Today's Scripture Passage: Colossians 1:9-11
9”For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully”.
Today's Scripture Message:
Do we accept a package, sign for it, confirm its delivery and then not open the package? No, we open it, see what it is, figure out how we are going to use it or place it in an area in our homes to display it. Why do we accept Christ as our savior, praise him for deliverance and act as if we did not receive the package that was delivered to us. You cannot keep looking backwards expecting to move forward. While lessons of the past inspire wisdom for the present and future it is not to keep you focused on what is behind you. You have been delivered, expect to use what you’ve received in the new life you were given.
Prayer for the day:
Father, today I expect to live better than I did yesterday, to move forward stronger than the day before and to reinvent myself that every day you allow me to see, I am new and improved, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Thought for the day:
"Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force. When we really listen to people there is an alternating current, and this recharges us so that we never get tired of each other. We are constantly being re-created.”
~ Brenda Ueland
Goal for the Day
Listen, really hear what is being spoken to you. No matter what form it is presented in, hear the heart behind the message.
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Pastor Dickow’s Fast from Wrong Thinking
Revolution Day 33:
TODAY we are fasting from the thought that says, "Will I ever get ahead?" Real progress and success start in our thinking. A Washington Post survey revealed 4 out of 5 middle class Americans say they can’t get ahead. If you’re tired of just ‘getting by’..
Let’s change it today:
1. Believe in the abundant life Jesus came to give you. In John 10:10 Jesus said, “...but I have come that you would have life in abundance, to the full, till it overflows!” God has called you to thrive, not just survive.”
2. 2. No excuses here! If you look for an excuse, you’ll find one. But if you look for a way to make progress, the way will open. Luke 5:19 says “…not finding any way, they went up on the roof.” If we keep looking for a way to get ahead, we will find it.
3. YOU ARE THE HEAD! Therefore you will GET ahead. Fill your mind with what God made you. Whatever you ARE inside is WHERE you will GO on the outside. God says about you, "You are the head and not the tail...” (Deut. 28:13). Your life follows what you are focused on. It is a natural process. What you see, is what you’ll be.
4. 4. You control your economy. God says we reap what we sow. Don’t give into the lie that you are a product of the economy. You make it with your seed, your faith and by following God’s budget for your life. (Matthew 6:33)”
5. Stop underestimating yourself. God chose to live inside of you. You were born to get ahead.
6. DARE TO ASK & THINK BIG! Refuse to be stamped by your financial, educational or emotional limitations. There are no limits with God. We limit Him when we think small. Ephesians 3:20 says God’s ability corresponds to what we DARE to ASK and DARE to THINK.
THINK IT & SAY IT:
I embrace a mindset of abundance. I refuse to allow excuses to limit me and keep me stuck in my life, spiritually, emotionally or financially. I am the head and not the tail. What I am, on the inside, is where I’m going on the outside—I am getting ahead. My success is in my seed and I DARE to ask BIG and think BIG, in Jesus’ Name!
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Daily Lenten Reflection from
St. Michael of Old Town
Fifth Sunday of Lent
April 10, 2011
“When Mary came to [the tomb where her brother Lazarus was buried] and saw [Jesus], she fell at his feet and said to him, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’ … And Jesus raised his eyes and said, ‘Father, I thank you for hearing me. I know that you always hear me; but because of the crowd here I have said this, that they may believe that you sent me.’ And when he had said this, he cried out in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth. So Jesus said to them, ‘Untie him and let him go.’” (John 11: 32, 41-44)
Like Mary of Bethany, we all want things from God and his Son: certain outcomes, certain introductions, even certain material things, perhaps. We may present these desires as prayer. For many, this story of Lazarus’ raising is about a miracle, about Jesus proving himself, even the “straw that broke the camel’s back,” in Jesus’ relationship with the authorities, but for me it also calls to mind the practice of prayer and gives me the occasion to reflect on the evolution of my own prayer process.
The way I pray took a decisive turn seven years ago and I’ve since been the better for it. Then, in the final weeks of a doomed long-distance relationship, I routinely made my way to church on my lunch break to pray for things to work out. Like Mary who wanted Jesus there sooner to save Lazarus, I was prescriptive with God – requesting a specific resolution. “Fix it, fix it, make it work,” I would pray. The harder and more specific the better, I thought. And yet we got nowhere. Then one afternoon, alone in that empty church, a crystal clear thought came to mind: stop telling Jesus how to resolve this; stop being so prescriptive. The audacity! I was struck with the realization that His plan is His plan -- not mine. His Kingdom come, HIS will be done – not mine.
And so I switched. Right then. The prayer that I had begged for weeks was pushed out for a much simpler appeal: “Your will be done.” It was so simple and quick that I could pray it between breaths, everywhere I went. In a short time, that relationship did end. I was still sad and confused by it, but I carried a certain comfort knowing that things were back on track for God’s plan and not mine.
From that day since, most of my prayer has been as simple. When I began seeing another great woman several years ago, my consistent prayer was not for this relationship to work, but for His will to be done. And this time His will was for it to work. In November, I married this wonderful woman. Not because I thought it was what should happen, but because He did.
The story of the Raising of Lazarus reminds me that, for lack of omniscient perspective, my desires may be inconsistent with God’s plan for me. Mary wanted Lazarus’ recovery but instead got his resurrection. I wanted a bad relationship to work, but instead started down the road to find the true woman of my dreams. I’m glad He didn’t listen to me.
Nic Covey
God the Father, thank you for the path you’ve placed me on and may your will, not mine, continue to be done.
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Happy 100th Day of the New Year
Daily Affirmation: “Something GREAT Is Going to Happen To and Through Me Today!!!
LIVE ON PURPOSE!!! LET’S GO!!!
Many Blessings!!!
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