As I continue to think about my trip to Haiti last week I want to keep the momentum that a trip like that can give you in your life. For me being away from the pressures and routines of every day life made it easier to focus on the Lord and His word. There was basically nothing to do after about 9:30 or 10:00 so getting to bed was never an issue. That, in turn, made getting up early very easy which meant that every day began with serious time in the word and prayer. Also since everything you are doing is God oriented it made keeping the focus on God very easy and since the need there is so great it made prayer a constant reality. Those are some of the very real benefits to taking a short term mission trip, which I highly recommend to everyone. There is certainly a cost in terms of the expenses of the trip and the lost revenue for the week, but I believe the benefits far outweigh the costs. I strongly encourage everyone to pray about making a trip like that. Beraca goes down several times a year and they will always be an open door for us, but there are other places and other groups that we can partner with as well. If anyone would like info on this please let me know.

The challenge, however, is always to keep the momentum going after you return. This is also true of taking a retreat or even a one day conference such as the Men’s and Women’s conferences that we often attend. Our commitment to God must always be our highest priority, but it’s hard not to let it get bumped sometimes by all the other things that our lives are full of. In some ways we have to fight to be diligent with certain practices. Reading the Bible, for example, always takes focused time. You can’t multi-task when you are reading the Bible. We have to be able to block out time for the word and we have to do it on a regular basis. God has revealed Himself to us in His word and we need to take advantage of what He has given us. With other things we need to fight hard to be more aware of God as we go through our regular routines. Prayer, for example, is something that is good to practice in special blocks of time, but can also be done as we go through our daily routines. We can pray while we are driving or shopping or even, maybe especially, on our jobs. If we can be aware of God’s presence throughout the day then there is no reason that we can’t keep a running dialogue with Him. In both sets of circumstances we need to develop greater diligence in our spiritual practices. That is the only way that we can get and keep momentum in our spiritual lives. My hope and prayer is that we can get that momentum and grow as we need to in the Lord in every way imaginable. You know your life and your circumstances. Pray for God to show you how you need to get and keep momentum going in your spiritual life. It’s too important of an issue to just leave to chance.

May the Lord give us the grace to be diligent in these areas and continue to grow in Him. Have a blessed week serving Jesus.

In His name,
Pastor Phil

Posted in Pastor's Message

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