Pastor’s Corner: “Perspectives from Heaven”
Ephesians 3:20-21 (NLT) – 20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. 21 Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.
My grandparents lived during The Great Depression. Times were tough, and paying jobs were hard to find. Frugality was the word of the day and what helped many families survive. My grandparents saved everything! After they had both passed and the family was going through and cleaning out their home, we found each inch packed with everything you could imagine. I also remember meals at their home. Food portions were small and I always left still hungry (although they always had sugar cookies and ice cream for the grandchildren!). While they no longer lived under the circumstances of the Great Depression, they still lived under its mindset. No doubt, The Great Depression was a very hard time for lots and lots of people. One of the distinguishing marks of that era was a scarcity mentality. They were conditioned to think “scarcity” because their circumstances indicated provision was scarce, and uncertain.
No Great Depressions in Heaven! Many Christians are scarcity thinkers! They tend to dream small, plan small and pray small because they live in the land of little, lack, and not enough. They tend to hoard the resources and blessings God has given them because they think there may not be any more coming their way. They tend to ask God for a little and not for a lot because, after all, who in the world even has a lot? Answer: God does! One of my favorite passages in the Bible is Ephesians 3:20-21 (NLT) – 20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. 21 Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen. This passage teaches us that God is a big God who can do not only more than I ask or think but “exceeding abundantly” more! As children of God, we need to throw out the scarcity thinking and start to think abundance! We need to pray big and believe God for big things because He is able— more than able—to do far more than we could ever even imagine! But I am not talking about earthly stuff (this is small thinking), I am talking about Kingdom of Heaven stuff! Although right now all we are hearing in the media is scarcity thinking and seeing scarcity actions from people of the world causing panic and fear, we need to share a different message from Heaven. WE NEED TO BE GENEROUS WITH HEAVEN AND THE GOSPEL! We need to focus on thankfulness and giving rather than fear and hoarding. We need to be set apart and different. Ask yourself, do you really trust God with all of your needs? It is revealed in your thoughts and actions. How can we do this?
Always be thankful, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:18, NLT). God wants us to always be thankful. We honor God and bless others, not by thanking him for our problems but by thanking him in the middle of our problems. Thanksgiving often just automatically wells up in us out of our grateful hearts, but sometimes thanksgiving is simply an act of faith. When we acknowledge our faith in Him through a thankful attitude, even though circumstances suggest there is no hope, God releases His miraculous power and intervention on our behalf. He turns tragedy to triumph, discord to harmony, and defeat to victory!
Please call, text or email me any prayer requests. Also I would love to hear testimonies of what God is doing in your life and family during these difficult times.
We love and miss you all!
Pastor Hamilton & family