This morning I want to share with you something that has been on my heart for a long time! When Franklin Graham was in Santa Fe, NM for his Decision America Prayer tour, he shared that his Daddy, Billy, would encourage Pastors to get their congregations to vet political candidates with God’s Word. We must do that today! Do they pass the test? Let me share with you more about vetting the candidates, are they God-Centered or Self-centered? Do they have an EGO? EGO stands for edging God out.
Dear FGGAM Family, This really hit me this morning! As part of my devotionals, I am always reading 1 to 3 books along with my Bible and my prayer time in the war room. One of my all-time favorite books is “Experiencing God” by Henry and Richard Blackaby.
Here is what I want to share with you……..
From Chapter 8 in the book. We must come to a place where we renounce our self-focused approach to life and turn the attention over to God. When this happens, God orients us to Himself and to the purposes He is accomplishing around us.
God-Centered Living:
God-Centered living is characterized by:
Confidence in God
Dependence on God, on His abilities and provision
A Life focused on God and His activity
Humility before God
Denial of Self
Seeking first the Kingdom of God, His righteousness
Seeking God’s perspective on our circumstances
Holy and Godly living
Joshua and Caleb. When God was ready for Israel to enter the Promised Land, Moses sent spies to survey the land. Unlike ten of the spies, Joshua and Caleb said, “If the Lord is pleased with us, He will bring us into the land….don’t be afraid of the people of the land” Num. 14:8-9. They were willing to trust the word from God and to proceed with confidence rather than trusting in their
Self-Centered Living
In contrast to God-Centered Living, Self-Centered Living is Characterized by:
Life focused on self
Pride in self and personal accomplishments
Self-confidence
Depending on self and one’s own abilities
Affirming self
Seeking to be acceptable to the world and its ways
Looking at circumstances from a human perspective
Selfish and materialistic living
Adam and Eve. God places Adam and Eve in a luxuriant garden. He made the entire garden and all it contained available to them for their comfort and pleasure. God earned them, however, not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But Eve couldn’t resist the temptation to gain wisdom she was led to believe God was withholding from her, so she ate the fruit (See Gen. 2:16-17 and 31-7) She shared with Adam, and he also ate the forbidden fruit. Their self-centered decision violated the Lord’s command and led to a broken love relationship with their creator.
This really Preached to me!
I am going to incorporate it into my sermon in the morning at The First Baptist Church in Quemado. My main message will focus on AMAZING GRACE! Service time is 10:30am! If you do not have a home Church, we would love to see you and yours!
When I look at the list of God-Centered Living, I think we all may snuggle at times with complete confidence in God. We want to depend on God, but do we have complete confidence in Him?
The other thing that God showed me through this section is, the list is a good way to vet our political candidates.
We are also getting more news of illnesses….it seems so many have the flu right now, many are also having respirator problems. Dr. Michelle Bengtson is still fighting pneumonia and the flu. Frank Haley just sent me a message that a friend of his just died of the flu. Lucy Gomez sent me a message that she has strep throat and her brother Martin and his family need housing. Please keep all in your prayers!
Right now the WAR ROOM has a big DO NOT DISTURB sign on it!!!!! LOL! LOL! Sharon and my closet friends can tell you how hard it is for me not to answer every call for help…..
It is a busy world, I was trying to do my sermon prep and the phone kept going off with message after message, if I do not answer right away it is because I am working on what God has given me to do. I am sorry I am so busy, but is is so important for me to stay focused on God and what He wants from me today and the next day. Some days my phone goes off late into the night and way early in the morning.
I continue to see why the world gets distracted from God…….so many things can pull is off in another direction that God did not intend for us to take. I cannot be everywhere that people call me to. I love you all, and will get back to you all as soon as possible, Today is to be a day of rest and preparation for Sunday and we all will be in Church. Let God show you want He wants from you today.
Love you all more than you know.