Equipping Thoughts

Malia (my 12 year old Princess) & I read Proverbs 17 this morning in the NIV, NKJ and NLT versions. We stopped at the verses that stuck out to us and talked about how they apply to our family situation and lives right now and what we are each going through. Here’s a few verses that stuck out to us.

Do they stick out to your heart? Can you apply them to your life today? How do they apply?

1 Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting, with strife. (NIV)

5 Those who mock the poor insult their Maker;? those who rejoice at the misfortune of others will be punished. (NLT)

14 Starting a quarrel is like opening a floodgate,? so stop before a dispute breaks out. (NLT)

22 A cheerful heart is good medicine,? but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength. (NLT)

 24 Sensible people keep their eyes glued on wisdom,? but a fool’s eyes wander to the ends of the earth. (NLT)

27 He who has knowledge spares his words, And a man of understanding is of a calm spirit.
28 Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace; When he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive. (NKJ)

Matthew 28
7Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’

O
The real meaning of Christmas began with a little baby wrapped in cloth among stable animals born by God to a virgin.

The real meaning of Christmas was fulfilled when the news of Jesus being raised from the dead was announced to 2 Mary’s!

The real meaning of Christmas for me is that I’m still able to meet Jesus - still able to see Him - not in Galilee, but within my heart!

A
I’ve met Him! I see Him! He is risen from the dead and I’ve encountered Him! Jesus is alive! He has risen from the dead!

My heart can’t seem to contain the joy and excitement of this news. This morning…I’m astounded by Your love and commitment to me Lord! I don’t have to wait till December 25th to celebrate your life!

Today, I commit to living differently by:
1. Renewing my mind with this mornings revelation.
2. To keep meeting You throughout the day in prayerful meditation, worship, thanksgiving, confession of Your presence.
3. Celebrate in attitude, allowing this devotion to live through my face, words, actions.

Scripture
“To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father - to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen” (Revelation 1:5b-6).
Observation
John addresses 7 churches in the Asia region with an exhortation of who Christ is and has made them to be - a kingdom and priests to serve God. In such a prophetic book filled with visions beyond the wildest imagination, John roots the believer in the foundation of giving God glory because of who Jesus is and made us to be!
Application
In a world filled with self made kings who live self ruled lives, my life is called a kingdom whose heart is enthroned by a King…King Jesus! Once darkened by KING ME ruling the domain of MY LIFE, ways and will, MY kingdom was overturned by the entrance of a NEW KING. My heart is now called His Kingdom and I am called a priest who serves God.

Today, I am called to live differently as a Kingdom priest. It is my calling and duty to represent Him well as His priest. My heart is His Kingdom. I must not allow anything to darken the gates of my heart. I must set a diligent guard on my heart.
I sense the Lord saying to me - Guard against:
~ Inner lusts of my flesh to want what the “world” has.
~ Busyness & Working so hard that I work beyond/outside of His will.
~ Distractions of what’s going on in the “church” that I lose sensitivity to what is going on with people who need Jesus.
Prayer
Hi God - this word is right on target. Thanks for the specific application to guard my heart - which is your Kingdom. Please have a seat on the throne of my heart. Thanks for making my heart your Kingdom! Your presence is incredible in me. I love You Super Much!

• Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments. One discipline always leads to another discipline. ~Jim Rohn

• Remember that what you believe will depend very much on what you are. ~ Noah Porter

As I evaluate my heart and life before the Lord, He reminds me to focus on who I am “behind the curtains” of my motives, internal beliefs, convictions and thoughts. If I desire to be authentically changed by Jesus, it’s got to start with an honest eval of who I am, who I am not, who I need to become in Him. This will be, in part, determined by what Noah Porter quotes. Then comes the discipline. That’s why I am being stirred by what Jim Rohn quotes.

Don’t you love being challenged to the core?!

When we share our devotions in a Life Group, the Lord uses the other’s devotions to speak to our hearts, like He did below.

My 13 year old son Koa, shared his devotion in our family Life Group this morning. God spoke to me through this word. I hope He speaks to you.

Deuteronomy 10:21
He alone is your God, the only one who has done these mighty miracles that you have seen with your own eyes.

He alone is God He reigns we declare the glory of Your Name. He is the only God the true one no one comes close to His power and glory but since He is the best shouldn’t we give praise and obey Him…. YES, the answer is yes

He alone is the best in my life. I know that but sometimes I do not act like He is and that is what I need to fix by doing my devos every day to grow more in Him. Some times I want to do other stuff like play my bass or play games but if I know that He alone is God, then I should put Him first in all that I do. I know that He has more power than anybody or anything but some times I am focused on different things in life. Then I think that His power is not so big because I’m not focused on Him and all my attention is on other
stuff. I need to be focused on God. He comes FIRST.

Dear Jesus,
Help me to focus on You and Your glory and power. amen

I found this journal in my archives of “Shima Kids Journal Entries. If you are a parent or have influence on children in your family, encourage them to journal. The best way is to journal with them. I have a Life Group with my kids. A Life Group is what we at New Hope refer to as a devotional group. We read our Bibles and journal using the SOAP method taught to us by Pastor Wayne. Here’s a journal I found of my 10 year old, Princess Malia.

Whoever serves me must follow me. John 12:26

This means to me that I should serve the Lord with all my heart and with all my soul because I need to follow him all the way.

This applies in my life by how I need to stay under Gods umbrella if I don’t then I will get shot by the devil. It’s like God gave us parents so that we can be under our mom and dads umbrella.

Dear Jesus help me to follow you all my life thank you for letting me serve you in Jesus name amen.

JESUS GRACE IN ACTION - Acts11
23When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.

Barnabas experienced the grace of God through the believers in Antioch. How did he see the grace of God in action? What did these Christians portray? What did they look like?

I think they looked like our Dcat teams of servants. The joy & love of Jesus flowing through the hearts of hundreds of volunteers - through their willing, yes-hearted dedication and obedience to Jesus!

I and hundreds of leaders from all over the world, evidenced the grace of God through our servants at our “The Heart behind Doing Church as a Team” conference. We saw Jesus joy, Jesus love, Jesus heart, Jesus kindness, Jesus devotion, Jesus faithfulness, Jesus commitment - we saw all of Jesus grace in & through our servants.

Dear Jesus,
May I grow to become more like You. May people evidence your grace in & through me. May I be like the brothers & sisters volunteering to present You to the nations. Please bless, refresh and fill each of our fulltime ministers with Your strong presence. HELP US ALL TO STAY TRUE TO YOU WITH ALL OUR HEARTS! In Your name I pray…amen.

This is a devotional Pastor Elwin shared with our staff recently.

Lev 10:1-2 ” Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them. And fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.”

What can we learn from this? Don’t play with fire. They were playing with fire and got burned. Nadab and Abihu were priests in Aaron’s household, and yet they offered strange fire before the Lord, that He had not commanded. We are used to thinking of God as a loving God, but He is also a demanding God, and His expectations have consequences if we ignore them.

What else do we know about Nadab and Abihu? In Ex 6:23 we see that they were born while Moses and Aaron were in Egypt. So they saw the miracles of the parting of the Red Sea, the pillar of cloud by day, the pillar of fire by night, the goodness of God and how he delivered them from slavery. In Ex 24:9-11 they went up with Moses and Aaron and saw God and lived. “Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel; and they beheld God, and they ate and drank.” Ex 28:1-5 shows they had favor with God and priestly garments were made for them. We see Aaron had authority.

When we look at New Hope’s history, the statistics, for example the web site gets over 4 million hits a month, we’ve also seen God and what He’s done. We can forget God is in control and is the authority. When we’ve done something often and well, we can offer the attitude of “I’ve got it, I’ll do it this way” and have a tendency to not wait for God’s authority and His command. Don’t lose the heart behind Doing Church as a Team, or you’ll be playing with fire. Don’t offer strange fire to God.

Examples of playing with fire:

• Attending services without worshiping
• Serving without spirit, or a wrong spirit- when something is not right in your heart
• Teaching without studying
• Praying without practicing- not living and believing what you pray

Don’t play with fire. You must have the right motive every moment. Remind yourself what is important, why we are here. Stay strong in your devotions and relationships.

I’m so encouraged to hear from God through my devotions and journaling . My ten year old Princess Malia shared her journal with me and I want to share it with you. As leaders, we need to spend time with Jesus through His word and journaling. Here’s Malia’s journal…raw, unedited, straight from her heart to yours.

“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
February 9, 2007

31They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” Acts 16:31

Do you know how many people do not know the Lord? There is a lot in this whole big world. And do you know how many Christians are in this world not that many. That is why we need to tell people about Jesus. That Jesus died for all of us. Don’t you want to tell your family and friends that don’t know the Lord?!

This applies to me that you can start by telling your family or friends that don’t know God that one day they be in Heaven with us. And you can start by being good around house so that your neighbors can so why are you s good and you can tell them I have the Lord in my heart.

Dear Jesus thank you for dieing on the cross for my sins help me to be good around the house and tell people about you in Jesus name amen.