The Order of St. Barnabas

Sugarland - Stand Up - CNN Heroes 2010

2011-02-21T09:43:00.000-05:00

Free Hugs in Sondrio, Italy

2011-02-12T18:34:00.000-05:00

Change Your Story, Change Your LIfe

2011-01-27T18:46:00.000-05:00

"God heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." Ps. 147:3 (NIV)

How Does God Heal A Broken Heart?

BY CHANGING THE WAY I THINK!

"Let God transform you into a new person by changing

the way you think." Romans 12:2 (NLT)

HOW GOD SEES ME BECAUSE OF HIS GRACE THAT HEALS…

1. I AM ACCEPTABLE.

"... Christ has accepted you." Romans 15:7 (NIV)

"You have been chosen by God Himself." 1 Peter 2:9 (LB)

"Even if my mother and father forsake me, the Lord will receive me." Ps. 27:10 (INV)

2. I AM VALUABLE.

"You belong to God..." 1 John 4:4

"You have been bought and paid for by Christ so you belong to Him..." 1 Cor. 7:23 (LB)

"God says, `You are precious to Me.' Isa. 43:4 (GN)

3. I AM LOVABLE.

"The mountains and hills may crumble but My love for you will never end; so says the Lord who loves you." Isa. 54:10 (GN)

4. I AM FORGIVEN.

"I am the God who forgives your sins, and I do this because of who I am. I will not hold your sins against you." Isa. 43:25 (GN)

"... Through what Christ would do for us, God decided to make us holy in His eyes, without a single fault-- we stand before Him covered with His love." Eph. 1:4 (LB)

5. I AM CAPABLE.

"I have strength for all things in Christ who empowers me -- I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses inner strength into me, that is, I am self‑ sufficient in Christ's sufficiency!" Phil. 4:13 (Amp)

"Once you were less than nothing; now you are God's own!" 2 Pet. 2:10 (LB)

"May the God of hope fill you with joy ... that by the power of the Holy Spirit, your whole life and outlook may be radiant with hope." Rom. 15:13 (Ph)

Thank God for Friends

2011-01-21T12:29:00.002-05:00

The Bible says there is a friend who is closer than a brother. Thank God for friends who walk with you through the ups and downs of life. Thank God for those whose partnership never wavers even when it costs them tremendously. I am coming through a season of extreme challenge and severe testing. I have discovered again who my real friends really are. Some hang around only when things are hunky-dorry. Some only seek you out for what you can do for them. Some are critics who can only see what's wrong and never have a word of encouragement. But there are some whose love for you is so genuine they hang with you through thick and thin. And when you really need someone the most, they are there for you. Friendship is a precious gift of love. Thank you all dear friends for your faithful kindnesses and enduring caring. People come into our lives for a reason, a season, and a few for a lifetime. Thank God for those whose friendship never wavers

Prophetic Word for Heartland Church for 2011

2011-01-11T16:50:00.001-05:00

I believe I hear the Lord saying this is a fresh season of life and fruitfulness for Heartland Church. Just as you have returned to your original call that I gave you in 1985 to plant a fellowship of intimacy with me and compassion for others, I am pouring out blessings upon worship and healing. High praises shall continually be in your mouth. New songs, the songs of the Lord, songs of prophetic declaration will flow with My anointing. The prayer of faith for healing will have My favor. Disease, hurt and injury will submit to My grace. Remember that I instructed you to be naturally supernatural, to avoid hype and clamoring. Dwell in my Presence and I will inhabit you, My people, My temple. Man does not live by bread alone but by every Word that proceeds from Me. Where I AM, I rule and everything that opposes must bow to me. Move in My authority. Miracles and signs and wonders will I do in your midst, but seek not to be known by that, but seek to be a testimony of your passion for Me and your love for one another. Worship and healing are to be the watchwords for you for this season. I HAVE SOMETHING MORE FOR YOU! This is the season for something more from Me. Come to me all who are lonely, all who are hurting, all who are frustrated, all who are hopeful and desire something more. Fear not, have confidence. I have chosen you and appointed you that you would bear much fruit. In Jerusalem, Judea, and the uttermost parts of the earth, I will send you out; out to your neighbors, your friends, your families, your co-workers, to the city, to the region, to the nation, to all the corners of the earth. Everyone my child, everyone my servant, everyone my minister, every home a church, every neighborhood a community of faith, every conversation a witness and a testimony. The thoughts I have for you are far greater than what you have ever considered.

Disciplines for Disciples

2011-01-11T16:16:00.000-05:00

Disciplines don’t bribe God to do something. Their practice places you in a position to receive what God is doing. The following are some basic beginning practices that will focus your life on receiving grace to live in the ThroneZone, where Jesus Christ is Lord.

1. Daily prayer and worship. I can do more than pray but I cannot do anything till I pray. The prayer of agreement isn’t getting God to agree with me, but receiving the grace to agree with God. I will saturate everything with prayer.

2. Daily study of the Bible. I will get into the Word till the Word gets into me. I will see life from the perspective of the Bible and the Bible from the perspective of life. God’s Word is God’s will.

3. Regular, responsible participation in the total community of a local church. I will participate in worship, study, fellowship, and service.

4. Daily share my faith, being naturally supernatural. I will witness in lifestyle, conversation, attitudes and actions. I will not gossip or slander, but speak the truth in edifying love.

5. Daily practice Biblical stewardship of my time, talent and treasure. I will tithe my income and my resources. Though some in the past have abused this teaching, the correction to abuse is not disuse, but correct use. My tithe is not a debt I owe, but a seed I sow. Tithing brings increase. Jesus is Lord of all or not at all.

6. Daily demonstrate a godly marriage, home, and family. If I can be Christ-like at home, I can be a Christian anywhere, not perfect but progressing, not finished but maturing.

What incentive?

2009-11-06T19:18:00.001-05:00

“You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that, my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.”
– Dr. Adrian Rogers.

Do Christians love each other?

2009-07-08T16:53:00.004-04:00

Love is vitally important to Christians, for it should govern our relationships with other Christians, especially those with whom we strongly disagree. In the Corinthian church of Paul’s day, and in the evangelical church of our own day, strong polarization exists between charismatic Christians and non-charismatic Christians.

Listen to these words by D. A. Carson:

"In the entire range of contemporary Christian theology and personal experience, few topics are currently more important than those associated with what is now commonly called “the charismatic movement. … As the charismatic movement has grown, so also has it become more diversified, thereby rendering many generalizations about it remarkably reductionistic. But it is probably fair to say that both charismatics and noncharismatics (if I may continue to use those terms in non-biblical ways) often cherish neat stereotypes of the other party. As judged by the charismatics, non-charismatics tend to be stodgy traditionalists who do not really believe the Bible and who are not really hungry for the Lord. They are afraid of profound spiritual experience, too proud to give themselves wholeheartedly to God, more concerned for ritual than for reality, and more in love with propositional truth than with the truth incarnate. They are better at writing theological tomes than at evangelism; they are defeatist in outlook, defensive in stance, dull in worship, and devoid of the Spirit’s power in their personal experience. The noncharismatics themselves, of course, tend to see things a little differently. The charismatics, they think, have succumbed to the modern love of ‘experience,’ even at the expense of truth. Charismatics are thought to be profoundly unbiblical, especially when they elevate their experience of tongues to the level of theological and spiritual shibboleth. If they are growing, no small part of their strength can be ascribed to their raw triumphalism, their populist elitism, their promise of short cuts to holiness and power. They are better at splitting churches and stealing sheep than they are at evangelism, more accomplished in spiritual one-upmanship before other believers than in faithful, humble service. They are imperialistic in outlook (only they have the ‘full gospel’), abrasive in stance, uncontrolled in worship, and devoid of any real grasp of the Bible that goes beyond mere proof-texting. Of course, both sides concede that the caricatures I have drawn admit notable exceptions; but the profound suspicions on both sides make genuine dialogue extremely difficult. This is especially painful, indeed embarrassing, in the light of the commitment made by most believers on both sides to the Bible’s authority."

A less individualistic gospel

2009-06-01T11:02:00.002-04:00

Ben Sternke posted this on his blog recently. I like it a lot. Let's do some more stuff like this... http://benjaminsternke.typepad.com

Scot McKnight apparently recently took a stab at a brief gospel presentationthat manages to de-stabilize the individualism of most presentations I've heard. He preached a gospel that manages to keep the church front-and-center in God's purposes (as it should be, I think). See what you think:

God loves you and everyone else and has a plan for us: the kingdom community.

But you and everyone else have a sin problem that separates you and everyone else from God, from yourselves, from one another, and from the good world God made for you.

The good news is that Jesus lived for you, died for you, was raised for you, and sent the Spirit for you - so you all can live as the beloved community.

If you enter into Jesus' story, by repentance and faith, you can be reconnected to God, to yourself, to others, and to this world.

Those who are reconnected like this will live now as God's community and will find themselves eternally in union with God and communion with others.

Those who preach this gospel will not deconstruct the church. Instead, they will participate in what God is doing: constructing the kingdom community even now.

Precious Friends

2009-04-20T11:17:00.004-04:00

I am coming through a season of extreme challenge and severe testing. I have discovered again who my real friends really are. Some hang around only when things are hunky-dorry. Some only seek you out for what you can do for them. Some are critics who can only see what's wrong and never have a word of encouragement. But there are some whose love for you is so genuine they hang with you through thick and thin. And when you really need someone the most, they are there for you. Friendship is a precious gift of love. Thank you all dear friends for your faithful kindnesses and enduring caring. People come into our lives for a reason, a season, and a few for a lifetime. Thank God for those whose friendship never wavers.

Pay Attention, There is a War going on...

2009-03-27T09:40:00.001-04:00

In 1933 an Austrian born Psychiatrist named William Reich made this statement (remember that Austrian psychiatrists like Sigmund Freud at this time, were influential and akin to Swiss watches or German Porsches today):

“We, as communists, used to debate people about the existence of God and after a while, I came to the conclusion that this was a waste of time. You aren’t going to debate people away from the existence of God. But what we found was that if you get people involved in deviant sexual behavior, the whole idea of God just disappears automatically.”

Micah Clark, AFA, IN

What does it matter if I tithe?

2009-03-24T13:09:00.001-04:00

Did you know that if those who said they were Christians tithed to their churches, there would be 168 billion dollars given? To take care of all the world’s basic needs (food, clean water, clothing, health, etc.) cost $89 billion. That means the churches in the US alone could take care of all the world’s issues each year and still have almost half of what was tithed to share the Gospel. That is a dream to me. I don’t know if it could ever happen – Jesus said we would always have the poor among us. Yet, if we would give sacrificially like we really could and should, maybe Jesus’ statement would be challenged. Timothy Miekley

Dealing with Rejection

2009-02-18T14:03:00.000-05:00

Have you ever prayed the prayer "O God I just want to know you better?" Perhaps we have even breathed the words the Apostle Paul penned in Philippians 3:10 "…that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death…"

Certainly knowing the many facets of the Father would include knowing His sufferings. The gospel of John speaks to us of how Jesus suffered rejection. He was rejected not only by his own family members, but by the community in which He was raised. John 1:11 says "He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him." What a sad thing when we think of it. But Jesus experienced rejection from those to whom he was closest. His disciples ran away from him at the hardest moment of his life on earth.

If we are to experience the suffering of rejection we must also know of His deep love and affection for us. We must believe that He accepts us and never rejects us. It is comforting to realize that He didn't 'have' to choose us, but it was His pleasure to choose us "…in him before the foundation of the world." (Ephesians 1:4)

Healing for rejection requires large doses of God's love being poured into our hearts and allowing our minds to be renewed so we see the rejection from His perspective. God graces us with a renewed mind so the rejected can begin to think like the accepted that we truly are. God always has us on His mind and wants us to stay in him as He is in us. That's really close. Carolyn Allen

Dear Lord and Father of Mankind, John Greenleaf Whittier

2009-01-29T14:36:00.001-05:00

Dear Lord and Father of mankind,

Forgive our foolish ways!

Reclothe us in our rightful mind,

In purer lives Thy service find,

In deeper reverence, praise.

In simple trust like theirs who heard

Beside the Syrian sea

The gracious calling of the Lord,

Let us, like them, without a word

Rise up and follow Thee.

O Sabbath rest by Galilee!

O calm of hills above,

Where Jesus knelt to share with Thee

The silence of eternity

Interpreted by love!

With that deep hush subduing all

Our words and works that drown

The tender whisper of Thy call,

As noiseless let Thy blessing fall

As fell Thy manna down.

Drop Thy still dews of quietness,

Till all our strivings cease;

Take from our souls the strain and stress,

And let our ordered lives confess

The beauty of Thy peace.

Breathe through the heats of our desire

Thy coolness and Thy balm;

Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;

Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,

O still, small voice of calm!

[

God's Grand Plan

2009-01-18T13:06:00.000-05:00

God’s Grand Plan

Lord Jesus, we all have our weaknesses

It is only by your grace that we can stand.

Enfold us in your love and kindness

Knowing we are safe within your hands.

Just when we think we are free from falling

We get caught in Satan’s trap-his ungodly plan.

Our pride takes us down paths we never dreamed of

Because we are weak—we are man.

So turn our broken hearts back to you Lord

Create something good and grand!

This is not to bring us glory but to show your compassion

And just how much you understand!

“so I have looked for you in the sanctuary.

To see your power and your glory

Because your lovingkindness is better than life.

My lips shall praise you.”

Psalm 63:3

Selah from Sheila Telando

Encourage One Another

2009-01-16T17:43:00.001-05:00

By Lynette Schaefer

The Bible uses the word “encourage”, “encouraged”, “encouragement” and “encourages” in many places. The Holman Christian Standard Bible uses “encourage” 21 times, “encouraged” 21 times, “encouragement” 12 times, and “encourages” 1 time. Strong’s Lexicon’s Hebrew word for “encourage” ischazaq (khaw-zak'), the Greek is paramutheomai (par-am-oo-theh'-om-ahee) and protrepomai (prot-rep'-om-ahee). Both mean to comfort or exhort.

If you take the time to do a word search in places like Crosswalk.com and find all the verses that contain any of the above words, you will see God’s character shining through. In almost every instance, we see that God seeks to encourage His people as He wants us to be like Him and to encourage one another in His ways. (1Thess. 4:18; 5:11) In these last days of Apostasy where everyone seems to be doing what is right in his own eyes (Jud. 17:6; 2Tim 3:1) , we need to seek ways in which we can encourage one another as God encourages us. It is our responsibility to foster the well-being of each other as fellow believers. What are some ways we can do this?

Exhort to walk close to Jesus and remain committed to Him in faith.(Rom. 15:4) It is through our endurance and encouragement of the scriptures that we have hope. Endurance means perseverance, and we persevere because of the encouragement of the Scriptures. We can only have encouragement of the Scriptures when we “feed” on them daily and absorb their many spiritual “nutrients”. That is foundational to our Christian faith and in knowing who God is.

Build and strengthen. (2Thess. 2:17) Encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good work and word. We gain strength when we pursue biblical Truth in our daily activities and interactions with others. We give strength when we encourage others to stay focused on the Lord and not veer off course where we’ll be derailed by the trappings of the world.

Motivate others to be their best. (Phil. 4:8) Pursuing moral excellence through character building. Become more like Jesus. We should make it our objective to strive for excellence in everything we do, and stay away from mediocrity or lukewarmness. Likewise, we give the same support to those around us and make them feel worthy of God’s love by motivations we give them.

Comfort the hurting/weak/sick. (1Thess. 5:14) If we see anyone who is struggling in their Christian walk, instead of judging, we need to help them in their weakness so they’ll make better choices. Sometimes folks go through very hard times and have many personal struggles. It can happen to any of us! So when we see someone “down on their luck”, try to be of service and help in meeting their needs. It’ll make us stronger in the process!

Heal the brokenhearted. (Luke 4:18) Jesus stated publicly that it was His mission to bind up wounds and heal the brokenhearted. He ultimately did that on the Cross. There were many brokenhearted people who were lost and needed the Gospel and a Savior, which He preached to them during His earthly ministry. We need to remind ourselves and other people that we are no different and to look to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our Faith. In Him we have that healing and cleansing.

Hope for a hopeless world. (Rom. 5:1-5) We can rejoice to having obtained peace with God by accepting His Son as our personal Savior. We now have a real hope of eternal life and know with certainty that Jesus will bring us to Heaven. That is also our Blessed Hope, that we make it an event we look forward to and to obey His command to WATCH for Him and be ready. (Mark 13:33; Matt. 25:13; Matt. 26:41; Matt. 24:43). Watching for me is an encouragement as I see current events unfold and know how they are lining up with references about the end times. (2 Tim. 3:1; 1Thess. 5; Luke 21:28-32; Matt. 24; Dan. 12; 2 Pet. 3:3).

Resting in the Promises given to us in Scripture. (2Pet. 1:4; Jer. 29:11) These are referred to in Peter as “great and precious promises”, and they certainly are! In my mind, there can’t be anything better than to “share in the devine nature” which we will be given. I’m looking forward to it as I get older! That is real encouragement to me, to be finally free of limitation and sin when I’m transformed into a glorious being.

Encouragement is a buffer against Satan. He would like nothing better than to tear us down, make us feel impotent, like we don’t belong, that we’re not really saved, motivate us to make wrong choices or take our eyes off Jesus. Let’s be wary of him! He goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. (1Pet. 5:8) Although he is an accuser of the brethren, (Rev. 12:10), his days are numbered and he has already been defeated on the Cross (1Cor. 15:51-57). God has therefore equipped us in every way to live victorious in Him when we wholly depend upon the Holy Spirit which resides within us. Let’s keep that in mind as we go about our job of being spiritual soldiers.

Spiritual Warfare Prayer, Heartland Church, Jan. 11, 2009

2009-01-11T13:06:00.004-05:00

This prayer was crafted at the request of Heartland Church staff, Elders, and transition team as we discerned the swirl of spiritual warfare that was hindering us in this season. The podcast of the service can be downloaded at www.hccfw.com.

Father God, we come to you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We confess our sins of unbelief. We have not believed you are who you say you are, and we have doubted you can do what you say you can do. That has caused us to mistrust one another and lean on our own understandings. This has sabotaged our life together in Heartland Church. We have been suspicious of one another, and judged one another by assigning motive to others actions, words, and feelings that may not be true. We come to you Father God to repent of these sins. And we forgive all who may have influenced us to sin in these areas of our lives.

 (Stop and reflect on those in our life who have influenced us in this manner. Each of us needs to say specifically who this is in our lives as the Holy Spirit prompts us.)

I forgive ____ and ____ for their ungodly influences on my life and our church in these areas in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We repent, Father God, for giving place to the influence of demonic spirits of unbelief, mistrust, suspicion, and judging by wrongly assigning motive. We are asking your help Father God, to embrace a new way of thinking and behaving in a Christ-like way in these areas of our life together.

We forgive ourselves for the confusion, pain and limitations we have allowed these demonic spirits to inflict upon us as a result of our sinful thinking and behavior.

In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we renounce and break all agreement with these demonic strongholds of unbelief including all associated demons of suspicion, mistrust, and judging by wrongly assigning motive.

We take authority over all demonic strongholds of unbelief and command them to leave us each and every one and all of Heartland Church now, based on the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work of salvation on the Cross, and our declared Kingdom of God authority as Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Pondering Betrayal

2009-01-05T07:49:00.001-05:00

If you deceive someone, you lose one of life's greatest treasures, you lose the capacity to trust. Because without trust, love is not possible. Osho

The Blessing of Betrayal

2009-01-04T16:15:00.005-05:00

As a youngster I loved to visit my great uncle. He was like a grandfather to me. His farm was within walking distance. Looking for him one fall day when I was about 10 or 11, I found him in the apple orchard out behind his big red barn. What he was doing shocked me. With a huge stick in his hands, he was whacking away at the apple trees. It was scary. I thought my kindly Uncle Elmer had gone berserk. But he didn't look mad. There he was methodically beating the daylights out of the apple trees. I couldn't imagine what vile deed the trees must have done to deserve such treatment. Finally, my uncle saw me and smiling at my confusion, explained to me. "Sometimes you have to shock these old trees that aren't giving much fruit into thinking they are going to die. Then they get busy and start really producing the fruit." Years later telling this to a friend who was an expert on fruit trees, he explained that the bruising that storms bring, and routine pruning prompt the trees to produce chemicals that stimulate their growth and fruitfulness. After helping my Uncle Elmer prune the trees till it looked like there was more of the limbs on the ground than what was left on the trees, he said, "Now there is room for growth and where there is new life, there will be new fruit. You just watch and see what happens next year. I love the apples these trees produce." I couldn't imagine waiting a year for anything at that age. But sure enough as the seasons passed, the apple crop the next year was outstanding, in taste and quantity.

Sometimes when I find myself being pounded and punched by circumstances and people, I think about those trees. Many times I am shocked that God would permit me to go through experiences that are painful, that reduce, and often seem undeserved. I remember that John 15:2 declares, "Every branch in me that does not bear fruit He takes away. Every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes, that it might bear more fruit." It's inevitable. It's part of what the Holy Spirit does. He sets us up, so He can set us right. Somehow when we have sinned, it's easier to take. But there are those occasions, when we can rack our brain and not come up with any reason to be taking a beating. God is doing a necessary and redemptive work. If we collapse in anger and self-pity, we are in danger of missing the benefit of God's strange work. We can't make it go faster, but we can make it last longer.

In this season, God is provoking me to intimacy, to reduce me to dependency, to grow me to greater maturity and fruitfulness.

Over the years, more than once I have been caught in the agony of being accused of some real or imagined sin by someone I counted as a dear friend only to realize that no matter what I said or did, trust had been ruptured and relationship wounded. Consequentially, reconciliation and the possibility of rebuilding trust hemoraged away while slander and gossip impugned me and the fruit of years of relationship and partnership evaporated away. One doesn't have to lie to slander someone. All that is done is to tell the truth but with a design to hurt. Just raising a question mark over someone's head is all it takes for folks to imagine the worst. Of course there is something wrong with everyone. But the assignment is to see love cover sin. Not to go sloppy, but to be redemptive. Galatians 6:1, reminds us that more than just identifying the problem we are to be instrumental in resourcing the solution. There is always the boomerang of judgement. "Judge not less you be judged with the same judgement wherewith you judge."

The devastation of betrayal comes not from the hand of a stranger, but from a friend. Psalms 55:12-14. "For it was not an enemy who betrayed me, then I could bear it. Nor was it one who hates me who has come against me. I could hide from him. But it was you, my friend, my companion. We were so close in fellowship and labor. We worked in ministry together."

It is recorded in scripture that Abel was betrayed and murdered by his brother, Esau by his twin, Issac by his son, Uriah by his king, Jesus by his disciples, Paul by his brethern. It is not unusal for God to permit such a painful thing. So should we become wary and paranoid, dig a moat around ourselves and fill it full of alligators? No. Can we forget that Judas betrayal set Jesus up to fulfill the prophecy of God's salvation. 1 Peter 1:6,7 It is necessary to be refined through the painful heat of trials. The furnace of affliction will reduce our wood, hay, and stubble to ashes. But ashes only burn once. We should be careful not to assign blame for our pain on others. Ultimately, if God has permitted the trouble, it's for good and not for ill.

Romans 8:28,29 God causes all things to work together for good. Even what came from our rebellion and sin, when submitted to the work of the cross, and covered by the blood, God will superintend over all of it in such a way as to bring a redemptive outcome. He wants us to be and do like Jesus. More than our comfort, God is interested in our development. Joseph was betrayed by his brothers, sold as a slave, befriended by Potiphar, betrayed by his wife, and unjustly imprisoned. The years passed by as he was imprisoned. After befriending the butler, Joseph was betrayed again as the butler forgot his promise. As the years passed by Joseph refused to give in to self-pity and bitterness. Finally, Joseph is on the throne of Eygpt when his brothers show up for aid. While he had the power and authority to take revenge, he said, "What you meant for evil, God meant for good, that many might be saved." Genesis 50:20

If you find yourself betrayed by a friend, remember God could have intervened but He didn't. God has allowed these seasons of pruning to produce greater fruitfulness in us. Hardship delivers us from dependence on anything or anyone other than God. That is a blessing. God is not mean, He is merciful.

Betrayal hurts. Our grief is not because a stranger has hurt us, but because it was someone we love. Let's pray for God to forgive us and them. If I don't forgive others, God won't forgive me. When I refuse to forgive I burn the very bridge I have to cross over. God will never ask me to forgive someone else more than what He has forgiven me. I pray for greater fruitfulness and restored relationships. God help me not to sabotage it.

Vine's on encouragement

2008-12-28T19:09:00.000-05:00

Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words
A-1
Verb
Strong's Number: g4389
Greek: protrepo
Encourage, Encouragement:"to urge forward, persuade," is used in Act 18:27 in the Middle Voice, RV, "encouraged," indicating their particular interest in giving Apollos the "encouragement" mentioned; the AV, "exhorting," wrongly connects the verb.
A-2
Verb
Strong's Number: g3888
Greek: paramutheomai
Encourage, Encouragement:from para, "with," and muthos, "counsel, advice," is translated "encouraging" in 1Th 2:11, RV, and "encourage" in 1Th 5:14, RV, there signifying to stimulate to the discharge of the ordinary duties of life. In Jhn 11:19, 31, it means "to comfort." See COMFORT. Cp. the nouns paramuthia, 1Cr 14:3, and paramuthion, Phl 2:1, "comfort."
B-1
Noun
Strong's Number: g3874
Greek: paraklesis
Encourage, Encouragement:"a calling to one's aid" (para, "by the side," kaleo, "to call"), then, "an exhortation, encouragement," is translated "encouragement" in Hbr 6:18, RV, for AV, "consolation;" it is akin to parakaleo, "to beseeach or exhort, encourage, comfort," and parakletos, "a paraclete or advocate."

The Message, Eugene Peterson, 1 Corinthians 4:1ff.

2008-12-01T15:53:00.004-05:00

Don't imagine us leaders to be something we aren't. We are servants of Christ, not His masters. We are guides into God's most sublime secrets, not security guards posted to protect them. The requirements for a good guide are reliability and accurate knowledge. It matters very little to me what you think of me, even less where I rank in popular opinion. I don't even rank myself. Comparisons in these matters are pointless. I am not aware of anything that would disqualify me from being a good guide for you, but that doesn't mean much. The Master makes that judgement.

So don't get ahead of the Master and jump to conclusions with your judgements before all the evidence is in. When He comes, He will bring out in the open and place in evidence all kinds of things we never dreamed of--inner motives, purposes and prayers. Only then will any one of us get to hear the "Well done!" of God.

Encouragement, Luke 1:39ff,

2008-11-26T14:19:00.010-05:00

Gabriel appeared to Mary, indicating to her that she would be the mother of Israel’s Messiah. She would, by the miraculous action of the Holy Spirit, become pregnant, and her holy child would be called the “Son of God” (v. 35). He would be the Son of the Most High, who would be given the throne of His father David, from which He would rule (vv. 32-33). Mary’s response was an elegant expression of faith:

“Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word” (vv. 38)

The immediate faith and submission of Mary, a simple and very young peasant girl, to the will of God is contrasted with the hesitant request of Zachariah for a sign, a man who was a priest all his many years of life. Just as Mary’s response surpasses that of Zachariah, so the greatness of the miracle of the virgin birth of Messiah will exceed the miracle which produces a son for the elderly priest and his wife. And so, too, will the greatness of Messiah and His ministry surpass that of John the Baptist, the forerunner of Messiah.

When Gabriel announced the miraculous virgin birth of Messiah through Mary to this young peasant girl, he informed her of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, indicating that this was a sign of God’s ability to achieve the impossible. (vv.37-38) While no instruction was given here, the inference was clear: Elizabeth would be an encouragement to Mary, and a woman who would understand what God was doing in the virgin’s life. Thus Mary quickly prepared and left to visit her relative living in an unnamed village in the hill country of Judah (v. 39).

While Mary is clearly the principle character in this section, Elizabeth, her relative is also shown to be a remarkable women. We will begin by focusing on Elizabeth, as Luke does, and on her response to the arrival of Mary, the mother-to-be of Messiah. Several observations concerning Elizabeth’s response to the arrival of Mary will help us to grasp the magnificence of this woman, as I believe Luke intended us to do.

(1) Elizabeth seems to praise Mary before Mary has had any opportunity to explain anything to her. Mary left almost immediately for the home of Elizabeth and Zacharias, and the journey may have taken some time. So far as Luke’s account informs us, Mary was only told that her elderly relative had conceived in her old age, which testified to the fact that nothing was impossible for God. (vv.36-37) We aren’t told that the angel informed Mary that the child which was to be born to Elizabeth was to be the forerunner of Messiah. Mary may have wondered how Elizabeth would respond to the news she had to share. She may even have wondered whether or not to tell of her visit by the angel Gabriel.

One can speculate as to what Mary may have been thinking along the way to Elizabeth’s home. She may have been rehearsing what she would say to Elizabeth when she first saw her. If Mary had any such reservations, how quickly they were dispelled! The very moment she entered the house and gave a customary greeting, Elizabeth blessed Mary as the mother of her Lord.

(2) Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and her words were a divinely inspired utterance. Gabriel had informed Zacharias that the child would be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb. Now, it would appear that both mother and child were both filled with the Holy Spirit simultaneously. John “spoke” as it were by leaping in the womb (1:41), while Elizabeth seems almost to speak for John. One wonders how much that Elizabeth came directly from the Spirit of God, and how much originated from her own grasp of the Scriptures. We cannot say for certain, but we can affirm at this moment that all that she said was divinely inspired.

Not only did Elizabeth, in a sense, speak for John, she also spoke like John. We learn from the other gospel accounts that John was quick to acknowledge and proclaim the superiority of Christ and thus to accept his secondary role as “forerunner” to the Messiah. He even encouraged his disciples to leave him and to follow Christ. Elizabeth also readily acknowledged the superior blessing bestowed on Mary, and rejoiced in it. Like mother, like son. I believe that Elizabeth is a prototype of her son in this regard.

(3) Elizabeth’s praise is not for her personal fulfillment and blessing in the bearing of a child, but in the blessing bestowed on her by the visit of Mary. Elizabeth’s proclamation does not focus on the blessing of the child which she will bear (John), but on the blessing of God in the arrival of Mary, who is to be the mother of the Messiah. In short, Mary is the focus, not Elizabeth. We will explore the basis for Elizabeth’s blessing of Mary later, but for now let us simply observe that the arrival of Mary is the occasion for Elizabeth’s praise, not the soon arrival of John.

(4) Elizabeth’s words served primarily as an encouragement to Mary. How encouraging the greeting of Elizabeth must have been to Mary. Rather than having to try to explain to Elizabeth what the angel had said to her about the virgin birth of her son, Messiah, Mary learned that Elizabeth already knew. Thus, Elizabeth’s praise served as further confirmation of Gabriel’s words. There were now two witnesses. Mary was totally free to share the details of the angel’s revelation, without any hesitation. Elizabeth already knew, believed, and rejoiced in the truth of God, spoken through Gabriel.

(5) Elizabeth praises God for much more than those things that Zachariah was told. When we look back at Luke’s report of what Zacharias was told by Gabriel, it was simply that the son God was giving him and his wife would be the forerunner of Messiah. There is no mention in this account of how Messiah will come to earth. How, then, did Elizabeth know that Jesus would be born of a virgin, and that the virgin was none other than her relative, Mary?

We must first very candidly admit that we are not told how Elizabeth learned what she affirmed by divine inspiration. It is my personal opinion, however, that she is no just a mere “mouthpiece” for the Holy Spirit, who has had no knowledge of what God was doing. I believe that Elizabeth knew from the Scriptures that Messiah would be both human and divine, and that He would be born of a virgin. With these things already known (albeit by the Holy Spirit’s illumination of the Scriptures), the Spirit of God informed Elizabeth, perhaps at that very moment, that Mary was the one through whom Messiah would be born.

(6) Elizabeth’s praise suggests that she may have possessed a greater depth of spiritual and scriptural insight than her husband. As we compare Luke’s account which introduces Zacharias, this elderly (and godly) priest is not put in nearly as favorable light as is his wife, Elizabeth. That which she speaks far surpasses what we are told Gabriel said to Zacharias. I am thus inclined to view this as Luke’s way of informing us that some women may very well surpass men spiritually. Indeed, I believe that Luke is telling us that wives are not restricted to the level of spirituality of their mate. Elizabeth’s praise surpasses Zachariah’s petition for a sign. Elizabeth’s words far surpass the revelation which we are told Gabriel gave to Zacharias. Women may be limited so far as their public ministry is concerned, but not so far as their spirituality and intimacy with God is concerned. Elizabeth is a magnificent woman of God, in Luke’s opinion. Written by Bob Deffinbaugh

Building a Culture of Encouragement

2008-11-06T09:30:00.002-05:00

Everyone in the world no matter which culture or remote island you are from suffers from the lack of living in a culture of encouragement. We have all grown up in cultures where criticism is the rule, that is, where recognizing negative energy is the item mostly highly prized. A few people have escaped partially by living in families that encourage and maybe even a mildly encouraging community, but there is nowhere in the world today where you can find a culture that encourages as a way of life. We have all been traumatized and even beguiled by criticism, often thinking that it is a really important part of our lives. For instance, we know that people produce the best art when they are surrounded in an environment of support and lots of encouragement to experiment and grow without the interference of criticism. Yet as soon as a person puts on an art show or performs a play or gives a speech, hundreds of people are there criticizing everything about it. We are trained from the moment we enter the world to criticize.

Encouragement is actually almost the same process as criticism only the focus is positive instead of negative. When you criticize, you look for something wrong and then you express it in some way such as talking about it, writing about it, or doing some kind of artistic representation of the negative. When you encourage, you do the same except that you look for the positives and then you express them. The purpose of criticism is to get you to stop doing what you are doing, while the purpose of encouragement is to expand your activities. They both work. Criticism is the fastest way to get a person to stop doing what they love to do. Most people are extremely vulnerable to criticism, that is, they stop the productive things that they are doing when it is present.

Encouragement, on the other hand, has a much less immediate and continuous effect. Encouragement doesn’t work as fast to keep a person expanding and growing in activity in the way criticism gets a person to stop. Encouragement seems to be much less efficient in getting its work done. In other words you need a lot more encouragement to grow and change probably as much as five times more, than you need criticism to stop something. The reason for this phenomenon has a lot to do with survival. Negative feedback is much more aligned with surviving and so negative emotions are much more readily felt. We feel negative emotions much more easily than we do positive ones. Our first reaction when we feel negative, is to try to get the negative emotion from happening, that is, our first response naturally is to try to stop something. This is because we don’t realize that the negative emotions are just feedback messages that let us know that something inside needs to be changed. If you are in a position of authority or power such as a parent, the first natural tendency when you start worrying is to find a way to stop it. And the quickest way to get things to stop is to criticize someone else. It takes the responsibility of changing off of you and puts it on the other person and then you feel some temporary relief.

Self-criticism has exactly the same effect, and those of us who self criticize abundantly have a difficult time changing. Self-criticism often happens when you are focusing on some goal, and then you feel a negative emotion such as anxiety or fear that is connected with doing a new activity. You don’t know how to deal with the negative feelings which then cause inactivity or poor performance, so you end up putting yourself down for failing. There used to be a lot of literature that suggested people couldn’t change for this very reason. When you fail numerous times, you start giving yourself an incorrect label such as depressed, timid, or lazy, when really you are just running into a negative pattern of failure that has its roots in criticism and focus on negativity. The key in facing the future is to go into it with confidence. Confidence is gained by a clear memory of what was successful. It allows you to have the necessary resilience to gain feedback in the new activity without falling apart. You actually get excited about the feedback that helps you improve, whether it be positive or negative.

Encouragement depends on the ability to see a positive and then express it in such a way that it seems very important. It is not only important that you express the positive either to yourself or others, but also that you express it in a way that it is perceived as being significant. Encouragement normally requires repetition and an expression of enthusiasm about what has been seen. Verbally this is done through the use of tones in the voice. In writing it is done through the use of positive adjectives and adverbs, and in painting it is usually done with color. Criticism, on the other hand, doesn’t need as much repetition or tones. The words in themselves are usually enough to stop people. For encouragement to work it needs to be much more present than criticism. The best formula is to eliminate criticism completely.

Encouragement is an act of remembering. You see something that has already happened and then you express it to yourself or others in a positive way. If you want to help a person change, the most important thing is to see positives and express them especially if what you are mostly seeing are negative things. The positives that you are seeing are observations of what is already successful and when you acknowledge success, it fixes it in the mind of the doer, and makes the likelihood of repeated success much greater.

Encouragement allows the person to take what he is already doing well and then move to the next step. The next step is an integration of what a person has already done and then an additional new process. For instance, when a toddler is learning to walk, he first has to learn how to balance himself so that he can stand in one spot. He starts by learning how to sit in a balanced position and then eventually stand after hundreds of trials where he is building his leg strength and holding on to supports to keep the balance. Finally one day he can balance and when he balances, he just naturally does the next thing, he starts trying steps. And when he tries to take steps, he usually falls because he doesn’t have the balance integrated with the movement. But after hundreds of more trials, he learns how to walk. Success in walking is dependent on how well he did the previous stage, balancing, and then integrating that with movement forward. The previous stage is always an integral part of the current stage and any future stages. This is why historians are so important because they tell the story of what has lead to success.

Criticism tries to do the opposite. It identifies a weakness and then tries to not allow something negative to happen. For instance, one of the most common fears that people have is speaking in front of a group of people. Some people will do almost anything to not speak in front of others. As soon as child is in front of a group of people and expressing himself the parents usually start worrying about all the things that others are going to say. They forget the lesson of walking. Parents love when a child says their first words and almost everyone uses encouragement to help the child express more, but when the child starts to express real thoughts and real feelings in front of others, the parents begin to feel worried about what others might say, so they criticize the child and even punish him until he stops expressing himself in public. Children who are encouraged to express themselves and told how well they are speaking in front of others, or how well they are playing an instrument in front of others, naturally want to do more, and they learn through observation, and positive feedback what is effective and what is not. Children who are constantly criticized don’t learn the lessons of public expression because they stop themselves from making the necessary trials and experiments to do it. Eventually they may even start criticizing each other in a more vicious way than parents. You know criticism is present when children have a hard time staying with an activity for a long time. They have the practice of starting, getting excited for a short time, and then quitting. The criticism works.

Occasionally, a child will need to know where the limit is in expressing oneself. For instance, a child should know that he shouldn’t say negative things about other people and also he should refrain from using swear words. But it is a lesson difficult to teach a child in a culture where everyone is saying negative things about each other all the time and lots of people swear. If there is an abundance of encouragement, then it usually is not very difficult to set limits with children. However, children living in situations where criticism is the rule, resist limits fiercely. In a culture people are much more willing to follow just laws when they are living with encouragement than they are when criticism and injustice exist.

Since we have all grown up in cultures where being critical is the rule, the challenge of creating a culture of encouragement is immense. However, there is a very simple way to begin the process. It takes two steps. First, we can remember everyday some positive things that we did. It helps to keep a journal of those remembrances. We can analyze the successes and find out how we did what we did well so that we can continue doing them. Then to take the next step, we can ask ourselves what it is that we are feeling that is negative and what is it trying to communicate to us that we need to change. Everything in life is in a constant state of growth. The law of creation is that human beings must grow and develop. And the impetus for growth is relentless. Remembering allows you to know what you have already developed, and finding out about your negative feelings gives you a clue about the next step.

To help a person make a change the first step is to help them realize how fantastic they already are. You do this by analyzing positive characteristics and patterns and then emphasizing them with tones of enthusiasm. For instance, maybe a person can dribble a basketball very well. So you can ask him how it is that he learned how to dribble. He might tell you that first he watched some great player dribbling and then he went out and tried it. He just kept watching and kept trying and practicing and eventually he could do it to perfection. Now he has gotten so confident that he even tries new things. However, you also discover that he is having trouble learning how to write creatively and what you discover is that he is not doing what he already does well in basketball to learn how to write creatively. Instead of reading from a great writer and then copying him like he did in basketball, he is trying to make up some kind of original thought that no one else has done because someone mistakenly told him that creative people only do original things. He doesn’t know that creativity is mostly allowing yourself to be influenced by the positive things that are already there and then just adding something onto it. So when you encourage him, you are just helping him to do what he already does well and then try it with other things.

The false idea about creativity being originality comes from the fact that we live in a culture of criticism. People don’t want to remember positive contributions of past artists because when they try to remember, the memories that appear are all negative and critical. They are used to hearing how bad they are, so they shut off the memory completely and then lose confidence to do new things. Creativity is much more about copying what is already there and then adding. Even in the most creative modern artists of our time you can see how they have copied what went before them and then just added something slightly different. The first step is to bathe yourself in positive memories and expose yourself to the richness of positive memories. However, it is no easy task to lose the effects of negative experiences in the past.

My daughter, who is an art teacher, uses this technique to develop artistic talent. When people produce a piece of art and share with others, she has them pass around a piece of paper and ask the people present to write a supportive, validating comment about the art based on the language of virtues and recognizing beauty. The result is that the artists become extremely motivated to do more art and try more new things. In the current cultural climate of criticism most people get really criticized, then go into a period of depression and fear, and have to go through major recovery to get back to the art.

One of the major problems about creating a culture of encouragement in the world is that the current structure of power gains short-term material advantage by trying to keep others from changing. We all know that the world is moving from hierarchical, top-down, static structures of administration to ones that are based and dependent upon equality, individual initiative, and constant growth. A hierarchical structure is one where there is a recognized leader at the top and leadership moves down through a series of levels until you get to the bottom. In models that are based more on equality and individual initiative the leadership is seen more as a facilitation of a process of growth. People often feel that they have a voice in the organization and there is encouragement to try new things.

We know from research that when you start encouraging in a community by systematically remembering positive qualities and then helping people to take the next step, the amount of individual initiative, growth, and cooperation rise immediately. But as soon as you implement these kinds of changes you can also almost immediately be assured that you will encounter resistance and it is almost always from the ones who have a material advantage and are higher up on the hierarchical ladder. It could be in a family, in an organization, in a community, or in a nation. The resistance is at the top and it can effectively destroy encouragement in the short run. The top usually has financial power, more control over communication than others, and can create rules to prevent initiative. When the top feels threatened, it reacts by using it powers to stop the process of encouragement. One of its techniques is to find something wrong with someone that is partially true, and then exaggerate the negative thing until it seems like the normal something is really terrible. It takes the burden of change away from the leadership so that they can remain the same and avoid the change process.

There is really no solution to this type of discouraging practice in the short-term. They will start their campaigns of criticism and undermining and it will cause people to lose courage. However, on the really positive side, it is impossible to stop encouragement in the long run because the process is so powerful that it actually has an effect on changing the leadership itself. And furthermore, if leadership is actually done through encouragement, the growth rate is so fast and so positive that people in the group feel constantly in a state of awe and wonderment and then just naturally want to make more positive changes. The only problem we have now is being able to sustain a long-term campaign of positive encouragement in the face of the certain resistance we will face. My experience on this matter is that it is naive to think that there will be no resistance, and even more naive to think that the resistance is not going to be hurtful. However, if and when resistance comes, it is even more important to increase the amount of encouragement because the resistance is really a positive sign that the encouragement is having its positive effect.

If we were just to put into practice the one idea of seeing positive things and telling others what we see, the world would change right before our eyes. But the hurt we feel from criticism is often like a huge hole of inactivity into which we fall. It is difficult to climb out of the hole because the hurt is so real and its pain so intense. There is a remedy for criticism but it is very difficult to practice because our natural tendency, when we feel hurt, is to hurt back, to seek revenge. However, in the long run, the only lasting remedy is to forgive and forget the hurt and then increase the encouragement. I can’t think of anything harder for me to do than to forget and forgive the pain I feel from criticism because I have such a great desire to seek revenge by hurting back. And yet whenever I can manage to forget and forgive, always new doors of opportunity open and the world becomes a different place for me. The reason, I believe, it becomes like a new world is that the forgetting of the pain allows the memory to experience all of the positive emotions of success in the past, then the positive emotions associated with the actual experience allows for the feeling of confidence, and finally the confidence generates the courage to take the next step. The door opens and the experience is filled with wonder and joy.

Courage is the key quality for doing new things and having new growth, and positive remembering seems to be the main force that frees up courage to act. We know that a toddler learning how to walk is only basically relying on his positive psychomotor memory and the thrill of success to propel him forward. There is no interference from critical thinking because a baby doesn’t have a critical faculty. He succeeds by remembering how to balance, having confidence in it, and forgetting the pain of falling. Somehow, toddlers manage to not pay attention to the pain for very long. They seem to be driven inwardly by the success they already have and the desire to go forward. It is virtually impossible to stop a toddler from learning how to walk even in really adverse conditions unless you do something physically to stop him or he has a physical impairment. Every toddler succeeds. Adults succeed for the same reasons. They forget the pain and remember the success and are propelled forward by the desire for the goal. It is only when we don’t pay attention to the positive success in the past that we fail.

So the formula is simple. Remember the positive past and help others to remember it and they will naturally be propelled toward new goals and new adventures. by Christopher Adiparvar, January, 2005

Freedom

2008-10-07T15:29:00.000-04:00

The freest I’ll ever be is when I’m living for an audience of One!!
A person who is happy is not at the mercy of one who is a grump.

Who you are...

2008-09-26T11:27:00.002-04:00

You are not a failure. You are not a success. People experience success and they experience failure. Success and failure are events, not people. You are a child of God. You are crowned with His favor. And you are taught of the Lord through all the experiences of life.

Putting a lid on God's blessings

2008-09-11T11:24:00.002-04:00

God is able to bless me only to the extent that I would like to bless the person I'd like least to bless. For those who say they can't hear from God, simply repeating that statement will prove we can indeed hear Him speak to our conscience. We often demand that God should bless us, when the issue is not His willingness, but our own spiritual posture. The outpouring of God's grace into my life can be resisted or rejected. Carrying offense, fostering a grudge, refusing to forgive, can all move me from the place where nothing hinders or opposes the generosity of God's blessings in my life. Forgiveness is essential. If I don't forgives, God can't forgive me. If I don't extend grace, I can't fully receive grace. A conscience void of offense toward God and man is the posture that maximizes my ability to receive the goodness of God.

Enduring encouragement

2008-09-04T10:49:00.002-04:00

Choosing a posture of encouragement toward others is not taking the way of least resistence nor does it automatically mean a positive reception from those we are seeking to bless with affirmation. Encouragement is not only highlighting strengths and successes in the lives of others, but is also calling forth, "our utmost for His highest." An encourager is one who blesses by identifying what's right and supporting and evoking our best efforts to achieve the maximum excellence of which we are capable. Encouragement is the upward draw that refuses to let mediocrity limit our lives.

You can keep on, keeping on

2008-08-26T11:55:00.003-04:00

"Do not grow weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not." Gal. 6:9 "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful." Heb. 10:23

God has His seasons, even as He has His reasons. We sow in one season, we reap in another. What is begun in faith, must be sustained in faith, before we enjoy the fulfillment of faith. Do not give up. What God has authored, He will complete. When in the, "in between time," of obedience, endure with a patient hope. God is not done with you. Others may have sabotaged what God has been up to in and through your life, but He has not changed His mind about you and His purposes for you. No man can stand against God. If God be for us, who can be against us? What can separate us from the love of God? Nothing! You are favored with the authority of God's word, and nothing can trump that.

Knowing God's will

2008-07-24T12:27:00.002-04:00

Many times we find ourselves stuck in our Christian walk where the voice of God seems distant and unclear. We want to know and do the will of God, but it seems hard to get His direction and confirmation.I find that in my life when there is confusion, it is not because God is not speaking, but it is because I have moved myself to a place where it is hard to hear. When I began to see the opposition and difficulties so big that everything else is diminished, I began to be overwhelmed by the problems and unaware of God's resources. I Thes. 5:18, "In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." Ps. 100:4, "Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, praise His name." God's word is God's will. His counsel is choose to place ourselves in a posture before Him where He can do what He has promised to do. The antidote to confusion about circumstances is to choose to thank Him for His faithfulness. The password into His presence, the way we dial into His will is by expressing gratitude and praise. It's not that God needs our affirmation, it's we need to choose to position ourselves where nothing hinders or resists the grace that God desires to pour out into our lives. Complaint and offense render me spiritually deaf. Thanksgiving and gratitude open the understanding of my heart to hear His voice and be tender to respond to His gentle nudges. There is an old song that says, "Count your many blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done." When we are appreciative of God's many goodnesses, we are stirred once again with confidence toward Him. If God be for us, who can stand against us. Greater is He that is in us, than He that is in the world. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. He has promised never to leave us or forsake us. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. We can go through the valley of the shadow of death, because He is with us. He always leads us in triumph. The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. No weapon formed against me can prosper. He is supplying all my needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. He keeps me in perfect peace because my mind is filled with His faithfulness and I choose to trust Him. God's will for me is to choose to be in a posture before Him where nothing resists, quenches, or grieves the working of His Holy Spirit in my life. I move into that position of receiving His promises by saying thank you to Him that in the midst of whatever I am experiencing, He is always working redemtively. I am not grateful for the pain, but I am thankful for the gain.

Honor brings longevity

2008-07-13T14:16:00.004-04:00

One of God's commands is to honor our parents and when we obey, we obtain the blessing of long life. To honor someone is to respect them, their experience, their investment in you, their counsel for your welfare. It doesn't necessarily mean we do everything they say. But it does mean we give serious consideration to their wisdom. What a blessing we miss when we ignore the example and help of those who treat us as their own. We can raise ourselves and our relationships with others to a new level of kindness and integrity when we give honor. When we honor someone we are investing in them. We are partnering with them. And we reap a reward of blessing, a reward of longevity when we do.

The power of affirmation

2008-07-10T17:39:00.004-04:00

To hear someone say, "I love you," is to be embraced. To hear someone say, "I believe in you," is to be affirmed. Implict in affirmation is a gift of support. That's not to say everything you do is great, but it is to say that I am there for you all the time. Affirmation reminds us that not only are we not alone, but that we have partnership for living.

The ministry of encouragement

2008-04-16T22:30:00.002-04:00

2nd Thess. 5:11 "Build one another up." It's a Kingdom of God imperative. It's what love does. It's what the church as the agent of the Kingdom does.