01.25.06 thequest email UPdate

thequest family,

When life gets zany (which most times it is), God still wants to speak to us. He wants to be involved in our lives. When we give Him the reign as King in our life (accepting Him as LORD) then as His subject we ought be listening for His direction.

Today I was in my living room with some of the leaders from thequest and Mindi shared with us the following devotional she found just days ago. It's from a book called, Come Away My Beloved. The perspective of the book is that these devotionals are words from God written to you the reader. They all spring off of a verse and sometimes connect deeply with the rest of what God is confirming in our hearts. The following is something from the Lord to us...and maybe for you today...

Expect the Unexpected

Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. Acts 8:5-6 NKJV

O My child, let Me speak to you, and let My Spirit direct your life. I may lead you in unexpected ways and ask things of you that are startling, but I will never guide you amiss.

Across your path will fall the shadow of My hand, and wherever I direct you, there will you see My power at work, and your ministry will glorify Me.

Do not walk according to your natural reasoning, but obey the promptings of the Spirit, and be obedient to My voice.

I need those who will be completely flexible in this way, because a multitude of souls are searching for Me and would never come into contact with Me in a personal way through the channels of the organized church.

You shall go as Philip went—at the direction of the Spirit— into the places that are out of the way and bring light on My Word to those who are in need.

Stay in an attitude of prayer and faith, and I will do all the rest.

--God




Press on,

Mike


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01.18.06 thequest email UPdate

thequest family,



Have you ever read a novel that you just couldn't put down? The story line just draws you in and is so compelling...you are hooked. You are thinking about it even when you aren't reading it. On every page, the story is unfolding and the background items are becoming more and more clear.


What if the story was about your family history? Your entire concentration would be focused on sorting out the details and piecing things together. You would experience those "ah-ha" moments where the puzzle parts pop into place. Things click in your mind and the secrets of the past are made clear.

I was reading in Ephesians where Paul talks about his privilege in sharing that kind of a story. He tells us that he was given the access to a secret from God. He was given a family secret. He says it like this:


I was chosen to explain to everyone this plan that God, the Creator of all things, had kept secret from the beginning. And this is the secret plan: The Gentiles have an equal share with the Jews in all the riches inherited by God's children. Both groups have believed the Good News, and both are part of the same body and enjoy together the promise of blessings through Christ Jesus. This was his plan from all eternity, and it has now been carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord.*


Can you imagine the intensity with which those early non-Jews read the letters and listened to Paul about this secret? It would be just like when you are hooked by an compelling novel. They would piece the puzzle together in their mind. Their hearts would be racing. They would be thinking about it all the time. The joy of the truth would be overwhelming.

Sometimes familiarity tones down our excitement. Those first readers and listeners to the secret plan of God being laid out before them would have said, "This is GREAT News."

Finding out a secret is always enticing. Unpack it again. Re-live it.

Psst...I've got a secret from God...and You've got it too...it's All About Jesus!

Press on,

Mike



*Ephesians 3:9, 6, 11 NLT strung together in that order

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01.11.06 thequest email UPdate

thequest family,

As we roll into the new year, we have a new theme for our ministry as well:

It's All About Jesus

This was affirmed by many of our leaders as on the mark with where we need to be this year. It has to be all about Jesus. It can't be about anything else--not about me, not about us, but about Him.

The following passage, which has been a favorite of mine for many years, really emphasizes this in a way that will draw us into deeper intimacy, experience, and obedience.

"Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own goodness or my ability to obey God's law, but I trust Christ to save me. For God's way of making us right with himself depends on faith. As a result, I can really know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I can learn what it means to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that, somehow, I can experience the resurrection from the dead!" Phil 3:8-11 NLT
I hope that in our quest in the coming months will bring us closer and closer toward this testimony from Paul. That we will discard everything else that we may have Jesus. That we will pursue with all our effort the priceless Jesus.

As we go through the year, I'd love to get the stories from your lives that demonstrate how things are all about Jesus in your lives, in your experiences and in your time in the Scriptures. I want to be a "reporter"...someone who can tell the stories of what is going on in the hum-drum or in the miraculous. Those stories will encourage us all. If you have something that you want to share with our family, drop me an email and let me know.

Press On,
Mike

01.11.06 the quest email UPdate online

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