How to Live for One Thing

Do you really think life can be about one thing? In a world of so many options, how do we focus on what’s really important? Can experiencing God help us live confidently for Him?

The Apostle Paul, who wrote much of the New Testament, addresses these issues.

The Word

In the third chapter of the letter to the Philippians, Paul says that although he had many reasons to have “confidence in the flesh,” he counted “all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:4, 8).

Each one of us can choose what we build our lives around.

For the first part of his life, Paul (originally called Saul) based everything on how religious he was. His list of credentials would be impressive for any Jew:

. . . circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. (Philippians 3:5–6)

Paul thought his credentials were strong, but once he met Jesus his life perspective drastically changed (see Acts 9). Instead of trying to make his own name great, encountering Jesus transformed Paul into a man consumed with the glory and worth of Christ, giving up everything to know Him and make Him known:

But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith. (Phil. 3:7-9)

Paul was even willing to suffer and die, as Christ did, if it meant being raised to life with Him forever (Philippians 3:10–11).

Going Deeper

When Paul met Jesus, life came into focus. Instead of striving against Jesus and the Church, he now gave all of his energy to building it. Through the revelation of Christ, the apostle was transformed and empowered to live a life of radical devotion. Paul’s life of radical devotion still matters nearly 2,000 years later—because he honored Christ.

Paul concludes this passage with a strong exhortation for believers to “press on” to “lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of [them]” (Philippians 3:12).

With this specific goal in mind, Paul says doing “one thing . . . forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal” of knowing Christ and being united with Him (Philippians 3:13–14). These words of Paul testify to the kind of lifestyle he lived. His complete abandonment to Jesus was sustained by his radical obedience and willingness to give Jesus complete lordship over his life.

Walking It Out

Paul’s message is for us today. The Lord is still calling forth worshipers “in spirit and in truth,” ones who will love the Lord with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength (John 4:23–24; Luke 10:27).

We can respond by doing the one thing Paul did—parting with our old way of life (including our sin, pride, hesitation, and fear) and running with abandon toward Christ. This will look different for each person, but the goal is the same—to know Christ and make Him known to others, with nothing standing in the way of our wholehearted obedience.

By embracing this one thing, we can experience a sense of purpose and power that is both eternal and divine. And in this, we can “know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, [we] may attain to the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:10-12).

What is one step you can take toward living for one thing?

-Adam Wittenberg; A Detroit native who was raised in Vermont and Connecticut, Adam worked as a newspaper journalist until 2012, when he moved to Kansas City to complete the Intro to IHOPKC internship. Afterwards, he earned a four-year certificate in House of Prayer Leadership from IHOPU and is now on full-time staff in the Marketing department at IHOPKC. Adam is also active in evangelism and has a vision to reach people everywhere with the good news of Jesus Christ.

How To Develop Your Mind

How can you develop your mind? A professor came upon a discovery and with it found out how to develop his mind. One day while getting dressed he was buttoning up his vest, actually his vest wouldn’t button, the reason? His daughter had sewn up the button holes. His fingers were going along as usual in their buttoning the vest when something happened; a button wouldn’t button! He looked down and realized why, but then a new idea was born!

The professor discovered that the fingers could remember. It’s called physiological memory. The mind trains or relegates functions to our body. In other words, as long as we keep doing the things we always do our minds won’t work. But when we are forced to do it a different way, go a different direction, get out of the box of routine, it activates our minds again. Physical life brings happiness, but mental life brings interest, a consuming and absorbing interest. Our mental development should not end with school; we must become a student of life. Stagnant minds are the greatest obstacles to progress.

How can we develop our minds? Nobody is born a genius. The famous Thomas Carlyle said the definition of a genius is, “An infinite capacity for hard work.” Today with all the technology and access to information we have become no more than headliners, knowing a little bit about a lot. Let’s be the person that at least knows one thing well! Like the Apostle Paul who said in Philippians 3:13, “This one thing I do.” Make a decision and determine to know one thing well.

Next, read the right type of books, they will stimulate your brains and improve your understanding. The right kind of books are the ones that help you prepare for opportunities. Also learn to think creatively, when a new thought, idea or concept comes think of ways to apply it to your life. Venture courageously into new mental realms. Finally, don’t stop until that good idea, thought or concept pushes you into new arenas.

Maybe you’re thinking “I can’t do that” or “I’m not that smart.” Stop thinking about what you can’t do, instead, what can you do? Are you satisfied with what you’ve accomplished so far? If not, your job is to know how much more mental ability you have, then dare to use it. Remember, things multiply when shared. So create discussions with others that like yourself who want to do things in life.

For more on this download my series “I Dare You” and start your adventure.

-Dr. Rob Carman, Is the founder of Victory World Missions, a prolific author, church planter and well-know conference speaker. www.robcarman.com

Hearing From God

How do I hear from God? Hearing from God for your own self can be difficult for most people because most people would rather have man to approve them, when God has already given each of us clear directives.  Are you working, going to school, studying, reading, working out, building friendships, but would love to spend alone time with God.  At times you may feel many things pulling you away from doing the very thing God has called you do. Those entire things are great in them self but we need to find what we are called to do and stick to that.  When the Lord calls your name, how will you answer? Here I am, and then you hear “I am God; do not be afraid I am with you.” This is just like when God spoke to Jacob (Israel) when he was going to Egypt and God spoke and said He will make Israel into a great nation there.  Genesis 46:2-4.  I know God leads us into the wilderness to mold us so God can lead us back again to use us for His will.  I am willing, and my prayer is use me, and send me.  Make that your prayer today as well.

Recently I was reading James 4:8 come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash yours hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  This is something God is calling all Christians to do, choose this day to surrender to God’s will because no one is born Godly but the opposite is true as we are born sinful.  I believe that for many years in my life I could not understand God because I could not hear His voice.  Isaiah conforms this in Isaiah 59:2 but your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.  In Luke 14:15-18, 20-24 talks about a great banquet and who will get to come to the banquet.  I would like to write so much on this great banquet, but I will just say in short who will be invited and I will encourage you to read about this banquet over and over again and ask God to speak to you and show Himself real to you.  This great banquet does not have a maxim guest list; all are invited to the banquet.  God’s eyes are seeking back an fourth; God is looking and caring for the poor person.  The poor person is not what we think as poor, but a poor person God is looking for is a humble person.  God rejects the prideful and gives grace to the humble no matter what status you are.

One day while I was at Church I thought about how great God is and how he cares so much about me.  The worship ministry began to sing “How Great is Our God” and I could not hold back any more I went to my knees and lifted my hands and began to sing with tears flowing down my cheeks.  I was thinking about this past year and how I am falling deeper and deeper in love with God, and what He has done for me and for people I know, and thinking on how God demonstrated His love on the cross for us.  I am broken before the Lord.  If you are in Church and you see someone doing what I some people may think this person on the floor is repenting or something bad must have happen to them.  No not one of those things I am broken before my Lord.  My tears are from the Lord that I may bring Him as an offering with my life.  My tears are for the way He Loves me, the joy I fine in Him and thankfulness for who God truly is and what He is teaching me.  To help illustrate brokenness, on how a horse is broken you may understand brokenness.  A broken horse is trained and is taken care of by its owner.  When the rider is on a broken horse the horse does exactly what the rider tells it to do.  Just think about a Police horse they stand firm and will walk right into a crowd of people with no hesitation if the rider leads and gives the commands to the horse will do as it rider says.  If the rider tells the horse to move left or right, backwards or forwards the horse will as commanded.  A horse that is not broken will break free and run away from the people.

I will end with this, fear the Lord, this is not to be scared but the fear of the Lord keeps you from sin.  Exodus 20:20 Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid.  God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”  John Bevere said when he met with Jim Baker in prison he asked him when did you stop loving God and start sinning.  Jim Baker said I never stop loving God I loved God all throw my sin, but I stopped fearing God.  Isn’t this a living testimony on never stop fearing God.  As the scripture says in Psalm 25:14 The Lord confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them.  May the Lord bless you and keep you close to Him with His Love, Peace, and Thanksgiving. 

- Donnelly Cameron

Tears & Alabaster Jar

Prayer is so important. Prayer is touching God, and to reach the world we must do it through prayer first. In Luke 18:1 Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them not to give up on praying. Jesus also said “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations” Mark 11:17.  In James 4:3 is all about our motives for praying, what motivation and why are we praying. It is clear to me that God wants us to pray selflessness. I know at times I can pray God please let me get this job, God please let me get this raise, and God give me this and that so I can give more.  God wants to hear from our mouth which is poring out from our heart “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” Matthew 6:9-13. Prayer is acknowledging of a need that we can not fix, but we have a Friend that does, and he calls us friend.

This past week while studying the word of God the book of Luke 7:37-50 opened my eyes to what Jesus is all about and what He wants from us. These verses are about Jesus being anointed by a sinful woman. The Blood of Jesus Christ was not shade for our issues or things in our lives, but for our sin. We must confess our sin to Jesus so He can forgive us. This woman brought her tears and an alabaster jar of perfume and poured her heart out with tears and the perfume on His feet and wiped them with her hair. To understand the value of this perfume and the amount she poured out at that time it would have been a year of wages, so she gave everything she had and much more. She poured it all out and God wants us to pour out all of our worship and the best to Him. If we hold something back then that is the thing we worship. The true since of what God wants from us is to give everything we have to Him.

I remember one night I was talking on the phone with a Brother in Christ and we were catching up on what we have been doing. He told me that one night when a group of his friends were out preaching in the streets. He began talking with a man about God and how to have a personal relationship with God. Before they departed from one another my Brother in Christ gave this man his shoes and his Bible that he has had for a long time with study notes and underline words. At that time My Brother in Christ gave this man everything he had. Luke 7:38 She brought humility, and she came to Jesus in brokenness. We have to come in brokenness in tears and come to Jesus as we are. This woman did not say ‘Jesus is in that house, so let me go and clean up and put some nice cloths on and clean my life up before I see Him’.  No, she came as she was a sinner and what she had to give was her tears and perfume. When I gave my life to Christ back in July 2000 I brought all my sin and let me tell you it was a yoke that lifted off of me when I gave it over to the Lord that night. The Lord has been molding me since that time and making it a process and I love it. I sing to my King with a love song about how He found me in my brokenness and I give Him thanksgiving.  My King sings over me and over everyone {that you are my beloved and my bride so come away with me my love, so we can stand face to face and I can not see any stains on you my child you are beautiful to me so beautiful to me. I sing over you my song of peace, cased all your cares down at my feet come and find your rest in me.} God has overtaken me and has taken my bitterness and making something sweet from it. We must come to Jesus with humility, brokenness, and with everything we have. Jesus came to proclaim the Gospel and bind up the broken hearts. There are three keys we can take with us from this woman.

1) Willing to server, she washed Jesus’ feet.

2) She came in faith (peace with God will give you peace when the storm is all around us.)

3) She came to worship Jesus. Give it all with passion, power, and at that present time. 

I love you in Jesus Christ; know His Love, Grace, and Peace is with you. Now receive them.

-Donnelly Cameron

What Road are you on?

Have you ever gone down a road where you can’t see what’s around the bend? You will never know what is around the bend until you keep going. You have enough faith to go down a road believing that good things are ahead. No one truly knows what is around the bend. Many situations can come up in our lives that are not planned for. With no PLAN, you have only planned to fail. Let me ask you a serious question about your eternity. When you die are you ready to meet God? YES OR NO?  You may ask how can I be ready to stand before God and be HOLY, PURE, and FULL OF LOVE in His sight. Let’s see what the Bible says:

• ALL HAVE SINNED

“For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it”? Jeremiah 17:9. “All of us like sheep has gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.” Isaiah 53:6

• SIN’S PENALTY

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23 “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire: this is the second death.” Rev 20:14

• SIN’S PENALTY WAS PAID

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8. “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.” 1 Peter 3:18

• WE MUST REPENT

“For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.” 

2 Corinthians 7:10

“Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the LORD and He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.” Isaiah 55:7

• WE MUST RECEIVE CHRIST

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name:” John 1:12

YOU MUST RECEIVE JESUS CHRIST BY FAITH AS YOUR LORD AND SAVIOR.

• YOU CAN BE SAVED TODAY

“That if you confess with your mouth the LORD JESUS and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9 “For WHO EVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.” Romans 10:13

GOD LOVES YOU AND WANTS YOU TO EXPERIENCE PEACE AND ETERNITY WITH HIM. SO THINK ABOUT IT, WHAT WILL YOU CHOOSE, LIFE OR DEATH? CHOOSE LIFE!!!

You are being asked into a relationship with the true and living God through Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. You can speak to God right now on your own. If you choose to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, best friend, and love of your life; then say this prayer to God: “Jesus, I believe in you, I ask you to forgive me and I repent for my sins, wash me, and come into my heart. Be my Savior, my Lord and my very best friend. Come live your life through me, in Jesus’ name, Amen.” For more information please contact us. Thank you for taking your time and we hope and pray you will take God’s Word very seriously and commit your life to Jesus Christ and Him alone.

Cotton Bowl Outreach

The day began with an early morning rain shower and the air was cool. Around ten men of God came together at the AT&T Stadium where the Cotton Bowl was being held. Around 9:00AM January 2nd 2017 we all were shaking hands with each other and giving hugs of brotherly love. Partnering with JeremiahCry Ministry’s we were all ready to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ! As the weather was turning out to be blue skies and around 72 degrees and still wet on the ground from the early morning rain we could not have asked for better weather as we proclaimed the Gospel in the open air! We began with a word of prayer and then we went to different places around the Stadium, some stayed on the street corners to preach and others went on the other side of the street where people were walking to the Stadium to pass out tracks. Myself and William went to the front of the Stadium where the people were gathering to go into the Stadium. William and I started to pass out tracks and they were going like hotcakes. I saw a water fall near where we were and it reminded me of the scripture that says in John 7:37-38 (KJV) 37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. I turned to William and said let us go in front of the water fall and preach. I began to cry out with a loud voice with my Bible in hand lifted up calling all that could hear me to repent of their sin and come to faith in Jesus Christ. As the people turned and looked at me some started to raise their beer cans, give hand jesters, some looked with disgust and spite towards me, others smiled and kept walking, and even others said thank you for being out here. We had a few people coming up that requested us to pray for them and others questioned what we believed and what compels us to do what we were doing. Why all the different reactions? In so many words here is what we were saying.

The greatest thing about the Gospel of Jesus Christ is its utter simplicity; the Gospel is not hard to understand. Jesus never asked a person to clean up his life before he could be forgiven. Our Lord always walked into a person’s life right where they are, with all their sins, failures, guilty conscience, and imperfections. As we are proclaiming this truth people are yelling back “I am a sinner”, “I am going to heaven because I am a good person”. If they were mocking or being real with themselves it did not matter to us because we were there to tell the truth! The Bible tells us that God does love us. As it is written in John 3:16-18 (KJV) 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. As the truth of the Gospel was being proclaimed we were all calling on people to quit using their sinfulness as excuses for not receiving Christ as their Lord and Savior. Jesus said in Matthew 9:12, 13 (KJV) 12 But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.13 But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Come to Jesus with all your sins, your bad habits, your guilt-ridden conscience, your problems that seem larger than life. Jesus is the divine physician. You will never be healed of your sin until you humble yourself before the only one who can meet your need. This is the simple truth of the Gospel and it is not difficult, because we preach faith alone in Jesus!

There were a lot of people that sat around to listen to the preaching and when we took turns preaching the previous preacher would have people waiting for him as they wanted to ask him questions about God. At one point when William was preaching and a man could not help it and walked right up to him and said pray for me. These are the moments that we long for humble men and women wanting to get right with God. As the game started the people began to get fewer and fewer and we have been preaching, and praying for people for two hours straight. We then all came together again sharing stores on what happened and snacking on some food we had. We started to pack up our belongings and we ended the outreach with thanks giving prayer to God! Later that day when I got home I got a text from one of the people that came with us saying let me know when the next outreach is “I loved it”!

- Donnelly Cameron

Emergency Telephone Numbers

God cares for you, call on God today.

Jeremiah 33:3 (NKJV) 3 ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’

The following are Scriptures that we all need in times of emergencies.
You can call on Jesus today, be encouraged read the Holy Bible daily and pray.
 
Are You sad, John 14
Have You sinned, Psalm 51
Are You facing danger, Psalm 91 and Psalm 23
Have People failed you, Psalm 27
It feels as though God is far from you,  Psalm 139
Does faith needs recharging, Hebrews 11
Are You alone and scared, Psalm 23
Are You worried, Matthew 8:19-34
Are You hurting, 1 Corinthians 13
You are wondering about Christianity, 2 Corinthians 5:15-18
Do You feel like an outcast, Romans 8:31-39
Are You seeking peace, Matthew 11:25-30
It feels as if the world is bigger than God, Psalm 90
Needing Christ like insurance, Romans 8:1-30
You are leaving home for a trip , Psalm 121
Need to praying for yourself, Psalm 87
You require courage for a task, Joshua 1
Inflation's and investments are hogging your thoughts, Mark 10:17-31
You are depressive, Psalm 27
Your bank account is empty, Psalm 37
You lose faith in mankind, 1 Corinthians 13
It looks like people are unfriendly, John 15
You are losing hope, Psalm 126
You feel the world is small compared to you, Psalm 19
You want to bear fruit, John 15
Paul's secret for happiness, Colossians 3:12-17
With big opportunity/ discovery, Isaiah 55
How should I be each day, Romans 12
Dealing with fear, call 2 Timothy 1:7; Psalm 47
For security, call Psalm 121:3
For assurance, call Mark 8:35
For reassurance, call Psalm 145:18

ALL THESE NUMBERS MAY BE PHONED DIRECTLY.
NO OPERATOR ASSISTANCE IS NECESSARY.
ALL LINES TO HEAVEN ARE AVAILABLE 24 HOURS A DAY.

You can pray to the Father now and any time because Father God is waiting for your call!

Hebrews 4:16 (NKJV) 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.