To my students who went to Compelled by Love, it's been a week since we were in Portsmouth. How are things going? Many challenges were tossed at us, challenges that made us think about how we are to act and respond to those around us.
One that I would like you to look at this week is how can you remain close to God away from an event like convention. I call it the pursuit of a deeper relationship that moves beyone the emotion and feelings. Last fall at our retreat to Singing Hills I preached about Elijah having to learn to how God speaks even in the valley. For us it's the city, town and school. It's the "away from convention" place. Did anything change in your spiritual walk? Are you pursuing God, digging deeper, and putting into practice the things he spoke to you? That's the real reason we go and hear someone like Chilly Chilton. So we can learn how to work and walk in the "valley".
So I got a few things for you: Prayer, His Word, and Stepping out.
1) Prayer: It's here that we learn to speak to and hear from God. The book of Acts is filled with times of prayer and God moving as a result. A lot of those times were quiet pleadings of the Church for direction, salvation and healing. Through the Holy Spirit, God spoke and the Church grew and moved in power! Start here, it's the key to success as God is always faithful to speak to you!
2) His Word: If we dig into his Word as we pray, God speaks through it and reveals things to us that we need to be successful for him. Without his word, we become directionless and weak. Chilly told you that it IS GOD'S WORD his VERY WORD and you should be excited everytime you open your Bible because it is GOD speaking to you. Study it, pray through it and apply it to your life. Store it up in your hearts, and he will use it to light your path toward whatever task he has for you.
3) Step out: Once you are prayed up and studied up are you called to sit in a room all by yourself smiling cuz you found the key to the best party in town? NO! God calls us to share what we have found, we are to invite those who don't know yet to come and see what God has for them. We did not receive from God so we could be selfish, but that we could be like Jesus: Self-LESS. Sharing the good news with friends and enemies!
Let me know what God has been doing. Has he spoken to you, called you or used you to touch the lives of those around you. Let's mess with the world and practice radical acts of forgivness and Love. Overcome evil with good! Love those who are unlovable, in fact invite them to youth group! The P.O.W.'s of your community need someone who is: "just in the neighborhood." Get that Chuck Norris evangelism going, cuz the enemy ain't gonna give 'em up without a fight. What he doesn't get is that he is already defeated because you have overcome by the blood of the LAMB AND the WORD of your testimony. [Rev 12:11]
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