TEMPTATION

If you haven't noticed, it's been a week since there has been a post to OneThought. This was intentional. Lately, there has been a temptation to cheat God and make OneThought "the thing". I've been replacing my times with God with times of looking for the Scripture to teach from. It became an idol and I stopped looking forward to it, seeing it more of a burden.

My intention is to re-evaluate what I'm doing here. I think there may be a place for this, but not the place it has had in my life lately. I would ask for prayers as to what shape it may take, if any. So, for now, we'll be on hold for a while. Thanks for reading.

STORIES

He taught by using stories, many stories. - Mark 4:2




We're at Story Conference today. Ben Arment is a fantastic vision caster who understands that the gospel is fundamentally a STORY.

As Jesus taught, He used stories to allow people to see themselves. With the parable of the seeds we see what it means to be fertile soil for God. In the parable of the lost sheep, we see the very heart of God, no resting until that sheep was found.

My friend, Rob Wegner, posted about five stories that interweave throughout Scripture. His post is brilliant.

Seeing our stories as part of the bigger stories is critical for us. We begin to understand that our small contributions play a part in building the Kingdom.

ThoughtPrayer: "God, help us see our stories in the light of Your story."

ThoughtSong: Kristian Stanfill "The Kingdom"

COVERED

Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. - Romans 4:7

ThoughtPrayer: "Lord Jesus, we thank You that by Your blood, our sins are covered, washed white as snow. We can approach the throne of the Father with great confidence in the work You performed on our behalf upon the cross. We have no righteousness on our own to stand before God but in You we firmly put our trust, knowing that You paid in full the debt that each of us owes. Thank You Jesus for establishing a way to an eternal relationship with the Father. We pray this in Your precious name."

ThoughtSong: Kristian Stanfill "Jesus Paid it All"

FASTING

Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. - Isaiah 58:6,10

Through the prophet Isaiah, God makes an important statement about a spiritual discipline that we practice even today. There are certainly personal benefits to fasting: building intimacy with God, cleansing the body, loosening earthly attachments, etc. But what Isaiah told the nation of Judah was that their fasting (part of their ritual obedience to God) was ultimately hypocritical since the poor and oppressed in their land were going without food.

The question is: are things today all that much different? For the Western Church, do we really sacrifice in order to heed the words of Isaiah? Do I personally commit my life to giving the needy not only a hand out, but a hand up?

So, fasting that moves beyond the self (vertically to God and horizontally to others) is the kind that honors God. If mere personal piety is the only goal, then we are missing an entire facet of the fasting experience that is critical. Our God desires us to be agents of freedom. Only then can His light shine through us.

Possible action steps:

Join LiquidWater on a water fast

Sponsor a Compassion Child

Investigate being part of the Advent Conspiracy this Christmas

Volunteer as part of Habitat for Humanity

For Granger Community Church attendees join us at Second Saturday

ThoughtPrayer: "Lord, shine Your light through us."

ThoughtSong: Leeland "Follow You"

FILLED

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. - Ephesians 5:18-19

My friend, Rob Wegner gives a message about pressure, saying that when we are squeezed, what comes out is what is at our core. If and when stress comes, how we handle it says a lot about our connection with God. If, at these times, we tend towards anger, despair, or bitterness, this can show us how maybe some of our reliance is not so much on God, but on our circumstances or a desire to be in control.

God uses our circumstances to draw us closer to Him.

Paul, in his prayer for the Ephesians (and for all of us), is that we are FILLED to the measure with God, so that when life gets hard, our lives become a greater reflection of Christ. Jesus, gave us the greatest example of handling stress when in Gethsemane He said, "yet not my will, but Yours be done." My prayer for us, today, is that we are so FILLED with Christ that no matter what we face, our lives will reflect Jesus.

ThoughtPrayer: "Lord, fill us today with the fullness of You."

ThoughtSong: Todd Fields "It is Well"

This post is available at www.onethought.net and www.twitter.com/onethought

RENEWING

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. - Romans 12:2

This side of heaven, all of us will experience a degree of battle in our minds. There is a war raging between the old self and the new. This is encouraged by Satan and his demons who will attempt to capitalize on our weaknesses. But God did not leave us alone to fight this war. He gave us His Holy Spirit to walk with us in the battle.

Watching for patterns of thinking that lead to destructive behavior is key to defeating these patterns. As we look to replace the old ways of thinking, we need to have Scripture in our minds that speak against the negative. Take some time to find and memorize verses that directly attack the areas in which we struggle. Even today's verse can be helpful in the battle of the mind.

ThoughtPrayer: "Spirit, You are with us. Renew us by transforming our thoughts."

ThoughtSong: Kim Hill "Renew My Mind"

This post is available at www.onethought.net and www.twitter.com/onethought

SILENT

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak. - Ecclesiastes 3:1,7

The past few days have been ones of relative silence for me. I've stopped twittering/facebooking/blogging, just to seek God and get a better perspective. There are times for everything as the writer of Ecclesiastes reminds us. I'm going to give very little direction here other than asking us to let God give us wisdom as to what is most appropriate now. Surely not every moment should be spent in silence since people need to hear that they matter to God. But we also might learn to cut back on chatter that really doesn't matter all that much.

My prayer for us today is that we are able to discern what is best and most helpful for the Kingdom. You are in my prayers today.

ThoughtQuote: "If we practised silence a little bit more, then when we did speak we'd have something to say." - John Skinner

ThoughtSong: Eden's Bridge "Seascape"

This post is available at www.onethought.net and www.twitter.com/onethought