Complete Your Joy

Merry CHRISTmas!

Greetings! I hope that everyone survived the BIG after Thanksgiving day sales. Whether you were shopping or working at your job, I pray that you were able to enjoy your time and the others around you.
Kim and I went out and had a lot of fun, well, up until the time I received a speeding ticket on the way home. I know that GOD allows everything to happen for a purpose, and I am sure that by holding us up, Kim and I avoided something bad.......but I could of done without the $100.00 fine. :)

I was finishing up with John this week, yes, I have been taking my time and really digging into GOD's work. The last part of John (From chapter 13 on) has some great insight into Jesus' thinking. I feel that this makes John very unique from the other gospels. In fact right before Jesus was arrested, He says a prayer for you and I.

Jesus Prays for All Believers"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also
for those who will believe in me through their
message, that all of them may be one, Father,
just as you are in me and I am in you. May they
also be in us so that the world may believe that
you have sent me. I have given them the glory
that you gave me, that they may be one as we
are one: I in them and you in me.
May they be brought to complete unity
to let the world know that you sent me and
have loved them even as you have loved me.
"Father, I want those you have given me to be
with me where I am, and to see my glory, the
glory you have given me because you loved me
before the creation of the world. "Righteous Father,
though the world does not know you, I know you, and
they know that you have sent me. I have made you
known to them, and will continue to make you known
in order that the love you have for me may be in them
and that I myself may be in them." - John 17:20-26

Complete Your Joy
Today, I wanted to take a look at your prayer life. I would guess that most of us (Myself included) do not have the prayer life that we should.

Have you ever had a friend or a relative, that when you see them, the conversation is all one sided? Maybe you might meet them at your local coffee shop. You grab your favorite latte, find a spot away from all the action, and start to talk. But as soon as you start the conversation, it is...... I did this, I want to do this, My kids are doing this, I bought this yesterday..... I I I I!

By the middle of the conversation you are looking for a way out, maybe hoping your cell phone would ring, anything. Then when you leave, I would guess that you would feel empty. That is what I would guess most of our prayer lives are like. We quickly connect with Jesus, and start on the onslaught of I's. Then when our prayers are not answered right away, Jesus is not doing His job, or not listening.

I was reading the passage in John 16:23-24 and it really stuck with me. We ask for something in Jesus' name, you will receive it so that your joy may be complete. Now obviously everything we ask for does not line up with the Bibles guidelines, (Like asking for a new Shelby Cobra Mustang) so that is an issue all in it's self. But, today I wanted to take a look at completing your joy.

There is a story of Smith Wigglesworth. Wigglesworth was in dire financial need. At that time he was in London visiting the home of a wealthy man. Wigglesworth simply committed his financial burden to the Lord and refused to worry about it. He told no one. He knew the Lord would take care of it.

As he and His friends were out walking in the park, Wigglesworth was happy and singing, rejoicing in his spirit. His rich friend commented that he would give all he owned to have the same spirit of joy that Wigglesworth had.

Wigglesworth told him it wouldn't cost him anything; all he had to do was cast all his cares on Jesus. Wigglesworth explained that this is what he had done, and he was without a care in the world. He could be free and happy. He still did not mention his financial need to his friend, but instead talked of victory and joy in Christ Jesus.

One man had material wealth but no joy. The other lacked material things but was filled with joy. What was the secret? Wigglesworth knew the truth of the scripture, A... ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be complete.

How many times have you done that in your prayer life. (I know that I struggle with this) I have a problem in my life, in my mind I give the problem to Jesus, but I have not let it go in my heart. I still worry about it, I focus on it, I am grumpy, I let it ruin my day. What I should do is what Smith Wigglesworth did. Pray, give it to Jesus, then trust that Jesus is going to take care of me and my problem. Then let the love and joy of Jesus complete me. Does that make sense?

The other area that will complete your joy is to spend time worshipping Jesus in your prayer life. What does it mean to worship Jesus? Well, what I have been doing, and I have found to be giving me joy, is to get alone with Jesus. I go somewhere quiet, and peaceful, then spend time talking to Jesus, and yes time listening too, so Jesus and my conversation is not all.... I I I. I would encourage you this week to work on completing your joy. - Have a Blessed Week in Christ! - Jim

Bible Trivia
When Jesus is talking to Thomas after His resurrection, He calls us blessed. Why?
Hint: John 20:29
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John 11:17-37

Greetings Jim,

Kim and I wanted to wish you and your family a blessed Thanksgiving. We hope that have a restful day, and if you do brave the crazy shopping day after Thanksgiving, be safe.
I would encourage you to reflect on what Jesus has done and what He is doing in your life. Find time this week to spend some one on one time with Jesus and let Him know that you are thankful.
This week I wanted to share with you a story that I am sure you have read many times. I read it and have been thinking about it all week. Maybe in reading it again, Jesus' spirit will show you something new.
This is the story of Lazarus, and how Jesus raised him from the dead. This story contains the shortest verse in the Bible; verse 35 "Jesus Wept." It is also Jesus' last miracle before the Cross.

John 11:17-3717 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already
been in the tomb for four days. 18 Bethany was less than
two miles from Jerusalem, 19 and many Jews had come
to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their
brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming,
she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
21 "Lord," Martha said to Jesus, "if you had been here,
my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that
even now God will give you whatever you ask."
23 Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."
24 Martha answered, "I know he will rise again in
the resurrection at the last day."
25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the
life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;
26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.
Do you believe this?" 27 "Yes, Lord," she told him,
"I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God,
who was to come into the world." 28 And after she
had said this, she went back and called her sister
Mary aside. "The Teacher is here," she said, "and is
asking for you." When Mary heard this, she got up
quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet
entered the village, but was still at the place where
Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who had been
with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how
quickly she got up and went out, they followed her,
supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.
32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was
and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, "Lord, if
you had been here, my brother would not have died."
33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who
had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply
moved in spirit and troubled. 34 "Where have you
laid him?" he asked. "Come and see, Lord," they replied.
35 Jesus wept.
36 Then the Jews said, "See how he loved him!"
37 But some of them said, "Could not he who opened
the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?"

Jesus Wept
If you were to read this passage at face value you might think that Jesus wept because his friend Lazarus had died. This is what the Jews thought in verse 36. They saw Jesus crying and and commented on how Jesus must of loved Lazarus. But, Jesus' sadness goes much deeper than that.
Jesus knew and even told others in verse 11:4 that Lazarus' sickness would not end up in death. So if Jesus knew that is was not GOD's will for Lazarus to die, why was he sad?
Jesus was moved to the point of tears when He saw Mary and her friends weeping. I know that we cannot see Jesus physically, so sometimes it is hard to know that Jesus LOVES you. I know that when Jesus sees you, when you are sad and crying, He is right there sharing your tears. He LOVES you so much, so try to remember when you are sad, Jesus is right there with you, always know this; Jesus LOVES you so much!
The other passage I found interesting was John 12:9-11. It is after the story of Lazarus, so some may of missed it. Poor Lazarus was just raised from the dead, when the religious leaders wanted and even plotted to have him killed again. Poor guy!
So why would John make note of this in his writings? I believe that GOD wanted to tell us that there are times when you may have done nothing to deserve an attack from others. Just as Lazarus was raised from the dead, you may have just started your day when someone attacks and may even plot to hurt you.
People that do not know Jesus, fear him. And we as humans try to destroy what we do not understand or fear. So, remember that when you are attacked, it most likely is not personal. You love Jesus and you stand for what He stands for, people do not understand that and may fear it, so they will try and hurt you. Love these people, and pray for them that they too may come to know Jesus and His love for them.
- Have a Blessed Week and eat lots of Turkey.... Gobble Gobble Gobble..... Jim

Bible Trivia
How long had Lazarus been dead?
Hint: John 11:39
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The Art Of Connecting

Greetings,
Can you believe that it is November already? I pray that you had a fun and safe Halloween night, and that you were able to spread Jesus' light.

The next couple of Devotionals we're going to be taking a look at the book of Philemon. There are several lessons that we can pull out of the book of Philemon, but in this set of devotionals we are going to be looking at relationships.

To really understand the Bible well, you need to take a historical look at what was happening at the time when the book was written, and what circumstances surrounded it.

Philemon involves 5 people, plus a group of believers that met in Philemon's house.

• Paul - Wrote this personal letter while in prison.
• Philemon - Gentile believer, slave owner of Omesimus, has a house church in Colossse
• Omesimus (O-nes-i-mus) - Runaway slave of Philemon, who has stole money from Philemon (v18)
• Apphis (Ap-phia) - Philemon's wife
• Archippus (Ar-chip-pus) - Fellow Solider or some think Philemon's son
• Church - A house church assembled in Philemon's house.

The story is pretty simple. Philemon owned Omesimus who was a slave that scholars believed stole money from Philemon (v18). Omesimus then wanted to get as far away from Philemon as he could, so he ran away to Rome, where he met up with Paul in prison.
From there Omesimus became very useful to Paul, as well as a new believer in Christ. But Paul legally could not keep Omesimus. So Paul wrote a letter to Philemon asking him to take Omesimus back, not as a slave anymore, but as a brother in Christ. This was a tense moment as Philemon has every right to have Omesimus executed for what he has done.

Philemon 1-3
1 Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,To Philemon our beloved fellow worker 2 and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house:3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Art of Connecting
In your lives there are three kinds of relationships that you will have. We have an internal relationship with ourselves, we have an external relationship with others, then finally and most important we have an eternal relationship with God.

All three of these relationships need to be in balance with each other. If you are not right with yourself or do not feel good about yourself inside (Internal). It will effect your relationships with others around you (External). One example of this just happened to me. We were at a small group meeting, I felt very strongly about a subject that we were talking about, and I may have become over zealous in expressing my opinions. When I came home, I was not right inside, so until I felt right inside, it effected the relationship with the others in our small group.

The most important relationship is your eternal relationship with GOD. This aspect will affect all your other relationships. If you are not right with GOD, you are not right internally and externally.

A good example of this is Omesimus. Omesimus was not at peace internally. He stole money from his master, then he ran as far away as he could go. Internally he must have been a mess. Then he found Paul, and Paul helped him find Christ. Once Omesimus made his eternal relationship right, he felt at peace with himself, and then made things right with his other relationship to Philemon, his wife, and I would guess the home church.

If you find that you are not at peace with yourself and others around you, may you make peace with your eternal relationship with GOD. May you know that once that relationship is secure, all others will fall into place.

The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. - Jim

Bible Trivia
Who came with Omesimus to Colosse?
Hint: Colossians 4:7-9
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Grand Opening!
The Connection ChurchWe have a grand opening planned for 11/04/07. It has been amazing to see GOD meet our every need. Again, thank you and keep praying! If you would like a copy of our current newsletter, please reply back to this devotional.If you would like to commit to prayer for us, or help us out finically, please visit our Prayer Page.