In His Spirit

Col. 4 – Pray. Thank. Open.

pshawn — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 18:56:01 +0000

“Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving;

meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open up a door for the word…”

(Colossians 4:2-3)

Pray.

Our lives and our purpose are not of this world – neither are the answers we need.

I know you are at work or home right now – but everything you need right now is invisible to you.

Paul knew this. He knew all He needed was first and foremost accomplished in the spiritual realms.

That’s why after talking about practical things like family and work relationships he said . . .

Continue earnestly in prayer.

He said to keep at it (being vigilant) with thanksgiving. Why thanksgiving?

Because when we stop being thankful we stop praying in faith – most of the time we just stop praying period.

When we stop being thankful we stop living life in faith, hope and love.

We stop trusting in God and living life as His servant. We become all about ourselves.

Continue earnestly in prayer with thanksgiving.

And then Paul said – pray that God would open up a door.

Prayer opens up the doors that our obedience and His word are supposed to walk through.

We can be so tempted to try to open up doors with our own efforts but those doors never stay open.

The book of Revelations tells us that when God opens a door no man can shut it.

Continue earnestly in prayer with thanksgiving until the door opens.

Pray that God opens the door for His purposes in your life.

Don’t strive. Don’t worry. Pray. Do it now. Don’t let prayer be last on your list.

May the Holy Spirit rush in through your prayers and open up doors both in the world around you and in your heart.

Jesus wants to move through your life today – He is ready to open doors for His glory and honor.

Praying alongside of you and for you in thanksgiving and for doors to open.

Today, I go down to serve at Shady Hill where drugs, violence and poverty have shut the hope and life from so many adults and children.

Yet, I can also share several stories about how prayer has directly led to God opening up doors that seemed to be totally shut.

God wants to partner with us to create and care for life today. And we partner through prayer.

Whatever Kingdom promise seems shut to you today – invite the Holy Spirit to join you in prayer and ask the Father for open doors.

I believe this is a word from the Lord for many people reading this email today. ~ Pastor Shawn

Philippians 2 – Shining like stars

pshawn — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 03:28:23 +0000

“It’ll probably be the biggest shot ever made in Kansas history”, Kansas coach Bill Self said.

Any idea what I’m talking about?

Last night with 2.1 seconds left in the NCAA Basketball Championship, Mario Chalmers hit a three pointer to tie the game.

It sent the game into overtime where the Kansas Jayhawks eventually won!

Defeat was sure – hope had all but died – everybody thought they knew the end.

And someone rose up and became a star.

Do everything without complaining or arguing . . . children of God . . .

In which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life.”

Philippians 2:14-16

Everywhere you go today – death is dominating so many people – so many are walking in defeat.

Depression, complaining, arguing and cynicism are the norm

because everybody thinks they know how the day and life are going to end.

Someone needs to rise up!

I said, “Someone needs to rise up!”

God is looking for someone to rise up – and shine like a star in people’s lives!

And what will it look like? – Speaking words of life!

That’s right – speak words of life today!

Instead of complaining and arguing – “hold out the word of life” to people who are down and out.

Don’t join in the complaining – show you are a child of God – shine!

We are supposed to be representatives of eternal life on this earth. We are supposed to shine.

It’s not hard for a light to shine in darkness – it just has to be true to its nature.

And that’s all you have to do.

Don’t conform to the world today. Don’t focus on what it focuses on (Sunday’s sermon).

Don’t join in when complaining and arguing starts – instead offer words of life!

Speak faith, hope and love in everything you do! Speak about Jesus!

If you do that – you may become the biggest star in someone’s history [for Jesus]!

Live today like you mean it!

~ Pastor Shawn

In His Spirit: Matt 24 – Your Most Exciting Thought Today

pshawn — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 13:36:03 +0000

“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world
as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” Matt 24:14

What’s the most exciting thing you can think of today?

For some it would be that your boss would come and say, “Hey, take the day off with pay, you’ve been working hard.” For others it might be getting a check in the mail for a few thousand dollars that you weren’t expecting.For some singles it might be the hope of true love happening today. For some young moms it might be getting 5 minutes of alone time! I don’t know what your most exciting thought about the today is.

But, I know what it’s supposed to be for you and me – Jesus is coming back and it could be today!

We can be so in love with Jesus and so in step with the Spirit that the most exciting thought today is the reality of His coming at any moment. It is the thought that all of our faith and hope will become this world’s reality before our eyes. All of our faith will be rewarded. We will embrace Jesus and hear Him say, “Well done my good and faithful servant. Enter into my joy!” – Wow!

And the second most exciting thought you and I can have today is this . . .

Today, I can do something to get someone, or even some country, ready for Jesus to come. Today, I can partner with God in something eternal. My day isn’t about emails, coffee, my kid’s baseball team, the price of gas or watching Oprah later today. My life is about Matthew 24:14 – being the witness and giver I can be in Jesus so that the world gets ready for Him.

Are these your thoughts today?

Take a moment and listen to the Spirit. Look around you right now (that means take your eyes off the computer now). God is looking for you to partner with Him to do something eternal – something more exciting than your day can believe!

Can you see it? That person, the need, that hope?

Things could get real exciting today!

Looking forward to seeing you Wednesday and hearing what exciting things God did through you today.

~ Pastor Shawn