SO YOU WANNA BE LIKE JESUS?...REALLY?

GodThoughtsWired!                   Wednesday, January 5, 2011 Evangelizing the Church in the Age of Delusion

You are subscribed as %%emailaddress%% SO YOU WANNA BE LIKE JESUS?...REALLY? "And He (Jesus) summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, 'If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me...'"Mark 8:34, bold mine Self-denial isn't exactly on my top-ten list of things that I naturally desire to do.  In fact, it's the EXACT OPPOSITE of my natural tendency toward self-gratification and self-justification and self-satisfaction and self-sufficiency and...you get the point. And in truth, the quest to be like Jesus is more than mere "self-denial."  To be like Jesus is to utterly reject personal preference and self-will in favor of "the will of God." "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done."Luke 22:42, bold mine "Not my will, but Yours," is the Jesus lifestyle.  To be like Jesus is to desire God's will over your own.   Still wanna be like Jesus?  Really? For more information about the GodThoughts Ministry, click here. For more information about the author of GodThoughts, click here. PLEASE prayerfully consider supporting the GodThoughts Ministry (click on "donate" button below). The cost to provide this FREEMinistry world-wide in 2010 was $40,700.00 (see Annual Report for full details).

THE LORDSHIP & THE LIFESTYLE

GodThoughtsWired!              Tuesday, January 4, 2011 Evangelizing the Church in the Age of Delusion

You are subscribed as %%emailaddress%% THE LORDSHIP & THE LIFESTYLE "Seek first his kingdom and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you."-Matthew 6:33 I just had some of the most practical insights that I've ever had in regard to this verse.  I've had it memorized for more than two decades, but just recently in ocurred to me..."His kingdom" is where He is King.  In a kingdom there can only be one king. This world is full of "kings."  That is to say that the vast majority of people on the planet wield their own authority.  But, The only place on earth where, "all these things are added to you" is the place where Jesus is King. -pastor Brad To "seek first His kingdom" is to daily live in voluntary submission to His will, His way, and His word. To "seek His righteousness" is to live His lifestyle.  Only those who do so receive the promise.  Righteousness as opposed to worldliness.  His will as opposed to mine.  To "seek His righteousness" is to live according to the word of God; to do what God says to do; and to not do what God says not to do. Then, "all these things shall be added to you."  What things?  Well, all the things that the majority spend a lifetime striving after (see Matthew 6:19-32).  It says they will be "added" to you.  Wow!  The word"added" comes from the Greek word, "prostithemi"which literally means, "give, grant, place near."  God will GIVE them to you. Amazing! For more information about the GodThoughts Ministry, click here. For more information about the author of GodThoughts, click here. PLEASE prayerfully consider supporting the GodThoughts Ministry (click on "donate" button below). The cost to provide this FREE Ministry world-wide in 2010 was $40,700.00 (see Annual Report for full details).

WHAT POTENTIAL!

GodThoughtsWired!                    Monday, January 3, 2011 An Inspiration for Today...A Resource for a Lifetime!

You are subscribed as %%emailaddress%% WHAT POTENTIAL! "Before I formed you in the womb... and before you were born... I have appointed you a prophet to the nations." -Jeremiah 1:5 What potential!  God had a marvelous plan for Jeremiah's life...BEFORE HE WAS BORN!  It was asJob 14:16 and 31:4 describe, "Thou didst number my steps...Does He not see my ways and number all my steps?"  How remarkable!  Yet, this is not an isolated occurrence: "He who had set me apart, even from my mother's womb." -Galatians 1:15 Yes, the same was true for Paul.  God had prepared good works for Paul to walk in ..BEFORE HE WAS BORN!  It was for Paul as he describes in Ephesians 2:10, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them."-Ephesians 2:10 Wow!  What lives they must have lived, Paul and Jeremiah.  Walking in the "good works" that God had prepared for them, before they were ever born!  That must have been amazing!  They were living testimonies of God's promise, "The steps of a man are established by the Lord; and He delights in his way" (Psalm 37:23). Hmmm...I wonder if God has ever done that for anyone else? For more information about the GodThoughts Ministry, click here. For more information about the author of GodThoughts, click here. PLEASE prayerfully consider supporting the GodThoughts Ministry (click on "donate" button below). The cost to provide this FREE Ministry world-wide in 2010 was $40,700.00 (see Annual Report for full details).

CAN MERCY AND JUDGMENT COEXIST? 2

GodThoughtsWired!            Thursday, December 30, 2010 Evangelizing the Church in the Age of Delusion

You are subscribed as %%emailaddress%% CAN MERCY AND JUDGMENT COEXIST? 2 "LIFE IS NOT FAIR, BUT GOD IS JUST... AND HE HAS AN ETERNITY TO PROVE IT!" -Pastor Brad Illustration:  A child is brutally raped, beaten, tortured and murdered.  The guilty man is caught and brought before a judge with whom the child's grieving mother and father await the verdict.  The judge says, "Because I am a loving and forgiving judge, I am letting the offender go free without any punishment." Now let's say you are the mother or father in this illustration.  How do you feel about the judge's verdict? Mercy has been extended but justice has not been served! May I suggest to you that judgment is an extension of God's love! (see Hebrews 12:5-11).  And may I also suggest to you that, in this illustration, righteously judging the criminal would have extended mercy to both the victims parents...AND the criminal.* "WE CANNOT UNDERSTAND THE LOVE OF GOD UNTIL WE GRASP THE HORROR OF OUR SIN AND THE SACRIFICIAL TORMENT THAT JESUS CHOSE TO PAY ON OUR BEHALF." -Pastor Brad In God's kingdom, mercy and justice coexist. *I'm interested to hear from you - How could it be possible that  judging the criminal righteously would be "merciful?" For more information about the GodThoughts Ministry, click here. For more information about the author of GodThoughts, click here. PLEASE prayerfully remember GodThoughts with your year-end giving (click on "donate" button below). The cost to provide this FREE Ministry world-wide in 2010 was $40,700.00 (see Annual Report for full details).

CAN MERCY AND JUDGMENT COEXIST? 1

GodThoughtsWired!         Wednesday, December 29, 2010 Evangelizing the Church in the Age of Delusion

You are subscribed as %%emailaddress%% CAN MERCY AND JUDGMENT COEXIST? 1 "The Lord loves justice... It is I (God) who judges with equity... For the Lord is a God of justice."Psalm 37:28; 75:2; Isaiah 30:18 When I first came into my current pastorate roughly seven years ago, an otherwise kind and loving family left the church because of my unwavering commitment to the Bible as "inspired by God, inerrant and infallible as originally given" (see Psalm 19:7; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21).  They readily accepted the "love and forgiveness" part of God's character, but they did not believe in His "justice." "Our God is NOT PUNITIVE!," the woman assured me, as she left the church parking lot for the final time. To the contrary Oswald Chambers declares, "In the teachings of Jesus Christ the element of judgment is always brought out - it is the sign of the loving God.-Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, May 5 So, what do you think?  Can mercy and judgment coexist? More tomorrow. For more information about the GodThoughts Ministry, click here. For more information about the author of GodThoughts, click here. PLEASE prayerfully remember GodThoughts with your year-end giving (click on "donate" button below). The cost to provide this FREE Ministry world-wide in 2010 was $40,700.00 (see Annual Report for full details).

THE EARLY MORNING

GodThoughtsWired!             Wednesday, December 22, 2010 An Inspiration for Today...A Resource for a Lifetime!

You are subscribed as %%emailaddress%% The GodThoughts Annual Report is NOW AVAILABLE! This report discloses all pertinent information about the GodThougts Ministry including GodThoughtsWired! GodThoughtsLive! and The Bible Says Ministry. For your FREE COPY* simply email us your snail mail address and type in the subject box, FREE COPY.* *LIMITED TO THE 1ST 1000 REQUEST ONLY. THE EARLY MORNING "In the morning, O LORD, You will hear my voice; In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch." Psalm 5:3 Spending time with the Lord EARLY in the morning is often the best part of my life! "The Lord is with you when you are with Him." 2 Chronicles 15:2b God invited Moses saying, "So be ready by morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to Me on the top of the mountain." Exodus 34:2 Most of my most profound experiences with God have been before the arrival of the day's sun.  As always, our model is Jesus: "In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there." Mark 1:35 And I can hear someone say, "But I'm not a morning person."  And I would respond, "It's not the time...it's the principle." "So that He Himself will come to have first place in everything."Colossians 1:18c For more information about the GodThoughts Ministry, click here. For more information about the author of GodThoughts, click here. PLEASE prayerfully remember GodThoughts with your year-end giving (click on "donate" button below).  The expenditures of the GodThoughts Ministry world-wide in 2010 was $40,700.00 (see Annual Report for full details).

A 'HATED' GENERATION? Introduction

GodThoughtsWired!        Thursday, December16, 2010 Evangelizing the Church in the Age of Delusion

You are subscribed as %%emailaddress%% The GodThoughts Annual Report is NOW AVAILABLE! We will be sending them out at the end of this week! This report discloses all pertinent information about the GodThougts Ministry including GodThoughtsWired! GodThoughtsLive! and The Bible Says Ministry. For your FREE COPY* simply email us your snail mail address and type in the subject box, FREE COPY.* *LIMITED TO THE 1ST 1000 REQUEST ONLY. A 'HATED' GENERATION? Introduction"But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.  For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God..."-2 Timothy 3:1-4 Did you ever ask yourself, "How could such a generation of men ever become so...evil?" Honestly, I never really thought about it, 'til now (see yesterday's GTWired! for context). "Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children." -Hosea 4:6 Did you ever ask yourself, "How could that happen, an entire generation (save those who repent and turn to God for salvation) forgotten by God?"  Again, I never really thought about it, 'til now. In fact, my thoughts have been consumed by it since my experience two nights ago (see A Forgotten Generation).  Why would God cause me such "grief?" Why would He 'break my heart' like that? What did He want me to see?  "What did He want me to learn?" I'll answer every one of those questions tomorrow. For more information about the GodThoughts Ministry, click here. For more information about the author of GodThoughts, click here.