Devotion...

I read the Utmost for today and loved the message. I know most of you read it but just in case you needed it a second time today...here you go. :-)

November 30, 2006

"By the Grace of God I Am What I Am"

By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain . . . —1 Corinthians 15:10

The way we continually talk about our own inabilities is an insult to our Creator. To complain over our incompetence is to accuse God falsely of having overlooked us. Get into the habit of examining from God’s perspective those things that sound so humble to men. You will be amazed at how unbelievably inappropriate and disrespectful they are to Him. We say things such as, "Oh, I shouldn’t claim to be sanctified; I’m not a saint." But to say that before God means, "No, Lord, it is impossible for You to save and sanctify me; there are opportunities I have not had and so many imperfections in my brain and body; no, Lord, it isn’t possible." That may sound wonderfully humble to others, but before God it is an attitude of defiance.

Conversely, the things that sound humble before God may sound exactly the opposite to people. To say, "Thank God, I know I am saved and sanctified," is in God’s eyes the purest expression of humility. It means you have so completely surrendered yourself to God that you know He is true. Never worry about whether what you say sounds humble before others or not. But always be humble before God, and allow Him to be your all in all.

There is only one relationship that really matters, and that is your personal relationship to your personal Redeemer and Lord. If you maintain that at all costs, letting everything else go, God will fulfill His purpose through your life. One individual life may be of priceless value to God’s purposes, and yours may be that life.

The reason why I love the message is it's so true for myself and I hear these thoughts from other people all the time. Zach calls this "crapping on the cross," ...Oswald calls it "defiance." I think the last thing we want to do as His children is to be defiant. May we boast strongly in the Lord daily.

In His Service,
Cammie

Thank You...

Thank you Hillside for your prayers today! It's wonderful to know that we have brothers and sisters, believing in faith for healing. We love each of you and look forward to seeing you all next Sunday!

IHS,
Cammie

God is faithful - rejoice with me!

At the beginning of the month, I was worried about money. I paid some extra on bills that left us with not enough living expenses so I knew we were going to need to pull from our meager savings which was depressing as that is our Christmas money. Then my van needed to be fixed. *sigh* I prayed: "God you know our needs you promise to meet them and take care of us. I am claiming that promise. I can't see how you are going to do this, but I know you will." I kept praying that prayer, but never checked our checking account or took care of any banking chores. I put it off for an entire pay period. When David's second check of the month came in, I updated the checking account and found God's faithfulness. A few days after I prayed, the state deposited child support money [which we do not get regularly]. Not only did we have enough money to take care of bills, winter coats, the mechanic, and not having to touch our savings, but I paid the rest of November's bills and we have all the money we were hoping for Christmas sitting in our savings account ready to be used.

Praise God for He is faithful. He keeps the promises He gives us in the Bible. Praise God for He is a provider. He didn't simply provide for our basic needs, He provided for perks and niceties, too. Praise God for His love and caring; in the whole scheme of life and the world, my problems are small and yet He cares enough to take care of me. ~ Becca

Ginger Frosted Cookies!!!

It is with humble gratitude us Box's extend a massive thanks to our church family. It is crazy to sit back and consider how blessed we have been by you all. In one way or another, every family has reached out to us over the last few weeks since Titus Wilson Box arrived. From amazing steak, stew, lasagna, meatball subs, teriyaki, and entire chickens to amazing desserts including lemon cakes and ginger frosted cookies! This list obviously does not include the wonderful gifts of clothing, blankets, pictures (and frames), toys and other functional gifts and blessing to our family. Thanks for thinking of Ainsley too. She has most certainly not been forgotten! Thank you for this. All of this has been almost unbelievable; except as we are realizing, it’s not so unbelievable anymore - not from you, not from Hillside.

What is so amazing is how, as a “people called church,” you are getting it.

What we mean is it’s one thing to rally each other for an exciting purpose like blessing John Mark and Tami Comer, but it’s a whole different thing to step up and put together two weeks…two weeks of dinners for our family! Honestly, I (Scott) thought it was crazy to have two weeks of meals covered for us. I even asked Cammie to call-off the second week at first. But the fact is we have needed help and my goodness, you have come through for us. Thank you sooooooo much.

With a huge love and appreciation we say again, “thank you.” We are overwhelmed with the love you have extended to us. Happy rainy Saturday. See you in the morning as we proclaim, cultivate and celebrate the truth and love of God together!

-The Box Family
(Oh and I realize I'm in glasses with all these pics...I'm not trying to be cool, I promise!...my wife and kids look great so we gotta go with those pics!...you know, taking one for the team. We're just one goofy family!)

Thoughts

I work Monday through Friday, 4:30pm to 12am. I come home from work, try to wind down and be in bed by 1 or 1:30. My body is more than willing to snuggle into the flannel sheets but for some reason my mind does mental aerobics, sometimes for a couple of hours! It makes mental "to do" lists, grocery shops, writes thank you notes, amazing huh? Most often I wish it would heed the hours noted by the lighted clock hands and just go to sleep. Other nights like tonight, when God directs my mind to something worthwhile I'm glad to miss some sleep. This morning I found my thoughts reflecting on Zach's sermon and the Sunday email entitled "Grace Leads to Confidence, Love Leads to Boldness." It has spurred me on in my prayer life and fostered some thoughts on how prayer connects us to God.

Here are my early morning reflections.

Praying men and women tap into God's...

Presence (we are before the throne)
Pleasure (the joy of His fellowship)
Passion (for His children, lost and saved)
Promises (extended and accepted)
Plans (for ourselves and others)
Priorities (not the world's)
Possibilities (beyond our imagining)
Power (to live Godly lives)

I'm so grateful we can plug into the "source of life" through prayers.
Hope you slept well!

Love, Diane

Saturday is not as good as Sunday!!!

I sit here at my computer doing my banking and answering an email but all I can really think of is tomorrow. I get to see all your kids. I get all those wonderful hugs. People are smiling and in love with our Savior. I'VE GOT IT!! We will all quit our jobs and just hang out together at the Legion Hall. We can sit Maxson and Judson on the corner with a tin cup and probably make enough money to eat and pay the rent on the Legion Hall. We can pray all day, fix leaks in the roof, paint the walls mocha (of course!) and just praise God 24/7. Now you know I am right. So everyone give their two weeks notice Monday and in two weeks we will meet in Aurora. We won't need our houses and STUFF anymore so we could sell everything and buy the Hall and the property next door. Now we have it made. Nothing but God and communal activities. We will have to put Zach to work or he will want to preach almost every hour. Can you imagine Scott and Jesse and Brian playing in the background 24/7? We will have to buy the coffee shop on the corner that is for sale to keep them going at such a pace. AREN'T WE WORTH IT? God and music and coffee and activities and keeping Zach busy so he won't preach all the time? I'm loving this idea. By the time Judson and Maxson are five they will figure out we are existing only on their panhandling and we will have to cut them in. So we need to recruit a lawyer (a spiritual one?) to help us with their lawsuits. This is a plan that can not fail. So get ready church. I will meet you there two weeks from Monday with my sleeping bag. And you thought old people couldn't think new stuff up!!! Love you all and see you tomorrow, Doug.

A Friday Reminder...

This is a great reminder...

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is
uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him. Hebrews 4:13 (NIV)

The Lord knows us so deeply...we should not be ashamed or hide from Him. Let's commune with Him and if there is anything not of Him in each of us, let's pray that He weeds it out. Come on God!!

I love our Hillside family!!

IHS,
Cammie

To the Body of Hillside:

How did you do this to me? How did you steal my heart like this. It has never been done before. No one was allowed into my head and heart like this. I was always free to be alone whenever I wanted. But, OH NO! You had to climb into my pocket and hang out and be loving and caring and just plain wonderful. What's a guy to do? All I want is to be around you people. Can't wait for the next Sunday to come around. Thank God for Wednesday nights at the Elliotts for bible study. My church body fix mid week to get me to Sunday. I already am going to miss a Sunday In December picking my mom up at the airport. If one of you would do that for me, I would pay for the gas. LOL!!! Anyway, thanks for loving Marilyn and I. We now can not do without you. The hugs and love we receive on Sunday morning are perfect. The honesty between ourselves is so, so refreshing. I want to thank John and Shari for sharing with us last week. For letting us into their hearts and lives and letting us be part of their struggle. We are acting just like God had in mind when He created us. Praise God for openness in Hillside. Praise God for John and Shari's
availability to His will by allowing us to share with them. Thank you Judy for your hugs. Very special. Thank you Jo for your creativity. We love what you do. Thank you Merricks for the integrity you bring each week. I could go on and on but I am going to bed. It is so easy to pray for my sweet Hillside body of believers. How blessed Marilyn and I are to have each and every one of you. Love to you all, Doug.