A Prayer of Hope

A few months ago I wrote a poem to God as I was thinking about the sad divorce rate and many unhappy marriages. After reading it over tonight, I realized that in several ways this prayer can speak to many, if not all of us, including myself. It is my hope that this prayer encourages you and reminds you of the hope we have in the Lord when we put our trust in Him. (Note: This poem has been modified slightly since I initially was praying for married couples in general and not for our devotional group as a whole.)

“You, Lord, are all-powerful and can break down any walls we may have up and You can soften our hearts to hearing the Truth. Father, I pray that You would transform our lives. Right now we may be merely existing. I ask that You would heal any wounds we have from past hurts and get rid of any bitterness or resentment we may have toward one another. Lord, help us to forgive each other just as You forgive us time and time again. Help us to see our need for You so that we may turn to You for comfort and guidance on how to rebuild our lives and center them on You. I know that Your hands are on every situation even when the future appears hopeless. Thank You for handling situations that are too overwhelming for us to handle. You deserve all the glory and praise!

In Your Heavenly Name,

AMEN.”

God Bless!

<3 Shannon

“Healer” – Kari Jobe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvIEJ_PmqJ8

He Is poem

Hey everyone! Just wanted to share a neat poem with you that I recently read that I found very inspiring! May it encourage you and uplift your week :)

He Is…..

The First and the Last

The Beginning and the end

The keeper of creation

The creator of all

He’s the architect of the universe

And the manager of all time

He always was, always is and always will be.

Unmoved, unchanged, undefeated and never undone

He was bruised but brought healing,

He was pierced but eased pain,

He was persecuted but brought freedom

He was dead and brings life

He is risen to bring power
And he reigns to bring peace
The world can’t understand Him

Armies can’t defeat Him

Schools can’t explain Him

And leaders they can’t ignore Him

Harod couldn’t kill Him

Nero couldn’t crush Him

The new age can not replace Him

And Oprah can not explain Him away

You remind yourself that
He IS Life,

HE IS Love,

HE IS Longevity and He IS The LORD

HE IS Goodness, kindness, faithfulness

And HE IS GOD

HE IS holy and righteous

and powerful and pure

His ways are right,

His word eternal

His will unchanging

And His mind is on us

He is our savior, our guide,

Our peace, our joy, our comfort

Our Lord and He rules our lives,

I serve Him because His bond is love

His yoke is easy His burden is light

And His goal for us is abundant life.

I follow Him because,

He Is the wisdom of the wise

The power of the powerful

The ancient of days, the ruler of rulers,

The leader of all leaders,

His goal is a relationship with me

He will never leave you, never forsake you

Never mislead you, never forget you,

Never overlook you and

Never cancel your appointment is His appointment book.

When you fall He’ll lift you up,

When you fail He will forgive you.

When your weak He’s strong,

When your lost He’s your way

When your afraid He is your courage,

When you stumble He will steady you,

When your hurt He Is going to heal you,

When your broken He will mend you,

When your blind He will lead you,

When your hungry He will feed you,

When you face trials He Is with you,

When I face persecution He shields me,

When I face problems He will comfort me,

When I face loss He will provide for me,

And when we face death

He will carry us all home to meet Him.

He is everything for everybody,

everywhere ,every time,

And in every way.

He is your God

and that, dear friend, is who you belong to.

God Bless!
<3 Shannon

No Perfect People Allowed: When Life Disappoints You

This past weekend I heard a great message at church! The pastor spoke of the story of Moses when he led the Israelites out of Egypt.  The Scripture Pastor Jeff Manion used was Numbers 11.

Numbers 11 (verses 1-10)

"Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the Lord, and when He heard them His anger was aroused. Then fire from the Lord burned among them and consumed some of  the outskirts of the camp. When the people cried out to Moses, he prayed to the Lord and the fire died down. So that place was called Taberah, because fire from the Lord had burned among them. The rabble with them began to crave other food , and again the Israelites started wailing and said, 'If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost - also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!' The manna was like coriander seed and looked like resin. The people went around gathering it, and then ground it in a hand mill or crushed it in a mortar. The cooked it in a pot or made it into loaves. And it tasted like something made with olive oil. When the dew settled on the camp at night, the manna also came down. Moses heard the people of every family wailing at the entrance to their tents. The Lord became exceedingly angry, and Moses was troubled."

The first thing the pastor encouraged us to do was to try to put ourselves in the place of the people in the Bible. It is easy for us to judge the Israelites response to their trials and say we would not react the same way. But if we were really honest with ourselves, wouldn’t we have responded similarly? I’m pretty sure I would be complaining along with the others if I had to eat manna for almost 2 years!

Next, the pastor raised some key thoughts. He reminded us that the “land between” (when we are in the middle of a trial) is fertile ground for complaint. But he then encouraged us with the thought that the “land between” is also the place to be transformed. Trials often cause us to push ourselves and thus, strengthen our faith as a result if we turn to God and allow Him to change us.

The key issue in this story is TRUST.

Trust is the glue that holds any relationship together.

Pastor Manion went on to say that we don’t always get to choose what happens to us, but we do get to choose our response – which is a choice of the heart. When we pass through a season of difficulty, we have choices. However, often we have been choosing the same choice for so long that it no longer feels like a choice.

During difficult times, the Bible instructs us to choose joy.

James 1:2-4

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

Lastly, he left us with a great piece of insight: Your trial is a greenhouse for your spiritual growth – the space you learn to pray.

So let us choose joy in the middle of our trials and invite God to transform our hearts. May we believe that God can redeem our situation, while trusting in His sovereignty, His desire to produce fruit in our lives, and know that He will fulfill His promises.

God Bless!

<3 Shannon

“Closer” – Shawn McDonald

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4PiNTeEkwo

Stand Up and Speak Out

I want to ask everyone a handful of questions.  Are there people in your life that you don’t share the Good News with?  Would you share the Good News with a complete stranger?  Would you go into bars, or into neighborhoods where you have never been before and share the Good News?

Where did Jesus spend a lot of his time on this earth?  That is right.. with sinners.

Today I want you to open your Bible to Ezekiel 2:1-9

“Stand up, son of man,” said the voice,” I want to speak with you.”  The Spirit came into me as he spoke, and he set me on my feet.  I listened carefully to his words.  “Son of man,”he said,”I am sending you to the nation of Israel, a rebellious nation the has rebelled against me.  They and their ancestors have been rebelling against me to this very day.  They are a stubborn and hard-hearted people.  But I am sending you to say to them,”This is what the Sovereign Lord says!  And whether they listen or refuse to listen-for remember, they are rebels- at least they will know they have had a prophet among them. Son of man, do not fear them or their words.  Don’t be afraid even though their threats surround you like nettles and briers and stinging scorpions.  Do not be dismayed by their dark scowls,even though they are rebels.  You must give them my messages whether they listen or not.  But they won’t listen for they are completely rebellious!  Son of man, listen to what I say to you.  Do not join them in their rebellion.  Open your mouth, and eat what I give you.  Then I looked and saw a hand reaching  out to me.  It held a scroll, which he unrolled. And I saw that both sides were covered with funeral songs, words of sorrow, and pronouncements of doom.

Ezekiel was the son of Buzi, a Zadokite priest.  He was a ordinary person just like me and you.  He saw visions of God and felt the hand of the Lord take hold of him.  Ezekiel was to go to a completely new nation and bring news from God to sinners... unbelievers.  He was a stranger to that area.

Brothers and Sisters of Christ... Travel north,east,south,and west.  You are going to meet a lot of people who do not believe in what you believe in, but It is truly you who have to bring God to them.  No matter how hard it is... God will always be with you.  No matter what the people say or do... God will be with you, and  no matter how far you travel....God will be with you!

--- Be the light-----

God Bless 

Bobby C.

Definition

I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday/ new year!  I just wanted to thank everyone who reads our devotionals.  I am beyond blessed to share my faith with all of you!  Please continue to leave comments, extra thoughts.  We put  up a couple local ministry websites around our area, but please tell us a couple ministries going on in your area?  We would love to post them on our blog to expand help as much as possible.

On that note I wanna jump into my devotional...

A student fresh out of college going into his/her first interview.....  A first date  between a man and a women... or just meeting someone new..  When someone is at the beginning point of any of these situations how does it usually start out?  Introduction? Defining who you are? 

 Do any of these ring a bell?

The point is that we live in a world of definition.  When we introduce each other or write about ourselves to others we say our name then usually what we do for a living in some sort of a way.  Is that what matters to this world?  Is job description what really describes who you really are?  God’s Word tells differently.

Go through the different books of the Bible(Romans,Corinthians,Philippians, Colossians, etc.)  Yes, there is introduction of who is writing, but it doesn’t just end there:  (Titus)  This letter is from Paul a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ... (2 Timothy)  This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus.  The list goes on and on.  The apostles had  jobs other then Christ followers, but they didn’t have there job define who they really were.  They humbled themselves before the Lord.

I want you to open your Bibles up to Romans 1:5-6.  Let these words sink into your hearts.

“Through Christ, God has given us the privilege and authority as apostles to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to his name.  And you are included among those Gentiles who have been called to belong to Jesus Christ.”

Dear brothers and sisters of Christ are you willing to step out of what defines you and start being defined as a slave of Jesus Christ?  Are you willing to live as the Apostles did and pour your whole entire life out for your creator?  I pray your answer is yes.  If your answer is no, I ask why?  You... yes you are called by God to be like the Apostles and to tell everyone the Good News... To define yourself living for the Lord instead of living for yourself.

God Bless

Bobby C.

Worship the Right God

Tonight I watched a neat sermon titled, "Worship the Right God." The pastor talked about how our view of God's commandments are limited and reminded us of 4 reasons why we were given the 10 Commandments. Here are my notes below if you are interested in hearing more:

10 for Today (the 10 Commandments): Worship the Right God

Heritage Church – John Bray

Hug a Porcupine Skit:

“I just like porcupines.” “Porcupines are dangerous.” “Don’t knock it until you try it.” “I don’t have to try it to know it’s not good for me.” “Can you believe that guy? Trying to impose his judgments on my lifestyle?! If I want to go around hugging porcupines, that’s my business. It’s his job to get rid of my chest pains.”

We tend to do the same thing – we take worldly things that are damaging and hug them tightly to ourselves.  Most of us don’t like it when others tell us what we have to do. There’s something in us that makes us want to push back. We tend to think of the 10 Commandments as rules and limits - that are old-fashioned and things that are trying to keep us from enjoying life. But anytime we do something God tells us not do to, it’s like picking up a porcupine. Anytime we violate God’s plan, we bring damage to ourselves.

Exodus 19

Vs. 5, 6 – “If you will obey Me and keep My covenant, you will be My own special treasure from among all the nations of the earth… You will be to Me a kingdom of priests, My holy nation.” Does that sound limiting to you?

4 Words to Remember (about our attitudes on why the 10 Commandments were given):

1.       Protection – the 10 Commandments were given for our protection; they are to act as guidelines to keep us from harm (ex: parent and child relationship – parents tell us no to things they know will harm us; they do this to keep us safe). The Lord loves us and wants to protect us.

2.       Promise – “covenant” or treaty; He wants us to obey Him, so He can bless us. We need to remember that we pay the consequence for our actions. We are known to pay attention to Him some of the time, yet we want Him to bless us all of the time.

3.       Personal ­– “Love the Lord YOUR God.” God is a personal God and He wants a personal response.

4.       Synecdochical – define: a figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole, the whole for a part, the specific for the general, and the general for the specific, or the material for the thing made from it; we have to take God’s Word as a whole and obey all of His commands rather than choosing which ones we will follow.

First Commandment = Have no other gods but Me and Me alone (idolatry – putting our trust in something in place of God)

Examples: Pleasure/Happiness (“I just want to be happy.”) God wants us to be holy and when we are holy, then we will be happy in return. Popularity is another example. We say or don’t say things in order to fit in, because popularity is more important to us than honoring God. Possessions/Security can also be an idol. We need to remember that possessions cannot protect us.

The problem is that we have made God the God of American culture rather than viewing Him as the personal God He has always been.

We tend to use these phrases:

“This isn’t exactly what God commanded, but I think…”

“I know this isn’t exactly right, but I think…”

“God may not be entirely happy with this, but I think…”

Or the ever popular, “This may not be the best thing to do, but I think…”

We think and so we do. And we think that is good enough. But in the end, these things do not provide enough security and they eventually will leave us empty.  Seeking pleasure outside of God’s path often messes up our lives. We need to remember how fleeting popularity is.

Let us stop trusting ourselves to know what is right or to make decisions on our own rather than trusting in God and putting our faith in Him.

3 Affirmations to Consider:

1.       Say, “God is passionate about me.” In the rest of the world, you matter based on what you can produce, how much money you make, if others feel you can help them, or how much power/popularity you have. But God looks at you and simply says, “You matter!” God values you. Not because of what you look like, how much money you have, or how much power you have. He just looks at you and says, “I am the Lord your God. And because I say you matter, you do.” Your life has incredible value. And since your life matters to God, it matters what you do.

2.       “God can be trusted with my life.” God wants us to find true purpose, true satisfaction, and ultimate meaning. He loved us so much that He died for us.

3.       Decision – “God is God in my life.” Acknowledge Him as Lord of your life. Place Him on the throne and keep Him there. Do not push Him off so that you can make room for your plans.

So what? So what am I going to do now that I have heard this message?

May we listen to God’s instruction, decide in advance to obey His commands, and stop picking up porcupines and squeezing them and then wondering why we’re in pain. I pray that today we say to God, “You are God, my God. I choose to live Your way.”

God Bless!

<3 Shannon

“I Am New” – Jason Gray

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsJ1E9cbHL4

We Are His

I was driving home from work today and while I was listening to 103.7(country) the song “If I die young” by The Band Perry was playing (which I recommend to everyone to listen to.)  There was one line in the song that really stood out to me.  The line is “Funny when your dead how people start listenin’  Take a second to let that verse sink in...Funny when your dead how people start listenin’

• In a lot of cases this is a true comment.  Only when someone close to them passes away is when they realize how short life really is.  It is when people figure out the truth that there is more to life then on this earth.  For all throughout the Bible it states that the days are evil.  Why do we come together and think about Heaven and God at funerals,but not on a daily basis.  How many people do you think take time out of their day to think about God and other people other then themselves?  Are you one of them?

• For it says in the Bible Luke 16:8-9:  And it is true that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light.  Here’s the lesson:  Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends.  Then, when your earthly possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home. 

This passage was told by Jesus to his disciples.  Not only was Jesus warning the disciples, He is warning us.  We are ALL children of the light!  People who are homeless,poor,middle class, rich, different background, you name it we are all The children of the light.  We are all chosen by God to live for him and not ourselves.  For when we live for ourselves we will never know the truth even if were right in front of our eyes.

Luke 16:19-31

Jesus said,”There was a certain rich man who was splendidly clothes in purple and fine linen and who lived each day in luxury.  At his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus who was covered with sores.  As lazarus lay there longing for scraps from the rich man’s table, the dogs would come and lick his open sores.  Finally, the poor man died and was carried by the angels to be with Abraham.  The rich man also died and was buried, and his soul went to the place of the dead.  There, in torment, he saw Abraham in the far distance with Lazarus at his side.  The rich man shouted,”father abraham, have some pity!  Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue.  A am in anguish in these flames.’  But Abraham said to him,” Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing.  So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish.  And besides, there is a great chasm separating us.  No one can cross over to you from here, and no one can cross over to us from there’  Then the rich man said,”Please, Father Abraham, at least send him to my father’s home.  For I have five brothers, and I want him to warn them so they don’t end up in this place of torment.  But Abraham said,”Moses and the prophets have warned them.  Your brothers can read what they wrote.’  The rich man replied,” No, Father Abraham! But if someone is sent to them from the dead, then they will repent of their sins and turn to God.”  But Abraham said,”If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t listen even if someone rises from the dead.

Brothers and Sisters of Christ I dare you to live outside the box.  Extend your hand to someone in need.  It could be someone you are very close to or to someone you do not know at all.  God knows your heart.  He is the beginning and the end of everything you do.  Do not lose sight of the fact we are all His.

God Bless

Bobby C.