Where? When? How?

Who:      Who? The Word  and YOU
What:     What? Mystery of God revealed
Why:      Why? Pray to Seek God's answers to the Why? questions.

Where: ONLINE STUDY 
              http://www.r4c-ridersforchrist.com  

When:   Daily; August 2-October 31, 2010  
             John: 90 days with the Beloved Disciple
             by Beth Moore
How:    Become a Daily Student of Jesus

     One thing we learn from the study of Jesus’ life as recorded in the scriptures is that he was very purposeful in everything he did. He had great confidence in his mission and put that above all other things. He had so much confidence he didn’t blink when his parents told him they’d been looking frantically for him for three days, “Why?" he asked, "Didn’t you know I had to be in my father’s house?” I don’t think I would have been so confident if my father had approached me after frantically looking for me for three days. But even at twelve years old, Jesus was on mission and it sounds like at that time he thought everyone knew.
     Do those closest to you know that you are on mission for Christ? Do they even know you know Jesus? Do you want to know him more?

What? Mystery

     The great volume of water that rushed down the side of the mountain created an amazing sound. The loud rushing roar drew our attention toward one of God’s impressive creations, the waterfall. I stood at the bottom straining my neck to look up and see the source of it. Though I could not see it, I could imagine it must have been an enormous body of water that fed such a non-stop gush of water.
     The source of life is likewise out of my sights and the shear magnitude of his power and holiness are immeasurable. Though we can not see the source of God’s power and holiness, we can come to understand these qualities of God through his creation.
    ”For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” Romans 1:20
     God continues to reveal himself to us. Through his word we come to know him, but through his creation we come to understand him. Have you ever stood before one of God’s magnificent creations; a waterfall, a mountain, or a canyon or beheld the beauty of an early morning sunrise or the vastness of a starlit sky, and been overwhelmed with an indescribable sense of God’s being?

Who? The Word

"In the beginning was the Word,  and the Word was with God,

and the Word was God"                  John 1:1

     Do you believe in God? Many people claim to believe in God but exactly what God are they claiming? I believe in one God, the God who appears to us in his word and reveals himself to us in his creation. John 1:1 tells us that "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

     Now remember in Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth," by first saying, "Let there be light" and God continued speaking his word into all creation. God's word is not just the book we call the bible. The Word is with God and is God and has been since the beginning.

     "The Word gave life to everything that was created and his life brought light to everyone (John 1:4)."

     If you want to know God personally you must come to know His Word. It is through his word that we have life. So if someone says, "I beleive in God" you might want to ask if they believe in the Word of God. You may want to ask yourself that question. Do you believe the Word is God?

Why? Pray

"To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Cor 12:7-10
     We all wonder why God let's bad things happen. Although, we can never fully understand the answer to why he allows it,  we can be confident in his promise that his grace is sufficient for you, his power is made perfect in weakness. "I have seen people of faith pray and nothing happens and I have seen people with no faith at all receive miraculous healings,"  a sitcom doctor responded to his patient's question, "Do you think God cares?" I am not sure what conclusion the writer of this script wanted us to come to. Did he want us to conclude that prayer is of no value or that God does not care?

Wonderfully Made

"You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb.  Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous-- how well I know it." Psalm 139: 13-14

I have been giving a lot of thought to this workmanship of the Lords'. Each of us, individuals, delicately made in our mother's womb, God's knitting needles at work making each of us unique. Begs the question, "What was I designed for?" 

Come Follow Me

"Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men." So John, the youngest son of Zebedee left his father's fishing business and followed Jesus. Now, John didn't just take the day off and follow Jesus around town for the afternoon and go back to work the next day feeling inspired from some good teachings. John gave up his life in his father's fishing business, left everything, and followed Jesus.
I have been studying a lot about what those next three years were like for John. How he must have been amazed when he saw Jesus perform his first miracles that confirmed he had made the right decision. John knew something great was happening with Jesus. He spent a lot of time close to Jesus, asking questions and growing personally in his walk with him.  Jesus was preparing him for the day when John and the other disciples would have to walk the journey without him.
What I want to know is, "How did God prepare John to follow Jesus in the first place?"

HEART FROM GOD (©2010 R4C Ranch)

"A life without heart is not worth living (Curtis/Eldredge)."

-From the heart the mouth speaks (Matt 15:18)
-Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. (Deut 6:5)
-Lay up his words in your heart. (Job 22:22)

Even before the first kick or flutter felt in the womb, new parents hear the heartbeat of their growing baby. The first signs of life on an early sonogram are the pictures of the heart pumping inside a tiny shadow resembling a tiny seahorse. Before God puts air into our lungs, he puts the beat in our heart. Is it any wonder that our dreams and passions and ability love are so connected to our heart?

EXPOSED: CULTURE (©2009 R4C RANCH)

Our culture was exposed for what it is and was and will be centuries ago: "For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. Romans 2:21-32(NIV)"

You can recognize the corruption described above all around you- what is so important about exposing it?

EXPOSED: SELF (©2009 R4C Ranch)

"May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it. (1 Thess 5: 23-24)"

Whether you are in leadership or pursuing a leading life from within the ranks, a leader is called to act seperate from one's emotions. Do you find it difficult when you work with others who act out their emotions?

Welcome to Riders For Christ

During this busy time of year, when we are outside riding and training horses, re-doing fences, and mowing, mowing, mowing.... I thought I would take the opportunity to share with you blogposts from our original blog: "The Leading Life".  You may find it curious that the new blog, "Riders For Christ," has a very similiar theme but with an equestrian twist; preparing beleivers for Kingdom Impact and the return of Christ. Here is our first post back in 2008:

Welcome to Your Impact at www.theleadinglife.com. The purpose of this blog is to allow you to interact directly with Leading Life Trainers to increase your positive influence for Christ in your relationships at work, at home, and in the mission field. Your Kingdom Impact is Our Pressing Purpose
 
Riders For Christ's purpose is to follow the one called "Faithful and True."
as inspired by Rev 19:11 "I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True."  and Rev 19:14  "The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean." Because Christ purifies us, it is our desire to be called to follow our leader riding white horses,dressed in fine linen. Where fine linen is defined in Rev 19:8 as the righteous acts of the saints; we want to be riders that are dressed in fine linens; Riders For Christ, ready to ride when Christ returns.