The Russian Connection

The Deepening & Expanding MOVE OF GOD

       The Deepening
    & Expanding
      Move Of God!

J O E L 2:28,29

"It will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days."

All over the world, God has been pouring out His Spirit.

Churches are being planted and people are being saved. Signs, wonders and miracles are taking place everywhere and testimonies continue to flood in of people being touched by the Living God.The Body of

Exactly 21 years ago this month, I asked the Russian leadership when we could begin to plant churches in Russia. At that time there were over 18 1/2 million people and only about 10,000 believers. That number has sky rocketed and there are evangelicals and evangelical churches all over Russia now because of the joint mission of people coming together to proclaim the name of Jesus in these places. The Body of Christ is at work for the Kingdom of God!

Coming up in March we have our BIGGGEST church plant project EVER. We couldn't be any more excited. THANK YOU so much to all of those who have join with us in both financial support & prayer support.

FACEBOOK EVENT:

If you haven't already and would like to, go sign up on our FB event to the join the army of prayers praying 1 minute a day for this church plant in Moscow!

The event is called:

"1 Minute A Day Prayer For The Church Plant In Dzerzhinsky, Moscow"

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

Volunteering vs. Honoring the Call

 VOLUNTEERING vs. HONORING THE CALL

(Exurt out of the great book "Heart Of The Artist" By: Rory Noland)

10 Things that distinguish the motive of your heart:

1. Volunteers see their involvement at church as community service, but people called of God see it as ministry.

2. Volunteers whine about what it's going to cost to serve, but people who are called are committed to serving.

3. Volunteers shrink back from resolving relational conflict, but people of God seek to resolve relational conflict for the sake of unity in the church.

4. Volunteers look upon rehersals, meeting and work as another commitment they're obligated to fulfill, but people called of God look forward to rehearsal as another opportunity to be used by God.

5. Volunteers do no outside practicing or preparation, but people who understand the purpose of servanthood come to things as prepared as possible.

6. Volunteers are not open to constructive criticism; they get defensive about it. But people called of God are suposed to be grateful for feedback because they want to be the best they can be.

7. Volunteers feel threatened by the talent of others, but people of God should praise Him for distributing gifts and talents as He chooses.

8. Volunteers want to quit at the first sign of adversity or discouragement, but we are supposed to be people of God who dig in preserve. 

9. Volunteers find their main source of fulfillment in their  talents and abilities, but people of God know that being used of God is the most fulfilling thing you can do with your life.

10. Volunteers can't handle being put in situations in which they're going to be stretched, but people called of God respond to God's call with humble dependce on Him. They know that if God has called them to minister, He will equip them to do the work of the ministry, even though it might call for them to grow as people.

Tired and in need of Strength?

 

TIRED AND IN NEED OF STRENGTH

If you've felt tired lately, you've probably felt pretty spent- like there's nothing left inside at the moment to pour out. For me it's mostly after I've been traveling a lot or sometimes even just dealing with the weight of day-to-day things. But when we do feel like that, I've noticed that it's a lot hard for us to pour in to other people and give out like we are supposed to.

So if you are in need of some strength today, here are 3 great encouraging scriptures for you to let your heart meditate on and speak out-

Here are some of God's promises in Isaiah:

• Isaiah 40:28

"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord. the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings as eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not grow weary."

• Isaiah 41:10

"Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My right hand."

• Isaiah 43:1

"Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame churn you."

Dealing with distractions

DEALING WITH DISTRACTIONS

When you're distracted, doing something that should only take 20 minutes can take 2 hrs. Distraction prolongs success. It breaks our focus and causes us to take our eyes off of what we should be concentrating on.

Here are 6 things to avoid-

1. SOCIAL MEDIA: Avoid logging in to social media sites while you’re working. Every status update zaps your train of thought, forcing you to backtrack when you resume your work. If you feel compelled to check in every now and then, do it during breaks, when the steady stream of posts won’t interrupt your concentration.

2. EMAILS: Instead of checking email continuously, set aside specific times for that purpose. During the rest of the day, you can actually shut down your email program. This allows you to carve out blocks of time when you can work uninterrupted.

3. CALLS: Perhaps even more disruptive than the ping of an email is the ringtone on your cell phone. It’s a sound few of us can ignore. But taking a call not only costs you the time you spend talking – it can also cut off your momentum on the task at hand.

4. MULTITASKING:  If you’ve mastered the art of multitasking, you probably feel you’re getting more done in less time. Think again, experts say. Research suggests you lose time whenever you shift your attention from one task to another. The end result is that doing three projects simultaneously usually takes longer than doing them one after the other.

5. FATIGUE: Fatigue can make it tough to concentrate, even when you have few distractions. Studies suggest too little sleep can sap your attention span and short-term memory. Most adults need 7-9 hours of sleep per night. Instead of burning the midnight oil, make sleep a priority. This will help you get more done during your waking hours.

6. HUNGER: The brain can’t focus without fuel, so skipping meals – especially breakfast – is a top concentration killer. Research indicates short-term memory and attention suffer when you rise and shine but do not dine. Keep hunger at bay and give your brain a steady source of fuel.

WHICH WAY.. WHICH WAY?

WHICH WAY......WHICH WAY.....?

Ever wanted your way and not His way?

We want the comfort of our own plans.

But the Lord has says his ways aren't our ways and his thoughts aren't our thoughts.

ISAIAH 55:8,9

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
   neither are your ways my ways,”
            declares the LORD.
⁹ “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
   so are my ways higher than your ways
   and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Jeremiah 29:11 says His plans for us are for good and not for evil. He has a hope and a future for us. Yet we always seem to think that if we follow His will, we'll miss out on something... like He's keeping us from fun and from experiencing the fullness of life. When in reality- He is the One who created pleasure. He knows us, our dreams & desires better than we do and has formed a plan just to personally fit us.

When we yield to God we put ourselves in a position for Him to move. Many times God opens the door, but we refuse to step in. Because He calls us to walk by faith... and 99.9% of the time that is not a comfortable thing to do! But in that obedience is a reward and satisfaction that no money or fulfillment in the world could ever give. Because we are operating in the calling for which we were created.

                It take 2 things to do it:

• Commitment
• Submission

 TODAY:

Stay in the will of God.
That is where your grace is; that is where protection is,
and that is where the fullness of your destiny is.

How to be of Value

How to be of
VALUE

V [Vision] What is your vision right now? Helen Keller said that having eyesight but no vision, is even worse than being blind.

A [Attitude] Your attitude will determine your altitude. It can either promote you or set you back and ruin your relationships. Controlling our attitude is an every day, all day constant maintenance.

L [Leadership] God has called all of us to be leaders, in one way or another. Maybe to you, its being a leader for your family. Or perhaps, a high position of authority. Whatever it may be, value you it and honor your God-given position.

U [Understanding] Make it a point to understand people and where they come from. It will help you to avoid arguments and getting upset at people.

E [Excel] Anything alive should always grow. Ask God to show you the areas where you can reach a new standard of excellence and take it to another level.

Putting it ON

PUTTING IT ON

  COLOSSIANS 3:12 

"PUT ON a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. But beyond all these things PUT ON love, which is the perfect bond of unity"

I love how Paul says PUT ON love. I think in this particular context of scripture, he says PUT ON love, because there will come many times where...quite frankly, we don't feel like "loving" the person next to us.

Just like we physically put on our clothes, or shoes for the day, in faith, we must also put on the right attitudes and virtues. We have to purpose in our hearts to PUT ON Jesus Christ. We need to forgive those who we don't feel like forgiving. We need to quit judging people for their personality quirks and let me be themselves- who God created them to be.

• It is a conscious choice that we have to make and be aware of.
• 1 COR 13:4-8 shows us that love isn't just a feeling, it's a behavior!
  

TODAY:

Whatever you are facing in a relationship with someone, whether it even be a family member or friend, make the conscious choice to PUT ON love even when you don't feel like it. Because if you don't, you will loose that relationship, and one day you will be sorry that you didn't not value it while God had that person in your life!

WHEN SOMETHING ISN'T WORKING

WHEN SOMETHING ISN'T WORKING

When something isn’t working, you don't have to wait until change is forced upon you, to fix it.It doesn’t matter whether we’re talking about- relationships, business decisions, food choices, or any other dimension of your life.

Remember, staying with something that no longer works is a form of  insanity. (Making refference to Websters definition of doing the same things over and over again, expecting differnet results.)

Isaiah 43:18-19 (NLT)
“But forget all that—it is nothing compared to what I am going to do.
For I am about to do something new.
See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?
I will make a pathway through the wilderness.
I will create rivers in the dry wasteland."

When your standard approach quits producing the desired results, try something new.  If that doesn’t work, try something else. Keep making adjustments until you start producing the result you are after. Don't ever settle and think that there is nothing you can do about it.

• Resisting change is counter productive
• Keep learning to keep progressing

There are a lot of things that can affect the results we produce. Some of them are predictable, others will be a surprise.  But they all have one thing in common.  They all require that we make constant adjustments so that we can stay on course.

TODAY:

What areas of your life need to be adjusted?

Everyone wants to be a HERO

                       EVERYONE
                            WANTS TO BE.............
                     A HERO

But before we try to be a hero to the whole world,
we need to make sure that we are heroes at home first.

For some reason, showing kindness and love to a stranger can be the easiest thing in the world, but when it comes to treating our own family members or close friends with respect.....all of a sudden we can seem like a totally different person. 

• Although it is so extremely common, in all of us, it acts like poison to our relationships. It is hurtful, and people feel pre-judged, and often react defensively. 

I think, it is because for those we are closest to, we know they will still love us no matter what, and we can always apologize later....so we're not as careful to watch our tone of voice or choice of words. Which in turn, gives us a completely different result than if we had.

But people deserve to be treated equally. Don't allow someones past or the condition of your relationship with them, to effect the way you treat them. We should never give people the power to change who God has called us be, and what He has called us to do. We are to love our neighboor as ourselves.

TODAY:

Make it your lives goal to be respected most by those you are closest to.

Something way easier said, than done!

Servant Hood vs Stardom

SERVANT HOOD VS. STARDOM

 Doing things behind the scenes can often be a huge test of humility. Because those actions aren't seen by others, we don't always receive any recognition or praise.

Q: How do you react when you don't get the credit you deserve?

It's hard not to get mad, or feel hurt. But your effort doesn't go unnoticed. The Bible says that God sees every good thing we do in secret, and He will reward us openly for it. And that is all that matters. We serve an audience of One anyways.

Serving is a huge opportunity. It allows us to show integrity and really exemplify the Spirit of Christ in the middle of a world completely compelled by self-promotion.

• Being a true servant all has to do with the motive of our hearts. That's what God looks at. Are we serving because we love God and love people and want to be a help in the Kingdom of God, or are we just using it as a stepping stone for our own stardom?

Paraphrasing Deuteronomy 8:17-18, this is how it might be addressed to us today-

"Be humble about your talent. Otherwise you may say in your heart that you did it all on your own. But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gave you the ability to do what you do."

TODAY:

  Our confidence should never be in our talent,
but in the power of God and His anointing.