Build (Isaiah 57:14)

Good morning all,

The word of the day is “build.” As we continue into this beginning part of our season we will do more and more. You are now establishing your schedules, and combining them with the rest of your life. Taking the proper steps in any venture is crucial to success. God often told his people through various prophets how to move toward this success…

“And it will be said: Build up, build up, prepare the road! Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people."

~Isaiah 57:14

God was not messing around when he told his peeps to get ready. I think we should view our faith in the same light. My question for you today is: What are you doing to build your faith and relationship with God.  My prayer for you is that God uses you to build the Kingdom here on earth as we get ready to see him soon.  He has cool things in store for you and as you build, both in your swim season and in life, God will be faithful to do some amazing stuff through you.

Praying for you,

mo

Specific (1 Samuel 15:1-26)

Good morning all,

The word of the day “specific.” I would have to say that this could be one of the more important words in the OT. God knew what he wanted, and spoke through prophets to relay those messages. We would all for God to speak to us directly or through some means that is specific. The bummer part about when that happened was that God’s peeps did not do what they were commanded to do anyway! Whaaaat??? Pretty frustrating for the big guy upstairs, I am sure. Saul made some major mistakes in his run as king… this one was the icing on the cake though…

“Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel: ‘I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.’ Samuel was troubled, and he cried out to the LORD all that night.”

~1 Sam. 15:10-11

My question is: Have you committed to obey God’s commands, and live a life of specificity concerning your relationship with him? The way we understand these things that God wants from us is to ask others who are wiser, reading, and meditating on the word. My prayer is that you use these next couple of days to recap this year and see what can be done to be even more specific with the year upcoming. God has cool stuff in store for each of you, just wait… but wait with specificity and yearning.

Praying for you,

mo

Stewardship (Ezra 1:1-11)

Good morning all,

The word of the day is “stewardship.” How ‘bout this one for a Xtian word if I have ever heard one. How true is it that we should be good stewards of the resources that God gives. Even the king understood that God’s peeps needed to go up to Judah and build the house of the Lord. Every person was expected to pitch in and serve according to his or her gifts.

“Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites—everyone whose heart God had moved—prepared to go up and build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem.”

~Ez. 1:5

My question is: are you using your gifts for God’s glory? There is a ton of stuff that needs to be done in this crazy world and each believer has been given a gift or multiple gifts that should be utilized. My prayer is that each of us digs down deep at the end of this year to evaluate how we use those gifts. If you do not know what you do well then ask someone who knows you pretty well. That person will give you insight into how you can best use your gifts for advancing God’s kingdom here on earth. I am excited to hear of how God has used you and will use you going into this next year.

Praying for you,

mo