The Battle

"From the Word: 1 Chron 5:20, 22 the people are said to have cried out to God in battle. God hears their prayer because they trusted in him. Then it says that many men fell because the war was God's. At the point of our trust God hear's our prayer and takes on the battle."

I hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend. I know our celebrations of the resurrection were well attended and left a lasting impact on our church and on our lives personally. What a time we had! 

It was sad to come home after such joy and celebration to news that Christians were being targeted by a suicide bomber in Pakistan. Our hearts were grieved and we mourned and prayed for our brothers and sisters who were suffering on the other side of the world. We continue to pray that in the wake of such tragedy that the hope and healing power of the gospel shines in these dark times. 

This morning my wife and I were talking and she said she woke up with the song we sang at the beginning of our church service in her heart with the people of Pakistan on her mind. She commented that if it were us we would happy because we would get to be with the Lord. It's true. You will find the martyrs in Revelation asking the Lord how long and He comforts them. This is good news. With terrorist activity on the rise we need some good news. 

If we look at loss and pain we will get depressed and end up questioning God in the wrong way. God is open to questions but not to unbelief. We can ask why with a heart that believes God is good. We can ask God what He is doing without doubting His motive. 

If you are going through a personal battle, physical, spiritual, emotional, financial or whatever else, cry out to God. Give God your questions but also your faith and trust. He will meet you there. God knows our limits and the battles we face. He also is ready and willing to fight for us. When you trust Him and bring Him into your battle you can rest and know that you will come out victorious. 

I would encourage you to go back and read 1 Chronicles 5:20-22 and also study the battles of the Bible. What did the people who trust God do? What were their prayers like? How did they act in faith? What did they speak about with God and other people? As you see these things incorporate them into your life and your battle plan. 

Be encouraged that God loves you. He will fight for you! When God gets involved the battle is already won. 

What battles are you facing? What scriptures help to overcome in these battles? 

Decompression

"Very needed to have time without pressure where we can just love and decompress. "

There are gauges on pipes that carry pressure indicating safe amounts. When the amount of pressure is greater than the pipe can handle the gauge will show it by the needle going in to the red. Some of the valves have a pressure release to keep the pipe from exploding from the pressure.

There are indicators in our life that we are under too much pressure and need relief. These indicators differ from person to person but can be expressed in anger, depression, overeating, sin, silence and many other ways. We will know our own indicators and should be wise enough to take action when we see them going in to the red.

The question for all of us is when we see these indicators showing us that we have too much pressure do we have a release? If not we will explode. Maybe you have experienced that through a blowout fight or a nervous breakdown.

Our first and greatest pressure release should be to cast our cares on God. We do this by bringing our pressures to Him and talking with Him about it. In prayer and by faith you can take all that pressure and release it to the Lord Who is able to take all of that pressure and relieve you of it. Too often we carry burdens that are too great for us. God has given us access to His strength and we can let the pressure out of our lives when we give it to Him.

Another great pressure release after you have prayed is to find faith filled friends who can help you and pray for you. A burden shared is lighter. Sometimes it just helps to have someone tell you that they understand and that you can make it. Hopefully the married people reading this will find this kind of support in your spouse (and also give it when you see the indicators of your spouse's pressure).

Finally a great pressure release it to find an activity that you enjoy. Some people like to lay on a beach and others like to go to the gym. Some like to read and others want to watch a good movie. Whatever it is for you make sure it is productive and not destructive. You don't want to hurt yourself or others in the process of releasing the pressure.

Pressure is actually good for us. Without it we may not be motivated to change or to work hard. We might also find ourselves lazy or proud. God knows the good pressure can do but He also gave us the indicators for when it is too much. Know your indicators and have your release systems in place.

What are your indicators? Who are your faith filled friends and what activities help you to release it?

Ordinary Until God Shows Up

"I preached the service tonight. It was a simple message from a section of scripture that starts ordinary and ends up supernatural. So often life is like that. Ordinary until God shows up."

Without God life is ordinary. Even as Christians we can live boring and mundane lives if we choose to live in our own power. Our abilities will only get us so far in the natural. We can have a good life with a good home and a good car and a good family and still miss out on the extraordinary things God wants to do. 

This past weekend we had a missionary in our church give a message about what he had learned over the years on how to succeed. At the end of the message he told a story about a man in Toledo Ohio named Mac who did a little act of kindness that changed his life. What was amazing was that in our church was a man who grew up in Toledo and shined shoes at the bus station who knew Mac. After the church service he amazed our missionary by telling him that he knew Mac from his childhood. Our missionary always wanted to know if Mac was a Christian so he asked the man about it and he confirmed that Mac indeed was a Christian. 

Things like that happen when you are in the will of God. I cannot tell you how many people come to our church broken and hurting. Many of them separated from their families. When we give the call to respond to God they come to the altar and there have been numerous accounts that they looked over across the crowd of people giving their hearts and lives to the Lord and saw the family member or old friend that they have been separated from. Some after decades of being estranged. There at the altar they have embraced and shed tears together because God supernaturally did something when they got Him in their life. 

Don't settle for average. Get a hold of God! The Bible says that if we draw near to God He will draw near to us. Did you notice that we start the process. God is ever present but we activate the blessing of His presence. Draw near to Him in prayer. Draw near in studying the Bible. Draw near in praise and singing to Him. Draw near in worship and in a life laid down in sacrificial obedience. As you do the supernatural power of God will be released in your life. 

Your day may start out ordinary but if you bring God in it cannot stay that way. Your story will end with a supernatural encounter with God. 

What have you experienced when it comes to God doing something supernatural? Are there other ways to draw near to God? 

Not what you thought

"I did not expect today to be what it turned out to be."

A year ago I released my first book. Not the kind I expected to be my first book but rather a children's picture book. It actually makes more sense in hindsight because really I am a big kid at heart and connect with my kids and other children as well. 

I had high hopes for the book. Big dreams accompanied by big prayers. 

This is where we have to be careful. 

I find that my faith in a big God can be attacked when my prayers aren't answered the way I want them to be or if God requires something of me in order for my dreams to be achieved. There is a distinction here that is very important. 

In everything there is a God side and a man side. God wants to partner. 

Sometimes He takes the greater portion of the activity. For instance, when praying for healing God is the Healer. We can help by eating right, exercising, confessing God's Word and keeping ourselves in healthy environments but ultimately God will be the one who does the healing. 

On the other hand there are things that we have to take action on. This is where the example of my book comes in to play. I prayed for open doors, great sales, high profits and made only half the money I invested in the book back over a year's time. I had a great product and know my target audience. I prayed and kept my heart pure. So what is the problem? Hard work. I don't the time to put in the hustle to get my book in front of people. As a husband, father and senior pastor of a large church the last thing I need is a second job. If I want to make money on book sales though that is the reality. God wants to answer my prayers but without the work it won't happen. 

I have heard people say things about prayer that I don't agree with. Things like 'God helps those who help themselves' and 'you are the only answer to your prayers'. If these statements were entirely true then there would be no need to pray. But if we understand the partnership of God with our prayers we wouldn't sit around wondering what God is doing. We do our part and God does His. 

So it didn't turn out like I expected. I am only the wiser because of it. Did I want to make a lot of money on my book? Sure. Am I disappointed that I didn't? No way. Life is more than money. 

I would love to hear your thoughts.