His Plans vs. My Plans

I met with a few brilliant minds this morning and we contemplated…

Psalm 33:  ¹³ The LORD looks down from heaven
      and sees the whole human race.
 ¹⁴ From his throne he observes
      all who live on the earth.
 ¹⁵ He made their hearts,
      so he understands everything they do.
 ¹⁶ The best-equipped army cannot save a king,
      nor is great strength enough to save a warrior.
 ¹⁷ Don’t count on your warhorse to give you victory—
      for all its strength, it cannot save you.

 ¹⁸ But the LORD watches over those who fear him,
      those who rely on his unfailing love.
 ¹⁹ He rescues them from death
      and keeps them alive in times of famine.

 ²⁰ We put our hope in the LORD.
      He is our help and our shield.
 ²¹ In him our hearts rejoice,
      for we trust in his holy name.

How often do you try to solve the problem on your own?  How often do you contemplate and strategically try to put together a plan to win or succeed?  Not that plans or strategies are bad by any sense…but do we understand that God may have greater purposes for our lives and He will bring His plans to fruition.  The Psalm talks about the reality that the best equipped army cannot save a king.  Meaning, no matter what opposition you might be facing, God is bigger than it.  God can frustrate the plans of those with the greatest plans.  We have a God who will win the victories that He wants won for His kingdom.  He has the ability to shift the resources of this world in whatever way He wants…do we fully put our hope in Him?  Do we really trust fully in Him or are we trying to win the battles on our own?

Lakeland, my prayer is that we stay perfectly in step with Him and watch Him win the impossible battles and show us the amazing victories.   

Get Em

I crack up at how God just goes and "gets em".  If you've been around Lakeland much at all you're aware that I often pray "God, go get em".  It's an expectation that we at Lakeland carry with us everywhere we go.  We expect God to do the miraculous work in people's lives and change them from the inside out.  If we're available, are boldly obedient, and pray a lot, God just seems to "get er done". 

Just last week I met a woman who infomed me she and her family had been attending Lakeland for a couple months now and her husband is just coming alive in his questions about God and this "Christian life" we live.  In short, she said, "my entire family has been changed, it's like they're all waking up."

All I have to say is Go God Go....Go Get Em.

Stay Connected

One of the elements at Lakeland that I'm constantly reinforcing is the need to be in each others lives.  One of the primary ways we take further steps in our faith is when we have accountability, encouragement, and challenge coming from others in our lives. 

To highlight a few groups...we've got a couple men's groups.  One that meets Thursday nights 7pm, and "Man Up" which meets Saturday's at 8am.  Women's groups...one on Monday nights 7pm and one on Wednesday mornings 9am.  Celebrate Recovery which targets supporting one another as we work through our hurts, habits, and hang-ups, on Friday's at 7pm.  A prayer group that meets to truly engage in the spiritual battle and take ground for the kingdom on Saturday's at 7am.  And a home group study that is meeting for 5 weeks on Tuesday nights at 6:15pm...at the end of the 5 weeks those involved will launch into home groups moving at their own paces.

The point is this, you've got to have others in your life.  As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.  I always encourage people to find the group that is most useful to where they are right now in life.  Don't join three groups, just find one group...but the point is find one, connect, take the next step in your journey. 

Costa Rica

Our Team is anxiously preparing and prepping for our journey to begin in less than two weeks.  From August 20-29, a group of 8 from Lakeland will be taking our first trip to Costa Rica to serve at the orphanage Hogar De Vida.  We can't wait to see what God is going to do in and through the team.  Please keep us in prayer and follow us daily at our blog http://lakelandcostarica.blogspot.com/.  We will have daily reports, updates, and pictures of all that God is doing. 

This is a video from my previous church when I had taken a team there. 

http://vimeo.com/6167308

Alive

All I can say is God is good.  It’s been so fun just sitting back and watching God do what he does best…and that is transform lives.  There are so many people at Lakeland who authentically are pursuing the heart of God.  When this takes place, God meets us where we’re at.  Scripture says, “Seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened up to you.”  So many are finding, so many are discovering, so many are living the life which Jesus talked about in John 10:10.  “I’ve come that you might have life, and have it to the full.”   This makes me all the more excited for our encounters each weekend.  

Lakeland is enjoying watching God bring dead things to life…come be apart of it.