Jay's Message-September 23

It’s important to our growing faith that we reaffirm God’s presence and power working in our lives (Ephesians 3:14-21). We serve a living God, through a living Savior, indwelled by a living Spirit!

God is always present in us. There is no need for a Christian, living under the New Testament (covenant) of Jesus’ blood (Luke 22:20), to wonder where God is. He’s in you, in the presence of His Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9, 14; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 1:13, 14). Therefore, we are never alone or separated from God.

God’s timing is infallible. He knows when and how to address our situation. An excellent illustra-tion is Jesus’ “late” arrival, at least in human terms, to the situation with His friend Lazarus (John 11:1-46). He showed up in God’s timing to resurrect Lazarus, confirm Martha’s belief in the resurrection, and expand her understanding to the personal aspect of Jesus being the resurrec-tion and the life. God won’t be late in meeting our needs. We must be watching for Him to do it in creative ways consistent with His will for us (Romans 8:28).

Feeling down? Guess what- God comforts the depressed (2 Corinthians 7:5-7). When circum-stances got Paul down, God sent Titus to personally bring good news he needed to hear! Of all the places we look for comfort and encouragement in our “down” times, we can trust in God to strengthen us and restore our joy.

God disciplines us, showing He cares. Discipline is a major attribute of His love for us (Hebrews 12:4-13). A loving father wants his children to be trained by discipline that will equip them to meet the challenges in life. Our Heavenly Father prepares us to produce “the peaceful fruit of righteousness,” pleasing and serving Him.

He is a God who is engaged in our lives. He is shaping us into the image of His Son. And He gives us the joy of being His children. Praise Him for that!

Happy to