Great Quote

"The reason why many fail in battle is because they wait until the hour of battle. The reason why others succeed is because they have gained their victory on their knees long before the battle came...Anticipate your battles; fight them on your knees before temptation comes, and you will always have victory." - R.A. Torrey

The the team that never practices can't expect to win a game. The same goes for the player. Sure, he may be able to step in & win a few but eventually the lack of practice (or training camp) will eventually catch up to him. Winning starts on the practice field before it happens on the battle field.

Man in the Arena

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how long the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. the credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spend himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat." - Teddy Roosevelt

Our Deepest Fear

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.
It is not just in some; it is in everyone.

And, as we let our own light shine, we consciously give
other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.

by Marianne Williamson

Colossians 4:5-6 - 5Be wise in the way act towards outsiders; make the most opportunity. 6Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

As we pray & seek God, places become opportunities where we can better listen to people & passionately live on purpose. When we live deliberately we'll find that we won't miss opportunities that God is giving us.

Praise God!

Today I witnessed an answer to a prayer that I've had for a while! A little over a year ago I moved to Taylor. Since I started ministering here my prayer has been that God would raise up an army of young people that love Him more than anything/one else & that will take their city for Christ. I know that those things begin & end in prayer, after all we're only as strong as our prayer life is. So I know that I was praying that students would develop strong prayer lives. It seemed hard at first to get people together to pray, not because they were forced to but because they wanted to. Today, even as I type this, there are 7 or 8 students & young adults in our youth room praying & seeking God!

2 Chronicles 7:14 - If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

God is moving in the Taylor & Downriver area! The battle is on!

On my knees fighting,

Luis

Think Different

I was reading the book of Daniel & there were a few things that jumped out at me. God's chosen people have always been "different" people. Ever wonder why you might think a little different than other people? Why you might be a little strange? Well, there are some people who are just strange but God's people are are strange because we weren't created to be like everyone else we were created to be like God.

Daniel 3:-8 - ³Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring in some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility – ⁴young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king's palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians. ⁵The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king's table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king's service. ⁶Among these were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. ⁷The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego. ⁸But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.

v. 8 - but Daniel chose to "Think Different"...

God's people think different because we were created to make a difference. It's the people who think different that make a difference. "Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do." - apple computers

Are you crazy enough to believe you can make a difference for God? Are you even crazier to live that difference?

Crazy enough to think (& live) different,

Luis

Image is Nothing, Thirst is Everything. Obey Your Thirst

I'm not a big pop drinker but there are a few pops that I like a lot. One of those pops is Sprite. I was drinking a Sprite one night while I was reading 2 Samuel 15 & God spoke to me. The big famous slogan from Sprite is, "Image is Nothing, Thirst is Everything. Obey Your Thirst." As I was reading the story of Saul I thought of the Sprite message.

Here Saul was on a mission from God & somewhere along the way decided to dv8 from the plan & do his own thing. Samuel called out Saul about his sin & told him that God was preparing another king to replace him. Saul responded by saying, "I have sinned. But please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel." Saul was more concerned with his image that he was about his heart. I never want that to be the case.

My prayer for myself & for our ministry is that our thirst for godliness would be much greater than our desire for image. God's not looking for us to build our own image; he wants us to become his image.

obeying my thirst,

Luis