Daily Word from Dr. Jack Graham

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August 21, 2008

He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

--1 Thessalonians 5:24

Maybe someone has let you down recently. Or maybe you've let yourself down. Take heart! God is faithful. He will do what He says He will do.

And not only is God faithful and reliable, but He is committed to your spiritual growth and maturity. First Thessalonians 5:23-24 says, "Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it."

I love that! Because it promises you and me that God is constantly working on us... creatively, constructively, and continually. The Spirit of God is working in your body and in your soul. And His purpose is to make you more like Him!

Remember when you were a teenager and you couldn't wait to grow up? That's how we feel sometimes as Christians. When will we ever grow up? When will we ever be responsible in the Christian life? When will we ever be obedient in the Christian life? It's so easy to become frustrated with ourselves!

But we need to remember that God is patient... and that God is persevering. And according to Philippians 1:6, "he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."

And when God gets through with you, you're going to stand complete, perfect in the glory of Jesus Christ. You shall arise in His likeness. You will be like Jesus. That's God's goal in your life and mine... and He will be faithful to perform it!

ARE YOU TRYING TO STAND ON YOUR OWN TODAY? OR ARE YOU DEPENDING ON GOD?

Crosswalk: Power Point with Jack Graham

August 15, 2008

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.

--1 John 5:14

You and I know that prayer changes things. It's a clear promise from Scripture.

But did you know that prayer also changes you and me? It changes our priorities, and it gets our lives in sync with God's plan.

There's a great formula for prayer I learned from my fellow pastor and friend, Dr. Ed Young from Houston. It's the acronym SELF:

S stands for surrender. Each day, you and I must surrender our lives to the Lord. We must say, "Lord, I report for duty, I give You my life today. I am Your child and I want to be in Your will today."

E stands for empty. Once you surrender your life to Christ each day, you must empty yourself of self and sin and anything else that would keep you from fulfilling God's plan and purpose for your life.

You must say, "Lord, I empty all my unresolved conflicts and issues. I want to get rid of everything that would keep me from connecting with You today."

L stands for lift. Once you surrender your life to the Lord Jesus and empty yourself of everything that would hinder your relationship with Him, you must lift your heart in praise, petition, and thanksgiving.

F stands for fill. This is when you ask God to fill you with His Holy Spirit so that you will live in the fullness of His power and His blessing.

So SELF is surrendering, it is emptying, it is lifting, and it is filling. And if you do theses things in prayer every day, not only is your relationship with Christ going to be that much sweeter, you'll make an eternal impact on the world for Jesus Christ!

DURING YOUR PRAYER TIME TODAY, GO THROUGH THE STEPS FOR "SELF."

I was really impressed with this when I read it today, awesome! I think it is ironic that the meaning of the acronym "self" is totally opposite of being filled with "self"!

Bill

Power Point, by, Jack Graham

July 7, 2008

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.

--1 Peter 1:3-4

In these troubling times, have you ever wondered if we can really be hopeful about the future? I want to assure you that it is possible to live with hope, despite what may be going on around us.

Because while hope is ultimately about the future, it's also about the present. And that's because we have a living hope.

Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ we have hope. It's because He lives that hope can reside in your heart if you're a Christian.

And because of that, there is no need to fear the future! If you are a child of God, you are chosen and called by Him. You're not an accident, an afterthought, or a mistake. You have been in the heart and mind of God forever, and He has already been planning and preparing your future.

In fact, God knows the end from the beginning... and everything else in your life. That's comforting when we face tough times and when we're tempted to give up. It's encouraging to know that we are never, ever without hope!

So today, if you're tempted to give up on your marriage, don't! If you're thinking about giving up on your kids, don't! If you want to give up on your dreams... or even life itself... don't!

Remember that you have a living hope that is working in your past, your present, and your future. And as the Scripture teaches us in Romans chapter 5, that hope does not disappoint!

TODAY, GIVE GOD THANKS FOR KEEPING YOUR FUTURE IN HIS HANDS!

In Touch, by Charles Stanly

July 5, 2008 -- Rekindling the Flame -- 1 Timothy 4:14-16

Sadly, a believer's passion to serve the Lord and share the gospel sometimes fades. When this happens, some choose to settle for a lukewarm life. They neither risk much for His name nor receive many blessings. Others stop ministering altogether and drift aimlessly through life. But the wise choice is to rekindle the flame of passion that first lit when we received salvation.

When we were saved, we received the gift of the Holy Spirit, our Helper in ministry. But wrong choices and poor priorities can hinder His power in our life. If that happens, how can we renew our passion for God?

The first step is to pray for the Holy Spirit to fill--or control--us again. That requires self-examination and repentance of any sins the Lord brings to mind. It also means giving back to God the right to reign over our life. Next, think about what was and what wasn't happening in life when our passion last burned brightly. Understanding how external pressures and activities affect our ministry helps us prioritize wisely.

A smart last step is to retreat and devote a day or more to refocus on the Lord. This is a good time to recall His words of encouragement from Isaiah 41:10. In that way, we can resist fixating on problems. Instead, it's important to remember that He'll shepherd us through any trial. The more we focus on God, the smaller our distractions and stress will seem.

We don't need to settle for a lukewarm life. The passion we experienced at salvation can be ours again if we'll fix our focus on the Lord.

Sunday, June 29, 2008
Carry The Light-9/11 Memorial

This is an awesome video and the message is that we as Christians must carry the light of Christ's message to the world. His love for us is free, all we have to do is accept it.
Posted by Pattycakes at 3:55 PM

ps: Pattycakes is my wonderful wife of 17 years!

Make a Smilebox free ecard

Make a Smilebox free ecard

Make a Smilebox slideshow

A day at the park

Alone in Tokyo HD from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

Daily Word by Dr. Jack Graham-Power Point

May 7, 2008

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."

--Matthew 7:21

Being a follower of Jesus Christ is a matter of the heart... it's not about following rules or rituals, or being "religious" as some people think.

Of course, it's important to obey the Lord's commands, and by doing so, you demonstrate your love for Him. But God has always been more interested in the state of your heart than what you can do to impress Him.

When your heart is humble and you genuinely seek to serve Him because of your relationship with Him, He is pleased by that.

But He sees right through the façade when a person is simply going through the motions, or doing their "good works" to receive applause from men. This kind of "religion" will never win God's favor.

That's the difference between being a disciple of Jesus and being "religious". Keep your heart engaged with Him and serve Him out of true devotion, and you will bring pleasure to the heart of God.

GOD IS NOT IMPRESSED BY "RELIGION",
BUT BY HEARTFELT DEVOTION TO HIM.

Daruvar on Vimeo By Vedran

Daruvar from Vedran on Vimeo.

Growing in the storms

The Weekly Walk from James MacDonald
Facing Uncertainty
The Weekly Walk

And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, "Save us, Lord; we are perishing." And he said to them, "Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?" Matthew 8:23-26

Why didn’t somebody tell me earlier in my life that I can’t fix everything? I thought that with due diligence, everything can get resolved. If there were things up ahead that concerned me, I could just make a plan to solve them. In time, I could have it all figured out and then set the automatic “good life” pilot and let it take over.

It’s only more recently that I have grasped that life will never be “together” this side of eternity. It’s hard to accept sometimes that perfect is only for heaven.

There will always be people problems. There will always be financial challenges.

There will always be a home burden, or a crisis of some kind. Every day I live in this world, there will always be some uncertainty ringing my doorbell.

So much for my assumption that if you worked hard enough, eventually everything would be sorted out, categorized, and put neatly on the shelf. I have never gotten to that day and what’s more, I now know it’s never coming.

In Matthew 8:23–24, we land in Jesus’ life on a day that perfectly illustrates the imperfections of human existence. “When he got into the boat, His disciplines followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm.” In the original language, the two words great storm can be translated to mega and seismic. As in, And behold, there arose a mega seismic on the sea, so that the boat was consumed by the waves. It’s worth remembering that this description comes from Matthew, one of the disciples who wasn’t a fisherman. He had the terrified layman’s perspective on this storm!

I have a few questions about that whole scene:

1. Did Jesus not check the Weather Channel? He totally knew that storm was coming yet He led them right into it. Get in the boat, boys. He knowingly took them into harm’s way.

2. Could Jesus have stopped the storm before it started? Sure He could have but He let the storm come.

3. So is it true to say that He wanted the storm? I think we could surmise that He was actually looking forward to how He was going to use the storm in the disciples’ lives.

Let’s get our theology straight. Sometimes Jesus disguises exciting opportunities for personal growth as difficult circumstances. We would choose to avoid trials at all costs, but Jesus sees the bigger picture.

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clipped from mail.google.com Humorist Will Rogers said, "So live that you would not mind selling your pet parrot to the town gossip."  That is the idea of integrity: having nothing in our lives to be ashamed of.  This personal integrity is something we are developing on a daily basis with every thought we think and every action we take.  We are either building up character or tearing it down. What kind of character do you have?  Who are you in private?  For all practical purposes, that is the real you. Copyright © 2008 by Harvest Ministries.  All rights reserved.  Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New King James Version, copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. For more relevant and biblical teaching from Pastor Greg Laurie, go to  www.harvest.org.