I AM I Have & I Will

I AM and I Have and I Will

As I reflect on my spiritual journey - both historically and currently - if I am honest with myself, I sometimes tend to be a "runner." What I mean is that in the past, and sometimes currently, I try to run from the direction God is taking me or from the task God has called me to do. I love the stories of Moses, Gideon, Jonah, and others because I can relate to those guys. What I have come to realize through those stories is that although we can benefit and gain encouragement and perspective from their lives, ultimately those stories are about God. They magnify who He is and what He can do in and through us - in spite of us.

I have been reading through Exodus during my quiet times and was struck by God's words to Mosese to encourage and exhort him. In the preceding verses and chapters Moses had responded to God's calling and instructions with several "but's" - but they won't listen to me, but I'm not a good speaker, etc. In this passage God was shifting Moses perspepctive off of himself and onto His God. Notice I AM, I Have and I Will.

Exodus 6:1-8
1 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country."
2 God also said to Moses, "I am the LORD. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, [a] but by my name the LORD [b] I did not make myself known to them. [c] 4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they lived as aliens. 5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.
6 "Therefore, say to the Israelites: 'I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. 8 And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD.' "

Puttng Things In Perspective

I am in a Starbucks digging into the book of James. My guy Allan encouraged me to take a look at the Miniature Earth video, and possibly using it to give some perspective on James 5:1-6. I just watched it (and realized I had seen it before), and was sobered by it. I need to watch it a few more times and chew on the numbers and insights a little bit. I just finished reading "Rich Christians In An Age Of Hunger" by Ron Sider (You can check it out at http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/104-2450380-8086318?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Rich+Christians+In+An+Age+Of+Hunger .) It is a sobering read, and it sheds light on some of the same realities that this video does. After you take a look at the video, give me some feedback if you want.

http://www.miniature-earth.com/me_english.htm

What hit you the most?
What are we too often blind of?
How should we respond as Christ-ones?


Let's be some World Changers for the Kingdom!

The Legacy Conference

The Legacy Conference will be hosted in Chicago this August. It will once again be a three day conference August 14-16. We are still trying to lock down the location, however many of the same speakers/teachers have already committed for this year: Paul Washer, Shai Linne, Lecrae, Flame, Tedashi, Trip Lee, Azriel, and more.

Check out this promotional video for this year's conference...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=GU7y1-dSv2s

You can also check out the web site at http://www.legacy-conference.org/

Snapshots of Our Father

Over the last month or so I have seen two different scenarios that really touched me when I saw them, and that made me think about my Heavenly Father.


The first scenario happened during my road trip to Richmond (see earlier post). That Sunday morning when I arrived at the church, the man (Dan) who's family had hosted me the night before, was in the basement of the church getting a cup of coffee ready for a "return visitor" to the church. That in itself does not sound all that spectacular. However, this church visitor was special. He was handicapped in some way - possibly having cerebal palzy. He seemed to be mentally sharp, but due to his condition, his speech was at times hard to understand. I ended up sitting at his table after the service for the fellowship meal. What happened next is what impacted me. Dan went through the food line and fixed the man a plate. He then sat next to him, made a bib out of a napkin for him, and then proceeded to feed him patiently for the next fifteen to twenty minutes. He wasn't doing this to "be seen." He was just loving his brother who couldn't feed himself. What an amazing picture of our Heavenly Father who is full of compassion, patient with us, and meets needs for us that we could never meet ourselves.

The second scenario happend this past weekend. I went over to my friends Brian & Becky's apartment for the Super Bowl game. A month or so ago their 17 month old daughter's brain began to swell. She was rushed to the ER, where they performed an emergency surgery to remove the top of her skull. Days later the swelling in her brain began to go down. However, the long road to recovery had just begun. The doctors are still not sure if her brain will ever fully recover. Brian and Becky are prayin for God's miraculous intervention. They now take her to physcial therapy appointments multiple days each week. They also have to do daily exercises with her. I sat and observed Brian on Sunday as he took Felicity through a series of exercises - moving her hands, arms, legs, feet, etc. I watched him encourage her and praise her efforts. I also watched him accidentally push her a bit too hard in one of the stretches, and then hold her in his arms as she seemed to cry out and wonder why she had to keep doing the exercises. Again, what an amazing picture of our Heavenly Father who loves us no matter what, who never gives up on us, and who leads us through multiple "rehabilitations" throughout our lives. He is also there to wrap His arms around us when we need to feel His touch.


Next time you pray the Lord's prayer, stop and pause after the first line. "Our Father in heaven" - What an amazing statement? When we stop and think on that it alters our entire perspective as we approach the throne of grace.