Remember the wonders he has performed, his miracles, and the rulings he has given.  – Psalm 105:5

As we have been reading through Mark together, you would think that the people who experienced the power of the Kingdom of God in their lives would never forget. Don’t you think the guy who was paralyzed for years, but walked away, would never forget the day his friends lowered him down in front of Jesus? How about disciples who watched Jesus still the waves with the power of His words? Certainly, the man that had been possessed with thousands of demons and driven from society would never forget the day that Jesus came to town and set him free.

But the truth is that it is human nature to forget. The children of Israel forgot the way that God had set them free from Egypt, how He made them pass the Red Sea on dry ground. Why is it that we tend to forget what the Lord has done for us? Perhaps it’s because it’s easy to focus on what we don’t have in the moment instead of what God has provided for us.

As we are reading through the gospel according to Mark together and see all these great things the Lord has done for others, I want you to pause and think about what the Lord has done for you. Why remember? When you remember what He has done for you in the past, you are reminding yourself what He is capable to accomplish in your future.

Would you take a few minutes right now to think about, remember, what the Lord has done in your past?  Why not take a few minutes to jot them down in a journal? I pray that as you are thanking God for what He has done in your past, you are filled with faith for what is yet to come in your future. Every miracle experienced today is meant to build your faith for tomorrow.

Thank you for joining me for these first 3 days of prayer and fasting for the month of November. Know that I love and thank God for you!

So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.  – Hebrews 4:16

Do you hear the invitation in that passage of Scripture? Let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. The Holy Spirit not only invites you to come to the throne of our gracious God, He even tells you how to come—boldly!

I love it when the kids come over to the house and they come boldly! They head right for the refrigerator and start looking through the cupboards for something to eat. The thing I love about this is that they know that what is mine… is theirs, too!

How would your prayers shift if you realized that what God has… is yours? It almost sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? Yet listen to what the Word of God clearly tells us:

You can tell for sure that you are now fully adopted as his own children because God sent the Spirit of his Son into our lives crying out, “Papa! Father!” Doesn’t that privilege of intimate conversation with God make it plain that you are not a slave, but a child? And if you are a child, you’re also an heir, with complete access to the inheritance.  – Galatians 4:6-7 MSG

The Biblical way to come to God is boldly! It’s not groveling, hoping maybe if He’s not too busy He will listen to you. What will happen at that throne? YOU WILL RECEIVE! The only people that leave the throne of grace empty-handed, are the people that are full of themselves. But when you come empty, when you come knowing that you need His help, we walk away from the throne of our gracious God with our lives full of everything we need.

Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great earthquake: “Blessed be the glory of the Lord from its place.”  – Ezekiel 3:12
The Spirit lifted me up and took me away.  – Ezekiel 3:14
Then the Lord took hold of me…  – Ezekiel 3:22
Then the Spirit came into me and set me on my feet.  – Ezekiel 3:24

Four times in Ezekiel 3, we read about the Spirit taking hold of Ezekiel, lifting him up, speaking to him, and coming into him. For years I have loved this picture of the Holy Spirit taking hold of me. Sometimes we make the mistake of thinking that everything is up to us… as if it is up to us to get hold of the Holy Spirit when He is the one that takes hold of us.

I have more confidence in His ability to hold onto me, than I do in my ability to hold onto Him!

Sometimes I picture a little child crossing the road holding onto the hand of their mom or dad. If a car is coming and the child is distracted by something they see on the pavement, we both know what will happen next – the parent will grab a hold of that child and take them to safety. The safety of that child has nothing to do with the child’s ability to hold onto mom or dad, and everything to do with the parent’s ability to hold onto that child.

Take courage, my friend, the Holy Spirit is taking hold of you. The hand of the Lord is coming upon you. The power of the Kingdom of God is coming inside of you and setting you on your feet! You have no need to fear the things you face. You don’t have to wonder how you are going to make it to the other side – the King is taking you by the hand.

A few simple questions for you today:

1. What do you sense the Lord speaking to you about today?
2. Where is He taking you in this current season of your life?
3. What is the Spirit giving you boldness to face this week?

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
– Philippians 4:6-7

 Years ago, instead of taking my big dog for a walk, I decided I would let him pull me on a skateboard. Well… it wasn’t pretty. He was dragging me all over the place and we were going much faster than I had expected. Before I knew it – crash!

Sometimes in families, we may feel like we’re getting pulled all over the place, too much, too fast, and then the crash. If we live in this state of worry and stress, we get dragged all over the place. Our minds will wander to a million different “what if” scenarios. What if I can’t make it through this? What if she doesn’t come back? What if the deal doesn’t go through? The path of “what ifs” is an ugly one.

My friend, God has a better path for you… the pathway of peace. It’s a path that is void of worry. It’s a path that is not ruled by fear. It’s a path of unusual, supernatural peace! Regardless of the challenges that you or your family face, you can have peace.  How?

1. Choose peace!
   Just as you can choose to worry, you can choose peace. It’s your call. I used to have a list of things in my office that I chose not to worry about! Instead, I chose peace!
2. Pray about everything.
   Take the emotional energy you would waste on worry and spend it in prayer.  He cares about the things that concern you!

Thank God for what He has already done.
A thankful heart is key to having a peaceful heart.

Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake, I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain. – Philippians 3:8

All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better. – Colossians 1:10

The goal of every Christian can be boiled down to this one thing—to know God. This is my desire for your life, that with every day, knowing Jesus becomes increasingly valuable to you!

There is such depth in that word “know.” It means to be familiar with; to know by personal acquaintance; to know something on the basis of your personal observation; to begin to experience. As far as Paul was concerned, there was nothing more important than knowing Jesus. There he was, chained up in prison, and his greatest desire was to know Jesus and to know Him better. His biggest concern was not about how wrong he was being treated. His prayer for you and me was that we, too, would know Jesus and we would know Him better. As a spiritual father, he spoke of what he wanted most for his family… he wanted them to know Jesus.

Paul said that your growth is linked to knowing God better and better. How can you make that become a reality for yourself and your family?

1. Plan to encounter Him every day in the Bible! If you haven’t started reading the Bible, then start in the gospel according to Mark… you’ll want to get started today.
2. Intentionally get around other believers that know Jesus. Life Groups, Activity Groups, and Serving Groups are all great places to do just that. The fact is that nobody spiritually succeeds alone.

Join me on Sunday mornings as we continue going through the book of Mark, verse by verse. The gospel according to Mark is like watching a motion picture of the life of Jesus!

“Where there is no vision; the people perish…” Proverbs 29:18

There was a young boy in elementary school in Arizona whose father was a horse jockey. They were poor and had little to nothing, but he had BIG dreams for his future. The students were given an assignment to write down their dreams in life. The young boy was excited because he had always dreamed of owning his own ranch complete with lots of racehorses.

This was one assignment that he knew he would do well on because he knew exactly what he wanted his future to look like. He was shocked when he received his paper back from the teacher and was told that it was not acceptable. His teacher told him that his dream could never happen. He was to either rewrite the paper with a realistic dream or he would receive a failing grade.

He took the failing grade because that was his dream. Years later after graduating from college, he looked up his 6^th grade teacher and flew him out to his private ranch, complete with lots of racehorses! Then he reminded his teacher what he had told him as a little boy years ago – that his dream could never happen. The teacher apologized and said that he would never again kill another person’s vision.

God has wired you to think in terms of pictures. Your eyes take in millions of bits of information each second and create pictures in your mind. Your mind automatically converts words to pictures. So here’s the question of the day: What is the vision—the picture you have of your future?  What is the big dream God has put in your heart? What’s your picture of your relationship with God—what do you want that to look like? How about the picture of your marriage or family? Career? Ministry?

Here’s the thing: You will never rise above your vision, but if you can see the invisible, you can accomplish the impossible! Dare to dream big! Remember that God is able to do far more than you dare ask, think, or imagine. Dare to have a vision for your life that is so big that it will outlive you!

God has given me big dreams and visions for what is to come at Mount Hope Church and our community. Thank you for joining me for these three days of fasting and prayer this month. Together, we will see these dreams become a reality!

The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is a wonderful teacher, and he gives the farmer great wisdom. – Isaiah 28:29

I recently attended a seminar that included a few different teachers. I noticed that I left some classes thinking that the teacher was really smart, while I left other classes with the impression that the teacher really wanted to help me. It seems that the greatest teachers are those that want to help you, not the ones that can convince you how smart they are.

Now, stop right here and think about this: The Lord is a wonderful teacher… He wants to help you! The same Lord who gives the farmer great wisdom will do the same for you. A farmer cannot make his crops grow, but the Lord gives him great wisdom so he knows when to plant and how to create an environment that is conducive to growth. He teaches the farmer how to receive a harvest. Why? He wants to help.

Is there something in your life you would like some help with? Would you love to talk to an expert in that area? The Lord will be your teacher! He will give every parent great wisdom. He will show you how to create an environment in your children’s lives that will foster growth. He will give you words to speak into your children that will go into them like seeds and bring forth a great harvest.

He will give wisdom to every business owner and student. He will give every married couple the wisdom they need to have an amazing marriage. He will give you great wisdom to help you navigate through the current season you find yourself in. Take heart, my friend! The Lord, who made the heavens and the earth, is a wonderful teacher and it’s His delight to help you! Hey, you don’t have to do this alone – the King is waiting to help!

God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.
– Psalm 46:1

As kids growing up, we had these little colored pieces of cardstock that had Bible verses on them. My mom was sure to make sure that we Berry boys were hearing the word of God and hiding it in our hearts. There were a few verses that she made sure we committed to memory, such as, “Do everything without complaining and arguing” (Phil. 2:14). I can only guess why she found it necessary for us to memorize that verse. 😊

Another verse that stands out and has been so very helpful is, “God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble” (Psalm 46:1). Mom made sure that we understood that God is our ever-present help! Yes, we will have times of trouble. Anybody who tells you otherwise is simply not talking about the real world we live in. What I want you to see is that when trouble comes, God is already there!

He is always ready to help. He is the Lord who is with you. He is the creator of the heavens and the earth. He is for you, not against you! He is the loving Father that has adopted you through faith in Christ into His family.

I don’t know what trouble you face today, but I do know that you don’t have to face it alone. The Lord’s disposition toward you is one of compassion that moves Him to act on your behalf. Think about this for a minute – The Lord who holds the earth between His fingers is holding your hand today.

He picks up the whole earth as though it were a grain of sand.
– Isaiah 40:15

Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.
– Psalm 37:24