05-30-10 AM - One Month to Live: Love Completely

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1 Corinthians 1:18, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the Power of God." 

The Mountain of Misunderstanding. 

The Mountain of "Me First". 
Phil. 2:3Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself;

The Mountain of Mistakes. 

1.  The Rope of ACCEPTANCE. 

Romans 15:7
"Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God."

Ten things men wished women knew about men.
No. 10, ladies, if something we said can be interpreted two ways and one of those ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one. 
No. 9, learn to work the toilet seat.  You're a big girl.  If it's up, put it down.  Don't complain.  Don't gripe about it.  It's just simple. 
No. 7, when we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine, really. 
No. 4, Christopher Columbus didn't need directions and neither do we.
No. 2, we're not mind readers and we never will be.  Our lack of mind reading ability is not proof of how little we care about you.
No. 1 if we ask what is wrong and you say nothing, we will act like nothing is.


- When a man says, hey, can I help with dinner, honey?  What he really means is so why isn't dinner already on the table? 
- When a man says, take a break, honey, you are just working too hard; what he means is, hey, could you please stop the vacuum cleaner?  I can't hear the game. 
- When a man says, I can't find it.  What he means is, it didn't fall into my outstretched hands.

What if we would replace the word change in our relationships to cherish?
   
2.  GAIN TRACTION WITH LOVING ACTIONS. 

And there are three C's that give love traction.

Consideration: 
Philippians 2:4  "And look out for one another's interests, not just for your own." 

Cooperation.

John 13:1 (NIV) "It was just before the Passover Feast.  Jesus knew that the time had come for Him to leave this world and go to the Father.  Having loved His own who were in the world, He now showed them the full extent of his love." 

Commitment. 

Philippians 2:13, "For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey him and the power to do what pleases him."

3.  TETHERED BY FORGIVENESS. 

Colossians 3:13.  "Get along with each other, and forgive each other.  If someone does wrong to you, forgive that person because the Lord forgave you." 

John Ortberg says, "The problem for many couples is they just have an incorrect concept of what marriage really is."

Marriage is when two imperfect people come together to share everything. 

1 John 3:16, This is how we know what love is:  Jesus Christ laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers."

05-23-10 AM - One Month to Live: How to Live Passionately

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One Month to Live: How to Live Passionately.

MSG Mark 12:30, "So love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy."

The God who made you is an extremely passionate God and He made you to be a passionate person.
Romans 12:11, "Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord."


“What is the difference between your “Real Life” purpose and what you’re currently doing?


1. DO SOMETHING DRASTIC. (19)
…they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles in the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus."

Here's the question. If you knew you had one month to live how would you live your life?

So many of us get stuck on the roof and we worry about stuff that's just not going to last.

2. EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED.

Prov. 16:9; 19:21.

Jesus did something unexpected. verse 20. "When Jesus saw their faith, He said, 'Friend, your sins are forgiven.'"

Whenever you’re stressed and worried and frustrated, think of it as I'm trying to control something that God never meant for me to control.

3. CREATE GOD SPACE. In verse 19 it says that these men " . . .they lower him on his mat into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus." Underline middle of the crowd.

Mark it says, "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for Him, and when they found Him, they exclaimed: 'Everyone is looking for you!' Jesus replied, 'Let us go somewhere else .

The most important one for us to spend time with isn't demanding, He waits patiently for us. If there's nothing else we get done we need to have our time with God.

4. KEEP A CONSTANT REMINDER.
Look at Luke 5:24. "Jesus said to the paralyzed man, 'I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.'

First you need to ask the question every day, what would I do if I had one month to live.

You will find all kinds of tools to help you go deeper in your spiritual walk, tips for improving your relationships, physical fitness and nutritional aids as well as financial counsel. You can even read through the One Year Bible on this site.

Luke 5:24 says, "Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God." Ask that question, what needs to be changed in my life so that I'll have no regrets.

."Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

05-16-10 PM - Empowerd By An Encounter

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Genesis 32:22-30

1. We have to seek God's Face. vs. 24
God is always the initiator. We are always the responder.
James 4:8

2. We are called to feel God's Touch. vs. 25
Jacob was a runner and God's touch changed him so he could never run again.

3. We need to hear His voice. vs. 26-30
Until we press into God's presence, we will never feel the empowerment of the encounter.

Seek His face to receive His encounter.

05-16-10 AM - Living the Dash

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Are you dashing to live...or are you living to dash?

John 10:10 - underline rich and satisfying

4 Principles to a no regrets lifestyle

1. Jesus lived passionately.
1 John 5:11,12

05-09-10 PM - Building Lasting Relationships: Holding the Family Together When Your World is Falling Apart

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Some people simply walk away from their relationships to pursue happiness elsewhere.
Others, like Naomi, remain in the relationship out of necessity instead of loving devotion.
Ruth made the best decision because she decided to hold the family together at all costs.
I. She pictured responsible living - 1:9-10, 14.

Genesis 2:24, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife,”
Notice two familiar words in this passage:
“leave” [see 1:10, 16 “not to leave”]                                          
“cleave” [see 1:14- “Ruth clung to her”]                                                                                       
II. She pledged her commitment without reservation -1:16-17.
A.  It is costly – Ruth 1:16.

16 But Ruth said, "Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.
[1] Future: “Entreat me not to leave you”
[2] Her familiarity: “wherever you go, I will go…I will lodge”
[3] Her family and friends: “your people shall be my people”
[4] Her faith: “your God shall be my God”
B.  It is long term. Ruth 1:17
17 "Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the LORD do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me."

"Where you die, I will die."

C.  It is sacred.

17 "Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the LORD do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me."
III. She proved her commitment – 1:18-22.

Convincing Words – 1:18.
Consistent Works – 1:19-22.
[1:.21 "…the Lord has brought me home again empty").

05-02-10 PM - Building Lasting Relationships: The Burden and Bitterness of a Barren Life

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Ruth 1:6-22

She saw it as the practical, not proper, thing to do.

I. Notice the burden that she carried – 1:5-7.
Consider what she lost in ten years time:
[1] her husband – 1:5,
[2] her children- 1:5,
[3] her security,
[4] her possessions – 1:21,   I came back empty
[5] her status – 1:19, Is this Naomi
[6] her reputation – 1:19,
[7] her closeness to God -1:13.His hand is against me

When we do what is right, even when our motive is not the best, it positions us for restoration both with God and others.                                                        

Until the pain to remain the same becomes greater than the pain to change, we never will.

II. Notice the bitterness she harbored – 1:13, 20, 21.
Naomi freely admits that she had grown bitter. [1:20].                                                                        Remember the meaning of her name?
Naomi means "pleasant one" But now she desires to be known as "Mara", which means "bitter one."

A. Bitter people tend to blame others for theirtrouble.                                                                                    
1:13 "the hand of the Lord has gone out against me!"
1:20 "the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me."
1:21 "the Almighty has afflicted me?"
The name "Almighty" (El Shaddai) has great significance here.

Adam Clark writes that she was suggesting that "He who is self sufficient has taken away the props and supports of my life."

Why do we blame God:
[1] We don't know whom to blame.
[2] We expect God to override the consequences of our personal failures.
[3] We expect God to fix immediately what we have taken years to progressively damage. This could be true of both our health and our children.

B. Bitter people tend to vent their hostility on others.
1. She offered poor advice – 1:8. Go back each of you
2. She was insensitive to Ruth and Orpah's grief - 1:12-15.
3. She considered Ruth and Orpah as carnal as she was -1:15.
4. She depreciated the value of her relationship with Ruth – 1:21.

III. Notice the barrenness she experienced 1:21.
Lord, who “works all things together for good to those that love Him” (Romans 8:28
Just as I am, without one plea, But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidd'st me come to thee O Lamb of God, I come! I come!

05-02-10 AM - The Genu-wine spirit

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Isaiah 55

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.  Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men

1. THE GREAT INVITATION (VS. 1)
Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
“Water” Holy Spirit
Jer. 2:11-13  Has a nation ever changed its gods? (Yet they are not gods at all.)  But my people have exchanged their Glory for worthless idols. Be appalled at this, O heavens, and shudder with great horror,"declares the LORD. 
“Water” Holy Spirit
My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
“Wine” – Spiritual revival.
“Milk” – Nourishment
1 Peter 2:2  Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,
Heb. 5:11-14   We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again..
You need milk, not solid food!  Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.  But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

2. THE GREAT INCONSISTENCY (VS.2)
“Bread” – Worldly pleasures
“Satisfy” – Romans 6:19-23
I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.
When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 
But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness,and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

3. THE GREAT INVOKING (VS. 3)
Give ear – Stretch forth incline.
Come to me – “walk along continually and be conversant.
Covenant – Reference to the throne of David that God promised would never end. And that the Messiah would come from the lineage of David and rule eternally upon that throne.