Don't Take It Back - by Suzie Unruh

I was recently reading in Sheri Rose Shepherd’s book His Princess – Love Letters from Your King.

My Princess …. I CAN DO ANYTHING

“I know how hard it is for you to believe that My power is for you personally. The only thing stopping you from seeing My mighty hand at work in your life is you, My love. Remember, I placed within you the same power that I used to raise My Son, Jesus, from the dead. Don’t let past disappointments or fears keep you from asking what you need and believing that My timing is perfect. Keep seeking Me with all your heart and continue to obey all that I say while you wait on Me. Know that I will always keep My word and fulfill My promises. Even when the world lets you down, I will lift you up again. I will be true to you until the end of time and beyond. Love, Your True King”

A friend once told me when I am feeling stressed and overwhelmed to, “Let go and give it to God AND don’t take it back!”

The “don’t take it back” part is what always gets me! When I wake in the middle of the night, concerned about a work problem or one of my kids, my mind starts racing with a hundred ways to fix it. Then I remind myself, “you gave it to God – don’t take it back.” Like everything in my life, God has a plan! Most of the time things are even better than I had imagined. Sometimes, not always the plan I had hoped for and not always in my timing.

I know God’s plan is not to harm or hurt me, but for me to grow, learn, and love like Jesus. I just need to remember to “Give it to God and don’t take it back.” His timing – His plan – is perfect!

 

FAITH - by Kim Metzer

Faith…it’s been on my mind a lot recently.  I wrote a message on faith last year for Redeemer and used that message again recently at another local church.  Reading it again was a good reminder of what it means to live by faith.

The Bible gives us a description of faith in Hebrews 11:1 - Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.

The Message version of this verse, along with verse 2, reads like this: The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.

As I take another step this summer towards licensing as a local pastor in the United Methodist Church, I find myself operating on faith.  Even though this is something I’m called to do, not knowing what the future holds is scary! It is only by turning it all over to God that I’m able to take each step towards the license. 

Hebrews 11 relates several stories of faith where the people in question had to have an enormous amount of faith in God to get by.  One of them is Noah.  As I’m writing this, we’re in the middle of Vacation Bible School week and yesterday I had the opportunity to teach the day’s Bible lesson to the 1st & 2nd grade kids.  The lesson? Noah!  I truly believe God made it possible for me to teach that lesson so that I could be reminded that there are people who’ve taken huge steps of faith and came out better for it in the end.  Seriously, who builds a gigantic boat in their backyard with no body of water nearby and not a hint of rain? Noah!

So, the next time you feel like you just can’t take another step, let go and let God!  Remember, the ark wasn’t built near a large body of water and it most certainly wasn’t built in a day – important things take time!

Retirement - by Kelvin Fizzell

During a staff meeting at Redeemer Church earlier this spring, I shared with my co-workers that I was now officially registered with the United States Federal Government as an old gray-headed curmudgeon (most of my co-workers had thought that was official a long time ago). Because both Sally and I reached retirement age this past May, we had visited the local Lansing office to sign-up for Social Security.

Retirement… a life stage we had been preparing for over many years…was now upon us. We experienced a wave of emotions that went from excitement and exhilaration to worry and concern. For all the planning we had done, the tendency to second guess ourselves began to creep in. Did we think everything through, did we save enough, would our good health continue, and did we allow for any contingency; could we handle the significant changes to come? Being the “worrier” in the family, this probably affected me the most.

As God often does, He recognized my weakness and He placed a source in front of me to guide me along. I read a daily blog from Rick Warren, Pastor of Saddleback Church in California. Recent articles dealt with how to focus on the things in life that are important and to put aside the things that aren’t…how to put the emphasis on trust in God and to put away your worry. He would encourage us to find the strength to do this by reading pertinent scripture from the Bible. The following verses stood out to me:

Matthew 6:25, 33 (NLT)
That is why I tell you not to worry about everything-whether you have enough food or drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food or your body more than clothes? Seek the kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you all you need.

It seems clear that God’s message was telling me… “Stop worrying about retirement!!! Embrace the changes that are to come… Enjoy them…They are a gift from me…it’s why I’m giving them to you.”

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT)
Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.
Again, to me the message is clear… “Trust me!!! Live your life as my son Jesus taught you…put your trust in me… and I will provide you everything you need to deal with all the changes life will throw at you.”

I can’t declare that I am worry free. But, I can say that I tend to focus on, and to be more grateful for, the many blessings God pours into my life each day…which leaves a lot less time to worry.

A New Hope - by Justin Bowman

A New Hope

New beginnings are usually exciting.  The possibility of starting over, of starting something new, is often what keeps people going in life.  Many look for new beginnings in their working career, especially after doing the same thing for years on end.  This has been very true in my life recently.  I have applied for many, many positions over the years with my current employer.  I’ve been granted interviews for several of these positions.  Going into most of those interviews I knew I had close to no chance of getting the job, and very seldom did I think I had a legitimate shot. 

My most recent interview, about a month ago, I felt really good about.  After it was over I called my wife and told her I thought it went very well.  I spoke of how the three people interviewing me were very laid back, and seemed very down to earth and easy going.  My wife then asked me if I thought I would be offered the job, and I replied “probably not” but I was satisfied with the interview, nonetheless.  Fast forward three weeks later, when I got an email stating I was the chosen candidate for the position, and it was mine to accept, if I was still interested in pursuing it.  A feeling of accomplishment and great joy suddenly came over me.  Before I could bring myself to call my wife I had to settle my nerves.  I was very excited about the possibility of a new job, but at the same time I felt rather uneasy, even a little scared about the change that it would bring, even though I knew it would be good.

I have heard from many people over the years something along the lines of “it will happen when it’s meant to” or “your chance will come someday soon” and I got rather tired of hearing those phrases, because what it really meant was I had come up short again in my attempt at a new job.  This brings a Bible verse to mind.  Jeremiah 29:11 says “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” 

A couple hours after being offered the new position, I signed the form and accepted it.  The path I took in waiting years for this promotion to happen has revealed to me that God really does have a plan for each of us.  It may be filled with frustration along the way, but He does know what is best for us.  He has plans for all of us to prosper, but rest assured, along the way we will be presented with some tough lessons.  Many of which will include times of hardship, suffering, and maybe even some pain.  In the end, as I have learned, we must trust in the plan God has for us, and trust in Him, that he will always have what’s best for us in the end.

Dare to Dream - by Pastor Rod Kalajainen

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”

 C. S. Lewis

This quote easily fits the life story of Abraham in the Old Testament book of Genesis.  He was 75 years old, living in Ur of the Chaldees – a large city on the banks of the Euphrates River.  This was a prosperous city of 250,000 – a center of learning and commerce.  Abraham was married to Sarah and they had no children.  As far as we know, Abraham was not looking for God.  But God was looking for him!

Abraham’s life changed when God found him and spoke to him.  God challenged him to dream a new dream and made some incredible promises to him.  God said:

·         Leave your country
·         Leave your people
·         Leave your father’s household
·         Go to the land that I will show you.

And if you do:

·         I will make you a great nation
·         I will bless you
·         I will make your name great
·         I will bless those who bless you
·         I will curse those who curse you
·         In you all the families of the earth will be blessed

Our teaching series this summer in worship is called “Dare to Dream.”  And it follows the life story of Abraham from Genesis 12-25.  It’s a series of messages about faith and about translating our faith into action.  I hope that you will be reading and studying the story with me over the next 14 weeks.  And I hope that you will make worship a priority – on Sunday morning or Monday evening – as we learn together. If you do miss a week, you can still listen to the message on our podcast at www.dewittredeemer.org or on our Mobile App.  Or you can pick up a print copy in the lobby at church.

I am convinced that our ever-present, ever-changing God is calling us today, as individuals and as a congregation, to step out in faith, to leave the past behind us, to live by faith – taking God at His Word, and to follow where He leads.

What is the new dream that God has for your life and for our church?

Last 10 minutes - by Jack Hanneman and Guest Blog by Cathy Baker

Suzie Unruh, on staff here at Redeemer, recently shared a blog written by her sister - it’s about if you had 10 minutes left of oxygen and were in outer space, what would you do.
 
It really made me wonder.

For me, there would be a lot of “I’m sorry” and “Thank You’s” and a lot to ponder in a short time.

Below is the blog – remember live each day to the best of your ability – for you, for God, for the ones you love - you never know when it will be your last ten minutes.

http://cathylbaker.blogspot.com/2016/04/and-im-writing-again.html

 

 

BLOG BY CATHY BAKER:
I knew the risk I was taking. I knew I might not make it back home. 9:59…9:58…9:57… But for me it was worth the risk. A chance to see the world in a whole new perspective. The chance to soar where no one has before. Really, this is the only way to live this one and only life. YOLO the younger generations say. 9:06…9:05…9:04… I’ve not merely existed on this journey around the sun, I’ve made the most of it. I have no regrets for choosing this trip.  Yet still, this isn’t how I thought my final moments of this voyage would end. Utterly alone. With only my thoughts. 8:34…8:33…8:32… Who knew I would be the one who would get to take these adventures. Who knew I would be on my own at the end, counting down the moments.  My mind is racing back through time, through the days of my life. Too many memories to sort through them all.  7:23…7:22…7:21… But here, floating among the stars, engulfed in the vastness of them all, watching earth from a distance, balanced in a galaxy of blackness, I am captivated by it all.  If we get glimpses of heaven, this must be it. And I’m closer than I’d like to think…to heaven, that is.  I thought I’d be going back to earth, but here I am suspended in space and time, watching my oxygen tank empty out faster than I want. Please, slow down time. Every breath counts right now.  These are my final moments. 5:42…5:41…5:40… I’m closer to heaven than to earth. And I have a strange peace about that. To know that soon this blackness of the galaxy will be replaced with brightness of the Lord himself. That the coldness of this environment will soon transform into an eternal warmth. Like that of a perfect spring day. 4:10…4:09…4:08… That those who have traveled before me, are ‘home’ waiting for me to walk beside the crystal sea with them.  On earth, I got glimpses of the crystal sea, when my children would say, “Look at the sprinkles on the water!” They loved how the sun reflected off the water, sparkling a million tiny sparkles for our enjoyment. What joy I will soon experience for all eternity. 3:17…3:16…3:15 Yet, at the same time, my heart grieves. It grieves for those left on earth. I wish I had a chance to say goodbye. That I could say ‘see you later’. I wish that tears and pain wouldn’t fill their upcoming days.  I pray now that they will have peace. That their memories will be their strength. May they be inspired to live their lives well. To finish strong the journey that lies ahead of them.  2:21…2:20…2:19… More time. I want more time.  But really, is there ever enough time to experience it all? Our days our numbered. For me, my minutes are numbered. And here, at the end, the only time that matters, is the time I already spent to love, and to live, and to give, on this journey.  Those are the moments that mattered. Those are the moments that mean something here at the end. 0:60…0:59…0:58… What does one think during the last minute he has oxygen?  I shall think of Jesus. Of his open arms waiting me. I’m grateful he became the bridge between me and God on that cross, that he gave himself as a gift for me to choose. I have followed him, and with faith and hope, I rest in knowing that these last breaths are not the end of the journey, but only the beginning. 0:03…0:02…0:01…

(I asked the girls to give me something to write about...inspiration...Morgan said, write about being an astronaut in space and you only have 10 minutes of oxygen left in your tank).

Free Will - by Sue Campbell

When it’s my turn to blog, I try to be open to share something God’s laying on my heart to ponder.  This week, I’ve been thinking about free will.  I looked up the definition of free will:  “the power of acting without the constraint of necessity or fate; the ability to act at one's own discretion”; which led me to the definition of discretion:  “the quality of behaving or speaking in such a way as to avoid causing offense or revealing private information.”

Hmmm…In His infinite wisdom and love, God gave the power of free will to us, but it seems to me that the tough part is acting with discretion.  In a world where things can be bought and sold, done and said -instantaneously with a click of a key - stopping to think about ‘avoiding offense or revealing private information’ can be pretty hard.

Would it help to apply that ‘5-second’ rule – you know, where you can still eat something that dropped on the floor?  What if we tried lengthening the time – 5 minutes or even 5 hours – before we make that impromptu purchase, send that email response, or post that Facebook picture or comment?  Would it help us to act with more discretion – preserving peace and relationships a bit more?

I’m humbled and grateful that God blessed me with free will.  But I’m also praying that He reminds me daily that it comes with the responsibility of discretion.