The processes we go through are about God doing a good work in us.
Ever have some processes in your life that are not enjoyable. I remember running wind sprints at the end of basketball practice my senior year. I can not think of any physical thing much less enjoyable than running wind sprints when you are already tired, but the coach put us through the process. I also remember winning many games that year in the fourth quarter. We would put a full court press on other teams that were not in as good of shape as we were and they would break down. The process was tough but it formed a good work in us as a team.
There are many processes we go through in our journey with Christ that are like this. But God has said 6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; and His words are faithful. I am learning to embrace the processes even though they may hurt, trusting that God is all about doing a good work in me.
"Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson,
Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."
6/7/07
Plain Jane
"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us" NKJV
"We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives." Message
"We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives." Message
6/3/07
Prayer: Our focus is His focus
"Prayer is not getting things from God, but getting into communion with God"
Henrietta C. Mears
How easy to us is it to treat God like a divine Santa Claus and just send up our wish list when we pray. God heal me, help me, make me prosper, get me out of this jam, I need some money, yada, yada, yada. It is easy to have a me focus in prayer. That is not to say we shouldn't ask for God to meet our needs, He wants to do that. But these prayers are just one facet of our lives in prayer. The key is not to have a me focus.
I am often reminded by the Lord recently that giving my life to Christ means giving up my life and taking on a life with Him that is centered on Him and His kingdom. Jesus told us to "seek first the kingdom of God". As we grow in our walk with God, we pray as He taught His disciples, Lord your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. As we pray each day we are asking, God, what is my kingdom assignment today ?
Prayer at it's true meaning is being in dialogue with God and listening for what He is saying and how He is leading. Our lives are about His purposes on the earth and the more we are in relationship with Him through prayer we gain ground in understanding His heart and begin to see life through the lenses of furthering the kingdom of God rather than the lenses of bettering our own lives.
Henrietta C. Mears
How easy to us is it to treat God like a divine Santa Claus and just send up our wish list when we pray. God heal me, help me, make me prosper, get me out of this jam, I need some money, yada, yada, yada. It is easy to have a me focus in prayer. That is not to say we shouldn't ask for God to meet our needs, He wants to do that. But these prayers are just one facet of our lives in prayer. The key is not to have a me focus.
I am often reminded by the Lord recently that giving my life to Christ means giving up my life and taking on a life with Him that is centered on Him and His kingdom. Jesus told us to "seek first the kingdom of God". As we grow in our walk with God, we pray as He taught His disciples, Lord your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. As we pray each day we are asking, God, what is my kingdom assignment today ?
Prayer at it's true meaning is being in dialogue with God and listening for what He is saying and how He is leading. Our lives are about His purposes on the earth and the more we are in relationship with Him through prayer we gain ground in understanding His heart and begin to see life through the lenses of furthering the kingdom of God rather than the lenses of bettering our own lives.
5/29/07
Resources for growth
"Five years from now you will be the same as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read" Charlie "Tremendous Jones"
I understand this is not an all encompassing statement. I know that in Christ and through Him is how we grow, but I think these are two ingredients in life that help propel us to growth. They are two elements that help keep us from being stagnant.
Hopefully all of us want to grow in maturity. The Bible calls us to maturity in our Christian journey. I think this statement by Charlie Jones is true on two accounts. If you read the word of God primarily and then other great books such as biographies of famous Christians it will encourage you in your growth. This doesn't happen because you gain knowledge from those readings, but it happens because that knowledge can give you insight on how to be more intimate with the Lord and how to know His ways.
I have found also that the times in my life that were full of great community, were times of much growth. I use great community to describe people who had a hunger for God and were pursuing it. These were not perfect people, quite the contrary. They had all sorts of imperfections, but there was a common thread in them that they wanted to know Jesus and make Him know. I have found my life is affected by others. The people you are friends with influence your destiny. Look for communities of people or those people who are hungry for Jesus and connect yourselves with them.
I understand this is not an all encompassing statement. I know that in Christ and through Him is how we grow, but I think these are two ingredients in life that help propel us to growth. They are two elements that help keep us from being stagnant.
Hopefully all of us want to grow in maturity. The Bible calls us to maturity in our Christian journey. I think this statement by Charlie Jones is true on two accounts. If you read the word of God primarily and then other great books such as biographies of famous Christians it will encourage you in your growth. This doesn't happen because you gain knowledge from those readings, but it happens because that knowledge can give you insight on how to be more intimate with the Lord and how to know His ways.
I have found also that the times in my life that were full of great community, were times of much growth. I use great community to describe people who had a hunger for God and were pursuing it. These were not perfect people, quite the contrary. They had all sorts of imperfections, but there was a common thread in them that they wanted to know Jesus and make Him know. I have found my life is affected by others. The people you are friends with influence your destiny. Look for communities of people or those people who are hungry for Jesus and connect yourselves with them.
5/22/07
To Big to lead
"If you are too Big to serve then you are too small to lead".
Gods word says if a man lose his life then he will gain it. Losing your life is learning how to serve other people. If we are following the worlds ideology of maturity we would think that the older we get the wiser and richer we get and that other people should serve us because of our obtained place in life. And people following a worldly viewpoint have this mindset. In God's kingdom the greatest are the servants of all.
I love the above statement. In layman's terms it means your should never think so much of yourself that your not willing to clean the toilets. It is those men and women that learn how to serve well in the jails of life (Joseph), in the pits of life (Daniel), in the wildernesses of life (Moses) that God promotes to be in authority over many. Because these men turned their broken times into dependency on God. And in depending on God learned that their lives were in service of God and others.
Great servants are the greatest leaders in the kingdom of God.
Gods word says if a man lose his life then he will gain it. Losing your life is learning how to serve other people. If we are following the worlds ideology of maturity we would think that the older we get the wiser and richer we get and that other people should serve us because of our obtained place in life. And people following a worldly viewpoint have this mindset. In God's kingdom the greatest are the servants of all.
I love the above statement. In layman's terms it means your should never think so much of yourself that your not willing to clean the toilets. It is those men and women that learn how to serve well in the jails of life (Joseph), in the pits of life (Daniel), in the wildernesses of life (Moses) that God promotes to be in authority over many. Because these men turned their broken times into dependency on God. And in depending on God learned that their lives were in service of God and others.
Great servants are the greatest leaders in the kingdom of God.
Elevated thinking
Elevate your thinking and you will elevate your life.
This statement is part of the culture of our local church here in Frisco Texas. Basically what it alludes to is that if you will put Gods word in your mind and heart your life will prosper. God thoughts bring contrast to thoughts in our minds that are not right thoughts.
For example: When someone cuts me off on the freeway there are thoughts in my mind that say "you idiot" or thoughts that say to myself "let's go cut that person off so they can feel what I feel and have empathy for me". Gods word contrasts those thoughts with "bless those who curse you, do good to those who spitefully use you" or "pray for that person today that they will encounter the living God and be blessed". When I act upon Gods way of thinking I elevate my life. I put myself in a place to have a God kind of prosperity such as peace, love, and joy. I put myself in a place that Gods kingdom is the priority and I am in on what God is up to on the earth each day.
This statement is part of the culture of our local church here in Frisco Texas. Basically what it alludes to is that if you will put Gods word in your mind and heart your life will prosper. God thoughts bring contrast to thoughts in our minds that are not right thoughts.
For example: When someone cuts me off on the freeway there are thoughts in my mind that say "you idiot" or thoughts that say to myself "let's go cut that person off so they can feel what I feel and have empathy for me". Gods word contrasts those thoughts with "bless those who curse you, do good to those who spitefully use you" or "pray for that person today that they will encounter the living God and be blessed". When I act upon Gods way of thinking I elevate my life. I put myself in a place to have a God kind of prosperity such as peace, love, and joy. I put myself in a place that Gods kingdom is the priority and I am in on what God is up to on the earth each day.
2/5/07
Think, Be, Do
This past year God has placed my family and I at Celebration Covenant Church in Frisco, Texas. I am so thankful he has. Initially it's not a place I would have chosen. There is a lot of flashing lights and loud music in a really polished environment. This style of community wouldn't be my personal preferences for a large gathering.
Yet the Lord led us here and we have been blessed by what we have received from the Lord at CCC. We have found a spiritual dna at CCC that has been born and matured from a passion about what a people of God should look like.
A key principle of the Christian journey that our pastor Keith Craft teaches is that we can change and be more like Christ. Those old patterns from our family of origin and from our own experiences can be transformed if we will think like Christ, which affects our being Christlike, and out of that being we will do the stuff of the kingdom.
In a nutshell this is the Christian journey. Think, be, do.
The reason for this blog is so I can dialogue with myself and others bout the journey of being transformed in my thinking, being, and doing and becoming more like Jesus.
Yet the Lord led us here and we have been blessed by what we have received from the Lord at CCC. We have found a spiritual dna at CCC that has been born and matured from a passion about what a people of God should look like.
A key principle of the Christian journey that our pastor Keith Craft teaches is that we can change and be more like Christ. Those old patterns from our family of origin and from our own experiences can be transformed if we will think like Christ, which affects our being Christlike, and out of that being we will do the stuff of the kingdom.
In a nutshell this is the Christian journey. Think, be, do.
The reason for this blog is so I can dialogue with myself and others bout the journey of being transformed in my thinking, being, and doing and becoming more like Jesus.
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