Rivers of Life - Part 1

In Scripture, salvation is beautifully pictured as a well of water springing up into everlasting life.  When Jesus encountered the woman at the well in John 4:7-14 he made it very clear to her that the water in the natural well that her ancestors had dug would just temporarily satisfy a person's thirst after they drank it.  But anyone who drinks of the water Jesus could give them would never thirst again (v. 14).  The "water" Jesus had to offer would become in the person who drank it, a "spring of water, welling up to eternal life."

There is a well of water bubbling up, flowing up, and springing up on the inside of you and you need to let it flow. You need to let it saturate your life.  This well is available for you to drink whenever you need it.  You can drink in the desert; you can drink in the valley; or you can drink on the mountain top.  You can drink in the great times of life, and you can drink in the tough times of life.  It's always there to satisfy!  This well will produce several benefits in your life.

1.  It Will Produce the Agape Love of God

There is a well of love on the inside of you that desires to spring up and change you.  It wants to change the way you feel about people.  It wants to change the way you act toward people.  It is a well that is greater than hatred, greater than strife and greater than unforgiveness.  When Jesus spoke of this well to the Samaritan woman in John 4, it completely changed her life and it can completely change yours.

2.  It Will Produce the Joy of God

Nehemiah 8:10 says ".... for the joy of the Lord is your strength."  This joy is produced from the well of water that flows inside of you even in the most difficult circumstances.  It will bubble up on the inside of you to give you strength. 

3.  It Produces the Wisdom of God

Even in the most trying times, you can draw from the well of living waters on the inside of you that produces the wisdom of God.  If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him - James 1:5.

4.  It Produces the Resurrection Power of God

 If you are a Christian, there is a well of resurrection power inside of you.  The key is to not trust in yourself, but to trust in God.  Because "if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you." Romans 8:11.

Jesus desires to flow into every aspect of your life; every situation in your life; every circumstance in your life. That well of "life" can enrich everything you do.  If you are saved you have this well inside you!  If you aren't, you can have it today!  God desires to flow His life into and out of your life!
How are you allowing God's River of Life to flow out of you?

Unity

Helen Keller once said: "Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much."  This statement is true simply because of the power of unity.  Unity means to be in agreement and harmony.  It means to have a oneness of purpose, sentiment, spirit, and attitude.  Unity speaks of a covenant relationship.  When the Body of Christ is united, there is nothing we can't accomplish for the Lord.

Psalm 133:1-3 is a beautiful picture of the unity.  "How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!  It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on Aaron's beard, down upon the collar of his robes.  It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion.  For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore."  Unity will bring the blessings of the Lord!

The Power of Unity

Where there is unity in the Body of Christ, there is a natural flow of God's anointing and power.  And this anointing will flow during praise, worship, prayer, and the hearing of the Word of God.  Where there is unity, it commands God's blessings and nothing can stop it!

The Benefits of Unity

• It relieves stress in your life
• It rids you of spending energy, time, and thoughts on needless thought patterns
• It allows God to open your eyes and show you the possibilities as a Christian and a church
• It helps you to be at peace with yourself, others and God

Unity is not an option.  It is commanded by God.  It doesn't mean everyone thinks exactly alike, but it does mean we stay connected, love each other with the love of Christ, and become a people of trust and integrity.
Spiritual Unity Requires:

• Love for one another (John 15:12)
• Humility (Proverbs 13:10)
• Forbearance (Colossians 3:13)

What will you do this week to "endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace?"  Unity in the Body of Christ is one of the keys for us to grow spiritually and accomplish all that God wants us to accomplish!

The Four Views Of Man

Too often we are guilty of evaluating ourselves based on what other people think.  Although there may be value in listening to what others who are close to us have to say, we have to be careful that we don't fall into the trap of allowing other people's opinions to control our life.  Ultimately, it only matters what God sees in you and what He says about you.  In this post I want to share the four views of man.

1.  How Man Sees You

Let's face it, typically how people view you is based almost solely on the "outside."  They see how you look physically, they see all the negatives and judge you by what you do right and wrong.  Man doesn't know your heart like God does and as a result he judges you by only what is visible.

2.  How You Think Man Sees You

It's unfortunate, but often times, our perception can be so wrong.  What you think concerning how man sees  you is not always correct.

3.  How You See Yourself

We often see ourselves by what is happening in our life at the time.  And as a result we see ourselves as never measuring up to what we think we should be.  We see ourselves as a failure based on what others say and we think God doesn't love us because of the mistakes we make.  We also find it hard to forgive ourselves even though God and other have forgiven us.

4.  How God Sees You

How God views you is often completely different than your view of yourself. God says you are forgiven (Colossians 2:13). He declares you are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). He looks at you as one of His children who is blessed and is an overcomer (Romans 8:16; Galatians 3:26; Ephesians 1:3; John 16:33; 1 John 5:4-5; 4:4). God says you are "reigning" in this life (Romans 5:17) and that you have authority (Luke 10:19). It's time to begin looking at yourself like God does. It will change your life!

Notice that the first three are man's view and the last one is God's.  Start listening to what God has to say about you!

Who God Created You To Be (Part 2)

God had you on His blueprints long before you were born and you were and always will be a part of His eternal design and plan.  And because of that, God sees in you qualities that others may ignore and He has a special plan for your life and significant things for you to accomplish.  For you to be everything God created you to be, you must start seeing yourself as God sees you and not as others do.  The first step is to:

1.  Dare To Believe In Who God Created You To Be

Human potential without a godly purpose will only produce self-destruction.  It's important to ask yourself the question: What am I doing with my life?  God has a purpose for why He created you, and it becomes your responsibility to develop who you are to be and what you are to do.

2.  Hindrances To Discovering And Fulfilling The Will Of God

Be aware of the many hindrances you will encounter as you try to discover and fulfill God's will for your life.  Some of these include:

• Your self will
• The influence of others
• Ignorance of God's principles
• Doubt and Fear
• Feelings of unworthiness
•  Busyness
• Willful sin in your life

3.  You Came Into The World With An Assignment To Fulfill

Romans 8:28 informs us that we are all "called according to His purpose."  And God is constantly working in your life to do His good pleasure.  Don't allow satan to steal what God is trying to do.

4.  You Must Give Your Ability Responsibility

It's unfortunate, but the cemeteries are full of great men and women who never reached their full potential or achieved everything God had for them.  Your potential will lie dormant until it is given responsibility.  God wants you to live effectively and He has put the seeds of success inside you and He wants you to let them grow and develop. 

5.  How To Fulfill God's Plan For You

There are four ways to help you fulfill God's plan for your life:

• Know you are linked up with God.  He is your source. 1 Corinthians 6:17
• Know you are valuable to God. John 3:16
• Know you were born for greatness.  Philippians 1:6
• Know God needs you. Ephesians 2:10

Don't allow the enemy to  discourage you.  Be ready to allow God to fulfill in you everything He created you to be.  All it takes is for you to stay connected with the source!

Who God Created You To Be

Many people struggle with trying to identify their purpose in life.  Whether they are Christians or not, people wrestle with the question “Why am I here and what am I suppose to do?  One of the reasons people have difficulty with these questions, is because they don’t know the Source of who created them.

A person who doesn’t have a relationship with God will have a limited understanding and a limited capability of attaining what God created them to be.  God isn’t trying to make you into something, He is trying to expose the real you He already sees and made.  Humans were born to expose God’s nature.  And the first step in living out God’s plan for your life is to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and your Lord.

There are three principles that are vital to understanding who God create you to be.

1.  Know the source of who you are to be

Everything comes from God and everything belongs to God.  “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it” (1 Corinthians 10:26; John 1:1-4); that includes you!  You belong to God, because you were created by God.  Who you are is related to where you came from.  When God looks at you He sees the finished product.  He sees things in you that others may ignore.  Stop believing what others say about you and start believing what God says.  God says you were made in His image (Genesis 1:26).  God says you are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14).  Your potential is limited only by God, and not others.

2.  Understand the seed principle

When you look at a seed, it is not all it could become.  The seed in and of itself is just a seed.  But within the seed there is great potential.  Take an acorn for example.  By itself it is just one seed and one tree.  But there is potential in that one seed to create a forest!  God created everything, including you with great potential.  Don’t limit God’s potential in your life.  Allow God to accomplish in you everything He wants to accomplish.

3.  Don’t settle for past accomplishments

Think about some of the great men of the Bible.  What if men like Moses, Abraham, or Paul had settled for and were content with only what they had accomplished in the past?  If Moses had given up after fleeing Egypt, he never would have encountered God in the burning bush.  If Paul had settled for just being a “Pharisee of the Pharisees” he never would have met Jesus on the Damascus road and written over half of the New Testament.

People who stop without achieving their full potential rob their generation.  God doesn’t want us to be unhappy with just what we have accomplished up to a certain time in our life, He wants us to know there is much more to accomplish.

Four Keys to becoming who God created you to be

• Know your Source, and your Source is God.
• Understand how God designed you to function.  You are to function in faith and in love.
• Know your purpose.  Purpose gives birth to responsibility and responsibility makes demands on who you are  becoming.
• Guard who you know you were created to be.  Satan is out to destroy so you must be on guard against his devices.

Never give up on who God created you to be.  There is great potential in your life to be a “world changer.”  God has done His part and now it’s up to you.  Are you ready to be who God created you to be?  If so, start today!  Your life will never be the same again!