When They Ministered to the LORD

~ Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them ~

Here is a beautiful description of God’s desire for us. After the above mentioned, came to know and love Jesus, they found Him so irresistible that they first and foremost ministered to Him. It was Jesus they desired.

God adores and cherishes us. We are His beloved. His great Heart longs to have fellowship and intimate time together with us. Before our service, ministry, or anything else He wants us!

A few months back, feeling a cooling off of my heart towards Him, I realized that I had put my ministry and other things before Him. The fire that burned in my heart for Him had dimmed. The pure love of wanting to learn more about Him and His wonderful ways with us had slipped away.

Here is a little poem I wrote shortly after I realized that had happened.

Most Treasured Love

My heart has wandered from Thee,
O, Spirit of God, come, set me free.
Restore unto me a pure love,
O, come, sweet, gentle Dove!

It is Thee I desire to seek,
For all of my days.
O, Dearest Jesus,
To know more of Thy ways.

Bring me back to gaze on Thy Face,
Help me behold Thy mercy and grace.
Sweet Jesus it is You alone I desire,
Send forth Your love as consuming fire.

For You are beautiful, most treasured Love,
Father, Son and Holy Dove.
Let my life be simply for Thee,
For me You died on Calvary’s Tree.

How He desires to be first in our hearts. How He desires that we don’t lose our first love! It was when the first Christians ministered first and foremost to Jesus that the Holy Spirit said ~ Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them ~.

The early church turned the world upside down. God can do the same through us as we minister to and love first the LORD.

Oh, Abba Father. You have given us Your very best in the Person of Your Son, Jesus Christ. We desire to say “Thank You, our great God”! More than our service, our gifts, more than anything else You long for us to Love Your dearest Beloved. You long for us to be a bride that is so in love with Jesus that we first and foremost minister unto Him because of His great love for us. Please help us Father and bring us back to our first love, our Jesus. For it is in His name we pray, Amen.

Scripture References

Acts 13:1-2

Acts 13:2

BY STRENGTH OF HAND:

All of us have been in places we know it wasn’t ourselves that brought us out…. It wasn’t by our own strength we made it through…. I opened my bible this morning…. Actually it just fell open to a place that was previously marked for a reason lost to me now…. But it had this to say:

WHAT DOES THE WORD SAY?:

what does scripture say about psychiatrist?????

STARTING HERE:
I am going to share something with you…. Something you wouldn’t think anyone would want to share…. But it is for a greater purpose…. I believe this in my heart…. So here goes!
I had been molested from the age of 10 to the age of 17 by my father…. And I thought for years I had to endure it because if I told…. It would be my fault the family would break apart…. It would also be my fault my mother hated me…. Yes my mother did hate me…. But it must be understood she couldn’t see how a 14-17 year old would keep a secret like that unless she were willing…. But she didn’t know that I had endured it because my father told me he would not touch my sister unless I refused to let him touch me…. Years later I found out he did so anyways…. So the suffering I had been through was for nothing…. I still have to tell myself “No…. I have forgiven my father….” But hey…. It is happening…. My father no longer lives that way to my knowledge….. But still needs to come back to the Lord….
I have done things in my past that I am not proud of…. I was an adulteress (many times over)…. I was a liar…. I worked as an “exotic dancer”…. I was a drug addict…. I was a boozer…. I was a murderess….
This is a very special SHOOT’N FROM THE HIP…. And it is called….
If I deign you worthy….
THE TAX REFUND:
I recently had a Godincident involving my mother…. It is one of quite a few I have experienced….. This is a very special one because I believe God had more than one purpose to it…. I have been hurting for years over the rift between myself and my mother…. And wishing and praying for healing….
For a couple of days here recently I knew in my knower that my mother was in need of $300…. One day I received a text from her and shared with her that my tax refund was going to buy me a car! I was so happy because we had been without proper transportation for a while…. Now my mother joked with me just like people will….. Said “Don’t forget u mom miss richpants!”…. It was a joke….. Because she didn’t know she needed $300…. Until she checked her bank account way after the joke….. I had sent a text asking her “Is it you or someone you know who needs $300?”…. I said it that way because I knew who needed it and how much…. But I wasn’t sure she knew…. She texted back and said “Me.”
Later I told my husband what happened….. He said “That is so wierd!”…. I told my mother…. And she had this to say:
“I had to make a payment I wasn’t expecting to make, and there was a payment coming out of my bank I could not stop! And it was going to put my bank account over by $300! I called the power company and they would not let me make arrangements! And I didn’t even know it til you asked!”
I shared this with my husband…. Who said “Man that is WIERD!” ( Must be his favorite word)…. I also told him I keep finding it amazing that God would use someone like me! As I was saying that to my husband and telling him why I felt that way…. God said this:
“If I deign you worthy…. Who is to say otherwise?”
WITH THAT IN MIND:
I have seen  people calling themselves things along the lines of “sinner saved by grace”….. This drives me nuts…. Not the least of my reasons being because sinners are not saved…. Which is why they are sinners…. They need Jesus’ cleansing blood to cleanse their sins from them…. They need to be made righteous in Gods sight through Jesus…. They are sinners….. We are not….. Even though we make mistakes still…. We have been freed from the law and freed from sin…..
SO:
Lets dig in and take a look at what Gods word calls us….
WHAT DOES JESUS CALL US?:
Little flock:
Luk 12:32“So don’t be afraid, little flock. For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom.
Mine:
Joh 17:10All who are Mine belong to You, and You have given them to Me, so they bring Me glory.
My Child:
Mat 9:2 Some people brought to Him a paralyzed man on a mat. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “Be encouraged, My child! Your sins are forgiven.”
SHOOT’N FROM THE HIP:
These are but some…. Just a few of the names we now have…. I have not always taken these names or many of the others I will share personally because of where I had been and the things I had done…. It sure took me a long time to see that which I even tried to get others to see…. That which Paul states so very eloquently….
WHAT DID PAUL SAY (King James Version)?:
Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Take a look at that again in the New Living Translation:
Gal 2:20 My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
SHOOT’N FROM THE HIP:
No longer I…. I don’t live here anymore…. Jesus lives here…. Inside me…. And I live here in this earthly body in trusting faith in the One who died to give me life…. But you know what? That is not all…. We are called much more than that…. And not once are we called sinners…. In fact…. We have quite a few names given us by quite a few first century writers….
WHAT DOES THE WORD SAY?:
Let’s start with Paul…. Because I personally can identify with him moreso than any other Apostle….
Rom 1:7 I am writing to all of you in Rome who are loved by God and are called to be His own holy people. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.
I know…. I know…. You’re not in Rome…. So replace Rome with the city you live in…. Because I assure you…. What Paul wrote to Rome…. God meant for you too….
1Co 1:9 God will do this, for He is faithful to do what He says, and He has invited you into partnership with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Partners with Jesus! Wow! Pure and holy too:
1Co 1:30 God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made Him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; He made us pure and holy, and He freed us from sin.
SHOOT’N FROM THE HIP:
This…. Dear ones…. Gets me excited…. Especially now that my stubborn heart has finally been convinced by God these words were meant for me! It means that there was nothing I could have done that would render me useless…. Nothing anyone else did with or to me to make me unclean to Him…. That He can and will use me in any way He see’s fit at the time…. And though sinners can be used too…. A sinners destination is not the same as ours dear ones…. In fact…. Our origination even changed…. Watch this:
WHAT DOES THE WORD SAY?:
Eph 2:19 Therefore you are no longer outsiders (exiles, migrants, and aliens, excluded from the rights of citizens), but you now share citizenship with the saints (God’s own people, consecrated and set apart for Himself); and you belong to God’s [own] household.
Php 3:20 But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for Him to return as our Savior.
SHOOT’N FROM THE HIP:
Now this is exciting! Citizens! Partners with Christ! Even pure and holy! Concecrated people sealed for redemption and Gods Glory by the Holy Spirit Himself…. Members of God’s family we are…. 
Not only that though….
Notice Paul calls us God’s house…. And God’s holy people…. I don’t think it is by accident that Paul uses all these terms….. That he says all these things about us and to us….. Just because it popped into his mind so he thought it was a good idea…. No dear ones…. He calls us those things for a purpose…. God’s purpose…. To show you how to live…. Who and what to be and behave as…. Someone had a saying once….. If you treat a lady like a harlot….. One day she will behave like a harlot…. If you treat a harlot like a lady…. One day she will behave like a lady….
Now though this be a somewhat rough and utterly human analogy….. I think the basic concept is the same…. I believe wholeheartedly that people will behave as they are treated…. If one understands the sentance I heard…. The title to this SHOOT’N…. It is each one of our duties to treat ourselves as God wants us treated and known…..
“If I deign you worthy, Who is to say otherwise….”
This included myself…. And I knew it…. Yet the sentance filled me so full of joy…. I started jumping around my kitchen! I can call myself His daughter! And be totally right in doing so….
Here are just a few more names we can call ourselves:
WHAT DOES THE WORD SAY?:
Eph 2:20 Together, we are His house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus Himself.
His house….
Eph 2:21 We are carefully joined together in Him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord.
A holy temple….
Eph 3:6 And this is God’s plan: Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus.
God’s children, the same body….
Eph 5:1 Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are His dear children.
Again…. His dear children….
Eph 5:8 For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light!
People of light….
Eph 5:30 And we are members of his body.
His body….
Col 1:22 Yet now He has reconciled you to Himself through the death of Christ in His physical body. As a result, He has brought you into His own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before Him without a single fault.
I want you to see this one VERY clearly dear ones…..
Holy and blameless, without a single fault.
SHOOT’N FROM THE HIP:
Clean…. Pure…. Spotless…. Loved….
I don’t know who out there desperately needs to hear this one but here it is:
GOD LOVES YOU. GOD CARES FOR AND PROVIDES FOR YOU AS HE DOES ALL HIS CHILDREN. NO MATTER WHAT YOU ARE STRUGGLING THROUGH RIGHT NOW. NO MATTER WHAT HAS YOU CAUGHT IN IT’S VICE. YOU ARE FREE. YOU ARE HIS. YOU ARE WORTHY. JUST KEEP REPEATING IT SO YOUR STUBBORN HEART CANNOT GET AWAY FROM THAT TRUTH.
Paul has more interesting names for us…. Here are just a few:
Ambassadors for Christ….
Imitators of God….
Children of Light….
Saints (thats right…. I went there….)….
Beloved….
You will find these terms of endearment all over his letters to the churches…. And remember I told you just replace Rome (or Corinth, Collosse, Ephesus….) with your town…. See your name there…. Because whatever Paul wrote to the churches…. God meant for you too…. Because you are the church as well….
Lets look at what Peter said:
WHAT DOES THE WORD SAY?:
1Pe 2:5 And you are living stones that God is building into His spiritual temple. What’s more, you are His holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God.
1Pe 2:9 But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for He called you out of the darkness into His wonderful light.
SHOOT’N FROM THE HIP:
Ok so we can add Living Stones…. Chosen people…. Royal Priests…. Holy Nation….
GOD’S VERY OWN POSSESSION….
So that as a result of this…. We can show others how good God is! God chose us to be living examples of Him…. Joint heirs with Christ Jesus our Lord….
Certainly not sinners….
James calls us “His prized possession”(James 1:18)…. John calls us beloved…. Jude says we are His holy people….
This has been on my heart to share…. I want these words to work their way deep in the furthest reaches of your heart:

“If I deign you worthy…. Who is to say otherwise?”

Why is dating such a pain?  Trying to find a GODLY man, seems like it’s impossible.

I think I have my standards way to high!!!

• A man IN LOVE with GOD
• in school, or financially stable
• No DRINKING or SMOKING or DIPPING ICK!!!
• Someone in love with sports as much as I am.
• Someone who is going to love me for me
• Someone who wants to have fun
• Someone GOOD looking

Is that too high????? or is there a such thing as setting your standards to high????

Almost two years later…

Returning of the Dove

~Though ye have lain among the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold~

It is early springtime now.  My property, oh how gorgeous it is!  Yellow daffodils dance in the wind as the sun reflects off them.  Grass, so green, it looks like dark, rich velvet.  My large Redbud Tree bursting forth in glorious purple.  An explosion of white flowers on my plum tree as soft pink adorns the apricot.  And, how the air is scented with gentle perfume from such beauty!  Such fragrance to me and arising to my King!

As I sit with my morning coffee at my bedroom window, suddenly I see a flash of brilliant sunshine off wings spread forth.  It is the dove, I think with delight; her wings covered with silver and her feathers with yellow gold.  I see her only for an instant but the beauty will be forever etched in my memory.   Moments later, the gentle cooing begins….she has returned, oh, my dove….my God brought her back to me once more.

The gentle Holy Spirit then leads me into study of my Savior during His passion.  There is intensity in my study that has been lacking during this hurtful time of my life.  I have been consumed with my own pain but today I am consumed with His.  I am amazed at how He endured His torture silently; never defending Himself, never offering hurtful words back to those that hurt Him.

A short time later I arise from my study and check my messages.  And there is the message I have anticipated for almost seventeen months.  It is from my husband.  He writes that He will sign the final divorce papers on Monday.

All of my anger and bitterness disappear suddenly and I am left with only profound sorrow at the end of my marriage.  My heart breaks again.

And then I hear the dove’s gentle voice once more.  It is the gentle cooing of the mourning dove.

Scripture Reference

Psalm 68: 13

The Dove

~Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves’ eyes~

Every spring, the consciousness of her gentle cooing begins to speak of the beauty of the season. After a long winter, her song begins shortly after the daffodils break through the earth, heralding the beginning of new life.

This year was no different. Her soft voice speaks to my heart as does the gentle Dove of God, the precious Holy Spirit. Once more, her cooing slowly penetrated into my consciousness as we began experiencing a glorious flower-scented spring.

One day, I noticed her voice quite near; in the walnut tree that shades my bedroom. Within a few more days I heard her fluttering, with song-like wings, across my deck. Back and forth she fluttered for days ~the dove~ appeared to experience ~no rest for her feet~.

And then…God spoke. He assured me that He had caused this reminder from His creation. He tenderly shared that, I had no rest in my heart. As the dove fluttered back and forth, the gentle Dove of God was fluttering over me; fretful at the sorrow in my heart…

The aching heart of one, whose soul has been broken, battered, bruised….

The dove stopped fluttering across my deck the other day. Once again, I only heard her gentle cooing.

And then…God spoke again….reassuring, comforting, holding me close to His breast. The fluttering of His precious Spirit will soon stop fluttering over my broken heart as His tender touch begins to bring His healing touch to me once more.

FAITH AND BELIEVE

Hebrews 11: 6 – But without faith it is “IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE” Him: for he that comes to God must “BELIEVE” that He is (God)

Hebrews 11:3 – Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God

Hebrews 1: 2 – Have in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He had appointed heir of all things, by who also He made the worlds.

I Thessalonians 4:1 – Furthermore, then we beseech you brother, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as you have received of us how you ought to walk and “TO PLEASE God”, so you would abound more and more.

Hebrews 11: 6 – But without faith it is “IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE” Him: for he that comes to God must “BELIEVE” that He is (God)

After reading the above passage of scriptures, I came to this conclusion and I hope you some how will see and understand how I came to this conclusion to have faith and believe in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

***

If you believe God created the heavens and the earth, and you did not see it, but believe He did; we then should believe the same God can cause His creation to have a child without having sexual intercourse; or the same God can come in the express image which is in the created image of the God Head Bodily; as stated in the beginning, “Let us make man after our image and after our likeness.”

Have you or will you consider, when we don’t believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of the living God, we are denying the power of the Living God; although we may not understand God’s reason to come to mankind in this manner, it is still God’s spoken Word, He is still God and He is the Creator.

Then answer me this, how can you say you believe God or anything that was here in the beginning?  Do you believe God can do things with or without our permission or understanding? We must have faith and believe in His power and the way He selected to use His power.  He can do as He well to do, and He has done this for all of mankind to be save from the devil, and presently from ourselves.

II Corinthians 13:8 – We can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth

Have Faith and believe,

In past articles I’ve commented on the importance of community outreach. So today I wanted to take some time to give you a couple of cool new outreach ideas for you to try out in your church or ministry. Remember, not everyone of these ideas will work for every church. They will however help you think of new and exciting ways to reach out to those in your community and share Gods love through random acts of kindness.

1. Welcome Home Rally - Contact your local military base and find out when a local troop will be returning from overseas, organize church members, families and local businesses to help put on a special welcome home rally for those servicemen returning home. You could provide food, host some live music, and even make a large banner that reads “Welcome Home!” It seems simple but genuine appreciation goes a long way!

2. Tax Preparation – Tax season is upon us, so why not help the hurting by assisting them with those W-2s. Find out if there are any accountants in your church congregation and ask them if they would consider volunteering their time to help families in need or single parents by preparing their taxes for them. You could have your church goers pass out fliers for people to bring their paperwork with them to church on sunday and afterwards get their taxes done for free! It meets a need and allows them to take part in one of your church services.

3. Fire Safety – Team up with your local fire department and adopt a neighborhood in your community by offering to replace the batteries inside all the smoke detectors in their home. You could also purchase a handful of new smoke detectors incase some of the homes have broken units or no smoke detectors at all. (This outreach would have an even greater impact in a neighborhood that recently faced a home fire nearby, showing the churches response to tragedy)

Whether these ideas will work for your community or not, I urge you – do SOMETHING. If we want to see lives changed and our cities transformed, we’re going to have to get our hands dirty.

For more great outreach ideas and other insights on the world of ministry and creativity – visit Alex’s website theChristianCreative.com

“In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” – John 1:4,5

As Christians, many times we fail to understand God. We learned the he is this all powerful and all knowing being, but we never truly grasp the fact that he is actually “all knowing and all powerful.” We don’t  see the true power in being a follower of Christ and the peace and tranquility he brings to those who follow him. Though I haven’t fully grasped God’s will and ability yet, I will try to shed some of my own knowledge of the Word and God to help you in your daily path.

God is All Powerful

As humans, we never seem to be able to understand the idea of an All-Powerful being that has complete control over every single thing in the entire universe. However the fact is, God is All-Powerful. God can do anything. Thus, knowing this fact, we should always go to God first. God will provide for you if it fits his ultimate plan. And now you ask how and why God knows the ultimate plan for our life. Well, my good sir (or madam), that brings me to my next point.

God is All Knowing

The fact that God knows everything that has happened, is happening and will happen is perhaps one of the hardest things for us as Christians to understand. We were always told that God has an ultimate plan that will always work out for the best. But a lot of times, we never see situations work out for the best. But if we just zoom the camera out on our life, we see that mistakes made often end up benefiting us in the long run. Mistakes grant us wisdom for the future and trails and troubles often bring us closer to God because when we solve this problems we find that we ourselves had not fought through the situation but that God had carried us and shielded us from further harm through the worst times. In the end, when we look through the entire pciture instead of a small portion we can understand how God forms his “ultimate plan”.

But Here’s the Punchline

However, as humans, I think we will never be able to fully understand the grace, mercy, and sacrifice given by God. We could never quantify the greatness of God because he is unmeasurable. He has no beginning and has no end. God is a constant in a chaotic universe. God, perhaps, is the only stable rock that we can rely on. God gave us the amazing gift of salvation through Christ, a priceless gift, though we as Christians, (and no offense to anyone) generally suck. But still, all we can do is constantly thank him for his innumerable sacrifices. I will never understand why this All-Mighty being would care so much for us meager and crummy human but I know that until I die, I will never give up on God because he never gave up on me.