Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Be faithful - Hang on

Hebrews 10:23 says

Hold fast the confession of our hope without waivering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds.

Being faithful is not always easy, but it always has a reward. We need to be like the Father, who I like to call Papa God (inspired from the book the Shack by Wm. Paul Young), unwaivering, trusting Him to fulfill His promises.

I need to stand firm, with God at my side and agree with my husband Michael in faith as to our future. Prosperity, not poverty, excess, not lack. He is faithful and true to His Word. And the devil is a liar!

Lord, today I lay down my life at your throne. You are in control and totally capable to do what needs to be done in my life. I step aside, turning over the reins to you. I bind in heaven:

  • anything that would block your blessings
  • sickness and disease
  • lack of discipline
  • the spirit of fear
  • the spirit of poverty
I loose in heaven:

  • contracts for work
  • online bookings on all of our websites
  • resources
  • funding
  • retiring all of our debt and obligations
  • a new book contract
  • speaking engagements
  • discipline
  • ideas
  • philanthropy
There is such freedom in knowing that my Papa cares about EVERY aspect of my life, down to the most minute detail. May this encourage you today and stimulate you to love and good deeds. Pay it forward today!

Chicke Fitzgerald

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Most popular Google search on Thursday night: John 3:16


For those of you whoare either college football nuts or Gator fans (which by the way are the same thing I think), you by now know Tim Tebow of the Florida Gators. The Gators won the championship 24-14 thanks to Tim's leadership as quarterback of the Gators.

"John 3:16" has appeared in various forms at nationally televised sporting over the years, but after University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow inscribed it on his eye black for Thursday night's BCS National Championship game, the biblical reference became the most popular search item on Google.com.

Tim showed a lot of courage to share his faith in such a bold way. But that is because Tim knows a secret. He knows what God is going to care about when he sees Him face to face.

I got this email today that saw this from the perspective of what God won't ask on the "last" day. Actually, if we are before Him, it is the "first" day of our eternity in His presence. But the point is still well taken. And by the way, He already knows the answers to the questions and loves us anyway, that is grace, which is what John 3:16 is all about.

  1. God won't ask what kind of a car you drove. He'll ask how many people you drove who didn't have transportation.
  2. He won't ask the square footage of your house, He'll ask how many people you welcomed into your home.
  3. God won't ask about the clothes you had in your closet. He'll ask how many you helped to clothe.
  4. God won't ask what your highest salary was. He'll ask if you compromised your character to obtain it.
  5. He won't ask what your job title was. He'll ask if you performed your job to the best of your ability and as a servant leader versus a "boss".
  6. God won't ask how many friends (real or virtual) you had or how many people followed you on Twitter or Facebook. He'll ask how many people to whom you were a real friend.
  7. He won't ask in what neighborhood you lived, he'll ask how you treated your neighbor.
  8. God won't ask about the color of your skin or that of the people you hung around with or followed. He'll ask about the content of your character on the inside.
  9. God won't ask why it took you so long to realize you needed Him in your life. He'll just lovingly take you to your mansion in heaven and not show you the gates of Hell.
  10. He won't ask the content of the things you forwarded to others, including this post. He knows your heart and loves you just the same.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. That is what John 3:16 says. It is all about believing, not about doing. Now, there is a whole lot of the Bible that tells you how God expects you to behave once you know His truth. But He says that the truth shall set you FREE, not put you into some awful bondage where you don't have any fun.

The Message Bible says it this way:

16-18"This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.

I love that. Get to know the kind of God that loves the world that much. One that makes a very talented college student boldly tell the nation about his God.

And if you haven't read the Bible in awhile (or ever), go to Walmart or Target and buy a Message Bible. You don't need all the "whosoevers" and "believeths". Just listen to His word, His love letter just for you.

Chicke Fitzgerald

Friday, January 02, 2009

God is our unchangeable anchor

I love this quote by John Shedd, particularly embedded in this picture that I found on Tom LeDree's blog site. There Tom said:

So many of us don’t do things because of fear. But taking the easy, safe route in life gets us nowhere. It’s not what we were built for. We were built for adventure. I encourage you to start sailing out into unknown waters and start building the life you want today!

Fortunately our safety comes not from staying in the harbor, but having an anchor that never changes His nature.

Hebrews 6:17 - 18 says:

17
In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath,

18so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.

Anchors hold boats firm in the storm. Verse 19 of chapter 5 says, "this hope that we have is an anchor for our soul. The fact that He can't change and doesn't lie are our hope.

I will hold fast to that hope.