Ahh, here we are the day before Thanksgiving in beautiful Colorado. We've had the pleasure of enjoying time spent with family all week. We can't help but think of all the things in our life we are thankful for. Instead of listing the material things, we would like to go in a different route.
During this time of year it's easy to be distracted, overwhelmed and overextended. There are so many things demanding our time, energy, and of course our money. Yet we're determined not to get sucked into the usual holiday madness. We're going to make every effort to focus on the "Reason for the Season" who of course, is Jesus Christ. First and foremost we're thankful for His love. The fact that He died on the cross so we can live eternally with Him is what keeps us going every day. We're also thankful for all the intangible things He has given to us: Our health, peace, joy, love of our family, our freedom, and His Word.
1st Thessalonians 5:16-18 says - Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
We don't know about you, but we have learned, witnessed, and grown quite alot this year. Our circumstances have changed and caused us to realize that at the end of the day, all we can really do is trust in the Lord to take care of us.
Our hope is that this year, you find hope. That you experience God and all that He is. He can, and will be your provider, your best friend, your counselor and comforter - if you just invite Him to do so. During this season, don't lose sight of the source for everything in which we are thankful.
Eat, love and be thankful, as much as you can. Have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving!
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Obsessed
I find myself obsessed with the Lord's eternal obsession: the harvest of souls. Jesus came into this world with one purpose, to seek and to save the lost. The apostle Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 1:15,“This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” I am so glad that Jesus came looking for me.
James 5:7 tells us the Lord is waiting patiently on the precious fruit of the earth. In 2 Peter 3:9 we read, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” After talking with the woman at the well in Samaria, she ran into the city to tell everyone that she had met the Christ. The people flocked out of the city to see Jesus. Upon seeing this, Jesus said in John 4:35, "Do you not say, 'There are still four months and then comes the harvest?' Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!" God is obsessed with the idea of people receiving eternal life through Jesus Christ.
As I sit at my desk in my church office, I am seeking (thinking, meditating, reasoning; to enquire into, aim at, strive for) the lost. Jesus' mission is our mission. The church, for the most part, has lost her way, its reason for being, lost its Priority One—the seeking and saving of the lost. We live in a day of distractions (lovers of pleasures, pet doctrines, useless trifles). Preachers of the Gospel have lost their way.
Charles G. Finney, in Revival Lectures, wrote, “Prayer is an essential link in the chain of causes that leads to revival…Some have zealously used truth to convert men, and laid very little stress on prayer. They have preached, and talked, and distributed tracts with little success. And the reason was, that they forgot to use the other branch of the means, effectual prayer. They overlooked the fact that truth, by itself, will never produce the effect, without the Spirit of God, and that the Spirit is given in answer to prayer.”
Leonard Ravenhill, in Revival Praying, wrote, “The state of praying that we seek is free from all personal request for personal benefit. We are seeking a love for the will of God among men, for the manifestation of the glory of God among men.”
Let us pray, plan, seek and save the lost.
Peace,
Stan
James 5:7 tells us the Lord is waiting patiently on the precious fruit of the earth. In 2 Peter 3:9 we read, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” After talking with the woman at the well in Samaria, she ran into the city to tell everyone that she had met the Christ. The people flocked out of the city to see Jesus. Upon seeing this, Jesus said in John 4:35, "Do you not say, 'There are still four months and then comes the harvest?' Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!" God is obsessed with the idea of people receiving eternal life through Jesus Christ.
As I sit at my desk in my church office, I am seeking (thinking, meditating, reasoning; to enquire into, aim at, strive for) the lost. Jesus' mission is our mission. The church, for the most part, has lost her way, its reason for being, lost its Priority One—the seeking and saving of the lost. We live in a day of distractions (lovers of pleasures, pet doctrines, useless trifles). Preachers of the Gospel have lost their way.
Charles G. Finney, in Revival Lectures, wrote, “Prayer is an essential link in the chain of causes that leads to revival…Some have zealously used truth to convert men, and laid very little stress on prayer. They have preached, and talked, and distributed tracts with little success. And the reason was, that they forgot to use the other branch of the means, effectual prayer. They overlooked the fact that truth, by itself, will never produce the effect, without the Spirit of God, and that the Spirit is given in answer to prayer.”
Leonard Ravenhill, in Revival Praying, wrote, “The state of praying that we seek is free from all personal request for personal benefit. We are seeking a love for the will of God among men, for the manifestation of the glory of God among men.”
Let us pray, plan, seek and save the lost.
Peace,
Stan
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Great As It Gets
As I sit in my bed thinking about the last week. Hundreds of people called on the name of the Lord receiving eternal life. Dozens were healed of pain and diseases. A little girl around 10 years old had never been able to speak. She spoke for the first time in her life on Monday night. That's as great as it gets.
I have met people from a different culture. I have bounced all over a brand new country in a van. I spent a couple of days in a dusty village watching the donkey carts pull heavy loads up and down the narrow streets. I watched little old ladies pick cotton. I watched crusty little men cut wheat by hand with a cycle. Then they thrashed it by beating they sheaves over a big rock. Cool, huh.
I have been eating some great new food. Listening to some very interesting music. Having a great time.
The greatest thing is that we get to do it again this week.
Peace,
Stan
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