There is Power in Who You Know

Philippians 3:4-11

I remember it like it was yesterday.  I was a Sophomore in high school, and the first Taco Bell was moving into the town that I lived in.  Me and my cousin Eric were totally stoked, tacos in our town!  I love Taco Bell, so much so, my aunt wrote the company on our behalf and were invited to the Grand Opening celebration.  We recieved our letter in the mail and upon arrival were ushered through the ordering line, for free tacos!  What a day in paradise.  There is no way we could have experienced that with out our papers and without writing to the right person.  It's all in who you know. . . 

Yesterday we began our series on Living Powerfully.  Everyone has an answer for that dillema, there are books, movies, support groups, you name it; all wanting to teach you a thing or two about how to live a powerful, effective life.  Power comes not from your pedigree, or from the things you have earned; true power comes from who you know, Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:6, says that while we were still "powerless," Christ died for you and me.  Take a few minutes and meditate on that thought.  Without Jesus you were POWERLESS, and it is only through Jesus that we have any power at all.  You see, it is all about WHO you know.

Todays Challenge:  This week what are the things in your life that you are keeping power over?  That is the big question: What are you controling that you should be giving over to the Lord?  Maybe you just realized that you should be handing it over, maybe you know what God would have you to do and you don't want to do it.  Maybe you just don't trust anyone (including God) with that decision.  Write it down.  Spend 5-10min a day praying about that power struggle you are having.

Trying to Be More Purposeful

John 9 

I heard a couple comments from the guys who were out at the men's retreat after Shaun preached, about what an extension his sermon was with the message Aaron Couch brought to us at the retreat itself.  One of the challenges thrown my direction through the message Shaun brought and through the retreat as well, has to do with purpose.  The things in my life, the things within God's church need to be done with purpose.  Aaron hit it hard on Saturday evening essentially saying that human nature calls us to create or build something in order to maintain that something (job, retirement, classic cars, etc).  God though, never wants us to be in a maintenance mode when it comes to our relationship with him and others.  2 Peter 1:5-9 reminds us that if we are not growing, especially in our love for other people, then we are dying and we are ineffective and we are unproductive and we have even forgotten the magnitude from which we have received forgiveness.  

That thought is a reminder to me but man I need reminded often.  We are not done, our job is not finished.  We have MUCH work to do.   A purposeful life makes time for those who need to hear about Jesus.  A purposeful life uses resources and talents to help capture the heart of those who need Jesus.  A purposeful life is not comfortable, or predictable but it is faithful.  A purposeful life cares not about the well being of "me," but looks to how we can serve others.  A purposeful life is not defined by a "to do" list, it is an attitude, it is not a day of the week or a defined event, a is a life style decision.

I hope I and we can be more purposeful together, for our Lord.

God's Merciful Mission

Jonah 3

A question of fasting has been brought up by this text.  What is fasting and should we fast?  This is a very interesting question.  First of all fasting is the abstinance of food to show our weakness and our dependancy on God.  Fasting does not always have to be from food.  In scripture their was a fasting from sexual relations (I Corinthians 7:5), from bathing and in the case of Jonah (and Esther) , from even drinking.  Fasting is found 61 times in scripture and is a Spiritual discipline to show submission to God.

Here in Jonah, the people fasted in repentance, to show their submission to God.  So, what are other reasons to fast?

For Engaging in Prayer for others, or yourself:  Daniel 9:3, 16  Daniel prayed for the people of Jerusalem, calling to God on their behalf.  We fast and are reminded that God is in control.

To Prepare for a Decision or God's Guidance:  In Acts 13:2,3 Paul and Barnabas were set apart for ministry by prayer and fasting.  When we have big decisions in life to make, fasting can be a way of showing God that you need his guidence and direction.  At the feeling of hunger, we pray for God's guidence.  

To Prepare ourselves for Spritual Warfare:  Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness to be to be tempted.  Matthew 4:1,2.  When we are facing battles that seem more spiritual, we must be sure we are calling on God for the support we need.

Those seem to be the most popular reasons in scripture, though I know of many other examples of fasting.  Regardless of your reasoning for a fast, the purpose of a fast, like we saw in Jonah 3, is to remind ourselves that we are not God, but we desperately need him.

aaron