Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Well I'm here at Christ for the Nations in Dallas, TX. waiting to pick up my son and bring him home to his mama for a few weeks.  He's enjoying barbecue with the other R.A.'s while I'm here at the coffee shop with a cup of coffee.  You don't sense a bit of jealousy do you?

I thought I'd take this time to make a quick blog post so my words won't be polished but from the heart.

It's been two years now that I made the decision to discontinue our newly planted church in Pueblo West, CO. and move back to Texas. Basically we walked away from the dream we believed God had put in our hearts.  Since that time I've thought of a "thousand" reasons why we should have stayed and a "thousand" reasons why we were justified in leaving. You can imagine the emotional roller coaster for the past two years.  Especially when your wife was willing to sell her dream home and I resigned a great church to go and live this dream!  It can be difficult to make sense of things at times.

But wait a minute, maybe that's the reason for the emotional roller coaster. You know, trying to make sense of it all. Especially since God tells me in Proverbs chapter 3 that I'm not supposed to depend on my own understanding but TRUST HIM!

Let me go ahead and share Proverbs 3:5,6.  "Trust in The Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.  Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take."

I love the definition of the word trust.  "The trait of believing in the honesty and reliability of others.  Complete confidence in a person or plan."

Friends you and I know that God cannot lie and He is faithful!  We can be confident in the plan God has for us.  But here's the big deal.  Can I trust Him with ALL my heart or am I holding back part of me because I don't want to be disappointed again?

The Bible tells us that "hope deferred makes the heart sick." Can I ask you a difficult question?  Is your heart "sick" today because there's been some type of devastating event in your life?  It's hard to trust God with all your heart if your heart is "sick."

Please allow me to encourage you today and tell you that your Heavenly Father loves you and wants to heal your wounded heart.  I find it interesting that after King David committed adultery part of his prayer of repentance included the following: "God create in me a clean heart."  David realized that God needed to heal his heart.

Maybe you and I need to pray that same prayer.  "God create in me a clean heart."  I can almost guarantee you that a person with a clean heart can trust God with ALL their heart.  You may not have sinned like David did but none the less your heart needs to be healed.

Okay I've just been tying away here at CFNI and still waiting on my son.  Let me challenge you!  Today is the day you can trust God with ALL your heart.  Don't try and make sense of all the disappointments.  It's time to move forward trusting and knowing that God still has a great plan for your life.

In fact it's time to DREAM.......AGAIN!

Encouraging the World,

Ken Woolf






Friday, May 3, 2013

Sometimes it's not easy,  "dreaming.......again."  You've laid it all on the table before and took that big leap of faith.  Oh,  and it was the same"leap of faith" you heard others talk about.  They took the step and incredible things happened!  Their church exploded in growth.  They started a new business and it grew and became very profitable.  Or they took a chance on a relationship and it turned out to be a "match made in heaven." 

But when it came time for you to take that "step of faith" you tripped over you're own two feet, and a few other "feet" that were put in your path.  It can be disheartening to say the least.  You've even tried to pick yourself up and it seems that every decision you make leads to discouragement and now you're just totally losing hope!  WHY EVEN DREAM.......AGAIN, I'm tired of being disappointed? 

Sometimes I wonder if that's how a man in the Bible named Peter felt.  He laid down his fishing nets to follow Christ and ended up watching the man he left everything for die on a cross.  Peter stepped out of a boat on stormy seas and started to walk to Jesus on the water but then started to sink and had to cry out  for help.  At one point Peter had a great revelation of who Jesus was and was recognized as having a revelation from God but in the same story was rebuked by Jesus.  After Peter tried to tell Jesus He wasn't going to die on the cross Jesus looked at him and said "get behind me Satan."  Think about it, one minute he's being applauded by Jesus and the next he's being rebuked.  Talk about a roller coaster ride.

Then Peter tried to tell Jesus that he would follow Him to the death but in response Jesus reveals to Peter that he's going to deny Him not once but three times.  Of course Peter argues about this and then ends up doing just what was predicted, denying  Christ.  It just didn't seem like Peter could get it right! 

So I can totally understand when Peter said in John 21 of the Bible, "I'm going fishing" and then asked a few friends to go with him.   I guess he figured he could get this right since he was an experienced fisherman.  But wouldn't you know it, they fished all night and caught nothing.  Now Peter couldn't even get this right. What was happening in his life?

I can tell you what was happening, God was setting him up for an encounter with Jesus Christ.  This is one my favorite chapters in the Bible.  Why is it my favorite?  Because Jesus showed up where they were at.  Jesus showed up on that sandy sea shore for Peter!  I know there are times we need to pursue God but I love it when He lets me know He's pursuing me!  

Don't you know it was reassuring for Peter to have Jesus show up and have a conversation with him.  A conversation that let Peter know that God still had a plan for him and that he just needed to continue following Jesus.

Some of us are really struggling with dreaming.......again because we're afraid of being disappointed....... again.  We no longer hope  because we've had our hopes crushed to many times.

Please allow me to encourage you!  Maybe it's time to listen for the voice of the Great Shepherd speaking to you.  He wants you to know He's pursuing you!   He wants to tell you that He still has a great plan for your life and you just need to continue following Him!

In other words, THE BEST IS YET TO COME!  With this in mind let me say without reservation, it's time to DREAM.......AGAIN!  Come on, you can do it because Jesus is closer to you then you might think.

Encouraging the World,

Ken Woolf