Refocus

Mark 3:13-15 • Why Did Jesus Call You?

by Marcus Raab - Lead Pastor, Impact City L.A. (Impactcityla.com)

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Ever wonder why Jesus called you to a life with Him? You may feel like there’s nothing special about you, but that’s not what Jesus thinks.

Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”

Know this – the presence of that trial is not an indicator of God’s absence.

He is with you.

God is with you in all of it.

How should that change us? To understand the revelation that God is in fact, omnipresent?!

Genesis tells us the story of God’s delight in spending time with man walking together in the garden in the cool of the afternoon.

We were in fact created for nearness, for relationship.

God wants you to know that He is near to you today.

He is not a “far away” God.

Though even the thought of heaven and it’s distance from our broken world seems immense, our God – our omnipresent God, has the ability and desire to “be with” us in any and every season and moment of our lives.

Even though we may push Him away at times, He lingers, He stays with us without forcing Himself upon us.

God is so gracious in how he relates to us, isn’t he?

He wants to be even nearer to you than you know.

He says, “you are as close to me as you want to be because I always want to be close to you.”

In 1 Kings 19, God speaks to Elijah in a “whisper.”

Why does God so often speak to us in that “still small voice?’

Well, simply put when someone speaks in a whisper, you have to get very “close” to hear.

In fact, you have to nearly put your mouth in someone’s ear for them to hear the whisper.

We lean toward a whisper, and that’s what God wants.

So, we see that hearing God’s voice isn’t just hearing His voice, it is intimacy with Him.

That’s why God speaks in a whisper – He wants to be near us, as close as divinely possible.

He loves us that much!

One of my favorite examples of this in the Old Testament is what God says to Israel as they are traveling in the wilderness from Egypt to the Promised Land.

God told Moses to build what God called a “tent of meeting.”

This was the holy place where God would meet with His people.

It referred to His dwelling place – a place where God would reveal himself to people and would be among them.

Essentially, God loved His people so much, that He told them to build Him a tent in the midst of them.

You see at this time, God’s people were wandering in the desert – they lived in tents.

God said, “I love you – make me a tent right in the middle of your tents because I want to be near you – with you…you are my delight!”

Guess what?

God still wants to be with us.

One of the names for Jesus is Emmanuel, which means God with us.

God With Us! Let that sink in today.

God loved you so much that He came to be with you…always!

700 years before Jesus was born Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah would come to save the world and that He would be the God Who is With Us!

Get close to God this week, lean into His whisper, allow yourself to experience His nearness…you’ll be so glad you did…Blessings!

Psalm 23:3a • Challenge #4

by Matt Kladnik - Lead pastor, Vintage Faith Foursquare Church in Culver City, CA (Vffchurch.com)

Now that we are beginning to measure our time under “stay at home” orders in months, more than days or weeks, I am finally getting down to real business with God.

Maybe like you, my life used to be so filled with activity, that there were several areas of my house that had become cluttered with incomplete projects, piles of books, and things I could never seem to find the time or the energy to organize. But once I was forced to stay still and look at these things, I turned my attention to this housecleaning. Packing up things to give away. Pulling out things that no longer helped us as a family move forward and prioritizing placement of items that we do need in this season.

After several weeks of that, I was gently reminded that I needed some heart housecleaning as well. In addition to my house, it was time to give the Holy Spirit permission to declutter my heart from things that no longer help me grow spiritually, and prioritize placement of what will help me grow closer to Him in this season.

What I really needed was to open up my heart to God’s correction and His redirection. To stop trying so hard to hold everything together in a time when it felt like the world was starting to fall apart, and to purposefully give God access to the broken and messy places of my heart.

So I said, “Okay, Lord. Have at me. Show me what You need to correct or heal in my heart, and do the heart repair that only You know how to do.”

Sometimes we know we’re a mess, but we really don’t even know how to start to fix it. And God, who shaped our hearts, is the author and finisher, the pioneer and perfecter, of our faith, and He knows exactly what to do, but He will wait until we ask Him.

God began revealing things so I could repent, and He redirected my heart back toward Him.

Then He brought to mind a scripture from Revelation 1. He reminded me, “I am the God who is, and who was, and who is to come.

You have known me as the God who was... “

In fact, I often cry during worship because I remember so many ways that God has been with me and rescued me over the past decades, and fulfilled His word in my life. But God showed me I have a weakness in knowing God as the God who IS. Who is with me right now in this moment.

You see, I am often looking forward in my planning and my thinking, and it has been hard for me to slow down and know God right now in this moment.

And guess what? The one thing that has been stripped away right now more than anything else right now is planning for the future. When and how my county will open up. When my state will open up again. There are no solid timelines. I’ll be honest, I have been struggling with this!

But perhaps this is my greatest gift right now. I am forced to be in THIS moment. To know God in THIS moment. My NOW is really all I have.

And there’s more. When I googled this scripture (in true scholarly fashion), I stumbled across James Oakley’s breakdown of this verse in the Greek. I always assumed that the God who “is to come” referred to the future, to God’s eternal nature.

But you know what? “Is to come” is not the future tense of the verb “to be.” It is a present tense verb “to come.” It’s not about tomorrow. It’s about now. It has a sense of his imminent arrival. He is coming. He is on His way.

Right now God is with us in this moment. He is our Emmanuel, God who is with us. The Holy Spirit who indwells us as believers in Jesus Christ. And He is coming as our powerful rescuer. Both! At the same time!

Have you been feeling alone? Isolated? Far away or lost your bearings a little bit like me? He is the God who paid a horrific price in allowing His own Son to die so that you and I could be brought near. He prioritizes intimacy with you in such a profound way. He is here. In this moment. Not when our lives have restarted. He is the God who is right here. And He is on His way right now to rescue in a most absolute way.

So my challenge and encouragement to you today is to take some time with the God who is, and get to know Him in this moment, through His Word, through His presence. He’ll carry you to your tomorrows.

Eavesdrop with me on this a conversation David has with God.

“My heart is not proud, O Lord, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, put your hope in the Lord both now and forevermore.” Psalm 131

Charles Spurgeon said, “This is one of the shortest Psalms to read, but one of the longest to learn.” Childlike trust is not so easy to acquire.

The childlike spirit doesn’t try to run the universe. It doesn’t concern itself with great matters or things too wonderful for it.

We can’t very well worship God and try to be God at the same time! We’re not God’s little helpers and he doesn’t owe us any explanations for the way he does things.

When I leave the management of the universe to him it quiets and calms my soul.

This childlike trust isn’t childish but childlike. David knew the difference. That’s why he could say:

“I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me.”

A child trusts his mother and rests in her loving arms. He’s still. God can be as “motherly” as he is “fatherly.” Tender and available.

The Message Bible paraphrases it: “…my soul is a baby content…”

Childlike trust isn’t exactly an involuntary impulse. Childishness comes naturally. Childlikeness comes at a cost.

Sometimes I have to make my soul “behave.” It’s up to me to “compose” my soul when gets out of control. God will help me, but I have take the initiative.

When my soul whines and whimpers for its own way like an unweaned baby I have to “quiet” it and make it be still.

An unweaned baby screams at the first twinge of discomfort or hunger. My soul is like that. It clamors for what it wants and when it wants it. I have to tell it to be quite!

An unweaned baby sees his mother as a “dairy,” just there to feed him when he whines. Some people relate to the Lord simply as Provider, but fail to enjoy him as The Provision. It’s his Presence we need not just presents from him.

Weaning can be arduous. Like babies being weaned we whimper: “You don’t love me anymore! Why are you pushing me away?” He’s not pushing us away. He’s growing us up. To grow up we have to let go of the being the center of the universe. And become content to commune with our God.

The weaned child wants his mother, but not as his own personal milk machine. He wants her for her. The mature soul sidles up to the heart of the Father just to be near him.

Is your soul noisy and demanding? Admit to him and to yourself that there are many matters too great and things too wonderful for you to concern yourself with. Quiet your restless soul and put it to rest in the Father’s strong arms.

Psalm 23:3b • Challenge #3

by Matt Kladnik - Lead pastor, Vintage Faith Foursquare Church in Culver City, CA (Vffchurch.com)

Judges 6:11-18 • Gideon the Mighty Warrior

by Brent Wildeson - Senior Pastor, Mission Hill Church (missionhill.church)

James 1:1-4 • What If?

by Brian Goodell, Senior Pastor - The Bridge Foursquare Church (thebridge4sq.com)

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James 1:1-4, “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings. 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

Man, James doesn’t waste any time getting to the good stuff, does he?

Truth of the matter is most people are either going through some type of trial right now or will soon.

And God has some instruction for us on how to deal with them.

Because know this team – it doesn’t matter what you go through – the most important thing is how you deal with it!

Listen, everyone faces trials and inasmuch as we have similar experiences in life, every trial is unique to the person because we are all unique and complex and have a story that is particular to us.

So, don’t judge how someone else is facing their trial!

Pray for them and encourage them that God is with them and will bring them through it. His grace is enough, amen?!

The word trials here, in the Greek is the word “peirasmos.”

Which means…

• Temptation

• A trial of man's integrity

• An enticement to sin

• Adversity

• Affliction

So, with those definitions in mind, how many are thinking “where does James get off telling us to be joyful about em?!”

Well, the answer is in verse 3, “3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.”

Our focus with most trials in on the trial itself.

Right? The 3 why’s…

Why Lord?

Why me?

Why now?

And I like to add a fourth…

Why not them?

Listen, James says “don’t pretend the trial doesn’t hurt, don’t act like it’s not difficult…

Instead, let your knowledge of who God is and His love for you inform your faith to start working so that you can endure and learn what God has in store for you and those you are called to influence!

Can I encourage you with something today?

The things we go through in life are never just coincidental or random, with no value for the future.

God is always up to something in our lives, and His plans for us are only good all the time,

Life is going to be even that much more difficult if we don’t learn perseverance.

So perseverance, is at least what God is up to with us.

Perseverance is our response of enduring even in the face of difficulty, because we trust God.

Romans 5:1-5, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we[b] boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”

Someone said, without trials some of us would never pray.

Well, the truth is that character, Godly character, proven, tested, tried and true character is not something you can get by reading about it.

It comes through the fire.

Gold being refined is like…

Job knew this. Job 23:10 says, “But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.”

Let me close with this question, “What if the plans that God has for you always included the seasons of trial and challenges that you have and will face as part of your training and preparation for the amazing future He has in store for you?”

What if?

Have a blessed day!

Psalm 103 • Forget Not

by Debbie Alsdorf - author, speaker, soul care coach (debbiealsdorf.com)

Philippians 3:8 • Everything Loss

by Danny Bennett - Lead Pastor, Hope Church (discoverhope.church)

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Sometimes it takes a lockdown to get us to look up. And God wants us to see that the most valuable things in life are not something that we can do or buy. As we are forced to hit pause, God is working to do great things in us and through us. These letters from the Apostle Paul’s that have been changing lives for thousands of years were birthed out of a time of lockdown in prison. Join us as we learn from his letters. And, don’t miss the good that can come from leaning into the lockdown.

READ Philippians 3 -

People who were giving Paul trouble because they were hung up on circumcision

Finding worth from their efforts

Knowing Christ is based on grace and pursuing Him

We’re not perfect but if we pursue Him we’re being made perfect day by day.

“I want to know Christ.”

I'm not perfect I’m being made perfect day by day

You don’t really know it until you get to a place in life where all you have is

Surrender control -

“But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. Philippians 3:7-9 NIV

Dietrich Bonhoeffer - letters from prison and gave his life for what he believed while he was in prison like Paul

Quote 1 “We don’t understand him(Jesus) if we arrange for him only a small compartment in our spiritual life.” -Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Seek what really matters -

I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Philippians‬ ‭3:10-11 NIV

When I first became a Christian - ALL IN and it was too much for some people (Christian school)

Most of the people who were affected ended up leaving to go reach people in the public schools

Stay the course -

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus... Only let us live up (march in rank) to what we have already attained.” Philippians 3:12-14 NIV

I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. ESV

Reflect - What really matters to you? How has that changed through this?

“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭3:20-21‬ ‭NIV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬