The Spirit and Attitude of Jesus

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ⁸ Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. ⁹ Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.       — Philippians 4:4-11

Philippians is a letter written to the church of Philippi. Paul pours his heart out to these believers by encouraging them to do whatever it took to know Christ more and share in His suffering. It appears that there were many spiritually mature Christians in their ranks. There were signs of revival in the air. Paul seems to be talking to them as a brother and sister in the faith and reminding them of the state of mind they should always be in. He talks about contentment, about how things that happen to you are for the purpose of furthering the Gospel message of Jesus Christ, and that our attitude should be the same as Christ Jesus. You can’t help but see the theme of “rejoicing always” throughout the whole book. Let me encourage you to read Philippians this week. As you gather around the table at Thanksgiving, allow the spirit and attitude of Jesus to come spilling through every word that comes from your mouth. There is no time to get caught up in the ways of the world. Let the God of peace fill you with everything you need to thrive this Thanksgiving.

We are praising the Lord that Lee Burgard’s battle with cancer is over. His faith has become sight. What an impact his life has made on this church. We will forever remember his servant attitude in everything he did.

This Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent. Come prepared to usher in this Christmas season as we celebrate Jesus and His presence in our life. We are excited to reveal our Christmas project this year. I am looking forward to a great day on Sunday…

Joy in Jesus!

Pastor Mike

www.findlayfirstnaz.org

Obedient to Christ

“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”   2 Corinthians 10:3-5

Learning to capture every thought and make it obedient to Jesus Christ is an indispensable tool for believers to use in pursuing their spiritual aspirations. This process involves consciously bringing the presence of Jesus into various settings and asking whether our thoughts and actions are truly honoring Him.

My heart is saddened by the passing of Brad and Kathy Meyers' son. This is a time to take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ. I can’t imagine the pain that is ripping through the family. The enemy of our soul is going to do whatever he can to destroy the temple of God. The Scripture says that he is the father of lies. Let’s pray for the Lord to minister in the midst of this pain. Their son has two sons of his own that we will need to pray for.

I spent a few minutes sitting down and talking with one of the carpet layers this afternoon. He is in the midst of chemotherapy treatments and I was able to share about Cammi and the hope we have. If you think about it, pray for our construction workers who are on the job site. We all need Jesus. My prayer is that they will feel the tug of the Holy Spirit as we pray in the Spirit in all occasions. There are many opportunities to take captive every thought and discussion and make it obedient to Christ.

The renovations are moving full steam ahead. Lots of things to do but it is all going well. We will update you on Sunday.

May God bless you as you follow God’s Word with all your heart.

Joy in Jesus!

Pastor Mike

When I Think About the Lord

When I Think About the Lord

Jason Breland wrote a song entitled, “When I Think About the Lord.” In the midst of “stuff” going on today, I have been drawn to just think about the Lord today. Practicing the presence of the Lord is one thing that will pick you up from where you are and encourage your heart. I believe that is what the Book of Psalms is all about. Spending time focusing on and praising the Lord in the midst of whatever situation you find yourself, is good for the soul. So today I am going to put the words to this song before you as you turn to Him.

When I think about the Lord. How He saved me. How He raised me. How He filled me with the Holy Ghost. How He healed me to the uttermost. When I think about the Lord. How He picked me up, and turned me around. How He placed my feet, on solid ground.

{1} When I think about the Lord. How He saved me. How me raised me. How He filled me with the Holy Ghost. How He healed me to the uttermost.

{2} When I think about the Lord. How He picked me up, and turned me around. How He placed my feet, on solid ground.

{Chorus} It makes me wanna shout, Hallelujah. Thank you Jesus. Lord you're worthy. Of all the Glory. And all the Honor. And all the praise. It makes me wanna shout. Hallelujah. Thank you Jesus. Lord you're worthy. Of all the Glory. And all the Honor. And all the praise.

Remain as close as possible to the Shepherd today. He will never fail you. He is both our protection and blessing.

I was telling someone the other day that I have been enjoying worshipping in the Family Life Center. God is doing some wonderful things in the life of our church. Come this Sunday anticipating the Lord to do miraculous things.

Joy in Jesus!

Pastor Mike

PS. Pray for Upward Basketball Evaluations. This is the last evaluation night. Come on out and help if you are available. We have had several come out and help during this evaluation. We are so blessed to be able to spread the love of Jesus to our community through this ministry.

Just Tell Me, Lord

Have you ever caught yourself saying, “If God would just tell me what to do, I’d do it!” In Jeremiah 41-43 there was a group of survivors who said that very same thing. Look at what they said to Jeremiah, “Pray that the Lord your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do” Jeremiah 42:3. They continued, “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with everything the Lord your God sends you to tell us. Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, we will obey the Lord our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it will go well with us, for we will obey the Lord our God” Jeremiah 42:5-6. It sounds like they are making a promise and are truly seeking the will of God in their life.

Ten days later the word of God came to Jeremiah, and it wasn’t something they wanted to hear. They said to Jeremiah, “You are lying! The Lord our God has not sent you to say, ‘You must not go to Egypt to settle there’” Jeremiah 43:2. Unfortunately, this response led to their demise.

Could that be a reflection of the tendency we fall into? One minute we are saying, “Lord, just tell me which direction to go; show me what to do?” Then we don’t like the direction the Lord is taking us and we go the way we wanted to go in the first place. Our predetermined agendas get in the way of what God desires us to do. When does God speak to you the most? For me, it is when I am experiencing a “revival” in my spirit. When I put Him first in all things and have kept true to His word, those are the times I hear the Holy Spirit the most. When He speaks, I am only to respond and follow with my whole heart.

If there is ever anyone who would question the direction of their life, it would be Joni Eareckson Tada. At the young age of 17, she dove into Chesapeake Bay after misjudging the shallowness of the water. A fracture in her lower cervical area caused her to become paralyzed from the shoulders down. After the first two years of therapy, she experienced every emotion you could experience. Eventually she learned how to paint with a brush between her teeth, and her ministry began from there. Today she has written several books, has a radio program, is happily married, an advocate for the disabled and the list goes on and on. In 2010 she was diagnosed with breast cancer and is doing well after treatment. Needless to say, she is a miracle of God.

In her book, Glorious Intruder, Joni writes, “You may wish the road Jesus sent you on had a turnaround. Maybe you’ve even been tempted to shift into reverse and back away from His direction. Listen. Just take those road hazards – the potholes, ruts, detours, and all the rest – as evidence that you’re on the right route. It’s when you find yourself on that big, broad, easy road that you ought to worry.”

Simple obedience is the key to living a fulfilling, God fearing life. Serve Him blindly and He will take you to places you never thought possible.

Enjoy the summer weather in November. Maybe this will be a year of opposites. We will experience Florida weather and Florida will experience Ohio weather. Ok, maybe not. But we can enjoy it while it is here.

Joy in Jesus!

Pastor Mike