He Makes All Things New

"He Makes All Things New"
By Zach Wood
2 Corinthians 5:17

This passage has been on my mind lately a lot.  As we begin this new year, I take a look at the things I have done in the past year and also I think about all that God has done in my life to change me, challenge me and strengthen me. 

I have had many hard times of understanding, but also many times of being totally awed at the wonderful things God has done for me and placed before me.  More than anything, I've been so amazed at the wonderful and awesome things He has brought into my life that I never thought He would do. 

As this new year begins, I am asking God not only to strengthen me, but to continue to mold me into His image.  I am a new creation since I am in Jesus Christ.  The old has gone, the new has come.  The old things that used to be part of my life when I did not follow Christ I do not want to follow me or haunt me.  Those things do tend to come back and haunt sometimes, but with Christ by my side, I have strength to overcome them. 

Many of you make new years resolutions.  Whatever those resolutions are or if you're not even someone who makes any, I encourage you to consider the things God has brought you from in your past to who you are now.  Take some time to think about the old life you used to have when you didn't know God and now how He has changed your life and made you new.  Not only think on these things, but take time to give God praise for all that He has brought you through. 

Perhaps you are dealing with some serious struggles right now and you need strength just to make it through each day.  Maybe your past has come back to haunt you and it's really tugging on you and pulling you down......again.....and again.  If that's happening, you're not alone.  Many around you are probably dealing with that as well.  We are all imperfect and deal with tempting and haunting issues with our past. I encourage you to surround yourselves with others who will encourage you and help you in your walk with Christ.  But, most importantly, rely on Jesus Christ and His Word to get you through. 

God makes all things new in our lives.  That doesn't mean we are not going to have struggles, but it does mean we have a Savior who is right there to help us through and carry us.  We cannot live this life on our own.  If we try, we will fail.

Let the words of this passage echo through your mind and heart as you begin this new year.  If you are in Christ, you are a NEW CREATION.  You are made new in Christ.  Your past is in the past.  When it comes back to haunt you, rely on God's mighty power to help you through and get it back in your past.  He will strengthen you and make all things new.

Trust In His Sufficiency

"Trust In His Sufficiency"
By Zach Wood
James 1:2-8

This is a wonderful time of the year for celebrating with family, friends and loved ones.  There’s just something about this time of year that lifts many people’s spirits and puts them in a joyful mood. 

Christmastime is a memorable time of year.  However, I cannot help but think of people who also really struggle during this time of year.  I’m not at all trying to put a damper on all the wonderful celebrations that go on this time of year, but I just want to point out today that this time of year is very difficult for people. 

Many people this time of year struggle for various reasons.  Some struggle from losing a loved one around this time of year and miss them terribly.  Others may have negative family memories that have happened in the past. 

Perhaps some trials and tribulations have affected you recently and it’s taking everything in you to keep up your Christmas spirit this year.  You know you need to hold onto God and His promises, but you are still struggling.  Perhaps you may not be dealing with this personally, but someone else in your family could be or someone that you know well is dealing with this.

One thing we all need to realize is that we come to a point in our lives where there are some serious trials and it takes all that we are and every ounce of strength just to get up in the morning to live another day of life.  The reality of life is sometimes very hard to swallow.  This world is a harsh place, but we serve an Almighty God who truly understands the pain we go through. 

The testing of your faith produces perseverance.  We mature when we grow through the trials and our faith is strengthened. We all experience these trials in life.  There’s no escaping them or even when they happen.  When I think of trials in life, I cannot help but think of the Apostle Paul when he talks about the thorn in his side in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10.

Sometimes God says no to taking away the pain and promises to be our sufficiency.  He wants us to completely trust in Him, even though we have no clue what He’s doing, because He wants to use the pain we’re going through to produce something new and strong within us.

If you are struggling this time of year, take comfort in knowing that you have a wonderful and loving Heavenly Father who loves you and is holding you tight.  Trust in His sufficiency even if you don't feel that He is near. He is and He will guide you and lead you. 

Why Do We Worship? (Our Approach To The Throne)

"Why Do We Worship? (Our Approach To The Throne)"
By Zach Wood
Romans 12:1-2

One reason is because God is Worthy to be Worshiped and Adored.  Another reason is because of what God did for us in sending Christ to die for us.  Are we going to continue to be consumed by the duties of our daily lives, or will we realize that our ways are nothing compared to what God wants to do with us and through us? 

God wants to transform us through worship.  When we truly worship, we experience a complete transformation of our hearts and minds into more of what God wants us to be…..just like Jesus Christ. 

Our approach to the Throne of God should consist of our hearts being willing to lay down a sacrifice of who we are completely and allowing God’s transforming power to surge through us to reveal more of who He is. God’s ways and thoughts are so much higher and mightier than ours.  We worship Him because His thoughts and ways are so much higher and better than we could ever imagine.  His majesty is in such splendor that we could never experience the absolute fullness even if we tried to through our whole lives. 
 
With all these things God has done for us, how can we not realize the opportunity He provides for us to come before His Throne?  No more heavy veil to lift to go into the Holy of Holies and no more only being able to give the High Priest your prayer matter. We should desire to worship because of the beautiful relationship God provides for us to have with Him.  We were created in His image to be a true worshipper. 
 
Isn’t it wonderful that God has chosen us to be His servants, created in his image, to praise him and live our lives as a continual sacrifice for Him?  If we agree that it’s wonderful, then why aren’t we living it?  Where is our daily remembrance and motivation to follow Him?  Is Sunday morning worship going to fill us for the week?

We worship Him because of the Mighty and Loving God He is.  When we make the decision that we want to approach His Throne with our hearts totally and properly focused only on Him, then we have the access to opening the floodgates.

Who Are Your "Go To" People?

"Who Are Your 'Go To' People?"
By Zach Wood
Psalm 1:1-3, Proverbs 15:22

The first verse in Psalm 1 hits the nail on the head.  Where do we go we need advice?  Every one of us has times when we must seek out counsel from others as to what is good to do and what God would have us do.  Hopefully, we do not just go to anyone to seek advice.  This can be the very beginning of a painful and sorrowful road. 

We are blessed if we choose to seek out the right people whom we seek out counsel.  You wouldn’t walk down the road with a huge problem on your mind and just stop any person walking toward you and ask them advice.  You would think that’s probably absurd.  However, many of us choose people that will not give us good advice and counsel. 

My experience has been that I have just a handful of people that I know I can rely on and go to for Godly advice and direction.  These people I know will pray for me and give me some very helpful direction. 

If we make our choices to gain advice and counsel from unwise and ungodly people, we will have a treacherous path ahead of us.

  

Sometimes, we do not even go to people for advice face to face, we’ll go online to read advice from others or we’ll watch TV of a popular talk show to glean wisdom.  We have to be very careful here.  We absolutely cannot look for the easy way out of our situations and problems.  We need trusted sources of advice and wisdom. 

It is my encouragement to you, that when you need solid advice and wise direction, to find Godly sources that you feel and believe will help you in your relationship with the Creator.

We're Good At Holding On And Letting Go

"We're Good At Holding On And Letting Go"
By Zach Wood
Matthew 5:43-48

We are pretty good at holding onto things, aren’t we?  One thing many of us are good at holding onto are grudges.  We hold onto grudges and bitterness very well.

Our problem here is that we are good at holding onto the bitterness we have toward people that wrong us or do things to upset us.  Do we really think it’s healthy to hold onto the grudges and bitterness?  Of course not!  But when we are wronged and hurt by others, it is human to be angry and to have a feeling of “I’ll show them” or “I’ll make sure they realize I’m hurt”.  When we do this, we essentially let go of the things God wants us to do.

When I think of how we react many times with these human emotions, I cannot help but think of Jesus when He preached about love for our enemies as He gave the sermon on the mount.

How many of us really actually enjoy loving our enemies?  I’ll be the first to tell you, I don't like to!  I have had more than enough of my fair share of holding grudges and bitterness toward other people.  And, you know what, it has done me no good.  I come to find out that it does more harm to me than the other person because it just eats and chews away at my heart.

My heart grows moldy and I am not a fun person to be around when this happens.  And this is what happens when all of us react this way to these negative things that have happened. 

All of us like to be good at things in life, but holding grudges and bitterness toward others should absolutely not be one of them.

I encourage you to consider what things you are holding onto that you need to let go and give to God to experience freedom.

Engage In Power Through Praying Together

"Engage In Power Through Praying Together"

By Zach Wood

Joshua 24:14-15

I’m sure you’ve probably heard this phrase, “The house that prays together stays together”.  When we are spending quality time together and doing things with each other and not checking our cell phones or e-mail every 5 minutes, our minds and hearts can then break away and be entirely focused on our family.  We should always be striving to engage quality time with our families.  Family time is something we often neglect and get too busy to take care of.   

Commitment is the key to being engaged in family time, whatever that time may mean.  Whether it is going out for an evening together, taking a vacation together or just having a night where you shut off the tv, computers, cell phones and just do something together.  This seems to be unheard of now.  We have become so dependent on TV, computers and cell phones to “keep us in the loop” that we have really neglected spending quality time with our families.

As a family, it is so vital to spend time together encouraging one another with God’s Word and encouragement. 

Do you pray together as a family?  Is prayer a vital part of keeping your family together?  Do you pray for one another?

I kept this week's writing short and to the point to encourage you to spend time with your family.  Maybe you've neglected the time and family bonding you need.  I encourage you to pray for your family and spend time praying together. 

We Need To Regain Appreciation

"We Need To Regain Appreciation"
By Zach Wood
Psalm 9:1-2


There’s not one of us who has never given appreciation to someone else.  However, sometimes in our lives we get to a point where we get so distracted and lose our focus and goals and we forget to appreciate those who mean so much to us. 

We get caught up in our own agendas and we sort of put our appreciation for others on the back burner.  It’s not that we don’t know how, but we have forgotten to do it as often or even at all anymore. 

This is just like riding a bike, going roller skating or going for a log run.  When you haven’t done these things for a while, it takes time to get back into it and you’ve done it before so you can do it again.  Just takes some practice again.  So is true with showing appreciation.  If we’ve lost that momentum to appreciate others with intention, we can once again start doing it and get back into the habit. 

The same is true with our appreciation for what Christ did for us.  We can learn to regain appreciation of Him.  It’s not that we didn’t before, but we may have lost focus and need to gain that back again. 

Maybe you need to take some time away and just think about all that He has done for you and just shout out praises to Him for a while without anyone else around.  How often have you found yourself just completely taking time to do nothing but expressing your thanks and appreciation to God for all He’s done for you?  He absolutely loves it when we worship Him and express our gratitude for all He’s done and continues to do. 

I invite you to take some time maybe in the next few days or even the next few weeks and just focus on doing nothing but praising God and giving Him thanks.  Put aside your requests and petitions for a few moments in your time with Him and just give Him adoration and praise.  Your requests and petitions are important to give to Him, but sometimes we just need to focus on giving Him praise.