Thoughtfully Thankful

     As I was doing my morning devotions today I came across an interesting scripture. It was one of those passages that really make you stop and think about just how mighty God really is.

    I Corinthians 1:25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

     It is such a clear (real blunt) reminder of how absolutely PERFECT God is and how we need him so very much. According to this scripture the "foolishness" of God is still wiser than the smartest, most educated, well informed and wise person on Earth. And the "weakness" of God is still stronger than the most powerful, fit, muscular athlete ever. I'm sure most of us already knew this. I mean he is God of the universe after all. But if you stop and really think about it, acknowledging and letting it apply to your life isn't always so straight forward and easy.

     Have you ever been in a situation where you think you have it all under control? You think you know the right decision to make but for some reason everything keeps going wrong? Many times without realizing it, we try to handle things ourselves and accidentally push God out. I know with me, there have been times when I would hear God's "still small voice" and ignore it. Not because I didn't want God's direction, but because I was so wrapped up in my own understanding. I didn't recognize God's voice until later when everything had already fallen apart.
     Proverbs 3:5-6 says (5) Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. (6) In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths. It's so important to make sure that in every aspect of our lives we are allowing God to speak His wisdom to us and give us His strength. Compared to him we are so weak and so unwise. We need to trust Him and lean on Him to direct our lives. His will is ALWAYS the very best place to be!

     Lord, I pray that today you help all of us to remember to come to you with our problems and decisions. Help us to seek you in everything that we do. You are so wise and strong and I know that you always have the perfect plan for our lives. Help us to remember that even when we mess up and don't listen to your voice that you are always there waiting to take our hand and help us through life's struggles. You are always there to help us pick up the pieces of the mess we've made and move forward. I'm so very thankful that you care for us and are there to take care of us. I love you so much God and I just want to please you. Amen.

~Bethany Bryen

Happiness or Joy?

Always be joyful.
1 Thessalonians 5:16 NLT
    While reading the Bible one day I was struck by this passage. Many people associate joy with happiness.  Happiness brings joy and joy brings happiness.  According to Webster's dictionary, joy is "the emotion evoked by well-being...source or cause of delight" and happy: "enjoying or characterized by well-being."  Wow…source of delight?
     I don't want just happiness, I want joy.  I want happiness that can NEVER be taken away. Happiness is an emotion that causes feelings; it makes us feel good.  When we ace a test, get a job or promotion, finally get something we desired, etc.  These things make us happy. Happiness comes from something and ultimately from something that can be taken, lost, or destroyed.  Joy comes from within and is from God; it gets you through troubled times.  Joy cannot be stolen from you because it is not an emotion affected by circumstance; it brings a peace and contentment that separates us from the world.  
      The world looks for "quick fixes" to be happy while we should look to the one true Joymaker, God.  

     Lord, I pray that each and every member of Fusion would strive to know the difference between happiness and joy.  I ask Lord, that You would be their one, true Joymaker and that they would find their contentment in You. We know that true contentment is not satisfied by any earthly thing but only comes from You. Give us joy that can never be stolen by any man. Amen.

    ~Holly Finley

Social “Net-Working”

1 Thessalonians 1:2-9

2 We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. 3 We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

 4 For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9 for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,

Lesson:

In Paul’s letter to the Thessalonian church, we see his love for the people, and that he has built a relationship with them.  The love shown by Paul for the people has spread across their congregations and beyond.  We find that in Macedonia and Achaia the related love has changed them as well. The network of love has literally worked on the net that pulls people out of idolatry and into a loving committed relationship with “the living and true God”.(verse 9) 

In our recent services, God has related to us that we are the net which is cast out into the world and brought back in bearing fishes. Our bond between brothers and sisters catches the eye of this world and they come in and join us in a relationship with the Savior. How do we link up in such a way that we catch fish?

I want to suggest one way in today’s prayer blog.  Paul gave us the way to work our net. “We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers”.(verse 2)

Fusion is powered by prayer. This means we need to pray for the struggling friend, to pray for our services, to pray for growth, to pray for our ministers, to pray for new souls, to pray for our youth fund, to pray for creativity, and to pray for so many other things in our student ministry. This is true Social “Net-Working”.

Memorize:

1Thessalonians 1:3

We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Prayer:

Today I will be praying for every student in Fusion.  Please Join me in this.

Use It:

·                    Pray over these lessons in your own life

·                    Pray a minimum of 15 minutes daily

·                    Read a minimum of a chapter a day

·                    Fast a meal a week

·                    Memorize the weekly scripture

·                    Please comment below to show that you have read our blog and are with us in prayer.

Straight Talk

2 Samuel 12

Nathan Rebukes David

 ¹ The LORD sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. ² The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, ³ but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.

 ⁴ “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”

 ⁵ David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this must die! ⁶ He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”

 ⁷ Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. ⁸ I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. ⁹ Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. ¹⁰ Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’

 ¹¹ “This is what the LORD says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. ¹² You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’”

 ¹³ Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”

Lesson:

In these scriptures we find a “Revealing” of sin.  Surely David knew he had sinned.  The sin he had committed was extreme.  He had murdered a man to cover it up.  The thing that he didn’t completely understand though, was the evaluation or judgment of that sin.

      Now that the sin had been evaluated and he had decided how terrible it was in the eyes of the righteous, he began to repent.  He had send against the LORD.

       Last week we discussed “Straight Talk” in our Fusion Friday lesson.  This is what David did in his life.  There was some straight talk going on.  As we pray today, lets go in an shine God’s righteous light over our whole life.  We want to grow and be all that we can be in the body of Christ .

Memorize:

Jeremiah 29:11

 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Prayer:

Lord I love and praise you.  I seek you today God.  I seek your wisdom and light in my life.  In all my wisdom, I am but a fool, but with your guidance, I would be led by Solomon’s teacher.

I ask you right now to draw our students to trust in your wisdom as we step out in faith, and give you all of ourselves for your kingdom’s glory. 

Thank you Jesus.  I love you Jesus.  Amen

Use It:

·        Pray over these lessons in your own life

·        Pray a minimum of 15 minutes daily

·        Read a minimum of a chapter a day

·        Fast a meal a week

·        Memorize the weekly scripture

·        Please comment below to show that you have read our blog and are with us in prayer.

When this is done, I will go

Esther 4 (NIV)
14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”
 15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”

“I want to be used by God”  Many of us carry this desire.  It drives us toward a walk that goes beyond “I’m saved” and sets us in a place that says “I want to be pleasing to Him”. 

As we move into a realm of growth we have started warfare.  Satan will fight us, flesh will fight us, and people will fight us.  So many times we are looking for that instant fix, that verse that changes everything, that moment in the altar that will give us a secret weapon and every thing will be easy.  There is no instant fix.  The basics must be revisited.  We must look into our lives and begin to empty our lives of stuff.  “let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,” Hebrews 12:1 (KJV).

So now your in a place that God can use you (your school, home, etc…). 

Me: Will you be used? 

You: How can I start to be used?

You start just as we all do.  The three basic principles of growth: Prayer, Fasting, and Reading the Word.  This is all done in your time outside of the church building.  You must take it upon yourself to be prepared.  Pray to conform our mind to His Will, Fast so that we can diminish and God can expand in us, Read the Word to build faith and knowledge in God.

As we conform to God’s will, our efforts will bring fruit.  As you become who God wants you to be, He will use you as an effective harvester in the field which is your school, home, etc…

“So I have to wait until I get to where I think I need to be?”

NO!

If you wait, “deliverance will rise from another”.  God wants to use you, and you don’t want to miss your time.  This is the time you were meant to witness, but as you do, grow!  Your growth is what God is wanting.  He grows those who have purpose.  That fact that you are doing a work will be why you grow.

So students, let’s “Gather together” and pray, fast, and read the Word.  We were put here “for such a time as this”.  It’s our time! Let’s pray that God will grow us and use us.  We want to go from “I’m saved”, to “I want to please Jesus”.

Memorize:

“let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,” Hebrews 12:1 (KJV).

Prayer:

Lord I love and praise you.  I want you to know that I am for you in all that I do.  I am striving to be a vessel that you will use for the glory of your kingdom.  It is not about me and my name and my popularity or stature.  It is all for the freedom of souls and the growing of your kingdom. 

I ask you right now to call our students to grow.  I want us to become soul winners.  I want the gifts of the spirit to manifest in their lives.  We need you in all of this.  We need you in victory over our flesh, and spiritual battles.  We claim our schools and homes in Jesus Name!  This is your territory Jesus.  Expand our faith, and build up our testimonies. 

Thank you Jesus.  I love you Jesus.  Amen

Use It:

·        Pray over these lessons in your own life

·        Pray a minimum of 15 minutes daily

·        Read a minimum of a chapter a day

·        Fast a meal a week

·        Memorize the weekly scripture

·        Please comment below to show that you have read our blog and are with us in prayer.

Repentant Heart

God has been ministering to us on repentance and His love.  Messages at HYC, and from our churche's pulpit have reflected this theme.  I have felt it in my prayers.  Sunday January 15^th, I was praying before evening service and the Spirit led me to a place of a humble repentance before a loving God.  What a time I had, and after this time, I felt a freedom to praise and ask of my God some spiritual blessings.  That evening in service, God ministered through music. We sang the song “Heart of Worship”.  The lyrics in this song are “forgive me Lord for the thing I’ve made it. When it’s all about You”.  I really felt a freedom in the congregation as we sang. 

One of the greatest moments of repentance recorded in the Bible is found in Psalm 51.  David had committed a great series of sin, and was awakened to it by a man of God.  Realizing the path he was going down, he shook himself and began to seek after God and His “unfailing love”.

            Psalm51

¹ Have mercy on me, O God,
   according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
   blot out my transgressions.
² Wash away all my iniquity
   and cleanse me from my sin.
 ³ For I know my transgressions,
   and my sin is always before me.
⁴ Against you, you only, have I sinned
   and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
   and justified when you judge.
⁵ Surely I was sinful at birth,
   sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
⁶ Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
   you taught me wisdom in that secret place.
 ⁷ Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
   wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
⁸ Let me hear joy and gladness;
   let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
⁹ Hide your face from my sins
   and blot out all my iniquity.
 ¹⁰ Create in me a pure heart, O God,
   and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
¹¹ Do not cast me from your presence
   or take your Holy Spirit from me.
¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation
   and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
 ¹³ Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
   so that sinners will turn back to you.
¹⁴ Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
   you who are God my Savior,
   and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
¹⁵ Open my lips, Lord,
   and my mouth will declare your praise.
¹⁶ You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
   you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
¹⁷ My sacrifice, O God, is^[b] a broken spirit;
   a broken and contrite heart
   you, God, will not despise.
 ¹⁸ May it please you to prosper Zion,
   to build up the walls of Jerusalem.
¹⁹ Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous,
   in burnt offerings offered whole;
   then bulls will be offered on your altar.
         

         This week, begin to go through your life and give God those things which you have taken out of His control.  Humble yourself in repentance and seek His love.  As He speaks to you, be obedient and give Him glory by recognizing that holiness and righteousness and all that is good in you, comes from Him.  Take time to read Daniel 9 .  Daniel prays a repentant prayer for all of God’s people.

Memorize:
          Psalm 51:17

My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, you, God, will not depise.

Prayer:

            Jesus I love you.  I thank you Lord for all that you have blessed my life with.  Thank you for your blessing poured out on Sunday evening.  Thank you for the still small voice that loves us, guides us, warns us, and even corrects us. 

            I ask that your hand be on the students of Fusion.  I ask that you guide us in our prayers and our time with you.  We need you Jesus as we run the race that is set before us.  Help each student find a place of repentance so that they may wear your righteousness and know that you are the reason we can walk in Spirit.  Only through this and through you, do we have freedom from this world.

            Thank you Jesus, thank you being a sure companion through this life.  I am never alone in this world.  I always have a place of joy, peace, and love.  I love you Jesus

Use It:

·        Pray over these lessons in your own life

·        Pray a minimum of 15 minutes daily

·        Read a minimum of a chapter a day

·        Fast a meal a week

·        Memorize the weekly scripture

·        Please comment below to show that you have read our blog and are with us in prayer.

Weekly Prayer Devotion (Jan 12, 2012)

"At that time, people began to call on the Name of the Lord"

 Through this new feature in Fusion Student Ministries, we want to encourage you to pray daily.  Since this is a devotion to unified prayer, I took our first steps into prayer's first steps, the beginning of the relationship between God and man.  In their innocence, Adam and Eve talked with God in the cool of the day.  It was simple, and without barriers.   We see an immediate change after their fall. 

Genesis 3:10-11 (NIV)

10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

 11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

God did not ask these questions because he didn’t know the answer.  No, he asked them to sort things out in the mind of Adam and as a lesson to us.  He does this with Cain after his failure in sacrifice.

Genesis 4:6 

6 Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”

This is a warning to Cain that he is traveling down the wrong path. 

An impression had to be made upon man at this time. Adam and Eve birth a new son named Seth and it says in Genesis 4:26 “…At that time people began to call on the name of the LORD”.

Lesson Learned:

            Break the barriers.      

           Shame and guilt over past or present sin will become barriers in your communication with God.  Repentance is the answer and then faith in the grace and mercy of God.  We must believe that God loves us and that His promises of forgiveness and justification are true.  Justification is the act of declaring or making a sinner righteous through Christ's atoning sacrifice. He paid our debts!

            Bring all thoughts and actions before God.

            As Adam gives his account to God about why he is hiding, God gives the wisdom of “who are you listening to? What are you basing your feelings on?”  There has been a take over in Adams life to the snake, to the fruit and ultimately to sin.   

             God tries to give Godly wisdom to Cain before he continues down the wrong path.   Because of his selfishness and pride, Cain resists God and falls into sin and tragedy.

              If Adam and Cain would have shared their thoughts with God before they were acted out, they would have left His presence with wisdom, righteousness, peace, and freedom.  God was giving them the concepts we see in 2 Corinthians 10:5.  “…bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;”. 

Conclusion

                Our prayers Need to be as it is written in 2 Corinthians 10:3-4 “3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

            We seek God’s wisdom in all things. To step outside your home without talking to God, is to be directed by your own direction and not His.

Memorize

            2 Corinthians 10:17

But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

Prayer

            Jesus you are awesome. I am in awe of the revelations you show me in your word.  Your thoughts are above all that could ever contemplate.  Each time I learn of you, your love goes deeper and deeper, and your patience with me is humbling.

Jesus, I ask that you lead us into full submission to your will.  I want all that I do to glorify you.  There is no sacrifice that I can come up with that is equal to the obedience of your word.  Jesus, I ask you to forgive me from any sinful activity or thought.  I thank you for your forgiveness and I trust in your mercies which are made new each day.

            Jesus, I ask that you bless the students of Fusion.  I ask that you guide them into a fruitful and effective prayer life.  They need you as do I in all that they do.  Bless them in their efforts to bring freedom to their family, friends, and school mates.  Let your wisdom guide them and your peace go before them in all activities.

            Thank you Lord.  You are so good to me.  I love You.

Use It

·        Pray over these lessons in your own life

·        Pray a minimum of 15 minutes daily

·        Read a minimum of a chapter a day

·        Fast a meal a week

·        Memorize the weekly scripture

·        Please comment below to show that you have read our blog and are with us in prayer.