Relationship with God

Blessed is he who misses the boat

5 Comments / Church History, Overcoming, Relationship with God / Tom Stuart

One of the truly amazing things about Jesus’ nature is that He is the Redeemer. He takes lives that are on a path to destruction and rescues them. He takes things that are bad in our lives and makes something good out of them.

To be on the receiving end of His redemptive work in our lives is always so overwhelming because it is not something that can be earned. To undeserving recipients His redemption is the free gift of His abundant grace and the hallmark expression of His love and care.

Redemption comes in many forms from small daily doses to huge breakthrough turnarounds. I love redemption testimonies because they inspire faith and hope for good to yet be resurrected out of bad.

Many times redemption is disguised as disappointment. Opportunities may pass us by. Things we really wanted and looked forward to do not materialize. Or one of the hardest things of all, something we have been praying for and were even convinced was God’s will for us does not come to pass.

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The God Hunt

Growth & Development, Relationship with God / Tom Stuart

Have you ever been thinking or talking about someone when out of the blue they called you or you just happened to run into them? What about being anxious about some important event when unexpectedly everything just fell into place and/or someone came along to help at just the right time?

A number of years ago a popular concept and practice in Christian circles was the idea of going on a God Hunt. It was introduced through the ministry of David & Karen Mains who had a nationally known radio ministry called Chapel of the Air. The idea of a God Hunt was the challenge to daily look for evidence of God working in our lives. The premise being that God is always at work but we often miss it because our eyes are not open and we are not sensitive to recognize His activity in our lives.

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Taking the hope dare

2 Comments / Overcoming, Relationship with God / Tom Stuart

“Yet I still dare to hope . . .” Lamentation 3:21

I want to dare you to hope! If Jeremiah, the author of Lamentations, can dare to hope so can we. Very few people can testify to being in a more hopeless situation than Jeremiah and yet he found hope in God.

Imagine what it must have been like for someone to be a survivor of the collapse of the World Trade Center on 9/11. The sheer trauma of that event coupled with the loss of friends and coworkers is almost beyond comprehension. In many ways, picturing the modern day impact of the 9/11 tragedy gives us insight into the trauma Jeremiah experienced as a survivor of the death and destruction that Babylonians wrecked upon Jerusalem in 586 BC.

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Gaining and sustaining God’s favor

1 Comment / Church History, Growth & Development, Relationship with God / Tom Stuart

May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us–yes, establish the work of our hands. Psalm 90:17

One of the buzz words we often hear is sustainability. Sustainability is the capacity to endure. We hear it mentioned in talk about the use and abuse of the earth’s resources. And we hear it in the context of discussions about the pace of life both in the corporate world and in the lives of individuals.

A biblical word for sustainability is the favor of the Lord. When God’s favor or blessing rests on someone or something it is endued with the power not only to endure but to flourish even in the face of adversity. God’s favor upon an individual’s life is of inestimable worth and more to be desired than any measure of riches or success. God’s favor protects us, provides for us and prospers the work of our hands.
One of the remarkable modern day examples of God’s favor resting upon an individual and sustaining the work of his hands is the story of Billy Graham. Looking back over the 60 year history of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association most insiders would agree that the secret to God’s favor dates back to what has come to be known as the Modesto Manifesto.

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Sold signs & the mystery of unanswered prayer

2 Comments / Answers to Prayer!, Relationship with God / Tom Stuart

It could go without saying, but as a follower of Jesus Christ and a pastor to boot, I am a huge advocate of prayer. Not only have I been a praying man but I have also taught extensively about prayer and encouraged others to be pray-ers. But even after nearly forty years of walking with Jesus I still marvel at the mystery of unanswered prayer.

The recent trials and transitions in my life have convinced me as never before that getting an answer to prayer is not a matter of following some prescribed recipe for success. As much as all of us would like to believe, and teachers like myself have taught, prayer cannot be reduced to some sure fire formulaic approach to getting what we want. It just doesn’t work that way, primarily because we cannot reduce God or our relationship with Him, to a formula. It is much more complex and mysterious than that.

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