I've Got Confidence

I've got confidence in our gracious, merciful, beautiful Father.

I've got confidence for you and your life. Tons of confidence as you walk on this path of life WITH HIM...not that you or I are walking perfectly at all ... but we look to Him.  We give our lives to Him.  We give our thoughts to Him. We give our hearts to Him.

I've got confidence that Our God that started a good work in you will be faithful to complete that good work.

I don't have confidence in who you and I are.  I don't have confidence in our greatness or way to get out of a jam.  I have confidence in God.  I have confidence in our Father in us and His work through us.

I am confident that, whether it is for you or a loved one you are concerned about, whether big or seemingly small:

“...He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

— Philippians 1:6

Moving Forward

“...and they turned their backs and went in reverse instead of forward.”

— Jeremiah 7:24

Now that's just sad.

The voice of God will always move us forward.  If we are moving backwards, we are not listening to HIS voice, but someone else's instead.

It doesn't matter today if we've been going backwards in the past, but what does matter today is that we are moving forward now!

Follow the ways Our Father in Heaven has shown us in His beautiful loving Word.  Follow what GOD has put on YOUR heart.  Do not compare yourself or life story to anyone else because God made you uniquely YOU and your story is not to look like anyone else's.  

And get ready for an exciting, adventurous, unique, impacting life you will be leading because following Jesus is never boring! And following Jesus means always moving forward!

Refreshment

Shop Photo

When we pause and think about the last few days, has the sense been more like strife and confusion OR has it felt more peaceable, gentle, and easy? 

The outcome of our last few days would reflect the place that we have settled in with our hearts and where we have looked for answers.  It would reflect where our life source has come from.

Maybe you say, "Shoot Tambo, my days have been full of strife and confusion... " I would say you and I can change that.  We can change it by finding our wisdom from above instead of elsewhere.

Let's anchor our very core of all that we are in the depths and refreshing place found in our Heavenly Father.

Let's pour out all our cares on Him.  That's what He wants anyway.  Let's look to Him for strength and direction.  Let's find our refreshment in Him.  Let's make peace.  Let's obtain beautiful wisdom from above. 

God has given us the choice of where we find our life source... Let's choose wisely because, it will without question, affect our day and those that are around us. 

I love that God has given us the opportunity to choose refreshment in Him. We can "sow" peace by making "peace." Very very cool!

“But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.”

— James 3:17-18

Strong

My brother Brett and sister-n-law Debbie Meador... 

Jon and I enjoyed a wonderful lunch yesterday with my awesome brother Brett and his beautiful wife Debbie.  Jon and I love these two.

When I think of my brother Brett I think of "strong... diligent... solid..." (BTW he is an awesome pastor in Portland Oregon: check it out at atheycreek.com).

Often times we can look at people like my brother and think "We could never be that solid or strong or diligent ..." But the truth is this, God's commandments are our enablements... 

In Ephesians we are commanded to "....Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might." ... I love that our commandment is to get strong from the power of HIS might.  That means we don't need to be naturally strong. 

So even if we are not naturally strong like my brother, who even he would say he gets his strength 100% from God too... We can know no matter who we are, we get to rely and gain power from HIM!

So let's look to the strong for strength today.  It'll make ALL the difference. 

Always always there is glorious and good news for each and every one of us in God's Word!

SOOO good!

“...be strong in the Lord, and in the power of HIS might.”

— Ephesians 6:10

Autocorrect

Autocorrect has gotten me in more trouble.

I would share with you some stories, but this blog would no longer be "family friendly." 😳

I can say that my kids have said when sending a text, "Mom, if you are not wearing your reading glasses, or if you are in a hurry and can't look your text over... you probably better just not send it yet!"😂

All this to say "autocorrect" has not proven to be a great mediator... BUT... you know Who is a GREAT Mediator... Jesus. 

“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and Men, the man Christ Jesus.”

— 1 Timothy 2:5

Unlike autocorrect, where it sometimes helps but lots of times gets me into trouble. Jesus continually gets me out of trouble!

When I pray amiss, He corrects my verbiage. He corrects my old heart into a new one. He takes my old outlook and gives me a new beautiful one.  He corrected my whole entire life by giving His life in my place.

This is a Mediator that is welcomed with all my heart.  I'm sure you would agree.

Taste It!

Applegate Christian Fellowship

“O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him.”

— Psalms 34:8

The Lord's goodness is so real I can taste it!

The Lord is good.  He is so good. Taste and see that He is good.  

As you and I are going about our business today, let's make sure to be about HIS business.  Because His business is good business. 

Let's engage in what God would want us to engage in today.  Let's talk to and walk with our GOOD Father and taste his goodness and offer it to others in a pure and easy way by reflecting His goodness today.

Let's worship Him and enjoy Him.  Let's trust Him. Because we will be Blessed (= HAPPY) as we trust Him.

He is SO good.  Did you get that? 😊

Our Lord is GOOD! 🙌  Taste and see that the Lord is good!

Don't see eye to eye?

Skies from the viewpoint of Caesarea Philippi

"Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O LORD, and you exalt Yourself as head over all." 1 Chronicles 29:11

Oh to think about the 1-Power 2-Glory 3-Victory 4-Majesty that our Beautiful Lord encompasses.

This may seem like a funny verse to pull from when thinking about the title of this post, regarding not seeing eye to eye with someone.  But it somehow ties together in my head.  I have always loved that the majesty of God ties into my life in the most practical of ways! 

So here we go. 😊

Every one of us deal with the issue of not seeing eye to eye with someone.  

What do we do in these situations?  

Here's my suggestion... pause and think about these 4 truths about our God.  Because what happens is, when we do this it takes us to a bigger place... it takes us to a panoramic view and when that happens, it makes meditating on an argument or disagreement we might have with someone seem really ridiculous!

In a nut shell,  to take our minds to the greatness of God miniaturizes our differences one with another. 

Because think about this...

Our Father is full of power.  As we pray to Him and talk over our frustrations, He will often correct our thinking as we talk to Him...And as we ask Him for His power to overtake our problem...He always supplies what we need. 

Our Father is full of glory.  As we bask in His glory, we find it is far bigger than our glum.

Our Father is victory.  We can realize we are fighting FROM victory not FOR victory. Not necessarily victory in our opinions, (because often times we are wrong in at least part of our viewpoints and perspectives), but victory in being who God has already called us to be, that being: loving and forgiving and teachable, that's  along the lines I'm thinking. 😊

Our Father is majesty.  When we think of just how majestic He is, it always will make us feel like murmuring about a disagreement is a waste of time and energy. 

So bottom line, When we don't see eye to eye with someone ... It's not that we will get all the answers or figure things out right away, but our hearts will be in a place that is right and ready for the Lord to take us to the right place.  

Instead of focusing on a disagreement, we can focus on the bigness of our God and let that take us to a higher mindset and a place of personal growth. 

It's been said many times that" being right is overrated," which is so true... but on the other hand, being loving, forgiving, and teachable never is.  And to focus on a much larger focal point, we will quickly move forward faster. 

“Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.”

— 2 Timothy 2:23-24

Doors Bigger Than Life

Giant Doors in Rome

“I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.”

— John 10:9-11

There is a GIANT door in front of us today.  It's a door that as we enter through it, we will be saved.  It's a door that as it opens up we find it is far bigger than us.. full of abounding life!  We will find a shepherd that will overwhelm us with bountiful love.

There is no doubt evil is around us in some way, shape, or form...there is evil that seeks to destroy us... 

But... BUT... Far greater is HE... Jesus, than he which is in the world. And when we are with Him ... we are in the safest place imaginable.

The doors that God has prepared for us today and on in to eternity is that which is FULL of LIFE! 

The amount of LIFE Our Father wants to bring into our day today, I believe is far more than we can even imagine. 

We have a good good GOOD Father!  And He is inviting us to enter into His space today.  

Heads up... You and I will find no better place than that, so let's not even try to squeeze through little tiny doors and arrive in tiny little spaces today.  Spaces we can hardly breath in.

Let's just enter into the Giant doors full of life, love, and glory... And now let's breath deeply!