I'm Alive!

I wanted to thank you, thank you, thank you!

Video: Peter Furler - I'm Alive 

When I was locked inside my head

When I was lost in a maze of doubt

You called my name and woke me up

You called my name and let me out

And when I chased one more mirage

'til I was tired and parched again

You gave me one more cup to fill

And sent me one more desert rain

I was sure of all I knew

I knew the world was mine to claim

I had directions printed out

And then I hit a world of shame

Out there alone and left to die

Cut off from You, my sole supply

You shed your tears for me and then

You took my hand and raised me high

I'm alive, I'm on fire

And my spirit burns with desire

You set me alive

And with no way to hold it inside

I wanted to thank you, thank you, thank you!

What an amazing life we have in Christ, the lonely despair and shame that the devil wants us to live in has been taken away from us in exchange for peace, forgiveness and joy.

Meeting Jesus Makes Life Exciting

The Christian life is anything but boring.

John 20:18 "I have seen the Lord!"

1 John 1:1 We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us. We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

1 John 4:14 Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.

Acts 2:32,4:20 "God raised Jesus from the dead, and we are all witnesses of this." "We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard."

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There are a lot of techniques for sharing the good news that have been invented to help us have the confidence to share about our Savior, but back in the time that Jesus was on earth they didn't need to take a class, they were so excited about having been with Jesus that they couldn't keep it to themselves.

• The Shepherds told everybody after they visited the baby Jesus,
• Simeon and Anna met Jesus when he was presented in the temple were both excited,
• Andrew went to get his brother Simon,
• Greedy Matthew left his exceptional income as a tax collector,
• The Samaritan woman went and got her entire village,
• The disciples were on fire for Jesus after his resurrection,
• Saul met Jesus and his preaching was indisputable proof that Jesus is the Messiah,

Every time that people really saw Jesus for who he is there was an excitement that could not be contained, the apostles lives were never the same after Jesus came into their life, imagine getting to live side by side with the promised Messiah and being an eye-witness that can vouch for his credibility.

The people that met Jesus in the New Testament didn't live a dull boring life but instead the Savior brought them excitement and hope.

Its difficult to feel the excitement level that the people that met Jesus face to face must of had. But he is still our awesome Savior and we should live each day with the excitement of knowing that this is a temporary assignment and better days are ahead because we have Jesus looking after us today and for eternity.

1 Peter 1:3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation.

I pray Lord that my life will over flow with excitement from having met you, I want to live each day in victory knowing that i have a bright future in eternity with you.

One Month To Live

Scripture

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Luke 17:26-30  "When I return the world will be as indifferent to the things of God as the people were in Noah's day. 27 They ate and drank and married--everything just as usual right up to the day when Noah went into the ark and the Flood came and destroyed them all.

28 "And the world will be as it was in the days of Lot: people went about their daily business--eating and drinking, buying and selling, farming and building-- 29 until the morning Lot left Sodom. Then fire and brimstone rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 Yes, it will be 'business as usual' right up to the hour of my return.

Luke 21:34-35  "Watch out! Don't let my sudden coming catch you unawares; don't let me find you living in careless ease, carousing and drinking, and occupied with the problems of this life, like all the rest of the world." 

Observation

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We don’t know how many days that we have on this earth or if the Lord will return before we leave this world but either way we need to live beyond the ordinary. We need to live above the mediocre and “careless ease and preoccupied with the problems of life”.

I get discouraged when I see the apathy and numbness to God especially in the men of our churches. But it isn’t anything new to God, he has been treated that way since the beginning of time. I suppose that even Adam didn’t have the passion for God and was unconcerned when he compromised. The great men of the Bible lived with passion for God and were not afraid of what the world might do to them, the life of ease that we have breeds the sin of apathy that we must rise above. How would we live if we only had one month to live?

Business as usual is how we conduct our lives and it is how we do church. Our mediocre routines attempt to keep our lives simple and easy which is what we desire when we are “occupied with the problems of this life.”

Application

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I want to live my life above the ordinary and live above the problems of this life.

Prayer

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I pray that I will live above the ordinary as if it were my last day. I pray for the men of our church, that they will lead their families beyond the ordinary. Please give us a passion for you!

The Exciting Book

Scripture

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Luke 4:14-22, Isaiah 61:1-2, 10 (Living)

14 Then Jesus returned to Galilee, full of the Holy Spirit's power. Soon he became well known throughout all that region 15 for his sermons in the synagogues; everyone praised him.

16 When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on Saturday, and stood up to read the Scriptures. 17 The book of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him, and he opened it to the place where it says:

18,19 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; he has appointed me to preach Good News to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted and to announce that captives shall be released and the blind shall see, that the downtrodden shall be freed from their oppressors, and that God is ready to give blessings to all who come to him."

20 He closed the book and handed it back to the attendant and sat down, while everyone in the synagogue gazed at him intently. 21 Then he added, "These Scriptures came true today!"

22 All who were there spoke well of him and were amazed by the beautiful words that fell from his lips. "How can this be?" they asked. "Isn't this Joseph's son?" Luke 4:14-22 (Living)

1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the suffering and afflicted. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted, to announce liberty to captives, and to open the eyes of the blind. 2 He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of God's favor to them has come, 10 Let me tell you how happy God has made me! For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and draped about me the robe of righteousness.
Isaiah 61:1-2, 10 (Living)

Observations

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Jesus came to earth with a mission to:
· Preach good news
· Free the prisoners
· Heal the broken hearted
· Release the oppressed
· Announce that God is ready to give blessings to all that come to him.

And then he says with excitement that all these things that he just read came true today! That was exciting news, it must have been exciting to live in the days when so much prophecy was being fulfilled

Application

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Sometimes quiet time isn’t so exciting, I need to remember that the scripture is exciting.

Prayer

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May I always look forward to my time in scripture because it is time spent with my God.

Can I Get A Witness

Scripture

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Luke 2:8-40  But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: "Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel."

Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

Observations

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Testify:
Angels - Good news is for everyone, the Savior is here
Simeon - The Savior is for all people
Anna - The Redeemer

There was a lot of excitement back then that has been lost through the ages. It is difficult to be excited about a Savior as we live our cushy lives in America. A Savior isn't on our minds when we don't experience oppression.

Application

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I need to be excited about our Savior and what he has done for me. I need not be ashamed to testify with excitement.

Prayer

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Stir up excitement in me to testify and share the good news.