“Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it” (Psalm 34:13-14)

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2021!

Realized today that I have still been entering the dates as 2020 in my daily journal entries. It typically takes me a few days to get it through my head that tt really is 2021 and a beginning of a new year.

New beginnings is what God is about. If we are breathing today it’s because God is offering us a new day, a new year so we can begin again.

The verses from today are great advice for living a life that blesses others and for living in peace. Wouldn’t that be great if each of our lives blessed others and we were agents of peace?

First, we are told to keep our tongue from evil and our lips from speaking deceit. Few things have power to destroy as words. If you are a disciple of Jesus Christ, your words are to speak the truth in love. Speak words that build up. Speak words that offer life. Speaking evil about others and speaking deceit destroys peace and relationships. So, keep your tongue from evil and our lips from speaking deceit.

Secondly, we are told to depart from evil, and do good. Imagine looking back at 2021 in January of 2022 if you led a life that fled from evil and in all things, you pursued the good in all situations. Wow! You would be a brand new you! Not only that, every single person around you would have been blessed and impacted through you. That would be a terrific 2021!

Finally, seek peace and pursue it. Peace is not something that just happens or something that we run into. Peace is something that must be sought after and pursued. This means you can be the instigator of peace wherever you are as you seek and pursue it.

Keep our tongue from evil and our lips from speaking deceit.
Depart from evil, and do good.
Seek peace and pursue it.

Sounds like it’s going to be a fantastic 2021!

Happy New Year!

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).

Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so.

We’ve all heard this song. Many who grew up in the church have been singing this song since we were children.

There is an important truth in this statement that most of us might miss.

Jesus loves me.

How do I know that? How can I be sure of my standing before God? How do I know that I am really forgiven? Where does the Christ-followers assurance and certainty come from? Where is our authority and our power?

Jesus loves me. This I know. How? Because the Bible tells me so.

And here’s the thing. What happens if we don’t know what the Bible says? What happens when you have an entire generation of people who are clueless what the Bible says? What happens when you have a church who is ignorant of what the Bible says?

• You have a generation and a church who is uncertain of their identity.
• You have a generation and a church that is totally impotent against the schemes and the false teaching of the enemy.
• You have a generation and a church that has no clue if there is a God at all.

And this is exactly the devil’s ploy. The devil doesn’t mind that you might have a wonderful church experience. The devil doesn’t mind that you worship and do church things and good things. Because as long as God’s people remain ignorant of God’s word, they will have no idea how the good deeds, the worship, and how everything we do and how everything we are has anything to do with God.

Christ-follower, our certainty and our assurance is dependent upon how well we know God’s word. That is why the daily study and meditation of God’s word is absolutely essential to our spiritual lives. It has to be a non-negotiable. This is the bedrock of our faith, and the foundation of our strength.

Get in the Word of God and let God’s Word get into you. As we start 2021, commit to daily reading of God’s Word.

“I thank my God every time I remember you” (Philippians 1:3).

Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!

I pray and trust you are doing well and staying healthy.

When I began writing these daily devotionals I had no idea that I would be doing so for months!

The reason why I began writing these devotionals is because we made the decision early March that we would be going to online worship until there was a vaccine for Covid. In conjunction with this decision, the session and the pastoral staff made a commitment to equip the saints to not only endure this season but to thrive because we are convinced that’s what God expects of the saints. There is never a season when God doesn’t desire for his church and saints to thrive.

We believe there are three components to disciples thriving:

1. Commitment to worship
2. Commitment to community and service
3. Commitment to daily encounter with God’s word

The staff have worked hard on your behalf to make these things possible.

1. We have gone to online worship and worked to make our online worship as excellent as possible
2. We have moved all our members and regulars to neighborhood groups where we can serve one another
3. We have been emailing daily devotionals to encourage and equip the saints for growth and maturity

Little Church and Lakewoodgrace, I thank God for you. You have made some very difficult shifts during this season.

• Even though we have not met in person as a congregation since the first week of March, your engagement in worship has not declined. In fact, the numbers of people who are worshiping with us online is much greater than the average attendance prior to covid
• The children’s ministry team has continued to engage our children and families with crafts and weekly video messages
• You have been faithful to support the ministry through your finances and tithes
• The ministry impact and reach of the Little Church and Lakewoodgrace has increased during this season!
• You have made the shift to neighborhood groups where you’ve taken on the primary responsibility to stay in touch and serve one another
• You have been faithful to read and engage with these daily devotionals

It’s been quite a year, but it’s a year which I thank God for his faithfulness to the Little Church and Lakewoodgrace. God has been faithful through your faithful support and engagement. I thank God for you and in all my prayers for you, I always pray with joy.

Thank you Little Church and Lakewoodgrace!

I will be taking a break until January 4th from the daily devotionals for Christmas and New Year.

Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year Little Church and Lakewoodgrace!