Oct11th

This last Sunday, Lance the director of the men’s Teen Challenge Centre in Winnipeg spoke at Recovery Church. Lance delivered a great message and I wanted to touch briefly about what he spoke on. In his sermon he shared about how we have to battle through our circumstances to gain victory in our lives. He also mentioned that we can’t just stand around feeling sorry for ourselves and wait for God to magically make things happen, it takes work.

I can remember going into recovery and it was very hard; there were many times I felt like running. I had to persevere, I know if I didn’t it would mean certain death. God was faithful to me as I pushed forward through those tough situations, He did not let me down and was true to His word and promises in the Bible. There are so many examples in the Bible were people had to face tough circumstances to gain victory. I think of the story of David & Goliath in 1 Samuel 17: 1-58. In verse 48 shortly after David was taunted by the giant, he claimed victory in the name of the Lord and ran at Goliath and put him to the ground with his stone. People must of thought that David was crazy and outmatched by the huge giant, they must of thought that there was no way that David would have victory over the Philistine; he did.

I encourage everyone today to claim victory in your life and face those hard circumstances that seem impossible. Addiction is just one more thing that you can overcome when you have the Lord there to protect, guide and encourage you.

God bless,

Justin

Oct6th

We have a power to tap into.
When we are living our lives for the Lord in a way that we are saying, “yes I’m surrendered to you and I want to be obedient to your ways. Teach me, grow me, I’m coming to be with you……” then He works in our lives, His power comes in and changes everything.
I’ve got a couple of meetings that are hard and some other challenges coming up. These are all things I know I’m out of my depth on. I am incapable in some of this yet I know the Lord has called me to it and would not have me shy away. In fact He’s called me to be bold and bring positive change, in love. He has given us reconciliation and has asked us to model that and bring it to earthly relationships.
I’m getting a bit off track.
My point is I can, no, I need to come to Him with this stuff I’m dealing with. I wake up early and meet with Him and pray about it. Ask Him how do I do this, what is the plan? What is the strategy? Then I start to write, I pray for love and know that the Lord has a heart and plan for all involved. I pray for unity. He shows up, the Holy Spirit shows up at my kitchen table and helps lay out the plan. He is the one who helps me. He gives wisdom and success, I’ll I’ve done is meet with Him but I now am confident.
If it doesn’t turn out well or the way I thought, that can be hard but I know I’ve done my part, I’ve covered it in prayer, done my best, said Your will be done and the outcome is not my responsibility.
If you’ve got challenges (if you’re alive this is you) get up and bring it to Him, sit with Him, talk. He will help you. He wants us to tap into Him.
He is to be the vine in our lives and we are to be the branches, receiving life, nourishment/growth and all He has for us – Life!

Oct6th

We have a power to tap into.
When we are living our lives for the Lord in a way that we are saying, “yes I’m surrendered to you and I want to be obedient to your ways. Teach me, grow me, I’m coming to be with you……” then He works in our lives, His power comes in and changes everything.
I’ve got a couple of meetings that are hard and some other challenges coming up. These are all things I know I’m out of my depth on. I am incapable in some of this yet I know the Lord has called me to it and would not have me shy away. In fact He’s called me to be bold and bring positive change, in love. He has given us reconciliation and has asked us to model that and bring it to earthly relationships.
I’m getting a bit off track.
My point is I can, no, I need to come to Him with this stuff I’m dealing with. I wake up early and meet with Him and pray about it. Ask Him how do I do this, what is the plan? What is the strategy? Then I start to write, I pray for love and know that the Lord has a heart and plan for all involved. I pray for unity. He shows up, the Holy Spirit shows up at my kitchen table and helps lay out the plan. He is the one who helps me. He gives wisdom and success, I’ll I’ve done is meet with Him but I now am confident.
If it doesn’t turn out well or the way I thought, that can be hard but I know I’ve done my part, I’ve covered it in prayer, done my best, said Your will be done and the outcome is not my responsibility.
If you’ve got challenges (if you’re alive this is you) get up and bring it to Him, sit with Him, talk. He will help you. He wants us to tap into Him.
He is to be the vine in our lives and we are to be the branches, receiving life, nourishment/growth and all He has for us – Life!

October4th

Good morning
It’s been a while and once I stop doing something it can be hard to get started again. It’s that all or nothing mentality.

I’ve been asked about relationship with God and how that happens. How do we actually hear from God? It’s through His Holy Spirit.
When we don’t know God we think about Him as a God of rules, ways we’ve got to live to be associated with Him.
When we come into relationship with Him He starts working in us and we realize, this is not what I thought, He is not who I thought. There is a love for me and a care for me by someone greater who seems to have my life in His hands. I guess I’m not just a number and my situation is not just mine to deal with. We’ve started to hear from God, He is capturing our lives with His love.
The Holy Spirit was working on us before we knew God. When we accept Jesus as our Saviour He starts working in our lives, changing things right inside.
I will keep writing on this special relationship and how it grows in the next few posts.

Sept29th

I had an awesome meeting with a friend of recovery ministries today. We were able to share with one another just how awesome God is and how far He has brought the two of us. God is faithful, He never lets us down. Today we talked briefly about the choices we make in life. In life we’re always faced with tough decisions. Life can become so much easier when we seek God for difficult decisions. Everyone makes wrong choices in life, but thanks be to God who will always provide a way for us to be reconciled to Him.

Our conversation consisted mostly about seeking Christ for answers in our life. It is imperative that we learn and teach ourselves to seek His wisdom and guidance. When we seek Christ He will guide our paths, and when we make wrong turns, He will give us His grace freely and direct us accordingly to His will.

I encourage you all to read and meditate on Proverbs 4 today. Here is a sample of what is says.

Proverbs 4:5-10

Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or swerve from them. Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you. Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. Esteem her, and she will exalt you; embrace her, and she will honor you. She will set a garland of grace on your head and present you with a crown of splendor. Listen, my son, accept what I say, and the years of your life be many.

God Bless,

Justin

Sept28th

How are you doing?
I’m thinking about my day and the rest of my week.
I am in need of lots of help, I believe the Lord will show up in all of these services and meetings and I need to meet with Him a lot before hand to seek His will and call on His name.
I am excited about what is coming but if I had to go in on my own, on my own strength, I’d be in trouble.
I share this this morning because I have just been writing in my journal how excited I am to get away somewhere quiet and have an extra seven or eight hours to just be with the Lord and sit down and write and read and see how He shows up and instructs me.
The wild thing is that He loves it too. The Creator of the Universe is looking forward to meeting with me and having that time together dedicated to Him and what He wants to do in the lives of people we love.
I’m desperate for Him because I’m in a place where I’m stretched beyond my own comfort zone and abilities. I can’t do this, He can and will.
This is where He keeps calling us, out of our comfort zone, for His Kingdom purposes and He meets us and blesses our lives. He wants us living in a state of dependence on Him and trust in Him then we stay close and talk lots and realize this -”Phillipians 4:13 I can do everything through Him who strengthens me”, we realize how He is the one to put first.

Luke 9:23-24
23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.

Joshua 1:9
9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Sept26th

Good morning

Well I’m thankful for being able to meet with the Lord, He changes me.
I often don’t feel like making the effort but I keep getting blown away by what He does, how He shows up, so full of grace, knowing my heart and attitude and He re-adjusts me.
Here are a few things about meeting with Him
-Thank Him. Thanking Him will change your perspective and break hard heartedness.
-Praise Him, He is the greatest, He is the highest, He is life and future and everything. He is the only one worth living for, He makes life worth living.
-Just be with Him, open His Word. When I’ve got not much energy or desire to seek Him out I can just read a chapter in the Gospels. Reading through Matthew, Mark, Luke and John just brings me into the presence of Jesus life. I don’t even have to be able to understand all of it, I just know He blesses my life through His Word and when I don’t have much in me I need to run to Him, run to Jesus in the writings of His life and teaching.

So sitting with Him, thanking Him and praising Him.
This changes everything.
As surely as He doesn’t change like shifting shadows, as surely as He is, and always has been and always will be faithful…….. He will bless your life in many ways as you seek Him.

Sept21st

One of my favourite scriptures is:

2 Chronicles 7:14 (NASB77)
14 and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

I just came back from a trip to Newfoundland and so had to fly across our country twice. It was so fabulous. I love Canada. I have now been to each province and territory in Canada. We are truly blessed to live here. What beauty: mountains, fields, oceans, lakes, forests and tundra. It reminds me of psalm 23:

Psalm 23:1-3 (NASB77)
1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.
3 He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.

Almost everyone I know feels lucky to live in Canada. One of the main reasons for this is the freedom we have to live and worship etc. Generally speaking, from day to day, we are not living in danger like many other people in other countries are. This is very important. We should never take for granted the freedoms that our forefathers and others have fought and died to keep. We should realize however, that it was really God Who granted us this great country.

John 1:15-16 (NASB77)
16 For of His fulness we have all received, and grace upon grace.

So many of us have prospered in Canada and forgotten that it was only by God’s grace that we flourished and we have become prideful and boastful about our success, feeling it has been from our own works.

Ephesians 2:8-9 (NKJV)
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.

As a country we have wandered from God and started living on our own strength.

Zechariah 4:6 (NKJV)
…….. ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the LORD of hosts.

We should learn a lesson from the Bible. When the Israelites, God’s chosen people, turned away from God, he punished them. He left them to the consequences of their hardened hearts. They were defeated and enslaved.

Isaiah 2:17 (NASB77)
17 And the pride of man will be humbled, And the loftiness of men will be abased, And the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.

We should wake up and realize that we believers have a huge battle ahead of us. It is bigger than our addictions. It is for our souls and our families’ very souls.

Ephesians 6:11-12 (NKJV)
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

However, God has equipped us with the tools and the Holy Spirit to help us use those weapons. Our job is to pray for Canada, share our testimonies, and spread the Gospel. We have to understand that there is a battle for Canada between Satan and believers. Turn your hearts to prayer for Canada and our brothers and sisters.

Psalm 29:11 (NASB77)
11 The LORD will give strength to His people; The LORD will bless His people with peace.

Dean

Sept20th

So the power in the name of Jesus.
Please look at yesterday’s post.

This Sunday night we are going to be talking about His Name. The Name to be saved by. The Name to build a life on and the Name of Power to cut things off. We are going to tell some of the supernatural stories of His Name in our lives to do Miracles.
You’ve got to know that through His name you will continue to kill the giants in your life, you won’t just stop using or stumbling in an area, living under His Name you will start to realize that the battles in you life are now the Lords and He will defeat your enemies. You will overcome; drugs, memories, bondage, lies you believed, fears, anxiety, insecurity…….on it goes.

1 Samuel 17:45-47
45 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

Praise your Name Mighty King, do your great work in setting people free!
If this has moved you, if you are excited about this Sunday night-
Pray
Fast
God is power!

Sept19th

Looking at the Name of the Lord, Jesus Name.
First we get saved in Jesus name. He went to the Cross for our sins, when we accept that gift and ask Him into our heart He saves us and starts a lifelong work in our hearts.
So first we get saved in His name, His name alone-
Acts 4
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
THEN we start to live in His name, that means He becomes the cornerstone of our lives, we build everything fresh on Him. We start to run everything by Him, NOT because we are under His thumb (He never puts us there, we always have our choices) but because we have started relationship with Him and so we are falling in love. How can you not when you meet and start to get to know someone who laid down their life for you?
Now we move into the supernatural power of His name to overcome. I will be picking up at this point tomorrow.
Just know, saying the name of Jesus out loud can change things, can bring light to a dark place and peace to a storm.