Love God Love One Another

How's your customer service? Did you realize Christians are in the business of customer service? Is the experience that we deliver match the expressions and expectations of our life in Jesus? Our actions should be positive expressions of our best self...reflecting the joy that comes from grace received. Our lives should proclaim that good news (and we should only occasionally use words). #CustomerServing #RedLetterChallenge #messiahyl.

Are you an overpacker? Have you missed the humanity of any moment for the sake of the stuff you're managing? Despite our social facade, internal turmoil below the surface belies our messy life. Forgiveness and grace are the freedom from all chains and shame. Jesus died on a cross to give us a free life...it is finished. Cushions lifted; junk removed (full stop). #RedLetterChallenge #Forgiving #messiahyl

What must a branch do to stay connected to its life giving vine? It just has to remain connected! Remain in me, Jesus asks. The essence of BEING with God can be enhanced by bible reading, prayer, worship, fasting, and resting. The question for us isn't having enough time, but setting higher priorities. Check where your life's power cable connects and plug into BEING with God. #Being #RedLetterChallenge #messiahyl

A hearer and a doer are not necessarily the same. There is a positive difference in results and impact when these aspects are joined. Interactions with Christians should be an experience of joy and uplift. That would be the response if we were more like Christ in our doing...representing Jesus well by acting on His teachings not just hearing them. The next 40 days is a challenge opportunity to live out the red letters of Jesus (in the Bible) to be a better representation of who God is in our world. #RedLetterChallenge #messiahyl

Traffic, phone hold, car repair fiascos...these might be situations for becoming irritable. They are also moments when our responses demonstrate that by our love, everyone will know we are Christians...Christ followers. May this be our aim. #HospitalityRules #messiahyl

Rudeness is a choice we make. Social media has encouraged many to believe "If I think it, I can post it." Improper behavior is not excused by anonymity or ego for the sake of humor, arrogance, pride, selfishness, or even honesty. Telling "a truth" without considering how it will be received is not speaking with love. Gentleness, kindness, and care are always required. #BeGolden #messiahyl

Avoid poison envy; comparison kills joy. When we keep score and covet what what others have, we diminish the blessings that God has given us uniquely. Reflect on your relationship to God and his grace for you. In doing so, your sense of satisfaction will move to deeper love, without envy. #LoveNotEnvy #messiahyl

Mean is easy, nice is soft, but kindness?...that requires courage and action! As God shows first, we are not built to operate from fear but from love. It is possible to shape shift our response to others because of our exposure to, and experience with, God's love. We are called to have faith, hope and, above all else...love. Break from the huddle today and show kindness this week. #SouperBowl #KindnessRipples #messiahyl

Words of restoration and hope are close to each of us. You say, God, that I am loved...I am enough, even in my worst condition. No matter what I've done, how badly I've messed things up, how far I feel from you. God repeats his miracle of restoration and says, don't forget who you are and whose you are, in me, today. #YouSay #messiahyl

Heart—more than just a human blood pump; the heart is the center of our being…the soul, the gut of our lives, and the marker of who we are. Loving God with “all our heart” is a pathway we can journey. It doesn’t require perfection, just a reliance on the renewable transformation that comes with pardoning love from above. #CleanHeart #Messiahyl

Would you leap before you knew how you might land? Is it a show of faith to leap without a net? Without knowing an exact outcome in a situation, can you still have faith? What faith does it take to travel life’s easy roads? What does it take to have faith in a fiery place? Faith is not measured in quarts; and it’s not a reflection how strongly we believe God can create outcomes according to our expectations. Faith is letting God be God…and trusting God with every outcome, no matter the situation or circumstance. #LeapOfFaith #Messiahyl

Have you ever experienced a stuck point? A spinning beachball icon or an hourglass wait cursor that keeps turning over and over? Does your life ever have that kind of a moment? What about yourself is stuck and needs a reboot? We are sacred temples—worthy of honor, attention, and respect. Let’s have a great new year…of body, mind, soul perspective! #Reboot #MakingChange #BreakingDishes #Messiahyl

Are you worn down by all the Christmas extravagance? Did your holiday have all the Whoville hubbub with too much ribbon, bags, tags, decorations, and feasts? There is nothing more important than this simple message. Me? I am far from perfect. Christ, is everything! Let’s make an unusual new year’s resolution to embrace grand and glorious dreams for loving God and loving others more extravagantly. In this worthy striving, mistakes are covered by grace. It is not the critic who counts…the credit belongs to the one daring bravely. #NewYearNewRoads #Messiahyl

Is it your expectation that Christmas will be "just good enough" this year? The Christmas story is both beautiful and haunting. Even as God came to be with us, the people of Bethlehem made very little accommodation. How could they be so cold to the needs of a young mother and her baby boy? Is your heart today as crowded as the inn that night? Is there room in your heart? #MakingRoom #Messiahyl

Winter solstice marks our longest, darkest day. In our lives, grief, too, comes in many forms: loss, separation, relations, illness, aging, depression, pain, and darkness. What shade of a “Blue Christmas” is this for you? Find comfort today—the bright, warming, light of the world draws near. #LightShinesOnTears #Messiahyl

What is your favorite Christmas moment? Is it singing “silent night and peace on earth?” But, really, how can we experience this? Would it be amazing if we could live in that kind of world? Let’s call a Christmas truce and do our part. Seeing others though the eyes of God, we can tolerate more…and take the lead in setting the tone. #ConflictNot #Messiahyl

What one thing, if you did it exceptionally well, would change your life for the better? How are you prioritizing this important, not urgent activity? Martha, Martha, Martha. Make time for sitting at the feet of Jesus. Press pause…to be refreshed and to become aware. In your daily journey, be the “necessary” thing for others. #NotTooBusyForYou #Messiahyl

The first week in the advent of Christmas draws us to focus on hope. The reminder of God’s love comes through the hope we receive as broken and needy people. God asks we not expend ourselves on a treadmill of performance, but run, instead, to the loving arms of the one that saves us. This comfort and blessing are the chemistry that moves us to want to share generously that same love where people are waiting and praying for dignity, health, joy, and love. #HandUpHope4All #Messiahyl

How was your Black Friday? Are you set for Cyber Monday? Coveting and materialism are forces to reckon with; they require deep self-awareness; otherwise, they can displace gratitude, perspective, relationships, and much more. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. How do we keep materialism from stealing Christmas? #IAmContent #SimplicitySunday #Messiahyl

Thanksgiving is naturally a time to reflect on prosperity. It’s not, however, just a one-day assignment. We are written into God’s narrative to bring love to the world. As children of God, love is in our DNA—and we are asked to express it. What will be our role? God arrives on the absurd generosity of ordinary people giving thanks daily and flowing love to others. #LetsGiveThanks #Messiahyl