ACT Ministries Blog

Absorbing God’s Word

“For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives.” Colossians 1:9

Applying God’s Word

Louise and I get a continuous flow of prayer requests. Don’t we all? Lately, we seem to be getting more requests from folks we know, and even more requests from people who have never asked us for prayer.

If we get asked for prayer over the phone, in person or in a text we pray on the spot. Afterwards, we add their names to our daily prayer list. We keep folks on that prayer list for as long as needed or until we get an update. If they don’t contact us, we contact them.

We think it’s very important to pray immediately for someone, because that’s the day the Holy Spirit sends them to us and the very best time to ask the Holy Spirit to give them favor. It’s also a reminder to Louise and me that God does all the healing.

Accounting of God’s Word

Am I praying for people on the spot? Do I have a daily prayer list?

Absorbing God’s Word

“Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” Hebrews 13:2

Applying God’s Word

For three years I was a radioman on a submarine called the USS Sea Cat. One of the Captain’s commands to me was “Up Antenna”, which meant raise the antenna above the water level to send and receive messages. Jesus is continuously asking me to do the same thing. He wants me to keep my spiritual antenna extended to receive His messages.

Recently, Louise and I were sitting poolside on vacation. We noticed an older woman who appeared confused and hesitant about her direction. We introduced ourselves and asked if we could be of some assistance. Jane said she was spending the day alone while her children and grandchildren were at Disneyland. It was her first trip since her husband had died.

Louise and I received the same message from God, which was to take care of Jane. We took her for coffee and listened to her stories about her life in Scotland and Australia. We laughed, cried, and eventually got her safely back to her room.

What a delight Jane was. By being obedient to God’s message, Louise and I had offered hospitality to an angel without even knowing it.

Accounting of God’s Word

Do I keep my spiritual antenna up for God’s messages? Have I shown hospitality to any angels recently?

Absorbing God’s Word

“Houses and wealth are inherited from parents, but a prudent wife is from the Lord.” Proverbs 19:14

Applying God’s Word

The room lit up that night when she walked through the door. There was a spiritual radiance about her that was so attractive. Her naturally curly, silver hair caught the light just right and her smile made me smile.

I decided to ask her to dance, but she beat me to it. On her approach, she noticed my wedding ring and asked if I was waiting for my wife. I shared that I was widowed as was she and the rest as they say, “Is History”.

October 3^rd marks seven years of marriage. Both Louise and I are beyond grateful to God for that initial encounter and for binding our love in the Sacrament of Marriage. Louise is an amazing woman, mother of three, grandmother of two, holds two master’s degrees in education, retired from thirty years of teaching and has two green thumbs.

She is beautiful inside and out. How blessed I am that the Lord sent me a prudent and holy woman to be my wife.   

On the day of our wedding, we danced down the aisle and out of the church. We’re still dancing! We’ve been caught on video while dancing at Safeway, Costco, church parking lots, gas stations, retail stores and anywhere else that brings a smile to God’s people.

Accounting of God’s Word

Is it the houses and wealth that bring happiness?  

Absorbing God’s Word

“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.” Proverbs 16:3

Applying God’s Word

We are always on assignment, always! That assignment is to do the will of God. 

So why did I think it was my money, my time, my possessions, and my life?  The bottom line is that Satan had me believe it was.

Proverbs 16:3 makes God’s will for my life perfectly clear. He wants me to commit my life to Him. He wants me to have a personal connection to Him and include Him in everything I do. If I can’t include God, then what I’m doing may not be that important. He leads the way and I follow. He is the pilot. I am the co-pilot. I need to have Him establish my plans.

It’s not easy and I often struggle with Proverbs 16:3. However, when I fail to meet daily with God, I can’t possibly know where He wants me to be, what He wants me to do or how He wants to use me. It’s my intimate relationship with God that makes all that possible.

Accounting of God’s Word

Where does my daily meeting with God take place? What time do I meet with Him? Do I include Jesus in everything I do?

Absorbing God’s Word

“I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him.” 1 Samuel 1:27

Applying God’s Word

Jackie, I didn’t pray very much back in the early 1970’s, but I do remember asking God to bless me with either a healthy boy or girl. God sent you into the world and we named you Jacqueline (Jackie).

You were born with a hole between the chambers of your heart, which would require surgery at age two. You also needed immediate surgery for a hernia. The corrective surgery for the hernia went well and the hole between the chambers of you heart grew closed on its own right before the two-year mark. God really had granted me what I asked of Him.

I prayed a lot during your teens and God continued to grant me what I asked of Him. In your twenties I prayed you would stay strong after the loss of your first born, Niccolo, and that you wouldn’t give up on having more children. Along came Alyssa, Alana, and Caramia. I knew then that you were praying along with me and that once again God had really granted us what we had asked of Him.

Jackie, you’re beautiful inside and out. You’re an amazing daughter, great wife, incredible mother, awesome friend and so much more. I will never be able to thank God enough for granting me exactly what I asked for. You!

I love you!      Dad.

Accounting of God’s Word

Have I thanked God lately for granting me what I asked of Him?

Absorbing God’s Word

“For lack of guidance a nation falls, but victory is won through many advisers.” Proverbs 11:14

Applying God’s Word

Here’s a scripture that rings true today. As our nation goes so goes the world. It’s also true when applied to each of us individually.

In 1987, when I said yes to Jesus through a ministry called Christians in Commerce (CIC), I had no idea what to expect. I was intimidated by the faith of other member’s; folks who were living out their faith at home and at work. Before I knew it, God’s love was overflowing into me from all of them. That’s when the process of my transformation began. 

Our ministry has never been large in numbers, but the impact it’s had on my life and the lives of thousands more is huge. Many of our original advisors and mentors are no longer alive, which means a little bit of that responsibility has fallen to me and other senior members. 

It’s exciting to see that God is still involved in perpetuating this valuable outreach. Our national president is forty years old, the same age I was when I encountered CIC. I’m also encouraged that our older members are staying involved to help pass along all that we’ve learned and continue to learn. 

The victory truly is won through many advisors.

Accounting of God’s Word

Would you like to become a member of CIC/WorkLight?  www.worklight.org

Absorbing God’s Word

“The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’ “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you; I don’t know you.” Matthew 25: 10-12

Applying God’s Word

My parents were very close to Jesus. They weren’t just involved in good works at their church and community. Each had their own intimate relationship with Jesus. They prayed daily for their five children to have that same friendship with God, because they didn’t want us to arrive at the banquet too late.

Now I find myself praying those same prayers for my own family and friends. I don’t want anyone to face a closed door or hear our Lord say, “I don’t know you.”

Telling God that my mom, dad, sister, brother, or best friend have an intimate relationship with Him, will not open the door to heaven for me. I need to know Jesus personally myself.

Accounting of God’s Word

If Jesus came back today, would He say, “I don’t know you?”

Absorbing God’s Word

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:13-14

Applying God’s Word

I also like Luke 13:24. Luke says, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.” I know about both the wide road and the narrow road. Entering the narrow road is one thing. Staying on the narrow road is another. That’s why the word “Strive” is so important.

I’ve come to realize that striving to do anything takes a love for it. I love the Lord and my time with Him. I love scripture and assessing how I do or do not apply it to everyday life. I love sharing my faith journey with others; the good the bad and the ugly. I love my wife and family and make them a priority. I love a good glass of wine, but don’t have to drink the whole bottle. I love good food but know that less is more. I love the world but have a heightened awareness to it’s trappings.

Our love for God empowers us to stay on the narrow road and avoid the road leading to destruction. He wants us to “Strive” to make Him first so that our other priorities fall into place as well.

Accounting of God’s Word

Which road am I on now? Is my relationship with God strong enough to keep me on the right road?

Absorbing God’s Word

”But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.” 2 Timothy 3

Applying God’s Word

This scripture pretty much describes the present times, huh. I wish it were front-page news or even back-page news. Unfortunately, we won’t find it in any of the mainstream news media publications. It makes me want to shake my finger at the world in disgust. Then I go stand in front of the mirror and do it. Yikes!

Some of the scripture, above, describes me in my late thirties and early forties. I was full of myself, proud of my status, a lover of money, possessions, and pleasures rather than a lover of God.

If I can change, there’s hope for all who are living 2 Timothy 3 today. They will eventually realize how empty and dark that world can be. When they do, God will be right there with open arms to show them a more fulfilling lifestyle. That’s where we come in. God uses us to be His open arms.

Accounting of God’s Word

Can I relate to 2 Timothy 3? Am I truly a lover of God today? Who is God using my open arms for?

Absorbing God’s Word

“I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong; that is; that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.” Romans 1:11-12

Applying God’s Word

Over the last forty years, thousands of men and women have attended “The Challenge Weekend” through a ministry Louise and I are involved in. Previously called “Christians in Commerce”, the ministry is now known as “WorkLight”.  

WorkLight is presenting “The Challenge Weekend” as the format for their upcoming National Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona, October 14^th – 16th. It will be attended by people from many different Christian backgrounds who are searching for a more meaningful relationship with Jesus Christ.

Louise and I would love to see you there to be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. Ask God if this is something He would like you to be a part of.

WorkLight is charging $150 per ticket with a buy one gets one free offer if purchased prior to 9-15-22. I am attaching a link on all the information and details.

https://worklightncwe.eventbrite.com/

Accounting of God’s Word

Will I accept the challenge?