TRUTH or CONSEQUENCES

Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend "Cultivate Revival", a conference hosted by Global Awakening.  The leader of that movement is Randy Clark, and he was joined by Heidi Baker, Bill Johnson and others.  The common factor for all the speakers is that they are living out what they shared.  Their ministries are walking in REVIVAL.  Everything that was shared felt like a punch in the gut, simply because I am hungry for more of God, and the challenge was great.  These people have made choices to give themselves completely to the pursuit of God. They are seeing signs and miracles, as the Holy Spirit moves in and directs the activities in their lives.  The Holy Spirit is moving in power and lives are being transformed to walk in boldness and courage. The mantra of the conference was, 'Why not here? Why not now? Why not me?' The bottom line is that each one of us must let a hunger for God and His Kingdom consume us. We have to make pursuing His Presence a

I love Psalm 34:8! "Taste and see that the Lord is good."  It creates imagery in my mind of my spiritual taste buds working overtime to savor and delight in everything that God does for me! The flavor of life that Father leaves with me is wonderful. Don't think that I am crazy!  I am just fully convinced and persuaded that my Father is good...all the time! So if He is good, where does the bad stuff come from?  NOT from Father!  We are in a battle every day with our own flesh and its desires; from the world vying for our hearts and attention and from the Prince of this world, Satan.  So I can shout from the rooftop with confidence that my God is good!  As a matter of fact, James tells us in his letter (chapter 1:17) that "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father..." Let that sink into your spirit for a moment! Every thing He has stored up for us in Heaven, is available now.  We have a tremendous inheritance just waiting for us.

Such a good question... what fills your heart? Expressing gratitude every day for the goodness of God, and life, goes a long way in shaping my attitude! You have heard it said, "have an attitude of gratitude" but I say, consciously choose to cultivate gratitude in your life for everything!  We live in a generation that feels the world owes them.  I know that thought is a direct plant from the schemer of the ages!  We are NOT owed anything.  Actually we owe God our love, our allegiance, our very lives!  So we need to be so grateful, remember that, even while we were still lost in our sin, Jesus came and died for us.  That is the greatest gift we will ever receive!  Everything else that comes into my life is a blessing.  Matthew 6:33 says, "Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything YOU NEED." Mature people recognize that everything comes from Father's hand, and consistently thank Him! 1 Thessalonians 5

Continuing from last week... The third mark of a Christian reaching to attain a mature life is to have a spirit of humility! Humility is a word we don't like in our vocabulary.  A humble person does not think less of themselves, but thinks about themselves less.  The humble heart says God I need you and I need more of you. Humility says I can't do life by myself. Left to my own ideas and desires, I will mess my life up!  I need to know the plans and purposes of God for me!  We had a saying in our family growing up... "You can tell a Valley, but you can't tell them much." You may chuckle at that, but that is a true word over most of us! None of us like being told what to do, how to act, etc. Accountability is a bad word! Our upbringing says, "have it your way". The job of the Holy Spirit is to keep us accountable to the Father and make us responsible to do the will of God. Only a humble heart can really move us to this place. Remember that