Cementing Your Relationship With God; Life on the ROCK” by Daniel

Devotions with Daniel  (pianodan83)
Daniel teaches on everyday issues to assist us in our day to day walk with God - Daniel went home to be with our Lord on Nov. 8th.   Daniel maintained this board for the members of Christ In Pogo.  It was for a short time, but during this time, Daniel touched many lives.  He is loved and missed!

The R in Christian Is Relationship – Oct 1, 2006

I am very thankful to be able to serve the Community in this way and I pray that God will use this Board to bless you who read it. The First Topic has to do with what Christianity is really about.

There are so many views and it seems that we all fulfill a purpose in the Body but the start of all this has to do with relationship...

Contrary to popular belief Religion is not at the heart of a walk with God...It is relationship.

Lets talk about some things that will establish common ground

1. " Religion is commonly defined as belief concerning the supernatural, sacred, or divine, and the practices and institutions associated with such belief" (Wikipedia definition) The thing about religion is that it is so narrow and shallow as a belief....If Belief is all that it is we have a serious problem. In Jesus day the only people He had Condemning words for were the Religious Leaders of the day. No the fact is that God wants Relationship

We as humanity have used religion and ritual as a ladder to reach or attempt to appease God. We know however that only the Blood of the perfect Sacrifice can do that and did so some 2000 years ago at Calvary.

2. Jesus Built a Bridge with His blood so that we can come"...boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."(Heb 4:16)

Now this is more than an option and dire consequences should we not seek Him for intimacy. In Matt 7:23 HE speaks about the sheep and the Goats and to those who are the goats He says "And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." The Greek word for knew is the Jewish Idiom for Sexual Relations between a husband and wife. There is an intimacy that God wants with us complete with two way conversations and the like.

What I believe that God will do in this board is allow for some things that have no denominational tab on them...IF you want to know what my background is I will tell you but not in this forum. Simply put this is about God and getting the Body of Christ to begin acting again as One body and to begin the process we have to get a solid one on one relationship with Daddy.

In His Love,
Daniel

The C is For Church – Part 1 - October 02, 2006

I seem to have started this a bit out of order and I ask your patience. I felt led in the first installment of the board to give you an idea where the Spirit was leading. My wife pointed out that an Anagram might be in order and I thought “That is so cheesy and simple!” The Holy Spirit said, “Daniel, do you know KISS?”

That has a story all it’s own but for our purposes KISS stands for “Keep It Short & Simple” Simple I can do….Short? er…uh Well I will try 

Contrary to popular belief God did institute the Church and it is His will for us to be part of…not apart from His Church. Hebrews 10:25 says the we should " Not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some [is]; but exhorting [one another]: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." We will talk about the purpose of the Church later.

Let us start with what the Church is and what it is not.

The building is not a Church.... but where the Church meets.

The Church is not a religious group........ but a group of people God has joined together as one to accomplish His Purposes.

The Church is not a bunch of different sects........ But One Body under One Lord.

When Jesus said that on the Rock of faith, proclamation, and confession that Peter made He will build His Church; The Word in Greek is Ekklesia “the Called Out ones” The Church has many names and characteristics. Now for those who would choose to misunderstand let me be clear here

A) Man has never started or created a church is that is God's job. Jesus  died for the Church so it belongs to Him

B)Man has never destroyed a church for Jesus said Himself that the Gated of Hell shall not even prevail against it.

C) Denominations are not evil in themselves...They are a tool the enemy has used, uses and will use to divide something that should be one...what? Yes the Church

Tomorrow I will talk about why we are divided church right now. Let me end part 1 by saying this; There really is only One True Church…It just meets anywhere 2 or more are gathered in His name.

Love In Christ,
Daniel

God Still uses things and People to teach us – October 03, 2006

To those of you who are waiting for part 2 of "C is for Church" well patience is a virtue.

I have a very hard schedule in the next day or so but I will be posting it soon.

For now Daddy told me I had to share an experience I had today and I will post it both here and on my board

Being a concrete mixer driver is only a very recent occupation...In fact I have been in Customer Service for several years. I used to be very good at typing and it like all things disappears without regular practice. I have 3 Associates Degrees....Music, Paralegal Studies, and Practical Theology and yes I am driving a cement mixer...having more fun than a barrel of monkeys.

Being a Johnny come lately to the profession, I am a very curious person. People see my size and look and assume I have been doing this kind of work for years and when I pull a dum-dum they become irate.

One of things you learn is that cleaning your vehicle takes a whole different meaning. If you fail to keep your chutes free of concrete they become very heavy and you soon learn that a shoddy performance only hurts you.  Fail to wash thoroughly and things start malfunctioning. As I was trying to do a catch up with acid to restore my truck I found a niche in a place very obscure where some sand had gotten and rubbed away at the paint...Very small amount of sand that had eroded a cable to my work lights...It would prevent me from seeing at night where I back that Big Monster. But for a little sand I could no longer do my job effectively and I would endanger lives...

As I pondered this while scrubbing that little patch of sand The Father spoke to me. He said" A little sand is like a little unconfessed sin. It erodes our relationship, deafens to the voice of the Holy Spirit...Just a little sin could make us ineffective for the purpose we were saved for" I asked Him to reveal anything I had not confessed or anyone I had not forgiven. It was a clean out time as I cleaned up my truck. By now I had lightened the load on my truck and my Spirit at the same time.

Amazing what God will do when you stay open to Him

Love In Christ,
Daniel

Permission to Mess Up – October 11, 2006

Hi Everyone

Sorry about the silence of late....The enemy is attacking like crazy. Must mean I am doing something right huh? Got part 2 of C is for church written down but I have not transcribed it as yet. Will try to do that this weekend. For now though here is a message God gave me yesterday...

Okay ladies I have a news flash for you…We men are strange. I have been told that repeatedly by most females I know. It is a truism with a preamble….that being “To Women...: To other men we make sense and I dare hazard a guess that we man say the same about you…I surely do.

We men have certain things we expect out of ourselves and others to merit our respect. At 41 (or 39 again as I tell everyone) I have learned that one thing we seem to need to a man is competency.

At this point in my life God is making certain that I don’t have that in my life. Why would He do that? Well let’s look at this word Competent …It is the word we use to describe a lack of dependence of anyone else…including God Himself... If I am all I need I have become my own God. That is why I am doing the work I currently do. I have no common ground in personal experience to do this work. While I am of no mean stature (to the folks that like plainer expression…I ain’t no small feller) I have always been an office white-collar person. I loved jobs that I would have to wear shirt and tie for. I lived for cubicle life and I thrived in it. Take note all the “I’s” in this discussion... I was very competent at it. There are many words to describe what I am as a mixer driver but that one just does not qualify. You see? The Father is teaching me fast and I am learning slowly that for every shift, turn, acceleration and brake I depend on Him. In fact for the use of my eyes, legs, arms, and muscles (such as they are) that act in concert to perform those operation I depend on Him…For the breath I breathe, the food I eat, the roof over my head and the warm loving wife beside me at night, I owe it all to the Father Who has provided. I feel like a Radio announcer “But Wait That’s not ALL”

Daddy doesn’t expect me to be perfect. He expects that I will fall. But the fall has to be recognized by me as only coming the instant I take my eyes off of Him. See I have to grant myself permission to make honest mistakes. Here is the kicker. I have to be able to acknowledge my mistakes so I can repent of them.   1 Jn 1:8 says that if we “Say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” Vs 9 goes on to say that “If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness”

If I am so busy trying to be right in an argument that I have totally forgotten about being righteous I need to repent. Of Course I’d have to admit I was Wroo-ooo...uh sorry…wrooo-oo…Not Right…LOL. If I am male and self-assured then there is no way I am going to admit I was wrong. I speak all this because I am talking about things I have done. I will not speak to the sin of others…How many of you are saying “That sounds just like_______!”

Self-Confident Means I have confidence in the flesh. Self-Assured mean I seek no ones approval including The Father’s ….

Here is a new age one…Self-Actualized is used to mean I am the chooser of my own destiny… that no one or One has anything to say about what I do with my life.

There is a song out now. Raul you may have to help me but I think Mercy me does it Called “So Long Self”

In order for the Lord to be Lord of your Life All other Throne holders must be evicted

Love in Christ,
Daniel

Do you have love one for another? – October 13, 2006

Today has been one for the record books and yet during the mess God spoke...

Have you ever had a person accuse you of not being very Christian and have it affect you to the point that you almost said enough to prove their point? That did not happen to me today thankfully. It has happened before though. Well today God spoke to me about the condition of my heart.

HE said " How would define vindication for all your persecution you have suffered for Me?"

I said " There will be some seriously shocked people when they get there and see that God let me in and not them!!!" He spoke gently to my heart and said " Wow Dan that was really loving and representative of Me huh?" Uh-oh, Got some More growing for me to do huh?

When we are considering the plight of those who don't know Christ we are to feel compassion for them as HE does...

It is really hard when we come into contact with those who need Jesus especially when they are the ones who are persecuting us. I have a brother in Christ that is in a very dogmatic denomination. He has been concerned for my soul because according to their ideology I will bust Hell wide open when I die because I am not part of their organization. Many is the day that he has attended a study where I taught and he comes up and says” How can someone who blesses others with the word and teach it so well be so lost?" I have scriptural backing for what I believe just as he does and he used to annoy me because I felt he divided the church. God showed me that this man had His love for me and only said what he said out of a desire to see me in heaven when he gets there. I felt persecuted for my beliefs and yet it was someone in the Body.

How about that friend at work that says he won't go to the "Church house" because of all them Hypocrites? ( My come back there is if you allow a hypocrite to get between you and God the Hypocrite is closer to God than you are....Think about that) He doesn't see it when someone offered you a beer after work and you said no thanks...He would have seen it if you had drank it...LOL

What is the point? We need God's heart to deal with the Lost  in this world

It ain't about our persecution...If you are In Christ then the persecution will come naturally

Love In Christ,
Daniel

I need Prayer – October 29, 2006

I am a person in need of prayer right now....

Some people lose family members....not me I have all mine healthy and blessed.

Some people have need for employment...not me, my job is keeping me busier than ever.

Some people have marital difficulty... not an issue here... We are blessed to have one another.

Some people have Drug dependency, alcoholism and so on....not me...never been drunk or high in 42 years.

No, people like me need prayer because we don't see how blessed we are and are not screaming from the top of our lungs that Father God Is So Faithful!!!!!! Some of us forget that while we ain't rich there is food on the table and clothes on our backs, our Babies have diapers and there is a couple of pennies to rub together at the end of the month.

My son is having some critical medical concerns but he is alive and not in pain. My wife has Cerebral Palsy but she is not in a wheel chair. She can get around and annoy me to her hearts content..  

My Father has given me my hearts desire and that is to support my family while she stays at home to take care of our family...

I need prayer because I do not always count my blessings and complain in the midst of God's greatest blessing

Father God Please forgive me when I forget where you have brought me from...

Love In Christ,
Daniel

Please join in a Service for Dan – November 9, 2006 by Rev Bruce

When we were baptized in Christ Jesus, we were baptized into HIS death.  We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, so that, as Christ was raised from the dead by the Glory of the Father, we too might live a new life.  For if we have been united with Christ In a death we will certainly be united with HIM in a resurrection like HIM. 
I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord.   Those who believe in me even though they die, will live.  John 11:25.

Prayer:
May the Lord be with you all.

Let us pray.
Eternal God, Source of all true wisdom, calm the troubled waters of our hearts.  Your love for us is everlasting; you alone can turn the shadow of death into the brightness of the morning light.  We ask that you lift the heavy sorrow and help us to turn to you with believing hearts, in the stillness of this time of loss.  Speak to us of eternal things, so we may have hope and be lifted above our distress into the peace of your presence though Jesus Christ our Lord. 
You oh Lord Jesus Christ consoled Martha and Mary in their distress; draw near to us who morn for our brother and dry the tears of those who weep.   And dry the tears of those who weep.  You wept at the grave of Lazarus, your friend.  Comfort us in our sorrow.  You raised the dead to life.  We pry you give our brother eternal life.  You promised paradise to the repentant thief, bring Dan to the joys of heaven, we pray.  In our sorrow, make us strong to commit ourselves, and those we love dear, to your unfailing care. To trust where we can not understand, in turning Dan over to you in the love we had for him and his in us. 

Lord we lift up those left here on Earth in their grief and sorrow.  We lift Melissa and her children to your gracious hand.  We pray that they find the way for them in your plan.  We bind them to you in prayer that we may ask that you pick them up and hold them and their tears to your chest. We pray for their comfort in your embrace.  Remind them always of your love.  We your disciples promise to not let them be forgotten and lost,

Into Your hands, O merciful Savior, we commend your servant Dan Sloop.  Acknowledge, we humbly pray, a sheep of your own fold, a lamb of your own flock, and a sinner of your redeeming.  Receive him into the arms of your mercy.
Amen

May the Peace of God, which passes all understanding keep all of our hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of God’s son Christ Jesus our Lord.  May the blessings of God almighty, The Father, The Son and The Holy Ghost remain with you in all ways and always.