Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Getting Excited
I've been on vacation the last week or so and have spent some time in prayer and reading the bible and I'm just so excited about this coming year. What I keep hearing God saying is to take everything I think I know about the bible and all Him to reveal even greater things to me. I hope you can do the same thing. Don't just skim over the parts you've read before and think you understand completly. Don't just skip the parts that don't seem interesting. Read it. Allow God to speak new things to you. Pray for understanding. It's His word, and everything is there for a reason. Let's start a discussion and get people talking about the bible again. I'm not going to debate anything, I just want to hear what God is saying to you. Can't wait!! See ya January first. Remember you can get the schedule at http://www.deliberatepeople.com/dpresources/ and download the 12 month schedule.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
The Turn
I know "THE TURN" seems like an odd title for a blog so let me explain.
I was recently on a mission trip in Ukraine and while there my team and I attended a city wide prayer meeting with pastors from all different churches. While praying that day the Lord spoke a single word to me..."turn." I kept praying, asking God for more but that was all He spoke. I read every verse I could find with the that word in it and noticed a common theme. God was asking people to turn from their old ways and come back to Him. Just the other day I was reading during a staff devotion time and this passage came up, it's Paul giving his account to King Agrippa of what happened to him on the road to Damascus in Acts 26:15-18:
15So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 16But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. 17I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I £now send you, 18to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’
Again, there is that word "turn."
So here's where I want to go with this blog. I grew up in church and have read and heard the bible read my whole life. But what jumped out at me in this passage of scripture is that God wanted to use not only what Paul had already seen in the scripture (remember he was a very powerful religious man at the time of his conversion, he just didn't know Jesus) but He was also going to reveal new things to him and then use that to TURN people from darkness to light. I believe God is calling me to read through the bible this year with new eyes, to allow Him to reveal new things through His word. I've challenged my staff to do the same. Paul knew the scripture, he was just ignoring the author. He was missing the truth behind the words. I think we can all get caught in the same trap of reading the words, but not hearing God's truth in them.
I'm inviting you on a journey...through the bible in one year. Each day there will be a passage from the OT, NT, Psalm and Proverbs. Each day I'm going to comment on what God is revealing to me and I'm inviting you to do the same. Whether you are a seasoned Christian, a new believer, or you would just like some extra insight into God's word, come with me on this journey. I believe that what God shows us will not only be used to change our lives, but if we let Him, He'll use what we learn to TURN others from the darkness of this world into His marvelous light.
It all begins January 1st, 2011. For a copy of the reading plan that I will be using go to: http://www.deliberatepeople.com/dpresources/ and download the 12 month schedule.
I was recently on a mission trip in Ukraine and while there my team and I attended a city wide prayer meeting with pastors from all different churches. While praying that day the Lord spoke a single word to me..."turn." I kept praying, asking God for more but that was all He spoke. I read every verse I could find with the that word in it and noticed a common theme. God was asking people to turn from their old ways and come back to Him. Just the other day I was reading during a staff devotion time and this passage came up, it's Paul giving his account to King Agrippa of what happened to him on the road to Damascus in Acts 26:15-18:
15So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 16But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. 17I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I £now send you, 18to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’
Again, there is that word "turn."
So here's where I want to go with this blog. I grew up in church and have read and heard the bible read my whole life. But what jumped out at me in this passage of scripture is that God wanted to use not only what Paul had already seen in the scripture (remember he was a very powerful religious man at the time of his conversion, he just didn't know Jesus) but He was also going to reveal new things to him and then use that to TURN people from darkness to light. I believe God is calling me to read through the bible this year with new eyes, to allow Him to reveal new things through His word. I've challenged my staff to do the same. Paul knew the scripture, he was just ignoring the author. He was missing the truth behind the words. I think we can all get caught in the same trap of reading the words, but not hearing God's truth in them.
I'm inviting you on a journey...through the bible in one year. Each day there will be a passage from the OT, NT, Psalm and Proverbs. Each day I'm going to comment on what God is revealing to me and I'm inviting you to do the same. Whether you are a seasoned Christian, a new believer, or you would just like some extra insight into God's word, come with me on this journey. I believe that what God shows us will not only be used to change our lives, but if we let Him, He'll use what we learn to TURN others from the darkness of this world into His marvelous light.
It all begins January 1st, 2011. For a copy of the reading plan that I will be using go to: http://www.deliberatepeople.com/dpresources/ and download the 12 month schedule.
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