Thanksgiving

Days remembered- with my family gathering in my aunts home, just across the street from the mill village that my family worked in, some all their lives. The home was filled with memories of others long gone but living on in stories told and anecdotes repeated in laughter. The table was filled with the best everyone could bring - but the side table was where my hopes lay - pecan pies, carrot cakes, and everything else.

Some years not everyone could be there. I can remember my cousin's being in Vietnam one year, and in Germany after that, serving his nation in the Army. Years later, another was off in Iraq, flying helicopters. Sometimes it was hard to believe we had chased each other through the living room just a few years earlier as boys.

A mixture of pride and fear crept over us those years, and the prayers at the table spoke of faith in a God bigger than our fears. This year is filled with uncertainty, as our nation is at war. Family after family will sit down to a table with empty chairs bearing witness. Our men and women are away, in harm's way. As we bow our heads tomorrow, many things have changed since I was a boy.

God hasn't.

Hebrews 6
When God wanted to guarantee his promises, He gave his word, a rock-solid guarantee-- 18God can't break his word. And because His word cannot change, the promise is likewise unchangeable.
We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. 19It's an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God

Be thankful. Our God is faithful to care, to love, to save.

Grace!

David

This devotional is written by David Wilson, pastor of New Hope Baptist church in Valparaiso, FL. If you find you have received this via a forward and would like to receive it regularly, or find you no longer wish to receive it, drop me an email at dwilsonfl@earthlink.net and I'll make the change to the list. If you'd like to know more about New Hope, visit our website at www.newhopevalp.org . May God bless you.

Beginning Again

Last week ended with a whine.

The whine could have emenated from the youth who were here at New Hope for a Friday night lock in. Or for those sleep deprived saints, Doug and Ellen Fannon who gave up some sleep to build relationships between kids and God. The day after, I'm sure the youth bounced out of bed and ran off to do stuff. The adults? Well....

But more than likely the whine came from me as I tried to eradicate several viruses, spyware, and even keyloggers that had invaded the church office PC. Every time someone opened a window in Internet Explorer, pop up ads ... popped up, layering the screen. Annoying. The computer ran so slow I thought I was back on my old Atari PC. Aggravating.

The viruses and the spyware though, were extremely dangerous.

So I went to work, updating security, running anti-spyware software, editing the registry. The result? Almost all gone. But not all. So I kept at it, trying this solution after that one, in safe mode and not, until finally I had to admit defeat.

The only way to eradicate it all, is to start over with a fresh hard drive. Reformat and reinstall.

To begin again. I sure hate to have to do that.

We've been studying the book of Beginnings lately (Genesis), and at one point, God came to the same conclusion that I did Saturday night. But He wasn't talking about a tool like a PC, He was speaking of His creation. And he wasn't whining about it - He was hurting.

GOD saw that human evil was out of control. People thought evil, imagined evil--evil, evil, evil from morning to night. 6GOD was sorry that he had made the human race in the first place; it broke his heart. 7GOD said, "I'll get rid of my ruined creation, make a clean sweep... Genesis 6:5-6

Sin broke God's heart.

Folks, when I read that again a few weeks ago, even when I read it now - it brings me to tears.

Because I know God to be love beyond all concepts of love we humans are capable of understanding. He'll go anywhere, do anything to let people know just how much He loves them. The most famous verse in the Bible says "For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son..."

Imagine how He must have hurt then, when man broke His heart.

Yet in His pain, he was merciful, seeing Noah (not a perfect man himself), as someone who He could continue to love - who hadn't given up on God. So God didn't give up on Him, instead, He re-created the world, and set Noah and family in it to try again. And then a couple thousand years later, a baby was born in Bethlehem for the purpose of saving the world. Hope was re-created in a manger. And God showed us how to live.

I want to ask you something. And you don't have to be a believer to answer this.

Given what you know about God, is your life pleasing Him, or is it breaking His heart?

Listen, God is still re-creating lives - if you'll surrender to His plan and purpose for your life. Get rid of all the "viruses" that keep you from enjoying the freedom that Jesus can give. Stop trying to live a good life and allow the Spirit of God to live in you and enable you to live a life beyond limits.

Give Jesus your heart.

Grace!

David

This devotional is written by David Wilson, pastor of New Hope Baptist church in Valparaiso, FL. If you find you have received this via a forward and would like to receive it regularly, or find you no longer wish to receive it, drop me an email at dwilsonfl@earthlink.net and I'll make the change to the list. If you'd like to know more about New Hope, visit our website at www.newhopevalp.org . May God bless you.