SPRING FORWARD

Maybe you are like me and when you hear the words spring forward you go ugh. Maybe you even start taking a few naps knowing that you're going to lose an hour sleep. Or maybe you live in denial hoping at the last second they'll change their mind and decide to fall back again.

Well, yes in just two Saturdays we will have to move the clock forward one hour.

And although there are other advantages to this, the main one I think about is that turkey season is just around the corner. However, instead of thinking negatively,  I want to challenge us to remove that ugh response and think about something different when we hear the term spring forward.

Now, in my simple mind, spring turkey season is equivalent to what I want you to think about however I don't want you to think about turkeys when you  hear the term spring forward. When we hear the term spring forward I want you and I to think about the new heaven and new earth, That our heavenly father has promised He is preparing for us.

And to answer all the hunter’s questions out there, though I don't really know If there will be a Spring turkey hunting in the new heaven and the new earth, I think we won't care.

So from now on whenever you hear spring forward what you really should be thinking about is the coming of the kingdom In its entirety!  God's redemption plan completed fully for all eternity! We're not supposed to dwell on it but I think it does us good every once in a while to remember and meditate upon it. What better day, than the day we lose an hour springing forward is there to stop and think about that moment when we will see the new heaven and the new earth?

Time will no longer be an issue for those of us in Christ! We will dwell with God eternally!

So as you wrestle with moving your clocks forward from 2am to 3 am, pause for just a moment, and think about the glory of God, spring forward if you will, for just a moment, revel in His promises! I think you might be overcome with such gladness and joy and gratefulness that maybe just maybe you will lose some of the edge you had about losing an hour of sleep! Sweet dreams! And don’t forget to Spring forward.

Be A Lover of His Word!

February is the Love month.

As a young lad, I was that guy who always scared off girls by giving them too much attention. I bought cards, flowers, chocolates, basically the works. I thought girls liked or loved getting things and some do. However I quickly, (I really mean quickly over many years) learned that being overwhelming isn’t exactly the way to reach your goal of having a girl befriend you.

A girl, whether she admits it or not, really does want a nice guy to take interest in her. She likes having her door opened, she likes someone who will listen but also ask good questions, questions she would be interested in answering. She also likes compliments on how she looks, like new shoes, earrings, hairstyle etc. She also likes to be respected, honored, and to be defended. Oh sure there are many, many other things a girl likes, like chocolate, shopping, reading, watching that favorite movie or tv show together but we really don’t have time to discuss the entirety.

So you’re not looking to date right now, or maybe you are already married(happily of course) and you say why all this mushy gushy stuff or maybe you are a lady or a young lady who says yeah I’m a girl I already know all this. Good point.

However we can all look at these desires, these likes if you will and learn something about ourselves. We want to be wanted like this for a reason. We are broken people and we long to be redeemed, recovered and put back together and called lovely! Isn’t that what you are looking for? Someone to see you for who you really are, to understand your thoughts, your intentions, your secret longings and then to not just understand them but will fulfill them. My wife and I can’t do that for each other, but we are blessed to know God the Father, by the grace that is in Jesus Christ. We are able to find comfort in any and all affliction by power of His Word.

This month at New Hope we will begin to dig deeper into Romans. I want to invite you to fall in love with His Word. Be a lover of God’s word starting this month. It’s okay if you’ve already abandoned your reading plan or messed up your New Year’s resolution, win today.

As you read God’s word my prayer is that it isn’t a checklist, to do item that gets crossed off. But it is an opportunity for you to visit the cross and revel and wonder and truly feel the love of God revealed to us in the good news of Jesus Christ. Go deeper into the gospel this month. Don’t play hard to get, or buy the lie that you’re not pretty enough or lovable enough to accept God’s free gift of grace. Be loved and love God and others as Paul starts Romans, “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Christ,” Look in the holy Scriptures, you’ll see you are LOVED.