Spiritual Growth
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Knowing God’s Will Part 4: Lessons From Experiencing God
Have you ever considered whether you pursued God for a relationship or if He pursued you? We talk about “running hard after Jesus” and how we have to accept His offer of salvation, but have you thought about why? Or where it all starts? Reality 2 for Experiencing God is this: God pursues a continuing love relationship with you that is real and personal. (Please check out parts 1-3 in this series, Knowing God’s Will.) Our relationship with Jesus doesn’t start with us. It starts with God. Through the Holy Spirit our heart desires a Savior and seeks to walk with Him, but that is not of our own initiative. This…
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Knowing God’s Will Part 3: Lessons From Experiencing God
Do you ever wonder what God is doing? And when you feel led to serve Him in some way, do you wonder why? Because God is working all the time and in every place to bring His purpose into our lives. This is Reality 1 of Experiencing God: God is always at work around you. (Check out parts 1-2 to understand the direction for this series, Knowing God’s Will.) We see in the life of Moses how God worked to protect Moses’ life, show Him the slavery of His Hebrew brothers, lead him into the wilderness to shepherd sheep and then send him to Egypt to gain release for the Israelites so…
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Knowing God’s Will Part 2: Lessons From Experiencing God
If you haven’t read part 1, I’d recommend you read that first so you know the direction for this series, Knowing God’s Will. A question most of us want answered is: what is God’s will for my life? I was reminded through my recent study of Experiencing God as well as a recent podcast, that the better question is: what is God’s will. The thing is, we have to know what His will is overall for His people to even begin to see what His will is for us individually. The two will always be in alignment. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one…
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My Pillar
What guides your thoughts and actions? To whom do you look for wisdom? We can rely on friends and family, and those in our life group, for solid advice, but none have the wisdom that only God provides as we look to Him primarily for daily direction. As I was reading the book of Exodus, I arrived at the passage that includes instructions to the Israelites to follow the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. That way they would know which way they were to travel. As I focused on this passage, I was reminded of the Pillar we have today to guide us…
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Knowing God’s Will Part 1: Lessons From Experiencing God
So I’m challenging myself to a thing. My life group just began Seven Realities for Experiencing God by Richard and Henry Blackaby. We will walk through it slowly, taking almost 3 months. But at the same time I decided I would work through the updated version of Experiencing God, also by the Blackabys, upon which Seven Realities is based. As I do, I’m looking back over the original version that I did back in the early 1990s. Years ago, we did not have many discipleship resources like this.. I must say it was a life changing, and ministry changing, study. I believe it will be interesting to see how I…
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The World We Live In
I’ve watched from a distance the culture of anger we see all around us today. Painful as that is, seeing it in the community where I live brings it close to home and breaks my heart. Especially when Christians are angry and violent for a “christian” reason. Seeking justice, but in an un-Christlike manner. A hateful and even threatening manner. But it’s a picture of what we’ve all witnessed across the nation. A hint of truth, a huge dose of untruth, then attacks on social media platforms that are aimed at destroying people. Watching attacks on people they don’t know at all. They believe lies they see or hear from…
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A Podcast To Listen To: The Forgotten Jesus
If I haven’t convinced you yet (PLEASE see last weeks post The Scarlet Thread if you missed it!), then I want to recommend a podcast series that I’ve been listening to. The Forgotten Jesus Podcast, with my pastor Robby Gallaty, Andrew Bolton and Collin Wood, explains more deeply the connection between the Old and New Testaments and why we MUST read all the Bible to get the depth of the message of the Gospel. You will not be sorry you take the time to listen to these podcasts. You will have access to the episode notes on each one as well! Banner photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash
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The Scarlet Thread
Read this quote three times. If this is a new thought to you, I get it. The author, R. T. Kendall, says it so beautifully. I found it in one of his books I am currently reading, God Meant It For Good, and was reminded of not understanding this in the past. Years ago I only wanted to read the New Testament, you know, because it made more sense than all the kings, pagan nations, and prophets found in the Old Testament. In fact, when I first began serving at LifeWay Beth Moore’s first study, A Woman’s Heart: God’s Dwelling Place, was about to be released. I couldn’t understand why…
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Everything?
How many days a week do you feel blessed? 5 out of 7? 2 out of 7? 7 out of 7? Something new stood out for me as I read (AGAIN) the story of Abraham’s life. It’s a simple verse in Genesis 24. “Abraham was now old, getting on in years, and the LORD had blessed him in everything.” Genesis 24:1 At first glance, it doesn’t appear to be more than a simple comment about Abraham, but something stood out to me that hadn’t before. As I reflected on what he had already experienced as he followed God in obedience, I thought, “EVERYTHING?” What about leaving his homeland and family…
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Mysterious Purpose
Why does it sometimes take pain to push us to grow deeper in Christ? If I could answer I’d be really brilliant. I can’t even explain it to myself in a way that totally makes sense because I could never fully explain God’s ways. Why? Because He’s so much wiser than I am and well, you know…He’s so much more in every way than we are. But we do not have to understand Him or fully explain Him to know Him! As I’ve continued reading chronologically, I am studying Job and although he was a righteous man, the devil was allowed to test him by destroying what was important to…
