Changing Seasons
The changing of summer to fall is my favorite time of year. I love fall. It is the beginning of deer season, pumpkins, harvest, apples, bonfires, chili, football, shorter days, and the list goes on. These things bring up so many memories for me. For families each year this time also brings about the return to school and its related changes. For us at Heartland this fall brought about the start of some new changes to our Sunday evenings.
These new evening changes have been met with great enthusiasm. We have had excellent attendance in the Sunday Seminar classes for adults and a large number of children attending our evening HSM Kids. God is doing wonderful things here at Heartland and that is all brought about through the willingness to change.
Change is a fact of life. There are two types of change that we all experience in the Christian walk. The first type of change that is brought about by growth in Christ. This change is positive and ordered. The second kind of change is the disordered chaos of the continually changing circumstances of our world.
Encountering change as a Christian is a moment by moment occurrence and an integral part of our walk with the Lord. The changes begin at the moment of salvation. God grabs a hold of your heart and He draws it into His presence and you are then made brand new. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2 Co 5:17. Change occurs from the very beginning. This change is what leads us to action. We all witnessed the glory of this in the celebration of 7 baptisms this past month. God changes us.
This change goes beyond just the moment of salvation. Remember change is a moment by moment occurrence. God reveals Himself to us more and more each day as we spend time with Him in prayer and in the study of His Word. As we interact with God we cannot but help to recognize the glory and majesty of His holiness while becoming ever more aware of just how sinful we are. This changes us. It begins to make us aware of just how awesome the life and work of Christ was for us. We now know we must be changed in order to enter the presence of the Lord. That odd reality prompted the question from Nicodemus.
“Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Jn 3:4–8.
Change is ever apparent. Each year children grow and change. Each year another relative goes home to see the Lord and another is born to the glory of God. Change is inevitable as we navigate life here on Earth. However, amongst the changing of the seasons there is an ever present constant that never changes. That is the presence of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.
When the Lord takes hold of your heart and adopts you into the family of God, that becomes the foundation for which all the changes in our spiritual life build upon. The foundation for which you anchor yourself too. So that when the second kind of change, the disordered chaos of the ever changing circumstances of our world throws one haymaker punch after another at you. Christ is there. He lives inside the hearts of every believer. He sustains you through both the positive and negative changes of our world. Charles Spurgeon dealt with the struggles of change and chaos of our world and had this to say about it. “I have learned to kiss the wave that throws me against the Rock of Ages.”
Whatever change you find yourself encountering, be it growth in Christ or the circumstances in our culture. Let it drive you into the arms of Jesus. For it is He and He alone that dictates the changing of the seasons and it is He alone that leads to the calm waters and restful pastures in the midst of this turbulent world.
Peace in Christ,
These new evening changes have been met with great enthusiasm. We have had excellent attendance in the Sunday Seminar classes for adults and a large number of children attending our evening HSM Kids. God is doing wonderful things here at Heartland and that is all brought about through the willingness to change.
Change is a fact of life. There are two types of change that we all experience in the Christian walk. The first type of change that is brought about by growth in Christ. This change is positive and ordered. The second kind of change is the disordered chaos of the continually changing circumstances of our world.
Encountering change as a Christian is a moment by moment occurrence and an integral part of our walk with the Lord. The changes begin at the moment of salvation. God grabs a hold of your heart and He draws it into His presence and you are then made brand new. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2 Co 5:17. Change occurs from the very beginning. This change is what leads us to action. We all witnessed the glory of this in the celebration of 7 baptisms this past month. God changes us.
This change goes beyond just the moment of salvation. Remember change is a moment by moment occurrence. God reveals Himself to us more and more each day as we spend time with Him in prayer and in the study of His Word. As we interact with God we cannot but help to recognize the glory and majesty of His holiness while becoming ever more aware of just how sinful we are. This changes us. It begins to make us aware of just how awesome the life and work of Christ was for us. We now know we must be changed in order to enter the presence of the Lord. That odd reality prompted the question from Nicodemus.
“Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Jn 3:4–8.
Change is ever apparent. Each year children grow and change. Each year another relative goes home to see the Lord and another is born to the glory of God. Change is inevitable as we navigate life here on Earth. However, amongst the changing of the seasons there is an ever present constant that never changes. That is the presence of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.
When the Lord takes hold of your heart and adopts you into the family of God, that becomes the foundation for which all the changes in our spiritual life build upon. The foundation for which you anchor yourself too. So that when the second kind of change, the disordered chaos of the ever changing circumstances of our world throws one haymaker punch after another at you. Christ is there. He lives inside the hearts of every believer. He sustains you through both the positive and negative changes of our world. Charles Spurgeon dealt with the struggles of change and chaos of our world and had this to say about it. “I have learned to kiss the wave that throws me against the Rock of Ages.”
Whatever change you find yourself encountering, be it growth in Christ or the circumstances in our culture. Let it drive you into the arms of Jesus. For it is He and He alone that dictates the changing of the seasons and it is He alone that leads to the calm waters and restful pastures in the midst of this turbulent world.
Peace in Christ,
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