Stand with God

Isaiah 50:4-7
The Master, God, has given me a well-taught tongue, so I know how to encourage tired people. He wakes me up in the morning, Wakes me up, opens my ears to listen as one ready to take orders.

The Master, God, opened my ears, and I didn't go back to sleep, didn’t pull the covers back over my head. I followed orders, stood there and took it while they beat me, held steady while they pulled out my beard, Didn’t dodge their insults, faced them as they spit in my face. And the Master, God, stays right there and helps me, so I'm not disgraced.

Therefore I set my face like flint, confident that I'll never regret this. My champion is right here. Let's take our stand together!

Choose God, not gold

This is the only science many people are interested in, even young kids!

It represents two big lies: 'Money will solve my problems', and 'success will make me happy.'

If I can't have it all, can I at least have some of yours?

I've always had a plan and being on a top-rated prime time television show was part of that plan. I want the best things that life has to offer me - the beautiful houses, the cars, the 10.000 thread count Egyptian sheets. What's more, I'm going to get them. I'm going to work my butt off and get everything I can. Eva Longoria

Earth provides enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed. Gandhi

“I do not like the envy in me. I would make it go away if I could. But I cannot stop envying by trying harder. Envy can only be healed when we live as one who has been chosen by God.” John Ortberg

When the chips are down...

Oh to really grasp what it means to believe Jesus is the Christ.

John 11:25-27
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"

"Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world."

Sometimes you get out of the lion's den, sometimes not...

Romans 15:30-33
I have one request, dear friends: Pray for me. Pray strenuously with and for me—to God the Father, through the power of our Master Jesus, through the love of the Spirit—that I will be delivered from the lions' den of unbelievers in Judea. Pray also that my relief offering to the Jerusalem believers will be accepted in the spirit in which it is given. Then, God willing, I'll be on my way to you with a light and eager heart, looking forward to being refreshed by your company. God's peace be with all of you. Oh, yes!

Feed your faith and your doubts will starve to death.

Philippians 4:6-9
Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.

Lead Foot

Does success or failure affect how close you feel to God?
Does it make you press down the accelerator a little harder?

Does success or failure cause you to feel more or less holy?
Do you have to perform up to a standard to feel loved?

Do changes of success or failure in any way change how you see God?

Can you slow down enough to even answer these questions thoughtfully & prayerfully?!

Life is an adventure in forgiveness

Sometimes the 'Path of Most Resistance' is the Jesus Way.

Even nuts can grow!

At the NAIITS Symposium in Langley in early June Adrian Jacobs gave a passionate presentation about, "the Church of the Sacred Clowns." It is a church that would exude vulnerability, brokenness, & humility.

'In this church pretence is unwelcome; honest struggle happens instead. God is not afraid of anything human. He is alive & living with those who are alive with Him.'

It remined me of an acronym I first heard from Len Sweet about, NUTS - 'Never Underestimate The Spirit.' Christ followers are literally nuts!

Clowns are 'nuts' too, but when the Spirit is present it becomes sacred, redeemed, holy & humorous all at once. We can laugh at our humanity (& weep about it too!) & yet know that our failures & foibles are not the last word about life.

Matthew 5:3-12
"You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

"You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

"You're blessed when you're content with just who you are—no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.

"You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.

"You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being 'care-full,' you find yourselves cared for.

"You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.

"You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family.

"You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom.

"Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don't like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.

I was regretting the past and fearing the future.
Suddenly my Lord was speaking.
"My name is I Am"
He paused. I waited. He continued.
"When you live in the past with its mistakes and regrets, it is hard. I am not there.
My name is not I WAS.
"When you live in the future with its problems and fears, it is hard.
My name is not I WILL BE.
"When you live in this moment it is not hard. I am here.
My name is I AM." Helen Mallicoat

Summer cruisin' - windows open, loud music...

If you want to know how stressed you are, look at your disposition when you drive. If you are always exceeding the speed limit, it reveals the lack of rest in your soul. That extra push on the accelerator is occurring continually on your heart throughout the day, not only when you are driving. Driving simply makes apparent the level of anxiety we have learned to live with. Francis Frangipane

Consider driving with a different agenda...

Go all in!

To watch the video.

The life of following Jesus is one of full surrender & abandonment to His ways. Then & only then will we find contentment no matter what comes our way.

We can't negotiate with Jesus about what He can have & what we can keep under our domain. Becoming His follower is a matter of giving up our life. It's either death & then resurrection or just plain death!

Lord Jesus, take from us now everything that would hinder the closest communion with God. Any wish or desire that might hamper us in prayer remove, we pray You. Any memory of either sorrow or care that might hinder the fixing of our affection wholly on our God, take it away now. What have we to do with idols any more? You have seen and observed us. You know where the difficulty lies. Help us against it, and may we now come boldly, not in the Holy place alone, but in the Holiest of all, where we should not dare to come if our great Lord had not torn the veil, sprinkled the mercy seat with His own blood, and asked us to enter. Charles Spurgeon

Philippians 4:11-13
Actually, I don't have a sense of needing anything personally. I've learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I'm just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I've found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.

Soul cries...

To watch the video.

There are many ways we manifest 'Recognition Deficit Disorder' & spend much of our lives rectifying the wounds from the past that caused it. Ultimately it means we try to play God & right the wrongs that came our way instead of allowing His healing to bring us peace & then spread healing to others.

Life myths that both muffle (& magnify!) our soul cry:

To be significant I must be recognized for my service in a big way.
Career advancements are a sign of significance.
If I can succeed I’ll show you & them! (whoever ‘them’ are).

What is your soul crying out for?

Allow that cry to be met by Jesus alone through whatever means He provides.

Choose

Given God’s presence, what could happen that we couldn’t handle?

Isaiah 58:11-12
The Lord will guide you always: He will satisfy your needs in a sun scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age old foundations; You will be called repairer of broken walls, restorer of streets with dwellings.

Sweet baby James...

James 1:2-5; 5:13-16
Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You'll get his help, and won't be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought.

Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master. Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you've sinned, you'll be forgiven—healed inside and out.

Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with.

love wins

The simple program of Christ for winning the whole world is to make each person He touches magnetic enough with love to draw others. Frank Laubach

1 Peter 4:8-11
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

BEAUTIFUL!

1 Peter 3:3-6
Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. You are a daughter if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.

Mal

Malachi 4:5-6
But also look ahead: I'm sending Elijah the prophet to clear the way for the Big Day of God—the decisive Judgment Day! He will convince parents to look after their children and children to look up to their parents.

Jesus offers a new life...

Colossians 3:12-17
So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It's your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.

Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.

I will never be able to reduce life with God to a formula for the same reason I cannot reduce my marriage to a formula. It is a living growing relationship with another free being, very different from me and yet sharing much in common. What I discovered was that there are no shortcuts, no gimmicks, no easy ways to cultivate an intimacy with God and attain the resulting passion that should carry one through life’s journey. Gordon MacDonald

Do you have a B. A.?

Philippians 2:1-11
If you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.

Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.

Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.

Getting dunked!

What comes into our mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us. We tend by a secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God. A.W. Tozer

The kids getting baptized today see Jesus as safe, much like the way children came to Him so many years ago in Galilee felt. The disciples were busy trying to manage Jesus' schedule, saying He had more important things to get to. We all know who He corrected back then...

Matthew 19:13-15
One day children were brought to Jesus in the hope that he would lay hands on them and pray over them. The disciples shooed them off. But Jesus intervened: "Let the children alone, don't prevent them from coming to me. God's kingdom is made up of people like these."

When Jesus Himself was baptized His Father said, "This is my Son in whom I am well pleased."

He trusted His Father; His Father loved Him. We too can trust the Father - he really loves us! He sent His son to show us. May we all embrace His love today... let's go down to the river & get dunked in His love...

If God doesn’t rule your little moments then God doesn’t rule you because that is where you live.

If the character of a life is not set by four or five big moments . . . but is set by 10,000 little moments, then every little moment of your life is important. Paul David Tripp

Colossians 3:15-17
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

This makes me an intrepid explorer! Thankfully I am assured as you can be too that God walks with us through these 'joyous seasons of discovery'! It's one of the many ways we get Fathered by God.

"You didn’t blow it; I asked you to do this. I am in this."

My what big churches you have...

Church growth is not greatly connected to spirituality. If you think about it, some of the godliest people in ministry have never been able to lead a church to any growth at all. That’s why I think you can learn methodology that would help you take steps to lead the church to more growth. Otherwise you would say the most spiritual men in our movement are those who have led the biggest churches, and I don’t think that’s true. Barry McMurtrie

2 Chronicles 16:9
For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.

Romans 5:1-5
By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us—set us right with him, make us fit for him—we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that's not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God's grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.

There's more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we're hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we're never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can't round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!