Home Run

Every bat has a sweet spot, if they ball connects with this spot then a home run will most defiantly follow. Same is true with God's will in our life. When we connect with God's will the "sweet spot" of our lives a "home run" always follows.

3 insights on finding the will of God for your life:
1) God's will is more about WHO you are than WHAT you do.  "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of the this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's Will IS-- His good pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2

2) God's will is more about your relationship with Him, than insight to your future.  "Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lords unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him. Psalm 32:10

3) God's will has more to do with our character than our comfort. "if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life must lose it, but whoever looses his life for the gospel will save it. Mark 8:34-36

Savior

Happy are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered, happy is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him. Romans 4:7-8

If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator
If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist
If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist
If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an educator,
But our greatest need was forgiveness, so he sent us a SAVIOR.

Tenth Avenue North

These are lyrics from a Tenth Avenue North song called  "You are More". I think that it can reach everyone and it is an amazing song. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwtcwQwgdsA

 

There's a girl in the corner, With tear stains on her eyes, From the places she's wandered, And the shame she can't hide, She says, "How did I get here?, I'm not who I once was, And I'm crippled by the fear, That I've fallen too far to love"

But don't you know who you are, What's been done for you?

You are more than the choices that you've made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You've been remade.

Well she tries to believe it, That she's been given new life, But she can't shake the feeling, That it's not true tonight, She knows all the answers And she's rehearsed all the lines And so she'll try to do better But then she's too weak to try

But don't you know who you are?

'Cause this is not about what you've done,
But what's been done for you.
This is not about where you've been,
But where your brokenness brings you to

This is not about what you feel,
But what He felt to forgive you,
And what He felt to make you loved.

Dust

Draw near to God, and he will drawn near to you. James 4:8

 

There was a saying in Jesus' time among the prophets and rabbi's that was said among the followers. (prophets were preachers that were said to have a direct connection in God in which to spread His message to the people).  "May you be covered by the dust of your rabbi." What this saying refers to is the closeness in proximity that one was to "their rabbi." It translates to " may you be so close to your Lord that you are literally covered from the dust off of his sandals from following behind him so closely."

 

So this week may you follow so close to God that you are "covered by His dust"

Ask, search, and knock

Ask and it will be given, search and you will find, knock and the door will be opened. Matthew 7: 7

 

Asking: Ask in the WILL of God and it will be given to you in the WILL of God

Searching: Thank God that we don't always get what we search for! Never forget your scars, for they are what teach us our greatest lessons.

Knocking: God is holding the door open for us, all He asks is that you walk through it!

Doorway

No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him. Isaiah 64:4

Every wall is a door, when the door closes another one opens; But often times we look so long at the closed door, that we don't see the one which has been open for us.

God has prepared alternative routes for lives that are even better than we have ever dreamed of. Don't be blinded but what you have perceived at a loss, instead look ahead on what He has set aside as your greatest gain.

Fruit

But the fruit of the spirit is LOVE, JOY, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS, and SELF-CONTROL. Galatians 5;22

 

We all want to be more loving, joyous, have more patience, be more kind, good, faithful, gentle and have more self-control. But its hard, life is trying, there are bigger obstacles, more challenges etc. You are tired and sometimes just flat out sick of trying. But if you work on just one of these than the rest will fall into place, that one thing is LOVE. When you do everything with love you will never have regrets. However, if you work on LOVE the rest will fall into place. It will not be easy and many times you will fail. But think about this if you don't climb the mountain you will never see the view.

To get something you've never had, You have to do something you've never done.

Fire and Brimstone

In 1986, it took 15 hours of recording time to get 1 hour of complete silence, today 2000 hours is what is needed to get just one hour of silence- that equals, 83 days-12 weeks-3 months. That speaks volumes about how our world has changed!.

I Kings 19:3-12 "Go out and stand on the mountain n the presence of he Lord, for the Lord will pass by. Then a Great and powerful wind tore the mountain apart and shattered the rocks, but the Lord wasn't in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord wasn't in the earthquake. After that came a fire, but the Lord wasn't in the fire. And after that came a gentle whisper. God is not in the wind, not in the earthquake, not the fire, but in the gentle and quite whisper.

Are we looking for Him in the wrong places? Are we looking for Him in the fire and brimstone, wind and earthquakes?

What would start happening f we started looking for him in the GENTLE QUIET SILENCE?

Search your Hearts and be silent- Psalm 4:4

Attitude

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.

Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.

And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes.
-Charles Swindoll

Short and Simple

Everyone has two sides : a good and a bad, the one that grows the biggest is the one you feed the most.

Behave like you believe!

Opportunity

If someone prays for PATIENCE, you think God gives them PATIENCE, or does He give them the OPPORTUNITY to be patient?

If someone prays for COURAGE, does God give them COURAGE, or does He give them the OPPORTUNITY to be courageous?

If someone prayed for a family to be closer, do you think that God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them the opportunity to LOVE each other?

 -Evan Almighty

LOVE

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.  Matthew 22:37-39

 

Sometimes we forget the basic message and commandment of God: LOVE! Love God above everything and Love others. God tells us to:

• Love Him Supremely
• Trust Him completely
• Obey Him wholeheartedly
• Praise Him continueally
• Use the abilities that he gave us

People need Love the most when they Deserve it the least!

Faith

Now Faith is being SURE of what we hope for and CERTAIN of what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1

 

Trusting God means having faith in Him and knowing that he has our best interest in mind at all times. In the verse Paul, the author of Hebrews,  gives us a brief definition of faith as the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Our faith is not only what keeps us believing in God but it allows us to trust that God is always watching out for us and although we don't always understand why, God is leading our lives in a certain direction we should keep faith and know that his plan never takes us outside of his grace. - R. Parsons

Island

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him, and every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming. Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the weather, and to store his few possessions.

But then one day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, the smoke rolling up to the sky.   The worst had happened; everything was lost. He was stunned with grief and anger. "God, how could you do this to me!" he cried.

Early the next day, however, he was awakened by the sound of a ship that was approaching the island. It had come to rescue him. "How did you know I was here?" asked the weary man of his rescuers. "We saw your smoke signal," they replied.   It is easy to get discouraged when things are going badly. But we shouldn't lose heart, because God is at work in our lives, even in the midst of pain and suffering.

 Remember, next time your little hut is burning to the ground---it just may be a smoke signal  that summons the grace of God.

Silver

  'He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.'  Malachi 3:3

A woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining Silver.As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: ' He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.'She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time.

The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, 'How do you know when the silver is fully refined?'

He smiled at her and answered, ' Oh, that's easy -- when I see my image in it.'

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.