Reformers:

The Ramp. If you've never heard of it, look it up! It's right here in Sweet Home Alabama. It really is an amazing ministry. I took notes on a couple videos from their website. One sermon was about a Reformed Life, with the scriptural example of Josiah who was crowned King of Israel at the age of 8. (2 Chronicles 34)

So this speaker, I don't remember his name, began by sharing a few things that he felt this generation was all about. The main thing being reformation, like King Josiah. Here's most of it:

"God has marked you. You will never fit in the box labeled normal. You are meant for change. You love God, but you hate religion. When you taste Him it only makes you hungry for more. You crave His presence but loathe the average church service. You refuse to let the world around you shape you or define you. When you dream, it is about the impossible. When you see pain, you know you are called to heal it. When you face adversity, you don't fear because you measure it against your God. You are dangerous to Satan because your life is not your own. You will never fit into the typical societal nitch because you are a reformer. Bullets don't scare you-- mediocrity scares you, indifference scares you. Losing your life doesn't scare you-- wasting it does. You've already died, so you are free.

*CHOOSE hunger, passion, fire. Don't wait for some impartation, you must choose it!

*It's time to cross the line. You can't make a difference if you aren't willing to BE different."

And this next part is from the video called The Seeker's Journey. Awesome stuff-- really encourage you to watch that one!

"If you never stop seeking, you will never stop finding. Have you ever thought about WHY we have to seek God? He isn't lost. Is He hiding? Or is He trying to show us that the glory is in the pursuit? The reason why He wants us to seek Him is because He is a seeker. If you were God, what would be cool to see on earth? A mirror.

Why should we give? When we become givers we draw the favor of God because we start to align ourselves with the character of God- He is a giver! And He is a seeker.

He brings you to His face so you will know what you're supposed to reflect.

Cancer will not respond to you. But what it will respond to is an image of Someone much more powerful than you. Satan will not flee from just you-- until He sees an image of Someone He recognizes-- Someone who has already defeated him! Christ Jesus.

The sun doesn't control the tide... the moon does. It's not the source of the light that determines the depth of the water, but the reflection. The moon is significant only in the fact that it doesn't have the ability to produce the light, but to reflect light in an hour in which the light can't be seen. God needs more reflections!

People don't really want to be reflections, but representatives. A representative is someone who used to stand in someone's presence & now speaks for the person in whose presence they used to stand. But if you're not in His face NOW, you cannot maintain His reflection. It must be your ever-current state. Just be in the right position.

How could Peter's shadow heal people? It was not because he had it goin' on. A shadow is just a by-product of a reflection. He was reflecting the image of His Savior."

Dang, I love that! Like I said, go to theramp.org to watch their services. Or come visit me and we'll road trip it! :)

In my previous blog I mentioned this New Thru 30 program. Ok, I am getting so much out of it. What a great tool to teach me the daily discipline of getting into God's Word. Not just for a minute or two! But really taking the time to soak it in and pay attention to His timeless message, these beautiful stories and letters of hope, miracles, trials and victories, and Love. The real kind. The saving kind.

I'm going to end with a few of my favorite verses-- some old, some newly discovered. All encouraging!

Peace to you, wherever you are!

"But let us who live in the Light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation." 1 Thess. 5:8

"He chose to give birth to us by giving us His true Word. And we, out of all creation, have become His prized possession." James 1:18

"Christ made us right with God; He made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin." 1 Cor. 1:30

"We now have this Light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure." 2 Coer. 4:7

"He Himself gives life and breath to everything & satisfies every need... His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward Him and find Him- though He is not far from any of us. For in Him we live, move, and exist." Acts 17: 25,27

" 'Now I say to you that you are Peter, which means Rock, and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it...'" Matthew 16:18

"Oh Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike." Matt. 11:25

"Dear brothers and sisters, never get tired of doing good." 2 Thess. 3:13

"So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of His call. May He give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do. Then the name of our Lord Jesus will be honored because of the way you live, and you will be honored along with Him." 2 Thess. 1:11