A Simple Step to Build Confidence in God’s Activity in Your Life (Updated)

It is easy to miss the activity of God in our lives. Some of that can happen simply because we forget. One of the things God often encouraged His people to do things in order to remember. He had them keep a pot of manna to remember God’s provision. Joshua put rocks in order to remember the crossing of the Jordan River.

Memory and memorization is a hobby of mine. I know that is very nerdy, but I have embraced the nerd within. At the same time I know that it is important to keep a log of the things that God has said to me. I was reading through some of the notebooks that keep a record of things that I have felt God saying to me. Just rereading them has a great impact to encourage and challenge me.

What method do you use to capture the things that you feel God saying to you? Maybe a sermon has spoken to your heart and challenged you in some fashion. Maybe a verse has come to your mind and encouraged you in a particular way.  Maybe a friend spoke a word from God for you or a message came in a dream. I believe that it was a Chinese proverb that says, “The palest ink is better than the best memory.”

[tweetthis]The palest ink is better than the best memory.-Chinese proverb. Are you capturing God activity?[/tweetthis]

I have talked elsewhere about my simple journal method that I use to capture the things that God does every day. It has an important impact on my perspective on life. How are you going to capture that activity?

I am in the process of moving a lot of these paper items to Evernote which is a great resources and it is free. I can capture thoughts that God gives me and bring them back when the time is right. I heard the story of Jonathan Edwards, one of the great preachers in history, would ride his horse and pin little notes to his jacket of thoughts he would have so he wouldn’t lose them when he got home. Now they have an app for that.

What method will you start today to set up monuments to the activity of God in your life?

A Multiplying Strategy for Piling up Rewards in Heaven (Updated)

I love doing something small and getting a large return on that effort. It is like people who made small investments in Microsoft when it was small and getting a lot of return later. For 10 years I worked at a financial firm, as I was also a pastor and in the early years of this ministry. I saw over and over how people would make small investments over time and get a large return later.

[tweetthis]Prayer is doing something small and getting a large return on that effort.[/tweetthis]

Jesus teaches this idea when it comes to prayer. In Matthew 6 he presents a powerful idea that could be life changing for you. He is talking about the life strategy of secret rewards. Secret giving gets rewards from the Father. Secret fasting gets rewards from the Father. In the middle of that He says that secret prayer gets the Father’s reward.

This is where private prayer for Christian leaders can be so powerful. I realize that when I get off the stage from speaking to a church at one of my conferences I often already have my reward. People come up to me and say what a great job I have done and pat me on the back.  A person praying for a pastor or missionary is something people may never know about till heaven. You could pray for various leaders for years and be making investments in your heavenly account.

I would love to stand behind some people of prayer in line when the rewards are handed in heaven just to see what they will get. Will you be one of those people?

Warning: You may be missing out on all that God has for you!

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Since I live in Minnesota dealing with snow is a part of life. That said, it doesn’t mean that we don’t sometimes go in our minds to a happy place: like standing on the beach. This is especially true for a guy like me with Sri Lankan blood. There is something that is good for the soul about standing by the ocean watching the waves crash in as you soak up the sun.

But it reminds me of something I heard Dave Williams of Strategic Global Mission share about the ocean. He talked about how the ocean is vast like our God. God is bigger than we can imagine. But so often we come to the ocean of God and all that we bring with us is a cup. Since a cup is all that we bring to our relationship with God that is all that we can take away. What if we brought a bucket? Or for that matter what if we brought a truck that could carry water? Dave said, “The problem is not with God, it is with our capacity.”

[tweetthis]The problem is not with God, it is with our capacity.-Dave Williams[/tweetthis]

One of my favorite quotes of George Mueller is, “God has dealt with me according to my expectation.” What are you expecting from God? What are you asking Jesus for today? Might as well ask for a sea crossing, sun stand still, Goliath slaying kind of miracle!

[tweetthis]Might as well ask for a sea crossing, sun stand still, Goliath slaying kind of miracle![/tweetthis]

Let us ask big today!