Kingdom Minded (Part 3)

Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ~Matthew 6:33

Today I just want to touch on truths that I've learned and continue to learn throughout this journey of becoming Kingdom Minded. The rest of the "series" I'll touch on actually being Kingdom minded - how was can make an difference in the world we live in for the Kingdom of God!

Truths I've Learned Along the Way:

Not Everyone Will Like Me: The moment I realize this - it becomes very easy to live for an audience of One as opposed to living for an audience of 6.2 billion. Gal. 2:10 says, "Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ." In a few days, I'm going to stand before God and be accountable for what He called me to do and I won't be able to tell him, yea, but Lord, people didn't like that... so I didn't do it. That won't fly... Learn to live for an audience of One.

God is my Source: I used to think I had to do all these things to get promoted, get noticed, get a job, get a raise, etc.. A huge lesson I've been learning is that my job is not my source, people are not my source, God is my source. He will promote me as well as provide for me. Is God your source?

Making a Difference in the Lives of Others is All that Matters: Mother Theresa said it all when she said, "A life not lived for others, is hardly a life at all." How true...

True Success is Doing What God Called You to Do Right Now: So many people think success is a destination - it's not. Success is a journey. The minute we place an expectation on a destination for our success such as when I graduate, when I get married, when I'm a senior pastor, etc., we're setting ourselves up for disappointment. The truth is if you're not enjoying where you are now - you won't enjoy your life when you get "there". Learn to be content and happy with where God has you RIGHT NOW and enjoy the journey.

He Must Increase, I must Decrease: This has been such a huge lesson in my life. I would highly recommend a leadership lesson by Louie Giglio called the Little Leader (I have it if you'd like a copy). When it comes to being Kingdom Minded - the best question we can constantly ask ourselves is: As a result of my life, is Jesus getting bigger and bigger while I'm getting smaller and smaller? Because when it comes down to it when people see me - they shouldn't see Bubba, and all my gifts and talents, but they should see Jesus and everything He's done for them. The only way we'll change the world is if He increases and we decrease.

What are some truths you've learned in this area???

Read more...

Kingdom Minded (Part 1)

Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ~Matthew 6:33


I want to take the next few days and talk about something God has been teaching me and stirring up in my heart over the past year - Becoming Kingdom minded.

We live in a world that has everyone (including Christians) trying to build their own kingdoms, instead of Gods. Think about it - we're constantly trying to build our reputations through Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, serving in the church, etc.. (anyone else guilty of this other than me?)

A year ago I came on staff at Victory. I was serving both in the youth as well as 19 North. I remember when I got hired Zack having a conversation with me that I'd no longer be able to serve at 19 North because I needed to focus on youth. (Zack's decision ultimately changed my life for the better.) I was upset. How dare someone tell me whether or not I can serve! So I went home and had a few words with God. The conversation went something like this:

Me: God, what the heck! Why can't I serve at 19 North?
God: Why do you want to serve at 19 North?
Me: To serve You of course!!
God: No, you want to serve there to be seen by people so you get "glory" for it
Me: (Speechless)

Brad Cooper had a great quote on something God spoke to him in this arena that lined up with what God spoke to my heart:

"Stop working to build your kingdom when you could have mine!"

That was just the beginning of God taking me through this journey of becoming Kingdom minded. I hope over the next few days we can journey together through this concept of becoming Kingdom minded.

I am inviting you to be a part of the conversation - along the way, I would love to hear things God has taught you along these lines.

Read more...

The Most Dangerous Prayer I've Ever Prayed (Part 2)

Then I heard the Lord asking, "Whom should I send as a messenger to the people? Who will go for us?" I said, "Here I am, Send me!"

Isaiah 6:8,9

Why it was easy for me to Surrender My Life to God

It seems as though the majority of the world looks down on Christianity and living a life sold out to God. They constantly are putting down Christians and laugh at you if you don't drink, party, have sex, etc.. Denny Pattyn (the CEO/Founder of Silver Ring Thing) came and spoke at Revolution last night. In reference to the MTV music awards where the Jonus Brothers got made fun of for their commitment to sexual purity, Danny confronted what he thought the issue was. He said:

"The world is afraid, because a generation is rising up with high standards - God's standards"

It's a generation that will not just go along with the culture because it is seeing the outcome of the road our culture is traveling on. I looked back on my life when I was at the "crossroads" choosing between living for God and living "in the world". I used to love drinking, drugs, and parties. It consumed me! So how did I go from loving those things to a man who prays to God everyday, Lord - I'll do what you want me to do, say what you want me to say, and go where you want me to go? One Verse:

It is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to Him MUST believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek Him. -Hebrews 11:6

I love that verse because I think everyone believes God exists, but notice what the verse says that is not all you MUST believe. You must also believe that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. It was when I learned that God is good, God is a rewarder, God is faithful, He has a plan for my life, He is love, He is truth, and He is life that made it so easy for me to surrender my life to Him. When I talk about rewards, I'm not talking about material things (although God does want to bless you that way!). I'm talking about He wants to reward you with a life worth living!

His standards, His discipline, His leading are all out of His love for you. Love will always do what is most beneficial for us. I know that I don't always know whats most beneficial for me, but I know He does and that if I'll listen to Him, I'll be fulfilled in life. He is truth! Is there anything we should desire more than truth?

If it is a struggle to surrender your WHOLE life over to God... then I would encourage you to get in the Word and see how much He loves you, how faithful He is, and How good He is. It's easy to believe that God exists, it's a totally different thing to know He is a rewarder, but once you get that revelation, you'll never look back (Luke 9:62)

Read more...

The Most Dangerous Prayer I've Ever Prayed

Then I heard the Lord asking, "Whom should I send as a messenger to the people? Who will go for us?" I said, "Here I am, Send me!"

Isaiah 6:8,9

I remember early on in my Christian walk singing a song by Ryan Phipps called Launch Me. It simply said: This is all I have to offer...me. Followed by: Here I am send me, here I am touch me, Here I am launch me. (It sounds a lot cooler than it does reading it on a blog).

Looking back on my walk with God, I realized that making this the prayer of my heart (I tell God everyday...God, I'll go where you want me to go, say what you want me to say, and do what you want me to do) has been the most dangerous, yet rewarding prayer I could ever pray!

Dangerous because it's caused me to:

• Make some of the toughest decisions I've ever made in my life
• Get persecuted for no reason
• Lose all my friends
• Not settle for mediocrity or take the easy road
• To be patient and trust God
• Have times where I feel like I'm the only one standing up and living for God (can anyone relate?)
  

Rewarding because:

• Since praying that prayer - I've lived a life that I couldn't even imagine living 5 years ago
• I love my life! I have peace, I have joy, I'm not empty, I can sleep at night!
  
• I got new friends that I wouldn't trade for anyone in the world
  
• I'm making a difference in peoples lives
• I never know whats next in my life... but I know it's going to be ridiculous because God is good!
  

I could list about a million other things in each category... I just want to challenge you to pray that prayer to God everyday. When you have an open heart and you're willing to give it all over to God. When you really put Him first in everything you do... it won't be easy, it won't always be fun , in fact it really can seem dangerous (stepping out in faith... not knowing what is ahead, while not leaning to your own understanding...tough stuff!). But I promise you . . . if you'll stick with it, if you won't compromise, if you'll trust Him...you'll be on your way to the most rewarding life you could ever live.

Get ready!

Read more...

Victory's Cardboard Testimonies (Part 2)

Read more...

Victory's Cardboard Testimonies

This was one of the most powerful things I've ever seen. I've watched the journey of so many of these people and watched God transform their lives. I can't even put into words what seeing this does in my heart...God is so good.

Read more...

Without Love, We are Nothing

"If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing."

I Cor. 13:1-3

I want to talk about love for a minute. No, I'm not talking about love in relationships or in marriage, but it certainly applies in both of those arenas. I think love whether it's in our families, friendships, community, or any other arena of life is a journey. We literally have an unlimited capacity to love don't we? A husband and wife who are in love and have a child don't split the love they had for each other and give 50% to their spouse and 50% to their new child do they? Their ability to love increases. Literally our ability to love is limitless.

While I don't think we'll ever come close to tapping into our full capacity or potential to love, I do believe love is a journey, love is something that grows. Most importantly I believe that we'll never learn to love anybody the way we should until we experience the Love that God has for us. We can't give something we don't have and if we've never experienced God's love (He is love!) then we'll never know how to love the poor, the lost, our friends, our families, our communities, our nation, and even our world.

I Cor. 3 goes on to say that love has these characteristics:

• Love suffers long and is kind
• Love does not envy
• Love does not parade itself
• Love is not puffed up
• Love does not behave rudely
• Love does not seek its own
• Love is not provoked and thinks no evil
• Love does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in truth
• Love bears all things
• Love always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres
• Love never fails

I think often we hear these things and think that is nice and I'll rehearse those versus at my wedding and everyone will think I know what love is! If I were to be honest with you, I think I am just starting to tap into (only touching the surface) of what true love is. It's one thing to quote a scripture, it's an entirely different thing to live it.

It's easy to love someone when you get something in return and everything is going alright. It's hard to love when we get nothing in return and perhaps, frankly, the other party doesn't deserve to be loved (the poor, the lost, someone who hurt us, our families, etc.). When these opportunities present themselves in our lives, I believe they are some of our first opportunities to love.

It's when we realize that when we didn't deserve to be loved and even though we deserved to go to Hell, God chose to love us. In fact, the Bible says that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Thought I'm not going in depth on that, that is a love I cannot comprehend or understand.

If you want to experience a love that suffers long and is kind, does not envy, does not parade itself, is not puffed up, does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked and thinks no evil, does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in truth, bears all things, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres, and never fails then you need to run straight to the feet of Jesus. It's only when we're willing to lay down our lives and all that we are: our faults, failures, dreams, and desires at His feet that we'll experience His love. And I would submit to you, until we've experience love (God) we'll never truly know how to or have the ability to truly love anyone else.

Read more...

Run Your Race and Don't Look Back

"You were running the race so well. Who has held you back from following the truth? It certainly isn't God, for He is the one who called you to freedom. This false teaching is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough!"

Galatians 5:7

Doesn't it seem like it's so much easier to get off track in our journey with God than to keep going? There are always a million things trying to get our attention can capture our hearts. In fact, in Mark 4 Jesus talks about how easy it is for this to happen. People get the Word in them get excited about God and to do awesome things do Him, but because of the condition of their heart they get off track in their journey with God.

• Some people hear the Word and ignore it

• Some people hear the Word, receive it with joy, but don't build deep roots and fall away as soon as problems of persecution comes

• Some people hear Gods word but it gets crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the lust of the flesh, so no fruit is produced.
  

In the verse in Galatians it says that a little yeast spreads through the whole batch of dough. As I've been growing up spiritually I've realized that if we open a door, even a little bit, to anything that God hasn't led us to, it will lead us off track. Maybe we think God's word isn't true so we ignore it, maybe we get persecuted a little bit or run into so problems and we draw back in fear and give in to the pressures of pleasing others, or maybe we get so busy in our lives that we're constantly worrying, constantly wanting to chase things that will never fill the void in our hearts, or we just aren't willing to give up short term pleasure for long-term joy.

However there is one more condition of the heart:

• Those who hear and accept God's word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!

I want to be someone who produces so much fruit in my life that it is ridiculous. I know if I am ever going to do that I am going to have to stay on the path God is leading me down. I've gotten of track dozens of time, but I refuse to not make the right corrections in my life and get right back on track. I will run my race and I know that when I look back on my life I'll be able to say that I fought the good fight of faith and I've finished my course. I'll close with these verses in Hebrews to encourage you:

Let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.

Hebrews 12:1,2

Read more...

Are You on the Path?

But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, that shines more and more (clearer and brighter) until (it reaches its full strength and glory in) the perfect day (to be prepared.)

Proverbs 4:18

It is so easy to hit a season in our lives where everything seems out of whack! We don't know what the next step will be in our lives, we're confused, scared, and worried. So many people get thrown off track during these times and let the troubles of this world overwhelm them.

One of the greatest lessons I've learned is found in the verse above. The path of the righteous gets brighter and brighter and clearer and clearer. I've learned that as a Christian, God did not intend my life to be this bumpy ride where I'm constantly getting knocked around, constantly in fear, and never knowing what to expect. No, God said that He will direct my steps and make my path clear.



So what am I trying to say? If your path isn't getting clearer and brighter... you're not on the path! Jesus said that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. When we're on the path it should be easy and you should have a peace about where you are!

One way I've learned to evaluate if I am on the path is by this standard:

If it's good it's God, if it's bad, it's me!

So let me ask you... Is your path getting brighter and brighter? Is your path getting clearer and clearer? Are you in a good place right now? If it's not . . . you may need to look at your life and realize where you've missed it. You may even need to go back to the last thing God asked you to do and make sure you were obedient. If you weren't, repent, and jump right back on the path!

God is so good!!! There really is no better feeling than knowing you're on the path and knowing that as you continue in your journey with God that the path is only going to get brighter and better! I am pretty fired up about being on the path! Are you? God has some amazing things in store for you.... get ready!

Read more...

Anchored

I'll show you what it's like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching and then follows it. It is like a person building their foundation on solid rock, when the floodwaters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because it has a strong foundation.

Luke 6:47-48

Zack Blair asked a question on Saturday night at 19 North that cut me deep. He asked, "Are you following Jesus because of what you can get out of it, or are you following Him because He loves you?" What an amazing question.

Over the past few weeks I've just felt like I was going through the motions spiritually. I have ten thousand things going on in my life and God became a checklist rather than someone in whom I have an intimate relationship with. I lost my intimacy with God and I literally don't know if there is anything that feels worse than that. I felt like my foundation in Him was weakening.

Saturday night during worship we were singing the song "Only You" by David Crowder and the it talks about giving all of your dreams and desires over to God. Then the chorus repeats over and over that "It's just You and ME" and for the first time in a long time I felt like I was alone with God. I didn't have anyone around me, any of the thousand things I needed to do this week going through my mind, or anything like that. Just simply me....and God.

It was a wonderful time to reflect on my life and God corrected me on a lot of things in my life. It was hard....but I'm so thankful He cares about me enough to correct me. He corrects us because He loves us and wants what is best for us. I know that if I'll build the foundation of my life on Him and His word that I'll be able to withstand any storm that comes my way (and they do come!) So on Saturday night I purposed in my heart a few things:

• I will never let myself get so busy and involved in so many things that I don't take time where it's "Just me and God"

• I will refuse to make decisions in my life unless I am 100% certain that God has told me to (if I don't have a peace... I stand... if it's hard... I continue to stand because GOD IS FAITHFUL)

• I will never settle for less than God's best for any reason...

• I will get 1 or 2 people in my life to meet with weekly to cry to, laugh to, celebrate with, etc. to let them know what is REALLY going on in my life

• That Jesus Christ is the anchor and foundation of my life and I will not be shaken by any storm that comes my way because of that.
  

• God is Faithful, He's been Faithful in my life time and time again. He has never failed me, disappointed me, or let me down. I need to keep myself in continual remembrance of how good He is and remember all of the unbelievable things He has done in my life.
  

I literally wonder how people who don't know God wake up every morning and live. I cannot imagine my life without God. I can't imagine Him not being my foundation and the central focus of my life. I can't imagine facing any situation and not having Him to lead me, guide me, and protect me.

If a storm of life came out of nowhere in your life (and Jesus promised us they will)... would the foundation you've built in your life be able to withstand it? Would you be able to, regardless of circumstances, to give everything to God and let the peace that surpasses understanding fill your heart because you know God is your anchor and He loves and cares about you more than you will ever be able to comprehend (Romans 8:38,39)?

Read more...

God's Plans (Part 4)

"My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the Lord. "And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the Heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and so my thoughts are higher than your thoughts."

Isaiah 55:8, 9

Go Until You Get a No

I've only recently in the past 6 months started to get a hold of this truth. We're talking about God's plans... yesterday I talked about how God will lead us and how we can know we're on the right path. Today I want to focus on going after everything God has for you. I think the majority of people miss out on the plan of God for their lives because they're afraid to act. They constantly are saying things like, "What if this isn't God... I could ruin my life! I'm scared! I don't know what to do... etc." These thoughts end up leading them to a point where they freeze up and never take another step forward. Because of fear . . . they end up being robbed of so many amazing things that God had planned for them.

I'm becoming more and more convinced that God is a God of action... He wants us to act! He put inside of us everything we'll ever need to live out the life He intended us to live. It is up to us to draw it out and give Him a return on His investment.

So if you find yourself thinking... "Should I do this, go here, be with this person, etc." Consider this:


Ben Rath gave me two books that changed my life (The Barbarian Way and Chasing Daylight, both by Erwin McManus). The main theme I got from these books: GO UNLESS YOU GET A NO. God wants us to be big dreamers... so many times we limit God and what He wants to do in and through us. The Bible says that God looks at our hearts when we're making decisions. I am convinced that if we're truly and consistently pursuing God in our everyday lives that He'll let us know if we need to slow down, stop doing something, go somewhere, or stay somewhere.


As I mentioned... I am in a season where I started asking questions like the ones I mentioned above... Ben Rath made this comment (click here to read the whole thing) on one of my posts that really helped me:

Stay true to your essence (who you are to be and who you are becoming) and just move with that. I know that if you'll stay focused on your "why" and look to milk it for all you can with the opportunities that are in front of you now, God will do His part. Just keep moving. Look for opportunities to do the most good with what you know in your heart right now. If it's preaching, then look for other opportunities to do that. If it's something else, then look for ways to start to do those things. But just move (or in your case, keep moving).

That really helped me not stress out about knowing what is next, know what I am supposed to do, who I am supposed to marry etc...

God really does operate like a traffic light when it comes to leading us:

• Green Light - Go Baby!! I believe that most of the time God has a green light in our lives! He wants us to dream, work hard, and go after everything that is in our hearts!

• Yellow Light - Other times... He'll tell us to slow down. It's not time for this yet... etc.. Remember that it's always better to be 3 steps behind God then 3 steps ahead of Him!

• Red Light - God loves us and cares about us! He does not want us to make decisions that we'll look back and regret. Red light means stop...cut this out of your life... don't go!
  

I'll end it here... but be led... don't be afraid to act! Go unless you get a "yellow or red light". If we'll learn this simple concept and apply it to our lives... we'll always be exactly where God wants us to be!

Read more...

God's Plans (Part 3)

"My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the Lord. "And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the Heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and so my thoughts are higher than your thoughts."

Isaiah 55:8, 9

Which Way do I Go? Which Way do I Go?

In Part 2 I discussed that there is God's Perfect/Specific Will, God's General Will, and God's Permissible Will. So we know that God has a specific and perfect will for our lives that if we'll cooperate with it... we'll live out the most amazing life we possibly could here on earth! Pretty exciting right? But how do you know what God's perfect will is? How do you now you're living it? Do you ever wonder how you know who you're supposed to marry? What you're supposed to do with your life?


I am convinced that if we can hear from God and be led by Him, then we'll have it made. Don't you agree? If we knew God's perfect will for our lives... wouldn't that make it so much easier? Well... Good news! It's God's will that you know His will... I want to touch on a few factors that come into play when it comes to discovering the Will of God for your life:

• It's God's Will that You know His will (Colossians 1:9) He wants you to figure it out!

• God's Word is His will
• In order to know the specific will of God... we need to know and live out the general will of God. That means knowing and living the B-I-B-L-E God's Word is His will to everyone...it's general...you won't find things like You should marry ______ in the Bible, but you will find out how to conduct your lives in order to please God.
  

• The Number One Way God leads us is through His Word and by His Spirit. (Romans 8:14,16)
• I just had a post on this with some great resources on How to be led by God and How to hear from God.
  

• Proverbs 4:18 says that the Path of the Righteous is like the light of dawn, that shines brighter and brighter until the full day.
  
• If you're cooperating with God's will for your life... your path should be getting brighter and brighter...better and better... if it's not... you're probably not on the path.
  

• The Bible says that God is NOT the Author of Confusion
• I heard someone say once that if you have doubt... it's not God. I used to think that was ridiculous, but the more I grow spiritually... the more truth I am seeing in that statement. God is not out to confuse you!

• God will give you Peace about Your Decision
• Phil 4:7 says that God will give you His peace which surpasses understanding. I am convinced that when God is leading us to do something... even if it isn't logical, doesn't make sense, etc. that we'll have a peace that it is the right thing to do.

These are just some of the ways I've learned about learning and knowing what the specific will of God is for your life. I hope it helped you!

Read more...

Book Review: How You Can be Led by the Spirit of God

This was a great book! All of Kenneth Hagin's books are very easy reads and really help you grow. This book was a great refresher on how to hear from God and how to be led by the Spirit of God. I would recommend it to every believer...definitely a must read!

Final Grade: A Buy it here!


If you're interested in studying more on the subject of being led and hearing from God...I strongly recommend Keith Moore's series: Hearing from God as well as Andrew Wommack's series: How to Hear God's Voice.

Read more...

God's Plans (Part 2)

"My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the Lord. "And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the Heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and so my thoughts are higher than your thoughts."

-Isaiah 55:8, 9

With the exception of Christianity, every other world religion views God's plan from one of two angles. Either they view God as this puppet master who controls our lives and they come to the conclusion that they have no choice over anything in life or they believe that all they're able to do is do the best that they can in life and then ultimately God will still choose their destiny for them for eternity...He will weigh whether or not they were good enough to please Him.

Both are wrong views and end up putting people into bondage....Christianity is the only religion in the world where there is not a ladder to climb to get to God, but Christianity is when God came to earth and gave us His Son out of love so that we could have an intimate relationship with Him.

I'll teach on God's love one day, but realize that the Bible says that God knew you and the plans He had for you before you were in your mothers womb. He knew you before the foundations of the world. He sent His Son (Jesus) to die for you before you were even born and while you didn't deserve it. He send His Son to die for you so you could have an intimate relationship with Him and live out the life He has planned for you... the best life you could imagine (John 10:10)

So if this is true... God has a plan for me... does He just make choices for me? Do I have a choice in the matter? How do I know what His plan is? I'll cover this over the next few days... but first, you need to know 3 things concerning God's will. There is:

• God's Perfect/Specific Will - God has a specific plan for your life . . . His perfect plan! However, this does not just happen because God chose it for you. You have to cooperate with it.

• God's General Will - God's general will is His Word (The Bible) . . . this is His will for everybody on the planet! You'll never get over to the specific will of God, if you don't live out the general will of God. So many people want God to speak to them, but He already has! He's given them an entire book... learn that... then if He wants to... He'll tell you more!

• God's Permissible Will - God is not a controlling God... He gives us the ability to choose. Free Choice is one of the greatest gifts God has given to us. We will always be able to choose what we want in life...we can choose to cooperate with God, run from Him, make good decisions, bad decisions, etc..
  

We'll get into more tomorrow... I'm really trying to shorten my posts...

Read more...

God's Plans (Part 1)

"My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the Lord. "And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the Heavens are higher than the earth, so amy ways are higher than your ways, and so my thoughts are higher than your thoughts."

-Isaiah 55:8, 9

If you've gone to church for any period of time, I am sure you've heard Jeremiah 29:11 (which seems to be the new John 3:16 lol) that says God has an awesome and specific plan for our lives. While I think we'd all (who know the Word) would agree that God has a plan for our life, I believe few of us know how to draw that plan out and watch it come to pass in their lives.

In my short time going after God I've learned and continue to learn some things about God's plan for our lives. I'd like to share them over the next few days and hear from you along the way.

See, I'm in another season where I don't know what the next step in my life is supposed to be. I know I'm where I am supposed to be now, but isn't it easy when you don't know what is next to start guessing or planning your own next step instead of waiting for God? It can be frustrating and scary at the same time . . . but I'm learning that if we'll just take God at his Word, wait on Him, hear from Him, obey Him and trust Him... then we'll live out the specific Will of God in our lives and stand back in awe at how amazing our lives are as a result of what He has planned for us.

What I know about God's Plan for my Life:

• He has one for me! (Jeremiah 29:11)

• Through it, He wants to do super abundantly, far above, all I could dare ask, think, or imagine in my life. (Ephesians 3:20)

• It's God's will that I know His will (He's not hiding it from me) (Colossians 1:9)
  (I Cor. 2:9,10)

• I have free choice in life... just because God has a plan for my life doesn't mean He makes every decision for me... I have to cooperate with God's will. (Psalm 127:1)

• God has a permissible will... this is where I think so many Christians settle for a good life... when God created them and has planned for them a GREAT life.
  

• If I'll learn to hear from God, if I'll be willing, and if I'll be obedient... than I'll live out the plan that God has for me! (Isaiah 1:19)

• The ultimate purpose of the specific will of God for my life is to have an impact on everyone around me for the Kingdom of God. People's lives should never be the same as a result of seeing God in and through me.
  

I think I could go on forever, but these are just a few things I want to cover over the next few days (could be a long series). This subject has been on my heart for a while.


What about you? What are some things you've learned about God's plan for your life?

Read more...

Must Watch Message! Indescribable by Louie Giglio

This message will change your life! Let me know your thoughts!

Read more...

God Shaped Hole

I'm sitting in Panera Bread right now doing some work, catching up on some reading, and listening to some worship music. I was reading the Word and the song "God Shaped Hole" by Ryan Phipps starting playing.

I almost started weeping in the middle of Panera Bread! This is one of my favorite songs and the truth found in the lyrics have changed my life. Here they are:

If I owned every kingdom in the world, I'd still need You inside of me.

If I climbed every mountain in the world, I'd still need You inside of me.

If I was better than every person in the world, I'd still need you inside of me.

And if I liked what the mirror said to me, I'd still need you inside of me. I'd still need you inside of me.

The more I live the more I see a God Shaped Hole inside of me.


I need to constantly remind myself of this truth... I have everything I need in Him. Regardless of what I do in life, what I achieve, and who I become...that will never take away my need from an intimate relationship with Him.

Read more...