New Year

New Year. 

Beginnings.

Expectation. 

Hope.

Joshua instructed the leaders:

"Go through the camp and tell the people, 'Get your provisions ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the LORD your God is giving you for your own.' " . . . Joshua 1:11

Joshua gave five components to be prepared . . . to be in a new place . . . for a new beginning:

1.       Task:   Get your provisions ready.
2.      Due date:   In three days.
3.      What will occur:   You will cross the Jordan River —success is promised with the word, "will."
4.     Action:   Obey God.  Take possession of the Promised Land.
5.      Message:   You will  receive what  God promised .

How do the five components apply to beginning a New Year?

1.       Task:   Prepare for the New Year.  Determine what needs to be done to receive what God has promised.  Evaluate what you need to do to be healthier in body, mind, and spirit. 

2.      Due date:  New Year . . . 2010.

3.      What will occur:   God will shift the details of the universe to put His plan into place.  Ask God to shift what needs to be shifted.  Align your will with the will of God.

4.     Action:   God will do more than what you can think, ask, or imagine.  Seek God first.  Be a part of the shift by doing what God says to do (obey).

5.      Message:   God will move the mountain in your life and make a  way through all of your circumstances. God always makes a way. 

Learning with you to KICK START the day . . . as a new beginning . . . in expectant hope.

                                      Pastor Kerrie

 (written by Kerrie Palmer © 2009 All Rights Reserved)
kpalmer@hillchurch.com ~Church on the Hill~700 N. Hill Rd.~McMinnv,lle, OR 97128~503.472.8476 ~www.hillchurch.com~ interAct
 Kick Start Your Day~Archives & Daily Subscription: go to http://kickstarttoday.blogspot.com/
interAct: Bible Study  &  Expectation . . . Advent 2009

Surprise

Snow, unexpected, came fast and hard.  Despite technology, the snow was missed by the local and national weather forecasters.  When all is said and done, life continues to be full of surprises.

Surprises have a purpose . . .

that produce a sense of awe . . .

allowing us to see that after all . . .

God is the God of more.

Schedules . . . stress . . . pressures . . . and problems often block the view the surprises of life.  Here’s the thing . . . God has created us to have fullness of life . . .  which includes surprises.   The most amazing surprise is the presence of God with unfathomable mercy and grace. The Message says:

If I were in your shoes,

I'd go straight to God,

I'd throw myself on the mercy of God.

After all, he's famous for great and unexpected acts;

there's no end to his surprises. Job 5:8a

The work of the God is never limited to circumstance, time, or space; however, humanity's perspective is often confined to the perimeters of what we might think, ask, or imagine.  With God, life never needs to be mundane.  

So.  Anticipate a life of surprises today and the coming New Year.

Learning with you to KICK START the day . . . celebrating the surprises of God.  

                                      Pastor Kerrie

 (written by Kerrie Palmer © 2009 All Rights Reserved)
kpalmer@hillchurch.com ~Church on the Hill~700 N. Hill Rd.~McMinnv,lle, OR 97128~503.472.8476 ~www.hillchurch.com~ interAct
 Kick Start Your Day~Archives & Daily Subscription: go to http://kickstarttoday.blogspot.com/
interAct: Bible Study  &  Expectation . . . Advent 2009

Come on . . . step out.

One day I watched my friend stand completely  still on a city sidewalk during a rainstorm. She did not move towards shelter or open the umbrella in her hand as the rain pelted her.  Meanwhile. . . I stood safely and comfortably under the roof of a building with my umbrella open. As I watched her get wet she coaxed me,

“Come on . . . step out . . . experience the rain with me.”

I smiled but did not move.

After the rain stopped, my friend explained that water coming out of the skies should be considered an amazing miracle.  I had only seen the rain as an inconvenience and something to step away from.

There are so many things that we miss in life . . . because we fail to step out and experience the daily gifts . . . and subsequently miss the miracles of living.  The Apostle Paul described this kind of living as an upward calling, empowered by the indwelling presence of the Spirit.  Through the Spirit of God we are enabled to step out and experience more . . . to live fully and wholly in each moment of time.    Paul explained how to experience more:

I  press on toward the goal

for the prize of the  upward call

of God in Christ Jesus . . . Philippians 3:14

Make the decision to step out . . . and experience the daily gifts and miracle 

of living today  and the coming New Year.  

Learning with you to KICK START the day . . . stepping out.

                                      Pastor Kerrie

 (written by Kerrie Palmer © 2009 All Rights Reserved)
kpalmer@hillchurch.com ~Church on the Hill~700 N. Hill Rd.~McMinnv,lle, OR 97128~503.472.8476 ~www.hillchurch.com~ interAct
 Kick Start Your Day~Archives & Daily Subscription: go to http://kickstarttoday.blogspot.com/
interAct: Bible Study  &  Expectation . . . Advent 2009

Pathways

I have always had a fascination with paths.  Why are they there?  Who determined that there was something to be found at a specific destination and carved out a path so others could find it?  Will I see the value of taking the time and making the effort to get to the end of the path?  

The thing is . . . God has carved out a path for every individual to make the journey of life.  As we engage and participate in an active relationship with God we are enabled to make the journey on the pathway with purpose and passion.  And . . . we will discover that God is detailed . . . little things that may appear random on the pathway . . . will reveal that there is more to come . . . there are no dead-ends only new beginnings.

The Proverbs writer wrote the key to being on our personal path: 

Trust in the LORD with all your heart

and lean not

on your own understanding (Proverbs 3:5).

Trust is a vital component of an interactive relationship with God.   

How is it possible to trust God on the pathway when life is overwhelming?    

 Pray.  Make prayer your first response.  Ask the Spirit of God to search your mind, emotions, behavior, and beliefs.  Be willing to see where fear is anchored in you.  Surrender the fear, asking the Spirit to empower you to trust God without reserve.  Give everything, including each problem and pressure to God . . . all of it.

Of course  it is easier to say that we must trust, than to actually practice trust; however, the more often we turn to God, the sooner trust will become a first response.  

 Too often, we are problem-focused. The Spirit of God will give us a new mind-set, creating a solution-oriented perspective. With Christ, there is always a solution . . . nothing is impossible with God . . . a shift is required within ourselves . . . to break the habit of leaning on our own understanding to lean into the wisdom of God.

 So . . .  

in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.

(Proverbs 3:6)

Regardless of the challenges of the path . . . God always makes a way . . . always.

Learning with you to KICK START the day . . . on the path that God has made.

                                      Pastor Kerrie 

 (written by Kerrie Palmer © 2009 All Rights Reserved)
kpalmer@hillchurch.com ~Church on the Hill~700 N. Hill Rd.~McMinnv,lle, OR 97128~503.472.8476 ~www.hillchurch.com~ interAct
 Kick Start Your Day~Archives & Daily Subscription: go to http://kickstarttoday.blogspot.com/
interAct: Bible Study  &  Expectation . . . Advent 2009

Discovery of what more God has . . .

The Oregon Coast is filled with places that should be discovered.  One of the places to discover is Haystack Rock in Canon Beach. And, if, beach explorers are patient and wait for low tide, then, they will discover sea life in the tide pools which surround the Rock.  

It just makes you realize that there is always something more to discover.   

Discovery is a part of life.  To discover is to be open to the activity of God in what would seem at first glance . . . ordinary.  Throughout the ordinary of life . . . God has something more for us to experience and share . . . something that shifts our personal universe. 

Christmas is like that . . . we tend to gear up for the day . . . and begin to decompress immediately after as we get ready to go back to the routine of ordinary living. . .not thinking that there is something more to discover through the experience of Christmas . . . nor believing that God will shift the details of our universe to bring something more into it because of Christmas.

Look at the Shepherds. They were doing their ordinary, everyday, job.  And, then one night, when they most likely presumed it would be an ordinary night, the Shepherds were surprised.   

    . . . and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. (Luke 2:7-9)

Can you imagine being in the dark . . . no city lights from the horizon . . . only the light of fire broke through darkness . . . even so . . . there was something more to be seen . . . the Light of God?  Imagine the explosion of light . . . the brilliance that shone in the night skies . . . and  the over-the-top-out-of-control response of the men standing watch over the flocks.  They heard the angels of heaven sing . . . those ordinary men doing an ordinary job on an ordinary night.

  "Glory to God in the highest heaven,
       and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests."

  When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

  So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. (Luke 2:14-16)

The Shepherds discovered more.
They discovered the baby in the manger.  Emmanuel.  God with us. And, they discovered the power of the presence of God.   So.  They told about it.

When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child,  and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.  But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. (Luke 2:17-19)

 The Shepherds returned.  But they did not return the same. They changed.

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. (Luke 2:20)

Ordinary would never be ordinary.  They were transformed being in the presence of Christ, God with us.  That is exactly what God wants for us.  Ordinary does not exist in the presence of God; everything and everyone is transformed in the presence of God.  There is so much more to discover.

Learning with you to KICK START the day . . . discovering what more God has in even the most ordinary of times,  

                                      Pastor Kerrie 

 (written by Kerrie Palmer © 2009 All Rights Reserved)
kpalmer@hillchurch.com ~Church on the Hill~700 N. Hill Rd.~McMinnv,lle, OR 97128~503.472.8476 ~www.hillchurch.com~ interAct
 Kick Start Your Day~Archives & Daily Subscription: go to http://kickstarttoday.blogspot.com/
interAct: Bible Study  &  Expectation . . . Advent 2009