"For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland."
- Isaiah 43:19, New Living Translation God wants to do something NEW in YOU in 2017. How do I know? He told me in His Word. Let's read again what we just started out reading in Isaiah 43:19. "For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun!" Isn't that exciting? God not only wants to do something new in you, He has already begun! He's already been planting the seeds of His Word in your heart. Perhaps He's been giving you dreams in the night concerning the future. He's also been speaking prophetically to you through seemingly insignificant things. In fact... other people would pass right on by and think nothing of it, but to you it's actually a confirmation of what He's been speaking to you about in the private. God's even been sending people right across your path, and they have released specific words right into your atmosphere to affect change. God has already begun a new work in you! Even though He's already started a new thing in us, we still have to see it, to be it. "Do you not see it?" - Isaiah 43:19b We have to see it! We have to take notice of it. In order to enter into something new we have to have a vision of it. We can't enter into something that we can't see. Once we see it though, we can enter into it, and we can do so with JOY! When we see that God has provided for us supernaturally, then we can walk in it. When we see that God has provided healing for our physical bodies, then we can receive the fullness of our healing. When we see that God has promised perfect peace in the most troubling of times, then we can enter into His peace. We have to SEE it, to walk into it. What NEW thing is God showing you today? Take some steps of faith towards it. Faith without works is dead. Dead faith profits nothing. It doesn't help anyone, you included. There are some things that we need to let go of, so that we can pick up the NEW thing God wants to give us. What do you need to let go of? What do you need to pickup? What do you need to rearrange in your life so that you can give the Lord more room? What do you need to fast from? What do you need to feed on? Let the Holy Spirit speak to you, and He will show you the answers to these questions. Be blessed! Until next time... Adam.
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Last night life slowed down long enough for me to put together the new piano that I was blessed with last month. It had been camping out in its box since its arrival here. During the piano stand assembly process (with screws all over the place, styrofoam flying, plastic parts rolling, and two very interested children "helping"), I was down on the floor in an awkward position, lying on my back and screwing the anti-tip bracket in place. I asked my daughter to get my phone. I needed to use the flashlight app to see what I was doing. She asked me, "Daddy why do you need more light? The lights are already on." I told her that I needed focused light to see where the screws went past the bracket and into their correct positions. Her question struck me though. Why do we need more light, when the lights are already on? Because even with the light we have, the enemy tries to hide things with subtle shadows of darkness. When we bring things into the light, we can see them for what they are. Psalms 119:105 tells us "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." We need the LAMP, and we need the LIGHT. The light of God's Word is to see a general picture of what's ahead. The light shines a broad illumination. The lamp of God's Word is more focused so we can see the steps that we must take on the path. Why do we go to church? To get FOCUSED light. Revelation. Understanding. We have Pastors and the five fold ministry gifts that focus the light of God's truth into our lives, helping us to see what darkness has been hiding in our lives. In the end, I was able to see clearly, and assemble the piano for us to enjoy. What is God trying to assemble in your life today?
Until next time... Adam What kind of wake do you make?The above photo shows the wake from the fishing boat I was on recently. I was blessed with the ocean fishing trip on my birthday week here in Maui, and we caught some delicious fish to eat!
What is a wake? Wikipedia defines it as,
Let's break it down and we'll use the boat for our example. As the boat moves forward and cuts through the water surface, it leaves a trail or a wake, behind itself in the water where it's been. The size of the wake can be determined by the speed that the boat is traveling and the water conditions. Did you know that we all create a wake in life? We cause ripples, or a wake, in people's lives, as we pass through their lives both positively and negatively. Proverbs 18:21 from the Young's Literal Translation, tells us that "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those loving it eat its fruit." Words are containers of either LIFE or DEATH. Words contain great power! Hebrews 11:3 tells us that God created everything we see with His Words. New Living Translation "By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God's command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen." If you want to study this out here are some corresponding verses that cross reference this. (Genesis 1:1, Psalm 33:6, Psalm 33:9, John 1:3, Romans 4:17, 1 Corinthians 2:7, 1 Timothy 4:5, Hebrews 1:2, Hebrews 6:5, 2 Peter 3:5) Did you notice that a wake is both ABOVE and BELOW the surface of the water? Many things we experience in life leave a wake on us emotionally. Emotions could be considered below the surface. Many of us hide our true emotions. Emotions definitely affect things above the surface! Our face, tear ducts, breathing, which are all "ABOVE" the surface show what's going on below the surface. Our emotions are great to experience when they're working for us and not against us. We should evaluate our emotions and see what they're pointing to. When we're angry, we should ask the question, Why am I angry? Have I been wronged? Has someone sinned against me? Jesus said to be angry and sin not. That means that anger is not evil in itself, but if we let it have it's way, we can enter into sin through full blown rage. The Bible tells us to guard our heart with all diligence. (Proverbs 4:23) Why? Because it's a matter of life and death. Words penetrate and affect us in our spirit, soul, and body. We can be negatively affected by the words and actions of others. Some people leave a negative wake wherever they go. You can tell that certain negative people have been through an area because the people that got hit by their "waves" are still left in the aftershock. Yikes! I don't want to be like that. On the positive side of things, we can leave an uplifting and encouraging wake in people's lives. (I want to be like that!) Don't we all know someone who can encourage us even when we'd like to choose to camp out in the depression blues? We feel better just being around them! Their smile brightens a room. Their laugh encourages others to laugh again. We can leave a good "wake" wherever we go.. if we will learn to be led by the Holy Spirit and yield to the love of God that's been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. We should endeavor to give people the gifts of support, grace, mercy, love and forgiveness that we have received from Jesus Christ. Prayer for today... "Heavenly Father, please help me to leave a positive wake in other people's lives. Help me to love others like you have loved me. Forgive others as you have forgiven me. To truly show mercy as you have shown mercy to me. I choose life. I choose love. In Jesus' name, Amen." Until next time... Adam Have you ever been around someone that didn't really want you around? They probably didn't outright tell you that, but their body language and everything else was speaking, or screaming, that fact loud and clear. Talk about a draining situation! Rejection isn't the focus of this post, but we can learn to turn rejection into personal redirection. (I'll share about that another time.) During the last year something came alive in me, a Rhema (spoken) word of God in my life. It spoke to my situation, my reality, and rang clear in my heart. It has to do with my relationship with the Heavenly Father. It's so simple, yet so profound. (Ok, enough of the suspense!) Here's what it is... God celebrates my presence, in His presence. He not only wants me around, he wants to hear from my individual heart. My deep thoughts, my dreams and ambitions, my own personal needs, my concerns, everything! He loves me, and he enjoys my company. If you look throughout the Bible you'll see a pattern of those who fellowshipped with God. They spent time together. They talked. They walked together. That's a place of relationship, and truly a place of intimacy. God is calling us all to this place. Where we stand in His presence and allow Him to minister to our soul. The places I am still lacking, He makes me whole. Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me to realize how much you love me, and let this truth of how you celebrate my presence in Your presence penetrate my soul and wash away the lies of the devil. I love you Father! In Jesus' Name, Amen. Until next time... Adam. The song above is another favorite of mine. I hope you take the time to listen to it. :-)
There are many times in life and especially in the Christmas season, when we must choose to declare, "It is well with my soul!" It's the time of year when we're out and about with the masses of people as far as the eye can see (especially if you're in line for the Star Wars movie premiere)! If you look around, in five minutes time, you'll see people fighting for parking spots, for places in the check-out line, for the hottest toys of the season, or even the last of the special coffee at the local coffee shop. Fighting! Grumbling. Complaining! This is the time of year to reflect on the goodness of God in our lives, the time to be thankful for all God has done. It's the season to celebrate the BEST GIFT we have ever received...eternal life! Salvation. A living relationship with a very living God! There are many songs about Santa sung in December, but Santa didn't change my life. Jesus changed my life! He's the best gift I've ever received. Since Jesus gave of Himself for me, I can give and be a blessing to others. Freely I have received from God, so freely I can give like He does. That may mean letting another person have "your" parking spot, or letting a mom with three young children go in front of you at the check-out line (I have some first-hand knowledge of what it's like to shop with three little ones, not always a walk in the park!), or sharing a smile and a caring compassionate conversation with a sad soul. There are so many ways available to us to be a blessing to other people in these times we live in! There's so much to see when we look outside of ourselves, and our little world. Let the Holy Spirit lead you in new ways to be a blessing to those around you. And choose to say, "It is well with my soul!" Until next time... Adam What would our world be like if we looked at things through the eyes of a child? Jesus talked about our own personal need to have faith like a child. “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. 15 I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” (Mark 10:14-15 New Living Translation) I realize that God wants me to grow to a place of spiritual maturity, and that place of developed maturity includes a tender heart - like a child. Our four year old daughter and two year old son don't understand the phrases, "There's not enough," or, "We're out of that." Puzzled looks come on their faces when they hear those words. Wow! The first time I shared this news with them I was perplexed by their simple, yet powerful response to my "bad news." They just waited for more food. Smart children! I was the one learning that day. I learned the truth that God doesn't run out of anything. He is our supply! Fast forward to more recently, we had frozen pizza for dinner and when we were done eating our first pizza, we were still hungry. Not to fear - we simply opened our freezer drawer and grabbed another pizza and put it in the oven. That was our pizza supply "storehouse." God's supply storehouse is far bigger than what our freezer drawer can hold. He doesn't want us to go without any good thing. He is our Father, and He loves us. Yes, He loves us enough to take care of our needs, even the pizza drawer supply. Where there is a need, He has a supply. "And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."(Philippians 4:19 New King James Version) We should daily adopt the attitude of a child. When we have a need, we are to look to our Heavenly Father, for He already has a supply to meet our need! Don't settle for "not enough." We serve the God of more than enough. That's our Heavenly Father! When we ask Him for help, we will receive from Him, the help that we need. Ask and we shall receive. "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" (Matthew 7:7-11 New King James Version) Until next time ... Adam
Thank you for supporting my first blog post yesterday! :-) I was both surprised and humbled that so many friends took the time to read what I wrote. I would love for you to comment and share from your own journey when something I share blesses your heart. I do have the comment section filtered through my approval because there are many internet spammers out there that have nothing better to do than post weird things on blogs. Strange, but true! Please feel free to share this blog with friends and family if you believe they will be blessed by it. Just don't spam anyone! Don't be THAT person. Ha Ha :-) Why am I writing? Simply, because I need to. I've had so much inside of my soul: words, ideas, messages, songs, parenting truths, leadership nuggets, etc. bottled up for so long, and I believe sharing it will bless others that are of "like mind and heart." I've always struggled with the desire to write, and the obvious negative vulnerability it opens me up to. I'm being brave and trusting God's plan in this step of faith. When we confront what's real... what is happening right now... then we are a candidate to receive God's grace and mercy in that area of our life. He will even show us the way out of a situation, if that's what's needed. Psalm 34:18 • New Living Translation (NLT)18 "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed." It's amazing how God speaks to our hearts, and showers us in love on our days of distress. He brings peace to our troubled minds. Isn't that great news?! God is speaking - ALL of the time! We just aren't listening. Or if we listen, it's half hearted. We can also filter things through our own situations. Whether it's a need we're facing, a hurt we're feeling, an offense we're reeling from, or a personal character attack, we can let those things be the filter to God's pure voice. But we need to let the Word of the Lord break down our "situational filters" and receive His Word in beautiful simplicity. When I purpose to slow down (and that's hard for me) and seek God's direction, I find 99.9% of the time he graciously repeats what He has previously spoken to me about. When He spoke the first time, I didn't do what He said. I find myself repenting a lot. That's okay. That's reality. That's relationship. If I mess up, I'm going to own it and ask for His forgiveness. And the good news is, GOD FORGIVES ME! And He will forgive you too! All you have to do is ask. Then we can all step into His amazing grace and do what He's instructed us to do. It's really a win / win! Seek Him first. (Matthew 6:33) I hope you enjoy the song at the top of my post. God's love truly came down and rescued me from a personal pit of pain, distress, and sorrow. He has set my feet up on the ROCK. I can say boldly that, "I am His, and He loves me - completely!" Until next time... Adam Music often expresses what my heart can't.
It happens to me all the time. I'll be listening to a song, and it resounds with my soul, and my tear ducts begin to work as I'm simply overwhelmed. I assure you, my tear ducts work perfectly well! At times, much to my embarrassment. But I've learned to just "flow" with it. I've learned that if we don't express what's in our soul, we become very "clogged" emotionally. Walls begin to go up, and our heart can become hardened by an image of ourselves that we're religiously clinging to. You know that image... the one of learned Christian perfection? Our hands raised at just the right times. Clapping along in perfect rhythm with the music. Smiling. Singing along with the worship leader. PRETENDING that all is well in our life. But... God sees beyond that. He desires that we worship Him in spirit and in truth. When a song speaks to our heart, and we respond in truth, we will open ourselves up to the healing power of the Holy Spirit. He wants to minister to our hearts. He wants to heal our wounds. He wants to set us free... especially from ourselves. I love that in our "prayer closet" or personal times of worship, the Holy Spirit ministers to our hearts. It could be through a song, or a scripture, or a testimony and we can truly be FREE to express our heart to Him. Tears are okay. Sobbing is okay. Snot.. well we have tissues for that. Ha! But God isn't scared by our openness. He isn't shocked at our brokenness. He calls us to liberty. He calls us to come to the throne of His grace. You see, His perfect love casts out all fear. He who has been forgiven much, loves much. He who was hardened by the junk of this world, can be softened by His tender mercies in His presence. Tenderness and compassion come from being close to Jesus. This song in the video reminds me of God's heart towards us as His children. He is a GOOD, GOOD FATHER! Until next time... - Adam |
AuthorLiving life as a .... Servant of Jesus Christ, Husband, Father, Son, Brother, Uncle, Friend, Pastor, Missionary, Worshiper, Musician, Vocalist, Encourager. Archives
January 2017
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