Why are YOU here? On this earth – in THIS country – residing in THIS town – knowing the people that you know?

I know the answer.

To share the good news of Jesus with everyone you meet – everyone you know – everyone you come in contact with!

Do you do it? I don’t. I need to.

Why is it so hard – the people in my life are people that I want to go to heaven – to escape the eternity of hell we all deserve.

There are people that aren’t in my life – that I have never met – the need to know Jesus. EVERYONE needs to know Jesus – everyone needs to be spared the eternity of hell.

Why is it that I can’t talk to my best friends about the importance of accepting Jesus – my grandparents – my aunts and uncles?

Why is it that I can write about it so openly on here – it’s not anonymous – you know who I am.

My aunt L – my DEAR aunt L – recently started an evangelism class. In her class there was a challenge – to share the love of Christ with one person you didn’t know that week. Most of the time I think it’s much easier to share with someone you don’t know than someone you do. If you share with someone you don’t know and they think you are crazy – you don’t have to see them again – most likely! When you share your love of Jesus with someone you know – someone you are close to – and they think you are crazy – you don’t have anywhere to go!

And that reason alone is one of the big reasons why I don’t share the way I should – which is weird because I normally don’t care what people think of me!

So here goes with the first step!

God created the universe – every last ounce of matter! He created you and me. He loves you and me. We sin – every day. Sin separates us from God – Jesus bridges that gap. Jesus is God’s son – who died – for you and me. He takes on our sin so that we don’t have to live in hell for eternity – be separated from God. Ask Him into your heart – ask Him into your life! Ask Him to CHANGE your life – to change the way you think – the way you interact – the way you LIVE!

You will not regret it!!

So I leave you with this challenge – this week share Jesus with someone you don’t know – let me know how it goes!

Next week – share with someone you DO know – someone that doesn’t know Jesus – let me know how it goes!

Praying for your encounters!!

The Birth of Jesus – Luke 2:1-20

¹ In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register.

⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Can you imagine being those shepherds? Just sitting there watching your sheep at night – making sure nothing attacks – making sure they are all there – and then – AN ANGEL APPEARS! The angel tells them that a Savior is born – the Messiah – the Lord! More angels come and sing and exalt God! Then the shepherds look at each other and say – let’s go check this out!

I love this account telling of the shepherds – I just cannot put myself in their shoes! They find Mary and Joseph and Jesus – did they ask to hold Him – did they kiss His tender little head – did they give Him back to Mary when he started crying? Did those shepherds tell their own grandchildren that they once held the Savior of the world as a baby – that THEY were the messengers of God to spread the good news?

Today – as Fitzy jumps around in my tummy – I am humbled that God would let me borrow him for a while – that God trusts us with His precious creation. I am wondering what exactly Mary was thinking – was she concerned with the fact that He was indeed the Savior of the world or more so that He would sleep through the night?

Thank You God for giving Your Son – Jesus. Thank you Mary for being a wonderful momma to our Lord. Thank you Joseph for loving your Son and His mother. Thank you shepherds for being in that field that night!

Dave brought his team to LBC in October for a concert!

Not only is Dave pretty much Jared’s brother – but also a fantastic worship leader!

If you haven’t bought Dave’s CD – Hope of Heaven – you NEED to!

I had to get a few shots of Lon – the pastor at LBC!

Dave and his worship team!

Thank you so much Dave for following God’s call on your life – it was an amazing concert!

I love Kelly! We met on FACEBOOK and she is one of the sweetest people I have EVER met in my life!

I will be photographing their wedding next May – but in the meantime – we got together for an engagement session!

That shot is my favorite!

Kelly & Dane – you guys are GREAT!

I cannot wait for your wedding next year!!!!

Mara asked me to come talk to RAY about God sightings – letting God direct your vision and creative process.

We met at 7.30 in the morning a few weeks ago and spent some time either drawing, writing, or photographing – letting God lead our hearts and minds.

This is what God showed me that morning …

God showed me so much that morning – that heart shaped leaf was the last thing I noticed – how much He LOVES us!

Thank you Mara for asking me to come along!

Dave Fitzgerald is a childhood friend of Jared’s. We spent a week with Dave and his wife in Florida while we were engaged. They are great, fun people!

Dave was in our wedding and is one of those friends you could call in the middle of night and he would be there at a moment’s notice.

Dave has just released a worship album – HOPE OF HEAVEN!

Make sure to visit www.davefitzgerald.com to get yours today!

Thank you Dave for your willingness to serve God and your friendship!!

I have been listening to this album non-stop and it’s one of those albums that I feel God put on Dave’s heart to speak to Jared and I at this moment in our life!

My parents have a game room that they had the youth group from AWC paint back in the day – I had put hand prints on the ceiling.

I realized over Easter that hand prints have a hole in the palm – as a reminder of what Jesus went through for us.

My Aunt Lori – my kindred spirit – writes her own blog – you NEED to check it out – especially today!

http://lorihoose.wordpress.com/

Thank you so much Jesus for Your sacrifice – for Your love that is unlike ANY other!

Take this Good Friday to reflect – to thank – to love – to repent.

THE HOUR BEFORE THE SUNRISE

If you’ve ever had to make a marathon drive over a long distance, or if you just wanted to squeeze every possible hour out of your vacation, you know what it’s like to drive all night probably. If you’re a long-haul truck driver, pushing through the night, that could well be a way of life for you. For me, that last hour or two before dawn, oh, man, that’s the toughest. That’s when you turn on the most obnoxious radio station you can find and you blast it. That’s when you start doing aerobic workouts behind the wheel. It’s when you roll down the window in spite of the 30-below wind chill and hurricane force winds. What makes the last hours of the night particularly challenging is the truth of that old cliché, “It’s always darkest before the dawn.” It usually is the darkest time, right when the night is seeming the very longest. Then suddenly, you start to see that glow on the horizon. The glow gets steadily brighter, and it starts radiating light across more and more of the dark sky. And then, there it is – the sunrise! Hallelujah, the long night is over! Just when it felt like it was never going to end!

I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “The Hour Before the Sunrise.”

That’s what time it might be in your life right now. It’s been a long drive – a long night. It feels as if it’s been dark forever, doesn’t it? In fact, it just got even darker. This is as bad as it’s ever been. You’re fighting hard to keep driving, especially when you feel like just giving up on the trip. But God wants to put a little glow in your dark sky right now. If it’s getting darker, that means sunrise is coming soon! God has given you His word on this promise: “Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5).

It’s no secret that I like pictures of spiritual truth. And Jesus gives us a wonderful real-life picture of this “darkest before the dawn” truth in our word for today from the Word of God in Luke 5, beginning with verse 4. Simon, the veteran fisherman, has been unsuccessful in his fishing expedition on the Sea of Galilee. He’s back in port, cleaning his nets when Jesus asks to use his boat as a pulpit. Then, Jesus “said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep water and let down the nets for a catch.’ Simon answered, ‘Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because You say so, I will let down the nets.'”

It may be daytime, but it’s dark time for Simon. He’s done everything that his great ability and his vast experience know how to do in order to bring in a catch. And all his efforts to succeed, to change the situation have failed. Sound familiar at all? He is, in fact, accepting failure and, at least for the time being, giving up. It’s dark. But the light is just about to dawn. The story concludes: “When they had done so (let down the nets, that is), they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.” The most amazing catch of Simon’s life! Now, here’s the principle of how Jesus works. A night of failure sets the stage for a day of fantastic results if you don’t give up; if you keep fighting under the orders of Captain Jesus. So, as Galatians 6:9 says, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap if we do not give up.”

God uses the long dark night to accomplish some important spiritual changes. He wants us to have those times when no human answers, no human consolation, no human heroes; no human efforts can change things. He’s bringing you to the end of what you can do; the end of anything you can even think of doing. Because that’s the beginning of the things only God can do. First, He has to get us out of the way.

A new staff couple had just arrived with their U-Haul truck, moving to our area from the Southwest. And a bunch of us were there to meet them and help them move into their apartment. Our four-year-old grandson insisted on joining the moving crew. I was inside the truck, handing out items as helpers came to get some more, and no one made more trips than that youngest mover there. Now, I didn’t give him the couch to carry, or the dresser or the TV set. I gave him small boxes, small appliances, and lighter objects to carry. There’s only so much a four-year-old can handle. Or even someone who’s a lot more than four years old – like me, for example.

I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Never More Than You Can Carry.”

We all have some loads to carry; that’s the nature of life. And sometimes it’s so heavy that it takes everything we’ve got to keep from dropping it or caving in beneath the weight. This might be one of those seasons of heavy burdens for you. I’ve got some good news for you – news that’s contained in our word for today from the Word of God in 1 Corinthians 10:13. Here is your Heavenly Father’s promise: “God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted (or the word can also be translated “tested”) beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”

Never more than you can bear. Just like that day I handed loads to my grandson for him to carry. I knew what he could handle. I wouldn’t give him more than he could carry. Neither will your Father in heaven who loves you infinitely and knows you completely. Everything that comes into your life as a child of God has to be Father-filtered first. Whether your Father sends it or allows it, no burden or temptation can come into your life unless He has first signed off on it. Will He allow burdens that take you to the limit? Yes, He will. Ask any athlete who’s ever used the weight room. The only way you can get stronger is if you have to lift something heavier than you’ve lifted before. But God knows your limit, and while He may allow you to go the edge so you can experience His power, He will never allow you to go over the edge.

Maybe you feel like Mother Teresa who is reported to have said, “I know God trusts me and He will never let me have more than I can handle. I just wish He didn’t trust me with so much.” In a very real way, God’s trust is what your burdens are all about. Look at Job. He had no idea that his motives for serving God were being challenged by Satan himself in heaven. And the devil knew he couldn’t do anything bad to Job unless God allowed him to. And God looks at his servant Job and says, “I can trust this man with a very heavy load. He will not betray me. He will not stop trusting me.” And with one tragedy after another flooding into his life, Job proves he is a man God can trust. And, in the process, he humiliates the devil who was sure he could embarrass God with Job’s betrayal.

If you’re having to carry something really heavy right now, realize that you are indeed being trusted by God with this burden. He believes you can handle it, with His unlimited power as your strength. He believes you won’t let Him down. And He knows you will emerge from this struggle stronger and more valuable than you have ever been. For Job, it meant receiving twice what he had lost during his time of testing.

Your Father loves you. Your Father knows what you can handle. He knows what He can trust you with. There’s something much bigger, something much more eternal going on here than you can possibly imagine, maybe even a contest over you between the devil and God Himself. Carry your burden faithfully, with undiminished allegiance to your Lord and daily downloading of the mighty grace of God. And as your Father hands you today’s load to carry, be sure that He knows how much you can handle, and He will never give you more than you can carry.

A WORD WITH YOU – MARCH 3, 2010