Remember the Benefits...

Greetings, Dear Friends!

For those of you visiting, I say welcome!

I post every Wednesday and my goal is to bless and nourish your soul that you may walk in the fullness of God.

For those who don't know Jesus (and for many who do) the Christian life seems marked by "ought to's", "don't do's", and "should do's." And though there is a great cost to following Jesus in a self-absorbed world, little is said about the great benefits of belonging to Him.

And that's what we are going to explore today.

What are the great benefits of belonging to God and why should we remember them?

Some of you know that in our early years of marriage, our family walked through tough times of physical and financial brokeness. Our dreams, our health, our finances, and even certain friendships were hanging on by a thread.

Day after day, I begged God to rescue us from the pit and restore our lives again.

God did many things and used many people to help us out of the pit and walk us through the wilderness; but one thing stands out to me as something that moved us from being victims to victors in all areas of life.

I received a call from one of my dear friends (a college roomate). She said something like this, "You belong to God. Don't take it anymore. Refuse all of this stuff the enemy is throwing your way."

God had been preparing me to hear those words and a certain righteous indignation rose up within me. I found this passage of scripture and began praying it every day:

Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being praise His Holy Name. Praise the Lord, O my soul and forget not His benefits -

*who forgives all your sins

*heals all your diseases

*redeems your life from the pit

*crowns you with love and compassion

*satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagles

(Psalm 103:1-5)

Wow, what a treasure trove we have here!

I began to pray in faith, and I did not relent because I needed a breakthrough in all of these areas!

I began thanking God by faith for forgiving my sins (especially my unbelief), for healing my body and my weakened immune system (and that I may pray for others and see them healed too), for redeeming our lives from the pit (and that we would rescue others from the pit), for crowning our family with loving compassion (that we would have an abundance of loving compassion to give away), and that our desires would match His desires for us and that they will be fulfilled.

I began to point to every area in my life where the enemy had stolen from me, and even those areas I had easily given up due to unbelief and ignorance, and I began proclaiming, "In the Name of Jesus, I want my land back! I want everything the Lord has promised me because I belong to Him. And I will not be denied!"

Little by little, and sometimes by leaps and bounds, we have gotten (and are getting) our land back.

John 10:10 says that the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy (think about that), but Jesus comes that we may have LIFE, and not just life, but LIFE ABUNDANTLY (meditate on, count on, and remember this).

How about you, have you forgotten His benefits?

Are you easy to steal from?

Are you worn down by life and has your tenacity left you?

Ask God for a renewal of faith and passion to reclaim all that's been promised you!

Look at each of the promises listed in this passage; is there one that stands out to you?

What do you need today?

Approach God with a prayer of thanksgiving and a heart of faith. He loves it when we come to Him that way.

We have every right and every reason to approach Him as our Daddy, our Provider, our Beloved, and our Best Friend.

Don't settle for a less-than life when a greater-than-expected life has been promised you.

Overwhelming victory is yours. Abundant, overflowing grace has been promised in every situation. The heavens are bursting with promise. Lay hold of the promises and the benefits offered you.

The Christian life calls for obedience and costs us our life, it is true. But nothing we could give or sacrifice or pay compares to what's been promised us in this life and the life to come.

As one of my mentors Bonnie always says, "This is not an "ought to" or a "should do", this is a "get to."

You are blessed to be a blessing.

Remember the ways God has come through for you. Expect that He will come through for you again. Know your rights as a child of God. Remember the benefits of belonging to Him.

Embrace a heart of gratitude and believe Him for better things...

Until next week...

His Love...

Happy Valentines Day, All!

For my new visitors, I say welcome!

I post every Wednesday and my purpose is to nourish your soul and challenge your faith that you may walk in the fullness God has appointed for you.

When was the last time you pondered the love of God? I'm not talking about a fleeting thought as you raced from one thing to the next, I'm talking about an extended time in God's presence when your only thoughts were those of His great love for you. How long were you able to sit there before your mind turned to your love, your deeds, and your abilities? I know, I do the same thing.

While it's important to think about the love that comes from you, it's even more important to sit long in God's presence and allow your thoughts to be consumed with this fact: You are the object of His affection and love. He treasures you and has given you this life as a chance to recieve it, believe it, and walk in it.

We love because He first loved us.

I became a Christian in eight grade but it wasn't until my adult years that my life was completely transformed.

What changed for me?

I finally decided to believe in, walk in, and count on the love of God. I allowed the truth of His love to consume my thoughts until my soul knew it to be true.

With all of the contrary messages coming at us each day, it's no wonder we have a hard time holding onto this truth!

But what victory, what peace, and what joy is available to the one who swims upstream to lay hold of the immovable Rock of God's great love.

Imagine if you were living in a small city and by the time you recieved word that your town was about to be blown off the map, you were the only one left there. Let's say you have two cars in your garage: a Lexus and a Pinto. Only the Pinto has fuel in the tank.

Hopefully you'de choose the Pinto and get out of town. At this point, the Lexus does little more than make you proud to be its owner.

No matter if you live a life of a refined looking Lexus, or an econmical Pinto, you're doomed without fuel and that fuel is the saving love of God.

We don't put gas in our car once-and-for-all and we don't arrive upon the love of God once-and-for-all. His love doesn't change but we are "forgetters". We run on overdrive, we veer off of our appointed paths, and we lose sight of our destinies.

We need constant reminders that we are cherished, we are provided for, and all we could ever hope to find in this life comes from the hand of a loving, powerful God.

My life verse is Psalm 116:9: And so I walk in His presence as I live here on earth.

Well recently I've decided to preface that verse with this one: Psalm 23:6: Your love is ever before me and I walk continually in your truth.



Keep His love ever before you. When you are faced with critics or impossible demands, look up and remember His love. Walk in His truth. His truth promises that He will supply all of your needs. He will establish His purposes for you. He wants you to cease striving and know that He is God.

Much of our angst comes from our unbelief and our lack of understanding of what God has made available to us.

May this Valentines day be one where we join together and say...

Oh, Lord, Your love is ever before me, always in front of me, and the reason I live the way do. I will walk continually in Your truth and the knowledge that I possess all in You. Because all of Heaven is on my side, I will live a bold and faithful life. I will walk in Your presence as I live here on earth. I will walk in and rely on Your love, this day and every day!



Until next week my friends...

Peace!

More Than Enough!

Greetings, Dear Friends!

For those of you visiting for the first time, I say welcome!

I post every Wednesday and my sole purpose for this Blog is to encourage you along your way. My focus is on the deeper life (roots down deep in Christ) and the powerful life (great growth and fruit in everything you do).

I love to hear from you, so please post a comment whenever you feel so led.

This week as I spent time reading and praying, I was struck anew by the way God extravagantly, abundantly, and bountifully supplies all of our needs. Futhermore, He takes our tiny little offerings and turns them into a harvest that leaves us scratching our heads, wondering what just happened.

How do we position ourselves to receive provision from above that it may translate to a powerful life on earth?

Read on...

Matthew 14:15-16 describes a scene where the disciples are faced with a need that is beyond their human ability to accomodate. Let's look at the passage:

That evening the disciples came to (Jesus) and said, "This is a desolate place, and it is getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves."

But Jesus replied, That isn't necessary - you feed them."



Stop here.

Jesus was constantly trying to get the disciples to think on a much grander scale. Jesus wants us to do the same.

We are such creatures of the moment that many of our prayers reflect a desire to rid ourselves of an immediate problem. But with Jesus on our side, there is always a potential, in every situation, to see His divine intervention at work. He not only addresses our problems and needs, He brings the heart of heaven to earth.

When He told the disciples, "You feed them." He was teaching them to walk in the provision He promised them. Now that we belong to Him, our goal must never be simply to rid ourselves of a problem or to meet a need in a meesly way. Needs are present to call us to faith. God has determined to meet the world's needs through a people who are willing to walk in faith, hope and love.

Walking the way Jesus walked doesn't just rid us of the problem, it builds faith, it sets the stage for miracles, and it helps the world to know that God is love.

Jesus always links our immediate needs with His spiritual provision.

He knew the disciples didn't have enough food to feed approximately fifteen thousand people (men, plus women and children). But He also knew that because He was there with them they would have more than enough. He would supply all their needs according to His riches, not their's.

Jesus said that nothing is impossible for those who believe.

Let's look at verse 17 where the disciple's respond to Jesus:

"Impossible!" they exclaimed. "We have only five loaves of bread and two fish!"

Nothing is impossible with God. Nothing.

In the following verses, Jesus models for us how to access all that Heaven wants to give and how to give to those in need, all that Heaven offers.

Let's look at this encounter:

"Bring them here," (Jesus) said. Then He told the people to sit down in the grass.

He took the five loaves and two fishes...

He looked up toward Heaven...

He asked God's blessing...

He gave what He had to the disciples who gave it to those in need...

He took, He looked, He asked, and He gave...and what was the result?

They all ate as much as they wanted and they picked up twelve baskets of leftovers. About five thousand men had eaten from those five loaves, in addition to all the women and children!

Is the need or the demand greater than what you possess in your hand?

Take what you have, acknowledge it as a gift from God.

Look to Heaven - be reminded of the provision that is yours by faith.

Ask for God's blessing and for His Kingdom dynamics and miraculous multiplication to be at work.

Give what you have as an offering to God. Live a life of giving and sowing and blessing those in need.

When we walk with God and tend to the things He cares about we have access to everything we need in Heaven, and we are positioned to see divine intervention on earth.

When faith is present, we will always have more than enough.

Until next Wednesday...

A Great Return...

Greetings, My Dear Friends!

For those of you visiting I say welcome!

I post every Wednesday and the purpose of this blog is twofold: To encourage you to a deeper life in Christ that it may translate to a powerful life on earth!

I believe it was Oswald Chambers who said, "The greatest enemy of the best, is the good."

How do we know if what we are doing is the best thing or just simply a good thing?

Well, for me, as I've read Scripture, I've come to understand the call to give Christ a great return on His investment in me.

Over and over again I read passages that illustrate my need to give God my highest and best.

In the book of Matthew, chapter 25, we read a parable of a master who gave gifts or talents to his servants and then went on a long journey. When he returned, he was intent on finding out what each had done with what they'de been given. The Kingdom of Heaven is being illustrated here.

In the book of John, chapter 15, we read Jesus' words telling us that we are appointed to bear much fruit, fruit that will stand the test of time (fruit that lasts long after we are gone), and Jesus goes on to say that the only way we can bear a lot of fruit is to stay deeply connected to Him, the Source of Life.

Read Matthew 13 - the whole chapter. Reflect on the truth that seeds (the message of the Kingdom which is accompanied by all of the blessings of Heaven to develop and carry out the divine call on our lives) have been sprinkled on us all. We've all had varying responses to what's been deposited in us.

Seeds on the path = apathy in our understanding...Some of us have neglected to press in and pursue a divine understanding of what's at stake if the Kingdom of God is not allowed to increase in us and through us.

Seeds on the rocky places = shallowness in our character...Some of us get very excited when we hear a great message or read a great book, but as soon as opposition presents itself or things heat up in life, we focus more on our cares than we do our call, and what's been deposited soon blows away with the wind.

Seeds among the thorns = seduced by the world...Some of us are so caught up in the pursuits of this world that we quickly lose sight of the greater good, the greater impact, and the power of God to make a divine difference in and through us.

Seeds in the good soil = a life continually cultivated by intimacy with God...Some of us take the time in our prayer rooms to let the Holy Spirit convict us, call us higher and give us faith for great things. And when the seeds of the Kingdom are sprinkled over our lives, life happens, growth happens, and our world is impacted for the better. In fact, when our life's soil is cultivated by our intimacy with God, the Bible says we produce a GREAT return on His investment. Read the verse, it says we produce thirty, or sixty, or sometimes one hundred times what was planted!

Imagine.

May we all be careful to spend our time doing things that will last so that we will be ready to give report to our Master upon His great return...

Bless the day, my friends!

Until next Wednesday...

A Sweet Sacrifice...

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

For those visiting for the first time I say welcome! I post every Wednesday and the purpose of this Blog is simple: to encourage and inspire you to pursue a deeper life in Christ, that it may translate into a powerful life on earth.

I was reading Romans 12:1-2 the other day and its meaning came alive to me. Here's what it says, "Therefore, I urge you brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will."

The more I learn and comprehend the love of God, the more I understand that to offer myself as a living sacrifice is simply to entrust myself to Him.

The picture you see on today's post is one of my son and his sweet, precious girlfriend.

Watching their love unfold is like watching a flower grow in all its beauty.

They love the Lord and want His highest and best in all they do.

What I love about this picture is that it captures the way God wants us to lean back and entrust ourselves to Him.

Instead of clenching our fists or demanding to be heard when we are missed or overlooked, we can offer ourselves to the Lord and entrust ourselves to Him. He is our greatest defender and He will make a way for us.

When we are unappreciated for all of our hard work, we can offer ourselves to God; we can lean back and trust in His love, because He promises to reward the work of our hands when we live for Him.

We won't need to look to people to affirm or notice us because God does, and it's His opinion that matters at the end of the day.

In this world we were promised we would have trouble, but our Savior has overcome the world. Our safest place is with Him; leaning, trusting, and loving the One who loves us.

The second verse in this passage tells us not to conform to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. This doesn't mean we cover our ears, cover our eyes, and declare, "I see nothing, I hear nothing!" It means we entrust ourselves to God. We allow our thoughts to be consumed with the fact that we are God's priceless treasure.

When God's love consumes our thoughts, we can't help but care about the things He does. We begin loving the unlovely, giving to those in need, and believing His promises are true.

The Bible says that it's not that we loved Him, but that He loved us. The Bible says that daily He pours forth His love to a thirsty and desperate world. Yet much of the world is moving too frantically from one place to the next, that they miss what's being offered them with each new day.

Look at the picture again. Pursue moments like this each day.

Lean back and rest in the loving arms of your Savior.

When tough moments or mean people cross your will or make you mad, offer yourself to the Lord, entrust yourself to Him, and allow the rhythm of His heartbeat to bring you back to a place of peace and perspective.

Why is this important? Because as this passage says, when our minds are renewed we will be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good, pleasing, perfect, and highest best for us.

Can you think of a more priceless gift?

As the world rushes, you rest.

Entrust yourself to Him that your life may be a sweet scent of Heaven to a desperate world in need.