Extreme Makeover Pt 2

What does it mean to be holy?  It means to be set aside for sacred use, to be “other” than, to be set apart.  God’s desire for His sons and daughters is that we be a Holy Nation.  We can only be made Holy be the indwelling presence of God’s Holy Spirit, who recreates the image of Jesus Christ in us!  This process of being made holy is called sanctification.    When Jesus cleared out the earthly temple, He set an example of what His Spirit does in our bodily temples if we submit.  Holy Spirit will uproot and overturn until only Jesus remains.  He uproots selfishness, lust, pride. lying, ungratefulness, anger, and all sorts of cherished sin and replaces it with His fruit.  His obsession is for the glory of God to be displayed in us.  What is Your obsession?  Can the world tell that you are part of this Holy Nation?  Spend some time asking God what He is needing to turn over in our lives so that He may be the centre, so that He may get the glory, so that the temple of our bodies may be obsessed with, and devoted to, Jesus. Are you ready to be made over? Are you ready to Give Yourself Away?

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RECAP: Extreme Makeover: Lifestyle Edition

When the disciples agreed to follow Jesus, they had no idea that every aspect of their lives would be impacted, and everything they had come to believe would be blown to bits.   Their unexpected "bootcamp" at the wedding of Cana reveals valuable lessons on the lifestyle transformation that occurs when anyone commits to Christ-following. 

Journey through John 1:50 - 2:14 and discover that a Christ-follower's lifestyle will be:
1) An Adventurous Lifestyle (1:50,51)
2) An Every Day Lifestyle (2:1)
3) A Social Lifestyle (2:2)
4) A Caring Lifestyle (2:3)
5) A Trusting Lifestyle (2:4)
6) An Unconventional Lifestyle
7) An Obedient Lifestyle (2:5 - 9)
8) A Logic-Defying Lifestyle (2:10)
9) A Faith-Lifting Lifestyle (2:11)
10) An Unpredictable Lifestyle (2:12)

Jesus demonstrated at Cana that He is able to do greater things than changing  water into wine... for those who go beyond obeying (like the servants) but choose to believe and follow Christ, He is able and willing to perform an Extreme Makeover on their lives!  Now THAT's a MIRACLE!
Claim the promise of John 10:10 today.
HE is GREAT!

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Anatomy of a Disciple

            According to John 1:35-51 a disciple is someone who is willing to drop all, follow christ, a servant, willing to share the message, a believer of Christ vested in the outcome of Christ’s mission.           

            Taking a closer look at these verses we begin to see a pattern developing as to what type of person it takes to become a disciple. Better yet what are the characteristics of a disciple? Looking at John 1:35-42 where Jesus called his first disciples Andrew and Peter, we see that a disciple is one that is called or even recruited, a listener, one who is willing to seek, accept the seen and the unseen. One who responds to the power of the Holy Spirit, is unselfish, fruitful, and one who recognizes authority of Christ Jesus.

            Again these characteristics are seen in verses 43-51: a willingness, open mindedness, a change in focus. Another unforeseen characteristic of a disciple is one that is persevering. Looking at Phillip we see that he recruited Nathaniel, however Nathaniel was not convinced in the beginning. “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”vs46. Some would consider this a rejection and move on, but Philip again said “,Come and see”. 

            So What is a disciple? Simply this: one who is willing to serve and become less so that Christ can become more. Let us continue to pray this prayer that God becomes central in our lives so that we are able to show others the Christ that lives within us. Amen      

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Living Your Destiny!

I first heard about Graham Cooke from one of my mentors and this particular message spoke to my heart!

Living Your Destiny 

By Graham Cooke 

May, 2010

All of the tests you presently face are there to develop you into the person you need to be to live your destiny. Everything you are going through has been aligned by God to forge you into the person He has called you to be. Your destiny is unfolding before your very eyes. You have a battle to win, and He must prepare you for it. 

When we embrace the idea that God has a plan for us, no issue should be able to stop us. The statement, “This situation will be the death of me,” is completely incorrect. The truth is that this situation will make you into who you are destined to be. 

God partners with our present situation to prepare us for the future He has designed. He uses every test, every challenge, every hurdle, every issue to sharpen us for what is to come. 

We can use the prophecies over our life to navigate our way through our present circumstance. God wants to establish intimacy as a way of life. He wants to cover us in His favor. This process starts by God establishing the fact that He is our source. Quietly and deliberately, God will strip away every crutch we have been relying on and obliterate anything that detracts from His ability to provide for us. 

He wants to take away the false sense of security most of us have been clinging to. God is not in the business of playing second fiddle to anything—and certainly not to the many ways we try and take care of ourselves. 

Lesson one is to go into the future and bring back the traits and intimacy we will need to fulfill our destiny. We must understand what that intimacy will look like. How must our relationship with God evolve and grow in order for us to become the person He has destined us to be? 

When I was 31 years old, I had a dream about the kind of relationship with God I would have when I was 45. It was so alluring, so magnificent, so amazing, that I did not want to wait 14 years to get there. I was so hungry when I woke up that I immediately began to pray for that kind of intimacy to happen right away. I discovered something in the process of fighting for that word—I didn’t have to wait until I was 45 for it to come to pass. I had been looking prophetically at a 45-year-old who had lived in that intimacy for ten years! 

Our timeline is not always God’s timeline. He often wants to bring breakthrough far sooner than we dare hope. I wanted that intimacy at age 31, thanks to God creating a deep hunger in me for it. I thought about it, meditated on it, prayed for it, and began to come into powerful times of worship. An hour worshipping God would turn into two and then three and sometimes six. I desperately wanted to know God, and God always answers an extreme desire for intimacy. 

Prophetic words come to pass as our intimacy and reliance on God develops. Intimacy is a part of our destiny. Look at the prophetic words over your life and ask yourself about the intimacy you will need to live in that kind of wonder. Become hungry for that relationship, and your destiny will come into focus. 

In Genesis 18:9, God says a remarkably simple thing about Abraham, His dear friend: “I have known him,” (NKJV). God wants that same intimacy with us, and has guaranteed that it can occur through the love and motivation of Jesus. Intimacy draws us and keeps us in the presence of God. Jesus taught on the importance of this relationship in John 15:4-5—

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. Intimacy is a reciprocal act; there is exchange and dialogue. It is not a one-way street. There is interaction between us and the Lord Jesus, and that interaction results in us staying, dwelling, and remaining where God has put us in Christ. 

The enemy wants to knock us out of that place of intimacy. He knows how key that relationship is to everything the Lord wants to accomplish, so he tries to poison it from the start. Without water, a seed won’t grow; the enemy wants to kill the seed of our destiny before we grow even a single inch. But our job is to be so established in an intimate relationship with God that nothing can come between us and Him. 

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting,” David sang in Psalm 139:23-24. That is the very crux of intimacy—allowing God to look deep into us and remove any blockage between Him and us. Everything in our lives, every situation we go through, is about growing our intimacy with God.

By Graham Cooke

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Does Your Life Say Thank You?

Psalm 103

A David Psalm

 ^1-2 O my soul, bless God. From head to toe, I'll bless his holy name!
   O my soul, bless God,
      don't forget a single blessing!

 ^3-5 He forgives your sins—every one.
      He heals your diseases—every one.
      He redeems you from hell—saves your life!
      He crowns you with love and mercy—a paradise crown.
      He wraps you in goodness—beauty eternal.
      He renews your youth—you're always young in his presence.

 ^6-18 God makes everything come out right;
      he puts victims back on their feet.
   He showed Moses how he went about his work,
      opened up his plans to all Israel.
   God is sheer mercy and grace;
      not easily angered, he's rich in love.
   He doesn't endlessly nag and scold,
      nor hold grudges forever.
   He doesn't treat us as our sins deserve,
      nor pay us back in full for our wrongs.
   As high as heaven is over the earth,
      so strong is his love to those who fear him.
   And as far as sunrise is from sunset,
      he has separated us from our sins.
   As parents feel for their children,
      God feels for those who fear him.
   He knows us inside and out,
      keeps in mind that we're made of mud.
   Men and women don't live very long;
      like wildflowers they spring up and blossom,
   But a storm snuffs them out just as quickly,
      leaving nothing to show they were here.
   God's love, though, is ever and always,
      eternally present to all who fear him,
   Making everything right for them and their children
      as they follow his Covenant ways
      and remember to do whatever he said.

 ^19-22 God has set his throne in heaven;
      he rules over us all. He's the King!
   So bless God, you angels,
      ready and able to fly at his bidding,
      quick to hear and do what he says.
   Bless God, all you armies of angels,
      alert to respond to whatever he wills.
   Bless God, all creatures, wherever you are—
      everything and everyone made by God.    And you, O my soul, bless God!

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Hero Witness Pt.2

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