7/25/2011 2nd Chances and New BeginningsScriptures: Jeremiah 18:1-6, Lamentations 3:21-26
There is one area of your life where you can always have a new beginning: your spiritual life! God wants you to have a fresh start. In the game of golf you can take a "mulligan" or a do-over. You can erase the shot you made and start over, ever wanted to do that in your own life? God allows second chances and new beginnings. God's compassions never fail and His mercies are new every morning. Compassion is love in action and God's compassion is greater than any of our mistakes, short comings or sins. God promises to forgive if we will repent. God is the divine potter and He cares about the: choices we make, things we do and the things that happen to us. His power is expressed by the pressure of His hands. Let your life be molded by the nail-scarred hands of Jesus. We are the clay and the potter is trying to remold us. The proof that He is working on us is when we feel inward conviction about our outward circumstances. We feel the pressure of God's hands upon our lives as we live, grow and change to be more like Him. Life is the wheel and the potter has two wheels to work with: the bottom for his foot to turn and the surface wheel where the clay rests. The faster the potter spins the bottom wheel, the faster the top wheel turns. The potter determines the purpose and design for the clay. The Bible tells us that the vessel he made of clay was marred in the hands of the potter so he made it again another vessel, back on the wheel of life. He made what seemed good to the potter to make. God has a purpose and design for your life. God offers a new beginning and each morning is a chance to start fresh and allow God to remake you. God is here to give you another chance to start over. 7/21/2011 King SaulScriptures: I Samuel 9:15-17, I Samuel 10:1
Saul was the first God-appointed king of Israel. He was a man known for his courage, generosity and commanding appearance. He was the ideal visual image of a king. Before Saul was king he showed a nature of humility asking Samuel "am I not a Benjamite?" His family tribe the Benjamites were considered the least of all the families and asked: "why are you saying these things to me?" Saul is anointed by Samuel and knows that he will become king, instead of bragging, when the time came they found him hiding among the stuff. He was unsure about how to proceed and hiding from his new responsibilities. Maybe Saul was afraid of failure, like we all are at some points in our lives. But in Saul we see a meek and submissive man. This was a man who had everything going for him: chosen by God, tall, handsome, and given a new heart by God. God gave Saul the gift of prophecy and opportunity for greatness. God's spirit came mightily upon him and yet he fell. Check back next week for our continued study of the life of Saul. 7/7/2011 The War in Your HeartScriptures: Joshua 5:13-15
Joshua had a great battle to face: the city of Jericho. Jericho was the visible battle and looking at it Joshua could see: great walls, warriors and a battle of immense proportions. All of us have visible battles, things like: sickness, family issues, career problems, or societal struggles. These battles are real and we stand right before them observing them, but before we can win the visible battle we must conquer the invisible war. This is the battle we fight in our own heart and through Joshua's triumph we can learn how do this! First: we must overcome the challenge of past failures- no one escapes failure, but we must leave the past where it is: in memory. Focus on the things we can do something about now. Israel failed for forty years, are there deca Second: we must overcome our own preconceived notions of how the battle should be fought. We must do things God's way, because our way keeps us continually in the battle. God's way keeps us in a forward motion. Third: we must put away our own personal attitudes. Ask yourself: has complaining ever changed anything? Has blaming someone else made things better? Have your doubts been beneficial? We must make sure our attitudes are not tainted by past experiences. Where we've been is not where we are going! Its time to win the war of the past, win the war over your ideas and win the war over your attitude so you can win the visible war! 7/1/2011 The Value of InconvenienceScriptures: Genesis 22:1-5
In these verses we read that God tested Abraham asking him to offer his son as a burnt offering. The journey, of great obedience and sacrificial worship, took three days. Three days of struggle, pain, heartaches and obedience. It was in this time frame that Abraham learned that worship requires sacrifice. Sacrifical worship leads to God's provision. Abraham had faith, but he did not understand the value of worship, obedience and sacrifice. God developed Abraham's character through inconvenience. We must learn to walk in Abraham's footsteps. We live in a self-indulgent generation where self-sacrifice is a foreign concept: its considered not appealing and does not come naturally. But powerful anointing is birthed in times of inconvenience. We all need to take a journey to a place of sacrifical worship. On this journey we will face human struggles, but out of inconvenience comes anointed worship. We learn to listen, obey and experience God's provision. We learn how to construct an altar. By obeying God we can learn the value of inconvenience. Ask yourself: are you willing to be inconvenienced for the kingdom? |
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