Good morning to you again, my friends! I'm looking forward to digging into our last week of Stand with YOU! Last week for input and questions... if there is anything on your heart, please let us know!

I enjoyed our discussion on sharing. It is clear (and so awesome!!!) That sharing is:
1. For OUR benefit as well (Philemon 1:6) You should be active in sharing your faith, so that YOU will have a full understanding of the hope that you profess.
2. For the benefit of others. Check this one from Psalms out:

I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things, things from of old - we will tell them to our children, we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, His power, and the wonders He has done. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget His deeds but would keep His commands. The would not be like our forefathers - a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to Him. Psalm 78:2,4,7-8

Today I want you to really hone in on something. We've talked at great detail about how the Lord has equipped you (history, His word, access to Him, etc.) trained you (your history, His word, example of others, perspective, praise, etc.) and gone before you, always seeing you as you STAND for Him. Now let's turn our gaze a bit and focus on this angle of it:

He has equipped you,
He has trained you,
He has gone before you,
He is the One who sees you.

The ability to KNOW God is for YOU. The ability to teach others is for YOU. The ability to see miracles is for YOU. The ability to share the Lord with others is for YOU. I Think very often we separate ourselves from really, really KNOWING these things. We are raised to think a certain way, and to place different people into certain roles.


There is a danger as we learn from and observe others (which is so necessary!) that we miss the voice of God in our OWN PERSONAL LIVES. Let's obey the Lord in seeking, hearing, and learning from the counsel of others, but let's never TRADE it for what is best: Hearing His voice ourselves. That's one reason why it's so important to remember what He has done in your own life and to share it with others!

This is so important: Please check out these verses:
Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. I have for I meditate on your statutes. I have more insight than all my teachers,more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts. I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word, I have not departed from your laws, for you yourself have taught me. How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path. Psalm 119:97-104

Please also read these: Especially notice the phrase "He enables me to STAND" :) Psalm 18:25-48, Psalm 16:7-8

The well-known apologist Ravi Zaccharias (WOW talk about a man who knows, loves and is instructed by the Lord!!!!) made me think through this... and it's an awesome change of perspective:

Jesus did not come to the earth to make bad people good. He is not in the business of focusing on behaviors, clothing, or appearance. Jesus came to this world to make dead people live. He came to give them a NEW LIFE. He came to open the eyes of the blind, open the ears of the deaf, and to set captives free!!! HALLELUJAH WHAT A SAVIOR!!!!

For today:
Are you living as if for a God who makes bad people good, or dead people live? Just how hard are you really seeking and applying the truth... personally?

For discussion:
Let's give some bullet point outlines as to what our responsibilites are as children of God.