New Hope Church Hilo Hawaii

We all encounter life. But do we fully experience it? For some of us, life may have hit us so hard that it’s stopped us in its tracks. Instead of living, we’ve moved to simply existing. For others, we may think that we’re living la vida loca. But are we living a meaningful and purposeful life? Or are we living like the walking dead?

Paul the Apostle had it right when he said, "Don't be misled.” But why would Paul say that? What is the source of what he said? Where did he get that kind of thinking? He got it from Jesus. So what's the wisdom? Jesus said to keep watch. Don't just listen, look with your eyes lest you be deceived. We do this together as the body of Christ.

The social media community is global. Connecting billions of people. It may seem like it is a new thing, but connecting people in community is God's idea. God starts with Himself. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit is a community...they are a relationship. And because we're created in His image, we too need to be in community.

We all resemble someone. It could be a family member, a celebrity, or sometimes people we look up to. It does make a difference who we reflect when it comes to living life to its fullest. God created us to reflect His image. We do this by following Jesus, who is the image of the invisible God.

We refer to God as our "Father" so why are we shocked when He disciplines us? We need to look to His plan for us and trust that His way is the right way.

It's never a joy while we walk in darkness, pain, the unknown and suffering. We may walk in darkness for a moment, but it is gone the moment God brings the light.

The joy of the Lord and happiness are two different things. The joy of the Lord is an inner, supernatural strength, while happiness is circumstantial. Joy makes all the difference in how we're going to live a "happy" life.

In life, we all experience the hills and valleys. We often long to be on the mountain rather than in the valley. But tension between the hills and valleys comes to a standstill in the peace of who God is. Because it is in the hills and the valleys that we can experience the fullness of who God is.

How to wait on God in the darkness - What we can learn from Jesus about resisting the temptations that come as we wait on God.

God has given us the power and authority over darkness and sin. Darkness is always trying to extinguish the light, in other words, while we all want to do good and want good things to happen, unless we walk in the power of the Holy Spirit and with the authority God has given to us, we are at best people who walk in darkness. Once we walk in darkness, division and destruction is the result. God sent us Jesus so that we could walk in His power and with His authority in a world filled with darkness, division, and destruction.

This story of the ten virgins and their oil lamps are the perfect example of God's anointing and empowerment. Oil was used for food, lamps, consecration of the priests, lotion for skin, ointment for hair, for healing of the touch of God, and for medicinal purposes.