Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
8 28 2023
The Plans I have for you.
Today we begin again. Today is our first day back as a collective body.
Tonight at 7 pm we begin another season of meeting every
Monday night for our Courageous Men’s Group.
I hope if you are in our area, you will come and join us at Grace Family Church at
Land O Lakes. If you are in a faraway place, I pray you are in a group, a bible study, and have an accountability group around you. If you are not intentional about growing closer to God in the community… You simply will not make it alone.
Believe me, I have too many years as a young man trying!
Did you know that nobody has a bigger plan for you than God? Each of us is a light- A beacon – we are called to be salt and light to a dying world. You may be in a season where you need help. Things are falling apart at home, and work. But even in your need, you will find that God will use your struggle to bless another person. You come because God has been calling you to come closer. The strength of that urge…that calling to come…is the Holy Spirit. I pray you listen to that urging inside that says…
You need this! But you will only make that happen in the strength of God’s spirit in you. Not in your will to make it happen. You are thinking this because the Holy Spirit is prompting those thoughts and feelings. It is God talking to you in that quiet still voice to come closer. Courageous is a great vehicle for men to do that.
Ephesians says 6: 10-12 “Be strong with the Lord’s mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all the strategies and tricks of the devil. We are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood but against the evil words and authorities of the unseen world”. So often because of defeats and trying times, we tend to memorize the words of failure.
But God only speaks words of success over us. He said the battlefield is in the mind.
2 Corinthians 4:4 “Satan, the God of this evil world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe so they are unable to see the glorious light of the good news that is shining upon them”.
Jesus is saying that when we let his light come in, he will change the circumstances of our lives.
2nd Corinthians 4-6 “For God, who said, let there be light in the darkness, He has made us understand that this light, Is the brightness of the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.
Our heavenly father is so interested in our success that he lays out the battleground.
He tells us what weapons we need and the ones that are not real. Because his interest is in us breaking free.
2nd Corinthians 4:6 “The weapons we fight are not the weapons of the world, on the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. (Which is our way of thinking). We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ”.
We must never allow the enemy to program us for fear and failure because of what we see and because of what we hear or how many times we have fallen before.
He tells us that the transformation will come as we marinate in God’s scriptures, and we personalize them to ourselves. We can succeed in community! We can succeed in the Church He has put around us to support us. Forget about any bad experiences you might have had in the past. Today is a new day. Create a fresh new beginning by asking God to forgive you and give you strength to come closer.
John 8:12 “and Jesus spoke, he said, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.
And John 12:36 “Put your trust in the light, so that you may become sons of light”
Acts 13:47 “I have made you a light, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth”.
Romans 13:12 “So let us put on the armor of light”
Matthew 5:16 “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your father in heaven”.
God has called us to have a personal relationship with him. And he guides us with his Holy Spirit by the power of his holy word. I was taught early on in my life to personalize the Scriptures to myself and for those that I pray for.
I was taught to analyze the Scriptures and be intentional about responding in God’s way and not reacting to situations that arise around me. Honestly, it has been a lifetime of falling but always getting back up as a repentant prodigal asking my Dad to forgive me.
I will stop to glorify God and in doing so will dream bigger than I could dream on my own. To visualize what tomorrow could look like if I just trusted in the guidance of the Holy Spirit and Almighty God.
And lastly, I was taught to vocalize. In the car. In the shower. When I was alone. Walking here and there. Speak out who God is to you! Never be ashamed of sharing your faith or offering to pray for someone. Each of us brings a lasting change to whatever we touch. We are either singing the praises and the hope of an Almighty God or we’re not. Choose you this day whom you will serve
Lord, I am significant because you said so! I Am a priest because you have called me. I make a difference because you are my guiding light. I put on the full armor of God today so I will be ready to be light.
Matt Redman. Let there be wonder
