What Do You Think? Can You Give Scripture References?

In the post before this one we asked:

          How does the Lord want to build His church?  

          A. On coffee and donuts

          B. Build a gym

          C. Both A and B 

          D. On Peter the Apostle

          E. None of the Above

The answer was E - you can go to that post and in the comments you will see the explanation.
Now what do you think  --

What are some examples of the Lord building His people on the understanding of who He is?

Please leave your comments and be sure to follow this blog for more questions and answers from God's Word.

blessings!!

FREE teachings

How Does the Lord Want to Build His Church?

On our facebook page  LIFE Church and Training Center Facebook

we will have questions for you to answer on Wednesday's
and on Friday's Pastor Mitch will post the answers.

This was posted last Wednesday, June 19th.

What do you think the correct answer is?

How does the Lord want to build His church?

A. On coffee and donuts
B. Build a gym
C. Both A and B 
D. On Peter the Apostle
E. None of the Above

Shout Joyful praises to God

Praise

Praise is mentioned about 596 times in the Bible. I’m just going to use Psalm 66.

Shout with joy to God, all the earth!

Sing the glory of his name;

make his praise glorious!

Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!

So great is your power

that your enemies cringe before you.

All the earth bows down to you;

they sing praise to you,

they sing praise to your name.”       Selah  Psalm 66:1-4

So we are told to (a) shout with joy, (b) sing the glory of His name, (c) make His praise glorious, (d) sing praise.

David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might before the LORD, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals. 2 Samuel 6:5

They were celebrating getting the ark of God back to the city of David.

So when did we stop giving God the praise He deserves? Isn't He doing wonderful things in our lives, in the lives of our family and friends that we should be celebrating?

Shouldn't we be celebrating His magnificence? His glory? His faithfulness? His forgiveness? His healing? His protection? And the list can go on and on.

In my opinion not only has ‘going to church’ become a habit, a religion; but so has the time of praise. We finally arrive at church after arguing with our flesh or spouse or children….that did not want to get up, it’s the only day they get to sleep…..or we are still thinking on the work we left on our desk Friday….or maybe we are dwelling on some gossip we heard and can’t wait to see if so and so shows up today. You name it, our minds; our desires are elsewhere so we go in and go through the motions. We sing the songs but are we really noticing the words and the meanings? Are we really singing these songs to God? Can you close your eyes and feel His presence and if you hear Him to tell you to lift your arms in worship to Him, will you do it or are you concerned about someone seeing you and ‘gossiping’ about you?

 

I know we are to do all things to glorify God, but when you read about how they praised Him in the Bible; it seems we have lost exuberance.

God has done so much for me that I want to make sure I’m giving Him all the glory every day of my life and when I come together with the body of believers I worship with – I want to be able to put our praises together and welcome His presence in our midst.

One day I was asking God why it felt heavy, like no one was really singing to Him, it was ‘habit’. And I heard Him ask me, ‘What do you want?’ And I told Him (while praise was still going on I stopped to write this down so I’d remember it).

     I want to go into a place of worship and if even one ounce of flesh is on me…..it falls off! There is so much passion for God and for His people that nothing else can come in – we leave our pride, selfishness, fear, sickness, gossip, etc at the door.

Then I heard the Lord clearly say to me, ‘If we don’t come really seeking Him we squelch the Spirit. If we can’t find and rest in His joy we are losing the Light. We are to praise Him with all our might, to know what we are singing and why, it is beautiful to Him.

I believe if you want to see a move of God’s power, we need to know what we are singing, why we are singing it and make sure we focus on giving God the praise.

(c)Has Breath Publishing LLC

Consuming Fire

Deuteronomy 9:1-5 Consuming Fire and Righteousness

“Hear, O Israel: you are to cross over the Jordan today, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than you, cities great and fortified up to heaven, a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you have heard it said, ‘Who can stand before the sons of Anak?’  Know therefore today that he who goes over before you as a consuming fire is the Lord your God. He will destroy them and subdue them before you. So you shall drive them out and make them perish quickly, as the Lord has promised you.

“Do not say in your heart, after the Lord your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out before you. Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

Deuteronomy 9:1-5

When my husband read this today, two things jumped out at me.

One was 'he who goes over before you as a consuming fire is the Lord your God.' 

It reminded me that no evil can stand up against my God. I do not need to fear because He goes before me.

Now with that said, we cannot expect God to go before us as this consuming fire if we have not been spending time in His Word, in prayer, in listening and inquiring of Him. God does expect us to seek Him and His wisdom in all things. So if you went running into something just because it was bothering 'you' and you haven't been to church/fellowship, have not been in His Word, you have not been praying according to His Word and you have not been listening to the Spirit but listening to your flesh or the world......or maybe you go to church for show or because it's a habit but you don't do anything with what you are learning, you leave it at the door.......don't be surprised when you feel the 'fire', when you don't see the Lord doing what you think He should.

It is very important that we know our Father, we know His ways and we KNOW that His Word is His protection over us; it is not to harm us.  We want His fire to go before us, He makes the path.

I fought this for a long time. I did not want to change my ways because I felt God was never there for me, especially in my childhood/teen years. The only way I knew God was from people that had 'religion' and from 'men' that abused me. So it was a journey for me to even be able to call God my Father.  

I'm so thankful He is a patient God, wanting none to perish. I'm grateful for those that were praying for me and loving me even at my dirtiest. And I rejoice that I can now call Him my Father and I know His love for me.

I know that as I obey Him when things come up all I have to do is pray, listen and then obey because then -- that he who goes over before you as a consuming fire is the Lord your God – will go before me and give me the victory.

The second thing in this passage is - “Do not say in your heart, after the Lord your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out before you. Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart..

When the Consuming Fire has gone before you and destroyed the resistance, the evil before you – do NOT take credit for it. Be careful that you don’t say, ‘well I did this and that, yes I heard God but “I” did it. Watch out for pride that says ‘I’m so upright and righteous that all this took place’. NO it is always God and His righteousness that defeats the enemy.  It is because of the wickedness that God moves through them and makes a path for us. He is fulfilling His promises.

So when you know, hear and obey God; you see Him going forward as the Consuming Fire, erasing your debt; healing your body; giving you the money to pay your mortgage; blessing  you on your job; opening doors of opportunity that people said would never happen……..don’t take any credit for it !

Give God all the glory, honor and praise!

(c) Has Breath Publishing LLC                                                                                                    

Love and Light

Who Is Lord?
Jesus is Lord!

Change

Change is Good.

As we approach our church wide day of prayer on September 29^th .   I have been examining myself for areas where God wants me to make changes.  The basis of this is really wanting a closer relationship with God. Growing up, I had always heard change was a bad thing. I developed the mindset that resisted change.

Recently, I heard a story of a snake that escaped its cage at a local school. Despite efforts by school officials and the animal control agency to find the snake, it was nowhere to be found.  Someone decided to leave the cage door open and turn the heat rock back on. The snake returned.  Many times, we behave the same way. We find a comfort zone and park ourselves there. We may venture out but usually return to what is familiar or comfortable.

The Bible teaches us that God wants us to change to be like Him.

Ephesians 4:22 – 23 says : That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;  And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;  And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

 The word renewed in verse 23 means to “renovate”.   I have to examine the way I think, my beliefs and behaviors. If they don’t line up with the Word of God, I am are required to change.  That is serious renovation or change.

So how did I begin the process? During Sunday church service we were told to routinely say,” I believe God, I belong to God, I serve God”  I also added “ I love God.”  We were also instructed to start saying, “Without Him, I can do nothing, know nothing, have nothing.”

I began to say those things, then I would ask God to show me where I had pride in my life that would prevent me from seeing areas that needed renovation.  I would sit quietly and listen for instruction.  God started showing me where I needed to change. 

 Changing a lot of times is simply saying, God you’re right, forgive me, I repent of that. Instead of that wrong behavior or belief,  I replace that with Your Truth and the power of your Holy Spirit then I move on. 

The change brings peace, freedom, and a closer relationship with Him, the Creator of the universe. All because He loves us and gave His best for us.

He wants us all to be more like Him.  Let’s step out of our comfort zone, and live recklessly for God.

                                   

Thought I Was Going to Blog About the Pastor's Message; God Had a Different Message

I was asked in May to write a blog for the church’s blog site. Since that time I have asked God, “Lord, what am I supposed to write about?” and His answer has continued to be, “You’ll figure it out.”  Even sitting down to write this, I thought I might know what I was supposed to write about.

I thought I was going to be blogging about Pastor Mitch’s sermon from last Sunday, June 10^th, and what God spoke to me during the sermon.  While I’ll be mentioning it a little later, it has transformed into something completely different as I’ve began to type.

Sunday, Pastor Mitch posed the question, “Are you eating from the right tree?”  Pastor Mitch did a great job of defining the trees; one tree being the word of God and what He says is truth, and the other tree being the tree of knowledge of good and evil—the tree of what the world says.

For many, I’m sure they were able to understand this just from this explanation. I’m not always like that. I found myself saying, “Okay, Lord. I believe Your word is true, so where am I missing it?” 

He showed me two examples where this applies. He said, “The wrong tree is the doctors telling you, you are sick and dying. I am the tree of life. The wrong tree is the world saying you’re poor and defeated. I am the tree saying you are prosperous and victorious.” The examples can go on and on.

I’m an analytical learner. I like details, examples, metaphors and visuals. This is the way God speaks to me.  He is either giving me check points, using examples in my life or visually showing me things and saying, “it’s like this”. His voice is always the same, but His tone changes. For me, it’s been patient, friendly, chiding, or humorous. It just depends on what He’s saying and how long He’s been saying it. Sometimes He’s my Father, and sometimes He’s just speaking as my friend.

 In church we’ve been talking about prayer lately, and how we pray. As a family, we have set times during the day where we pray; morning, meal times and bedtime. We use these prayer times to thank God for what He’s done, what He’s doing and what He continues to do.

If a problem presents itself throughout the day I thank Him for providing me His patience, strength and wisdom in helping me through the situation. If I get a prayer request from a friend or someone else I pray very similarly. I provide scripture to the person and let them know what I’m agreeing to believe with them on and that God receives all the glory for it. 

I’ve found myself asking, do I pray enough, and do I pray the right way. His response to me was, “Praying isn’t just ‘God help me; God, do this; God, do that, God, why won’t you do this; God, why won’t you do that.’ 

Prayer is communion with Me. It’s showing respect and knowing what I do for you and knowing what I’ll keep doing for you. As a parent, as an employer, as a person in a position of authority, or as a friend - would you want your children, employees, subordinates, or friends to continually bring all their problems to you for you to fix them? No. You want them to use what you have given them, use what you have taught them to solve their own problems.  If you have given your word on something, it’s okay if they remind you of it because you want them to know you care for them and they can depend and rely on you to honor your word. You want them to talk to you and share with you things they find important, just as I do with you.”  

He went on to tell me how much time I don’t even realize I am talking to Him and with Him just because it’s become a ‘normal’ part of my day. He told me it’s okay and He’s pleased, and that made me smile.

 At the beginning of the year, the Lord shared with me that I was being selfish by not sharing with others what he speaks and has spoken to me.  I made a commitment to share and have honored that commitment. 

Today, he wanted me to share that He speaks to each of us differently in a way that is most beneficial to each of us. There is no right or wrong way to hear from Him. If you are confused rather you’re hearing Him or not, He says if whatever he’s said, or instructed you to do or change is followed with a feeling of peace, it’s Him.

                                                     by: Jessica Carlisle

Website Concept

We are seeking Christian High School and College students to participate in a ground breaking round table discussion/survey for an exciting new Christian website currently being developed. This is truly a monumental website that you will be glad you participated in the development of. Students will be required to sign a confidentiality agreement and be expected to participate in a survey at the end of the meeting. Students will be shown the website concept and participate in brainstorming activity and provide feedback on how website can become more valuable to other Christians their age.

Who: High School and College Students (Christian)

What: Roundtable Discussion/Survey of New Christian Website (You’ll definitely want to be a part of this!)

When: Monday, March 6^th 7-8:30 PM

Where: LIFE Church & Training Center

5895 E. Thompson Rd., Suite D, Indianapolis, IN 46237 · Get Directions

Food and drinks will be provided. Please RSVP by 6 PM Sunday March 5th.

Please share this with your friends at school.

If you are interested in participating, please RSVP at mark@IndyArtGlass.com. A maximum of 45 students will be able to participate.

Thank you,