13 & Counting....

January 20 was my birthday and I turned 13!! On January 20, 2001 I was born again!  As I reflect on the last 13 years I thought it would be good to make a list, so here are 13 things (these are not in any particular order and this is not a comprehensive list, but rather some things I think will encourage and challenge your faith) I have learned since I put my faith in Jesus as my Lord and Savior:

13.  Jesus is the only perfect person.  Everyone else will, at some point, fail me, and I will fail them.  I must embrace failure and the mess that is relationships.  Hebrews 4:15


12.  I can't do it on my own.  Without Jesus, I am nothing.  With Jesus, however, I can do anything!
Phillipians 4:13

11.  Self-centeredness is the root of all grief.  When I think about me, whether good or bad, it always causes problems.  Staying focused on Jesus is the key.  James 3:16

10.  Words really do have the power of life and death.  I choose to speak life.  Proverbs 18:21

9.  Being forgetful is a good thing.  God has forgotten all of my sins, so if I want to follow his example I should not only forgive, but forget others sins against me.  Hebrews 8:12

8.  God wants relationship with me, not results.  Results will follow relationship.  Relationship comes from time in the Word, prayer, singing praise, being thankful, etc.  John 10:14-16

7.  Success is knowing God and doing what He tells me.  Success is not being the best at my particular occupation.  John 17:3-4

6.  I can know God's will and He wants me to know it.  Romans 12:2

5.  I can be friends with Christians with different beliefs than me.  Don't major on the minors.  Romans 14:19  1 Cor 13:2

4.  God wants me to be hopeful (having a confident expectation) about the future, and He wants me to prosper spiritually, emotionally, and physically.  Jeremiah 29:11  Jeremiah 33:6  Psalm 103:3

3.  Jesus was victorious over Satan in his resurrection and delegated to me authority over all of Satan's power in my life.  Luke 10:18-19

2.  People are not crazy just because they speak in tongues.  I grew up thinking that, but they aren't.  It's in the Bible.  Many of the things you will find in scripture, the world would say are crazy.  So I am fine with being crazy.  Mark 16:17  1 Cor 14:1-25

1.  It really is better to have the Holy Spirit than to have Jesus with me in the flesh.  Jesus said it himself, and when I finally realized the awesomeness of being filled with the Holy Spirit, my life was changed forever.  John 16:7

I know from experience that not everyone will agree with me on all of these.  These are revelations the Holy Spirit has given me as I read the Word, and things I have learned from failing miserably as I walked in my flesh.  If you disagree with me, we can still be friends (see #5).  My prayer for you is that as you study God's Word, He will give you wisdom and revelation to know Him better.  That He would flood your heart with light so that you can understand the confident hope He has given you, that you are His holy possession.  I pray that you can understand the incredible greatness of God's power in you, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead and seated Him on the throne at God's right hand!

Have a blessed day!

Keep the fire burning

Have you ever started a fire? I mean without lighter fluid, gas, or any other kind of fuel?  It takes small, thin, dry pieces of wood along with some paper if you have it and a great deal of determination and focus.  I started a fire today and it took me a good 30 minutes to get it burning.  Once the fire started it burned pretty well for about an hour, but it wasn't very hot. Then came the stoke. Stoking is just a fancy word for poking the burning logs with some sort of a metal stick or, as in my case, a water line key. Once I stoked the smoldering logs the flames kicked up and then I was able to place a large log on the fire.  That is what your looking at in this picture. To keep a fire hot once you have started it, you must keep adding fuel (wood in this case) and you must periodically stoke the fire. 

As I was thinkng about my fire, it reminded me of my spiritual passion or fire.  A lot of preparation went into getting it started, but it takes consistent adding of fuel and regular stoking to keep the fire burning hot.  What stokes your spiritual fire?  Dancing to your favorite worship music? Listening to great teaching?  A nature walk? A night of solitude and prayer? I have realized that for me, one of the best stokers for my fire is fasting. If you have never fasted before, I would encourage you to do some research. That's how I learned about it. It's biblical and great for your body.  Fasting is not just something you do before your annual physical. It's a spiritual discipline that I need to plan more consistently in my life. 

I realized today that I don't stoke my fire enough. It burns, but not always very hot. I need to get away for a few days, fast, pray, and listen to The Lord. It's easy to get fired up in your spirit when you know you are hearing from God. It can be hard to recognize his voice if you have found yourself caught up in the busyness of life.  Just like with all things you want to be successful at, you need to have a plan. Make plans to stoke your fire consistently.  Consistent stoking of your fire will keep the fire burning. What stokes your fire? Share in the comments so others can learn new ways to stoke their spiritual fire.