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The Adventure of Becoming Who I Am!

You are never more a man (or woman) than when you embrace an adventure beyond your control, or when you walk into a battle you aren’t sure of winning.

We should see every adventure of our life as an opportunity for initiation.  What are You teaching me, God?  What are You asking me to do or to let go of?  What in my heart are You speaking to?

Oswald Chambers said, “Never make a principle out of your experience; let God be as original with other people as He is with you.”

Originality and creativity are essential to identity and calling. 

The adventure begins and our real strength is released when we no longer rely on formulas.  God is an immensely creative person and He wants His children to live that way to.

God wants us to know that our battles are personal to Him and He will design personal and unique strategies for each battle.

The theme of our story is how we become human.  What does it mean to become human, be a real man, a real woman?  What must we deal with in order to become ourselves, to grow up?

We can’t be human without God.  Human life is a great gift; every part of it is designed by God and therefore means something.  Every part of it is blessed by God and therefore is to be enjoyed.

We can refuse to participate in God, act as if He isn’t our designer, provider and covenant presence.  But when we refuse, we’re less; our essential humanity is less, our lives are diminished and impoverished.

God-thirst is the most powerful drive in us, stronger than all the drives of sex, power, security and fame put together. 

To be God-chosen is to be God-anointed, God-assigned and God-defined. Once you know who you are, you acquire a God-dominated imagination.  You practice the presence of God and His presence captivates your thinking about your responses to life.

The most personal, most significant, most human thing we ever do is to believe in and trust in God.

And I’ll leave you with this…your thumbprint is God’s way of reminding you of how unique and special you truly are!

If you missed this weekend at TheChurch on Strayer…

Let us begin our study today with a profound truth -

        As a believer, you now have the very life of heaven within you.

That means you and I are right now equipped by God with eternal life which we can live out on a day-by-day basis in the presence of this evil age.

In this world, we are soaked with secularity.  It seems people have little regard for a loving, caring, interactive God.

Jesus prayed for us to live in victory and be fulfilled while being in the world but not of the world.

Full-time Kingdom living brings us into our created purpose as we live lives of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

John 17:14 - I have given and delivered to them Your word (message) and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world…

The Holy Spirit is the C.O.O. ─Chief Operating Officer─ of God’s Kingdom on earth.  He is also the C.E.O. ─Chief Executive Officer─ of God’s Kingdom on earth.

The presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives daily helping us, comforting us, and counseling us by becoming our advocate (defense attorney), intercessor, strengthener, and standby is God’s guarantee of His promise of eternal life. (John 16:7)

• You don’t have to win ─ God guarantees victory.
• You don’t have to struggle, fight ─ trust and obey.

Live as subjects of His Kingdom; enjoy His protection, preservation, and provision.  As Kingdom subjects, we are sealed by God.  “Sealing” keeps out the polluted air.  He keeps us in the midst of an evil age.  Nothing shall, by any means, harm us.   

Life on the Other Side

Life with a capital “L” was never designed to be lived in a stationary, status quo, mundane, lethargic, monotonous kind of state.

In reality, life with a capital “L” was designed to be motion-filled, ever-changing, challenging, energetic and exciting.

All too often we find ourselves absorbed with the routine, allowing others and circumstances to dictate the pace and quality of our living.

Perhaps that kind of life is best described by the old Greyhound slogan – “Just take the bus and leave the driving to us.”

Or the Yellow Pages slogan of – “Just let your fingers do the walking.”

God never intended for us to be passive observers in life, but He wanted us to become faith-filled, active, exploit achieving, daring men and women of accomplishments.

• Adam was to tend the garden meaning to keep, cultivate, protect – all words demanding activity and achievement.
• Noah was to build an ark meaning to design, construct, finish – words demanding intelligence, creativity, work – 120 years of it.

One thing is certain – there is no time for idleness, slothfulness, laziness, lethargy or inertia.

God is always moving in the earth, directing His people, speaking His plans, encouraging us to experience Him in His great endeavors.

Perhaps it is time for us to hear the words of Psalm 68:1 – Let God arise and His enemies be scattered.

Too many people love the security of sameness.  God never changes, but His means and methods are ever changing.

SHINE!

How many of you have every said something and wished you had not said that?  It just sort of slipped out. 

My mother had the answer for that and she always said – If it wasn’t in there it wouldn’t come out. 

That’s the truth of God’s word.   Our character is revealed in our words. 

The person that we really are comes out of us in our speech and our speech is very powerful.

There are a lot of people who live on the surface of life and they never, ever get into the depth of life. 

They just stay on the surface.  God wants us to learn to speak what He is saying and not what we are thinking. 

God is interested in you picking up the God language.  He’s interested in you picking up the positive language of His Word and of His life and of His energy.  Get the feeling of God inside of you.

• God didn’t make us to be defeated. 
• God didn’t make us to be poor. 
• God didn’t make us to be the all scouring of the world. 
• God didn’t make us to be living on the other side of the tracks. 

God made us to shine in the glory of His Kingdom, to let the world know there is a God who cares and loves us and who made us His own.

If You Missed this Weekend at theChurch…

The Upside Down Life:  The Mystery of the Kingdom

Perhaps it is the most asked question ever presented to me –

          What is God’s will for my life and how can I know it?

Here is my answer –

It is God’s will for you to intimately know Jesus Christ and to learn how His secret Kingdom functions in the earth.

The words “mystery” and “mysteries” occur some 27 times in the New Testament.  As this word is used in the Bible, it refers to something which has been kept secret through times eternal, but is now revealed.

It also is a divine purpose, hidden in the heart of God for a long period of time until He unveils it with a new revelation.

The “mystery” of the Kingdom is unveiled by Jesus as He demonstrates the Upside Down Life.  The secret of this unveiling is found in the dynamics of Jesus’ prayer life.

He listened to God’s heart and then spoke God’s will to those around Him.

God has entered into a partnership with every believer. 

Prayer is the link between us and the unlimited purposes of God.  Prayer is our “Kingdom connection” to the will of God in our lives.  Prayer in its purest sense means to put our lives totally into God’s desires for us.

Literally, we determine His will and then make ourselves available to Him for His will to be done through us.

His desire for us is to live in His Kingdom, live by Kingdom laws, and carry out His directives, which we receive from His Word and by His Spirit.

Giving it ALL to God

Sometimes in life when things go wrong, there is no one to blame.  Sometimes there is no rhyme, no reason to why they happen, they just happen and sometimes it’s unfair.  Life is just unfair. 

But in the midst of that, here is what I want you to remember and see woven through your life story – Though there may be an unfairness in life, God is never without a plan for your life. 

It doesn’t matter what the unfairness is.  It doesn’t matter what happens, God says, “I have a plan for YOU.”

Mother Teresa said many years ago, while working in the slums, and picking up children and loving them and caring for them: “I know that God won’t give me anything I can’t handle.  I just wish He wouldn’t trust me with so much.”

I doubt there is someone out there today that hasn’t at some point in life felt like there has been an unfairness in life, that life is not fair.   All of us come to that conclusion at some point.    

God for sure constantly uses people, places, and things for the purpose of showing us the weaknesses of our lives and revealing the sins of our own lives.    

He says, “Look, I want to show you who you are because I want to plunge you into My grace that you will receive My provision for your life.  I am going to wean you away from depending so much on yourself, that you forget I am the God of grace and I have provision to fill your life.” 

The unfairness of life sometimes shatters our hearts and sometimes they shatter our lives. However, God does miraculous things when our hearts are shattered and broken, provided that we will give Him all the pieces, not just a few.   

God says – “My son, My daughter, give me your whole heart.  Don’t hold anything back from me.  Give it all to me.”

Sometimes we reserve little things and we say, “I can fix that.  I can take care of that.” 

God said, “No!  Surrender that up to me.  Give it all over to me and let me fix the wound, the pain of your life, let me fix the unfairness.” 

Because once again, God says, “I have a plan for you.” 

The only way for God to work His will and way in your life is for you to stay in touch with God.  You can’t look at life, you can’t look at circumstance and you can’t look at the unfairness.  

You must rise above the challenges of life and embrace the teachings of God’s Word.

He wants you to know that in spite of the unfairness of your life, He still has a plan for you.  He plans to minister His provision.  

Don’t get bitter.  Don’t get angry.  Don’t get down in the dumps.  Don’t blame God.  Don’t find fault with God.  Don’t talk about being born on the wrong side of the tracks. Hang around until God writes the final chapter.   Because in that final chapter, God is going to bless you.

If you missed this weekend @ theChurch…

“Love, With All Your Heart”

John 13:34-35 (AMP)

I give you a new commandment: that you should love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too should love one another.  By this shall all [men] know that you are My disciples, if you love one another [if you keep on showing love among yourselves].

If you wanted to express the ultimate theme, message, law of the Kingdom in one word, that word would be “Love.”

Jesus came to show us, to give us a Kingdom, which is founded upon perfect love.   More than 500 times, love, and its many derivatives are used in the Bible.

God is capable only of “perfect love.”  He can never love more or less – His love cannot be enhanced or diminished.

Everything Jesus said and did was a demonstration of Kingdom love.

Every “Godly action” of our lives is the result of His Kingdom love within us.

The positive manifestation of the Kingdom attitude is God’s love within us.

Everything God intended for us is included in His love to us and through us.

The world’s greatest revelation is that God is love and God loves us.

Love is who God is – His very nature.  Thus, He can never cease to love us since His very essence is love.

God has chosen to pursue a love relationship with us as He takes the initiative to bring us into that relationship.

To be loved by God and to love God is the highest relationship, the highest achievement and the highest position available to mankind.

Join us this upcoming weekend as we continue to talk more about “Love, With All Your Heart” and we celebrate “Friend Day” at theChurch, Feb 18^th & 19^th!

God’s Unconditional Love

All of us are, to some degree, the sum total of our loves.

We grow into the image of what we love most.  Love by its nature is a creative force – it shapes, molds, conforms, and changes.  Our loves dictate our behavior and command our passion.  We become like those we love most.

For God, love is not a feeling – it is a responsibility.  When he met chaos in the beginning, He displayed confrontational and transformational love.

He so loved the world He brought order out of chaos.

Unconditional Love is pure – no hidden motives, no strings attached.  It is full of grace and mercy.  It is love that reaches, teaches, knows no limits, and has no restraints.

Unconditional Love is intentional – Jesus’ intent was and is to love us into becoming like Him.

It was not the nails that held Him on the cross – it was His Unconditional Love for all mankind.

Because God is love – it is His very nature – and He has placed a piece of Himself within each of us, all of us have a life-long need for love.

Unconditional Love is the deepest longing of our being.

His love for us is not based on who or what we are, but who He is.  Our value comes not from our possessions, our position, nor our prominence – it comes from who possesses us.

His Unconditional Love, will never stop pursuing us, reaching for us, caring for us and patiently waiting for us to be loved unconditionally.

To be loved unconditionally, by a confronting and transformational God until we stand with Him in the likeness of His Son, is God’s supreme desire for each of us.

Law of the Moment

Perhaps there is no greater tragedy than to miss our moment, which all of our life has prepared us for.

Browning wrote –

I shall arrive!  What time, what circuit first, I ask not.  In sometime, His good time, I shall arrive!

The only way to live the dream in your heart is to understand what time it is.

Life for all of us is filled with momentous possibilities.  The real difference between people is not in their opportunities, but in their ability to recognize their opportunities.

Ephesians 5:16 tells us to make the most of every opportunity. Time, in God’s Word, contains at least four ingredients:

          1) Appointment

          2) Expectation

          3) Patience

          4) Fulfillment

Matthew 6:34 (MSG) – Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now.

The Law of the Moment demands 100% focus and participation.  It demands a state of active, open, intentional attention on the present.

When you don’t live in your moment, you are not there to know that you are not there.

To live and practice the Law of the Moment, you must be fully conscious of and participate in it.

Are you fully here in this moment this morning?  Have you totally focused your entire being on this living moment?