For the last few weeks during services we have been doing a series entitled Seeing Jesus: Stories from the Road that is all about how and where we see Jesus in the everyday of our lives.  For me I have had the opportunity to retell some of my favorite stories.  Many of these stories, now told in retrospect, make people laugh and smile. Hopefully in the midst of them they have also seen the presence of Jesus. 

This journey we are all on passes quickly.  A couple years ago I realized I had more Christmases behind me than I had in front of me.  The same is true for birthdays.  We blink and in a moment our babies are 16, or as is the case for many of my friends, their babies have babies.  

I was reading a little in James this week and came across this verse:

whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life, It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.  James 4:14 NKJV

I was reminded how short and fleeting all of this is, but then I also remembered this verse:

But the very hairs of your head are numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.   Luke 12:7 NKJV

Now for some of us it is easier to count the hairs on our head than it is for others, but God reminds us not to worry about life and even the shortness of it, he knows every part of creation, and we are more valuable than any part of it.  We are to simply enjoy the journey and to see his incredible guiding hand in all that we are and all that we do. 

I have a 2007 Toyota Camry with 178,000 miles on it.  The car was my dad's and has been well taken care of but recently as I was driving one day the windshield wiper fluid stopped flowing.   I was trying to diagnose from online measures what was wrong, and guessing how much I was going to pay, until today, when I decided to actually look under the hood.  I found a hose had disconnected, and I put it back where it belonged, and thing worked again. 

I've also noticed a drop in some fuel efficiency, and I know that the spark plugs have not been changed for a long time in the vehicle.   Now I could go and spend $199 (an actual quote) for someone to do that, or I can take matters into my own hand, and go by the store and buy some new plugs for about 35 dollars and do it myself.   Sometimes, to restore the power and efficiency we just have to do some things ourselves.

In Luke 8:40-48 there was a woman who had been sick for a long time.  Nothing was working, nothing was helping, and one day, she saw Jesus on the way to do something for someone and she came up behind him, and she did something very simple,  she touched him.   She acted on faith, because she believed that faith in Jesus was warranted. 

Verses 44 says, "Immediately her bleeding stopped."

Jesus felt power go out from him and in the midst of the crowd, stopped and said, "Who touched me."

After some talking and discussion, the woman finally admitted she had.  She was looking for the power source, and she got an answer from Jesus, "Your faith has healed you, go in peace."

Sometimes we have to tune up our lives.  Sometimes we have to reach out on faith to Jesus and trust that his power will be sufficient for us.   May we have faith, like this woman, to reach out to Jesus for his power. 

The new year is upon us and well underway already.  I cannot believe the first week is gone already.   I'll have to be honest, however, for the first time, maybe ever, I really did not enjoy the Christmas season this year.   Now there were great elements to the season, family, an incredible church, but there were also so many things missing and things that just weighed on my heart. 

For the first time I had real insight into people who just fight their way through depression and the holidays.  In life we all find ourselves at different stages and different times. For many we just need our burdens lifted, and new hope and new purpose.  

This week we come to the second week of the series I have entitled MARKed.  We are looking at the life of Christ as told in the Gospel according to Mark, and we are going to look at the balance of the first chapter this week.  This chapter is Mark's description of the beginning of Jesus ministry, and there are four stories in this chapter where we see people healed.  

In life we struggle, and we learn to adapt and to overcome, but often our pain lingers.   In these stories, when these people encounter Jesus, they are completely healed and restored.  There are no lingering effects, just joy.  Someday we are promised that He will wipe every tear from our eyes and that we will be healed.   I look forward to that day. 

We are currently examining the four words that represent our core values here at Open Door Fellowship.  Those words at Believing, Learn, Serve and Love.  We have defined our mission as "learning, Serving, Loving, so that people may come to know Jesus. "

This past Sunday we looked at the concepts of Believing and Learning, and the scripture in Matthew where Jesus said "Take my yoke upon me and LEARN from me."  So many times when people speak on this passage they focus on the part about the yoke, and miss the word LEARN, and yet that word is a key part of the passage.  

It is important to notice here that Jesus did not say "learn about me", "learn of me",  rather he said learn FROM me.  What a key concept, we are commanded to learn from Jesus if we decide to follow Him. 

There are many things we can learn from Jesus, but I think one of the most important is the concept of serving (one of our core values).  In Philippians Chapter 2 Paul tells us that although Jesus was in very nature God he took on the form of a servant and humbled himself, even unto the point of death.  

We must learn from Jesus how to be servants to this world.  As we approach the Holidays of Thanksgiving an then Christmas, is it not the perfect time to serve as Jesus served?  Isn't this the time for us as Christians to show what we have learned?  

I took a few weeks off from writing the devotional thought as some of you have noticed.  Sometimes we just need to step back and take breaks from things and refresh ourselves.  These moments are part of life.  It is why we have vacations and days off and the like.  Yet, our work is never really finished, and sooner or later we have to resume what we are called to do. 

In 2 Corinthians 8 Paul is writing to the church and he says, "Now finish the work so that the eager willingness with which you began it will lead to the completion of it according to your means."

As Christians, until the day Jesus returns, our work is never really done.  We are to take the means at our disposal and finish what Christ has commanded us to do.  For us here at Open Door Fellowship, this word from Paul reminds us that we still have much to do that lies in front of us.  Over the next few weeks we will be discussing our Vision 2020 plan for the future of our church, but it is not just a vision about our church, it is a vision that embodies the continuing of Christ mission here on earth. 

My prayer today for all of us is that we will take whatever God has given us and continue to press on to do the work of God's kingdom untili the day Jesus returns