Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Jesus our Wisdom


KC Inspirations: Prayer 4 Wisdom ~ Colossians 1

Our heavenly Father desires for you to know His will in every area of your life. Proverbs 20:27 says, "The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly." God will enlighten you to know His will through your own spirit as you spend time meditating in His Word and in prayer.
All of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hid in Christ Jesus according to Colossians 2:3. The wisdom of God is hid for you, not from you. Wisdom has been dwelling in your spirit through Jesus Christ since you were born of God, however, it must be drawn out (Proverbs 20:5). We must be led by the Spirit of God.
The Apostle Paul prayed the following prayer for the church at Colosse. I am releasing our faith in the same prayer for you:
That you might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; Giving thanks unto the Father, which has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son (Colossians 1:9-13).
Jesus has been made unto you wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:30).

Sincerely yours,

KC


“Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in YOUR minds because of our evil behavior... now he has reconciled you...holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation - if you continue in your faith...”


Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Overcoming with Joy


“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose”
All Aboard!!

For a moment climb on board the choo choo train and journey with me through this “train” of thinking.


I am in the process of training for a half-marathon. So, the other day I started to incorporate longer distances to my running regime to prepare for the upcoming race.
It was a beautiful morning because the rain was not pouring and the sun wasn’t scorching. The air was fresh and the rural roads were peaceful and quiet. During a portion of my run the wind began to pick up and was strongly coming against me. I began to think about Jesus and how he calmed the storms, how on this earth he had authority over nature and how he has given believers this same authority from the Father to do His works and even greater works. So as I continued to run, I became more and more annoyed by the constant, opposing wind. Having a competitive nature, I want to have a favorable time on my distance run to measure how my running is progressing. Furthermore, running isn’t the funnest activity on the best of days for me, so on this purpose driven, peaceful morning, I wanted to enjoy a freeing, relaxing run as much as possible.
Again, I begin to think of Jesus. Should I command the wind to cease? Should I practice my faith? Use my authority? Why can’t the wind be behind me for once? After I pondered these questions, my mind was quieted and I began to listen. Then I had a new thought. What if the opposing wind isn’t actually a hindrance that is against me? What if God has ordained it in this moment as a help? But, Lord, how could running into a robust wind on a peaceful morning be helping me? It’s a nuisance, it’s annoying, it’s uncomfortable and my aim is to be quick.


In that moment, with this new thought, I was granted a new perspective. The wind against me is a help because training to run against it can only make me stronger. [New mindset]. Now not only was the wind present to help strengthen me mentally and physically as I run against it, this opposing wind had now turned into a joy. I am no longer experiencing the strong wind as an enemy but as an opposing force for my benefit. I can now take great delight in this growth opportunity, I am rejoicing in the Lord for the wind that is making me stronger. As I was running, I was laughing out loud and I was full of joy because the once spurned wind, has now turned into a welcomed opposition. All things work together for my good because He ALWAYS causes us to triumph.


Could it be that the challenges that we are currently encountering in this life are not there to hinder our lives but to help us? Is it possible that continuing to evaluate our thinking patterns and challenge our attitudes can actually change our lives, causing less stress? We should be filled with an overwhelming sense of joy and gratitude when faced with moments that challenge us to grow and improve personally.


Friends, I challenge you to persevere and find the good within each moment.


“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2

Monday, May 2, 2011

No Shortcuts!


2011-05-02

Today I went on my first rain run. I have always been a fair weather everything, however in my pursuit to fight through the elements of life, I decided to embrace the pouring rain and RUN.

Revelation of the Day: No Shortcuts!

In this life we will have troubles and oppositions, however, in Christ, we are created to be more than conquerors. During a run and in life there are many roads we can choose to travel and along the way there are a number of short cuts we can take.


Today I heard Him say, “Do not take shortcuts”. Most of the time shortcuts can be helpful... they save us some time and make things easier. However, many times (without noticing) shortcuts can leave us lack lustered and lazy. We need to embrace the difficult paths us much as the steady trails. When we consciously decide not to take shortcuts in life, we are embracing the challenge and equipping ourselves for those difficult days that require diligence and endurance.


As we train for whatever it is we're called to do, Do not take shortcuts! Shortcuts lead to bad habits that produce mediocrity. Fight through the tempting shortcut cravings and embrace each step along the way because we are destined for greatness.
Training in excellence produces excellence.

“More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:3-5)




“...in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”