Sunday, August 24, 2008

Title: God Is In Control And On His Throne
Scripture: Isaiah 6:1
Passage: In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.
Thoughts: Are you worried about the future… about our nation… about our leaders?

You're not alone. According to the Scripture, Isaiah and the rest of the Israelites were really troubled because their earthly king was dead.
They were grieved… and they were worried about the future.

But God gave Isaiah a vision of His glory and holiness.

This prophet describes how he saw Him “sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up.”
Isaiah saw the Lord sitting on the throne of the universe.

When Isaiah entered into the presence of the Lord, he realized that there was a greater One than any earthly king sitting upon the throne of the universe. His name is holy God, the Lord of Hosts!

Like the Israelites, it's easy to worry about the future… and wonder what's gone wrong and what will happen next in our world.

But as believers in Jesus, we don't have to wonder!

We don't have to bite our nails and worry because we know that our God is sitting on the throne of the universe.

Remember there’s no worry or panic in heaven… only plans.

God never walks up and down the streets of heaven wondering about what He's going to do next.

So no matter what's going on in your world… no matter how out-of-control things may seem… remember that God is still on His throne!

I want to encourage you to get your mind off the earthly and temporary and fix your eye of faith on your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who is gloriously reigning and ruling on the throne of this universe!

God is in control!!!!!!!!! Amen!

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Title: Rise Above The Circumstances
Scripture: Genesis 50:20
Passage: ...you intended evil to harm me, but God intended it all for good...
Thoughts: Everybody faces adversity from time to time. Someone loses a job. Bills are due, but there’s no money to pay them. A relationship is strained and in trouble. We feel misunderstood and get stressed out.

How we handle these situations can say a lot about our faith in the Lord.

Look at Joseph. In his case, his problems started the moment he fell for his brothers' "we've got a really neat pit to show you" trick.
They sold him as a slave to some Ishmaelites that were passing through the area in an attempt to get rid "the dreamer" (Genesis 37:19). Finally Joseph was able to gain a good standing with Potiphar and was put in charge of his house. But then later, when things were going pretty good, Potiphar's wife tried to seduce Joseph and then falsely accused him of adultery. Joseph ended up in prison as a result of the lies.

Joseph had plenty of opportunities to complain about the injustices he was facing. He had plenty of chances to complain about the treatment he'd received from his brothers.

He could've easily become bitter when the king's cupbearer was released from prison and forgot about him.
But these kinds of actions and attitudes would have just brought Joseph to complete hopelessness.
Instead, Joseph allowed himself to be used by God to interpret Pharaoh’s dream. Then Pharaoh took him out of prison and put him in charge of Egypt, where he organized a plan to store grain before the famine happened.

Finally, Joseph was reunited with his brothers.

What was intended for bad was used by God for good.

Another translation of this Scripture that I like says it like this:
Even though you planned evil against me, God planned good to come out of it.

Obstacles have the ability to take us out of contention, but we also have the opportunity to rise above them.

We can cry, complain, and live in misery because of our struggles and the circumstances and the adversity we face......and that would be easy to do and..... might even be justified sometimes.

Or we can react like Joseph—allowing God, in His timing, to bring something good out of our circumstances.

Are you allowing God to help you land on your feet?

He loves you and wants to do it. Let Him do it!

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Title: An Attitude Of Worship
Scripture: Psalm 66:4
Passage: All the earth worships you and sings praises to you; they sing praises to your name.
Thoughts: I want to ask you a question……..
When God looks at your life, does He see genuine worship or does He see a counterfeit?

Does He see something real or something phony?

The bottom line is that each of us were made to worship God.

And until we realize the true purpose in life... which is to worship Him and enjoy Him forever… we’ll always be unfulfilled.

We’ll always be frustrated because worship is the central purpose of life!
It’s impossible to be a productive, positive Christian without participating in meaningful, genuine worship!

And I’m not just talking about corporate worship.

Worship is more than just something we do... worship is a lifestyle!!! Amen??

It’s an attitude that we carry with us every day.

It’s an activity and an attitude that reveals our inner heart and recognizes the value we place on God in our lives.

That’s what worship is!!!!!!

So I want to encourage you and challenge you to make your life a life of worship... an exclamation
and testimony of the glory of God!

Think about this for a moment and take inventory to answer this question… Do you have an attitude of genuine worship?

Monday, July 28, 2008

Title: Active Worship
Scripture: Psalm 34:1
Passage: I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
Thoughts: How do you worship?
Even though there's many ways to worship God, we need to remember that worship is an action.
It's not sitting and watching...........it's something you do!
It's participation. It's not just emotion. It's not a feeling, not a thought process, but it's the active response of your heart, your life, and even your body to God!
If you go to a worship service and watch everyone else worship, you haven't worshipped...
You've become a spectator instead of being a true worshipper. Maybe you grew up in or came from a church where you sang hymns and participated at some level. But, maybe... just maybe... you've never had a genuine experience of encountering the presence of the Holy and Almighty God in true worship.
If not, I want to encourage you to take time today to tell God you desire to be a genuine worshipper. He will honor your prayer because He's made you to worship Him!!!!
You were created so that you might know Him and make Him known. As a Christian, worshipping Him intimately and intensely should be the driving force in your life. That's why I want to encourage you to become a true worshipper of Jesus Christ today....... whether in or out of church!
It's time that we all take an active role in worship by offering God praise all throughout our day!

Do you have a sincere desire to be a worthy servant of the One who's given you eternal love and eternal life??

If so, praise Him for who He is-----and for what He's done and what He's yet to do!!!!

Praise Him all day long, every day, for as long as you live......and then for all eternity!!!

Friday, July 11th

Title: Making God's Word An Everyday Commitment
Scripture: 1 Peter 2:2
Passage: Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation....
Thoughts: I just want to remind you today that not only is the Word of God perfect, living, and abiding forever.

Not only is the Word of God unchanging.

Not only is the Word of God absolute truth.

Not only does it have a saving purpose.

But the Scripture also has the power to transform your life!Jesus said in John 17:17, "Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth."

If you want your life to change, saturate your soul and nourish your heart in the Word of God.

The Bible has power to save and to sanctify…….and it also has the power to strengthen.

In the verse for today, the Word of God is described as milk to strengthen and grow us in our faith.Have you tasted the goodness of God from Scriptures?

Have you experienced the grace of God found in His Word?

The Bible is not an ancient book filled with theology about yesterday.

It’s a book that satisfies the longing and hunger of the human heart.

The Word of God strengthens us every day and nourishes our spirit.

Our very life depends upon this Word and truth!So, let me give you some questions to consider.

Do you love God's Word?

Are you obeying God's Word?

If you love it……..you’ll read it.

And if you read it……..you’ll pray it….you’ll think it…you’ll live it….and you’ll share it with others.

Can I get an AMEN from someone!!

Monday, June 30th

Title: Don't Hold Back
Scripture: Jeremiah 29:11
Passage: '‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the LORD. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.’'
Thoughts: Are you afraid to give your whole life to God because you think He will tell you to do something you don’t want or you're afraid to do?

What happens if you hold back part of your life from Him?

Well, think about what it would be like to go out for the basketball or football team and you tell the coach that you only want to come to the practices, but not play in the games.

How do you think the coach or your teammates would react or respond?

Without a doubt they’d be put off by your attitude, wouldn’t they? I mean, if you’re going to be on the team, you should play in the games, right?

It’s sad and unfortunate, but true, that a lot of people today have that attitude about their relationship with God.
They want it on their terms……with all the benefits----but no hassles.

But a relationship with God requires the kind of full commitment that any good relationship does.

God wants your whole life so he can make something extraordinary out of it.

His goal isn’t to make you miserable. If you need a reminder of that, just look at Jeremiah 29:11. '‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the LORD. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.’'

So what does that mean?????

It means that God has good plans for your life!!

He knows you better than anyone else does and knows what will fulfill you the most in life.

If you choose any other direction, you’ll be settling for second best. Please don’t.

What a loss that would be. Give Him your all-all of you- today!

Monday June 23, 2008

Title: Walking With God
Scripture: Genesis 3:8
Passage: "And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day........"
Thoughts: God is looking for not only a bride but also a walking partner. From the very beginning, God had a relationship with Adam and Eve where they heard the sound of God "walking in the garden in the cool of the day" (Genesis 3:8).

God created man for the enjoyment of a walking relationship that involved companionship, conversation, intimacy, shared joy and dominion. God longs to walk with you.....thats why his arms of grace have been pulling you into a closer walk with him.

My wife likes to go walking with her friend. They talk the whole time. The walk not only makes exercise fun, but it also deepens their friendship. Jesus went on these kinds of walks with his disciples, and he still likes to walk with us this way today.

The secret place isn't the destination; it's only the catalyst. It's God's design to grow us into an intimate friendship with him that's walked out through the course of our everyday lives. The goal we're trying to achieve is an everyday walk of unbroken communion with our Savior and friend.

Enoch was the first man in the Bible who walked with God:
"After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him" (Genesis 5:22–24).

Even though men began to call upon the name of the Lord in the early days (Genesis 4:26), Enoch was the first man to realize the true pleasure and satisfaction of walking with God. He found something even Adam didn't experience. He pressed into God until he learned how to commune with God through every aspect of life. To find that depth of relationship definitely required an intense spiritual pursuit...... and then when he found it, the Lord made a vivid statement by catching him up to heaven.

By taking Enoch up to heaven, God wasn't trying to get us impressed with Enoch's faith. And He wasn't saying, "If you get to be as spiritual as Enoch, you'll get taken up to heaven, too."

This was a unique experience God used to emphasize a specific point. God's point was, "I love to walk with man! Enoch was the first man to truly walk with me, so I decided to highlight his example by doing something extraordinary with him. I took him up to heaven to emphasize how much I value and desire a daily walking relationship with my chosen ones."

Enoch's example continues to witness to all generations of the great passion God has to walk with man.

When the passion of God captures you, it will ignite you with an intense eagerness to walk with God and to be his friend. Imagine being Enoch and living 365 years—and having this growing relationship with God! You can only imagine what awesome depths of intimacy Enoch uncovered.

Maybe Enoch's heart desired so much for more of God that God grew tired of withholding himself. Maybe God's heart was saying, "Enoch, you love me with such a pure and sweet passion, I don't want to say 'no' to you anymore. I'm going to answer your prayer and show you my face. Come on up!"

As you draw close to God, it's not likely that He'll sweep you up to heaven like he did Enoch.

But he does desire to reveal the beauty of his face to you. As we walk with him, He'll open the Scriptures to us through the Spirit of wisdom and revelation and reveal to us the light of the glory of God that's to be found in him.

When we walk with God, we enter the place where God unfolds the secrets of his kingdom.

These are the paths that the saints before us walked. Noah knew the secret of walking with God (Genesis 6:9), and so did Abraham (Genesis 24:40).

Through Christ, you can enjoy the glorious riches of knowing God like they did—and to even a greater degree because of the Spirit that's been given to us!

God wants to walk with us before he works through us. So....he'll wait until he finds the right person that he can work through. To put it bluntly, God works with his friends. When God has a friend, divine activity begins to happen. When God has a useful vessel that's been prepared for His purposes, He'll use that vessel.

God will use the one who walks with him. But he's looking especially for three important qualities; humility, faithfulness, and loyalty. He wants to work with friends who are loyal to him, no matter what. Even when circumstances make things appear that God is unjust, his true friends continue to walk with him. So the Lord may test our loyalty.
When we prove ourselves to be his friends through the greatest storms of life, we qualify as useful vessels.
Jesus was the perfect example of a man who walked with God...... he walked so closely with God that he was always in the Spirit, even when first waking from a deep sleep. When I first wake up, I'm kind of grumpy and quiet. But when they woke Jesus out of a deep sleep, he silenced the storm! How amazing it is to be woke up out of a dead sleep and be instantly in the Spirit.

The secret place is where we develop a walking relationship with God. We have to develop a secret history with God before he gives us a public history before people. Hidden in the secret place, we learn what he's looking for in friends, and we find out what pleases him.

Jesus told us that he confides his kingdom purposes to his friends (John 15:15).

Lord, I want to be your friend, your confidant, loyal to the death. I want to walk with you, talk with you, listen to you, hear your heart, and do your will.

Teach me Lord, to walk with you!