Rain, Pain and Gain.

This summer has been the rainiest season I remember for the eastern states of the USA. Yesterday, a teen sent a message out over Twitter saying "I am tired of the beach. It rains all the time." I replied, "It's raining everywhere." Well, "everywhere" at least in the region of the world we live in.

I am personally experiencing a season of pain, too. A few weeks ago, I slipped in my garage (rain had dripped from our vehicle on the cement) and strained my back. I give thanks that I somehow didn't fall and bust my head wide open, but still I've had an aggravated sciatic nerve (I'm diagnosing myself) ever since. It mostly provides discomfort in my back, but the pain runs down my right leg as well. I've taken plenty of ibuprofen for some relief and was anointed for healing by four pastors last week. Still, while the pain is manageable most of the time, it's still making me somewhat weary.

Yesterday, I drove 400 miles so I can preach seven times at The South Carolina Wesleyan Campmeeting at Table Rock, South Carolina. It was a lovely ride. Especially, the last three hours of the ride were breath-taking. Coming through the Carolina Mountains is so inspiring to my soul. I arrived around 8 p.m. and though I was like the first one to get here, I had a welcoming committee of one -- yes, a precious little beagle puppy. It touched my heart deeply.

I made my way into the lodge and found my room. A full laundry basket of snack foods, soft drinks, fruit, etc. greeted me. What a blessing. I like it here at the lodge. I had athe privilege of preaching here several summers ago. The room is very clean with oak furniture and bright decor. I have my own bathroom and linings are provided. There's even a kitchen just a few steps from my door. While I do have phone service and Internet, there is no TV in the room, which is a blessing, indeed. So after I arrived, I enjoyed a quiet evening of settling in and fell asleep praying for the mind of Christ.

So, I've talked about the rain and my pain, now I want to ask for your prayers. Yes, I want my time here to bring about gain for the Kingdom of God. As I write, rain continues to hit the window outside my room. And yes, my pain is still present, but all of that is secondary to the spiritual reason I am here. I will speak for the first service of the campmeeting at 6 p.m. this evening. It's an open air tabernacle in the shadow of Table Rock -- a lovely setting, indeed.

I do believe I have the mind of Christ -- the message He desires me to preach. It's a new message for me. As a matter of fact, I have been saturating in the passages for over a year and have been carving out the presentation over the last 2-3 hours. Please pray that the souls will be open to hear "what saith the Lord" through me. I remain His humble but willing messenger.

Perhaps for this preaching engagement, the Lord knows without some rain on the outside and my pain on the inside, there would be no gain for eternity? I'm good with that, as long as He is.

"Deo Volente" is my prayer. Yes, "Whatever God Wants!"
Grateful

Note: My text for tonight is Matthew 11:28 and John 15:4. Please pray for favor. Thanks for my friends who have already let me know they are with me in the Spirit of prayer. I am humbled.

   

I Have Lost My Mind

This verse and this song so perfectly define my deepest desires.

For, “Who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach Him?” But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.
-- 1 Corinthians 2:16 (NLT)

Click here: God Be in My Head - Jared Anderson - YouTube

Lord, let it be said of me, that I have lost my mind to gain God's!
In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Grateful

Through Suffering We Gain A Friendship.

Suffering is grand when the heart is right with God. Through suffering we gain a friendship with God. Oh, unspeakably blessed is the suffering of the sanctified.
-- Oswald Chambers

I want to know Christ and the power of His Resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings...
-- The Apostle Paul, Philippians 3:10 (NIV)

Count it all joy! (James 1:2-4)
Grateful

True Redemption, Great Loss

Because He gave His One and Only Son to be crucified as the Paid-In-Full Sacrifice for our sin penalty, God the Father made it undeniably obvious that true redemption can only be found after great loss. Yes, The Son of God endured the most hellish pain and punishment known on earth to offer to us holy and heavenly gain for all eternity. Such Loss! Such Love!

2 Corinthians 5:21 (TLB) -- For God took the sinless Christ and poured into Him our sins. Then, in exchange, He poured God’s goodness into us!

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

Here & Hereafter

What an amazing "here" and what an awesome "hereafter" is ours in Christ Jesus!

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
--Philippians 1:21 (NLT)

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

Knowing Christ -- The Priceless Gain

What do you want to gain more than anything?

I say "Amen" to Paul's Priceless Gain Goal, recorded in Philippians 1:8-9a (NLT):

(8) Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ (9) and become one with Him.

ALL JOY!
Grateful

The Losers Win? Yes We Do.

In Luke 17:33 (MSG) Jesus said, If you grasp and cling to life on your terms, you’ll lose it, but if you let that life go, you’ll get life on God’s terms.

Galatians 2:20 (MSG) helps us to know more clearly what it means "to lose our lives": Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not "mine," but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that.

And in Philippians 3:7-11 (NLT) the Apostle Paul applied the lose-your-life words of Jesus to his own life with these words: (7) But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. (8) Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ (9) and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; (10) that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, (11) if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

So is it correct to say that "The Losers Win" in the Kingdom of God? Yes, in fact losing is a core value of Christlike winners. Think about it. On Crucifixion Friday Jesus looked like the #1 Loser of all losers, but on Resurrection Sunday He proved to be the #1 Winner of all winners! Indeed, Jesus turned His loss on Friday's Cross into our gain outside Sunday's Tomb. Let's exhale. The Losers Win? Yes, We Do!

ALL JOY!
Grateful