PDL 9/22/06 (Day 12)
Today kind of piggy-backed off of yesterday, and unpacked the idea of getting to know God. Rick talked about desiring God and obeying Him, valuing what He values, and seeking after Him.
The point that really stuck with me was being honest with God. I find that often in my prayer life I’m praying about what’s important to me, and what’s important to others, but I often fail to just be open and honest with Him.
I’ve found that when I’ll really sit and be quiet before God, and be honest about my fears, struggles, sins, etc…He really begins to get to my heart. And that’s when I’m really allowing Him to change my life. As a Christ-follower, my desire it to become more like Christ, but that only happens when I’m being honest with Him, and with myself.
PDL 9/21/06 (Day 11)
I love the way the PDL presents our journey to explore and know the vast personality of God. It’s an eternal journey, but it’s the one relationship we should take the most seriously. I get to know Him better by…
- Reading His Word
- Having conversations with Him (prayer).
- Focusing on Him throughout the day.
- Talking to others who are on this journey.
One thing that struck me today is that I often spend a ton of time trying to get to know other people, but God gets my “spare time”. It I’m truly going to get to know Him in a greater way, He deserves the best of my time.
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PDL 9/20/06 (Day 10)
Total Surrender, that’s what God desires. It’s the goal of the Christian life; to give God everything we have. Today, Rick lists the blocks we face in surrendering to God…when we question “Can I trust God?”, and “Admitting Our limitations”.
Ultimately, when we trust God with everything we have, and embrace our limitations, we truly get the opportunity to see Him work. Tonight at dinner, a friend asked me how God had been faithful to Lori and I over the years (that’s such a loaded question).
The main thing I was able to answer was that the more we have trusted God over the years, the greater we’ve seen his grace and generosity towards us. This applies to our relationships, marriage, parenting, and finances. When we’re willing to surrender, to say yes to God, it’s only then that we see all the great things God has in store for us.
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PDL 9/19/06 (Day 9)
I love watching my 4 kids play together. It’s amazing the creative ways they think up to have fun. Many days they go out on our big trampoline just to jump. Recently, they decided it would be more fun to turn on the hose and add water to the jumping equation. It makes me crack up just to watch them out there, jumping around, tackling each other, spraying water all over, trying new flips, getting injured, getting over it, and just having a blast!
Where in life do most adults stop having a blast? I think it’s when we’re having a blast that we really bring glory to God. After all, He wired us to live life to the fullest! I think God loves it when we laugh together, when we play together, when we work hard together, but mostly when we just enjoy the life He’s given us.
PDL 9/18/06 (Day 8)
Today we began to read about the first purpose for our life – worship. God planned us for His pleasure. It strikes me, as we’re in this MADE series, how often I forget that I am here only because He MADE ME! Many times I begin to feel self-sufficient, and forget that I need Him for my next breath. I love the Message paraphrase of Romans 12:1…
Take your everyday, ordinary life–your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking around life–and place it before God as an offering.
What a powerful challenge. To take every area of our life, and make it an offering to God! That’s my desire. I want God to take pleasure in everything I do. I want my whole life to be an act of worship; not just my church attendance or singing, but everything I do every day!
Leadership In The Marketplace
Our first Power Source class kicked off last night, “Leadership In The MarketPlace“. This is going to be a cool week, with a number of new discipleship opportunities launching this fall. It was a blast for me to see so many show up to learn how to function as Christians in their businesses, and to lead others in that area.Â
They’re tackling subjects like…
- Motivating and Inspiring Employees
- Biblical view of your workplace
- Leadership
- Character and ethics
- Effective Communications
- Managing Stress
- Trust and loyalty
- Cultural and Multicultural Environment
- Teamwork
It’s being taught by two men in our church, Paul Smiley and Eloy Martinez, who have a ton of experience in this area, and are well respected by every one. I’m excited to see what comes out of this!
PDL 9/17/06 (Day 7)
Sorry this is a day late, but Sunday was pretty busy for me 
The main thought for reading #7 is, “It’s all for Him”. The question that arises is, “How can I bring glory to God”. This isn’t just a Sunday morning question, it means every part of my life.
- How can I bring glory to God at my workplace?
- How can I bring glory to God in my marriage?
- How can I bring glory to God with my kids?
- How can I bring glory to God in my church family?
- How can I bring glory to God in my neighborhood?
- How can I bring glory to God in my thoughts?
- How can I bring glory to God with my body?
- How can I bring glory to God with my finances?
Those are just a few questions to ponder today, so have fun wrestling with these.
Man Laws Breakfast
Next Saturday we’re having a special men’s breakfast, called “the man-law breakfast”. We’ll be talking about what it means to be a Christian man, and having a blast doing it. It’s at 8:00 am on the patio of our church offices. Don’t miss it!
Somewhere on the blogosphere a while back I saw someone doing a list of Christian “man laws”, spoofing the commercials on TV. I’d like to create a list of our own. So, if you think of a Christian man-law, please email it to kflanagan@palmvalley.org. You just might see it included next weekend.Â
PDL 9/16/06 – (day 6)
This life is a temporary assigment. I think at points we all struggle with that understanding. I know I do. We live like this life is all there is. As followers of Christ, this shouldn’t be. We ought to live with a desire to impact this world for Christ, and to proclaim His name.
Interesting point Rick made in today’s reading: God allows struggles into our life so that we won’t get too comfortable here on earth. Isn’t that so true? It’s during really difficult, painful times that I long for heaven. I’m thankful God doesn’t make life easy, I would miss the whole point if He did.
PDL 9/15/06 (Day 5)
“Life is a test, and life is a trust“. These are the two premises of today’s reading. As I read, it really struck me that this life is a test of how we handle the things God trusts us with.
We often get caught in the trap of thinking that stuff is ours: our money, our house, our children, etc… In reality, it’s all God’s stuff, He’s merely entrusted it into our stewardship for a while. And one day we will answer for how trustworthy we were. I want to be a good steward of everything God entrusts to me. It’s led me to make decisions in major areas of my life…
- I will remember that all the money I have is God’s, not mine. Therefore I give him my firstfruits (tithe) and give generously beyond that.
- My children have been placed in my home so that I might help them know who they are because of whose they are. My role is to help them know Christ.
- The church I lead is not mine, it’s God’s. Christ is the head of the church, so I seek His will for every decision we make, not mine.
- I have 24 hours per day; I want to use each one in a way that honors the Lord. Sometimes that’s working, sometimes it’s taking a nap, it’s always worshiping Him in all I do.
Those are just a few of the ways I live, in order to pass the test of trust. What’s on your list? How are you doing with these?
Greg Rohlinger is the Senior Pastor of Palm Valley Church in Goodyear, Arizona. These are his thoughts on faith and leadership, as well as being a husband, father and pastor.