So we do service there every year. But that’s not the best part. The best part is this: we baptize people in those pools. Anyone. Everyone. If you haven’t been part of a baptism service where people decide, on the spot, that they want to get baptized, there’s nothing like it. This year we doubled the number of people that had signed up in advance. It was awesome!

Check out the service here.

“I’m all in!” … a move in poker that either doubles you up or puts you out of the game.

Is it ever a wise move to “Bet the farm” … to go “All in”?

As another fall begins, I am ready to “Bet the Farm” … to go “All in” … to RISK it all!

I am convinced that God wants to do Something BIG in this little corner of His Kingdom called Creekside … and for the coming year beginning NOW I  want to be willing to really risk it all for Him and be a part of what He is going to do.

I’m not sure what the year ahead will look like … but I’m sure that it will be a terrifying – exciting – liberating – crazy – white-knuckle of a ride.

JOIN ME IN THE JOURNEY

If you are already a part of the Creekside family, my journey will be yours too.

If you live in the Contra Costa area and would like to live a life filled with purpose and influence with Jesus, I invite you to join us in the adventure … call me at 925-240-7144 and let’s get started.

If you live outside of the bay area of northern California, would you please pray for us … that we might discover the Something BIG that God wants to do through us.

“Bet the farm” … “I’m all in” … This is crazy!!! – But then, weren’t most of Jesus’ followers a little crazy?

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.  For he cose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.  Ephesians 1:3-4

OBSERVATION:

God deserves praise … worship/recognition/rememberance/celebration/given glory

He has blessed us … not because we earned it or deserved it … but just because that’s the kind of God He is.

Do I realize HOW MUCH God has blessed me?

He has blessed “US” … both Jews and Gentiles who were part of that church in Ephesus.  The Jews already knew they were blessed – but not the Gentiles.  God has blessed ALL of us.

He has chosen us to be HOLY and BLAMELESS … He hasn’t “just” chosen me to be saved, He has chosen me to be HOLY (without blame)

APPLICATION:

God deserves PRAISE: Today, I choose to give Him more PRAISE … recognize Him more in my life … realize that He is the One who is bringing all the great things that are comin into my life and across my path.

He has BLESSED us with every spiritual blessing: As I praise God today … I also choose to be more lavish/generous in telling others how great He is and giving Him the credit for the blessings in my life

Thank God His blessings aren’t “just” temporary.  They are in heavenly realms that keep these blessings from becoming old, worn out, used up, out of fashion, or unnecessary anymore.

My dog know blessings … but they are temporary (fed, let outside/inside, petted, groomed) – I want to live at a different level with my God!  He has blessed me with SPIRITUAL blessings!

Chosen to be HOLY and BLAMELESS: There’s obviously still some work to be done there.

PRAYER:

“Lord God … I PRAISE YOU!  I begin my morning by lifting You up, in my heart, to Your proper place as God above all.  Today I want to live my life as an effort to lift You up among those you bring across my path.  You have blessed me!  May I be a blessing!

Lord, I long to be the holy and blameless one you have called me to be.  Lord, today I yield my spirit to Your Spirit.  Refiner’s fire … purify my heart today.  I long to be Holy and Blameless … purify me.”

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.                          Galatians 6:14

OBSERVATION:

“Boast in the Cross” – What a cool oxymoron!  The cross had been designed to be a place of humiliation and shame.

It would make more sense to “boast in what I can do” … but the reality is that I can’t do anything on my own.  It’s not about MY performance.

When I am dead to the world, the world can’t have any influence over me.

APPLICATION:

I need to remember that even following Christ really isn’t about me and what I do.

I need to day-by-day (and minute-by-minute) remain dead to the world and focus on Christ rather than being hung up on things like … how close I am to God, what others think about me (good and/or bad), my dream for my next toy, and my desire for fun and comfort.

PRAYER:

“Lord, help me keep my eyes on You.  Remembering and keeping focused on what you did on the cross to “justify” me, may I keep my full attention on you and may my passion be about what you want to do in and through me and not on things in life that really don’t matter.”

Stand in the river?  … With the ark of the covenant? … Are you CRAZY?

The ark of the covenant was to be treated with great care.  It wasn’t something to be carried into the middle of a river that was at flood stage!  What if they dropped it?

God was asking the Israelites to do something CRAZY.  To move into the Promised Land, they would have to trust Him again and continue to follow His plan for them.  Some of the group had probably already engineered a bridge in their mind … but God was asking them to trust Him and move into the middle of the river; allowing Him to stop the flowing water.

How CRAZY!

What CRAZY thing is God asking you to do right now?  If nothing comes to mind, maybe you’re not listening well enough.  God always seems to be asking His people to trust Him and do CRAZY things.

If you have something CRAZY that you think God is asking you to do … would you be bold enough to post it here?  I would love to join you in praying about this!

God is so generous! He has told Joshua to trust Him and as Joshua takes a step of faith … God encourages him all the way. God helped the people of Israel to give him their full allegiance like they had with Moses. God provided Rahab in Jericho to hide the spies. And now, God shares with Joshua that He is about to show the whole nation that He is with Joshua in a very special way.

God always wants to encourage us and help us along in our faith, but sometimes we have closed our ears to His encouragement. God uses hundreds of different ways to encourage us. Sometimes His encouragement comes in the form of a memory He sends across our mind, other times it is through the words of one of our friends, it can be through the hug of our child, or a quiet assurance that He is with us even during a stormy season. God has been especially encouraging to me lately as I have been spending time with Him in a quiet place reading through Joshua’s adventure.

God’s en-couragement is His gift to us that is designed to fills us with courage and allow us to boldly step out in faith.

How has God been encouraging you lately? In what form is His encouragement coming?

Rahab YIELDED to God. She put herself (and her family) at risk when she chose to protect the spies, but she decided quickly that this was the right option for her. Rahab lived in a land that didn’t know or worship the living God and instead, like their neighbors in the land of Canaan, probably worshipped the fertility gods of Baal and Ashtoreth.

But, Rahab had heard about what the God of the Israelites was doing. She had heard about Him parting the Red Sea. She had heard about how He had gone before them into battle. As she got this information, she put her faith into God.

As we learn from Rahab, faith is definitely more than “just” believing. The whole town of Jericho believed that God was great … but it only filled them with fear. Rahab chose to act on her belief and put her trust in the living God. Whenever we encounter God we can either ignore Him, try to run away from Him, or YIELD to Him. Rahab chose to YIELD. She put her TRUST in the God who would save her and chose to hide the spies.

YIELDING to God wasn’t easy for Rahab, but it was the right choice.

YIELDING to God probably isn’t easy for you either.

For you, what is the most challenging thing about YIELDING to God?