21-day commitment

In just a few short days we will be in the last month of the year 2010. My, how this year has passed by in a hurry! In the month of December my focus, as leading LifeHouse Harvest, will be on getting ready for a commitment, individually and corporately, to fast the first 21 days of the new year. As I was browsing through the different web sites that I like to visit for direction, inspiration, and encouragement I came across an article, or a brief introduction of a call to a 21 day fast to the COGOP from General Overseer R.E. Howard. I would like to share this with you today and will be posting more about this fast in days to come.


21 DAYS OF PRAYER AND FASTING


January 1—21, 2011

“Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity;” Jeremiah 29: 12-14a

"I invite every individual and local church to join me for 21 days of prayer and fasting, as we seek God’s direction and blessing in the New Year. I believe that a strength of the church is prayer, the ministry of intercession. What can defeat a church on its knees? All over the world God has rekindled the passion and call to prayer saying, 'My house shall be called of all nations a house of Prayer!' Join me and thousands of others from around the world as we unite our heart, minds, and prayers for our families, churches, and world." -RE Howard, General Overseer

Don't give up on me

For those of you that may actually read this blog I'm very, very sorry that I have neglected to post anything in quite a while. I have no excuses for not posting anything but I could conjure up some if it would make us feel better! There has been a lot of things going on and it's taken me away from the computer which doesn't allow me time to post. I have also found that I have neglected other things in my Spiritual life due to moving, planting, etc... but I'm being reminded by the Lord that I need to change some things so that He gets the time with me that I need!! Notice how that last sentence was put - "I need to change some things so that He gets the time with me that I need." God wants to spend time with us for our nurturing, strength, etc... When we spend time with God through prayer, reading the Word, meditating on Him or whatever avenue that is used to get alone with Him, it is for receiving what we need that we can't get anywhere else!!!
"Lord, help me keep my eyes, hands, ears, thoughts, feelings, emotions, desire, etc... on you! Please don't give up on me!"

Nourishment & Refreshment

"The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place." Mark 6: 30-32 (niv)

As I was reading this passage of scripture this morning, I noticed that before the event of feeding the five thousand could happen, Jesus encouraged the disciples to get some much needed rest and nourishment. They had a physically demanding responsibility lying ahead of them and with all that they had already done, they were not in "shape" to press on. So, they went with Jesus, to a solitary place. They had a job at hand, but needed some quiet time, in a quiet place where they could have fellowship and be nourished and refreshed!

How are we when it comes to being nourished and refreshed? I take this passage this morning and call it to be for me, as to my needing to be refreshed in Spirit, to get alone with God and allow Him to nourish me and feed me! Webster's dictionary defines nourish as - to provide with food or other nutriment necessary for life and growth; to foster the development of; to keep alive: maintain.

It is of great importance, that I allow God to nourish me for the necessity of life and growth in this Christian walk. Life eternal and growth in the Spirit. We must allow God to foster the development of our Christian lives with some "solitary place time." We must allow ourselves and put ourselves in a position to be maintained through the power of the Holy Spirit for the nourishment of the power of God. We have a physically and Spiritually demanding responsibility before us to live our lives as vessels for the Kingdom of God and to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world. Are you getting the refreshing nourishment that you need to do your part?

Training Wheels

Let go and let God.

I was driving down the road this morning on my way to Gallatin Hospital to visit a person and the Lord spoke those words into my spirit. "Let go and let God." Sometimes we get a "message" from the Lord, and as in my case, I try to decipher if it's for me or for a message that's coming up in the near future or what?

As I was driving I thought about when I was teaching Bailey how to ride her bicycle "without" training-wheels. I remember holding onto the seat and telling her to keep her balance and keep the handlebars steady and focus on what was in front of her and that at some point I would be letting her go so she could "ride" the bike all by herself. But for her to do all of that and to really TRUST in me letting her go, she had to TRUST in the fact when I let her go, I would be right there beside her running alongside of her to catch her when she started to fall or get all swervy (if that's a word).

Whether those words came to me for my sake or for a message down the road, I believe it will preach. Sometimes, no let me rephrase that, ALL the time we need to TRUST GOD and realize that He wants us to "ride without the training wheels" and that we can STILL trust that he will be there to catch us and steady us.

To be continued ...

In His Presence

Everyday this week I've gotten up before the wife and kids and spent time in the living room beside the window with my bible and a cup of coffee (good combination). The reason I'm sharing this with you is because I've gotten away from my personal morning devotion (only human!) and have only been relying on my studies for sermons to be my "personal devotion". It's not supposed to work that way! We have to have a time of personal reflection, of personal commitment, of personal time in His presence with our own individual lives in order to find the graces and mercy of God. We often forget what it means to have a "personal relationship" with Jesus.

Oswald Chambers said, "Get into the habit of dealing with God about everything. Unless, in the first waking moment of the day you learn to fling the door wide back and let God in, you will work on a wrong level all day. But, swing the door wide open and pray to your Father in secret, and every public thing will be stamped with the presence of God." I like the first sentence in this comment, get into the habit of dealing with God about everything. I think there is a lot of truth to that because when we get into a habit about something, it becomes who and what we are and we need to become people that walk in the presence of God with everything about us.

Let me share with you a devotion from Once a Day Every Day that lines up with this:
"Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? If I go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast." Psalm 139:7-10

If God is everywhere, why does He sometimes seem so far away? The answer to the question, of course, has nothing to do with God and everything to do with us. When we begin each day on our knees, in praise and worship to Him, God often seems very near indeed. But, if we ignore God's presence or rebel against it, the world in which we live becomes a spiritual wasteland. Today, and every day, thank God and praise Him. He is the Giver of all things good. Wherever you are, whether you are happy or sad, victorious or vanquished, celebrate God's presence. And be comforted, for He is here.

Practice being in His presence in your life today!