Yesterday

From Oswald Chambers "My Utmost for His Highest" December 31st

"You shall not go out with haste, . . . for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard." Isaiah 52:12

Security from yesterday. . ."God requires an account of what is past" Ecc. 3:15). At the end of the year we turn with eagerness to all that God has for the future, and yet anxiety is apt to arise when we remember our yesterdays. Our present enjoyment of God's grace tends to be lessened by one memory of yesterday's sins and blunders. But God is the God of our yesterdays, and He allows the memory of them to turn the past into a ministry of spiritual growth for our future. God reminds us of the past to protect us from a very shallow security in the present.

Security for tomorrow. . ."the Lord will go before you" This is a gracious revelation-that God will send His forces out where we have failed to do so. He will keep watch so that we will not be tripped up again by the same failures, as would undoubtedly happen if He were not our "rear guard." And God's hand reaches back to the past, settling all the claims against our conscience.

Security for today. . .” You shall not go out with haste. . “As we go forth into the coming year, let it not be in the haste of impetuous, forgetful delight, nor with the quickness of impulsive thoughtlessness. But let us go out with the patient power of knowing that the God of Israel will go before us. Our yesterdays hold broken and irreversible things for us. It is true that we have lost opportunities that will never return, but God can transform this destructive anxiety into a constructive thoughtfulness for the future. Let the past rest, but let it rest in the sweet embrace of Christ.

Leave the broken, irreversible past in His hands, and step out into the invincible future with Him.

Amen and Amen

Logan's Story

Check this out:  a story of a radio station call from a 13 yr old.  

We should be so wise and so bold!!

(copy and paste this link into your web browser and play the video)

http://www.ksbj.org/features_details.php?ld=76

Don't Even Think About It Little Men!!!

RE: Below Post...
See you all Sunday...smiles.

-Scott

Date anyone?

Elijah, Noah, Judson, Maxson, Michael, Titus, Baby "boy" Woltering...
Take your pick! You might have to wrestle each other. Hillside needs more girl babies!!!

From left to right: Grace, Ava, Bella, Ainsley

Merry Christmas!

The Word of God will not return void. Jesus, the Word made flesh, was born into this world with one purpose, the redemption of mankind. This act of love truly surpasses all knowledge. This morning we wake to celebrate the truth that Jesus did come and was obedient unto death in order that mankind might live through Him.

It is finished! Celebrate this morning in knowing that we have been saved by amazing grace through the gift of faith. Life can never be the same for those who know this wonderful love.

Merry Christmas.

Pray for Peace. Live in Love. Hope in Christ.

IHS
Zach

A Great Reminder!

I KNOW WHO I AM

I am God's child (John 1:12)
I am Christ's friend (John 15:15 )
I am united with the Lord(1 Cor. 6:17 )
I am bought with a price(1 Cor. 6:19-20)
I am a saint (set apart for God). (Eph. 1:1)
I am a personal witness of Christ. (Acts 1:8)
I am the salt & light of the earth ( Matt.5:13-14)
I am a member of the body of Christ(1 Cor 12:27)
I am free forever from condemnation ( Rom. 8: 1-2)
I am a citizen of Heaven. I am significant ( Phil.3:20)
I am free from any charge against me (Rom. 8:31 -34)
I am a minister of reconciliation for God(2 Cor.5:17-21)
I have access to God through the Holy Spirit (Eph. 2:18)
I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realms (Eph. 2:6)
I cannot b e separated from the love of God( Rom.8:35-39)
I am established, anointed, sealed by God (2 Cor.1:21-22)
I am assured all things work together for good (Rom. 8: 28)
I have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit (John 15:16 )
I may approach God with freedom and confidence (Eph. 3: 12 )
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Phil. 4:13)
I am the branch of the true vine, a channel of His life (John 15: 1-5)
I am God's temple (1 Cor. 3: 16 ).
I am complete in Christ (Col. 2: 10)
I am hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3).
I have been justified (Romans 5:1)
I am God's co-worker (1 Cor.. 3:9; 2 Cor 6:1).
I am God's workmanship(Eph. 2:10 )
I am confident that the good works God has begun in me will be perfected. (Phil 1: 5)
I have been redeemed and forgiven(Col.1:14).
I have been adopted as God's child(Eph 1:5)
I belong to God.

"The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn His face toward you and give you peace.."Numbers 6:24-26

Taking out the Middle Man

On Sunday, in Zach’s sermon, he said, “ take out the middle man.” It made think of our dairy and our new adventure of bottling our own milk. As of now we ship our milk to Horizon Organic processor and they take our milk and then sell it to the stores who then turn around and sell the milk to you guys, the consumers. Because of how many hands our milk goes through before it gets into your refrigerator, we the dairy farmers have little say on the price and little contact with the consumers. My dad has always said, “if only we could cut out the middle man.” And now we are taking a step to getting closer to selling our milk directly to the consumer by bottling our own milk. This will allow a closer relationship with our milk drinkers. ☺ I then kept thinking about how this was the same idea as with our relationship with Christ. I know I have thought before how so and so is closer to our Lord so maybe I could have him pray for me and He will hear. By doing that we lose out on the close relationship with Jesus. So like our dairy getting closer to the consumer, take out the middle man and draw closer to God. Go directly to him in prayer with whatever you need him to hear. He is always there and always hears.

Love Steph

Genesis 26:3

God asks Isaac to dwell in the land of God's choosing, not Egypt. Isaac obeys and prospers greatly. God swore an oath to Isaac's father Abraham. The pronunciation in the early text was Shav-vah. It meant to give one's word. I find it interesting that the Mightiest Entity in the history of the world makes loving promises to us. He has the power to do anything, yet he is gentle and kind with us and even adds incentives so we will choose Him as our Lord instead of a million other temptations. I ask myself "Who is this Guy?" He can have His way with us if He wishes, but never imposes on us His will or anything else. That is love beyond my brain or even my heart. The word humility I always attribute to humans. But our Lord is the humblest of the humble.

We talk about waiting upon the Lord and the problems we have with that, but how long has He waited for you? How long did He wait or how long has He waited for your parents? Are you teaching your children not to make Him wait? I sure did not and now must watch them self-destruct more each year. But more importantly, how long are we going to make Him wait? Let's see!!! "Be still God, and know that I am human!" That is what we are telling God. "Just calm down Mighty King and I will eventually show up to respond to the greatest deal anyone was ever offered." All in MY own time God. ALL IN MY OWN TIME??? I do not think so!!!
In His own time? YES!!! Wow, He is so awesome!!!

In Matthew 25:29 God wants to give to us abundantly. I do not see that as cars and houses. I see that as joy and peace, which is better than cars and houses. God watches the faithful use of our talents to determine how He may give to us. He says that "to everyone who has, more will be given." Use your talents to glorify Him and do it faithfully. He wants to see us smile. He wants to see us laugh. And we can only obtain His perfect Will if we live within His perfect Will.
Love from Doug.

I no longer live...

Galatians 2:20 (NKJV)
20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

This life is easier than we make it...we have the Holy Spirit who did not come to help us with this life, but to be our very life. Whether you are a stay at home mom, a farmer, electrician, a daddy, firefighter, a school teacher, or a friend...Christ wants to be your life. He wants you to let go, hand Him the reigns, and let Him accomplish through you the "works" or "ministry" that He ordained for you to do. Imagine...God wants to actually BE a police officer through me! Well, why not? He'd do a far better job than I could ever do anyway...more glory to Him, right?! It is no different for you!

What is it that He has given you to put your hand to? That is your ministry! That is what will bring glory to God. Extinguish any guilt you might have right now, that you are not "doing enough" ministry. Notice that Jesus only did what His Father was telling Him to do, and would only say what His Father was telling Him to say. Why should we be any different? It really takes the pressure off of us to try and create "ministry." He has given us abundant life! So much so, that it should be oozing....I mean overflowing into those around you. We are all in the ministry. If you are alive because of Christ...start living, so others can too!

I beg you...in fact challenge you to lay down that life of yours....as a living sacrifice, and watch everything He touches through you turn to gold. It is sooo fun when you yield your life to Him. Each of you are so precious to Him. You are sons and daughters...do you see yourself as His child? Behind the weariness, behind the smile, do you know...do you really know that He is thrilled with you, proud of you, in love with you?

Even if you never lifted a finger "for the Kingdom" again, do you realize there is nothing more, or nothing less that you could to to gain His approval. You are the righteousness of Christ Jesus! You are always....and will always be in right standing with God....you are pure because He is pure! That goes totally against a world that operates on conditions only..."you scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours."

Satan is a ripoff...a liar...and a basically a nuisance. You've been given great riches, so do everything possible to guard them. Remember...Christ is Alive and so are you! No more hangin' around that old cross...enter in freely and with confindence into the presence of God...you are always welcome!

Love all of you and miss you dearly...thanks soo very much for loving and spurring on our family in our ministry. I'll be praying for yours.

Nathan Wallbaum

WOW!!!!!!

Thank You guys so very much for all the love, the prayers, the support, the food, the gift cards, etc. We are so overwhelmed with joy & love and blessing. I have to be honest, I felt a little weird having meals brought to my home and people calling with what to bring. I didn't think I was in need. . . there's so many other people that NEED more than I do. But that's what's funny, God knew I had a need, even before I did. Thank you Hillside for taking care of us during our new "Police" adventure. You really are an amazing family that jumps at the chance to be Jesus' hands and feet to anyone.

"And my God will supply all your needs, according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus," Philippians 4:19

With love,
Jocelyn, Nathan, Elijah & Noah

Are you willing to try and enjoy the valley?

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10

As I mentioned earlier things have been challenging the last couple of months. The hardest part of all this has been is, it is hard to put into words how it has been challenging. It has been unlike anything that I have ever experienced. I have from time to time faced challenging times, like everyone. However, as I have gone through this valley it has made me think about the valleys I went through before I new the Lord. During those times there was no hope that things would get better, life was just flat out bad. However, now I can turn to scripture and see time after time that our Lord and savior is there for us. The interesting part of this is, I have not found anywhere were He says it will always be easy, but He does promise He will be there for us. Over this last month it has been one of the most challenging times I have faced, yet there has always been some sort of comfort knowing that He is there watching over me. It has been a struggle to spend time in the word, yet my prayer life has increased dramatically as I have worked to draw closer to Him. The interesting part of this is that as I have tried to force myself to study the word I have had a hard time finding value in it. I guess my insistence to be a “good Christian” forced me to strive and spend a set amount of time in the word. However, when I would spend time in prayer drawing closer to Him, He would provide me with the scripture that I needed to maintain the relationship that we have. I would spend days wrestling with one or two verses. He would use these to work on certain lessons that I needed to be taught or to give me direction. The verses that He would provide in these times proved to be far more valuable than the verses I was trying to make myself read. I guess tonight my challenge to all of you is to enjoy the valley as all to often it is being used to work on one thing or another in your life and He is there watching over you. One more thing, enjoy the time of these valleys as it is an opportunity to truly seek the Lord out and draw close to Him, I know this is easier said than done, however I am currently experiencing this very thing and as I come to terms with this, more and more, it is a wonderful gift that He has given to me.

God Bless,

Rick

Introducing....

For those of you who have yet to meet him, this is our friend Cameron! He has been a part of our Hillside family since the summer. He is a sweet young man! His birthday was this last week so we sung Happy Birthday to him on Sunday. Anytime we get together, make sure you look a little lower than eye view to find Cameron...shake his hand, give him a high five or a knuckle, and tell him you're so glad he's here...because we are!

IHS,
Cammie

Confession From a Tired Brother!

For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing…What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Romans 7:19,24-25

Brothers and sisters I write to you as a tired brother that has been in a struggle for sometime now. I have talked with some of you about this struggle off and on over the last couple of months from time to time. Yet the confession I have is that I have never laid it all out there for you to examine and pray for me. Tonight I looked back at the last time that I have blogged and it has been over two months. This is not to say that I have not had anything to blog about, because the Lord has lit me up over several things during this time. Yet I find myself in this battle of doing just as Paul describes above. The part of this, that is the hardest for me is the battle that we are fighting against Satan. In scripture you can see this battle playing out with Paul. I know that for myself that I am a lightweight compared to Paul when it comes to these things, if Satan is able to play this out with him, what does this mean he can do to me? The question I have for you tonight is what battle is he playing out with you in your life right now. We are in this continual battle with good and evil. I encourage all of us to go to bat for one another and pray, pray, pray for protection. Tonight as we head to bed or rise in the morning for work remember what Paul writes in Ephesians.

Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
Ephesians 11-13

God Bless,

Rick

Wednesday Night Is "SPECIAL!"

Every week after I walk away from Z & C's house on Wednesday night to get in my car, I always have the same thought. "My sweet church family is missing a blessing." Now I know some live a long ways away and some have to get up early and some have kids and cannot get away and there are many, many legitimate reasons. BUT, just in case there is someone out there reading this right now who just might be able to get away for a couple hours, I want to invite you to what I have found to be one of my favorite times of the week. God always has a message through Zach and the Holy Spirit always shows up to illuminate His Word in a "SPECIAL" way. We need do nothing
but show up and watch Jesus teach us just as He always has and always will. I am actually being very selfish as I love my church family dearly and would love nothing more than to see us together more and more and more. Hope to see you Wednesday where
"SPECIAL" always shows up because God always does. Love you folks! With love from Doug!!!!!