I want more! I am not satisfied! I know I have been blessed and have more than most people in this world but I am not content. I want more. I crave more. I desire more. I downright yearn for more and more.
What do I want more of? GOD! I want more of Him in daily devotions. I want more of Him in my daily walk. I want more of Him when I study. I want more of Him when I pray. I want more of Him when I read my Bible. I want more of Him when preach. I want more of Him when I write. I want more of Him during altar calls. I want more of Him when I worship. I want more of Him when I read books. I want more of Him when I pray for people. I want more of Him in every single service I attend or lead. I want more of Him at Faith Community Church. I want more of Him in Paradise, TX, Seminole, TX, Lufkin, TX, and all points in between.
I want more of Him when I sleep and dream. I want more of Him in mundane matters of life. I want more of Him when I am lost in thought. I want more of Him to give revelation and fresh vision. I want more of Him when I mow my yard or help with the dishes. I want more of Him when I watch my boys play football. I want more of Him when I am at my office at the church or in my prayer closet at the house.
I'm not satisfied. There is more of Him to love, to know, to experience, to learn, to serve, to worship, to adore, to praise and exalt. There is more of Him for my life, for my family, for Faith Community Church, for other churches, for Paradise, TX and the whole nation as well as across the world.
Moses wanted more of God. [Ex 33:18] David hungered for more of God. [Ps 42:1-2] Paul counted knowing Christ as surpassing value in comparison to everything else. [Phil 3:8] Shall we be content with less? Shall we pull up to God in our devotions without a sense of wonder and deep longing for more encounters with Him. Shall we sleepily enter the house of worship and mindlessly go through the routines of worship without ever yearning to meet with Him and to adore Him? Shall we open our Bibles yawning in boredom when we can meet Him in the pages of scripture. NO and a thousand times no!
Lord, we want more of You. We are not satisfied with religious routines. We want to meet with You in our quiet times, in our daily lives, and in houses of worship all the days of our lives. May we never settle for lesser blessings. May we never be satisfied with anything less than more of You. We plead for You to fill up every deep longing of our souls. You alone satisfy our soul hunger pangs and the insatiable thirst of our hearts. Please, Lord, give us more of You. In Jesus name, amen.
Friday, August 14, 2015
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
Prophetic Words
God has used the office of the prophet throughout history. These fiery servants of God could not be bought, promoted, silenced, intimidated, or softened. They were hard men who preached a hard message. They endured ill treatment, rejection, and loneliness. They lived shut up to God and received their messages straight from God. They had their ears tuned to Heaven while their eyes saw the wickedness of their day.
Contrast that with so called prophets today. They say they have a "fresh word from God" and speak and write these words with authority. These are just a few of the things I have seen recently. One so called prophet said 2015 would be the year of the "Open Door." Another said 2015 would be a year of "revelation, manifestation, and demonstration." One lady wrote about God blessing and favor about to be poured out on Iran. Years ago there was a prophesy about a coming revival that never materialized. On and on they go. I even watched a video, or at least as much as I could stomach before I had to turn it off, of a guy supposedly prophesying. With eyes closed he rambled on and on but never really speaking for the Lord. It was all feel good pie in the sky, blessing, favor, and so forth.
When I read the messages God gave the prophets one theme stands out above everything else. REPENT! Their messages were hard hitting. They called people to repent and warned of the devastating consequences for idolatry and rebellion. Elijah called the people to choose whom they would serve in [I Kings 18:21], "How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If Yahweh is God follow Him. But if Baal follow him." Isaiah preached, "Woe to those who rise early in the morning in pursuit of beer who linger into the evening inflamed by wine. At their feasts they have lyre, harp, tambourine, flue, and wine. They do not perceive the Lord's actions and they do not see the work of His hands. [Is 5:11-12] Jeremiah prophesied, "The heart is more deceitful than anything else and desperately sick -who can understand it?" [Jer 17:9] Joel boldly proclaimed, "Even now turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Tear your hearts, not just your clothes, and return to the Lord your God. For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in faithful love, and he relents from sending disaster." [Joel 2:12-13] Amos warned, "Woe to you who long for the Day of the Lord! What will the Day of the Lord be for you? It will be darkness and not light. It will be like a man who flees from a lion only to have a bear confront him. He goes home and rests his hand against the wall only to have a snake bite him." [Amos 5:18-19]
These prophetic words were filled with warning, a call to repent, and for people to choose to serve God. Think about it. When was the last time you heard your pastor preach through any prophetic book. Have you heard many sermons from Joel or Amos in recent days? What about Nahum or Haggai? I doubt you have heard from Obadiah or Micah either.
False prophets have always abounded. They often refuted the message of the true prophets. False prophets love to preach peace and prosperity. Hear this and heed this, they were WRONG! God's message pierced the hearts with repentance and the warning of devastating consequences if they did obey. Much of what is being espoused as prophetic words from the Lord ARE NOT FROM THE LORD AT ALL. THEY ARE FROM THE PIT OF HELL WOOING PEOPLE INTO FALSE COMFORT AND SECURITY. Where were the false prophets when Babylon conquered Israel and took them captive? Where are the false prophets of today when their many predictions and supposed words from the Lord DO NOT COME TRUE? Who holds them accountable? False prophets in the Old Testament were stoned for prophesying falsely.
Not today. Say you have a prophetic word, a fresh word from the Lord, or vision and you can drum up a large crowd. Many so called prophets are doing nothing but speaking for financial profit. They take advantage of gullible people and pad their pockets with filthy lucre. Who calls them out for not hearing from the Lord? Who ever asks what they are doing with all the money they are raking in for these prophetic words. Are they building the kingdom or enlarging their own palaces.
I weary of hearing weird and outlandish things as supposed words from the Lord. I, "If this says the Lord," is really from the Lord as so called prophets say it is the word had better come to pass. What God says He does! What He purposes He performs!
Here is a prophetic word from the Lord concerning the United Sates of America. REPENT! Turn from sin and idolatry back to a holy GOd. Cry out for mercy. Humble yourselves in His presence. He is the only hope for America.
Contrast that with so called prophets today. They say they have a "fresh word from God" and speak and write these words with authority. These are just a few of the things I have seen recently. One so called prophet said 2015 would be the year of the "Open Door." Another said 2015 would be a year of "revelation, manifestation, and demonstration." One lady wrote about God blessing and favor about to be poured out on Iran. Years ago there was a prophesy about a coming revival that never materialized. On and on they go. I even watched a video, or at least as much as I could stomach before I had to turn it off, of a guy supposedly prophesying. With eyes closed he rambled on and on but never really speaking for the Lord. It was all feel good pie in the sky, blessing, favor, and so forth.
When I read the messages God gave the prophets one theme stands out above everything else. REPENT! Their messages were hard hitting. They called people to repent and warned of the devastating consequences for idolatry and rebellion. Elijah called the people to choose whom they would serve in [I Kings 18:21], "How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If Yahweh is God follow Him. But if Baal follow him." Isaiah preached, "Woe to those who rise early in the morning in pursuit of beer who linger into the evening inflamed by wine. At their feasts they have lyre, harp, tambourine, flue, and wine. They do not perceive the Lord's actions and they do not see the work of His hands. [Is 5:11-12] Jeremiah prophesied, "The heart is more deceitful than anything else and desperately sick -who can understand it?" [Jer 17:9] Joel boldly proclaimed, "Even now turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Tear your hearts, not just your clothes, and return to the Lord your God. For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in faithful love, and he relents from sending disaster." [Joel 2:12-13] Amos warned, "Woe to you who long for the Day of the Lord! What will the Day of the Lord be for you? It will be darkness and not light. It will be like a man who flees from a lion only to have a bear confront him. He goes home and rests his hand against the wall only to have a snake bite him." [Amos 5:18-19]
These prophetic words were filled with warning, a call to repent, and for people to choose to serve God. Think about it. When was the last time you heard your pastor preach through any prophetic book. Have you heard many sermons from Joel or Amos in recent days? What about Nahum or Haggai? I doubt you have heard from Obadiah or Micah either.
False prophets have always abounded. They often refuted the message of the true prophets. False prophets love to preach peace and prosperity. Hear this and heed this, they were WRONG! God's message pierced the hearts with repentance and the warning of devastating consequences if they did obey. Much of what is being espoused as prophetic words from the Lord ARE NOT FROM THE LORD AT ALL. THEY ARE FROM THE PIT OF HELL WOOING PEOPLE INTO FALSE COMFORT AND SECURITY. Where were the false prophets when Babylon conquered Israel and took them captive? Where are the false prophets of today when their many predictions and supposed words from the Lord DO NOT COME TRUE? Who holds them accountable? False prophets in the Old Testament were stoned for prophesying falsely.
Not today. Say you have a prophetic word, a fresh word from the Lord, or vision and you can drum up a large crowd. Many so called prophets are doing nothing but speaking for financial profit. They take advantage of gullible people and pad their pockets with filthy lucre. Who calls them out for not hearing from the Lord? Who ever asks what they are doing with all the money they are raking in for these prophetic words. Are they building the kingdom or enlarging their own palaces.
I weary of hearing weird and outlandish things as supposed words from the Lord. I, "If this says the Lord," is really from the Lord as so called prophets say it is the word had better come to pass. What God says He does! What He purposes He performs!
Here is a prophetic word from the Lord concerning the United Sates of America. REPENT! Turn from sin and idolatry back to a holy GOd. Cry out for mercy. Humble yourselves in His presence. He is the only hope for America.
Monday, August 10, 2015
Tuning Our Ears Toward Heaven
I have not written much in recent days. I do not feel I was supposed to. God did not give me anything to say and therefore I have spent my last few weeks praying, reading, and listening.
There is a lot to listen to. With the upcoming 2016 Presidential election some candidate is always on the news with a catchy soundbite. Scientist and economist have plenty to say as well. A-list celebrities are rarely at a loss for words as well as world class athletes. There are millions of voices screaming to get our attention, to join their side, to view things from their perspective, to get us to spend our money on certain products, and even religious leaders trying to inspire or inform us.
Those are not the voices I have spent my last several weeks tuning in to. It is God's voice I am after. We should want to tune our ears to Heaven shutting out the maddening noise of a society out of control. This requires more than speed reading the Bible. This necessitates more than a quick dash through prayer.
In these days I often am prostrate on the floor crying out for God to speak. I read His word with a new found craving for His message for me and not just for another sermon. As of late my single greatest desire in prayer is to hear God speak. I want Him to speak to my life. I want Him to speak to me about my family. I crave for fresh words for Faith Community Church. In this troubling age I yearn for God to speak words of direction for ministry.
I do not want to live the remainder of my life as an echo of other's voices and opinions. I want to hear from God above all. I admit this is often frustrating. I can think of a dozen things off the top of my head I need God's counsel on and the truth is there are no specific answers to these things in a Bible passage. For example, should I continue to pursue my education at the next level, should we hold revival meetings this fall, where does God want Tanner to go to college next year, whom has God appointed as our next worship pastor, etc. There are no clear cut answers to these questions in the Bible but God does have answers. So I tune my ears to Heaven and wait for God to show me what to do next.
I do not always trust my decision making. I have made many costly mistakes over the years. I do not trust reason for reason does not always lead to the will of God. I do not trust my impulses for I am prone to jump way too early and often leading to many hardships instead of waiting on God.
Tuning your ears to Heaven does not come easily. With all the voices vying for our attention it takes disciplined effort to hear the Lord speaking. I still say the Bible is the primary place God speaks but I will not go so far as to say it is the only place God speaks.
I am more convinced in this season of life that God has much more to say to His people than we are willing to listen. It is true that what God has to say to us is much more important than anything we have to say to Him. Most of us agree with that statement and yet seldom take the time in our devotions and prayer lives to listen. If we would tune our ears to Heaven I am confident God would lead us into many more ministry opportunities with people.
Let me give you a couple of examples. A man in our church was walking the other morning at the track. There were several people on the track that morning but one lady cried as she walked. The man from our church and another Christian man felt the nudge of the Holy Spirit to pray for and with that woman right on the track. Another man in our church told me the story about being in a meeting with several people. He noticed one man visibly upset. He took him aside and found out the man was going through a divorce. The two of them left the meeting and spent the day talking. A friendship developed lasting for several years. That meeting turned into ministry could turn into a lucrative business deal down the road. The man in our church was only responding to an internal leading of the Lord to minister to this other hurting and broken man.
If we tune our ears to Heaven how many times might God use us on a given day to minister hope and the love of Jesus to people? How many clear decisions would God give us peace about making.
I love to write but I do not want to write another sentence if He is not the One prompting me to do so. I do not want go through life making good decisions that might not be God decisions. I want to hear God about our nation, about my community and about Faith Community Church. I want to hear God about the things on His heart and mind. Like the boy who would one day be a prophet prayed in [I Samuel 3:10, "Speak Lord for your servant is listening." May we all listen as we tune our ears to Heaven.
There is a lot to listen to. With the upcoming 2016 Presidential election some candidate is always on the news with a catchy soundbite. Scientist and economist have plenty to say as well. A-list celebrities are rarely at a loss for words as well as world class athletes. There are millions of voices screaming to get our attention, to join their side, to view things from their perspective, to get us to spend our money on certain products, and even religious leaders trying to inspire or inform us.
Those are not the voices I have spent my last several weeks tuning in to. It is God's voice I am after. We should want to tune our ears to Heaven shutting out the maddening noise of a society out of control. This requires more than speed reading the Bible. This necessitates more than a quick dash through prayer.
In these days I often am prostrate on the floor crying out for God to speak. I read His word with a new found craving for His message for me and not just for another sermon. As of late my single greatest desire in prayer is to hear God speak. I want Him to speak to my life. I want Him to speak to me about my family. I crave for fresh words for Faith Community Church. In this troubling age I yearn for God to speak words of direction for ministry.
I do not want to live the remainder of my life as an echo of other's voices and opinions. I want to hear from God above all. I admit this is often frustrating. I can think of a dozen things off the top of my head I need God's counsel on and the truth is there are no specific answers to these things in a Bible passage. For example, should I continue to pursue my education at the next level, should we hold revival meetings this fall, where does God want Tanner to go to college next year, whom has God appointed as our next worship pastor, etc. There are no clear cut answers to these questions in the Bible but God does have answers. So I tune my ears to Heaven and wait for God to show me what to do next.
I do not always trust my decision making. I have made many costly mistakes over the years. I do not trust reason for reason does not always lead to the will of God. I do not trust my impulses for I am prone to jump way too early and often leading to many hardships instead of waiting on God.
Tuning your ears to Heaven does not come easily. With all the voices vying for our attention it takes disciplined effort to hear the Lord speaking. I still say the Bible is the primary place God speaks but I will not go so far as to say it is the only place God speaks.
I am more convinced in this season of life that God has much more to say to His people than we are willing to listen. It is true that what God has to say to us is much more important than anything we have to say to Him. Most of us agree with that statement and yet seldom take the time in our devotions and prayer lives to listen. If we would tune our ears to Heaven I am confident God would lead us into many more ministry opportunities with people.
Let me give you a couple of examples. A man in our church was walking the other morning at the track. There were several people on the track that morning but one lady cried as she walked. The man from our church and another Christian man felt the nudge of the Holy Spirit to pray for and with that woman right on the track. Another man in our church told me the story about being in a meeting with several people. He noticed one man visibly upset. He took him aside and found out the man was going through a divorce. The two of them left the meeting and spent the day talking. A friendship developed lasting for several years. That meeting turned into ministry could turn into a lucrative business deal down the road. The man in our church was only responding to an internal leading of the Lord to minister to this other hurting and broken man.
If we tune our ears to Heaven how many times might God use us on a given day to minister hope and the love of Jesus to people? How many clear decisions would God give us peace about making.
I love to write but I do not want to write another sentence if He is not the One prompting me to do so. I do not want go through life making good decisions that might not be God decisions. I want to hear God about our nation, about my community and about Faith Community Church. I want to hear God about the things on His heart and mind. Like the boy who would one day be a prophet prayed in [I Samuel 3:10, "Speak Lord for your servant is listening." May we all listen as we tune our ears to Heaven.
Friday, August 7, 2015
A Word Of Warning
It has been some time since I sat down and wrote anything. It feels a little awkward like riding a bicycle for the first time in years. The truth is I really had nothing to say. The internet is filled with the ramblings of the masses that amount to nothing. When I write I pray the Lord has given me substance. I would not be writing today but the Lord instructed me to do so.
Late last night the fire alarms went off all over our house with that shrill beeping. The noise hurt my ears as it permeated the entire house. Everyone had already gone to bed except Taylor and I. The alarms went off because he cooked a pizza and something burned. While uncomfortable I thought nothing more of the incident until a few minutes ago.
My peaceful afternoon was interrupted just a few minutes ago with my neighbor's car alarm going off. The horn on the vehicle kept sounding until they could find the key to turn it off. It was in that moment I sensed the Lord telling me to warn the people.
I am certain God's judgement is coming on America very soon. I wish I did not have to write that. I wish I had a different message. God has been dealing with me on this for close to two years. The burden has deepened. The grief and sorrow over the sins of the nations have intensified. I am not the only one who feels this way. Our rebellion as a nation has offended holy God and the day of reckoning is coming soon. Much sooner than most people think.
In a time when people are going about with life as usual there is a sinking feeling in my gut that the storm clouds are brewing and something tragic is coming. God's judgement is just over the horizon. My spirit picks it up like radar does bad weather. I believe our nation will be staggered. It will be so bad many will turn to God for they will have no other hope.
I believe the course is set and we will not be spared. Yet, we must be prepared. Get your walk with God updated. When the crisis comes you will be want to be walking rightly with God in those days.
I hated the sounds of the smoke alarm and car alarm about has much as some of you hate reading this. They both got my attention and perhaps God will use this to get the attention of a few readers. His judgement is speeding toward us. The die has been cast. The course has been set. The day and hour have been appointed when the United States will face the wrath of a just and holy God. Be forewarned.
Late last night the fire alarms went off all over our house with that shrill beeping. The noise hurt my ears as it permeated the entire house. Everyone had already gone to bed except Taylor and I. The alarms went off because he cooked a pizza and something burned. While uncomfortable I thought nothing more of the incident until a few minutes ago.
My peaceful afternoon was interrupted just a few minutes ago with my neighbor's car alarm going off. The horn on the vehicle kept sounding until they could find the key to turn it off. It was in that moment I sensed the Lord telling me to warn the people.
I am certain God's judgement is coming on America very soon. I wish I did not have to write that. I wish I had a different message. God has been dealing with me on this for close to two years. The burden has deepened. The grief and sorrow over the sins of the nations have intensified. I am not the only one who feels this way. Our rebellion as a nation has offended holy God and the day of reckoning is coming soon. Much sooner than most people think.
In a time when people are going about with life as usual there is a sinking feeling in my gut that the storm clouds are brewing and something tragic is coming. God's judgement is just over the horizon. My spirit picks it up like radar does bad weather. I believe our nation will be staggered. It will be so bad many will turn to God for they will have no other hope.
I believe the course is set and we will not be spared. Yet, we must be prepared. Get your walk with God updated. When the crisis comes you will be want to be walking rightly with God in those days.
I hated the sounds of the smoke alarm and car alarm about has much as some of you hate reading this. They both got my attention and perhaps God will use this to get the attention of a few readers. His judgement is speeding toward us. The die has been cast. The course has been set. The day and hour have been appointed when the United States will face the wrath of a just and holy God. Be forewarned.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)