Dan O’Deens Blogspot

Have you ever been so low that you feel like the only place to go is up?   The New Testament says that in our weakness He is made strong.   When I am low, He is high!   Lamentations 3 gives us the assurance that because of the Lord’s great love we are NOT consumed, for his compassions never fail.  v. 22

Do you ever want to speak out and defend yourself?  v. 26 It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.   I am generally NOT a good ‘waiter.’   But…Isaiah says, those who WAIT on the Lord, get to be renewed.  I am in need of renewal.  

Sometimes for renewal to take place in a persons life we have to open ourselves up for personal examination.  v. 40  Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.   

Most often the one that we will find our source of encouragement from is the Lord himself.  That is who we need to cry out to.  v. 56 & 57  You heard my plea: ‘Do not close your ears to my cry for relief.’  You came near when I called to you, and you said, do not fear.’    

Do you ever feel like taking up your own case?  Defending yourself from those who seemingly have misunderstood your hearts intentions?   v. 58  O, Lord, you took up my case;  You redeemed my life.

Bottom Line:  God ALWAYS has your back, when you turn to Him!  Let him take up your cause.  v. 59

Joel 2:12-14   “Return to me with all your heart with fasting and weeping and mourning.  Rend your heart and not your garments.  Return to the Lord your God for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.  Who knows?  He may turn and relent, and leave behind a blessing.”

As Gateway Church seeks to take “it” to the next level what might that include?   Let us first be clear that ‘it’ is something special from God.  (from him, by him, for him)  ‘it’ happens!   I so want “it”.   I want God to be glorified in His fulness at Gateway.   So, How do we get ‘it’ ?

The essence of how to get ‘it’:  PRAY:

1.     Stretch me:  Obey him in whatever he says, even the stuff that is only HIMPOSSIBLE

2.     Heal Me:   I need to take a step forward – into his presence and out of my shell, into the authority of God. 

3.     Ruin Me:  Wreck me.  Rip my heart with weeping, mourning and fasting.  I need to let things break me that break the heart of God.

 CAUTION:   This kind of prayer is not for the weak.  He will answer and it will be one of the most painful yet glorious moments of your life.   

I got up on this foggy fall Sunday, and this verse, ‘This is the day that the Lord has made, Let us rejoice and be glad in it.’ came to mind. Let me give you 5 Things I love about Sundays!
1. I get to be with the people of God. It’s a family re-union every week.
2. I get to serve with the people of God, those people who come to visit that are far from God. The church does not exist for the people of God, but for the World.
3. I get challenged with a message that motivates be to be a ‘doer of the word, not just a hearer only.’
4. I get to be in the presence of God, lead by an incredible worship team that takes me to a higher level. I love our worship.
5. I get to come home and be with my family and have our ‘traditional’ pot roast, mashed potatoes, carrots, and corn. We as a family are generally all in one place and can sit together for a meal and enjoy one another.

What do you love about SUNDAY?

Well, now….I can’t really tell you that now can I?     Who’s going to fix the economy?  I love the thought of Dave Ramsey, Financial Peace University expert.

The answer YOU are.  You’re going to fix the economy because your personal economy is up to you. It’s not Washington’s job to fix what’s going on with you. If you are waiting on Washington to change something, you’ve got a long wait.  The government doesn’t have the capacity to fix your problems. 

As bad as USA Today meant a recent article to be about what we think of the suffering economy and upcoming election, I think it’s rather encouraging that no one thinks that President Bush or Barack Obama or John McCain can fix the economy!  I do know of the one who is worth following that can lead us back and revitalize our nation and our lives!  (Hint…it’s not the candidate you will be voting for in November.   His name is JESUS!  

This may be the beginning of the biggest level of prosperity this nation has ever known if we don’t look to a candidate to fix our lives. How about we say, “I’m going to vote for the candidate who’s going to fix the nation. I’m going to fix my life.”

So when you go to the polls in a few days to cast your vote, don’t get caught up in following a political party or candidate without knowing the issues they support. Do your research so you can make educated decisions.  Pray for the PEACE of God to rule in your heart…then VOTE.   And remember YOU are the economy, YOU are America, YOU are the church!   There is no THEY….only YOU!    

When I was a young kid, I was sold out to Jesus, yet frustrated with the tough realities of the Christian life. A dear pastor’s wife, gave me this pamphlet. It was called, Others Can, You Cannot. It’s word still ring true in my life. It’s all about Jesus! Thanks for the reminder…Again! ENJOY!

Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

If God has called you to be really like Christ in all your spirit, He will draw you into a life of crucifixion and humility and put on you such demands of obedience, that He will not allow you to follow other Christians, and in many ways He will seem to let other good people do things which He will not let you do.

Others can brag on themselves, and their work, on their success, on their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing, and if you begin it, He will lead you into some deep mortification that will make you despise yourself and all you good works.

The Lord will let others be honored and put forward, and keep you hid away in obscurity because He wants to produce some choice fragrant fruit for His glory, which can be produced only in the shade.

Others will be allowed to succeed in making money, but it is likely God will keep you poor because he wants you to have something far better than gold and that is a helpless dependence on Him; that He may have the privilege of supplying your needs day by day – out of an unseen treasury.

God will let others be great, but He will keep you small. He will let others do a great work for Him and get credit for it, but He will make you work and toil on without knowing how much you are doing; and then to make your work still more precious, He will let others get the credit for the work you have done, and this will make your reward ten times greater when He comes.

The Holy Spirit will put strict watch over you, with a jealous love, and will rebuke you for little words and feelings, or for wasting your time, which other Christians never seem distressed over.

So make up your mind that God is an infinite Sovereign, and has a right to do what He pleases with His own, and He will not explain to you a thousand things which may puzzle your reason in His dealing with you. He will wrap you up in a jealous love, and let other people say and do many things that you cannot do or say.

Settle it forever, that you are to deal directly with the Holy Spirit, and that He is to have the privilege of tying your tongue, or chaining your hand, or closing your eyes, in ways that others are not dealt with.

Now, when you are so possessed with the Living God that you are, in your secret heart, pleased and delighted over this particular personal, private, jealous guardianship and management of the Holy Spirit over your life, you will have found the vestibule of heaven.

–G. D. Watson

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Philippians 1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Romans 14:12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.

Run in such a way to WIN the prize.   I get so excited about winning!  Winning…not for ‘my’ glory, but for the glory of God.  Winning, not in a way such as to win the prize by myself, but to bring as many people across the finish line with me.    

This past week the farmer arrived on our property and harvested the beans and corn.   One day SOON, the Lord is going to come and harvest and deliver us from darkness to his glorious kingdom.   

The OT has a brief story about a deliverer and a farmer.  His name is Shamgar.  (Judges 3:31)  This farmer gives us a great picture as to how to use the Gospel – “the good news” for God’s glory!   He started where he was, he used what he had to deliver the people, and he did what he could.

Don’t let anyone in this race called life beat you in:  GIVING – Give Much;  LOVING – Love Much;  SERVING – Serve Much;  BELIEVING – Believe God for much.

Those tools are in all of our toolboxes.   How will we use what we have to accomplish His Mission for us?

How cool is this? This is not staged. This is a picture of our new building going up. Front and center is an old telephone pole and wires. A crimson cross! Oh the blood of Jesus! It gives freedom and hope to people who are far from Jesus and for those who are near! Your freedom has everything to do with how you view the cross! At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light, all the burdens of my heart rolled away. It was there by faith I received my sight and now I am happy all the day!

Can you do it? Take 5 minutes right now….and do nothing. Focus ALL of your attention on God. Don’t read, think or DO anything! Breath! He is the air you breath! HE is all you need! Are you ready? Set? Go!

Let me know if you spent 5 minutes…Still!

Just thinking about the coming election. What a country! The freedom we have to VOTE! To choose the one who perhaps influences the world more than any other human being, the president of the United States of America.

Are you praying? Will you exercise your right to vote? I hope you will. Watch this clip. Check out the web page.

Everyone wants Financial Peace!   There is no better feeling than to know that I owe no man anything.   There is no worse feeling than to be in total bondage and then have the economy drop out from underneath your feet.   Dave Ramsey has it ’spot on’ as he clearly articulates the heart of God.  Owe no man anything…except love!     Listen and join a Financial Peace University Group.   New groups are starting all the time.