Yesterday morning I got up and spent a little quiet time in fellowship with my Creator. After that I decided to head outside for a little exercise (walking and jogging with an emphasis on walking – life goes by too fast when I am jogging!)  I plugged in my earphones and hit shuffle and had a great 2.5 mile journey.

On my way back to the house M.C. Hammer came on with “You Can’t Touch This!”  As I walked in the house, my girls were having breakfast and I did my best Hammer Dance across the kitchen and began to sing:  You Can’t Touch This!”  It was fun, it felt good and they confirmed that they have one crazy white daddy!

Last night after Grace Place, I was heading home on my bike in the rain and I caught myself singing.  I realized that I had been singing all day long.  I had joined in with alomst every song that came on the radio and when there was no radio, I was singing whatever I had in my head and heart.  It hit me and I thought it was so cool – “I am actually singing with the radio again!”

This may not seem like a big deal to you, but sometimes we can allow life to become so stressful that it steals our song!  If you find yourself at that place, then just let me share a bit of encouragement – you do not have to live there forever.  Look to God, trust Him and He will lead you out of that place to a place where you can rediscover your song.

If you are not in that place and you are singing with the radio all the time, then take just a moment to be thankful!  Either way – remember that God is good and always has a plan – a plan to help you and me be our best for His glory as we learn to live in the freedom and power of His grace!

I hear a lot of people talking about God’s will.  The amazing thing is that most of us walk around acting like we’ve got this whole thing figured out, but living like we don’t have a clue.  We can talk a pretty good game, but when it comes to walking, we are barefooted and on the rocks.

It’s not that God’s will is really all that complicated.  God’s will is really pretty simple, when you and I are willing to get real about it.  The complication comes in, when we add all of our stuff to the mix.

If you want to know and do God’s will then read, apply, obey and practice Romans 12:1-2:  “1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

1.) Give yourself completely to God!  This is your spiritual service of worship!  It does not really matter what anybody else thinks.  People say they want to know God’s will and then listen to what everybody, except God has to say about it.  If you really want to know God’s will, then take five minutes to not care about what anyone else thinks or has to say about it.  Ask God to reveal His will and to give you peace.  Read His Word and listen for the voice of His Spirit.  In this five minutes give yourself completely to Him and you will know His will, now the question is:  What are you going to do about it?

2.) Don’t be conformed, but transformed!  Let the Spirit renew your mind, so that you are not thinking your way or the worlds way, but His way.  After you spend five minutes and discover His will, it will amaze you at how fast it can be taken away from you.  We fight way to many fights that we don’t need to fight.  Don’t let others or the world shape you.  Instead allow the Spirit of God to recreate you into something amazing for His glory.

3.) Prove God’s will – in and through your living!  This is action that is good, acceptable and perfect.  You need to prove His will to yourself and to others, so just live the life that He has marked out for you – moment by moment!

God has an amazing plan for your life – don’t miss out on it, because you got caught up in playing a game of pretend with everybody else.  It is the simple and consistent steps of obedience that allow God to take you to where you could never take yourself!  Enjoy the journey!

Today was a very special day at Grace Place.  We had our first unofficial/official service as Grace Place Community.  I really did not have any expectation, only a hope that things would be as the Spirit wanted and I think that this is exactly what happened.

It was great having family and friends together for a sweet time of worship and the beautiful and amazing thing was seeing all of the new folks coming to join us.  When you give your life to something, you need confirmation, whether you realize it or not.  The Spirit provided some much-needed and appreciated confirmation this morning.

I am thankful to God for blessing us with the opportunity to be a part of something amazing and special.  I am thankful to all of the people – those who were there today and those who could not be there today, who have been faithful over the past several years to help make a day like today possible.  I am thankful to family and friends who continue to encourage me to stay faithful.

To God be the glory for what He has, is and will do.  To all of the faithful folks who have given, are giving and will give of themselves – thank you – the blessings of today are a testimony and witness of how God rewards the faithfulness of His people.  To the family and friends who encourage me in so many different ways – I would not want to think of having to do this without you?

Heading to bed tonight – humbled, thankful and hopeful!  I love you all – God Bless and Press On!