Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, (Ephesians 3:20)

Are you chasing the Wild Goose?
If not now, when?

I’m so excited. My spirit is jumping with joy. This week I’m on the verge of perhaps the greatest breakthrough of my life and I see breakthroughs happening all around me. I see the favor of God upon TEAM DESTINY and JIREH Marketing Members. I’ll be sharing about some of those this week and next. The keyword for this week is “WILD GOOSE.”

My prayer is that you will catch the Holy Spirit fever and choose to jump into His flowing river of living water. The Wild Goose chase has begun and we’re going after Him. Incidentally, Mark Batterson wrote a sequel to his “Chase The Lion” book called “Wild Goose Chase: Reclaim the Adventure of Pursuing God.”

In that book, Mark shares: “Celtic Christians had a name for the Holy Spirit –An Geadh-Glas, or ‘the Wild Goose.’ The name hints at mystery. Much like a wild goose, the Spirit of God cannot be tracked or tamed. An element of danger, an air of unpredictability surround Him. And while the name may sound a little sacrilegious, I cannot think of a better description of what it’s like to follow the Spirit through life. I think the Celtic Christians were on to something….

Today, allow me to share an amazing God story about Dewey McDonnell that is unfolding quickly. For more than 3 years, Dewey McDonnell has played a lead role on our core team for Pray Culpeper. He was one of the first people to sign up to be on my intercessory prayer team for Your Daily Blessing when that was formally announced in November 2008.

When I asked people on my intercessory prayer team to submit their own prayer requests so I could pray about those, Dewey responded asking me to pray for 3 things. One of those was for multiplication of the Experiencing God LIFE groups that Pastor Mark Jenkins had helped ignite back in September 2008.

Little did I know that I would become part of one of those Experiencing God LIFE groups and that we would meet at Elizabeth Powell’s beautiful home, just one mile from where I live. As a result of the first meeting, the “Experiencing God Through Journaling” webinar series was birthed. Two days ago, I emailed Richard Blackaby to open a door to discuss partnering with Blackaby Ministries and Lifeway Christian Resources to launch “Experiencing God” webinars world-wide.

Because of my involvement with the “Experiencing God” LIFE group, I learned that Katherine McDonnell, Dewey’s daughter competing in the ACC Championship swim meet taking place on Feb 20-21.

On Sunday Feb 22, Dewey sent an email sharing that Katherine helped lead her University of Virginia (UVA) swim team to a second straight ACC Championship. Her IM medley team broke UVA’s all-time record. Katherine also place second overall in the 100m breaststroke and third in the 200m breaststroke, eclipsing her previous best times and qualifying her for the national meet in Dallas.

Prayer Power
Daddy, thank You for inviting me to take part in the Wild Goose chase. Thank you for the thrill and unpredictability in chasing Him. Please invite my followers to join in this chase of their lifetime. Jesus, you’re the best! It’s in Your precious and mighty name I pray. Amen and hallelujah!

Blessings of the Day
1) “Journaling For Breakthroughs” – FREE webinar at 3pm EST on Tuesday March 3. Lynne Lee, a certified life coach, avid journaler, and Web 2.0 authority from England. will be interviewing me. This is the inaugural Launch of Christian LIFE Coaching Cafe. This is the first time I am being interviewed over the web about journaling to hear God’s voice.

2) Highlights and breakthroughs for me during the past 3 weeks (see below)

Blessings to join the Wild Goose chase!

Breaking News
Culpeper gets hit by its first major snow storm of the year

Randy Peck’s update for his Relational Coaching Network (RCN) cell group meeting on Feb 26, 2009

1) What have you done or what is going on in your life in the areas we discussed in our last call?

• I’ve been working feverishly to prepare the way for mass marketing of my journaling e-book. Lynne Lee has helped to propel me forward.
• Jerry, Sharon, and I recorded 3 more Wellness webinars together in the process of creating a Wellness e-book and paid course
• I interviewed Deb Smith having her share her God story and vision to create an e-book to monetize her coaching business through an Information product.
• Julia and I are continuing with our Finance LIFE group on Saturday mornings led by Pastor Matt and benefiting greatly

2) What is new in your life since we last met that you’d like the others in the group to know?

• Lynne Lee is a mother of 5 in England, certified life coach, avid two-way journaler, and Web 2.0 authority. As a result of Lynne asking to interview me on her inaugural webinar for her new Christian Life Coaching on Mar 3, I had 2 long and extremely valuable online strategy sessions with her in the past 2 weeks. As a result of that, I opened a KickStart (1shoppingcart) account 2 days ago to not only sell products, but to manage all my contact lists and handle all my autoresponders. I now have my free ebook and $77 version available there for purchase. I have substantially improved my Lead Generation and Sales pages.
• I connected at the heart level with Debra Bosacki, an avid journaler for 29 years. As a result Jerry and I interviewed her on our “Experiencing God Through Journaling” webinar on Feb 24.Because of that, I discovered Xiosoft Audio. That has the best Sales page I have ever seen. Jesus told me to invite Debra to a Joint Venture opportunity to co-host weekly “Journaling Cafe” webinars at 3 pm EST on Thursdays starting in March.
• I emailed Mark Virkler Jerry and my “Summary proposal for Joint Venture between Christian Leadership University and JIREH Marketing”
•  Through Jack Stagman, I connected with Chauncey Hutter, one of the leading marketplace ministers in the state of Virginia
• I began helping Mike and Valerie Webb launch their marketing campaign via Web 2.0 for Great Outdoor Endeavors
• The LORD revealed His assignment for Marching Through Culpeper to Virginia Morton and me – “Bringing truth, understanding, and reconciliation”
• Through Twitter and my weekly webinars, I connected personally with Chicke Fitzgerald, perhaps the greatest connectors I have ever met

3) What’s a win or good thing that happened that you’d like to celebrate with us?

• Dewey McDonnell’s daughter, Katherine, helped lead her team to a second straight ACC championship in swimming. Her IM relay team won first place and broke the all-time ACC record. Katherine won second place in the 100m breast stroke and third place in the 200m breast stroke. Dewey is part of the core team for Pray Culpeper.
• Jesus told me to partner with Henry Blackaby, his son, and Lifeway Christina Resources to launch world-wide “Experiencing God Through Journaling” webinars! By combining online journaling, life coaching, and Web 2.0 with what they already are doing around the world, there will be Explosive Kingdom Impact.
• GW Dameron, pastor of City on a Hill Church in Culpeper, found a new job after being laid off in Nov 2008.

4. What’s something that you might like to bring to the group this week?

a) Need continued prayer to complete my “UNCOMMON Journaling For Breakthroughs” ebook. Completing this will release a log jam of ideas and opportunities that God has been waiting to birth.
b) UNCOMMON Favor for webinar interview by Lynne Lee on Tues March 3
c) Need lots of prayer for God’s favor to effectively market “Experiencing God Through Journaling” webinars. That might well turn out to be my bread and butter business opportunity.

“He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30)

What are YOUR most valuable relationships?
What simple step can you take TODAY to be better steward of those?

On Friday Feb 13, the Holy Spirit prompted me to spend several hours doing an inventory of my relationships. During that process, the LORD revealed to me how to use The Journal software to take my stewardship of relationships to a whole new level. That is the topic of today’s 8 pm EST webinar. I invite you to join Jerry and me for that.

Under the category JIREH Marketing, I created a new category called Joint Ventures and under that I created 3 tiers of people I know and correspond with regularly – Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3. Under Level 1, I created categories using names of people who have had a dramatic impact on my life and sorted those people in chronological order – the order God brought them into my life.

My parents were first. They modeled the love of God throughout my life. They instilled in me the habit of going to church every week. They taught me countless values which have not only impacted me, but ten of thousands of people I have come across during my lifetime.

After my parents, came Rev. Mark Jarvis. Not only did he lead me to a personal relationship with Jesus and disciple me spiritually, but he opened the door for a long-term relationship with Rev. Matt Gregory, my current pastor, and Michael Stay. The four of us met weekly in a coaching group for 4 years. Through this support network, my faith grew exponentially and many Kingdom doors of opportunity were opened.

Following them, other people I listed included Erick Kalenga, Virginia Morton, Rick Heeren, Jack Serra, Jeff Bernstein, Joseph Umidi, Bowie Curry, Jack Stagman, Jerry Graham, Ben Stewart, Mark Virkler, Karla Meachem, and Lynne Lee.

Today I want to give a special thanks to Karla and Lynne. Both of these ladies I met through Twitter. They both chose to become JIREH Marketing members. And in just a few months, they have had a profound impact on me. Both are extremely humble. They are avid users of Relationship Marketing (Web 2.0). And both keep their eyes focused on Jesus and daily seek His Kingdom and His righteousness. Through their close relationships with Jesus, they supernaturally manifest the “go-giver” philosophy.

This morning I visited Karla’s site Empowering Christian Women, which is my favorite site ever for Christian resources. I was particularly touched by the Father’s Love Letter” YouTube vido. See Blessings of the Day to learn more.

Karla also has a personal blog titled “More of Him: Less of Me.” This morning when I visited that, I noticed Karla wrote, “I’ve been asked to do another interview on internet radio. Once again, I am stepping out in faith. :) This will be my 3rd interview this month ~ one last Tuesday, one last Wednesday and another one soon – please stay tuned for the details.”

What’s amazing is that Karla’s breakthroughs and some of my new breakthroughs came as a result of her choice to sow a financial seed to be JIREH Marketing Member. As a result, she joined TEAM DESTINY, God’s team to change lives and disciple nations. As a result of that, Dr. Jerry Graham and I hosted Karla as our guest expert for the “JIREH Marketing: Empowering Christian Women” webinar on Feb 3.

That was Karla’s very first interview and now the gates of heaven are open for her to have explosive Kingdom impact. PTL. You go girl.

Prayer Power
Heavenly Father, I thank You for the precious gift of relationships, which are the currency of the Kingdom of God. I thank You for each and every person who has sown good seeds into my life. I thank You for the recent relationships you helped me establish with Karla Meachem and Lynne Lee. Thank You for the new and big doors of opportunity You are opening for both of them. Bless their marriages, their families, and their ministries (businesses). May both of them accomplish more for Your Kingdom in 2009 than they did previously in their entire lives. Thank You Jesus. With You all things are possible. Amen and Hallelujah!

Blessings of the Day
1) ““JIREH Marketing: Blogi360 – The Website That Works For You” FREE webinar at 11 am EST today (Feb 17)

2) “Experiencing God Through Journaling: Stewarding Your Relationships” FREE webinar at 8 pm EST today (Feb 17)

3) Father’s Love Letter YouTube video at Empowering Christian Women

4) More of Him: Less of Me personal blog by Karla Meachem

5) Christian Life Coaching – by Lynne Lee

Blessings to be a great steward of your relationships!

————————————————————————————–

The Holy Spirit is inviting YOU to become part of TEAM DESTINY. If you want more favor in your life, then join our team. Favor is always proportional to God’s assignment. That’s because the greater the assignment, the greater the adversity.

Journaling is the key to unlock your dreams!
Journaling is the key to unlock your DESTINY!

Is journaling biblical? Absolutely! Father God is the greatest Journaler of all times. The Bible is His journal – the most profound one of all times. And throughout time, the Holy Spirit has inspired millions of people to write to inspire others to greatness.

Blessings for divine provision and breakthroughs!

Dr. Randy Peck
“Blessed to be a blessing”
The Connector – connecting people, ideas, and resources in Christ through the POWER of the Holy Spirit

P.S. If you’re a small thinker and don’t want your faith to soar, this book is definitely not for you. But if you believe in a BIG God who has destined you for greatness, then you’ve come to the right place.

So I commended enjoyment, because a man has nothing better under the sun than to eat, drink, and be merry; for this will remain with him in his labor all the days of his life which God gives him under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 8:15)

Who do you play together with frequently?
How many close authentic relationships do you have?

Today is a big day at Soul Purpose Church (SPC) – it’s “Friend Day.” For several months, Pastor Matt Gregory has planned the messages leading up to today along with the seven week S.H.A.P.E. series that begins in two weeks. Matt’s goal is to have 150 people meeting in LIFE groups to experience friendship in community and to discover their unique purposes.

For more than a month, Matt has been encouraging each person at SPC to invite at least one friend to come on Oct 5. This morning at our 10:30 am worship at Liberty High School in Bealeton, we will have lots of first time guests. If you live locally and don’t go to church regularly, I invite you to come today as my guest. Come find me and tell me you came as my guest so we can sit together. I’m going to treat people who come as my guests to a free lunch afterwards at a nearby restaurant.

For directions to Soul Purpose Church, click here.

Yesterday from 10 am – Noon, SPC sponsored a gas buy down at the Bealeton 7-11 on the corner of Routes 28 and 17. Cars lined up from both directions to save 25 cents on every gallon of gas. What a great way to reach out to a community and bless the people.   It certainly is a good way to create a first impression.

In my September 23 devotional I wrote about 5 action steps to be fully engaged with my friends. One of those was “play together.” Well, two weekends ago, most of the ladies at our church went on a 3 day, ladies spiritual retreat at Lake Gaston in southern Virginia. They had a wonderful time to bond, worship God, pray, and reflect. They shared photos from their retreat at last Sunday’s worship service.

Then last weekend, two of those ladies who led the singing at the retreat led the singing at the Sunday worship service. That was the most fun worship service at SPC I have ever been to. Afterwards a group of about 30 of us drove to White Oak Canyon to hike up to the first large waterfall where Tabatha was baptized. It was awesome to experience a baptism near a waterfall. We all had such a great time. You can find photos of that hike and baptism at today’s Link of the Day.

Jesus said that he came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. It’s a delight to be part of a local church where the preaching and atmosphere help people experience the abundance.

Prayer Power
Heavenly Father, thank You for all the great things you are doing at Soul Purpose Church. Thank You that Pastor Matt is a purpose-driven leader. Thank You for all the new people who will come this morning. May You bless the entire worship service this morning including Matt’s message. May You bless the times of fellowship and sharing afterwards when many guests are treated to free lunches at restaurants all over. In Jesus’ name, Amen!

Link of the Day
Photos of Soul Purpose Church Hike and Baptism By Waterfall

Blessings to play together frequently with your family and your close friends!

Do not forsake your own friend (Proverbs 27:10)

What does it mean that your very first friend should be God?
What does it mean to be fully engaged with your friends?
How does that change your priorities?

Matt Gregory, my pastor, is currently preaching a series during September titled “Fully Engaged.” His message last Sunday was titled “Fully Engaged With My Friends.” That will be my topic for the remainder of this week. Next week’s topic will be “Fully Engaged With My Community.”

The key verse Matt chose for our September series is 2 Chronicle 16:9 – “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.” I don’t know about you, but when God’s eyes are searching for a loyal friend, I want Him to find me.

A lot of people feel lonely. Loneliness is a symptom of a deeper problem, just like a warning light in a car is a symptom. Usually, if you want good friends, you must first be a good friend. Often, whatever you are looking for in your life, you must first give away. That’s the law of sowing and reaping.

Here are 5 action steps to engage my friends:
1) Position myself to have and be a friend
2) Prove to be loyal and encouraging
3) Play together
4) Pray specifically for my friends
5) Pursue opportunities to talk about God

We’ll discuss each of these later this week.

You know, friends help their friends. And yes, sometimes it even costs something. I’ve found that when I pay for something, I usually invest more time and energy to apply whatever I’m learning to my life. Anyhow, I want to make you aware of a special opportunity I’m offering to bless you. Each Thursday evening during the month of October I am personally leading an online course titled “UNCOMMON Social Marketing (Web 2.0).” If you are interested, I’d be grateful for your support.

Prayer Power
Heavenly Father, thank You that You are always fully engaged with us even if we aren’t fully engaged with You. Guide me to be fully engaged with You so that I may be fully engaged with my friends. Protect me from things that take my focus off of You.  Thank You for the trials in my life. In Jesus name, Amen. 

Link of the Day
UNCOMMON Social Marketing (Web 2.0) – Teaching Profitable Attraction Marketing
[http://empower2000.com/7mountains/education/gcc]

Blessings to be fully engaged with your friends!

But the fruit of the Spirit is … faithfulness (Galations 5:22)

How loyal am I when my friends let me down or are in a crisis?

As shared in yesterday’s devotional, our 13 year old golden retriever died on October 29. That was the saddest day of the year for me. The week before I received an email from Zenon Andrusyshyn with an outstanding message about dogs and extraordinary loyalty.

Zee holds the record for the longest punt in pro football history as well as one of the longest field goals ever. He was director of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) in Tampa Florida for 22 years. I first met him in 2004 at the 50th Anniversary celebration of the FCA in Kansas City. Here is an excerpt from Zee’s message about “True Loyalty”:

Somewhere in a cemetery in the mid west, there is a rather unusual statue among the thousands of gravestones and hundreds of statues. It is not the statue of a man or woman or angel, not even of Jesus or Mary or a saint… but of a dog.

The story goes that one of the persons buried there had a dog which was very loyal to its master. When the master died, the dog followed the funeral procession to the grave and stayed there. It refused to go home until it died there. The family built a statue next to the master – in memory of that dog, that demonstrated such unusual and extraordinary loyalty.

What a heart warming story! No wonder when we humans think of the quality of faithfulness, we think of a dog. I think of my dog-Sasha, a 15 year old Dalmatian.  But, why not men or women? Is it because we humans have become too sophisticated to be so loyal to anyone? Only something as simple as a dog would be that loyal and faithful.

Here are some great definitions of true loyalty.

First: – Extraordinary loyalty is demonstrated when there is no allegiance owed.  Allegiance means duty, support, loyalty due to a ruler or government.

Second: – Extraordinary loyalty is demonstrated when there is no benefit promised. No promises or assurance of a reward at all.

Third: – Extraordinary loyalty is demonstrated when there are no conditions attached. We have been brought up to believe – that in life nothing is free. There is no free lunch. You must earn to deserve everything.

Repeat all three together. Why do I say it’s extraordinary? For the rest of Zee’s message, see today’s Link of the Day.

Prayer Power
Faithful and loving Father, thank You for loyal friends – people who will stick with us through thick and thin. Bless me to demonstrate extraordinary loyalty when there is no allegiance owed, no benefit promised, and no conditions attached. Thank You Jesus. Amen.

Link of the  Day
True Loyalty – complete message by Zee Andrusyshyn

Blessings to manifest extraordinary loyalty in your relationships!

A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. (Proverbs 18:24)

Who have you invited to a Bible study or small group?
Who is dying out there spiritually waiting for your special invitation?

Wayne Duncan is a marketplace minister in real estate. I first met Wayne in 1987 when I moved to Culpeper and rented a house. Our paths crossed a few more times over the next few years, but then I didn’t see Wayne for years until the Fall of 2000 at a Culpeper Ministerial Association meeting. After that meeting, Wayne talked to me and invited to me join a Bible study group with him.

Believe it or not, even though I had gone to church nearly every week for my entire life, Wayne was the first person in my life to invite me to a Bible study. I pounced on that opportunity and attended my first Bible study with Wayne in Charlottesville Virginia in December 2000. A month later, in January 2001, I committed my life to Christ. In February 2001, I began attending a weekly Bible study in Culpeper that Wayne was facilitating.

When I met Wayne, he was going through a tough time professionally and with his family. At one point in his life, Wayne had been the most successful commercial real estate agent in Culpeper. However, an unwise decision to put all his financial eggs in one basket (buying Commonwealth Park) eventually forced him into financial bankruptcy. Fallout of that included rejection by the leadership of the church he had attended for years.

Yet, by the grace of God, Wayne hung in and stayed in Culpeper. For years as Wayne endured a multitude of trials, he continued to press into God and put Him first in all areas of his life. Wayne led multiple Bible studies. I remember Wayne telling me over and over, “I want to work smarter, not harder.” God brought me into Wayne’s life at a critical time to pay it forward when he needed lots of encouragement. We spent lots of time together. In return, Wayne invested in my life to disciple me spiritually. You now are a beneficiary of that.

For several years, Wayne has been the catalyst behind our annual community Thanksgiving worship service. That consistently has been one of the greatest demonstrations of Christ-centered unity in our community.

On October 16, I attended my first Culpeper Ministerial Association (CMA) meeting in several months. Who did I see there? Wayne. He was there to talk about the upcoming community Thanksgiving service in Culpeper on Tuesday November 20. I learned that Wayne pledged $3,000 to bring Dr. Lloyd John Ogilvie to Culpeper to preach a message for that service. Dr. Ogilvie served as Chaplain for the U.S. Senate from 1995-2003 and has authored more than 50 books. Visit today’s Link of the Day to learn more about him.

After the CMA meeting, Wayne, Dewey McDonnell, and I talked. I was thrilled to learn that God is blessing Wayne with tremendous success and favor in the commercial real estate market after years of faithful and humble service and persistence.

Prayer Power
Heavenly Father, thank You for Wayne Duncan and the difference he has made in my life. Bless him, his family, and his marketplace ministry abundantly. Thinking of Wayne makes me aware that some of the people reading this message today are going through major struggles and almost ready to give up. Some have major debt and don’t know how to get out. Some are feeling the deep hurts of a broken family. Some have diseases that are draining their energy and life. Some want to serve You, but don’t know where to start. Please bring the right people into their lives to encourage them, pray with them, coach them, and pay it forward. Please touch their lives with the hand of God in such a miraculous way that they know it has to have been You. Thank You Jesus. Amen.

Link of the Day
Biography of Dr. Lloyd John Ogilvie

Blessing to be a friend, make a friend, and lead a friend to Christ!

Never abandon a friend–either yours or your father’s. Then in your time of need, you won’t have to ask your relatives for assistance. It is better to go to a neighbor than to a relative who lives far away. (Proverbs 27:10, NLT)

How many friends have you encouraged this week?

When I retrieved my emails this morning and read the daily reflection from Jerry and Sharon Graham  titled “A Very Exciting Week,” tears came to my eyes. As many of my readers know, last year the Holy Spirit gave me this uncommon revelation, “A daily email with short stories of changed lives and a prayer is the #1 way to grow your network and build strong relationships. But it must be done properly.”

Jerry and Sharon are the top contacts that God blessed me with in 2007. Collectively known as “The Coaching Pair,” [www.thecoachingpair.com], their life purpose is guiding people to their destiny. They became web clients of mine in early July. Since then we have met almost weekly on the phone and online and they have followed through with all of my recommendations, preparing their fields for sowing. On Monday Sep 17 they formally began sowing their good seeds with their first daily reflection to more than 700 people. After 4 days of sowing, here is what Jerry and Sharon say in today’s reflection:

“The launch of our new and revised web sites and the daily Reflection emails has made this a very exciting week for us. Monday’s Reflection ruefully spoke of the evaporation of relationships as the busyness of life pushed its way to the front. We mentioned that it was our desire to be more purposeful about staying in touch with those people whom God had blessed us with and that a frequent email from us was an attempt on our part to fulfill that goal.

I’ll be the first to admit that we didn’t know how that would be received. We all get so much email these days that another regular email from somebody (even if they were a friend) could be viewed more as a curse than as a blessing. Sunday night, we said a little prayer, held our breath, and pushed the send button.

Five days later, the dust is beginning to settle. From an email list that hadn’t been “scrubbed” for years, amazingly we had less than 15% bounce due to an incorrect address. Unfortunately, we don’t know how to get the latest address. We had less than ten opt out, effectively saying that they chose to not receive the emails. No hard feelings–we totally understand.

But the good news is that we must have received close to a hundred short notes (some not as short) from people who thanked us for reaching out…who thanked us for including them on our list. Incredible!!! Talk about being blessed. A number of the people we heard from we had not heard from for several years. It reminded me of reminiscing through the pages of an old photo album.

So to all of you who took a moment from your busy schedule to send us a note of encouragement–we thank you from the bottom of our heart. To all of you who took a couple of moments to read what we wrote–we thank you as well. And finally, for those who didn’t write–we totally understand. It was no where in our expectations that people would write back. God has favored us with some incredible friends.”

Prayer Power
Lord, thank You for the blessing of our friends. You are truly a God of abundance. We thank You for sending them to us even as we have to ask many of them for their forgiveness when we were less than careful with such a precious gift. Guide us as we daily seek to speak a word of encouragement or blessing into their busy lives.

Link of the Day
The Friendship Page [http://www.friendship.com.au/]

Blessings on you as you reach out and touch someone special today.

“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” (John 15:7)

In the 1980′s, Bruce Wilkinson found himself burned out with the world-wide ministry he had started. So he sought professional help from George, a Christian counselor. The following are quotes from Bruce Wilkinson in his book “Secrets of the Vine”.

When I arrived home from my meeting with George, I made three simple commitments to the Lord for the next year. I would:
1) get up at 5 A.M. every day to read my Bible
2) write a full page in a daily spiritual journal
3) learn to pray and seek Him until I found Him

The pleasures of abiding – and the extraordinary benefits – have redefined the scope and impact of God’s work through me. I see fruit everywhere I turn. Yet not even one grape is a result of working harder.

I’m not just reading my Bible or making requests anymore. I listen for Him, meditate on His Word. I wrote down what I hear Him saying to me. I try to make this time as honest, deep, and intimate as possible.

I have yet to find a respected spiritual leader throughout history who has devotions at night. Unless you get up early, you’re unlikely to break through to a deeper relationship with God.

Keep a daily written record of what God is doing in your life. I recommend you keep a spiritual journal – not a diary of your life.

Are you keeping a journal?
Are you willing to make the 3 simple commitments that Bruce Wilkinson did?

Prayer Power
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Father, thank You for Bruce Wilkinson and his ability to explain profound truths in very simple ways. I pray that I will be able to keep the 3 simple commitments that Bruce Wilkinson did. I pray that many people reading this message will also be able to do so. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen!

Link of the Day
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Practice of the Presence of God [www.practicegodspresence.com]