Sermon Link – Spontaneous Prayer
Category Archives: Daily Devotions
Lemonade
1 Corinthians 2:3 I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling.
My desire was for God to awaken me early this morning, and he did. My heartfelt prayer was for a renewed spirit and relationship, and he provided in a devotional that put me exactly where He wanted me in his Word. I am coming off a vacation of healing time; the mental strains turned into physical ailments that shut my body down. The vacation did not serve any purpose of dealing with the stresses, but only time to rest, heal, and regain strength to press forward. In my prayer time this morning I realized how much of the world had crept into my life; I prayed for it to flee and my relationship with the Lord to move to a state of abiding.
If you have followed this ministry, you have heard me for years telling you of the importance of starting your day with God. I have been failing in what I have been preaching for a couple months; the strains of life took their toll to the point I could not get out of bed. That is why my request was for God to get me up early this morning; and what a renewed feeling to spend time with him before the world rushes in. Let me quote Oswald Chambers from this morning; “As Christians we are not here for our own purpose at all— we are here for the purpose of God, and the two are not the same. We do not know what God’s compelling purpose is, but whatever happens, we must maintain our relationship with Him. We must never allow anything to damage our relationship with God, but if something does damage it, we must take the time to make it right again. The most important aspect of Christianity is not the work we do, but the relationship we maintain and the surrounding influence and qualities produced by that relationship. That is all God asks us to give our attention to, and it is the one thing that is continually under attack.”
There is a strength found in starting your day with God that can be found by no other worldly means. There is a weakness found without it, that no other worldly means can provide to strengthen. I laughed the other day where someone said they wanted to wear a shirt that said LIFE, and stand on the street corner handing out lemons. Life is hard, and you cannot do it on your own. God uses all these tough things in life to draw you closer to Him. You will not find the answers on your own; the answers to life’s problems and questions are found through Jesus Christ and his Spirit in his Word. Go to God today with a humble prayer to seek a closer relationship again, and respond to what he shows you. You never know; He might be handing you lemons so you can make lemonade together.
#1 To Do – Slow Down
#1 To Do – Slow Down
Jeremiah 33:3 ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’
My “to-do list” is daunting, mine is no different from yours I am sure. I have been desperately trying to find a book I read about 6-8 years ago titled “Out of Control.” It was how God did not design us for this 4G lifestyle that we lead. The almost funny thing is, the book was written before we all had smart-phones on our side and all the new wave of anxieties that they bring. As much as I love technology, part of me wants to unplug, and return to a simpler time. Social media has been reflecting on how it used to be for us North Mecklenburg natives that have seen the changes in our lifetimes from rural to suburbia. That has me wanting to go back more than ever to a simpler life.
I have been pulled away from God in the past couple of months. The pressures of the world have gotten the best of me, and I have not felt the closeness to God that I so desire. The stress of life have demanded my attention, and have physically wore me out to the point of sickness. My body is showing me I need to slow down. I can almost guarantee you that you know exactly what I am talking about in your life too; we are not designed for these lifestyles we lead. My encouragement to you is to slow down and pursue God in prayer and his Word. That is where the solutions to life’s troubles are found; in God’s Word. Seek Him with a pure heart and motive, and he will open your mind through your heart as the Holy Spirit reveals truth to you in his Word. Proverbs 8:17 I love those who love me, And those who seek me diligently will find me.
Sermon Link
One Day at a Time
This week I am calling in a sub; really he would qualify for first string while I sat the bench. This week’s sermon is going to be a video from one of Dr. Adrian Rogers most powerful sermons regarding sin, and when God gives up on you with it. If this sermon does not stir your soul, my prayer is that you get on your knees for your soul.
I have found myself really sick this week. I was at the doctor for the third time in three weeks for a different problem. This week it was bronchitis, a fever, and a serious four day headache. Last week it was gout, and the week before was open sores on my face. All three weeks my body has been showing the evidences of elevated stress; the effects the mental has on the physical. I am dealing with not only the stresses of church, but a borderline recall of my Carrier equipment, which means people with brand new air conditioning systems that do not work. Then at the top of the list is my family that has been doing fun summer things without me due to the strains I have been under.
As I sat on the porch this morning talking to God, I thanked him for where he had my feet today. There are lessons to be learned for where you are each day in your life. I am in the midst of looking at the big picture of my life. I am learning of what to do, and what not to do. If I had felt that I became pastor of Lakehaven on my own accord, I would likely quit; but that is not an option. I KNOW I was clearly called by God to our church, and I plan to seek to fulfill his will for my life there. Ministry is hard; the level of spiritual warfare is almost impossible to articulate; but quitting once you are called is not an option; I do not plan to kneel before God one day with an excuse.
Whatever you are straining upon today, go to God with it today. Thank him for where he has you today, for he has a purpose in it you do not presently understand. How sovereign would your God be; how great would your God be; how could you worship something you comprehend? He designs and speaks things into existence that our greatest minds babble trying to explain. The details of your life are simple for him, once your look into the depths of our universe and grasp how small you really are; and how big He really is.
I encourage you to take the time to watch one of Adrian Rogers best:
I have a journal style My Utmost For His Highest devotional by Oswald Chambers, that I have been in for three or so years. As I opened it up this morning, this devo stuck out to me from June. I have been feeling overwhelmed, and like Peter, I feel like I am sinking too. The stresses of my life are taking physical tolls on me. I needed this encouraging word this morning, and I pray that God uses me to encourage you in passing on this devotional.
Don’t Think Now, Take The Road
The wind was actually boisterous, the waves were actually high, but Peter did not see them at first. He did not reckon with them, he simply recognized his Lord and stepped out in recognition of Him, and walked on the water. Then he began to reckon with the actual things, and down he went instantly. Why could not our Lord have enabled him to walk at the bottom of the waves as well as on the top of them? Neither could be done saving by recognition of the Lord Jesus.
We step right out on God over some things, then self-consideration enters in and down we go. If you are recognizing your Lord, you have no business with where He engineers your circumstances. The actual things are, but immediately you look at them you are overwhelmed, you cannot recognize Jesus, and the rebuke comes: “Wherefore didst thou doubt?” Let actual circumstances be what they may, keep recognizing Jesus, maintain complete reliance on Him.
If you debate for a second when God has spoken, it is all up. Never begin to say – “Well, I wonder if He did speak?” Be reckless immediately, fling it all out on Him. You do not know when His voice will come, but whenever the realization of God comes in the faintest way imaginable, recklessly abandon. It is only by abandon that you recognize Him. You will only realize His voice more clearly by recklessness.
All is not lost
All is not lost
Jeremiah 29:11-13 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
I have really been struggling recently; in a lot of ways, in a few very personal ways. Satan takes these struggles and just pushes the sword of conviction deeper every opportunity he has. Sometimes so much goes wrong and then the personal struggles grow even more, I begin to just feel down, tired, and many times even depressed. I am no different from you; this ole’ world beats me down just like it does you. That is where Satan has his victories, when the problems of a temporal world make an eternal child of God feel defeated. We can’t see the gift beneath all the tape and wrapping paper we are struggling with.
God did not forget his promise with Israel in the passage above. He had plans for them that they could not understand because of all the trouble that was facing them. They felt defeated. Do not let the trials of life defeat you as them; the less time you spend with God the more defeated you will feel. You do not have the power in your pride to do life on your own; to do life without God and the power of prayer and his Word. David was fleeing for his life, hiding out in caves when he wrote the Psalm 63:1 A Psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water.
Everything in your life, everything you deal with has passed through God’s hands. He either designs it, or he allows it, but all of it as a child of God it can be used for good. Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. The scary situations in life, the unknown in life, even the sins in your life can be used by God. All of these point to your need for Him, and your testimony of deliverance through them, which can be used to glorify him. But, you first must seek Him; without him you are a victory for the one who seeks to torment your soul.
Where have I been?
Where have I been?
John 7:37-39 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
I have been MIA (missing in action) for some time now from this ministry. This OneMinuteMinistry was a gift of God to me, and a way that He transformed my life; he used it to do his work in, and I humbly say through me. He formed the habit of early mornings with Him that is now a bedrock of my life and my testimony. But the last two months I have struggled with getting up early and spending daily time with God. Last week I felt convicted and prayed about a renewed spirit, and this morning God used pain to wake me up. As a result I had an awesome time in prayer and his Word with him before the sun came up. I feel charged to face the day.
Most of you know that I am also full time preaching at a small church. The struggles of bi-vocational ministry are taking their toll on me; I cannot begin to fully open up about that, but it is God’s will for my life for this season. I knew what would be coming when my HVAC business summer season arrived, but it has proven to be even much harder than I anticipated. I have been trying to limit my weeks to the 60hr max, but that leaves little time for anything church, and anything family and my boys. Life has proven to be a struggle of proportions that only a few of my closest friends understand. I have hit bottom a few times, and I have met God there in the pit. He has provided for me at a level that only he and I fully understand. I have come to quote and rest in the scripture that Abraham used when he was about to sacrifice his son, before God gave him the goat instead. Genesis 22:14 And Abraham called the name of the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of The Lord it shall be provided.”
My heart lies in encouraging you to draw closer to God; to help you become more than just a Christian, to become his disciple. My heart lies in encouraging you to spend daily time in his Word and prayer, and then understanding that he will make you into the image of his Son. This world we live in is sliding away from God. This world we live needs people like you to stand up for your faith; to go against the flow of society. GK Chesterton said, “A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it.” Are you willing to speak out for truth? Are you willing to stand up for your faith in Jesus? If you believe that you are, join me in getting up early and spending daily time with him in prayer and his Word. It is there, and only there that you will find the strength to swim upstream; upstream closer to God.
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