Set a date with the Lord. Yes that is right. Everything we do in life happens at determined times. Yes there are some surprises but basically we set our alarm clocks in order to keep appointments. We even do that for church. So we decide we are going to meet with the Lord at certain preplanned times such as Sunday morning church service. We fully expect(hopefully this is your expectation) to meet with the Lord on Sunday morning and have some kind of spiritual encounter. And we are not disappointed.
So why not set times to meet with the Lord without the guilt of thinking we should not and cannot do that. Do we think we will offend the Lord if we desire to meet with Him at certain times? When you sit down to read or pray at specific preset times in your life do you expect God to accompany you? Of course we do. Well then maybe we need to raise our level of expectation in life. Maybe we need to bring future hope of God meeting our needs or showing himself to us into the present.
I think too many times we are looking into the future and expecting some day for things to happen. We should begin to believe in a God that is NOW present. Not future tense. A God that says things to us like He did to Zachaeus in the gospels, "today I will eat at your house". We need to know that faith is NOW.
Sure we can't demand of God to do things. We ask. But we need to ask believing He will, He wants to, and He can. Expecting the Lord to do something in the future is fine. But we can also begin to expect an outpouring of His grace today. Didn't He say today is the day of salvation?? Does that mean when we come to the Lord to receive salvation that He will save us someday? No it means He will save us NOW. How cool is that?
We do not get saved at some future time but in the same moment we ask. Yes I know that many times we need to pray and believe patiently until the answer comes. But even then we are to believe it happens before we ever see it. Right? Check out Mark 11:23-25. That is what we are told to do. So don't believe everything is for tomorrow. Begin to open your ears to hear Him say "today I will come to you", "today is the day".

We have had a name change at our church! We are now called lifepoint church. It was so hard to explain our other name to people that we decided it was time for change. We are also in a new time for our church. An exciting time. We are very much looking forward to what the future holds. And as we move forward we want to be sure that our community knows who we are.

Three words that describe our vision are the words reaching, touching, and changing. In a nutshell we are passionately going after God and at the same time we want to touch people's lives with the power of God. We are also very much about relationships. Our vision can be found in the book of Isaiah chapter 61. The first four verses speak to us about three different areas.

The first area speaks of the call of God on those of us that love God. As Christians we are called to reach out people with God's grace and love. To bring healing to the broken, declare liberty to the captives, and generally help people to know the grace of God.

The second area speaks of bringing healing and wholeness to Christians. So many believers are hurting or broken in some way that they are not able to help others. God wants to make us whole so that we can in turn help others become whole. The Lord has provided for believers grace to be made whole.

The third area speaks of rebuilding the ruined places. I believe God is calling church to once again bring healing to our society. The family needs to once again be restored. The only way this'll come about is if the church is made whole and therefore able to be a testimony of God's goodness so that others would desire to follow.

All of us I think understand that life is filled with battles. There are all kinds of battles. Personal battles, relational battles, life battles, etc. There are also spiritual battles that all of us face throughout life. Many times we try to fight the spiritual battles on our own and then pat ourselves on the back when we seemingly win a victory.
But there is a phrase in the Word of God that makes me rethink how I fight the battles I face. That phrase is "the battle is the Lord's".
Actually God asks us to not fight but to stand firm and take our rightful place or position in Him. Let's face it, all of us at one point or another realize that we can't win the wars that rage in our lives alone. And our attempts at doing so are at best temporary if not totally failures. We need the Lord on our side. Well better said, we need Him to fight for us. We are not able to stand up against spiritual powers by just wishing it away or by doing works in life. We need spiritual POWER to fight spiritual battles.
He, Jesus, has won all the battles we will face in life. So why not let Him fight for us. Remember a scripture that says, "greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world"? He is greater! So let's get our strategies from HIM!! Let's wait and see His salvation. Let's learn to turn over more of our life to the one who has already won the victory. Let us enjoy the victory He purchased for us.

The power and presence of God definitely changes lives! On my journey through life I have felt very priviledged to KNOW the Lord. I mean not just read about Him and live a religious life but actually walk with and in Him. Ministry is not just a job for me. It is part of who I am. Nothing thrills me more than to see lives changed by the power of God.
I received a phone call from a pastor where I spoke a few months ago in a small town in central Mexico. We helped start the church there many years ago but that is another story. On my recent trip in December I remember distictly a couple that came to listen. They have never been to church of any kind before. As a matter of fact he was a 18th degree mason and had everything that goes along with that. At the time I remember that during the whole service they never took their eyes off of me and I was sure at one point that they were going to leave and never come back to a church.
But something amazing happened! God used me to speak a direct word into their lives! Then I gave a call to salvation and they along with 6 others ran to the front for salvation! It wasnt' until yesterday, (2 months later) that I learned how radically God had changed their lives. He has denounced everything else he was ever involved with along with his wife and they have totally dedicated their lives to the Lord. He actually destroyed all the books and things related to his past without anyone asking him to.
Isn't it refreshing to see how God's power impacts and changes lives so drastically?? They were confronted with a REAL GOD who stills visits and transforms lives!!! Isn't that why we love God? I can't wait to see what He will do next!

Every day we are facing challenges in life. Especially in our individual walks. We also face many battles. It seems that the battles are increasingly difficult as time goes on. But there is help for all of us. I know for myself that I try to do a lot of things like win battles on my own. It is so easy to forget the Lord in the middle of stuff that happens in our lives. But it is vitally important that we constantly call upon Him to help us. Even carry us through what we are walking through.

Here is a simple truth that I return to over and over in my life: Ask! When I have lack or can't find the strength to get through I only need to ask! That is just too simple. There must be more to it. It has to cost me something. After all I have to try to make it on my own first right?

You see that is the problem a lot of us have. We can ask God and He will answer. Not only will He answer but He will provide for us. I think we need to make it more of a priority to ask God in every area of our lives. We may find the help that we need. We may discover the POWER of God working on our behalf. Simply because we asked!!