Gods Weight Loss Program...is Grace!

Hello friends and family! I know that for many of us we have started out 2012 w/ New Years Resolutions. For many, it was to do better, to try harder, to save money, to read the bible, to pray more, to make it a priority to attend church, to climb the corporate ladder, be more sensitive to others needs, and of course...Lose Weight! When I hear people tell me they want to lose weight, my mind runs right from the "Physical" to the "Spiritual". Please read on...because each of us NEEDS to lose some weight!

My hope for each of us this year is that each of us drops a dramatic amount of weight that Christ never intended for you and I to carry. Mat 11:28  "Come unto me, all ye that labor & are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Yes, God knows that our heart is heavy sometimes with depression, with hurt, & resentments: our heart could stand to lose a few pounds. Yes our mind is often weighted down with worry, with fears, and suspicions: it would be healthier this year if we would exercise on trusting God. Yes, we have failed people, we have failed God, and we have failed ourselves miserably even from time to time. So what are we to do? Here is what the world will tell you! "Do harder, try better, get a new plan, find a new method, make a stronger commitment this time, just do it".  Come' on how many times are you gonna get caught up in that viscous cycle? All we end up doing eventually is...packing back on the pounds! It is extremely unhealthy to live this way. To make all these promises, to make these vows are just more pressure! It's senseless weight to carry around! Ask an addict what pressure does? It helps him relapse back into old patterns, old behaviors...Pressure "adds weight" to your life! We don't need it! So what's the answer?.........GRACE!

Let me explain: There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus! Drop the self abuse! Drop the judgment, drop the pressure that God has removed from you! Lose some weight! Drop the shame and guilt! In fact, all that weight is not only unhealthy for you; but its also devastating on those who are in relationships with you! The bible states that no one is unique, in that we all have struggles, we all have issues, we have all  pains, and we all have dreams that did not come true! And most of all, we all SIN! That is why Grace has been given to you and me...because God knew that even after we were saved that we would need a constant diet of Grace! Paul opens up up almost every single letter he writes with "Grace and Peace unto you"! I love it! Because so many people are carrying around so much useless baggage, and needless weight in our Christianity! God has removed our shame & our guilt! Many of us live our professional lives, our family lives, our public life under a constant state of "performance" and "pressure".  "Grace and Peace unto you"...Drop the weight, take off the mask, your safe now, your home, your in Christ and nothing can separate you form His love...we can be real here...(in church, in prayer, IN THIS LIFE). Yes, God has a diet plan that each of us needs to follow! Shed the pounds this year! Grow in Grace...lose some weight!

Now, how do we get this diet started!? We recognize our NEED for Grace! If you don't recognize your need for Grace...then you will forever have a unhealthy relationship with burdens, with depression, with bitterness, with fear, anxiety, with your marriage, with our business! I want to ask you...would you like to lose some WEIGHT? Then acknowledge the need for Grace in your own life! Look to the cross, drop to your knees and kiss the feet of the one who died to set you free! Who has removed your weight and burden of being perfect, of being a "success", of not living up to others expectations! Look to the one who IS GRACE! His name is Jesus Christ, eat of His bread and drink of this cup that you might be set free from the burdens of this life, and lose some weight! Jesus carried the Cross...so you and I wouldn't have to! He knew the weight and the pressure would crushed us! Be kind to yourself, be loving to yourself, and quit holding yourself to a standard that God does not......."Lose some weight!"  I hope this has helped....

May you Grow in Grace and the knowledge that you are loved, thought on, forgiven and may you realize....the Pressures OFF! God bless you...Mike Heili (hookmhrns@ymail.com)

Father....it's dark in here!

Psa 69:16  Hear me, O LORD; for thy lovingkindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.

Lately in our family we had a crisis that tested my faith. In brief, for 2 minutes or so, we believed our new born girl (Sammy) had possibly passed away. Her mother's heart sunk into unknown dark territory. My mind raced, as I scrambled for sanity. Then my heart cried out to the one it is anchored in (God). I plead for my Sammie's life, & I dared not try to barter with a God whom I have nothing to offer. The situation had humbled me beyond what I am able to do personally. So from there, I told my God that I did not believe in the power of MY prayer...but I do believe completely in the power of the one whom I pray to! I do not trust in my faith, but I do believe completely in His faithfulness. I was asking God if He would demonstrate His loving kindness towards my wife and I and protect our hearts and mind, to prepare us for whatever might be next. I knew myself to be the chiefest of sinners along with Paul, and I might actually begin to question the goodness of God and the love of God; if things did not go my way. 2 verses came to mind as I plead my case....Jesus words "Your Will Father, Not Mine!"  And then Psalmist 69:16  "Hear me, O LORD; for thy loving kindness is good turn towards me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies." I prayed these verses over and over as I held my Sammy in that ambulance...for possibly the last time.

I write this little bit for those who have lost those most dear to them...because even the most sunniest of days will forever have a hint of shade in it from now on. On Christmas morning, all my studies on suffering were no longer a philosophical abstract to be pondered, it was concrete reality. Suffering is real, it is not kind, it is viscous, it is cruel, & its dark. It is one of the loneliest existences of life, to be without one whom is so precious, that brought extra value to your being. While my Sammy faded...so did my light begin to flicker. It quickly grew dark in my heart, in my mind, and in my future. Holding Sammy tightly in my arms in that ambulance ride a phrase came to me..."Father,...it's dark in here!"

Years ago, I had been studying and came across a story about a father and a son. It spoke of how the father & son walked hand and hand to their car, in the rain, after the funeral of the woman they both loved so dearly. She was the center of their world, the core of their existence...she was "wife"...she was "mommy"..& now she was gone. Arriving at home, the father did the best that he could do. Dad was strong & struggled to keep things going as normal as possible for his little boy. He gave his boy a bath, they ate dinner together and dad finished up the dishes. Night was coming, it was getting dark. Soon the little boy came to the father and asked, "Daddy, can I sleep with you tonight?" To the fathers relief, the dad said "of course you can, come on...let' go to bed".

After laying there for some time. The father had noticed that the little boy was still squirming around & was   finding it hard to fall asleep. The father was worried, gripped by fear that the son was going to start asking questions that he was not yet prepared to answer. But eventually the silence was broken as the little boy said, "Daddy, are you here?" The Father said, "Yes son, I'm right here with you."  The little boy said, "Daddy, it's dark in here and I can't see you". The Father responded, I assure you son "I"m right here with you". Then the little boy said, "Daddy, is your face towards me? it's dark in here, & I can't see your face". Daddy replied; "I know it's dark son, but daddy's right here with you, and my face is towards you, you just can't see me because it's so dark...but I promise, I'm here with you!" The little boy said, "Okay daddy, but can you hold me?"...& in a few minutes the boy fell asleep.

Soon the dad found himself laying in the bed, all alone, in the dark with his thoughts. Next, he rolled out of bed and fell on his knees...and began to pray these words..."Father, are you here with me? It's dark in here right now and I can't see your face! Father, would you turn your face towards me....oh Father...it's dark in here and I'm scared...would you hold me...it's dark in here!"

My heart go's out to each of you who have lost a loved one...may God love you and keep you!
Psa 69:16  Hear me, O LORD; for thy lovingkindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.

May you Grow in Grace and the knowledge of knowing that He is with you....even in the dark! Your friend, Mike Heili   (hookmhrns@ymail.com)

I Have Escaped To Tell Thee...

Early on in this book of Job, we have prosperity in the highest order.."integrity with God!". Man can have all kinds of false self-esteem because of his work ethic, because of what neighbors may think of us, and even the admiration of passers by as we practice humility. But to be introduced in the Word of God, by the Word of God...as a man who is pleasing to God...is quite an introduction. But soon, all that Job has is stripped away. Job's life is rudely interrupted, and he is not kept separate from a life that is common through out the rest of the world. Job experiences calamity, pain, and loss of all the substance that his life has acquired. Now being a child of God is no longer working for him in a positive manner. There seems to be no benefit in following this God. Oh man of God, children of God, if you know what Job is going through in your life today...take heed...fall to your knee's and worship God. Let it not be that you gain the whole world...and think that it was ever yours in the first place. It is all Gods, He gives and He takes away. The Grace of God is that we do not get what we truly deserve. God, have mercy on our souls, and guard our hearts when it considers YOU in time of suffering. God have mercy on our minds as we try to piece together the puzzle that we have so diligently put together, now we awake to have it torn apart. Oh God guide my footsteps and my words in time of pain, that I curse you not, question you not, and that in the end....I end up like Job at the end of chapter one and fall on my knees, cry out to my God...and Worship you. Let run to you, as my point of reference when all hell breaks lose.

4x servants in Scripture have come to Job and expressed that "only I have escaped alone to tell thee". Christian, this is our story! In the midst of all this, we for the most part miss the messenger's who have survived! By the Grace of God! They each come from their own separate tragedies, their own horrors, they each come holding their own testimony of how their lives were salvaged! The messengers' come yelling..."I alone have escaped to tell thee".  Among humanity, there are many who are lying dead in a grave. Among humanity, there are many who are still among the walking dead. But as for you and me..."We alone have escaped to tell thee". We alone have been saved from the Lion who roams this earth to seek whom he may devour. Oh how many of us have escaped, by the Grace of God go I, there is no way we should still be here! There is no reason why we have made it out of circumstances, overcome insanity, broken out of dark pity and heavy depression, beyond addiction...and now we sit and Worship at His feet!

Why have you been saved...for this very reason....to bring glory to God! It is now our turn to consider our own lives...When we were dead in our sins and trespasses before God...when we once walked in the ways of world and were among the walking dead! Christian, you have been spared! So daily may we run into a world that so desperately needs to hear of how God is still doing amazing things in a world that is confronted with pictures of tragedy, disease and despair. You Christian...your soul has been spared from the fires of Hell.  Do not think it was of your own doing! Do not think highly of yourself more than you ought! But give praise and honor to the one whom has spared your Soul. Oh may you cry out daily and forever....I have a testimony, I have a witness...."I alone have escaped to tell thee"....I AM FULLY ALIVE! I have escaped to tell thee..."His Name is Jesus!"   God bless you and may you see the Grace in your life and may you tell others of it! Your friend...Mike

Who is this God of Grace?...

     God is all sufficient, He is life. Glory, goodness and blessedness are found in Him alone. He does not stand in need of any of the creatures that He has made, nor does He derive any of His glory from them. On the contrary, He manifest His own glory in us and by us, by His own Spirit. He is the fountain-head of all being, and the origin, channel and end of all things. Over all His creatures He is Sovereign. He uses them as He pleases, does for them as He wants, and allows what we do not understand. His sight see's all true intentions, motivations, origins and ends. His knowledge is infinite and infallible. No single thing is at risk or uncertain, or even a gamble; for He is not dependent upon any created things to fulfill His intent or will. In all His decisions, doings, and demands He is most Holy. Angels and men owe to Him as their creator all worship, service and obedience, and whatever else He may require; even if it offends our intellect, is inconvenient, and appears on all levels to be "impossible". Adam and Eve, do not eat of the tree! Noah, build and ark! Abraham, take your son upon the mountain! Moses, walk before ME and be Holy! Joshua, march around the city of Jericho! "Lazarus, come out of your grave, come forth!" This is the God I know, this is the God of the bible, this is God of this universe. I hope this new year, this is the God you know or get to know...For He and He alone is God; there is no other! May we each grow in the Grace and the knowledge of this God...