SEARCH ME GOD

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Ps 139:23-24

It's time we stop praying those safe and easy little prayers? You know those generic, predictable, safe prayers, like, be with me Lord, protect me Lord, and bless me oh Lord.

It's Challenging to pray Dangerously, but it has the potential to redirect your life and take you into new dimensions. Wanna really see some change in your life? Then it's time to pray dangerously!

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David was facing persecution by the enemies of God, they claimed David wasn’t faithful, so he put out this life changing, dangerous prayer!

It started with Search me God and know my heart! Why is it important to have our heart examined? Maybe because the heart is the most deceitful of all things and is desperately wicked,

Jer. 17:9 NLT

We could start off with the fact that we are liars. You ever told any lies? I know I have and the most common lies are the ones we tell ourselves.

I'm not materialistic, I just like nice stuff. I don’t have an anger problem, people just know how to push my buttons. I'm not a gossiper, I only say this so you can know what to pray for. I'm not critical, that guys just an idiot!

Haven't found one for you yet? Here's a few more.

I'm not lusting, I just appreciate a nice physique. I don't eat that much, I'm just big boned. I can't lose weight, I've tried everything.

Stop being a fake and let God truly search your heart, no more lying to yourself!

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The next part of this prayer is, what makes you anxious? What are you afraid of? I'm not talking about: Snakes, Spiders, Clowns, Shower curtains. Maybe for you it's getting married or being Stuck in a bad marriage. Maybe you're afraid of rejection. Failure scares you. or maybe you're afraid you might succeed. Maybe you're afraid to get close to anyone, you have a problem with intimacy.

What we fear the most reveals where we trust God the least.

Fear of losing your marriage = you don’t trust God.

Something happening to your child = not trusting God w/children

Not having enough = God is not my provider.

I have a fear of failing and letting people down. Many times I feel inadequate and wonder why God chose me. The thing that keeps me going is that I love pleasing God more than I fear failing, The word of God tells us there is no fear in love, perfect love casts out all fear and that God has not given us a spirit of fear.

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The last part of this prayer is asking God to reveal our sins. There is a few way's that God does this in my life and I watch for them.

One is, what are others trying to tell me? Do I have more than a few people telling me the same thing about me. If so, then God may be using them to try and reveal an area that I need to focus some change.

Another is, if I find myself getting defensive all the time about certain things that are said. That could be a sure way to tell as well.

Whether it is pride, materialistic, lust, addiction, gossip, critical spirit, or disobeying, we need to let God clean it up in our lives.

Will you pray, Search me Lord, Reveal my fears, and uncover my sins?

Stop lying to yourself, denying the truth doesn’t change the facts. Whatever you discover will reveal your need for the thing in that area that needs changed!

Be more concerned with what God thinks, than what people think.

Not All the Same

 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6

All world religions are not the same—some have truth & beauty in them —but they're not the same.

• Buddhism no god, no final existence, has countless rebirth— no end to the cycle.

• Hinduism—impersonal god— only approached thru deities/statues/idols

Neither offer forgiveness of sins or supernatural help— it's karma.

• Muslim—worships  Allah— is a personal god—no secondary gods Your standing depends on religious devotion and works.

• New Age—not personal god, higher consciousness—universe or cosmos.

• Christianity—is a personal God—sent Jesus to show us love and forgiveness.

JUST CONSIDER JESUS

Not asking you to consider a certain church, or even the religion of Christianity. Jesus didn’t come to start a religion.

I'm not asking you to look at Christians either. I know there are a lot of out of touch Christians—narrow minded— judgmental.

Don’t look at my life either—I’ll let you down for sure!

• CONSIDER THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.

¹⁶ When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw [Jesus] eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ¹⁷ On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Mark 2:16-17

They despised these people that Jesus was with, Jesus loved them and He accepted them!

Remember the woman caught in adultery, Jesus defends her and say he without sin, throw the first stone!

Jesus opened blind eyes, healed deaf ears, made the mute to speak, healed lepers, when others wouldn't even go near them.

He turned water to wine, walked on water, Raised the dead!

Critics didn’t question his miracles—they just wanted him to stop!

Many of us are miracles!

I was a cheater— I stole—couldn’t stop drugs and drinking!

Been arrested for several things, did way to many drugs, wonder to be a live. Never imagined God was use me the way He has and does.

I'm a new creation—not a better version of an old me— I'm new and different!

• CONSIDER THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS.

He Loves us—but hates sin!

Even while being crucified, He says, Father forgive them.

The centurion who helped him carry the cross seen it after just spending a shirt amount of time with him. 

He said surely this was the son of God!

In Acts 3:15 Peter says

You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.

Some thought Roman soldiers stole body—His enemies would have loved produce a dead body, but it never happened.

Some thought the Disciples took the body, but there is no way they could have overpowered trained Roman guards.

Do you really expect any rational thinking person to believe

11 small town, uneducated average men devised the most elaborate and deceptive plan and then pulled it off and it was kept a secret.

These men led the world to being a better place, they had no personal motives and were willing to die for the cause.

Most of them were put to death! Peter was crucified upside down.

The only one who doubted was Thomas, he became an evangelist to India and was speared to death.

2000 years later the church is still under massive persecution—more than 2 billion people follow Jesus!

• CONSIDER THE ETERNAL MESSAGE OF JESUS.

²² We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. Romans 3:22 NLT

No matter who you are. It isn't Jesus and your good works, it isn't Jesus and your tithe, it isn't Jesus and your good church attendance. 

It is Christ + nothing. It is Christ Alone!

Religion is

What I do

About me

If I obey God will love me

Relationship is

What Jesus has done

About Jesus

Because God loves me I can obey

God's Building Crew or Satan's Wrecking Crew!

You're either going to be part of God's building crew or Satan's wrecking crew! 

The things we say and do effect all those around us, even our attitudes can change a room. 

Come on, I know you've walked into a room and felt the bad vibe before! We have to make a decision to build people up, it's very easy for us to start talking about people's bad attitudes or habits. We need to speak positive to people and about people.

^{Ephesians 4:29} Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 

Now take a moment and ask yourself if you have followed that scripture. I know I haven't! 

Have there been times in your past where you were definitively part of Satan's wrecking crew? You can be honest, no ones listening. I think we can all remember a time, when we've said mean and hurtful things and didn't really care if it was building people up or not.

I want to be a part of the building crew, not the wrecking crew. I'm making a commitment to it starting today. 

I will not let any unwholesome talk come from my mouth and will only speak into the needs of those around me, I want to be a benefit to them! Ask the Lord to help you do the same and let's help God build the Kingdom together!

When the Devil Knocks

When the Devil Knocks

You were created in the image of God and the devil hates you and everything about you. It's not a matter of if he will attack, but is when will he attack. He is a deceiver, an accuser, and a destroyer. He will twist scripture to deceive you just as he did with Eve in the garden and like he tried to do with Jesus after He had fasted.

Before you sin: He says things like, It’s no big deal. No one will find out. Everyone does it! You deserve it! It’s only this one time. You won’t even get caught!

After you sin: He says, You're nothing. How could God even love you? Your life is ruined. You're so Pathetic.

When the devil comes at you, he will bring up all your junk.

Hey Al, remember that time you stole that car? Oh yeah, and what about the time you said that word, you know the one that rhymes with duck? 

Maybe for you it's when you Lied, or Yelled at the kids, had an Affair, got Divorced, filed Bankruptcy, watched that Porn, got an Abortion. 

Whatever it is, you can be sure the Accuser hurls shame, You're Dirty and Unworthy.

Glory to God, He has given us an advocate.

My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. 1 John 2:1 NLT

The devil hurls accusations, but Jesus is our defense.

God is blessing you with something you don’t deserve!

Not because you are good, but because this is how good God is!

If you've done something wrong, it's important to learn how to  distinguish between Satan’s accusations and the Spirit’s conviction.

• Accusations—Drive us away from God, Guilt, Shame
• Conviction—Leads us closer to God, Leads to repentance and hope!

Satan accuses, he wants you to feel guilty, experience regret.

Spirit convicts, draws you to the presence of God to experience grace.

Remember

There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!

We need to remember that what the Bible says in every situation!

³ For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. ⁴ The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. ⁵ We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

2 Cor 10:3-5

Try to remember these when the devil starts throwing shade!

• You’re a failure—you should be ashamed!

I am the righteousness of God in Christ— A New creation

• God is punishing me.

My Father is a good God who gives good gifts. This is an attack from evil one. What devil meant for evil—God will use for good.

I consider it pure joy whenever I face conflict and accusations.

• God isn’t there. He’s disappointed. Doesn’t love you.

38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[a] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39

My God will never leave me—My God will never forsake me!

My God is for me—Not against me.

I am not fighting for victory—I already have the victory!

No weapon turned against you will succeed. You will silence every voice raised up to accuse you. Isa 54:17 NLT

• The devil knows you by your name but calls you by your sin.
• God knows your sin—but calls you by your name.

The Church God Planned

We are living in a time of political, economic, social, and spiritual turmoil. We shouldn't be surprised, if we interpret the events of the world in terms of what Jesus said would happen in the days prior to His coming (Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21).  As these events unfold, we need to provide the culture with a life-giving mechanism Jesus intended. We cannot fall short in demonstrating His lifestyle that validates the godly values foundational to a way of life that provides discovery for people searching for reality.

As a way of countering the downward spiral of humanity, Jesus instituted the Church (Matthew 16:13-19) for the purpose of changing their direction to upward outcomes.  The gift of the Church was for God to provide a way to reach mankind and provide a means through which people could experience a lifestyle similar to the one Jesus lived. The Church then, is God's tool to confront the world system, not simply make an impression upon it.  Lasting impressions are more than verbal stimuli. The kind of impressions I believe Jesus intended was to demonstrate values that would penetrate the value structures of people to the heart level and produce lifestyle changes that would be a reflection of new life unfolding at the core of the human heart.

What I see in today's Church is people pursuing knowledge about God and knowledge about the Word. That can lead to proclaiming personal rights rather than personal responsibilities.  I believe we should be a people seeking to know Jesus personally and involved in a pursuit of ways in which we can assume divinely appointed responsibilities. We need to be asking God to help us discover ways to reach those we live around.  We need to keep in mind, "A good, moral, and socially acceptable person without Jesus as Savior, when they die, will be separated eternally from God....as a good, moral, and socially acceptable person."

We need to ask ourselves the question, "Do we see ourselves functioning as the Church in the way God planned?"  Or, have we prescribed another way of addressing the human condition apart from what God intended for us in the Scriptures?"

He intended for us to be...light that dispels darkness...salt that purifies, gives flavor, and offers preservation...an example of conduct that loves...forgives...accepts...a message that reveals a loving God...healers of brokenness...presenters of a way to live motivated by giving rather than seeking possessions...the list could go on and on.  Perhaps rethinking our Scriptural purpose will produce a different perspective on what we are supposed to be to this world we live in and rethinking more effective ways of reaching people God dearly loves.

With Great Love
Al

Five Easy Steps To Keep Your Faith

Five Easy Steps to Keep Your Faith

Do you remember a time that you were closer to God? 
Maybe you read the Bible more, or maybe you actually witnessed to people. Maybe you never complained about what song the worship team was playing. You were just glad to be at the church praising and worshiping God. Many of us can answer yes to this question.

It's very easy for us to fall away from God, easier than you would think; we have help and don't even know it. The enemy wants to destroy our lives and therefore is on constant watch to find how to distract us from God. In Hebrews 2:2 we read that "We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away."

Maybe you haven't drifted just yet. Maybe you don't even know you're close to doing so. Maybe you don't know, because you haven't seen the real thing, EVER!

Hey... If you're not sure what to do, Just Fake It, that's what many Christians are doing today. Most have never seen the real thing and wouldn't know what it looks like anyways. Most of them that have seen a real move of God and have had real Faith haven't seen the real thing in so long; they've forgotten what it looks like. So it makes it real easy to drift away and lose your faith.

Think I'm being too hard, well God said the same thing in Isaiah
Isaiah 29:13 The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me… oh maybe you need more... OK! How about "I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead." Rev 3:1. 
I don't want to have a reputation of being alive, I want to Be Alive!

I'm just saying, maybe we should take a good look at our faith and let God do the adjusting that is needed.

We need to return to our first Love. Jesus! …You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first... Rev 2:4-5. Wow, who better to take advice from than Jesus? So let's get back to the basics.

Five Steps to Keep Your Faith!

1) Spend more time with God

Get back to spending time searching the scripture's, reading, meditating upon the Lord. Seek Him, thirst for Him.

O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you… Ps 63:1

2) Trust that the Lord is in Control

Put all your trust in Him, don't doubt, no stop it right now. Even when Christians do things that you know are not from God, you still have faith and trust in Him. Don't follow your emotions!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding… Prov. 3:5

3) Get around some good influences

Stop hanging out with only negative people, I know you want to help, but you need help too. It's OK to have friends that need help, but remember, for you to be a good influence on them, they need to see you making wise decisions and doing the right things.

Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character...” 1 Cor. 15:33

4) Resist Temptation

You can do it and you know you can. Matter of fact, if you start calling and hanging out with some of those good influences you will have some help. When things get tough, call for reinforcements. Have people pray with you. Also take notice to the areas of your life where you struggle and stay out of there. I know guys that had problems with alcoholism and you won’t ever see them in a bar again. They know to stay away from places of temptation.

but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. James 1:14-15

5) Never put this world before God

Don't get caught up in the things of the world. You don't need the best car or the biggest house. Be happy you have a car and a place to call home. Stop going into debt just to show off to your friends. So what, they have all the new techno stuff. You Love God much more than any material thing and that is way more important.

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in him. 1 John 2:15

There is no such thing as a lack of faith. We all have plenty of faith; it's just that we have faith in the wrong things. We have faith in lack rather than abundance. Take time to follow these steps and re-discover your faith!

TWO MYTHS ABOUT MONEY

TWO MYTHS ABOUT MONEY

Myth #1... Be wise with your money! You don't own any money! We have all been led to believe that we are in control of our finances, but this just isn't true. God owns everything, I know you hear this all the time, but do you really listen?

Psalm 24:1 The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it.

I'm pretty sure that money falls under the and everything in it. We are stewards over what the Lord has blessed us with. So I looked in the dictionary and a steward is someone who manages someones finances. How are you doing in that area? If you went to the bank and they were handling your money the way you're handling Gods, would you be a little upset? Might even start putting a little less in that bank, I bet! Maybe that's why you're broke all the time.

Myth #2... You have to tithe, because God's church needs your money! If God wanted your money, He would take it and there would just be a greasy mark in the spot you use to stand! Poof you're gone! God doesn't need anything from you, tithing is a principle that teaches us to be like Him. He created us in His likeness Genesis 1:27 God created man in His own image. He has many things in His word that teaches us to be like His son Jesus! Sure you're created in His image but to be truly like Him, you must be a giver! Remember He is a giver, even gave up His own Son!

Stop getting all hung up every time someone talks about money! Start being wise with you're money, start tithing, which is one of God's principles to teach you to be like His Son! Maybe it's time for you to get all hung up, tied up and twisted all up on Jesus!