What Is The Gospel?

When God's People Pray, Jim Cymbala

Get Your Big But Out Of The Way!

No, this is not about diet and exercise. It’s about the way we talk to ourselves. Our attitudes and the way we have been conditioned to think about ourselves. The negative things people told us that stuck in our conscious and subconscious thoughts. I remember when I was in about the 6th or 7th grade my elderly Great-Uncle often made fun of me because I was chubby. When a respected family authority laughs at you and makes fun at your expense and ends it with “I’m just funnin’ you girl”! it sticks with you. This was supposed to make his orneriness acceptable. He thought it was all a great joke. Needless to say, it affected me deeply. It changed the way I perceived myself and the way I believed others saw me. As an adult I see it for what it was, an old man trying to be funny and the center of attention at a child’s expense.

I’m much harder on myself than others are on me. I still have to remind myself of that sometimes. I use this personal example to show you how deeply words can affect the way we think of ourselves. What kind of negative stuff are you carrying around that others have inflicted upon you? Think about it. I mean really examine this. Reach way back, take it off the shelf, dust it off and look at it closely. How did/does it make you feel about yourself? See these lies for what they are and throw them out! No more “I would like to but…, I wish I could but…, I have always wanted to learn to do that but…,I used to have big dreams but…, but I can’t, but I don’t know how. Stop it! Just Stop it! Get your BIG BUTS out of your own way. You are sabotaging yourself to live life by default. Replace the buts and negative chatter in your head with positive self talk. I can, I will, I’m able, I'll learn!

There is a scripture that has been life changing for me when I read it differently. It’s Mark 17:6 “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this Mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.” I always thought this verse was about the mustard seed. Then it jumped out at me, I don’t think that was the point. It’s not about the mustard seed. Look at it this way; If you have faith of a mustard seed, you can say…and it will obey you. Wow! If I have faith (even just a little) I can say… What a game changer that is. The bible says our words hold life and death. So let’s speak life!

If you have faith what would you say?

What would you say? Make a list and start speaking the truth about yourself. Get your big buts out of the way and say the things that God would say about you, what he would want for you. You are a child of the Most High God, what wouldn’t he want you to have? Speak these things daily. Put post-it notes on the bathroom mirror, the fridge, everywhere you will see them throughout the day. Get your big buts out of the way, change the way you speak about yourself, your life, your goals and dreams and just watch what happens! If you have faith, what would you say? I believe in your dreams, your abilities. I believe in you. Isn’t it time you do?

Your Vision-You Must Find It! pt. 2

Shared from "The Word For Today" daily devotional, Jan 3, 2011

Your Vision-You Must Find It! pt. 1

Shared from "The Word For Today" daily devotional magazine, Jan 2, 2011

Time And Time Again

Shared from Proverbs 31 Ministeries

God Hears Our Prayers

Taken from "The Word For Today" devotional magazine, Jan. 8, 2011

Move Over Myrtle

Lynn Cowell

From
Proverb 31 Ministries

"Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the Lord's renown for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed." Isaiah 55:13 (NIV)

I could never figure out why my crape myrtle trees didn't look like "that."

When I drove my kids to school on those hot back-to-school days, I would see gorgeous myrtles all over the neighborhood, heavy laden with puffy flowers in hot pink, deep purple or pure white...but my myrtles never looked that.

One friend said they needed heavy pruning in the winter. So when the temperature dropped and all the leaves fell, I drug out my loppers and chopped away. There! That should do it! I thought. Summer came; summer went. No flowers.

Crape myrtles are not one of those trees that still look great without flowers. In fact, I grew tired of them in my front garden where they gawked at me, flowerless, day after day.

So, I called in a professional gardener. He informed me that crape myrtles need sunlight, so it didn't really matter what I did to those trees; they were not going to bloom in my cool, shaded yard. My choices were: put up with the lack of beautiful blooms, or pull them out. I opted for change.

Life can be a lot like my myrtles. Sometimes, we are just not blooming. We might try the recommendations of friends. You need a hobby. You need a different job. You need a man. Wait until this season is over and then make a change. Often, though, what we really need is Sonlight. The Professional Gardener will tell you getting in the Son is the only thing that is going to bring beauty.

In Isaiah 55:13 the prophet says that instead of briers, the myrtle will grow. Do you have any briers that need to be exchanged for myrtles in your life? Are you effective and are you living what the Bible refers to as an abundant life in Christ? Just as other trees in my yard cast too much shade for my myrtles, is there something in your life that is casting a shadow, blocking your Sonlight? If so, it is time to make the move into the Son.

Getting into the Sonlight, like moving a tree, is no easy task. It often involves change; sometimes a dramatic change. A change in habits, a ridding of addictions, a move in friendships, a laying down of dreams, or a picking up of one that you have feared. Part of soaking up the Son also includes spending consistent time with Jesus in prayer and reading His Word each day.

Don't be afraid of change, friend. The Psalmist said that pain comes in the night, but joy comes in the morning. In the end, the blooms that follow will tell the tale of the power of life in the Son.

Prayer:
Powerful Jesus, that is what I need You to be toda y. Powerful Jesus. I see the shadow on my life and often I fear that it will overtake me. You have promised that in You, with You, all things are possible. Show me where to move today Jesus, so that I position myself in Your Sonlight. Give me the discipline to study Your words so that my life will be for Your renown and an everlasting sign to others of life in You. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

If My People Will Pray...

I have a good friend named JoAnn who received a prophecy I'd like to share with you.  She wrote it out as she got it just the way it was given to her and I am going to share it exactly as she did with me.

"The oil spill in the gulf is only the beginning of this nation's troubles.  The only hope is 'confident expectations'.  The only hope for America is for her to wake up from her stupor and cry out to God.  When the Church goes to her knees and cries out to God for mercy He will hear the prayers of the Godly and answer and heal their land."

Wow!  Confident expectations.  I believe we are in for troubled times.  How long can we expect God to be patient with us?  How much more corruption before The Almighty has had enough?  It's shown in the Bible over and over again throughout history that God will only let things go so far before He looses His wrath.

This prophecy is full of gloom and doom, but it also full of the promise of God's wonderful mercy.  Confident expectation; we can confidently expect God to heal this land.  Hallelujah! We have the promise that if we pray with confidence, that he will give us another chance.  What a gracious and loving Father.   I hope in the times to come, you will remember to have 'confident expectations'.  God is a good and loving God.  He only wants what's best for us.  I hope you will spend time on your knees asking the Lord to turn this nation around, to heal our land.

The Ugly Truth About Child Molestation.

The enemy is running rampant with our children.  Fatherless homes, drugs, poverty and abuse.  How many kids in this nation go to bed hungry at night?  How many are homeless, abandoned, forgotten? How many are exposed to drugs and alcohol on a daily basis?  Way too many.  One is too many.  These are the children that we think are more likely to be a victim of sexual abuse, and many are because of their vulnerability and need for love and acceptance.  But what about your children?  Could it happen to them?  Yes, it could.  A huge number of child sexual abuse victims (over 90%) know and trust their abusers.  We as parents know and trust them as well.  We have always told our children not to talk to strangers, but strangers are a very small percent of the problem.  Most child rapists and molesters are family friends and relatives.  Trusted neighbors, that nice guy down the street that plays catch with your kids and offers to babysit.  Uncle Charlie or the older guy they call gramps, who are more interested in playing with the kids than joining the adults at a party.  They gain your trust, that's how they are able to do it.  We trust them, the kids trust and look up to them.  They worm their way into our lives, we become comfortable with their presence in our lives and when nobody's looking, these predators attack.  We must wake up!  We must be careful who our kids are spending time with.  If you have a bad feeling, if something doesn't feel quite right, it's probably not!  Go with your gut! Parents think that their kids would tell them if something was going on, but many times because of the trust factor, they fell like they were the ones to do something wrong.  Predators like this work very hard to build that trust, its a calculated process, they know exactly what they are doing.  Don't think it couldn't happen to your child.  It's happening to our children right under our very noses.  It's time we take our children back. 

One last thing.  Do you pray regularly for your children? Do you pray God's hand of protection over them against violence and evil of every kind?   God hears our prayers and loves our children even more than we do.