Remember

This last week I was reading Joshua 4:1-24. It is the account when God stopped the Jordan River and all the Israelites walked across to the Promised Land on dry ground. After God did that amazing thing, He had Joshua choose 12 men to get 12 stones and construct a memorial.

What are the major Spiritual Events (when God did something amazing) in your life that you can remember?

I took an afternoon one day, and sat in my office to remember mine.  When we take the time to remember, something amazing happens.  We draw closer to the One we remember and the events and circumstances that took place with that One.  In other words, we strengthen our connection and relationship.

Here are a few Memorial Words that may help you Remember the spiritual events in your life.

• Birth - On your birthday, God gives you life!  Consider the incredible truth in the fact that God created you for a purpose on purpose to be about living His purpose.
• Salvation - God gives you Jesus and new life!  It is through the life, teaching, blood, death, and resurrection of Jesus that we can truly experience New Life and live that life fully.
• Forgiveness - God gives you a second chance!  If you have ever realized that you are a sinner and flawed in every way, then you know that you need the cleansing power of forgiveness.  Face it we have all messed up at some point, but what God freely offers to anyone seeking is a fresh, clean restart.  A second chance to live for what is right.
• Calling - God gives you purpose and direction!  Our lives are to be defined and guided by a Love for God, a Love for Others and the expressions of that Love through the Good News of Jesus Christ.  I love the fact that He knows you and wants you to join His team because He created you to do something amazing with your life for Him.
• Reward - God gives out the blessing of rewards - now and in the future!  Someday He will ask you to give an account of how your life was lived.  When that happens, we will all have to stand before Him and remember.  Don't you want to remember the Faithfulness, Righteousness, Holiness, Love and Obedience that has been actively expressed throughout your life?  I do!

Take time this week to remember and embrace God who is doing amazing things in your life!

God’s Nature at Work

1 John 4:7-8  Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. NIV  Take some time this week to memorize this verse.  It's Awesome Truth!

God created you to experience a love relationship with Him.  He longs for you to love Him, and respond to His immeasurable love for you.  Consider what you know about Love.  How does it (Love) make you feel?  Now multiply that feeling by God’s Immeasurable Greaterness!  Can you imagine how His Love can make you feel if you allow Him to fill you with Love.

God’s Love never changes for you.  It is constant – always and forever!  When we don’t feel close to God or His love feels distant or just plain ol’ bad stuff happens in our lives or the world, It’s not a result of a change in God’s Love.  It is a result of something that has changed in us or in the world.  Have you ever felt distant from God?  When was that?  What were some of the circumstances going on in your life?

Consider these 3 aspects of God’s Nature that dispose Him to act the way that He does.  

• God is LOVE
• God is ALL-KNOWING
• God is ALL-POWERFUL

Each of these characteristics has special implications on how you relate to God, and how you understand and do His Will for your life.

As you better your relationship with God this week, consider how you have seen these 3 aspects of God’s Nature working in your life, and be thankful that God is All-Powerful in All Things, All knowing in Everything, and Loving You in Every Way!

Experiencing God Through Relationship

Highlights and Notes from Henry Blackaby's Experiencing God.

Jesus said in John 17:3, “And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.”   At the heart of eternal life and at the heart of experiencing God is to Know God and to Know Jesus Christ.

But how can we know God and His Son Jesus Christ?  Knowing God is a relationship with a person.   Through a love relationship God reveals His will and invites you to join Him where He is already at work.  When you obey God, He a can do only something amazing through you.

It is easy though to be frustrated or disenchanted with your Christian experience.  Because you know that God has so much more for you than you are actually experiencing.  In John 10:10, “The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.“  So where’s the rich and satisfying part of being a Christian?  Why do we have so many questions or doubts about my faith?  If God has a will and purpose for my life then why isn’t He telling me about it?

My hope for you, as we do this study together, is to:

• Hear when God is speaking to you
• Identify the activity of God in your life
• Believe God to be and do everything He promises
• Adjust your beliefs, character, and behavior to God and His ways
• See what God wants to do through your life
• Experience God doing through you what only God can do.

You come to Know God more intimately and personally as you Experience God in your life. 

Work on memorizing this verse this week:

John 17:3, “And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.”   

Merry Christmas!

My Beachbody Information

A Spiritual Fitness Check Up

Sunday, Oct 24, 2010

The Church: A Spiritual Fitness Check Up

Download this episode (44 min)   
On October 19, 2009, I decided to make some changes in his life. Such changes were necessary to improve health and vitality of life. Over the course of this last year I have learned some lessons about myself and I believe these lessons can be directly applied to the Church, the Body of Christ.

Consider the condition of the physical representation of Jesus Christ in our world today that is the Body of Christ which is You. If the Body of Christ were to take a Physical/Spiritual Fitness test, how strong, energetic, and healthy do you think it would prove to be? 

Take the time to answer the four questions toward the end of my message and allow God to work in your life so that you can be a Vital Member of the Church - The Body Christ on our world.

iLive with Principle & without Compromise Psalm 15:5b

Sunday, Sep 05, 2010

iLive with Principle & without Compromise Psalm 15:5b

Download this episode (37 min)   
What does it mean to live a Principled Life? Pastor Joel Sisson will conclude the iLive Series in Psalm 15. According to Psalm 15:5b, a Principled Life is unable to be Bribed to harm the innocent. In other words, a Principled Life is refusing temptation and unwilling to choose Compromise. This week take inventory of the way you live your life. 

iLive showing honor - Psalm 15:3a

Sunday, Jul 25, 2010

iLive showing honor - Psalm 15:3a Associate Pastor Joel Sisson

Download this episode (32 min)   
Consider the way in which we talk about neighbors, co-workers, acquaintances. Do we show honor to others, simply because they are fellow humans created in the image of God? It is easy to get caught up in bashing others. God calls for those who dwell in his “tent” to have a different approach. 

Essentials for Life & 2010 part 2

3. Evaluate How You Exercise.

Our bodies need exercise! For it is in exercise we increase our heart rate, promote muscle activity and aid neurological integration, so our bodies work as they were designed. I have been fairly athletic throughout the course of my life. Whether it was basketball, soccer, baseball, softball, golf, etc., it didn’t matter; I played it. But for the last 10 years or so I allowed life to get in the way of physical exercise and my health ultimately. It’s easy to do, isn’t it? This last Fall I was demonstrating some soccer moves to my kids and in the process strained my calf muscle, an injury I have never had before. My muscles were weak and could not perform as they once could.

Paul persuades Timothy in 1 Tim. 4:8-9 to keep his focus on being Spiritually Fit for it is good for this life and the next. I know that it is easy to allow the cares and stresses of this life to fill up and push our time until we are so busy that we just don’t have time to workout – physically and spiritually. Isn’t it time to workout our faith, to follow hard after Jesus, and to persevere for the sake of the Gospel? Neglect will only allow us to grow into fat, stagnate, lethargic, complaining Christians with adult bodies but only baby muscles – powerless to do the work God has called us to do – ailing with aches and pains from sitting in our pews for way too long. I choose to exercise spiritually, to run the race that God has set before me - Hebrews 12:1-2! How about you?

Essentials for Life & 2010 part 1

So what is Essential for Life?

According the to the Morton HealthSystem in Arkansas there are six essentials for life. The Morter HealthSystem is a complete system of health care featuring the original sensory-specific technique called the Bio Energetic Synchronization Technique (B.E.S.T.); an astounding nutrition program based on acid/alkaline balance; and guidelines for the correct choices to make in the Six Essentials for Life.

• What you eat
• What you drink
• How you exercise
• How you rest
• What you breathe
• What you think

They site that our bodies were created to survive. How we survive depends on our conscious choices in the 6 Essentials for Life. If we make good choices, the response is health. If we make bad choices, the responses lead to pain, disease and death. It is a choice!

When reading these, I couldn’t help but think about our spiritual condition. In this New Year, 2010, I have decided that my health must be a priority, but not just my physical health. Perhaps more importantly my Spiritual Health needed to some serious evaluation. Perhaps our Spiritual Life does as well.

1. Evaluate What You Eat.
Our bodies are creatively complex creations. I am learning that my body needs a proper balance of certain types of food in order for me to feel and be healthy. In John 6:35-40, Jesus declared that He was the Bread of Life. The Great Balancer in your Spiritual Diet is Jesus Christ. When cravings come only Jesus will satisfy, because only Jesus offers what we cannot get on our own – Eternal Life. Spiritually what are we eating? Really? If we are stuck in consuming anything other than a healthy dose of Jesus Christ and His Word, then your health is at risk. We must partake in the real food that Jesus offers.

2. Evaluate What You Drink.

Our bodies are mostly water and need water as its primary liquid, and the body is designed to regulate itself internally. Drinking external stimulants puts added stress on our bodies and interferes with the regulation of blood sugar.

In John 4:10-15, Jesus offered water that was far better than any water found on earth to the Samaritan Woman at Jacob’s well. And in John 7:37-39, Jesus literally shouts to those who would listen – “Who wants some Living Water?” “Who wants to drink and never get thirsty again?” Who wants to taste and see that the Lord is Good? Who wants this Gift that will satisfy your deepest longings and desires? Jesus was offering the gift of the Holy Spirit and Eternal Life yet again. In the Samaritan Woman’s case, the living water would quench her longing for significance, love, acceptance, and intimacy. We have been created to satisfy our longings and all too often we reach for the sugary empty substitutes that only hinder our health and never truly satisfy. Let’s take a good long drink of Living Water today!