It is evident that we need another fresh outpouring of the Spirit of God in this city and nation!
The Lord’s presence falls upon the hungry and thirsty! Spend time seeking him tonight… tomorrow, the next day! Take time and seek God in His Word. Ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you as you read and pray and worship… you will ‘find God’ in a new way as you do!
GOD POUR OUT YOUR SPIRIT ON THIS CITY!
When I was 20 years I started mentoring my first disciple in Christ.
His name is Derek. He was 15 and hungry for God. I taught him how to connect with God and he became a strong young man of faith. Still is to this day.
In the last 9 years since then I have since upon life upon life upon life upon life upon life changed and transformed by the power of the gospel (good news) of Christ and His cross and His forgiveness and His grace! And you know what?… THE BEST IS YET TO COME!
… baby we are just getting started!
I have decided this afresh today: I WILL NEVER STOP BELIEVING!
I will never stop believing:
He is able. I will believe – and will continue to act in faith and be a DOER of his word!
I encourage you with all my heart and guts to do the same! There is too much at stake and too much fun to have to do otherwise!
you pick yourself up and try again!
And if you’re having trouble, you gain the perspective that EVERY SINGLE PERSON who has ever done anything of significance has gone through tremendous setbacks, heartaches, and trials to get there.
So if you miss it, strike again! … then again… then again…
And don’t stop moving in the direction of your God-given dreams!
Because you’ll look up one day and realize missing it is normal, but it’s also the lesson that pushed you to become equipped to overcome in the greater battles of today!
SO WITH ALL YOUR HEART TODAY – HIT IT!
Every one of us are prone to mistakes – no matter how good our heart is.
And the thing about meeting Jesus for real, is that all of the sudden you have this perfect love working inside of you. From one moment to the next you have this amazing hope that you’ve never experienced before, joy unspeakable and full of God’s presence. You have a model of perfection and love and captivating beauty in front of you and around you and intimately involved in your life. YOU CANNOT HELP but to want to be perfect because all the sudden you are introduced to perfection – JESUS!
Yet often we find our ourselves continually falling short of the perfection we’ve set in our minds to attain.
Enter Peter – a few days before Jesus was crucified in Luke 22:31-34 – Jesus says…
31 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, 32 but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” 33 Peter said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.” 34 Jesus said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me.”
Let’s break down the above scripture:
verse 31 – Satan is is after Peter – doesn’t like him – doesn’t like the potential in him – and sees all his areas of arrogance and pride – demands that Jesus let him at Peter (sounds awfully similar to Satan’s request to sift Job – see Job 1 in the Old Testament)
verse 32 – Jesus tells Peter that when ‘he returns’ or comes back to Him – to strengthen his brothers – the beginning of the church
verse 33 – Peter tells Jesus that He’s crazy and he’d never, ever deny Him, but is ready to die with Jesus if need be
verse 34 – Jesus tells Peter he will deny Him, and soon – before the rooster crows (before the next morning!)
Allow me to wrap this up with a single paragraph while yelling at you…
JESUS KNOWS YOU AND HE KNOWS YOU WANT TO DO AMAZINGLY GOOD AND GREAT AND AWESOME THINGS! AND AS LONG AS YOU KEEP YIELDING YOUR LIFE TO HIM YOU WILL! SO WHEN YOU FAIL KNOW THAT JESUS SAW YOUR FAILURE BEFORE YOU FAILED – SO LEARN FROM YOUR FAILURE AND LEVERAGE YOUR SPIRITUAL WALK FROM THE EXPERIENCE YOU GAIN TO PROPEL YOURSELF EVEN HIGHER!!! phew…! that’s a mouth full! 
Keep going! Keep going! Keep learning! Keep growing! When you’re not perfect, learn and let it propel you forward!
ps. don’t ever go backwards! That’s what the devil wants you to do – it’s never, ever, ever God will!
It’s not that you necessarily ‘hate’ your life, per say… maybe you’re frustrated with your life because you feel like you’re going nowhere.
I’ve been there before, and I’ve also figured out the remedy.
People that aren’t building something or building TOWARD something will feel useless for this simple reason – THEY ARE BEING USELESS!
Before you crucify me, there is A VAST difference between being useless and being unimportant! You are important! I am important! Every person HAS IMMENSE IMPORTANCE!! But if that importance is being squandered and remains unrealized – no matter how much potential someone’s importance may have – without working toward goals and building stuff, that person remains useless.
In other words, if you are wasting your time you are not USING your time wisely – your time (thus your life) remains … of no use. Useless.
And time .. IS .. LIFE.
Okay, get it? One hour of time is an hour of life.
24 hours of time is a day of your life.
168 hours of TIME is 1 week of your life!
8760 hours of time is 1 freaking YEAR of your life!
Ask any old person how fast life goes by and they will tell you something like… “It feels like yesterday when my boy Joe…” Joe is now 58 and … time… life… is going by…
So if you are wasting your minutes my friend, you are wasting minutes of your life!
And if you are wasting your life, then you are not using it… you get the picture.
And you WILL BE FRUSTRATED… and you will feel like your life doesn’t matter much, and you will feel a sense of self-loathing, because you are not doing what you were created to do.
Everyone is different, so the key to finding what you are called to do starts with vision. Once you have a vision, you can begin to build towards it!
Proverbs 28:19 says:
Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law. (ESV)
“Prophetic vision” simply means ‘vision from God.’ Press into God and get a vision for your life. THEN passionately build every day towards that vision.
You’ll be happier when your life is producing good things!
Many people leave their destiny to chance…
But walking in your destiny (i.e. the calling of God for your life) will not happen by accident – BUT IT CAN happen on purpose!
Take a look at Psalm 1 – my commentary in bold
1 Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked - CHOICE
or stand in the way that sinners take - CHOICE
or sit in the company of mockers, - CHOICE
2 but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, - CHOICE
and who meditates on his law day and night. - CHOICE
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, - ANALOGY
which yields its fruit in season - RESULT of making the right choices
and whose leaf does not wither— - RESULT of making the right choices
whatever they do prospers. - RESULT of making the right choices
4 Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff - ANALOGY of the one who makes the wrong choices
that the wind blows away. - RESULT of making the wrong choices
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, - if you don’t choose God now, you will not stand before Him in eternity
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. - those who prefer the passing pleasures of sin rather than the enduring joy of relationship with God will not stand with or have the perspective of the righteous in this life, and in the life to come will not abide with those who are worshipers of God.
6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, - God looks on the path He has ordained and set out for mankind.
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction. - God will allow people to be destroyed if they choose to reject His way and follow after sin and wickedness.
My point… the choice is yours whether or not you prosper in life. “Prosper” doesn’t mean only finances, but health, mental strength, relationships, and any other area you can see Jesus walking in strength.
This month – make the decision to make the above 5 choices, by faith, and grow in wisdom and prosperity, as you draw closer to God through His Word!
May your March 2012 be blessed and prosperous!
JUST KEEP MOVING!
The absolute worst thing we could do when we are searching for direction… is stop searching.
Jesus said, “Seek and you will find.”
But in the original language of Greek which the New Testament was recorded in, the word “seek” denotes a continual seeking. So the New Living Translation (NLT) of the Bible picks it up like this:
“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.” - Matthew 7:7
Don’t you DARE give up hope! When you don’t know what to do… KEEP WALKING forward and keep seeking God!
ps. Sometimes I think the Lord doesn’t show us the next step right away because we’ve been so busy ‘doing’ our own lives that we’ve forgotten to take time just for Him… many times the ‘next step’ will be revealed as we simply seek Him.
The worst thing about being screwed up is that you get results you don’t wanna get! In other words, you reap… what you sow.
Paul says in Galatians 6:7-8
7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
So the more we get unscrewed the more we can ‘sow to the Spirit’ – which simply means following Christ and doing God’s will in your life. When you do life God’s way you get God’s results… and His results ARE AWESOME! But when we sin we are corrupted… corruption hurts!
So really what this all comes down to is: How much do you WANT to change? God has given us His word… He’s given us His Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us any time we ask!… He’s given us people to help us (His body – the church) and to encourage us and challenge us and keep us accountable.
Change is available!
So the truth of the matter is this: God doesn’t want us to STAY screwed up! He wants to unscrew us day by day by renewing us day by day!
John 8:31-32 gives us the key to getting unscrewed and renewed!
31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Truth! Truth sets us free from all the lies that screw us up!
So let’s continually get into the word of God! Continually worship and pray and seek the Lord! Continually listen to messages that proclaim the power of God’s word – and be renewed!
Yeah, join the freaking club! 
Even if you are Christian reading this (I’ll talk to non-Christians in a moment) you’re life is probably pretty messy. I’m not necessarily talking about porn or sexual sin or getting drunk, although those things will definitely mess you up. I’m talking about the habits and tendencies and habitual sins you do on a daily basis that mess you and your relationships up. The stuff that makes you question whether or not you really love God, sometimes…
Let me speak something loud and clear – you and I are screwed up – and we need help from God constantly.
Some areas I’m screwed up in:
I still get really angry sometimes,
I drive too fast (because I’m angry),
I blame others for my own issues,
I take people for granted often,
I’m sometimes ungrateful (even though as a Canadian I’m in the top probably 10% of the wealthiest people in the freaking world!),
I sleep in (I’m getting a lot better at getting at 5am like Jesus is leading me to),
I find many Christians annoyingly boring (I wish they would get a passion for souls like me),
I often judge people,
The Christians I don’t annoying probably aren’t Christians… (am I judging again),
… the list goes on and on.
I’m a work in progress man!
Although Jesus has given me a new nature and put His holiness on the inside of me, and I desire with all my heart to be perfect – sometimes I still drop the ball in areas.
Look at what Paul said in Romans 7:13-20
13 Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. 14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. 15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. (I added the bold parts).
Are you seeing this? Paul desired to do good, but constantly fell short.
Now I need to make something clear – Paul was not sinning on purpose. He just constantly was falling short of the perfection He was aiming at. His mind needing constant renewing (see Romans 12:1-2). Paul was on a journey to ‘getting unscrewed’.
And so are you (hopefully), I know that I am.
Sin in the Christian left undealt with leads to a whole lot of pain and death. There are a lot of believers blaming God for the sins that they are willfully staying in. NOW THAT’S PRETTY SCREWED UP!
The answer: UNSCREW YOURSELF!
How: read your Bible daily, pray, plug in at a solid like, LIKE DUNAMIS CHURCH. Get accountable.
We’ll do part 2 tomorrow, but promised, let me say this: If you’re not a Christian, your doubly screwed up. For 1 you don’t even desire right most of the time – not like someone who’s met Jesus – and 2 you’re still dead in your sin.
Ask Jesus to come into your life today and give you a new nature – to take your sin and give you His grace! He is calling your name, yes, even through this blog post!
See you tomorrow!
- Acts 2:40-41 says below:
40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” 41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
Yep! The first sermon EVER under the direct, empowered, baptized in the Holy Spirit and fire Christian LED to 3000 souls coming to Jesus Christ!
If you don’t like BIG CHURCH – you won’t like the church in the book of Acts when it was ONLY GETTING STARTED! Because in the next few verses after this the author talks about unity and fellowship and miracles and love with all these new believers – and then in Acts 2:46-47:
46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
Daily… this blows my mind! You know what this speaks to me?!! GOD’S DESIRE IS FOR HIS CHURCH TO GROW EVERY SINGLE DAY!!! This what what I’m living for!!!!!!!!!!!!
So at Dunamis Church – We are all about the numbers!
Allow me to borrow a blog entry to finish mine off from www.stevenfurtick.com - who is the pastor of a huge church called Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC! Enjoy – and I’ll see you at the bottom of the blog!
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Our church is all about the numbers.
The number of lives that Jesus can permeate and penetrate with the gospel.
The number of marriages that can be restored.
The number of teenagers following the Lord.
The number of depressed people that can find hope in Jesus.
The number of dads who don’t give their kids any attention who will learn to order their lives by the Word of God and start prioritizing their families.
What else matters? What else should we be about?
This might come as a shock to a lot of people, but measuring numbers and putting an emphasis on them isn’t a new phenomenon. 2000 years ago, Luke by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote:
41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day…47 And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Acts 2:41, 47
Apparently God is all about the numbers. So I want to be, too. And so should you.
It’s unacceptable to me as a pastor that we would stop growing when the Lord wants to add to our number daily those who are being saved.And in order for that to happen, we need to track every scrap of statistical data at our disposal. We’ve got to make sure we’re measuring ministry numbers to measure our effectiveness and enlarge the Kingdom of God. I don’t want to waste a single dollar or second on a program, piece of equipment, or ministry position that isn’t the best option for reaching the most people.
You might be averse to numbers for a number of reasons.
Maybe you don’t like the idea of big crowds. If that’s the case, you wouldn’t have liked the New Testament Church. And you really won’t like heaven.
Maybe you think it steals away from discipleship. It’s possible. But it’s just as possible for that to happen in a church of 10 people as it is in a church of 10,000.
Whatever your reason is, remember: every number is indicative of a story.
Personally, I don’t want to put a cap on the number of stories God wants to redeem. Especially when I read this:
9 I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God.”
Revelation 7:9-10
Now that’s a number worth shooting for. And I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to wait until I die to see this. I want to see this partially fulfilled in my lifetime. More people worshipping Jesus than I can count.
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I’m living for this reality! More people worshiping God than I can count! More movement and momentum and salvations and restoration of marriages and families and finances and businesses than we can mention!
God is on the move! And I encourage you to JUMP IN!
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Josh Pitka