THE FATHER HIMSELF LOVES YOU!

Ask!


In John 16, Jesus told his followers not to ask him, but rather ask the Father in his name, because, he said, “the Father Himself loves you.” He told them the reason the Father loved them was because, “you have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.”

Ask Him, because the Father Himself loves you!

Oh God, great Creator, my Father, You are in heaven! Holy, holy is Your name!

Your will and Your purposes are priority on Earth as they are in heaven; may Your will be done!

Please be kind and gracious and merciful to me regarding my requests.

Thank You for life.
Thank You for eternal life.
Thank You for forgiveness.

Oh God, my Father, You are able to do exceeding abundantly above all I ask or think.

My God, You shall supply all I need according to Your riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

My God, You are able to make all grace abound toward me, so that I will always have all sufficiency in all things, so that I can abound to every good work.

As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are Your ways higher than my ways and Your thoughts than my thoughts.

Teach me oh God, lead me, and guide me.

I deserve nothing. I can earn nothing. But by prayer and supplication, thanking You, oh Father, I am letting You know my requests, in Jesus Christ’s name.

Your ears are open unto my prayers, therefore I am casting all my cares upon You because You care for me.

I am coming to speak freely and openly at Your throne room of Grace.

God loves me. God is willing. God is able.

Isaiah 41:10 and 13
Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.

Ask Him, because the Father Himself loves you!

What Are You Doing?

Action.  Persistence. Commitment.

Those are things that are in my control.

We all decide whether to take action, persist, and commit to something. There are those who pray and then wait on God.  But I think many times God is waiting on us to take action, persist and stay committed.

The last 10 days or so I have been really busy.  I probably put more on my plate than I should have.  But, I am really into taking action, persisting, and staying committed.

Yes, of course I pray throughout the day and continue to look for and expect answers.  But I am also doing my part.

In understanding the concept of “doing my part,” read the follwing excerpt.  It is from “The Victorious Attitude,” Chapter 4, “Making Dreams Come True,” by Orison Swett Marden.

“The thoughtless, the ignorant, and the indolent, seeing only the apparent effects of things and not the things themselves, talk of luck, or fortune and chance.  Seeing a man grow rich, they saw ‘How lucky he is!’  Observing another become intellectual they exclaim ‘How highly favored he is!’  And noting the saintly character and wide influence of another they remark, ‘How chance aids him at every turn!’

They do not see the trials and failures and struggles which these men have voluntarily encountered in order to gain their experience; have no knowledge of the sacrifice they have made, or the undaunted efforts they have put forth, of the faith they have exercised, that they might overcome the apparently insurmountable, and realize the vision of their heart.”

The reason why so many people fail to realize their ideals is that they are not willing to do their part to make it real.

Remember that the longing, the desire to do a certain thing, is merely sowing the seed of your ambition.  If you stop at this you will get about as much harvest as the farmer would get if he put his seed in the ground without preparing the soil, without fertilizing it and keeping the weeds down.

You must back up that which your heart longs to realize with an honest purpose to do your best, a dead-in-earnest effort to make your vision real.  The mere holding of the desire to do so, no matter how persistently or strongly you hold it, will not help you to realize your dreams.

You must not only sow the seed of desire and longing, but you must do all the nourishing, cultivating, caring for, or you will only reap a thistle harvest.  We see men and women everywhere reaping a very thistly, a very weedy harvest from the sowing of mere longings.  These people can scarcely get enough out of their harvest to keep them alive, simply because they took no care of their seed after the planting.

The constant nursing, cultivating the desire, the ambition, keeping our heart’s longings and soul yearnings alive, wholesome and healthy by active endeavor, is the only way in which we can match our dreams with their realities.

Mr. Marden wrote some very inspiring books, and the underlying truth of God giving all of us free will runs throughout them.  As we pray and put our trust in God, think the right thoughts, and, take the right action, we can’t help but be successful in any and every endeavor, regardless of our current situations.

Michael A. Verdicchio
2011

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God, Please Fix It

It’s Another Podcast!

Have you ever found yourself in a big mess?

I believe in a miracle working God. Do you?  He has and continues to perform miracles.  But aren’t we supposed to take some responsibility for our own actions.

In this short podcast (3:28 ) discover what you should do when you find yourself in a mess.

Enjoy the podcast!

[If you cannot see the player below, just click the title above]

Don’t Be Shy – Leave A Comment!
Do you have some thoughts about this?  We’d love to hear what you think.  If you are receiving this post via email or RSS, just click the title above and then scroll to the bottom of the post and type in your comment.  Otherwise, just scroll to the bottom of this post and type in your comment.

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Persistent In Prayer

It’s Another Podcast!

Prayer is a very big part of being a Christian.  But it’s more than just going through some daily formality.  It is a way of life, expressing to God what’s on your heart.

Prayer is talking to God, including letting your requests be made known to Him.  This short podcast (5:16)  has a really great key that you can apply so that you can receive answers to your prayers.

Enjoy the podcast

[If you cannot see the player below, just click the title above]

Leave A Comment!
Do you have some thoughts about this?  We’d love to hear what you think.  If you are receiving this post via email or RSS, just click the title above and then scroll to the bottom of the post and type in your comment.  Otherwise, just scroll to the bottom of this post and type in your comment.

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For past articles, click on the, “Posts” tab above.  For past videos and podcasts, mouse over the “Posts” tab above.  Look for more videos as well as more podcasts coming soon to Confidence And Joy!

A Great Weekend

I spent today with my good friend, driving around Spokane.  More on that in a few minutes.

It was a great weekend at the Youth Winter Advance in Spokane.  Thanks, Steve, for inviting me!  It was so much fun to hang out with a whole bunch of young folks.  Some photos below.

The theme of the weekend was “Outreach,” so the focus was on reaching people with the “good news” of God’s Word.  It was a weekend in the Bible. Steve and I opened up on Friday night and he told me later he thinks that the kids will remember my “Snickers Bar” remark.

I hope to have my teadching posted sometime soon.  I am planning on posting it on the “Enriching” site, which of course is free to all subscribers of this blog.

This past weekend I saw some old buddies, and met some new youngsters who are now my buddies too.  It was wonderful to see young people who are concerned about learning more of how to reach out and help others.  These cool kids invested their time and money into a whole weekend!  Right on; you guys rock!

In addition to some adults, there were plenty of young people teaching the Bible.  As I listened to the teachings, I wrote down some one liners that I liked.  Here are a few:

If God has some special for you to do, He will make it very clear to you.

Pray and ask God for wisdom.

If there is some new thing God will show you.

Our life is what is is in our heart.

Love people.

Pray every day.

Outreach is giving light to those in darkness.

Today, Steve and I hung out.  As he took care of some errands, we drove around Spokane on a gorgeous warm day.  Unseasonably warm temps continue – today it was 18 degrees above normal hitting a high of 51.  We took some folks who traveled in from Oklahoma to the airport.  We went to his son’s house to take care of a couple things.  He checked out someone’s water heater, and other errands.

He left a note in his other son’s car, parked at Eastern Washington University.  One of his daughters attends there as well, and he did too.  We  drove by his high school, Lewis and Clark.  He told me that when he was there, attending high school, there were dozens of students who met each morning in the lunch room to pray.

And as we drove around we discussed bringing God’s Word to hungry people.  We talked about how there are some ministers who are so set in their ways that they fail to recognize the excitement that many young people have for the things of God.  We talked about how you cannot force revival; that’s God’s business.  Then we laughed again at my “Snickers Bar” remark.

It was a wonderful day spending time together.  This evening, he and his wife Kathy took me to the movies and we saw, “Blind Side.”  It was really good and so reminded me of what the love of God can do for any person.  Love is so much more powerful than we realize.

Below are some photos.  I’ll post my teaching from the weekend on the “Enriching” site soon, so if you don’t have your free membership; yet, get it today.  Details below.

winter advance 2010 079

mike-1

joy-hal-jac-car-vic

pj

boise
no-snow

What Can I Do For You?

It’s Another Podcast!

This is my first audio podcast for 2010. This New Year is moving forward.

I know a lot of people are expecting and anticipating great things for this year.  And, as a result, many are praying and asking God for his help.

In this short podcast (8:00), I share about a different kind of prayer.  Take a listen and see what you think.

Enjoy the podcast.

[If you cannot see the player below, just click the title above]

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What Do You Pray For?

Do you pray for big things?  How about small things?  Are there things that you don’t feel comfortable about going to God in prayer?

On this short video (2:17) I point out your feelings about going to God in prayer are a good indication of your confidence toward God. I share a very helpful tip in increasing your confidence to go to Him in prayer whether it’s something little, or something big.

Enjoy the video.

Leave A Comment!  We’d love to hear what you think.  Please type your comment below.

God Is Not In Charge

It’s Another Podcast!

The title of this new podcast is the same title of an article I published last week.  I realize the title could be shocking to some people.  But I think the information is very helpful, so I decided to do a podcast as well.

As you listen to this and think about it logically, it makes a lot of sense.  Not only that, but it removes the wrongly placed blame for things that people have laid at God’s feet.

Discover in this short podcast (8:42) who is really in charge of your life.

[If you cannot see the player below, just click the title above]

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Leave A Comment!
We’d love to hear what you think.  Please type your comments below.

Look for more podcasts as well as more videos coming soon to Confidence And Joy!

He Got A Promotion And A Raise!

When is the last time someone you know got a promotion?  It seems these days that being promoted is pretty rare.  But here is a short interview with a friend of mine who not only got a promotion, but he got a raise, too!

Interview

As you listen to us talk, take note of some very important principles that everyone could apply at their workplace.  Just click on the player to hear the interview.
[audio:http://confidenceandjoy.com/wp-content/audio/ts-interview-2-09.mp3]

Prayer Is Important, But…

Yes, prayer is very important.  But we also need to continue to do our part.  Remember the record of Joseph in the Bible.  He was in a horrible situation.  He had been sold as a slave and found himself working for a man named Potiphar.

But Joseph continued to apply himself to the task at hand,  to the point that God continued to bless him, despite his current circumstances.  And, as you know, he eventually ended up second in charge in Egypt.

Nothing Puts God Out Of Business

There is nothing that puts God out of business.  We can have confidence in our God to bring us the solutions that we need.  We do our best, pray and ask Him for what we need, and then allow Him to bring the answer to us however He chooses.

What joy we have when we receive that answer.

Mike Verdicchio