"A Series of Walks" August 2011

What does it mean to walk with God? What evidence is seen in a person's life when they walk with God? This month, JLM launched a new series entitled, "A Series of Walks" to look at the dedicated and powerful walks recorded in the Bible. From the time of Creation, God's desire was to walk among and with His people. That desire hasn't changed. Join us as we explore what it really means to walk with God, and as we commit to walking with Him more often and into more places He wants to lead us.

Part 1, "A Walk in the Garden" God's original desire was to walk with His creation. In the Garden of Gethsemane, we see that God's desire hadn't changed - He still wanted close communion with His people.

Part 2, "What Does It Mean to Walk with God?" We enjoyed the Group Bible Study as everyone shared Scriptures to help answer that question. Together, we discovered that walking with someone increases our 1) Recognition of Them 2) Our Sensitivity to Them 3)Our Awareness of Them. When you walk with someone, you go the direction they go, and if you walk closely enough, arm-in-arm, you are ready to go the direction they go at a moment's notice. That's the kind of walking we've prayed for this week. God, increase our sensitivity to You and help us to walk so close, that when You go any direction, we're right in step with You.

Current Series: "Faith That..."

As JLM worked through the book of Acts blueprint at the beginning of this year, I noticed a recurring ingredient in the early Church that we needed to examine more closely. "Without faith it is impossible to please God." That sounds like a vital ingredient for the Church. For the past three weeks we've examined faith and taken a closer look at our personal faith levels. Some interesting questions have come out of this series, and we're asking these questions no matter how painful the answer.

Part 1: How to Measure Your Faith - What's your faith level? What past hurts or disappointments have lowered that level? Are you believing in and trusting God more or less than when you first believed in Him?

Part 2: How to Build Your Faith - Now that you realize your faith level is not as high as it should be, it's time to rebuild your faith. It's time to get your hopes up again. Asking God to do something only He can do will help rebuild your trust in Him. Serve God with no plan B. Ask of Him, and don't make a back-up plan.

Part 3: Faith That Impresses God - A man with no prior relationship with Jesus Christ had faith in Jesus that caused Him to marvel. After all your experience with Jesus, how marvelous is your faith? Do you believe Jesus has the authority to solve your problem, heal your sickness, just by speaking a word? Wouldn't you love for God to look at your faith level and see "So great a faith..."

Part 4: Faith That Crosses Over - In the Gospel of Luke, chapter 8, Jesus tells His disciples to get in a ship and "go over to the other side." There was a promise in that command: You will make it to the other side. It's sometimes hard to remember those promises when the storm begins and the waves pummel the ship, when it seems like God isn't paying attention to you. But Jesus didn't say, "Let's get in the ship and sink." He promised the disciples they would cross over. Is your faith causing you to cross over to where God is calling you? Or are you holding back and staying on shore because of fear of sinking? One look at the faithful leaps of trapeze artists reminds us: "What you're holding on to is not as trustworthy as He Who wants to catch you."

Part 5: Faith That Wins - Are you tired of losing faith? How about loser faith? You want to ask God, and receive from God. You want to see your faith win. The prophet Elijah wanted this, too. So he entered Jehovah in a "God Contest" against Baal. He was not afraid to trust in God instead of the altars of dependency that others built. What non-God are you waiting on for a reply? Who or what are your altars of faith built to? If you're hoping in anything more than Jesus, tear down those altars and put your faith in the One Who will win the God Contest. You've got to have faith to ask God to be THE God of your life. And He will respond.

Current Series: "The Heart of..."

Examining the spiritual conditions of our hearts can be a painful procedure. It's also a vital necessity. Even King David, a man after God's own heart,prayed: "Search me, O God, and know my heart, try me, and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." (Psalm 139:23-24)

That prayer of openness and vulnerability before God has been the blueprint for JLM as we have continued looking at the issues of our hearts over the past few weeks. A vital necessity? Absolutely. At the heart of many of our battles are unresolved issues of the heart. And enemies of the heart work their way in through issues of the heart that were never worked out.

This prayer: "Search me, O God, and know my heart..." is one of those prayers that God is ready to answer instantly. I encourage you to pray it, but be ready for the things that will be illuminated in the dark corners of your heart as God shines His light on them. Pray this prayer when you mean it, and God will respond much quicker than you might expect.

During this series, I have been behind the pulpit preaching the messages, but I have not been immune to the conviction and challenges of the Word of God. I have felt God stirring my heart and revealing things that He wants to minister to; areas that I have put band-aids on instead of allowing a complete healing.

How about you? Are you ready to open up to God's close scrutiny? Are there childhood wounds that have dictated the course of your life? Are there old hurts that still cause pain and dominate you? Do you have unresolved issues in your heart that you keep running from or trying to camouflage? One thing I have become more aware of over the past few weeks: God never intended for us to be held captive by these wounds within us. Freedom from them is possible. It begins with vulnerability and humility in the presence of the Beloved Physician.

Coming Up...Road Work Ahead

A new series will start soon at Joyful Life Ministries, as we look at the road we're on, toward Christ or away from Him. What are the curves in the road? Do we have barricades to stop us from veering into danger? What about all that traffic going the other direction? Check out the Joyful Life Web site to get updates on the new series starting dates: www.JoyfulLifeMinistries.com

Boxes

We've had a powerful month at JLM as our series on "Boxes" covered the strongholds we have in our lives, our minds, and our community. As we head toward this month's Life Group meeting, we're preparing to discuss the "House Made of Thoughts" and the potential strongholds that physical struggles present in our lives.

If you'd like to catch up on the previous messages in this series please visit the JLM site on iTunes or listen online at the church Web site: www.JoyfulLifeMinistries.com

One Body

I'm so proud to see what JLM is accomplishing as a church. The relationships that are forming confirm that we are helping God build a great place to bring people together. Several of us come from different backgrounds and it's amazing to see how God combines us into "one body." In November, we'll rebuild and invest in a ministry that will expand these relationships even more!

Children's Ministry 101

I'm really excited about our next service at JLM! On Wednesday night we'll have the first course in our new Ministry Development training series. CHM 101 will kick off our training series with three Professors who will share some insight into The Power of Sunday School, Reaching Out to Kids, and The Ingredients of Children's Ministry.

I plan to turn our usual Wednesday night schedule on its head: participants will each take part in the course topics in a few unique ways, requiring them to return to their childhood for an evening as we prepare to reach kids for the Kingdom. Imaginations will be reignited. Silly hats will be worn. And no students will receive their official Certificate of Completion for the course until they have successfully sculpted a balloon animal dog!

Rick McGee, Pastor
Joyful Life Ministries