We always are waiting for the big payday.  Well just to share a little secret with you…. I had a little payday of my own a few years a go.

Five years a go my parents died and left with me with a little money.  I also had some relatives, who will remain nameless during this piece , that also received some money after the death of my parents.  Here were the differences;

Heather and I were already tithing, they were not.  Heather and I stayed away from debt and just had successfully paid off everything except what we owed for our old cars and house.  My relatives did not have enough to rub two sticks together living from pay check to pay check.  I got a good amount and they got the equivalent of what they were pulling in a year’s time of working.  Plus  they got the two cars and all the home furnishings.

Here is what happened;

Heather and I worked on getting out of debt, which we have done and we continue to keep ot of debt.  First they quit working or trying to work for the next few months. Then my  relatives spent all the money, wrecked both cars and abandoned all the possessions.

Reason….bailout is not the answer.  A reshaping of the attitude of the heart is.  When we begin to learn that it is not our money then we are blessed with more to do more for God and it seems that our margin increases.  It starts with giving back to God what is His.  This is one of the areas that Heather and I started doing early and ever since then we have always had what we needed.  My relatives from this story still have not learned this and they are living the same way.

Since the last time I have:

Become the Connections Pastor, which means Journey Groups, Serving Groups, Set Up and Tear Down on Sunday’s, Assimilation Procedures, Follow Up, & whatever else comes down the pike.

Which means trying to get Journey Groups ready to launch in Feb,

Which means trying to bring a component of JG life to Serving Groups (by the way congrats to Dee Dee and her leaders on doing a most awesome job),

Which means trying to revamp Assimilation strategies (visiting w/First Time Guests, retooling our Next Step Area, Baptism, Fellowship One challenges etc…)

Which mean giving oversight to some really cool people who are our lead volunteers but we are leading at a higher capacity so it is about people and not all about the tasks.

Sooooooo, that means that the urgent things like this blog and the important things like family must be put in there right places.

This is something that I have usually done real well with and I plan to keep it up.

Sooooooo, if you are reading this and you know you should be doing something else then shame on you!  I mean seriously, go hang out with the kids and play.  You know make them laugh, tickle them, ask them about God.  Love your spouse, talk about what you have read with them.  Read your Bible!  Heather and I (as an example of important) have read the Bible together, nightly since before Thanksgiving.  What a blessing that has been to me and my family.  Living without blogging was great!

So I am back.  What does that mean?  Well, it probably means that it won’t be forever because life will get busy again.  But until then I will be hitting this spot a couple of times a week or Josh will get on my case again.  I appreciate you all for stopping by and we’ll catch up more this week.

Guys, I just wanted to let you know how stinking awesome you are!  I know it was a crazy and hectic day but thank you for hunkering down and getting done in record time.  You are the ones that made this morning possible.  You all have worked hard at learning what you have to do and it paid off today.

Here’s what happened today in case you didn’t hear.  The truck wouldn’t start no matter what we did.  Then, at 0 hours it decided to start, thanks to God, and we put it into high gear. We got everything in and up by 7:35 INCREDIBLE!  Here’s what that translates to – You were empowerd by God, we encountered spiritual warfare, and you kicked Satan in the mouth!  Now, how’s that make you feel!?

Seriously, you all are on the front lines and people’s lives are in the balance.  You are the first line of defense.  I want you remember that when;

*  Ralph and Gerard are rolling around on the frozen ground trying to jump a truck (for over an hour)
*  Rick, Lee, Matt, & Jake take control of the lobby
*  Todd, Jason, Curt, Rich are bustin there humps getting the kid rooms set up
*  Lenny and his boy Lee every week are packing and unpacking the truck and getting  kidventure check-in ready
*  Sean, Wade & Joel are driving around trying to get us going then show up and bust out the adult room

Look, what I am trying to say it is exciting and fun serving with you.  It’s like playing ball again.  We all have a common opponent and it is us against him.  We can’t loose when you understand who is our coach is.  Let’s keep it going and do what we gotta do so people can get from where they are to where God wants them to be!

There is a tendency, though, on our part to say God I want you to show me what you want to do because I would like to consider it. God I have these options and I am really interested in your options so can you put that on my plate so I can consider it along with all my other choices.

Now I have learned this the hard way along with many others of you that when God gives you an option he does not say “If I were you”. When He acts God assumes that there will be participation and action on your part. So God has to wait until you’re ready and for when your answer is not, “give me an option” but “yes, yes, yes!” “Whatever it is you want me to do I will do it!” When you get to that point personally you will hear from God loud and clear. God loves to give direction to His children, not for consideration or deliberation but for participation. He knows when we are ready.

Are you ready to participate?

We hung out with some neighbors, one of which is George Wright who is the Lead Pastor at Cedar Crest Church.  If your in the Acworth area you should check it out.  We got to do a Hay Ride (which Avery pronounces Hay Wide) and get a ton of candy.  It was cold and the leaves are in full change up here.  It is beautiful.

3.  The Personal Will of God

This is that area where we question, should I marry this person, should I take this job, should we buy that house and so on.  We find an example in I Cor. where Paul relates about the personal will of God for his life.
I Corinthians 1:1 “This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Sosthenes.” NLT

Paul felt that he was suppose to be an apostle, it was not a calling for everyone but he felt that this was something for him.  Here is another verse you probably will not want to memorize:

I Peter 4:19
“19 So if you are suffering according to God’s will, keep on doing what is right, and trust yourself to the God who made you, for He will never fail you.” NLT

Some Christ Followers are called on to suffer according to the will of God.  It is not the most uplifting news for you and I but there is a purpose for it and there are many other verses like this in the Bible.  But all of the life decisions like jobs, living situations, and relationships, etc.. all fall under the personal will of God.

Now, this next point is very important and you need to understand this in order for the next few blogs to mean anything to you.  Pray over this and ask Him to show this to you.

“The more familiar you become with the providential will of God, and the more obedient you become to the moral will of God, the easier it will be for you to discover the personal will of God.”

We will look at that a little bit more in depth next time.

2.  The moral will of God.

These are the things that God has given us all as commands.  These are the shalt not’s and you will do’s.  Let’s take for example:

I Thessalonians 4:3-5 “3 God wants you to be holy, so you should keep clear of all sexual sin. 4 Then each of you will control your body and live in holiness and honor-5 not in lustful passion as the pagans do, in their ignorance of God and his ways.” NLT
Well that’s pretty self explanatory

Here is another verse that we probably do not want to memorize:
I Peter 2:13 & 17 “13 For the Lord’s sake, accept all authority-the king as head of state, 14 and the officials he has appointed… “17 Show respect for everyone. Love your Christian brothers and sisters.* Fear God. Show respect for the king.” NLT

In other words obey those in authority over you.  I wonder how many of us have a hard time figuring out the Will of God when it’s in black and white and in front of us.  How many of us out there speed?  Or how about those of us there that are hiding a little something from the IRS?
All throughout scriptures we find the basic moral will of God, the dos and do nots.  So here it is…..The more familiar we become with the moral will of God the more we are able to discern the third aspect of God’s will and that is:

Oh well, wait till next time

So saying that, here we go;

How do we know what it is that we are suppose to be doing?  How do we know the discernible will of God?  How do we hear the voice of God?   I don’t mean so much an audible voice.  I have never heard God like that and I don’t think I want to.  Can you imagine that kind of stuff would mess you up for the rest of your life!

But what we are talking about is the Jehovah, a father, God that is concerned with the decisions we are making.  We need to step back for a moment and stop being so wrapped up in our own lives and see that God has a much bigger and grander scheme than what we know about.  He wants you and me to be an integral part of it and He wants to use us.

Take a look at this really cool verse

Proverbs 3:6 …”in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight”. (NIV)

He will make your paths obvious. He will make it all clear.  This is a promise to us from God the father that when we want to get in on the game plan and be a part of the scheme He will let you know what it is your are suppose to be doing.

According to the scriptures there are three different ways that we can describe the will of God.  That is if we took all the times that the will of God is mentioned in the Bible it would be put in of three categories.

The will of God three different ways:

1.    The providential will of God.
2.    The moral will of God.
3.    The personal will of God.

1.     The providential will of God.
It is the stuff that God is going to do.  You do not have to pray for it because it will happen anyway.

Galatians 4:4-5 4 “But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. 5 God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.” NLT

Rev. 20:11-15 stated that all of us will be judged.  We do not have to request it.  He is just going to do it and nothing will change His mind.  It was the providential will of God that Jesus would return, that He would raise up the Messiah through the nation of Israel.  God is going to do these things whether we like it or not and it is not hinged on our desire or obedience.

But now here is the interesting point; God uses men and women to fulfill His providential will. (E.g. Mary mother of Jesus, Abraham father of the Israelites, Apostle Paul preacher to the Gentiles, etc…)  As believers the more we recognize the providential will of God the more we can identify and discern His will for our lives.  And the only way to find out His will is to read the scriptures.

We’ll talk about step two next time.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to hang out with my Journey Group and discuss the topic of bitterness.  This is a huge one for guys, especially when it comes to our relationships with our fathers.  It was a good time for discussion and a good time to begin working on forgiving those that have wronged us.

Then while driving home I got to chat with a great lady about some of her ups and downs in her Journey Group life.  It was a good time to hear her concerns and then begin to encourage and plan with her about what she can do.

Then after the kids were in bed I snuck out to meet with one of my Journey Group coaches.  We had a great time talking a little bit about group and a  lot about what God may be up to in his life.

All in all, even though it was a long day it was a good day.  While driving that night I felt like that I was able to actually be effective in being a pastor.  I was able to mentor, encourage, lead, and challenge people to follow what God is asking them to do with their lives.

I know that I made my Father smile….it was a good day.