Tag Archives: Church

He works all things together for good…

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I want to share something with you friends…a real life example of Gods provision, His answer to prayer and how He truly does work all things together for good. 

My church has an outreach program called Second Saturdays. The second Saturday of every month, the church sends a group that has signed up (usually about 250-450 people) to help out and serve the local community in various ways. Last month our group served the Phoenix Rescue Mission by cleaning and  painting a new kitchen space that would be used for in house job training for the women’s facility to train the ladies on a skill that could be used to find employment, we also did deep cleaning of their main kitchen and cafeteria as well as packing 1,000 lunches for the homeless downtown and making gift bags for the staff and residents of the mission. I had a great timing serving at the mission that day, fellowshiping with the residents and fellow volunteers and being the hands and feet of Jesus! Today at church, I found out the rest of the story and how God had even greater plans for what we were doing there that day. 

The 1,000 lunches that were packed were supposed to be picked up by someone that day and distributed downtown Phoenix but the man that was supposed to come pick them up never showed up. The outreach pastor from our church was sitting with a van loaded with 1,000 packed hotdog lunches and now had no idea what he was going to do with them. As he sat in that van, he asked the Holy Spirit what he should do and was guided a few blocks away where he came across a team of people in matching t-shirts from another church that were downtown sharing the good news of Jesus with the homeless. You see, this group had been praying for food that morning so they could feed the people that they were trying to share the gospel with. Praise God!! I mean come on people…Praise God!!! He is so great and is always faithful!! What the enemy means for bad, He always turns around and works every little detail out for good. 

Thank you Father for Your constant  provision and your faithful answer to prayer. 

Romans 8:28 “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose”

Chasing after God…

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“There is much more of God available then we have ever known or imagined, but we have become so satisfied with where we are and what we have that we don’t press in for God’s best. Yes, God is moving among us and working in our lives, but we have been content to comb the carpet for crumbs as opposed to having the abundant loaves of hot bread God has prepared for us in the ovens of heaven! He has prepared a great table of His presence in this day, and He is calling to the Church, “Come and dine.”                 -Tommy Tenney 

Are you satisfied where you are with life? Friends, He wants so much more for us! We have access to our Heavenly Father’s full abundance through Christ…are you seeking it? Are you content with your life and your relationship with the Lord? We should never be satisfied or comfortable…we must always be chasers of God seeking new instruction for our lives through the Holy Spirit. 

God wants us to want Him. He wants us to know Him and seek Him in all things. Pressing in to God’s best starts with pressing into the truths spoken in His Word and through sincere prayer. Open your Bibles…speak to Him…continue the chase…be blessed. 

Deuteronomy 4:29 “But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

Let’s get personal…

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This is a topic that has been on my heart for a long time and I have been waiting on the Lord to give me the words, but now is the time.

I’m very saddened that there are people that are being deceived by the enemy in thinking that they are right with God, when really they are not.

Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord”, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?” And then will I declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.”

“I never knew you”…let’s reflect on this for a moment. Jesus is saying you did all these works but at the end of the day, I still didn’t have a relationship with you…I never KNEW you. How do you honestly know someone if you don’t have a first hand relationship with them?? All the works, good deeds, rituals, ceremonies and everything else still does not equal a first hand relationship with someone.  The people Jesus is referring to do not have a real relationship with Him, all they have is an empty religion.

Religion cannot take the place of relationship. We are able to have an actual personal relationship with God through His Son Jesus. Jesus bridged the gap between our Holy God and us sinners. The only way for us to know God and for God to know us is by having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Believing in God, going to church every Sunday, and reading the Bible is not enough to secure your eternal rest in Heaven with the Father. The ONLY way to spend eternity with God the Father, is to accept, follow and have a personal relationship with His Son Jesus. In John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

I have a personal relationship with Jesus. I not only have faith in Him as my Savior, but I trust Him with every aspect of my life.  I love Him, I tell Him about my good days and my bad days, I ask for His help, I laugh with Him and I cry with Him. BUT…a relationship cannot be one sided. Here’s the really amazing part… even though I can’t see Him, He makes His presence very known in my life and shows me that He loves me too. He brings me peace and comfort in the bad days and joy in the good days, he answers my pleas for help, and reminds me of hope through the tears. To me He is a parent, a friend, a provider, a helper, a teacher…sometimes when I think of Him, I refer to Him as “my Jesus”… it’s personal to me…HE’S personal to me. In order to completely surrender your life over to someone and agree to follow them regardless of what you’re asked to do or go through, it HAS to be personal!

Do not be deceived by your religion – the only way to the Father is through the Son. When we confess our sins and ask for forgiveness – we must bring them directly to Jesus, our Redeemer.

Friends, if you are feeling that you are missing something from your “religion”- you’re feeling that way for a reason. You’re missing out on Jesus. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ came “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). If you are feeling like you are unfulfilled in your beliefs, your religion or your church…that’s because our Lord is seeking you and wants to save you. He is calling you to a personal relationship with Him…answer the call. Step out in faith, it’s time to get personal…

 

 

Looking for God’s Touch

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For those of us that are believers, we’re all looking for God’s touch – how He’s working in our lives, how He’s there to pick up the pieces as they start falling down. So why does His touch seem to be more evident for some people than others? Why is it so clear how and when He’s working in some people’s lives and not for others? You may be waiting around wondering when and how God is going to show up for you in your life but He IS working on everything, in each one of our lives. Even when we don’t feel His presence with us, He’s there. How amazing for us that He IS always there!

God has shown up in my life in a very big way, His work in me is very evident by not only the physical transformation but also the spiritual transformation I have undergone. His plan for my life has and is starting to become clear to me but it wasn’t always that way. Although I believed in God and believed Jesus to be my Savior, I did not feel His presence in my life. It wasn’t until I reached out to Him and called on Him for His help in my life that I started to become aware of His presence and He started to become “real” to me. I understand now that He had always been there, at work in my life but it didn’t become evident to me until I put my faith and trust in Him. Sometimes it’s hard to see the sunlight through the trees, but just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean that it’s not there. He IS there – He always has been and always will be. For us believers, He is the one constant that we can count on in our lives. If you don’t feel His presence in your life like you see Him have in others, there is a reason for that. He is working out every detail behind the scenes and one day in His time, it will be revealed to you. Until then…just trust. Read His word! Seek Him! Have patience and just trust. When the time is right – all the pieces will come together, the sunlight will break through and it will all become clear. Just trust.

Dear Father,

Thank you for the light you have given me so that I may be a light to others! Thank you for revealing yourself to me, for making your presence known in my life. This light that you have given me exists to glorify you and show others of your mercy and grace.

Today I pray for each of your children that you have called and who seek your face but have yet to feel your loving touch. Lord, give each of them your peace…the peace that passes all understanding. Give them a glimpse of their life to come when they are in closer relationship with you. Reveal yourself to them so that they too can glorify you. Fill them with your light so that they can also shine brightly and be a light to others. Father, help them to reach out to you. Help them to get out of their comfort zones and step out of their boxes to reach for YOU…not a specific church, not a specific “religion” but YOU.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.