Redefined

I have been thinking and praying about our theme this weekend. "Redefined" My friend Pastor Lee from Atlantic is going to be preaching about it. I am excited to see where the Lord leads us. God really is all about redefining. Not that he changes and has to redefine his rules or who he is, but instead we need to be redefined. God needs to redefine who he is when we doubt him. We need him to redefine us when we feel worthless and unloved. We need him to redefine our circumstances when they seem hopeless. God always seemed to redefine David and his situation. So many psalms start out negative, and end up redefined and hopeful at the end. I think when God redefines, he is simply revealing the truth. I am praying that lives will be changed this weekend. Redefine our lives Lord and help us to know the truth about you, ourselves, and our situations!

Righteousness = Power and Effectivness

James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. 17 Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

I want to be effective in my prayers, and I want to able to call upon the power from our almighty God. Elijah was obviously a righteous man, you can tell by the power and effectiveness of his prayers. I want the healing/renewing rain of God to come. If God will bring rain for the crops, how much more will he bring a rain that falls on the dry souls of this world. I am praying that those we interact with today would be rained upon and would have an encounter with Jesus that will change the outcome of their eternity!

Any Day Now

I was reading in Leviticus 9 today. It is after the 7 days before the Lord, and they are to prepare by offering sacrifices because they were told "For today the Lord will appear to you" Any day now the Lord will appear to the people. He is coming back! Have you accepted the sacrifice that was made for you? Jesus Christ died for you sins, so that when he returns you are prepared to stand before him. Anyone who walked into the holy of holies in the old testament, and was unclean would die in the presence of God. He has given us this time of grace and mercy; this time when we can choose to restore our relationship to him. We must not let this time pass us by! We cannot earn our salvation, we cannot find a loophole. We must accept Jesus as savior! "For today the Lord will appear to you" Any day now.... People get ready. Jesus is coming!

7 days before the Lord

Reading in Leviticus today; chapter 8. It talks about the ordination of Aaron and his sons. They were being prepared to be the spiritual leaders of the Israelites. They put on the priestly clothes, made a sacrifice, and anointed them with oil. Then they had to stay at the entrance of the tent of meeting for 7 days and do everything the Lord told them to do. Today as we lead a church, a small group, or our families it is not necessary to sacrifice an animal or wear special clothes, but it is crucial that we spend time; just us and God. As we lead what is most precious to God -(His People) we must be in tune with him. That time is so valuable, and crucial to our success. before we get wrapped up in doing the things of the ministry, let us get wrapped up in the presence of our Lord, so we know who it is we are serving and how best to bring him glory!

Kingdom Mindset

We talked in youth group last night about how we can understand Gods love more than we do. I believe that it takes sharing God's love in order to understanding it at a deeper level. Typically, to get more of something it would make sense not to give it all away. Once again God does things differently than the rest of the world. I love that, but at the same time it makes it difficult to change our mindset. God provides an overflow of love when we have someone around us to overflow into. What good is love if it is not shared anyways? The rules of the kingdom are different. To be first we must be last, to gain we must count all we have as loss. I have found it hard to change my mindset on things. I want to show a Godly love, but even though sometimes my actions or words are good, I have this little thing inside of me going, what am I going to get out of this?? How can I benefit? Ahhhh! why doesn't that just die! Lord, change our mindsets to be kingdom mindsets so we can turn the world upside down (or maybe right side up) for you!!

The Effectiveness of the Sacrifice

Leviticus 5:17 17 "If a person sins and does what is forbidden in any of the LORD's commands, even though he does not know it, he is guilty and will be held responsible.

When I read this verse this morning, I found myself thankful for all that God forgives me of. Even things that I do unintentionally, that I don't even know are wrong, I am forgiven. It is just amazing how complete his sacrifice was! I also had a powerful thought yesterday when I was reading other verses in Leviticus. In old testament times those that needed to be forgiven put their hands on the head of the animal to transfer sin from them to the animal. As their hand was on the animal, it was killed and sacrificed. Can you imagine placing your hand on the head of Jesus as he was wiped, or as he was crucified, or as he took his last breath! WOW! Then to think that he wants you to do that! He wants us to bring everything that is evil, and un-holy to him. That is some crazy love. (that isn't out of the book by the way) As I finished in Leviticus I jumped over to psalm 8. "who am I that you are mindful of me" check it out and have a great day!

Psalm 8:1-9 Psalm 8:1 For the director of music. According to gittith. A psalm of David. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. 2 From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. 3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? 5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. 6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: 7 all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, 8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. 9 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Pure love vs. Impure love

I challenged our teenagers last night to keep there eyes open for love of all types, and try to tell the difference between Pure love (Like God) and Impure love (Love that falls short of God's standards). One thing that we learned last night is that pure love is not always nice... Pure love is willing to say and do the hard things, no matter what. One key to pure love is that it is truth. It never lies. As we talked last night I felt so inadequate in the way I was trying to describe love. Can it be done?? I know the English language is really pathetic at using this word. For instance, I love steak, and I also love my wife. Same word, really different meanings! :) I do know this. God is love. I think to know love we must know God, and to know God we must know love. I am anxious to read more of the "Crazy Love" book. God is good. oh, and God is love.