Scripture:

Job 1:21

21 and said:
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
    and naked I will depart.[a]
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
    may the name of the Lord be praised.”

There is a saying that "Everything comes out in the wash."   Meaning that when you and I are tested, the real stuff comes out, it is in how we respond.   Another saying: "What we do when no one is looking, that is what defines you." I say all that to say it is easy to praise God in the midst of good things, when life is going well, when everything fits, or is going right.   It is easy to lift your hands on the mountain tops, but what about in the low places, the valleys? Job reminds us that God is still good even in the low places, the tough times, the rough spots. He is still good, and He is still watching over our lives. He is just as good as He was on the mountain tops. 

"Blessed be the name of the Lord." 

Learning to praise no matter where life has you is the takeaway here.  Seeing God as good no matter what stage you are in, God is not the author of your trouble, but rather with you in it, walking through it, seeing you to the other side.   The application is to praise Him no matter the circumstance you find yourself in.

Lord, I praise you, you are worthy of praise on my highest days and my lowest days. I pray that we would always declare the goodness of our God, that we would trust you on the mountain tops and in the valleys in Jesus' name, Amen!

Genesis 11:6

6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.

"Potential," we as a church have the greatest amount of potential when we are united, speaking the same language: "Jesus."  There is nothing we cannot do "together,"  notice God's language, "if one people."  That means that when we put our differences aside and become unified in our purpose, our pursuit that nothing is impossible, when we speak the same language.  This is the same thing stated in Acts 2, having all things in common, that is, they pursued "Christ,"  if we keep Christ at the center of all we do, and are, then this commonality will be our strength.   

The application here is that our potential for greatness is not wrapped up in our single contribution, but rather our collective contribution; it is our unity that makes us great.  Whatever we decide to do “for the Kingdom” together will become possible; it is our potential together, focused on the right things, that makes us great.    The second thing is if our focus is not on our differences, but rather on what unifies us, “Christ,” then nothing can stop the Kingdom.

Lord, I pray that this year we will focus on that which draws us together, that is Christ, that our pursuit would take us places we never thought we would see, that together we would do great things for the Kingdom, in Jesus’ name, Amen!

John 1:5

5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it.

John focuses a lot on Jesus, who He is in John 1. In fact, he is really showing that you and I cannot live without Him.  That not only is He God, but He is the God who came in the flesh, came to give us life, life more abundantly, that He came to bring and truth, that He came to shine light into the darkness we were living in, and in this verse He brings us hope, by reminding us that there is no existence of darkness that Christ cannot dispel as He is "The Light of the World" and the darkness "cannot" overcome it.

The application here is simple to understand.   Light is required for life here on planet earth; without it, we would perish.  This verse reminds us that life is found in Jesus Christ, that all that we need is found in Him, and that He has the power to dispel the darkness in your life, so that you can overcome the things that bound you, and you can be set free.   Jesus said you shall know the truth and the truth will set you free.  We often forget that Jesus came to bring truth and grace. The truth is, God loves you just the way you are (that's grace), but He loves you too much to keep you that way (that's the truth).   So light dispels darkness, as truth dispels lies, we must allow the Lord to shed light on the lies we believe, and live in the truth of who/what He says about us.

Lord, O' that you would dispel the darkness from our lives, even the deep areas, that you would drive out things that don't belong, that you would produce growth to the things that do, that you would remove the lies that the enemy has planted and expose truth, what you say about us, who you see us to be, where you see us going, allow us to walk with you in an authentic relationship, that we would be transformed by that relationship, in Jesus' name, Amen!

1 Corinthians 5:17

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here!

"Old Things!"  Our past can have two effects on our lives, can't it?    It can either be a launching point that pushes us into better places, or it can be a lead weight that holds us back.  One of the great plans of the enemy is that you and I would stay in condemnation, that we would get stuck there.   I like what Rick Warren says:  "If you are going through hell, you don't rest there, you don't stop, you keep moving, you keep moving."   Paul said it in Philippians 3, "I press on toward the upward goal."   

This is what the Paul is conveying, that because of Christ, you and I can "Press On!"   We can "BECOME" all that God intended us to be, we can put our past respectfully in the place it belongs, in the PAST.   

Some of us this morning need to say it:

• "I AM A NEW CREATION!"   Maybe even shout it!
• "OLD HAS GONE"   because that is not who we are anymore.
• "NEW HAS COME" because I am becoming what Christ called me to.

The application here is to pursue Christ, to become transformed by that pursuit. Notice he says, "Anyone who is in Christ."   That is you!    If you are pursuing to be transformed by knowing Christ, that is you, you're in Christ.    Which means that you need to let go of who you were before Him and become the new creation IN Him.

Lord, I pray that we will get this, that our walk with you;  It is that which transforms us, that changes us, that we would be able to forget what is behind, press on toward the prize that is Christ Jesus, that we would be renewed, reframed, refreshed, in Jesus' name, Amen!

Job 34:31-32

“Suppose someone says to God,
    ‘I am guilty but will offend no more.
32 Teach me what I cannot see;
    if I have done wrong, I will not do so again.’

Blind spots, we all have them, you know, areas that need to be changed, but we are oblivious to them. Job 34 points us to two important truths: The first being things we are aware of, the ones we know we should change, the things that are not pleasing to God, not good for our lives, those things we should not do and know it.   And the second and most important bit, we should get from Job 34 is: We should ask that God would reveal to us what we cannot see, the blind spots, the weak areas in our lives that allow the enemy in, drag us down, slow us, keep us from moving in the right direction.

To examine our lives and to ask God to reveal our blind spots.  So, that ultimately we would be closer to Him, that we would rid ourselves of anything that hinders our walk with Him.   Secondly, that the things we overlooked, could not see, we would change our mind (Repent) , we would see them through His eyes.  

Lord, I pray that each of us would draw nearer to you, that we would be open to you shedding light into our lives, revealing to us the things we need to change, that you would help us change the things we know we should. You sent your Son to pay the penalty so that we could have the POWER to overcome them, so, I pray that you would sever the things that don't belong in our lives, that ultimately we would become that which you called us to be, in Jesus' name, Amen!