How Great Is Our God?

Just wanted to drop a quick note about a passage I read this morning. Deuteronomy 7:22 “Little by little he will force these nations out of your way. You won’t be able to wipe them out quickly. Otherwise, you would be overrun with wild animals.” God is such a great planner that he takes care of every little detail. If the Lord would have just cleared the promise land all at once for the children of Israel then they would have been over run by wild animals! Who would have thought of a detail like that? Only a great and awesome God!

Stay encouraged because the Lord has the smallest detail of our life under control. What do I have to fear when I have God like this on my side?

Expecting A Miracle

The closer we get to Good Friday the more anticipation I can feel building within me. I am so anxious to see God break out and move upon this community. After waking up this morning and hearing about another young person being killed in Riverdale, I sat and prayed for the Lord to guide us so that we can make a difference in that community.

God responded by telling me that a New Season is approaching and as I walked outside I saw the tree are getting ready to bloom and once again I heard the Lord say, “A new season is approaching, look the signs are all around you.”

Get ready ROCC God is going to change everything we know about Him when we experience a move of His Spirit!

Day 20 poem

Day 20

It’s now day 20 and you’re halfway there
I can’t give you french toast, so I’ll give you prayer!
Some days are a struggle, some days inch by
But boy, you are making it, with God by and by.

You truly are a great inspiration
As shown in this fast by your sincere dedication
We all can learn a thing or two
By the character traits God’s instilled in you.

Before you know it, this will come to an end
And once again, chocolate molten cake will become your friend (and mine too!!)
You’ll be in need of new clothes, but your spirit will be strong
And God will have proven His faithfulness….with you all along.

Written by Laurie Kaufman

Am I as zealous as God?

One of the greatest things about fasting is that God opens His word up and reveals things that you may have never seen before. I am currently following several reading plans and in one of them I am in the book of Numbers. Now mind you when I read Numbers my eyes usually immediately glaze over as we are continually told the counts of all the men in the various tribes. Every now and then we get a good battle or something but I have to admit this is not one of my favorite books in the Bible. However, every now and then God slips something in waiting to see if we will pay close attention and see what He is saying. I came across one of those occasions last week.

Numbers 25:1o-11 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Phinehas son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest has turned my anger away from the Israelites by being as zealous among them as I was. So I stopped destroying all Israel as I had intended to do in my zealous anger.”

Can you imagine having God say that you have the same zeal that He has? A plague had been sweeping through Israel because of rebellion and the fact that the Midianite woman were leading the nation away from God. Over 24,000 people were killed before Phinehas finally had seen enough. Zimri out of complete disrespect brought another Midianite woman into the camp and Phinehas in a Holy rage stood up and drove a spear through Zimri and the woman killing them both.

Phinehas had the courage to stand for God and so the anger of God was diverted. Is there anyone today like Phinehas? How many people must die due to our culture of greed, sex, and ME? Is there anyone that has the zeal of Phinehas?

God, help me develop the kind of zeal for you that Phinehas has exhibited. Use me to bring about a change in our nation and in our culture! Lord, I want it written in Your book that I had a zeal that was equivalent to your own zeal for the people around me.

What a weekend!

WOW! That sums up our weekend here at the ROCC. This week has been rough but I think we are going to see the daylight finally! Day 18 is just about over and soon we will be counting down to the end of the consecration period. We have almost made the half way point! I am encouraged by all the testimonies I am hearing about what God is doing in the individual lives around us and I am excited at the fact that God is getting us ready for an incredible move.

We have a lot to be proud of…our Compassion ministry is hitting the streets and sharing the presence of God with needy families and our bus ministry is picking more people each week. We really are becoming the church in the community rather than just being a building. Keep up the good work! Do not become weary in well doing! God is pleased with our efforts as we strive to live out His commands.

Let’s continue to PRAY and SEEK His presence together and look with expectancy to April 6th when we hold our Healing and Deliverance Prayer Service!!

Day 12

It is hard to say how I am feeling right now. I am sort of in a fog and I am not as hungry as much as I just miss the act of eating. God is really having to be my strength as I rely completely on Him. Please pray with me that I can be sustained by God to go the distance. I feel that God has standing in the gap just as Aaron stood between the dead and the living in Numbers 16:48, I feel that God has me standing between the miraculous church He has planted here and the ordinary.

What I am trying to say is that I believe God is waiting to see if we can become that place of tremendous outpouring that He desires for us. God is looking for a radical church so that He can radically impact the world once again! Pray with me that I will continue to stand my ground and I pray that each of you that has decided to fast along with me will be built up and strengthened as we seek the creator of all creation together!!

Get READY!

I really have to say that I am feeling great about what God is going to do here at ROCC! I have already heard how blessings have begun to be experienced in several peoples lives. Many of you have let me know how good you feel about this time of concecration and prayer and it seems like many are just excited about what God is going to do. Day 6 of this 40 day period is just about over and I am feeling energized like I just had a quad shot white chocolate mocha from Starbucks, it is really weird!

I am reading a great book by Max Lucado called “Facing Your Giants“, where he discusses the struggle between David and Goliath. I am determined to face this giant that has challenged our church and I am determined to see the giant killed! We all face giants in our lives and we just have to gather the courage to begin to let God operate through us so that we can begun giant slayers. It really is the same conceptes that Mark Batterson highlightes in his book “In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day“. I have to say the pace and practicality of Mark’s book makes it a favorite for me and it has helped me see that I have opportunites to do the impossible everday. The probelm is that many of us (myself included) run from our opportunities because they do not look how we would like for them to look. I am committing my life to look at things in the spiritual through prayer and seeking the Lord so that I do not run from any more opportunities that God is placing before me so that He can show His awesome power and love.

Are You Hungry?

Day 2 of the 40 day fast is just about over and soon I will be waking up to day 3. There were many times today when I wanted to cave in and yet this was just day 2! I realized something today that I think will change my perspective greatly. We are to hunger and thirst after the word of God just as we do after natural food. How is it then that I can do days without spending time with God and be as insane with hunger as I am right now? If I am truly relying on God for the very substance needed to survive then I should feel like I do now when I do not stop to read the word. My prayer is to always remember this feeling of hunger so that I will never neglect God’s Word again!

How hungry are you for His word? Did you read anything today?