Tag: lamb

By Pastor Andrew Farland

To keep her balance, a spinning ballerina must keep returning her eyes to a given point. It’s how she maintains her center of gravity. Her weight and movement are so evenly displaced that she can twirl almost indefinitely.

In the same way, we need to maintain our own center of gravity – spiritually.

As we ‘spin” through our days, we must repeatedly return our focus to God throughout the day! By maintaining, this continual balance, we are able to move confidently and indefinitely throughout our days.

Do you feel off-balance today? Confused? Frustrated? Is life spinning out of control?
If so, where is your focus?

Take a moment right now to shift your focus to Jesus, the one who’s always in control! Make Him your center of gravity.

He will keep you moving forward and will help you regain your balance so you won’t fall.

Psalm 16:8
“I keep my eyes always on the Lord.”

Be encouraged today because God is with you.

By Pastor Andrew Farland

Today I am going to give you an exercise that will help you block out the noise of life. You’ll be able to sense God’s presence and hear His voice more clearly. So as you start, you will want to close your eyes (you’ll have to read on to capture the idea of what we are doing, and then you can practice while closing your eyes after reading).

Ready?

“Close your eyes and imagine that you are not your body, but instead, you are inside your body, and that your body is there to serve you. Now you are free to experience yourself as you really are, a spirit. And as you are there, inside your body, you know that the Spirit of Christ is there with you.

For the first time, you realize that you are not really alone and that you aren’t in the darkness. You are light and He is light. And both of you are together. Be still, and you can learn to hear His voice. And for this moment in time, can block out the rest of the world. As you do this you begin to know, recognize and hear Him speaking to your heart.”

As you begin to pray from this place inside of you, you will realize that you can connect more clearly. Take enough time to visualize yourself there inside your body. As you do this, you will be able to sense God’s presence and hear Him speaking to your heart.

This helps you to do two things.

1) To help you realize that you aren’t your body, but a Spirit, and
2) To be able to block out all the noise and distractions so that you can hear from God, who is and has always been right there with you.

You can practice this exercise daily!

When you become a believer in Christ, His spirit and presence take up residence inside you! From this place, God is able to powerfully change you from the inside out while speaking softly and gently to you!

Romans 8:11
“If the Spirit of God who raised Jesus from death, lives in you, then he who raised Christ from death will also give life to your mortal bodies by the presence of His Spirit within you.”

Be encouraged today because God is with you.

By Pastor Andrew Farland

What’s the worst day you’ve ever had?

Think about the day when it seemed like everything was falling apart and NOTHING was going right? You know, the day that seemed like it was never going to end? Or maybe it was a week that seemed like it would never end, or a month — or a year?

When we have this kind of time, how are we to respond? What will help us get through them?

Let’s look to the story of Job for the answer.

Job when a successful and influential businessman. Not only was he rich, but Job was also well-known for his integrity. He was enjoying a marvelous feast when Satan attacked him without any warning. It was like Mayhem and Murphy had teamed up to crash what had been a nice party. Then out of nowhere, all hell broke loose.

Four messengers came to Job, one after another with devastating news . . .

The first said, “The Sabians came and killed all your livestock and your workers.”
The second said, “Fire has consumed all your sheep and shepherds.”
The third said, “Three bands of Chaldeans have stolen your camels and killed your servants.”
The fourth said, “A powerful wind collapsed on your house, and all your children have died.”

In an instant, everything Job had was gone. I think Job’s worst day was worse than all of ours combined, but how does the Bible say he dealt with it?
Job could have cursed God, but instead, he tore his robe in grief, shaved his head, fell down to the ground, and WORSHIPPED, saying:
“I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had and the Lord has taken it away, Praise the name of the Lord!”

The Bible says “In all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God.”

What an incredible response to the worst circumstances imaginable. In spite of having to suffer through this devastating calamity, Job continued to trust God. When things happen in our lives that we don’t understand, and things don’t turn out how we thought they would . . . let’s turn our eyes away from the circumstances and turn to the one who created us. Let us worship Him.

Let’s follow Job’s example, knowing that beyond our circumstances is a never-changing, loving and compassionate God.

Isaiah 26:3
“You will keep in peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you.”

Be encouraged today because God is with you.

By Pastor Andrew Farland

Would you hug a cactus?
Of course not!

There are times, though, when that’s exactly what we seem to be doing. We embrace difficulty, fear and negativity, thorny stickers and all. The last thing we want to do when hard times come our way is to welcome their arrival with open arms.

We despise pain and suffering. We can’t see a way out. It feels like the walls are all caving in, and we ask God to take it all away. But the Bible teaches us that we can welcome these trials with joy because with God every trial has a purpose and a promise. The purpose of trials as stated in James 1:2-4 is the growing our endurance and for our maturity.

The promise of trials as stated in James 5:10-11 is that if we patiently endure God will be kind to us full of tenderness and mercy and will help us see it.

Today if you are going through a trial I want you to know this:

If God allows you to go through it, He promises to get you through it. When you come out on the other side you’ll also be upgraded. If you are a Christian, trials aren’t happening to you; they are happening for you!

Once Job endured his 15 months of suffering, he lived another 140 years, and God paid him back double for the trouble He had been in. Remember today that your trials won’t last forever. Hold this thought:

This trial is here to grow me, and God will bless me if I continue to endure it!

James 1:2-5
“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete needing nothing. If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you.”

Be encouraged today because God is with you.