God's Vision for Me

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” I asked a child the other day. We have all been asked that. Some still ask the question late into their 30’s, 40’s & 50’s.

As a child the possibilities were only limited by our imagination. As we get older many times we believe that we are incapable of achieving our childhood dreams and goals. Having started a second career in my 40’s I realized that God's vision for my life is much bigger than me.

Each day I work at living up to God’s vision for me, all the while knowing I can only achieve that vision and reach that goal with His direction and strength.

Don’t be afraid to revisit your dreams. I believe you can do anything you set your mind to, especially if God is your partner.

What Prayer Is and Isn't

Here is the thing about prayer. Prayer isn't designed to get God to do what we want Him to or to do our will; prayer is designed so that we can come into His presence and know what His will is for us, and then submit to it.

Pray today, find out what good things God has for you.

Spiritual Growth

Psalms 1:3 TLB - They are like trees along a riverbank bearing luscious fruit each season without fail. Their leaves shall never wither, and all they do shall prosper.

There is a beautiful little baby boy in our church named Judah. Throughout the pregnancy the doctors were projecting doom and gloom. As a church we joined our faith and prayers and Judah was born, a miracle baby. He was so tiny at birth just over two pounds. But Judah is a fighter, he is a survivor. Every day of his young life he has had to fight to grow. Thankfully now he is healthy and while still small he is growing. I believe that this young child has determined in his spirit to grow physically.

For us, spiritual growth is not automatic either; it takes an intentional commitment. You must want to grow, decide to grow, make an effort to grow, and persist in growing. My prayer for you today is that you will grow spiritually and prosper in every area of your life.

Prayer

Here is the thing about prayer. Prayer isn't designed to get God to do what we want Him to or to do our will; prayer is designed so that we can come into His presence and know what His will is for us, and then submit to it.

Pray today, find out what good things God has for you.

Ordinary vs Extraordinary

I think that Sam Walton of Wal-Mart fame was a smart man. He may have not been a genius but he had common sense. Mr. Walton recognized that ordinary people could do extraordinary things if they had good leadership and a clearly defined mission.

Over the years I have watched in amazement as I have seen God use ordinary people to do extraordinary work. God will use you to glorify His Kingdom if you will only let Him.

Give It Away

Have you heard the old saying that, “Love isn’t love until you give it away?” Think about this; an amazing thing happens when we offer praise and thanksgiving to God. When we give God enjoyment, our own hearts and lives are filled with joy! Join me in praising Him today.

Generosity

He who has a generous eye will be blessed, for he gives of his bread to the poor. Proverbs 22:9 (NKJ)

While attending Christ for the Nations Institute in Dallas I served as a student ministry leader in the audio department. What that meant is that I worked to assure all services, classes, concerts, etc. had a sound engineers that met the needs of the faculty. It was not a glamorous job but I loved it. As a technician, most of the time you are in a back room somewhere out of sight.

It was there that God spoke to me and told me that Carol and I were to financially bless a different student each week. That was difficult because we were struggling ourselves financially. Each week I would sit in the dark control room and on the monitor as the cameras scanned the audience, one student would just stand out to me. It was like the rest of the people were blurred out but this one was bright and clear. My eye was focused on the one we were to bless.

We were faithful. We did it anonymously asking nothing in return. We did this for a couple of months and then God stopped showing me people. We were obedient. What happened as we gave, God blessed us.

His Presence

We recently went to our granddaughter’s third birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese’s. Wow!

Anyway, I watched as she opened her presents in the presence of about a dozen little girls and a little boy who didn’t want to sit at the princess table. I know that Taylor enjoyed the presents but I really think she enjoyed having her friend there even more. It got me thinking that God's presence with us is His greatest present to us.

Healing

I have always been fascinated with the approach Jesus took when He healed people.

Mark 7:33
33After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man's ears. Then he spit and touched the man's tongue.

Mark 8:23
23He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man's eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, "Do you see anything?"

There is no greater way to show indignity than spitting in ones face. Why did Jesus use this approach? I am no great theologian but here is what I think.

The deafness and blindness of these two men held a double meaning – they were cursed in the physical and spiritual. Jesus, the great teacher used this manner of healing in a way to show His true power and true feelings for the darkness in which these men lived. In a way, He was spitting in the face of Satan. I like that!

What I really like is that in the process of His death, burial and resurrection, Jesus fought and won the battle over death, hell and the grave. Through His victory we too are overcomers.

Failure

Faith plays an important role when considering stepping out to launch a new endeavor."Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for" (Heb 11:1-2).

Maybe you've failed in the past and you're afraid to step out again. It is a fact that most successful entrepreneurs failed several times before they were successful. Let me encourage you today, don't let fear of failure keep you from success.

God gave you your creativity. You were made to create. You were made to succeed!

Prayer

Prayer is a marvelous tool for the Christian. Don’t let you prayer life get rusty. Keep it finely honed and at the ready. Today ask God for strength to do your work. Pray for yourself and others close to your family. Also, pray for your pastors, and friends.

Adjustments

After taking my car to the repair shop the other day, I had to re-adjust the seat to fit me.

After becoming a Christian there are some adjustments we have to make. For us to begin experiencing Christ in our daily lives we must make adjustments to many things. For some it may require a major change in our job situation or in our relationships. We may have to quit going some places we used to frequent and quit hanging out with some people that have a negative impact on us.

Whatever the case you will know that just like the seat on my car, our lives will be uncomfortable until we find ourselves adjusting to God’s will for us. Only when we adjust ourselves to Him will we receive His full blessings. Why not ask Him today where you need to make adjustments then you can really enjoy the journey!

Slowly Answered Prayers

Have you ever wondered why sometime God’s answers to our prayers come so slowly? I too have wondered that especially when I read the following verses.

Ps 103:20 Bless the LORD, you His angels, who excel in strength, who do His word, Heeding the voice of His word. (NKJ) Ps 147:15 He sends out His command to the earth; his word runs very swiftly. (NKJ)

The other day I ordered some supplies and UPS came to drop them off but they didn’t leave them because they needed a signature for the packages. It got me thinking that maybe the reason my prayers aren’t answered sooner is because I haven’t made myself available to receive them.

Know this: God's Word works quickly and powerfully. So let’s claim and speak God's promises and be in communication with Him in order to receive His blessings.

Turn the Negatives Around

Let’s make some Lemonade! We have all heard the saying take the lemons you are given and make lemonade out of them. Lemons have really gotten a bad rap down through the years. If things don’t work properly we call them a lemon. Lemons can leave a sour taste in your mouth and I guess that is why we think of them negatively.

Yet on a hot evening there is nothing like sitting in the shade and drinking a tall glass of ice cold lemonade. In the right hands lemons can be turned into a sweet refreshing drink.

When life takes a negative turn, God can turn heartache into blessing. Relax . . . everything is going to be all right!

Consider your options

This summer I wanted to build a little “Island” in my back yard. Really it is just a landscaping project designed to hide some utility boxes in the yard but I call it an island. I planted some Oleander plants and after a week the leaves turned brown and appeared to be dying.

I looked at my options of digging them up and replacing them or continue to water them in hopes to revive them. I decided to water them. Faithfully each night I would water in hopes they would make a comeback. Each day they looked worse and worse until one day a couple of weeks later I noticed some new green leaves appearing. While I did not know the end result I knew I had to do something. Now the plants are thriving, full, and beautiful.

Remember this, "The best way to face the uncertainty of tomorrow is to consider our options as events unfold today."

Storms

Today as we celebrate our 1 year anniversary of moving to Southeast Texas I am reminded of the unusual beginning to our lives down here. We had been in our house about 4-5 weeks when Hurricane Ike hit. Anywhere you go in the south Houston/Galveston area you can still see the remnants of the devastation caused by this tremendous storm.

I stayed in our new home through the storm. With the winds howling at well over 100 mph and the torrential rain falling, I was safe in my home. As the eye of the hurricane passed over, it became so peaceful in comparison. I asked God to protect me and our home. We escaped with minimal damage to our house and I was fine.

You may be going through storms in your life today. Let me encourage you to place your faith in the hands of the One who can calm any storm in life. Jesus Christ can and will calm your storms.