Tag Archives: abundant living

Searching.. community Bible church

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After 42 years of ministry, I am churchless.  Really the whole chuch thang is not inviting. So join with me in a fresh search.  I am going to be dropping in an odd assortment of places and looking for connection. All the stuff is stiff and has no appeal. Looking for real people worshipping a real God in community I can join as I am.

connection of people of all ages and all stages

worship that touches God’s heart

heart for local and remote missions

day one cc.. worship was good and gifted but nonparticipatory

communion..Communion… simple and heartfelt..

Biblically focused

calm and quiet congregation.. friendly faces, easy to approach

not full gospel but Spirit inspired.. you can find Jesus here

Settled

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Then God said, “Shall I keep back from Abraham what I’m about to do? Abraham is going to become a large and strong nation; all the nations of the world are going to find themselves blessed through him. Yes, I’ve settled on him as the one to train his children and future family to observe God ’s way of life, live kindly and generously and fairly, so that God can complete in Abraham what he promised him.”
Genesis 18:17‭-‬19 MSG
https://bible.com/bible/97/gen.18.17-19.MSG

When God chose you to be His and your responded, it is settled. Get that! It is settled. He selected and settled on you. There is no more decison to be made. Walk it out and enjoy the settledness.

Turtle on a Post

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Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down, but a good word cheers it up.
Proverbs 12:25 HCSB

Ever felt like a turtle on a post? No way to get your footing? Stranded without a friend?

That feeling is insane. It drives heart and mind into a dither. Life can be like that.

That is when you need a friend. Someone who cares enough to take you out for a good steak dinner and laugh with you is a Godsend. A friend who meets you all the way at your doorstep instead of halfway to theirs is precious.

Be a friend to a stranded turtle. Don’t judge, correct, confront or constrain. Express kindness and companionship. They will find their footing. They need a friend.

Selah.

Pastor Phil

Healed

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Healed. Whole. Saved. Secured. Stable. Strong. Provided. Energized

Each nuance of these words impacts my heart this morning. I like them all as declarations in Jesus.

The word for salvation, the state of being saved, original Greek carries a broad meaning. Wisdom and well being body, soul, mind, will, emotions, spirit, relationships, and provisions. Sozo, the Greek word used, means it is well with all aspects of life.

Jesus spends His ministry on earth the same today as in the first century a.d. He heals the body and mind, casts out demons, preaches and teaches, prays, and mentors disciples. That is as the Bible writers reveal and that is as He is now. Once He walked bodily among us, now He walks through us into this broken, fractured, flailing world. He is the same.

Declare yourself in agreement with His word and testimony. He carried our sins and sickness no matter where they occur. He restores us in all aspects to His original design of perfect unity with Him and provision in all aspects of life. I will agree with Him totally in all my thinking and testimony. What I experience does not set my belief. His words and the testimony of His actions set my belief.

Let us pray:

O Lord my God, I cried out to You, And You healed me. O Lord , You brought my soul up from the grave; You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. Sing praise to the Lord , you saints of His, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name. For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning. Now in my prosperity I said, “I shall never be moved.” Lord , by Your favor You have made my mountain stand strong; You hid Your face, and I was troubled.
Psalms 30:2‭-‬7 NKJV

Hope Under Ice

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During winter ice, I made a long drive home. The distance is no longer. The ice and fog and tired body made it seem three times longer. Thoughts of tree damage to repair lengthen the drive. A sore hip stretched it into the uncomfortable. But the drive took no longer.

Along the way, the beauty of the ice in the trees painted peace in my heart. Acres and acres of bright, crystal, smooth ice on limbs is soothing. Beauty soothes the soul. During a parked moment on the highway due to construction, I snapped a few beauties.

Romans 15:4 tells me what is written is for building hope. This ice, this journey of faith is an inscription of the Lord on my life’s landscape for patience and comfort. He wrote it into my script for good.

How is He doing that for you? What icy moment is there to bring a work of patience and comfort and a result of hope? An illness? A job blip? A relationship struggle? A car repair? Will you allow Him ability to script hope with it?

The ice is beautiful, treacherous, and brings hope. It melts. The sun shines. Damaged trees will be trimmed. I make it home. And I am stronger for the next storm. Hope rises from the story and experience. It is written on my life. In this world we will have trouble, blip, interference, stoppage, slowdown. There is an icy beauty in each of them. There is a learning to be had. There is hope of the sun that will surely shine.

Let us pray:

Father, your will be done in my life. In my storms teach me patience. Comfort me. Assure me You are with me. Console me. Let me find a sliver of sunshine on a rainy day. Let hope rise stronger with each interference that I might shine like the Son to my world, my family, my friends, and my mirror. In the quiet parked moments, let me see Jesus. Let me see the beauty. Let my soul say, “It is well. Trek on.”

For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.
Romans 15:4 NKJV
https://bible.com/bible/114/rom.15.4.NKJV

Stepping Out

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Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
Matthew 9:38 niv

A good shepherd knows a good path and takes his charges on it. Where are the good shepherds? Are you one?

The call to make disciples is for each Christian. Each is called in some measure to lead others in a good way deeper to a love in Jesus and love for others. That means in a way we all are called to shepherding.

Shepherds take the best path for the sheep not the shepherd. Right? A shepherd is all about the sheep. He does not eat the grass. But he takes the sheep to the best grass. He raises them to be great sheep. Healthy sheep. Cooperative sheep.

They are raised in a hillside or field fit for sheep. It is most uncomfortable for the shepherd. He would rather be in a house with a couch. But he walks the field for the sheep. He sits on the rock or wet grass. He endures the rain. It is about the sheep.

In Jesus, we are servants. I ask for a servant heart. I ask for others to walk alongside and serve. We serve each other. That is the picture of a healthy congregation.

The God of small miracles walked with us this week. Soup was great. Service to others was great. Joy serving was great. Painting was great. Office was great. Puppet stage building was great. Class assistance was great. All of the these servings are great. People served each other and the community. That is a congregation. That is a kingdom of servants.

Pray for each to serve in a way that grows them and others.

Father, here are your people. So many give of time, talent, and treasure. They serve. Bless them beyond measures of mankind. Encourage their hearts and lives and families. Call them into greater service and love and reward in all they do.

Reserves

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In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Romans 6:11 NIV

Morning Moment

Reserves in the insurance industry are the monies set aside to pay claims. A company with low reserves could be on big trouble if too many claims came at once. A company with adequate reserves is hedged against hard days. They have a future.

How are your reserves in Jesus doing?

In Jesus, we invest in reserves. Our personal devotional time, fellowship in church, Bible study, praise, and service to the local church and to others build reserves. In all of this we are depositing faith actions of life against death actions of self ideologies and the world. The world will press us. Evil will tempt us. Our natural desires will drag us. The reserves of Life in Jesus defend and build us.

Worldview is Bought

Buy a lie. Live a lie. Buy a truth. Live a truth. Simple. Reckon, count, add up, deposit in your reserves that you are alive to God and dead to sin and live a Jesus worldview. Reckon, count, subtract, extract from your reserves that you are dead to God and destined to sin and mistaken living and self rule and live a normal world view. Choose. Break the lie pattern. Buy the truth. Invest in your future.

Faith Actions

Faith actions depend on God for results while moving forward. Our actions come from the deep well of belief. Faith is active and obedient. That is why Jesus responds to a woman this way.

As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.” He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
Luke 11:27‭-‬28 NIV

To say we believe in Christ, yet live against His wishes is a dangerous position. Do we really believe? We live what we believe. I can scratch my way into heaven through grace and forgiveness. I can live in joy and fulfillment through grace and forgiveness and faith and hope and love. Obedience emanates from a life lived in the love of Jesus. To say I love Jesus and live against His wishes is a dangerous gamble. My actions are based in death. I am counting myself dead.

Turn the Tables

Go ahead. Switch gears. Turn the tables. Put on Jesus, the Christ. Live in faith. Drop the self fulfillment cycle of destruction and doubt. Build reserves.

Let us pray:

Father, here I am. This is Your child. I have been bought with a great price. Let the words of my mouth and the testimony of my heart be acceptable in Your sight. Let me forsake all others and cling only to You. Let my heart lock in and live with Your heart. Build in me solid reserves against hard days that I might find only joy and peace and fulfillment in You in this life and the next.

The Prayer Has A Life: What Happened Next

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One of the stops this week in my journey was the weekly breakfast of a county Chamber of Commerce in Texas.  Community Transformation Initiative is active in the area doing Life Skills and Parenting and 1-1 counseling.  Each person gets 2 minutes to speak.  Lawyers, doctors, mechanics, marketers, resorts, bankers, the county attorney, and this  community transformation/business/minister person share.  I usually give a quick story and a smile and sit down.  Something different happened this week.

Here’s the story I shared and what happened next:

In 2004, our Information Technology team was designated as number one best place to work in IT by Computerworld magazine.  That is a Super Bowl moment.  We out ranked Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and hundreds of thousands of other businesses.

As one of a handful of directors on that team, it was moment of personal pride and accomplishment.  I keep telling myself I’m going to have a ring made.  Every day and every year is not the same.

During an annual review with our CIO one year I felt defeated.  That year was okay, but nothing outstanding.  As I discussed my feelings of struggle with John, the number one CIO of the number one team, he looked at me and said, “Phil, you will find during your toughest times, you grow the most.”  He was less concerned about  the areas I directed and managed than he was about me.  That attitude is part of what made us number one.

After the story was shared, the prayer was shared.

As I finished the prayer, the Chamber of Commerce breakfast group spontaneously and loudly said “Amen.”

More people on social media are responding to this prayer than anything I’ve every posted. I pray it over you. I pray it “Amens” in your life.

 May the gentle breath of God’s Spirit lift you, friend, beyond your problems.

May the forceful shaking of His power break barriers that hinder.

May the excitement of His love impassion you, friend, with joy.

May you find Him waiting in your path with answers.
www.evotions.org

Meet Jesus: Integral

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 meetjesusnearathandHow in this world can our righteousness exceed that of the most religious?  

Matthew 5: 20For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. 

Jesus calls us to a higher place than religion.  It is not the place of pious righteousness born of obeisance to which He calls us.  Did that make sense?  It is not surface righteousness He wants.  It is not doing great motions that He wants.  He wants righteousness born of the spirit of the heart.  He wants our desires for living like God.  This goes beyond the righteousness of religion.

 

A story: Sharon was looking.  So often she had seen religion in the lives of others.  That did not appeal to her.  She wanted something more.  She wanted relationship and meaning in her life.  How could she find it?  This group that met on Tuesday nights seemed to have something more.  Her coworker had convinced her to go the first time.  There was something in them more than just their bible-book and talk.  She wondered what it was.

ACT!  Is there a hunger for right living in you?  Is it bigger than just what you do, but how you think?

PRAY!  Father, where is the place of peace I seek.  In my life there are many mistakes.  So many times, I’ve lost sight of the goodness You want for me.  So many times, I have tried and failed to live up to Your ways and laws.  But, I want to follow You.  I want to live for You.  I want to connect with Your love every day and every hour.  Peace me, Father.  Flow the presence of Your Holy Spirit into me in new ways.  Break the old mold of my life and breathe something new in me.  Make my love for You fresh and vibrant.  Break me.

 

Meet Jesus: Legal Matthew 5:19

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Matthew 5: 19: Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

meetjesussort So many times we hear of the Jesus of grace and mercy.  Surely, He is that.  He is also just and correct.  He requires us to live up to a higher standard.  That standard is easily achievable in Him, but only in Him.  On our own, we will never make it.

 Jesus is legal, correct, right, and focused on helping us move every day closer to the same place as Him.

Final Legality: Arguing with the team had become too common for Jack.  Over and over, he had covered key points needed to progress.  Over and over they had resisted and only complied with the smallest amount.  Now it was time to move forward.  Now it was time to break the stalemate.

  Jack called the group into his office.  Looking intently at each one, he challenged them to step up to the new procedures.  He declared it a “now” item not a tomorrow item.  It was time to do the work correctly.

 ACT!  Are you out of line somewhere with the simple instructions of life?  Ask forgiveness, get a new set of directions, and set out to make it different.

 PRAY!  Father, I can get so caught up in doing in my way and doing what I think is right.  Help me see Your way.  Surely in Jesus, I can do what You ask me to do.  Don’t let me get caught in the legalisms of others, but only follow as You ask me in Jesus.

  If we can pray for you regarding anything in your life, please let us know.  Our greatest blessing is to bless others in prayer.