Flying Leap of Faith

God has big plans for us.  There is nothing little about God.  That said, it does seem that we easily get stuck in the details of life . . . the minute-really-doesn’t-matter-kind-of-details . . . instead of  understanding and living like God is well . . . God.  Sometimes we connect more with our to-do list than with the One who does wondrous work in our life. 

So . . . how do we move from the mundane and minute details and focus . . . really focus . . . on what more God is doing?  Most of the time, we need to simply turn away from whatever is keeping us away from fully engaging our life with God.  In other words, we need to take a gigantic flying leap of faith each day.  To get off the ground we must  surrender the mundane and minute things.  Sometimes it doesn’t make sense when we step out and many times others will point blank say it doesn’t make sense.  The thing is . . . when we look back . . . we will see that what really made sense was to live a God-driven and directed life . . . and to not hold anything back from God . . . to give it all . . . and to take a flying leap of faith that God has something more.

Look at what happened to the followers of God . . . they changed the course of their life by choosing to have faith . . . leaving their wandering life in the desert . . . taking an all out flying leap of faith to cross the flooding waters of the Jordan River in order to reach the land God had promised them.  To remember what was important Joshua instructed the people to set up 12 stones as markers of faith: He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God." Joshua 4:24

The people in those ancient days are much like you and me.  They needed to be routinely reminded that God is powerful, fearing or being in awe of God is good. 

Let go of the mundane and minute stuff.

Surrender everything.

Take a flying leap of faith.

 

Learning with you to KICK START and take a flying leap of faith,

Pastor Kerrie

 (written by Kerrie Palmer © 2010 All Rights Reserved)
interactstudies/ ~ kpalmer@hillchurch.com ~Church on the Hill~700 N. Hill Rd.~McMinnville, OR 97128~503.472.8476 ~www.hillchurch.com~Archives & Daily Subscription: go to http://kickstarttoday.blogspot.com/

The Radical Reality of Belief

God does what He says He will do.  Okay.  I get that.  I have lived long enough to have experienced things in life that can only be described as miraculous.  I am talking about transformations of the way people think, speak, and live . . . healing of the body, mind, and soul . . . the dried waters of the Jordan River and Red Sea kind of  miracles  . . . when nothing and no one else can explain how something happened.

The thing is . . . I need to look at my response to life in this season of life. . . and ask some hard questions:

 Do I live in belief that God will do what He says He will do? 

I need to look at the stubbornness of humanity and see how long it takes to receive and believe what God says.  Study what God promised to Abraham, long before Joshua was born: Now the LORD said to Abram,"Go forth from your country, And from your relatives and from your father's house,to the land which I will show you; Genesis 12:1

 Is believing God my reality? 

I need to question my reality, because when it comes down to it, I am not always aware that God is at work. God always makes a way through every circumstance.  Look at how God made a way through the Red Sea and the flooding Jordan River when it seemed there was no possible way to go where God said to go.  And . . . God is the Finisher . . . He is always at work completing the good work He began:  For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6

Do I  hesitate and shrink back from all-out-believing God? 

God repeatedly reminds us that He will do what He says He will do.
There above it stood the LORD, and he said: "I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Genesis 28:13

If, I would risk more . . . live beyond comfort and be more radical in my belief . . . then would the universe shift more often? 

To be honest, I know that I must be more intentional in believing that God will do what He says He will do. My tendency is to over-analyze. So, I understand why Joshua told the people that the story must be intentionally told from generation to generation; they needed to remember that their world radically shifted when they finally believed God would do what He said He would do:  "For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as the LORD your God had done to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed; Joshua 4:23

When we focus on what God has done, then, we strengthen our belief that God is doing something in the times that we are unable to clearly see His work. 

Believe God will do what He says He will do.

Live in the reality that God is doing what He said He would do.

Refuse to hesitate in your belief.

Watch the universe shift . . . as you are more radical in belief.  

Learning with you to KICK START in the radical reality of belief,

Pastor Kerrie

 (written by Kerrie Palmer © 2010 All Rights Reserved)
interactstudies/ ~ kpalmer@hillchurch.com ~Church on the Hill~700 N. Hill Rd.~McMinnville, OR 97128~503.472.8476 ~www.hillchurch.com~Archives & Daily Subscription: go to http://kickstarttoday.blogspot.com/

Looking For DRY GROUND

He makes a difference.  One man.  I have not met him; however, I have heard about him more than once.  He lives in a fifth wheel with few possessions, working in a lumber mill, serving people, telling them that Christ has made the difference. He is honest about the storms of life that he is weathered; but it is clear that he is living on DRY GROUND . . . a solid foundation. As you might imagine, people want what he has. 

The thing is . . . individuals come into my office tired of the way they are living, wanting to experience life in a different way, knowing there is something more . . . because one man has more . . . living a way that is different than most do, even in the storms of life.  They are looking for the DRY GROUND.

Doesn’t it make you think?  The power of living does not come through the possessions or position that we attain, but rather through the presence and power of Christ. It is God that provides the DRY GROUND, even in the storms of life.

Too often, we become consumed with the stuff of life, allowing the reality of the goodness of life to disappear without a trace.  Sometimes I think we don’t understand that we have an obligation to live the best life we can.

We open the door to the enemy of our soul to kill and destroy our life and allow things into our life to take our focus off of God without thinking about how we are abusing the gift of life God offers.  It sounds harsh; however, what is . . . is.  Jesus told us:   "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. John 10:10

Through Christ we can live differently, even abundantly. Abundance can be defined as plentiful and well supplied . . . the DRY GROUND . . . in the midst of storms. 

So . . . look at the people of God in the ancient days in the book of Joshua.  After being convinced to go where God wanted them to go, they needed to cross the flooding, raging waters of the Jordan River.  They would find the DRY GROUND where it does not make sense . . . in the flood.

The whole thing did not make sense then or now . . . the raging waters of a river will kill . . . rather than bring life.  They had to make the decision to step into the water.  And, the incredible happened . . . the waters parted and the ground was dry.  Can you imagine . . .walking across DRY GROUND with the flooding raging river heaped into big walls of water?  No mud . . . no puddles . . .dry.  Oregonians will tell you that dry ground is a gift.

God provides DRY GROUND in the most impossible situations that moves us to the place of abundant living.   

Think what it meant to step onto DRY GROUND: then you shall inform your children, saying, 'Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.' Joshua 4:22

God provided more than what was expected. The DRY GROUND was and is the reality of an abundant, plentiful, well supplied life. 

Refuse to step into the muddy pathways of life that lead to things that destroy and kill your life.

Look for the DRY GROUND that God provides, even in the midst of the storms and raging floods.

Step onto the pathway of DRY GROUND.

Walk on the DRY GROUND.

Learning with you to KICK START the day walking on the DRY GROUND,

Pastor Kerrie

 (written by Kerrie Palmer © 2010 All Rights Reserved)
interactstudies/ ~ kpalmer@hillchurch.com ~Church on the Hill~700 N. Hill Rd.~McMinnville, OR 97128~503.472.8476 ~www.hillchurch.com~Archives & Daily Subscription: go to http://kickstarttoday.blogspot.com/

A Story

Behind our life is a story.  God knows the plan he has for our story . . . a plan of a future and a hope . . . if we choose to enter into it. God has issued the powerful promise: For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11

The three words are powerful to think about:  FOR I KNOW.

Sometimes life can be so downright difficult that it seems that God is not present. That said, we can see  God more clearly when we take our focus off of the struggle.  The thing is . . . it is not always easy to see beyond the struggles of life.  The three words bring it all back into focus . . . FOR I KNOW. God knows the plan that is beyond what we can imagine.  

So . . . I look at little Madelyn . . . who has been at home with Tricia and Troy for about 3 ½ weeks.  It is clear that God merged their lives together.  One little baby girl born in China plus two adults from Oregon equals an incredible story of a new family. That said, Tricia and Troy chose to enter into what more God had for them . . . and it was a process to get where they are now.

     God issued their story to be a story of a future and a hope. They entered into the story God had for them.

 The people in the ancient days were not any different than you and I.  They needed ways to remember that God transforms our lives with a future and a hope when we enter into it.  The people finally chose to enter into the future and hope that God had planned for them.  Joshua knew it was imperative to remember what God had done for them. : He said to the sons of Israel, "When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, 'What are these stones?' then you shall inform your children, saying, 'Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.' Joshua 4:21-22

We are transformed when we enter into what God has for us.  Accordingly, there is power in sharing the story of God in our life.  We become stronger when we tell the story of what occurs with God in our life. Others are stronger when they hear that God is faithful to bring a future and a hope to our story. 

Enter into the future and hope God has for you.
Purposefully remember the activity of God in your story.

Mark moments that define a future and a hope.

Tell the story.

Learning with you to KICK START the day by telling the story,

Pastor Kerrie

 (written by Kerrie Palmer © 2010 All Rights Reserved)
interactstudies/ ~ kpalmer@hillchurch.com ~Church on the Hill~700 N. Hill Rd.~McMinnville, OR 97128~503.472.8476 ~www.hillchurch.com~Archives & Daily Subscription: go to http://kickstarttoday.blogspot.com/

Step In

It had been a long day; however, she stayed to pray.  She explained to me that nothing was working and all she had left was prayer.  I understood what she was saying.  There are times when nothing seems right, safe, or possible.  The thing is . . .when we enter into prayer . . . we are no longer on our own, constrained by our limitations, mistakes, or wrongs.  When you get down to it, prayer is taking a step into God’s power and authority where all things are possible.    

Jesus demonstrated that life sustaining power comes from prayer . . . In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there Mark 1:35.

It really is staggering that it takes us so long to step in.  The people of God had wandered in the wilderness for forty years after refusing to step into the Promised Land, the place God had led them to go into.  Looking backwards allows us to see the missed opportunities of a whole generation because of the lack of faith.  It makes me wonder how many things I have missed because I have not stepped into the place of prayer . . . the place of power and authority.

But they finally stepped into the place God had ordained them to go.  So they, set up faith markers . . . to mark the beginning of living where God had asked them to go . . . Those twelve stones which they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal  Joshua 4:20.

The  people marked the place they stepped into where they would experience a power beyond imagination.  

Step in.

Step  into the power and authority of God.

Pray.

Learning with you to KICK START the day stepping into prayer,

Pastor Kerrie

 (written by Kerrie Palmer © 2010 All Rights Reserved)
interactstudies/ ~ kpalmer@hillchurch.com ~Church on the Hill~700 N. Hill Rd.~McMinnville, OR 97128~503.472.8476 ~www.hillchurch.com~Archives & Daily Subscription: go to http://kickstarttoday.blogspot.com/

Anticipation

A place of anticipation . . . is a good place.  Anticipation is an expectation of what is to occur in the future. There is energy produced when we anticipate something or even more . . . someone.  We have been in the place of anticipation as we waited for little Madelyn to arrive from China.  

 A circle of friends and family invested their thoughts, hopes, and dreams for one little girl.  

In the end, our relationships strengthened and become more intimate as we anticipated Madelyn’s arrival together.    Now, we are in the place of helping her acclimate to us. And, we are anticipating the days ahead with her in our life and us in her life. 

Anticipation is a good place to be in.  The people of God crossed over the Jordan River to a place called Gilgal, a place of anticipation.  They stood on the edge of their future . . . a promised place . . .the Promised Land: Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth of the first month and camped at Gilgal on the eastern edge of Jericho. Joshua 4:19

Enjoy the place of anticipation in your life.

Anticipate the future.

Celebrate what is to come.

Learning with you to KICK START the day in anticipation,

Pastor Kerrie

 (written by Kerrie Palmer © 2010 All Rights Reserved)
interactstudies/ ~ kpalmer@hillchurch.com ~Church on the Hill~700 N. Hill Rd.~McMinnville, OR 97128~503.472.8476 ~www.hillchurch.com~Archives & Daily Subscription: go to http://kickstarttoday.blogspot.com/