Secure

Garden of the Gods

.

It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure.

The salvation of the [consistently] righteous is of the Lord; He is their Refuge and secure Stronghold in the time of trouble.

I call to God; God will help me. At dusk, dawn, and noon I sigh deep sighs—he hears, he rescues. My life is well and whole, secure in the middle of danger Even while thousands are lined up against me. God hears it all, and from his judge's bench puts them in their place.

They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the LORD. Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear; in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.

Those who trust in the Lord are as secure as Mount Zion; they will not be defeated but will endure forever.

Psalm 18:32 Psalm 37:39 Psalm 55:16 Psalm 112:8 Psalm 125:1

When Jesus rules the heart, peace reigns.

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Received

Anamus River from Silverton

But all things are from God, Who through Jesus Christ reconciled us to Himself [received us into favor, brought us into harmony with Himself] and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation [that by word and deed we might aim to bring others into harmony with Him].

So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.

We are all able to receive God's life, his Spirit, in and with us by believing—just the way Abraham received it.

Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.

Practice what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and model your way of living on it, and the God of peace (of untroubled, undisturbed well-being) will be with you.

My counsel for you is simple and straightforward: Just go ahead with what you've been given. You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live him. You're deeply rooted in him. You're well constructed upon him. You know your way around the faith. Now do what you've been taught. School's out; quit studying the subject and start living it! And let your living spill over into thanksgiving.

2 Corinthians 5:18 Galatians 3:9 Galatians 3:13 Ephesians 1:11 Philippians 4:9 Colossians 2:6

Step up to the tasks and do what God asks.

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Release

Pagosa Springs

.

My eyes are ever on the LORD, for only he will release my feet from the snare.

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners

"And you, because of my blood covenant with you, I'll release your prisoners from their hopeless cells. Come home, hope-filled prisoners! This very day I'm declaring a double bonus— everything you lost returned twice-over! Judah is now my weapon, the bow I'll pull, setting Ephraim as an arrow to the string. I'll wake up your sons, O Zion, to counter your sons, O Greece. From now on people are my swords."

For I am planting seeds of peace and prosperity among you. The grapevines will be heavy with fruit. The earth will produce its crops, and the heavens will release the dew. Once more I will cause the remnant in Judah and Israel to inherit these blessings.

To open their eyes that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may thus receive forgiveness and release from their sins and a place and portion among those who are consecrated and purified by faith in Me.

Psalm 25:15 Isaiah 61:1 Zechariah 9:11 Zechariah 8:12 Acts 26:18

When you taste God’s goodness, His praise will be on your lips.

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Again

Fox Run Park

Peter fairly exploded with his good news: "It's God's own truth, nothing could be plainer: God plays no favorites! It makes no difference who you are or where you're from—if you want God and are ready to do as he says, the door is open. The Message he sent to the children of Israel—that through Jesus Christ everything is being put together again—well, he's doing it everywhere, among everyone.

So reach out and welcome one another to God's glory. Jesus did it; now you do it! …And again: People of all nations, celebrate God! All colors and races, give hearty praise! And Isaiah's word: There's the root of our ancestor Jesse, breaking through the earth and growing tree tall, Tall enough for everyone everywhere to see and take hope! Oh! May the God of green hope fill you up with joy, fill you up with peace, so that your believing lives, filled with the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit, will brim over with hope!

And friends, once that's taken care of and we're no longer accusing or condemning ourselves, we're bold and free before God! We're able to stretch our hands out and receive what we asked for because we're doing what he said, doing what pleases him. Again, this is God's command: to believe in his personally named Son, Jesus Christ. He told us to love each other, in line with the original command. As we keep his commands, we live deeply and surely in him, and he lives in us. And this is how we experience his deep and abiding presence in us: by the Spirit he gave us.

And yet again ,“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles. Praise him, all you people of the earth.”

Acts 10:34 Romans 15:7 1 John 3:21 Romans 15:11

Gratitude should be a continuous attitude.

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Call out

Yesterday, Fox Run Park

A voice says, "Call out." Then he answered, "What shall I call out?" All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.

It was my hand that laid the foundations of the earth, my right hand that spread out the heavens above. When I call out the stars, they all appear in order.”

God, listen to me shout, bend an ear to my prayer. When I'm far from anywhere, down to my last gasp, I call out, "Guide me up High Rock Mountain!"

You call out to God for help and he helps—he's a good Father that way. But don't forget, he's also a responsible Father, and won't let you get by with sloppy living.

Be good to me, God—and now! I've run to you for dear life. I'm hiding out under your wings until the hurricane blows over. I call out to High God, the God who holds me together. He sends orders from heaven and saves me, he humiliates those who kick me around. God delivers generous love, he makes good on his word.

I call out to the LORD, and he answers me from his holy mountain.

Isaiah 40:6 Isaiah 48:13 Psalm 61:1 1 Peter 1:17 Psalm 57:1 Psalm 3:4

God knows the end from the beginning, so we can trust Him with everything between.

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Lofty

Great Sand Dunes,CO

He builds his lofty palace in the heavens and sets its foundation on the earth; he calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the land— the LORD is his name.

"Is not God in the heights of heaven? And see how lofty are the highest stars

The LORD Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty, for all that is exalted (and they will be humbled),

When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan.

We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,

Then in the Spirit He conveyed me away to a vast and lofty mountain and exhibited to me the holy city of Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God

Amos 9:6 Job 22:12 Isaiah 2:12 1 Corinthians 2:1 2 Corinthians 10:5 Revelation 21:10

Prayer does not require eloquence but earnestness.

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Season

Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives autumn and spring rains in season, who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.

"Blessed is the man who trusts me, God, the woman who sticks with God. They're like trees replanted in Eden, putting down roots near the rivers— Never a worry through the hottest of summers, never dropping a leaf, Serene and calm through droughts, bearing fresh fruit every season.

And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint.

Pray at all times (on every occasion, in every season) in the Spirit, with all [manner of] prayer and entreaty. To that end keep alert and watch with strong purpose and perseverance, interceding in behalf of all the saints (God's consecrated people).

You know how to tell a change in the weather, so don't tell me you can't tell a change in the season, the God-season we're in right now

It was to demonstrate and prove at the present time ( in the now season) that He Himself is righteous and that He justifies and accepts as righteous him who has [true] faith in Jesus.

Jeremiah 5:24 Jeremiah 17:7 Galatians 6:9 Ephesians 6:18 Luke 12:54 Romans 3:26

Scripture is meant to give us protection, correction, and direction.

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Within

River Walk, San Antonio

.

Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy

How blessed the man you train, God, the woman you instruct in your Word, Providing a circle of quiet within the clamor of evil,

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart."

God affirms us, making us a sure thing in Christ, putting his Yes within us. By his Spirit he has stamped us with his eternal pledge—a sure beginning of what he is destined to complete.

Psalm 42:5 Psalm 94:19 Psalm 94:12 Psalm 51:10 Psalm 40:8 2 Corinthians 1:20

The Spirit within us will faithfully guide us.

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Care

"What are mere mortals that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?

After all, people have never hated their own bodies, but they feed and care for them, just as Christ does the church

Don't run roughshod over the concerns of your brothers and sisters. Their concerns are God's concerns, and he will take care of them. We've warned you about this before. God hasn't invited us into a disorderly, unkempt life but into something holy and beautiful—as beautiful on the inside as the outside.

You can be sure that God will take care of everything you need, his generosity exceeding even yours in the glory that pours from Jesus. Our God and Father abounds in glory that just pours out into eternity. Yes.

If you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends.

And let us consider and give attentive, continuous care to watching over one another, studying how we may stir up (stimulate and incite) to love and helpful deeds and noble activities

Hebrews 2:6 Ephesians 5:29 1 Thessalonians 4:6 Philippians 4:18 Philippians 2:1 Hebrews 10:24

Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken. Psalm 55:22

LIFEgroups - together experiencing God

Strong

Gleneagle,CO

.

I love you, God— you make me strong. God is bedrock under my feet, the castle in which I live

Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.

Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for and hope for and expect the Lord!

Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry, but those who trust in the Lord will lack no good thing.

They did not conquer the land with their swords ;it was not their own strong arm that gave them victory. It was your right hand and strong arm and the blinding light from your face that helped them, for you loved them.

Strong God, I'm watching you do it, I can always count on you— God, my dependable love.

Psalm 18:1 Psalm 24:8 Psalm 31:24 Psalm 34:10 Psalm 44:3 Psalm 59:16

Life is not always fair, but God is always faithful.

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Chosen

Remember this! He led his people out singing for joy; his chosen people marched, singing their hearts out! He made them a gift of the country they entered, helped them seize the wealth of the nations So they could do everything he told them

Remember me, God, when you enjoy your people; include me when you save them; I want to see your chosen succeed, celebrate with your celebrating nation, join the Hallelujahs of your pride and joy!

What joy for the nation whose God is the Lord, whose people he has chosen as his inheritance.

Let me share in the prosperity of your chosen ones. Let me rejoice in the joy of your people; let me praise you with those who are your heritage.

I have chosen to be faithful; I have determined to live by your regulations.

And these God-chosen lives all around— what splendid friends they make!


Psalm 105:43 Psalm 106:4 Psalm 33:12 Psalm 106:5 Psalm 119:30 Psalm 16:3

Fellowship with Christ is the secret of fruitfulness.

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Purity

Fire tests the purity of silver and gold, but the Lord tests the heart.

Teach me your ways, O Lord, that I may live according to your truth! Grant me purity of heart, so that I may honor you.

The purity of silver and gold is tested by putting them in the fire; The purity of human hearts is tested by giving them a little fame.

We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love.

Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.

All of us who look forward to his Coming stay ready, with the glistening purity of Jesus' life as a model for our own.

Proverbs 17:3 Psalm 86:11 Proverbs 27:21 2 Corinthians 6:6 1 Timothy 4:12 1 John 3:2

The design in creation points to the Master Designer.

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Reflect

River Walk -San Antonio,TX

.

Oh, that my actions would consistently reflect your decrees!

I tell the things which I have seen and learned at My Father's side, and your actions also reflect what you have heard and learned from your father.

I reflect at night on who you are, O Lord; therefore, I obey your instructions.

Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.

Let everything you do reflect the integrity and seriousness of your teaching.

So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

Psalm 119:5 John 8:38 Psalm 119:55 2 Timothy 2:7 Titus 2:7 2 Corinthians 3:18

To lead others out of darkness, reflect the light of Christ in your life.

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Unique

No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.

Jesus resumed talking to the people, but now tenderly. "The Father has given me all these things to do and say. This is a unique Father-Son operation, coming out of Father and Son intimacies and knowledge. No one knows the Son the way the Father does, nor the Father the way the Son does. But I'm not keeping it to myself; I'm ready to go over it line by line with anyone willing to listen.

Jesus said, "I'm only quoting your inspired Scriptures, where God said, 'I tell you—you are gods.' If God called your ancestors 'gods'—and Scripture doesn't lie—why do you yell, 'Blasphemer! Blasphemer!' at the unique One the Father consecrated and sent into the world, just because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?

The sacred writings contain preliminary reports by the prophets on God's Son. His descent from David roots him in history; his unique identity as Son of God was shown by the Spirit when Jesus was raised from the dead, setting him apart as the Messiah, our Master.

In this the love of God was made manifest (displayed) where we are concerned: in that God sent His Son, the only begotten or unique [Son], into the world so that we might live through Him.

John 1:18 Matthew 11:27 John 10:34 Romans 1:2 1 John 4:9

Study the Bible to be wise; believe it to be safe; practice it to be holy.

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

First

He sat down, called the twelve disciples over to him, and said, “Whoever wants to be first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else.”

First pride, then the crash— the bigger the ego, the harder the fall.

First plant your fields; then build your barn.

When you tell God you'll do something, do it—now. God takes no pleasure in foolish gabble. Vow it, then do it. Far better not to vow in the first place than to vow and not pay up.

But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.

Fear-of-God is a school in skilled living— first you learn humility, then you experience glory.

Mark 9:35 Proverbs 16:18 Proverbs 24:27 Ecclesiastes 5:4 Matthew 19:30 Proverbs 15:33

So He (Christ) is first in everything. Col.1:18

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Sunrise

Sunrise - HWY 1111,W.Texas

.

Light is sweet; how pleasant to see a new day dawning.

God makes everything come out right… God is sheer mercy and grace; not easily angered, he's rich in love…. As high as heaven is over the earth, so strong is his love to those who fear him. And as far as sunrise is from sunset, he has separated us from our sins.

Hallelujah! Blessed man, blessed woman, who fear God, Who cherish and relish his commandments …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!

"Count on it: The day is coming, raging like a forest fire. All the arrogant people who do evil things will be burned up like stove wood, burned to a crisp, nothing left but scorched earth and ash— a black day. But for you, sunrise! The sun of righteousness will dawn on those who honor my name, healing radiating from its wings. You will be bursting with energy, like colts frisky and frolicking.

"Get out of bed, Jerusalem! Wake up. Put your face in the sunlight. God's bright glory has risen for you. The whole earth is wrapped in darkness, all people sunk in deep darkness, But God rises on you, his sunrise glory breaks over you. Nations will come to your light, kings to your sunburst brightness. Look up! Look around! Watch as they gather, watch as they approach you

Ecclesiastes 11:7 Psalm 103:6 Psalm 112:1 Malachi 4:1 Isaiah 60:1

Light is sweet; how pleasant to see a new day dawning. Ecclesiastes 11:7

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Faithfulness

Pagosa Springs

.

So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.

For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ.

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness

Peace be with you, dear brothers and sisters, and may God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you love with faithfulness.

Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.

Appreciate your pastoral leaders who gave you the Word of God. Take a good look at the way they live, and let their faithfulness instruct you, as well as their truthfulness. There should be a consistency that runs through us all. For Jesus doesn't change—yesterday, today, tomorrow, he's always totally himself.

John 1:14 John 1:17 Galatians 5:22 Ephesians 6:23 2 Timothy 2:22 Hebrews 13:7

Our faith is trusted so that we may trust God’s faithfulness.

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God.