1. Pride.....we did it!

2. Intimidation....wow, how did that happen and how are we going to look after these people?

3. Performance based acceptance....well, I guess we're ok, because the church is "successful".

4. God's plan is confident humility....you've probably heard of this before...when we come to a place where we realize that we are feeble, broken people and in our own strength not really capable of anything good....so we're humble, YET, we're confident of this, that He who began a good work in us, in this church is faithful to carry it out to completion...not because of our performance, but because of His perfection.

I am praying for all of us today, that we would, today, choose Him.....in His strength and by His grace.

Also praying for the youth retreat...that not only would it be good, but it would be radically life altering for our kids.

We are fearfully and wonderfully made by a great and awesome God.

  Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!

“Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?”

“Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?”

 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.

God, you are our HOPE, our SALVATION, our LIFE and our ETERNITY.  We love You.  I pray that for Your victory at the youth retreat, Your victory on Sunday, Your victory in our lives, Your victory in our church, Your victory in this world.

I can't imagine going through life in this broken world without Him.  For those living without Christ, there must be a dread at the very core of their being, a hopelessness that no amount of money, no amount of sex, no amount of status or popularity can cure.  Read the verses below with new eyes today ok?  Because we've seen them so many times, it would be easy to breeze through them.

¹ The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 
 ² He makes me lie down in green pastures, 
he leads me beside quiet waters, 
 ³ he refreshes my soul. 
He guides me along the right paths 
   for his name’s sake. 
⁴ Even though I walk 
   through the darkest valley,^[a] 
I will fear no evil, 
   for you are with me; 
your rod and your staff, 
   they comfort me.

 ⁵ You prepare a table before me 
   in the presence of my enemies. 
You anoint my head with oil; 
   my cup overflows. 
⁶ Surely your goodness and love will follow me 
   all the days of my life, 
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD 
   forever.

Isaiah 51:

¹⁵ For I am the LORD your God, 
   who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— 
   the LORD Almighty is his name. 
¹⁶ I have put my words in your mouth 
   and covered you with the shadow of my hand— 
I who set the heavens in place, 
   who laid the foundations of the earth, 
   and who say to Zion, ‘You are my people.’”

Secondly, was just sitting and reflecting and started thinking of all the things I have be be thankful for....and I started to think of "little" things, that I often take for granted....like a warm shower, a bed to sleep in, and..........FOOD!!!!  We are so blessed on so many levels.

It got me thinking of all the "fillers" we have in our lives.... television, mindless radio, sports, whatever.  Don't get me wrong, there's a place for all of that, but I wonder if we sat down and added up the hours we spend on fillers and compared it to the hours we spent on authentic relationships with God and people if we would be happy with the results.

Point is, I thought it was a hilarious email but it actually got me thinking a bit.  For this fast so far I've been obviously fasting food, and also sports radio and sports on the internet.  But I began thinking this morning that its easy to think, "I'm going to fast distractions and bad things in my life and spend time with God...".  

I get it, but what about this...what if we fasted discouragement for the next ten days or so?  Seriously, what if when discouragement rears its head in our life we call to mind HIS great love and faithfulness and remember He is fully competent to save us, to forgive us, and work through us in unbelievable ways.  What if we just take every thought captive and speak words of faith and hope and vision and trust and confidence into every situation?

What if we fasted condemnation? What if when we looked at yesterday or this morning or ten years ago and wallowed in guilt we took that thought captive and asked God to replace it with His conviction....what does He have for us TODAY?  Maybe its as simple as confessing, repenting and then moving on with the full faith in His grace and forgiveness.  Maybe He'll place a NEXT STEP on your heart to do today, rather than wallowing in yesterday?

What if we fasted from words of death and made a point to speak life to the people around us?

Love you guys!