The Greatest

Since the beginning of June, we’ve been looking at the different attributes of God in our weekend services. We’ve learned that God is love, and last week, we were shown that God is Father. Our understanding of God will affect every area of our lives. If we have misconceptions about God – what He’s really like – we’re going to worry about things we shouldn’t be worrying about. We’re going to feel guilty over things God has no intention of us feeling guilty about. We’re going to carry unnecessary burdens and fears and doubts and depressions all through life that God never intended for us to have. Our understanding of God determines our joy in life. When we get a false conception about God from the movies, from religion, from relatives, from peers, or anybody – if we get a misconception of what God is really like, we will have unnecessary problems and misery in life that we weren’t intended to have.

One of the things Jesus Christ came to earth to do is to show us what God is really like. Jesus exploded all the stereotypes about God. He showed us that God is not some impersonal force, just an energy field in the universe. God is not some angry tyrant who sits up in heaven waiting to make things miserable for people. God is not some apathetic creator who winds up the world and sets it down and then sits back and carelessly watches what happens with no involvement.

God is great...His greatness is seen in His compassion, love and care. It is seen in His dependableness and consistency. His greatness is seen in His availability. He is accessible. He is competent. WOW! God is GREAT!

Hot Pursuit

It has been a refreshing week here in Pittsburgh. At some point, you have to pull over and refuel the vehicle. I have been listening to gifted teachers communicate the simple truths from God’s Word that can get overlooked, taken for granted, or overshadowed by circumstances...nonetheless, I needed to be reminded. Here is a tid bit of what I have been reminded of:

• It is time to be aggressive and energetic when it comes to letting go of the past and pressing forward to the abundant life God has designed for you.
• It is time to courageously go after the victory that is promised.
• It is time to have a warrior mentality and to proactively pursue the joy, health, peace, and prosperity that God has promised for the Christ follower in His Word.

In the Old Testament, aggressive statements like “cross over,” “rise up,” or “take hold of” all imply action. It is time to stop dwelling on past mistakes, flops, and failures and determine to never look back. God told Joshua, “get up...cross over.”

Set your focus on the Word of God and His promises, and discover the abundant life of joy, peace, faith, and prosperity in every single area of your life.

Fresh Start

I am here at our student summer camp, Beach Week '09, and what an incredible opening night we had watching so many young people get a head start on life discovering God’s plan and design. Just a few days ago, I was reading in Ecclesiastes where Solomon communicates the benefit to those who discover a relationship with God in the ages of their youth. But what about those of us who heard about God later or are hearing about Him for the first time as an adult?

Have you ever wished you could just start life over? Do you sense regret that you didn’t discover God’s design sooner? You find yourself saying and thinking, “I wasted so many years doing other things and neglecting a relationship with God. I can now see how I would have avoided a lot of problems, pain, and worry if I’d discovered God truths sooner. I kind of wish that I could rewind the tape and start my life over.”

The problem is, you can’t rewind the tape. It’s behind you. But you can start over. And God is a God of fresh starts. That’s what I want to share with you today. Psalms 145:14 says, “God gives a fresh start to those who are ready to quit.”

Regardless of your background, your past, or your mess ups, there are truths in God’s Word that will empower you. You CAN make a fresh start.

Fresh Start thoughts…

• Begin today… seize the opportunity
• Face your fears… move against your fears
• Clarify what you want… God, this is what I want
• Receive God’s grace… accepting what Christ did for you
• Step out… Make the decision to start; don’t procrastinate
  

On our website, www.celebratechurch.org, there is a weekly workout that you can check out to find out more from God’s Word regarding a Fresh Start.

God's Waiting Room

Have you ever felt in a hurry when it seemed like God wasn’t? One of the most difficult things I have experienced in life is the feeling that I am sitting in God’s waiting room. God's waiting room is where there’s something beyond and outside of my control and I can’t speed it up – an answer to a prayer, a miracle, a change in a situation – I want it to change, but it is totally out of my control, and I have to wait on God.

It seems odd to make a statement like “God’s waiting room,” and yet the Bible states in Ecclesiastes 3:11, “God does everything just right and on time but people can never completely understand what He’s doing.” Boy, is that the truth! We don’t always know what God is doing, and we don’t know when He’s going to do it. Sometimes it feels like so much of life is spent waiting on God's timetable.

Today, I want to encourage you to keep believing while you’re waiting on God. The Bible gives us a role model in Abraham. If any man had to wait, it was Abraham. God gave him many promises – some happened right away, some took a hundred years. Having to wait one-hundred years...that’s a long time to wait! What do you do while you’re waiting on God?

• Don’t focus on what you can’t do, FOCUS ON WHAT GOD CAN DO
• When you come to a dead end, RELY ON GOD'S PROMISES
• Don’t live in denial, BUT FACE THE FACTS WITH FAITH IN GOD
• Certain circumstances will be unexpected, BUT EXPECT, WITH JOY, GOD TO ACT ON YOUR BEHALF

Please visit our website this coming week at www.celebratechurch.org. In our Weekly Workout, we will discover more about BELIEVING WHILE WAITING ON GOD.

The world hopes for the best, but Jesus Christ offers the best hope.