Now what?

It is the day after Easter, a time spent celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. Now, what do we do with that knowledge? Do we put Jesus back on the cross until next year? Do we pack Him back in the tomb to be brought out again next year like Easter baskets and plastic eggs?

Do we get comfortable with smaller crowds, fewer people in the pews, and return to watching services on TV? Do we stop sharing, “He is risen” on Facebook as if He was also not risen last week or next week? His resurrection changed all history, but did it change us?
How will you spread the news that new life is available to all? Not because we celebrated the resurrection yesterday, but because Jesus rose from the dead 2000 years ago and wants to spend all eternity with us.

Jesus no longer hangs on the Cross or lays in the Tomb. He is alive and well and expects us to be looking to the clouds for His return, not simply reflecting on the past. When Jesus rose from the dead, no one was there expecting His return. Instead, a few women were there to tend to His dead body.

Let us be found looking for His return!

Luke 21:28 “… lift up your heads for your redemption is near!”

Remind someone today, “He has risen, and He is returning!”

God loves you and so do I.
Pastor Billy Tingle

February 20, 2018

Day 34 of 500. TheNewAndLivingWay.com

Faith/Food

Give us today our daily bread. Matthew 6:1

Lifestyle changes whether related to increasing our intake of healthy foods, or increasing our ability to trust God are all daily decisions.  We don’t need to focus on what we ate yesterday or how we failed God yesterday but instead start each morning with a plan for today.  It is a great habit to record successes and setbacks throughout the day and make corrections, even to review them at the end of the day and repent for our failings; however the next morning starts with a clean slate, an empty basket to gather our manna, our “daily bread.

 

…Dear friends, let’s make a clean break with everything that defiles or distracts us, both within and without. Let’s make our entire lives fit and holy temples for the worship of God. 2 Corinthians 7:1

 

“…let’s make a clean break with everything that defiles or distracts us, both within and without…..”  EVERYTHING.  If we are defiled in any of the F-areas of our lives, Faith, Food, Fitness, Finances, Focus, Friends, or Family it will affect the others.  I can also promise that if you have identified a negative issue in one area there is probably a similar issue in another,  you just haven’t admitted it to yourself.

So, let’s choose today to make a clean break from something that is holding us from our full potential.  Then trust God to replace that with something from His pantry of mercy and grace.

Give us this day our daily bread Oh Lord,

Billy

Day 33 of 500.

TheNewAndLivingWay.com

Prayer

 

 

Lord, today I pray

That You’ll protect my Kids and my wife

Bind us all to the path

That leads to eternal life

 

I pray for my family

I pray for my friends

Keep us all safe

’til we’re together again

 

I pray for our pastors

I pray for Your church

Bring to our doors the lost sinners

And please a few more Christians willing to work

 

I pray for Your missionaries

Spread far and wide

As believers we must send them prayers and a check

Or God may You send us to walk by their side

 

I pray for my government

Although I won’t name names

Regardless of their party

Their need for salvation is the same

 

I pray for the prisoners and the homeless

The sick and the lame

For except by Thy Grace

They and I could be the same

 

I pray for the children

Still in the womb

May it be a doorway to life

Instead of a tomb

 

I lift these requests

Bound to heartfelt praise

And in all things acknowledge

Your Will and Your Ways

 

I thank You for another morning

To speak with You again

My Gracious Heavenly Father

In Jesus Name, Amen

 

If you find yourself too busy to pray, I promise that The God who loves you will find a way to slow you down and make time!!

Let us stand in agreement,

Billy

Day 32 of 500

TheNewAndLivingWay.com

Focus

Friends

Pray for my healing friends,

Billy

Day 31 of 500. TheNewAndLivingWay.com. Flu

The word for the day is: Flu.

To be continued……..

Billy

Day 30 of 500

Fitness

Psalm 28:7 The Lord is my strength and my shield;…He helps me. My heart leaps for joy…”

Fitness. My biggest struggle.

Spinach shakes. Quinoa salads. Dried green beans. All that is easy. Working out is not.

A simple truth in my life is, “If I don’t enjoy it, I’m not going to do it.”

I rarely laugh when working out. I think when I’m on the treadmill what I’m doing is the opposite of laughing. Lamenting maybe.

But if I am truly a “full gospel” Christian then I believe it all. That includes:

This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the LORD is your strength!” Nehemiah 8:10b

This has to be my theme song, “The Joy of the Lord is my Strength.”

I have to find something that I enjoy and that God enjoys watching me enjoy. Remember he’s our Father. Like any father He is happiest when His children are happy and healthy.

Get up, get moving and get happy!!!

Join with me as we repeat these words over and over until we believe them, “I Like to Move It, Move It!”

Billy

Day 29 of 500

TheNewAndLivingWay

Food

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” 1Cor 10:31

My work involves a lot of travel. That makes it hard to stop and enjoy my meals. It does however make me really appreciate the time I get to spend around a table with my family.

I have tried to eat better even when traveling. I started the day an all natural homemade protein shake. I even managed to find a quinoa salad for lunch. Snacks were small portions of nuts, cheese and fruits. For supper my wonderful wife had tasty steamed garlic broccoli and rotisserie chicken.

Eating right makes me feel better. And not just physically. It makes me feel as if I’m living in obedience to God’s Word. I have too often neglected my temple. The old saying goes, “A stitch in time, saves nine.” Too often in the past I have slid into bad habits and only corrected those when my weight would hit a certain number, my jeans would get a little too tight or my sugar would refuse to come down. Instead however I need to manage my food everyday to keep my body in optimum shape.

Try something different today. It can be a little change. Today I brought baked snap peas for a snack. That was different, but good.

“Taste and see that the LORD is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!” Psalm 34:8

Dear Lord give me the desire to seek what You have for me. You have placed so many good things for me in the garden, help me choose to eat from those that lead to life.

Billy

Day 28 of 500

TheNewAndLivingWay.com

Faith

“Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” Hebrews 11:1

Click here to view the typical 10-day diet plan. This is to be followed throughout the 40 day plan.

Click here to view the 10-day detox plan. This is an alternative for the first ten days to jumpstart the program. I am beginning with this detox.

Aren’t you sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Let’s go!!

Billy

Day 27 of 500

TheNewAndLivingWay.com

Faith, Food, Fitness, Focus and Friends

I start the Daniel Plan “Forty Days to a Healthier Lifestyle” tomorrow. It combines the essentials of Faith, Food, Fitness, Focus and Friends as they relate to overall better living. I will document the process on my daily blog, TheNewAndLivingWay.com in case you want to follow along or participate.

Jeremiah 15:16. Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy Word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by Thy Name, O LORD God of hosts.

I am convinced that when I eat more of His words there will be less of me and more of Him.

What have you got to lose?

What have you got to gain?

Don’t make me have to do this alone,

Billy

• Feeling the Hurts of Others

This age in which we live could hardly be described as conducive to a sensitiveness of the needs of others. We have developed a veneer of sophistication and hardness. Abraham Lincoln once said, characteristically, “I am sorry for the man who can’t feel the whip when it is laid on the other man’s back.” Much of the world is calloused and indifferent toward mankind’s poverty and distress. This is due largely to the fact that for many people there has never been a rebirth. The love of God has never been shed abroad in their hearts. Many people speak of the social gospel as though it were separate and apart from the redemptive Gospel. The truth is: there is only one Gospel. We must be redeemed, we must be made right with God before we can become sensitive to the needs of others. Divine love, like a reflected sunbeam, shines down before it radiates out. Unless our hearts are conditioned by the Holy Spirit to receive and reflect the warmth of God’s compassion, we cannot love our fellowmen as we ought.

Prayer for the day

Help me to feel another person’s hurt and be concerned, Father, so that I may shed the light of Your love in an uncaring world.

-Billy Graham

 

I am so glad that the youth of our church are sensitive to the needs of others.  They spent yesterday ministering to the homeless.  They truly “abideth in the light.”  I am thankful for their faithfulness to the command of Christ:

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,  I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’  Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?  And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?   And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’  And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,  you did it to me.’  Matthew 25: 35-40

Billy Tingle