Application

"Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge (Proverbs 23:12)"

Do what God is telling you to do. I find myself often gathering more and more information about a decision, rather than making a choice and doing something about it. In essence, I procrastinate. Although I know my tendency, I still hem and haw about what I need to do. I discover that God wants me to do what I know. I know a lot of things about God and about following Him. Consequently, I just need to engage what I know. There are some things that are no brain-ers. Just do what God says. Here in this chapter of Proverbs I discover the challenges of a gluttonous lifestyle, one where food is the drug, one where riches is the buzz, one where substances are abused to "cope" wiith your life. I would rather seek God and be glad. Sure I may envy those who don't follow God. But in my heart of hearts, I want to serve God forever. It's application. It's putting into practice what I already know or what I only know about God. There is a right path (see verse 19). It's following God's Words found in the Bible. Read it and Live It!
Just living what I know,
Pastor D

Teenagers don't understand credit cards

Teenagers don't understand credit cards

Time to grow
In Proverbs 22:27 God challenged me to think about my life on a whole different level. I struggle with providing for my family. Or should I say, it concerns me that I am responsible to provide for my family. Monetary margin is critical. You need money to care for your loved ones; i.e. pay bills, pay mortgage, pay utilities, tithe (give money to support the church and its ministries), buy groceries, buy clothes, etc. Yet as I considered how I do that, I wonder what I am modeling to my children regarding the dangers of debt. I read that students do not know how credit cards work. I read that students in Australia are in debt by age 17. I wonder if I address the dangers of debt and if I teach how to remain with little or no debt as God intended (see link posted above).

"if you lack the means to pay, your very bed will be snatched from under you."

God is in control

"There is NO wisdom, NO insight, NO plan that can succeed against the Lord (Proverbs 21:30 emphasis mine)."

From our Equip session on Sunday night, I am reminded that God is in control of all things. He is the King of this Universe. He created it all. The awesome thing is that He wants a relationship with me. If I am on His side, then nothing can defeat Him or me. As long as I stay with the Lord! I find it so encouraging that nothing can succeed against the Lord. God is in control and I want to be on His side, the winning side.

You can remember this when the challenges of life rise up against you. If you're dealing with difficult relationships, stay close to the Lord--do what is right in His eyes and reassure yourself despite the hard choices that doing things God's way will succeed. If you're dealing with temptations and fail, return to the King of Kings who will pardon and forgive you. He wants you to do what right in His eyes. If you're dealing with boredom and don't know what to do, seek God's ways--ask Him to show you the path, He will lead you (see Proverbs 3:5-7). If you're apprehensive about the future and feel the pressure of other people's expectations, then seek God and ask Him to help you sort things out. He will guide you. Ask Him.

May God walk with you this day and build confidence in trusting more in Him,
Pastor D

Sluggard

In my readings in Proverbs I read these words;

"Sluggards do not plow in season; so at harvest time they
look but find nothing (Proverbs 20:4)."

I want to glean at harvest time in my ministry life. So I must plow now. This means hitching up the team to plow or picking up the hoe to cultivate the field. I must engage what God is calling me to do. I do not want to discover nothing at harvest time. No longer slack, but stronger back; this is what I sense God prompting me to do. By putting me back into what God wants me to do, I will glean at harvest time. For me its ministry tasks and opportunities to encourage followers of Christ on their journey. For you? I wonder what God would say to you about the field that He wants you to plow. Now is not the time to be lazy. Engage. Embrace. Take hold of what God wants you to do. Find something at harvest time when the easy thing to do is to do nothing. Take heart and be encouraged. Later, Pastor D

A mindset to pray

God challenged me this weekend to pray everyday by name for a friend who needs Jesus in his life. Rich needs Jesus. I will pray everyday that I can bring God up in a conversation over the next few weeks. I sense that God wants me to pursue my friend and offer him the opportunity to follow Christ for the rest of his life. May God prompt you to pray for at least one friend who needs to trust in Jesus. Ask God to help you bring God up in your conversation. I wonder how its going for you. Please comment. Seeking God everyday, Pastor D.



P.S. Reflect on the lyrics from Casting Crowns, "What if His People Prayed" or download this tune as a constant reminder to pray for your friends by name everyday

What if the armies of the Lord / Picked up and dusted off their swords / Vowed to
set the captives freeAnd not let satan have one more / What if the church, for
heaven's sake / Finally stepped up to the plate / Took a stand upon God's promise / And
stormed hell's rusty gates
Chorus: What if His people prayed / And all who bare His name / Would humbly seek His face /And Turn from their own way

WHat if His People Prayed? Link to ITunes in sidebar

The Power Source for Meaningful Relationships
Tonight at EQUIP we learned that experiencing a fulfilled and meaningful relationship with others is only possible when we recognize our true power source, God's Holy Spirit, and allow the Holy Spirit to live through us. Each person is created with a need to connect relationally to others, but not without our connection with God and direction from Him. In John 15:4-5, the Bible says,

[Jesus said] "Live in me, and I will live in you. A branch cannot produce any fruit by itself. It has to stay atached to the vine. In the same way, you cannot produce fruit unless you live in me. I am the vine. You are the branches. Those who live in me while I live in them will produce a lot of fruit. But you can't produce anything without me."

It's not that people don't produce anything. We can still live and relate to others, but God wants you to produce His fruit. Jesus wants you to produce fruit as we are connected to Him. He wants us not only to live in Him, but to live through us to positively impact our relationships. God is passionate about His relationship with you, read what the Bible says in Exodus 34:14;

I demand your complete loyalty--you must not worship any other god!

God longs to get intimately close to you. I challenge you to discover the life God has meant for you to live. Ask God to help you live out the secret to meaningful and lasting relationships with others--stay connected to God. He will help you make right decisions in life. It's what everyone is looking for their entire life--filling the God-shaped void with God Himself and not anything else. Something to pray about. Peace-out, Pastor D

In this mornings reading of Proverbs chapter18 I discover the art of listening. I find it repeated twice in this chapter,

"Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight
in airing their own opinions, verse 2;" "To answer before listening--that is
folly and shame, verse 13;"

The challenge for me is to listen to others, especially to those closest to me. I find that I often hear words but do not comprehend the hearts. I want to improve my listening abilities. I don't want to be arrogant and voice my own thoughts but I want to understand what others say and engage them where they are at. I need God's help to do that. May God help you and I listen better. On the journey with you, Pastor D