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preacher31
ALL YOUR HEART - Subscribe
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Scripture: Proverbs 3:5 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Blondin was a 19th century acrobat, famous for his tightrope act 160 feet above Niagra Falls on a rope which was over a thousand feet long. In 1860 a Royal party from Britain saw Blondin cross the tightrope on stilts, and again blindfolded. After that he stopped halfway and cooked and ate an omelet. Next he wheeled a wheelbarrow from one side to the other, and returned with a sack of potatoes in it. Then Blondin approached the Royal party. He asked the Duke of Newcastle, "do you believe I could take a man across the tightrope in this wheelbarrow?" "Yes, I do" , said the Duke. "Hop in, then" , replied Blondin. Well, the Duke declined Blondin's challenge. He might have believed Blondin could do it, but he wasn't about to trust him with his life. Reflection: You see that's what trusting in the Lord with all your heart is, "GETTING IN THE WHEELBARROW!". Trusting God with your whole life. God trusted us so much that He gave us a gift. He gave us the gift of His only Son, Jesus Christ. If we accept this gift from God we are a forgiven people, we are an eternal people. Now we can't repay God for His gift, but we can give God a gift back, the Gift of Trust. Now this gift of trust to God means that we completely trust Him with everything that is in us. It means that we don't rely on anything else but God. We do not rely on our own strength or the strength of others. We give all the strength we have, both physically and mentally to the will of the Holy Spirit. WE TRUST GOD AND ONLY GOD! HOW'S YOUR TRUST BEEN LATELY? Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies, But His smile quickly drives it away; Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh or a tear, Can abide while we trust and obey. Trust and obey, for there’s no other way To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. |
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preacher31
JUST AS I AM 2/06/2010 06:34 - Subscribe
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"Just as I am, without one plea, But that Thy blood was shed for me, And that Thou bidd'st me come to Thee, O Lamb of God I come! I come!" Charlotte Elliot (1789-1871) A simple invitation "The simple message of the song "Just as I Am" was so popular in the early days of Billy Graham's evangelistic crusades that it became a regular part of the response to each appeal to make a public commitment for Christ. Charlotte Elliott seemed to have everything going for her as a young woman. She was gifted as a portrait artist and also a writer of humorous verse. Then in her early thirties she suffered a serious illness that left her weak and depressed. During her illness a noted minister, Dr. Caesar Malan of Switerland, came to visit her. Noticing her depression, he asked if she had peace with God. She resented the question and said she did not want to talk about it. But a few days later she went to apologize to Dr. Malan. She said that she wanted to clean up some things in her life before becoming a Christian. Malan looked at her and answered, "Come just as you are." That was enough for Charlotte Elliot, and she yielded herself to the Lord that day. Fourteen years later, remembering those words spoken to her by Caesar Malan in Brighton, England, she wrote this simple hymn that has been used to touch the hearts of millions who have responded to Christ's i nvitation to come just as they are." from The One Year Book of Hymns by Mark Norton and Robert Brown (Tyndale) entry for June 22 |
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preacher31
AM I A TALKER OR A DOER 2/09/2010 03:39 - Subscribe
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Scripture: 22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does. James 1:21-25 (New International Version) Reflection: These versus from the Book of James have always hit home to me. When I was active in the ministry, I considered myself a somewhat Biblical scholar. I would always look at the Scriptures and read the words and decide how I was going to present the words to my congregation. I very rarely applied Gods words to my life. I quickly became a man of a lot of words and not a man that lived by those words. I was not a man of action. I began to see that this was true of my congregation. We all talked the game but we didn't participate. We would read the word, and hear the word, but we would not live by the word. It is so very true what David C. McCasland said, When I study God’s Word, my first question should not be, “What am I going to say about this?” but “What am I going to do about this?” Remember what it says in James 2: 14-17: "4What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. ASK YOURSELF, "ARE YOU ALIVE OR DEAD". Prayer: Oh God as I look at and hear Your Word, I pray that I apply Your Word to my life. Oh God I want to be a doer of Your Word. Let my first question be "What am I going to do about this?" |
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preacher31
PATHS TO PRAYER (1) 2/11/2010 06:33 - Subscribe
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Whitney Hopler There are many ways to pray - many paths of communication that can lead you closer to God. Here are some different paths you can take to prayer: "Guttural groaning": When you feel pain or doubt so deeply that you can't express verbally, you can simply groan in your spirit and God will hear. The Holy Spirit within you will intercede to God the Father for you to express what you can't put into words. Guttural groaning will open your heart to God's comfort, hope, and compassion. "Skin, trees, blood, bread, and wine": When you pray using your physical senses (such as seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, or tasting), you can deepen your connection to God. Start by celebrating Communion for a powerful encounter with God. Then try other sacramental approaches to prayer, like praying with other people whose faces you can see, touching someone you're praying for, praying outside in nature, moving your body when you pray (kneeling, raising your hands, dancing, walking, making the sign of the cross, or anything else God may lead you to do). "Desperation": When you cry out to God from the depths of your helplessness, God hears you. Don't let either pride or insecurity keep you from praying when you feel desperate. Remember that Jesus has given you the freedom and confidence you need to turn to God in the midst of desperate situations. Open yourself up fully to receive His help. Expect God to reach out to you. Let the desperation you experience motivate you to pursue God more and develop deeper compassion for other people in need. "Mystery": When your prayers go unanswered and you don't know why, don't hesitate to ask God questions and express your agony to Him. Choose to trust God's promise that He will do what's best when you pray. Realize that He may be using unanswered prayers to change you for the better as you go through difficult circumstances. Understand that sometimes God will choose to give you something more valuable than answers to your prayers: Himself. Get to know the Giver rather than just the gifts. Make your ultimate goal in prayer to spend time with God instead of trying to get something from Him. Ask God to help you surrender your will to His will and trust that He will work out every situation according to what's best when you invite Him to do so. Adapted from The Folly of Prayer: Practicing the Presence and Absence of God, copyright 2009 by Matt Woodley. Published by IVP Books, a division of InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, Ill., www.ivpress.com. (Will Continue) |
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preacher31
PATHS TO PRAYER 2 2/13/2010 11:53 - Subscribe
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Whitney Hopler There are many ways to pray - many paths of communication that can lead you closer to God. Here are some different paths you can take to prayer: "Absence": When God feels far away, recognize that as a normal part of your spiritual journey, but remember that God hasn't abandoned you. He has promised always to be with you, but when you don't sense His presence, you're experiencing it in a whole new way. During the time that you feel separated from God, He can wean you from your attachment to immature thoughts and feelings about Him and help you grow to eventually see Him in clearer ways, experience His love more deeply, and let it flow through you to others. "An argument with God": When you argue with God through prayer, you can actually grow closer to Him by engaging with Him in real, raw, and honest ways. Be humble yet confident about confronting God about an issue in your life. God would rather have you argue with Him than not care enough to confront Him about what's troubling you. Feel free to wrestle with God as part of the process of passionately pursuing Him. Don't be afraid to tell God: "I love you, but I'm mad and confused." "A long, slow journey": When the answers to your prayers take a long time to come, you can learn to adjust your lifestyle to God's timing. Remember that prayer isn't primarily about getting something from God right when you want it; instead, it's about being with God and allowing Him to change you in the process. Waiting on God helps you learn to trust God's good plans for your life, even when you don't understand or agree with His timing. Ask God to give you the strength to be patient while you must wait. "A dangerous activity": When God responds to your prayers by calling you to grow as a person in uncomfortable ways or make difficult sacrifices to help others, praying can seem like a dangerous activity. But remember that God wants to bless you - just on His terms, not yours. While you may pray to be relieved of your cares, God wants to propel you into spiritual growth and service. Invite Him to do the work He wants to do in your soul and through your life. You'll ultimately benefit in powerful ways from it. Adapted from The Folly of Prayer: Practicing the Presence and Absence of God, copyright 2009 by Matt Woodley. Published by IVP Books, a division of InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, Ill., www.ivpress.com. (Will Continue) |