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“This is where conversion starts. You may have believed in God all your life, but you get converted only when you start to realize you’re dealing with a God who is not the way you want him to be. He is the way he is. There are some scary things about him, some disturbing things about him, some things you have trouble accepting. Well, now you are on the right track. Until you are wrestling with a God like that, you have a one-dimensional God you created, not the Lord of heaven and earth who created you. And unless you have a God who tells you things you don’t want to be true, you’ll never be changed when he tells you things that are too good to be true, like that he forgives you, that you’re going to be resurrected, or that he’s going to adopt you. So an “untame,” living and real God is the first requirement for the great life change of conversion. You are approaching such a God when you start to realize it doesn’t matter so much what you think of him as what he thinks of you (Galatians 4: 9).”

— Hope in Times of Fear: The Resurrection and the Meaning of Easter by Timothy Keller

God in the end will save people from every class. Nevertheless the message of the gospel of grace does not appeal to the privileged and powerful. Our instinct is to always take credit for any success in life. We believe we have achieved our position only through hard work and moral fiber. We have earned everything we have. Any religion that appeals naturally to the competent, confident, and successful will support that self-understanding. The message that will make sense to human beings is “Pull yourself together! Summon up the blood! Be disciplined, moral, good. Earn your blessing and God will give it to you.”

A message that will not make sense to them and that will threaten their self-image at its core is this: “You are a lost sinner. You have done many wrongs, but even the good things you’ve done you’ve largely done for self-interested motives. All your strivings, even religious ones, have been ways to get control of God, putting him in a position so that (you think) he will have to serve your interests. Everything you have is a gift from God, and you are not loving him and living wholly for him as you should. If you repent, you can be saved, but only through his sheer, undeserved grace.”

She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.”

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.

He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

Acts 16:17‭, ‬25‭, ‬30 NIV

Winning the war and you are mind 7 Day devotion.

DAY 1: Thanks everyone for joining in! Sorry in advance for the ramble... So many things I believe, have gleaned and have learned over the past 10 years are crashing together in this book (and now this study). It is not what I do, it is why I do what I do. If I change the things I do without changing the way I think... that doesn't work, it will fail. Behavior modification = a transactional faith and always fails. God doesn't want to fix, He wants to transform, to make new. IDENTITY DETIRMINES BEHAVIOR. Demolish the strongholds.

DAY 2: I love Jesus's example here, the lesson is know His word in my heart. Have it ready for any battle, to combat any lie. Other things that I glean from this scripture: Satan will attack when I am exposed, tired, hungry and alone. Satan will always contradict God's word and offer promises that cater to my pride, compare what others have, and guarantee that worldly possessions and power will satisfy. All lies. Know His Word = knowing who's I am = knowing who I am.

DAY 3: Renewing my mind starts with knowing who's I am. I must saturate my mind with His truth, talk to Him, listen to Him, not everyday, but a constant knowledge that He isccwith me. His truth should be the filter and lens for every thought, every word, and every action. The world disciples too, my phone disciples, my t.v. disciples, my tablet disciples, talk radio disciples... I must choose wisely what I consume or it will consume me. Behavior modification = cutting down weeds, renewing my mind = pulling up roots.

DAY 4: This is a simple but powerful exercise. I am petitioning prayer from all of you, that God will reveal the lies I believe and speak to me the right words for me to declare. One verse I have always been drawn to is Jeremiah 29:13... "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." I can't help but think it is in response to a lie He knows I believe. Thanks in advance for your prayers. Praying for each and everyone of you and your journeys this a.m. Grateful for you all!

DAY 5: One of my favorite quotes applies here... "We shouldn't pray for God to change our circumstances, we should pray for Him to heal our perspective. " ~ Tim Keller Alignment with His will & His path = PEACE.

DAY 6: Praising God in the midst of storms = faith & trust. The life I have lived in faith helps me to do this as I have the perspective of a storehouse full of examples of His provision and His faithfulness. It makes it easier, but it is still HARD, it is not my default go to thing to do in times of trouble... It takes stopping and intentionally being still, praying, reading scripture and REMEMBERING. Remembering that He has not ever and will not ever forsake me and remembering what was done for me and remembering who's I am.

JEHOVAH ROHI

My Shepherd - (to tend, to guard, to care for, to protect, to provide for, etc...)

The job of a shepherd was commonplace but demanding and dangerous. It requires protecting the flock from pitfalls

INTERRUPTIONS ARE OUR WORK

A few years ago I met an old professor at the University of Notre Dame. Looking back on his long life of teaching, he said with a funny twinkle in his eyes: “I have always been complaining that my work was constantly interrupted, until I slowly discovered that my interruptions were my work. This is the great conversion in life: to recognize and believe that the many unexpected events are not just disturbing interruptions of our projects, but the way in which God molds our hearts and prepares us .…”

—Henri J. Nouwen “Out of Solitude"

Spiritual Integrity

Hard, convicting read this morning. God's peace means the inside matches the outside....

"To discover the real you, look at what you spend time thinking about when no one is looking, when nothing is forcing you to think about anything in particular. At such moments, do your thoughts go toward God? You may want to be seen as a humble, unassuming person, but do you take the initiative to confess your sins before God? You wish to be perceived as a positive, cheerful person, but do you habitually thank God for everything you have and praise him for who he is? You may speak a great deal about what a “blessing” your faith is and how you “just really love the Lord,” but if you are prayerless—is that really true? If you aren’t joyful, humble, and faithful in private before God, then what you want to appear to be on the outside won’t match what you truly are.

Just prior to giving his disciples the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus offered some preliminary ideas, including this one: “When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. . . . But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen . . . in secret” (Matt 6:5–6). The infallible test of spiritual integrity, Jesus says, is your private prayer life."

Excerpt from PRAYER by Timothy Keller

"Don't Give Up" by Kyle Idleman

a review...

Don't Give Up is rooted in Hebrews 12:1-3. "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses..."

Chapter 1 - Speaks to having faith and trust in God through the illustration of trying to put a puzzle together but not having box cover as a point of reference. If we trust the puzzle maker and keep putting pieces together eventually we will see the big picture. The Bible is full of witnesses who were imperfect but are heros because of their great faith. Kyle also reminds us that faith always requires risks.

I have read every book Kyle has written (multiple times...) And Chapter 2 "Keep Fighting" to me is the most moving, relatable, convicting thing Kyle has ever written. Jacob is the illusration here, how he cheated and ran from responsibility and consequences. Finally he fought and he received a new name and a new identity. I love this quote in the book... “The quickest way for anyone to reach the sun and the light of day is not to run west, chasing after the setting sun, but to head east plunging into the darkness until one comes to the sunrise.”

I could go on chapter by chapter, and tell of the beautiful personal stories, the great illustrations, the funny anecdotes, but no one likes a SPOILER. And you need to read this book! The 3 main sections sum it up...

1. Listen to the Crowd (of witnesses)

2. Throw Off the Weight (that hinders)

3. Run Your Race (to the finish)

If you need encouragement this is the book for you, if you are at the end of your rope this is the book for you, if you are at a crossroads this is the book for you, if your life is in transition this is the book for you, if you need a kick in the pants this is the book for you, if you are a believer and you are breathing this is the book for you.

Kyle never disappoints, this another game changer.

#kyleidleman #dontgiveup

"If you just know God, have a sense of His depth of love and abundance of grace all for you in Christ, you’ll consequently find wealth appropriately unimpressive and suffering appropriately untroubling."

“The biggest threat to the church today is fans who call themselves Christians but aren’t actually interested in following Christ. They want to be close enough to Jesus to get all the benefits, but not so close that it requires anything from them.”

Kyle Idleman - Not a Fan

#kyleidleman

"Our Place"

It has almost been a week since I’ve been here… Our place, oh how I’ve taken it for granted. Our place is at the rustic kitchen table (built by a good friend), on a hard bench (built by a good friend), with His Word on my screen, a loyal dog at my feet, a journal on the table and a pencil in my hand. I’ve missed this place… I love this place.

The pain started over Thanksgiving. All the self diagnosis points to acute sciatica. The self-diagnosing justifiably drives my bride crazy. I vacillate between a prideful stubborn man and a scared little boy when it comes to going to the doctor. Anyway, the pain culminated on Tuesday when it took 30 minutes or so to put on my underwear, pants, socks and shoes. When I started to drive to work I almost turned around. But, when I arrived at work the pain was almost completely gone (PTL, no really… not a cliche, PRAISE the LORD!).

However, until today (Thursday) I have not been able to sit on this bench, in this special place. I tried, but it was too uncomfortable. I tried every position possible to almost no avail… Finally I found comfort in one posture… kneeling. And what do we do when we kneel? Well, I don’t know what you do but I pray.

I prayed for the discomfort to go away. I prayed for a family member battling addiction. I prayed for my mom who would laugh at the little discomfort that I call ‘pain’. I prayed for a faithful wife who has loved me through everything and anything. I prayed up and down, for people I love and for ones I don’t even know. I prayed and thanked God for all that I have, for the things he kept from me, the transformation He has orchestrated in my life and for my unearned, undeserved salvation. You see my pain equaled my posture, my posture equaled my prayer, a prayer like I had not prayed in a long, long time.

So today as I pray I am thankful for the pain. And I am thankful for this bench, this table, this journal… Our place. You really don’t know what you have until it’s gone. I cherish this moment, I will continue to cherish these moments until my selfish flesh takes over, then I’m sure God will use His megaphone of pain to heal my worldly perspective yet again.

Thank you for the pain.

Thank you for the lack of pain sitting on this bench.

I LOVE THIS PLACE… OUR PLACE..

#painisgodsmegaphone

Saul to Paul turned 4 today!

#tumblr birthday #tumblr milestone

Never worry alone. When anxiety grabs my mind, it is self-perpetuating. Worrisome thoughts reproduce faster than rabbits, so one of the most powerful ways to stop the spiral of worry is simply to disclose my worry to a friend… The simple act of reassurance from another human being [becomes] a tool of the Spirit to cast out fear – because peace and fear are both contagious.

John Ortberg

“Those who understand the gospel cannot possibly look down on anyone, since they were saved by sheer grace, not by their perfect doctrine or strong moral character.”

Tim Keller

Saul to Paul turned 3 today!

#tumblr birthday #tumblr milestone

Cost

God's love for me cost Him everything, His son, part of Himself. A seperation that lasted a second and an eternity. My love for Him only cost me stepping out in faith, out of my comfort zone, confronting my fears, trusting in what I can not see, only in what I can feel. Does the Holy Spirit comfort me in the same way he comforted my God during that seperation?

Sanctuaries or Stadiums - The Football Faith Mindset

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