Thankful God is God and I am Not

God also said, "Tell them, `The LORD, the God of your ancestors--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob--has sent me to you.' This will be my name forever; it has always been my name, and it will be used throughout all generations. Exodus 3:15

From "i am not but i know I AM" by Louie Giglio

God told Moses:

• I AM the center of everything.
• I AM running the show.
• I AM the same every day, forever.
• I AM the owner of everything.
• I AM the Lord.
• I AM the Creator and Sustainer of life.
• I AM the Savior.
• I AM more than enough.
• I AM inexhaustible and immeasurable.
• I AM God.

For if God's name is I AM,

Moses' name must be I am not.

• I am not the center of everything.
• I am not in control.
• I am not the solution.
• I am not all-powerful.
• I am not calling the shots.
• I am not the owner of anything.
• I am not the Lord.

"When it gets right down to it, all of our names are I am not."

I am so thankful that God is and I am not. I have to remind myself of it often. It is much less stressful to let God be God.

an apprentice of Christ

Royal

Hooray for God - Thanks for Rain

Last night was the first night of D-Weekend....It was incredible. First of all, we have several guys who are on the baseball team. They had a tournament so I started praying for rain. Thank you God it rained....And not only did it rain, it rained enough to rain out the whole tournament. Now our guys can be with us for the whole weekend.

Thank you God for an awesome staff that worked hard all week and last night to make things go smooth.

Thank you God for our new worship leader Morgan who lead us in a fun and then awesome time of worship last night. What a great way to kick off the weekend, after the great lasagna by the way. Thanks to the people at Bellisimos.

Then Aubrey came right out of the box talking on sex. He taught on Proverbs seven and how even though we want to live pure lives, our culture leads us down a path of destruction in the area of sex.

We have to choose to not be on the path. It is not just about loving God...Just loving God won't keep us out of trouble sexually, we have to make the right choices and be on the right path. Choose life, or choose death.

Thank you God for an incredible first night of our first D-Weekend. Thanks for the kids who want to be apprentices of Jesus, thanks to the adults that love the kids and are there to help, thanks for the awesome staff you have brought to LCC, and thank you for Jesus being the Head of our church.

an apprentice of Christ
Royal

Living for Others for Jesus

I will gladly spend myself and all I have for your spiritual good, even though it seems that the more I love you, the less you love me. 2 Cor 12:15

The apostle Paul, as an apprentice of Christ, decided to give up his life for the life of others. He didn't do that by taking a bullet for someone, although he would have had it been called for by God. He did that by comitting to lead people to Jesus at the expense of his own life, or comfort.

As a Christ-follower, the purpose of giving up your life is not to be a door mat that everyone walks on. It is to be aggresively loving at a faith level for the purpose of leading people to Jesus.

Oswald Chambers wrote: "We have no right in Christian service to be guided by our own interests and desires. In fact, this is one of the greatest tests of our relationship with Jesus Christ. The delight of sacrifice is that I lay down my life for my Friend, Jesus (see John 15:13 ). I don't throw my life away, but I willingly and deliberately lay it down for Him and His interests in other people. And I do this for no cause or purpose of my own."

If you are living your life for Jesus. You will not be living your life to build up yourself. You will live your life for the benefit of others. You will live your life for the benefit of their souls.

What gets in the way of this life of sacrifice is the need to be admired by others. Unfortunately, people don't always appreciate the sacrifice you make in order to lead them to Jesus. We say to ourselves, "Well if he is not going to appreciate it then forget it." Instead, do it for Jesus. Not only will he appreciate it, He will reward you. He will bless you. You will be building up treasures in Heaven and you will be taking more people to heaven with you.

an apprentice of Jesus
Royal

Exepriencing Disappointment? Press On

by Oswald Chambers

Be still, and know that I am God . . . Psalm 46:10

Perseverance is more than endurance. It is endurance combined with absolute assurance and certainty that what we are looking for is going to happen. Perseverance means more than just hanging on, which may be only exposing our fear of letting go and falling. Perseverance is our supreme effort of refusing to believe that our hero is going to be conquered. Our greatest fear is not that we will be damned, but that somehow Jesus Christ will be defeated. Also, our fear is that the very things our Lord stood for— love, justice, forgiveness, and kindness among men— will not win out in the end and will represent an unattainable goal for us. Then there is the call to spiritual perseverance. A call not to hang on and do nothing, but to work deliberately, knowing with certainty that God will never be defeated.

If our hopes seem to be experiencing disappointment right now, it simply means that they are being purified. Every hope or dream of the human mind will be fulfilled if it is noble and of God. But one of the greatest stresses in life is the stress of waiting for God. He brings fulfillment, "because you have kept My command to persevere . . ." ( Revelation 3:10 ).

Continue to persevere spiritually.

No Christianity Without the Pain of the Cross

by Dr. Henry Blackaby

"Then Jesus said to His disciples, ""If anyone desires to come after Me,let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." MATTHEW 16:24

"Your "cross" is God's will for you, regardless of the cost. Taking up your cross is a choice; it is not beyond your control. You may have health problems or a rebellious child or financial pressures, but do not mistake these as your ""cross to bear."" Neither circumstances you face nor consequences of your own actions are your cross. Your cross will be to voluntarily participate in Christ's sufferings as He carries out His redemptive purposes (Phil. 3:10). Paul said he rejoiced in his sufferings because he knew that by them he was able to participate in the suffering required to bring others into Christian maturity (Col. 1:24).

We tend to want to go immediately from "denying ourselves" to "following Jesus." But you can never follow Jesus unless you have first taken up your cross. There are aspects of God's redemptive work that can be accomplished only through suffering. Just as Christ had to suffer in order to bring salvation, there will be hardships you may have to endure in order for God to bring salvation to those around you. Jesus did not talk with His disciples about the cross until they had come to know He was the Christ (Matt. 16:21). You will never be able to endure the suffering of the cross unless you have first been convinced that Jesus is the Christ. Once you have settled your relationship with Christ, He will introduce you to your cross.

There is no Christianity without a cross. If you are waiting for a relationship with God that never requires suffering or inconvenience, then you cannot use Christ as your model. God's will for you involves a cross. First, take up your cross, then you can follow Him."

You can learn more about Dr. Blackaby, his writings, and his ministry at www.blackaby.org

Jesus said, "Deny Yourself"

from Dr. Henry Blackaby

"Then Jesus said to His disciples,''If anyone desires to come after Me,let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.''"MATTHEW 16:24"

Sin causes us to be self-centered, shifting our hearts from God to self. The essence of salvation is an about-face from self-centeredness to God-centeredness. The Christian must spend a lifetime denying self. Our great temptation will be to affirm ourselves while we follow Jesus. James and John did this when they chose to follow Jesus but asked for the two most prominent positions in Jesus' kingdom (Mark 10:35-37). James and John wanted a discipleship that would not impede their personal desires and aspirations. Like them, we say, ""Lord, I want to be pleasing to you, but I want to stay where I am.""

Self-centered people try to keep their lives unruffled and undisturbed, safe and secure. Our temptation is to give our time and effort to the goals of this world. Then, when we are successful in the world's eyes, we seek to bring God into our world by honoring Him with our success. We may say, ""Now that I have succeeded in business [or sports, or politics, or with my family, or even Christian ministry], I want to give God the glory for it!"" God is not interested in receiving secondhand glory from our activity. God receives glory from His activity through our lives.

The world will entice you to adopt its goals and to invest in temporal things. Resist the temptation to pursue our own goals, asking God to bless them. Rather, deny yourself and join the activity of God as He reveals it to you."

You can learn more about Dr. Blackaby, his writings, and his ministry at www.blackaby.org, or write:Blackaby Ministries InternationalP.O. Box 16338Atlanta, GA 30321

Christ-Follower - A Call to be Different

But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are a kingdom of priests, God's holy nation, his very own possession. This is so you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9

The idea of living with distinction has captured the imagination of our culture. A personal computer company challenges us to “Think Different.” A maker of pickup trucks tells us that their product is superior because it is “different.” A restaurant chain urges us to “experience the difference.” A construction firm says they are ahead of the pack because they use “a different perspective.” In fact, there is an entire volume on the Internet called “The Difference Dictionary” that extols the value of all things different. Different—it is a word with enormous implications.

A Challenge To Be Different. The importance of being recognizably different also has a history in the Bible. When I was a young church attender, I remember being confronted with the New Testament words of Peter that we are to be “a peculiar people” (1 Pet. 2:9 KJV). I was relieved to learn that the word peculiar in the King James Bible did not mean “strange” but rather to have the qualities that would mark us as God’s own special people.

God has chosen you to be a people for himself, a special treasure. Read the rest of "A life of Distinction" here.

One Week After Fast - Amazing Spiritual Fruit

I don't know why I have not posted yet on ending my fast. Besides being very busy, I have just kind of been soaking in the month after and really kind of having a good time with God, my friends, our staff, teaching and studying, and having a busy ministry month at the church. Oh, and enjoying eating again.

I ended my thirty day fast a week ago yesterday by eating most of a two egg cheese omelet and, except for a little discomfort, my stomach adjusted to the light meal. It is funny because the last week of the fast I started making mental notes of the food I wanted to eat post-fast. Everything looked and smelled good, I was even tempted by a double quarter-pounder with cheese. It seems like the second day all was back to normal, except for eating slow and light, and the lists in my head went away and I have enjoyed a week of breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and a snack or two here and there. (A bunch of good food at our Life Group Super Bowl party)

The awesome thing about fasting is that the constant temptation to eat helps you stay focused on Jesus. I had a great month hanging out with Jesus. No, not just hanging out, because I hang out with Him when I am not focusing on Him so much. It was hanging on, hanging in, seeing through, and noticing that He was more in control of me. It is to incredible to explain. Brother Lawrence called it, "Practicing the Presence of God." There are so many distractions in our lives that I believe that fasting is the best way to make a concentrated effort to practice God's presence.

When you are focusing on Jesus, then you are more available for the Holy Spirit to control your life. You know what comes from that:

The apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 5: So I advise you to live according to your new life in the Holy Spirit. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves. 17 The old sinful nature loves to do evil, which is just opposite from what the Holy Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are opposite from what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, and your choices are never free from this conflict. 18 But when you are directed by the Holy Spirit, you are no longer subject to the law.

when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. Here there is no conflict with the law.

In the past years, when I have fasted, there has been almost a dread at the end of the fast. A couple of times I have just extended it out a few days because I did not want to get out of the closeness that had developed with God. It is too easy to get back into noticing all of the distractions of the world and miss the "feelings of Jesus" that come with a concentrated focus on our Lord.

This year I went into the last days of the fast with a prayer emphasis. I prayed that as I come out of the fast I could keep up a stronger ability to practice the presence of God and keep the level of Joy up.

Guess What? It worked.

On the last night of the fast, (Fast ended at 5:00pm) I was driving home from work on my motrocycle and had such a strong sense of Joy it was intoxicating. I could not get the grin off of my face. I wondered if people would think I was drunk as I drove with such a grin. It was incredible. This feeling of joy has been with me for the past week. I still feel a very strong presence of Jesus and it is like I don't have to really work at it. He keeps reminding me He is there. My energy and peace levels have been way up all week. I get emotional at the drop of a hat at good things. It is like Jesus is experiencing my life through me. When I read His Word it just soaks in and gives me strength.

Like I said, it is hard to explain. It is the fruit of the Spirit. I prayed this morning I can stay there.

"Lord, please help me stay focused on you. Thank you for living in me through Jesus.

an apprentice of Christ
royal

Spiritual Dejection by Oswald Chambers

We were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened —Luke 24:21

Every fact that the disciples stated was right, but the conclusions they drew from those facts were wrong. Anything that has even a hint of dejection spiritually is always wrong. If I am depressed or burdened, I am to blame, not God or anyone else. Dejection stems from one of two sources— I have either satisfied a lust or I have not had it satisfied. In either case, dejection is the result. Lust means "I must have it at once." Spiritual lust causes me to demand an answer from God, instead of seeking God Himself who gives the answer. What have I been hoping or trusting God would do? Is today "the third day" and He has still not done what I expected? Am I therefore justified in being dejected and in blaming God? Whenever we insist that God should give us an answer to prayer we are off track. The purpose of prayer is that we get ahold of God, not of the answer. It is impossible to be well physically and to be dejected, because dejection is a sign of sickness. This is also true spiritually. Dejection spiritually is wrong, and we are always to blame for it.

We look for visions from heaven and for earth-shaking events to see God’s power. Even the fact that we are dejected is proof that we do this. Yet we never realize that all the time God is at work in our everyday events and in the people around us. If we will only obey, and do the task that He has placed closest to us, we will see Him. One of the most amazing revelations of God comes to us when we learn that it is in the everyday things of life that we realize the magnificent deity of Jesus Christ.

Are You Known for Seeking Jesus - Dr. Henry Blackaby

And Simon and those who were with Him searched for Him.MARK 1:36

"Simon Peter is well known to us for his foolish, extemporaneous statements throughout the Gospels (Matt. 16:22; 17:4; 26:33). But Peter was always seeking after Jesus. Peter followed Jesus from afar during the night of Jesus' crucifixion (Matt. 26:58). Peter ran to the tomb when he heard Jesus had risen (Luke 24:12). Peter swam in the sea in his haste to get to Jesus (John 21:7) and even walked on water in order to join Jesus (Matt. 14:29). Peter did not always say or do the right things, but he did constantly seek to be with Jesus. Because of this, he was continually encountering his Lord and growing to be a more faithful disciple.

Whenever we see Peter coming to Jesus he is always accompanied by others. Because Peter was seeking Jesus, others sought Him too. What are you known for by those who know you best? Do they see you searching for fame, power, success, or happiness? Are you known as a person who seeks after Jesus? God promises: ""And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart"" (Jer. 29:13).

Did you begin today intent on encountering Jesus? Is your search for Him halfhearted, or are you seeking Him with all your heart? Have others grown closer to Jesus because they followed your example and sought Jesus? If your heart is set on pursuing Jesus, you will always find Him. ""And the Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!' And let him who hears say, 'Come!' And let him who thirsts come"" (Rev. 22:17)."

You can learn more about Dr. Blackaby, his writings, and his ministry at www.blackaby.org, or write:Blackaby Ministries InternationalP.O. Box 16338Atlanta, GA 30321