Refuse to be reduced to a spectator.
To casually watch as the action unfolds.
Refuse to be passive. To be complacent. To be comfortable.
Refuse to let the days of your life drift by without purpose.
Refuse to allow the drone of the clock to become the pulse by which your heart beats.
Tick Tock, Tick Tock ¦ Never escalating, never racing.
Refuse to live a life of indifference. As if you are the centerpiece of the story.
Refuse.
Just some thoughts that inspire me to make a difference.
In the words of Ricky Bobby, “Momma, I’m going Fast! Technically I’m not going fast. But I’m fasting. And yes, I know you are not supposed to broadcast it to everyone you talk to. However, in this case, many of our church members are fasting and praying so this is meant to encourage and fuel you not to show off my halo. If there is a spiritual discipline that separates the men from the boys it’s the discipline of fasting.
This past week I challenged our church to pray and fast and for our church, our community, our building project, and our families. It is obvious that God is in the process of orchestrating some very exciting days. My desire is to make sure that I am completely synced up with Him. I believe fasting and prayer is the conduit through which God aligns my life to His plan.
There is a very common verse that I think often times gets misquoted. Check it out.
“Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”–Psalm 37:4
I have always heard people quote this verse with the idea that if you delight yourself in God than He will give you everything you have ever wanted. For instance if you want a new Range Rover than all you have to do is enjoy God. This sounds pretty cool but I’m not sure it’s accurate. If we interpret this verse this way than it’s as if God is some glorified Santa Claus that gives us whatever we want just as long as we have been good.
I have begun to look at this verse a bit differently. Let’s read it again.
“Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”–Psalm 37:4
What does delight mean? The dictionary says that to delight is to take great pleasure in. That would make this verse say, “take great pleasure in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Could it be that as we take GREAT pleasure in God that His desires become our desires. I believe that the more pleasure we find in God the more our life and our desire reflect Him.
It’s like my kids hanging out with dad. Why does my son enjoy the ocean and surfing so much? Is it because it is natural to him or is it because he loves to spend time with Dad and if Dad likes it then he likes it as well. My desire becomes his desire.
What does this have to do with anything? I know…is this just another one of my rants? No. I believe that when we take time to pray and fast we are parking out at the feet of our Heavenly Father and we are saying, “I love to eat, but right now I would rather sit in Your presence. I want my spiritual hunger to outpace my physical hunger.”
Have you ever seen someone who is really hungry? We don’t know the true meaning of hunger. My kids wake up in the morning as if they have just broke a 40 day fast. They beg for something to eat. We don’t really know hunger. If you were to observe someone who is truly hungry you would find a person who is completely satisfied with whatever they could get. When we fast and pray we are saying to God that we am starving for a closer, more intimate relationship with Him.
The Bible says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” May God fill you with a spiritual hunger that cries out to be filled. Live in the FAST LANE.
Here is another verse to meditate on…
“As the deer pants for water so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God”–Psalm 42:1-2
Guest Blogger: Daniel Walters – Worship Ministry
I am blessed to lead up the best team at Lifepoint Church, the Worship Arts team. Yeah I said it! Week in and week out this group of dedicated, Jesus chasing, second-mile citizens amaze me with their passion to serve and reach the lost.
Some folks just volunteer on Sunday, but these guys give time all week long and ask for nothing in return. They are behind the scenes of every service we do whether in the auditorium or a packed out parking lot in the middle of winter. They dangle from ladders at 6:30am every week. They build sets, run sound, hang lights, run cables, setup cameras, design graphics, shoot videos, memorize song chord charts and lyrics, attend grueling rehearsals, recruit and train new volunteers, spend hours every day practicing their craft, and on top of all of that… they have to put up with me! Quite a few of our team members started out as regular volunteers, but have stepped in to positions of leadership over the past year.
Introducing Wes Rose
Wes Rose auditioned to be a part of the Lifepoint band five years ago. Though he was a music major at UNCW and a versatile musician, he believed that God was calling him to serve our church. So he said, I’ll do whatever they need me to do. For years that meant playing the bass guitar (not the most glamorous job), and though that may not have been his first choice, he took to it with passion and every molecule of his being! He was dedicated to the vision and ministry of our church.
Some time later, that meant playing rhythm guitar, doing chord charts, teaching classes on worship to teens, leading worship when I was sick, or whatever else we needed him to do. This past year that meant a promotion to a position of leadership when we asked him to become our new student worship leader. Wes didn’t gloat or say, ”It’s about time you recognized my potential! Whats a guy got to do to get to sing around here?!!” Instead he was humbled and shocked that we would ask him to lead such an important new ministry of our church. I believe that God is honoring that attitude as we hear about the ridiculous things that Jesus is doing in the hearts and minds of students through UG.
ALL IN!
People like Wes have made the commitment to be “ALL IN” for the sake of those who are not yet ”IN”. They have counted the cost and are choosing to leverage their time, talent, and resources to serve Jesus. How about you?
I was never a fan of science class until we started experimenting with things that might blow up. Suddenly it got interesting.
ex·per·i·ment [n. ik-sper-uh-muhnt; v. ek-sper-uh-ment] a test, trial, or tentative procedure; an act or operation for the purpose of discovering something unknown or of testing a principle, supposition, etc.
I love experiments. As a church we are launching a Prayer Experiment for 10 days. The principle that we are testing is this: WHEN GOD’S PEOPLE PRAY, POWERFUL THINGS HAPPEN.
Beginning Wednesday, March 14th we are going to spend 10 days seeking the Lord. Why 10 days? I’m glad you asked. The book of Acts records 120 believers gathered in a place called The Upper Room for 10 days patiently waiting and praying. They had no idea what was going to happen. It was kind of like an experiment. The end result was that God sent His Holy Spirit to fill them and send them out to radically change the world.
Our Prayer Experiment is about 120+ people seeking God for 10 days. I have no idea what God is going to do. All I know is that when God’s people pray, powerful things happen.
I want to invite you to join the experiment. Many people have chosen to fast during the 10 days. You may want to join them. Fasting is giving up something important to make room for something more important. Here are some fasting ideas:
It’s up to you what you decide to do.
As you fast and pray I want to encourage you to share your prayer requests on our Facebook Prayer Wall. Unless of course you are fasting from social media. You can post your requests and pray for others.
I also want to point you to the “Amen Corner” of our website. Click the link in the upper right corner to share your stories of answered prayer.
Last thing, we are going to end this Experiment with a bang. No pun intended. Friday, March 23rd we are going to conclude this Prayer Experiment with one incredible worship night in our BRAND NEW HOME!
Yesterday we kicked off a brand new series called Circle Maker. This is a series that I have been looking forward to since the start of 2012 when I read the book by Pastor Mark Batterson.
Along with the series we have also launched a Prayer Wall on Facebook for anyone to share prayer requests and pray for each other. Take a minute and drop by The Wall and “like” the page. Feel free to share a request while you are there.