Economic stress

Don't try and live life on your own. When you try and take on the world with out the Most High in your corner, you will end up between a rock and a hard place.

During this Christmas season remember that it is Jesus that we are celebrating, I know that I am constantly having to check my motives for what I do and what I say. Take some time and look back at why He came to earth. Is there a slow down/recession you betch'ca will we get through it absolutely, you ask how? Will it be hard, sure. I can guarantee you this that if Jesus is your number 1 all of that stress will turn to peace, notice I didn't say that it would be hard I just said you when it is hard you will find your comfort in the most high.

More to come

Matt 6:25-33

I was encouraged by this today

August 4, 2008

The Brave Friendship of God

He took the twelve aside . . . —Luke 18:31
Oh, the bravery of God in trusting us! Do you say, "But He has been unwise to choose me, because there is nothing good in me and I have no value"? That is exactly why He chose you. As long as you think that you are of value to Him He cannot choose you, because you have purposes of your own to serve. But if you will allow Him to take you to the end of your own self-sufficiency, then He can choose you to go with Him "to Jerusalem" ( Luke 18:31 ). And that will mean the fulfillment of purposes which He does not discuss with you.

We tend to say that because a person has natural ability, he will make a good Christian. It is not a matter of our equipment, but a matter of our poverty; not of what we bring with us, but of what God puts into us; not a matter of natural virtues, of strength of character, of knowledge, or of experience— all of that is of no avail in this concern. The only thing of value is being taken into the compelling purpose of God and being made His friends (see 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 ). God’s friendship is with people who know their poverty. He can accomplish nothing with the person who thinks that he is of use to God.

As Christians we are not here for our own purpose at all— we are here for the purpose of God, and the two are not the same. We do not know what God’s compelling purpose is, but whatever happens, we must maintain our relationship with Him. We must never allow anything to damage our relationship with God, but if something does damage it, we must take the time to make it right again. The most important aspect of Christianity is not the work we do, but the relationship we maintain and the surrounding influence and qualities produced by that relationship. That is all God asks us to give our attention to, and it is the one thing that is continually under attack.

Recently

Just a short update and an encouragement. I have been working with a group called the Mere Christianity Project, to take the book "Whats So Great About Christianity" from small little pockets of excited people to a movement. We are looking forward to taking those statement made by prominent atheists dissecting those statements from an objective point of view and pointing out the contradictions. I will have a Devotional posted soon.

Nick

The Plan and The will of The Lord

This week we have guest author Clark Vandeventer President and CEO of World Changers Inc. , He is married and has one son. Clark is a public speaker and great friend of mine enjoy.

How am I supposed to know if I am in His will?
One of my all-time favorite movies is Jerry McGuire. In fact, I have thought about this movie and the parallels between myself and Jerry McGuire over the past weeks and months very frequently. On a recent flight from Washington, D.C. I was even reminded of a cross country drive with my good friend Todd Bushong while I was in college. We were sitting in the backyard of the people we were staying with and it was late at night. I told Todd that I thought my own life would sort of play out as Jerry's had. Great success followed by a deep searching. I had no idea--I mean absolutely no idea--how prophetic those words would be. I've applied many lines from the movie to my own life recently, but when I read this question there was a totally different line that came to mind. Jerry and Dorothy are out to dinner for the first time and they're telling stories about their wounds of the heart and soul. And then Dorothy interjects: "maybe love should be easy." What she was saying is that when you love someone, it's easy to love them... because you love them. Maybe God's will should be easy. That's provided that we are walking in the light. I'm reminded of the line in Isaiah where God says that we'll hear his voice saying "this is the way; walk in it." I believe that when we are walking with the Lord He guides are steps and works everything out according to his plan. There's another line in Scripture that reads "In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps." I know this is true not just because it is the Word of God, but from sheer experience. I believe God loves watching us make our plans. He loves seeing us dream and seek to serve Him as best we can. And then He determines how that actually plays out.

When I take a step forward, have I sought the Lord in whatever step that is?

I think one of the hardest questions we face in life is this: "Is it a test or is it a sign?" Hopefully we do pray about moving forward or in a different direction in life. And we all know that there's something in us giving us little cues that light the path (sometimes the light seems dim). When obstacles come it's hard to discern at times whether this is a sign that we are not going in the right direction versus whether God is testing our commitment to the path we have chosen. And, to make this all the more complicated, we should be aware of the fact that the enemy can open up incredible doors for us. Sometimes, when opportunity knocks, it's the devil. This is why we pray not only when we are about to step forward, but continually.

How do I discern what the Lord's plan is?
The Holy Spirit.

How do I choose my career? Or second career?
The Bible is full of promises, but we should remember that many of these promises have clauses. For example, the Bible tells me that the Lord wants me to have the desires of my heart. And it tells me that He will answer my prayers... provided that I pray according to His will.
Rob Bell addressed this question of career and vocation in one of his Nooma films. He said that in choosing a career people often ask "what do you love" but that an equally good question to ask is "what do you hate?"
When you see injustice do you feel hatred toward that injustice? Perhaps you are the person to bring justice.

How can I effect the World for the Kingdom?
Be in the arena. Teddy Roosevelt wrote that the credit does not belong to the critic, but to the man who is in the arena; the man whose face is marred by blood and sweat and tears. Being a world changer is about bring salt and light to the corner of the world that you live in and living and working excellently. Christians should be the absolute best artists because we know and have within us the ultimate beauty. We should be the best businessmen because we have the ultimate example of servant leadership. Ken Blanchard states that the goal of his company is 6.8 billion people served everyday by leading like Jesus. And I am convinced that the institutional church, no matter how important and how vibrant it is, cannot accomplish this goal. 6.8 billion people do not go to church everyday. Nor can the church led enough missions trips to reach 6.8 billion people everyday. And even if we could, our impact would only be on the surface. But 6.8 billion people live in the marketplace everyday. In America that marketplace may be very advanced but the marketplace exists just the same in every corner of the globe.
World Changers Inc. (www.worldchangers.us.com), for which I serve as CEO, is committed to adding meaning and value to the marketplace. We often say that we're committed to "connecting people to things bigger and more lasting than this world."
We operate on the premise that all men and women have a soul and long to be spoken to at a deeper level, but that so much of the modern marketplace only speaks to the most carnal aspects of our humanity. Is there more to life and sex and designer jeans? We believe that there is. And we believe that it is in meaningful customer experiences that we can take common things and make them sacred by using them to advance the Gospel.

The will and the plan of the Lord

A thought to ponder, Kind of like a snack before the meal...

I have been recently thinking a lot about God's plan for my life.

How am I supposed to know if I am in His will?

When I take a step forward, have I sought the Lord in whatever that step is?

How do I discern what the Lord's plan is?

How do I choose my career, or second career?

Lastly...

How can I Affect and Effect the World for the Kingdom?

Next time we will have answers to these questions so enjoy pondering for now.

Till then.
Nick

Last time we discussed the fact that Simon Peter desired to follow Jesus, even unto death, yet Jesus knew that Simon had to be broken to make that happen. First we will look at the breaking of Simon Peter so that the Lord could take his zelousness for Jesus and use it for His Glory

Matt 26:75 And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times." And he went out and wept bitterly.

I want to look at the word bitterly for just a second, from this passage we see that Jesus had to take Peter to the end of himself or break him completely for Peter to be that rock that Jesus had called him to be. Bitterly is is used as an example of the poignant grief of Peter's weeping for his denial of Christ. Have you ever felt so horrible for something that you have done, I know that feeling and it is not really fun. Jesus refers to us as clay and when clay becomes hard it must be broken down to a fine dust then you add water to make is pliable so that you can mold again into the shape that you want. What Jesus was doing here was taking Peter and making him the rock that was to be in the future. After studying Peter and seeing his ferver for Christ it would be easy to say that God truly broke his spirit and how easy could that have been for Peter to say that I'm never going back to that. I'm so disgusted with myself for leaving the Lord like that. Later on in the book of John we see Peter actually goes back to his trade, but as he is fishing Jesus calls Peter to himself. As far as I am concerned this is the greatest passage of scripture in the bible. It truly shows the compassion of Christ.

Jn 21:15-18 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." He said to him, "Feed my lambs." He said to him a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." He said to him, "Tend my sheep." He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" and he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go."

Three times Jesus asked Peter if he love him, each time Peter said yes you know that I love you and then Jesus gave Peter a command to feed His sheep, that is a huge thing. We see that Jesus took the Raw Zealousness of Peter and created him to be the rock of his name. God had made him such a rock that at the end of his life when it was time for him to be martyred Peter was killed upside down.

Are you Zealous for the Lord. Let today be the day that you check your heart and what your Zealous for.

A classic from Charles Spurgeon

This is a classic that my wife and I read on June 8th it really spoke to me in where is my faith, Remember folks faith is the evidence of things unseen. Where are you placing your faith is it in that which is daunting in front of you or is it in the creator who created the earth in 7 days and raised the dead and made the red sea part. I enjoyed this I hope that you receive and enjoy this as much as I did.

“Thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not.”

Numbers 11:23

God had made a positive promise to Moses that for the space of a whole month he would feed the vast host in the wilderness with flesh. Moses, being overtaken by a fit of unbelief, looks to the outward means, and is at a loss to know how the promise can be fulfilled. He looked to the creature instead of the Creator. But doth the Creator expect the creature to fulfil his promise for him? No; he who makes the promise ever fulfils it by his own unaided omnipotence. If he speaks, it is done—done by himself. His promises do not depend for their fulfilment upon the co-operation of the puny strength of man. We can at once perceive the mistake which Moses made. And yet how commonly we do the same! God has promised to supply our needs, and we look to the creature to do what God has promised to do; and then, because we perceive the creature to be weak and feeble, we indulge in unbelief. Why look we to that quarter at all? Will you look to the north pole to gather fruits ripened in the sun? Verily, you would act no more foolishly if ye did this than when you look to the weak for strength, and to the creature to do the Creator’s work. Let us, then, put the question on the right footing. The ground of faith is not the sufficiency of the visible means for the performance of the promise, but the all-sufficiency of the invisible God, who will most surely do as he hath said. If after clearly seeing that the onus lies with the Lord and not with the creature, we dare to indulge in mistrust, the question of God comes home mightily to us: “Has the Lord’s hand waxed short?” May it happen, too, in his mercy, that with the question there may flash upon our souls that blessed declaration, “Thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not.”

Peter's foot shaped mouth

This morning I was reading in John 13 as the disciples sat around the table on the night of the last supper. I have studied this chapter so many times and each time I get something different I want all of you to take a moment and ponder Peter's passion to follow the Lord.

You see he was one one of the disciples that Jesus loved(Jn 13:23-24), that was only said about 2 others James and John, but in this case and for the sake of our devotional for today and the next few posts I want to look at the fact that Peter had a problem with desiring to do and say the right thing but it usually ended up with him shoving his foot and sometimes both feet into his mouth.

(John 13) 36Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, where are You going?" Jesus answered, "Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; but you will follow later." 37Peter said to Him, "Lord, why can I not follow You right now? I will lay down my life for You." 38Jesus answered, "Will you lay down your life for Me? Truly, truly, I say to you, a rooster will not crow until you deny Me three times.
In studying this passage of scripture I have come to the conclusion that Peter may have wanted to follow Jesus even unto death but Jesus knew that he would bail at the first sign of adversity. Peter had to give the Lord his whole heart and everything about himself. A question to ponder. What are you holding back from the Lord that is keeping you from being used to the fullest? Does God have all of you? You may have a passion for Jesus, but will you bail at the first sign of adversity, personally I wrestled with this this last week. Next week we will Look at how Peter failed and if there is time also how Jesus restored Peter. Till then

Need?

I wonder some times how I can help others to see that the Lord love's them in spite of whether they see and feel his love. I know that at times I can be a little rough in how I handle things and I do realize that I am not the most gentle person in the world. I want to show God's love to others especially my wife, I struggle showing her that Love the most.

When others struggle the only responce that I can come up with is read your bible and pray every day. The scripture that comes to mind is found in Matthew 7 :7-11 7"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

9"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

Jesus made it really simple for us we are to ask Him, seek after Him and when we do that we will find Him; He also made it clear in Ch 6 of Matthew that He would provide for our every need Matt 6:25-34

5 months too long

OK so it has been 5 months and the few of you that still check on my blog are so faithful I am stoked to know that you still find some value in those words of a broken man. I will say this these last few months have been really like a new beginning for me well actually the last couple of weeks. You see I was not very humble and the Lord decided to break me of that pride that I had in myself I thought that if I was good enough that I could accomplish whatever was put before me. And secondly that pride had caused me to place my faith in the wrong thing. I was in the sin of pride and making sacrifices to God that were not what He was wanting.

Psalm 51
16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. (esv)

As I spent a week working in Hawaii these verses were running in my mind and as I dealt with being broken I had such a Joy that I cannot even begin to describe what I felt. When someone realizes that they have placed there hope in... and not in Christ, whatever happens to you will not go as planned, it really matters what happens because your hope is in the wrong thing. When we place our hope in the One who has called us and not in... it will not matter what happens. Because our hope is in the One who NEVER fails.

Matt 6:33
Seek First the Kingdom of God and its Righteousness and all these things Shall Be Added unto you. (emphasis added)(esv)

Prayer and Fasting

Jesus talked alot about prayer and fasting, as a matter of fact there is so much talk of prayer in the bible I am surprised that I haven't realized it before, I don't know why I guess that I have been so focused what I am doing that I forgot to have a relationship with Him. Or I guess that it could be that I just don't take enough time to actually talk have a conversation with the God that created the universe. It is kind of funny if you think about it we lowly little humans get to have a conversation with the creator, heck we can't even call George W. Bush and talk with him. I have realized something over these last few months of commuting to SB, that I need to talk less and listen more. The great Elijah had to even figure that one out God wasn't in the thunder, the wind, He was a still small voice. Chew on that for a while.