Kick it Off Right

If you want to take it up a notch in your walk with Christ in 2013 plan on doing a few things.  Jesus tells us in Matthew 6 some of the key things that we must do to not only stay in tune with God but to prosper in our relationship with him.  If we do two out of three, its still not as effective.  We must ask the Holy Spirit to fill us with His strength so we can accomplish these spiritual disciplines.

First, we must be a 'giver'.  We must be sacrificial in our giving of our time, our resources and anything else God asks us to give.  Simply put, God blesses a giver.  He 'gave' his life for us, the ultimate gift. We can never repay him but we can 'give' in such a manner of thanksgiving that pleases him.

Second, we must always be in a 'state of prayer'.  Its very important to have a time set aside for your time with God in prayer.  But just as important, we need to 'pray without ceasing'.  We need to always be talking and listening with God all day long.  He really longs to fellowship with his children.  Not only does this please our Father, but it gives us the power in our lives that God wants us to have.

Last, we must learn to 'fast'.  We have to be willing to give up and sacrifice food for God.  Jesus was the role model in the Bible as he went on a 40 day fast.   A sun up to sun down fast, a 3 day fast, 7 day fast or even a 21 day fast.  Begin with fasting a meal and graduate from that.  This time should be spent praying or reading God's Word.  It has to be important to us and it will be important to God.

Getting these three spiritual disciplines down for 2013 will kick off your new year like you have never imagined!!  God Bless!!

Joy "In" The World

Is is possible to have joy "in" this world?  The Bible says we are not to be "of" the world but we are live "in" the world to make a difference in other peoples lives.  It seems like many people strive to have happiness but when it comes to joy, the is not much to be said.  We are not quite sure what it means and  how we are supposed to attain it.

I had a buddy Blane who said one time, "I may not be happy, but I still have joy".  It was a comment that I will never forget.  it didn't make much sense at the time and would take me several years to figure out.  (I am still trying to live it out!).  He was simply telling me and the guys that were meeting together, that in his current stage of life he was not happy, but he had joy.  He had the joy of the Lord as his strength.

Our relationships that we have can be a source of joy in our lives.

The most important relationship that we have is our relationship with Christ.  Jesus says in John 15:4-5, "remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.  Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.  I am the vine; you are the branches.  If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."  We are only branches while he is the life-giving vine.  We have the freewill to stay connected in Him.  If we choose not to, then we are saying we can fend for ourselves.

The other way the joy of Christ can be displayed is through our relationships with other people.  Paul tells us in Philippians 1:3 "I thank God every time I remember you."  We are to put others in our thoughts and thank God for them.  Just because we are not in the same physical place as someone else, its still good to think about them offer up thanks to God.  This brings Joy to our hearts.

Joy requires surrender to self and an intentional sacrifice to think of others ahead of ourselves.  God wants the joy that His Spirit gives to be displayed in the world so that others can see him....and one day know Him!!

OK is very OK

Our family is enjoying our new life here in Broken Arrow, Ok.  We have been here a little over 2 months and will experience our first Thanksgiving and Christmas away from Florida.  I am thankful today to have a supportive wife and 3 kids that are flexible and roll with the flow.  We have a great church family here at Broken Arrow Nazarene that has made us feel very welcome.  They have showered us with food, cards and lots of encouragement in these few short months. There is not a shortage of restaurants here in Broken Arrow/Tulsa.  I have to keep working out so that I do not end up on one of the TV shows "The Biggest Loser".  Ha!

I am fortunate to work with a great staff who are eager to build the Kingdom of God together. We are excited to see what God has in store for us and our new church family.  We can tell that God is moving in our midst and we are in full anticipation that He is going to do Great things!!  

Change is tough

As God continues to lead changes in our families lives, it is always so very cool that are dependence is greater on Him.  I think that God allows and places the desire in our hearts for change, knowing that we will draw closer to Him and become even more of a disciple for him.  Change is uncomfortable, scary, hard work and exciting...all at the same time.  Its awesome to know that he wants his sons and daughters to not be the same, but to develop into his image and his character!!

Jesus hangs out with sinners...awesome!

Reading Luke 7 verses 36-50 the last few days has sparked some thoughts.  The story begins with a Pharisee inviting Jesus to come over and hang out with him and eat dinner.  (one of my favorite things to do)  A woman comes in and starts crying at his feet for all the sin she has been involved in.  She is truly repenting for the tough things that have made up her life to that day.  The Pharisee, who we see later in the story is named Simon, thinks to himself that if Jesus was really a prophet and knew how bad this woman was, there's no way he would allow this to happen.  Jesus knew his thoughts and instead of raking him over the coals and telling all the others at dinner at what a judgmental dude this dinner host is... he takes another approach.  He begins a parable....it starts with 2 men that owe a lender some money.  One owes $500 dollars and the other one owes $50.  The lender who loaned them the money says that they will forgive the debt with no re-payment necessary.  Pretty good deal huh?  Where can I find this lender, I need to borrow a few bucks!  Jesus then asks Simon which one of the men will love the person more who owed him money.  He answered correctly in that he said the one who owed more money to him and had a larger debt forgiven.  Exactly..the one who had the larger debt forgiven will love the person more.  More sin, more forgiveness.  He said the woman who came in and started wiping her tears and washing Jesus feet is forgiven and loves him much.  In fact, he calls Simon out.  He says when he came in his house for dinner Simon did not even wash his feet..this woman has been washing his feet with her tears ( of wanting forgiveness).  He then said that he was not greeted with a kiss....and again this woman has not stopped kissing the feet of Jesus since she came in.  He also said that Simon didn't even annoint his head with oil, and yet the woman has been at his feet with pefume and washing his feet.  My goodness..what kind of host are you man.  Maybe we should have the sinful woman host next time. He explains that a person who shows great love to Jesus is one who has been forgiven much.  When we think we have been forgiven a little...we love little. Realize our forgiveness big time..love bigtime.    He tells the woman that her sins are forgiven and that her faith has healed her.  Go in peace! 

May we all go in peace this weekend as we realize the saving grace of God and his power to forgive us of all our sins!  He is Risen!!

My beautiful Kids!!

Renewal

As the discipleship pastor at Highland Park we just came off of an incredible experience with a 5 day revival service.  God stirred our heart, renewed our soul and reminded us of his goodness and plan for our life.  The Lord reminded me that his timing is always perfect and that He is in control.  He reminds us to stay humble and keep an open mind and heart.  We are to always be thinking of others rather than ourselves and to keep our motives true and pure.  Each night he had a different speaker with a different message.  Each one brought something different to the table, each one was used by God to be a piece in the puzzle that God is designing for us.  We all play some kind of vital role in each others lives if we would be open to what that would be.

Change our God hearts God and continue to transform our mind and soul for you.  "Your plans are much higher than ours and your thoughts are much greater than our thoughts Lord."  Thank you for making us children of yours and having our best interests at heart!