1 Thess 5:16-18
16 Be joyful always; 17 pray continually; 18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. –NIV
While on vacation last week in Branson with my family I saw a church marquee that read…We do not need more to be thankful, we need to be more thankful.
What a powerful truth. Paul reminds his readers that being THANKFUL is God’s will for our life. Taking time to reflect and think on God’s blessings, rather than our challenges, pleases our Father and keeps life in proper perspective.
On this week after Thanksgiving I encourage you to intentionally begin this new week being THANKFUL. Before offering up to God any needs, complaints or problems you will have to face this week, first take time to THANK Him for all that you have. Health, family, faith, job, provision, friends…more than that God’s love, His grace, His faithfulness and His promises. Everyone’s list will be different but this I promise it won’t take long to come up with many, many things to be thankful for.
One tradition that my wife had as a child growing up that we have brought into our own family is taking time before the Thanksgiving meal to go around the table having everyone give thanks for something or someone over the past year. It never fails to be a powerful time by intentionally pausing to offer God thanksgiving and appreciation.
Perspective is a powerful thing. Almost every situation can be seen as negative or positive. This year one of the things I was thankful for my mother’s successful chemotherapy and the renewed appreciation it has given many in our family for the simple blessing of life.
I encourage you today…grab a piece of paper, list them out loud or tell a friend about all that you have to be THANKFUL for today. It will lift your spirit, lighten your load and place you smack dab in the center of God’s Will for your life!
Have a great week!
Blessings,
Darren
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Need Refreshed?
Ps 19:7
7 The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. –NIV
Let the Word of God REFRESH you. God’s Word is the Bread of Life. It never grows stale, is never outdated and feeds the soul. The Word brings healing, strength, comfort, direction and eternal priorities. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God
God’s Word is eternal, unchanging, steadfast and true.
It is trustworthy, comforting, challenging and convicting.
God’s Word is a firm foundation
Matt 7:24-25
24 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. – NIV
In the Word you will find JESUS and in Jesus you will find the WORD
John 1:14
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.- NIV
In Christ you will find life
John 10:10
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. – NIV
Make a practice to coming to God’s Word daily. It’s not just any book, it is THE BOOK
Heb 4:12, 16
12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. – NIV
God’s great gift to His Children, His Word! Read it, meditate on it, believe it and BE REFRESHED!
Blessings,
Darren
7 The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. –NIV
Let the Word of God REFRESH you. God’s Word is the Bread of Life. It never grows stale, is never outdated and feeds the soul. The Word brings healing, strength, comfort, direction and eternal priorities. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God
God’s Word is eternal, unchanging, steadfast and true.
It is trustworthy, comforting, challenging and convicting.
God’s Word is a firm foundation
Matt 7:24-25
24 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. – NIV
In the Word you will find JESUS and in Jesus you will find the WORD
John 1:14
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.- NIV
In Christ you will find life
John 10:10
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. – NIV
Make a practice to coming to God’s Word daily. It’s not just any book, it is THE BOOK
Heb 4:12, 16
12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. – NIV
God’s great gift to His Children, His Word! Read it, meditate on it, believe it and BE REFRESHED!
Blessings,
Darren
Monday, November 1, 2010
IF
2 Chron 7:14-15
14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. – NIV
God has a preferred destiny that hinges on our obedience. Free will allows us to walk in the general will of God but does not unleash the fullness of God’s preferred will. To receive all that God desires requires submission to Him. As John the Baptist declared…”He must become greater; I must become less” (John 3:30).
God’s condition of “if” is a startling reminder as believers that God has given us a responsibility of choice…our limited earthly supply or Heaven’s unlimited bounty. Spiritual apathy is the enemy of our soul and the church. It keeps us impotent as believers, anemic as a church and powerless in the world in which we live.
Jesus declared that He has given us “the keys to the Kingdom” (Matt. 16:19) and with it “all authority” (Matt. 28:18). Prayer removes the keys from our pocket and begins to unlock the door of the Kingdom where we will find the authority and power needed for the day and age we live in.
IF we will do our part in obedience to God, He will do His. In this verse God asks four things from His people.
HUMILITY
- Without Christ we have nothing, with Him we have everything
John 15:5-6
5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. – NIV
-Pride constantly draws us away from dependence on God to live our life, walk with Christ and perform ministry dependant on our own strength
James 4:6-8
6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
"God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. – NIV
-The path to Spiritual authority always begins with humility.
PRAY-
-God waits for us to call upon Him.
-James reminds us that we have not because we ask not (James 4:2).
-Prayer connects the unseen with the seen. Is the channel through which
Heaven’s provision reaches Earth’s need. Prayer binds the work of the
enemy and gains victory in spiritual warfare. (Matt. 6:9-13)
-Prayer develops dependence of God and fellowship with Him. Prayer
melts away the blinders of this world and let’s us glimpse into eternity
-Prayer is the Christian’s weapon, the greatest power on earth because it is the only thing that affects the spiritual world (2 Cor. 10:4)
SEEK MY FACE -
-We are called into fellowship with God, sons and daughters of the
King. True spiritual hunger produces a desire to know Christ
more intimately.
-The longing to know the Blesser more than the blessings. Like
the words of this old song, “turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full
into His wonderful face, and the things of this world grow
strangely dim in the light of His mercy and grace...”
TURN FROM WICKED WAYS-
-Spiritual renewal always begins within the heart and life of the seeker
Heb 12:14
…without holiness no one will see the Lord. –NIV
-a pure life makes way for God’s presence
GOD’S RESPONSE to our obedience?
-He promises to HEAR from heaven, FORGIVE our sins and HEAL our land.
Resist spiritual apathy. Refuse to live in anything less than God’s full provision. Let us rise up in obedience and seize God’s promise of IF to us today…
Ex 9:16-17
16 But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. – NIV
Blessings,
Darren
NOTE: I have set aside Sunday Nights in Nov & Dec at The Rock as a CORPORATE
PRAYER TIME for our church family. JOIN US as we agree together for spiritual break through in our homes, our church and in our community!
14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. – NIV
God has a preferred destiny that hinges on our obedience. Free will allows us to walk in the general will of God but does not unleash the fullness of God’s preferred will. To receive all that God desires requires submission to Him. As John the Baptist declared…”He must become greater; I must become less” (John 3:30).
God’s condition of “if” is a startling reminder as believers that God has given us a responsibility of choice…our limited earthly supply or Heaven’s unlimited bounty. Spiritual apathy is the enemy of our soul and the church. It keeps us impotent as believers, anemic as a church and powerless in the world in which we live.
Jesus declared that He has given us “the keys to the Kingdom” (Matt. 16:19) and with it “all authority” (Matt. 28:18). Prayer removes the keys from our pocket and begins to unlock the door of the Kingdom where we will find the authority and power needed for the day and age we live in.
IF we will do our part in obedience to God, He will do His. In this verse God asks four things from His people.
HUMILITY
- Without Christ we have nothing, with Him we have everything
John 15:5-6
5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. – NIV
-Pride constantly draws us away from dependence on God to live our life, walk with Christ and perform ministry dependant on our own strength
James 4:6-8
6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
"God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. – NIV
-The path to Spiritual authority always begins with humility.
PRAY-
-God waits for us to call upon Him.
-James reminds us that we have not because we ask not (James 4:2).
-Prayer connects the unseen with the seen. Is the channel through which
Heaven’s provision reaches Earth’s need. Prayer binds the work of the
enemy and gains victory in spiritual warfare. (Matt. 6:9-13)
-Prayer develops dependence of God and fellowship with Him. Prayer
melts away the blinders of this world and let’s us glimpse into eternity
-Prayer is the Christian’s weapon, the greatest power on earth because it is the only thing that affects the spiritual world (2 Cor. 10:4)
SEEK MY FACE -
-We are called into fellowship with God, sons and daughters of the
King. True spiritual hunger produces a desire to know Christ
more intimately.
-The longing to know the Blesser more than the blessings. Like
the words of this old song, “turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full
into His wonderful face, and the things of this world grow
strangely dim in the light of His mercy and grace...”
TURN FROM WICKED WAYS-
-Spiritual renewal always begins within the heart and life of the seeker
Heb 12:14
…without holiness no one will see the Lord. –NIV
-a pure life makes way for God’s presence
GOD’S RESPONSE to our obedience?
-He promises to HEAR from heaven, FORGIVE our sins and HEAL our land.
Resist spiritual apathy. Refuse to live in anything less than God’s full provision. Let us rise up in obedience and seize God’s promise of IF to us today…
Ex 9:16-17
16 But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. – NIV
Blessings,
Darren
NOTE: I have set aside Sunday Nights in Nov & Dec at The Rock as a CORPORATE
PRAYER TIME for our church family. JOIN US as we agree together for spiritual break through in our homes, our church and in our community!
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