Momentum Monday: Clean Up and Clean Out

“Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:18-19)

Look around you. Does your environment reflect what’s happening in your life? Is there clutter? Is there a mess? Are there things that need to be tossed out, but your heart can’t find the courage? Are you clinging to the past? Fearful of starting anew? Are there things that need to be given away but selfishness keeps you holding on? God is ready to do something new in your life; perhaps it’s time to make room for that new thing. Clean up and clean out.

The Warmongers Are Nearer than We Think

Scatter the peoples who delight in war. Psalm 68:30

As I observe the activities of many people groups around the world, it seems their daily pursuit is war. They push the boarders of neighboring countries. They fight with any faction of people whose ideology doesn’t exactly match up with their own. They even war amongst themselves, brother against brother with an “eye for an eye” attitude. I shake my head and wonder how can this be the norm for a man’s heart? What kind of existence is this, that one wakes every morning, rubs his chin, and wonders who he’ll throw a grenade at today?

But before I point that finger too far to the East, I must look within my own heart. Am I a peacemaker? Do I aim painful words like arrows at my children’s hearts when they disappoint me? Do I throw that proverbial grenade at my husband in anger? Do I fight over “boarders” at work or at church with people who seem to be encroaching on my territory?

Lord, teach your children to seek peace in our hearts, in our homes, in our world.

 

Eyes and Ears (2 of 2)

If I am going to know God, it’s going to be because God reveals Himself to me. The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the Lord has made them both (Prov. 20:12). God, cause my eyes to see! Make my ears to really hear the truth!
And if God can reveal Himself to me, He can reveal Himself to anyone, any time. Choose a nation, a city, a people group, a friend, or family member, and cry out to God to give them hearing ears and seeing eyes. Keep praying.

Momentum Monday: Think about Heaven

Sometimes we just have to face the truth that this world is a hard place to live. But God gives us the hope of heaven! God hasn’t revealed all the mysteries of what’s in store for Christians; in fact, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). But God has given us some joy-inspiring hints of the splendor that awaits us as we enter into our home in heaven. Why reveal these peeks into heaven’s portals? Surely one of the reasons is that God wants to bring cheer to our hearts.

This world is not your home. Spend time this week allowing God to encourage your heart with something to look forward to, a home that will never fade away, and the glorious presence of the Lord. Heaven!

Eyes and Ears (1 of 2)

How badly do you want to see God for who He is?

Think carefully before you answer. Are you willing to endure hardship? Are you willing to be proven wrong? If it requires patience, will you undergo the process?

Job knew God, and he loved God, but his depth of knowledge was incomplete. It was only after experiencing hardship that he experienced God in a new way that deepened his understanding. On the other end of Job’s horrible losses, Job declared to God, “‘I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You'” (Job 42:5).

You don’t want to just know about God. You want to know Him. Will you submit to the process? It’s not a guarantee of hardship, but it’s a sure bet that God will take you where you’ve never been before.

Momentum Monday: The Lord’s Prayer

Sometimes we all need a jolt or a restart to our prayer life, but getting fancy isn’t necessarily the answer. How about returning to the powerful example of Jesus Christ as He taught His disciples to pray? Spend the week in Matthew 6 or Luke 11 and enjoy fellowship with the Lord.

Desiring to be Better

The Psalmist recounts throughout Psalm 139 that God knows everything about us at all times and in all places, He knew us before we were born, and He knows our future. He knows it all! Our thoughts, our words…but then David says, “God, search me and know me.” Why would God need to search what He already knows?

This request was not about God. Instead, it was about David. He is inviting God to inspect his life. He is choosing to open all the recesses of his heart and say, “Here, God, You can inspect me as carefully as You’d like. Check out every room, every closet, open every drawer, look under the bed…I open myself up to your authority to judge me, God, because I desire your correction.” Will you say those words to God today?

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalm 139:23-24

Momentum Monday: Connect with your Neighbors

Better is a neighbor nearby than a brother far away. (Proverbs 27:10)

God created us for community. Perhaps more than ever, our society is in need of more caring, more fellowship, and more sharing of time, friendship, and the occasional cup of sugar.

Connect with your neighbors! Be a bright light for Jesus in your neighborhood.

You’re On His Mind

Thoughts can consume us. Vacation plans. Unpaid bills. House renovations. Regrets. Those consuming thoughts reveal what we deem important.
God finds you important. It must be so, because He thinks about you constantly. Even when you feel small and unimportant, maybe under appreciated, remember that God notices you and thinks of you constantly. And that’s enough to change your attitude because there’s no one like our God.

How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!
Psalm 139:17

Momentum Monday: Adopt a People Group

What’s a people group? Very basically, it’s a grouping of people who have a common self-identity, and typically no language or cultural barriers among them. There are thousands of people groups in the world, and most of them are unreached with the gospel.

To learn more about people groups, visit the Joshua Project website. Check out the possibilities! Learn everything you can about a people group of the world, then begin praying for them. And don’t be surprised if people from that people group live within driving distance from you. How will you invest your life to help every tribe, tongue, and nation be represented around the throne of God?