Being Plugged In

If you take any electric appliance that you own and try to use it while it's unplugged. You’ll find that it not only doesn't have the ability to do the job it was made to do, it in fact just takes up space on a countertop somewhere in your home and is rendered useless. The same holds true for the family of God. When we are not plugged in to a Church or reading the Bible on a regular basis, we are not operating as efficiently or as powerfully as you were designed to. What happens then is we become less powerful, we start listening to the world and all of the negativity in the world wears us down. We can and most likely will become more vulnerable to things going wrong in our own lives and the lives of our families. Remember, Satan is an opportunist. If you give him so much as an inch of space he'll take a mile.

If we are plugged in, we remain strong and steadfast in the things of God. When we are plugged in to our church and reading the Bible on a regular basis, our faith is strong and we are able to empower others with the word of God. Our faith and excitement in God has the ability to become contagious. What a wonderful thing that would be if we could be infectious for the LORD. So how do we walk in the power of God? First, we must pursue Him. The life of power is a life of abiding in Christ, (staying plugged into our power source). The hunger for the demonstration of power must not be separated from our passion for Him. But keep this in mind, our hunger for Him in part must be seen in our passionate pursuit of spiritual gifts.

I must passionately desire life-changing encounters with God, over and over again. I must cry out day and night for them and be specific. These magnificent life-changing encounters will often happen corporately in the Church, which causes many people that don't attend a Church to ask, “Why can’t God touch me where I am?” The answer to that is, He can. But He usually moves in ways that emphasize our need for others, rather than adding to our independence. Our heavenly Father wants us to be helping each other, praying for each other, interceding on one another’s behalf.

God does not want us praying for our own increases of blessings, favor and grace. If God would give us these things on our own aren’t we selfish enough that we’d take these things and not worry about what someone else has? This is why he wants us to come together at Church, at prayer meetings, and general times of fellowship. When we are in a corporate environment (a group of believers) we are less focused on ourselves and much more focused on the Lord. Furthermore, we stand in agreement with others in prayer and there’s a lot to be said for the power of corporate prayer.

When we pray with others even in a small group, the anointing on that prayer is much more powerful. The reason for this I believe is because the outpouring of love for one another is so pure and powerful. We are at our best in God’s eyes when we take our thoughts off of ourselves, our situations and circumstances and focus on others. Our hearts open up to give to another and at the same time because we are focusing on someone else in need, we become more open to receive the very things we need, as we pray for someone else.

1 Timothy 2:4-8 says that 4 He wants not only us but everyone saved. You know, everyone to get to know the truth we've learned: 5 that there's one God and only one, and one Priest-Mediator between God and us, Jesus, 6 who offered himself in exchange for everyone held captive by sin, to set them all free. Eventually the news is going to get out. 7 This and this only has been my appointed work: getting this news to those who have never heard of God, and explaining how it works by simple faith and plain truth. 8 Since prayer is at the bottom of all this, what I want mostly is for men to pray--not shaking angry fists at enemies but raising holy hands to God. So let’s come together in prayer, let us stand in agreement for one another’s prayers and needs, and let’s put the focus on God and others instead of ourselves. Get plugged in and feel the Power!

Please pray this with me

Heavenly Father, you are awesome. Thank you Father for your grace and blessing’s that we are not worthy of receiving. Father through your word we see that you want us to tell everyone about you, to bring your message to the world. Lord God I ask you to fill our hearts with a desire to become infectious to others through the joy you give us. To give our testimonies of the wonderful works that you’ve done in our lives. Father I pray that you would put the ones that don’t know you in our paths, so that we would have an opportunity to speak into their lives the plain and simple truth about you Lord God, and so that we could introduce them to the family of God and bring them into communion with you Father. So that they would get plugged in to the greatest support system the world has ever known, the family of God.

In Jesus name I pray

Amen

God Bless You All








“The Sharpshooter”

By His Grace We Stand

Did you ever wonder what that means? Judgment when it's not in our favor whether it's done through our courts, acquaintances or friends, is usually swift and accurate. That's not to say that society has not made it's mistakes and convicted or released someone incorrectly. Grace is simply this; we are forgiven of our infraction and given an opportunity to grow from it. It's not a judgment or an accusatory statement that gives life. It is placing the guilty above the circumstance and saying you’re going to be a great policeman even though you just stole a candy bar from the corner store.

We have the power to speak life into each others lives and unfortunately we have the power to speak death. In James 3:9-11 it states. 9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth comes praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? One would simply answer this with of course not. We can't go to the ocean and find fresh water nor can we go to the lake and find salt water. Both of these bodies of water team with life. We can look at any body of water for the most part and find in it an abundance of life.

The greatest display of water that I personally have ever seen was Niagara Falls. The force and speed with which the water moves forward is absolutely phenomenal. I must admit it made me wonder what the source that feeds the river was. I found out that both Lake Erie and Lake Ontario feed this mighty falls. The same holds true for the ocean. If you were to close your eyes and listen to the roar of the tide coming in, you could be overwhelmed with the sense of awesome power that directs the waves to only go so far. Although Lake Erie and Lake Ontario feed Niagara Falls, I have to wonder who or what is feeding us.

For if out of our bellies flow rivers of living water, I have to ask myself is it salt water, fresh water, or are we stagnant like the Dead Sea. Where nothing comes to shore and everything floats due to the high content of salt. If we are drinking from the source of life we will intercede and live with power and hope. If not we will begin to become stagnant. We may look good on the outside but we are not exuding a fragrance that would be pleasing to our creator and savior. The best way I know to do this is through daily prayer, communion, soaking, and listening.

We can not commune with our Lord and Savior and have it be a one way street. It must be a two way conversation. We're expected to commune with our King daily and by right we should. He should be our first Love, not our second. At one time or another we have all fallen short of spending time with what I hope is our best friend. My hope is that strive to do better and extend grace to ourselves and others when we fall short.

Please join me in prayer.

Heavenly Father, you are our best friend. We want to drink from the river of life which is you. Forgive us for the times when we have fallen short with our own agendas and not followed your agenda. Give us a deep desire and hunger and thirst to drink from your well and not that of the world. Let us never be filled and always want more and more of you, so that we can be a blessing to others and you. Let us sit at your feet and be consumed like a wild fire. We ask that the spark be ignited and we become mighty torch bearers. May we return to our first love which is you and when you come back let us be as the 5 wise virgins whose lamps had enough oil in them.

In Jesus name we pray.

Amen

God Bless You All

Guest Editor: Debbie Hyde