Made Alive

Yesterday I spoke on being made alive. The Bible term for this on both sides of Christ is, quicken. God wants to quicken us, or make us alive through the power of the Holy Spirit. As a believer and more importantly a follower of Jesus the Messiah we have the presence of the Holy Spirit as He has come to make a home within us. The Bible though talks about there being an additional thing that happens in the lives of believers when we get tired of being tired.
Make me alive and quicken me should be as prevalent a request in your life as any. The God kind of life can only come from God quickening you. Don't accept so easily what is. Press in, press on and go further into what could be. Plainly, God has more for you. You can have it, but you must get to the more His way and not your own. Cry out this week and whenever you need a shot of His life, quicken me O Lord.
Maybe you are at a place in your life where you are tired of the status quo. Maybe you are at a place in your life where you just want it settled that you are going all the way with the Lord. Take this opportunity and ask God for His life to invade your life. Pray as David did, quicken me Lord.
If you'd like to follow a line of thought regarding these matters and the Holy Spirit in general check out the weekly teachings tab at www.crosspointok.org or you can find the same teachings at iTunes by searching Pastor James Greggs or CROSSPOINT. Church, Vinita, OK.
I welcome your thoughts. Keep the faith and wear the crown. Holla.

P. James

My baby girls are growing up.

A few thoughts concerning signs and wonders

I'm just gonna go...you ready? Signs and wonders are relevant to the problems that people face. Our greatest problem as humanity is that we are alienated from our Creator and God. Every other power aside from reconciliation, no matter how mighty or awesome is inferior to it; because it directly addresses our problem. So that being said, the gospel of Jesus Christ is the ultimate power of God to mankind. Choose to use it and grow in power.
Holla.

More Thoughts on the Church

I want to continue to probe this thing we call church. What is it anyhow? Is it merely an invention of mankind or is it God ordained. As we discussed last week, our mind goes to the meeting when we think of the church. I want to suppose a much broader view of church for the purposes of this discussion. I submit to you that the church in fact is the people of God. More specifically the people of Christ, or if you will the body of Christ.
So now I have a question for those who suppose that they don't need the “meeting”. I have met countless individuals who believe that they don't need to be a part of the church “meeting” to be a part of the church. This is nuts. I must ask you if that is your story, if your faith hasn't taken you to church do you suppose it will take you to heaven? Church was not our idea. This meeting, the gathering together was Jesus' idea. He left us a blueprint of the church in Acts 2. From all I read there, it isn't necessary for me to read anything into it. It stands plain before us that the early church, the one that saw with their eyes the Christ, received instructions to gather and break bread, and to listen to and heed the teaching of the elders. Acts 2.42 - All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.
Now I grant you that you can receive teaching on your couch in front of the TV. You cannot do the rest of this verse without a group of believers. From where do you get your fellowship?
Fellowship means – community of interest, feeling, etc.; friendly relationship, companionship(such as that of a father and son); an association of persons having similar tastes; communion...
Fellowship is a key and fundamental element in your spiritual growth. Amongst other things, fellowship will keep you steady and away from doctrines that are anti-Christ including those which say you don't need fellowship. I can go on and on. I encourage you to search the scriptures for yourself and find what the Lord thinks of the gathering in both the old and new testaments.
I have one last question. How can you claim to love Christ and not His body? How can you claim to love Christ and not His bride? Are you in fellowship with Christ at all? As always, I welcome your commentary. Keep the faith and wear the crown. Holla.

Peace is the presence of the goodness of God.
P. Jas.

Free Will

God has granted us all free will. The challenge comes when you've surrendered your life to Him and then find your free will in conflict with His will. If we are actually in relationship with Him and we are enjoying fellowship with Him then we know when we and our will conflict with Him. Even when we begin with the best of intentions, somewhere along the way we realize that this isn't God's best for me.
You can keep yourself from these situations by prayer. Pray and read the Bible. God has a plan for you and it's a plan that is beyond belief. Ephesians 3.20 says - “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us”
Keep that in mind as as you ask God to guide your life. Keep in mind that His plan is far better than you can imagine or conceive of in yourself. Ask Him to show you and then be sure to listen after you've asked. You must listen and read your Bible.
Praying and then acting without waiting is not what the Bible tells us to do. The Bible tells us that if we wait it will be worth the wait. Isaiah 40.31 tells us, “But those who wait on the LORD
      Shall renew their strength;
      They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
      They shall run and not be weary,
      They shall walk and not faint.”
Wait on Him and He will direct your path. I pray that you have a terrific week as you walk out the path that God has for you in His strength and surrounded by His perfect love.
Keep the faith and wear the crown. Holla!

Pastor James

The Church

The church. What a topic. The church has many critics, but no rivals. Lots of the opinions that are formed and trumpeted about the church come from people who aren't even in the church. Curious... I have a question. What does Jesus think about the church?
When we think of church our minds immediately gallop to the church gathering. We come, we greet, we sing, we pray, we listen, we seek, we repent...and all of those things are important. How often though do we stop and ask Jesus, “What do You think of the service Jesus?” Would Jesus be pleased?
Before I begin to attempt to unravel that notion I want to say something of the nature of Jesus with respect to His church. I find many times that churches and ministries try to make Jesus feel welcome and they feel that this should be the ambition of the attenders as well. I submit to you though that if it is His church, why should He be treated as a guest? He is Host, not guest. I think if we bear that in mind in designing what happens at the gathering, and aligning our expectations, we'd be far more effective at drawing all men unto Him even through the gathering.
Just food for thought. I'll get at you later with some more. Keep the faith and wear the crown. Holla.

P. Jas.

The Nature of Prayer

Is your relationship with God personal or functional? When I was younger in the Lord and began to hear some of the very things that today I teach, I was at first most upset.  See, the truth does something that many will not acknowledge.  It divides.  When the truth is presented to you, you must make a decision to walk in the light of it or to get angry with it.  I wrestled and got angry with the message of faith for quite some time, because it did not allow me to have my way.  In the end I figured out that I am irrelevant and that to live is Christ.  God was no more interested in what I thought about having my way than a little bit.  I then came to realize that the primary purpose of my prayer life (and yours too) should be to deepen my relationship with God.  The pinnacle of prayer is when we want Him.  (When we don’t want what we want).  The nature of prayer is such that our relationship with God is more important than our requests.  So I ask again; Is your relationship with God personal or functional? Holla at your boy.

Peace is the presence of the goodness of God.
P. Jas.