Hunger Pangs

When you are not eating, it should not be surprising that you start feeling hunger pangs. Our bodies crave sustenance but so do our souls. Let the cravings drive you to hunger more for God's love and to hear his voice.

(Psalms 42:1-2 NIV) "1 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?"

We want the hunger to drive us to the Lord. Keep praying:

1.    Pray for spiritual breakthrough from spirit of dissent/criticism

2.    Pray for revival to begin in you

3.    Pray that we would have the heart of Jesus for our neighbors

4.    Listen while you pray

God I am hungry for you.

TIME TO FAST

I was reading Isaiah 58 this morning as I began this week of prayer and fasting. It strikes me that we often go to God in prayer asking for many things. I wonder, if we have missed being humble by the way we run into the Throne Room of God to ask for something and then run onto our next task.

Do you remember how Esther did not eat or drink anything for three days as she prayed before she entered the King's presence unannounced? She asked Mordecai and her servants to do the same. God is gracious and loving, but maybe we should be more humble in the way we approach God. Most of us probably pray with a certain amount of respect. But perhaps, we should take this privilege even more seriously. When we pray, we are talking to the King of Kings. I'm just thinking that this is a big deal.

If you are joining us in this fast, please be humble in your approach. We want God to set us free to do His will in this community.

1. Pray for spiritual breakthrough from spirit of dissent/criticism
2. Pray for revival to begin in you
3. Pray that we would have the heart of Jesus for our neighbors
4. Listen while you pray

LOVE IS A DECISION

Fr. John Powell had a profound understanding of love. We say that we fell in or out of love. But love is not an emotion. Love is a decision we make. We choose to love and we choose to stop loving. Sure our emotions are moved when we feel loved and our love will cause us to feel intimacy and affection. But love is a decision we make regardless what we feel.

Does the young mother really enjoy the feeling of changing a diaper? We say that we love chocolate, ice cream or fresh baked bread, but is that really love? Parents discipline out of love but that does not mean that it feels good for the parent or the child.

God chose to love us. He decided to send His Son to die for us because He chose to love us. If we truly could just fall in and out of love, wouldn't God have fallen out of love with us a long time ago? Thank goodness God graciously chooses to love us even though we do not deserve it. Can we do anything less than love one another?

(1 John 4:7-11 NIV) "7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."

CAN WE REALLY STAND AGAINST EVIL?

YES!  We can stand and we can even overcome evil. God has given us two incredible weapons to do battle with evil. We have the Word of God and the power source of prayer.

When Paul says that we are to use the "sword of the Spirit which is the word of God," he is talking about a "rhema" from God. Jesus is the "logos" word of God, but a "rhema" is a specific word from God. We are blessed to have the counsel of the Old and the New Testaments and together they are full of godly wisdom. Better still, God gives us specific words "rhemas" from his word when we need them. 

Are you listening to the Lord? Do you need a word, a rhema from him. Then pray. Don't pull out your Bible and randomly open it for a rhema. Read it. Listen to it and pray for God to speak. Hide the word in your heart so that God can give you his rhema when you need it.

Be bold in sharing the love of God with people around you. Pray for boldness and then listen when God gives you a rhema to share. Don't be surprised if God speaks to you and through you! Isn't prayer supposed to be a conversation? Shouldn't we expect God to speak to us. 

"Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world." Trust him to speak to you and through you. You can stand against evil because HE is with you.

What Are You Saving For Your Children?

What are you passing on to the next generation? Things weren't always good in our home when I was growing up. We had a lot of fighting and sometimes it got kind of violent. Both of my parents made mistakes. But there is one thing that they did for me. They made sure that I got to know Jesus Christ.

I said goodbye to my Dad the week before Thanksgiving and I said goodbye to my Mother over ten years ago. God gave me the privilege of showing them love in the final days of their lives. They let me know that I was loved. Some day I will see them again in Heaven. I thank God for what they saved for me.

My sons know that I love them. I am proud of each of them and what they have done with their lives. I also love our daughter in law and I thank God that all three of our kids know Jesus Christ and are committed to serving Him. God has allowed us to pass on the most important gift we can leave our children. I would love to have great wealth to share with them. However, we have had something better. We have shared our love and our relationship with Jesus.

I am blessed!

SALT US WITH FIRE

God gave me an amazing text for the National Day of Prayer gathering at New Life. In Mark 9, Jesus is talking to the Twelve about sin. In that conversation, he warns them about being salt and losing their saltiness. Look at this incredible little verse.

Mark 9:49 NIV - "49 Everyone will be salted with fire."

FIRE is a huge subject in the Bible. Sacrifices are burned with fire. Prayer rises from the fire on the alter of God like the fragrance of incense rises with the smoke. One day fire will burn all evil. Even tongues of fire were present at Pentecost. Take a look at the 500 or more texts on fire. But this one is really amazing.
"Everyone will be salted with fire." What does not God need to burn off of us so that we are salty for Him? Lord, send your fire and purify me today.

TO DIE FOR

Do you remember the commercial of the girls talking about their favorite treat and declaring, "To die for."  I do not remember the product, but the saying has so many meanings.  I think of the people who have died to give us the freedom that we enjoy in the United States.  I think of the incredible sacrifice that Christ paid, dying on the cross for our freedom and everlasting life.  What would you die for?

Jesus invites us to lose our lives for Him.  I wonder if I really am willing to die for Him.  Will I die for someone who does not know how much He loves them?  Could you imagine a soldier only serving if he knew he was serving people who believed the way he did?  Having grown up in the Viet Nam era, I recall the protests and the nightly pictures of flag draped caskets, and the day's tally of the dead on both sides.  So many young men did not have the choice of what they died for.  They believed that they were serving a higher good at least they hoped that was so.

On this election day, what will you die for?  What will you do to help change your world for Christ?  Will you vote?

Chuck Colson writes in his blog today, "today of all days, thank God we still live in a free nation. So speak out. Exercise your right. Fulfill your duty. Go and vote" 
God Bless,
Pastor Bill