“LIFE IS NOT A JOURNEY TO THE GRAVE
with the intention of arriving in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather
sliding in sideways, totally used up, thoroughly worn out, loudly proclaiming,
‘Thank You, Jesus, what a ride!’” I
loved this recent quote from one of our friends out in Colorado! And after smiling and shaking my head “yes”
in full agreement with his statement, I read on a few lines more, and this is
what he concluded with: “Live life full
steam ahead. If you fall, you’ll cover a
lot of ground moving forward!” Now I was
laughing! Both statements struck home
with how our lives must look to others in the midst of our crazy lifestyle –
but I couldn’t agree more! We do
understand the high value that God places on priorities and pulling away from
the hustle and bustle of life to actively rest.
We know how important it is to take time out to sit quietly and listen
to His voice in a place of peace where there are no other voices. There’s no place we would rather be. Any other setting dulls in comparison. But you know what? When God puts a fire in your soul and gives
you a Message that cannot be kept to yourself, that opening quote is pretty
much how you live life! If we’re going
to give our lives for someone else, we choose to give it to Jesus. In those times when the hours in the day melt
into the late night, we remind ourselves it’s for the Kingdom of God. If Paul could preach his heart out to share
the gospel and be a tentmaker on the side … then so can we! And if at some point He walks us back into
full-time ministry, there will always be a part of us that will seek out people
in the marketplace because that has definitely become our second pulpit every
time God opens the door in that arena! It
happened again just today. And I am
always amazed. I know – I shouldn’t
be. After all, He is God. He will do what He wills. But I just love seeing it take place! We were gifted with a few evening hours with
some precious ministry friends earlier this week. How we love hearing about what God is
bringing before them; but at the end of the evening, I think the scales were tipped
in our favor when I recall how much time they spent listening to where God has
us. They have a gift for listening … and
for sharing. And they do both with no
strings attached. It is never their
agenda – it is always about God’s priority.
That’s true friendship when it doesn’t matter who was on the receiving
end more; it’s just whoever seems to be needing encouragement the most, I
guess! It’s a valued friendship that
keeps us close no matter how great the time between our in-person visits. It’s a treasured friendship that devotes time
in prayer for each other’s families and ministries - and genuinely cares and
intercedes for the times of struggles.
It’s a rare thing for ministry couples to both share the same heartbeat
for lost souls – and to know that we cannot stop our pursuit of reaching people
for Christ – wherever that takes us. In
my attempt to complete this message when I usually do, it seemed God was
putting a hold on it. At first I was
frustrated, but when God brought before me some powerful words today, I knew
why. As I listened and received, the
content rang true in my spirit. This is
what I heard: “We need to make living our
lives hearing God’s voice our highest priority.
It is only when we hear His voice that we can then choose to obey or to
ignore. Someday we will see that doing
what He says – those things remain. And
everything we do that is not what HE asked us to do, will burn. That’s pretty sobering. What that all means is that if we are doing
things based on our wants, those things will burn. How do we know what God wants – or if it is
our own will? Why do people play church
– when we can BE the church? It is not
now, or ever has been about pulpits and pews.
Being the church means that we are a living expression of the Living
God! It might not hurt any of us to
think about doing an extended fast from all ‘other voices’ in the media,
informational, and entertainment world that steal our time and distract us from
hearing God’s voice alone. You say,
really? How could I not watch TV or
listen to music, or read a newspaper or check my e-mail or social connections
like Facebook? As I thought more about
this, I had to readily admit that when we’re hearing so many other voices,
God’s can easily get lost in the mix even though we don’t intend for it to. Fasting like this would definitely help us
get rid of lots of clutter in our lives and bring Christ back to the forefront
where He desires to be. We most likely
need to have a bonfire – before the fire of God will fall!” It’s time to give our all – and slide in
sideways!
IN A NUTSHELL . . .
You are invited to join us for worship on these summer Sundays:
THIS SUNDAY, JULY 21:
10:00 A.M. - PRAISE & WORSHIP
10:30 A.M. - KIDZONE CHURCH
NEXT SUNDAY, JULY 28:
10:00 A.M. - PRAISE & WORSHIP
10:30 A.M. - KIDZONE CHURCH
CHALLENGE: In the next few weeks with more free time on the church calendar, we want to encourage each of you to choose at least one individual or family in our church that you can bless yet this month! Ideas: getting together for an uplifting visit, inviting them over for dessert - or just a glass of cold lemonade, sending them a card to tell them you are thinking of them, or if God leads, share a love gift with them! They will be blessed and so will you!
ELEVATION NORTH SPOTLIGHT!
REMEMBER . .
. “Your heavenly Father knows your needs. He will always give you all you need from day
to day … For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom.” ~
Luke 12:30-32
Serving Christ Joyfully . . .
Pastor Doug and Debbie
