Every good and perfect gift comes from above. Today our family celebrates the birth of our little "praise"man...aka Judah James. The book of Psalms says that God has ordained praise on the lips of infants..and this little guy definitely came out screaming.
He's 4 years and ready to take over the world...just ask him. He'll tell you I'm a "history maker, world changer, man of God!"
It's a sobering thought to think that he's watching my every move...looking for a model to follow. What an amazing privilege our Father has given us to raise up little world changers.
Be sure to check out our upcoming series at church: PG: Parental Guidance Required. I plan to learn some things for sure.
Off to the beach to go celebrate with the fam:)
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Honor: humility in action
"We don't just honor people because they are honorable. We honor them because we are honorable. For a Christian, honor is a condition of the heart, not just a product of a good environment.
Honor is humility in action.
The presence of honor creates order through dignity instead of the fear of punishment. Order, when it is fostered by honor, results in empowerment; order enforced through fear results in control." -Kris Vallotton "The Supernatural Ways of Royalty"
Honor is humility in action.
The presence of honor creates order through dignity instead of the fear of punishment. Order, when it is fostered by honor, results in empowerment; order enforced through fear results in control." -Kris Vallotton "The Supernatural Ways of Royalty"
Saturday, July 4, 2009
hypocrisy??
Every Christian is pretty well aware that they never want to be considered a hypocrite by a closely watching world.
The only problem is that many of us have been duped into thinking hypocrisy is something that is really isn't. Many times we believe the enemy's lies when he calls us a hypocrite for worshiping in church when we don't feel like it or sharing our faith inspite of being fearful or not feeling this supernatural down load of love for the person we are sharing Jesus with.
Hypocrisy is NOT when a person's actions are inconsistent with their feelings but when a person's actions are inconsistent with their convictions.
Beliefs are things people argue over...convictions are what people are willing to die for. It is more important for me to get my actions tied to my convictions and let the feelings follow...
Side note: It's vital for each of us to stay teachable and live as lifetime learners. A wise man once said, "Every person I meet is superior to me in some way." Every person we meet has the ability to teach us something. This provoking thought on hypocrisy was passed onto me by a son in the faith...who happens to be 17.
What kind of wisdom and revelation is hidden inside the people that surround you everyday??
The only problem is that many of us have been duped into thinking hypocrisy is something that is really isn't. Many times we believe the enemy's lies when he calls us a hypocrite for worshiping in church when we don't feel like it or sharing our faith inspite of being fearful or not feeling this supernatural down load of love for the person we are sharing Jesus with.
Hypocrisy is NOT when a person's actions are inconsistent with their feelings but when a person's actions are inconsistent with their convictions.
Beliefs are things people argue over...convictions are what people are willing to die for. It is more important for me to get my actions tied to my convictions and let the feelings follow...
Side note: It's vital for each of us to stay teachable and live as lifetime learners. A wise man once said, "Every person I meet is superior to me in some way." Every person we meet has the ability to teach us something. This provoking thought on hypocrisy was passed onto me by a son in the faith...who happens to be 17.
What kind of wisdom and revelation is hidden inside the people that surround you everyday??
Thursday, July 2, 2009
humility: all the way down to the top
It's been said that the truth of God's grace humbles a man without degrading him and exalts a man without inflating him.
Many of us within Christian culture have misunderstood the true meaning of humility. We've convinced ourselves that humility is about living a life bound to smallness.
"The consequence is that we've shrunk men below the size of their devil and so they are left to face him without the full benefit of their true identity and authority." -Kris Vallotton
Humility is not thinking less of ourselves but thinking of ourselves less. Humility is not demeaning ourselves but exalting our God.
Proverbs 15:33 says that humility comes before honor. Those two virtues are greatly needed in our culture and lives. It is very interesting how tightly connected honor and humility are. I'll take some time to write about honor in an upcoming blog.
Many of us within Christian culture have misunderstood the true meaning of humility. We've convinced ourselves that humility is about living a life bound to smallness.
"The consequence is that we've shrunk men below the size of their devil and so they are left to face him without the full benefit of their true identity and authority." -Kris Vallotton
Humility is not thinking less of ourselves but thinking of ourselves less. Humility is not demeaning ourselves but exalting our God.
Proverbs 15:33 says that humility comes before honor. Those two virtues are greatly needed in our culture and lives. It is very interesting how tightly connected honor and humility are. I'll take some time to write about honor in an upcoming blog.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Preoccupied with purpose
Life can be distracting. In fact, if the enemy cannot defeat you, he will settle for distracting you from your divine assignment.
He tried to do this to a man of God from the Old Testament named Nehemiah, and he'll try to do the same to us. An adversary was attempting to taunt and distract Nehemiah from rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. We can learn a lot from Nehemiah's answer. He didn't react out of fear and anxiety; he responded in faith and clarity of focus....
"I am doing a great work and I cannot come down to you."
"Four times they sent me the same message, and each time I gave them the same answer." (Nehemiah 6:3-4)
The same power that caused Nehemiah to become preoccupied with his purpose is available to each of us today. We must learn to not lower ourselves to the taunts of our adversaries.
You can always tell the size of a man's identity by the size of the problem it takes to discourage him or break his focus.
He tried to do this to a man of God from the Old Testament named Nehemiah, and he'll try to do the same to us. An adversary was attempting to taunt and distract Nehemiah from rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. We can learn a lot from Nehemiah's answer. He didn't react out of fear and anxiety; he responded in faith and clarity of focus....
"I am doing a great work and I cannot come down to you."
"Four times they sent me the same message, and each time I gave them the same answer." (Nehemiah 6:3-4)
The same power that caused Nehemiah to become preoccupied with his purpose is available to each of us today. We must learn to not lower ourselves to the taunts of our adversaries.
You can always tell the size of a man's identity by the size of the problem it takes to discourage him or break his focus.
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