Archive for December, 2007
Step Out So God Will Step In
Nothing pleases Jesus Christ more than our faith in Who He is and what He can do (Hebrews 11:6).
He wants us to take steps of faith when He challenges us to do something. Never in my life have I regretted stepping out into uncomfortable waters when God asked us to do something financially that didn’t make sense on paper. I still get nervous quite a bit, but never do I regret when I actually step out.
God wants us to seek Him and to know what pleases him (Ephesians 5:10). It is impossible to please Him without having faith (Hebrews 11:6). Our faith requires not only a mental belief, but an actual step or action (James 2:20 and James 2:26).
Something I am learning right now is before God steps in, He’s waiting for me to step out.
Ephesians 5:10
and find out what pleases the Lord.
Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
James 2:20
You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?
James 2:26
As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
The Biggest Loser
The Season Finale of The Biggest Loser aired last night.
Many of the contestants have found life change from their success of losing weight. Some have lost tens of pounds. Others have lost more than 200 pounds in the short 4 months they have been a contestant.
We learn from doctors and medical specialists that extra weight keeps us from good physical health. Any excess can be a hazard to our health and quality of life.
This past year God has allowed Martha Marie and I to shed ourselves of excess things, thoughts, mindsets, and attitudes of thought, word, and deeds that have held us back from our relationship with God. Working on our spiritual disciplines through studying the Word, prayer, and solitude has been our spiritual excercise to shed ourselves of excess.
What is your excess that can be thrown off that will help you to run the race for Jesus?
Hebrews 12:1
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
Luke 9:25
What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?
Whoever loses his life has found it….
Philippians 1:21
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
I want to be the biggest loser of myself and biggest gainer of Christ!
Life Changing Process
This is something I heard from one of Steven Furtick’s messages that blew me away!…
E.D. Kimball shared Christ with D.L. Moody (who at the time was a shoe clerk). D.L. Moody became affiliated with a man by the name of F.B. Meyer. F.B. Meyer was a young preacher who traveled and preached on college campuses. Wilbur Chapman was a co-worker with Moody who became affiliated with Billy Sunday. Billy Sunday was an x-baseball player who became an evangelist in Charlotte, NC and also started the Christian Business Men Committee (CBMC). The CBMC invited Mordecai Ham to preach at one of their events where Billy Graham heard the Gospel and accepted Jesus Christ as his personal savior. Billy Graham has preached to hundreds of millions of people in which hundreds of thousands have accepted Christ.
Ed Kimball >>> D.L. Moody >>> F.B. Meyer >>> Wilbur Chapman >>> Billy Sunday >>> Billy Graham
All of these individuals served as a link in the chain of the Life Changing Process for Billy Graham. These weren’t the only individuals that served as a link in the Life Changing Process. How about others that may have watered the seeds? What about Sunday school teachers, mentors, parents, other family, friends, coaches, and so on.
I want to be a link in the chain of the Life Changing Process!