From Pentecostal Ministries, Eluru, India
Downloaded from Facebook 7/24, 2012

Whether I feel like it or not!

Digging Deeper

What do we dig for?

What do we use to dig?

Where do you dig?

Why do we dig?

What would you do if you wanted to go deeper?

What problems might you encounter?

Imagine there is a 20-ton meteorite buried on a 300-foot deep ice shelf. 

Imagine that the core samples have produced fossils.

What do you know about the characteristics of meteors? 

Where do they come from how do they get here? 

What would fossils inside a meteorite mean? 

What would the possible treasure be? 

Would it be worth extracting?  Why?

Ice shelves are over open water; they are fragile; you couldn’t use heavy machinery.

Sometimes we have to be creative and find new ways to dig or to dig deeper.

How would you extract the meteorite?

Read Psalm 51:10-12

            Micah 6:8

            Proverbs 2:4&5

Brother Lawrence was a 17^th century soldier turned monk whose lifelong endeavor was to dwell completely in the presence of God.  “He sought God in the simplicity and the sincerity of his heart….[ He said] ‘…People seek for methods of learning to love God.  They hope to arrive at it by I know not how many different practices; they take much trouble to remain in the presence of God in a quantity of ways.  Is it not much shorter and more direct to do everything for the love of God, to make use of all the labors of one’s state in life to show Him that love, and to maintain His presence within us by this communion of our hearts with His?  There is no finesse about it; one has only to do it generously and simply…. During my work I would always continue to speak to the Lord as though He were right there with me, offering Him my services and thanking Him for His assistance.’…Brother Lawrence called the practice of the presence of God the easiest and shortest way to attain Christian perfection and to be protected from sin.”

From the beginning of time, God has asked for our tithe, our first fruits, our first born all to be set-aside for God.  We have been given many gifts (Matt 25:14-15), God asks us to be good stewards of those gifts (Luke 19:13, 1 Corinthians 4:12).  Accountability is connected to stewardship. (Luke 12:48) Remember that we are God’s treasured possession if we obey Him fully and keep his covenants (Ex 19:5).

Jaime Rickert wrote a song.

Push out into deeper water; Bigger fish are swimming there.

Forgive again; forgive forever.

Blessings are the pearls that only empty hands can hold.

I encourage you to push out into deeper water.  Let go of those things that keep you from digging for the treasures that God has in store for you.  He has told you that you are his treasure, he expects you to give, to forgive, and to be good stewards of the gifts he has given you.  And remember that as you live in the presence of God you will continue empty your hands, so that you can hold the Blessings He has for you.

It Hurt's Too Much, Thursday Evening, Week 4

There are days when the pain is too great. Days when you can't wrap your mind or bend your self far enough to touch the other side. Those days, it seems are more days of uncommon pain than even common prayer can hold. It feels like living inside Lent forever, wondering if there will ever be another Hallelujah, broken or otherwise. Today is one of those days.

Psalm 91 reminds us that our days are few in number, that we have little time to get our affairs in order. But it also tells us with certainty that God is our deliverer in time of danger, so we need not fear. God promises to  deliver, protect, answer. He promises to be with us, rescue us and honor us. And though our days will be few, we will be satisfied with long life, and shown his salvation. All we must do is love Him, know His unspeakable name, and call out to Him.

In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
this Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
when fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All,
here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone! who took on flesh
Fulness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones he came to save:
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied -
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave he rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine -
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath.
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.

Thursday Evening, Week 4

In Christ Alone lyrics by Stuart Townend, Keith Getty