I don't know if you have noticed this or not, but God is always asking for more.
He wants more of our hearts, as many times we allow our hearts to be absorbed with so many things in life that have no eternal value. He wants more of our trust, as so many times we clutch tightly to things and worry about things that He wants to take care of. He wants more of our faith, as often He calls us out to do something amazing but we shrink back because we feel that we lack talent or resources. He wants more of our passion, as so many times He longs for our hearts to be drawn to Him but we draw back due to laziness.
What should we do? We should throw up the white flag of surrender and give all we are, and all we have to the One who breathes out stars, but still holds our whole world together by the power of the cross!
I surrender all to Jesus.
All to Him I freely Give.
I will ever love and trust Him
In His presence freely live.
I surrender all
I surrender all
All to thee my blessed Saviour
I surrender all
May we all live out these amazing words!
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Vision
I was at the O.B.F.F. National conference this past week and I had the opportunity to hear Pastor Larry Stockstill speak on the subject of missions and he rocked my world. In fact I haven't been able to stop thinking about the message he gave all week and at many times I have been almost overcome with the heart of God for missions.
He started talking about vision and he told a story about a time when he went through a drive through and got a burger on his way to speak somewhere. He wrapped the bottom of the burger up carefully so he would not spill, but when he took his first bite he felt something fall out and land on his pants. When he looked down he saw that a pickle had fallen out all covered with mustard and it was laying on his pant leg making a stain. He quickly put down the sandwich, took the pickle off of his pants and proceeded to wipe off his pant leg with a napkin. As he finished he looked up and realized that he was in the wrong lane and in the path of a tractor trailer, so he swerved and was nearly crushed. He pulled over to the side of the road to push his heart back into his chest and when he did the Lord Spoke to him.
God said " what is outside the windshield is more important than the pickle on your pants". As he said that I had a serious God moment. I realized that over this past few years I have been so concerned about the pickle on my pants that I had not looked out the windshield. As a Pastor I have been so busy trying to keep things going inside the church and to solve and meditate on all the problems and people that I had lost sight of our mandate. So today as I write this I have committed to keep looking forward in faith to the mandate that God has given to Jubilee to Go into all the world both to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth.
As a church we at this time support many people on the ground in Canada, USA, India, Northern and Southern Africa, Italy, Israel, and Vietnam. That is great, but I think that God has so much more for us to do so let's pray and believe that we can plant churches, feed the hungry and continue with evangelism, and that by reaching out past our own towns that God will also help us to be fruitful here!
He started talking about vision and he told a story about a time when he went through a drive through and got a burger on his way to speak somewhere. He wrapped the bottom of the burger up carefully so he would not spill, but when he took his first bite he felt something fall out and land on his pants. When he looked down he saw that a pickle had fallen out all covered with mustard and it was laying on his pant leg making a stain. He quickly put down the sandwich, took the pickle off of his pants and proceeded to wipe off his pant leg with a napkin. As he finished he looked up and realized that he was in the wrong lane and in the path of a tractor trailer, so he swerved and was nearly crushed. He pulled over to the side of the road to push his heart back into his chest and when he did the Lord Spoke to him.
God said " what is outside the windshield is more important than the pickle on your pants". As he said that I had a serious God moment. I realized that over this past few years I have been so concerned about the pickle on my pants that I had not looked out the windshield. As a Pastor I have been so busy trying to keep things going inside the church and to solve and meditate on all the problems and people that I had lost sight of our mandate. So today as I write this I have committed to keep looking forward in faith to the mandate that God has given to Jubilee to Go into all the world both to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth.
As a church we at this time support many people on the ground in Canada, USA, India, Northern and Southern Africa, Italy, Israel, and Vietnam. That is great, but I think that God has so much more for us to do so let's pray and believe that we can plant churches, feed the hungry and continue with evangelism, and that by reaching out past our own towns that God will also help us to be fruitful here!
Monday, May 30, 2011
What about love?
I think the word love is an amazing word that has the power to change everything, and in fact has changed everything. Two thousand years ago God put His love on display for the human race as His Son Jesus hung between heaven and earth and laid down His life so that we could be saved. His love changed everything and some times we take that for granted and even at times allow Him to become common to us.
Today I just want to encourage you to take some time to think about the love that changed everything and then take a bit of time to say thanks to the one who put His love on display for..........you:)
But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him. Now that we are set right with God by means of this sacrificial death, the consummate blood sacrifice, there is no longer a question of being at odds with God in any way.
Romans 5:8-9 MESSAGE
Why not tell someone today?
Today I just want to encourage you to take some time to think about the love that changed everything and then take a bit of time to say thanks to the one who put His love on display for..........you:)
But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him. Now that we are set right with God by means of this sacrificial death, the consummate blood sacrifice, there is no longer a question of being at odds with God in any way.
Romans 5:8-9 MESSAGE
Why not tell someone today?
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Living for Jesus?
They were the best of times and the worst of times, not to rip anyone off or anything. These past several months have been a journey of a life time, and it feels like a journey that lasts a lifetime. full of many great blessings from God and also full of many hard times from the enemy or perhaps even self inflicted. This is a period in my life that I would not exchange for an easier road or a simpler path because what I have learned through it is without price.
I think that there is a point in life that we all need to come to and that point is in discovering that what we need more than anything else in this whole wide world is Jesus. I am not talking about a casual kind of distant relationship with an ethereal being, I am talking about a give me Jesus or give me death kind of a need to be in a close and vibrant relationship with Him.
I cannot, and you cannot have a relationship with God that is meaningful, vibrant, and real unless we are spending time with Him regularly and reading His Word the Bible regularly. So many Christians have weak and anemic relationships with Christ, because they do not spend time with Him, and read His word. This is not how it is supposed to be people, we are promised so much more than that. The only thing is we need to get involved in a love affair with God and His word!
Are you content to live life the way you have been or is there a cry deep within you saying "there must be more"?
If so then why not take time to really cry out to God and spend time with Him. It will change your life, God promised.
But the grace that God gives is even stronger. As the scripture says, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." So then, submit yourselves to God. Resist the Devil, and he will run away from you. Come near to God, and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners! Purify your hearts, you hypocrites! Be sorrowful, cry, and weep; change your laughter into crying, your joy into gloom! Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
Jam 4:6-10 GNB
I think that there is a point in life that we all need to come to and that point is in discovering that what we need more than anything else in this whole wide world is Jesus. I am not talking about a casual kind of distant relationship with an ethereal being, I am talking about a give me Jesus or give me death kind of a need to be in a close and vibrant relationship with Him.
I cannot, and you cannot have a relationship with God that is meaningful, vibrant, and real unless we are spending time with Him regularly and reading His Word the Bible regularly. So many Christians have weak and anemic relationships with Christ, because they do not spend time with Him, and read His word. This is not how it is supposed to be people, we are promised so much more than that. The only thing is we need to get involved in a love affair with God and His word!
Are you content to live life the way you have been or is there a cry deep within you saying "there must be more"?
If so then why not take time to really cry out to God and spend time with Him. It will change your life, God promised.
But the grace that God gives is even stronger. As the scripture says, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." So then, submit yourselves to God. Resist the Devil, and he will run away from you. Come near to God, and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners! Purify your hearts, you hypocrites! Be sorrowful, cry, and weep; change your laughter into crying, your joy into gloom! Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
Jam 4:6-10 GNB
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)