On the Horizon - Part 4

Hopefully you've been with me this week as I've shared the things currently "on my horizon" - check out the post about Men's Conference here - Worship here - "The Gathering at UNCP" here

So the last thing on my horizon this week would be the usage of an increased spiritual boldness that God has made me aware of this summer. I have to admit that God has rocked my world this summer. That is a good thing. The thing that will shock many of you is how He's rocked my world:

HE HAS MADE ME MORE DEPENDANT ON HIM THAN EVER.

Psalm 51:16,17 (NIV)16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;  you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.  17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

• Sometimes God just has to "break you" so He can fix us again. It's not necessarily because He's mad at you - maybe it's because you've lost the ability to hear Him. So with me, He does stuff to get my attention, to get me on my knees, to get me to the place where I can truly say, "Speak, Lord, Your servant is listening."
  
  That doesn't mean I wasn't praying - I was. That doesn't mean I wasn't in the Word - once again, I was. What it means is that He was trying to take me to another level and I wasn't ready. I was reminded that "brokenness precedes blessing".
• I work hard. You can't see it, but my mind NEVER stops. What I have discovered this summer is that I can't solve spiritual issues with human solutions. I thank God for showing me this. No matter how hard I try or good intentioned I am there are some things that He's just gonna have to do (or break). He has taught me (once again) that prayer and what I'll call "face time" (time just listening and seeking Him) is more important than anything I do.
• Remember the message I preached on 6/8, the one where I preached "the wise men built his house on a rock..." (download it here)? God has made me "live out" this message and brought glory to Himself through it. I made a statement in it, "you don't wait until you're in the middle of a storm to begin working on your foundation, because by that time it's too late!". Well, this summer, Jesus has shown me that I DO have a foundation built on Him. And here's what it came to: when the storm began and the wind and waves got scary, I climbed into the home that was built upon the foundation of His word. When I got in that house, I watched the storm from within Him and I felt safe, protected and wasn't afraid. When that happens, my friends, you'll receive a mighty boldness from Him because you recognize HOW MUCH He's in charge and you remember that He cares way more than we ever could.

Because of this we will step out in bold ways this fall. We will do this at hyde park and hyde park will be extended to other places. Some of those places that God will put His boldness in us on display:

• August 19th & 20th - Youth Conference, Bear Swamp, Pembroke - I'll be Preaching
• August 28th - BSU Back to School Jam, UNCP - Narrow Way Band
• September 7 - Burnt Swamp Youth Revival, Berea (Pembroke) - Narrow Way Band
• September 12-13 - Commitment '08 Men's Conference - Galeed Church - Featured Speaker 
• September 21 - GroupLink 1 - Speaker - hyde park (more about this next week)
• September 28 - GroupLink 2 - Speaker 
• October 7 - Youth Nite RC Crusade - Narrow Way Band
• October 19th - "The Gathering at UNCP"

All of these things are on my/our horizon and they are HUGE! And I agree with my friend, Janice's, comment the other day - "when you look up on the horizon, what do you see? The SON, of course!". Clever, Janice, real clever . 

Comments

[Janice]

Mike, Looks like God has given you a plan, which is sure to succeed. "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God"...maybe not the "written word" always, but the "spoken word" of God, amen? He reveals Himself in many ways, it might not be our plan, but our relationship with Him and where and what direction He wants to take us. Looking forward to what's on the horizon! May God Bless it!