Slow Down Your RPMs

      Our God is a God of order. In His great design He has given us a proper flow of events. He has provided for us the rising of the sun, and the setting of the sun, he has provided for us the shining of moonlight to pierce the depth of darkness. He has provided for us the ever changing seasons that we experience in nature: Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. Each of these moments has a rhythm and flow which is ordered and directed into the next. As each season begins, there is a momentum which escalates into fruition and then unwinds or slows down to make way for the next season.
     Our lives are ordered and grouped into seasons. “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)
We are currently in the Fall season of nature, it is a natural time that calls forth the slowing down of systems. The grasses have turned brown and have gone dormant, the plants have stropped producing , and it is time to gather the harvest from the labors of the planting and growing season. Even though the natural rhythm of life has a pace which calls for slowing down, we encounter a “business” and hectic pace among those who feel pressed to gather the harvest. People put in long hours, run on little sleep, and speed their way to-ward the storehouse to deposit the fruit of the harvest. Does this sound remotely familiar?
     As followers of Christ we are encouraged, invited and called to live an Authentic Christian Life. What ever happened? Let us take a moment to reflect and understand.
REV THAT ENGINE: All of us, especially in America, have been conditioned and trained to believe that time is money. We get this driving force from the world we work in. There is a lot of talk in the workplace that focuses on time management, efficiency, becoming more productive with the end result more profitability. What is the result: dealing with time pressures. We are encouraged to cram more into our day. For some, they are encouraged to start earlier, work later, take work home, make sure that you use a laptop on a commuter train or airplane. Phone clients while you are driving. Schedule breakfasts, lunches, and dinners as work related encounters, rather than moments to enjoy and fellowship. Performance, performance, performance—we have come to see it as a key to promotion, positions, to increased compensation and power.
     The marketplace mentality says, “Rev your engine to ten thousand RPMs as soon as you get up in the morning, and keep it there until you collapse in the sack at night.” WOW! Is it a wonder that the pharmaceutical industry has capitalized on creating pills to keep us going. We can get caught up in this frenzy without realizing, running after the adrenaline rush that starts to flow and keeps flowing as your motor starts racing faster and faster. With all this business and activity, there is little room for those quite moments with God—who has time?
     To live Authentically as a Christian, is not to learn a systematic set of doctrines, and then step in line with other like minded persons all marching to the beat of a drummer. It is not getting caught up in legalism, rigidity, and performance. The heart and soul of the Christian life is learning to hear God’s voice and then developing the courage to do what He asks us to do. Very few Christians, realistically ever reach this level of authenticity because most Christians allow busyness to rule the day. This busyness, is in fact, the archenemy of spiritual authenticity. Busyness is likened to something the Bible calls worldliness—getting caught up with society’s agenda, objectives and activities to the neglect of walking with God. Any way you look at it, the key to living an authentic life is—TIME. It is in fact not seen as leftover time, not throwaway time, but quality time. It is time for contemplation, meditation and reflection. Many of us seek the guidance and direction of pastors, religious leaders and spiritual mentors. The underlying theme: “please help me discover what my purpose in life is.” Why do we not take the TIME to get to know the author of life Himself? Why is it so hard to hear, the Lord speaking? Because we are looking in all the wrong places, and listening to the wrong voices.
     Most of us live unexamined lives. We repeat the same errors day after day. We don’t learn much from the decisions we make, whether they are good or bad. We don’t know why we’re here or where we’re going.
We must slow down the RPMs of our lives long enough to get a specific focus and perspective. How can we begin this process? An excellent tool is that of journaling. The very act of journaling—sitting down, reaching for a spiral notebook, jotting down the word “Yesterday” as a heading on a new page, writing one paragraph about the events, people, situations, opportunities of the previous day all helps us focus our thoughts. We are encouraged to limit the entire process to one page. Over time we will begin to see patterns that are destructive, and will gain insight for initiating change. This process alone will reduce our RPMs from ten thousand to five thousand. Journaling gives the body a brief rest. It focuses the mind. It frees the Spirit to operate, if only for a few minutes.
     Write out your prayers. Keep a prayer journal. Often we have confessed that we do not experience the answer to our prayers. We get caught up with going through life on autopilot. Today, you can make the choice to refuse the trappings of living your spiritual life merely on autopilot. You do not have to settle for merely going through the motions of being a Christian anymore. You do not have to fly through meaningless prayers and page through a Bible that you don’t let saturate and influence your life. Today you can say, “I am not going to play halfway games anymore.” TAKE THE TIME, and live the experience.
Listening to God. This process of slowing down opens a new dimension for us. It is here that Authentic Christianity and living for Christ can occur. We find this in the unhurried, silent communing of God’s Spirit with ours. “After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.” (1 Kings 19:12) You can’t become an Authentic Christian on a diet of constant activity, even if the activity is all church related. Some of this activity is merely busyness which can be viewed as justification for existence. Ministry, Christian concerts, fellowship and events or programs, weekend conferences, church meetings—all these are good activities and are a part of spiritual growth and development, but they are not the primary source of strength, forbearance, endurance, fortitude, and relationship. Strength, spiritual strength, is born of solitude. The decisions that we make which are most influential for moving us toward the kingdom of God, that will change the course of your life usually come out of these holy-of-holiest encounters. Take the time, listen to God, it is worth the effort.

                                                                                                                               By Minister Kim Moen

Something To Think About

The Importance of Prayer

     “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33)

      “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.  And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:  And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.  And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:” (Matthew 7:24-28)

     “So when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking Him.  Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions.  And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers.  So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.” And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” (Luke 2:45-49)

     Do we as Christians realize the importance of prayer in out every day life?  Do we just pay lip service; lifting out hands as a sign of submission, saying “Halleluiah, praise to you almighty Father,”  yet, not the prayer uttered from our lips rise up from deep in our soul, form our heart?

     Are we standing before others only to acquire and receive “a title,” a position, get recognition, yet fail to put into action “the work of ministry?”

     Without a foundation of prayer; private and communal, we will not “grow” in our relationship with Jesus.  We need to spend time with Him, to get to know Him, to develop the character qualities we want for our lives as: husbands, wives, children, grandparents, parents, workers in the marketplace, and as productive Christians in society.  Many of us want to pray, but for some reason we don’t pray, at least not with the frequency and intensity that we ought to pray.

     If only we were to “come up out of our comfort zone” and take an honest assessment of the awful situations all around us; moved by prayer—we would “rise up,” and put into action our God given talents and abilities for the sake of the kingdom of God.   God has a role for each of us to participate in, if only we’ll quiet our minds long enough, bend our knees and take time to discover the purpose and mission for our lives.

     Those of us who claim to be “Christ –followers” have a challenge set before us;

Do what you can to right the wrongs of a broken world.  How, you may ask?  It all begins with prayer, whereby we empty ourselves, and open ourselves to receive the “marching orders” to shape a better world for those in dire need.  What would this world, what would the community of Grand Forks, ND be like if every Christ-follower get serious about instilling solid prayer practices into their daily lives? 

 

     Can We Hear from God?  What Do we Do with the Promptings of the Holy Spirit?  If we do not act on the promptings we will find ourselves in a state of disobedience.  Disobedience will cause more stress, or rather dis-stress than simply “doing the right thing” in the first place.  We may try to rationalize our disobedient behaviors by saying, “I’m too tired, It has been a long week, I deserve to have some down time.” 

      What opportunities do we miss out on by our not obeying the promptings of the Holy Spirit?  When God tells us to:

 - write to this person—to call that person—to go to that one’s home—to make an appointment with him/her—to assist in whatever means you can to help out (so and so) it does not have to make sense.

What we must be willing to do is ACT to the best of out ability and leave the rest to God.  The question at hand: what are you going to do about the promptings you receive?

     Who or what voice are you listening to:Who leads us to say harmful things, to be arrogant, to color the truth?  Who prompts us to care less about service to others than about our own advancement and fulfillment?

      Paul said to the Ephesians, “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Eph 6:11-12).

     The war is waged on the spiritual battlefields of our minds.  It is possible, because of this spiritual war, that some of the notions that come into our heads have been authored in hell, not heaven. The way to respond to devilish promptings: by way of flight or to fight.  Paul told Timothy, “Flee the evil desires of youth” (2 Tim 2:22).  James said, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).

 

Three Ways to Verify that the promptings are from God:

1. All promptings that come from God are consistent with His Word, the Bible.

     - A prompting to be unfaithful to your spouse is never a prompting from God.

     - Neither is a prompting to cheat on an examination, to exaggerate or lie to a customer, to spread hurtful gossip, to deceive your parents or your children or to do anything else forbidden by Scripture.

 

2. God’s promptings are usually consistent with the person He made you to be.   We need to ask ourselves: Does it make any sense that God would design me for one purpose and then ask me to fulfill another, that I am not equipped for?  If you sense a prompting that seems contrary to who God made you to be; perhaps this is not a God-inspired prompting at all but rather a distraction from the task God has given you to do.

3. God’s promptings usually involve servant hood. 

      Many promptings that are not God-inspired are easy to discern because they are self-promoting or self-serving.  Be cautious and leery if a prompting promises easy money, and fame and perks and toys—it may be a trap of the devil.

     A prompting that calls one to humble themselves, serve somebody, encourage somebody or give something away will more likely than not be an authentic prompting from the Holy Spirit.

   Many of God’s promptings will require of us to choose between being comfortable and building a godly character; being a winner in the world’s eyes or being a winner in God’s eyes.

     If a prompting promises you overnight health, wealth, comfort and happiness, BE CAUTIOUS!

May you be drawn ever closer to the Lord Jesus, may He guide you, lead you, protect you and form you into the blessed persons you were meant to be.  This will be accomplished as you begin and continue  your prayer Walk with Him!

 

                                                                                            Author: Minister Kim Moen

                                                                                             8-20-2012

 

 

                                                                                                  

 

 

Three Stories That Will Change Your Life

       For today's message the first event that will change your life is titled, "FAITH". This can be found in 2 King 4, where it speaks about a woman who cried unto the prophet Elisha, about her husband who was dead. In her life there seems to be hopelessness as a result of her current situation.The profit shifted her focus to by asking her this question in verse 2, "What hast thou in the house?", . Today God is asking you the same question, what have you in your house to activate Faith?
      The story went on to tell us about a women having only a pot of oil, which the profit asked her to borrow even her neighbors vessels.  She then began to pour oil into these vessels until there was no more empty vessel. 
      If you have a testimony similar to this woman blessing please share below, or any comment about this message please feel free to share it below.
by : K. Daley