FEB 29

Proverbs 10:19

When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.
A wise old owl lived in an oak,
The more he heard, the less he spoke.
The less he spoke, the more he heard,
Why can’t we all be like the wise old bird?

How many of your words this last week were words of encouragement? How many sentences were devoted to helping lift anxious hearts? If you were paid 10 cents for every kind word you said and had to give away 5 cents for every critical comment, would you be rich or poor today? Do you realize that there are people all around you who are discouraged? God can use your words to breathe life into a person who is piled by life’s problems. Proverbs 15:4: “The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life.”

Have you ever said, “Lord, my tongue now belongs to you?” That’s where Romans 6:13 comes in, which challenges us to “not offer the parts of our body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer ourselves to God…” God wants us to say something like this: “Lord, I’ve been using my tongue for myself but I now want to start using it for you. Here are my lips, let me speak for you. Here is my mouth, let my mouth speak the words that you want.”

Proverbs 16:1 says, “To a man belongs the plans of the heart, but from the Lord comes the reply of the tongue.” Your comments can be put under the Lord’s control. He can give you lips of life. He can give you a tender tongue. He can put words of wisdom in your mouth. He can sanctify your speech. All you need to do is surrender your tongue to Him. It’s not only impossible to be wise without the Word of God; our speech will only be changed through the Scriptures.

Wisdom in Proverbs,
Shaun Estrada

February 25

Good morning, Hillcrest Family!

Isn't this a beautiful day already? As I read today's Scriptures, God's Words, "the life is in the blood" kept jumping out at me. Life is in the blood. Immediately, I think about the blood of Jesus that was shed, that was poured out for you and me. Jesus didn't just shed a few droplets of blood. He was marred beyond recognition and lost a lot of blood. He was speared in the side and blood and water flowed. Jesus poured out His life for me. Jesus shed His life for you. He didn't for our remission of sins, for forgiveness, for our salvation and eternal life. He did it for our healing and wholeness. He did it for our peace. How often do we stress over things instead of resting in the peace of God that truly He will take care of it and us?! How often do we find things to stuff into the holes of our hearts instead of filling ourselves with more and more of Jesus?! I'm so guilty as charged. Nevertheless, God sent His one and only Son to pour out His blood, His life, on our behalf. And we are better for it. I remember being pregnant w/each of my three children and partaking in communion. What priceless, special moments those were to partake of the bread & juice, the body and blood of my blessed Lord and Savior, as I carried my babies. It was as if it was not just between God and me but each precious child growing inside of me. Do this in rememberance of Me. Have you taken communion lately? Think about that body, marred and bruised and aching, broken for you. Think about that blood, warm and so full of life - a lifeline straight to God Himself - poured out, drained of it's life for you. If we only fully understood the sacrifice the Lamb of God made for us, we'd walk in more freedom and more holiness and more of the Spirit of God instead of our flesh than you could possiby imagine. Dear children, God calls you His dearly loved and holy people of God, children of God. We are His. We were bought and paid for with a price. Rest in your Savior's arms today. Rest in His love. Rest in His eternal life. Rest in His wholeness. Rest in His forgiveness. Rest in His joy over you.

Have a blessed weekend. See you on Sunday!

Blessings,

Rolanda

February 21

“The wise are glad to be instructed, but babbling fools fall flat on their faces. People with integrity walk safely, but those who follow crooked paths will slip and fall.” Proverbs 10:8-9

Have you ever met anyone who couldn’t take instruction? Usually, this type of person will remain in the same place for many years. We will refer to this type of individual as “the foolish man” for the remainder of this written entry. The “foolish man’s” defensiveness often speaks of his refusal to embrace the painful process of growth. His refusal stems froman incorrect view of fruitfulness.

Just as a vine must be pruned in order to produce more fruit, so in a sense, our hearts must be “pruned”. More often times than not, this is a painful procedure and always causes somediscomfort. It’s funny because usually “the fool” is quick to give his or her “professional opinion”. They delight in rambling about their vast knowledge and unique experiences. However, most people don’t really want to listen to them. Here’s why: without realizing it, they have stunted their spiritual growth and they cannot produce fruit.

On the flip side, the “wise man” is glad to be instructed. Why? Because he has a healthy awareness of his weaknesses and asimple understanding that he cannot bear fruit without the pruning of others. God is so gracious to us in this way. He plants us in an environment where we are pulled and tugged by others. This pulling and tugging stimulates growth.

Verse 9 refers to those who walk in integrity. “Integrity”, according to Webster, means, “the quality or state of being complete or undivided.” Wikipedia also describes integrity as “internal consistency”. According to this verse, the result of integrity is security on the journey. You see, the man of integrity “walks” or lives consistently. His present path is firm because of his past decisions to live rightly. The “foolish man” lacks integrity and therefore even his judgments are crooked. He is never completely sure which path to walk because his heart isn’t anchored in truth. Ergo, he slips and falls.

May God give us fresh grace each day to embrace the miraculous process of growth and to walk faithfully before Him that our path may be firm.

Blessings,

Lauryn E.

February 18

Psalm 37: 3-7

Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him…

rest - to cease from action or motion : refrain from labor or exertion

to be free from anxiety or disturbance

to remain confident : trust rest on that assumption>

to be based or founded rested on several sound precedents>

to remain for action or accomplishment rests with you>

I’ve spent the past few years watching and listening to my parents. My step-dad spends his energy being angry with God for his hard life, the suicide of his first wife, and death of his first daughter. He doesn’t yell and rant and rave at God, but the anger is there underlying. His pain robs him of seeing the loving God that He truly isand of wanting to be with such a loving Father. My mother is so lost in herself and her current misery and loneliness that she can’t see her way straight to the Father. If she could only realize His intense love for her, that love would flow into every crevice of her being and make her whole and complete. I’ve prayed for them and agonized for them, then one day I realized just how little I too know the Father.

I’ve grown up as His precious little girl. I’ve known and loved Him my whole life ...and yet it’s amazing just how the world around us, our bringing up, and our own thoughts and preoccupations shape our view of God. God’s love impacted me as a small child. I felt it so real, so personal. And now so many years later when times get tough I question where did that love that I knew so real back then go and has my love grown cold? You see - even though I KNEW God loved me - as I grew older I always felt like I had to earn that love and that punishment and harshness and lack of blessings awaited me if I fell short which of course I did so often. I went from delighting in the Lord to working for Him and doing for Him and lost the delighting in Him and resting in Him part. And even though years ago the Lord graciously set me free from my works mentality, I find that I don’t rest in Him nearly enough.

Watchman Nee in his book Sit Walk Standwrites about the importance of sitting with Christ – resting with Him. You see when Christ was crucified and died on the cross that fateful day, we were crucified with Him. Our old man with all of its worldly and wicked desires was nailed to that cross and bore upon our Lord and Savior. God raised Him up from the dead and made Him to sit at His right hand and raised us up with him, making us to sit with Him in heavenly places. How often do we stop and rest in what God has done rather than what we can do for God? How often do we struggle in our sins or unrest or despair of heart when Christ did the work for our deliverance and forgiveness, for our peace, for our healing and wholeness? There’s not a thing in the world that we can do to earn them. Christ did it already.

Rest assured we serve a Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace who loves us more passionately than we can imagine and who already bore our pain and wretchedness upon Himself – a pure and holy Being. He is the Potter, and we are the clay. Imagine yourself resting in His mighty, skillful capable hands being fashioned and molded so beautifully and perfectly. Today I admonish you to join me in trusting, feeding, delighting in the Lord and resting in Him and waiting patiently for Him. While our hands work so busily may our spirits find rest seated with Christ, being free from exertion and anxiety and disturbance. God bless you. Have a wonderful weekend. See you on Sunday!

Blessings,

Rolanda Green

February 15

“Be Silent And Out Come Out” Mark 1:21-28

This case is unusual because of where it took place - in the very house of God! Why in the world would a man possessed by demons even be interested in going to the house of God? When I think about the fact that in Jesus’ time, Jews were taught to avoid that which was unclean at all cost. They would avoid people with leprosy who cried out “unclean, unclean” because they were deemed unclean. They would avoid women who were experiencing their monthly cycles because they were labeled unclean. Yet, here in their midst is one of their own-worshipping, serving, dressing right, and talking right and still unclean. The good news is that although the people tried to avoid the unclean - Jesus sought them out.

Hillcrest we serve a Jesus who likes to get up close and personal and have direct contact with those people and places that seem unclean. Jesus sought to make the filthy fit for the kingdom. Jesus was God’s detergent for a dirty humanity. He reached into the places that others could not and would not go. He would reach people that the prophets couldn’t get to, the priests couldn’t get to, and the kings couldn’t get to. And that is what he is calling the church today to do. We are to be the cleansing agents for a filthy world. He wants us to reach those who others will not touch because the world has deemed them unclean.

What is so amazing to me about this man’s deliverance is no one was shocked that there was a man with an unclean spirit. No one was surprise at the presents of sin, even in the synagogue, the church. It was just the way things were. God has given us authority to confront evil in our life and around us. He has given us authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. The same risen Savior, who encountered those unclean spirits long ago with an authoritative word, is alive today. He still speaks such words to today’s bound people. The same authority is available today for us to declare to any unclean spirit, “Be silent, and come out.” Jesus was talking to those spirits of selfishness, jealousy, dissension, envy, doubt, fear, rebellion and the like “Be silent and come out” Every time Jesus met someone demon-possessed He kicked the demons out!

What A Mighty God We Serve!
Shaun Estrada

February 14

Psalm 34

A trial or a legacy?

In Psalm 34:11, the writer invites us to listen to his words. Probably because he felt he had something invaluable to share. David, the beloved king of Israel, had many successful years of walking intimately before of the Lord. Many of which, included fleeing for his life on the backside of the desert. It’s through these “trial times” recorded in scripture, we are able to get to know the “man after God’s own heart”. And it was during yet another affliction of David the words of Psalm 34 were birthed. In fact, when these words were written, David had just fled the presence of King Abimelech. Only this time he had acted like a crazy man. Once again, he was running for his life.
Heart pounding and out of breath, David found a place to hide. Tears burned as they rolled down his sun burnt cheeks and his body shook in exhaustion. His thoughts raced back to better times. Times in which he lie in a field, filling it with praises. He hadn’t asked to become king. Why him? Why this? Yet, amidst the racing torrent of questions, he drew near to God instead of shaking his fist at Him. And he prayed. His words went something like this, “ I know Your eyes are upon me and You are watching over me. I cry aloud to You, for You always rescue me. You are close to me in my brokenness and I know you will redeem my soul.”
Recently, I listened to a teaching from one of my favorite pastors. The premise of his message was that if we don’t draw near to God in our brokenness and pain, then we will never embrace Him in our successes. David knew God amidst his sucessess and clung to him in trial. He was the living example of a man who hungered for God in the wilderness, yet thought upon Him while lying on his bed inside of a palace.
Psalm 34 is the historical account of one of the many trials of David. A story of a broken man throwing himself into the arms of the God he knew would rescue him. For us who follow after him, it’s a legacy of enduring faithfulness and encouragement for the broken hearted.
Don’t give in amidst your trial, and whatever you do, don’t underestimate your faithfulness. You are writing your legacy.

Blessings,

Lauryn Everett

February 7

Psalm 31

“In you oh Lord, I put my trust…”

I don’t know how your day started off. Maybe you started late and feel as if you’re a hundred steps behind. Maybe it’s to early to tell. Either way, isn’t it encouraging to know that when things start to fall apart you can run a to mighty, loving God who will keep your world from caving in?

This is what His Word promises in Psalm 31. Psalm 31:1 says, “In you oh Lord I put my trust; never let me be ashamed; deliver me in your righteousness.”

I encourage you, wherever you are, to do as David did. Declare your trust in the Lord today. You may say, “ The Lord already knows I trust Him.” My response would be, “Then declare it.” This declaration of trust is not for the Lord’s hearing, but for your own. For He has endowed you, my friend, with great power and this power is released in your declaration!

Re-align your mind, will and emotions with the promise of His speedy rescue (Psalm 31: 2). Remind the enemy of his impending defeat and of your inherent victory. Let me remind you, your declaration shakes the darkness.

To every mother who reads this, know that as the nurturer of your home, you are literally a “life-giver” to your children. Your declaration breathes life!

To all fathers, know that as the priest and protector of your home, your declaration travels fast. It demands the response of the mighty angels of God and is heard in the enemy’s camp. Roar loudly.

To all young men and women of the faith, your declaration opens the doors to the path that God has called you to walk. It also reminds your flesh that the Spirit is in charge and not you!

Lord, I declare my trust in you today. You are the fortress for my heart and no enemy can penetrate what you have shielded.

I know that in You I will never be disappointed and You will never allow me to be put to shame.

Amen

Blessings,

Lauryn Everett

February 4

Good morning, Blessed Hillcrest Family!

During the prayer meeting Tuesday night, my 7 yr old son picked up a child's Bible that had been left at the church and began quietly reading Exodus 20 - the Ten Commandments. He loves to read the Ten Commandments over and over. One day while waiting for my car to be washed, Samuel pulled out his memorization folder from school and began reading Exodus 20 outloud. As he read verses 5 & 6, a lady nearby got up and moved away from us.

To some the Word of God and the Law of God are offensive. However, God instructed us through King David Proverbs 7:1-5 of our reading today to "treasure God's commands within you" and to "keep My commands and live." He says the law should be the "apple of your eye." Is the Word of God the apple of your eye? Do you treasure God's Word above all else? I read a lot to my children. I can read a good book to them for an hour straight with no trouble. And yet when it's time to pick up the Bible to read - how often do I quickly read through a passage, check it off my list, and close the Book. Of course we usually discuss what I read, but my point is that we don't hang on every Word saying, "Read more - Read more" like we do our story books.

Elsewhere, David admonishes us to hide God's Word in our hearts that we might not sin against Him. Isaiah tells us that God knows what's best for us. He loves us. In Colossians, God calls us His holy and dearly loved children. You are His holy and dearly loved child! Because He loves you and I, He gave us His Word - His Commands - His Living Water - to drink and be nourished & to grow strong in Him. We must make God's Word the apple of our eye and teach our children to treasure the Bible richly as well.

Have a blessed and beautiful day! Enjoy reading the Word aloud w/your family today. See you at church tomorrow!

Blessings,

Rolanda Green

Hillcrest Children's Minister