Is God ever surprised?

One thing comforting about growing "old" in the Lord is the ability to look back through your life and review how faithful God has been to you through all circumstances. I enjoyed a statement I read recently that said "His plans are made on the basis of complete knowledge and control which extend to all things past, present and future, so that there can be no sudden emergencies or unexpected developments to take Him by surprise." This brings me a lot of comfort. He knows all about the economy and everything going on nationally and personally. It can be an exciting adventure to submit to His guidance and see how He works!

How Big Is Your God?

Psalms 78:41-42 “Yes again and again they…limited the Holy One of Israel. They did not remember His power.” (Day 30)

Over the years as my Sunday school students asked me to pray for relatives that were very ill I would pray that God would give the relative strength and comfort and give the doctors wisdom. I would rarely ever pray for out right healing. I thought that I was protecting their young hearts from disappointment in the Lord, incase the relative died. Now I realize that I was not protecting their young and innocent hearts, but that I was manifesting my unbelief. I was limiting God and I was inadvertently training them to believe that God is not capable of the answering really hard requests. This has been true in my personal pray life also, I have forgotten that my God is BIG ENOUGH and that He can and will always answer my prayers. I plan to turn over a new leaf – I will stretch my faith and pray BIG and I know that God will answer in the way He sees best.
Tami

Sacrificial Giving

I've been having fun thinking of ways to give sacrificially especially in times when our regular tithe seems like a sacrifice.
-From Day 15 (Utility Belt), wouldn't it be great if I could give 2 1/2 hours to God each day in Bible study and prayer? Atleast I can increase it since my current 30-60 minutes seems like such a small part of the 24 hour day He gives us.
- From Day 17 (Adequate Footwear), I have taken classes and had great opportunities in our racing ministry. I know the verses and the methods so I have adequate footwear but it seems I've been standing still this winter. I need to get walking again. I'm praying that God will give me a burden for the lost and a boldness for Him so I can share with others the salvation God has given me!
- From Day 21 (Traveling Companions), it was great to think of ways I can give more to God through the church. One of the things on my list I would like to share on this blog. Seeking God's direction throughout this Journey has been going really well and I really feel that God pointed out something to us. Aaron & I know debt is enslavement to the lender (Proverbs 22:7) but didn't know how to get out of it especially with Aaron isn't working. That verse, some others and Matthew 6:19-21 made us think how silly it is for us to have treasures on earth when we have debt. After much prayer and feeling confident that while we are going against worldly financial advice that we are following God's direction to use some of our earthly treasures to pay off our debt. Oh how freeing it is and we are so excited to be able to tithe first and help with the church debt too. We are also excited that it will allow us to give more to missions and others in need.
- From Day 25 (Power that Works), I really enjoyed the imagery of the depths, length, width and height of God's love. I've been meditating on that the last couple days. Wow! Lord, help me to share your love with others!
Michelle

A testimony from Skip Price

"This past week a person of the congregation inquired from another member to find out if he could help him purchase a product he was involved with. The member said he could and that the only costing would be freight. On Wednesday nite the original brother tried in vain to pay for the freight in advance. It was denied. Somehow a gift of $30 was placed in the hands of a sister who is out of work. The following morning a thank you card was received by mail from the sister who was out of work. Another card contained a check to the original individual for $250 to help pay for some trip expenses. Now three people got a blessing! The message is that you can never outgive our God - anonymous

Mac McKennon's Video Testimony - Journey to Faithfulness

Check out this testimony for a quick look at a long walk into Mac's journey of faithfulness!

Click on link on right side of blog or you can cut and paste link below into your browser:

http://www.priorlakebaptist.org/Journey/mac-1.wmv

I finally get it...

I finally get it!
I'm feeling silly now but I have been having trouble understanding how the "Journey to Faithfulness" and Stewardship tie together. I also wasn't understanding what the Stewardship Campaign (now "Journey to Faithfulness") was and what all the teams were doing. Some of the things Perry and Pastor said Sunday helped me out. Thinking of it as a snowball effect helped me realize that I'll know more and more as we go along especially as it relates to the teams (and whatever Big Sunday is). I understood how to tie stewardship to heaven - Pastor spoke about this the first Sunday and I understand how we live on earth definitely effects our life in heaven.

A big lightbulb came on when I realized that my definition of faithfullness was lacking. When I think of our faithfulness to God, I think of the following:
-Doing our daily devotions so we can know Him more and love Him more
-Seeking His directions about everything
-Keeping Him number one in good times and bad
-Obeying His commands
-Giving back to Him what He has given to us
-etc..
For some reason, I couldn't tie Stewardship to Faithfullness even though Stewardship fits into some of the items in my list. Something Pastor said on Sunday really hit me and then as I thought about it throughout the last couple of days I finally got it. Being faithful to God also includes using the things (talents, time, money, etc) God has given us to bear fruit! I knew we should use the things God has given us to bear fruit but I wasn't putting that into the definition of faithfulness. So, now I can add a new item in my list of what it means to be faithful to God:
-Using the things God gives us to bear fruit.

I thank God for teaching me that and helping me make the connection!

Michelle Hopkins

I've learned more than I could have ever imagined...

I seem to forget how much you can grow spiritually in the simple truths about God. I am one to enjoy deep biblical studies and learning historical and cultural context around the books of the Bible to get a deeper understanding of God's Word. So, when I first started reading the Journey to Faithfulness, I was thinking "Yeh, I know this stuff" but I knew there is a great benefit to having a church united in daily devotions. I have continued to do my daily devotions but I knew I could give more of my time each day to go on this Journey with PLBC. I've never been one to journal but I committed myself to that too. I'm glad I did because I didn't really learn anything new until I started writing. I'm a few days behind the rest of the church but I am amazed at how much God has taught me!

I don't have my book in front of me but I can remember what He has taught me because it has made a big impact on my life. However, I can't really refer to the day in the devotional. Sorry. Anyway, I have learned that the reason I wasn't really sure if I was in the right spot on my journey is because I had stopped asking God for direction at the beginning of my day. I had stopped asking God direction in all the little things in life. I only asked about the big things and handled the little ones on my own. So, how was I to know for sure if I was on the right track. Well, I learned if you ask God for direction and you follow it then you know you're on the right track.

Another thing that God has taught me is that although I have complete faith that He is capable of anything, in control of everything, able to carry my burdens, always has the perfect path, etc, I seemed to think I was capable of doing some things too. Now that I realize I have been following some of my own direction, I'm asking God to teach me that I'm completely incapable of doing anything without him. Even though I know Proverbs 3:5-6 and other verses that remind us we can do nothing on our own, I seemed to be doing the everyday life things using my own understanding. I know God is capable but I'm praying God will keep reminding me until it finally sinks in that I'm incapable.

I'm excited to find out what else he has in store for me to learn. I love hearing how others are growing on this journey too!
Michelle Hopkins