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Week Of:

Click here to read past weekly devos.

11.23

It's Thanksgiving week and the official start of the Christmas season will be here! What are you thankful for? Your health? family? relationship with Jesus? May we this week think about all that God has truly blessed us with and may we say a genuine "Thank You" to our God who so richly gives to us! May we this season give back to those in need. May we be good news while telling our stories of "THE GOOD NEWS" that Jesus loves us, he came to die. That's why we celebrate Christmas.

11.16

We played a song yesterday during our worship gathering called "Revelation Song" by Jennie Lee Riddle. It's really good! It speaks of Jesus as He is described in the book of Revelation (notice no "s" at the end). The chorus says, "Holy, holy holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come, With all creation I sing praise to the King of Kings. You are my everything and I will adore you." I love that phrase "with all creation, I sing..." I love the picture here. All of creation, including all those who are followers of Jesus singing, praise to Him! May we this week look at all of God's creation and sing God's praises in unison!

11.09

We had a missionary from one of the countries we support. I can't say which one. It was amazing to hear all that God is doing over there. We are so blessed to be a part of what God wants to accomplish! We are part of the global body of Christ! Jesus cares not just for the U.S.A. but for the WHOLE WORLD!!! May we see this week that God loves us and the world the same. May we begin to think globally about getting in on what God is doing around the world. Whatever that may be, whether going on a short term trip with us to Jamaica in July, or to the Ukraine, or wherever!!! Just go!

10.27

Why is it that when we are tempted with the same stuff over and over and when we give in we have this overwhelming hatred for it and scream to ourselves or even out loud saying we will NEVER DO THIS AGAIN...only to find ourselves a short time later, being tempted again, and...that's right giving in? Maybe it's because when the temptation is in front of us we forget how we feel right after we give in. Maybe those feelings are drowned out by the temptation itself. If we know we are going to be tempted we need a game plan. God loves us that nothing will ever come into our lives that is too great a temptation. He will always make a way out for us. The challenge is though we have to LOOK FOR IT! Many times we don't want to. We like giving in to the temptation. It feels good. Otherwise it wouldn't be a temptation! Check out 1 Corinthians 10:13. It will blow your mind!

10.19

Temptation! How many of us struggle with it? It comes in SO many forms. It seems like our spiritual enemy knows exactly how to tempt us doesn't it? I believe he knows exactly what we struggle with so he tempts us in those areas. We're going to talk about this @ Studio 315 beginning Sunday. If you struggle with temptation...(we all do) I hope to see you there.

10.12

What comes into your mind when you think about God is the most important thing about you- A.W. Tozer. Our "Godview" how we see and what we believe about God is the most important thing about us. Why? Well, what we believe determines how we act/behave. God is there for us but what happens when God doesn't "come through" for us? Meaning, what happens when God doesn't do something that we want Him to do or something we think He should do? Our Godview needs to change to be in line with how God really is. God is God. I am not. We don't have all the answers to the difficult things in life. But that doesn't mean that God is not still in control or that He doesn't exist. Check out Matthew 11:1-6 to see about someone who had to have their Godview changed.

10.05

A good friend of mine passed away this weekend. I am praying for the family. Bill was a believer and I know he is in heaven right now with Jesus. His faith is now sight! I miss him but I know I will see him again one day. I hope we get to rock out to some serious worship songs playing for our King Jesus! Bill was so genuine, down to earth, loved his family and could whale on the guitar. He will be missed greatly. This makes me think that life is so short! It could be any one of us at any time. Do you have a relationship with Jesus? That is the most important decision we can ever make. Jesus loves you and has done everything to make a relationship possible. It's up to you to make the next step. If you are seeking for something more in this life, please talk to me! I would love to let you know how to begin an incredible relationship with Jesus.

9.28

We just finished up a series that talked about the Bible. We said the Bible is a light to guide our paths, that we read it to change who we are and that we read it to experience freedom through our relationship with Jesus! God is into freedom. When we obey God we are truly free! That is where freedom is found...in obeying God's word. May we this week spend some time in God's word...listening, praying, following, putting it into practice, and truly experiencing all the freedom that is in JESUS!!!

9.14

God is so amazing. No other world view (religion) believes in a God that loves! Our God is not angry, He is not punishing us. He is SO crazy about us. He gave us a book so we could know Him. Really know Him. He wants a relationship with us! He's not into us performing to be accepted. He accepts us. How many times do we pick up the Bible (the book mentioned above) read it and not think about it? How many times have we tried to spend time reading it but life happens, we get discouraged then stop? NEVER STOP! I'm preaching to myself also here. No matter what happens in life may we continue to read His word. May we put it into practice word by word, sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph. We will then begin to experience God's word in our lives. We will be in rhythm with Him. Our lives will have direction! We will have more peace. May we decide toady, to keep reading no matter what!

8.31

I have been continuously marveling at God's grace. I can't get away from it! Not that I'm trying to. It's just that it seems everywhere I turn, I'm reminded of His grace in my life and of His grace in the world. He loves us so much. Check out the song called "By your side" by Tenth Avenue North. Such a cool song about a great and mighty God that loves and will always be there for us.

8.24

I hope you experienced grace this past week in a seriously real way. We talked yesterday about giving or extending grace to others. It's so much easier said than done. We want to get revenge or get even with people who wrong us. The ugly truth is that it feels good to get even, to get back at those who hurt us. It's even fun. That's not what God wants us to do. Check out this passage in the Bible: Romans 12:17-20. Very cool stuff!

8.17

Have you experienced God's grace? It's meant to be experienced. It's not all head knowledge. "I know that God is gracious." It's so much more than that. To experience God's grace is to truly live a life that is in humble adoration (knowing that we are not in control and giving praise to God). He is so crazy about us. He loves us. He gives us grace and truth through His Son, Jesus. Think about this verse as you go about your week: "From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law (not wall. those of you in Studio 315 on Sunday will get that) was given through Moses; grace& truth came through Jesus Christ

8.12

It's Wednesday. I've been thinking an awful lot about God's grace. The series we started last week is dealing with this issue. It's just so amazing! God loves us ...period! Why? He just does. We can't earn it, or even pay God back for it. We may try, but then it really becomes a "'debtors ethic" of sorts. I have to do all this stuff for God BECAUSE he loves me. It's out of duty. Kind of like if you get invited over a friends house for dinner and crash for the night, we feel like we have to do the same to pay them back for being so nice and gracious for letting us come over. It ceases to be grace at that point. Same with God. If we try to pay Him back it's not grace (on our part that is. God is always gracious). We can never fully repay God for all He has done for us and will continue to do for us. We need to learn to accept His love and His grace. May we this week begin to accept God's grace in your life. May we learn to say thank you to God and as the psalmist said, "How can I repay the LORD for all his goodness to me? I will lift up the cup of Salvation and call on the name of the LORD". We keep thanking God for all the blessings God pours into our lives!

6.27

Stress is a killer.  And in this fast paced world, there is a lot of stress.  There are so many trials and dilemmas that come up and we have to deal with them even when they seem too much to bear.  But what do we do when these trials, or faith testing events, actually become overwhelming?  We should get on our knees and ask God for wisdom in how to handle life at that point.  This is found in James 1:5 and it is something we should do, but I want to ask something further than what James has to say.  Why do we wait until life has become too much to handle.  If God is the creator of the universe and we have a relationship with Him, why wait to ask for His guidance when we don’t know what to do.  Doesn't’t it make even more sense to ask God for guidance even in the small things that seem like we can handle. 

6.22

Have you ever sat down to think about what you think about?  Seems a bit strange I know, but follow me with this.  So many times we think about the music we listen too or the TV we watch and we don’t even realize it.  Media has penetrated our thinking so much that we joke about things or use language that just isn’t what a Christian should be saying or thinking.  Paul tells us in Philippians 4:8 to think about “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable.”  What this means is we should constantly be focusing our minds on Christ…even when the media and world is hitting us with other thoughts.

6.15

Check this out for this week's devotion. Click here.

6.8

James 1:19 says,

"My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry."'

Having patience can be hard sometime. And having patience is like having a longer fuse on a stick of dynamite. The thing is we all have a breaking point, but we are to be careful and not blow up at the end of that fuse. Instead we should stop and listen to others and actually pay attention to what they are saying. But also we should be slow to speak instead of saying the first thing that comes to mind, because more often than not, it is not something nice or encouraging. Having this longer fuse won't happen overnight, but God will help give you the patience to get through life's situations ...I promise.

6.1

James 4:13-14 says,

"Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. "

I've been really thinking about life lately with my dad and all. Life is so short. Graduation is here. Those of you graduating, I can remember when you were 7th graders!!! Time is flying isn't it? What are you going to do with your life? I'm not meaning "are you going to be a doctor, teacher, going into the military?" I mean where ever you are and go in life, are you going to make a difference? Will people look at your life and be able to tell if Jesus has risen from the dead? I want to. No matter what comes. I want to make a difference. Life is short. To borrow Nike's slogan, "JUST DO IT". MAKE A DIFFERENCE in your world!

5.27

I can give you all a heads up on what's going on with my family. My dad has been diagnosed with Lymphoma in his stomach. We are waiting till Thursday for the results of more detailed tests to get a prognosis. We are praying for God's will to be done. That's what this weeks devo is about trusting God. Look at Matthew 26:39. Jesus is praying, He is about to be crucified in just a matter of hours. He asks God if there is another way for that to happen. That is what He wants, but then He does something strange. He says, "yet not my will but yours be done God." That is a hard statment. We are giving up control, we are surrendering to God's will. Whatever the outcome, we trust God knowing that He cares for us and knows what is best. That is where I am at right now. I am trusting God. No matter what the outcome is with my dad. I am trusting God for His will to be done. Can you please pray for my dad? I would really appreciate it. Thanks.

5.18

Sometimes as we live life we are thrown a curve ball. Out of no where you get slammed, blind sided. Life doesn't make sense. Why is this happening? Why my family? Why now? Why? Why? Why? These and many other questions fill our minds when the crud hits the fan. It's natural for this to happen. The real question is for those of us who follow Jesus then becomes, do we trust Him? Will we follow Him in only good times? Will we be like the seeds which fell in the shallow and thorny ground that Jesus spoke about in Matthew 13? Will we walk by faith in Jesus when we can't see what's going to happen? When there are no answers right now, or maybe ever? Will we STILL follow Him in difficult times? I'm in one now, and I want to follow HIM no matter what! I believe God is in control. He is. That's all that matters.

5.11

Proverbs 11:25 says, "A generous person will prosper; they who refresh others will themselves be refreshed." Do you think being generous is just giving money? How about giving your time? Talents? What about giving genuine compliments? How about being nice to people on purpose? Why would God fresh us when we refresh others? I think that is the way God works. He blesses us to be a blessing to others. I don't know how many times I've been to the hospital to visit some people and be a blessing to them, to encourage them in Christ, and I've been the one to be blessed by their faith in the middle of pain, or trial. That is our God. May we see God in everything we do and say. May we be a blessing to someone this week!

5.4

I was on vacation last week. This week's devo is going to be different. We would like to know what you thought about the series we just did..."lovesick". Did it help you? Did you enjoy it? Was it boring? We want to know the good and the bad. Email: staff@nlsm.net and let us know!

4.20

Check out this out for this weeks Devo. Pretty awesome! I love the music. Click here...

4.13

Happy Easter! I've been really thinking A LOT about the resurrection of Jesus this Easter. That is the most pivotal claim of following Jesus. Check out 1 Corinthians 15:12-19. May everyday be Easter this year. May we think about the resurrection each day. That is our hope! If Jesus rose from the dead then all who follow Him will be raised as well!!!

4.6

Do you have a relationship with Jesus? It's not about doing stuff for God, going to church, reading, praying, giving etc. It's not about spending exactly 1 hour or exactly 30 minutes no more, no less with Him. It's about being in relationship. Think about this for a second. Do you count the amount of time you spend with your best friend? Hey I would love to keep talking or hanging out with you but it's been 10 minutes exactly so I have to go. We don't do this. Hangin' out with Jesus is just that. Hanging out. We're not concerned with time. We're concerned about connecting with Him, getting to know Him better. It's about a relationship. No more, no less!

3.30

Jesus. That name generates a lot of emotion. To most, the emotions are positive. Who is He though? He claimed to be God but is He? Is He a liar? Did he deceive his followers who in turn have deceived people who have followed Jesus for approx. 2 millennia? Was He crazy? Did He really think that He was God but wasn't ...OR is He God? We are in the Easter season when followers of Jesus celebrate His resurrection. Did Jesus really rise from the dead? If you are searching for the truth, may you begin at the resurrection. Something happened that 1st Easter morning. Jesus was not in the tomb! Maybe Jesus is God. Maybe everything He claimed is true. Check out the 4th book of the New Testament called "John". Jesus does make some interesting claims. Let me know what you find. I would really love to dialogue with you about it. Thanks.

3.23

Heaven. What will it be like? We talked yesterday at Studio 315 about this place. We hope that you have thought about it some since yesterday. Heaven is a place that for those of us who follow Jesus, should look forward to. Heaven is going to be a blast! YOU WILL WANT TO BE THERE! We asked the question at the end of our conversation "are you going to be there?" Ephesians 1:13-14 tells us that when we believe in Jesus the Holy Spirit comes into our lives and is a seal guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption ...heaven!!!. May we all ask ourselves this important question "Will I be in heaven?" God has made it clear in His word how we can know for sure if we will be. If you are not sure, please feel free to call us: 724.946.2816. We would love to talk with you about this!!!

3.16

In the book of Acts in the New Testament, chapter 17 deals with something very cool. Paul is waiting for his friends in the city of Athens. Athens at this time was where a bunch of people would gather to discuss/debate the latest ideas in politics, religion and life. They had idols made of all their gods they worshipped. One even said, "to the unknown god". They wanted to make sure they didn't accidentally miss a god. Paul sees this and uses it as an opportunity to share Jesus with them. He observed what was going on around him and used that to share his story and God's story with them. Check it out. Acts 17. May we this week look for ways to bring Jesus into our conversations with friends and family.