Fellowship with the Family...

It has truly been a breath of fresh air getting to spend some time with my family, even though it has been very short. L The more time I am away from the family, the more Father makes me grateful for them and the blessing it is to have parents and siblings who love you and pray for you! I am TRULY blessed!

Whether it was flying into Oklahoma City the night that Moore was hit by the two mile wide tornado which claimed many people’s lives, arriving and finding a “SURPRISE”, spending time at home clearing brush for a fence line, shooting, lawn work, shopping, visiting the Tulsa Zoo, dodging more tornadoes and bad weather, spending time with siblings, enjoying MUCH rain, thunderstorms, God’s creation and more. I would choose NO other family to have been placed in while being upon this earth! Not because our family is perfect, but because God knew exactly what I needed and I am most blessed because of it! :D PtL!

God has showered MANY blessings upon my head and I cannot but help praise Him! As our nation and the modern church of today presses farther and farther away from the Lord, I value the godly fellowship and time that I can have with my family! May Father continue to use godly families as His beacon of light to the lost and dying world and to the religious system of our day which has sent many families and individuals away from God reeling to their death.

My prayer is that both you and I would walk in such a way that ALL will know that we have a personal abiding relationship with your heavenly Father and that He desires the same for everyone that will receive it! Paul speaks of it this way in Colossians 1:9-14,

“For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;  ¹⁰ That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;  ¹¹ Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;  ¹² Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:  ¹³ Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:  ¹⁴ In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:”

Here are some pictures of my time at home…

Remembering Memorial Day

Water Droplets

Amazing Clouds

The Three "Musketeers" ;)

Grounds Work and Upkeep

Salsa Garden

At the Tulsa Zoo

Tractor Maintenance

Abby, Brielle, Carlin and Hannah (left to right)

Garter Snake

Shooting Competition

Intense Storm Clouds

A LIVING Relationship...

Man needs food and water to live. He cannot physically survive without these vital elements which sustain the human body. In the same way, a follower of Jesus Christ CANNOT exist without abiding in the Vine by daily partaking from its constant flow of life which fills the branches. (John 15:5)

Many people believe that if they “walked the isle” or “said the magic words” that they are saved, when there is absolutely no fruit of an abiding life that exists in them as a testimony to their relationship with the Heavenly Father. James speaks of the fate of this in verse 17, chapter 2, of his letter which he wrote to the Jews in the New Testament saying, “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”

This in many ways describes most “believers” of our day. It especially depicts the organized religious “church” (not the ekklesia) which proudly walks in its own strength, claiming to have a righteousness of its own but denies this reality because of its powerless state. (2 Tim. 3:5) This was exactly what Jesus confronted the Pharisees, Sadducees and Scribes with during His life upon this earth. The religious leaders of His day walked in a form of godliness, but fell miserably short from being godly because their fleshly efforts to accomplish this possessed no life or strengthen.

With this in mind, Jesus makes the incredible following statement in Matthew 5:20, “For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” How could this be? It is simple. Just like the religious leaders of our day, the Pharisees went about trying to establish their righteousness with God on the basis of fleshly efforts while completely denying the truth that this only comes through abiding IN the righteous One. It is by faith in the righteous One that we are made righteous and our faith is demonstrated through an abiding life that bears the fruit of righteousness. (Rom. 10:1-4 and Gal. 5:22-23)

All of this is to say, you CANNOT have a relationship with Jesus Christ by just merely saying that you have been “saved” and that you go to “church”. If you believe that salvation is based upon these two factors, you have not biblically defined salvation and have totally disregarded an abiding life in the Savior which is the essence of true Life; therefore your “salvation” is not valid. Relationship not only requires responsibility but IS responsibility! Few Christians understand this or even care to do so…hence, we have the powerless “church” of today.

As I am finishing up my 3 year commitment at IMI, God has radically opened my eyes to many lies that I have believed and this being one of them. God has begun to show me in a way like never before, that truly “one thing is needful” and that I must choose this. (Luk.10:42)A relationship with the Father in Jesus Christ requires total self-denial; this is by definition the purest form of love. (John 15:13 and 1Cor. 13) The more you identity yourself with the death of Jesus Christ, the more you will be able to live in His resurrection power!

Press in, don’t give up, seek Father’s face above all else and He will in no doubt reward you openly. Look to Him and He alone for your strength to live in the abiding Life, for He only can do this within you. Abide, rest, and wait upon Him in confidence and He WILL show Himself strong in your life.  By this, you will be recognized as a Child of the King of kings!

Here are some memories from my time at IMI during my 5^th Semester…

Fall Graduating Class of 2013

Guys Dorm Rainbow

Stunning Sunset

Bell Arbor

Sunday Night Campfire

Brandon K. at Enchanted Rock

New Life on the Hill

Declaring the Presence of the "I AM"

Small things

Beauty

Intricate Design of the Creator

The Bread of Life

Black Swallowtail

Passover Meal

Baptism

IMI Sunset

Property Landscaping

Fisher Family

In Answer to Prayer...RAIN!

Fall Graduating Class of 2013

Abiding, Resting and Secure in Christ

~ John 15 ~