Redeeming Love

All day yesterday as I was reading "Redeeming Love" I kept thinking, this book is really good but there has to be a deeper message in it than what I'm seeing with my eyes and this girl is driving me crazy with her running away. I've got to dig deeper spiritually in this book.  This book has been recommended to me by so many people already, there has to more to it than what I'm seeing.  Then it hit me, the verse that penetrated my very being several weeks ago, came to life once again "You didn't choose me.  I chose you......"(John 15:16). 

I'm not going to spoil the book for those of you who haven't read it and I'm still not quite finished with it myself but in the depths of this book I have found this very important message that has resonated in my soul.  The most intriguing revelation of all, the pursuit and love that our Heavenly Father has for us.  I knew Jesus loved me. Hello, I was taught that as a child but the pursuit part is the part that I never quite grasped.

It wasn't just an ordinary pursuit that we would have when we pursue something.  Our kind of pursuit is limited.  First, we give it all we have, we're determined. We put our entire heart into it but if things don't appear to be going as we thought they would or should, we eventually give up. We use whatever stupid excuse we can come up with but honestly we're just simply tired of putting that much energy into something that is showing us no return. However, the pursuit that was revealed to me in this book was not like our kind of pursuit at all.  This was a PERSISTENT pursuit.  A kind of pursuit that has unconditional love and forgiveness wrapped up in it.  When I was thinking about this, I pictured Jesus talking to our Father, and saying "hey dad, you see that one right there, the one in that adulterous relationship, that just divorced her husband and is drowning herself in alcohol and men.  I want her, what do you say?  I see God looking at Jesus and saying, go get her son, you've been praying for her".  Just like that Jesus pursued me nonstop until I stopped, looked up and allowed him to pull me out of the pit...WOW...That my friend IS redeeming love....A love beyond my comprehension, a love with no boundaries and no limits.  A love that brings tears to my eyes when I think that He chose and pursued me with great love!
 

Confidence in God

Ever since last night I have been thinking about all the prayers that have been prayed for my Dad’s salvation. My mom has been praying for him almost 40 years. I can't count the number of times I've shared the Gospel with him and he has completely rejected it. I came to Church last night believing God for a Miracle. Believing that my dad was going to finally get it and he would be saved so when I looked up and saw that my dad had skipped out during invitation I felt like my heart had fallen out of my chest.

Several people tried to encourage me by telling me he was there and had heard the word but all I could think of was he has heard the word for 38 years now and nothing had changed, what makes this time any different? Literally I could feel all hope in my Dad ever accepting Jesus as his Lord and Savior fading quickly. How quickly the enemy rushed in to attack as soon as my focus shifted from God to me.

I’m sending this to you today not to say that I have this all together in a matter of hours because I completely do not but I believe that through this God is trying to teach me something that in turn we all need to begin praying for. As we face these last days where we place our confidence will be a key factor in overcoming the things that are to come.

God wants us to be Confident in Him and in the truth that all things (not some but ALL things) are possible through him. Our focus will determine our behavior. He wants us to stop talking about how big our giants are and start telling our giants how big our God is.

Numbers 13:30(NLT) But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. “Let’s go at once to take the land,” he said. “We can certainly conquer it!”

When the Israelites first approached the borders of Canaan, Moses sent scouts into the Promised Land to assess the situation. Ten of the scouts came back with reports that focused on the giants in the land, men so big and powerful the scouts feared they could not be defeated. Two of the scouts focused on God and his promise that he would give the Israelites the land.

So let's add praying for "Confidence in God" to our prayer list. Don't forget to pray this over our Pastor and Bev as well.

Heavenly Father,
I love you and praise you. Thank you God for always understanding where I am even when I don't understand myself. Lord, I spend so much time grumbling and complaining about all the messed up stuff going on in and around me that I lose sight of who I place my confidence in. Father forgive me for being self centered. I ask you Father, to help me to keep a God Confidence in and through all things I face and endure. Thank you for your love, your mercy and your grace. In Jesus Name, I pray Amen.

Read
Psalm 27

Prayer List
1. Divine Protection
2. Holiness
3. Heart like Hur/strength when weary
4. Revival
5. Steadfastness
6. Surrender
7. Discernment
8. Worship in Spirit and Truth
9. Trust
10. Pray to be led by the Holy Spirit
11. Resist Discouragement
12. Offense
13. Unity
14. Fire of God to fall
15. Walk in Obedience to His Word
16. Overcome Fear with Faith
17. Shift in the Atmosphere/Preparation
18. Give double honor
19. Radical Transformations
20. Confidence in God

Radical Transformation

I am saddened that we have lost someone very dear and close to us but at the same time, I find hope and peace in a God who has a plan for our lives far better than we can ever imagine. A God that loves us enough that he sometimes allows our hearts to be broken for a bigger purpose.

I was recently reminded of a word that God gave Bev for the young people and I heard Christian mention it at both Memorial Services…“Transformation”. The word transformed comes from a Greek word (Metamorphoo) which means "to change into another form, to transform, to transfigure". The same word we use to explain the process of changing from a caterpillar to a butterfly. It's also used to describe Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. As Christ was transfigured on the mountain, His "face" shone like the sun and the lives of Peter, James and John were changed (Matt 17:1-2). Transformation comes by and through beholding the Glory of the Lord. There must be a beholding, a deliberate setting of our attention upon the Lord Jesus Christ (Col 3:2). Just as it was the glory of the Lord that caused Moses' face to shine, so it is "the glory of the Lord" that transforms us into his likeness (2 Corinthians 3:18). As a Christian our goal should be to become more Christ like every day (Rom 12:1-2).

Tuesday morning on my way to work, I was listening to Jeremiah Yocom and I felt this tug on my heart and I heard a whisper in my spirit saying….Amy, now it’s time, pray for transformation. That's all I heard, no big revelation or this elaborate conversation between God and I. Just a still small voice, but with that I felt an urgency to pray for people who have been or will be affected in some way, form or fashion by Casey's story.

Already we have probably seen hundreds of people calling out to God through the passing of Casey. What we view as a tragedy in our eyes, God's sees as his perfect plan. God called home a child of His that was willing to sacrifice his very own life for the sake of others coming to know the Lord.

Let’s pray for radical transformations to take place.

Heavenly Father, we praise you and we thank you for giving us the opportunity to be part of your bigger plan and giving us the privilege of knowing Casey Quinn. We thank you for putting an example of someone who had sacrificial love right in front of us. Jesus, we pray that your glory will be reflected in our life so those around us will be influenced, transformed, and transferred to a new position of spiritual wholeness. Father, we pray for radical transformations in the lives of every single person the Holy Spirit is drawing to you through the life and death of Casey Quinn. God, we pray that you will give each one of these people a kingdom connection, a supernatural connection, Father. Someone they can connect with that will disciple them, someone who has been radically transformed by beholding your Glory. We give you praise for what you're doing and what you're going to do, In Jesus Name, Amen

Prayer List
1. Divine Protection
2. Holiness
3. Heart like Hur/strength when weary
4. Revival
5. Steadfastness
6. Surrender
7. Discernment
8. Worship in Spirit and Truth
9. Trust
10. Pray to be led by the Holy Spirit
11. Resist Discouragement
12. Offense
13. Unity
14. Fire of God to fall
15. Walk in Obedience to His Word
16. Overcome Fear with Faith
17. Shift in the Atmosphere/Preparation
18. Give double honor
19. Radical Transformations

Give Double Honor

As you all know, Pastor Appreciation Day is right around the corner.  The Bible says give honor where honor is due and to the elders that serve well give double honor especially if they labor in the Word. I want to always honor my Pastor and his wife but not just once a year, every day of the year. they need our encouragement, they need to feel valued, respected and honored by us as a body of believers standing behind them in ministry. I believe there are several things that we can do to honor them.

1. Love them unconditionally. I have heard 1 Corinthians 13 several times in the past couple of days and each time I hear it mentioned, I go back and read it one more time. I fall so short of truly loving as God has commanded me to love but I strive to love in this magnitude daily. Pray to love like Jesus. That he will love through us so that God's complete love can be poured out of us. If we would choose to love unconditionally daily, the light of Jesus would shine so brightly through us that His love could not be contained. Our lives would be a reflection or a magnet so to speak for Jesus to a lost and hurting world. Love is kind, it is not jealous or envious, it is not self seeking, it keeps no record of wrong, it is not easily angered, it endures all things. Love is Patient.

2. Pray for them always. I think that God will bless a church that prays for their Pastor. A praying church will manifest the power of the living God in a mighty way. Paul repeatedly asked the churches to pray for him and his ministry. The enemy knows his time is coming to an end so the battle is only going to become more intense as we approach these last days. All the more reason we need to be prepared for what's ahead. Interceding for our Pastor and his wife is spiritual warfare and it's our job to bare their burdens and cover them in prayer.

3. Provide for their physical needs. A church that does not supply for their pastor's needs violates the Scripture. God says give the pastor "double honor" (adequate support and respect). We should be supporting our Pastor and any needs that he may have physically. Look for opportunities to bless them above what you're already doing.

4. Be a Faithful and Loyal supporter. They need to know that we believe in them and that we're always there for them. We should serve them as unto the Lord. Let them know that we value what they value. Be faithful in your attendance to church. We should never find ourselves gossiping or speaking negatively about our Pastor or his wife. Every expectation of perfection that you have for them needs to be broken and brought under the blood of Jesus. We need to realize that they are no more perfect than we are. Recognize that they are not able to please each one of us according to what we want or may even need from them at all times, their primary focus is to please the Lord. Let's demolish every unrealistic expectation that we have for them and instead set out to encourage, edify and build them up. Support them and their ministry so the Lord may be glorified in all things.

Related Scripture's
1 Timothy 5:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13; Hebrews 13:7, 17; Hebrews 13:18-19; Eph. 6:18-19; 2 Thess. 3:1-2

Let's pray that God will open our eyes on how we can give our Pastor and Beverly double honor not only this week but every day of the year.

Father we thank you for giving us a Pastor who loves us and has our best interest at heart. We ask God that you open our eyes to ways that we can give our Pastor and his wife double honor every day. Holy Spirit keep them on the forefront of our minds so that we can pray for them always. Jesus teach us to love unconditionally. Father, we release and demolish every unrealistic expectation that we have of them in the name of Jesus. We ask that you open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing on them that cannot be contained. In Jesus Name we Pray, Amen

Prayer List
1. Divine Protection
2. Holiness
3. Heart like Hur/strength when weary
4. Revival
5. Steadfastness
6. Surrender
7. Discernment
8. Worship in Spirit and Truth
9. Trust
10. Pray to be led by the Holy Spirit
11. Resist Discouragement
12. Offense
13. Unity
14. Fire of God to fall
15. Walk in Obedience to His Word
16. Overcome Fear with Faith
17. Shift in the Atmosphere/Preparation
18. Give double honor

Shift in the Atmosphere/Preparation

This morning as I was praying God pricked my heart when I started praying for tonight's prayer meeting. All the sudden I saw the importance in praying for a shift in the atmosphere, asking God to commission angels to take charge over us, in coming to the house of the Lord prepared spiritually.

Several weeks ago the Lord really began speaking to me about stepping out of my comfort zone in prayer and I found myself needing to make a decision. I could either remain where I was or I could take a step of faith and let God move. I decided it was time to take that step and I went to a friend and asked her to pray with me at our next prayer meeting because I was really struggling with praying with confidence in a public setting. From that day forward, I began covering this prayer time in prayer, I prayed for a Spirit of Boldness, I prayed for the Holy Spirit to saturate the entire building, I prayed for a shift in the atmosphere and an angelic protection over our meeting place. I came to Church that Thursday night expecting something to happen and knowing that the Presence of the Lord would be upon us.

Since then I can't wait for Thursday night to come, because I know that if we come with our hearts prepared, if we come expecting, if we come worshiping then God will be in our midst. Beverly talked about this at our Ladies Retreat and God brought it back to me again today. We need to be praying for God to prepare our hearts and our place of worship. I truly believe that we have to stop expecting to have Church as usual. Our Pastor should never have to worry about fitting a message in on our time frame. If the Holy Spirit moves and we sing more songs than expected, he should not have to stress over having enough time to give US a message that God has put on his heart. We need to throw our watches out the door when we come into the house of the Lord and expect the unexpected.

I think the biggest thing is preparation. In order for the atmosphere to shift we can't have any spiritual hindrances, so that means anything that you're bringing to church with you has got to be cast off. 1 Peter 5:7 says, Cast your cares on him, for he cares for you. We have to stop holding on to all our junk, let go and let God. Our God is not a common ordinary God. We need to come prepared, expecting and with the right attitude. Acts 3:5 "and he, gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them".

2 Chronicles 5:13-14
13 The trumpeters and singers performed together in unison to praise and give thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments, they raised their voices and praised the Lord with these words: “He is good! His faithful love endures forever!” At that moment a thick cloud filled the Temple of the Lord. 14 The priests could not continue their service because of the cloud, for the glorious presence of the Lord filled the Temple of God.

2 Chronicles 7:1
When Solomon finished praying, fire flashed down from heaven and burned up the burnt offerings and sacrifices, and the glorious presence of the LORD filled the Temple.

I read once that the word for "presence" in Hebrew is also translated as "face" in the Old Testament. So to have a bigger impact the above scripture could also read: the glorious "face" of the LORD filled the Temple.

The Lord responds to our Faith. Solomon sought God and longed for his presence. He prepared himself and the people. He prepared the atmosphere with worship and praise to God. (2 Chron 5:11-14), they sacrificed so many animals that they couldn't be counted (2 Chron 5:6). He was prepared to be in the presence of the Almighty God.

A spiritual atmosphere is one where the presence of God is there, the Holy Spirit is moving, transformations takes place, and the Heavens are opened.

So this week let's pray over the very atmosphere, let's pray that our hearts are prepared, let's come to church expecting the extraordinary, expecting the Holy Spirit to have liberty and for transformations to take place.

Heavenly Father, we come before you asking for forgiveness for seeking ordinary when you're an extraordinary God. Lord, we cast every burden and care on you because you care for us. We come before you with humble, repentant hearts, seeking your face God, seeking a closer more intimate walk with you. We ask Father that you shift our atmosphere, that you establish a supernatural environment where your presence is welcome. That you saturate us with your Glory. In Jesus Name we pray. Amen



Related Scriptures

2 Chron 5:11-14

2 Chron 5:6

1 Peter 5:7
Prayer List
1. Divine Protection
2. Holiness
3. Heart like Hur/strength when weary
4. Revival
5. Steadfastness
6. Surrender
7. Discernment
8. Worship in Spirit and Truth
9. Trust
10. Pray to be led by the Holy Spirit
11. Resist Discouragement
12. Offense
13. Unity
14. Fire of God to fall
15. Walk in Obedience to His Word
16. Overcome Fear with Faith
17. Shift in the Atmosphere/Preparation

Overcoming Fear with Faith

For some time now God has been speaking to me about Fear. For those of you who know me well, you know that this is not an area that I enjoy talking about because it's actually an area that I struggle with alot. I have allowed fear to control many areas of my life that need to be operated by faith. However, God is saying this is not just something I am dealing with; this is something the body as a whole is struggling with. Fear is undoubtedly an attack of the enemy. Fear is meant to destroy our faith. It comes in many shapes and sizes but the overall outcome is to kill, steal and destroy. Fear is bondage. If we allow Fear to rule in our lives eventually fear will paralyze us to the point that we are no longer effective as a servant of God. We as a body have to learn how to recognize, defend and have victory over fear in order to be free from this bondage. Fear is the opposite of Faith, Romans 14:23 tells us that whatever is not from faith is sin. God's word also tells us that we should walk by faith not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). God does not give us a Spirit of Fear (2 Timothy 1:17). I believe that the enemy plants doubt in our mind that makes us doubt God's promises are for us today and after that seed of doubt is planted, fear begins to take root.

Quick story of how the enemy tried to stop me from being used by God by bringing doubt and fear in my life just this week. The other morning the Lord woke me up to pray for my brother in law urgently and I felt like God had a word for him. Immediately doubt entered my mind. Doubt that it was a word from the Lord and then fear struck me. What if he is offended or what if it causes problems with him and my sister and so I began praying Father your sheep know your voice and hear your voice, let me discern your voice above all others right now and after much prayer I went forth with the word God gave me via text message to my brother in law. Later that morning my mother informed me that he has a company phone and it does not allow him to receive text messages. So, once again doubt came forth. However, yesterday the Holy Spirit led a client of my sister's to speak a word to my brother in law, about an hour later my text message broke the barriers the phone company had in place and came through confirming the word he had just heard from my sister's client. I had to learn a valuable lesson in this to trust God's voice and not give place to the enemy in my mind. God's timing is always perfect.

We have to learn how to overcome fear and I think the first step is to recognize fear for what it is and to choose faith over fear. We need to understand God's protection and promises are for us today. To remain free from fear, we need to speak the word of God out loud (Isa 55:11), draw nigh to the Father (James 4:8), think about what you’re thinking about (2 Corinthians 10:5) and live according to his commandments (1 John 5:3). Whatever the devil is trying to convince you not to do is likely the one thing you need to aggressively pursue.

Please pray that you will easily recognize fear for what it is and walk by faith. Pray against fear this week in your life and of course pray against the same for our Pastor and Beverly. Remember that our leadership needs us to cover them in prayer in every area we are focusing on.

Scriptures References
Psalm 118:6
Isa 43:1-2
Isa 44:8
1 Corinthians 2:5
1 John 5:3
2 Corinthians 10:5
Isa 55:11


Payer List
1. Divine Protection
2. Holiness
3. Heart like Hur/strength when weary
4. Revival
5. Steadfastness
6. Surrender
7. Discernment
8. Worship in Spirit and Truth
9. Trust
10. Pray to be led by the Holy Spirit
11. Resist Discouragement
12. Offense
13. Unity
14. Fire of God to fall
15. Walk in Obedience to His Word
16. Overcome Fear with Faith

Walk in Obedience to His Word

As I was praying this morning, I asked God to please give me a word for our prayer group. I don't want this to come from me, I want it to be consumed by you, Father. I want you, God to saturate us with your presence. God spoke to me and said, I have already given you a word but you doubted my word and have sat on it. Immediately, I thought I didn't think this was something you wanted us to pray about and he said to me...Amy, I led you to pray about this last night over and over and then I remembered praying for the disobedient children of God, the black sheep, those Children that have turned from their faith, those blinded by the enemy. I prayed for God to prepare his Bride for his return and to bring those rebellious blinded, disobedient children back to their faith. So bare with me as I share with you what God laid on my heart earlier this week. Please forgive me for not sharing this with you when he gave it to me.

Read
2 Thessalonians 1:3-9 is talking about God's final judgment and Glory when the Lord returns.
8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,

Look closely at verse 8 and it describes 2 groups of people that will be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord. The first are those who do not know God but the second group of people really grabbed my attention because it's referring to those people who do not OBEY the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. This in my opinion could very well be anyone of us, it could be the people sitting in the church pew Sunday after Sunday, living a life that does not line up with God's word, condoning things that are in total contradiction to his word and making choices based on how they "think" they should live or how they "feel" like living verses how the scripture tells us to live. God's word is infallible, it's unchangeable. Regardless of how the world has changed since the Scripture was written, God's word and his expectations of the body have not nor will they ever change.

Jesus was always about His Father's business. Jesus’ Gospel was “the gospel of the kingdom of God, Kingdom of heaven” and the message was specifically, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.”

Read
Matthew 10:7, Luke 4:43, Matthew 4:17, 2 Thessalonians 1:3-9

When you believe in something an action will follow. For example, if you believe your car needs gas to run than you won't try to drive it without any gasoline or if you believe a chair is broken you won't try to sit in it. The same applies biblically, if we believe the word of God to be truth, if we believe that the bible is God's instruction manual to us on how we should and shouldn't live than we will take heed to the word and apply it to our lives daily, not just when it feels good. We will be obedient to his word if we believe it.

Biblical "faith" is an action manifested through obedience. Obedience is obeying the word of God regardless of whether or not we like what it says. God's people are to live by faith and walk by obedience to His word. Jesus gave an urgent message saying Repent and Believe, turn from your wicked ways because the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. To repent is to change your mind. Our minds must be changed and renewed daily by God's word. At hand means, "Just around the corner" or "so close you can almost touch it". In other words, WAKE UP, time is running out people. Repent, Believe (obey) what I'm telling you, the Kingdom of God is upon us.

God is saying to me that we should be looking for the Lord's return and living in obedience to His Word without exception. Let's pray to walk in obedience daily. Not just momentarily or when it feels good but always walk in obedience to his Word.

Maranatha! The Lord is coming.

Prayer List
1. Divine Protection
2. Holiness
3. Heart like Hur/strength when weary
4. Revival
5. Steadfastness
6. Surrender
7. Discernment
8. Worship in Spirit and Truth
9. Trust
10. Pray to be led by the Holy Spirit
11. Resist Discouragement
12. Offense
13. Unity
14. Fire of God to fall
15. Walk in Obedience to His Word

Fire of God Fall

This week I feel very strongly that God wants us to line our prayers up with our leadership. This is so important to God that he has confirmed our prayer for this week to me through 3 different people, to make sure that I didn't miss it. I believe that God has aligned every week thus far for this very moment. Many times I have prayed for the Fire of God to fall upon me but it wasn't until just recently that I really learned what that actually meant. The fire of God is all consuming; it will burn up anything not of him and purify anything that is.

I want to show you a quick illustration of some key characteristics of how fire is used to refine gold. A refiner has to melt the gold to turn it into a liquid and purify it. This process is needed in order for the impurities in the metal to be revealed. Once the gold is in liquid form, the impurities will become a film on the surface of the gold that the refiner will than scoop out. During this process the refiner has to continually repeat these steps until he has removed all the impurities and can see nothing but his reflection in the liquid. Make sure you catch that last phrase; he keeps a fire under the gold until his reflection is all he can see.

In Hebrews 12:29 it says that God is a consuming fire. When we pray for the Fire of God to fall upon us, we are really asking God to completely consume us. To reveal and burn out anything in our life that doesn't bring glory to him, anything in our life that is not of him or from him (impurities). We are asking OUR refiner to refine us by revealing all the ugliness we have deep within us. It's a process, not an overnight fix but a process just as refining gold is a process. We're saying God, when you look at me I want you to see your son's reflection in my life, can you just pour that refining fire of yours down and burn everything out of me that would blind you from seeing Jesus in me. I know it may be painful and my flesh may want to hold onto all this ugly stuff but I desperately want more of you and less of me. God is looking for people who are willing to do whatever it takes to be in a closer walk with him. He's not looking for a mediocre Christian with one foot in the world and one foot in the church. He desires us to be holy, on fire for him, anchored in him and completely consumed and dependent in him.

My notes from Sunday's sermon say that without sacrifice there will be no fire and the key is Effectual Fervent Prayer. I want our scripture reading to be a review of the scriptures Pastor preached about on Sunday.

Read

Lev. 26:3-4
1 Kings 17:18
1 Kings 18:18
1 Kings 18:21
1 Kings 18:41-46
James 5:16-18
Hebrews 12:29

Heavenly Father, we come before you with repentant hearts, seeking to worship you and to be closer to you than ever before. Lord, we are asking for your Fire to fall upon us revealing every impurity in our life. Father burn out of us everything that is not of you or from you and purify by your fire everything that is so that your son may shine brightly through us. Let us not get caught up in the world by living mediocre, fearful lives but let us be a holy people desiring to please you. In Jesus name we pray Amen

Prayer List
1. Divine Protection
2. Holiness
3. Heart like Hur/strength when weary
4. Revival
5. Steadfastness
6. Surrender
7. Discernment
8. Worship in Spirit and Truth
9. Trust
10. Pray to be led by the Holy Spirit
11. Resist Discouragement
12. Offense
13. Unity
14. Fire of God to fall

Unity

I first want to say that my heart has never been as broken for the body of Christ as it was Thursday night. Have you ever been so broken inside that your heart literally aches and no matter how much you weep that ache remains? That’s exactly how I felt Thursday night. My words were few but my tears were many. My heart was broken as God opened my eyes and gave me just a tiny little bit of a glimpse of what is breaking his heart. When I asked the Lord, how I should pray for my Pastor and our Church my focus was immediately directed to unity.


Imagine with me for a minute that you’re at a symphony and the conductor is standing above the musicians on his podium and he is leading the musicians to create this beautiful orchestrated song. However, one little flutist forgot to turn her cell phone off and her phone begins ringing. She was immediately distracted and took her eyes off the conductor to find her phone. The flutist beside her is trying to stay focused on the conductor but the fidgeting beside her is distracting her as well. Before long the entire orchestra is distracted and out of sync. The conductor is growing exhausted trying to get their focus so he can get them back in harmony but realize that without unity the music is unpleasing to our ears. If the body of Christ lacks unity we are going to be less effective in the world.

Philippians
2:2 says, "fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind."

When I did a word study on this verse, it really jumped off the page at me so I want to share (I eliminated as much as I could)

Fulfill means to develop the full potential of One accord (Greek context) - people sharing the same identity because they are in Christ

Mind (Greek context)-to agree together, cherish the same views and be harmonious.  To break this scripture down according to my word study you could say: To develop the full potential of my joy, be harmonious with each other, having unconditional (Agape) love, sharing the same identity because you are in Christ, agree together.

Acts 2:1 says, when the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

Notice that it says they ALL were with one accord in one place. Unity can be defined as oneness of purpose. It means working together toward a common goal. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit was a result of their unity. Think about it, one Believer filled with the Holy Ghost has power but many filled with the Holy Ghost is powerful. Look at Acts 4:23-31 and you'll see that when they all were united as one, one heart and one mind the place where they were meeting even shook. They loved each other so much that they shared everything; they took care of one another. The Lord saw their hearts and released his power to work through them as a result of their oneness with each other (Amazing).

After studying this subject these last couple of days, I believe that love is the main ingredient to having unity. Without love we cannot please God. I could go on and on, but I’m going to stop there and let you study this area for yourself. I do believe that praying the Word of God in unity is needed this week. I Love you guys :)


Heavenly Father,
We enter your gates with Thanksgiving in our hearts and into your courts with Praise. We rejoice in you Lord and we bless your name for you are Holy. Lord you are God; you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. Father, we want to fulfill your Joy by being like-minded, having the same love and being of one accord and one mind. Father we pray to be one with you, that the world may know your love through us. Teach us your ways oh Lord. We will bless you Lord at all times. In Jesus Name we pray…Amen


Read
Psalm133:1(Unity)
John 15:9-14(Jesus command to love, right before he goes to the Garden)
John 17:22-24(Jesus prayer about oneness)
Acts 4:23-31
Psalm 34:1
Psalm 86:11
Psalm 97:12
Psalm 100:4
Psalm 97:12

Prayer List
1. Divine Protection for Pastor and Family
2. Holiness
3. Heart like Hur to pray through the battle/strength when weary
4. Revival
5. Steadfastness
6. Surrender/Church about our Fathers business
7. Discernment
8. Worship in Spirit and Truth
9. Trust
10. Pray to be led by the Holy Spirit
11. Resist Discouragement
12. Offense
13. Unity

Unconditional Love

I'm so glad that God is always faithful to show me the areas in my life that need some attention. It's not fun, in fact it's painful most of the time but there was a time in my life when I didn't hear God's voice. Through the pain, I will rejoice that God loves ME enough to speak to me about my heart issues.

On Sunday, as soon as I was ready to walk out the door for Church, something happened at my house that deeply hurt me. By the time I got to church, I knew that I had a heart condition that needed addressing. I realized that I was beginning to harbor resentment, anger and bitterness. I was mourned by the sin in my heart and tried to let go but it just wasn't going anywhere. I felt like a complete failure with my family. That no matter how hard I try to do the right thing and be the Wife and Mother God has called me to be they just don't get it. Weariness was setting in.

Thank the Lord that he has placed people in my life to speak truth to me, to help me to see things in a different perspective, who love ME unconditionally. As the words of a dear friend were replaying in my thoughts last night and again this morning, I began to think....It's real easy to love those people in my life who are lovable but what about those people that press every button I have? Do I love them freely? What about those people who completely disrespect me, in fact I don't even think they like me, they only like what I can do for them? Are they easy to love? What about the one person in my life who I should be one with, that I should love and bond with but I really don't even understand him and he doesn't understand me. Is he easy to love? For me the answer is; no these people are not easy for me to love.

In all honesty I don't know how to love these people. I don't know how to love someone who in my opinion doesn't really desire to be loved and therefore why should I love them. When that thought came to me, immediately God spoke and said...Amy, what if I would have loved you conditionally, what if I would have given you the love you desired and deserved? Where do you think you would be right now? My heart was grieved by this.

I sit back and I wonder how I allowed this to happen. How did I allow my heart to get in this condition? I'm not sure I even love myself. Do I even understand God's love for me? I just don't know right now. I don't have the answers to all this. All I know is God is trying to teach me something, he's trying to mold me into someone that I don't completely understand but I have to trust him in this. I don't know what God is preparing me for, but I have to believe that he is preparing me for something down the road and I have to submit and be willing to listen to him and obey him. My focus for now is going to be on learning what love really is, learning how to love myself, how to receive love and how to love like God, how to love the unlovable. This is not something I'm asking you to do; I just felt the need to express to you all where I am right now. Maybe you need to examine your heart and pray about this also but if not and you have it all together in this area, please pray for me because I really don't.

Please remember to keep praying through our prayer list. I can't even begin to tell you how burdened my heart is for praying for our Pastor and Beverly. They need to be loved, encouraged and prayed for daily. No matter what is going on in your life, it is important to shower them in our prayers.

1 John 4:8
Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love

Romans 5:8
But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ dies for us.

John 14:23
Jesus answered him, "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him."

1 John 4:16
So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

Luke 6:27
"But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you

1 Corinthians 13:1-13
1 John 4:7-11

Matthew 5:43-48

Offense

God has been speaking to me about offense. In Matt 24:10-11(AMP), It speaks of someone who falls away because they have become offended. This is a haughty spirit, that because of the snare or temptation put before them they have become offended and the offense (whatever it is) causes them to respond with their emotions and fall away from the church. When I speak of offense I'm talking about "Christians" who get offended by the Word of God (Truth) and fall away or hold a grudge never accepting the truth of the word of God, or a believer that takes on offense out of jealousy, envy, hurt feelings, etc.


The definition of offense is; resentment, displeasure, scandal, anger...The Greek word is (skandalise) “to put a stumbling block in the way, cause to fall away, be led into sin...

However, if you look closely at the definition of Pride in the dictionary, it states that the characteristics of pride are often categorized as offensive. So in studying offense I find that pride is really the root to offense. We all know that there is a spirit of pride/haughtiness. Proverbs 16:18-19 speaks of a Prideful and haughty Spirit. So to understand offense we should understand the spirit of pride or haughtiness behind it.

Believers CAN be harassed, oppressed or influenced by evil spirits which is why we are warned in the scripture to neither give place (ground) to the devil (Ephesians 4:27). This may not always be the case but I think it certainly is the case many times. When offense comes knocking on our door we have a choice to make. We can choose to be offended or we can choose to recognize the offense and the root of the offense and resist it. The enemy is seeking to destroy the unity among believers and is having great success by influencing us to be offended. Offense is a tool of entrapment used by the enemy, he seeks to beguile the children of God and catch them in his snare (1Timothy 3:6-7).

I dealt with offense several times in my own life last week. For instance, someone made a comment (jokingly) to me that kind of took me by surprise. I thought, wow, if they knew what a struggle that was for me they wouldn’t dare be joking about it and I began to take offense to what they said. Then a light bulb went off and I realized that they weren't intending to hurt me. They didn’t even know my issues but the enemy knew them and jumped on the opportunity to influence me into being offended. It took about 60 seconds for me to realize who was behind those thoughts and to intentionally choose to not be offended.

God is constantly revealing areas in my life that need attention so it shouldn't come to your surprise that I don't always recognize offense quickly. A friend of mine recently said that before we can grow as a body we have to get off the milk and onto the meat. In other words if "we" want the church to grow than the body of Christ has got to grow up and stop walking around offended all the time. I believe God has big plans for "our" church but he is waiting for His body to fully align so that he can put his ultimate plan for PCOG into action. Think about it, how can God completely fill our church, overflowing with lost & hungry people that need to be discipled if we are still babes in Christ ourselves? We have to realize where the offense is really coming from and choose to stand against it.

So how do we respond to offense? I think the first step is to recognize this as spiritual warfare, admit when you have been offended, ask God to reveal truth to you and be willing to accept his truth, confess/repent and forgive. With that being said, let's pray for God to help us in this area daily. I believe that if we really seek the Lord and pray through this prayer list daily that God will do amazing things in our lives individually and our Church as a whole.

Additional Scriptures:
Matthew 18:7
Romans 16:17
John 16:1(AMP)
Acts 24:16
Prayer List
1. Divine Protection for Pastor and Family
2. Holiness
3. Heart like Hur to pray through the battle/strength when weary
4. Revival
5. Steadfastness
6. Surrender/Church about our Fathers business
7. Discernment
8. Worship in Spirit and Truth
9. Trust
10. Pray to be led by the Holy Spirit
11. Resist Discouragement
12. Offense

Resist Discouragement

As you know I spoke to the youth on Wednesday night and all week I really battled fear and doubt. Fear that I would be so nervous I wouldn't be able to share the Word and doubt that I could actually teach anyone anything. I was so scared that I was going to say something wrong and so I prayed ALOT. When it came down to time for me to speak my nerves were actually pretty settled but the enemy knew how much prayer I had put into that night and so he attacked me in a way I wasn't prepared for. He attacked me by using distraction. I knew the material I was teaching inside and out. It was a message that had transformed my life and had been burned in my spirit ever since. What I didn't know was how to present it. I studied to the best of my ability but no matter how much I had prayed and studied the enemy still knew where to attack me. You see I believe that Satan was also prepared for this message, he had heard me pray, he saw me studying, he knew where I had focused my prayer and he attacked by instrumenting a distraction. Satan knew there would be people in that room who needed to hear what God laid on my heart and so his goal was to do whatever he could to cause distraction.

As I reflected on this, I was so discouraged that I didn't recognize this attack and that I allowed it to interfere with how I wanted to present the message that God had been so faithful to lay on my heart. Yesterday, I decided to speak to a Pastor friend of mine that I went to school with and I asked him how he handled discouragement. He told me that as a Pastor he often battled discouragement and shared some instances in the Bible where he thought key people in the Bible may also have dealt with discouragement. As I looked at these instances, I can't help but think that our Pastor must feel discouragement from time to time as well. I mean just because they're a Pastor doesn't mean they're immune to these things. I would say that when they have earnestly sought God, studied all that they can study, prayed until they don't know how to pray anymore and poured their heart into a message and it appears to fall on deaf ears, surely they don't just jump for joy afterward. They have to wonder what they could have or should have done differently which is exactly where I was and exactly where the enemy wanted to keep me. When I look back on the very thing I was teaching about in Acts 26:24-32, Paul was sharing his testimony with King Agrippa and Agrippa rejected the gospel. He said to Paul, "You almost persuade me to become a Christian" I have to believe that Paul got discouraged from time to time as well. Discouraged because he wanted so badly for King Agrippa to be saved and really know Jesus the way he knew Jesus.

Last night almost as soon as I walked in the door I was hit with one thing after another. This morning, God began showing me that when we let our guard down and submit to discouragement that we open the door for more attacks from the enemy because we are at a weakened state of mind. My whole mentality of thinking was completely opposite of what God desires out of me and that if I remained in this state of discouragement the attacks of the enemy would become harder for me to resist. So I had to make a decision to RESIST discouragement and stop SUBMITTING to it. I had to acknowledge that my feelings do not rule me. I have control over what I choose to think about and I will not meditate on the "what ifs" and discouragement any longer.

I'm saying all this to say that as easy as discouragement came on me I think it can easily come on our Pastor and even the people leading our Praise and Worship every Sunday. Let's pray against discouragement this week, let’s pray that God will help us to easily recognize and resist discouragement in our lives and to keep our focus on him, his Kingdom and his purpose.

Read for encouragement:
John 16:33
Romans 8:18
Romans 8:28
Joshua 1:5
Prayer List

1. Divine Protection for Pastor and Family
2. Holiness
3. Heart like Hur to pray through the battle/strength when weary
4. Revival
5. Steadfastness
6. Surrender/Church about our Fathers business
7. Discernment
8. Worship in Spirit and Truth
9. Trust
10. Pray to be led by the Holy Spirit
11. Resist Discouragement

Being Led By The Holy Spirit

When we originally started this prayer group, I told you that I would send an email directing us on what to pray about every Monday. I wish to redact that entire statement at this time. I will send you an email as the Lord directs me to send you an email when he directs me to do so. Often times, when Monday comes around and I don't feel like I have clarity from the Lord on what to pray about that week, I begin to feel guilty that I haven't heard from God yet. I put all these time constraints on myself and God as I hurriedly try to get a word to you by that Monday deadline. As I began pleading and begging God this morning to just speak to me about something because it was already Tuesday you know, I was reminded that without being led by the Holy Spirit we are doing all this in vain. This is God's timing and not my timing. In saying that, these emails may come weekly and they may not. It will all just depend on when God chooses to speak.

God wants the Church to be led by him and if we want to see the Power of God manifested we must learn to walk accordingly. We need to lift our Shepherd up in prayer and pray that he continually allows the Holy Spirit to lead and guide him in every area of his life. Our Pastor was "Called" to preach so that we might accept, follow and strive to reflect Christ in our daily lives. Please understand what Paul was saying when he said he was separated from his mother's wound and called that he may preach (paraphrased) Gal 1:15-17. Our Pastor did not choose his calling, God chose our Pastor. I am so grateful to have a Pastor that was handpicked by God to lead us. I am thankful to have a Pastor that doesn't preach a message for the sake of pleasing our flesh. However, Satan wants to steer our Pastor in the opposite direction that God wants him to go or to use our Pastor to "water down" the scripture in an effort to blind us to the reality and truth about the ugliness of sin. We have to cover our Pastor in prayer to be continuously led by the Holy Spirit in every area of his life.

It's also important that we the congregation learn to be led by the Holy Spirit as well. How can we make sure we are being led by the Holy Spirit?

These are just a few practical ways that God brought to my attention:

1. Pray in the Spirit (1 Corinthians 14:14-15).

2. Strive to not quench the Spirit (1 Thess 5:19). Every time we willfully disobey or despise the word, or ignore the promptings of God we have in effect quenched the Spirit.

3. Set your mind to live by the Spirit (Romans 8:5-9)

4. Die to self (Gal 5:24-26)

Heavenly Father, forgive me for trying to do anything outside of your guidance and your timing. Holy Spirit lead my Pastor as he shepherds your flock. Father you have called him for such a time as this, you have called him to lead this body at Powell Church of God so God I ask that you order and direct every step he takes, guide him in every direction he should go, anoint every word that comes out of his mouth. Holy Spirit pour your wisdom into him so that you may speak to us through our Pastor. In Jesus Name Amen

1 Corinthians 14:14-15
1 Thess 5:19
Romans 8:5-9
Gal 5:24-26

Prayer List
1. Divine Protection for Pastor and Family
2. Holiness
3. Heart like Hur to pray through the battle/strength when weary
4. Revival
5. Steadfastness
6. Surrender/Church about our Fathers business
7. Discernment
8. Worship in Spirit and Truth
9. Trust
10. Pray to be led by the Holy Spirit

Trust

Have you ever been faced with a situation in your life that you know you need to forgive someone, even if they don't ask you to forgive them? I think our expectations of people are so high at times that when they don't meet our expectations, we are hurt rather quickly. Sometimes people hurt us and they don't even know they have done anything wrong and then we have those times when people knowingly hurt us but they just can't seem to take that step to apologize. God's word tells us to forgive them anyway. It doesn't say that we can choose what to forgive them for or that we only have to forgive them if they ask us or we only have to forgive them once. Jesus said to forgive them 70x7 which basically means as many times as needed:

Matthew 18:21-22 (NLT)
21 Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone[a] who sins against me? Seven times?” 22 “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!

I'm saying all this because I thought that I was dealing with a problem of forgiveness in my life, until this morning and God revealed that it was so much more than forgiveness. We can't forgive anyone on our own; we can only forgive through Christ. When I am hurt by someone I place that person before God and say God forgive me for whatever I have done in this situation to cause them pain and hurt and help me to forgive them for the hurt they have caused me. Forgiveness is taking that initial step in actively pursuing forgiving someone. It's taking the situation to the foot of the Cross and asking Christ to forgive them through you. However, the minute a new hurt would arise all the old stuff would rise up again also. Immediately, I would think well obviously I haven't forgiven them or all this old stuff wouldn't be resurfacing.

So, I focus on the issues, get angry with myself and the person involved, cry, go through all these self pity actions and after I dwell on it enough I go through the steps of humility again and take it to the cross. Naturally, I'm thinking that I don't know how to just let go of the past and forgive them. So, this morning as I was praying God said "Amy when you come before me repenting and asking me to help you forgive someone your heart and motives are pure but forgiveness is not a one step process. You have to choose to forgive over and over again. You have to choose to walk in forgiveness daily. If the old stuff surfaces you bring it to me again immediately. Stop waiting until you have done everything you know to do and dwelled on the situation for days before you truly bring it before me. You know how to forgive what you need to learn to do is trust. You don't trust me to handle the situation. You ask me to handle something for you and you surrender it to me for a little while but when you don't see immediate change you come and pick it back up and try to do it yourself. Your ways are not my ways. When people don't meet YOUR expectations than you fall apart and dwell on the circumstances again. This is an issue of the heart; I need you to trust me. I'm answering prayers for you; I have your best interest at heart. I'm working on things for you that you haven't even asked for yet. I know that trust is hard for you because you have never had anyone in your life you felt like you could trust but I am your Father. I have watched over and protected you even when you didn't want my protection. Now, I need you to trust me to handle every situation you encounter".

My father spoke this to me all morning. He took it another step further though, as soon as I got to work and turned my computer on, my devotion for the day was on Trust. WOW, I don't know where you are with trusting God in your own personal life but God has spoke this so heavy in my heart today I think this is what he wants us all to realize today. Our ways are not his ways, he has the perfect plan for our life, plans to prosper us and not harm us. This week let's pray this for us and our Pastor. Pray that we may trust God completely with everything and every situation in our life.
Nahum 1:7 (NLT)
The Lord is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust in him. 

Psalm 37:3-4 (NLT)
³ Trust in the Lord and do good.  Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.  ⁴Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.

Isaiah 55:8-9(NIV)
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. So are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. “As the heavens are higher than the earth,

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Prayer List
1. Divine Protection for Pastor and Family
2. Holiness
3. Heart like Hur to pray through the battle/strength when weary
4. Revival
5. Steadfastness
6. Surrender/Church about our Fathers business
7. Discernment
8. Worship in Spirit and Truth
9. Trust

Worship

For weeks now, I have wanted to speak about one thing in particular and I really thought this was going to be the week. Then God reminded me once again that this is not what Amy wants but what he wants. He said, Amy....YOU asked for this. You asked me to use you so you just let me handle this and I will be as gentle as I can but I'm going to do some open heart surgery on you and anyone else who will allow me to transform their life. Know that I am your creator, I am your all in all, I am your Lord and I have YOUR best interest at heart. Trust me to change your heart in these areas.

So, we are going somewhere that I never knew we would be going this week but God apparently thought this was very important for us right now. God wants to be glorified, he wants to be worshiped. God expresses the importance of praise and worship throughout his word. The question God wants us to ask ourselves today is, how important is it that we please Him through our worship? Imagine what would happen if we ALL worshiped like he tells us to, in Spirit and Truth. Your worship WILL reflect your love for God. Let me rephrase that for those of you who just skimmed over it, I want to make sure you catch this completely. Your love for God is expressed through your worship. When God brought that to my heart, my heart sank because my mouth says so much more than my worship is revealing. He must get tired of the luke warmness, of the games, of his children going through the motions, of the fact that we're more concerned with what the people around us may think rather than worshiping the One true God. I know that I don't always worship the Lord at church like I do at home. At home, I can turn my worship music up really loud, dance, shout, weep, melt in his presence without a care around me. I'm comfortable there. There's no one but me and God and I can just be me. However, when I'm at church, I have people around me and they may not agree with how I worship, or I may look stupid, or I might be rebuked for such radical worship so I try to worship in Spirit and in Truth but I can't ever really just be me and pour my heart out to him like I want to. You know why, because I am more concerned about what others think of me than about worshiping and pleasing God.  Can anyone identify with me?

I know that's rough but please stay with me. My words are only words but the word of God is everlasting and it will not return void, so please if you do nothing else read the scripture.

A Sinful Woman Forgiven

36 Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to eat. 37 And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, 38 and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, “This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.”

40 And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.”

So he said, “Teacher, say it.”

41 “There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?”

43 Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.”

And He said to him, “You have rightly judged.” 44 Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. 45 You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. 46 You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. 47 Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”

48 Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

49 And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

50 Then He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”
Now, real quickly I want to go through some quick points to a very familiar story to us. I know that most people use this story to share about the forgiveness we have through Christ but I really want us to see the Worship in this story.

1. She recognized who Jesus was. She recognized the one person who could cleanse her from all her sins regardless of what she had done in her past and she worshiped him.

2. Because she recognized who he was, she didn't care what others thought. She didn't care that others were talking about her and speaking of her sinfulness. She didn't care that she had mockers and was being ridiculed for her act of worship.  In fact out of everyone that was there, she was the ONLY one worshiping the Lord.

3. She gave ALL that she had out of love and Jesus forever changed who she was. A great exchange took place. She worshiped with complete sacrificial love and He received her worship and forgave all her many sins.

This story was so important that God said whereever the gospel is preached this story will be remembered. Do you worship God with all you have not caring what anyone else thinks or says? This lady reminds me so much of me.  A woman immersed in filth from the sins of her past.  The only difference is, she didn't care what others thought of her like I do. I'm not saying I don't worship, I do worship, just as you do. What I am saying is how would you worship if you were face to face with the King of Kings? I venture to guess that our worship would be so much more than what it is. So this week, let's really pray to worship in Spirit and Truth, with love giving all that we have. If we will allow God to transform our hearts in this area, I honestly believe it will change everything.

But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. John 4:23

Prayer List
1. Divine Protection for Pastor and Family
2. Holiness
3. Heart like Hur to pray through the battle/strength when weary
4. Revival
5. Steadfastness
6. Surrender/Church about our Fathers business
7. Discernment
8. Worship in Spirit and Truth

Discernment

This weekend has brought about a lot of decisions that my family will have to make in the very near future but in order to do that, we will need to spend alot of time in prayer discerning God's voice and asking God to reveal his will for our lives. I can see Satan attacking my family and moving in situations to pull me away from a very special connection that I believe God has given me. I can sense the enemies work all around me and it sickens me.

I know that Satan can pretend to be God speaking to us in an effort to get us off track, lead us astray or confuse us. We all know the verse, John 10:10 that says Satan is out to steal, kill and destroy. John 8:44 says that Satan is the father of lies. 2 Corinthians 11:14 says, For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Which to me this says that Satan is a liar, whose intentions are to steal, kill and destroy and he will disguise himself as something good in order to accomplish his purpose.  With that being said, I would like for us to cover our Pastor in prayer this week for discernment. Obviously, Satan uses any measure he can to mislead us and guide us down the wrong path.

Heavenly Father, I pray for discernment in exposing any schemes of the enemy against my pastor. Show me how to pray against all the powers of this dark world. Lord I pray that you give my pastor a discerning spirit, so that he can easily identify the attacks of the enemy in his life and his family’s life. God, protect me as I wage warfare on behalf of my pastor. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

Proverbs 2:1-15

Eph 6:11-12

Prayer List

1. Divine Protection for Pastor and Family
2. Holiness
3. Heart like Hur to pray through the battle/strength when weary
4. Revival
5. Steadfastness
6. Surrender/Church about our Fathers business
7. Discernment

Devotions | Proverbs 31 Ministries/What Our Pastors Wish We Knew

I am so thankful to have received this devotion today and thought that it would be a good one for all of us to read. I personally can’t truly understand the pressures that are on our Pastor and his wife, I would like to say I understand but I’ve never been where they are so quite frankly I can’t identify with the pressures, struggles and temptations they face on a daily basis. I do know that they deserve double honor from us as 1 Timothy 5:17 states.

If you click the link below it will take you to Lysa's website at Proverbs 31 Ministries. Please take the time to really read this today.
Devotions | Proverbs 31 Ministries

Daily Devotion for June 28, 2012 What Our Pastors Wish We Knew

By Lysa TerKeurst 

"The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching." 1 Timothy 5:17 (NIV 1984)

My friend shocked me. She and her husband, a pastor, were not just resigning from their church, they were leaving the ministry all together. "It's just too much," she said with tears streaming down her face. "We gave all we could. But there were too many people who felt what we did was never enough."
My heart sank. Sadly, this pastor and his wife aren't alone.

According to research 40% of pastors and 47% of spouses are suffering from burnout, frantic schedules, and/or unrealistic expectations.  These numbers are heartbreaking and convicting. I'm passionate about understanding how to love and support those who lead my church. But I have to admit, I'm still learning how to apply the biblical principle of our key verse, 1 Timothy 5:17.  Paul knew that supporting and blessing the pastor was remarkably important when he said these words to Timothy and now to us all.  A wise, incredibly humble Texas pastor once told me, "Some would think double honor sounds excessive, but the reality is no one fully understands the pressures on your pastor at any given time as they carry with them the burdens of many in the congregation quietly and confidentially. This is not work that you can leave at the office, it weighs on you. I believe it is for this reason Paul calls us to double honor."  So, how do we apply this? Here are some insights shared with me from pastors and their wives all over the country:

Do the basics consistently.
The greatest way to bless your pastor is to be one of those faithful people who attends, serves and gives consistently. This offers such assurance to a pastor and their staff. One of the most well-studied pastors I know on church leadership said, "When people do the regular basics and never make a big deal about it, the other stuff you do for your pastor is so much more meaningful. Some people try to bless their pastor on their terms and they are loud about it. They don't tithe, but ... 'Hey pastor, you can use our lake house with strings attached.'" Let's bless our pastor and his staff with the basics. Give gifts without strings. And don't toot our horn about doing so.

Let go of the unrealistic expectations.
Almost every pastor addressed the issue of inviting he and his family over for dinner. While it seems like something we're doing for the pastor, it usually isn't the gift they need. More than spending time with our family, they need to spend time with theirs. Bless them with gift certificates. Or schedule to drop off a meal — especially during those busy times like Easter and Christmas.  Of course, they'll have friends where a dinner with that family is completely comfortable and refreshing. Give them the freedom to have close friends and not feel guilty or exclusive in doing so. One pastor's wife said to me, "I think the thing that discourages me the most is people commenting on my friendships. Using the word clique to describe my friendships, rather than just being happy I have a community, is hurtful." Let's bless our pastor and his family with freedom. They need friends. And it's okay if we're not dinner buddies.

Love the pastor's wife.
Two pastors wrote, "Please give my wife face-to-face affirmation," and "When my wife hears negative things about the church or me it crushes her."  Another pastor's wife gave insight into how to greet her so she doesn't feel like a heel for not remembering everyone personally. She said, "It's hard when people say, 'Do you remember me?' Instead, introduce yourself and remind me where we've met before." Let's commit to our pastor's wife the gift of kind words. As a woman in ministry, when someone commits to saying kind and affirming things about me, my ministry, and my family, it makes me feel so safe.

Don't assume other people are encouraging your pastor.
Send notes of encouragement. Write the email telling what a difference that sermon made in your life. Don't assume they get plenty of positive feedback—usually they don't.  Let's commit to not just be someone who appreciates our pastor in our hearts, but let's let them know over and over.

Keep studying how to bless your pastor.
Become aware of how your pastor best needs to be blessed and step into that role. Make it a family mission to be one of those foundational families at church who stays out of the drama, seeks to give and not take, and stays for the long haul honoring him all the way.
And don't forget the other pastoral staff members who serve so faithfully as well.
It's biblical. It's good. And while I've got a long way to go, I'm committed to honoring my pastors with much more intentionality.

Dear Lord, thanks for the gift of my pastor, his wife, his staff, his time. Please show me ways to give them double honor, and help me follow through on it. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Reflect and Respond:
Sit down with the Lord and ask Him to show you a few ways to bless your pastor this week.
While in prayer, get honest with God. Have you had unfair expectations of your pastor, his wife and family, or his staff? Repent.

Power Verse:
1 Thessalonians 5:12, "Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you." (NIV)

Surrender

God has really laid this on my heart and I want you to know that before I share anything with you it's something that God has already dealt with me about. Please bare with me as I try to relay to you what I feel God wants us to focus on this week to the best of my ability.

Time is very much a hindrance for us today. We're in a hurry for everything, we have so many places to go, so many things to do that we fail to devote time to things that are supposed to be most important to us. We can proclaim how important God is to us all day long but if we don't really spend any time with him then how important is he? I know we all have 105 excuses to justify why we don't spend more time with God, or at least I can come up with many excuses and they all seem legit. Let’s get real though, we prioritize our time according to what is the most important thing to us. So ask yourself; what are you spending most of your time doing? I think God wants us to realize that if we really want to intercede for our Pastor and Church than we've got to spend quality time with him. I'm not saying you don't, I'm just saying that we can often get sidetracked with the responsibilities and cares of the world. I heard a Pastor say once that; "life is about choices, we can have as much of Jesus in our life as we want". Jesus wants to be closer to us than we can ever fathom but how close do you want to be to him and what are you willing to give up to have that closeness with him? We have to choose to surrender everything we have to the Lord. Surrendering all you have to Christ is not just a onetime deal. It's an everyday choice that you have to make. We're human and it's easy to walk in the flesh (by the Natural Man) but it's not so easy to walk in and by the Spirit. Yesterday during praise and worship, I had to just keep saying, Father, I surrender everything I have to you, over and over in my mind, I went through everything I could possibly think of and surrendered it to Jesus and I'm not just talking morning service, I had to do it both services. It's not because I was backslidden or anything like that, it's because my natural man wants it to be about "me" and what "I" need and what "I" want. That's not what it's about, it's about what he wants, it's about his Kingdom, it's about being light and salt in this world, following his commandments no matter the cost and so I constantly have to die to self and surrender my all to him.

John the Baptist said it perfectly, "He must increase, I must decrease" (John 3:30). The disciples "Forsook all and followed him" (Luke 5:11). Jesus told his disciples.. "If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me." (Matthew 16:24)....and we like Jesus must also be "about our Father's business" (Luke 2:49).

I challenge you this week to really seek God in these areas. Die to self daily, surrender everything that you have and follow Christ no matter the cost, and don't forget we have to be about our Father's business. Give your time to God this week, turn off your distractions and spend every minute you possibly can with God.

Father, forgive me for my selfishness. Lord I surrender everything I have to you. Rid me of self father and fill me with your Spirit. Holy Spirit, mold us into a body of believers that is light and salt in this world. May our Church be known as a church that is conforming to the pattern set by Christ that's all about our Father's business. Jesus, I choose to pick up my cross and follow you. Thank you father for what you've done and what your gonna do. In Jesus Name I pray. Amen....
Prayer List
1. Divine Protection for Pastor and Family
2. Holiness
3. Heart like Hur to pray through the battle/strength when weary
4. Revival
5. Steadfastness
6. Surrender/Church about our Fathers business

Steadfastness

I was up late last night trying to determine what God really wanted us to pray about. The one thing that stood out in my mind the most is being Steadfast. "I" really didn't want to talk about steadfastness this week because I knew if I did, I would have to talk about my utter failure in this area but I was corrected in that rebellious attitude so we are moving forward in humility now.

I have been facing a very trying time. The enemy has tried consistently to throw obstacles in my path to get my focus off Jesus and on my circumstances and in many instances he has succeeded briefly. However, through this I am learning that if the enemy can keep us focused on the storm than we become less effective for the Kingdom. Our prayer life is more self focused instead of kingdom focused, our thoughts are constantly on our own problems and we tend to forget about the bigger purpose (or at least I have).

I have gotten caught up in hurt and anger. The enemy wants to destroy our families and cause constant chaos in our lives. He is using everything he can to take our focus away from Jesus and away from his Kingdom and to bring us to self pity and frustration. Last week as the blows got more frequent and more personal, I felt myself just teetering right at the edge of the Pit, knowing that it wouldn't take much more to knock me down. I have to check myself moment by moment, get my footing back and realize that I am an overcomer through the Blood of Jesus.

To stand steadfast means to stand without wavering, being fixed in place, to be stable, steady and calm, no matter what happens. Did you know that God's word says that Jotham in the Old Testament walked steadfastly before God and grew Powerful as a result? I want to be powerful and not pitiful as Joyce Meyer would say. So, this week I really want us to pray for a steadfast spirit in warfare, we need to pray this for ourselves and for our Pastor.

Read
James 1:2-4
2 chronicle 27:6 (NIV)

Prayer List
1. Divine Protection for Pastor and Family
2. Holiness
3. Heart like Hur to pray through the battle/strength when weary
4. Revival
5. Steadfastness

We're In A Battle

I just saw this and had to share it with you guys. I know I promised one email a week but I think God is ok with two this week. LOL

Read Acts 12:1-11
Peter was in a time of crisis, he was imprisoned in the midst of a huge persecution against the Church and the enemy had positioned soldiers to bind him and guard him. The scripture says that constant prayer was made by the church for Peter’s release.

(Acts 12:7)Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, “Arise quickly!” And his chains fell off his hands. 

I believe this was an answer to a nonstop prayer storm from the church. God is calling believers to pray prayers of protection over their leaders so that the entire church can prevail against the enemy’s attacks.

When thinking about the battle we are facing, God reminded me of this story I heard about my Cousin, Colonel Darrell Darnbush. I remember meeting one of his "Privates"(I guess that's what you call them) one time and when I asked him if he knew Darrell he was amazed that I would even ask him such a question. He said to me, did you know that your cousin, has bodyguards everywhere he goes? That every time he goes to Iraq, he has a group of soldiers that circle around him and their only objective is to keep him safe at all cost. WOW...are you seeing the same picture I'm seeing here? I believe that God wants us to do this very thing for our Pastor. We need to circle around him, be his spiritual body guards, covering him from the enemy fire at all costs.

I love that connection God made for me this morning and really just wanted to share it with you guys.

Revival

This week has been a very busy week for all of us and I almost sent an email that said we're just going to have to skip this week because I haven't devoted the time that I should have to seek God about what we should pray about this week but just as I began to do that God reminded me of my desire yesterday as I was listening to Pastor's sermon about the importance of getting them while we can. I suddenly remembered the overwhelming emotions that I felt during his sermon and how I just longed to see revival breakout this week at VBS. I could literally visualize God doing a mighty work in these kids’ lives this week and tears just came to my eyes.

I realize this is a huge subject and one I am definitely not even qualified to attempt to talk about so I'm just going to give us some principals to remember when praying for Revival. Before, I do that, I want to say thank you. I know that all of you are much more mature in the Lord than I am. Sending these emails every week is such a battle as the enemy is very consistent in reminding me of how stupid this is and that I don't have a clue what I'm talking about, etc. So, Thank you for your support and allowing me to step out and obey what I feel like the Lord is asking me to do in this season of my life. Also if you have anything that you feel like God wants you to add please feel free to interject.

As I've said before, I believe we are in the last days and we need an outpouring of the Holy Spirit and that our Father in heaven wants to bring Revival to us but we must pray with urgency.

Principals
Let us pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17)
Pray that God will revive us (Psalm 80:18-19)
Let our appeal be grounded solely upon HIS Mercy (Daniel 9:18-19)
Ask & Believe (Matthew 21:22)
Trust & Have Faith (Hebrews 11:6)

Heavenly Father, we give you praise for you are Holy. Lord I thank you for your Mercy. We ask for you to bring revival to our lives personally and to your body as a whole. Pour your Spirit out on these VBS kids & PCOG. Take off all spiritual blinders, open ears to hear your word and prepare hearts to receive you. Father, give us a heart to pray for lost souls. Father God, incline your ear and hear our cry! We ask these things believing that it is your will that none should perish but that all should come to repentance. We trust you to do all the work and we'll be careful to give you all the praise and all the Glory. Thank you for what you've done and what you're going to do. In Jesus Name, Amen.

1 Thess. 5:17
Psalm 80:18-19
Daniel 9:18-19
Matthew 21:22
Hebrews 11:6
Prayer List
1. Divine Protection for Pastor and Family
2. Holiness
3. Heart like Hur to pray through the battle/strength when weary
4. Revival