WAIT

These things I plan won’t happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, do not despair, for these things will surely come to pass. Just be patient! They will not be overdue a single day. Habakkuk 2:3 LB

There never seems to be any hurry about anything with God. Have you ever thought about this? I guess if you have a perfect plan there is no need for rushing around. The only time I seem to be in a hurry is if I did not plan for something or I simply forgot and now I’ve got to run to make it on time. I guess this never happens with God Huh? Must be nice to be perfect in all your ways…makes heaven a pretty laid back place I’ll bet.

I have been walking with God for almost 20 years now and I feel like I am just now starting to accept and appreciate this whole business of waiting for God’s timing. Much of our frustration in life comes from IMPATIENCE. I wan’t to know now. I want results now. I want food now. I want a spouse now. People don’t like to wait…I know I don’t.

Another prophet once said that people who wait on the Lord get fresh reserves of strength. He said waiting for God is like a sailboat waiting for wind instead of frantically paddling yourself. Eagles soar on exteme heights because of the wind. We can mount up on the wings of eagles says Isaiah. We can run long distances and walk as far as we need without growing tired if we wait upon God. Why? Because he is our strength and if we go on our own we go on our own power and our own wisdom.

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT) 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will direct your paths.

So listen for God. Write down what he says. And wait for His timing. To trust God with our frustrations, while also trusting His timing and His purposes…this is what Habakkuk teaches us.

WRITE IT DOWN

Then the LORD replied: "Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. Habakkuk 2:2

Any time you feel you have heard something from the Lord, write it down. If I don’t write it down I’ll forget it. Sometimes the Lord will speak during church about a specific area of your life. What He says might not even be what the speaker was intending but you believe God said something specific to you-Write that down. Other times you will be reading the Bible and something sticks out to you as significant-write that down. You could be listening to music or talking with a friend, or in a group, etc…God has ways of revealing and when He does you will know it. You will feel it strongly. At that point, quickly write it down. But it is not only so you won’t forget, but also so someone else can “run with it”. God reveals things to us so we can allow those lessons to be shared with others. Habakkuk was given the privledge and the responsibilty to share with it others. What are the things that God has said to you? Do us all a favor and write them down somewhere and be ready for the right moment to let someone else run with it too.

Assume the position

O LORD, are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, we will not die. O LORD, you have appointed them to execute judgment; O Rock, you have ordained them to punish. Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves? Habakkuk 1:12-14

Here we see an example of someone who involves himself in a believing confrontation with God. It is not bitter cynicism. The bitter cynic is simple looking for evidence to dismiss a God all together. He would change the above verse to say, ‘See you are not from everlasting. You are not my God and you are certainly not Holy, because a good God would never be involved in any situation like this? You are silent because You are not even really there!”

Habakkuk has passionate faith and passionate questions. He believes that God is good so deeply that He must confront Him about the seeming contradiction in His own character. While in the dip, Habakkuk may believe that if he can get this issue on the table a little longer that God will offer further revelation about why He has chosen this mode of discipline for His people. Perhaps this will clear out the confusion of what he sees with his eyes and what he believes in his head about God’s character.

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU’RE IN THE DIP? Learn how to listen

I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint. Then the LORD replied: "Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay. Habakkuk 2:1-3

Habakkuk puts himself in a position to hear. He fully expects God to speak in some way but he does not take it for granted. He stands and watches. He stations himself in an advantageous place to optimize his ability to hear and understand what God will say. He fully believes that God will speak and he maximizes hi chances to hear when it comes. That means there is a posture that I am to assume and a place I am to go. What posture do you need to assume today in order to hear His voice? Is it humility? Repentance? Stillness? What place do you need to go? The Park? The Church? The Bible? The prayer closet? While in the did the main need is to listen.

When God doesn't seem fair

As we go into the book of Habakkuk, we see a picture of impending negative circumstances coming upon Habakkuk's people. Habakkuk's name means to embrace or wrestle. Which do you do when things go bad in life? Do you reach for God and hold on tight? Do you wrestle with Him about it all? Habakkuk teaches us how to be secure enough in our prayers to bring our raw emotions and questions to God. He also shows us the distinction between bitter cynicism and believing confrontation: One is a denial that refuses to believe and embrace God. The other is a holy wrestling match that refuses to let go no matter what. Habakkuk tackles tough questions while holding tightly to His God. We can learn much from his kind of faith. I will spend the next three weeks exploring the story of Habakkuk. Join me here and on weekends @ NCC to take the journey.

OUR NEW PARTNERSHIP WITH GREEN VALLEY BAPTIST CHURCH

That's right! After months of prayer, discussion, and planning, we are entering into a partnership with Green Valley Baptist Church.
Listen to last weekend's vision message here

Why?
To make an even greater difference in Las Vegas for the Kingdom of God. Satan wants churches to compete with each other, God wants churches to complete each other. The Elders and staff of both fellowships believe God is leading us into this partnership.

What will it look like?
We will still have our same leaders, same place of worship, same style of worship, but the two fellowships (NCC & Green Valley) will synergize human and financial resources in order to reach more people for Christ.

When do we begin this partnership?
In October, we begin a six month intense phase of working together in view of a permanent joining of the two fellowships in April of next year. During the initial six month period, either can withdraw respectfully. At the end of the six months (April), the two fellowships will become one church meeting at two locations expressing different styles of worship but one vision to reach more people for Christ.
What does becoming one with Green Valley mean practically for me?
It does not mean that you have to go somewhere else to worship. It does not mean that your church is going to radically change. It does not mean you have to become a baptist. It does mean that we become an answer to Jesus' prayer in John 17:20-23 (NCV) "I pray for these followers, but I am also praying for all those who will believe in me because of their teaching. Father, I pray that they can be one. As you are in me and I am in you, I pray that they can also be one in us. Then the world will believe that you sent me. I have given these people the glory that you gave me so that they can be one, just as you and I are one. 23 I will be in them and you will be in me so that they will be completely one. Then the world will know that you sent me and that you loved them just as much as you loved me.

This really is the bottom line, "then the world will know". Pastor Rob of Green Valley & I want more and more people to know God's saving love is available to them. We feel we are better at making that message known together.

Got questions or comments? Post them here. I will respond and others can see the dialogue.

My prayers...

For the church:

I pray that we will be one. Totally unified recognizing that we have one enemy, one heart and one purpose. I pray that we will be faithful. I pray that we trust in our head (Jesus) and work our tails off to serve Him. I pray that we will burn with a holy fire that is produced by His Holy Spirit.

And my personal One prayer is for my son Sam to grow to know and be used mightily of the Lord to bring many to Him.

Chrus

My will/Thy will?

This weekend we heard a message about God's ONE Prayer becoming our ONE prayer. It reminds me of this scripture

Psalms 37:4 (NIV) Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Someone once said, "If all you want is to want what God wants, then what you want is probably what God wants". Think about that. To have my desires become his desires...to love the things that He loves...to care about what He cares about...this is what it means to delight yourself in Him. When you do this, your selfish and often destructive desires are transformed into His disires-He gives you the desires that are enmeshed with His desires. In fact, they are His desires.

In this transformed heart environment, we pray YOUR will be done, YOUR kingdom come. If we were to be honest, some of our prayers are more like MY will be done, MY kingdom come. God knows what is best for us, in fact, he knows what is perfect for us. If we can surrender our hearts and minds He will show us.

Romans 12:2 (NLT) Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.

Go to God without an agenda today and just rest in His presence. Seek to know His heart. Desire to know HIS will for you. Believe that His will is good, pleasing, and yes PERFECT!

Don't forget to join us for Wednesday Night Live every Wednesday @ 6:30 pm for prayer & fasting. Start fasting on tonight, and we will share a meal Wednesday night.

my twenty minutes...

Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

What a great scripture to meditate with for a long distracted twenty minutes! Our challenge was to meditate on God for twenty minutes each day until Wednesday. Let me tell you about today:

00: - 04
I'm sitting out back in the garden by the pool relaxing and all is well when I hear the garbage truck out front, "Darn I forgot to put out the trash!"
04:-06
running to put out trash!
06:-10
Being still until I realize the I need to water some shrubs but quickly redirected my mind toward God
10:-14
started thinking about the church after a couple of minutes and caught myself praying about it-not really a bad thing just not truly meditating on God
14:-17 focused meditation until I realized just how many airplanes go by my house and got a little annoyed by it
17:-20 spent the next few minutes laughing at myself and hoping other are doing better than me...
in all I still was able to hear something through the prophet Isaiah...

I'll try again tomorrow

Protect Unity

I don't know who it will be today that I will need to be gentle and humble with but it will be someone. There is always someone. It is all too easy to be harsh or prideful when someone rubs the wrong way(by the way that someone could be me!). God says to use a soft answer...to overlook a fault...to make every effort to protect unity. To humble ourselves and consider others as better than ourselves. This is a Spirit-produced virtue. The flesh reacts opposite. The flesh and spirit are in opposition to each other and only the Holy Spirit can bring about true unity. I yeild today to God's Spirit. Help me to be completely humble and gentle and make every effort to protect the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.

Spirit filled church

Sometimes I hear people speak about Spirit-filled churches. They usually describe things like music, someone speaking in tongues, or some other experience having to do with public displays of this or that. While I do not deny this is a way to describe spirit-filled worship, I would like to present another way of thinking about it.

As you pull in the parking lot someone shows you kindness and gives up a parking spot to you. Someone else sees you park and walks over to greet you and hands you a cold bottle of water showing hospitality. Next one of your friends gives you a big hug and reports that she has been faithfully praying for you this past week. A well-prepared children's worker checks in your kids where a gifted-teacher will teach today's focus truth while kids have fun. For the next hour your children are loved in practical ways and are introduced to Jesus.

Meanwhile you are in the audtorium worshipping God with others who have come for that same purpose. Challenging Truth is presented in engaging and creative ways. Love for God is expressed as people give offerings of grattitude so others can be reached for Christ. God's Spirit convicts you that you need to make changed in order to become more like Jesus. You surrender to God's promptings.

You leave the experience changed, uplifted, and inspired to go out and live differently this week. You are choosing to be filled by God's Spirit and you intentionally choose to touch others all week long until you recieve a recharge at church next week at your Spitit-filled church.

See you tonight @ 6:30 pm for a time of filling and renewal. Chilcare provided. Today's fasting focus is "Lord make us full of Your Holy Spirit". Bring food for or pot-luck dinner right after our prayer time.

fasting teaches me...

Every time I fast I regain focus, perspective, and closeness to God. During a fast, I totally get reminded of what is most important and and sometimes what is not. Denying myself every type of natural or physical fulfillment clears out all distractions and opens my spirit to connect with God. I find it extremely helpful in keeping my fire burning. Rather than weakening me it strengthens me. I recommend fasting as a regular practice to anyone who wants to deepen their relationship with God.

New Community Church is challenged to fast after dinner tuesday until dinner Wednesday after our Prayer gathering at 6:30 pm. Dinner is a pot-luck and childcare is provided.

Our fasting focus is that our church would be filled with the fire and passion of God's Spirit!

Don't put out the Spirit's fire!

1 Thessalonians 5:16-19 (NIV) Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not put out the Spirit's fire...

Above we see God's recipe for a life of passion for God. Choosing a joyful attitude, praying at every chance, and being thankful no matter what. This is what keeps the fire burning for God. Choosing to have a bad attitude (and my attitude is a choice) quenches fire as quickly as anything.

Any fire has to have oxygen to burn. No oxygen-no fire. Prayer is oxygen for the follower of Christ. If you want to fan the flame, pray. Devote yourself to prayer and passion returns. God's Spirit will fill you as you pray and ignite your spirit.

A lack of gratitude will also douse the flames in your life as well. Unthankful people are a drag and they drag others down as well. Limit your exposure to them or they will be like a wet blanket on your spirit. Thank God for everything-everything! Thanksgiving brings passion and renewed perspective. Try it and see if you don't get fired up.

Don't forget to join us for Wednesday Night Live every Wednesday @ 6:30 pm for prayer & fasting. Start fasting on Tuesday Evening and we will share a meal Wednesday night.

last night's prayer gathering

Last night a group (twice as many as last week) of hungry believers gathered at the church building for prayer. It was a great time! We fasted all day and came together to ask God for miracles on behalf of our church. We confessed our unbelief and asked for more faith. We worshipped and prayed for each other. We prayed specific prayers for big problems and asked for a response from God. We asked for specific miracles. Breast cancer, spinal abnormalities, financial mountains, depression, lupus, discouragement, deep wounds, restoration of vision, and more were our requests. I believe God has answered and is answering our prayers.

I believe that we made a significant "full step" forward in learning how to pray for supernatural power and miracles from God. Satan wants us to play it safe and accept things for the way they are. God wants us to "step" out on the dangerous waters and trust Him to show us how to walk on it. It is uncomfortable. It is challenging. It calls us to risk looking foolish. It demands audacious faith. It makes us come alive!

Last night I sensed a refreshing come over the people. We were close-close to each other and close to God. I sensed His pleasure. It felt good. I feel renewed. I look forward to more times of prayer like that!

miracles-do you believe?

Once a man had a demon possessed child. The demon did great harm to the boy. The man asked Jesus that "if He could" to miraculously heal his son. Jesus said, "If you can?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes." Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"

Overcoming unbelief can be a challenge. Even Jesus disciples did not have the faith to cast out the demon. There are times when our faith is weak. Maybe we have dealt with something for a long time and we feel stuck with it-it is NEVER going to change the enemy tells us. Or it just seems so big and we just feel ovewhelmed by it.

Someone wrote yesterday that our prayers reflect what we believe about God. I thought about that for quite a while. If that is true then how should that affect my personal prayers?

I have some miracles that I am asking God for. Two have to do with others and one has to do with a personal desire. I struggle with belief for my personal desire. May God grant me the faith to believe in His power to do over and above what I think is possible.

HELP ME OVERCOME MY UNBELIEF!

By the way cure to unbelief is found a little later in our story. The disciples asked Jesus why they could not heal and He said that "this kind of demon only comes out by prayer and fasting".

If you need a miracle and you struggle sometimes to have faith, fast and pray with us today and then join us tonight at 6:30 as we pray for miracles. We will have a pot-luck meal at the end of our prayer time.

Prayer time: Wednesday 6:30
Childcare provided
Potluck meal

faithful in prayer

Prayer can definitely be a challenge to stay faithful in. I know that I can experience challenges staying focused. Once again I return to love as the fuel. When you love someone you desire to communicate...to hear thier heart...to know what they want and do it. I almost always dial Michelle when I get in the car because I just want to talk to her. I love her.

So it is with prayer. Don't really need a reason other than I love God. I used to think I needed to pray a long time and it produced guilt during prayer rather tha joy. Now I just pray short prayers whenever about whatever. I also have alarms that go off on my phone to remind me at certain times to pray about certain things. I want to be faithful.

Please pray for our church to be faithful in prayer. We are pressing in more right now with special meetings on Wednesday night @ 6:30 as we fast and pray from dinner Tuesday until dinner Wednesday. Join us as we fast and pray for miracles!