I am headed out the door in just a few minutes to go to the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta. This is going to be a real good time. Get to spend time with my brother, Steve, and lots of other friends and make some new ones at well. There will be close to 12,000 leaders from around the world converging on the same location for a few days. It is big. It is cool. It is a huge encouragement to me (therefore, there will not be E-Devotions for the rest of this week).
Last night my wife and I went to see the movie Fireproof . It was good. Almost too good as it hit some points of our own marriage. A few things that struck me where these:
Loving someone is impossible if you don't know what real love is.
You have to do more than "just enough to get by" if you want to impact someone's life.
Marriage is worth working at, fighting for and is a gift from God.
The book LOVE DARE is in my future (and I hope your future too).
Ephesians 5:25 (msg) --- Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ's love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her,
As I think back on that movie and even the struggles we have had in our marriage, I see God at work. I see His grace in and through my wife. But there is so much more we can experience as a couple and as a family. What is needed? Real love. And that is a challenge. Are we willing to set aside ourselves and to live, guys, so that our words and our actions will bring out the best in our wives? Wow. That's big.
I am fired up this week. God continues to show up and share His best. The movie was good. But now I get to "sit at the feet" of people like Andy Stanley , Franklin Graham , Craig Groeschel , Dave Ramsey , and others. This is gonna fire me up even more than I already am.
My commitment is to see lives changed: mine, my kids, and others. What makes church really worth the push are the phone calls like I got last night and the stories I hear. This middle school student called to tell me what God had done that day in his life. Awesome story from a young man who has only been a Christian 3 weeks. God is good....
The vision that God has placed in me for The Community Fellowship continues to burn within me and is exciting and thrusting forward in some sweet and awesome ways. I can not wait to see what is next. Plus, I love my wife and my family. We are headed toward some of the best, and I mean THE BEST times we have ever seen.
So I close, when you set out to see God's best, here are a couple things to keep in mind:
1 Peter 5:6 (nlt) --- So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.
Colossians 1:6 (nlt) --- This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God's wonderful grace.
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