Staff -founder / president Melissa Pearce
-copy editor Laurie Hamby
-contributing writers Jamie Clawson Katie Cline Pastor Chuck Hamby Toni Hembree Maureen Kurp Melissa Pearce Ronald Pearce Mary Beth Pecora
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Happy New Year to each and every one of you! As we approach 2015, I have such anticipation in God and all that He is going to do within our lives.
I had the opportunity to go away with God for a few days to hear His heart for
what He desires for us to accomplish for Him in the upcoming year. amaze me.
He never ceases to
Just when I think He can’t outdo Himself, He sets the bar higher for Him to
reveal His glory. I heard the LORD say these three words: “Expand, Build, and Equip.”
God is looking to
expand our hearts even more into the knowledge of Who He is, about His love and how He longs for us to function from this one core position in Him. on further developing and building relationships.
He desires for us to focus
Lastly, He wants us to be equipped with
His truth. As I reflected upon His commission for us as a ministry, I realized these words were not only applicable for us at EHM, but for each of you.
God longs for your heart to expand
further into the knowledge of Who He is and the love He has for you. focus on developing your relationship with Him. one priority.
He wants you to
He wants you to make Him your number
He desires for you to focus on those relationships that need mending or repaired.
He desires for you to fulfill your purpose in Him and that only comes from knowing His love and His truths.
2015 is going to be a year of investment.
However, in God’s economy, you will not go broke!
When you take time to invest in Him, He is going to come back with a high return!
Why?
Because you are His prized possession, and He longs to reveal His glory through your individual life! My personal prayer for you is that as you abide in the secret place of the Almighty, He will continue to overshadow you in everything you do.
You will not be overshadowed by doubt,
confusion, or distraction but be completely consumed with His holy purposes, plans, and will for you individual life. May the Lord bless you and keep you; may He make His face shine upon you and give you peace.
May 2015 be the year of the LORD’s favor upon your life.
May He open doors
that no man can close, and may He close doors that no man can reopen.
May your hearts
rest in His love by the still waters, and may you be forever changed by His consuming fire and love. Working together with Him, in one spirit and purpose, hearts will be revolutionized back to Him because His love never fails!
In Him, Rev. Melissa Pearce
As we begin a new year, we always look for freshness, a new beginning, a fresh trail!
Recently as I was reading my morning devotion, I read this:
“I, the Creator of the universe, am the most creative being imaginable. circling in deeply rutted paths.
I will not leave you
Instead, I will lead you along fresh trails of adventure,
revealing to you things you did not know.
Stay in communications with me.
Follow My
guiding Presence.” Did you ever think of God’s presence as guiding? Yes it is; here’s what He tells us: I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you (Psalm 32: 8). Are you in a rut? with adventures.
If you are, look for fresh trails!
Look not only for fresh trails, but trails
With God’s revelation of teaching us things we don’t know, His guiding presence will get us to the place we need to be.
As we look deeper in the above scripture, let’s see what God is promising: you…”
The word “instruct” here is talking about being good and upright.
we are to be guided by is His character.
“I will instruct The instruction
It’s not a direction, in the sense of a new vocation;
it’s more about instruction of right, good, and upright choices which will teach us! Don’t we learn from our mistakes? So how does the Lord teach us?
Well, we should!
The Lord says, Come, my children, listen to me; I will
teach you the fear of the Lord (Psalm 34: 11). “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, My Rock, and My Redeemer (Psalm 19: 14).
The fear of the Lord is about giving Him reverence and placing Him first. It’s about seeking to please Him, not disregarding Him and His ways, but always holding in high regards, His way and His purposes. In our decisions in life, are we regarding the Lord’s ways?
Do we ask Him to help us and
guide us or do we make decisions without even asking Him? Seeking His counsel is what He wants from us. How many of us, if we would have consulted the Lord first, would have found the place He destined for us a lot earlier? Seeking His counsel and having Him watch over us secures our destiny! “The eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in His unfailing love (Psalm 33: 18).
Simply put, when the Lord is instructing us and watching over us, His
eyes are upon us; His guiding eye will get us to where we need to go. help us.
His presence will
If He is close, we will be guided gently to where we are going.
If we seek His
counsel and ask for wisdom, He WILL guide us! He will watch over us and keep us on the right trail, the fresh trail, the fresh blazing trail, where His Spirit is guiding the way. Whatever direction you are going in, it must be His in His ways!
For if we follow His way,
we will get there a lot faster and with a lot less bumps and obstacles along the way. He is The Way, The Life, and The Truth!
Let go and let Him guide your way.
let Him BE your life, in every aspect of your life. Let His truth guide you.
For
Let go and
Meditate on His
Word, and let it become a part of your daily life to guide you in every facet of life. Personally, I have found so many answers to so many of my questions about ‘life’ that He has written.
He desires to speak into your life, to help you along the way.
Let His Word
be your guiding light and be a lamp unto your feet. He is the beginning (The Alpha) and He is (The Omega) the end (Rev. 22: 13).
Let Him
be our guide as we end another year and begin a new one, a “fresh blazing trail” new one! Trail Blazing With You, Mary Beth Pecora
Let’s do a spiritual “frontal lobotomy” for the New Year. Throw out the “stinkin’ thinkin’,” and let’s develop new thinking patterns that will program us to live powerfully in a fallen world. This will not be easy because most of our minds are not as disciplined as they ought to be. Here is the pattern for new life thinking for the New Year: Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God did not consider It robbery (or something to be held on to for dear life) to be equal with God, but made of Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in the appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross (Philippians 2:5). [Continued on pg.16]
As Christ followers, there are no exemptions from total surrender. Total surrender is more a process than a single event.
To quote that
great theologian “Shrek,” total surrender “is like an onion, it has layers.” We go through many things to get to the heart of the total surrender. It seems likely that while conversion starts in the heart, surrender starts on the outside. What we think establishes the course of our destiny. We are the gatekeepers of our minds. We have the ability to take our thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). Or we can go into our fantasies that have the power to zap our energy and time. Philippians 2:5-8 is a powerful passage giving us insight to the thinking of Jesus that led to His incarnation.
Since we, the church, are designated the “Body of Christ” here on earth,
it would be a good idea if we examined the “mind of Christ” and imitated His thinking and behavior. Here is what we see in these few verses. Jesus knew Who He was. …being in the form of God… This was not an ego trip for Him; it was the truth. We are the children of God. Anyone who has studied the Bible knows this. When we acknowledge this, there is usually a caveat - but I’m not what I should be. Get over it! None of us are perfect. We are not God’s children because of what we have done; it is because of what He has done. He keeps His promises because of His character, not because of our behavior. The first step in right thinking is, know who you are!
Our “ holiness” does not exempt us from a surrender to God’s will.
He did not consider his position something to be held on to for dear life. The unique thing about Jesus was His ability to surrender body, soul, and spirit simultaneously. He was fully God but did not jealously hold on to his exalted position. The Message translates verse six this way: He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what.
The Creator of the Universe
chose to not have the reputation He so righteously deserved, and He humbled Himself. It wasn’t just a “step-down” for Jesus; it was His delight to fulfill the plan of the Father.
He did not come as a “citizen.” He came as an indentured slave. He came as someone who was owned by another. He came from unimaginable splendor to a stable. Our stature in community, family, business, and society does not exempt us from surrender. This is not just surrendering our sins for His righteousness; it is surrendering everything. Not only did Jesus disregard His status, He also disregarded His reputation. He came in the likeness of man. “So what?” we ask. Man is the only part of creation that rebelled. Paul will say to the Christians in Corinth, “…since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead…” His identity was with sinners because all have sinned (Romans 6:23). The sinless God identified as a man (presumed to have sinned). Our “holiness” does not exempt us from a surrender to God’s will. We would use our purity to keep from interacting with those who do not share our values, but Jesus didn’t. The holiest man to ever walk the earth was a friend of sinners. Honestly, I never imagined having a ministry to those who are addicted to drugs, alcohol, sex, and who knows what, but I do. I pastored churches that didn’t want “those people” in their church. Jesus became identified with sinful men. To win the lost, we need to go to the lost. It was to a lost world that this God/man came. As a man, Jesus humbled Himself to the point of death. God did not design us for death. It was an option He offered Adam. Adam was warned, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely;
17
but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for
in the day that you eat from it you will surely die” (Genesis 2:16b-17).
Jesus humbled Himself
and became subject to our fall. It was not just death; it was an ignominious death on a cross. Remember how this passage starts? Let this mind be in you… this attitude means we are destined to giving ourselves – not to the world, but to God – to go into the world. We will gladly serve the poor, the homeless, the destitute, and forsaken. We decide to serve in the shadows away from the glare of the lights. We become bondservants, slaves if you will, to the cause and purpose of our Champion. The first four verses of chapter two are the easel on which this amazing portrait of our Lord is displayed. Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if
1
any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, 2fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. If there is any consolation, this word is παρακλησις (paraklasis). This is the word that describes the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete. We are the ones who will come alongside to help in the weaknesses and distress of this dark world.
The word fellowship is the word κοινωνια
(koinonia) and is a deep commitment to the welfare of another. I was in a group where the leader of this group looked me straight in the eye and put his hand on my shoulder and said, “Chuck, if you needed me to, I would sell my house and give you the money.” I knew he meant it. Paul continues his cajoling the saints at Philippi, Make me happy by having the same love for each other. Don’t just look out for number one, look out for each other. So, this year think about the saints at Philippi. Eugene Peterson translated Philippians 2:5-9 this way, I like it! Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. 6He had equal status with God
5
but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status
7
of a slave, became human! 8Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that: a crucifixion. This new, radical way of thinking and living will not only change your life, it will change your world! I challenge you to find someone to serve who cannot possibly repay you or serve you back. Go ahead… let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus… and have the happiest New Year ever!
Written by: Pastor Chuck Hamby
John 17:20-26
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in 21
me through their message,
that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me
and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent 22
me.
I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—
23
I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24
“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25
“Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that 26
you have sent me.
I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known
in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
Jesus then turns His petitions to the Father for all believers who would come to receive Him as their Lord and Savior.
Jesus desired for those to be one with Him just as the Father and Him were one
together. I in them, and you in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me (NKJV). Jesus and the Father were united as one through their love. would come to believe in Him.
Jesus desired the same for those who
Jesus understood the only way to change the world around Him was
through love.
God still desires for us to operate out of His love to those around us.
Within our church families,
He longs for us to be united as one, with love being at the core. We have a responsibility within the body of Christ to function as He has requested us. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs that it may benefit those who listen (Ephesians 4:29 - NIV). As the body of Christ, being one with God does not allow unwholesome talk to come from our mouths. We need to refrain from gossip and murmuring against one another. be covered in God’s love and grace.
The words we speak should
What do you think about yourself? Does your inner dialogue encourage you or put you down? Do you treat yourself like you treat your best friend? Walking around beating ourselves up is an all too common practice. of self-defeat when we practice wrong thinking about ourselves.
We get in a pattern
We may tend to base our
worth on our performance, falsely believing that God is only pleased with us when we do things right or well. confidence.
Maybe comparison is where you find yourself stumbling and losing your
It's easy to feel like others have everything all together, and feel that we ourselves
are a wreck. There are two problems with thinking in a way that causes self-defeat: 1) You agree with Satan.
You have an enemy who accuses you all the time before your Father in Heaven
(see Revelation 12:10).
If you walk around beating yourself up, Satan doesn't have to.
self-sabotage and our enemy sits back and watches the show. God is love.
The Bible is full of God's loving redemption.
We
2) You disagree with God.
He can't be in the business of
saving us and sabotaging us at the same time. Jesus says in Matthew 11:28-30, NIV - “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and
humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. is light.� Jesus says He is gentle.
For my yoke is easy and my burden
He wants to give us rest.
(There's not much rest is
beating yourself up and/or putting yourself down). He tells us that we are to follow and learn from Him, and He will teach us a way that is not burdensome. At times, we will mess up. conviction and condemnation. need to change.
When that happens we need to know the difference between Conviction is God lovingly showing you an area in which you
He gently guides you into righteousness and teaches you how to live
according to His ways, all the while teaching you more about Himself. in truth and love, and you will have hope. uses to make you get stuck in guilt.
He will guide you
Condemnation, on the other hand, is what Satan
It will make you feel abandoned by God and hopeless.
Condemnation is never from God. So how can we conquer self-defeat and become our own best friends?
This month's
tips
will help you do just that.
S.I.M.P.L.E. TIPS: 1. Learn what God says about you.
God says in Ephesians chapter 1 that, in Christ, Romans 8 says we are heirs
we are chosen, blessed, holy, adopted, and forgiven. of God and co-heirs with Christ (v.28, NIV).
1 Peter 2:9 says we are royalty.
It's
a powerful thing when we grasp this truth: Everything that God says about you, you get to say about you, too. 2. Practice thinking of yourself the way God does.
Just like a well-worn path in the
woods, your mind may be used to taking the same self-defeating routes it's always taken.
You have to train your mind to think how God thinks.
from Revelation 12:10?
Remember our accuser
The very next verse says, They triumphed over him by the
blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony (Rev. 12:11, NIV). belong to Christ, His blood makes us righteous before God.
When we
The second half of the
victory over our enemy is living in truth here and now – calling ourselves what God Romans 12:2, NIV – ...be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
calls us.
3. Stay in the Word.
Satan will always attempt to steal the truths that are not fully rooted
within us. 4. Respond to yourself – in loving kindness and compassion – just as you would respond to your best friend.
We are called to love [our] neighbor as [ourselves] (Matthew
That implies that we must first love ourselves.
It's not wrong to be on your
22:39). side...after all, God is! Chosen, forgiven, and blessed – because He says so!....
~ Jamie