Faith Herrera, the Childrens Pastor @ Grace Point, sent out this devotional thought to her leaders/parents this morning and I thought it was worth all of us reflecting on...

Acts 4:13
When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

This week Melody (Associate Children's Pastor) and I went to a conference called Orange. One of the things that stuck out was when Francis Chan (a dynamic pastor from California) said, "The people 2000 years ago were astonished that uneducated men would be so bold as they spoke about Jesus. Today I am astonished that we're so educated, yet not bold at all."

How true is that? Today we know more and we are the most educated people of all time. Yet, are we bold? Do we breathe as if it will be our last breath? Do we live as if after our next breath, we will be in God's presence?

I know that I want to breathe and live each moment as if it is my last. When I am in God's presence, I don't want Him to look upon me and say, "If only you had..." I want to live knowing that the things I do here on earth are counting in eternity. I want to imagine the moment I stand before God and remember that this moment is the moment I'm living for now.

I pray that God will give us boldness to be the change in this world...that we won't be content with the status quo. I pray that we will be excited about Him. I pray that we will not try to ramp down someone else's enthusiasm. I pray that no one will be able to calm us down!