Being Changed by God's Love - Rich Oliver of River Revival Network

For this week's encouraging email, I was drawn to share this piece by Rich Oliver.  Rich and his wife Lindy oversee The River Revival Network.  The pastors of Blazing Fire have their ordination through this network.  As you read this, consider how you've grown, how you've changed over time because of God's love and interactions with you.  And then, please express your gratitude and wonder!  Russ Fochler

I Am Better by Rich Oliver I love how God is always helping me grow.... When I get angry with someone or frustrated with their actions, I find myself taking a moment and talking to God. What begins as my pleas for justice or complaints of criticism or cries of pain ends with me contemplating things that I could have done better, ways I could have reacted in love, ways that I carelessly spoke out of turn... Usually, I am humbled and silenced by how much I still have left to learn. It's so easy to get caught up in the moment. Pride can flare up in a flash. Emotions can cloud good judgment. A perceived slight builds into a quest for retribution. All too quickly I can slip back into behavior that I know is not reflective of who I am in Christ, and Holy Spirit begins working in me.....again! God is showing me that I am better. I don't have to give into pride, I don't have to react in turn, and I don't have to inflict pain just because I am hurting. I am better. I am better because God loved me enough to send His Son. I am better because His Son chose to die for my sins. I'm better because when I chose to accept His Son as my Savior, I received forgiveness, love, redemption, and His Holy Spirit! On top of that, I am counted as a joint heir with Christ, I am a victor not a victim, I am a overcomer not overcome! I am better. As this better person, I can respond in a better way to the world around me. I don't have to sink to the level of the world around me. I don't have to make hasty decisions that leave lasting scars. I'm not always the victim, but in the Power of the Holy Spirit, I can be victorious in every situation. NO, it’s not always easy. NO, I'm not all the way there yet. Sometimes it literally hurts to swallow back that smart retort or respond in love to anger. But knowing God is happy with how I'm living and understanding how love can change any circumstance is helping me grow. Knowing that I can do in HIM, makes me want to do it all the more. God's growing me... and I love it! Rich Oliver

The Relational Gospel by Pastor Russ Fochler

“The good news of a new relationship with God through Christ is transforming persons everywhere I have been, as it has been transforming you since the very first day you acknowledged God’s unconditional love.” "Because of his (Epaphras') report we constantly pray for you, asking that you may graspGod’s intentions for you both in your head and in your heart, so that your lifestyle will please God, your efforts in ministry will be productive, and your understanding of who God is will continually enlarge. We want you to become aware of that vast strength which springs out of your relationship with God so that you will have steadiness and to be able to endure anything with joy and then you will thank God our Father who makes us adequate through our participation in a community of transparent people. He has released us from the confusion and meaninglessness of a closed life and has opened us up so that we participate in the authority of his Son.”  Colossians 1:6, 9-13 The Heart of Paul by Ben Campbell Johnson There is so much yummy goodness in this passage!  I spoke about this and more last Saturday night.  You can listen and also find links to the exercise handout and the slides here:  https://blazingfire.podbean.com/e/the-relational-gospel-russ-fochler/ In this email, I want to focus on what are called "relational circuits".  When our relational circuits are "on", a lot of things work better.  When our relational circuits are "off" - we experience what Paul called "the meaninglessness of a closed life".  Learning to recognize when they are "off" and helping them to be "on" again will change our life.  Signs your Relational Circuits are off: I just want this problem, person or feeling to go away. They need to change, shut-up, get fixed, etc. I don’t want to listen to what anyone has to say right now. I’m done. Your mind is “locked onto” something negative and upsetting. I don’t want to be connected to anyone right now. I just want to get away.  (flee, fight, freeze, vs staying relational, calm and connected) I get aggressive, interrogate, judge and try to change or fix others. I'm more focused on the splinter in their eye, rather than the beam in mine. When your Relational Circuits are on you can: Use all your senses Be flexible (instead of rigid) in your thinking Be self-reflective Attune (be in sync with another person) Use willpower Be open and interested in what others think, feel and say Regulate emotions Work with others to reach understanding Focus & shift attention One very important way to help your relational circuits come back "on line" is to intentionally practice gratitude for several minutes (the longer you savor gratitude, the better).  This works for our connection with God, and also with people.  We practiced interactive gratitude last Saturday.  Here is a link to that handout. Every time we sing worship songs from our heart to Jesus and Father God, we welcome our relational circuits to be on and connected with God. As a young man, Jim Wilder (co-author Joyful Journey, The Life Model and other books) read through the Bible and summarized what he saw as the 3 most important truths to live from: Talk to God about everything Do nothing out of fear Love others deeply When we're experiencing a "mutual mind" with Jesus (the mind of Christ), we can discern the thoughts from God by His Shalom associated with those thoughts. "Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude. Tell him every detail of your life, then God’s wonderful peace that transcends human understanding, will make the answers known to you through Jesus Christ. So keep your thoughts continually fixed on all that is authentic and real, honorable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind. And fasten your thoughts on every glorious work of God, praising him always."  Philippians 4:6-8 The Passion Translation                                                                      With gratitude,                                                                                    Russ Fochler

Open Doors by Pastor Brent Lokker

By Brent Lokker & Michaela Thompson This past week I shared about how our beautiful and powerful King Jesus opens doors wide in front of us to be able to step through with Him. You can hear that message here on podcast: https://blazingfire.podbean.com/e/our-lord-jesus-opens-doors-brent-lokker/. In the message, one of the doors I mentioned that Jesus opens for us is the one to healing the deep wounds in our hearts. Michaela Thompson had this wonderful insight to add: It’s interesting that you spoke on Open Doors last night, since Papa has been bringing back to my remembrance some of the first promises He made to me. He promised to heal my heart, but it has to be His way. It's funny how we think we know what that means when we first hear it, but in reality there’s a continual unfolding of revelation that unpacks this truth. His WAY now takes on more than repentance from sin (my first interpretation) and basic obedience. His WAY now encompasses my whole life's journey regardless of how I got here, which is something I've been having a difficult time accepting and embracing.  So what is one of the open doors that Jesus has opened for me that no one can shut? Obviously, it's the healing of my heart, but that is so very vague. The open door is deep, deep rest for my soul - this is my life's message, which encompasses so very much. It's freedom from anxiety and fear, freedom from feeling the weight of my world upon my shoulders.... feeling like I am completely alone in this life. I have an open invitation to step into and abide in His pure love for me.... that He just likes me for me, that's it - there's nothing for me to do. This is so very difficult to hold onto.... the tendency to return to performance and achievement as a means of finding value and worth is strong.  We say it all the time, that “Papa loves us just as we are,” but this can be so very hard to grasp on the inside. So, the invitation stands for me to go deeper into this peace, into His rest, into His love and His care for me. I get to go deeper into trust, into leaning upon my Beloved. I get to perform and achieve things because I am already loved and accepted as an overflow of His life in me and the unfolding of who I am in Him in this world. The fact I can do nothing at all and still be good with God is crazy. Papa has invited me to take dance lessons... couples dance lessons (like ballroom, west coast swing, etc., anything with a partner). He wants me to learn to follow. My initial internal response was "I know how to follow! I'm sensitive to the Holy Spirit!" - and yes this is true, but there is so much more for me! So, I’ve taken a few lessons and I’m beginning to understand why He wants me to do this. ("Ohhh! There’s a whole other level of following and sensitivity that I haven’t experienced yet!) Here is one nugget I’ve learned so far: As a follower, I need to be committed to keeping the momentum of my movement going in whatever direction the leader sends me until I receive another direction. There’s a deeper level of trust involved that Papa is getting at with me, because I find that I want the security of knowing all the steps from beginning to end. But there’s no trust in that, because regardless of what my leader does, I would already know what I'm supposed to do. See how I’m getting my sense of worth from my performance?  It’s true I can't dance if my leader doesn't know how to lead and it’s also true he can't lead if I don't follow and am second guessing him all the time. I can get in my head instead of simply staying present and this is just not how couples dance works. And there’s no rest in trying to know all the steps ahead of time either, because then I have to remember what's coming, which keeps me from simply staying present with my leader in the now and enjoying the moment. There's a deeper level of rest in simply feeling the direction my leader sends me. All these insights are aspects of the open door I’m walking through with Papa.  So what open doors are in front of you? Ask for Papa’s help to walk through them. He’s all about taking you to good places in your life and He’s all about doing it with you!