Every day, when we get up, most of us want to feel secure in our lives. We place our security in many different things. Some of us place it in people, so when someone lets us down, we become decimated. Some of us place it in our job, and yet, we’ve seen what looks like the most stable businesses go under. Whatever it is that we substitute for God becomes the thing that we serve. The Bible says not to put your trust in uncertain riches, which are here today and gone tomorrow. We need to become secure in who created us, the Earth and everything in it.

If we are secure in God and our relationship with Him, we will always be able to handle whatever comes our way. Placing your trust in the wrong things for the wrong reasons is the reason why so many people are living broken lives. If we choose to place our trust in God, He is faithful and reliable. Where is your security placed? Have we mistakenly placed it somewhere that is bound to fail, or in the One who will never fail? (Romans 10:9-10) 

Life is a contact sport and if we are going to live it to some degree successfully, we are going to have to learn to play hurt. Cal Ripken, a great baseball player, was known as the Iron Man of baseball because of his string of consecutive games played. When asked how he did it, he said, You have to learn to play hurt. As we live life, people get hurt, disappointed and things don't go well. When this happens, people tend to shut down, quit or develop an attitude that is wrong and causes pain. At some point, all of us will experience setbacks, pain, and hurt; it's how we deal with it that will determine our success in the future. We shouldn't allow ourselves to become bitter or cynical about life. When we do, it only causes us to see life through a lens of hurt and with no hope. We need to learn to play hurt and realize that pain will heal and disappointments won't last forever. We should trust God to help us all the way through.

Just a Thought,

PSS

Legacychurch.com

“The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller.” – Proverbs 11:24 (MSG)

I believe people become stagnant in their lives because they lack the understanding of generosity. We get stuck in life and we end up going through the motions. Life seems to get very boring and monotonous and we start looking for ways to fix it. It could be a job change or a spouse change for some. It’s a tragedy to make those kinds of decisions that adversely affects so many. Our lives would be more productive and exciting if we would become more generous. Generous is defined as, “being of noble birth. Such a person is generous in overlooking injury or insult, rising above pettiness or meanness. It also indicates a willingness to give, share, or to bestow favor”. Being generous will cause your life to be more fulfilled and to have greater purpose. Let’s work at becoming more generous in everything we do.

“Stagnation comes when we quit or aren’t doing things we know to do. It can cause us to shut down and cause us to think that only a change can make me feel better. The change needs for us to become more generous.” – Large, Large Living in a Small, Small World by Steve Smothermon”

---

Dear Legacy Family,

 

I'm hoping you can take a few moments out of your day tomorrow (Tuesday) from 9 - 9:55 am in order to be a part of a discussion that is very important to our church and our community.

 

As many of you are already aware, the ACLU - with the support of County Commissioner Michelle Lujan Grisham -  has set its sights on the church community and Legacy Church in particular. 

 

Both the ACLU and Commissioner Grisham objected to the Sheriff's Department holding its most recent cadet graduation at our Central Campus auditorium - even though similar ceremonies have been held at both our church and at other community churches in the past.

 

Thanks to you and the common sense of the majority of the County Commission, Commissioner Grisham's bill to ban similar functions at church facilities in the future was defeated on a 3-2 vote (Commissioners De La Cruz, Johnson and Wiener opposed - Grisham and Hart-Stebbins in favor).

 

However, the debate continues. 

 

Tomorrow (Tuesday), Commissioner Wiener will be a guest on the Bob Clark Show on 770 KKOB from 9 - 9:55 am to discuss this issue and the latest developments. I hope you will tune in - and call in - to the show and make your voice and opinion heard.  The phone number to the radio show is 243-3333.

 

You can get a flavor of the where the ACLU stands by going to its website: http://aclu-nm.org/  I would also encourage you to contact our County Commissioners by phone at468-7000 or by e-mail at http://www.bernco.gov/county-commissioners/.

 

Thanks for your time, consideration and action.

 

God Bless,

Who you become is a direct result of who you choose to associate with. There's a moment in all of our lives where we have to choose who we want to be and what we want to become. It's during these moments in our lives when we start to notice people in our circle that aren't good for us. They will bring us down and become a bad influence, instead of uplifting and inspiring us. Whether it's a family member or a lifelong friend, we must choose not to be around them. If we want what is best for our lives, not to mention what God wants for us, there are some relationships that we must cut ties with. Bad character corrupts good morals.

There are some people who don't want to hang out or go to church with Christians; they just want to apply pressure for them to go to parties or clubs and influence them to do the wrong thing. Take the pencil for example. In order to be effective, it has to be sharpened. The wood around the lead has to be shaved off to expose what's inside. If we are to be useful in God's hand, some things in our lives need to be shaved off. Let's choose to do what is right in God's eyes and not hang around individuals who bring us down or cause us to stumble. Let's choose God's way.