Tag: ascension

By Pastor Andrew Farland

We live in a busy world. It pulses around us 24/7, relentlessly chattering at us. The cacophony is like static white noise ringing in our ears. Instead of listening to that noise, we need quiet time. It’s during the silence that we rest our bodies and renew our spirits. We allow the chaos to fall away so we can focus on what’s important in our lives. We turn to God’s love.

But how do we respond to the incomprehensible love of God?
Like, really: When we are in those moments where He is SO BIG and SO GOOD, and we begin to experience and feel this bottomless capacity of His love through forgiveness undeserved kindness, and never-ending generosity,
what really is our response?
It can only be with awe and wonder, gratitude and tears. It’s surrendering our words to silence so we can just sit and be still in His presence.

Question: How much could your soul use 5 minutes in quiet; in the presence of your Creator?

Psalm 46:10
“Be still and know that I am God.”

Be encouraged today because God is with you.

By Pastor, Andrew Farland

You never know how many people are really struggling until you are struggling yourself.
In the midst of my depression two years ago, all too aware of the vast need for hope, I remember saying to myself, “If there were just ONE person filled with HOPE, they could minister to MILLIONS.”

Today I’m trying not to forget those words.
It’s easy to dust yourself off when things are going well and the fire is behind you, but it’s better to run back into the burning building and bring as many people with you as you can. It’s better to be the hope that people need.
This world is broken, Lord. Those who struggle need hope. Let me be your beacon of hope.

John 15:12-13
“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

Be encouraged today because God is with you.

By Pastor Andrew Farland

The Bible tells us that Bethlehem was a place of VERY little significance. There was nothing extraordinary about it. Bethlehem was the least of the ruling cities.

In modern terms, it would be the Detroit of the United States, or if I may….the Fresno of California.
But here is what I find fascinating. God could have chosen ANY PLACE for His Son to be born! So why did He choose Bethlehem? God ascribed value to Bethlehem causing it to not merely be a “fly-over state” but a destination, somewhere people would intentionally plan to go.

In the same way, many of us aren’t ascribed much value in the eyes of the world. We aren’t one of the all-stars. We’re more like a flyover state than a hot-spot destination. We get picked last on the elementary kickball team. We eat lunch by ourselves in the library.

Once again, we didn’t make it on the principal’s honor roll. Yet God in His love chose before the beginning of time to ascribe this gracious and precious value to you and me. He places inside each one of us something unique that the world needs. Want to take a stab at what that special thing is? It’s His son, Jesus.

Today I’m talking to you!
Maybe you haven’t viewed yourself as valuable, but your TRUE value doesn’t come from the world; it comes from what God has put inside you. He inhabits your heart with His Son, just like He inhabited Bethlehem! So stop listening to the hearsay of the haters. Stop believing the bad-mouthing of the immature. YOU are a masterpiece. YOU are loved. YOU are inhabited by the best gift of all, God himself! You are valuable because God made you valuable. No one can take away the dignity that God created for you.

I believe that what is said in Matthew 2:6 about Bethlehem, would be EXACTLY what God would tell YOU today about the value He has placed in you. You are “by no means the least.”

Micah 5:2
“And you, O Bethlehem . . . are NOT the least among the ruling cities…for a ruler will come FROM you!”

Be encouraged today because God is with you.

By Pastor Andrew Farland

How many times a day do you look at your smartphone, checking for messages?
Most people check their phones an average of 50 times a day. When you’re waiting for a text to come in, I’ll bet that number goes even higher. With technology being what it is, there’s plenty that could go wrong. Many things could cause you to wait for your message, including the carrier you’ve chosen, filters and restrictions, or even a mistyped number. Of course, you also have to make sure your phone is turned on!

God’s message for us, on the other hand, is always ready for delivery. The problem is that we might not always be ready to receive it. We turn off our receptors. Trying to hear God’s voice with a closed Bible is like trying to receive a text message with your phone turned off!

Action Step: Draw near to God by spending daily time in His Word and prayer! As you do, you will sense God’s peace, instruction, and direction for your life!

Do you want to hear God’s voice? Open your Bible and read it out loud!

James 4:8
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you . . . . ”

Be encouraged today because God is with you.