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"As iron sharpens iron, so does one man sharpen another"
Proverbs 27:17
Where's our Hearts?
I wonder as our heavenly Father looks upon us, watches us get up each morning and go about our day, hears our every thought, I wonder if he sees love from us, if he hears love from us, if he feels love from us?
As I mentioned recently, a few weeks ago I was feeling pretty dry, I was lacking passion in my relationship with God…and what happens when we lose passion for something? What happens to our exercise schedule? What happens to our marriages? They certainly don’t become all they can be; instead they simply become ordinary or maybe even fade a bit.
I suppose our relationships, whether with our wives or our God, become ordinary when we start just going through the motions, when we stop being intentional, when we no longer pay attention to the details as we once did, when we stop wanting to please the other person, when we start thinking more about ourselves than about the other person, when we stop connecting at the heart level, when we stop truly loving passionately.
So today, are we loving our heavenly Father passionately as we could, as we should? Over and over again throughout scripture his number one message to us is Love the Lord our God with our whole heart, mind, soul and strength….love him with all that we are...love him. Are we?
Are we connecting with God at the heart level and not just with our heads? Do the great realities of our God stir us or do we simply acknowledge them? To connect with someone we need to be spending time with them; do we spend more time and energy talking to and thinking about our heavenly Father or do we spend more time and energy on our jobs…or our houses…or TV…or golf…or even “our” ministry activity?
If we feel a lack of passion for God today, then maybe we need to change our current routine in some way by spending more time with him and even by crying out to God to revive our hearts. Maybe we need to step back and have another look at who God is and who we are. Do we not only see but feel that all of history and the creation of this amazing universe and the sending of his Son to die on a cross and the offer of personal intimacy in our very lives is all about God and not about us? He is the Creator, He is the one who gives unending love, He gets the glory and our lives merely fit within his great story. Within a generation or two, no one will even know we existed, let alone care. But Christ, Christ will live on.
Our part in his eternal story is brief and he calls us to play an active part…but that part needs to be about him, not about us. Is that what we believe? Is that how we live? Too often I find myself saying ‘yes, that’s what I believe’ and then ‘no, that’s not how I live’.
Lord, help me, help us stay connected to you at the heart level so it becomes our heart’s desire to live passionately for you and not for ourselves! Lord, you said that your servant David had a heart after your own heart…give us eyes to see David’s heart. Help us see and embrace how David responded to his moments of sin and distress and praise. Help us see and embrace how David’s whole perspective, his whole world view revolved around you. Help us see and embrace how he loved you. Lord, help us pursue a heart after your own heart. Amen.
Posted by : Anonymous on Wednesday, June 17, 2009 | | 0 Comments
Thanks from C.O.T.C.!
Dan Arnholt requested the memo below be posted. A handful of men from Church of the Cross in Lexington came to the Grill-out on Sunday.
_____________________________________________________
Berean Journeymen,
Thanks for inviting us to the Men's Grill out/ Fellowship night!
We were treated with great hospitality by Mike, The Runner, (From the YMCA) and Pastor Dave while we had dinner. The V-Ball, Corn-Hole, Basketball & Card Games were a great idea.
KEEP reaching out to MEN! The movement in our area is gaining ground, but still has room for growth. North Central Ohio needs your Men's Ministry!
Thanks Again, Dan Arnholt
'Sunday Night Men's Book Study'
Posted by : Anonymous on Tuesday, June 02, 2009 | | 0 Comments
Butt Prints In The Sand
One night I had a wondrous dream, one set of footprints there was seen, the footprints of my precious Lord, but mine were not along the shore. But then some stranger prints appeared, and I asked the Lord, “What have we here?” Those prints are large and round and neat, “But Lord they are too big for feet.” “My child”, He said in somber tones, “For miles I carried you alone. I challenged you to walk in faith, but you refused and made me wait. You disobeyed, you would not grow, the walk of faith, you would not know. So I got tired, I got fed up, and there I dropped you on your butt! Because in life, there comes a time, when one must fight, and one must climb. When one must rise and take a stand, or leave their butt prints in the sand.” -- Author Unknown
I don’t know about you but as for me, I tend to mimic this humorous spin-off of the famous poem “Footprints In the Sand”. I believe that we all tend to do this from time to time, as we are all human and are susceptible to temptation and failure (Romans 3:23). But just as we are sinners it is great to know that “No temptation has overtaken you but such is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it (1 Cor. 10:13 NASB).
So many times we are quick to make excuses and not pay attention, better yet, ignore our spiritual gauges. We start to go through trials and tribulations more frequently and start seeing our lives head into a spiraling pattern as we slowly slip away from God. It is as if we know what is happening but we tend to be in denial about the actuality of the circumstances. We start to buy into the lies that Satan feeds us instead of chewing on the lasting and fulfilling Word of God (Joshua 1:8).
It is in this time that accountability truly comes into play (Proverbs 27:17). However it is very important for a brother to remember that when holding another brother accountable or helping him get back up that it is done in love. As the writer of Hebrews wrote, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (4:12 NKJV).
I don’t know about you but as for me, I tend to mimic this humorous spin-off of the famous poem “Footprints In the Sand”. I believe that we all tend to do this from time to time, as we are all human and are susceptible to temptation and failure (Romans 3:23). But just as we are sinners it is great to know that “No temptation has overtaken you but such is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it (1 Cor. 10:13 NASB).
So many times we are quick to make excuses and not pay attention, better yet, ignore our spiritual gauges. We start to go through trials and tribulations more frequently and start seeing our lives head into a spiraling pattern as we slowly slip away from God. It is as if we know what is happening but we tend to be in denial about the actuality of the circumstances. We start to buy into the lies that Satan feeds us instead of chewing on the lasting and fulfilling Word of God (Joshua 1:8).
It is in this time that accountability truly comes into play (Proverbs 27:17). However it is very important for a brother to remember that when holding another brother accountable or helping him get back up that it is done in love. As the writer of Hebrews wrote, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (4:12 NKJV).
In my experience counseling, the one thing that a man needs is a brother to walk beside him and with him, encouraging him and loving him. Just as a police officer has many tools on his belt. He is given the right to use his gun to take the life of another only when the circumstances are justified to do so. Many times as Christians we are quick to pull our gun out and shoot instead of using the other tools that God has given us through and in his Word.
We have all been there, we have all used our spiritual guns and been fired upon. Instead of shooting at each other let’s try and keep our spiritual gauges in check by loving each other and asking those tough questions. Let’s start walking with each other instead of persecuting each other and telling one another how wrong we have been and what a greater sinner one is than the other (Luke 18:9-11).
Humbly see you at the altar,
Derrick F. Martin
Posted by : Derrick Martin on Monday, June 01, 2009 | | 0 Comments
Men's Grill-out ---- Great fun & great message!
It was great to see so many guys having fun (playing basketball, volleyball, corn-hole, laughing, talking, etc.) and praising God together last night at the Men’s Grill-out. I definitely look forward to the next one later this summer.
In thinking about the message of keeping an eye on our spiritual gauges that Rich provided, I realized it requires an intentional act. I need to, we all need to intentionally step back and take assessment of our walk with Christ rather frequently.
So I began to ask myself…and we all should ask ourselves…things like:
- Have we become lazy regarding the basics that keep us close to Christ? Has our focus on Christ lost any sharpness?
- Are we being diligent in pursuing holiness and rejecting and purging all forms of sin from our lives? Are we continuing to meet with accountability partners and being truly transparent? Are we being passive or active, maybe even radical if need be to ensure we are truly fighting a good fight?
- Are our hearts and minds engaged with God more than anything else…more than the news, more than our jobs, more than sports, more than ministry activity, more than our vacation plans, more than our family, more than our wives, more than ourselves? We spend many hours of each waking day in conscious thought, how much of that time are we investing in our most important relationship, in the eternal…versus the superficial and the temporal?
- Are we are spending time in God’s word? If we are, are we intent on connecting with God, is our desire to have the Holy Spirit open our eyes and counsel us…or are we just gathering facts, just going through the motions of reading words? Are our hearts truly engaged or is it just our heads?
- Etc, etc.
In going through that gauge checking process, I realize that I have become a bit distracted the past few weeks in staying connected to God on the heart level and as a result I’ve experienced some spiritual dryness. Goodness knows I’ve been there before, but I certainly don’t like being there.
So now that I’m aware of that red light, the question is what will I do about it? Will I keep doing the same things I have for the past few weeks that brought about dryness or will I intentionally change things in order to be refreshed? Maintaining my disciplines is a must, but it is not enough. Will I pursue a repentant spirit? Will I cry out to God to give me refreshment and renewal and revival? Will I go running back to him in desperation and even fear that a lingering dryness could lead to an acceptable new norm or even the wilderness? O Lord, I lie in dust; revive me by your word; encourage me by your word; renew my life with your goodness!
Lord, thank you for your message Rich conveyed last night. Help us be intentional in gauge monitoring, help us search for yellows before they have a chance to turn red. And if a light does appear, help us jump all over it without delay, never allowing it to linger. Grant each of us a willing spirit to sustain us and a passionate one that pursues you. Help us endeavor to have a heart after your own heart.
Posted by : Anonymous on | | 0 Comments
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