I know it’s a ridiculous movie, but I can’t watch Groundhog Day enough times to become bored with it. I must have seen it ten times through the years. Bill Murray plays Phil, a TV weatherman who works in a piddly local station but believes that his great break will come soon and that he will be a national celebrity.

            He acts so charming on the air, but the moment the camera goes off, his self-loathing, bitter self emerges. He treats others with contempt and obviously cares about nobody but himself. On Groundhog Day, he and his coworkers are sent on an assignment in Punxsutawney, PA where he is to report on the Groundhog Day festivities. He is nothing but condescending to everybody that day.

            The day after he wakes up early and is ready to leave quickly to beat the traffic, but he soon discovers that he is living the same exact day over again. Same people, same situations, same conversations. Nothing is different.

            The next day it happens again. Then again and again and again. No matter what he does, he’s stuck in February 2, 1992. As the movie progresses, a strange thing begins to happen. Phil is forced to look at other people’s lives. Eventually, he starts to care about them. He starts to respect people, he tries to save the life of a homeless man and discovers that he is in love with Rita, the same coworker he had treated so disrespectfully for so long. Little by little, Phil is transformed.

            The start of a new year is something like that. Ecclesiastes 1:4 says, “Generations come and go, but nothing really changes”(NLT). Being self-absorbed is the nature of the flesh. Loving other people is action that comes through conscious intention. 

            Instead of relating to the same people in the same way we always have, what if we determined to be excessive in showing love to others in 2008? What if we chose to move outside our comfort zone, our self-consciousness and self-interests and focused on the people who cross our paths with the goal of pouring out Agape on them? What if we intentionally veered off our familiar and comfortable paths to find people to love who don’t appear to be “all that lovable” on the surface?

If the grace walk means anything, it means loving people.  The Bible says “God is love.” Humanly speaking, Jesus loved the most unlikely people. Here’s a radical idea for this year: Let’s act like Jesus. Let’s just love people indiscriminately.  Let’s love them whether they are pimps or preachers – whether they are crack-heads or corporate heads – whether they are drug addicts or deacons, whether they are immoral or moral. Let’s just love them all!

What kind of year might we have if we make it our goal to be conduits of God’s love toward others? I think we might be amazed. Let’s try it and see.

May you and your family be richly blessed in your grace walk during the coming year. Thank you for your support of Grace Walk Ministries. Together we will show the world His love and grace.

Steve McVey and Paul Anderson-Walsh, Director of The Grace Project in London, England will be co-teaching this conference at the Northland Community Church in Orlando. This event is co-hosted by The Grace Project and Grace Walk Ministries. Registration is $100  per person or $150 per married couple. Space is limited to the first one hundred people to register, so call our office at 1-800-472-2311 and register now.  To register onlince, CLICK HERE.  Steve and Paul will be speaking on the topic of the radical freedom we have in Jesus Christ. This conference will encourage and equip you to walk in victory over legalism. Register now to ensure that you have a seat.

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Big Babies

 Control freaks – that’s what we all are when we try to be in charge of our own lives. God never intended for us to be in control. Controlling things is His role, not ours. “My life is out of control!” people have tearfully said to me at times in the counseling office. What they really meant was “My life is out of my control and I don’t like it!”

            Imagine a baby holding a pair of new shoes in his hands. He is playing with them and happy they belong to him. His parent reaches down to take the shoes and put them on the child’s feet. All the child sees is that his shoes are being taken out of his hands. He doesn’t like it. He wants to control them and keep them in his hands, but he will never walk in them that way.

            The parent takes the shoes from the hand of the child and the baby begins to cry. He is overwhelmed with anger, confusion and regret that his shoes are being taken from him. He screams. He kicks in protest. He is losing control of the thing he loves and wants to hold. He doesn’t understand what his parent is doing. But the parent understands and does what is necessary to enable the child to walk – whether the child likes it or even understands.

            The goal is to enable the child to enjoy the shoes to the fullest by walking in them. The parent knows that if the shoes are used for their designed purpose, the child will truly benefit and not simply be amused by them.

            Only a baby thinks the highest pleasure is to hold them in his hands. He doesn’t see the whole picture. So the parent overrules the baby’s wishes and does what is needful. Eventually the child will understand. When he does, he is thrilled, and more important than that, he walks.

Life Beyond the Locusts            

There are experiences in life which are completely devastating.  The death of a mate or a child, divorce, terminal disease, financial bankruptcy, betrayal by one we love – these are the type of circumstances that threaten to redefine life as we have known it. What do we do when life becomes unbearable? How do we move forward and still hold onto our faith when our feelings are screaming nothing but negative messages?

            The prophet Joel lived in a time when disaster had struck Israel.  A plague of locusts came upon them that was so severe it erased life as they had known it. Their hope was gone and their motivation had withered. To these people God had a word that is as appropriate today for your crisis as it was for them.

            In this teaching series, Steve McVey presents four truths from the book of Joel that can equip you to move through the calamity of life toward the coming victory on the other side. The four sessions include:

Session 1: Settling The Issue Of Control

Does it seem like life is out of control?  Though life may appear that way at times, it isn’t. In this session, you will discover that when life is out of your control, God is still in control. Learning to relinquish control to Him is the first step toward peace.

Session 2: Learning To Go On When You Feel Like Giving Up

It is by clinging to the reality of the absolute goodness of God that we find the strength to keep going when everything in us wants to quit. This teaching will strengthen your resolve to cling to your Heavenly Father when life seems to be unraveling all around you.

Session 3: Trusting God When It Seems He Has Forgotten You

Sometimes it seems like we are moving through our trials alone. This teaching examines the promises of God to His people that He hasn’t forgotten. You will find strength as you discover here how to spiritually nurture yourself when you have lost the ability to even hope anymore.

Session 4: Watch and Wait

In the final chapter of Joel, God describes the end of the story for all of His children. Sooner or later, your story will have a happy ending. Learn from this teaching how to wait expectantly for the divine intervention you so desperately need in your circumstances.

Everybody either suffers devastation in their lives at sometime or knows somebody else who has. The truths taught in this series from the book of Joel will help equip you to experience life beyond the locusts that have forever altered your circumstances. Our God is Lord of the Locusts as much as He is Lord of our happy times. These four principles will equip you to trust Him until the plague passes.

  

 

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