a mighty fortress

"Therefore, since we are reiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken,
let us hold on to grace. 
By it, we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe;
for our God is a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:28-29, HCSB). 

Has someone asked why you have patience when coffee spills on your new clothes, why you are able to not gossip when the office talks about an insulting customer or how you are able to trust that God will take care of your family in the midst of a challenging time?

The other day, a man from FedEx came in to my office and asked why I was smiling.  My response was quick, and I explained that I was able to pray that morning.  Yet, the true reason is deeper.  As I think about it, it is because God has given me hope. 

As believers, it is Jesus Christ who has changed our lives from the inside out.  Are we in awe of Him?  I pray that if someone asks us why we have hope that we are able to tie it to the original source, that we know as followers of Christ.  We have a mighty King and Savior who is dependable, a strong fortress and our true source of joy and peace.

"But even if you should suffer for righteousness, you are blessed.
Do not fear what they fear or be disturbed,
but set apart the Messiah as Lord in your hearts,
and always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you
for a reason for the hope that is in you" (1 Peter 3:14-15, HCSB).



YouTube - "A Mighty Fortress," Christy Nockles

FALL In LOVE With JESUS!

"This ONE THING I do..." Philippians 3:13

"....you have persevered and endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet...return to your FIRST LOVE...Remember...Repent, and do the works you did at first..." Revelation 2:4-5

New Season~New Opportunitity For Jesus In And Through Our Lives!!

Let's Ask Ourselves Some Challenging Questions Today:

• On A Scale From 1-10, how passionately "IN LOVE" Are We With JESUS?
• Do We Remember A Day That We Loved Him More?
• What Are Some Things/Activities/People/Habits That Can Take First Place First Love In Our Lives?
• Will We Do Whatever It Takes To "Fall In Love With Jesus" Anew & Afresh This New Season?

HOW? Good News!! Here is a Simple Plan:

Simple Steps To Take DAILY (the word DAILY is very important!): PRAY, CONFESS, TURN TO HIM, RUN HARD AFTER GOD, NEVER FORGET WHAT IT WAS LIKE BEING LOST OR AWAY FROM HIM, GET SATURATED WITH GOD THINGS-HIS WORD-HIS PRAISE & WORSHIP-HIS WAYS-HIS WILL & MOST OF ALL TAKE AS MANY OTHER PEOPLE WITH US AS WE CAN because God has GiftedU2GO!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEGp9SPdtfo

Seasons of Change

In the past few weeks, my kids have been amazed at the changing leaves. Every morning when we walk outside, my two year old girl exclaims (again) "Mommy!!! There are MORE leaves on the ground!" It has become part of our daily routine to go out and play in the piles of leaves after our naptime. We talk about the colors and I answer questions every minute about "how come the leaves don't like to be green anymore?" As I have spent my days focusing on the things that are changing around us, I have been so comforted to be reminded of a truth that Malachi records for us: "I the Lord do not change. So you, O descendents of Jacob are not destroyed" (Malachi 3:6). While I love to watch the beauty of the seasons changing, I am so thankful today that my God remains constant. That the One I worship is consistent. That the Lord's Word is dependable without exception. God can be trusted without hesitation. This season, as you praise the Lord for the beauty of the changing seasons, take a moment to stop and thank Him for His unchanging nature that continues to forgive, accept and love you without condition or changing standards. "The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the Word of our God endures forever!" (Isaiah 40:8).

Radical Commitment

Matthew 7:23-25 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."

Some high school students where I teach are going through the book Radical by David Platt. Many students are giving up their lunch times to crowd into a room to read and discuss this book. Platt challenges the way it seems we often do evangelism--i.e. bow our heads, close our eyes, and pray a prayer. Evangelism is sometimes reduced to series of steps. But Platt says: "Meanwhile, the biblical gospel says, 'You are an enemy of God, dead in your sin, and in your present state of rebellion, you are not even able to see that you need life, much less to cause yourself to come to life. Therefore, you are radically dependent on God to do something in your life that you could never do."
This book has challenged all of us, who are reading it, to make sure when we share the gospel, we share the WHOLE gospel, not just try to add to our numbers by offering a series of steps.

Thank You, God!

"Shout triumphantly to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the LORD with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs. Acknowledge that the LORD is God. He made us, and we are His people, the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the LORD is good, and His love is eternal; His faithfulness endures through all generations."! Psalm 100

Autumn is in the air! All week I have heard people say, "Wow, I love this cooler weather after a very hot summer!" Everywhere we go we see the signs of our season of thankfulness called Autumn: Pumpkins, Pine Cones, Changing Leaves, Bales of Hay, Scarecrows, Candy Corn, Earth-tone Colors, and most of all signs of Thankfulness to God!

The psalmist teaches us how to thank God as we enter our daily attitudes with thankfulness and praise. As we walk in an attitude of gratefulness we have many opportunities to share the one and only author of blessings, JESUS, with others!

People, especially people that need the Lord, have voids in their lives that they are trying to fill with earthy worldly things. What are some of the voids in the lives of people that need the Lord? As a first-generation Christian that didn't hear about and accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior until I was in my 20's, let me share with you some of the things that were missing in my life as someone that needed The Lord; I was missing - peace, belonging, gratefulness, purpose, direction, joy, and much more!

As Christ's disciples and witnesses when we share simple things that we Thank God for, He can use our attitudes of gratitude to draw people to Jesus! What are 2 ways that we can do this?

• Worship God For Who He Is! Share With Others The Reason God is First In Your Life! (Always Present~Always Providing~Always Personal, etc.)
• Thank God For What He Does! Share With Others The Ways God Has Blessed Your Life! (Salvation~Forgiveness~Hope, etc.)

As blessings come into our lives, give thanks to God. Simply say, "Thank You, God!" When someone compliments you on anything that you know was from God's Grace working in or through you, give thanks to God. Simply say, "Thank You, God!" And be willing to share times in your life that you were not walking with Him or were not thankful so that those that we are sharing with can relate!

When we regularly thank and praise God for the good and difficult events in our lives, God inhabits the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3), an atmosphere of thankfulness which conversations about Jesus are more likely to take place.

As a new season of Autumn, let's ask God (pray) for an attitude of gratitude. Let's also ask God (pray) to help us count our many blessings daily. Let's ask God (pray) to remind us to be quick to acknowledge the One who is the Provider in our lives, the Provider of all our inspiration and creativity = Jesus!

God's Word promises that if we will openly acknowledge Him before others now, He will openly acknowledge us before God!! (Matt.10:32)

What Faithful Looks Like

“And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth" Deuteronomy 28:1, ESV).

I think I'm on a tangent again. I keep running into people who want it all now. You know what I mean. They want something without paying the price for it. I might as well stop talking about what it means to be faithful with small and start writing it down. To be faithful with small means that we are faithful (loyal, obedient, trustworthy) to do the small things. For instance, let's say that someone wants speaking engagements and yet has not been faithful to have her time alone with God every day...that is not being faithful in the small things. I talked to a lady who was frustrated that she didn't have any good witnessing stories to tell and was sounding off about it. Hmm. I asked her how often she'd shared her faith. She said she had really never seen the big moment to do so. Hmm. That's what I'm talking about. If God can't trust us in the little things, why would He trust us in the big things? Why would one turn down a speaking engagement because it wasn't "big" enough and tell them to call her when they had more people? Really? Yes, really. I could go on and on.

I love this verse in Deut 28:1. IF we are FAITHFUL to do what God says to do (and gives us opportunity to do) TODAY, then He will allow us to bring honor to Him in even greater ways. It is incredible about how simple the Scriptures can be. What does faithful look like? It looks like you and me doing what we have committed to do - the big things and the little things. Faithful living is doing what He calls us to do...and doing it will excellence. It is going beyond the call of duty. We are to be loyal and trustworthy in all we say and do.
I didn't say it would always be fun, but it is what we are called to do. And trust me, I have a list of a few things that I need to be faithful in too. None of us are immune.

Lord, make me be faithful. Let me be faithful to bring glory to you...and not to bring glory to me. Make me into a faithful leader who is willing to out serve everyone else. May You get the glory!

The Heart of a Servant Leader

“Don’t just do what you have to do to get by, but work heartily, as Christ’s servants doing what God wants you to do. And work with a smile on your face, always keeping in mind that no matter who happens to be giving the orders, you’re really serving God.” Ephesians 6:6 (The Message)

The heart is the very seat of our soul, our emotions, and our passions. It is the very essence of our being and that which drives our thoughts and our motives. No wonder God tells us to guard our hearts! “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” Proverbs 4:23 (NIV).

The heart of a leader is the very foundation of her life. It is what drives her passion for the Lord and her passion for service in the kingdom. There is no doubt that most of us feel called to lead in a very deep way from the bottom of our hearts.

And yet, with seemingly little notice, out of our hearts can spew some of the most ungodly thoughts and attitudes…even in the midst of ministry. It was only a few weeks ago that something happened that totally unnerved me. Surely you know the feeling. I was less than thrilled with a situation (and in particular with one of my many bosses) and was just about to share from the seat of my emotions the most spirit-filled reaction to what was happening when God intervened. The person was not there for me to share with! And now I thank God for that. My spirit-filling was not coming from God; it was coming from the enemy. Even though I felt righteous in my motive, it certainly was not the best way to handle things. As leaders, we must be constantly aware that the enemy will do everything he can to render us ineffective in service to our Lord.

I had to come before the Lord and pray to Him, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” Psalm 51:10 (NIV). “Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name” Psalm 86:11 (NIV). “Refresh my heart in Christ” Philemon 1:20b (NIV). God gave me His promise in response, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” Ezekiel 36:26 (NIV).

To be a servant leader, sometimes we just need to keep in mind that we are servants first and leaders second. We must learn to model Christ-like servanthood in every situation. God has chosen us to lead. Not only must we be strong and do the work, we must be strong in our wholehearted devotion to Him and remember Who we are working for! He is in control of every situation. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving” Colossians 3:23-24 (NIV).

“’And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. Consider now, for the LORD has chosen you to build a temple as a sanctuary. Be strong and do the work.’” 1 Chronicles 28:9-10 (NIV)

Note: written several years ago for Christianity Today's Gifted for Leadership website.