In order to hear God, we need to be tuned to Him. If we don’t practice this “tuning in” process, it can go way out of whack. It disappoints God when we go through our lives without actually listening to Him and He desperately wants to communicate with us. Even when we go to prayer, we don’t listen. We usually have a list of requests for Him, so we talk to Him instead of listen.Sometimes we get caught up in talking and forget that God gave us two ears with which we can hear each other. God also gave us spiritual ears that He uses to communicate with us. God is a relational being. That means that He created us so that we can have a relationship with Him, our Creator. But sometimes we fill our lives up with so much noise that we drown God’s voice out. In order to hear God, we need to be tuned to Him. If we don’t practice this “tuning in” process, it can go way out of whack. It disappoints God when we go through our lives without actually listening to Him and He desperately wants to communicate with us. Even when we go to prayer, we don’t listen. We usually have a list of requests for Him, so we talk to Him instead of listen. Don’t get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with talking to Him. In fact, He wants us to talk to Him. But sometimes He just wants us to listen

As we walk through this life, we get dirty from rubbing up against a sinful, fallen world. No matter how much we try we can’t “rub” the sin off. As we try to “rub” it off, it only gets worse. Maybe “rubbing” the sin off is trying to justify our sin or maybe just ignoring it or maybe we just call the sin a mistake. He is the only one who has the “bleach” that can remove the dirt and grime.Imagine that you were headed to church early one Sunday morning. You had set out your "church clothes" the night before so that you would wear the right clothes. You picked out a white pair of pants and cool looking shirt. You wanted to look your best at church. There was this one girl that you wanted to impress. So you spent 2 hours in the morning to spiff yourself up. You put your clothes on and brushed your teeth. You weren't even going to eat breakfast because you wanted to take the extra time fixing yourself up. You were almost done. All you had to do was gel your hair. You had this really cool hair gel that gelled your hair so good that you could go through an "F5" ("Finger of God") tornado and it would hold. Your gel had an odd name, Gorilla Snot, but it smelled good and looked good. So you wet your hair, squirted some Gorilla Snot on your palm, rubbed your palms together and then transferred the smooshed Gorilla Snot onto your hair. Your "Snot", as you called it, took about 5 minutes to set up. Once it set up, you could pretty much do anything you wanted and it would stay the way you had combed it. You had some Snot left on your hands so you smeared it on your nice white pants. You didn't care. It was colorless and no one would be able to tell you had smooshed gel on your pants. [Catch the rest of the story in the Devo]As we walk through this life, we get dirty from rubbing up against a sinful, fallen world. No matter how much we try we can’t “rub” the sin off. As we try to “rub” it off, it only gets worse. Maybe “rubbing” the sin off is trying to justify our sin or maybe just ignoring it or maybe we just call the sin a mistake, “it was only a mistake not a sin”. At the end of the day our nice clean, white, pure hearts and minds are pretty dirty and the only way to clean ourselves up is to take a spiritual shower. In order to get clean again we need to get on our knees and ask God to forgive us and to purify us. He is the only one who has the “bleach” that can remove the dirt and grime from our lives. You see, when we accept Jesus into our hearts there is a certain way that He expects us to act.

The word “servant” has sort of a bad image associated with it.Most leaders would not even think about being a servant to others. This was true even back in Jesus’ time. The Pharisees would never consider being a servant to those around them. But Jesus came to earth to show them and us how a real leader should act. Everything about Him revolved around serving others. He was never focused on HimselfIt was the beginning of another day. The stars disappeared as night gave way to day. The horizon looked like as if it was on fire with brilliant colors of gold, yellows, and deep shades of blue.You had spent the night out under the stars on a hill a short distance away from the town you grew up in. It was a sleepy, little town nestled in a lush, green valley. The grass on the hill was glistening with dew as if there were diamonds on the tips of each blade of grass.As you went down into the valley, the town was still. There were a few lights on in the houses of those who had to get up early to get to work. There was smoke lazily rising from the brick chimneys. The air was brisk. Autumn was beginning to make its mark on the trees surrounding the town and covering the hillsides. You loved this time of year because the hillsides were speckled with the colors of autumn. You loved the slight chill in the air that marked the beginning of the season.Very soon now, the rains would set in and outdoor activities would cease for a season. You had to make the most of the last few days of good weather. Clearly, this was going to be another remarkable day. The sun peeked it’s big, orange head above the horizon.The day was upon you and you needed to get started. Your backpack was sitting beside you, filled with the things you needed for a long hike. It was a heavy pack, but you were no stranger to hiking with a fully-loaded backpack.You were off on a trek to explore the deep caverns at the base of the hills north of town. You had been to the caverns many times but had never ventured too deep into the dark, ominous caverns. Today you were determined to explore them and go deeper than you had ever gone before. You had been warned not to venture too deep into the caverns because of the dangers that lurked inside of them but you ignored the warnings. You had been in there many times without any problems, besides you always had a radio transmitter with which you could contact officials in town in case of an emergency.The sun was high in the sky by now so you rolled up your sleeping bag, picked up your pack and slung it over your shoulder. You were well-equipped for this journey.

There are people in the Bible who are well known, like Paul, and Peter, and John. We all know that they were a very important part of the early church. There are others who were just as important to the church but are not that well known. Barnabas is one of those people. But as we will find out, he had a very important role in the early church.There are people in the Bible who are well known, like Paul, and Peter, and John. We all know that they were a very important part of the early church. There are others who were just as important to the church but are not that well known. Barnabas is one of those people. But as we will find out, he had a very important role in the early church. Let’s see who he is and why God included him in the Bible.

We live in a world that seems to be crumbling at the seams. We live in a world that is full of fear. People live in fear of their lives. Your generation is growing up in a world of guns, terrorist attacks, and lots-o drugs. It seems that our country has taken all their morals and tossed them out the window. How can a person growing up in this world be assured of anythingWe live in a world that seems to be crumbling at the seams. We live in a world that is full of fear. People are in fear of the future. People live in fear of their lives. Your generation is growing up in a world of guns, terrorist attacks, and lots-o drugs. It seems that our country has taken all their morals and tossed them out the window. How can a person growing up in this world be assured of anything? Can a person really live at peace? Can a person live in this country, in this world, and not worry?

There is a lot of stuff in the Bible about wisdom.Solomon devoted much of his life to teaching others about it.He had it all when it came to wisdom.God granted him wisdom because of all the things that Solomon could wish for.He told God he needed wisdom in order to be able to lead the Children of Israel wisely.God said that he could have picked riches or fame but he chose wisdom.God gave him bothDuring the next several weeks we are going to take a look at each one of the spiritual gifts mentioned in the Bible. We will take each one and see what it is, who has these gifts and how they are to be used in the church. The first two gifts we are going to look at are the gifts of Wisdom and Knowledge. There is a lot of stuff in the Bible about wisdom. Solomon devoted much of his life to teaching others about it. Of course, he was da man who had it all when it came to wisdom. God granted him wisdom because of all the things that Solomon could wish for. He told God he needed wisdom in order to be able to lead the Children of Israel wisely. God said that he could have picked riches or fame but he chose wisdom. Of course, God gave those things to Solomon anyway.

Have you ever said something to someone that you wish you take back? James 3:6 says that the "tongue is a fire". We've all had those moments when we've said something that hurt someone we care about. Once the words are out of your mouth it's impossible to take them back.Sorta like when you open your mouth your tongue shoots out of your mouth, lands about 15 feet in front of you and slithers awayImagine that God allowed you to take a trip to heaven and tour His palace. Somehow you were transported to heaven. There you stood at the doors to His palace. They looked pretty cool. You knocked on the door and God opened it up and said to you, “Welcome, . I have been expecting you. I understand you want a tour of my palace”. You are just a little shaky, Okay, you are like really totally freaked out because you are standing in the presence of God. You try to answer Him but the words aren’t coming out quite right. “Uh. . . Yeah. . . Duh. . . How. . . Uh. . Um. . are you?. . . I am f...fine. I’d lllike to take a loo...loo...look around.” After you finally get those words out, He starts leading you down a long white hallway with hundreds of doors on each side. As you walk past the rooms you read the signs over the doors. “Angel Parts Room . . . Fish Parts Room . . . Shrubbery Design Room . . . Things that Have Furry Tails Design Room . . . Furry Tails Closet. . .Linens. . . Bathroom #999999999999999999999999991. You keep walking and pass a “You’re Here” map, showing where you are in God’s huge palace. You continue to walk and read the signs over the doors. Archangel Michael’s Room . . . Lucifer’s Room (now a storage closet) . . . Extra Planets Storage Room. . . Orphan Moons Room . . . Galaxy Designs that didn't work Room . . . Human-Type-People Design Room.James 3:6 says that the "tongue is a fire...It corrupts the whole body,and sets the whole course of one’s life on fire". Sounds Kinda scary. Sounds like the tongue can cause a lot of bad stuff. We've all had those moments when we've said something that hurt someone we care about. Once the words are out of your mouth it's impossible to take them back. Sorta like when you open your mouth your tongue shoots out of your mouth, lands about 15 feet in front of you and slithers away like an inch worm. And no matter how hard you try to catch it you can't catch it. Just like words that you shouldn't have said

If you've read the Old Testament all the way through, you know that the Israelites would spend a lot of time rebelling against God. When they rebelled, God would “spank” them by sending other nations to conquer them.After they had endured a lot of pain under other nations, they would cry out to God and ask for His forgiveness and ask to be rescued from their misery. God would then send a delivererThe story of Samson can be found in Judges 13 and 14. Samson, like Gideon, lived during a time when judges ruled in Israel. This is long before Israel was ruled by kings like Saul, David and Solomon. During the time of the judges, Israel didn't have a king to rule over them so they had to rely on these judges to keep them in line. During this time, God would raise up men, and sometimes women, to challenge the Jews to come back to God and to help destroy their enemies. If you’ve read the Old Testament all the way through, you know that the Israelites would spend a lot of time rebelling against God. When they rebelled, God would “spank” them by sending other nations to conquer them. This usually involved a lot of bloodshed and other ugly stuff. After they had endured a lot of pain under the control of these other nations, they would cry out to God and ask for His forgiveness and ask to be rescued from their misery. God would then rise up a deliverer, sort of like Moses, that would help deliver them from their enemies. The book of Judges in the Old Testament is full of these Deliverers or Judges. Samson was just one of them.

Have you ever imagined what it was like for Mary to be the mother of Jesus? There had been countless prophecies about the coming Messiah. Everyone knew the Scriptures and what they told about the Messiah. But when the angel Gabriel showed up and told Mary that she would be the one, the one person in all of history, to help bring the Son of God into the world, I can't imagine how she felt.Have you ever imagined what it was like for Mary to be the mother of Jesus? There had been countless prophecies about the coming Messiah. Everyone knew the Scriptures and what they told about the Messiah. But when the angel Gabriel showed up and told Mary that she would be the one, the one person in all of history, to help bring the Son of God into the world, I can't imagine how she felt. This G-TRAX is not about the Christmas story. It's about Mary and the faith, the real faith that she had to have to be that person that bore the Messiah and bring Him into this world.

In this study we will begin looking at the different things that Jesus did to fulfill prophecy, and to touch humanity in a way that no one else could. Since He was God, He was able to heal the sick and the lame. He was able to give sight to the blind. He had the power of life and death, so He could bring people back to life. He did some truly amazing things during His three-year ministry.In our Old Testament Snapshot study we talked about the prophecies and how important they would be to those who were going to be around when Jesus was alive. The prophecies were so important that without them the people would have had a hugely, mondo difficult time, probably impossible, in recognizing the Messiah when He finally came. God knew that the people would need positive proof that Jesus was the Messiah. God just didn't provide one or two prophecies to show the people that Jesus was the Messiah. There were literally thousands of prophecies that He had to fulfill and He did just that. In this study we will begin looking at the different things that Jesus did to fulfill prophecy, and to touch humanity in a way that no one else could. Since He was God, He was able to heal the sick and the lame. He was able to give sight to the blind. He had the power of life and death, so He could bring people back to life. He did some truly amazing things during His three-year ministry but still many of the people that saw Him do this stuff still did not believe that He was the Messiah. They were so blinded by Satan that it was nearly impossible for some of them to ever believe in Jesus. Satan is very good at what he does. After all, he was the highest created being. That means he was the most powerful, the most beautiful and the smartest creature that ever existed. Satan is no dummy, he knows just how to keep people from seeing God the way He truly is.

If you give in to temptation, eventually you will get burned. You will get trapped in a lifestyle of sin. If you play with temptation, eventually Satan will have you trapped. Satan makes you think that there are no consequences to playing with temptation. He will make you think that you can get away with it. But he will trap you if you give in. Eventually you will become a slave to that sinThe following is taken from intro story.Imagine that you loved Mike and Ike’s (the candy). You loved them so much that you would do anything to get them. In fact, you loved them so much that you would dream about them when you were at school. You couldn't wait until payday. That’s when your mom would give you your monthly allowance. Each month, when she would give you your $12.29 allowance, you’d race to the closest grocery store, head directly towards the candy aisle and grab yourself a handful of Mike and Ike boxes. You’d head to the checkout counter with your handful of Mike and Ikes. The checkout line seemed soooo slow every time you’d try to buy your M & I’s, but they were worth the wait. You finally made it to the front of the line and the clerk started ringing up your stash of candy. The clerk finally finished ringing them up and you whipped out your money and paid for them.They were yours now and no one could take them away from you. You ran home as fast as you could to add them to your already huge stash of M&I’s. You made it home and headed for your bedroom where your treasure was hidden where no one could find it. You head towards your top secret, highly confidential, enter at your own risk, camouflaged, hidden in a really, really, really tough and inaccessible compartment, for your eyes only place. You were so proud to have concealed the M&I’s in a place that only you and God could find. If you had the money, you would have put guard dogs, barbed wire and electric fences around it. But for now, you had to settle for a home-made booby trap system. This story is kinda what temptation is like. If you give in to temptation, eventually you will get burned. You will get trapped in a lifestyle of sin. If you play with temptation, eventually Satan will have you trapped. Satan makes you think that there are no consequences to playing with temptation. He will make you think that you can get away with it. But he will trap you if you give in. Eventually you will become a slave to that particular sin. This week we are going to study about temptation and what it is. Temptation itself is not a sin. It’s when you give in to the temptation that it is sin. If temptation was a sin, then Jesus would have sinned because He was tempted in every way just as we are. The difference is that He never gave in. But often we do. Especially when we play around with temptation.

We can learn a lot about God from the story of Jonah. We can also learn a lot about us from this story. Very often we are just like Jonah. God tells us to do something hard, we say “No way God.” God takes us through lessons (sometimes very hard lessons) to teach us who He is and what He wants from us.God wants us to look at Him and not at the thing that He has asked us to do.Let’s take a look at an old favorite story. The story of Jonah and the big, mondo, Horkin-big fish. We can learn a lot about God from the story of Jonah. We can also learn a lot about us from this story. Very often we are just like Jonah. God tells us to do something hard, we say “No way God.” God takes us through lessons (sometimes very hard lessons) to teach us who He is and what He wants from us. God wants us to look at Him and not at the thing that He has asked us to do. Sometimes when God asks us to do something, we imagine the task and how big it is. When we do this, we take our eyes off of God. God wants us to trust Him so that He can show us how powerful He is. So many times we’ve put God in a box, making him smaller and less powerful than He really is

Ever get the feeling that you and your parents don’t live in the same world or maybe even the same planet as you do? Maybe God created parents out of moon dust instead of earth dust and that’s why they seem to be really out of this world. Why do you suppose that God created parents in the first place? Did He create them just to make your lives miserable?Ever get the feeling that you and your parents don’t live in the same world or maybe even the same planet as you do? Maybe God created parents out of moon dust instead of earth dust and that’s why they seem to be really out of this world. Why do you suppose that God created parents in the first place? Did He create them just to make your lives miserable? Maybe He was on vacation when parents were created and He just left it up to His angelic assistants to do it.For the next couple of weeks we are going to look at the relationships that are important to us. This week's G-TRAX is on parents. First thing I want to make absolutely clear is that this is not going to be a parent-bashing session. In fact, I want each of you to know that I think that parents are the coolest thing since sliced bread. Yes, Parents are people too and God created them just like He created you and me. In fact, uh. . . I’m not sure I should tell you this, but there is this really big secret that I’d like to share with you. Are you ready for this?

Sometimes when God gives us something to do, like live an extreme Christian life, we think that we won’t have the strength to do the thing He asked us to do. We need to remember that God never expects us to do anything on our own strength. Just like Gideon, we need to have faith and obey while relying on Him. Gideon assumed that his weaknesses and limitations would prevent God from working.Moses did the same thing and God got a little hacked at him. Gideon, like each of us, always has some lame excuse why we can’t or won’t obey God. “AHHHH!! God, I can’t spend time in the Bible. I sprained my finger turning the pages and it hurts soooo bad.” or “Hey God, why don’t you ask someone else who is more qualified.” or “God, you have no idea how busy I am. Please don’t add any more to my schedule”. Imagine trying to update God on our current situation. Like He doesn’t know everything about us already. How lame is that?

One of the things that Jesus did when He came to earth was to hang with those who were considered scum.When Jesus came to earth He was always hangin’ with those who were considered “untouchable” by the Pharisees. This week we are going to look at a couple of stories about the scum that Jesus actually hung out with and hopefully, we’ll see something that will help us relate to those around us.One of the things that Jesus did when He came to earth was to hang with those who were considered scum by the Pharisees and those who taught about God's law. The Pharisees were the ones who were supposed to help keep the Jewish people spiritually healthy, but instead they set up hundreds of rules that the Jewish people had to follow in order to be considered “godly”. When Jesus came to earth He was always hangin’ with those who were considered “untouchable” by the Pharisees. This week we are going to look at a couple of stories about the scum that Jesus actually hung out with and hopefully, we’ll see something that will help us relate to those around us.