Courage

Deuteronomy 20:3-4, 8 (The Message)

^1-4 When you go to war against your enemy and see horses and chariots and soldiers far outnumbering you, do not recoil in fear of them; God, your God, who brought you up out of Egypt is with you. When the battle is about to begin, let the priest come forward and speak to the troops. He'll say, "Attention, Israel. In a few minutes you're going to do battle with your enemies. Don't waver in resolve. Don't fear. Don't hesitate. Don't panic. God, your God, is right there with you, fighting with you against your enemies, fighting to win.

⁸ The officers will then continue, "And is there a man here who is wavering in resolve and afraid? Let him go home right now so that he doesn't infect his fellows with his timidity and cowardly spirit."

⁹ This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 (NLT)

Our Savior Christ is The Ultimate example of True Courage.
One sentence in Isaiah 53.11-12 says it all:

Because he looked death in the face and didn't flinch

"Courage is not necessarily possessing boldness in the presence of fear...
True Courage is displaying bravery through the absence of self."

Destiny:Soul Cravings

See below a Great excerpt about 'Destiny' from Erwin McManus, in his book, Soul Cravings:

As children we assume that greatness is within our grasp.

Whatever inspires us, we begin to dream that one day we will be the best. It is only as we lose our child like innocence that we begin to settle for far less. A part of growing up seems to be acquiescing to mediocrity. It's easy to say that we're just becoming realistic, that it's just a part of growing up. But, in fact, it's the death our our souls.

When we stop dreaming, we start dying.

For some of us, this has been a slow, painful death. Others are just walking dead. They died a long time ago, and its nothing less than a freak of nature that they're still breathing.

Are you alive? Are you dreaming for greatness?
We must dream in order to be great.
We must Pray to have a sense of destiny...We must LIVE with Holy Anticipation...

Mediocrity does not exist in this dojo...

Dream it...Live it...Think it...Do it...For as he thinks in his heart, so is he (Proverbs 23.7)

Survey And Solve

Einstein is quoted as having said that if he had one hour to save the world he would spend fifty-five minutes defining the problem and only five minutes finding the solution.

Well there is an interesting parallel with Frances Schaeffer, a great apologist, an amazing author, and like Einstein, very intellectual. Schaeffer was once asked that if he had 10 minutes to share the gospel, what would he say. He said, “I would listen for 9 minutes and talk for 1 minute.”

Pretty cool. Survey And Solve.

For I Am Your God

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”- Isaiah 41:10

Schedule a daily appointment

Ignore the Word and suffer...
-Proverbs 13:13

...Jesus' time alone with the Father was His ultimate priority. It took priority over ministry, family, friends, even sleep...---Andy Stanley (The Seven Checkpoints, page 55)

Holy Spirit Prays For Us

Want to start living with Holy Anticipation? All we have to do is realize two facts that blow my mind: The Holy Spirit Prays for us and that our life is God's Prayer! Drink it in!

He Prays for us in accordance to God's Will! Soak that up...what if we really believed what God's Word is telling us??...What would we dare to accomplish for His Glory if we really believed that The Holy Spirit is Praying for us...It's time to start living what we believe!

Christian has even mentioned to me that he has heard one preacher make an interesting point, "that Christians really don't believe the bible. If we did, our lives would look completely different...as would our obedience to God!"

Romans 8.27 says "for the Spirit pleads for us BELIEVERS"...

It does not say "the spirit pleads for us who would like to believe..."

My point is this...I think sometimes we can get 'lost in translation.' We read a powerful scripture, we hear a good sermon, etc, but then fail to connect God's Word to our living...we go back to living the same lives, going through the same routine, wishing that things were different, hoping that somehow things will change without any action on our part...we must translate Gods' Powerful Promises to our Faithful Living...it's not enough to hear a sermon or read Scripture but then never act on it...

It's time to have a whole new perspective on life knowing and BELIEVING that The Holy Spirit is PLEADING for us in accordance to God's Will!

Psalm 42.6-8
Then God promises to love me all day,
sing songs all through the night!
My life is God's prayer.

Romans 8.26-28
26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.

27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will.

28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them

God's Word

...His heart pumps God's Word like blood through his veins...
Psalm 37.31

Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Matthew 4:4

God's Spirit Beckons

Reading through Romans yesterday, came upon Romans 8.9-17...Amazing! It reads like a Manifesto! (all bold and colored lines are emphasized for visual interest)

^9-11But if God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him. Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the Spirit of Christ, won't know what we're talking about. But for you who welcome him, in whom he dwells—even though you still experience all the limitations of sin—you yourself experience life on God's terms. It stands to reason, doesn't it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he'll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ's!

^12-14So don't you see that we don't owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent. There's nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life. God's Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go!

^15-17This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike "What's next, Papa?" God's Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what's coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we're certainly going to go through the good times with him!

God's Direction

God is fair and just;

He corrects the misdirected,

Sends them in the right direction.
Psalm 25.8

Jonah ran away from God...God put Jonah in the belly of a fish and brought him back! What I have learned through Scripture study and life experience is this:

God will re-direct our misdirection

How? We must follow His "mile-markers." We must count the cost, we must be wise, we must be strategic, but the freedom in knowing that God will re-direct our misdirection gives us an ability to have a 'nothing-to-lose' attitude if we are following God...If we are following God, the path takes care of itself...If we are following God, then we can be fearless...we can take sanctified risks and we can have a reckless abandon for God! No matter what road we travel, all we have to do is watch for God's "mile-markers" and road signs to either keep us moving forward or to re-direct our path...look how Psalm 25.10 says it:

From now on every road you travel

Will take you to God.

Follow the Covenant signs;

Read the charted directions.

Bottom line is this...We must "hit the road." We can not be frozen in fear and stuck in over analyzing what direction to take...If we are truly following God, seeking Him in Prayer, reading His Word, and trusting Him with all of our heart instead of leaning on our own understanding, then whatever road we take, His signs will be there to direct our way...this gives us the freedom to attack life head on!

Trust God from the bottom of your heart;

don't try to figure out everything on your own.

Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;

he's the one who will keep you on track.
Proverbs 3.5