Guilty, guilty……..and oh yes, guilty!!!! This is what each of us are when it comes to making excuses of why we can’t carry out the tasks that God wants us to do.  It’s simple really when you look at it; we want to be the ones who just let the next person take the matter so we don’t have to worry with it; or let me just let the leaders of our church or ministers handle all of God’s tasks. That’s not the way God intended it, in fact, if everyone felt this way, Satan would have a far more advantage than he already does.  This is when we have to tell ourselves…. NO MORE EXCUSES.  Instead of us counting our blessings and using what God gave us, we tend to hide behind our: disadvantages, excuses, weaknesses, disabilities, fears, or limitations to think God can’t use me because of……, whatever.  The truth is, God can use you and will if you make yourself available, trust in His plans for you, and simply obey Him.  I suppose out of the list of reasons above, the number one reason is our FEARS that keep us from carrying out the work of the Lord.  Fear of what we will become, of what people will think about us, what we will miss out on, and what we will have to sacrifice if we go to work for God.  When it comes to doing the Lord’s work there is only one concern we need to have, how to get it done.  No one else should matter.  Quit worrying about what others think and satisfy the Lord your God by do what is pleasing to Him and Him alone and remember:  GOD CAN USE EVEN YOU, to further His Kingdom.

Bro. Trent and Ms. Rebecca

When God created man in His own image the Bible says: He formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into Him the breath of life.   Being created by God, His request for us was to serve and worship Him with our lives.  This sounds good with the exception that man has not held up its end of the agreement.  It seems like man has pulled a switch with God over the years and instead of God creating us into His image, man has tried to create a God into our image.  A lot of Christians have taken only the good and uplifting parts of the Bible along with the easier things God asks Christians to do and ignored the harder more challenging tasks that God expects us to do.  When we do this, we begin to mold a different God than the one true God.  We trim away all the chores and challenges that God created us for and try to do the bare minimal “Christian stuff” to get by.  This is not acceptable to God and not what we should stand for.  Remember, that when God says He formed us in His image, we need to be more like Him and not the other way around.  Besides the Bible tells us not to worship false gods or have any other god besides the one true God; so how many gods are in your life you have molded that keep you from worshipping “The God”?  
 
“You are the Potter, I am the clay.”

As the New Year has started, we ask that you begin praying for our upcoming Mission Trip this summer.  We ask God for His direction and guidance as we plan for this trip. 

Bro. Trent and Ms. Rebecca

1 Timothy 4:7-8 “But reject profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness. For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.” 

--Becoming more like God requires spiritual training; it takes desire, determination, and lots of prayer and Bible study.

(Work the Seek A Word puzzle in the mail out.)

Bro. Trent and Ms. Rebecca

Breaking in a new year is like breaking in a new pair of shoes or new pair of jeans…..it takes time to make the proper adjustments.  This year, I’m not going to offer an instant fix to last year’s problems, but instead I want to offer a gradual change to make this year better than the last.  It starts with the trust factor.  First of all, look at some of the things that didn’t work too good for you last year, and I know what you’re thinking, we shouldn’t look back at our failures and disappointments and that’s true, but in this case I don’t want you to dwell, but to learn from them.  What happened?  How were you disappointed? What could have happened differently?  These kind of questions don’t never seem to help matters, but instead ask the question did I pray about them?  The equation to help you move forward in the new year is “trust + faithfulness = improvement”. This year be willing to put your “TOTAL” trust in God and be “FAITHFUL” for Him to answer and assist you and I guarantee you will see better results in your decisions.  Don’t take matters into your own hands, because it usually doesn’t work out too good for you. 

Setting goals, reaching milestones, and making improvements throughout a year take more effort than you can put out, but with the help of God, as we learn from the Bible, “all things are possible through Him”. 
Start this year off on the right track and give yourself to God for Him to use as He sees fit.  Who knows, you may just like what you become.


Bro. Trent and Ms. Rebecca

Get out of the Rut