DESERT DWELLING????

God Leads Us into the Desert
"Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil" (Matt 4:1).
There is a common teaching going around today that says if you do all the right things in your Christian life, you will be blessed and never experience problems in your life. This teaching is heresy. The Bible says that we will encounter many problems during this lifetime. Just read Peter's epistle.
Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. Why would God lead His Son into the desert to be tempted? Why would God lead you and me into the desert?
The desert is a place to learn something about ourselves. It is the place where we determine if we will truly live by every Word of God, not by bread alone. When Satan tempted Jesus in the desert, Jesus responded to every temptation by citing what the Word of God said about that temptation.
This is also the way you and I must respond to the temptations that are brought our way. We must have the Word of God written into our hearts in order to know how to respond to given situations. The Bible says, "the truth shall make you free." It is knowing and doing the will of God that allows us to live free from the temptation of evil.
The desert is often the place of silence. However, it is also a place where the devil will speak loudest because you are in a place of weakness and the comforts of your normal life are not to be found. It is a place where God is often silent but can also be a place where God speaks loudest. The word desert comes from the Hebrew word "dahbaar" which means "to speak."
If God has placed you in the desert, meditate on the Word of God so that you will withstand the temptation that comes in the desert place.
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 2, by Os Hillman
10-03-2009 Prime Time With God [cgimail@churchgrowth.org] website: www.churchgrowth.org

FOLLOW?

These days everywhere I turn I see "Follow" such as on Twitter, Facebook and many other hi-tech ways of staying in touch with several people all at once. I think it is a wonderful invention for our times.
Even, today when I got on my Facebook I noticed "Follow" ...meaning to sign up to follow a particular item. It made me think…who are we following? Our ultimate call is to look into the Scriptures where we can “follow” Christ Jesus every step, action and his every move. Now that would be a great addition to facebook.
Christ is the one that is our true friend…not just a person we’ve signed up with on facebook that may or may not really know us. He wants US to take the time to really know Him. Are you willing to sign up to “follow” Christ?
April 18, 2009....By Jo Gower

Jesus said "Beware...don't look down on children..."

I noticed in this reading Jesus said
“Beware that you don’t look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father"
Ohhhh...so we better take care and teach ALL the little Children. Even more than that maybe we have a lot to "learn" from children.
Here is the Scripture to read:

Matthew 18
The Greatest in the Kingdom

1 About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?”

2 Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. 3 Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. 4 So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.

5 “And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf[i] is welcoming me. 6 But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to have a large millstone tied around your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea.

7 “What sorrow awaits the world, because it tempts people to sin. Temptations are inevitable, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting. 8 So if your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one hand or one foot than to be thrown into eternal fire with both of your hands and feet. 9 And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.[j]

10 “Beware that you don’t look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father.[k]

Prime Time With God by Os Hillman - www.churchgrowth.org

Today's Prayer

God, as I reflect on Proverbs 23:12, "Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge," I'm trying to examine myself in light of that Scripture. Do I respond to you and your Word with my heart...or do I do what I do for you out of a sense of duty or obligation? I'm sorry for the times I have done good things only because someone needed to do it. I pray that I will always have the right attitude and the right motives. I pray that whatever service I give to you from this day forward will be out of love and as a result of my relationship with You. In Jesus' name. Amen.




Knowing and Doing God's Will
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 2, by Os Hillman
01-11-2009

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight (Prov. 3:5-6).
George Mueller was a pastor in England during the nineteenth century who knew what it meant to live a life that was focused on knowing and doing the will of God. God led him in a walk of faith that has become an incredible testimony to all who hear his story.
Whenever he lacked for something, he prayed for the resources. During his ministry in Bristol, England, George built four orphan houses that cared for 2,000 children at the time. When he died at the age of 93, over 10,000 children had been provided for through his orphanages, and he had distributed over eight million dollars that had been given to him in answer to prayer.
How did he know and do the will of God?
"I never remember a period that I ever sincerely and patiently sought to know the will of God by the teaching of the Holy Ghost, through the instrumentality of the Word of God, but I have been always directed rightly." Here is how George summed up the way he entered into a "heart" relationship with God and learned to discern God's voice:
1) "I seek at the beginning to get my heart into such a state that it has no will of its own in regard to a given matter.
2) Having done this, I do not leave the result to feeling or simple impression. If so, I make myself liable to great delusions.
3) I seek the will of the Spirit of God through, or in connection with, the Word of God. The Spirit and the Word must be combined.
4) Next, I take into account providential circumstances. These often plainly indicate God's will in connection with His Word and Spirit.
5) I ask God in prayer to reveal His will to me aright.
Thus, (1) through prayer to God, (2) the study of the Word, and (3) reflection, I come to a deliberate judgment according to the best of my ability and knowledge, and if my mind is thus at peace, and continues so after two or three more petitions, I proceed accordingly."*
Consider these five steps when discerning God's voice in your life.

http://realheroes.net/reformers/George_Mueller.html

*Henry Blackaby, Claude King, Experiencing God, Lifeway Press, Nashville, TN, p. 33,34
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When You Speak, God Hears

Those who pray keep alive the watch fires of faith. For the most part we don’t even know their names. Such is the case of someone who prayed on a day long ago. His name is not important. He is important not because of who he was, but because of what he did.
He went to Jesus on behalf of a friend. His friend was sick, and Jesus could help, and someone needed to go to Jesus, so someone went. Others cared for the sick man in other ways. Some brought food; others provided treatment; still others comforted the family. Each role was crucial. Each person was helpful, but no one was more vital than the one who went to Jesus.
John writes: “So Mary and Martha sent someone to tell Jesus, ‘Lord, the one you love is sick’” (John 11:3, emphasis mine).
Someone carried the request. Someone walked the trail. Someone went to Jesus on behalf of Lazarus. And because someone went, Jesus responded.
In the economy of heaven, the prayers of saints are a valued commodity. John the apostle would agree. He wrote the story of Lazarus and was careful to show the sequence: The healing began when the request was made.
The phrase the friend of Lazarus used is worth noting. When he told Jesus of the illness, he said, “The one you love is sick.” The power of the prayer, in other words, does not depend on the one who makes the prayer but on the one who hears the prayer.
We can and must repeat the phrase in manifold ways. “The one you love is tired, sad, hungry, lonely, fearful, depressed.” The words of the prayer vary, but the response never changes. The Savior hears the prayer. He silences heaven so he won’t miss a word. The Master heard the request. Jesus stopped whatever he was doing and took note of the man’s words. This anonymous courier was heard by God.
John’s message is critical. You can talk to God because God listens. Your voice matters in heaven. He takes you very seriously. When you enter his presence, the attendants turn to you to hear your voice. No need to fear that you will be ignored. Even if you stammer or stumble, even if what you have to say impresses no one, it impresses God—and he listens.
Intently. Carefully. The prayers are honored as precious jewels. Purified and empowered, the words rise in a delightful fragrance to our Lord. “The smoke from the incense went up from the angel’s hand to God” (Rev. 8:4). Incredible. Your words do not stop until they reach the very throne of God.
One call and heaven’s fleet appears. Your prayer on earth activates God’s power in heaven.
You are the someone of God’s kingdom. Your prayers move God to change the world. You may not understand the mystery of prayer. You don’t need to. But this much is clear: Actions in heaven begin when someone prays on earth. What an amazing thought!
When you speak, Jesus hears.
And when Jesus hears, the world is changed.
All because someone prayed.

by Max Lucado
From
For These Tough Times:
Reaching Toward Heaven for Hope and Healing
© (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006) Max Lucado

Our Grandson...

Wow, if we could all look at life like that!

Why Pray Now? or Where is God?

Where is God?

It is important to recognize that God dwells in a different realm. He occupies another dimension. “My thoughts are not like your thoughts. Your ways are not like my ways. Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts” (Isa. 55:8–9).
Make special note of the word like. God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, nor are they even like ours. We aren’t even in the same neighborhood. We’re thinking, Preserve the body; he’s thinking, Save the soul. We dream of a pay raise. He dreams of raising the dead. We avoid pain and seek peace. God uses pain to bring peace. “I’m going to live before I die,” we resolve. “Die so you can live,” he instructs. We love what rusts. He loves what endures. We rejoice at our successes. He rejoices at our confessions.
Our thoughts are not like God’s thoughts. Our ways are not like his ways. He has a different agenda. He dwells in a different dimension. He lives on another plane.
What controls you doesn’t control him. What troubles you doesn’t trouble him. What fatigues you doesn’t fatigue him. Is an eagle disturbed by traffic? No, he rises above it. Is the whale perturbed by a hurricane? Of course not; he plunges beneath it. Is the lion flustered by the mouse standing directly in his way? No, he steps over it.
How much more is God able to soar above, plunge beneath, and step over the troubles of the earth! “What is impossible with man is possible with God” (see Matt. 19:26). Our questions betray our lack of understanding:
How can God be everywhere at one time? (Who says God is bound by a body?)
How can God hear all the prayers that come to him? (Perhaps his ears are different from yours.)
How can God be the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit? (Could it be that heaven has a different set of physics than earth?)
How vital that we pray, armed with the knowledge that God is in heaven. Pray with any lesser conviction, and our prayers are timid, shallow, and hollow. Look up and see what God has done, and watch how your prayers are energized.
This knowledge gives us confidence as we face the uncertain future. We know that he is in control of the universe, and so we can rest secure. But important also is the knowledge that this God in heaven has chosen to bend near toward earth to see our sorrow and hear our prayers. He is not so far above us that he is not touched by our tears.
Though we may not be able to see his purpose or his plan, the Lord of heaven is on his throne and in firm control of the universe and our lives. So we entrust him with our future. We entrust him with our very lives.

by Max Lucado
From
For These Tough Times:
Reaching Toward Heaven for Hope and Healing
© (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006) Max Lucado
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LAWS of the Lighthouse
• Love God more than you fear hell.
• Once a week, let a child take you on a
walk.
• Make major decisions in a cemetery.
• When no one is watching, live as if
someone is.
• Succeed at home first.
• Don’t spend tomorrow’s money today.
• Pray twice as much as you fret.
• Listen twice as much as you speak.
• Only harbor a grudge when God does.
• Never outgrow your love of sunsets.
• Treat people like angels; you will meet
some and help make some.
• ‘Tis wiser to err on the side of generosity
than on the side of scrutiny.
• God has forgiven you; you’d be wise to
do the same.
• When you can’t trace God’s hand, trust
his heart.
• Toot your own horn and the notes will be
flat.
• Don’t feel guilty for God’s goodness.
• The book of life is lived in chapters, so
know your page number.
• Never let the important be the victim of
the trivial.
• Live your liturgy.
To sum it all up:
Approach life like a
voyage on a schooner. Enjoy the view. Explore the vessel. Make friends with the captain.
Fish a little. And then get off when you get home.
From
In the Eye
of the Storm
Copyright 1991 Max Lucado