. The sacrifice of Jesus required God the Almighty to cut off part of himself and send that part to earth to give us hope. And that part, 1 Corinthians 15 says, will not be back with God until after the last day. That is sacrificial love. And that is the kind of love God wants from us to him and from us to each other.

[Judy Harder]

8:35am Feb 28 
"For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline." 2 Timothy 1:7.

The Christ-followers don't have to be afraid. They the power of God in their lives and there is nothing that will truly harm them. We do not have to be afraid of the environment, or food additives, or germs, or other countries or even mass shootings. God is on our side. If we are afraid, it is because we have lost his real Spirit. His Spirit is one of power, overcoming power, that leads us into life bravely. That is not to say that we are foolish, or take unnecessary chances; but what it does say is that that fear should not rule us. God is greater than our fears. In him, we not only boldly approach the throne of grace, but with that same courage, boldly approach life. We are clothed in the power of God and have no reason to fear. Any fear we have, other than the holy and righteous fear of the Lord, is not of God. Be brave.

[Judy Harder]

8:43am Mar 1 
"Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth. My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever. Psalm 73:25-25.

Stuff happens and the world falls apart, but God can never fall apart. He is always constant and always there. You can know that whatever else goes on, whatever else fails, God will be constant in your life. He is the strength of your heart and will be with you forever.

[Judy Harder]

But he knows where I am going. And when he tests me, I will come out as pure as gold. For I have stayed on God's paths; I have followed his ways and not turned aside." Job 23:10-11.

God does not send the tests because the Bible says he does not send bad things. But he uses the bad things to give us strength. When we refuse the things satan throws at us, we are stronger and before long, we are like pure gold. Gold is made purer and purer by constant melting and cooling, burning out all the impurity until it gets to 24 carat pure gold.. it is only when the gold gets to that purity that God can work with it. At that purity, gold is soft and malleable, able to be molded and made into the beautiful and fine jewelry the jeweler is able to make. But it is only after that melting that God can. We stay on his path and allow him to use us.

[Judy Harder]

8:01am Mar 4 
"This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9.

The Lord wants a brave people a people who show his power to the world, who are unafraid of things that happen. When we come into contact with that spirit of power, and the mighty presence of the Lord God Almighty, there is no reason to be afraid. The God of the Universe is on our side.

[Judy Harder]

5:28am Mar 5 
"And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up." Deuteronomy 6: 6-7.

Nothing done half-heartedly is ever any good. And it is important to you, you need to tell your children so that they too can feel the urgency. Make it not just a daily routine, but make it and lifestyle imperative that they know what is important. Share it with them constantly so they can feel the urgency.

[Judy Harder]

9:19pm Mar 5 
God is my strength and my shield and in him I will not be afraid. Just a note: When I feel down, I am not down on God nor on anything else. It is simple fatigue like many in the Bible felt. I will overcome this, I will not fall under the depression and I will do what I need to do to accomplish his holy will. As I said in Church when I began all this, I feel peace at it and I feel the will of the Lord in my life. With God, I will overcome. I wish nothing more than to model a minister of the Kingdom of God in this church, one who can say,

as 2 Timothy 2:12 says, "for I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until the day of his return."



:29am Mar 6 
"O Lord, I will honor and praise your name, for you are my God. You do such wonderful things! You planned them long ago, and now you have accomplished them." Isaiah 25:1.

Hard as it is to imagine, the things God has planned for us were planned long ago when he wet up the plans for his Kingdom. They were not just put out there because he was trying to figure out how to slot you in. But instead, he had a place for you and set up that place at the beginning of time. You are integral to his kingdom and he will use you if you allow him