DAY BY DAY DAY BY DAY SCRIPTURE: Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” DAY BY DAY DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS: I LOVE this scripture passage out of Romans. It is a perfect benediction when leaving a meeting, or a friend’s home, or even to say it to your loved ones as they leave the house every day to face the world unknown! There is so much in this verse that brings a spirit rest. “May the God of HOPE”, look at that coming right out of the gate; HOPE! Do you need a little bit of HOPE in your life today? Are things feeling a bit displaced and you are just trying to find your way and perhaps where you fit in this activity called “LIFE”? God Is your hope! He will make that way, when it feels hopeless. The God of HOPE means to go ahead and dream those dreams, it means He has your heart and all things that concern you! WOW, now that right there is great; but there is more! There is more in adding JOY! “May the God of HOPE FILL you with all JOY! JOY is deep down in your bones, contented, battling the storms of life, or just a few waves; JOY down in your heart! You can face today, tomorrow, and forever because you have JOY in knowing that YOU are loved! That nothing that concerns you today is too much for Jesus to handle! That right there puts a smile on your face! Go ahead; are you smiling yet? And that is not even the end of this promise filled verse; are you ready for some PEACE? There is so much in life that just comes in at us; and we are conflicted within, we are scattered in our thoughts and actions, we are looking for answers, direction, help; and then we hear “PEACE~ Be Still”. PEACE to our inner souls that need to be restructured and realigned! PEACE like the calmness of a river, still flowing, functioning; yet so peaceful and in control. Jesus is there to deliver that Peace to our souls today! But here is the PUNCH of the verse; ready? “By the POWER of the Holy Spirit”. Do you even understand the POWER that is at your disposal today? The same power that raised Jesus from the grave, is and should be alive within you this very moment! When you have given your life to Jesus, the POWER of the resurrection is yours! You have the power to claim your day in His Name! You have the Power to pray in His Name, the Power to resist the evil one, The Power to serve, and the Power to live this life we live. You have not been left alone; not for one moment! DAY BY DAY ENCOURAGEMENT: Today I encourage you to memorize this verse! I encourage you to carry it in your heart and mind. Each of us were created with a purpose; and in that purpose, we each have a common denominator; JESUS! Remember that no matter what you face today; or how different your situations may be; we all have in common the God of HOPE, and may you know the steadfast JOY and the true and everlasting PEACE as you claim the POWER available to you; in His Name! DAY BY DAY PRAYER MOMENT: “Jesus, Jesus how we trust you”! Jesus, we are just so grateful today for how you continue to provide for our spirits, our lives, and whatever we face! You are amazing; and we love you! AMEN”

Getting ready for our VBS.

Our Community Choir Event is now posted. https://youtu.be/rlEOZ9HOS7c

TONIGHT AT 7:00. We're happy to invite you to a multi-church musical event. Friday, July 28th at 7:00 please join us for a night of worship, singing, choral selections, worship teams and hymns. Emmanuel Advent Christian, First Christian Church of Wolfeboro and the Alton Bay Conference Center will all be performing. We'll be at 20 Church Street in Alton. Please share on your walls.

DAY BY DAY DAY BY DAY SCRIPTURE: DAY BY DAY DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS: I am sharing with you today and old favorite hymn of mine from the 8th century; “Be Thou My Vision”. I was always intrigued singing it when younger at church because of the old English language in the Hymn. This hymn is actually an old Irish hymn and was translated over to English in 1912 by Eleanor Hull. Why do I like this hymn so much? Because it puts in focus every single part of life; and brings it back to walking in step with Jesus. Hear the words of this dear old hymn that has stayed tried and true for centuries; and read the steadfast hope the writer has in our complete, protecting, and loving God: 1. Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart; Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art. Thou my best Thought, by day or by night, Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light. 2. Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word; I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord; Thou my great Father, I Thy true son; Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one. 3. Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight; Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight; Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower: Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power. 4. Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise, Thou mine Inheritance, now and always: Thou and Thou only, first in my heart, High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art. 5. High King of Heaven, my victory won, May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun! Heart of my own heart, whatever befall, Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all. What a great testimony of love to say “Heart of my own heart, whatever befall, Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.” There is not a thing that we face today that God is not aware of! There is not a pain that we are dealing with today that God does not feel. There is not a battle waging in our lives today that God is not out in front as a shield of protection for us today. There is not one single time that the word of God has not provided what we need for the day, or provided us the wisdom and counsel required to handle a situation. And there is nothing more rewarding than; “High King of Heaven, my victory won, May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!” DAY BY DAY ENCOURAGEMENT: Today I encourage you to fix your eyes on Jesus! The beginning of our lives, the end of our lives, and every day in between; Jesus holds! If we keep our eyes on Jesus; what a great promise of hope! Living every day in this life can be a struggle! We have loved and lost, we have things and then they are gone, we have battles daily with health, with finances, with relationships, even with evil; but how reassuring to the spirit to keep in our vision the SHIELD of Jesus going before us to do battle! When we take our eyes off Jesus and our vision becomes a little dull and blurry of the things of Him; that is when we start walking in the murky waters of life and we feel alone, and we begin to lose our hope. I encourage you today to rub your eyes; get the blur out of them; and focus on JESUS! What a great day you are going to have!! DAY BY DAY PRAYER MOMENT: “How we thank you Jesus for the spirit you shared centuries ago to have someone pen these words to paper, and how they still stir our hearts today! May you, and only you be our vision going forward. May we see people, life and happenings with your eyes, and love with your heart. Thank you for the promise of life everlasting! We love you, Jesus! AMEN”.

DAY BY DAY DAY BY DAY SCRIPTURE: Romans 2:11 “For God does not show favoritism” DAY BY DAY DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS: Yesterday while at work, I received an email from one of our companies and they were issuing a cancellation on a home because the recent inspection showed disrepair on the outside of the home. I took a look at the inspection photos and really the home desperately was in need of a complete scrape and repaint, the roof needed to be replaced, the soffits and eaves were hanging, etc.… But inside the home housed a widowed 87-year-old man, where life simply got away from him and he didn’t keep up with the labor of owning a home. It is our usual practice to just inform the client that they will be issued the cancellation, but there was something about this situation that stuck with me. I emailed this Underwriter back and I explained that money wasn’t the issue, he would be able to hire it out and would they extend Grace for a short time so he would continue to be able to have his home insured. The reply came less than a half hour later with the reply; “I’m sorry to inform you that the cancellation stands”. You know where that would not have happened; with Jesus! See each one of us has a story where life came in and was too much, or we have not been able to care for the outside of us as we would like causing judgement from people. Jesus loves YOU just as you are. Grace flows free with Jesus, and restoration is complete in His care. It doesn’t matter to Him where you have been, what you have gone through in your life, who you may have hurt, what you may have done (He knows anyway, and was there), what matters to Jesus is TODAY! Grace flows freely for you, Today! There is no favoritism with Jesus! He doesn’t love the rich more than the poor; no, He sure does not! He loves each heart and life (not lifestyle) the same! It matters not to Jesus if your house needs painting or it is in disrepair OR if you live in a mansion; what matters to Him is the reception He receives living with you daily in your home. Is He welcome? Is there kindness toward one another, is forgiveness flowing, is laughter ringing, is He thought of for family prayer, is He mentioned in conversation? Have you made Jesus part of who you are? DAY BY DAY ENCOURAGEMENT: Today I encourage you to remember that our bodies and our spirits also house Jesus. Not just bringing Him into the physical home; but our daily spirit filled home. I encourage you to think on where He dwells. I encourage you in tenderness today to look at you and remember that He loves you so dearly, and if you have been through so much in your life and have felt alone and no love; and it maybe has been the result of how you now live your physical self; then I encourage you to seek Him, to know that He will go the distance with, and for you; and you are LOVED. Grace flows freely with the spirit of the Living God! He wants you to live life and for life to matter to you. Each of us has had times where the old house has need to be painted; but the master contractor has a plan, and when we give Him the brush; we become a new and beautiful creation. In Jesus we never will hear, “I’m sorry, but the cancellation stands”! Instead we will hear His gentle voice whisper, “I’ve got you”! DAY BY DAY PRAYER MOMENT: “Thank you, Jesus that you are consistent with love, that you are flowing with Grace, and that you have such love for each one of us! May we remember that deep love and Grace as we renew ourselves daily, and as we love you back. AMEN”

DAY BY DAY DAY BY DAY SCRIPTURE: Matthew 6:33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” DAY BY DAY DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS: In this day of ease with electronics we seem to be able to access everything we need on our phones and computers. Even computers seem to be replaced with the iPad or tablet. We get up in the morning and check our phones to see if we had a text from someone overnight, we can check Facebook on our phones, even email (unless you are my husband who still has a flip phone, he can text if he wants to, and he thinks his is the real “smart phone”!), and really everything you need to function is in your hands with one device! We can check our bank accounts every day or even every hour if need be. Oops, forgot to pay that bill; no worries…click, all done! We have advanced in becoming tech savvy in some pretty impressive ways. I was thinking this morning as I went onto our bank to see if a payment had gone through, how we store things up for deposit, to be taken out at the right time and used for our good. I would say a good many of us have a checking account that you utilize on a regular basis. We put money in, so we can pay our bills, and so then the money comes out. It is a vicious cycle! Our storehouse is built when we can go to the other account and start “saving” some of our money and use it when needed. Sometimes we make the deposit and it actually stays in there for a time before we need it, other times we make the deposit, love looking at our account and then just like that; it is gone again! What made me think of that this morning was thinking that my greatest deposit; is our tithe every week. Sometimes it is difficult as we have added expenses, or company, and it takes away; but when we write out that check (I wonder when the churches will start taking debit cards?!), it is the best “deposit” we could ever make. “Seeking God First” will never let you down. And then I thought of Christian “banking” if you will. What we put in our minds, what we see, what we read, what we think, where we go, how we talk; are we making Kingdom deposits in the choices that we make each day? DAY BY DAY ENCOURAGEMENT: My encouragement to you today is to really “Seek the Kingdom of God”. When you make a deposit in right living, in reading your Bible, in communicating with Him; then the withdrawal is not difficult and it is done with ease. We store up these treasures, and we become fortified and strong, and when we need Him, “ALL these things will be added unto you”. I encourage you to make deposits with Jesus and reap the interest and blessings from choosing the best account out there! DAY BY DAY PRAYER MOMENT: “Dear Jesus, thank you for being our storehouse of Blessing, Mercy, and Grace! May we open you up each day and check out our account with you. May this be the most important account in our lives, knowing that when we do seek you first; we seek and find peace. AMEN”

DAY BY DAY DAY BY DAY SCRIPTURE: Genesis 22:14 “So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided." DAY BY DAY DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS: I was heading to work on Friday and I saw a written sign on the back of a pick- up truck. It seemed to have the appearance of a scripture verse, so decided to scoot up a bit to have it more visable to me. As I got closer the light turned red and I was directly behind the truck. And it was “The Lord WILL Provide”. Four amazing words that struck my heart. Growing up my parents had an old cross stitch of that verse and it meant something to our family. We knew He would provide for our needs. But as I saw that verse it dawned on me how much more the Lord provides for us. It is not always the financial, but it is so much more! The Lord provides for us emotionally, spiritually, financially! He provides wisdom when needed, He provides clarity when decisions seem murky, He provides forgiveness and shows us too how to forgive offense, He provides security when life has failed you, He provides JOY in the times when you didn’t think you could even produce a smile! He is the provider, and He cares about you! DAY BY DAY ENCOURAGEMENT: Today I encourage you to remember that you are not alone. If you are praying for help and it doesn’t seem to be coming, remember where our verse is taken from today! Abraham is walking his son Isaac up the mountain because God asked him to do so. All the while knowing he was to sacrifice his precious boy that God had given him, and his faith is all he knew to trust in the provision of God. Just as the moment that he had his son on the table to sacrifice; God provided the ram caught in the thicket and he sacrificed that and he then named that mountain, “God Will Provide”. I know it can seem like our backs are against the wall, and we don’t have any help. But I encourage you today to remember that He is here! You are not alone! Keep faithful in prayer and keep your eyes fixed on Him; and He will always be there for you to hold you up, and provide for your needs; according to His will and His plan for your life! DAY BY DAY PRAYER MOMENT: “Thank you, Jesus for the reminder that you do provide and you do all things well! May we remember to keep our eyes fixed on you, and to keep our faith alive and ablaze as we face each day”. AMEN”

DAY BY DAY DAY BY DAY SCRIPTURE: Psalm 84:12 “LORD Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in you.” DAY BY DAY DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS: My chair in the living room is one of my most favorite chairs to sit in. It is a mission style recliner with nice wide wooden arms, and on the right side of my chair, on the arm, you will always find a notebook! I am always jotting down ideas, notes, things important probably only to me; but I have notebooks everywhere. I have two on my bedside table that I will go to bed and write a prayer out to the Lord. But this morning I noticed that my notebook is closed and it usually never is; and the cover struck me: “God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the Courage to change the things I can, and the Wisdom to know the difference”. As I starred at the cover of my notebook, this prayer came to me in a new thought pattern. I know that this prayer is the prayer used in most recovery groups, and I think it is something that perhaps I have just associated with that thinking. But in reality; are we not all recovering from issues of this life? Are we not all bearing a burden? There are so many situations that can drive our minds crazy in this life…Trying to figure out how to pay this month’s bills, trying to find a job that pays what you need and offers what you need, losing a loved one, having an unforgiving spirit, living in bitterness, staying inactive because of the fear of stepping out again…These and so many more can stimulate our minds to face fear and not trust. The words to this prayer that was actually written by author Reinhold Niebuhr are words written to our Sovereign God. One whom we can place our trust. One who imparts wisdom when we but ask Him, seek Him, and listen to Him. DAY BY DAY ENCOURAGEMENT: Today I encourage you to stop! I encourage you to understand that the road map for your life was planned out by your Heavenly Father, and there is nothing that you face today that is a surprise to Him! Therefore, He is your best “go-to” resource! If you are interested and ready to make the improvements in your life, to stay strong during our daily recovery of life, and to trust Him more for it all; then I encourage you to join me in this prayer today. To realize that we are all recovering from something in our lives and that we need the guidance of a Tender Shepherd to help us make those changes. I would like you to read the entire prayer that Mr. Niebuhr wrote: God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, Courage to change the things which should be changed, and the Wisdom to distinguish the one from the other. Living one day at a time, Enjoying one moment at a time, Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace, Taking, as Jesus did, This sinful world as it is, Not as I would have it, Trusting that You will make all things right, If I surrender to Your will, So that I may be reasonably happy in this life, And supremely happy with You forever in the next. DAY BY DAY PRAYER MOMENT: “Jesus, how we trust you to hold us close as we live and deal with the life we live! So often we forget it is us that is in the recovery program of life, and oh how we need you! Thank you for loving us; and for your daily guidance and wisdom. We love you, AMEN”

We're happy to invite you to a multi-church musical event. Friday, July 28th at 7:00 please join us for a night of worship, singing, choral selections, worship teams and hymns. Emmanuel Advent Christian, First Christian Church of Wolfeboro and the Alton Bay Conference Center will all be performing. We'll be at 20 Church Street in Alton. Please share on your walls.