Don't miss your moment

Don't miss your moment with God. He is actively trying to meet with you.  Miracles happen when our willingness to trust God intersects with the will of God.  God has blessing waiting for us on the other side of obedience.

Chris Hodges, Church of the Highlands
  

How to wait

Do not be afraid...What you think is going to happen is not going to happen.  Keep trusting God.   You must be patience.  The secret of patience is doing something of value in the meantime.  Don't let wrong voices fill your mind.   Patience isn't the ability to wait, but how you act while you are waiting.  God has a much better plan for your life than you have for yourself.   

Chris Hodges, Church of the Highlands 

We must be brave

You have to trust when you don't understand. We need to be brave.  Others need to see this in you.  God sees and knows where you are.  God has a plan for your life.  

Holly Wagner, Guest Speaking at Church of the Highlands.

Your Darkest Story

God has an unique ability to take your darkest story and turn it around for your good.  

God has the ability to redeem you or put you back to your original intent and make it better than before.  

God has more of a story for you than you can ever understand.  If you want God involved in your life, you have to say yes to Him.  

Jesus can save you, forgive you, and cleanse you.  God's story for you never ends with just you.  

Give your life to God.  He can do more with it than you can.  Romans 8:28. 

Everyone can be great because everyone can serve.  Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 

Chris Hodges, Church of the Highlands

Words fitly spoken

The single biggest problem in communication is that illusion that it has already taken place.  

George Bernard Shaw.

Proverbs 25:11  (NKJV)

11 A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold In settings of silver.

Proverbs 10:11A.   (NKJV) 

The mouth of the righteous is a well of life.

Allen Pedram, Church of the Highlands  

Insulation verses isolation

The devil always wants to put us into isolation.  Don't settle for average.  God has called you to be extraordinary.  

Proverbs 29:18. Where there is no vision, people perish.  There are risks involved in seeing God do great things.   

Insulation is not the same as isolation.  Sometimes you need to leave some people behind on your journey.  

Even when you're taking great risks you need to plan.  Proverbs 21:5.  Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity.  

Dave Sumnall, speaking at Church of the Highlands

Extravagant Love

It's not God who has broken the relationship with you.  He will not control you or force you.  He is interested in a real relationship with you.  You can always trust God's motivation.  He loves sacrificially.  We can live without condemnation.    He loves extravagantly. His love cannot be earned only received.   

Mark Pettis, Church of the Highlands

Lessons or Sentences

You can't start the next chapter of your life if you keep reading the last chapter over and over again. Make a decision today to turn the page on your past.   

Your past failures are lessons not life sentences.  Vulnerability will heal you.  Isolation will kill you.  Your outside will never changes till the inside changes. 

Dino Rizzo, Church of the Highlands 

Mercy or Me?

If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?  If I don't stop to help this man, what will happen to him?

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Letting go of the past

You have to let go of the past, so it will let go of you.  

Chris Hodges, Church of the Highlands 

God, the weight lifter

Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV), 

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” 

Since a lot of things that we must go through as Christians are tough, how can this passage be true?

In your mind’s eye, picture two oxen yoked together, plowing a field. 

One ox is big and tough, and the other is little and weak. 

As we watch the two oxen plowing the field, 

we notice that the big, 

tough oxen 

is doing most of the pulling, 

and the little, weak oxen 

is just walking along in harmony with him. 

It is true that a lot of things that we go through are really tough, but Jesus has an offer for you. 

Will you be yoked together with me? 

I won’t take advantage of you, 

and I'll pause throughout the day to allow you to catch a breath. 

Sure, 

there is a lot of heavy work ahead of us, 

but if you’ll follow my lead, 

I’ll do all the heavy lifting.

M. H. Dennis

God's Will

I beg you by and because of our merciful God... 

that you offer your body upon His altar for Him to live through, walk within, and breathe inside. 

This is only reasonable as a true act of worship;

therefore, do not be molded into the world's image by its eternal pressure, 

but use that pressure to be transformed inside by continuously remembering who you are in - Christ. 

Then, and only then will you be able to understand God's will for your life. 

This is God's good, perfect, and well-pleasing will. (loose paraphrase of Romans 12:1-2)

M. H. Dennis

Attracting God

Of the over 6 billion people who live here on planet earth, 

which of them gets God’s attention and how do they get it? 

Jesus reveals a glimmer into the inter working of God’s mind. 

When He said, make God number one and focus on being tight with Him. 

Then and only then, 

will God move you to the front of the line ahead of the other 6 billion, and give you His undivided attention (Matthew 6:33). 

If not, stand in line.

M. H. Dennis

Enter into God's Presence

Pause.

Be still. 

Lean in. 

Listen. 

If you pause to stop and think about God, then He’ll pause to stop, and think about you. 

This is the trigger into God’s presence. 

Think about it. 

You can usher yourself into God’s presence inside His very throne room (a loose paraphrase of James 4:8).

M. H. Dennis

A Law of Attraction

Trust attracts God. 

Reasoning dilutes trust. 

Don’t try to figure out everything in your head. 

Throughout the day, routinely pause to listen to God’s voice within. 

Then and only then, will He’ll nudge you right or left. 

(a very loose paraphrase of Proverbs 3:5-6).

M. H. Dennis

Do I Trust God?

"The righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time." (Psalm 34:19 NLT)  

We've got to focus on the first part, which is remaining right with God.

Instead of focusing on the rescue part, which is God's responsibility.

If we focus on God's part, it shows a lack of trust and offends God. 

It disqualifies us for the promise.

M. H. Dennis

Does your faith work?

And Jesus answered saying to them, 

"Have faith in God. 

Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 

'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' 

and 

does not doubt in his heart, 

but 

believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him.

"Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you. 

"Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. 

["But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions.] 

Mark 11:22-26 (NASB)

The basis of our faith is in God. 

Ask...
1). Can God do it? Matthew 19:26

2). Is it in line with His will (His word)? I John 5:14

3). Will it bring honor to God? Matthew 6:9

4). Do I qualify for the promise? Matthew 6:33

If your request meets the test above, it still might not happen, but why not?

1). Do you express doubt in your prayers and your everyday speech? James 1:6-9

2). Do you believe that it will happen?

3). Do you forgive others?

M. H. Dennis

A Tidal Wave of Love

Through one man's sin, sin flooded the world. It filled it up.

The whole earth became flooded by a curse, which was death.

However, through the righteousness of Jesus, righteousness has swept away the curse of death with a tidal wave of righteousness and life.

Righteousness is but a breath away to anyone who will believe this good news.

Because of Jesus, all you have to do is to surrender to God by opening your mouth and inviting the Holy Spirit in while confessing Jesus as your ruler.

Heaven needed a funnel to pour righteousness into the earth, and that funnel is Jesus.

He is the funnel or the door for God's righteousness.  It's like we're drowning in salvation. Just open your mouth, and take a sip. 

(Read Romans 5, Romans 10, John 10:9)

Faith Works Out

Remember, Jesus did not commit sin, He was made sin.

We do not commit righteousness, we are made righteous when we surrender to Jesus as Lord.

I can be everything that Jesus is through Jesus.

In Christ, I am Holy as God is Holy based upon what Jesus did for me. (2 Cor. 5:17-21) 

Currently, I am working out in my words and actions what I know to be true in me. (Phil. 2:12-13)

Chris Hodges, Chris Hodges

Where the fish bite

Don't waste your time sharing Jesus with people who couldn't care less. (Matt. 7:6) 

They will only discourage you. When you fish, don't you think about when and where the fish might be biting?

Just like fishing when you're witnessing... 

Study who might be willing to listen, where might they be, what strategy do I need, and when is the best time to approach ? 

Don't let disinterested people discourage you. Change fishing spots.

M. H. Dennis

The Money Gun

Materialism is not how much you have, but how preoccupied by how much you have or don't have. Both poor and rich people can be materialistic.

Money is like a gun. It can be used to provide food or to murder. 

How does your money define you. 

Money creates margin for you to do what you want. 

It's like compressed time. 

Can your money and time be described as good or evil? 

How does your money and time define you?

Chris Hodges, Church of the Highlands

When God Can't Answer

Although God is all powerful, He will not break His word. 

Therefore, God will not break His word even to answer your prayers. 

When you pray, ask yourself, is this promised in scripture with conditions? 

Are there conditions in that promise that I'm not keeping? 

Ask God please give me the insight to understand what changes that I need to make to qualify for this request? 

(I John 5:14)

M. H. Dennis

The Fight of Faith

In James 4:7B he said, "Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you." 

In this passage, we are commanded to get our minds off the temptation and resist the source of the temptation, which is the Devil. 

Why are we commanded to resist the Devil if it is God who is supposed to be the one doing it for us? 

If we don't resist the Devil, does this command imply that God will step in and do it for us? 

No! If you won't resist the Devil, then you are own your own. 

God will allow whatever you allow. 

God never blesses disobedience. 

If you do resist him, then God will come to your aid. (Phil. 2:13)

M. H. Dennis

Faith Blocker

When we don't hear God, it's because our minds are upon other things.

Focusing upon our problems is called worry.

It interferes with our ability to hear God.

Worry is having faith in our problems.

Faith in something besides God blocks our ability to hear Him.

Faith in God begins by believing something that at the time doesn't appear to be true to be true because of your confidence in Him, and what He has promised. (Luke 8:50,52)

M. H. Dennis 

My Faith Fix

Jesus is the author and finisher of my faith (Hebrews 12:2); however, it is my responsibility to increase it. 

It is not Christ's responsibility to increase my faith (Luke 17:6), but it is mine. I cause it to increase by use. (Luke 17:6-10). 

I exercise my faith as I refuse to surrender to my circumstances.  

I must stand firm trusting what God says about my situation. 

I must never give my faith a day off until my faith has finished accomplishing its task.

M. H. Dennis