Change is good and God helps us recognize this through prayer, ministry and friendship

Through ministry and friendship God is revealing to me how easily we can be deceived and stiff-necked. This happens when we are hyper-focused on ourselves, our own ideas. We want it our way so badly that we lose touch with the destination we originally sought. We easily fall "out of alignment" and it negatively impacts our body, mind, spirit (internally) and work, relationships, ministry (externally). I've learned to understand my own Core Values and also to let my values change and evolve over time as I mature. 

20 years ago a core value of mine was happiness. It was my understanding that to be happy was to be grateful with integrity or "gladness" but that word wasn't available as I was discovering my values. It's fun to document and see how our values change over time (2018). 

I went to a celebration of life yesterday for a godly 90-year-old man named Elwood. I didn't know him - I knew his daughters Margo and Nancy and their husbands Jeff and Mike. Mike and I were in BSF leadership and started a small group at grace.church. Over the past 10 years, we've been doing life together and I found our relationship was life-changing for me. At the funeral, I saw this was fruit from Elwood's life. I had to leave early to help with Alpha at MNTC where I got to pray with almost 40 men to start a new life in Christ, serval men were weeping and praising God for the first time. 

What has God revealed to me?

• Distraction through media, games, and music is not just a "guilty pleasure" but takes me away from the Lord's blessing - what he wants to show me. 
• Fasting helps me to focus on God with my whole self. I had a Colonoscopy this week and never experienced the sickness that comes from a forced total fast. I'll use this to fast from habits I want to break replacing them with habits I want to enforce. 
• God answers the prayers of the righteous (James 5:16). If I'm knowingly disobeying God, I can expect my prayers to be chaff in the wind. 
• Sins of my ancestry: The scriptures present to us the reality that sin is often passed down within a family line, and the effects of those sins are also passed down generation to generation (see Exodus 20:5, 34:7, Leviticus 26:39-42, Nehemiah 9:2). I've been freed from this empty way of life through the blood of Jesus (1 Peter 1:18-19). This was the last book in Andrew Murray Collection on Prayer that I just finished yesterday and Ron discussed with me; Deliverance from the former way of life (Romans 7:24, John 15:1-17). 
• This was also given an exclamation point in talking with my brother last night and navigating through spiritual blindness. We ended a long discussion cordially by agreeing I have a chest full of truths that I can explain to him but that he can't see. We love each other and respect one another. We're both grateful for our friendship and could see we were not "landing" the Bible study in the same airfield. 
• At Alpha, Rob lead everyone in a prayer of forgiveness highlighting that our deepest hurts are from those who matter most. To receive God's blessing we must forgive them and more than that to bless them.
• Leaders learn and adjust their sails. Ministry that "worked" a month ago or yesterday, can be better through observation and input from the team. Alpha at MNTC added prayer and praise on Friday night and prayer after first video on Saturday. This was the most dynamic of the 30 Alpha we've done - yet we've seen how 31 can be even better and are adjusting our approach. I'm so glad I was able to participate with Greg, Rob, and Ron and see this as a fruit of prayer from Gloria, Alesia, Greg and Rob on Monday). 
• I've needed to "just get started with prayer." In everything by prayer and petition present your request to God (Phil 4:4-7 my life verse). What is it that I'm wanting to do? What purpose am I working towards? So much of my distraction could be stated, "I would like to feel pleasure." but in the distraction, I feel time wasted and my obligations have been neglected. Udemy is the pleasure of living into your purpose. God I love that feeling of pleasure and experience that when I know I'm doing as I should. So let that be my starting prayer, help me to "accept the things I can't change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference"