The Adventure of a Lifetime!

The Adventure of a Lifetime!

Once when i was eight years old, i went exploring a construction site. A soon to be apartment building made for a great playground in the eyes of my friends and i. Framed in staircases, partially framed walls, and planks across open spaces in the floor made for a grand adventure. Albeit, a dangerous and illegal one. Our mission, to avoid the one lone security guard patrolling the site which included several separate buildings.

Many spend most of their lives doing what my friends and i did at eight. They feel as if they are living a life of adventure because the adrenaline is pumping through their veins. What they don’t realize, often until it’s too late, is they are in constant peril. The danger of a wrong step could lead to severe injury or even death and of course, there is the constant looking over your shoulder in fear of getting caught.

The world would have you think that being a Christian is boring. That life in Christ is the opposite of adventure. However, that couldn’t be any further from the truth. There are countries where being a Christian is illegal, and you could be thrown in prison or killed. Although we live in a relatively safe environment to be a Christian, there is still some great adventure to be had! Just take a look at some of these stories…

  • Rachel from the Axiom has a great story of when she was just starting to get back into the church when she had a confrontation with a girl she had fought in the past. This girl wanted a “rematch” however, Rachel in her now living for Jesus refused to fight. Several years later the girl saw her in church and gave her a big hug, “That day changed my life!” she said.
  • Some local Missionaries the LaGatta’s, were in El Salvador when they were kidnapped at gunpoint, driven to the desert and left. They survived with not only a great story of faith but a memory of great adventure.
  • Then there is this: 9 Year Old Willie Myrick <<< Click the link it’s awesome!
These remind me of some stories found in the greatest adventure story ever written…
  • Acts 9:23-25 tells the part of the story (read below) of Saul/Paul’s escape after many were seeking to kill him.  “After this had gone on quite a long time, some Jews conspired to kill him, but Saul got wind of it. They were watching the city gates around the clock so they could kill him. Then one night the disciples engineered his escape by lowering him over the wall in a basket.”
  • Acts 16:25-26 a story about an earthquake and a none prison break that lead to the jailer coming to know Jesus with his whole family. “Along about midnight, Paul and Silas were at prayer and singing a robust hymn to God. The other prisoners couldn’t believe their ears. Then, without warning, a huge earthquake! The jailhouse tottered, every door flew open, all the prisoners were loose.”
  • John 11:1-44 shares the account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. It’s insane! Here is part of it:”Then he shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” And he came out, a cadaver, wrapped from head to toe, and with a kerchief over his face.

    Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him loose.”

If you have accepted Jesus and consider yourself a follower of His, a disciple, rest assured…you are on the adventure of a lifetime!

You are LOVED,
cj

Prayer Journey

Prayer Journey

i have been on a bit of a prayer journey the past couple of weeks and i have invited you along. If you follow me on social media (see links below). i just want to take a minute and recap where i have been and where i am on this journey. First the challenge was to consider our biggest dreams for life and ministry what would you fearlessly ask for if you knew anything was possible? Ephesians 3:20 says, “Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” Do you believe it?

Next i looked at UNLESS; “Unless the Lord builds the house, the work of the builders is wasted. Unless the Lord protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good.” (Psalm 127:1) What a powerful image. i want for us to seek the Lord in all we do and unless Jesus go with us…

Then came brokenhearted. What if we changed our perspective on how we look at those around us, even those hardest to love? What if we took the heart of the Lord and made it ours? Psalm 34:18 says, “The Lord is close to the BROKENHEARTED and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” May we become a place of healing for the broken hearts, young and old.

One, Jesus said, “I have given them the glory You game Me, so they may be one as we are ONE. I am in them and You are in Me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that You sent Me and that You love them as much as you love Me. By one thoughtless or careless word relationships can crumble…yet through Jesus we can all find reconciliation and be ONE as God is ONE, He in us and us in Him! When we are one in heart and spirit there is nothing we can’t do through Christ!

Now that you are on this journey with me, once we have come through these truths we see that God is at work in and through us. That His desire is for us to be about His business. He doesn’t just call us but He also equips us! “For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.” (Romans 12:4-6) He has GIFTED us with a GIFT to love and to serve, what is your gift?

UNLESS God goes with us, our outreach to the brokenhearted is in vain. We must be ONE with Him, using the GIFTS He has graciously given us to reach this GENERATION for the Kingdom.

you are LOVED,
cj

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Foundations

Foundations

This past week at Jr High Camp, also known as Middle School Camp we were challenged with this verse in Colossians 2:6-7.

6 And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. 7 Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.

Jesus calls us with the words, “Come Follow Me,” not “Come Meet Me and Carry On”. The invitation by its nature insists on a continuous “Following”. Verse 7 has a few keys to being successful in our “Following of Jesus”.

Being Rooted in Him…He is our filter in which we see the world
Built up in Him…As our roots grow deep we are built up
Growing Faith…Not just a stagnant faith but a growing faith in what we were taught…going back to the Word and our “ROOTS”
This will produce a life that is ~ Overflowing with Thankfulness.

You are loved,

cj