Vacation at Last!!

I've all but abandoned real blogging. Not because that's my heart, but because my life is just far too full at the moment. It's a good happy full though. But today, today we are on vacation and I am treasuring every moment of it, thoroughly enjoying the down time and the warmth and presence of my sweet family.

Yesterday we slept in till eight. Till EIGHT! This was very exciting in my world. I then got up and had a leisurely quiet time. Enjoyed an english muffin. In my pajamas. All at a very slow pace. We eventually got it together enough to make it to an 11:25 showing of The Lorax. eh. Not my cup of tea, but the kids liked it and for the Monday family price of $3.00, it was right up our alley. After that we stopped at Tuesday Morning to find cases for the kids new iPods (thank you, Grammy) and then Barnes and Noble for some perusing. Followed up by an icey Starbucks. Home to chill, and then $12 worth of chinese takeout in front of a family friendly movie rounded out our lovely day.

Today I woke up at 7am. A little disappointed by my early wakeup, I used the extra time with my Bible and prayer and worship. So heavenly to just spend as long as I wanted, rather than rushing to the next thing. Spent an hour or so cleaning the house. We ate lunch at home and then went to Malibu Castle, a local video arcade/gocart/minigolf place. They have an awesome Tuesday special so we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, only taking a break to find an Orange Leaf, wander through a jewelry store, and head back for more.

On the way home we decided we were much too tired from playing so hard to cook out as previously planned, so we pitstopped at Red Robin with a Groupon for dinner. Yummmm. Home again and everyone's just doing their thing. It's really nice. I'm looking forward to 7 more days of doing what we want when we want to.

The coolest part of this vacation thus far has been our budget. Rob and I set a budget. We got the cash and showed the kids. (We spent the last month brainstorming a list of somewhat local things to do this week) The kids are helping us decide where we go and what we spend. It's been a really cool lesson in cash flow for them!

The biggest thing still on my vacation list is a trip to Gigi's Cupcakes. I can almost taste it!!

Responding to God's Call; Prayer and Fasting

shiftJV

Responding to God’s Call; Prayer and Fasting

Spiritual Disciplines. Doesn’t sound like fun, does it? Nobody likes discipline, right? Well, you are probably thinking of the word discipline as punishment for wrong doing. Tonight I’d like you to consider the root word of discipline; disciple. A disciple is a follower, in our case, a Christ follower. In this situation, discipline means the rigor or training effect of experience, adversity. Like a soldier training for his job on the battlefield, we need to train as Christians. I want to encourage you to look at this series as training in your development as a Christian. Tonight we care going to cover two disciplines.

The first is prayer. Prayer is your lifeline to God. It’s how we communicate with Him. Prayer keeps our heart connected with God’s heart. When I was a kid, long before cell phones when home phones still had cords, we played ‘telephone’ with two tin cans and a string. Through some magic mystery of science, when I spoke into my can, my sister, connected by a string and her own tin can, could hear me. We told many secrets through this can and string contraption, and hatched many plans. The thing is though, if you snipped the string, the conversation was over, the magic no longer worked.

Prayer is our tin can and string telephone to God. As long as we stay connected to Him, He leads our life and gives us hope. When we drop the can or cut the string, we lose that connection. Suddenly we find ourselves lost and overwhelmed. Prayer is our lifeline to God, and it is our responsibility to pick up the can and stay in connection. God is such a gentleman, He’s not going to force Himself on you. You have to choose Him of your own free will.

So how do we pray? What does prayer look like? How do you know if you are doing it right? Prayer is simply a conversation with God. Just like you would sit and have a conversation with a friend, God wants to sit and hear your heart. He’s an encouraging friend though, who truly does have the power to change your situation.

Ok, so it’s a conversation. But what do you say? It feels so one sided, doesn’t it? Like He’s not going to respond. Scripture gives us a clue into this in Matthew 6:6:

“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you…”

It helps to close yourself off with God. Find a place in your world that you can separate yourself and seek Him. I have two places. I like to pray in my laundry room. No one else goes in there, I think they are afraid they may catch a chore or something. So it’s kind of my secret place. I’ve got a chair in there. The hum of the machines covers any noises I make. Which I do encourage you to pray out loud, it helps you articulate what you are speaking to God about. It also keeps you focused.

The other place I really like to pray is in my car, when I’m by myself. I like that too, because I can be as loud as I want and I control the stereo.

God knows us. He knows that we are easily distracted. He knows that we care about what others think of us. This is why praying in private is our best option; that way all we care about is what He thinks of us.

Scripture goes on in this chapter to tell us how exactly to pray. Hopefully you guys are familiar with this prayer:

This is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”  Matthew 6:6, 9-13

Jesus didn’t only give us this prayer to be a wrote prayer, meaning one we recite over and over until the words are burned into our brains and it becomes meaningless. He gave us the Lord’s prayer as a model or a template for how we are to pray.

Let's unpack this prayer.

Our Father in heaven. God is our father, he loves us as only a father can love, unfailing and merciful. He’s watching over every detail of our life.

Hallowed be your name. Sacred, honored, incredible is our God. Keep us sensitive to who you really are, all powerful, loving, all-knowing, Lord over everything, able to move in every situation.

Your kingdom come, Your will be done. God establish Your kingdom and Your will in my heart and life, and in the lives of people around me. Keep me kingdom minded, meaning that Your priorities are my priorities.

Give us our daily bread. Provide for our needs God. We are weak and dependant people, you are our supplier in every way. I trust you for tomorrow.

Forgive our debts. God, I’ve sinned against you. I’m sorry. I repent. I turn from my wrong doing and I receive what Jesus did on the cross for my sin.

We also forgive our debtors. Help me to forgive the people who have hurt me. Just as you haven’t held a grudge against my sin, allow me to do the same for others.

Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Help me to remember Lord, that You always provide a means of escape from temptation. Help me to avoid it, and to look to you instead. Keep me out of Satan’s grasp. Hold me in Your hand instead.

You can see where this prayer would be life changing, right? 1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to pray continually. Remember our example of the tin can string telephone. Don’t put the phone down. Invite God into every area of your life.

The second discipline this evening is that of fasting. When I say fasting I don’t mean running fast. Wow, I’d for sure be disqualified if that was the case. We always laugh that I would be the first one to die in the Hunger Games.

So not going fast. What I am talking about is going without something in order to spend that effort on your relationship with God. It’s saying that God is more important that whatever it is you are giving up.

Matthew 6:16-17 has something to say about fasting too.

“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, wash your face, so that it will not be obvious that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

Fasting is an opportunity for you to choose Jesus. Giving up food is one way to fast, and that’s a great thing to do. It may be really difficult for you guys to give up food though, because of your ages and your growth. But you can still fast other things and I encourage you to think about what you can do without for the sake of growing in God.

Examples might be videogames. If you spend 4 hours a day playing video games and can’t manage to find five minutes to read your Bible each day then I’m betting that God could really change your life if you fasted video games for a season. The idea is that you take the time that you were spending on whatever it is you are giving up and instead spending that time and effort with God.

Maybe texting is something you should fast. If texting consumes your free time then perhaps it’s time to give it up for a season while you get your life centered on God and the Word.

Maybe you fast sleep. Not like the whole night, but say you sacrifice that last half an hour in the morning. You set the clock back and get up a little earlier so you can spend some time with the Lord. Early in the morning is my favorite time with Him, it really gives you perspective for the entire day.

You could fast soda or sweets. You could fast gum. You could fast electronics or Facebook. You could fast from music in order to hear God’s voice more clearly. It doesn’t matter what you fast nearly as much as it matters what you do with that fast. Purposefully choose Jesus and time with Him. Know that you are giving up something important to you in order to make HIM more important to you. When I choose an item to fast, I like to try to choose an item that is a hangup for me – that way I will grow in my character during the fast.

Like our scripture says, don’t whine about what you are fasting. In fact, let it be something secret between you and God. He will reward you for your faithfulness.

This week we’ve had opportunity to seek God at church more than usual. Those of you who have sacrificed your evenings the past few nights have experienced God in a fresh way. Understand that deepening your experience with God is not limited to church experiences. Prayer and Fasting are personal disciplines that will grow your relationship with God with a depth that you cannot receive at church. Personal spiritual disciplines, meaning the investments you make on your own time, those are the anchors that tie your life to Christ. If you only receive from Jesus at church, when you stop going to church, you stop walking with Him. On the other hand, if your relationship with Jesus is something you pursue daily on your own time, it will last for the long-term. And we’ve talked about this before, but I cannot over-emphasize the importance of finishing this race. Your eternity has not been affected if you don’t serve Jesus through your final days. A season of attending church during junior high is not going to keep you out of hell’s flames. It’s about walking with Him throughout your life.

So tonight you have an opportunity to take your relationship to the next level. This is your chance to commit to prayer and fasting. I have some little cards here at the altar. If you feel like you can commit to prayer and fasting, I’d like you to come forward, take a card and a pen, pray about it and fill it out.

This spring has been an incredible one for me. We had a very wet first two months of the year, so by the end of February, beginning of March, the wildflowers were exploding everywhere you look. I have never seen such beauty in my life, it was like living in a Monet painting. I spent many hours driving during this season - just my usual trips to Houston and Dallas this time of year. What a privilege to take in the sights I saw. On one trip I realized with a gasp how Texas has really become my home. Over the past five years, I have fallen in love with it. This really startles me, because Iowa has always been my first love. I always thought if given the chance, I would go back in a heartbeat. But now I know the pure joy of being in God's best for my life. I will always love Iowa, it will always be where I am from and I will represent my state with brazen pride among a sea of Texans - but now Texas is my home. I love the life we have here and I embrace it fully. Just thought you should know. :)

Spiritual Healing

Weeds

Sometimes I like to randomly post on Facebook a true confession. It’s just a weird little quirk of mine, I think it dates back to my childhood in the catholic church.  Here are a few of my recent true confessions:

“confession time: I just hit the 'buy' button on grey shellac nail polish to go with my Easter outfit.”

“True Confessions; I've had "I Love You Like a Love Song" by Selena Gomez in my head all evening. Sometimes I'm such a teenage girl!”

Tonight I want to make a confession to you guys, but you have to promise not to hold it against me. I got married at 18 for a reason. Not the reason you are thinking of. I got married to change my maiden name. It was pretty much the worst last name you could think of. My last name was “Klapp”. Which, if you didn’t know it, was the street name for gonorrhea.

My poor dad taught high school biology for years. One day one of his students raised his hand in front of the whole class and asked him..

“Mr. Klapp, are you a disease?”

The reality is that we all have a disease. It’s an incurable disease; doctors have no antidote. It’s highly contagious, in fact everyone has it to some degree, there’s no vaccine. As this disease progresses, it will eventually annihilate your system. This disease always ends in death. Some die quickly, others take years.

You are probably looking around the room thinking, “I don’t feel like I’m sick. My friends don’t look sick!”

We are all suffering from a disease called sin. Sadly a lot of people don’t even realize they are infected, but regardless of your understanding, the wages of sin are death. That’s a Biblical fact. Life lived apart from God equals death apart from God. Death apart from God equals hell.

This disease, Sin, destroys our relationship with God. Isaiah 1:15 paints this picture for us. “When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you, even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; Wash and make yourself clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight. Stop doing wrong, learn to do right!”

This verse tells us very clearly that sin in our lives will cause God to turn away from our prayers. Hopefully you have all made the choice to accept Christ as your savior. A miraculous thing happened in your life the moment you did. As we read on in Isaiah, we can see what Christ did for us with this sin issue.

“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”

Isaiah 1:18

God is a reasonable God. He did not want to condemn and destroy His people. In His perfection, in His love for us, Jesus covered our sins. He was the blood atonement – the only cure for our sin problem. We were spiritually diseased and dying, but Jesus made a way to restore us, to heal us spiritually.

When we accept Jesus and His restorative work in our lives, we are made new, whole again. We’ve experienced spiritual healing, God sees us as He sees Jesus; sanctified. Sanctified is another $10,000 Bible word - it means made holy. Sanctification is the process of being made holy.

Sanctification is an incredible miracle especially because it works in three ways; past present and future.

Sanctification works in the past because it covers what you already have done. When you accept Christ, you are instantly sanctified, meaning if you died in that moment, you are seen as perfect and sinless, because Christ’s blood covers you. All your old stuff (skeletons in the closet) is covered by Christ’s sacrifice. You have been sanctified.

Sanctification is also present tense, meaning it’s happening right now. You and I are being sanctified. It is a daily process. Each day we make choices towards or against Christ. We choose to swim upstream (towards God) or float downstream (away from Him) every day. When we choose God, when we make an effort to grow in our relationship, we are becoming more like Him. We are being sanctified. You will never ‘arrive’ at sanctification in your own strength. But that brings us to the last stage of sanctification, the future stage; you will be sanctified.

One day you will pass away or be raptured. I will too, it’s kind of a bummer if you are super attached to this life. But as Christians, we know that this life is just the preface in a really good book. Our real future is with Jesus in heaven. So that day, when you will die or be raptured and stand before God. He will look at you and see Jesus. In that moment, you will be sanctified, made perfectly holy before God. (I am really looking forward to that moment because I am generally a mess!) You will be sanctified – future tense.

So we will be sanctified. What do we do in the meantime, now that we know that we have received this spiritual healing from Jesus? How does that change our today?

Let’s concentrate on that ‘present’ stage of sanctification, since that’s where most of us are at in our walk with Him. How do we live holy lives in a fallen, sinful world?

Isaiah tells us that God wants us to repent, to put aside evil, to strive to do what is right and obey His word. The sad truth is, when we cling own rebellious ways, we will be destroyed.

Leviticus 19:2 tells us “Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.” This is a pretty high standard, right? Have you achieved holiness yet? I certainly have not.

We can only be holy when we depend on God to make us holy. Further on in the book of Leviticus God promises multiple times to make us holy. The thing is that we need to surrender to the process.

We started this message with true confessions. I have another one for you.

I’ve had a rough week. I’ve been stressed out this week. Things have just been coming at me really fast, I have a lot of important deadlines and a lot of people counting on me. Can anyone relate?

I’ve shared before that worry and anxiety are pet sins of mine.. Meaning sins that I pick back up frequently and easily, comfort sins if you will. We all have pet sins. For some of you it’s eating, or pornography, or cutting, or anger. Anxiety is my sin of choice.

So on Monday morning my quiet time was about weeds of sin in our hearts and allowing the Father to pull them. I was very discouraged while reading it, asking God, “Why are we pulling these same weeds? My particularly stubborn weeds of anxiety, fear, and self-reliance. I have struggled with this sin for decades now, when will I be free of it?”

And then Holy Spirit reminded me that a prize garden needs to be weeded daily. The thing about weeds is that they are prolific; they grow quickly and spread rapidly. We need to daily allow the Master Gardener to come in to our heart and pull weeds. It can be an uncomfortable process, especially the larger we’ve allowed the weeds to grow, the deeper the root system is. If the Gardener hasn’t been allowed in the garden in a while, imagine how overgrown it would be? What a process to right the situation!!

The truth is that you and I cannot successfully navigate righteousness on our own. We need the daily tending of the Gardener, of God. We must allow Him to till our hearts each day to keep us on the right track. And yes, you will get tired of the same weeds growing back again, but picture His patience and faithfulness as He tends to your heart each day. The more attune to His weeding you are, the quicker you will spot those new weeds, and even temptations as they begin to take root.

We join together with God in the process of present sanctification. We can’t do it on our own, but we work with God by allowing Him daily access to our hearts. And through that time, He performs spiritual healing, making us more like Him day by day.

Tonight it’s time to identify weeds in your heart. Figure out what sins have a tendency to overgrow and crowd your life. For me it’s anxiety and fear and worry. For you it might be lust or greed or coveting (wanting what someone else has). It might be dishonesty or stealing. It might be low-self worth, that you don’t value what God has created in you. You might be considering suicide or self harm.  It might be that you have disrespect towards authority. It might be independence, to the point that you can’t see your need for God. It might be that you struggle with anger and defiance.

We all have an inborn tendency towards sin. And I personally believe that each of us has a particular sin or group of sins that we gravitate towards – a bent. I don’t want you to leave this place without identifying that sin.

We are going to take two minutes of quiet here to ask God to reveal in your heart what your particular weeds are. If you already know, begin praying about how to start the process up pulling up those weeds.

[two minute of silence]

Now that you know your area of weakness, I want to spend two minutes seeking God about that area of your life. Ask Him to uproot the sin that threatens to overtake your heart. Commit to surrendering yourself to daily weeding. Pray hard, like your life depends on it, because those pet sins are the most likely to destroy you.

[two minutes of prayer]

Emotional Healing

Everybody Hurts

When I was about your age, I was running around an old lot, playing with my friends. We did that back then, we weren’t concerned with safety and stranger danger back in the eighties. Anyway, I was wearing the canvas sneakers that are popular again now. Back then we called them boat shoes. They are great shoes, really cheap, can get thrown in the wash, just super easy to wear. Also, it turns out, pretty flimsy. See, I ran right over a board that happened to have a huge old nail in it. It happened so fast that as I lifted my foot for the next step, the board was still stuck to my foot. I had to stop, and pull the board off, the nail out of my tennis-shoed foot. I remember being really tough, not crying, even though it really hurt. The thing is, that everybody hurts.

Sometimes we physically hurt, like a nail through the foot. Other times we hurt deep on the inside, in our heart or in our minds. Tonight, I want to tell you a story about a man who was hurting.

Luke 8:26-35

 They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes,^[a] which is across the lake from Galilee. When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs.

This guy was a box of crazy. He was so broken, so lost, so hurting that he was naked, hanging out in a cemetery. Imagine how miserable his life was, that naked in a graveyard was his only option left.

When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!”

When we encounter Jesus, we recognize His glory. Even this guy, who had lost his mind, understood the presence of Jesus. No one is beyond the hope of Jesus. There is no ‘too far’ in the Kingdom of God. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done or how badly you’ve blown it, there is still forgiveness available to you.

This guy cried out “what do You want with me?” People still cry that today when they meet Jesus. When we realize His presence, His love, we come to a place of awareness and surrender, where we are willing to give everything up to follow Jesus. The awesome thing is that all Jesus really wants is for us to follow Him.

 For Jesus had commanded the impure spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.  

Our sins and our brokenness put us in chains. Sometimes the hurts of others have put these chains on us. Words can shove us into a dark place. The thing is that we are incapable of escaping this pit on our own. Just like this man in the book of Luke, he was unable to help himself, it’s the same for us. We are trapped by our own despair. This man’s emotional state and demon possession drove him to solitary places – meaning drove him away from people, out to the places where no one wanted to be. Seriously, how much time have you spent in a cemetery? If you’ve been to one, it was likely for a funeral and I imagine you got out of there as quick as you could. This man was living there, with death everywhere around him. That’s enough to keep anyone insane, right?

Satan used his demons to drive this man to the cemetery, to live among the dead. This is a tactic that Satan still uses today. When Satan controls our life, he drives us to solitary places. He wants to keep you down and out, away from the Light and Truth of Jesus.

Back to our Bible story..

Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”   “Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him.

Do you think this guy started out with many demons? Or do you think he maybe slipped into demon possession, one sin, one lousy choice at a time? No one wakes up one day and thinks “I’m going to give myself over to demon possession today.” Instead they make lousy choices, choosing themselves and what feels good over and over.

I have a friend that is Christian now, in fact he is an ordained AG minister who’s life was radically transformed by Jesus. But not too many years ago he was a drug dealer. He was sharing his testimony with me and it was surprising. Guess how long it took from his first smoke of marijuana to actually being a drug dealer? Three months.

Sin consumes and the rate is always greater than you anticipate – meaning sin will always take you further than you want to go quicker than you want to get there. Sin will always cost more than you want to pay. Sin opens the door for demon possession, and sin always steals your emotional health.

I have quite a few friends that are big fat sinners, I mean, I love them, but they are living for themselves; drunk or using, sleeping around, partying and all of that life. They would tell me that Christianity is a bunch of rules and they want to live in ‘freedom’. When I look at my life and try to measure my joy, compared to their lives, which are absolute misery, there is no question in my mind as to who is really living in freedom.

When we submit to Jesus, we experience radical, soul-thrilling freedom. Let me continue with our scripture.

 And they begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.  A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs, and he gave them permission.  When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. 

Jesus sets us free dramatically. He destroys the demons that possess us. He releases us from the captivity of Satan. It’s like that song “My chains are gone, I’ve been set free..”

 When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside,  and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind;

When we released from Satan’s hold, not only are we set free, but we experience wholeness again. This man was restored. He was made new and right again. There was an outward change in his appearance and his behavior. The people around him took notice.

and they were afraid.

Why were they afraid? Perhaps the people got a glimpse of Jesus’ power. Perhaps they got a glimpse of who He truly was. Perhaps they realized that if this man was healed, dressed and in his right mind, that everything else that Jesus had said was true. That is a pretty scary thought if you are living far from loving God. A real encounter with Jesus demands a verdict. When we experience His presence we have to do something with that information. For most of us, we have to give some things up in order to live for Him.

So tonight is a decision point for you. What is the verdict going to be? Are you going to believe in Jesus and receive His miracle of emotional healing and salvation? Or are you going to leave afraid and stunned by what you have heard.

Each of us has hurts that only a touch from Jesus can heal. But the good news is that it only takes a few moments in His presence to receive His life changing touch. With every eye closed, I’d like for you to raise your hand if you, too, need an emotional healing. There is a hurt in your life, a wound in your heart. It may be mean words spoken over you, a parent that has not believed in you, a friend that betrayed you. You may feel like your own emotions betray you, that you can’t get it together on your own. Tonight you can receive healing that only Jesus can provide.

[pray for students with raised hands]

The last part of this text captures Jesus’ instructions to this man who experienced His healing touch. He says “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.”

If you have experienced Jesus’ healing touch in your life. If you’ve had an encounter with him this evening. If He has set you free. Go home, and tell what God has done for you! This miracle happened before the cross, before the resurrection, before the great commission, but we can see from it that God’s heart has always been that we share our faith with others. Go and tell!

Physcial Healing

(last night's message - the major points were highlighted in the Fire Bible, I've expounded on them)

I came across the story of a little boy named Grayson this week. He’s 4. He’s actually the son of the DYD in Oklahoma. He has stage four neuroblastoma cancer and has for a while. His family has been blogging about their journey with this disease. I read four entries and was blinking back tears. Grayson’s cancer has become increasingly aggressive despite chemotherapy and he is out of options. All they can do is try to keep him comfortable and pray for healing. Grayson is dying. I can’t imagine the pain and questioning that little Grayson’s family is experiencing right now.

Sickness and death are directly related to our sin problem. Sickness and death entered the world through the Fall. Sickness and death are consequences of humankind’s initial disobedience and defiance towards God.  Disobedience separated Adam and Eve from God and His perfect plans. This single act of disobedience opened the world to sin and brought trouble and suffering

Since the fall though, God has been our healer. Throughout the Old Testament, God healed. 
Psalm 103 tells us this.

Praise the LORD, my soul;

 all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

  Praise the LORD, my soul,

 
 and forget not all his benefits — 

 who forgives all your sins

 
   and heals all your diseases, 
who redeems your life from the pit

 
   and crowns you with love and compassion,

 
who satisfies your desires with good things 
  

 so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Isaiah 53:5 promises a savior who is coming, granting increased access to healing through His suffering.

But he was pierced for our transgressions,

   he was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was on him,

   and by his wounds we are healed.

Jesus did exactly that. Jesus was in the healing business.
 He performed so many signs and wonders that they couldn’t even all been recorded in the Bible! 
The Word tells us this in the last verse of John; (21:25)

Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down,
 I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.

Here’s the thing. If Jesus did miracles then, He still does today.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8 NIV84)

 He still heals!

So now we know we are promised physical healing in Christ Jesus. How do we put feet to that?

1.) Be sure you are in right relationship with God and others. Allowing sin to fester in your life infects your relationships. Sin needs to be removed. If you are struggling with repeat offender sin, find someone you respect and ask them to hold you accountable. Having sin in your life your life while seeking healing is like a lung cancer patient smoking during his chemo treatments. Your own choices are holding your back from receiving God’s best for you.

2.) Pursue a deeper relationship with God through consistent time of prayer, worship and Bible study. I’m going to warn you though, this is dangerous. The more time you spend with God, the more time you want to spend with God. Seeking God is going to heal so much more than your body, it will heal your soul.

3.) Saturate your life with God’s Word. Soak up His promises. (a sponge filled with water) If you are ‘super saturated’ with the Word of God, what will happen when you get bumped? God’s Word will pour out of you. Meditating on His promises all day long reminds you of His truth when the world lies to you.

Scripture memorization is extremely challenging for me, but not for my son. So Eli and I have been memorizing scripture this week. He’s helping me grow in this area and it’s working! But the thing is, it is WORK. But it’s work worth doing.

4.) Trust God, even if you haven’t received your healing. You will grow in Him during the trial. When I lost my babies eight years ago, that was the longest darkest test of my life. It felt like God literally removed His Spirit from me. I distinctly remember making the decision to worship Him, acknowledging that His holiness was not dependant on my happiness.

5.) Ask your church leaders to pray, anoint you with oil as a symbol of the presence and power of God’s spirit in your life.

James 5:14

Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.

Come forward for prayer after service on Sunday morning or Wednesday night. I keep a bottle of anointing oil in my purse, we’ll use it! Also ask friends and family to pray for you. We have a shift Prayer Requests pages. Get on there, use it. Ask for prayer for yourself, but pray for others as well.

6.) Expect a miracle. Trust Jesus’ power, He is able to do anything. (Matthew 19:26 – He’s a God of the impossible) If you are doing the first five things I listed, you can trust that God is going do a miracle. Remember that phrase from the Wedding at Canaan miracle – obedient servants can expect a miracle. When we serve God faithfully, we can trust His miraculous provision!

7.) Rejoice in your relationship with God, whether healing comes right away or not. Even when you’re hurting, God is still God. He’s still good, He’s still sovereign, He’s still saved you, He still works all things together for the good of those who serve Him. Which leads me into my next point.

8.) Know that God is sovereign. Sovereign meaning He has supreme authority and power. Meaning, He’s got this. Praying without an apparent answer does not mean that God has denied your request. His method and timing are not often what we expect, but that’s because His ways are higher than our ways. Here’s the thing that I personally have discovered about God, and millions of Christians who have walked before me have discovered the same thing. You can trust God. The sooner you decide this matter in your heart, the easier it will be to surrender to His will and His sovereignty.

It’s like a tapestry. We don’t use tapestries a lot anymore, but they used to be an expression of art about a particular time period, usually telling a story or depicting and memorializing a particular event. An incredible amount of time, planning and effort went into making a tapestry. Here’s the thing, to a thread being used in the process, the tapestry looks like a mess. It’s just weaving in and around other threads, tied up in knots, seemingly with no purpose or forethought. And even the backside of the tapestry, what a tremendous mess it is! But when the tapestry is finished and you can see the final product, what a work of love and patience – a beautiful creation that only a master artist could produce.

Maybe tapestries are an outdated reference. Maybe an easier modern day example is that it’s like an epic movie – like Titanic or Lord of the Rings. Well in a movie, each prop is carefully chosen, each part cast, each lightbulb put in place, the sound affects selected, the script written and rewritten. And then of course, there’s the editing process. Pastor Rob and I only edit tiny short films – five minutes or less, and it still can take hours. Even just editing the puppet skit, adding all the music and sound affects and cutting the awkward pauses – here’s a screen shot of iMovie – it’s an involved process.

Our lives are a tiny element in this epic movie of life. We see only the teensiest snippet and wonder why it doesn’t go our way. But the reality is that God is working it all together for the good of His Kingdom, He’s the director and the producer. Remember that this world isn’t our final destination. I strongly feel that if we could have a conversation with Stephen or Paul or Peter now they would tell us that every trial, every suffering, every hardship they endured pales in comparison to the joy of being with the King. I think this because of verses Paul penned like the following.

2 Corinthians 4:17

 “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

Fix is an awesome word here. In my quiet time this morning it said to fix your eyes is to hold a focal point  - much like a dancer spinning circles. They must keep a point of focus or we will be dizzy and confused by the world. We fix our eyes on Jesus to keep our steps sure-footed.

So we know that Jesus is our healer. In fact, I would go so far to say He always heals. Even if little Grayson, dies, he still receives his healing. We can be healed temporarily in this body, but we will be healed permanently in the next.

2 Corinthians 5:1 promises us this; For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.

Grayson will receive a healing, one way or the other. I know in this place there are people in need of a healing, and it’s ok to pray for that and I want you to feel free to linger after we close in prayer for your personal healing. But sometimes it’s a good thing if we let go of our own need and pray for someone else’s need. It’s called intercession, Tonight I feel led to stop focusing our own needs and instead pray for this little boy, Grayson. Remember he has stage 4 neuroblastoma cancer. He needs a touch from Jesus in a very real way. His family needs God’s peace and comfort. Will you join me in praying for him?

Ladies Article Contribution

(for the April/May 2012 edition of ct|woman)

Music moves us, doesn’t it? Music speaks more than words, it communicates feelings from the very deepest level of our being. Music can trigger a memory, or commemorate an occasion. I think we can all agree that music is powerful.

The thing about power is that it can be used for good or for evil. As much as God can use a worship song to stir a heart and convict a soul; Satan can use music to darken the mind and confuse the soul. Unfortunately, I speak from personal experiences during my own teenage rebellion. Music is a powerful force in your student’s life. Parents, I urge you to be informed and involved in their music choices.

So is there a list of ‘approved’ music choices for your student? Not at all. Am I saying that they can only enjoy Christian music? I wouldn’t go that far. Pastor Rob and I encourage students to be aware of what it is they thinking about when they listen to a particular song. If they are thinking pure thoughts about right things (peace, joy, love, self-control) then feel free to listen to it. On the other hand, if they are focusing on sinful things (lust, hate, self-destruction) while listening to a song then it needs to be deleted from their playlist.

Parents, get involved in what your student is listening to. This is going to take time and effort. It likely won’t be your taste in music, but it is important to know what they are putting in their mind. And who knows, your tastes may grow. There are some incredible and anointed Christian musicians singing new songs that you may very well fall in love with! New music can bring new life and growth to your soul.

Starting when I was about sixteen, my mother listened to my music. She had four children and on our frequent road trips, she let the kids take turns choosing the next cassette tape. (dated myself there, didn’t I?) As a grown adult I still send her cd’s of my new favorites – “Grandma Jams” is what we call them. She says she wants to stay current with music happenings. Now that I am a mom, I know her real motivation is a heart status update on her baby girl.

Music can be an incredible connecting point for you and your student. My children and I rock out in the car with the top down on a regular basis. We also blast the iPod in the kitchen while making dinner and setting the table or even during breakfast as we prepare for the day. Love is always the central motivation for these times together.

Your student is always listening to music. Love gets involved. Pull the earbuds and plug their iPod in to the car stereo. Start listening with them and let love lead the way.

“Sing a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth.” Psalm 96:1

Happy Easter!

We have had such a beautiful day together! Service was wonderful this morning. Pastor did a great job preaching, the music was terrific, and Jaci and I did a skit that was a lot of fun! A couple weeks ago I had pulled together some clothes to coordinate for Easter, and we had a couple photos taken this morning.

When we got home we did our traditional Hot And Cold hunt for the Easter baskets, the kids really enjoyed it. The Muppets movie was one of their gifts and now we are all curled up watching it. In a little bit we'll head out for dinner at Carraba's - dinner out on Easter is a tradition we started last year. It's nice after such a full day to let someone else serve us. :)

Yesterday I Changed My Tombstone

After taking 18 classes... spending approximately 30 hours a class.. and 15 trips to Houston..

My papers came yesterday. :) Oh long awaited papers. I went from being regular old Anna Thoreson to Rev. Anna Thoreson - an outward change indicating what God had spoken to my heart at camp almost two years ago. (you can read that post here)

When they came, I went and hugged Rob. Then I hid in the ladies room and had a good cry. I still can't hardly believe that God has called me to this. I feel reminiscient of the moment I found out we were pregnant with Eli.. "What have we done?" The sense of responsibility to preach the gospel is overwhelming. I know that I, in my Anna-strength, am incapable. There are so many others, more elequont, more educated, more suited for the ministry. But I know, that empowered by the Holy Spirit, I can do all things in Christ Jesus. I have not ever experienced a more humbling few moments than those in the ladies room of the Calvary Temple FLC. Thank You, Lord, for never giving up on me. Thank You for coming to my rescue in so many ways! Thank You, for going to such great lengths to reach my soul. Thank You for your persistant and adequate grace. I pledge my life to Your service and the exultation of Your name!

Leap Day

So I'm wondering... If today is leap day and we have an extra 24 hours... does that mean everything that I do today is bonus? I'm going with yes. Enjoy your extra day and make it count for Jesus!!

Consuming Fire

(shifJV's message from last week)

Segment 1:

To me there are few things more wonderful in life than sitting in front of a roaring fire. Whether it’s in the fireplace in my home or out on a starry night while camping out, I really enjoy a fire. The warmth, the light, the dancing flames, it’s all part of an incredible experience.

Can you imagine life without fire? You may think for a moment, yes, but the reality is that it is one of the primary essentials for existence. Fire is necessary for life just like oxygen and water. If we did not have the perfect amount of warmth, half the world’s population would freeze to death. Without fire there would be no cooking (gasp), no gold or silver jewelry (double gasp), really, no hewn tools of any kind, no glass, no sunlight, no manufacturing. We’d never enjoy a s’more over a campfire or feel the warmth of the sunshine on a cool winter day.

Fire is essential for life.

The Bible tells us in Hebrews 12:29 that our God is a consuming fire. In the Old Testament, in the temple where God’s presence dwelt there was altar that had fire buring on it. God gave the Israelites these instructions; “Remember, the fire must be kept burning on the altar at all times. It must never go out.”

We remember that when Jesus came He fulfilled the Old Testament and tore the veil from the Holy of Holies. Meaning that we no longer have to have a priest work on our behalf. And when Jesus went to heaven, He promised the helper, the Holy Spirit. Through the Holy Spirit we have the very presence of God in us. And it’s our job now, just like the priests in the Old Testament, to never allow the fire of God in our hearts to go out.

If you have ever tended a fire, you understand it’s tendency to go out. In order to keep it burning, you have to pay close attention to it. Add wood, push the coals together.

The same is true with us. We need to fuel our relationship with God with our bible reading and prayer and worship. Like pushing the hot coals together, we need to stay close to other Christians to stay passionate and on fire for God.

When you put a hot coal near something, what happens? It sets it on fire, right? The zeal, and the passion is contagious. God wants to use you to light the fire in others. I love what John Wesley (the founder of the Methodist church and a spirit-filled man; “God sets me on fire and men come and watch me burn.”

Just like the campfire, we need to regularly have encounters with God to keep our hearts on fire for Him.

Segment 2:

So we have a fire in our hearts. We need to keep it burning. One of the ways we do that is by throwing another log on the fire. Let me give you an example.

I have a little story for you. There was a lumberjack contest. Two lumberjacks, one from Alaska and one from Canada were participating in an all day championship competition. They both were to cut wood from 8am to 5pm. Whoever cut the most wood at the end of the day won the competition. The starting bell sounds, and they start sawing. An hour in the lumberjack from Alaska stops what he’s doing, and disappears for about ten minutes. The Canadian wonders if the Alaskan lumberjack has a nervous stomach. After ten minutes, the Alaskan returns to sawing. At 10am, the Alaskan leaves again for another ten minutes. This continues throughout the day. The Canadian is confident in his ability. By the end of the day, the Alaskan has taken 90 minutes worth of breaks. The Canadian is sure that he has won and is planning his victory speech when the bell rings to signal the end of the contest. The Canadian is just giddy as they are counting the pieces of wood, absolutely confident that he will be declared the new world champion lumberjack. He is astounded when they determine, that the Alaskan has in fact, won by a considerable amount. The Canadian is furious, demanding to know how that could be when the Alaskan was so lazy, taking a break every hour on the hour. The Alaskan replied, “I wasn’t resting on my break, I was sharpening the saw.”

This story serves to show us that we are always more effective when we’ve spent time preparing for the work before us. As Christians, we sharpen the saw by reading God’s word daily. It is crucial that you are familiar, and eventually fully knowledgeable of the Bible. You need to hide it in your heart so that you are prepared for whatever comes your way. Deuteronomy 11:18 “Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds”

Reading God’s word has so many incredible benefits. One of them is that when we read the Bible, it produces humility. You get a sense of who you are in the grand scheme of things, and what you can do to honor God and serve Him within your world.

The Bible also clearly dictates right from wrong.

Deuteronomy 30:14 the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

As you spend time in the Word, you will get a clear sense of God’s leading in your life. You will know in your heart when you have sinned and fallen short, and you’ll feel the thrill of victory when succeed over temptation.

Another benefit of reading the Bible is that it empowers us to resist the devil. We’ve talked many times about how the devil is a devourer, a destroyer, a thief and a liar. Reading the Bible gives you strategies and power to overcome Him. It aligns your heart with Jesus, who has already promised us victory!

Temptation may come as a surprise, but sin is no accident. Satan is laying carefully placed traps for you. There is a way to find passage safely, but you will only find it in the Bible. It’s like a GPS. Let’s say that stands for that God’s Positioning Service. The thing is, you can have the GPS in your car but it’s no good to you if you never turn the thing on, or if you ignore it’s turn by turn directions.

Your Bible left sitting in your room is the same way. If it’s collecting dust on a shelf, one day soon you are going to find yourself somewhere you never intended to be. Just like every step in the directions to a destination is crucial for your GPS unit, so are the steps, ordered by the Lord in your Bible. The only difference is that your life destination is of far greater value than any place you might plug into your GPS.

Segment 3:

Remember our campfire example. When is a fire the hottest? When you first light it and it’s blazing and jumping with all the pretty colors?

No, it’s when the coals are stoked together. There is intensity when we burn together. There are other people in your world who know Jesus. Spend time with them. The Word tells us, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” Matthew 18:20

This is Jesus’ way of saying – the coals get hotter when you get together. Get to work. Remember our commissioning and get in there and get after it. Jesus told us that with the Holy Spirit’s empowering, we would do even greater things. Greater things than what? Healing cripples? Restoring sight? Casting out demons? Walking on water?

God has great things in store for His church. Common vision, unity and spirit-filled seeking will impact our world. And we know that affecting our world is our purpose.

Fire is contagious. A piece of burning log will set another log on fire. The truth is, on fire people set others on fire. We are to passionately engage in the work that Jesus calls us to. We know our mission, to “make disciples of all nations.” We have a clear directive.

The word tells us “The Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentence.” That all would know the saving work of Jesus. That all would reach heaven.

Jesus cares about the eternity of your friends and family just as much as He cares about your eternity.

So how do we burn in a manner that sets the world on fire? James tells us “God opposes the proud but favors the humble. So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come close to God and God will come close to you.”

We talked earlier about how the Bible will humble you. It’s a good thing too, because this verse tells us that God opposes the prideful. Pride was the sin that first took Satan, and then Adam and Eve. God doesn’t have a lot of tolerance for pride.

Jesus was the perfect example of humility. We just need to follow His lead. Reading about Jesus in the Bible is the best way to follow Him. Remember, the Bible is our GPS. God’s going to use the Bible to move you step by step, turn by turn.

The next step in burning is resisting the devil. We can kick him to the curb. We can say no to temptation and sin. I understand that this is tough stuff, but again, let the Bible be your guide. Romans 8:37 tells us we are more than conquerors. Overcomers!

The final step in this verse tells us to come close to God. This verse promises us His reaction.. He will in turn, come close to us. What an awesome promise from an awesome God! Yep, the guy who hung the stars in the heavens and set the continents in place, He, wants to get close to you? It’s a pretty exciting concept.

So tonight, I’m inviting you guys to burn for Jesus. Decide that living lukewarm is not for you. Normal is not enough. Like John Wesley, you want to burn for God so that men might see. If this is your heart, remember these steps.

1) Set your heart aflame for God. Commit to relationship with Him here and now. If you already know Him, throw another log on the fire tonight. Allow Him to kindle what may have grown cold in your heart. Commit to reading your Bible, praying and worshipping Him.

2) Spend time with other believers building your faith. Remember that coals stacked together burn hotter.

3) Humble your heart. Consider Jesus your example. Use the Bible as your GPS.

4) Resist the devil and draw close to God.

If any one of these areas touched your life tonight, I want you to come forward. Altar experiences are the perfect opportunity to grow the fire in your heart.

Seize the Day

What is courage? ( maybe a cat with a pack of dogs, crossing a tiny rope bridge, rescuing a child from a burning building, standing up to do what is right when everyone else is doing what is wrong)

One of the most courageous people I have ever heard of is Corrie Ten Boom. She was a survivor in a Nazi concentration camp during the second world war. She was a beacon of peace and joy and light in a time that there was no peace or light or joy. She was a single woman who still lived with her father and worked in his watch shop. She helped Jewish people escape from the Nazi regime through an underground network. She was not Jewish herself, but could not stand aside and watch what was happening to these people. She smuggled dozens and dozens of people through her home to safety. She took a stand against evil in a world that where evil was in charge.

Years after her concentration camp experience, after losing her entire family to Nazi brutality, Corrie Ten Boom had an interaction with a guard who had treated her so cruelly. When face to face with her torturer, she battled emotionally with a decision to spew hatred or extend grace. In the end, she shook his hand. This is what she wrote about that experience.

"For a long moment we grasped each other's hands, the former guard and the former prisoner. I had never known God's love so intensely as I did then."

To me, Corrie Ten Boom had to have courage smuggle people through her home. She had courage to survive the Nazi concentration camp. She had courage to continue to believe in a loving God when her world was filled with pain and sorrow and loss and hunger and cold. But in my opinion, reaching for that former prison guard’s hand was the decision that took the most courage.

Tonight we are talking about having courage. Courage to do the great things that God has called you to do, but also courage to do the small things, the personal things that cost a lot. Courage to surrender.

Jesus was a man of incredible courage. He came in a courageous time and in a courageous manner. Even being born to a poor girl, He was brave in knowing that Mary would tend to Him. Imagine, the King of Kings taking an infant form and depending his very life to a teenager.

Jesus’ courage didn’t stop there. He lived a brave life. He was moral, good. He never sinned. That takes courage, doesn’t it? I’d imagine He was called the Hebraic equivalent of a “brown noser” or “goody two shoes” many times. He never fought back. He never held hatred in His heart. The Word tells us that He was sinless. He lived a life of unparalleled moral and spiritual integrity. And yet, He was constantly criticized for this, documented from the time He was twelve, preaching in the temple, all the way up to His death on the cross.

How did Jesus succeed at this life of character? He lived focused on His cause. Do you remember what His cause was? I’ll give you a hint, we discussed it a few weeks back. It’s found in Matthew 28:19.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

A few weeks back we discussed these verses. They have name, right? The Great Commission. Remember that the Great Commission needs to be our highest priority in life – because it’s God’s highest priority.

To Jesus, sharing the love of God was so important that He was willing to lay down His life for the opportunity for you and I to restore relationship with our Creator. Jesus seized the day, He showed courage to love the unloved, to put the welfare and eternity of others in front of His own needs and desires.

Tonight, how important is the Great Commission to you? Are you willing to seize the day? Or do obstacles, like your own attitudes and hurts and feelings or the comments or criticism of others stand in your way. The reality is that as much you have a God-given priority to the Great Commission, when you received Jesus and that priority, you put a target on your back.

(video, in the trenches)

It’s important to realize that we have a spiritual enemy that is bent on keeping our friends and family in darkness. The enemy of your soul is fighting your commissioning with everything he has. The Word tells us:

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

The enemy has come to rob, kill and destroy. We cannot forget that is his highest priority. You and are commissioned to fight to reach the lost with God’s love. In order to fight we must be bold, strong and courageous like Jesus. We must seize the day!

When God first spoke to my heart at camp about my calling I thought maybe He’d confused me with Rob. I mean, we were both in the tabernacle that night, we’re one flesh, He could have got His wires crossed, right?

Then I remembered God doesn’t make mistakes. It falls under that “infallible” quality of His. Incapable of mistakes. He really was calling me, Anna.

Since then I’ve had a very personal lesson in that God really doesn’t care so much about your ability as much as He cares about your availability.

Being available is key to seizing the day. Being available is the A in FAT that we always talk about. Remember, we want to be FAT Christians; Faithful, Available and Teachable?

Being available is more important to God than being able. God will make you able. You just have to make yourself available. One of the easiest, and simultaneously most difficult choices you can make in your walk with God is that of surrender. Surrender is simply saying “God, I’m available, use me.”

I say that surrender is easy because it’s kind of like putting a boat on auto-pilot – just push a button and let the computer take over. You are telling God, “hey, this is your boat, have at it!” Surrender is also incredibly difficult because like the boat on auto-pilot, you are constantly fighting the urge to take control of the ship again. Surrender is a daily, moment by moment decision. You need to remind yourself over and over again that God’s will and purpose for your life is greater than your will and purpose for your life.

Jesus set the example of surrender when He surrendered Himself to God, and then again when He gave Himself sacrificially for others. Jesus valued God’s will far above His own. We see this in John 4:34.

“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work.”

Jesus valued God’s plan more than His own well-being. He committed to a life of total surrender.

What about you? Have you made yourself available to God? Or have you decided that your abilities are too inconsequential that God would have use for you?

(video: it starts with one)

Jesus’s single minded devotion and commitment to the will of the Father was the result of surrender in His will and life to the Father’s agenda. This was an answer to Jesus’ prayer in the garden the night before His crucifixion. He prayed “Not my will, but your will be done.”

Before we can seize the day and influence our family and friends, we have to yield our hearts completely to God’s will. We pray “Send me where the need is, send me where you want me to go.” Taking a stand against the devil starts with laying our will down to God.

The incredible thing is that when we lay down our will to God, we stand up with Christ. And we know that in Christ, the enemy is defeated. See, when we go with God, we go with His full authority. God has the final say and Satan will fall. He has no authority over us. We can speak life and truth to our friends and our family when we speak the gospel, the good news. When we go and tell.

Tonight I want to give you three practical steps to seize the day.

First up, you guys know this one, witness. Like a witness at a crime scene, you just share your side of the story. What did Jesus do in your life? The word of God assures us that there is power in our testimony!! Remember, God is looking for your availability here, not your ability.

Secondly, you can pray and intercede. Set aside some time each day to pray. You can get up early and spend time with God, or you can find a time that you aren’t using to it’s fullest. Like for me, I pray while I wake up in the morning in those first few moments where I am conscious, but not quite ready for my feet to hit the floor. I pray in the shower and while I do my hair (especially blowdrying). And I pray in the car on the way to work. This way I feel fully prepared to rely on God throughout the day, because I’ve already been talking to Him all morning!

James 5:16 says “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” That means prayers of people walking with God get it done!

Charles Spurgeon said “”Groaning which cannot be uttered are often prayers which cannot be refused.” Praying in the spirit is your lifeline to God. It’s like the red phone on the president’s desk. You have an immediate connection with the Creator when you use your prayer language.

Prayer changes things. “Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons, but they are helpless against our prayers.” J. Sidlow Baxter said that.

I read an email from someone this week about a man who refused prayer. I just laughed, because refusing prayer is like refusing mail or refusing air. It just can’t be done. You can pray for anyone, no matter how much they hate God or you.

The last step in seizing the day is perhaps the most important one. It’s being willing to lay your life down. Spend time and energy lovingly serving the people around you. Your love will send a much louder message than even your testimony.

So these three things will empower you to seize the day; witness, pray and lay down your life. I’m going to give you an opportunity now to start from here. Take a few moments and spend some time in surrender here at the altar.