Twenty Building Blocks Of Vision

1.     A vision begins as a concern.

As a pastor, you probably have a vision of great revival for your city. But it began as a concern for souls, then it grew into a burden for souls. It grew till it consumed your thoughts. This is the birthplace of vision. God has placed that vision there.

2.     A vision does not necessarily require immediate action.

When God speaks to you, he may not be giving you a vision for the immediate.  God’s timing is not our timing. When David was anointed king, he did not take the throne for many years.  He went through many hardships before he finally became king.

3.     Pray for opportunities and plan as if you expect God to answer your prayers.

The Bible says that the steps of the righteous are ordered by the Lord. Begin to pray for the right people and opportunities to be brought into your life...God will order your steps.

TEACHING KIDS TO PRAY: THE FIVE FINGER METHOD

By Sheila

When Katie was two, we were teaching her how to say grace. She had just finished up when Keith leaned over and whispered to her, “tell Mommy she’s pretty.” Katie promptly put both hands together again, closed her eyes, and said, “Dear God, please make Mommy pretty. Amen.”

But most of my girls’ prayers tend towards this: “Thank you that we had a good day today. Please help us to have fun tomorrow! Amen.”

Granted, it’s not that bad, but you know what I mean.

And I have decided this isn’t good enough. So here is our plan to really teach them to pray:

Inspiration – Are Wives Moving Mountains?

Are wives moving mountains?

Are you actively throwing mountains into the sea or are you trying to climb over them?

Think of mountains as trials or barricades, standing in your way! They are huge, overwhelmingly huge, and it may even seem impossible to get past… but we have something bigger than the mountains in our life, we have Jesus! Our faith in Jesus can get us through any trial in our life. Jesus says we can basically pick it up and toss it to the side. He makes it sound so simple:)

I Am Not A Robot – A Wife Needs Adequate Rest

Guest post Thursday!!! This article is brought to you by Sarah Casterline. Sharing her testimony of getting married young, she also explains about the revelation she had of not being designed like a robot. God designed us to need adequate rest to function properly, a reminder we all need at times! Let Sarah know if her article impacted you, especially if you have experienced what she has! Enjoy!

We were married on June 5, 2010, right before we both turned 20 years old.In the fall of 2010, I began my junior year and my husband began the second semester of his junior year (he was ahead of me at first). Thankfully, I have been able to keep my full-time job while taking online courses. My husband, however, can only work a part-time job because science classes and the labs that are required with them cannot be taken online. On top of this, we have also been the associate youth pastors and the worship pastors at our church.

How To Win Him Back From The Other Woman

This is for my friend, I am charm, whose husband has left her and their child and is off having his affair with the other woman.

The statistics for an affair actually working out are very low, I think it is less than 2% of affairs actually turn into marriages, it is most likely not going to work out between him and the other woman, and it probably won’t even last past a year. This is good news for a wife who wants her husband to return to their family. However, you have many disadvantages on your side right now to work through.

A Brush With DEATH In The Mountains

A mountaineer’s true account of survival

It is a close encounter not only with nature but with the God of nature Himself.

Elwin Deo Arroyo 

The hut we’re in shook violently as the howling wind blew hard against it. Although the creaking noise was very annoying, I fell deaf to it. I could do nothing more but slump my body on the floor in utter tiredness.  The coldness of the dark night could render anyone helpless in its temptation to deep slumber.  Even as I closed my eyes to float away into oblivion, sights and picture of the day’s experience still overwhelmed my thoughts.

As I looked blankly at the flickering flame of the kerosene lamp struggling to stay alit against the tease of the wind, I reflected on how my companions, Allan, a fellow student and Jonas, a professional, and I fought hard to stay alive.  The three of us have found shelter at a shanty owned by a widow and her children who warmly welcomed us when we pleaded for help early afternoon.

MORE TO FOLLOW . . . "grace upon grace" . . . .

At the end of the day, a weary child is cradled comfortably at the lap of his loving father. The thrills and cares of the day spin off from his mind as he fights his heavy eyelids. He runs his tender fingers at the face of his father, gathers himself together and draws his lips closer to his father’s right ear. Then he smiles as he whispers almost inaudibly, his hands feeling the sturdy arms and shoulders of his father. The father smiles and nods repeatedly, responding with that usual reassuring voice: "Go to sleep . . . ."

The child’s voice faded into silence as he drifts off to a peaceful sleep.

He had his fill of today’s delights – but he has his cares and desires for tomorrow. His sleep is undisturbed as he had confided everything in his heart to his father. It is enough that his father knows! It is enough that he is in the arms of his father. It is enough that those strong hands embrace his fragile and weary body. The child believes that his father’s love will find a way to satisfy tomorrow’s needs. 

As Father, God is moved by love to provide for all of the needs of His children. 

At times, fatherly love may find it necessary to withhold some material blessings. But the  hand that withholds is also the same hand attached to the heart that loves. That is all we need to know. 

One of the most beautiful Bible passages is that section of the Sermon in the Mount where Jesus speaks movingly to His disciples about the tender care of His Father for all His children. 

“Take no thought for your life,” He says, “ what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink, nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on.  Is not the life more than meat, and the body more than raiment?  Behold the fowls of the air; for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them.  Are ye not much better than they? … 

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin.  And yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?  

Therefore take not thought, saying, What shall we eat? Or, What shall we drink? Or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? …Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.  But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

“Your Father!”  What a tender, reassuring touch these words give. “Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.” 

Our heavenly Father does know our every want, desires and needs.  He is abundantly able and willing to provide. “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32). 

There is no need in our life, however great or small, that God does not know and which He will not fill if it were necessary for our temporal and eternal happiness. “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).

How can I be sure that each succeeding day will find a sufficient measure of His grace and goodness to see me and my loved ones through?  John speaks of the heavenly glory of Jesus: “Of His fullness have all we received – and grace for grace” (John 1:16).  Literally, “grace upon grace.”  

Christ’s goodness pours in upon us as the waves of the sea. As one wave comes crashing to shore, there is always another wave close behind. As the next wave comes frothing in, there is another wave closely following, and another … and another. Christ’s capacity and willingness to provide are like the unending waves of the sea …unlimited, inexhaustible - and eternal. 

A well-to-do man died and left instructions to his wife to give a big portion of his wealth to a poor pastor who had ministered to the family throughout the years. The widow thought it would be best to turn the money over to the pastor in regular installments.  So she mailed him a check for P5,000.00 as a start. Inside the envelop she placed a slip of paper upon which was written: “More to follow.” 

Every two weeks, without fail, the elderly pastor would receive a check with the identical message: “MORE TO FOLLOW.”

“More to follow!”  That is Christ’s unbreakable pledge to all that believe in Him.  The blessings that we receive today are but a pledge for those that we shall receive tomorrow;

And those we receive tomorrow will bear the same pledge of heaven: “MORE TO FOLLOW.” 

”… His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23).

(based on a old devotional from grampaewie's archives)