While recently breaking down Nehemiah 9 it occurred to me that the time we spend in worship is a fraction of time compared to the way they used to worship. In Nehemiahs day the people spent 1/4 of their day reading Gods word. Embarrassingly that sounds like an impossible amount of time. Then, they spent another 1/4 of their day confessing their sin and worshipping. I sometimes wonder why God seemed to have more encounters with people back in the day than he does in today's world. Well, a big part of it may be that they wanted to see Him more. Clearly the people back then had a greater devotion to our Lord. So, the next time you think Gods too busy to talk just take some time out to call on Him. He might not answer if we don't call. This relationship that is Christianity is a two way street. Thanks for reading
-Adam
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
ARE YOU THIRSTY?
"As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God, My soul thirsts for God, for the living God." - Psalm 42:1-2
Do you pant for God? Are you desperately seeking the living God? Every year in the African serengeti over two million animals migrate hundreds of miles in a desperate pursuit for flowing water. Hundreds of thousands of them don't even survive the journey because dehydration and exhaustion. Can you imagine how awesome it must feel for the ones who do make it? You walk through that last dry, dusty field and over that last hill of rocks and at last you've made it! There it is, finally, fresh water flowing in abundance ready and willing to quench that desperate thirst! I imagine these animals are ecstatic and want to look at that water and shout out as loud as they can, "I'm so glad to finally see you!"
Well, this should be the way in which we thirst for God. So again my question: Is your soul panting out of a desperate thirst for God? What will you say when you finally meet your Maker? Do you see yourself shouting out praise in overwhelming gratitude and dancing on your way to the KIng or is that picture just seem silly and awkward to you? Think about it and be honest with yourself. Oh, how incredibly boring my worship can be from time to time. Oh, how easily I take the grace of God for granted. I want to be at a place in my relationship with Christ where I'm more excited to worship Him than to watch the Super Bowl. I want to cheer louder for Jesus than for touchdowns. It may be easy to laugh at that comment, but I'm serious. It's embarrassing how nonchalant I can be when worshipping my Savior. No more getting a quick drink at puddles here and there. It's time to desperately seek out the Living Water.
Praise the name of Jesus Christ our Savior,
- Terry
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
I'm gunna let it shine....
What's up fellas? My bad missin my day the last few times, but I'll crank it up from now on. So, today I had a meeting with a friend of mine from growing up. Actually he was a coach and one of my mentors since I can remember being alive. The reason for the meeting was he had some questions about my Christian walk. He approached me and wanted to know all about what I have learned, and what changed in me over the last ten years. A great conversation struck up from that and he agreed to rededicate his life to our Living God. I was excited but it also got me thinking. Two things instantly shot into my head. 1.... Ten years ago I was clearly not portraying Christ in my every day life...and...2. He could see a difference in me now. The reason I'm bringing this up is that we all have pasts, and we can't get past that. But, what are we doing right now that can reflect God's greatness. Let me rephrase that.... what are we letting God do in us that reflect His glory. Our God's light shines so bright that if we truly have Him in our heart His rays will come shooting out of us in all directions. My challenge is for us to live our lives shamelessly in pursuit of our one true God so that everyone we know now and will know in the future will know exactly why we live the way we do. AND.... Who we live it for. God Bless y'all.... we can be fishers of men....
adam
adam
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
Gossip
I had no clue what to write today but as I started glancing through some notes I saw "talking about others..." Just writing that out makes me feel shamed and guilty. Spring training is one month away and have I really addressed this sin in my life? BP, clubhouse, weight room, plane rides, dinner, and the bullpen gives me ample time to talk about someone or jump in on a convo about a guy that bugs me. Why do I do that? Looking at it now it's probably for two reasons: To try to be funny and blend in, and because I'm either jealous or insecure of that guy.
Adam, you know exactly what I'm talking about. You have watched me do it one someone we both know for two years in STL. The craziest thing is that I do like that guy, but I guess I'm just jealous of him. That's just pure "haterade" at it's finest and it's embarrassing! I had the audacity to clown on him behind his back then go talk to him like it was nothing. Makes me sick bro, really does. That's not what a man of God does. No way!!! Praise be to God that he revealed something to me this morning... This was not planned.
Plan of action today and moving forward...
1.You hear gossip in a group, bite your tongue and try to get off that topic.
2.Remember God's word applies to EVERYTHING. Loving your neighbor, gossip, slow to speak, murder (anger). SO READ IT, STUDY IT, LIVE IT.
Pray for your boy.
Blake
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
The Just Shall Live by Faith
What's shakin, crew. Hope everybody has settled back into a routine after the FFF (forced family fun) that is the holidays.
Today I wanted to get into the story of Abel a little bit and how he was the first to have faith. He is mentioned in Genesis obviously, but also in Hebrews Chapter 11 (this chapter hypes up all the bible heavy hitters) God says in verse 4 "By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead". A perfect example of that last line is this post here. Even though he is dead, Abels faith still speaks to us and rings true.
The way I want to take this has to do with our little GA bible study that we have been trying to kick off here. Terry was going over a presentation he was going to do and brought up the message of faith vs works. His example was in the Old Testament when a group of people basically said to God, "hey, we've been keeping the Sabbath and making sacrifices at the altar and doing the 10 commandments. We need some wealth and happiness rained down on us". Terry summed up God's answer as, I don't care that you are doing everything that I told you to do. Your heart is not in it. You are doing these things for the wrong reasons which makes them worthless. (Terry, please clarify this story in a reply. I just hit the highs).
To bring this back to Abel and the Hebrew verse, God says "Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did". Now, we all know the evil in Cain and how he was the first murderer but we can assume for a long while both were doing everything that God commanded of them. Cain was tilling the fields and doing hard work. He was working and sacrificing and doing as God commanded for awhile, but where was his heart? Abel had it the right way. Remember, Adam and Eve saw first hand, in the Garden, the glory of God. They literally walked and talked with God in the cool of the day. 2 Corinthians 5 talks about how we walk by faith and not by sight. This simply was not true for Adam and Eve. They GOT to walk by sight. Abel was born outside of Eden, yet he had this incredible faith. That is why he is thought of as primitive faith. He was the first person on earth to have faith without seeing. What an amazing label to have.
This lesson just reminds me of the Mormons or Jews or any other religion that weighs heavily on works and the results of those actions. Our good deeds are not what is weighed and judged at the end of the day (or End of Days) it is your heart. How many times did David royally screw things up in his life? Yet, he was a man after Gods own heart. Just like the post on the subject of money last week, its another heart issue. Everything is pretty simplified when you sit down and go over a few things. As Andy Stanley (our preacher) says "gotta read the bible". Sounds dumb to say that, but how many people actually read the bible? Very few in terms of people of the world.
ONE
Ty
Today I wanted to get into the story of Abel a little bit and how he was the first to have faith. He is mentioned in Genesis obviously, but also in Hebrews Chapter 11 (this chapter hypes up all the bible heavy hitters) God says in verse 4 "By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead". A perfect example of that last line is this post here. Even though he is dead, Abels faith still speaks to us and rings true.
The way I want to take this has to do with our little GA bible study that we have been trying to kick off here. Terry was going over a presentation he was going to do and brought up the message of faith vs works. His example was in the Old Testament when a group of people basically said to God, "hey, we've been keeping the Sabbath and making sacrifices at the altar and doing the 10 commandments. We need some wealth and happiness rained down on us". Terry summed up God's answer as, I don't care that you are doing everything that I told you to do. Your heart is not in it. You are doing these things for the wrong reasons which makes them worthless. (Terry, please clarify this story in a reply. I just hit the highs).
To bring this back to Abel and the Hebrew verse, God says "Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did". Now, we all know the evil in Cain and how he was the first murderer but we can assume for a long while both were doing everything that God commanded of them. Cain was tilling the fields and doing hard work. He was working and sacrificing and doing as God commanded for awhile, but where was his heart? Abel had it the right way. Remember, Adam and Eve saw first hand, in the Garden, the glory of God. They literally walked and talked with God in the cool of the day. 2 Corinthians 5 talks about how we walk by faith and not by sight. This simply was not true for Adam and Eve. They GOT to walk by sight. Abel was born outside of Eden, yet he had this incredible faith. That is why he is thought of as primitive faith. He was the first person on earth to have faith without seeing. What an amazing label to have.
This lesson just reminds me of the Mormons or Jews or any other religion that weighs heavily on works and the results of those actions. Our good deeds are not what is weighed and judged at the end of the day (or End of Days) it is your heart. How many times did David royally screw things up in his life? Yet, he was a man after Gods own heart. Just like the post on the subject of money last week, its another heart issue. Everything is pretty simplified when you sit down and go over a few things. As Andy Stanley (our preacher) says "gotta read the bible". Sounds dumb to say that, but how many people actually read the bible? Very few in terms of people of the world.
ONE
Ty
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Crucified With Christ
Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
Jesus paid the ransom for many, we know that or at least have heard that before hence John 3:16. The beginning of the Galatian verse tees up a question, "what does being crucified with Christ mean"? Stay with the verse and we see Paul say that he no longer lives in the body but it is Christ in him and Paul's effort here is simply faith. However, faith is never that simple, especially in this world with credit and pending bills that need to get paid, diseases, relationship strains, job happenings, etc... The faith component of this scripture can be explained by the topic or conversation of faith muscle. What or how do you build it? I believe that has been addressed on this blog before so you can check the archives for that. What I feel led to discuss today is the living in the body verse not living in the body.
To live in the body is to see things through one lens, your own. This view is limiting and can be selfish (most often is).
To live outside the body is to see things through multiple perspectives. Often we can equate this to watching a movie where multiple characters are being developed. However to take it higher or further is to see things through God's perspective which is like watching a parade from the Goodyear blimp except you see the start, finish, and all the actions in between all at the same time because you operate outside of time. Oh what an advantage it is to be God!
I mentioned these to drive home the fact that our goal is to have faith in the process even though we can't see the end, we can trust that the end will be good for us (not always what we want but it's always best). During the process if we truly have faith then the old man (how we used to be) will no longer be throwing his temper tantrums and it will be the new man who will exude Christ-like reactions that will bring glory to His name. How many times have you marveled over somebodies Christ-like reaction (ex: Colt McCoy in last years championship game)? The goal is for us to have people in our lives see more of Jesus in us and less of our old selves. That is when we truly are becoming a contagious Christian. For 2011 let's push to crucify more of that old man and embrace more Jesus.
Jesus paid the ransom for many, we know that or at least have heard that before hence John 3:16. The beginning of the Galatian verse tees up a question, "what does being crucified with Christ mean"? Stay with the verse and we see Paul say that he no longer lives in the body but it is Christ in him and Paul's effort here is simply faith. However, faith is never that simple, especially in this world with credit and pending bills that need to get paid, diseases, relationship strains, job happenings, etc... The faith component of this scripture can be explained by the topic or conversation of faith muscle. What or how do you build it? I believe that has been addressed on this blog before so you can check the archives for that. What I feel led to discuss today is the living in the body verse not living in the body.
To live in the body is to see things through one lens, your own. This view is limiting and can be selfish (most often is).
To live outside the body is to see things through multiple perspectives. Often we can equate this to watching a movie where multiple characters are being developed. However to take it higher or further is to see things through God's perspective which is like watching a parade from the Goodyear blimp except you see the start, finish, and all the actions in between all at the same time because you operate outside of time. Oh what an advantage it is to be God!
I mentioned these to drive home the fact that our goal is to have faith in the process even though we can't see the end, we can trust that the end will be good for us (not always what we want but it's always best). During the process if we truly have faith then the old man (how we used to be) will no longer be throwing his temper tantrums and it will be the new man who will exude Christ-like reactions that will bring glory to His name. How many times have you marveled over somebodies Christ-like reaction (ex: Colt McCoy in last years championship game)? The goal is for us to have people in our lives see more of Jesus in us and less of our old selves. That is when we truly are becoming a contagious Christian. For 2011 let's push to crucify more of that old man and embrace more Jesus.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Timing, Prayer, Moses.
whats up.
Today I wanted to talk about timing and how way off we always seem to be. Nobody like to be reminded of God's perfect timing when they are smack in the middle of waiting for it take place on a halo bomb. In our day and age, newspapers are becoming obsolete because they can't get our information to us fast enough. Wait a whole day to find out the Knicks score?? NO chance, get me my iPad, now.
The best example of patience and prayer is, of course, Moses in the desert for 40 years. 40 years of people doubting him, and wandering around a desert. I can't imagine sitting in my own cushy life and waiting on a prayer to hit for 40 years. Another good example is Daniel in chapter 10. He kept praying for the understanding to a complex vision. He prayed and fasted and meditated, got dust. God sent the messenger right away to answer his prayer, but Satan delayed the messenger and God had to bring in the Mo Rivera angel aka Michael to help the message get to Daniel.
I like the aspects of the Daniel example. Maybe we pray for something and God is planning on getting it taken care of right away, but then the Devil gets in the way. Maybe we let that trace of doubt creep in our head about how the prayer won't really help or this takes forever, and the Devil uses that as momentum to delay it long enough for us to give up on it and miss the message.
I guess, my point here is I believe that waiting on God's timing is going to be a growing challenge for us. With our society getting faster and faster, the virtue of patience on God's timing is going to sneak up your list needs pretty quick. Just a reminder to keep this at the top of your minds and hoooooooooooooooooooooooold on to those prayers.
On a positive note, some of you might have been praying for me since I missed my day to post. Then you woke up this morning and see that I rolled out of bed and got it done! yes, it was technically late, but we got it. Thanks for the prayers
ONE
Ty
Today I wanted to talk about timing and how way off we always seem to be. Nobody like to be reminded of God's perfect timing when they are smack in the middle of waiting for it take place on a halo bomb. In our day and age, newspapers are becoming obsolete because they can't get our information to us fast enough. Wait a whole day to find out the Knicks score?? NO chance, get me my iPad, now.
The best example of patience and prayer is, of course, Moses in the desert for 40 years. 40 years of people doubting him, and wandering around a desert. I can't imagine sitting in my own cushy life and waiting on a prayer to hit for 40 years. Another good example is Daniel in chapter 10. He kept praying for the understanding to a complex vision. He prayed and fasted and meditated, got dust. God sent the messenger right away to answer his prayer, but Satan delayed the messenger and God had to bring in the Mo Rivera angel aka Michael to help the message get to Daniel.
I like the aspects of the Daniel example. Maybe we pray for something and God is planning on getting it taken care of right away, but then the Devil gets in the way. Maybe we let that trace of doubt creep in our head about how the prayer won't really help or this takes forever, and the Devil uses that as momentum to delay it long enough for us to give up on it and miss the message.
I guess, my point here is I believe that waiting on God's timing is going to be a growing challenge for us. With our society getting faster and faster, the virtue of patience on God's timing is going to sneak up your list needs pretty quick. Just a reminder to keep this at the top of your minds and hoooooooooooooooooooooooold on to those prayers.
On a positive note, some of you might have been praying for me since I missed my day to post. Then you woke up this morning and see that I rolled out of bed and got it done! yes, it was technically late, but we got it. Thanks for the prayers
ONE
Ty
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Money and Worry
Gents,
hope everyone is enjoying bowl season. Boise State looks flat so far... anyways lets get going.
before we reorganized here, I replied to Jules on an email and had some things sitting on my chest like an elephant. Biggest topic was money, and how it was occupying my mind. To sum up for those who have missed it, I was just saying how the main things on my brain have been "get money, then get more money". All of this felt from the pressure of a new addition to our family and busting out of our house at the seams. We just had our second daughter, Harper, and actually she is a really good baby. Only problem is the manly desire I have to provide or make things better for my family.
We have been over the money issue before, but it always comes back up as a problem in my life. It is mentioned over and over in the bible as something to be mindful of. I have been in talks with Nolan on this and his point is a good one. It is a HEART issue as well as a money issue (Nolan, feel free to elaborate on a reply). Your heart is in the wrong direction when money is at the top of your list. And, I agree with that for the most part. I have another direction that weighs on me with the issue of money and that is WORRY.
I told Terry this conversation that I was having with a friend of ours, who actually got me my first real job in sales after pro ball. This guy has done very well in sales and is making tons of money. He is also working late every night and stressed out Boiler Room styles. Anyways, I was talking to this friend at lunch the other week, and I was going on and on about how I want a promotion. I deserve it! Im sick of this! I need more money! I got a 13 yr old car, my house is to small. I want out of this ghetto neighborhood, blah blah blah. His reply to this was very helpful. it is an old lesson, but it bears repeating. He simply said, "well, I have a huge house. I have two brand new cars, very high paying job and I hate my life" Folks, the grass is always always always greener.
So, to bring us home on the Worry factor of money. I am always worried about bills and cars breaking down and house payments and Christmas presents being good enough. Does this convo sound familiar ("Well, we spent $50 on your mom and only $45 on my mom, we are going to have to go find something else for my mom". haha what a joke). I like these verses from Matthew about worry and how useless it is:
Matthew 6:25- Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink or about y our body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the b ody more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air: they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
-little PETA slam there as well. Humans ARE more important than birds, go figure
We all see the point here with this verse. Stop worrying, it helps nothing and changes nothing. Be proactive, get out and make your own worry disappear with work. The birds dont have barns and yet God still provides them with food everyday, but they have to work for it.
ONE
Ty
hope everyone is enjoying bowl season. Boise State looks flat so far... anyways lets get going.
before we reorganized here, I replied to Jules on an email and had some things sitting on my chest like an elephant. Biggest topic was money, and how it was occupying my mind. To sum up for those who have missed it, I was just saying how the main things on my brain have been "get money, then get more money". All of this felt from the pressure of a new addition to our family and busting out of our house at the seams. We just had our second daughter, Harper, and actually she is a really good baby. Only problem is the manly desire I have to provide or make things better for my family.
We have been over the money issue before, but it always comes back up as a problem in my life. It is mentioned over and over in the bible as something to be mindful of. I have been in talks with Nolan on this and his point is a good one. It is a HEART issue as well as a money issue (Nolan, feel free to elaborate on a reply). Your heart is in the wrong direction when money is at the top of your list. And, I agree with that for the most part. I have another direction that weighs on me with the issue of money and that is WORRY.
I told Terry this conversation that I was having with a friend of ours, who actually got me my first real job in sales after pro ball. This guy has done very well in sales and is making tons of money. He is also working late every night and stressed out Boiler Room styles. Anyways, I was talking to this friend at lunch the other week, and I was going on and on about how I want a promotion. I deserve it! Im sick of this! I need more money! I got a 13 yr old car, my house is to small. I want out of this ghetto neighborhood, blah blah blah. His reply to this was very helpful. it is an old lesson, but it bears repeating. He simply said, "well, I have a huge house. I have two brand new cars, very high paying job and I hate my life" Folks, the grass is always always always greener.
So, to bring us home on the Worry factor of money. I am always worried about bills and cars breaking down and house payments and Christmas presents being good enough. Does this convo sound familiar ("Well, we spent $50 on your mom and only $45 on my mom, we are going to have to go find something else for my mom". haha what a joke). I like these verses from Matthew about worry and how useless it is:
Matthew 6:25- Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink or about y our body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the b ody more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air: they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
-little PETA slam there as well. Humans ARE more important than birds, go figure
We all see the point here with this verse. Stop worrying, it helps nothing and changes nothing. Be proactive, get out and make your own worry disappear with work. The birds dont have barns and yet God still provides them with food everyday, but they have to work for it.
ONE
Ty
Theology topic
I'm in the middle of a text exchange with a Jehovah's witness. He just threw at me I don't celebrate Christmas because in scripture it doesn't say Christ was born on Dec. 25th? Thoughts?
December Points To Jesus
My pastor last Sunday spoke on the birth of Christ and how it is another revelation that points us to the Savior and our need to be redeemed. It hit me really hard and brought me back to a familiar place where I thought about all the non-believers and the people who claim Christian just because it sounds sophisticated. My heart is broken for them and I wanted to spend this time to remind us all that we need to pray for them with a diligent pursuit. I really believe that is the worst place a person can be in, being that of ignorance (not knowing they need a savior because they don't feel lost). For by all of God's revelations we (all of us) will be without an excuse as to why we didn't believe in him and accept His truth.
Romans 1:20 "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead so they are without excuse."
As much as there is a need to pray for the nonbelievers there also is a need for us to press in so we will have the foundation and faith muscle to stand firm in the face of the enemies attacks. Let's all take a minute and throw up a prayer for the group, the non believers, and ourselves.
Romans 1:20 "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead so they are without excuse."
As much as there is a need to pray for the nonbelievers there also is a need for us to press in so we will have the foundation and faith muscle to stand firm in the face of the enemies attacks. Let's all take a minute and throw up a prayer for the group, the non believers, and ourselves.
Monday, December 20, 2010
A Sheath With No Sword
I wanted to let you guys in on something I started almost 2 weeks ago. I had a conversation with a friend of mine where we were talking about life, the bible, etc. and at one point of the conversation I wanted to make a point using a specific quote from scripture to validate what I was trying to say. Unfortunately, I couldn’t quote the scripture and to make it worse, I didn’t even know what book of the Bible it was in…I just “knew” it was in the Bible somewhere. I left that conversation very frustrated with myself. So I began to think about the whole thing and play it back in my head and tried to think of all the scriptures that I knew by memory. The list of memorized verses was frighteningly short. At the next moment, by God’s providence, I began to recall everything that I knew, basically, by heart. I was very convicted by what I knew by heart in comparison to what I didn’t know. I could recall whole movies (Dumb and Dumber, Anchorman, etc.), whole songs (most of these should remain nameless), complete MLB lineups (past and present), and telephone numbers from my childhood, but no scripture!!
Here’s where God really grabbed my attention…The few verses I did know were all rooted in MY benefit. I knew what the Bible had to say when it came to MY salvation, but knew almost nothing outside of things that “pertained to ME’. Why do I care so much about MY salvation and don’t really pay much attention to the other parts of scripture?? It’s because I’m self-centered at the core and more concerned with ME rather than God and HIS glory. How hypocritical it is to say I love the God of my salvation, but not really care about what He’s said about Himself or any other part of scripture enough to know some of it by heart?? I know that “all scripture is God breathed and profitable…”, So I’m not knocking on the verses that I and many of you know, but we miss so much when all we know is John 3:16 and a verse or two out of Philippians.
How are we supposed to “meditate on His law day and night…” unless it’s known by heart?? There are lots of times where I don’t have my Bible handy. How am I supposed to fend off the devil with out a sword to fight with?? Satan is millions of times more powerful than we are…our only hope is when God’s word abides in us.
So what I have started is nothing fancy…I’ve simply started trying to memorize scripture. I started with Psalm 1 and 51…and for the first time in my life I have meditated on God’s word using memorized scripture. It is AMAZING the difference!! For those of you who do this already you understand…for those of you who don’t, TRY IT. God really does something supernatural through this…I can’t explain it. All I do is pray and seek God’s help with the memory and pray that He would help me delight in it’s truths…
So it’s my prayer that those of you who aren’t doing this that you would give it a shot…and for those who already do it, be encouraged!! Let’s be a people who craves knowing and understanding scripture…
- Nolan Gottlieb
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Prayer Agenda
"And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your father knows what you need before you ask him." Matthew 6:7-8 ESV
I find myself often feeling guilty about my prayer time. So at times I'll rush up some prayers and find myself after it feeling even worse. I guess I just get lazy, and that's convicting to even admit because when we pray God is right there. He doesn't sit prayers out! He already knows my needs so why am I so pressed to tell him right away? I gotta line up prayers with God's word. From finances to sex, what doesn't the Bible tell us!? It blows my mind how true and relevant it is. So here we go:
1. Confess Sins (pour it out)
2. Holy Spirit takes over (can't happen without #1... get the flesh to shut up)
3. Petitions of Praise
-what God has done for me, and others
-remind him to remind yourself all he's done for you (so many blessings we take for granite)
4. Petition of Needs
-your last! Matt 6:7
Let's try to hold each other accountable on our prayer life. Prayer Warriors!!! Let's take it serious and "pray so much we need some knee pads." - Andre 3000
Monday, November 1, 2010
E-Outreach
Spiritual Maturity
"For you know when your faith is being tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing." -James 1:3-4
I just recently finished a commentary on the book of James. It was an easy read and was very informative to me and a good buddy of mine. The main theme throughout the book was maturity. Whether it be in relationships, prayer, trials, or the general church itself, James is a great "how to" guide in becoming spiritually mature. Good thing I read it because I have a long way to go!!! Praise God for that!!! I want to keep this email short today and hit you guys with 12 questions that the author asks you in the last chapter... Try and take some time to really think about each one.
1) Am I becoming more and more patient in the testings of life?
2) Do I play with temptation or resist it from the start?
3) Do I find joy in obeying the Word of God, or do I merely study it and learn it?
4) Are there any prejudices that shackle me?
5) Am I able to control my tongue?
6) Am I a peacemaker rather than a troublemaker? Do people come to me for spiritual wisdom?
7) Am i a friend of God or a friend of the world?
8) Do I make plans without considering the will of God?
9) Am I selfish when it comes to money? Am I unfaithful in paying my bills?
10) Do I naturally depend on prayer when I find myself in some kind of trouble?
11) Am I the kind of person others seek for prayer support?
12) What is my attitude toward the wandering brother? Do I criticize and gossip, or do I seek to restore him in love?
Pretty strong questions, and some pretty strong No's getting checked on my end. Thanks for your time.
Be Blessed,
Blake Hawksworth
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)