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Indestructable: I’m Under Assignment :)

Monday, March 9th, 2009 By 3 Comments

Happy Monday Everyone!

Hope you all had a super amazing weekend!

On Saturday, we did a waterfall hike, then hosted Coree and Heavens friends for the first patio party of the year… went to bed late, lost an hour… and woke up EXHAUSTED Sunday morning!

On Sunday, church was OUTSTANDING… then we hosted a group that comes to our church from Richmond (a church ALIVE is worth the drive)… we all had lunch on the patio! (loving the beautiful weather) After that, Emily and I went to Bible College… all I had to do was administer an exam and introduce a new instructor! Then I wrote in my book while Emily finished her classes… then we went home and RESTED until “The Celebrity Apprentice” and LOVED every minute of that! The day ended praying with Coree and Heaven… and drifting off into the land of DREAMS! (except I didn’t have a single dream last night… highly unusual)

I woke up feeling really confident today… almost like a few thousand angles moved onto my property and they are awaiting my orders! I felt this yesterday while I was in my office getting ready to preach… and then in a BIG way while I was preaching… and this confidence still remains almost 20 hours later! Hmmm… there must be something going on. Feels to be something GOOD.

Proverbs 29:25 NIV “Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe.”

Psalm 3:5-7 NIV “I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me. I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side. Arise, O LORD! Deliver me, O my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked.”

My own fear of peope and circumstances seems to be going away these days… I have never in all my life felt this secure in who I am! I have never in all my life felt this INDESTRUCTABLE! I have never in all my life felt so guaranteed of success! I almost wonder if I’m going to look out the window and see a pen of 777 chickens laying golden eggs! If I look hard enough… I see warrior angels with swords drawn against all intruders! My car looks safer than President Obamas new missile proof Cadillac! I feel a new divine FAVOR in my life… with God, angels, and humans!

All of these things I am experiencing today can be experienced by all of us in varying degrees throughout our lives. While I believe that some of my experience is attributed to the current prophetic assignment on my life… I also believe that much of this is the result of having FAITH for it!

Every biblical promise is accessed and enjoyed through FAITH. If we need healing, we believe in the biblical promise healing and we stand IN FAITH until the physical symptoms recede! If we need a restoration in one of our relationships, we STAND IN FAITH that God is able to work out all things for his glory… and we STAND BELIEVING until the relationship is restored!  

When it comes to having favor and achieving success… we must BELIEVE like this! Because as long as we live under the fear of people and circumstances, we will always come up short. We become what we believe we SHOULD become… nothing more than that!

So, today… change how you believe about your current situation! Start to believe God that there is an ASSIGNMENT on your life… and you cannot fail as long as you go forward! Rise above the low expectations of others… climb up over every disempowering voice… the real ones, and the ones whispered from demon spirits in dark places. Believing like you are a CHAMPION is the biggest hurdle to becoming a CHAMPION!

I pray that each of you get a little caught up in my personal experience today… I pray that you also rise above your fears to be MIGHTY throughout this next decade! God bless you all… leave your comments… let’s chat throughout the day!

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My Valentines Day Advice :)

Monday, February 9th, 2009 By 12 Comments

lovebirdsHappy Monday Everyone!

The photo glitch is still not fixed… so no fun photos AGAIN today. A special sorry goes out to all my VISUALLY oriented blog buddies! (fixed since this blog was posted)

Hope you all had a super weekend! We hiked St. Mary’s Falls on Saturday (I would post photos, but oh wait, I can’t!)… the hike was unbelievable! Church @ DFC was amazing on Sunday morning. And the Bible College I instruct on Sunday afternoon was off the charts! So, the weekend was a very good one here… it felt BLESSED and I sincerely thank God for every exciting second of it!

This should be a fun week for me. Going to a leadership conference… Emily’s birthday is on Friday the 13th (ooooowww)… and Saturday is VALENTINES DAY! Don’t forget that all you LOVE BIRDS! Proper planning prevents poor performance… so PLAN IT TODAY, make it great, have a blast with the love of your life. And hey, just in case you think you’re too spiritual for romance, check out Proverbs 5:17-19. (for married couples only) To all my singles friends: be brave, ask someone of the opposite sex out on a date, take them somewhere fun, give them a thoughtful gift, and make a special person feel special… oh, and keep it PG kids! 

Maybe you’re slightly uncomfortable about today’s advice? Maybe you feel as if the topic is not a spiritual one? Just in case, I want to leave you with a few spiritual thoughts about love and romance. First, God created Adam… and when he saw that Adam was all alone… God said, “It is NOT GOOD FOR man to be alone… I will make him a helper, a companion!” (Genesis 2:18 MSG) 

So it looks like God created other humans so that we could enjoy companionship with one another. Specifically, God created a WOMAN for the MAN that was all alone. God created EVE and brought her to ADAM… and they became the first two LOVE BIRDS in human history! 

The Bible is filled with references about friendship, love, romance, marriage, intimacy, and family. God created us to enjoy life with one another… to have friends, fall in love, commit to a lifelong marriage partner, be passionately romantic, and have loving families.

When our son was pre-teen, Emily and I would teach him that girls are yucky… stay away from girls or you’ll get the cooodees! Now that he’s almost 18, the message has changed. We teach him to PAY ATTENTION to the girls in his life… to interact with everyone so he can discover the kind of girl he will want to spend the rest of his life with. We had to let him know that it was ok to date now (with strong boundaries of course). It’s so hard being young… trying to figure this all out… especially in a Christian home. Especially when you want to please God with all your heart and you don’t want to mess your whole life up with a few bad decisions.

I’m sharing this with you guys because I believe that way too many Christians live in the fear of messing up and thus deprive themselves of the interaction that exposes them to the right opportunities. Set boundaries over your life… know who you are… know what you stand for… and never allow yourself to be in a position where these values can be compromised. And then, with these values and a beautiful walk with God, BE BRAVE and PAY ATTENTION to the people in your social network. According to Genesis, God has a gal for every guy! Don’t be afraid to LIVE and LOVE… 

Wow… I must be getting older if I’m giving out this kind of advice! Have a super week, planning for this VALENTINES DAY! If you’re married… plan a night to remember! If you’re single… get out of your comfort zone and spend some time with someone of the opposite sex. If you’re a kid… write a “be my valentine” card to your teacher! Have a super week you guys!! Chat with everyone later…

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:( Dealing With The Loss Of A Piggy :)

Saturday, February 7th, 2009 By 6 Comments

img_0591Its Saturday Everyone!

Something is wrong with my blog site… I’m not able to add photos until our tech people fix the glitch… sorry. I wanted to include a smokin hot picture of my wife yesterday (LOL) to go with my blog about how great she is… and I wanted to include a picture of LILLY the piggy today as a tribute to her time with us! (fixed since this post)

A guy from Roanoke came and picked Lilly up yesterday at 5:30pm… a very very sad moment at the Balsamo home. She was grunting and faintly squealing… pushing her wet nose up under my chin as if to say, “Please Dad, don’t do this to me… please don’t just sell me off like I’m a barn animal… I’ve become your daughter over the past few months… I’m scared to go live somewhere else… how can you be so cold and heartless!” Wow… it really took the life out of me. Coree and Heaven went to the movies last night and it was just Emily and me watching CSI with no Lilly… I woke up with no new hoof wounds today… very sad! And if you think I’m bad… you should chat with Heaven about it.

Ok… I must talk about something else before I stoop into a deep state of depression. Hmmm… Well church is going to be amazing tomorrow. Our worship leader, Michelle Powers informed me about the new song were doing… a remake of a rock and roll classic. I heard them in practice and I can’t wait!! You guys coming to Destiny Family Center at 10am? I hope so! Bring Heaven and me some kind of “cheer up” gift if you can… it could rescue us from the depths of despair. LOL

It’s going to be warm today… we might go on a hike! What are you guys doing with this beautiful Saturday? Whatever it is… make it FUN and EXPERIENTIAL… don’t be BORING… don’t be lazy… get your blood flowing… breathe the mild winter air… oh, and spend some time praying for Heaven and me, that God would comfort us in this time of loss!

Enough about me… I need to push my pains aside now and minister to my dear bloggers! Here’s a spiritual thought to bless your weekend!

2Corinthians 4:16-18 “That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.”

As we walk with God, our spirits are being renewed day by day… and even though life can be troublesome, and situations may seem to get the best of us at times… our present troubles are not as big as they may come off… they never really last very long either. So a big key to living an amazing life is to remember this: What’s happening IN US is far more significant that anything happening TO US.

Whenever we become overly focused on this physical world and our temporary physical circumstances, we can feel like life is not good, or fair. This is why it’s so important to remain ever conscience of the BEAUTIFUL THING HAPPENING IN OUR HEARTS! All hell may be breaking loose all around us… but God has promised that he will never leave us alone! And if he is NEAR, then he is working in our favor and we are not failing like it may seem to everyone else. We FIX OUR GAZE ON THINGS THAT CANNOT BE SEEN with the naked eye… the things that really matter… things that last forever!

Even though traffic is usually way down on Saturdays, I always try to write as if this one blog is someone’s lifeline! Today’s blog is VERY GOOD… I hope it blesses you all in a very big way! Chat with you later or see you tomorrow! Goodbye for now my friends!

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Now That’s A Servant! :)

Saturday, December 27th, 2008 By 3 Comments

Happy Saturday Everyone!

All fattened up from the holidays? Exercise is the solution! Put on your walking shoes… do a little stretching, and walking, or jogging… maybe go on a hike… and trust me, you will feel so much better for it! So, phone up a friend and get outside… take in some fresh air… get your heart rate up and your blood circulating. Awaken those sluggish happy endorphins… get on your SMILES everyone… we’re only a few days away from a NEW YEAR!!!

This morning I read something in the book of Matthew about the beauty of serving others! When the story picks up, Jesus wasn’t far away from his crucifixion. He had to be thinking about what’s ahead for him and how he would be demonstrating the most unfathomable act of service ever lived out. He had to be contemplating the impending agony he was about to undergo while shouldering the sins of the entire world, and the horrific violent actions humanity was about to hurl upon him. This was undoubtedly, a painful and sobering moment for Jesus.

It was during a holy moment like this one that Jesus was approached by the mother of James and John. She asked the wrong question at the wrong time! Her request… “(Jesus), In your kingdom, will you let my two sons sit in places of honor next to you, one at your right hand and the other on your left?”

Can you imagine what you’re thinking if you’re Jesus right now! You’re suiting up in the most humiliating garment of servant hood ever worn by anyone before you… and a lady walks up requesting fame and honor for her two sons. What was she thinking? The very same thing all the rest of us spend way too much time thinking about.

At this request, Jesus looked over at James and John and asked if they would be willing to drink down the same cup of suffering that he was about to drink. Then he prophesied that they would drink the cup indeed. And after this short dialog, Jesus explains a beautiful eternal principle. 

But Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

This Christmas, I thank God for the beautiful example of servant hood our family witnessed through Emily’s brother David! Emily and I reminisced on the ride home from Richmond about how noticeable this has been to us. For the past few Thanksgivings and Christmas’, Dave has slipped away undetected to clean the entire kitchen… never mentioning one word about it! 

This is beautiful to me and it’s exactly what Jesus was talking about. The greatest among us is the servant of all! I thank God that he pointed this out to me and used David’s example to bring about more servant hood in my own life! My prayer for all of us today is that we could enter into the beautiful world of service to others. The most fulfilling days of our lives will be those days when we spend ourselves blessing other people. 

Don’t forget CHURCH TOMORROW!!! Yippppeeeeeee! Come to Destiny Family Center at 10am… or watch online if you can’t make is! See ya then!

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