Quote from Forum Archives on August 5, 2002, 2:20 pm

Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

A friend of mine passed along a message that comes from a
devotional message series entitled Living Life God's Way. That
sure seems like a good idea, and most of us who claim to be
Christians may also claim that's what we want to do - live life
the way in which God intended us to live.

But I'll tell you, so many of us don't even really believe, and
of those of us who DO believe, quite a number of us still live in
the manner in which we've become accustomed - by the standards of
the things around us.

I'm here to tell you that I have to battle with these tendencies
every day, and I have to be purposeful about the things of God
and obedience to the things God says in His Word. How can I
possibly know that Word unless I read it? How can I obey it
unless I surrender my own will to God?

Have you had your own private appointment with your Savior today?

Lord,

Obedience is a matter of hearing and obeying. If I can't "hear"
You through Your written word or through those who preach and
teach, then I cannot respond. But I can't respond if I'm not
willing to put into practice the things You have taught to me in
Your Word. So create in me a thirst for Your Word. Give me a
passion to know You. But please do much more than that. As I
know You, build in me a deep desire to please you, to be obedient
to the things that You teach me, loving You with my attitude,
serving others because You love us.

I want others to know the love that You have and the joy of Your
salvation. Help me put aside excuses, fears, and anything else
that impedes me from sharing the hope that I have in You with
others.

I also continue to pray that You would help me to be a genuine
encouragement to others, and that I may also be encouraged by
others. May we be one in the common hope that we find complete
in Christ. I ask each of these things humbly in Christ's Name.
Amen.

Your Brother in Christ,
Brian

Subject: Living Life God's Way 8/5/2002

+Living Life God's Way+
8/5/2002
livinglifegodsway.com

Today, we are overboard on "belief" but bankrupt on obedience.
unknown
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When God Speaks
The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.
Judges 6:12

Has God ever spoken directly to you in such a way that you
knew that it was actually His voice speaking to you
specifically? I don't mean just an appropriate verse of
Scripture, or a circumstance that seemed probable that it was
God. I am talking about a situation that you know it was the
God of the universe speaking directly to you.

In the book Experiencing God, authors Henry Blackaby and
Claude King say that one of seven important steps to
experiencing God in everyday life is how God speaks to
us. "God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible. prayer,
circumstances, and the church to reveal himself, His
Purposes, and His ways." [Henry Blackaby and Claude King,
Experiencing God (Nashville, TN: LifeWay Press, 1990), 225]
You can examine the life of every major character in the
Bible and see this principle expressed in the way God worked
in each of their lives.

One of the ways God speaks is through others. God often uses
others to speak to individuals, especially in the Old
Testament when God often spoke through the prophets. This is
still one of the ways He speaks today.

Several years ago I was in a church on the west coast that I
had never been in before. I was in the midst of a tremendous
trial. Three people prayed for me, and as they did, they
began to describe a picture that was reflective of my life
since I was a young Christian. It was a very accurate picture
of my life. About a year later a man from Virginia prayed
with me in my office. After our prayer time, he began to
describe what he had just seen as a picture of my life. It
was the same picture that had been described a year
earlier. A year after that I was on a trip overseas and a man
from England whom I had never met before came to me. He and I
had a time of prayer together, and at the end of our prayer
time he described a picture he had just seen in his mind
while we were praying. Again, it was the same type of picture
as the two previous encounters. Only this time, one element
was added that was important for me to know related to what
God was doing in my life at that time. When God chooses to
speak into our lives through others, it can be an incredible
blessing. He speaks in many ways. This is just one of them.

God desires to encourage us by speaking to us. He does this
in many ways. The next time someone speaks into your life,
prayerfully consider whether God is using that person to
convey something important He wants you to know.

TGIF Today God Is First, Copyright 2002 Os Hillman; 6/14/2002

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Somebody is waiting on the other side of your obedience.
Tim Storey
____________________________________________________________

=====
--
Brian Masinick, mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: www.geocities.com/masinick/

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