Shadow

Maui

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Even though a person sins and gets by with it hundreds of times throughout a long life, I'm still convinced that the good life is reserved for the person who fears God, who lives reverently in his presence, and that the evil person will not experience a "good" life. No matter how many days he lives, they'll all be as flat and colorless as a shadow—because he doesn't fear God.

So many others have tried their hand at putting together a story of the wonderful harvest of Scripture and history that took place among us, using reports handed down by the original eyewitnesses who served this Word with their very lives. Since I have investigated all the reports in close detail, starting from the story's beginning, I decided to write it all out for you, most honorable Theophilus, so you can know beyond the shadow of a doubt the reliability of what you were taught.

because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace

These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.

[ The Reality, Not the Illusion ] My purpose in writing is simply this: that you who believe in God's Son will know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you have eternal life, the reality and not the illusion. And how bold and free we then become in his presence, freely asking according to his will, sure that he's listening. And if we're confident that he's listening, we know that what we've asked for is as good as ours.

Ecclesiastes 8:12 Luke 1:1 Luke 1:79 78 Colossians 2:17 James 1:17 1 John 5:13

Let your light shine – whether you’re a candle in a corner or a lighthouse on a hill.

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Glenn – 368 Mission Hill Way, Colorado Springs CO 80921

Rain

Palmer Lake

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I lift my hands to you in prayer. I thirst for you as parched land thirsts for rain.

You send rain on the mountains from your heavenly home, and you fill the earth with the fruit of your labor.

God will provide rain for the seeds you sow. The grain that grows will be abundant.

Sing to God a thanksgiving hymn, play music on your instruments to God, Who fills the sky with clouds, preparing rain for the earth, Then turning the mountains green with grass, feeding both cattle and crows. He's not impressed with horsepower; the size of our muscles means little to him. Those who fear God get God's attention; they can depend on his strength.

And how blessed all those in whom you live, whose lives become roads you travel; They wind through lonesome valleys, come upon brooks, discover cool springs and pools brimming with rain!

"Open up, heavens, and rain. Clouds, pour out buckets of my goodness! Loosen up, earth, and bloom salvation; sprout right living. I, God, generate all this.

Psalm 143:6 Psalm 104:13 Isaiah 30:23 Psalm 147:7 Psalm 84:5 Isaiah 45:8

Nothing is more powerful than God’s love.

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Glenn – 368 Mission Hill Way, Colorado Springs CO 80921

Fruit

Today

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You will enjoy the fruit of your labor. How joyful and prosperous you will be!

As workers who tend a fig tree are allowed to eat the fruit, so workers who protect their employer’s interests will be rewarded.

From the fruit of his lips a man is filled with good things as surely as the work of his hands rewards him.

“A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit.

Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds.

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.

Psalm 128:2 Proverbs 27:18 Proverbs 12:14 Luke 6:43 Isaiah 3:10 Proverbs 11:30

True faith produces a life full of actions, not a head full of facts.

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Glenn – 368 Mission Hill Way, Colorado Springs CO 80921

Gladness.2

Los Alamitos

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Jesus knew they were dying to ask him what he meant, so he said, "Are you trying to figure out among yourselves what I meant when I said, 'In a day or so you're not going to see me, but then in another day or so you will see me'? Then fix this firmly in your minds: You're going to be in deep mourning while the godless world throws a party. You'll be sad, very sad, but your sadness will develop into gladness.

So for the present you are also in sorrow (in distress and depressed); but I will see you again and [then] your hearts will rejoice, and no one can take from you your joy (gladness, delight).

'YOU HAVE MADE KNOWN TO ME THE WAYS OF LIFE;YOU WILL MAKE ME FULL OF GLADNESS WITH YOUR PRESENCE.'

Up to this time you have not asked a [single] thing in My Name [as presenting all that I AM]; but now ask and keep on asking and you will receive, so that your joy (gladness, delight) may be full and complete.

You have loved righteousness [You have delighted in integrity, virtue, and uprightness in purpose, thought, and action] and You have hated lawlessness (injustice and iniquity). Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of exultant joy and gladness above and beyond Your companions.

But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness, Gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence).

John 16:19 John 16:22 Acts 2:28 John 16:24 Hebrews 1:9 Galatians 5:22

Jesus leaves us in the world to be a witness to the world.

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Glenn – 368 Mission Hill Way, Colorado Springs CO 80921

Gladness

You have put gladness in my heart, More than when their grain and new wine abound.

You have turned my mourning into dancing for me; You have put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness.

But may all who search for you be filled with joy and gladness in you. May those who love your salvation
repeatedly shout, “God is great!”

Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy.

He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart.

I have told you these things, that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy and gladness may be of full measure and complete and overflowing.

Psalm 4:7 Psalm 30:11 Psalm 70:4 Psalm 100:2 Ecclesiastes 5:20 John 15:11

Fellowship with Christ is the secret of fruitfulness.

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Glenn – 368 Mission Hill Way, Colorado Springs CO 80921

Peaceful

Denver Botanical Gardens

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My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest.

You hold your hand up high, God, but they don't see it. Open their eyes to what you do, to see your zealous love for your people. Shame them. Light a fire under them. Get the attention of these enemies of yours. God, order a peaceful and whole life for us because everything we've done, you've done for us.

No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.

Yes, weep and grieve until the Spirit is poured down on us from above And the badlands desert grows crops and the fertile fields become forests. Justice will move into the badlands desert. Right will build a home in the fertile field. And where there's Right, there'll be Peace and the progeny of Right: quiet lives and endless trust. My people will live in a peaceful neighborhood— in safe houses, in quiet gardens. The forest of your pride will be clear-cut, the city showing off your power leveled. But you will enjoy a blessed life, planting well-watered fields and gardens, with your farm animals grazing freely.

And the harvest of righteousness (of conformity to God's will in thought and deed) is [the fruit of the seed] sown in peace by those who work for and make peace [in themselves and in others, that peace which means concord, agreement, and harmony between individuals, with undisturbed ness, in a peaceful mind free from fears and agitating passions and moral conflicts].

And let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds, in that peaceful state] to which as [members of Christ's] one body you were also called [to live]. And be thankful (appreciative), [giving praise to God always].

Isaiah 32:18 Isaiah 26:11 Hebrews 12:11 Isaiah 32:15 James 3:18 Colossians 3:15

When we put our cares into God’s hands, He puts His peace into our hearts.

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Glenn – 368 Mission Hill Way, Colorado Springs CO 80921

Tell them

Young Life Camp
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Good leaders cultivate honest speech; they love advisors who tell them the truth.

Tell those rich in this world's wealth to quit being so full of themselves and so obsessed with money, which is here today and gone tomorrow. Tell them to go after God, who piles on all the riches we could ever manage—to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous. If they do that, they'll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life.

But how can people call for help if they don't know who to trust? And how can they know who to trust if they haven't heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can they hear if nobody tells them? And how is anyone going to tell them, unless someone is sent to do it? That's why Scripture exclaims, A sight to take your breath away! Grand processions of people telling all the good things of God! …And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!”

Joyfully you'll pull up buckets of water from the wells of salvation. And as you do it, you'll say, "Give thanks to God. Call out his name. Ask him anything! Shout to the nations, tell them what he's done, spread the news of his great reputation!

"When you enter a town and are received, eat what they set before you, heal anyone who is sick, and tell them, 'God's kingdom is right on your doorstep!'

Proverbs 16:13 1 Timothy 6:17 Romans 10:14 ,15 Isaiah 12:3 Luke 10:8

If you want others to know what Christ can do for them, tell them what He has done for you.

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Glenn – 368 Mission Hill Way, Colorado Springs CO 80921

Charge

Maui

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But God hasn't moved to the mountains; his holy address hasn't changed. He's in charge, as always, his eyes taking everything in, his eyelids Unblinking, examining Adam's unruly brood inside and out, not missing a thing. He tests the good and the bad alike; if anyone cheats, God's outraged. Fail the test and you're out, out in a hail of firestones, Drinking from a canteen filled with hot desert wind.

When degenerates take charge, crime runs wild, but the righteous will eventually observe their collapse.

From the four corners of the earth people are coming to their senses, are running back to God. Long-lost families are falling on their faces before him. God has taken charge; from now on he has the last word.

He's God, our God, in charge of the whole earth. And he remembers, remembers his Covenant— for a thousand generations he's been as good as his word. It's the Covenant he made with Abraham, the same oath he swore to Isaac, The very statute he established with Jacob, the eternal Covenant with Israel, Namely, "I give you the land. Canaan is your hill-country inheritance."

O God, remember us and bless us, bless the families of Israel and Aaron. And let God bless all who fear God— bless the small, bless the great. Oh, let God enlarge your families— giving growth to you, growth to your children. May you be blessed by God, by God, who made heaven and earth. The heaven of heavens is for God, but he put us in charge of the earth.

All this energy issues from Christ: God raised him from death and set him on a throne in deep heaven, in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from his rule. And not just for the time being, but forever. He is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything. At the center of all this, Christ rules the church. The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ's body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence.

Psalm 11:4 Proverbs 29:16 Psalm 22:27 Psalm 105:7 Psalm 115:12 Ephesians 1:20

God’s Spirit knows no defeat.

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Glenn – 368 Mission Hill Way, Colorado Springs CO 80921

Darkness

April '07

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He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him— the dark rain clouds of the sky.

He led them from the darkness and deepest gloom; he snapped their chains.

Is there anyplace I can go to avoid your Spirit? to be out of your sight? If I climb to the sky, you're there! If I go underground, you're there! If I flew on morning's wings to the far western horizon, You'd find me in a minute— you're already there waiting! Then I said to myself, "Oh, he even sees me in the dark! At night I'm immersed in the light!" It's a fact: darkness isn't dark to you; night and day, darkness and light, they're all the same to you.

You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.

Light shines in the darkness for the godly. They are generous, compassionate, and righteous.

Hallelujah! Blessed man, blessed woman, who fear God, Who cherish and relish his commandments, Their children robust on the earth, And the homes of the upright—how blessed! Their houses brim with wealth And a generosity that never runs dry. Sunrise breaks through the darkness for good people— God's grace and mercy and justice!

Psalm 18:11 Psalm 107:14 Psalm 139:7 Psalm 18:28 Psalm 112:4 Psalm 112:1

You need not fear the darkness if you are walking with the Light of the World.

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Glenn – 368 Mission Hill Way, Colorado Springs CO 80921

Cares

Mid August

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And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him

Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.

It's impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him.

We weren't aloof with you. We took you just as you were. We were never patronizing, never condescending, but we cared for you the way a mother cares for her children. We loved you dearly. Not content to just pass on the Message, we wanted to give you our hearts. And we did.

Take the old prophets as your mentors. They put up with anything, went through everything, and never once quit, all the time honoring God. What a gift life is to those who stay the course! You've heard, of course, of Job's staying power, and you know how God brought it all together for him at the end. That's because God cares, cares right down to the last detail.

Luke 12:28 Nahum 1:7 Psalm 55:22 Hebrews 11:5 1 Thessalonians 2:6 James 5:10

When we put our cares into God’s hands, He puts His peace into our hearts.

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Glenn – 368 Mission Hill Way, Colorado Springs CO 80921

Change

Steamboat Lake

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Run away from infantile indulgence. Run after mature righteousness—faith, love, peace—joining those who are in honest and serious prayer before God. Refuse to get involved in inane discussions; they always end up in fights. God's servant must not be argumentative, but a gentle listener and a teacher who keeps cool, working firmly but patiently with those who refuse to obey. You never know how or when God might sober them up with a change of heart and a turning to the truth, enabling them to escape the Devil's trap, where they are caught and held captive, forced to run his errands.

Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth.

[ God Gave His Word ] When God made his promise to Abraham, he backed it to the hilt, putting his own reputation on the line. He said, "I promise that I'll bless you with everything I have—bless and bless and bless!" Abraham stuck it out and got everything that had been promised to him. When people make promises, they guarantee them by appeal to some authority above them so that if there is any question that they'll make good on the promise, the authority will back them up. When God wanted to guarantee his promises, he gave his word, a rock-solid guarantee—God can't break his word. And because his word cannot change, the promise is likewise unchangeable.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows

God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind.

He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.

2 Timothy 2:22 2 Timothy 2:25 Hebrews 6:13 James 1:17 Hebrews 6:17 Philippians 3:21

The Spirit or God uses the Word of God to change the people of God.

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Glenn – 368 Mission Hill Way, Colorado Springs CO 80921

Words

Gleneagle 5/21

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I'm not trying to get my way in the world's way. I'm trying to get your way, your Word's way. I'm staying on your trail; I'm putting one foot in front of the other. I'm not giving up.

There's more: God's Word warns us of danger and directs us to hidden treasure. Otherwise how will we find our way? Or know when we play the fool? Clean the slate, God, so we can start the day fresh! Keep me from stupid sins, from thinking I can take over your work; Then I can start this day sun-washed, scrubbed clean of the grime of sin. These are the words in my mouth; these are what I chew on and pray. Accept them when I place them on the morning altar

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.


Blessed are you who give yourselves over to God, turn your backs on the world's "sure thing," ignore what the world worships; The world's a huge stockpile of God-wonders and God-thoughts. Nothing and no one comes close to you! I start talking about you, telling what I know, and quickly run out of words. Neither numbers nor words account for you.

O my people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth

God's words are pure words, Pure silver words refined seven times In the fires of his word-kiln, Pure on earth as well as in heaven.

Psalm 17:4 Psalm 19:11 Psalm 19:14 Psalm 40:4 Psalm 78:1 Psalm 12:6

Our works and words should say the same thing.

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Glenn – 368 Mission Hill Way, Colorado Springs CO 80921

Tell

Pecan tree - Ft.Worth,TX

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Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven.


I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, he who believes in Me [who adheres to, trusts in, relies on, and has faith in Me] has (now possesses) eternal life.

And Jesus said to them, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, you cannot have any life in you unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood [unless you appropriate His life and the saving merit of His blood].

Then Jesus turned to the Jews who had claimed to believe in him. "If you stick with this, living out what I tell you, you are my disciples for sure. Then you will experience for yourselves the truth, and the truth will free you."

Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"

“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.

John 6:32 John 6:47 John 6:53 John 8:31 John 11:40 John 14:12

Because Jesus is the Light of the world, we don’t need to be in the dark about God.

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Glenn – 368 Mission Hill Way, Colorado Springs CO 80921