My Window to the World
GCD Newsletter August 23rd 2024
My favorite recliner has a great view of both the TV and a six-foot window where I can see most of my front yard. My view allows me to watch the kittens chase bugs and play with each other. An occasional raccoon will mosey in looking for the cat food at our front door. Usually, they run away when they see me stand up, but yesterday one didn’t see me. I quickly ran out the front door and threw a shoe at him. I did scare him away, but I also pulled back muscle. Now that I’m in my 40s, making any sudden movements without first “warming up” has the potential for a few days of back pain.
My front lawn has transformed from a rich green to a dry brown. In Texas, usually by July the grass is dead because nothing can survive outside in these temperatures. However, an unusually rainy July has delayed my lawn’s inevitable death until August. I’m not mad though because dead, ugly grass means no mowing. I’ll put up with crunchy, brown grass if it saves me hours of work.
It won’t be long until the weather changes again. I’m looking forward to cooler temperatures and being able to go, and stay, outside more. The changes of the season are always welcome. It seems we are heading into a fall season where there will be lots of changes. I’m sure some will be good and others not so much.
However, one of God’s great qualities is that he never changes. That may sound boring, but it’s a good quality for a perfect being. Any change would make him less perfect, less loving, less gracious, etc. Because of who he is, we don’t want him to change. When circumstances around you are swirling and uncertain, steady yourself with an anchor that always holds…the perfect, unchanging character of God.
In Christ,
serves as associate pastor at FBC Atlanta, TX. James and his wife, Jenny, are blessed with four children and are actively involved in foster care. He is passionate about beholding the beauty of our Lord and helping others do the same. He enjoys writing, running, and gardening. You can follow James Twitter or his blog where he writes regularly.
Last Week at GCDiscipleship.com
How God Used Suffering To Teach Me It’s A Blessing to Give and Receive
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“It is paramount that we acknowledge everything we have is a gift from God. The job we hold, the home we live in, the money in our bank account, and even our able bodies. They are all given to us by a gracious God. He did not prosper us in this way so we could clutch tightly to the things we have, selfishly wanting more, unwilling to share. He has lavished us abundantly so we can bless others.”
The Healing Power of Confessing Sins to One Another
by Lydia Kinne
“We do need to confess our sins first to the Lord. But he also made us to walk in community with other believers, and part of that community is being open with one another about our sin struggles so we may have accountability and support to fight them.”
Just Go Tell People How Awesome Jesus Is
by and Doug Logan
“We can think about the ways in which Jesus is amazing—his perfection, sinlessness, deity, kindness, mercy, power, miracles, teaching—and make them known. And most of all, we can talk about how incredible it is that Jesus would die on a Roman cross for sinners like us. We can share how amazing it is that Jesus would die in our place and that he would rise again from the dead and is reigning in heaven, offering real joy-producing, life-altering forgiveness for anyone who believes in him.”
2024 GCD Writers’ Mentoring Cohort
How Do I Become a Writer?
Writers’ block isn’t an illness you catch, but a condition that one develops over time. Thankfully, though thousands have diagnosed themselves with “the block” just this past week alone, there are a couple of treatments out there that have worked for so many others, myself included.