ADOPTED

ADOPTED: “God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family...& it gave him great pleasure.”Eph1:5 wp.me/s29yfQ-adopted #family #love

First Instinct

First Instinct
By Skip Heitzig

Worry is a huge problem. As used in the Bible, the word worry means to divide the mind. You know what that’s like: You try to focus on something but other things steal your thoughts away. It’s difficult to grab hold of God’s promises and walk in the Spirit when your mind is torn and divided.

Paul tells us, “Be anxious for nothing” (see Philippians 4:6-7 . That’s a command, and it’s such a strong one that it would be best rendered “stop worrying about even one single thing.” He is echoing Jesus, who told us not to worry about our life, or what we will eat or drink or wear (see Matthew 6:25-34).

Paul’s prescription for this problem is to replace what you’re worried about, those thoughts that consume your mind, with communication with God. Replace your fears, worry, and anxiety with prayer.

The word prayer is sometimes translated worship. When something bad happens, is our first instinct to stop and worship? No, usually we rush the throne of God and spout out the problem. But if we were to pause and to make our first trained instinct to worship God—to think about who we’re addressing and what He’s capable of, and give Him praise and honor—that would change our perspective!

Paul’s second word, supplication, means strong crying—begging God. Typically, that’s our first instinct. And the Bible says “Good! Pour out your heart to the Lord; make supplication.”

And the third is thanksgiving. Learn to thank God not just for the things you’ve prayed for that He has answered, but even when you pray for something and it doesn’t happen. “God, I’ve learned that You know better than I do. You know best. I’ve learned to trust You. You’ve brought this into my life because You want to mature me. Thank You.” Give God thanks because He is still God, and He knows what He’s doing. Learn to make that your first response.

In the story of the ten lepers that Jesus healed (see Luke 17:11-19 , only one came back to thank Him. That’s only ten percent. I wonder, with all the blessings God has given us, if only ten percent of the time we say, “God, I just want to thank You.” It may not be our first instinct, but it can become our learned instinct.

Only then come our requests, and the promise we have is the peace of God. Remember this: The peace that you experience (or don’t experience) as a Christian is related to the giving of thanks to God. I would even say that your peace is directly proportional to your ability to give thanks to God for the things He brings to your life.

Are you a peaceful person? I bet you thank God a lot. Are you an ill-at-ease person? I bet thanksgiving isn’t on your menu a lot of the time.

Charles Spurgeon said he would rather be blind, deaf and dumb than to not be thankful to God. So let’s make thanksgiving a habit, not only at this time, but throughout the year—our learned instinct

POSITIVE INFLUENCE:

POSITIVE INFLUENCE: The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.”Prov14:1 wp.me/p29yfQ-z5

Is this from You Lord?

In every believer’s journey there will be a time when something seems like the perfect opportunity. Your emotions will be shouting, I couldn’t have dreamed this up! Your mind will be telling you, Oh, man! It doesn’t get any better than this! But God will be saying, This isn’t my will.

This is what happened to Dr. Elmer Towns, the co-founder of Liberty University. In his book God Encounters, he tells a story about a time when he turned down what appeared to be a perfect opportunity.

After resigning from a teaching job at a small Bible college, he accepted an offer with the National Sunday School Association to travel, speak, and teach to various denominations. This seemed like the perfect chance for national recognition, influence, and a wider ministry. But God had something else in mind.

In his book, Towns tells about the experience.

I woke up violently in the middle of the black night. Something was wrong. I began to sweat all over.

“Lord, what is it?”

The Lord was in the room, not physically, nor did I see a vision, nor did I hear an audible voice; but I knew that the Lord was standing by my bed to warn me of something. . . I prayed several times, “Lord, what are you trying to tell me?”

Then the Lord spoke to my heart, telling me not to take the new job I had just accepted. . . “Don’t take the job,” God kept saying.

Taking the job seemed like the right thing to do considering his gifts and talents, and how he could make the greatest impact. Not only that, but ever since Towns was a freshman in college he had wanted to be a Bible college president. This opportunity looked like a fast track to his dream.

However, after wrestling with God for a couple hours in prayer, Towns realized he was being driven by his ego. So he told the Lord that fame was not important and that he wouldn’t take the job—even if it meant never becoming a college president.

Then the Lord spoke to his heart, Don’t take the Sunday school job. . . but within a year I will give you a college presidency. He obeyed, continued to teach at the small Bible college, and kept trusting God.

One wintery day two months later, he decided to stop by his church to chat with his pastor, Robert MacMillan. While there, he told Pastor MacMillan about his dream to become a Bible college president. “That’s wonderful!” the pastor responded, then told Towns he had the talent to do the job. Just then the phone rang. It was a pastor friend of MacMillan’s from Toronto, Canada who asked, “Do you know where I can find a young man to be President of Winnipeg Bible College?”

“Your man is sitting right here,” MacMillan answered.

There will come a time when you will be convinced that the opportunity in front of you is right. But remember, not every good opportunity is a God opportunity. Stay flexible. Pray. Let Him guide you. He knows best.

 

By Shana Schutte, Blueprint for Life

 

 

Sid Stewart

Executive Director

864 226-6193

www.havenofrest.cc

 

WINNER!:

WINNER!: “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Rom8:37 wp.me/s29yfQ-winner #win #nofear #Christ

Trusting For Fruit – Alistair Begg

Trusting For Fruit – Alistair Begg

John 15:4

How did you begin to bear fruit? It was when you came to Jesus and cast yourself on His great atonement and rested on His finished righteousness. What fruit you had then!

Do you remember those early days? Then the vine flourished, the tender grape appeared, the pomegranates budded, and the beds of spices produced their fragrance. Have you declined since then?

If you have, we charge you to remember that time of love, and repent, and do your first works. Commit yourself fully to the activities that you have proved to draw you closest to Christ, because it is from Him that all your fruits proceed.

Any holy activity that will bring you to Him will help you bear fruit. The sun is, no doubt, a great worker in fruit-creating among the trees of the orchard: And Jesus is even more so among the trees of His garden of grace.

When have you been the most fruitless? Has it not been when you have lived farthest from the Lord Jesus Christ, when you have slackened in prayer, when you have departed from the simplicity of your faith, when your graces have engrossed your attention instead of your Lord, when you have said, "My mountain stands firm, I will never be moved" and you have forgotten where your strength lies-has not it been then that your fruit has ceased?

Some of us have been taught that we have nothing apart from Christ by terrible humiliation of heart before the Lord; and when we have seen the utter emptiness and death of all earthly power, we have cried in anguish, "From Him all my fruit must be found, for no fruit can ever come from me."

We are taught by past experience that the more simply we depend upon the grace of God in Christ and wait upon the Holy Spirit, the more we will bring forth fruit unto God. We must trust Jesus for fruit as well as for life.

 

NOT TOO HOT...NOT TOO COLD

 “...U R lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth”Rev3:15-16 wp.me/p29yfQ-yW