THRIVE IN ADVERSITY

WEATHER REPORT: When you ask for rain in the time of the latter rain, it will downpour. "Ask the LORD for rain in the spring, for he makes the storm clouds. And he will send showers of rain so every field becomes a lush pasture." Zech 10:1

I WILL THRIVE ON ADVERSITY - THAD SWEET (SEPT. 3, 2024)

When I was at one of my lowest moments, instead of choosing what I have in the past, which is retreat and isolation, I chose to persevere. I didn't have all the answers, and I didn't know how I would even take another step. But I simply chose not to give up, not to quit. I planned on hiding in my office all day. That next morning, I had just enough in me to come in to the office. And I mean just enough. But I kept going. And I had a conversation with Leah who opened my eyes to what was going on, that I was in the middle of transformation right at that moment, choosing to be around the team, instead of isolation. "I WILL THRIVE ON ADVERSITY." That phrase- it's cute to say it. But when it comes right down to it, that's a tough thing to live out. But it's exactly the kind of challenge I need in this season. I've been on a personal journey for a few years now, something I rarely talk about, and if I do, it's usually only in little pieces, and privately. A few years ago, God gave me a word to become comfortable with the uncomfortable. And so I spent that year choosing to do hard, and uncomfortable things. I'm getting a growing sense of what may lie ahead, and I think the road ahead for most of us, will be more difficult, not easier. It's going to be so good! But I'm not sure it's going to be easy… God is on the move. He is up to something. He is after our maturity, our obedience, that is FORGED out of deeper intimacy with Him than we've ever known before. And so, I extend this challenge to you today. Give time to your own personal transformation. What is God putting His finger on in your life? Where is He asking for immediate obedience? TRUST ME.

JUST ANOTHER TUESDAY AT STAFF PRAYER

Just Another Tuesday | Cassie Shaffer | Sept 3rd, 2024

As I was walking in the morning before work the Lord gave me a prophetic vision. I was standing in my grandma's basement looking at shelves full of canned fruits and vegetables. The lids were labeled with the year they were preserved. I even saw jars labeled back to the 1970's. There was dust accumulating on the lids and the basement was dark and damp. Then he showed me a picture of a roadside produce stand full of lush fruits and vegetables with a sign that said FREE.

As I processed the pictures he began to speak to me and this was the impression I felt in my spirit. The temptation in a season with abundant produce is to try to preserve what we are experiencing. To hold on to it and keep it to ourselves. Like canning the produce is to try to preserve what we are experiencing. To hold on to it and keep it to ourselves. Like canning the produce with good intentions of using it later when the season changes and it isn't easy to find fresh fruit. But he said preserving the fruit is actually embalming the produce and just like the jars collecting dust dating back to the 1970s I sensed him saying that it would result in us taking it to the grave with us. The fruit would be forgotten in the dusty dark basement of our souls. The invitation instead was to be like the roadside produce stand, willing to freely give away all the fresh fruit. He said the more we give away the more he will freely provide. We don't have to be afraid of running out. I sensed him inviting us to avoid self-preservation and instead to pour ourselves out to empty with faith that he will fill us again and again. The fresh food on the produce stand will draw in the hungry and we will always have more than enough to feed them.

EVEN WHEN YOU THINK YOU ARE EMPTY, RIVERS OF LIVING WATER WILL FLOW.

YOU HAVE A FALSE BOTTOM. THERE IS MORE IN YOU. (Listen to Hymn "I've Got a River of Life")

I've got a river of life flowing out of me! Makes the lame to walk, and the blind to see. Opens prison doors, sets the captives free! I've got a river of life flowing out of me! Spring up, O well, within my soul! Spring up, O well, and make me whole! Spring up, O well, and give to me. That life abundantly.