Purpose in Life

I came across this quote the other day by W Clement Stone, an expert on success and positive attitudes, "whenever you discover your mission (or purpose), you will feel its demand. It will fill you with enthusiasm and a burning desire to get to work on.".

As I've been contemplating purpose over the last couple months I've realize how important theme this is in the Scriptures. There is a verse that is always spoken to me out of Proverbs 29:18. Basically this verse states that where there is no purpose, there is no direction. In essence, that is what this verse is talking about. It uses the word vision or revelation for which I think we can also include the word purpose. I think it is easy to see that when we purpose to do something we usually get it done. Most people go through life and find purpose in the things that they are doing. Because of this purpose or this driving force inside of them, they are able to accomplish many things in life. We have actually been created with a need to find our purpose in life.

Although this is not always easy to do, it is also not as difficult as we think. I think there is a great correlation between what we are passionate about and what our purpose is life. When we understand that the purpose of our life in relationship to God then we can better understand the reason for much of what we do. And this purpose helps us set short term goals that are attainable. In this way we can understand the why of today in order to reach the purpose of tomorrow. There are a lot of things that we all do that are not always fun but if we find how they fit into a greater purpose. They are much easier to carry out.

It is important to bring into focus a greater purpose for our lives that we can only find in Jesus Christ. Of course, there are many things that are very noble purposes in this world and I don’t deny those but state that there is a greater purpose into which all these things fit.

I'm sure most everyone has asked themselves the question, "why do I exist". Finding our purpose in life answers this question and brings a tremendous fullness to our life. And remember Jesus came to give us life in abundance, not just in existence. So where do we begin to find the true purpose in life? I believe it can be found in the person of Jesus Christ. I believe the Bible will give us all the direction we need to live this life to the fullest and to accomplish the purpose for which we were created.

Let me give one key factor towards finding the answers to these questions. We are God's creation. He made you the way you are with the abilities and talents that are innate in you. God has given each of us the ability to fulfill our purpose on this earth. Here's a quote from a Greek philosopher, "know thyself". That's a valid statement. That is where we need to start.

Can You See?

It is interesting to read the story of Abraham. It encompasses quite a few chapters in the book of Genesis and is pretty detailed. Wow what lessons we can learn from his stories. Both good and bad.

For the moment I simply want to take one ongoing story that is weaved throughout his whole life story. And specifically I am focusing on the covenant promise God the Father made to Abraham from the very first.

It is now a universal (or global if you prefer) promise that was first spoken to Abraham but now can be claimed by all mankind. “I will bless you and you will be a blessing”.

Of course the Lord expands on this statement by saying to Abraham that his descendants will be so numerous that you won’t be able to count them. What an awesome promise. God spoke this to Abraham. We have it written and can read it but Abraham heard God’s voice over and over saying what He had promised him. He heard a word, promise, from God’s heart to his. And he heard it many times as we look at scripture.

Now here is an important side note. Abraham wasn’t sure how and if this would ever happen. And as a result we can read his life saga of mistakes for not truly believing what God said He would do for him. So it gets a little more interesting because the Lord understands that we need help in order to believe. We probably make believing a lot harder than it really is. I know I do. You know when Jesus says ‘just believe’ and a father cries out and exclaims ‘I do but help my unbelief!’. It is supposed to be easy and it really is. It is just too easy and therefore the paradox of what we are doing when we fight the good fight of faith.

But I am digressing a bit. Let me get back to the focus of what I want to share in this blog. Abraham, same as us, needed a way to boost his faith and cause believing to by faith to become a reality without seeing the actual fulfillment. Because you see the key to faith is that we are believing without having seen what is actually the focus of our faith. So how do we get it to click on the inside that what God says is really true and as a result we are unshakeable in our trust in Him to fulfill it?

Here it is. No more suspense. God told Abraham one night to look up at the stars. He wanted him to see promise of an heir and birthing of nations through the visual of the stars. Impossible to count and so the promise was impossible to fathom. But the stars gave Abraham a visual. It is the same as putting scripture on your refrigerator or bathroom mirror so you see it everyday. Every time Abraham would look up and see the stars at night he would be reminded of the promise God had made to him and would be able to get a mental picture of a spiritual promise.

It actually says in Genesis the verse immediately following the star visual that Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness. So wasn’t he believing or trying to before now? Of course! But now he had something he could visualize in the natural in order to believe in his heart what God had said. Maybe we should use this as a key to believing the great and awesome promises God has given us. Find your visual to keep before your eyes. Find your star-filled sky to look at.

Here is a verse that really speaks to this in 1 Corinthians 15:46:
The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual (NIV)

So it looks like God had a simple way for us to believe all the time. First the natural: See it with your eyes in the world around us that God created. Then the spiritual: believe that it is done and it is settled in your heart.

Written Words

Have you ever thought about how words effect you? I think we are not very aware of their power in our lives until we actually hear words that carry an impact on where we are at the moment. I don’t mean where we are in reference to geography but where we are on the inside.

Of course we can talk long and hard about the negative effect that words have on our lives. I think everybody recognizes that. But I want to blog about the positive effect instead. I think this really hit me recently as I was able to hear and read words directed to me that just filled me with an overwhelming sense of God’s grace and love for my life. What a blessing for my life. It is not something one thinks about everyday. What I mean is we don’t go around thinking “I wish people would speak words that build me up today”. And in our society today I believe we definitely lack telling people around us positive things about them. So when it happens it tends to make us sit back and think how awesome it feels to hear positive things about who you are in life.

Words of praise. Did you know that God speaks words of praise to His children all the time? He sure does. Just read what the bible has to say about you. Let me rest my case in the truth that “for God so loved the world (you) that He gave His only begotten Son”. That should be enough yet the bible is riddled with God’s words of love toward us.

Obviously we would all agree that it is important to esteem and bless one another. We encourage our young athletes before they step into the game. We encourage children in our schools that they can do it. Over and over again we employ words and notes to build up people of all ages so that they will achieve more in life as well as have a great attitude.

Here is my point. Everyone is effected for the better as we build them up. Let’s do it more regularly. Let’s make it a point to esteem and edify others in the moment. Not wait for another day or future time. Let’s do it more often. It is a beautiful thing to receive words of affirmation and love that let you know your life is worth living.

Say something good to somebody in your life!

Define Salvation

What is your definition of salvation? Have you really thought it through? When you hear the word salvation what comes to mind?

Moses said to the people of Israel once, "stand still and see the salvation of your God." The Israelites were blocked in by the enemy on one side and the Red Sea on the other. What did salvation mean to them at that moment? I'm sure it meant something more than what we think. After all, they were at the point of dying and there was no way out. So salvation at that point meant living. It meant to be delivered from the hand of their enemies. And probably a whole lot more.

What does it mean to us? I think the usual answer would be that it means forgiveness of sins. Is that all it means? When we talk about salvation through Jesus Christ, are we only talking about forgiveness? I think we can safely say that salvation is a lot more than forgiveness of sins and a free ticket into heaven.

Jesus came and became a man on earth. He was in every way a man like you and I. Yes he was God, but he was also totally a man. You see Jesus came to show us how to live and how to have life. His message was not one of just how to get into heaven but it was a message of how to live with abundant life. Just think about this for a minute. Jesus died on the cross as a man. He literally took our place so that God's judgment would be removed. He purchased right standing before the Father in heaven.

Even though we could expand on all of this for quite some time I would like to focus solely on the word salvation. What does it really mean? I think we have short-changed the meaning of salvation that Jesus has provided for us. We usually only repeat what we have heard over the years. In the normal response to salvation is is that we are forgiven of our sins. But salvation is a lot more than that. Not to minimize the importance of forgiveness of sins, which is a great miracle and blessing from God. But at the same time we don't need to leave out all that God has provided for us. We need to see the whole picture and embrace the truth of God's word. Salvation is all-inclusive and affects every part of our life, spirit, soul and body.

I believe Jesus came to earth to show us the depth of what salvation really is through his life and actions. So here's an oversimplified way to look at salvation. What is going on in your life today that you need said to be saved from? That you can meditate on that for a while and when you come up with an answer you can cry to our Creator, Jesus Christ, saying, "save me Lord!". You see, he didn't pay the enormous price of dying on a cross only to save you from sin. He made the ultimate sacrifice in order that we might live and enjoy the blessings of heaven on earth. I am purposely not filling in the blanks in this blog. I'm leaving that for you to do. I don't believe I can fully define salvation with a few words. Because I think it takes on a new meaning for each individual and situation we are living. The important thing to see is that salvation goes beyond the saving of our soul to get into heaven. That doesn't change just because we don't believe it. It is still true. We need to change our mindset about salvation in order to change our beliefs of salvation. We need to see the realm of possibilities that God has provided for us through the work of Jesus Christ and not limit all that he did by believing only part.

Breaking The Curse

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4706741805360354160

I think you will enjoy the above link. It is the testimony of a family that lost a 17-year-old daughter in a plane crash. I thought some of his insights were very good. Hope it ministers to you as much as it did to me.

I have been studying recently about the effect of curses on our lives. My main text has been out of Galatians chapter 3. There it speaks mainly about Jesus becoming a curse for us and freeing us through the price he paid. Redemption. We are purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ. We have been redeemed from the curse. Throughout the word of God there is much to be said about cursing and blessing.

One of the outstanding things that I find in the word of God pertaining to cursing and blessing is the fact that we are not to curse. In the book of James we find the example of a fountain that can only produce one kind of water. Saltwater and freshwater cannot come from the same fountain. Nor can blessing and cursing come from the same mouth. We are also told in the book of Deuteronomy that God has set before us the blessing and the curse and it is up to us to choose one or the other. In Psalms 109:17 it states that if we curse we will also be cursed.

The truth is Jesus died to free us from all curses. We must accept the redemption that he has provided for us through his blood. We need to know and appropriate all that he has paid for through his blood. He wants us to live in freedom from all curses. He wants us to inherit the blessings of Abraham. Now that's an interesting statement. The blessings of Abraham. I guess we would have to go through the word of God and discover exactly what are all those blessings. Abraham was known as the father of faith. God performed miracles on his behalf. He also spoke to him as a friend and called him a friend. But the blessings of Abraham go much further than that. The blessings of Abraham include all the promises that God has made to us and for us through his Son. So we should embrace the blessing rather than the curse.

How do we embrace blessing? Simply said, by embracing Jesus and all he purchased. By accepting what he did for us and refusing to wear the curse. We accept His grace for life. We live by faith in all that is provided for us. We believe what we hear in the word of God. You see, to believe God by faith means there is nothing we can do to earn anything from God. That would be imposing a law on ourselves. And if we live by a law then we must obey every part of it. Many times we put obligation, be it religious, social or personal on ourselves and find that we cannot live up to those things. We have imposed a law that we cannot complete. So we need to learn that the righteous live by faith. Simple trust in all that God has said and done for us.

I will write further about this in future blogs. There are several aspects to the subject that I would like to mention. The text I mainly refer to earlier is Galatians 3:1-14. But there are several other texts I would like to speak about. Let me close this session with one more idea. It is found in Nehemiah 13:2 and it states this, "our God, however, turned the curse into a blessing." The God we serve takes all that is against us and turns it into something favorable. He turns the curse into a blessing. What an amazing truth. We live in a world that is under a curse. But Jesus redeemed us from the curse.

Time In Mexico

I just spent a great week in Mexico visiting churches in the area we lived for many years. It was great to reconnect with our Latin friends and minister to hundreds of people. Actually over 800 strong! There were many salvations, and physical healings that took place. Wonderful times of ministry happened and I returned very encouraged seeing the grace of God continuing to abound in Mexico.

What an encouragement to see all that is taking place. There are many things I could mention and fill up a few pages. It is always great to see peoples lives changed. That never gets old. And even more so was the joy of seeing lasting fruit from our labors over the many years we lived and worked there. Even though I could talk about many things I want to focus on just one.

The one thing that stood out to me (I guess the thing that blessed me more than the rest) happened almost at the end of the trip. It was after seeing all the salvations and healings and ministering to hundreds seeing great results. It was in a breakfast for pastors where I was asked to speak on the last morning of my trip. It was a great time and great food. I believe I was able to help a lot of hurting pastors. What a great time!

But as I finished and we were about to dismiss they let different pastors get up and make announcements for all the churches to hear. The first person got up and before the announcement they began to talk about a time that happened about 1o years ago where I was living and ministering in that city. Her and her husband began coming to some of the services and were greatly helped to the point of their marriage being saved and consequently going on to pastor another church. Presently they are pastoring a successful work in the same city. But God used us to deliver His grace to their lives at a critical moment.

Now the reason this was a highlight for me is because it is easy to see the things we are doing in the present moment but seldom do we see fruit from seed sown in our past. What a joy it was for me to see that God’s grace used us beyond the boundaries we set for ourselves or beyond the sphere of ministry that we believe we have accomplished. It was so moving to hear their testimony. So even though the week was full of good things this one thing made the trip.

Fruit unseen. Fruit beyond expectation. Something lasting and growing. Wow! You know it is so much more fulfilling to see that our lives count for things more permanent than just momentary blessings and great meetings. It’s the stuff that lasts for eternity that makes a difference! All the rest is good but this is better!

Your basic variety of faith

There were five occasions in the book of Matthew where Jesus used the terms "oh you of little faith". All of the five occasions dealt with situations that we live on a daily basis. They were the following:

• worry
• fear
• doubt
• provision
• authority

 

The indication in what Jesus is saying about faith in these different situations is that all of us can have it. We can live believing God in each of these areas. The end result is a much richer life. After all, God has provided all things for us. But we must first believe him. We must have that basic faith of trusting him for the basic things in life. After all worry and doubt and fear are things that just tear us down. They never build our lives. As a matter of fact fear enslaves us. The Bible even speaks of fear as something that torments us. I think we know that to be true. It can actually paralyze you. And prevent you from acting or doing anything in a given situation. The word of God is riddled with God's provision of peace in the place of fear. We need only to trust him on a daily basis. I mean, if you look up phobias, you will find that there is at least one for every day of the year. God wants to set us free from all of those fears through his peace.

 

In the same way worry destroys us from the inside out. How many times have we been stressed out over a situation that we could not change and yet all our worry made no difference at all. The only thing we accomplished through all the worry in that situation was to feel sicker the normal. God cares about us so much more than all the animals that he created. And yet the word of God talks of him keeping his eye on the sparrow. We are worth a lot more than a spare and God wants us to know by trusting him that he will take your us.

 

Doubt is another one of those always present ways of thinking that robs us. The number one tool to combat doubt is the word of God. We must come to a place that we actually believe what the word of God says and act on it. In order to have faith in God we must believe his word is true. Then we must listen to his word and trust him to fulfill it. Unbelief, or doubt, keeps us from enjoying all that God has for us. Take a simple step against doubt in your mind. Instead of repeating the doubts you have with your lips quote the word of God. Sounds very silly and simple. But I guarantee you that it works. The hardest person to convince that the word of God is true is yourself.

So this last week I made a quality decision to write and organize a lot of material that I want to put into written form. I also determined to blog more often and put ink to my thoughts on a more regular basis.
You ask, "how is that working for you?" Glad you asked! Not so well. Why? It seems that the moment I decided to discipline my life in a certain area that work multiplied like never before. (well that might be an exageration but hey this is my blog!)
Doesn't that seem to happen in life all the time? The minute you determine to diet and stop eating certain GREAT foods you get invited and/or are in unavoidable situations where that is all there is to eat! It is inevitable that when we decide to discipline our life in any way that all kinds of obstacles come our way to cause us to fail at it.
So I am writing this to kick back and say that I will carry out what I believe the Lord has put in my heart to do! Why? First of all because when we set out to do something commissioned by our Lord He comes alongside to enable us to get it done. Secondly we make the effort even in the middle of contrary circumstances and find that we are not doing it in our own power but His. But we do need to start.
So many things in life never get accomplish because we are waiting for the right time. When things aren't so hectic, when summer is over, when there are less activities, when, when, when....
I wonder, no I know, that we need to act even in little tiny ways towards those goals and not lose sight of them. So I hope these words help you get focused on what you want to get done. It is helping me just by virtue of writing them. Be blessed and empowered by the Holy Spirit to go forward and realize more of your dreams and desires than ever before!!

Change Your Course in Life

Jesus didn’t just provide salvation to get into heaven. He provided the power to walk in newness of life and enjoy heaven on earth. We may not think about this very much but many if not all of us walk in bondages of some sort. Many are very subtle.

I am referring more specifically to patterns in life that we repeat over and over again that get us in trouble. Or simply they are things inbred if you will, through our experiences in life which are then mixed with our natural tendencies that create prisons of habitual behavior that keep us from God’s best in our lives.

Ok that was a mouthful. But I think it makes sense. Anyway you look at it we all have baggage. Stuff that inhibits us living a full life. There are fears that we carry that stop us from making decisions that would be beneficial. Sure we don’t always confront our fears but God does and has! There are also things we do over and over again the same way getting the same results: Wrong results, pain inflicting results.  How many times have you thought about things you do and afterward you say to yourself, “why did I get trapped into this again?”. Or am I alone?

I believe as I look at the word of God there is hope to change anything in our life that doesn’t lead us into fuller life and success. God wants us to be successful! So what stops us? Maybe I am just raising the questions more than giving answers to this paradox in life but I do believe the closer we walk with the Lord the more HE will reveal those areas that can be changed.

We make choices. If we are too weak to change the choices we make then we  must learn to find strength in His Word, in Him! There is no other way. Eventually as we lean on Him and choose to serve His righteousness we become free from the past pattern and create a new pattern that brings life and fulfillment to us and others around us. Could it be that simple? Well yes and no. Yes because He has provided everything we need for life and Godliness. No because in order to appropriate everything we need we must act differently following His commands.

We need to obey the Word (hopefully rightly interpreting the word) which may be contrary to what we feel at the moment. It is a choice of our will to walk in the newness of life. It is not enough to talk about it, we must act on it.

Ok so here is a simple example that I hope will help. I remember years ago raising my children that as missionaries we really didn’t have much money except for our needs. Nothing extra. So when we were anywhere in stores, etc. when our children would ask for something we would say we don’t have any money. Well after a while (years) I realized that even if we had money for something we would still say we had no money. It became a pattern. And at times a lie. Well this didn’t help me say what God says about me. It doesn’t say what I want to see as a new reality. That is having more than enough! So we finally had to change our speech. Now we would say simply we are not going to buy that now. Or buy it! But the point is we had to change the way we thought automatically until the new automatic no longer left us talking like we never had anything. And of course the reality of things changed over time.

I trust that helps. Look at yourself in the mirror. Listen to yourself when you say things. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you see what you can’t see. Be willing to be discovered by God! And admit you need to change while asking Him to help you. Walk in a  new life! Really!

Where are the Joshua and Caleb

Today as I look around with natural and spiritual eyes I am reminded of two young men that were different than all the others around them. Of course I am speaking of Joshua and Caleb. The word of God says they had a different spirit.

What a statement. The other men, ten to be exact, that traveled with them on the mission to spy out the land felt different about everything that happened. The bible says they came back with an evil report. Well in our minds the report doesn’t warrant evil but to God it was. It was factual in every way but had a defeatist approach in its reporting. While Caleb and Joshua proclaimed ‘we are well able to go up and take the land’ the others according to their report saw themselves as weak and small in comparison to the task.

The only difference really is that Joshua and Caleb believed God and went after the Lord. They were willing to obey everything God had asked them because they KNEW God. Not just a head knowledge but a heart knowledge.

You see we find some characteristics about Joshua through the time that he served Moses. We find Joshua as a general in one place leading the armies to victory as commanded without hesitation. We find that when Moses went up on the mountain to talk with God that Joshua followed as far as he could and waited. We also see that when Moses would go into the tent of meeting to talk with God that Joshua would linger behind in God’s presence.

You see these two young men didn’t follow the tide of everyone around them. They went after God with abandon. They were willing to be counted among the few that stood for something. They walked with conviction and faithfulness to their Lord.

I believe there is a generation that needs to rise up and be counted like these two were. A generation that will not know the God of their fathers but their God. They will make the sacrifices to seek Him with their whole heart and stand upon convictions because of walking with God. Not somebody else's convictions. They will seek the Lord in order to hear His voice and not wait to be bottle fed by others to hear the voice of God. They will be among the few, the chosen. They will find the Lord as they go through life and the hand of God will be strong on them to lead their generation into victory once again.

Where are they? They are here, we just haven’t seen them yet. Maybe you are one of them. Are you going hard after God in spite of the tide of culture pulling you another way? Are you examining the Word and asking the Holy Spirit to reveal truth to you? Are you taking time to spend in the presence of God when it is not convenient? Are you following in obedience?

There is a generation that God is calling to and waiting. I am with HIM looking for that generation.

Special Grace

There are times that we need special grace in our Christian walk. And God has provided this special grace through his Holy Spirit that he is sent to us. It is three times the Holy Spirit comes upon us in a supernatural way that we are able to overcome in situations.

 

It is so awesome to know that God puts his presence on this in such a way to carry out tasks that we could not otherwise carry out on our own. As I look through the word of God at some of these special instances it has been refreshing to know that it happens very often. Peter in the first part of the book of acts when he stood up to preach. Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God. The disciples came together after being attacked for their preaching and once again in their prayer time it says the Holy Spirit filled them and they spoke the word of God with boldness.

 

Stephen was chosen as one of seven in acts chapter 6. And it's interesting to note that the apostles asked the people to choose seven men among them who were known to be full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. How do you know someone is full of the Holy Spirit? I think it is more than one thing that distinguishes a person who is full of the Holy Spirit. I think it is a life that shows the fullness of God and it.

 

But still it does say they were known to be full of the Holy Spirit. This means that people recognize the Holy Spirit's fullness in the seven men as opposed to others not having the fullness of the Holy Spirit. So there was a marked difference between people follow the Holy Spirit and people that were not. I think God's Word gives us a simple answer about the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

 

Being filled with the Holy Spirit is something that is available to everyone of us just for the asking. He, the Holy Spirit, is available in a greater measure to help us in life. Not that he is not with us from the moment Jesus comes into our hearts. But the idea that we can be full of Holy Spirit even after being saved indicates that there is more that God wants to give to us at special moments of me. That is why we need to ask on a daily basis that he fill us with his Holy Spirit so that we would have the grace to walk through our circumstances. The grace to speak the words that we need to speak, to affect the situations that we live in, to touch the lives that need something from the Lord, etc.

 

After seeing numerous instances of the Holy Spirit coming on different ones with a special fullness it is clear that this is something available for us today. I think all of us know there are moments that we need a supernatural or divine aid in order to overcome what we are facing. That is why we have an opportunity to come to the throne of grace and freely ask for help when we need it. Then we will see the Lord fill us with his Holy Spirit and act through us with his power to accomplish his will and our lives.

How do I get help?

So let’s talk for a minute about getting help from God in our daily lives. Great subject. We all need help. So there is where we start. Recognizing that we need help. Hopefully we are already there. If not just keep living day after day and there will be a time that you are not able to take care of everything that is going on in your life. Or you don’t have an answer for what is happening. Maybe things are happening in your life that are totally out of your control.

In other words you didn’t cause it and have no control over its outcome. Especially at those moments all of us are in need of help. And we cannot do anything to change the situation without outside help. It is out of your hands.

So it is in life that all of us will live moments that we recognize a need for help. Now as Christians this is easy because we know we need God and more so every day. Life is not easy. We need divine intervention throughout our existence.

We ask Him for help. There are many promises in the Word of God that address this basic human need. Lord have mercy on us is a common cry. Daily we look to get closer to Him and be more Christ like in every way. This is a goal in life. It is not only a goal but it is the will of the Father that we be like His Son.

Once again the way we get help is to ask. Now let me focus for just a moment on what I just said. We ask! Nothing more is required. This seems to be something that is so simple yet very profound. Just ask. But I have to do something to get what God has for me. Or there needs to be proof that what I am asking for is mine. Why? Is it biblical to ask something of the Lord that He has already promised and then expect some sign or have to perform for it to be ours? Really? Isn’t it as simple as ‘ask and you shall receive’?

The correct answer of course is that if we ask He is faithful to answer. He will give us what we need. Now specifically if we ask for help God will supply help. Ask for the things He has clearly stated in His Word that He wants to give to us. Don’t hesitate and don’t wait for something spectacular to indicate that He has answered.Trust that He is true to His Word and is answering just as He said He would.

Darlene and I have completed 21 days of fasting! What a great experience. We know that we will see the spiritual results for quite some time to come. But we also are more aware of God's purpose and will than before. It is so liberating to stop eating! Not fun! But liberating.

I believe the art of fasting as a spiritual exercise has been all but forgotten. It is still a very viable spiritual weapon to wage warfare against the enemy of our souls. One of the things I will mention that has happened during the fasting time is the fact that we have become more aware of things that we need to pray about specifically and have been able to pinpoint how to pray. It has been great.

Here is a scripture someone shared with me that has great impact. It's meaning was more pronounced while fasting as we realized that God had already prepared the answers to our fasting long before we planned to fast! This is an amazing truth. God knew and prepared exactly what He was going to do in response to our fasting and prayer long before we purposed to seek Him earnestly! Here is the scripture:

Isaiah 65:24 - "Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear."

Isn't it great to know that He has prepared to do for you and I things that we haven't even asked for yet!!! That just causes my faith and love in God grow immensely. He is so awesome!!
Have confidence, ask and seek Him for whatever is going on in your life! Let Him wow you with the answers!

Since last writing Darlene and I along with our church family began a fast. We are now in the fifteeth day consuming only juices. What a great experience. We are convinced by God's Word and experience that fasting has great benefits. The most important are spiritual but there are physical rewards as well. And remember Jesus says in Matthew 6 that when we fast our Father will reward us openly or publically. In other words we are going to see the results.

We are not making God do anything. But we are walking in obedience to His Word and Will. Jesus fasted 40 days before beginning His ministry and also before any miracles took place through Him. That is a strong enough case for me to consider fasting an important part of our walk in the Lord.

So back to where I started. We are planning to complete 21 days total. Feeling great! Has it been hard? Of course it is. But well worth it. And I will try to report more on the results later. What are we expecting? Breakthroughs for us and others that we love. Salvation and deliverance in peoples lives. Divine provision for our people. And much more.

We are also praying and believing for God to move on behalf of our children in many ways as well as in our own lives. Did you know that fasting helps to uproot and remove personal bondages? It can help us break strongholds in our lives to grow and mature in the Lord.

Oh and let's not forget least of all but equally as important is the fact that it promotes health and healing in our bodies. Personally my blood pressure was up a bit. Not high or bad but still at some upper thresholds. Already after seven days of fasting I had my blood pressure checked and it had dropped to a very good level!

Fasting has a lot of benefits for life! Try it!

We just returned from a week long trip to the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico. It was very rewarding as I taught in a new bible institute during the week and then in 5 different churches both in the city of Merida and Cancun. Yes Cancun needs God too! Of course we were not in the tourist area but with the people that live there year round. The Economic crisis the United States has experienced has effected our neighbors below the border. Tourism has been way down. But they seem to be doing a lot better than America economically.
While there we take in some culture when we have a bit of down time. This trip we saw several cenotes among other things. What is a cenote? Basically I think it is a sink hole since most of the peninsula is limestone. These are generally where you can find fresh, cold water. There is always one or more near ancient ruins. Great source of water.
Two of the cenotes we saw were very close to the ocean. It was amazing to see that fresh water was flowing in these sink holes within yards of salt water. It made a scripture come alive for me more than before. That is James 3:10-12 which says that very thing. A spring cannot produce both fresh and salt at the same time. Only one or the other. And then he says our mouths should only be used to bless and not to curse. You can't mix the two.
Well that is quite a lesson. Because we do try to do both constantly. We curse and bless. We really don't like it when someone does something to us so we speak badly or down at them. Or we speak against people to others. We are supposed to function just like a spring and only allow one kind of water come out.
Hmmm we are to be like a spring. Didn't Jesus tell us that we would have springs of water flowing from within us? John 7:38 So those springs that flow out of us should produce only one kind of water! Water that blesses. It should also praise our God. Wow that is something to think about for this year. Let's work on producing what we were called to produce. Sweet water full of blessing for others.