Last Wednesday our youth was studying a devotion of how God reveals Himself, prayers and plans He has for us in special way…. Think about I have taken on a BIG landscape project at my home, three trees and a lot of clay soil with many rocks making dig a problem! I have an empty backdrop and I plan to decorate the bare space with plants… I have a plan but could I reveal it all at once to finish the project or just reveal it gradually??

                In Mark 8:22-25 Jesus did heal the man who was blind, but He chooses to heal him differently than we think… Jesus could have healed him instantly but Jesus heals the man gradually over a period of steps to avoid overload.

True Worship is a moment in the our busy life to come before God to praise Him. We come just as our self to give our praise and our love towards God, for His provion, answers and preperation. The Act of true worship comes from our heart through prayer and through the words we sing from the mouth and in spirit.
True WORSHIP comes from the heart --John 4:23-24
We are to come together as a family, as body of Christ to in worship, not just of individuals but as a church family in unity! We come with a heart of fellowship towards sharing the passion, the moment of worship with all who come before Him with a true heart.
True WORSHIP comes from the heart --John 4:23-24
We worship with a open mind and heart of joy with thanksgiving for God himself has given us His one and only son to take our place for the sins we have commited.

It’s hard to see God’s master plans for us… but we can pray for God’s hand and guidance, love and support in following His direction that He laid out before us. We should have pride in our mission that God has placed upon our hearts united as a body of one. We just need to put our own wants, ideas aside to serve in the body of Christ.

Opportunity is a chance to use our gifts to follow God's will He has for us. God has already given us this free gift of salvation by taking our place on the cross... This is to invest and grow for His glory and of His kingdom.
Life's trials becomes OPPORTUNITY --Philippians 1:12-14
We need to be ready to embrace these moments of opportunity that quickly come in life but can also quickly disappear. So when one comes @ the door we need to pray and seek God's will to act on this opportunity. Some can be a blessing, while others can be a spiritual battle from Satan himself.
Life's trials become OPPORTUNITY --Philippians 1:12-14
God Himself presents life full of trials to have them become an opportunity for us to grow in our relationship with God. We all have had "bad days" but maybe God is trying to teach us a message, so we can seek His will and learn on our own in this chance that we call opportunity.

This summer we will begin this “journey” and learn how to walk in the foot steps of God by shining our light. What does it mean to “walk in the light”? How can we know for sure that we are truly “walking in the Light”? Are you ready to take this next step of faith?

                Our first step is through prayer… this Thursday is National Day of Prayer; many will unite and gather together and pray. You can pray for God to open our hearts, our minds and make His will be known to ALL, on the earth.  We need to put our wants and needs aside and seek His will as we take the first step and follow His steps and become that light. We need to put on the armor of God and carry the shield of faith as we walk this journey. Your not alone, many are wondering, many are seeking and many are hidden in this darken world. One coal can shine a flicker of light in darkness, but a pile of coal can take that same flicker of light and shine into the darkness making it become light.

I was fixing the irrigation at my local church and decided to change an old valve. After all it was old, wasn’t working when it should, and caused the control clock to overload and really not meeting code anyway. So the old valve was cut out and a new plastic ball valve non electric. In between fixing the old valve to end up cleaning and fixing the wires that connected all the valves.  Labeling and re-taping to make it neat and organized in the valve box. So was all this changed really necessary? But the main goal was to change in order to prevent an other overload on the clock.

Encouragement is a simple and effective way we can show our heart towards other just as Jesus did. One coal alone makes a soft flicker in the night, but one coal sharing that soft flicker with a pile of coals make that soft flicker turn into a flickering light house.

We are to ENCOURAGE others --Job 29:24

Our Encouragement towards others can spread with them and broadcast through their life just from you. We can each spread that one moment of encouragement, just one second out of our 24 hours day!

Think about it… its hard to be yourself everyday, every second, every moment… right! Your not alone, its hard for people like you and me we call “normal” to a Christian 24/7… Yes, putting on that shirt that tells others I am a Christian in the public’s eyes… We could be stuck between to places looking back and forth hoping the answer would appear before us. Come on this is reality; we need to put God’s armor and take the shield to stand before the public’s eyes as we follow Christ in this temporary home we call the world.  So are you sure your life is harder than ours? Who said that Christians have an easy life?

                Christians don’t have the perfect world, although we wished we were perfect like God, but we fall short in that goal… because were human. But if your have a hard time beginning you than STOP and just be yourself first.  Second, forget what the world and others say and think about you… after all you human and just accept what God has given you and ignore the crowds in the background. Third, take life the way it is… meaning don’t try to make it what it should be, that time of change will come soon.

                So if you’re still thinking others have life easy and that your life is the hardest to live… lets pray together. Father give me one day at a time, give me the strength to deal with life issues and trials. Father give me wisdom and hope in each day that I my know you more and more…  reminded me to find the positive in each stressful moment and use your wisdom to deal with it, in Jesus name – AMEN!

Sometimes God opens doors before us to hint a message that this is the direction to follow. He gives us choices to see if we have faith and trust in God and His many plans for us. Some days its hard to take on those open doors, peeking in and trying to see what’s ahead if we choose to take that path. But looking back in the Old Testament, and seeing that Noah and Mosses them too had a hard time trusting in the open doors that God placed before them.

                Who said that life will be easy, who said life will be worry free from choices? But we just need to learn and grow in our relationship with God by trusting and praying for those open doors… after all God created us from the inside to the outside; wow! So if these open doors come from God than how come we turn away? What do we have to loose? If the plans come directly from God we can be sure that His path will not lead us astray!

                Psalm 138:8 “The Lord will work out his plans for my life…”

A computer has a firewall (a program) that prevents stuff or software entering our computer that may be a harmful.  It also acts like a door that opens and closes making the decision of what is safe and what is not… even it controls what could lead into the world. We are so completely different, yet in common were all humans living in the same place… earth! I think when one person shares their mind with us, that firewall program wants to close the door… this is too new, too different from my mind and too hard to understand. But should we really be closed minded even when it out of our comfort zone?

                We can all look at the same painting and come up with many different ideas, thoughts and concepts of what we see in the painting. Instead that program automatically shuts others out of our mind and life. Why? I am reminded that we need to open the door of positive ideas, thoughts, feeling and concepts into our lives. After all, the worst thing we could get is a better understand of that same paint when we all open that door into our mind. I think the only time we should close the door is to stop the negative side that may delete the good ideas, thoughts and concepts.