Focus

Quotes:
"Lose not thyself in a far off time seize the moment that is thine."
-Johann Friedrich Von Schiller

"Only when your consciousness is totally focused on the moment you are in can you receive whatever gift, lesson, or delight that moment has to offer."
-Barbara de Angelis

"The first rule of focus is 'Wherever you are be there."
-Anonymous

"You can't depend on your judgement when your imagination is out of focus."
-Mark Twain

Scriptures:
Then the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?"
"A staff," he replied. The LORD said, "Throw it on the ground." Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it."
-Exodus 4:2,3

"Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.....Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground."
-1 Samuel 17:40,49)

"The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save...."
-Zephaniah 3:17a

"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light."
-Matthew 6:22

"He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness."
-Matthew 10:1

This past weekend I had a great experience with the Lord. I began to think of all that used to be in my life and ministry. I also began to think of all that I didn't have in my life and ministry. This can be a discouraging thought for us: "all that used to be and all that we do not have." At that moment God impressed upon me that life isn't about what we HAD or what we DON'T HAVE, it is about what we have! He used Moses' staff to perform the miraculous, he used David's sling to slay the giant, and he used the willingness of his disciples to GO to drive out demons, heal the sick, and bring a message of hope to the hopeless. What I am trying to say is "Stop looking at all that has been lost and focus on what is your hand." When combined with faith and God's power it makes all the difference. When your focus is on your God who is mighty to save then all things are possible! Focus...the victory belongs to God's people!

Believe

Quotes:
"Faith is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted in spite of your changing moods." -C.S. Lewis

"Faith is not belief. Belief is passive. Faith is active." -Edith Hamilton

"Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God, whose ways you may not understand at the time...." -Oswald Chambers

"The root of all difficulties is a lack of the sense of the presence of God."
-Emmett Fox

Scriptures:
"On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, 'Peace be with you!' After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord." (John 20:19-20)

"And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe." (1 Thessalonians 2:13)

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."
(Hebrews 11:1)

"In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action is dead."
(James 2:17)

I have been thinking alot lately about dealing with doubt. What is faith? Is having passing thoughts of doubt, normal? Is it sin? The more I have prayed and studied the scriptures about it I have come to the realization that passing doubts and struggling with your faith is not only a normal occurrence but it is a natural occurrence. Our minds are built to think and reason....let's face it sometimes following an unseen entity (JESUS) feels a little strange. A little unnatural. But faith is far beyond a feeling...it is a commitment birthed out of an experience/experiences with the LIVING God. The cure for these doubts is an experience with a LIVING God. Great faith is birthed out of these experiences. Seek him this week and he will come and stand among you to bring you peace.(John 19:19,20)

-Cam

Hope at Last!

Keep hitting 'em big fella! Can't help but be hopeful that the braves can make a run this year. Good starting pitching, solid line up, veteran bullpen, and of course "THE KID." 20 years old and compared to Pujols...a reason to get excited. Bobby Cox is even in awe of this guy and he has been around long enough to see a thing or two. Hopefully Heyward is not the second coming of Andruw Jones who had similar hype but very little lasting character to carry the Braves anywhere. Hopefully Jason can put together a great year and there will be a reason for hope post Bobby Cox era. Geez....Bobby Cox looks so excited about him that he may stick around for a few more. Take us home Jason!

I Do

Quotes:
"Happy marriages begin when we marry the ones we love, and they blossom when we love the ones we marry."
-Tom Mullen
"Marriage is the alliance of two people, one of whom never remembers bithdays and the other never forgets them."
-Ogden Nash
"What counts in making a happy marriage is not so much how compatible you are, but how much you deal with incompatability."
-Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy

Scriptures:
"Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, 'This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; so she will be called woman, for she was taken out of man.' For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh."
-Genesis 2:22-24 (NIV)

"Commit your way to the Lord...."
-Psalms 37:5a (NIV)

"The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had it's foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell with a great crash."
-Matthew 7:25-27 (NIV)

"For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her"
-Ephesians 5:23-25 (NIV)

Today is my two year anniversary to the love of my life and best friend. I recognize that I am nowhere near being a good enough spouse to lecture anybody about marriage but none the less I feel inspired to call the people of God to a close Godly relationship with their spouse. If there is one thing I know about marriage it is that there is great attack upon it in our society today. Marriages are falling apart all around us and it just seems okay. As you read above in Genesis the idea of marriage was God's. It is not coincidental that man longs for a woman or that a woman longs to be with a man. It was God's idea...he created it and if he created it then he can maintain it. A marriage built on the rock can hold. Commit your way to the Lord and your marriage can prosper! God promises us that. I know that it isn't always easy but Jesus can complete the work he started in your marriage. Decide today, as you can control, to love your wife or husband and submit....in these things you will both discover the plan of God for your marriage and house...STRONG!