Not A Guessing Game #276

Romans 4:17-18

17    (as it is written, "A father of many nations have I made you") in the sight of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.

18    In hope against hope he believed, in order that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, "So shall your descendants be."(NAS)

God’s will is that Abraham would be the father of many nations. He says, “I have made you.” Abraham responded in faith to that which was the will of God. Abraham believed “in order that he might become.” It was God’s will revealed to Him that he acted upon in faith.

When his faith became united with God’s will then God’s purpose was fulfilled. God has a purpose for all of us. When our faith becomes united with His will then His purpose is fulfilled. God is looking to your faith in order to fulfill His purpose in you. The great Bible teacher, Ron Dunn used to say: “Faith operates only within the boundaries of God’s will.”

In other words, without the knowledge of God’s will there can be no real faith.

We cannot ask in faith if we are guessing at the will of God.

Faith based upon our wishes, guesses or desires is nothing more than presumption. The prayer of faith is the prayer offered in the sure knowledge of God’s will; it is not shooting in the dark, or hoping we will be lucky and hit the target.

Faith is not man’s way of getting his own will done in heaven; it is God’s way of getting His will done on earth. We must understand that faith itself is a gift from God. It is not an emotion we stir up. It is not a way of thinking positively. It is not hoping real hard for something. Biblical Faith is a gift from God and He will not grant us faith to believe something that is contrary to His will.

When Abraham believed God that he would be the father of many nations, he was responding to God’s purpose and will. Faith enables us to cooperate with God’s will.

_________________Today's personal note from Dennis

Greetings from Starbucks in beautiful Tempe, AZ.

Thank you so much for sharing your emails with me. It means a lot to hear from you from time to time. I am so blessed with the growing readership of The Encourager. Weekly, new names are added and the message expands around the globe. 

God has answered my prayers and yours. I have asked many times that you pray for opportunities for Sandy and me to preach and teach God's word. Beginning in January Sandy will again teach a Young Mom's Bible study. The 14 week study will be on the Book of Esther. I have been asked to preach weekly in the Intersect Service at First Baptist Church in Tempe until the end of July. I will take some Sundays away for other speaking opportunities and vacation time. I thank God and for your prayers for that opportunity. 

This past Saturday our church had what we call "Compassion Day." It is a day we spend on mission projects in the neighborhood and around the world. We cleaned a portion of McClintock Dr. Our choir sang at a Senior Center. The youth packed boxes for "feed my starving children." Sewing machines were humming and ironing boards were warm as many made dresses for little girls and shorts for little boys in Africa. They are made from pillow cases. The last time we sent dresses to Africa God allowed us to send 300. There are some happy little girls who received their first dress in their lives. We finished the day with hot dogs and hamburgers. What a rewarding time.

Are you making your "blessings list." It is only a week until Thanksgiving. We have all been so blessed it is hard to imagine. Think how you can share your blessings with others. You may have someone in your church or neighborhood who does not have a place to spend Thanksgiving. Invite them to your home. Be a blessing to someone else. 

December is birthday month in our family: Susan 1st, Justin 3rd, Roger 7th, Mandy 19th and Collin 28th. And of course we celebrate all of them with parties. We also celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus on December 25th. It is a busy, but fun time for all of us. It does become time that needs extra planning, because it is also the end of year band concerts, music programs, church musicals and other special parties and ministry opportunities. I thank God that I am able to participate.

Justin is walking, and Burke worked the spotlight in his school's play. 

I will be having all my physical tests at the end of this month. That includes MRI's, Labs and a visit to the oncologist. Please pray for good results. 

I do hope and pray that you and your family, friends and church have a wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas Season. Don't ever forget "GOD IS GOOD!!."  ~ DGW

Thanksgiving Doorway #277

Psalm 100:4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise Give thanks to Him, bless His name. (NAS)

1 Thessalonians 5:18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. (NLT)

Psalm 92:2 "It is good to give thanks to the LORD, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning, and Your faithfulness every night," (NKJV)

Daniel 6:10, “Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.” (NKJV)

Throughout the Bible you are encouraged to give thanks to God. The thanksgiving is not just for the good things that come your way, but everything. You are even to enter into God’s presence, his gates and courts, with a thankful heart. Daniel found that he was condemned by his action of praying to God and yet he still went to God in prayer three times a day. His prayer was a prayer of thanksgiving.

Being thankful shows you understand that God is good. No matter what is happening in your life God is there for you. He responds to your praise and thankfulness.

Psalms 107:1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.

 

“We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, small (and yet really not small) gifts.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer

_____________________Today's personal note from Dennis

Greetings from home in beautiful Tempe AZ

I was not able to go to Starbucks the past few days because of a trip to the Emergency Room. Turned out I was not having a baby, just felt that way, but had a kidney stone. Not a pleasant experience. I am grateful that I don't have that  kind of pain all the time. I am staying home hoping this thing will pass. So far it is pain, take pain medication and then wait for the pain to return. Also I have drunk more water than I thought was possible. 

I do hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. It is one of my favorite of all holidays. It just reminds me that God is Good and that I can be thankful in all things. The blessings of God are overwhelming. I thank God for all of you. It is my joy to send The Encourager to you each week. I am very thankful for my wife, and children, and my grandsons. I am very grateful that although I still have cancer in my liver I am doing very well. (except for the inconvenience of a kidney stone)

Sandy will be fixing the traditional Thanksgiving Dinner. Our family will be here at various times. They also have other families to celebrate with. We celebrate Justin's first birthday on Sunday evening. Looking forward to seeing him eat his own little cake. I will take pictures. Justin and Johnny have had more pictures taken of them than all the rest of my family put together. They actually had to put on a jacket this last week because of the rain and cooler weather. 

I missed preaching on Sunday due to the kidney stone. Hopefully I will be ok by Sunday to preach. I am scheduled to preach at First Baptist Church of Tempe for this next Sunday, December 1st. Appreciate your prayers. 

I have labs done on Monday and then see the oncologist on December 13th when I will find out the results. Again I appreciate your prayers. 

I am thankful. Are you? I sure hope so. God is good and is always sending us His love, grace and mercy. He watches over us and cares for our every need. 

Blessings to all of you on this Thanksgiving week.  ~ DGW

True and Faithful #275

Acts 11:21,23

And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord. Then when he had come and witnessed the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord; (NAS)

The believers from Cyprus and Cyrene went to Antioch to tell the good news that Jesus Christ had died for their sins and had arisen. The Good News, The Gospel, is found in all the Bible, but spelled out in: 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.”

Large numbers of them believed and were born again. That is what happens when the Gospel is preached. Then they sent for Barnabus, the encourager, who upon his arrival witnessed the grace of God through the changed lives of the people. He observed their faith, and the new life of these believers and rejoiced. 

The Bible makes it clear that we are saved by God’s grace through faith, but it is through the faith you have in Jesus Christ as the Son of God that opens the door for God’s Grace to save you. What a joy it is to see people come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior and Life. 

Barnabus who was known as the Encourager or Son of Consolation immediately began to encourage them to remain true to the Lord knowing that temptation would come their way.

Temptation comes in many forms and in many ways, but the real temptation is to turn from your faith, or not trust God. Barnabus reminded them that because of the truth of the Gospel they needed to remain true and faithful to Jesus Christ.

What or who are you trusting right now? Remain faithful to Jesus.

_______________________Today's personal note from Dennis

Greetings from Starbucks in beautiful Tempe, AZ

This week as we celebrated Veteran's Day my mind went back to that day in February 1968 when I received word that my cousin James Louis Wood was killed by a sniper bullet in Vietnam. I remember the heart break of his parents and all of our family. Such a loss was hard to deal with. Jim was only 20 years old with a life ahead of him, yet he gave his life for his country. He is true hero to me. 

The other hero for me is my Dad. He joined the United States Navy in 1943. He was aboard the USS ARTIC, a refrigerator ship, that supplied food to the seventh fleet in the Pacific. He served until the end of WWII. He taught me to love and serve my God, my family, and my country. What a role model he has been. See his pictures: one in his uniform, the other a more recent photo. He is now 88 years old. God has blessed me with such a special Dad.

My thoughts and prayers are for all of you who have served your country. I am personally grateful for your selflessness. You are special. For all of you who have lost loved ones in service to our country I also say, Thank You!!. God bless you.

Sandy and I are so grateful that God has allowed us to serve Him as teachers, preachers, disciple makers and encouragers. Sunday we shared with a Sunday School class at the City of Grace Church in Mesa, AZ. We were well received and hope and pray we were an encouragement to that class. 

I will be preaching Sunday at First Baptist Church of Tempe at 9:30 in the Intersect Service. It meets in the LOFT. Join me.

It is only a couple of weeks until Thanksgiving. Have you started your: "I've been so blessed" Thanksgiving list. We have so much to thank God for today.

I pray that God will bless you today no matter what your circumstances and situation in life might be. In Him "we are more than conquerors." 

God bless you.  ~ DGW

Truth Revealed #274

1 Corinthians 2:10-11

10 For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.

11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. (NAS)  

1 Corinthians 2:16 For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ. (NAS) 

The deep things of God are not known by your abilities or knowledge. They are revealed to you by God’s Spirit. To know and to understand the things of God is to allow the Holy Spirit to be our teacher. God made it clear that his thoughts are not our thoughts and his ways are not our ways. True wisdom is to understand things from God’s perspective and the only way that can happen is that the Holy Spirit shows you. The scripture is not understood by man’s grasp but by illumination of the Word through God’s Holy Spirit.

When the Apostle Peter was asked by Jesus, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus then explained to Peter that his understanding did not come from human abilities or knowledge, but by God revealing Himself. The only way you know the spiritual things of God is through God revealing the truth to you. God lives in every believer through the Holy Spirit.

The only one who really knows what is in your thoughts is you. It is your human spirit that knows what is in you. It is also true of your thoughts and understanding and knowledge of God. It only comes from God’s Spirit. You have the mind of Christ.

Trusting God to reveal truth to your life is dependent on you allowing the Holy Spirit to reveal truth to you. Be open to God’s revelation of Himself, His work, His truth and His ways in your life.  Trust God. He does want you to know the deep things of God. Let Him be your teacher.

_________________Today's personal note from Dennis

Greetings from Starbucks in beautiful Tempe, AZ

This is why we live in Arizona!! Those of us who are privileged to live in the Valley of the Sun here those words often this time of year. We have endured the HOT summer and have entered the "why we live here" time. The days are a pleasant 75-80 degrees, the nights are in the upper 50s, and the sun shines. If you get tired of the cold weather in the rest of the world, come to beautiful Tempe, AZ.

I have often asked you to pray for opportunities for ministry for both Sandy and me. We are enjoying the doors your prayers have opened. Sandy continues to teach the "Young Mom's" group on Tuesday mornings. I am preaching almost every Sunday at the Intersect Service at First Baptist Church of Tempe. The schedule has me preaching all except a few Sundays between now and April. God certainly has blessed. This coming Sunday (November 10th) Sandy and I will both be speaking in a Marriage Class at City of Grace Church in Mesa, AZ. 

We will be with friends who lead the class, Mel and Shawnee Worters. Pray for our time with them. 

The grandson's continue to bless us. This past week Bennett and Burke were participants in a school program called Performing Arts Exhibition. They sang a duet together and Burke played the ukelele and whistled. Bennett also did a dramatic reading. Both were super. 

Little Justin turned 11 months old on Sunday and decided it was time to walk. Although he was seven weeks early, the visiting nurse told Mandy he is doing things that a one year old should be doing. God is good. 

Sandy and I had the fun time of going trick or treating with the four younger grandsons. Bennett, a high school junior, thought it would be more fun to be with friends. The other boys went door to door gathering candy and having a great time. Of course Sandy and I watched with swelling pride as we thought how blessed we were.  Again God is good. 

We have our busy time coming up this next few weeks. All three of our children were born in December. We start celebrating with Thanksgiving. Susan's birthday is December 1. Justin's birthday is December 3. Roger's birthday is December 7. Mandy's birthday is December 19. Jesus birthday is December 25. Collin's birthday is December 28. Dennis files for bankruptcy on January 1. (just kidding about that) We have many church activities during that same time period. I look forward to all the fun times with family, friends, and church. 

I will have all my tests run at the end of November. Results will be available in early December. The tests include: MRI and lab work. Please pray for good results. Most of the time I feel good. There are days when I am very aware that I still have cancer. Thankfully they are not often. Remember God is good. 

I pray for you and ask God to continue to bring glory to Him no matter what you are facing in life. God is good.  ~ DGW