The Holy Scriptures are God's special revelation to us.  They give direction, wisdom, and hope in all aspects of life.  A number of Friends of StarBridge are currently involved in 40 days of focusing on drawing closer to God in Bible reading fasting and prayer.  As part of this Forty Days of Focus, we are currently focusing on The Letter of Paul to the Colossians, and The Letter of James.  Here are a few selected verses from those letters, with some follow up thoughts.  

     "...we...do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;  That you might walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;  strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy;  giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.  He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.  He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.  For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.  All things were created through Him and for Him.  And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.  And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the geginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence."  (Colossians 1: 9b-18 NKJV)

     "...Blessed is the man (or woman) who endures temptation;  for when he (or she) has been approved, he (or she) will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.  Let no one say when he (or she) is tempted,  'I am tempted by God';  for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.  But each one is tempted when he (or she) is drawn away by his (or her) own desires and enticed.  Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.  Do not be deceived, by beloved.  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.  Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be kind of firstfruits of His creatures.  So then, my beloved, let every man (and woman) be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;  for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.  Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.  But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.  For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he (or she) is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror;  for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.  But he (or she) who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he (or she) does."  (James 1:12-25

May the Holy Spirit take these Scriptures deep into our very being.  That we may understand that we are created for Him.  He is our head.  He has taken us from darkness to light for a reason and a purpose.  As we draw close to Him, He will draw close to us.  By the power of the Holy Spirit, we can be thankful and full of the joy of the Lord.  We are His creation and He continues to draw the Body of Christ together to spread light to a lost world.  We are to keep our eyes on Him.  We are to follow Him, His will, and His ways.  As we let go of very specific weights and sins during these 40 days of focus, pray for one another as the Holy Spirit leads.  As we seek Him, and humble ourselves, He will be faithful to do more than we can imagine.  Do not give up hope, nor lose focus.  He is more than faithful. 

                             Gathered in His name with you,

                                        Pastor Bailey