Arrows in the Hand of God

Today at our Ministerial Alliance meeting a devotion was given by one of the Pastor's. His devotion was from Isaiah 49:1-4. He was focusing on the suffering of Christ as seen through the writings of the prophet Isaiah, but I was focusing somewhere else. Listen to this phrase in verse 2 "He has made me a polished shaft." What does that mean to you? Here are my thoughts.

• God has prepared me and is refining me
• God has a destination in mind for me
• God is lovingly and tenderly preparing me
  
• I am in His hands

What a joy to know that I am not an accident and neither are you. God knew you before you were born. He has a plan for you, and He is wanting to prepare you for your mission. You are in His hands, is there any safer place to be?

What About Your Skin?

I was listening to Leviticus 13 as my wife was reading all 58 verses. It is tempting to read something like this and say "this doesn't apply to me." But if we truly believe that all scripture is inspired from God, then what do we do with this chapter?

It starts out talking about different skin diseases, and how you could tell whether it was something that was contagious or not. Be careful you could pass over something very important. The temptation is to skim over this chapter and chalk it up to "that was back then." But I believe there is an important lesson to be learned in this chapter.

After reading George O. Wood's sermon(www.georgeowood.com) "Are You Listening to Your Skin?" I brought away this one tidbit. Those who had something that was contagious was put outside the camp away from the rest of the people. They were excluded from worshiping in the Tabernacle and associating with those who were not contagious. This disease is a type of sin that separates us from God's presence and His people. If you were not contagious you could draw near to the center of the camp where the presence of God was, if you were contagious you had be outside of the camp for a certain amount of time until you were pronounced clean.

Here is the thought from this passage. Is the stuff in our life drawing us closer to God, or is it something that puts us outside the camp? If we are outside the camp let us go to Jesus and ask forgiveness for our sin, and be brought into the presence of God.

What are your thoughts about this passage? Maybe you have a different interpretation, I would like to hear from you.

Miracle on Mother's Day

Yesterday my Sister-in-Law Diane spoke on Mother's Day. Diane is a godly mother of five children, the oldest is a senior this year. What a testimony her and her husband have in the town in which they live. They have consistently stood up for godly principles even when it was not popular. They have raised their kids in the ways of the Lord, and they are committed to living out the words of Jesus. The service yesterday was great. The worship was great, the testimonies were encouraging and it was only 10:50! Let me explain.

As I walked to the platform for prayer time I sensed that the Lord was wanting to touch some people. Yesterday during the prayer time we had several people who received a healing in the service! One lady said that she had hearing problems in her left ear, and that morning had a terrible roaring in her ear. During the prayer time she felt a pop and knew that the Lord had healed her! The other lady said that the Lord was ministering to her emotionally, as she had a decision to make. She said through tears that the Lord gave her direction. This all took place before Diane got up to speak.

When Diane spoke there was a sweet presence of the Lord that could be felt in the room. It was as if though the Lord was infusing those present with strength. The words that she spoke were so accurate, and so encouraging to those who were present. So what was the miracle?

The miracle was life change. Whether it was direction, healing or encouragement to be a godly mother; lives were changed yesterday.

What Jesus Says About Prayer

Today is the National Day of Prayer. The Obama White House broke with tradition and did not "celebrate" this day of prayer. This however means that we still have the privilege and responsibility to pray for the President and his administration. Although there are many areas in which I do not agree with this administration, I must pray for my leaders. With all that said, what does Jesus have to say about prayer? Here are His words from Matthew 6:5-7

• When (not if ) you pray, don't pray to impress other people
• When you pray find a secret place to talk to God
• When you pray resist the temptation to use big words to "impress" God.
• When you pray know that God knows what you need before you ask.

Prayer is a subject that is talked about more than it is practiced. But prayer is something that once is practiced is a joy to the one praying.

I know we single out today as the day of prayer, but let us treat everyday as if our life depended on it.

Prayer

Since tomorrow is the National Day of Prayer, the question that I want to ask you is why pray? This seems like an obvious answer, but is it? Why do you pray? How much time do you pray, and how often do you pray? I would like to hear from you. I will list below my answers, and I look forward to your response.

• I pray for the same reason I breathe.
• I try to pray for about an hour (sometimes more sometimes less)
• My practice is to pray 5 out of 7 days

Prayer is not something we should just talk about, we should do it. The only way to become better at prayer is practice. My prayer time is a ongoing relationship with the Lord, there are no stops and starts. How about you?

Let us lift up our country before the Lord as we celebrate the National Day of Prayer.

Fruit from ATF

I was pondering the good things that have come about from the ministry of Teen Mania. I have come to a conclusion that since we have been taking young people to ATF, it is the most life changing event we have been a part of. Here are a few reasons why I believe this is so.

• The main emphasis behind the ATF is young people surrendering their life to Christ
• The preaching of the Gospel has never been compromised in all the years we have been to the events.
• The young people are challenged to allow Christ to change their lives, and then become disciples of the Lord.
• The coalition of the ATF staff, Youth Pastors, Senior Pastors and Parents understand that the most important thing is for their young person to have an encounter with Christ.

In my years as a Youth Pastor in Hermiston Oregon I was privileged to be a part of "One Voice". "One Voice" was a class taught by Youth Pastors in Hermiston to those students who signed up for this religious release. Some of the greatest relationships have come from these times. I ran into one of the students this weekend. He was an intern for Campus Life and was searching for God's will in His life. Today he is newly married, a Youth Pastor for 6 years in LaGrande Oregon and him and his wife are expecting their first baby. It was such a pleasant suprise to see a student who years before I was able to impact.

What is the greatest fruit of any event? The life change that continues long after the event.

Testimonies from ATF

I was unable to post until today, but let me share with you about this weekend. Here are some testimonies from our young people.

• "God told me I was forgiven, and that He had a plan for my life. All I had to do was follow His plan."
• "I need to read the Bible more, I could Jesus in my room as I was texting my friends. He told me that I needed to read the Bible and stop texting so much."
• "God forgave me and gave me a brand start."
• "I asked God to forgive me for being mean to my brother and sister."
• One parent found their son even reading his Bible before school today!

If you have not been to an ATF near you, you owe to yourself to see what God is doing with the young people of today. For more information go to www.teenmania.org