If God is Doing a Mighty Work Over There?

Saints,

Have you ever noticed how God worked in a mighty way somewhere else in the world and then asked, “God, You are working in a mighty way in other places, would You do a mighty work here in our church, this city, this state or this nation?

During a Missions class, I asked God that very question. Is it possible that when we are awakened by the Holy Spirit to ask that question of God that He may be calling us out to pray for Him to do a mighty work? I believe this could be true.

This happened in the days of George Mueller. Before we look into that story though, let’s look at Mueller’s report from the Scriptural Knowledge Institution for 1896. This report reveals God’s heart in Mueller—it reveals God’s heart in a church. May God’s heart permeate every church!

“From our own midst as a church sixty brethren and sisters have gone forth to foreign fields of labour on earth; some of whom have finished their labour on earth; but there are still about forty yet who are engaged in this precious service.

Why should not the great and crying need for workers in Asia, Africa, and other parts of the world be thus met by thousands of churches in Europe and America following this divine plan of praying the Lord of the harvest that He would send forth labourers from among them?”

Yes Mr. Mueller, I agree. Yes, dear brother and sister, if God has awakened you to the need for a mighty work to be done by Him, than accept that as your calling to pray. Pray for more workers. Pray for revival. Pray believing. God can move and He will move. This is His plan. Will we join Him?

When Jesus saw the crowds in Matthew 9, He felt compassion and took action. His action was to call us to prayer,

Matthew 9:36-38 (NIV)
36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
37 Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.
38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

Back to our story that took place during the days of George Mueller. This story is recorded on pages 89-92 of Answers to Prayer, by George Mueller. All of the quotes come from those same pages as well.

In 1856, a young Irishman named James McQuilken became a Christ-follower. After reading Mueller’s narrative, i.e. the first two volumes of Answer’s to Prayer. He was amazed at how God answered George Mueller’s prayers. He said to himself something like this: “See what Mr. Mueller obtains simply by prayer. Thus I shall obtain blessing by prayer.” Inspired by what he read, he began to pray that God would give him a spiritual companion, one who knew the Lord. Soon after prayer, God gave him a friend who was a believer. These two began to meet and pray regularly. They asked for God to bring more believers. So, by Autumn of 1857, four men met together for prayer in a small school house in the village of Kells in the parish of Connor, every Friday night. What did they pray for? They asked God for His blessing on their “various labours in the Sunday Schools, prayer-meetings, and preaching of the Gospel.”

“By this time the great and mighty working of the Spirit in 1857, in the United States, had become known, and Mr. James McQuilken said to himself. ‘Why may not we have such a blessed work here, seeing that God did such great things for Mr. Mueller, simply in answer to prayer?’ Soon others began to follow Christ. Their prayer meeting grew, but they only allowed believers into their meetings as they “read, prayed and offered to each other a few thoughts about the Scriptures.”

By early 1859, this small band connected with a Presbyterian church in Ahoghill. From this time, conversions multiplied rapidly. “Some of these converts went to other places, and carried the spiritual fire, so to speak, with them.” Mr. McQuiken travelled to other places such as Ballymena and Belfast, seeing many conversions in each place.

Mr Mueller continues,
“Such was the beginning of that mighty work of the Holy Spirit, which has led to the conversion of hundreds of thousands; for some of my readers will remember how in 1859 this fire was kindled in England, Wales, Scotland; how it spread through Ireland, England, Wales and Scotland, how the continent of Europe was more or less partaking of this mighty working of the Holy Spirit; how it led thousands to give themselves to the work of evangelists; and how up to the year 1874 not only the effects of this work, first begun in Ireland, are Europe generally. It is almost needless to add, that in no degree the honour is due to the instruments, but to the Holy Spirit alone; yet these facts are stated, in order that it may be seen, what delight God has in answering abundantly the believing prayer of His children.”

Saints, how about us? Do we see the need for God to move? Then what is our response? We pray. We pray Bible-based, Spirit-led, kingdom-focused, believing, intercessory, prayer-in-Jesus-name. Jesus promises to answer!

God, You are working throughout the world in mighty ways—reaching Asia, Africa, India and so many other places. Would you move again here? Forgive us for doing church without You. Forgive us for our pride, legalism, and critical spirit toward others. Please remove anything from Your churches that do not bring You glory or that are not according to Your plan. God, please, pour out Your Spirit again. Father, please cause revival in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the US, and the world. You are worthy, we are needy. In Jesus name, we pray, believing! Amen. 

Desperate for God, compelled to pray,

Steve

Do You Need Encouragement? Jesus' Disciples Did!

Brothers and sisters, do you need encouragement?

Jesus' disciples needed encouragement. Toward the end of Jesus’ time on earth He shared incredible words of encouragement, guidance, and assurance to His disciples. We know this section of the Bible as the Farewell Discourse. This passage of the Bible is found in John chapters 14-16. Please make time to read this passage soon.

For our purposes today, though let’s focus on the main points of this passage. Here is a condensed version of what Jesus shared with His disciples in His Farewell Discourse:

“Let not your heart be troubled. Where I am there you may be also. I am the way and the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Me. If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father. Whatever you ask in My name I will do--so that the Father will be glorified in the Son.  I will ask the Father and He will give you another Helper.

If you have my commands and keep them—you love me, and my Father will love you and I will love you and show myself to you. The Holy Spirit will teach you all things and remind you of my words. My peace I give to you. I am the vine—the Father is the vinedresser. If you abide in me and I in you—you bear much fruit—apart from Me you can do nothing. If you abide in Me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it shall be done for you.

I have told you these things so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be full. Love one another as I have loved you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last. Then Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. I will send you the Spirit of truth, a helper who comes from the Father and bears witness about Me.

I say all these things to keep you from falling astray. Because I leave, I am sending the counselor--the Holy Spirit to you. The Holy Spirit will convict the world about sin, righteousness and judgment. The Spirit will guide you into all truth. My Father will give you whatever you ask in My name. Ask anything in My name and you will receive it that your joy may be complete.

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

I can imagine how these words must have encouraged the disciples—they encourage us!

When we read these three chapters (John 14-16), we see an emphasis on two major points. First, we see Jesus promises to answer prayer in His name. Second, we notice Jesus promise to send a helper, the Holy Spirit. As I count the references to prayer and the Holy Spirit in these chapters, I come up with six repeated or restated statements both for prayer and for the Holy Spirit. Jesus is clearly teaching His disciples that they were to move forward in ministry by relying on God through His manifested power in the Holy Spirit and praying in Jesus name. This is His plan, not mine, not ours, but God’s way of doing church—of doing ministry.

Please consider Daniel Henderson’s definition of prayer. It perfectly portrays this truth of relying on God completely,

“Prayer is intimacy with God that leads to the fulfillment of His purposes, accomplished by His power, for His glory.”

For our discussion today, let’s focus on Jesus' amazing emphasis on prayer. We will look at Jesus’ emphasis on the Holy Spirit another time. Jesus repeated and restated His promise to answer prayer in His name six times . Did the disciples get this? Did they embrace Jesus’ call to prayer? Did they realize what power Jesus would send to them through the Holy Spirit?

We see in Acts that the answer to these questions is definitely yes! They got it! We see the disciples praying and waiting on God when the Father sends the Holy Spirit, resulting in the birth of the church (Acts 2). We see the church praying fervently for an imprisoned Peter resulting in a miraculous escape (Acts 12). We see the church in Antioch ministering to God in Acts 13 when the Holy Spirit calls out Barnabas and Saul as the first missionaries.  We see Lydia as a woman of prayer and a worshiper of God, gathering at a river to pray when Paul and his companions arrive. God used praying Lydia as a pillar of the church at Philippi.  Yes, brothers and sisters, they got it. Jesus encouraged them toward prayer and faith—they got it.

Before we apply this to our lives, let’s look at a few more examples. Martin Luther accepted Jesus’ call to pray in His name as well.  As E. M. Bounds shares a record from Melancthon’s correspondents about Martin Luther’s prayer life in Bounds’ book entitled, Purpose in Prayer, “Then not a day passes in which he does not fail to employ in prayer at least three of his very best hours.” Martin Luther gave three hours to prayer each day. We see other saints given over to prayer--saints who God used to impact the world and the church like John Wesley, George Mueller, Andrew Murray, David Brainerd and many others. These saints accepted Jesus’ call to prayer.

So, these saints were people of prayer. God used them to glorify His name and impact His kingdom in mighty ways. What about us? Do we accept Jesus’ call to prayer? I submit to you that Jesus’ is telling us today through His words to His disciples,

“Church, this is how you do ministry! This is how you be the church! This is how you impact the world for My glory! Please, listen! Please pray in My name! Pray, like I modeled prayer for you.” 

Brother and sister—fellow Christ follower, what are we going to do with this call to prayer? Too often we neglect it. No longer can this happen. We must pray. We must pray Bible-based, Spirit-led, kingdom-focused prayers to the Father in Jesus name. Yes, this is our calling. Let’s embrace it!

Let me ask you something. What if every follower of Christ prayed like Martin Luther and gave three of the best hours of their day in prayer? What would happen? I think the world would be transformed! Isn’t this the point? Isn’t our mission to share the gospel and make disciples on a global scale? Yes, it is. Yes, our gracious Father gave us prayer through His Son as the way to accomplish His purposes—let us accept Jesus’ call to pray.

Oh Father, compel us to pray like you compelled Martin Luther to engage for Your purposes. Compel us to pray like you compelled Paul to preach. Father, help us be intercessors according to Your plan, not ours. Glorify Your name. Accomplish Your purposes through Your power. May we engage in Your purposes through prayer like Jesus’ calls us to engage. 

Compelled to pray and desperate for God, Steve

The Essence of Prayer

Saints, 

First of all, let me be honest with you. I am not some special prayer-guy. I am somehow, fascinated with prayer. Guess what? I cannot take credit for that. How does anyone become more interested in prayer, or God’s Word, or making disciples, or witnessing about faith in Jesus Christ on a regular basis? Are people naturally bent toward these things? No, brothers and sisters, I believe somehow God draws us to these things. Sometimes we resist, don’t we. But, praise God—yes, praise God that He is faithful, even relentless in His pursuit of us, His stubborn creation. 

So, today I want to get to the heart of prayer. No, I do not claim to be a prayer scholar, but let’s look at prayer straight-on and try to boil it down. What exactly are we talking about when we talk about prayer? Let’s start with scriptures that point to prayer and then reduce it down with a definition of prayer.

As Christians, we should start with the fact that Jesus prayed. Jesus is the whole point. He is the beginning of it all. He will be the end of it all. Jesus covered the penalty of our sin. Jesus purchased a place for us in heaven. For the record, we cannot do anything about our sin—only Jesus can cover our sin. Let me add here that Jesus defines eternal life as knowing the one true God and Jesus Whom He sent (John 17:3). We believe His definition. Even though, it stands as concrete truth whether we believe it or not, doesn’t it. Jesus, as God has the right to define things. He has the right to re-define things. Jesus receives all glory and honor. Every tongue will confess Jesus as Lord. Every knee will bow. Jesus, as fully-God and fully-man, prayed. Sometimes I wonder about that. Did Jesus need to pray? He was fully God. He was constantly connected with the Father as God. Even so, He prayed. He prayed in the wilderness for 40 days before His ministry on earth began. He prayed all night before He chose His followers who became leaders of the church. So, our first point, then is, Jesus prayed.

Hebrews 5:7,

 “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.”

Luke 6:12-16,

^“12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. ¹³ When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: ¹⁴ Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, ¹⁵ Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, ¹⁶ Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.”

Also, please read John 17

Next, we see two passages that place a priority on prayer in the church, first, Luke’s guidance during a leadership crisis (Acts 6: 1-7), and then Paul’s guidance to Timothy (1 Timothy 2:1-6).

Acts 6:1-7,

 “¹ In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews^[a] among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. ² So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. ³ Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them ⁴ and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”

 ⁵ This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. ⁶ They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

 ⁷ So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.”

1 Timothy 2:1-6,

 “¹ I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— ² for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. ³ This is good, and pleases God our Savior, ⁴ who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. ⁵ For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶ who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time.”

Reviewing, we have Jesus’ example of prayer, then Luke’s and Paul’s (which are actually God’s) instructions for prayer. Now let’s look at the essence of prayer. What is at the root of prayer? What do we find as a common denominator in prayer in the Bible? This is a critical question. Actually, I believe this question and its answer have eternal consequences because our understanding of prayer and how we pray greatly affects our effectiveness for God. Let’s use Daniel Henderson’s definition of prayer to help us nail this down. By the way, Daniel Henderson is the Founder and President of Strategic Renewal, a ministry focused on igniting the heart of the church through personal renewal, congregational revival, and leadership restoration for the glory of Christ. Daniel describes prayer as, “Intimacy with God that leads to the fulfillment of His purposes, accomplished by His power, for His glory.” Daniel's definition comes straight out of the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6: 9-13) and is combined with Jesus’ prayer for us in John 17:20-23. I wholeheartedly agree.

May the church always remember this truth! Prayer is intimacy with God. The opposite is also true. Lack of prayer is a lack of intimacy with God. Without prayer, all we have is head-knowledge. It’s like a beautiful new Cadillac without gas. Let’s restate this, Prayer is declaring that God is worthy and we are needy. Think about this. Isn’t this exactly what Jesus says in John 15:5?

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

To illustrate, let’s look at this fictitious scenario. A church has the Word of God. They have a beautiful building. They have great preaching. They have great music. But, this particular church is lacking in prayer. As I see it, this is a picture of Revelation 3:20,

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”

Yes, brothers and sisters, this is a picture of a lukewarm church. Jesus is standing at the door of this church knocking, waiting to be invited in. Yes, invited in through prayer. Without prayer, we say to God, “We got this, Father; I can take it from here.” But, in prayer, we proclaim to the Father, “Oh God, we agree with Jesus’ words, we cannot do anything apart from Christ. Father, please move, please work, please pour out your Spirit, or nothing will happen here to glorify Your name!” 

The essence of prayer: God is worthy--we are needy. May our prayer-lives shout that we completely depend on God. May our prayer-lives shout that we desire intimacy with God—out of this flows ministry.

Let me suggest three practical ways to pray. First, pray by yourself. Schedule the time and cut away the distractions and pray, daily. Second, Pray with one or two others on a weekly basis. Again, you must schedule this or it won’t happen. Third, pray in a larger group every week. Wherever you are in your prayer-life, increase it!

Compelled to pray and desperate for God, Steve

Amazing Answer to Prayer

Saints,

Praise God! Our persecuted Iranian brother was granted political asylum today! This means he will be able to go to France and retrieve his wife and two daughters whom he has not seen in over 5 years. This is a great victory the heavenly Father has poured out. Babak is a blessing to us--God is using Babak's story to deepen, awaken, and revive the American church. Thank you, Father.

Thirty believers traveled to the Denver court from Colorado Springs this morning. Apparently, spontaneous prayer erupted for Babak as they all surrounded him when the judge left the room for a 5 minute recess after more than 2 hours of testimony. The attorneys and the translator seemed surprised at this spectacle--what an amazing testimony to God's love. Praise God for how Vista Grande Baptist Church allowed God to use them to minister to this dear brother. As I write this from a hotel in Florida, there is a rowdy celebration still going on back home in Colorado Springs. Praise God!

Continue to pray for Babak and his family. They now have to assimilate into yet another culture after adjusting to the French culture.

Please pray that they will deeply know God's love through Christ-followers here in America. May God use this family to glorify His name, may He use us to glorify His name.

More to come...

Prayer is the work!

Steve

Desperation--Seeing Others Like Christ Did

Saints, 

Daniel Henderson shared in his most recent devotional, “Until we become desperate, we seldom pray with passion and perseverance."

Today, let’s look at a passage in Scripture which describes Jesus seeing people. He sees their need. He feels compassion. He acts.

Before we begin, please let me say that we really must approach this subject today with honesty and humility. This is a hard subject because it can hurt a little (or a lot).  Basically, we will see how Jesus looks at people and then we will contrast that with how we look at people. We will see Jesus was driven by the father’s love to compassion. He saw the real need. He then was driven by the Father’s love to action, but not action as we might assume. He was driven to prayer and instructed us to pray. Yes, prayer. I am convinced now more than ever that PRAYER IS THE WORK! (I used caps because I am shouting). Brothers and sisters, prayer is the work. Simply put, prayer is what we need to do. Sometimes our mindset is, “We will do everything but prayer, or, “We will do everything else and then as a last resort, we will pray.” The battle is not in the physical realm. Even so, we forget this. We sometimes focus completely and only on the physical. When we focus only on the physical realm, we can miss God.

Jesus, please open our eyes to Your truth. May we be compelled to compassion, driven to prayer, and focused on Your kingdom.

Matthew 9:35-38

³⁵ Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. ³⁶ When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. ³⁸ Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Again, Jesus saw the crowds--He saw people. He had compassion. He saw the reality of the situation—the spiritual reality, the eternal reality. What did He apparently overlook?

Well, He did not see people who wore the wrong clothes. He did not see people who had tattoos. He did not see people who needed to adjust their demeanor so that He could love them. He did not see people with the wrong skin color or with a funny accent. No, He saw them.  He saw them as they were and loved them as they were. Here lies a problem for us. Sometimes we see tattoos. Sometimes we smell dirt. Sometimes we see the wrong kind of clothes. Sometimes we see skin color. Sometimes we allow a different accent to become a barrier. Brothers and sisters we must see like Jesus does.

Our purpose as a Christ-follower is not to help people change their dress or make sure they don’t get tattoos. No, our purpose is to love people right where they are, put our arms around them in their stench and filth, just like Jesus did and help them go where? We are to help them go toward Jesus. We help them to know the one and only true God and Jesus whom He sent (John 17:3). Sometimes we forget this. Sometimes we push them away—even away from church where they should be able to meet Jesus, because of clothing, or hygiene, or tattoos, or you fill in the blank.

Let me ask you something. If Jesus were to come to earth right now to visit, where would He be? Would He be in our churches? I think He would be where people needed Him. He would be with the hurting, diseased, drifting-through-life people, just like He was when He first visited the earth physically.

Okay, if this is true, why don’t we go to the same people that Jesus would go to? Instead we tend to flock to people just like us--people who make the same kind of money we do, people who look, smell, talk, and act like us, even people, who avoid the same kinds of sins like us. Sometimes this happens in our churches. I submit to you when we act this way in the church we are more like a country club than we are like the Bride of Christ—the true church. The church has a very clear mission: Make disciples and be Jesus’ witnesses locally and globally.

So, what did Jesus do with His compassion for these people? He acted. He called His disciples (and us) to pray to the Father for more workers. Please realize that if you pray this prayer as Jesus instructed with sincerity, you very likely will become one of those workers for which you are praying.

Brothers and sisters, we do not have time to focus on clothes and tattoos. People are deceived by the enemy. The battle is spiritual. We must pray and love them toward Christ, not push them away from Christ with rules—country club rules.

So, what does desperation have to do with this devotional? Desperation will come when we see the real battle raging around us. We must see like Jesus did. We must see the real spiritual battle all around us. We must know that prayer can make a difference. We must love people. We must believe God.  We must have desperation for God to move in hearts and minds—all to His glory, yes, desperation. I submit to you, that if we are not desperate, it is because we think we are doing okay and that we really don’t need God.

I know this can hurt—it hurt me. Please take this to the Father if it did hurt. 

Father, forgive us for what we have done with your church. Please cleanse us from anything that is not from You. Make us; even compel us to love like Jesus did. Help us to see like Jesus did. God, please show us to pray as Jesus instructed. We ask this in Jesus Holy name and for your kingdom, Amen.  
   

Compelled to pray and desperate for God, Steve
 

Are You Kneeling?

Saints,                                                                                               10 Aug 2010

Are you Kneeling?

I spent the last week at a conference designed to help me improve my chosen craft, which is trumpet playing. I’m sure you have been to a conference like this. You get “re-charged.” You learn some new things about your field of work. And hopefully you are inspired. I would have to say that yes all of this happened to me. But I wondered at the motivation to improve—what is driving me? What is driving the folks at this conference to want to improve? I am sure that some simply love music and want to be able to participate in musical experiences more fully. Some may love the limelight which performing music provides. Some may simply love the sound of a certain instrument like God’s favorite—the trumpet (one concordance shares that the word trumpet is found 61 times in the Bible). Some may crave a status or level of success in the eyes of an adoring public. Some may want to improve their ability to teach others to experience music more effectively. And some may desire that somehow through their craft, God is glorified.

I did meet someone at this conference who was absorbed with glorifying God through His music and his life. He grew up very poor in Northwestern China. Today, however, God has led him to study music in the States. He is pursuing a doctorate in music. This young man inspired me. His life was kneeling.

Here is my point for this week. I hope this encourages you to go deeper with your All-Mighty, Creator God, who loved you before the foundation of the world. I will share a word picture to help explain.  We all have a “throne room” in our hearts. And in this throne room is a throne, or a chair--a seat. What matters most in life is “Who or what is on your throne?” The Bible is clear that every tongue will confess and every knee will bow in admission that Jesus Christ is Lord. My friend, the question for us is what about right now? What or who is on your throne? Yourself? Your career? Your family? Your status? Your name? Maybe it is simply a thing like golfing or sports or radio control models. It was clear to me that my Chinese friend was kneeling at the throne in his heart because Jesus was seated on his throne. His life is not about him—his life is about Jesus.

I know this is very deep. I know it is probably much too deep for a weekly prayer devotional. Please know that I am writing to share with you a deep wrestling in my own heart. Am I completely surrendered to Jesus? Will I be/do anything He leads me to be/do at whatever the cost? At the heart of these questions is an issue for many of us—the issue of trusting God. Do we trust Him? Not do we believe he exists—scripture is clear about that. Even the demons believe he exists and shudder. No, the issue is much deeper. Do you know that you know that true satisfaction in this world’s life and the next, only comes from Jesus. When we believe this, we are willing to be/do whatever He desires—whatever the cost!

Friends, this is my struggle right now. Will I completely surrender? I want to surrender now more than any other time in my life. Maybe you have already been there, praise God. Maybe you are right there with me—struggling with surrender, praise God.

The Most High Creator God who spoke this world into existence, who sent His Son to fix us—to forgive our sins, transform our broken hearts, and purchase a place in heaven which we could never earn or deserve ourselves, is worthy of our kneeling before Him in the throne room of our own heart!

This means living for Him or allowing Him to live through us—not living for ourselves.

Yes, Jesus is Lord. But, is He Lord of you?

Father, please be glorified maximally in our lives. Lead us, we will follow.

Please work through the following verses and pray.

Philippians 2:9-11 (NIV)
⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Romans 3:23 (NIV)
²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 6:23 (NIV)
²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

James 2:19 (NIV)
¹⁹ You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder.

Hosea 6:3 (NASB)
³ "So let us know, let us press on to know the Lord. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; And He will come to us like the rain, Like the spring rain watering the earth."

Galatians 2:20 (NASB)
²⁰ "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Father, please be glorified maximally in our lives. Lead us, we will follow.

Compelled to pray and desperate for God, Steve

Why Are You Seeking God?

Saints,                                                                                                                            16 Aug 2010          

Most of you are familiar with Jeremiah 29:11-13. You may even have this passage of scripture on a plaque in your house—especially verse 11.

Jeremiah 29:11-13 (NASB)
¹¹ 'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.
¹² 'Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
¹³ 'You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

There is so much to talk about in these verses. Even so, let’s start with searching for God with all our hearts. Let’s go a little deeper today. Frequently, we find ourselves searching after God for a reason. We search after Him in order to find guidance or receive a blessing. Be honest. What I would suggest is that we go deeper. Let us search after God to reach the ultimate goal…His presence. We all know we have needs. We need God. We need His blessing. We need His provision. Yes, amen! And, brothers and sisters we need Him. We need His presence. Some of you may say, “Well that verse is Old Testament, and besides that was only written to the Israelites.” Alright, let’s look at the gospel of Mark then.

Mark 12:28-31 (NASB)
²⁸ One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, "What commandment is the foremost of all?"
²⁹ Jesus answered, "The foremost is, 'Hear, O Israel! the Lord our God is one Lord ;
³⁰ and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart , and with all your soul , and with all your mind, and with all your strength .'
³¹ "The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself .' There is no other commandment greater than these."

Jesus says love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength—then out of this love which will flow through us, we love our neighbor (everyone, anyone).

Jeremiah--search for God with all your heart. Jesus--love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. They are speaking the same language. God is to be our all. Let me add here—because we tend to have a little cultural baggage at this point—God blesses us to be a blessing. Our life direction is to be outward, toward others, not inward, toward self. Remember the focus of our life (the church) as a follower of Jesus is to make disciples and witness (Matthew 28:19-20. Acts 1:8). Today, we are talking bout how this action flows out of our intimacy with Christ. Or, how these activities flow out of us as God is our all.

The Heart Transformation Workbook by Keith and Karen Peterson has a wonderful section on this topic (p 59).

“It is critical to realize that blessings are not the objective. They are the fruit of intimacy with God. Blessings are who God is. We want to know God so well, be intimate with Him by knowing His thoughts, His emotions, and His desires and reflect them back to Him. We do not want to just know and obey His commands and discipline ourselves to live them. True intimacy with God reflects a man/woman “after God’s own heart.” My life becomes defined by wanting to please Him, and not to disappoint Him, and, thus, as my Father, He desires to bless me. Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God with everything we are—heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30). Pilgrimage is the journey of the heart to the sacred destination, His presence.”

I thank God for pastors. If you are a pastor, serving as God has called you—thank you! You have shouted boldly with your life choices, that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind. Thank you! May God fill you with a fresh dose of His Spirit to empower you to PRAY, love, serve, model, and preach/teach His word!

Our pastor, Bobby Holt preached yesterday on the “Three would-be Followers of Christ” from Luke 9: 57-62. Each of these three would-be followers had reservations or conditions on there commitment to follow Jesus. Please read that passage for your own review. The question we must answer today is. “Will we follow Jesus? No conditions. No reservations. Oh God, I cry out to You, Help me/us to say with all our hearts, “We will follow You, no matter what or where you lead. We will follow You no matter the cost!”

Father, be glorified in each of us. Be glorified in every faith family. Be glorified in our cities, our states, our nation, and in all the nations.

Compelled to pray and desperate for God, Steve

What Does the Word "Christian" Really Mean?

Saints, 

The meaning of a word is important. Take the meaning of the word Christian for example. What does this word mean? What does this word mean in the United States? What does it mean in the cultures of Belarus, Russia, North Korea, India, China, Pakistan, Uganda, Libya, or the Ivory Coast? What degrees of variation in meaning have been applied to this term throughout the last 2,000 years? There is a lot to discuss here, but I want to look at what this word meant to those that first used it. Christ-followers were first called Christians in Antioch.

What was happening in Antioch according Acts chapter 11?

Acts 11:19-26 (NASB)
¹⁹ So then those who were scattered because of the persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way to Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone.
²⁰ But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks also, preaching the Lord Jesus.
²¹ And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord.
²² The news about them reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas off to Antioch.
²³ Then when he arrived and witnessed the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord;
²⁴ for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And considerable numbers were brought to the Lord.
²⁵ And he left for Tarsus to look for Saul;
²⁶ and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

First of all, we find that the stoning of Stephen (Acts seven) caused the gospel to be spread—yes, suffering and persecution caused the church to scatter. After Stephen was stoned, it became apparent that followers of Christ could die for their faith. (This makes we wonder why we so often conclude today that God’s will would never include “suffering” for His followers—why do we think this?) As a consequence of this scattering, we find a church growing in Antioch. How did a large number of people turn to the Lord? Verse 21 explains that the “hand of the Lord was with them.” How did the church in Jerusalem respond when they heard God was moving in Antioch? They sent a great encourager, Barnabas. What does Barnabas do? When Barnabas saw the grace of God, He encouraged them with a resolute heart to remain true to the Lord.

Then we find Paul and Barnabas teaching the church in Antioch for a year, where the disciples were first called Christians.

So what do you think the term Christian meant back when they first used it? Let’s compare it to what it means in some circles today. Today, to some, it means someone who lives in the United States. It can also mean someone who attends church. It means a group of folks who seek out others like them to meet together. It means someone who studies the Bible. No, brothers and sisters, when these Antioch believers were first called Christians; it described those who were like Christ or those who followed after Christ, no matter the cost.

Dear brother and sister, this is one definition we must get right. Even so, this is one definition the enemy loves to redefine. So, today, I want to challenge us to check our thinking. Let’s make sure that our definition of Christian lines up with the Bible’s definition of Christian.

We only have time for a few points to discuss.

First, do you have a passion or love for God? And second, do you have a passion and love for people? And third, do these passions drive your life? These are not exhaustive, of course, but they are important.

Remember what Jesus said when the Scribe asked Him what was the most important command?

Mark 12:28-31 (NASB)
²⁸ One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, "What commandment is the foremost of all?"
²⁹ Jesus answered, "The foremost is, 'Hear, O Israel! the Lord our God is one Lord ;
³⁰ and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart , and with all your soul , and with all your mind, and with all your strength .'
³¹ "The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself .' There is no other commandment greater than these."

These are good questions to answer, because sometimes our mind does not connect with our heart. Friends, what is in our hearts drives our lives. We may think we truly love God and truly love people, but if we do not live like we do, then we do not truly love. Another way to say this is that we live what we truly believe, not just what we think we believe.

So, to help us think this through, let me offer a few thoughts. This means that if we truly love God and people, we will be ready to give our lives to be spent for the gospel. It means that we will pray. Yes, pray. Because if we love God and if we love people, we will be compelled to pray for their salvation—that they will know God for eternity. Why, you ask? We pray because we are utterly incapable to affect a person’s heart. Only God can do this. The more we pray—the more we rely on God. The less we pray—the more we rely on ourselves.

As I see it, if we truly love God and people, our driving passion will not be to seek and secure comfort or comfortable living. We will, however, offer the Father our lives to be spent as He determines.

Father, You know how we live. You know are hearts. Please convict us of any redefining we may be a part of, whether it is individual or corporate. Help us to truly worship you in Spirit and truth. Help us to be true Christians, like the very first so-called Christians in Antioch. Father, take our lives and spend our lives on Your purposes for Your glory! In Jesus name we pray, amen. 

Compelled to pray and desperate for God, Steve