Do we really believe what we read in our Bibles?  I mean, if we really believe something, then it should influence, direct and guide our living.  But most of us just continue to live our lives any ole way we want to.

For example, take 2 Corinthians 5:10  “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”  Do we really believe this verse?  Do we really take this verse seriously?  If we believe it and if we take it serious, then it has to change the way we live our lives!

One day, we are going to stand before Christ and He is going to judge us!  The reason He is judging us, is so we can be rewarded or punished.  We will be rewarded for our good and punished for our bad.  Is there really any other way to interpret this verse?

I know, some of you are reading this and you are wanting to play the “salvation card”!  You are thinking:  “Well yes, I do bad, but I am saved and that means that God has forgiven me!”  It is true that God will forgive us, but if we are really saved, then it carries us right back to what Scripture says we should do if we really believe it!

If you are really saved, then it has to change the way you live your life!  There is no getting around it!  Way too many church people have played way too many games and are going to be surprised on that day when they stand before Jesus!

Jesus put it this way in Matthew 25:  

There is so much that I have to do!  Sometimes I look at my plate of responsibilities and just want to run away!  I always thought that as I got older that life would get easier, but the challenges keep coming.  The responsibilities plus the challenges sometimes get more overwhelming than I can handle!

The good news is:  I don’t have to handle anything!  When it gets to be more than I can handle, the Spirit in me always takes me to a special place of reminder, where I am reminded that I am not walking through this world alone, even though it sometimes feels like it!

I have God!  God loves me and He created me for the very specific purpose of living a life that brings Him glory.  I am at my best, when I am doing just that!  He wants to walk with me through this life and He wants to talk with me.  I am never alone and I don’t have to face anything by myself or in my own strength or power!

I have Family & Friends!  There are people around me, who really care about me and want what is best for me.  They support me in the things that I do and they believe in me and the calling that God has placed upon my life.  I could not and I don’t want to try to do life without them!

I have Help That I Don’t Even Know Of!  God and my friends have help that flows through others!  The purpose of our lives is to give God glory and the best way to give God glory is by doing life together!

When it gets to be more than you can handle – remember what you’ve got and that you are never alone, unless you make the choice to be!

Sundays are always crazy busy and Sundays are always good!  This Sunday was crazy good!  God showed up and communicated His presence in a very real and powerful way all throughout the day!

-Great Breakfast provided for everyone by the “Doing Life Together Class opened the door for some great fellowship to be shared between people in different classesand got the morning off to a good start!

-We Began our time of worship by celebrating the new spiritual lives of three that were baptized.  It was great seeing a young adult man who is excited about what he can do and be for God!  It was a blessing to see a young adult Mom set the example for her children and watching a fellow minister get to baptize his Grandson was priceless!

-Our Worship was a little different and very sweet.  It really made me thankful for all of the different talents and skills that God has given to so many to use for His glory through the worship ministry of Northwood!

-The message was plain and simple truth with potential of powerful impact, if we allow ourselves to get it and do what needs to be done about it!

-Seeing two more accept Christ and want to follow God in baptism was an exciting ending to a moving time of worship in our first service!

-The Sprit was really free and moving in our second service and we had a number of new, excited and eager faces.  Faces that have become very familiar through the ministry of Grace Place.  At the end of the service almost everyone was down front on their knees before God and two more Christ followers decided to follow Christ through baptism with a desire to join and serve God through His Church.  Two more, a husband and wife, expecting a baby also came forward acknowledging that they had accepted Jesus as their Savior and wanting to be baptized and join the church right after the baby is born.

-I Forgot to mention that there were also two young men that came through Grace Place this past week that prayed and invited Jesus into their heart and life as well!  That’s a total of 8 new spiritual relationships, plus the three that were baptized today = which equals 11 new souls stepping out of darkness and death into light and life!

-Tonight was great – super LIFE Classes all the way around and if you wonder why the Devil is attacking this week, it is because we are doing something right!  I am tired and ready for bed, but I am not sure I will be able to sleep.  Hard to shut down my mind, when my heart is going 500 miles an hour!

Thanks for being a part of God’s vision and for sharing in the miracles of His awesome plans.  May our lives lived for His glory continue to bless and make a difference!