James and Jody Lewis

Day Spring E-Cards

     

   From the desk of Jaime and Shawn

Jaime Teichmer is the proud daughter of James and Jody Lewis.  She teaches music classes and piano lessons at Spring Arbor University in Michigan, and frequently performs with her husband, Shawn, who plays the saxophone. Right now, they are expecting their first child and are very excited.

New Life in Christ

       Romans 3:23  For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.  The word all includes me and every person who ever lived.  Because of Adam and Eve's sin in the Garden of Eden, we ALL were born in sin. 

  Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death."  That means the (penalty) of sin is death (eternal separation from God with hell as our destiny). 

But God had a wonderful plan that we wouldn't have to be separated from Him. The next part of that verse says, "But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.  We can receive that gift and have everlasting life.

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, (all humanity) that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

God's free gift of eternal life is available to those who believe that Jesus, God's Son, paid their death penalty by dying on the cross for their sins.  If by faith I believe in my heart that Jesus died for my sins, was buried, and rose from the dead, then I too could have eternal life in heaven.

Acts 16:31 "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved."

No matter what your situation in life, all of us have gone through hardships. There are times it seems like many bad things happen all at once or heartbreak lasts so long that we do not see any light at the end of the tunnel. There are hardships that affect us financially whether it is the loss of a job or unexpected expenses such as car troubles.

Other hardships leave us feeling stuck at a fork in the road and we question which path to take. However, the hardships that seem to affect us the most are those that affect our heart, whether it is hurt caused by loved ones such as friends or family or even spiritual pain when we feel God is so far away.

When life throws the unexpected at us, we often question ourselves, our values and our Almighty God. These are the times in our life that we are the weakest and Satan moves in. As a result, many of us search for “earthly” things that we think will give us the comfort and control we feel we are lacking. We look for things that empower us or comfort us, but more times than not, these things are temporary and fill the void with false comfort. In these times, you may find yourself asking, “What can I do to improve my life or make myself a better person?”

In this process, we may temporarily stray from God and we create such a void between ourselves and our God that we forget the truth. In the process of improving yourself, you might find yourself spending time doing things that make you feel much better about your life may it be joining a club or simply spending time with friends. These people relate to your problems and understand you like no one else has. They accept you and all your weaknesses and they are there to support you and encourage you in any decision you may make on your journey to become a better person.

Through these new relationships, your friends offer suggestions to add more happiness to your life and they offer amazing opportunities that you have never had before. Your new friends spend every possible moment with you and they bring you so much comfort and happiness that you begin forgetting the hardship which brought you to this point in the first place. However, as many of us have seen when we run from the truth, we still feel the burden of the hardship and cannot hide from it no matter how far we run.

You may feel a tugging at your heart when you are at church listening to the sermon or your old friends and family will mention the changes they see in you and they mention the hurt these changes are causing.

These changes are causing divisions between our loved ones and between our walk with God. Some of us are lucky to recognize that we are running from the truth, but others will run further away. We may go to the people who bring us temporary happiness and they will gladly offer console and tell us we are making all the right decisions and that nobody else understands. It is an ongoing battle between the truth and the untruths that often bring us so far from God.  

How do you recognize if your life is going down a path of righteousness? The answer is in love and truth.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Philippians 4:8

If you find that despite the happiness you feel with the new direction your life is taking, there are divisions, jealousy, or anger in other areas of your life, the truth is we haven’t really dealt with the hardship. The truth is our actions are not initiated with truth but with the flesh.

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Galatians 5:16-21

In order to avoid the path that leads further from God, we must confront our hardships with truth, honesty, purity and love. Then we are able to avoid the struggles of a life apart from Him. We are not meant to deal with these burdens on our own, but to ask God to deliver us from our pains. When we are first confronted with a difficult situation, we must most importantly ask for help from our heavenly Father, for nothing and no one on this earth is capable of the truth and the love that God is. 

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life” John 14:6

Furthermore, we should thank God when we have hardships in our life because we know that He has already bore that burden on the cross. We know that as long as we are living in the truth, we will be set free from any bondage in our lives.

Through it all

By Andréa Crouch

I've had many tears and sorrows
I've had questions for tomorrow
There've been times I didn't know right from wrong
But in every situation
God gave blessed consolation
That my trials only come to make me strong

So I thank God for the mountains
And I thank Him for the valleys
I thank Him for the storms He's brought me through
Cause if I never had a problem
I wouldn't know that He could solve them
I wouldn't know what faith in His Word could do

Through it all
Through it all
I've learned to trust in Jesus
I've learned to trust in God
Through it all
Through it all
I've learned to depend upon His Word
Yes, I've learned to depend upon His Word
I've learned to depend upon His Word

Copyright ©  Jaime Teichmer,

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Email: Jaime Teichmer

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