Light of the World

lifewords 12.22.10 It's a wonderful December 22 and our King  is light and in Him is no darkness! In John 8:12 Jesus declares, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life." In His light we see light!  In John 1 we read about John the Baptist who"bore witness of the light......the true light, which coming into the world, enlightens every man." Jesus Christ is the true light Who enlightens every person. This Christmas let's walk in the Light!  Invite Him, through the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit, to enlighten your understanding and illuminate your spiritual eyes.  He will!  I'm so thankful we are not groping around in the darkness of uncertainty and fear.  We can be a people who walk in the Light of understanding and love and wisdom.   Not only is He our light,  but the more we abide in Him, His light can be seen in us. This Christmas let's "Arise and shine, for our light has come!" Is. 60:1 How appropriate that a great star of light announced the location of the Savior of the world.  The wise men recognized that light and traveled many miles to come and worship the King who had been born. It says that "when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy." Now He resides in our heart,  and His light in us marks the place of His dwelling so that others are drawn to it.  Seeing the light of Jesus Christ in us causes others to rejoice exceedingly!     I believe on of the key truths of Christmas is that, just as that star led the magi to the Savior, His light in us can beckon people to Him.  Jesus, who declared that He was the Light of the world, tells His disciples  in Matthew 5:14, that THEY are the light of the world: "You are the light of the world.......a city set on a hill cannot be hidden.." Oh that we would walk in the Light and Truth this Christmas,  and as we yield to His Lordship in our lives His Light in us would draw precious people to Him! This is the Commission that He has given each of us, as the chief assignment of our days.   We are the stars of light that direct this world to the Savior who loves them and desires reconciliation and relationship with them.  Whether it is your dear spouse, your precious children, your family members, your friends, or strangers you encounter, happy people or sad, young people or elderly, people who deserve it or people who don't... Let those around you see the Savior in your eyes today.  Allow them to hear the Savior's Words of Life on your lips today. Intentionally purpose in your heart that your actions of love will cause people to see the Savior and rejoice exceedingly. His great love, demonstrated through you will draw people to a personal relationship with Him.He is the Light of the World, Let His Light Shine  in the darkness through you this day!!!!!!!!!!

Abide in Him

It's a wonderful December 21 and I'm praying for you now, rejoicing in these words of Jesus: "If you abide in Me and My Word abides in you, ask whatever you will and it shall be done for you." I believe that  as we learn  to abide in Him, the Holy Spirit orchestrates our praying according to the  living Word of God. Abiding in Him is abiding in His Word.  He is the Word of God.  Remember in John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God and the Word was God. " Then in John 14, "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." This is the message of Christmas! Mary, Joseph, the angels and the shepherds saw His glory as he lay, wrapped in swaddling clothes in the manger. The wise men saw His glory as they bowed before Him, bearing gifts. Many saw His glory during His life and ministry on this earth. Now we behold His glory, full of grace and truth, as we spend time in the Word. We experience His glory as we spend time with the Word. We are filled with His glory as we abide in His Word. We radiate His glory, full of grace and truth, to the precious people around us as we spend time in His Word, in His presence! This week let's behold Him, let's abide in Him, let's be the manifestation of His glory to the world.

Emmanuel God with Us

 

lifewords 12.20.10   Hi and I'm praying for you now as the rain falls, thinking of His lavish love for you this Christmas season. I'm praying that the abiding presence of the Prince of Peace saturates you today. Remember His Name is Emmanuel God With Us! According John chapter one, "He is the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the  only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth."  Oh this precious Savior who came to redeem us all back to God and extends us the invitation to be His very dwelling place!   His desire for us this Christmas season is the fullness of His presence in us and through us. I was thinking of John 1:16, "For of His fulness we have all received, and grace upon grace."  Let's allow the fullness of His Peace to replace anxiety and stress now.  Let's yield to the fullness of His love to dispel fear, selfishness and doubt.  Let's embrace the fullness of His joy. In His presence is fullness of joy (Ps. 16:11) Let's permit the Light of the World to flood us with the fullness of His light! Remember John 1:4, "In Him is life, and the life is the light of men." Oh how He desires us to be full of Him, grace upon grace! Not full of ourselves, but the fullness of Him.  He is our All in All.   Let's commit to allow Galatians 2:20 to become a reality in us this season. "I've been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live. YET NOT I BUT CHRIST LIVES IN ME, and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loves me and gave His life for me."   This week, let's agree with Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3:19 that we may be "filled up with all the fullness of God."  This is the miracle of Christmas, Emmanuel God with Us and in us!

The Manger is the Feeding Trough

lifewords 12.18.10  Hello and I'm praying for you this morning, thinking of how incredible our King is. He is the Wonderful Counselor, Almighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace and He shall reign forever!  I pray that each day this Christmas season you will experience Him as He is, Emmanuel God with us.  We are no longer separated, no longer in darkness, no longer bound to the penalty of sin... because God so loved the world that He sent His only Son, that whosoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life!  Oh this is the miracle of Christmas, that God has come to dwell in our hearts.   Today I was thinking about Jesus' birth.  We know from  Luke 2:12, that His parents wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger.  A Manger. All our lives we've been hearing the song at Christmas "Away in a manger, no crib for a bed....."  As we arrange our Nativity set, we place baby Jesus in the manger. We've seen countless pictures of Jesus in the manger.  Oh but today I'm thinking of the amazing significance of that manger, an intentional orchestration of the Holy Spirit. The manger was an animal feeding trough.  Here is the definition from Webster's. "A manger is a trough or box of carved stone or wood construction used to hold food for animals (as in a stable)." The animals would come and linger at the feeding trough, finding nourishment as they chewed and digested the food. Fast forward to Jesus in the manger, and the angels announcing to the shepherds  that the Savior had been born and  that they would "find the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger." Oh the joy as they went to search for Him in Bethlehem...and they did find Him, in the manger, just as the angel had declared!  The Savior, the long awaited King of Kings, Emmanuel God with us, was found in the feeding trough.   How appropriate that 30 years later, Jesus would call Himself the Bread of Life in John 6:35. He said, "I am the Bread of Life, whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst."   In verses 48-51 He continues to speak of Himself as the Living Bread. It is also amazing that when Satan came to test Jesus in the wilderness, our King associates the Word with food,  quoting from Deut. 8,"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God."(Luke 4)  The Word is our daily nourishment and sustenance. Just as the shepherds searched for Him and found Him in the manger, we now search for Him and find Him in the Word.  Meditating in the pages of the Living Word is feeding at the feeding trough. To obtain our daily life's nourishment, we much search for it and find it and linger there at the feeding trough of the Word. Now we can say with the Psalmist in Psalm 34:8, "O taste and see that the Lord is good!"   Psalm 11:4  can be a favorite this Christmas! "He provides food for those who fear Him, He remembers His covenant forever."   Every day, let's come to the feeding trough  of the Bible and find Him there, with Psalm 81:10 in mind..."open your mouth wide, and I will fill it!"

In The Fear of The Lord is Life

lifewords 11.29.10 in the fear of the Lord is life! Grace and peace to you today from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm praying for you this morning, rejoicing in God's great love for you. Remember last week in the last verse of Paul's letter to the Ephesians, seeing the relationship between a God's grace to us and our lifestyle of loving Him with sincerity?  A sincere, pure, humble, undivided heart is what He loves. Along these lines, today I'm thinking of what God's Word says concerning reverencing the Lord.  To "fear the Lord" is another way of saying "to revere Him,  to honor Him, to worship Him with a pure heart." Proverbs 8:13 gives additional insight to what the "fear of the Lord" is.  "To fear the Lord is to hate evil.  I hate arrogant pride, evil conduct, and perverse speech." Proverbs 19:23 says that the fear of the Lord comes with humility. "The result of humility is the fear of the Lord, along with wealth, honor and life." Psalm 34:9,10 admonishes us to "Fear the Lord, you His  saints, for those who fear Him lack nothing.  The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing." We are to honor Him, reverence Him with our life, worship Him with all we are. I love the living wisdom of Proverbs. Oh, that we would walk in the wisdom of God daily!  Pr 9:10 says that "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom..." without a heart of worship, we won't even get off the starting block to attaining true wisdom!  Honor Him first, then wisdom's flow. Proverbs 12:27 says that our reverence for the Lord will prolong life! Proverbs 14:26 says "In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence and His children have a refuge." Our hearts of reverent worship and honor to the Lord today will bring His wellsprings of life and favor to us. amy stoehr 390 Mimosa Ave. Vista, California 92081

Giving Thanks to the Lord for His Love

As I pray for you today, my meditation is Psalm 107:1    "Thank the Lord for He is good. His love continues forever. That is what those whom the Lord has saved should say."   We can practice saying this today!!! Lord, thank you for your goodness and faithfulness to me!  Thank you for your love, which is from everlasting to everlasting!! Notice it does not say, "this is what those whom the Lord has saved should 'think'."  It is what should be on our lips!!!!  Psalm 107 is a Psalm about remembering.   It is a Psalm exhorting God's people to rehearse the great things the Lord has done in their lives. The Psalm is about the Israelites  wandering in the desert. They were hungry, discouraged,feeling lost, confused, weary miserable and afraid. We can relate!  The instruction is to Give Thanks!!!  Remember the awesome works of God! Throughout the Psalm, in verses 8,15,21, and 31, it repeats this phrase,   "Let them give thanks to the Lord for His love, and for the miracles He has done for His people."    Thankfulness expressed. Thankfulness has a voice. More thanking, less complaining.  More time praising, less time requesting.  More time appreciating our King, less time with idle talk.  More time celebrating His love and faithfulness, less time explaining the problems. Today is yet another day the Lord has made for us. His faithfulness to us abounds, His love never ceases, great are the miracles He has done in our lives! Let's cultivate a Psalm 107 lifestyle, giving thanks continually to the Lord for His love, and for the miracles He has done for us and for His people. Don't allow a racing mind about the temporary circumstances, rehearse His faithfulness!  Thanksgiving will keep your faith airborne. It will  repel the artillery of the enemy. It will bring life and encouragement and strength to you and those around you. Your thankfulness will cause those around you to adjust  their focus and the direction of their gaze. lifewords 11.19.10 Giving Thanks to the Lord for His Love

Grace for the Sincere in Heart

Praying for you is  one of the great joys of my life! I greet you with Paul's Holy Spirit inspired words  with which he greets the Ephesians. "Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 1:2,3) God's grace and peace can flow unobstructed to us today! I love how Paul's first sentence to them focuses on GRACE.    Amazingly, the last sentence in the letter to the Ephesians gives a glimpse of the secret to experiencing the continual grace of God we so desperately need. It says, "Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity." God's grace is tied to our sincere hearts toward Him. Sincerity means from the heart, without hypocrisy, in truth, not in word only, but in deed and in truth.  Our sincere heart of love for God, loving Him with all we are, will enable us to experience a fresh supply of His free grace, love and favor today.  His grace toward us is conditional only to our sincere heart of love. Sincerity is demonstrated by a continual desire to abide in Him spend time with Him, the joyful, obedient, yielding of our will to His, and our pure motives to love what He loves. Loving Him in sincerity is the secret to experiencing the river of His immeasurable grace.     Jesus said, in Matthew 5, that the pure in heart are blessed, for they shall see God. Oh, to truly see Him and know Him! I believe that when we truly see Him, we will reflect Him to the world. The whole dark earth groans for the people of God, the sons and daughters of the living God, to rise up with a sincere love for Him, and manifest the fullness of His grace and love to the captives. lifewords 11.18.10   grace for the sincere in heart     amy stoehr astoehr2@gmail.com

The Fruit

lifewords 11.17.10 the fruit

Praying for you before the sunrise each day is a great privilege. Today I pray that you will experience His lavish love and grace as you  spend time with Him in the secret place, desperate for His presence, desperate for His living Word.   In John 15, Jesus speaks to His disciples about abiding.  His desire is for us to abide in Him, and He in us. He compares this to a branch abiding in the vine.  The lesson of the branch is that as it stays connected to the vine and enjoys the complete life of the vine! The branch cannot exist if it is disconnected from the vine! The nature of the vine is seen in the branch. The evidence of the branch connected to the vine is the fruit. The connected branch is one with the vine and receives all its nutrients, water and resources from it.  The purpose of the branch is to bear fruit. So it is with us.  As we abide in Him, and He in us, the evidence will be the fruit seen in our lives.  His purposes for and through our life will be seen. Fruit is seen. Fruit is experienced. Clearly, we can see in John 15 that our Lord desires that we bear much fruit as we are connected to Him.   The branch doesn't have to beg itself to produce fruit.  It simply abides in the life of the vine. The Vinedresser also cares for it, protects it and occasionally prunes it back so it can produce even more fruit. We are in Christ and He is in us. We abide in Him through His Word and prayer and worship. The Holy Spirit abides in us, and as we yield to Him, fruit will be seen in our lives.  The fruit is the evidence of a Spirit-led believer. One primary demonstration of the fruit is found in Galations 5:22.   "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness (meekness), self-control."   It's good to check up on our fruit! Today we can ask ourselves, "is the love of God dominating my thoughts and actions toward others?"  Is the fruit of peace evident in my life today, even in the midst of the storm.  Just as the fruit on a tree is not hidden, this fruit of the Spirit can be clearly seen.  How is my patience level toward others?  Are kindness and goodness motivating my actions.  Am I faithful? Is there a humility or meekness about my life that reflects Christ to the world. Do I exercise self control?  The great news is,  any area lacking simply requires more yielding to the Holy Spirit.  As we decrease, and He increases in our life, His fruit will be seen by all, and will draw others to Him. The abiding Word of God transforms us.  Time in His presence transforms us.  A lifestyle of prayer, praise and worship transforms us. As we learn the lesson of abiding in Him, He is committed to fruit being produced in our lives.  He gave all to redeem us, now He gives all to see us conformed to His image and fulfill His purposes. He beckons us to this abiding life in Him!   The evidence of our abiding life in Christ can be seen and experienced.  The evidence is the fruit. Less of us, more of Him. Magnificent!

amy stoehr 390 Mimosa Ave. Vista, California 92081 astoehr2@gmail.com