Waiting on God

Psalm 38:15, "I wait for you, O Lord; you will answer, O Lord my God." (NIV) 

Each of us can identify the challenge we face as we wait on God to send an answer to us during our time of need.  We are susceptible to the feelings of fear, frustration, and even desperation as we wait patiently on God to work His plan on our behalf.  The patient waiting can be waiting in which we are learning to trust God with all of the circumstances of our life and not just a specific situation.  I will be the first one to admit that "patient waiting" is not one of my strongest characteristics.  I am a person of resolve and action.  I am a person that wants to take the "bull by the horns" and discover the solution to the problem.  I am a person that looks for answers in the quickest manner possible.  But I am learning that there is strength and courage that can be found in patiently waiting for God to fulfill His purpose and plan in all that I say and do.  I have not reached the full growth or maturity in this area of my life but I do feel that I am making progress one step of faith at a time.

Patient waiting does not mean that I stop praying; rather patient waiting means that I am trusting in the fact that God has my best interest on His heart as He continues to work in my life.  I am learning to allow the presence of God to refresh and nourish my life.  I am also learning that it is not my responsibility to make things happen; I must learn to wait to see what God is doing and then submit to His direction and guidance.  I am learning that God is working even when I am not able to discern or even recognize His visible presence at work.  These moments are moments in which I am learning about God but I am also learning about myself.  I use these moments to measure the growth and maturity of my faith.  I am not always satisfied with those measurements but I do understand that God is calling for patient faith that will trust Him regardless of what events that we are facing in our individual lives. 

Surgery Update

I am thankful for all of the prayers that were offered on my behalf concerning my surgery last week.  The Doctor felt that things went well and I now I am in the process of recovery which will require some intense therapy over the next several weeks.  I believe that I will be able to regain some more flexibility and mobility with my arm and hand.  It is your continued prayers that will support the therapy approach which will bring the healing that I seek.  I firmly believe that God is in charge of our lives and there is a reason that I have encountered this challenge in my life over the past 6 months.  God is faithful to His promises and He is always present even in times of challenge and trial.

I was able to share the Word of God this weekend at New River Worship Center.  I am very thankful for the physical strength and anointing that I sensed in my heart as I shared what God had placed on my heart.  As I finished the message I came to this understanding; there is a difference in the preaching of the Word of God and preaching from the heart of God.  The Word of God is always powerful and intense but there are moments in which we need to hear from the heart of God for that particular tine in our lives.  I believe that Sunday was one of those moments in which we needed to hear what was being spoken from the heart of God.  It is during those moments that we must focus our hearts on God so that we can hear what God is saying to us.  "He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.."  Don't you believe that we need to take the time to listen to God?  Don't you believe that we need to take the time to put the Words of God into operation into our lives?  These are the days in which we are being compelled by the Spirit to examine our walk with Christ.  We must not grow cold or lax in our relationship with Christ.  The enemy of our soul is always interested in hindering our fellowship with Jesus Christ but we can conquer all of his tactics through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.

Prayer Request

Many of you have contacted me regarding my recovery from the fall that I received back in October of 2010.  I have not been able to recover the full use of my arm and hand and the Orthopedic Doctor finally referred to me a Specialist in Louisville.  They have scheduled me for surgery on Thursday, May the 12th.  The surgery will consist of three procedures which is intended to give me more movement in my arm and elbow.  Many of you have been praying for me and I certainly desire your continued prayer covering.  I will update you concerning the results of this surgery as well as the follow up therapy sessions.  I may not make any posts for the next few days due to my immediate recovery from the surgery.

This past weekend was wonderful as we celebrated Mother's Day at New River Worship Center.  Saturday found the men providing a meal for the ladies of the congregation and Sunday found us honoring the Mothers and Ladies with gifts, special honor and recognition.  The Lord began to deal with my heart concerning our need to recognize the value of all  humanity as I was preparing for the message for this past weekend.  The book of Proverbs reminds us that the price of a virtuous woman is "far above rubies."  We must rekindle the attitudes of respect, kindness, thoughtfulness, and sincere appreciation of humanity.  We have lost sight of the value of those people who are a daily part of our lives.  People have been devalued and demeaned in such a tragic manner but I believe that the Spirit is calling the church to lead the movement that will reverse this trend.  Will you be willing to participate in this movement?  Will you commit yourself to being a person that is committed to the affirmation of others?  Will you commit yourself to being a person that honor others more than you desire to be honored?  Walking in the true love of Christ and in sincere appreciation of others will open the doors of ministry opportunities for all of us.  We must be driven by the opportunity to minister encouragement to those individuals that God places in our lives. 

Happy Mother's Day

First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to wish my Mother a Happy Mother's Day.  I am truly blessed that my Mother is alive and still a influence in my life and the lives of my family.  I also take a moment to honor my wife's Mother who passed away over 37 years ago.  Ann's Mother was also a wonderful Mother as well as an anointed prayer intercessor.  Both Ann and myself have been blessed through the great love, prayer, and concern that our Mothers have demonstrated to us through the years of our lives.  We are grateful for the example that they have set for us as they shared their love with their husbands as well as their children.

I also want to wish my wife a Happy Mother's Day.  Ann has been a great influence and example to our children and now our grandchildren.  I am blessed that God brought Ann into my life.  She has proven to be a person of integrity and faithfulness not only to God but also to her family.  She has provided the love, encouragement, prayer covering, and example that our sons have needed and now she continues to share those characteristics with our grandchildren.  Our complete life as husband and wife has been involved in the ministry with most of these years being served in the Pastoral side of ministry.  Ann has been an example to the people that we have served and she has served as a mentor/teacher to many of these individuals over the years.  Time and space will not afford me the opportunity to truly share the great love and respect that I have for my Mother and for my wife.  Proverbs 31:10 declares the thoughts of my heart, "Who can find a virtuous woman?  for her price is far above rubies?" (KJV)  Each of these ladies as well as Ann's Mother are priceless and I am grateful that God placed me in their lives.

I encourage you to take the time to express to your Mother as well as your wife your sincere appreciation and love for them.  Hopefully it does not take the celebration of Mother's Day to cause you to recognize the important role that they have played and continue to play in your life.  But Mother's Day does afford us the opportunity to make a special effort in letting these individuals know our true feelings of love and respect.  Let us love, respect, appreciate, and recognize the important investment that these women have made in our lives. 

Living by Faith

The words "living by faith" are on my mind this morning.  These words were contained in a song that I sang as a young Christian growing up in a church in Alabama.  If I remember correctly we sang words similar to these; "...I'm living by faith in Jesus above; trusting, confiding in His great love..."  I can remember that we sang this hymn often and with great fervor and determination.  I don't think that I fully understood the deep meaning of truth that was contained in these words until my relationship with Christ began to develop and I began to face those moments in which I was given the opportunity to trust God in spite of my circumstances.  Some of you who read this blog may not remember that song but you can certainly identify with facing difficult circumstances in your life.  The Apostle Paul shared these words with us in 2 Corinthians 5:7, "We live by faith, not by sight" (NIV).  Other translations of this passage use the words "walk by faith" but walk and live give us the understanding that we will face those moments when we must depend on our faith in Christ rather than those things that we are seeing with our eyes.

The miracles that we need are not always visible to the naked eye.  The miracles that we need may be hidden behind and beneath those things that we are facing at that particular moment.  But it is at that moment that our faith in Christ is able to see things that others can not see.  That type of faith causes a Mother to go to church and pray for the salvation of her husband.  That type of faith causes a Mother to go to church and pray for the salvation of her children and grandchildren.  That type of faith causes a Mother to go to church and express her belief in the promises of Jehovah Raphe, the Healer of our diseases.  Can you sense what it means to "live by faith" in the above mentioned moments of real life situations?  Living by faith allows us to recognize and witness the Glory of God as He reveals Himself to us during these challenging moments.  Rest assured that each of us will face some of those moments in which what we see appears to be greater than what we are able to believe.  Take note of this statement; We do not place our faith in a creed, or in a religious system, or even in our good works.  NO, we place our faith in the person, Jesus Christ, who is a personal Savior, Healer, and Provider that is involved in our daily lives.  Christ has made it possible for us to live by faith regardless of what may be in the path of our sight.

Birthday

Yesterday was my Mother's birthday.  Although my Mom and Dad are not computer savvy I wanted to use this means of communication to wish her a Happy Birthday.  My family is truly blessed because our parents are still very active in their home life as well as able to participate and contribute to the work of the local church which they attend.  I wanted to take a moment and offer praise to God for the influence that my Mother has made in my life as well as the lives of my family.  Many times we take for granted those influences and fail to express our thanksgiving to God.  On Sunday, May 8th, many families and churches will make a special effort to honor those Mothers who are living and remember those Mothers who have already passed on to their reward.  My wife will fall into the latter category; her Mother passed away at a very early age in 1974. 

Hopefully our nation's morals have not fallen so low that we depend on a "holiday event" to remind us of what the Bible teaches us regarding the treatment of our parents.  The Bible still teaches us to "honor thy Father and Mother..."  I must admit that I see this missing in the lives of many families.  It seems as though we have learned to accept many actions of individuals toward their parents that God would view as the breaking of one of the Ten Commandments.  The Ten Commandments are not mere suggestions rather they are principles that we should apply to our lives.  We have grown to accept dysfunctional as the normal practice of our society.  Children who fail to recognize their parents as a gift from God should take a moment and think of all of the orphans, those who have been neglected, and sadly those who have been abused and realize that life is not as bad as some people have to face on a daily basis.  We are truly blessed in so many ways.  I realize that parents are not perfect.  My parents are not "perfact" parents.  My wife and I are not "perfect" parents.  But my parents certainly have far more good characteristics than they do bad characteristics.  Parents make decisions that children do not understand until later in their life then they are able to understand the rationale of particular decisions.  I wish my Mother a Happy Birthday and Mothers Day.  I am truly thankful for all of the love and care that she has shared with me as a child and the love and care that she now shares with my family.  I am truly glad that God placed me in her care.

Weekend Review

This past weekend was very busy but was also very enjoyable.  I was given the wonderful opportunity to minister the Word of God to a group of ladies at a conference in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.  The theme of the Conference centered around the endless treasures that God has provided for His children.  Many of us only identify our "poverty" and we never fully grasp all the riches that the Heavenly Father has given to us through Jesus Christ.  We allow our value to be determined by the words of other people, we allow our value to be determined by the actions of other people, and we even allow our value to be determined by our own view of ourselves.  Each one of these attitudes can bring us down to a level of discouragement and defeat in regards to our relationship with Jesus Christ.  The only way that we can stop this process is by allowing the Holy Spirit and the Word of God to have full control of our lives.  Then and only then can we begin to reach our potential that God placed in us at our conception.  Do not let your life be defined by any outward circumstances.  We must remember to claim our identity as sons and daughters of God and walk in the authority of that relationship. 

I was given the opportunity to share in a wedding ceremony for two of the soldiers who attend the church plant in Radcliff, Kentucky.  These young people have a developing relationship with Jesus Christ and we are thankful that God has brought them through the doors of New River Worship Center.  They will be transferred to another base in several weeks but our thoughts and prayers will go with them.  I told you about this event in my schedule so that I could remind you about our need to cover our military forces and their families in prayer.  We are truly thankful for those men and women who place their lives in harms way so that we can enjoy the freedom of living in this great country of America.

I spoke to the church in Radcliff on Sunday about staying focused on the call that God placed in our heart as we began the church plant effort.  God was calling us to be a place of refuge for those people who had found their lives in disarray.  Churches need to understand that we are facing a society that is seeing turmoil in every aspect of their lives and they are needing to find a place of safety when they come into the presence of Christians.  Our walk with Christ must coincide and agree with our words.  Actions speak louder than words either in a positive or negative way.  Nehemiah would not leave the work that he was performing no matter how much the enemies of this task sought to interfere.  Each of us must stay committed to the cause of Christ and not allow the enemy to distract us from our course of action.