Meet Jesus: Clear Thoughts Matthew 5:27

July 25, 2013 by Phil Larson

Matthew 5: 27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

One of the greatest thought battles of the male is with lust. Jesus is fully aware of that thought battle. He is conscious of the struggle men face. He doesn’t excuse it away. Connecting with Jesus is connecting with a commitment to clear, controlled thought-life.

With what appears to be such a strict edict, is there hope for men and women? Yes, the thought is not just directed to men, it is directed to all. Is there hope?

Like any struggle, Jesus is giving us tips to stopping damage before it goes to full fruit. The key is to stop thoughts before they develop into action. He isn’t telling us that a quick temptation is like full blown sexual contact. He is telling us, “Don’t go there. Get control of your thoughts before they develop further than a fleeting idea.”

ACT! Thoughts wandering? Try speaking blessing over a person instead of contemplating their sexual attraction. Change the focus of your mind. Give your mind something else to think about. See the person as a person not an objective.

PRAY! Father, our hearts can be so distracted. So many times we find ourselves struggling to stay faithful and content with the lives in which we are blessed. You call us to not covet other’s goods and spouses and conditions. Keep envy far from us. Keep jealousy away from our door. Keep coveting out of our mind. Clear our hearts, God. We need Your help. You give us clear and clean thoughts to guide us. Help us to focus on the good and gentle and kind in life and be content with our condition.

Life Can Be Frightening, Friend.

July 20, 2013 by Phil Larson

But then, God did not give you a spirit of fear, but of love and power and a sound, well-disciplined mind. The Father dispenses right knowledge and wisdom and equipage to get your life lived with a smile and a dance in your step. He does. Really, He does.

It is frightening to face life without a loving Father’s protection and insight. This morning as I prayed for my friends, my guideline was the book of Ephesians. Yes, I read through the entire letter and prayed. It usually takes about an hour these days, sometimes two hours or more. Martin Luther, the great reformation leader, and others are quoted as saying, “I had so much to do today, I had to start with 3 hours of prayer.” I get it. There is no time to waste. Every minute has to count and prayer puts the power in the punch.

It is frightening to look into tomorrow and realize the threats and opportunities to fail and opportunities to succeed. Failure and success are not distant partners. Each brings an element of pain and cleanup. Each creates a next step that has to be addressed. Plan for success and handle the failure.

It is frightening to go it alone. Living alongside the King of Kings and Lord of Lords is a fearsome task. He really does get things done. Boy, am I glad I don’t work in the kingdom alone. It would be hell. Yes, I believe hell on earth is trying to do the work of living without family and friends and partners in work and ministry and life. When I make a list of co-laborers, I never get to the end. There are thousands. What a blessing.

It is frightening to trust my own hand. Friend, never trust yourself to get it done. When you stretch out with God, you will find yourself in situations that are impossible. They take impossible strength, impossible faith, impossible love, and impossible energy. He has a ready supply of all four.

My prayer for friends.

Father take the hand of my friend and bring impossible strength, impossible faith, impossible love, and impossible energy into the path. As You walk with my friend enable with everything necessary to live abundantly, faithfully, and effectively. Let life be changed. Let fear be put into the street. Let faith shine so bright those around my friend will lose fear and find faith.

Other’s Need – God’s Supply – Your Hand and Heart

Remember to pray for the Community Transformation Initiative and all those that are helping and joining. After taking a few months of prep and collaboration, you would not believe the demands of the next six weeks at the Community Transformation Initiative. We are actively engaged in East OKC, North OKC, Stillwater, Del City, St. Louis, Matamoros, Mexico, and online around the world. Every one of these engagements results in life change. Our goal for 2013 was to impact 1000 families face to face. In the last 30 days, we’ve exceeded 300 and expect to pass that goal in the next six weeks. Much of this is 1-1.In the next six weeks, we will be presenting live for over 60 hours. The average pastor will present 10 hours in the same period. Much of our presentation will be bilingual and all of it will occur outside my personal cultural background. The average pastor/leader never does either of these because they are ten times more exhausting than staying within your personal culture zone or niche. The Community Transformation Initiative is not called to be average. Our aim is transformation.

Our commitment and high level schedule:

General Ministerial Conference – Dallas July 24-26

East Zion Men’s Leadership – July 26th 7pm

Telemundo Radio 33.1 – July 27th Interview on Matamoros outreach 2:30pm to 3pm

Rewrite – Mentoring – Life Church July 31st

Fearless Weekend – Tabitha Baptist East OKC Aug 2,3,4

Fearless Weekend – Regrese de Clase – CAREVI – Matamoros, Mex Aug 8-12

Watch DOG Launch – Back to School – Tulakes NW OKCAug 16

Watch DOG Launch – Epperly Heights – Del City – date tba

Outreach Planters Training – OKC Aug 23-25

Schools of Prayer – West OKC – Aug 7, Sept 4

Dad’s University – Online Fall Semester Aug 20-end of term

Champion Fathers Luncheon and Tourney – SW OKC Sept 16th

Total cost to get this done – $20,000. On hand funds $1500. Faith Commitments $5000. God’s Challenge To Be Met: $13,500

How to support.. <==click it

Impossible faith will see it to completion.

Impossible love will keep us motivated.

Impossible strength will bring us to perform.

Impossible energy will make this fun.

Meet Jesus: Sorting Matthew 4:12

March 29, 2013 by Phil Larson

Matthew 4: 12 When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee. 13 Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali

Bad news can put a hard spin on life. Each of us has places to go and things to do. Jesus is no different.

John was Jesus’ cousin. He was the first recorded to rejoice at the coming King. He leapt in his mother’s womb when Mary approached for a visit. No one knew Jesus was coming. John knew. That is an early praise.

John prepared people for the coming of Jesus. He was ahead of Him getting the people ready.

News about John in prison was not good for Jesus. Scripture doesn’t say why he went to Galilee. Knowing the affinity Jesus had for John and the respect He had for him, it seems he needed time away to sort it out. He went where it was quiet and familiar. He went away. He did not despair. He did not become discouraged. He met the news with an action plan. He kept His confidence and went to people He knew.

This scripture coming up today is interesting. All week I have been taking in good news in multiple areas. Sometimes much good news can be as stressful as bad news. Family, friends, work, community, and other areas have been full of blessed news. The consulting business is prospering. The work on fathering is prospering. Many people want to meet and talk. At the same time, this coming week, I have some time away to write and reflect. I’ll be in my quiet spot at the lake. It is timely to go sort out the news and make plans. God is faithful. He gives us space.

ACT! Bad news? Much good news? How did you respond? Did you respond with faith and joy in Christ? Do you need time to sort out the next steps? Let Him give you a respite. He is faithful. It may only be a few minutes or a few hours, but He is faithful. He will not push you beyond His ability in you.

PRAY! Father, it is comforting to know You care so much for me. In the middle of the tempest, You cover. In the face of bad news, You allow a breath to come to take it in. How can I thank You enough? Help me to face every bad news with joy and confidence in Your provision. Help me to absorb the punches of life with joy and family and friends.

Meet Jesus: Served Matthew 4:9

March 29, 2013 by Phil Larson

Matthew 4:9: And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10: Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 11: Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

Angels minister to Jesus, and so should we minister to Jesus with our worship. In Paul’s letter to the Romans he talks of a reasonable or rational service and worship done with presenting our bodies as living sacrifices. This is our pleasure and our part. Our worship of Jesus is to serve Him, to present ourselves totally to His selection for our life. Satan had it backwards. He forgot who was to serve whom.

Josue was determined to follow God this day. Lately, he had been wandering from his relationship with Christ. Over and over events just did not seem to go his way. Something he had read before was now stirring in him. There was something about praising God in everything. He was ready to try it. He was ready to try anything that would restore the warmth of the love of Jesus back in him. As he lifted his voice in the quiet of his room late that night, something broke. He began to weep. He began to praise God out loud. He began to know again the reassurance of the presence of the Holy Spirit.

ACT! Where does Jesus need your active worship? Take action this week on worshipping with real action where He needs you to serve another in the kingdom.

PRAY! Father, Jesus is the center of my worshipful services. Help me connect with the right actions for which You created me. I was created in Jesus for good works of worship done unto You. Enable me, Father, to find those works for which You created me and act on them.

Meet Jesus: Lord of Take Back Matthew 4:6

March 27, 2013 by Phil Larson

Matthew 4:6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. :7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

Satan had trouble with meeting Jesus. His intent was to trick him and cause Him to slip. He met his match. He met the Lord, God.

Meeting Jesus means meeting the Lord, God. His is able and willing to deal with any situation. He is Lord.

Stuff trys to put us down. Stuff trys to break our spirit. Stuff trys to rob our joy. Jesus is joy. His kingdom is righteousness, joy, and peace in the Holy Spirit.

With success after success, lately, Prince had defeat after defeat. No one wanted to work with him. They were envious and defeatist. Somewhere from deep inside, he summoned up some joy. “Good gracious”, he declared aloud. “If no one will walk with me, then I will walk alone. They can follow, can’t they?” Those thoughts seemed good. His smile came back. He took charge of his life again. He began to work out issues and others joined with him. Sometimes you just have to rob the joy back to get going again.

ACT! Bow to the Lord. Give up. Meet Him on terms of surrender.

PRAY! Father, I give myself to the Lord, Jesus. He is Lord. Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. I surrender to His love and mercy and Lordship. I surrender to His joy that is unspeakable and full of glory.

Phil’s Other Home

Meet Jesus: Taken Matthew 4:5

March 26, 2013 by Phil Larson

Matthew 4:5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,

The fact that Jesus would allow himself to be taken anywhere by the devil astounds me. What was going through His mind at those moments? Here he was, led by His own Holy Spirit, to spend time with evil. Here he was entering the beginning of His public ministry dealing with a defeatist devil. Our present thinkers tell us to feel good and be happy and then minister. Our present ideologies point to pleasure as the entry to ministry. Jesus allowed himself to be taken into the presence of evil itself. This was His entry point into public ministry. He allowed testing. He presented himself for inspection. He was taken.

Pushed to the max, Jim was about to pop. This was supposed to be his year to get the big promotion. It began with pain. Employees were livid with some decisions he had made. Every emotion in him was twisted. He had worked night and day and given himself totally on behalf of these. They turned on him. The year before, he had handled the torrents of accusations from a disturbed man. The threats had been against these very employees that now turned on him. For defending them, he now stood their accusations of being unfair and inequitable. Was this how to start his big year?

He resigned himself to stand through the accusations. He remembered that the name, Satan, really meant Accuser. He remembered, Jesus had stood testing before His big year. Surely, he could allow the Healer to live in and through him in this critical time. “Father, forgive them”, he whispered, “They don’t know what they are doing.”

ACT! Testing is never fun. When God has something big, He can allow life and, yes, even the devil a place to sort out our intentions and grace living. Is there a place of testing in your life? Is God preparing you, stabilizing you for the next big thing? Submit to the test. Let it prove you out. Don’t fight. Let God fight for you. Take time to pray Psalm 35 and see what happens.

PRAY! Father, I am not my own defense. When life and the enemy rise against me as a flood, You be the boat of my salvation. Carry me away from that which is too strong for me. Deliver me from the hand of my enemies. Cause in me conviction to repent of those weaknesses in me that could have led to this situation. Cause holiness to well up in me. Cause me to crucify any flesh that needs changed. Let these troubles be a directional that causes me to become closer to You in thought and word and deed. Cause me to be more like You than ever before. Then, in the next big thing, I will be able. I will be founded. I will be strengthened to do that to which You have called me. I surrender myself to be taken.

Meet Jesus: Humility Matthew 3:13

March 21, 2013 by Phil Larson

Matthew 3: 13: Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.

Here is the Son of God, God in the flesh, submitting Himself to the gift and calling of another. In most of our world, this is almost unthinkable. The Master goes to the servant to be enabled for ministry. It is so backward to our ego mindset that it almost hurts. When you meet with Jesus, you will be asked to find Him in others and lay down ego.

There is nothing like being misunderstood to humble us. Reading through a memo written by another staffer, I started to get upset. It was evident that he really did not understand the conversation the day before. How could he so misunderstand me? Before I did something stupid, I opened the memo that had been sent by me after the conversation. Taking a slow and deliberate look, it was easy to see how he was interpreting as my meaning. He was simply walking out his understanding. Humbled, I deleted my first response and crafted one more suitable and understanding to correct the confusion.

ACT! Think of a friend who has a gift you need. Get with them and let them pray for you.

PRAY! Whoops! Father sometimes I miss it and mess it. Sometimes You have sent Jesus to me in a wrapper that I did not receive. Sometimes the unlikely has had the incredible for my life. Help me find the some-times and receive from the gift of others in Him.

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

Meet Jesus: Destined Matthew 1:16

March 20, 2013 by Phil Larson

Matthew 1: 16: And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

Born of men, born of a woman, and born to destiny was Jesus, the Christ. Meeting Jesus means meeting a human full of humanity. Jesus meets us in this frail human family of Joseph and Mary. A simple husband was Joseph. This family came from a line of prostitutes, murderers, connivers, kings, and faithful men and women. They look just like our families.

Jesus is a family man. While He is the Christ, the anointed, the Messiah, He is a simple family man from a flawed, fractured, but persistent family life.

ACT! Thank God for your family line. Don’t worry about the problems. Praise Him that you exist at all through that family line.

PRAY! Faithful Father, You brought me to this time and place in life. You gave me the family line. You gave me a father and mother. I exist. No matter how flawed that line, I have destiny. There is an anointing in Jesus for me through You.

Meet Jesus: Receiver of Gifts Matthew 2:11

March 16, 2013 by Phil Larson

Matthew 2:11: And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshiped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

Abundant living is a promise of Jesus. He comes to give us life and life more abundantly. The enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy. Jesus brings abundance. In that abundance is our capacity to respond in giving to Him. He is never embarrassed in receiving. He is a receiver of gifts as well as a giver of abundance. Abundance is the capacity to give.

ACT! Give to Jesus. You may not have gold or frankincense, but you have something. It may be finances for the kingdom. It may be an ability that will bless the kingdom. Give out of your abundance.

PRAY! Father of Giving, You have enabled me with more than I need. Jesus told me that when I give to the least, I have given to him. Show me where to give of myself of Your abundance.

Meet Jesus: Simple Governor Matthew 2:6

March 15, 2013 by Phil Larson

Meet Jesus: Simple Governor

Matthew 2:6: And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.

Life deals us situations that need governance beyond our human capabilities. While they may be simple situations, they nonetheless need a Governor, who can rule and reign over them. Tough stuff gets out of control and needs to be brought back. Thoughts, emotions, actions, mindsets, addictions can get out of hand in us. Jesus is a Governor, who can help us get rule over them.

ACT! Think of a tough situation that needs governing in your life. How did it get there? Can it be that someone who can rule over it can solve it? Let Him start on it.

PRAY! Holy Father, You know the areas of life that are out of control for me. You provided Jesus to be a Governor. He came from a simple place to apply simple principles in my life. I give You my out of control life in need of a Governor. Embrace me in Your peace and solution.