My Life - God's Story

Deuteronomy 8:18 - But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.

I need to be constantly reminded that the entirety of my life is about God - not about me. The life that I have been given is His that if I choose He will use to write a portion of His kingdom story. God is good all the time, even when my circumstances say otherwise.

God, help me to stand firm in your grace.

My Life So Far #4: Jim L.

Thank you Jim for sharing your life with us on Saturday. I am just so thankful that God never gives up on any of us. He pursues us relentlessly. Jim, your life is an encouraging testimony to that fact.

Jim's testimony was a good reminder for me that our lives have been "marked" by God for His purposes.

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But Even If He Does Not Faith

Maybe one of the greatest statements in all of scripture is Daniel 3:18 -
"...But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."

How BIG is your God? Is He that big to you? That even if your expectations are not met or if God chooses to meet them in a different way or if He decides not to meet what you think you need at all, that God is still God and you're not. I don't know about for you, but for me, that takes a lot of faith - a "but even if He does not" kind of faith.

God, give me more of that kind of faith. That's a dangerous prayer because typically what happens is that God will provide opportunities for our faith to be built in just that way. But the awesome thing is that God will show up and He will meet us in our own "furnaces" and through that our faith will be built and God will be glorified. Very cool.

Life Saving Trust

Daniel 6:23 - Daniel had life saving trust in God who was able to deliver him from the lion's den. We don't have to scratch and claw our way out of the "lion dens" that we often find our way into. But we do have to trust in the One who can deliver us from the "lion's den." But that trust doesn't just happen, it is built over years and decades of following and obeying and experiencing His life saving power.

An appropriate question to ask ourselves is: What am I doing today that helps to build "Life Saving Trust" that I will need when I find myself in the "lion's den?" Am I spending time with God getting to know Him through His Word and through prayer? Or am I just expecting God to all of a sudden show up when I find myself in a place where I need Him - even though I haven't taken the time to build my relationship with Him?

Daniel's Resolve

"But Daniel resolved not to defile himself" - Daniel 1:8.

I love Daniel's heart. He knew what was right and what was wrong according to God's standards and made intentional choices not to drift out of God's goodness and blessing by caving in and making "bonehead" choices.

My Life So Far #3: Ryan S.

Thanks Ryan for sharing your testimony with us on Saturday night. As Ryan was sharing about struggling to do the right thing but in the end making right choices, I kept thinking about Daniel from the Old Testament.

Daniel was one that made right choices in the midst of very difficult circumstances. That's why I think it would be good to spend a little time in the book of Daniel this week and so many of our daily readings for this week are from Daniel.

Thanks again Ryan for sharing and being a "Daniel."

The 639 List

According to Acts 1:8 it is our responsibility as followers of Jesus Christ to spread the Gospel to the world. According to a group called "Finishing The Task" there are 639 people groups in the world that have not yet been reached with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Check out the list and remember to pray for them today.

Makes Me Stop and Think

2 Corinthians 5:10 (NIV)
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

What choices will I make today? How will the choices I make today effect my future for all of eternity? What will I say to God about the choices I make today? What will I receive based on the choices I make today?

Causes me to stop and think about the choices I will have the opportunity to make today.

The Gift

In our reading for today (James 4:13-15), I was struck by the gift of life that God gives to us. I am able to write this only because of God's grace and His gift of life to me. There is no other reason. An appropriate question to ask is: God, what do you have planned for me today? God, how do you want to use the gift of life that you have given me today?

Today, my job is to simply follow God's leading. And guess what? I have the same job tomorrow and for each day that God decides to give me life on this earth.

More Grace

James 4:6
But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."

Want more grace? God says, 'Be humble.'

How? God says, 'Follow the example of Christ.'

Philippians 2:5-8
⁵Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
⁶Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
⁷but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
⁸And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

My Life So Far #2: John S.

Thank you John for sharing your life with us on Saturday evening. What a blessing to see the reality of God in someone's life. Just a few of my "take-aways" from what John shared:

• At the root of most sin is self-centeredness, self-focus and pride. It was tru for Adam and Eve and it's been true ever since.
• We can easily be deceived into finding our identity in the things of this world other than in God. And they can be good things like sports or education or human relationship and yet if we try to place our identity on them we will never be fulfilled or secure.
• Focus on the right things - the things that matter to God
  
• God is still here
• Find someone who is connected to God and is willing to be straight with you - we ALL need others in our lives for support and guidance
• Get on a Fellowship Team
• Serve God by serving others

Thanks, John, for these reminders.

One Step Away

In my time with God this morning, after reading the Bible, I was reading a daily devotional by Henry Blackaby called 'Day By Day' and I ran across the following that I thought I would share:

If you are in a situation or lifestyle where you are perfectly capable of handling everything, you have stopped growing in your understanding of God. God's desire is to take you from where you are to where He wants you to be. You will always be one step of obedience away from the next truth God wants you to learn about Him.
-Henry Blackaby

A good reminder that we are always one step away from where God would like us to be and that following Christ is a constant pursuit - not a destination.

Pride #2

Just read this verse in my quiet time - thought I'd share it:

Proverbs 11:2 - When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.

Faithwalkers Journal

Don't forget to checkout the "Faithwalkers Journal" - a daily devotional published by Great Commission Churches. You can check it out in the right sidebar of this blog. Just scroll down a little bit and take a look.

Pride

I so appreciated Drew sharing last Saturday evening. As Drew shared, one of his main struggles in life has been that of pride. A few thoughts on pride:

• Pride will tempt us to think that we don't need God
• Pride will seek to convince us that we can handle our struggles with our own wisdom, resources and hard work
• Pride seeks to rob God's glory and give it to ourselves
• Pride is always "self-seeking"
  

Instead God wants us to put our pride aside and to rely on Him and in return to give Him the glory for what He does in our lives.

Psalm 50:15 - Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.

Powerful Words

Proverbs 12:18 - Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

Ah, the power of our words. I can think, 'But they are just words, what's the big deal?' The big deal is that God has given us the gift of the spoken word. He has given us that ability. But like everything else, I can corrupt His gift to me by being reckless with it or I can use His gift to me to encourage others.

Lord help me to be an encourager today.

Generosity

Some generosity info I ran across this morning. Just thought I'd share it. It reminded me of the blessing that is in giving.

• In 2006, Americans gave $295 billion to charity, up 4.2 percent from the previous year.
• Charitable donations have consistently risen faster than the GDP since World War II.
• Per capita, the people in the United States are perhaps the most generous in the world, as measured by what they give.
• Only a third of Americans itemize deductions on their tax returns. Research consistently shows that almost no one is motivated to give only because of their tax consequences.
• Those who donate to charity are three times as likely to give money informally to friends, and even strangers. And they are twice as likely to donate blood.
• People who attend church are 25% more likely to give to charity and 23% more likely to volunteer. They also give 46% more to family and friends who are in need.

Source: Article called "The Surprising Truth About American Generosity" from Trends Magazine

Eating The Word

In our scripture reading for today (Matthew 4:4) I was reminded of of God's rich, colorful language of the importance of His Word. For example:

Ezekiel 3:1 (NIV)
And he said to me, "Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the house of Israel."

How does God's Word taste today? Do we know it so well that it is inside of us and we are able to speak it into the world around us?

Let's "eat" the Word today and then speak it.

Reminder: 1st Wednesday

Don't forget about our 1st Wednesday gathering this week on Wednesday (obviously) @ 7:00 pm at OneLife Center. It will be a time that will be all about connecting with God through worship , prayer and communion.

Our Words and Sin

In our verse for today (Proverbs 10:19), God makes a clear connection between our words and our sin. I find that a very intriguing relationship and so I find myself asking the question what is it about my words that can lead me into sin? The thought that comes to my mind is that we usually talk a lot about stuff that fascinates us and many times what fascinates us is ourselves.

For today, I wonder what will happen if I talk less about myself and listen more to others? How will that impact my life? What effect will it have on those around me?

I'm going to give it a try:)

Beyond Myself #3: With The Tongue

The Think It Through for this week can be found here.