Is God WHO He Says He Is?

ABSOLUTELY!!!

I see proof everyday!!!

http://http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ya12I036lg

The Power of Contentment

Have you ever considered the power of contentment in your life? Also, have you noticed the lack of power in your life when you are not content? Contentment affects us more than we even notice. Please be aware of that fact! When I lack contentment, everything around me is influenced in a negative way. Nothing looks good or promising! I become down hearted and pessimistic! However, when we decide to be content every thing looks different!

God has truly worked in my life in recent days in the area of contentment. It is amazing to see things is fresh new ways. The exact same things that I was looking at, but now with a different attitude. My goal in life is to be all that God wants me to be! That means I have to approach life with a attitude of contentment. I have to be happy in the moment...in the now!! I do not need to have self pity in what I think should or should not happen! I need to accept what God has placed in any and all areas of my life:

...family

...ministry

...church

...community

...health

...friendships

...struggles

...worries

...finances

...concerns

...etc

It is so liberating to be content with what God provides and offers, rather than being in bondage to the things that I am personally discontent with! Contentment produces joy. The joy that only a Holy God can give. Lord, help my heart's focus to always be you!

"But godliness with contentment is great gain."

1 Timothy 6:6

"I am not saying this because I am in need,

for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances."
Phil. 4:11

Are You Really Hungry??

Jesus calls us to live a life of righteousness!!

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."

(Matthew 5:6)

"For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:20)

Hunger and thirst are bodily cravings that must be satisfied if physical life is to be sustained. However, this is also true spiritually speaking!! Do you hunger, thirst and crave God? Is there a deep inner craving and longing to please God within you? This is not a one-time action, but a continual habit of life.

"My food, said Jesus, is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work."

(John 4:34)

So...are you really hungry???

GOD

While on vacation I read a couple of books along with the Bible. In doing this, God showed Himself to me in an incredible way. I understand more fully now than any other time in me life that God wants ALL of my attention. He wants me to completely focus on Him! First! For years I have focused on God, but not like he desires and deserves. I have looked at God through all of the things that are around me, rather than look at the things around me through the eyes and heart of God. My first calling in life is God! Life really is all about Him. So, I am going to try to be more intentional and focus on God before anything else. Do you need to take a moment and evaluate what and who your life is focused on? Is God truly your primary focus? If not, make the needed adjustments and give Him ALL of your attention. It will revolutionize your life!

"[1] The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. [2] Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. [3] There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. [4] Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world." (Psalm 19:1-4)

NO PAIN...NO GAIN!!!

Growing up playing sports as a kid, I always heard my coaches say "No pain, no gain." I really did not fully understand that as a kid, but have learned through the years more of what it truly means. We do not like pain. However, many times God uses it to move us toward happiness (toward HIM).

"Blessed are those who mourn,

for they will be comforted." (Matthew 5:4)

The Word of God tells us that Abraham cried...David mourned...Jeremiah wept...Jesus wept...Peter wept...etc... So, where did we get the idea that there was something wrong with mourning, crying or shedding tears? The Bible never asks us to pretend we don't hurt. Psalm 56:8 tells us that "God bottles our tears and keeps them." The Bible also says that when we suffer, we are able to help others who suffer.

"[3] Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, [4] who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." (2 Cor. 1:3-4)

It is in sorrow that a man discovers whether his faith in superficial or solid. In sorrow man can discover God.

Yard Sale??

I am helping my wife with a yard sale today. Wow!! I am always amazed at what people are willing to pay for!! My grandfather use to tell me, "one man's junk is another man's treasure." I have seen that to be so true today. People are willing to pay for junk, but are not willing to except salvation that is free!! Yes, it cost Christ His life!! However, he offers His grace, mercy and salvation to us for nothing!! What a deal!! I praise the Lord for my own salvation and desire for others to experience it. Would you consider God's free gift to you? Why not think about it!

Romans 3:23

"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"

Romans 6:23

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Romans 5:8

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Romans 10:9-14

"[9] That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. [10] For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. [11] As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." [12] For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, [13] for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." [14] How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?

The choice is yours!! It is free!!

IMPACT

Do you have a desire to impact the world for the cause of Christ? Many do!! But they never seem to make a difference. The reason may be that they have tried to impact the world for Christ before they have allowed Christ to impact them personally. Our outward expression of life is only evidence of what is really going on internally. Why not start today in a journey to deepen your relationship with the Lord? Commit your life in fresh ways to THE LIVING WORD (Jesus) and to THE WRITTEN WORD (Bible). Fall in love with Christ and the Bible! As God transforms your life...you will begin to see the world around you change.

"[1] I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. [2] He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. [3] You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. [4] 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. [5] "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. [6] If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. [7] If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. [8] This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. [9] "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. [10] If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. [11] I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. [12] My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. [13] Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. [14] You are my friends if you do what I command. [15] I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. [16] You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. [17] This is my command: Love each other." (John 15:1-17)