Monday Reflection

Through His Holy Spirit, God promises to be with us always if we just ask Him. When we accept Him as Lord of our lives, he forgives us and purifies us on the inside so that He can then reside in us. The key to living of this life--and the one next-- is to daily experience the power of the presence of Almighty God.

Tuesday Reflection

Faithfulness
2 Kings 12:15

If all people practiced integrity in their dealings, we would have no more need of a legal system. A written agreement is a safeguard in a society where integrity is no longer a given. In reality, the integrity of two parties should be the true contract in an agreement.
A person of complete faithfulness, or integrity will not break an agreement, signed or unsigned.
Think about it! What kind of reputation are you building with others?
Would others enter a deal with you and feel no need for a signed legal paper?

Have a Blessed Day!

BEGINNINGS--Revelation 21:5

In the end, the world as we know it will no longer exist.
Heaven will be a very different kind of dwelling place.
This present creation may seem endless, but it isn't.
This is God's promise that gives all believers hope: We can all start anew in a world that knows no sin or chaos or heartache.
What a glorious hope to look forward to!

PARENTING- 2 Timothy 3:14-15

Timothy was one of the first second-generation Christian. He became a Christian not because an evangelist preached a powerful sermon but because his mother and grandmother taught him the holy Scriptures when he was a small child. The Evangelist's work is important but so is the parents' work in leading their children to the Lord. There is no task more fulfilling or more important than teaching and modeling the truths of God's Word to our children, We mustn't let the urgent matters of each day keep us from the great privilege of helping young children grow to love God and his Word.

Thoughts for Sunday June 14, 2009

Our culture has various misguided ideas about heaven: that it consists of departed souls eternally playing harps in comfy cloud-chairs or that it means doing or being everything you love best. Perhaps the most tragic misconception is that heaven is the place where everyone goes after death--or at least everyone who has lived a "good" life.
The Bible, by contrast, presents a picture of heaven as the glorious, awesome, home of the triune God. And the Bible is also very specific about who will live there.

DOES THE BIBLE REALLY CLAIM THERE IS ONLY ON WAY TO HEAVEN?
Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth and the life, No one can come to the Father except through me." John 14:6
Jesus is the only way to heaven. We may want to buy our way in, work our way in,think our way in, But the Bible is CLEAR-- Jesus Christ provides the only way in.

PROMISES FROM GOD:
God is preparing a wonderful place for us in heaven. John 14:2 : 1 Corinthians 2:9

Those who endure in their faith have a secure place in heaven. Revelation 3:5


Have a Happy and Blessed Sunday.
much love, Colleen


ccg

Hatred

Is it wrong to hate? That depends on the object of our hate. We should never hate another person, because every person is a unique creation of God, an eternal soul that can be redeemed. Nevertheless, we should certainly hate the sinful things that even our most cherished loved ones do. We are to love the sinner but hate the sin. Foul language, perversion, crime, waywardness, even gossip are things to hate.

Hated comes from following our own sinful desires. Instead, we must allow the Holy Spirit to fill our lives, leaving no room for hated.

Colleen Couvillon Gough

Loss

We suffer a great loss, a separation from someone important to us. Separation or loss means we no longer have a vital ,ongoing, living relationship with this person---only memories. We no longer can talk with this person, hug or kiss this person, hold hands or walk down the street with this person, or do any one of a thousand wonderful activties with this person.

There are other losses too. We may lose a house, by fire or wind or water. We may lose a car, by accident or theft. We may lose our job, lose our church or lose any number of things important to us.

In the darkness of grief we can turn to the Lord, who promises His comfort and strength.

LOVE

A healthy definition of love is crucial to understanding the central message of the Bible. According to the Bible, love is not confined to sexuality, nor is it primarily a feeling at all.

The Bible teaches that love is a commitment. As a commitment, love is not dependent on good feelings, but rather on the consistent and courageous decision to extend oneself for the

well-being of another. That commitment then produces good feelings, not the other way around. Jesus became the perfect demonstration of God's unconditional love for us by laying down His life for our benefit.

God's love for us never fails.

psalm 103:8

Faithfulness

"You can count on me--I will never let you down."

That is faithfulness. Husband and wives vow on their wedding day to be faithful to one another, devoted and committed to one another in all areas of marriage. It is a vow to be with one's mate, to stay with one's mate, and to build up one's mate. Again and again throughout the Bible, God holds faithfulness up as one of His foundational qualities and a foundational quality He expects from His people. This is nothing like the faithfulness of a mate, friends and family and God to build our sense of security.

PROMISES FROM GOD:

Wherever we go God is there.

Psalm 23:6

Changes

It is one of the great constants of life. Whether because of the slow and gradual erosion of time, or swift and cataclysmic moments of trauma, change happens to everyone. People change, relationships change, jobs change, technology changes, indeed life itself can be described as a process of continual change. Some changes are positive: a new friend, a new house, a financial windfall. Others are negative: a tragic loss, a job layoff, the upheaval of natural disaster. Either way, change produces stress.
The Bible teaches two great truths about change. The first is that despite the changing world around us, God is changeless and dependable. The Second is that God calls for an inner change of heart, called repentance that produces an outer change of lifestyle called obedience.

PROMISES FROM GOD:
When you become a Christian, you are a new person. 2 Corinthians 5:17

ccg 5/25/09

ABC's of the Word...X

See Grey Like Snuffie for more on

ABC's of the Word

X-Tra Special to God.

Matthew 10:29-31

"Not even a sparrow, worth less than a penny, can fall to the ground without your Father Knowing it...you are more valuable to Him than a whole flock of sparrows. "

God values you so much that He watches over you no matter where you are or what your are doing. This truly is wonderful, too wonderful to believe. But it tells you how special He thinks you are. God cares about everthing we do because He loves us so much.

SUNDAY WORSHIP

"...a beautiful splendor will come over the earth,

to announce the reconciliation of God with mankind."

RECONCILIATION

18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5: 18-21

Once, our relationship with God was damaged beyond repair. We could do nothing to undo the sin that we had placed between ourselves and God. God, in His grace, reached out to us through Christ, blotting out our sins and reconciling us to Himself. According to Paul, the most natural thing in the world to do with this kind of good news is to share it. Who in your circle of friends and acquaintnces needs to know the joy and relief of reconciliation with God?