Walking The Walk

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord , “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~Jeremiah 29:11  We always have a tendency at the end of the year to look back at what we've done and realize we didn't accomplish as much as we wanted to--or intended to.  And so we sit down and maybe we write a couple things down that we want to do this year.  Now I can tell you from experience that this list doesn't change very much from year to year.  But for some reason we think we'll be able to get done in the next 12 month what we failed to accomplish in the last 12 months, or maybe it's 24 months . . . or 36?   We fail because we're making our own plans usually.  We're relying on our own ability and our own will power and our own resolve to lose the weigh, and get in shape, and have better relationships at work, and be more productive. Instead of working our own plan in 2023, what if we resolved this year to ...

" Lord , I know that people’s lives are not their own it is not for them to direct their steps." ~Jeremiah 10:23 I've been preaching a series over the last several weeks on God's Guidance. Seeking God's Guidance.  Trusting God's Guidance.  Testing God's Guidance.  You get the idea.  But it has me thinking a lot about this topic obviously. I'm new to preaching.  I've been at it about eighteen months in total.  I started on Sunday mornings once a quarter and "as needed" when our senior pastor was out of town.  The church approved for me to start a mid-week service, and I deliver a message every Wednesday night at what we call "The ReCharge."  We've been doing that weekly service for about nine months now.  Coming up soon, I'm going to be providing a Sunday message for a Chinese church ministry each month--this church wants to have one message in English each month.  I'm looking forward to that! I got the call to minis...