A Comforting Truth

Scripture: Isaiah 43:1

“Now this is what the Lord says. He created you, people of Jacob; he formed you, people of Israel. He says, ‘Don’t be afraid, because I have saved you. I have called you by name, and you are mine.’” (NCV)
How comforting to realize that God knows us by name. He has created us, formed us, and even fashioned our hearts individually. “He fashions their hearts individually; He considers all their works.” (Psalm 33:15, NKJV)
Each of us is unique and special, created for fulfilling a specific purpose.
Our priority must be to discover what we have been designed for, so we can find God’s purpose for us. Then we can be busy doing the works he has prepared for us. “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” (Ephesians 2:10, NLT)
When we are used for our designed purpose, we can live the abundant life.
We must listen for the voice of the Shepherd, “The one who guards the door opens it for him. And the sheep listen to the voice of the shepherd. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” (John 10:3, NCV)
By delving into the Word of God, we listen for what he has to say to us individually. His Spirit will prompt us and lead us in into the works he wants us to do.
Most comforting is the thought of his return for us. “My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:2–3, NIV)
When he returns for us, we want to be busy doing the work we were designed for in his vineyard. We know he will be pleased with us, if we are focused living a life that will echo into eternity.
Today, ask yourself:

Do I know how special I am to God, believing that he created me, formed me, fashioned my heart, and knows my name? Am I looking forward to his return so I can be with him?

The Breath of Life

Scripture: Genesis 2:7  

“Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” (NIV)
We live in a world filled with people who have no fear of God reflected in the way they live. As we can see from the above verse, our very life—every breath and every heartbeat—are sourced in God.
“In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.” (Job 12:10, NIV)
“The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” (Job 33:4, NIV)
“And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.” (Acts 17:25, NIV)
We are talking about the power of life that belongs to God. It makes sense that created people should pay deference to their Creator.
There is a general saying that one should not bite the hand that feeds you. It does not make sense to offend the one who can literally shut our breath of life off at any given moment.
However, the world continues not to listen even though the Lord is turning up the volume with the increasing turmoil we are witnessing. He seems to be asking, “Do you hear me now? Do you hear me now?”
In the time of Daniel, King Belshazzar (the last king of Babylon) failed to learn from his father, Nebuchadnezzar, who finally honored God after being broken.
“At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation.” (Daniel 4:34, NIV)
During a drunken party, Belshazzar profaned the vessels brought from the temple in Jerusalem.
Daniel the prophet said, “Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways.” (Daniel 5:23, NIV) That night Belshazzar was murdered.
We have to be careful not to grieve the Holy Spirit. Our body is the temple of God. “For in him we live and move and have our being.” As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’” (Acts 17:28, NIV)
By practicing the concepts of KingdomNomics, we honor and serve the King of Kings.
Today, ask yourself:

Am I living a life that honors my Creator? Am I investing my life in what will count for eternity?

Knowing God

Have you ever noticed that when relationships are right, great things can happen? I’ve even heard it said more than once that who you know is more important than what you know. The all-important relationship; it can either make you or break you, because it is often true that if you have the right connections, certain people can facilitate your way on the upward path of success. People can open doors of opportunity or remove obstacles blocking your way.teach me
Our relationship with God works in much the same way. The Bible tells us that life in this world and the world to come is all about having a growing relationship with almighty God. We are not talking here about a relationship of convenience or superficiality; God wants an intimate relationship with us! Jesus Christ came into the world to give us that relationship with God, and our decision to accept salvation through Christ has major implications for not only eternity, but for the time we have remaining in this world.
Being a Converterlator is all about having a right relationship with Jesus Christ and having his Word and life personally operating in your life. When we have a growing relationship with God, we experience his favor and blessing. And if we have the favor and blessing of God, what else could we ever need? To have his presence and the truth of his Word operating in our lives through Christ living his life in us truly makes us a different people.
Moses modeled this principle for us. The living presence of God in his life was paramount. In fact he did not want to proceed with the tasks God had for him without having God’s very presence in his life. “And he said to him, ‘If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here’” (Exodus 33:15, ESV).
Cultivating our
relationship with God
connects us to the true
source of life and power.
This kind of dependence on God is not possible without knowing God and understanding how he thinks. This means we must not only begin a relationship with him, but go on to develop an intimate relationship with him in order to truly experience his presence in our lives. Moses realized that if he ever hoped to find favor in God’s sight, he needed to know God in a deeper way when he said, “Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight” (Exodus 33:13, ESV).
What we are talking about here is developing an intimacy with God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Relationship is not about external rules or a list of what to do and not to do. Relationship is about being with someone. When we like to be around a person, we make time to be with them. We like to experience their presence for increasing time periods. Each one of us needs to be spending time with God!
Moses had this same type of relationship with God. Moses made it very clear he wanted to know God and his ways, and God showed Moses who he really was: “He revealed his character to Moses and his deeds to the people of Israel” (Psalm 103:7, NLT).
People get to know our character when we spend time with them. Actions become somewhat predictable when we know the character of someone. We learn whether or not we can place our trust in them.
As our relationship develops with God, we find we want to spend more and more time with him. He becomes more and more real in our life. We realize his Word literally gives life to our mortal bodies, and he reveals more and more of himself to us. We begin to see his working in the circumstances in our life. We find more and more that we really do need him. Yes, this is the relationship of relationships! Everything boils down to our relationship with God. If we want the power of God working in our life, then God must be the God of all things in our life. Every breath and every heartbeat is sourced in God. He is the one who lifts one up and puts another down. He is the one who opens the doors of opportunity.
These are the people God is looking for in this world; people who make him the number one priority in their lives. They realize knowing God is central to living successfully in this world. They want to have God’s favor on their life. In order for this to happen they need to know his ways so they can follow him.
Worldly wealth of any kind
is a false savior. Only a
relationship with God
through Christ can deliver.
There are many things that can keep us from having an intimate relationship with God: other people, confused priorities, “stuff,” busyness, you name it! The Converterlator is willing to swim upstream against the world system. We have a different worldview. We live differently, act differently, and are motivated by factors unknown to most of the world.
God led Moses and the people through the wilderness of their day. That wilderness was bewildering at times, complex at others, downright confusing, and often threatening! And yet, Moses and the Israelites saw the finger of God at work in their circumstances in numerous ways. When we look to God for direction, we find him to be faithful.
This is not to say that life will be easy. There will be hard times, but God will be there with us. The wise person of today will acquaint himself with God, and become a Converterlator, living to convert the perishable into the imperishable, holding on to values that will echo into eternity. In this case, it really is who you know that counts.
Honestly, is your relationship with God your number one priority or is it just a relationship of convenience? What things in your life are more important to you than God?

God’s Precious Investment

Scripture: Ephesians 1:18

“I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.” (NLT)
As believers in Christ, we are God’s precious inheritance. He has purchased us with the precious blood of Christ, and looks forward to spending eternity with us.
“But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.” (Ephesians 2:13, NLT)
God has invested a lot in you and me. He has given us time, talent, and treasure in varying degrees. We will have to give an accounting for the use of these gifts; however, we should view our time in this world as the greatest opportunity to serve in advancing his kingdom.
He has given us the assurance of salvation: “I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.” (John 5:24, NLT)
Such statements of assurance give us a positive outlook and confidence for the future. “Opportunity” is the word that pops into my mind. May God flood our hearts with the light of positive opportunity to be of service to him, and to enjoy rewards that he has for those who take advantage of his offer. Our relationship with him is “incentive driven” and not “fear driven.”
Christ lives in us. All we have to do is to get the “self life” out of the way and to allow him to live his life through us. “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20, NLT)
This can be our reality if we will daily present ourselves to him for his service.
Today, ask yourself:

Do I understand I am completely accepted by God as his child? Am I trusting Christ to live his life through me?

Ever Grateful

Scripture: Colossians 1:12–14, NKJV

“…Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”
This passage is a great candidate for being a Spiritual M & M (Memorize & Meditate). I lift my heart in gratitude to God for his marvelous provision of salvation. Truly, he is the God who sees and provides.
God himself has qualified us to partake of the inheritance of the saints. He qualifies us when we place our faith in the person of Jesus Christ, alone, for our salvation.
Salvation is a gift of God. Paul emphasizes this:
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23, NKJV)
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8–9, NKJV)
“…knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.” (Galatians 2:16, NKJV)
The beautiful aspect about this is God has made salvation a present possession of the believer. He has delivered us. Note the past tense.
In addition, he has transported (past tense) us into the kingdom of his son. It is a done deal.
Through the blood of Christ we have redemption. The blood of Christ is the only payment acceptable by God for our sin. His forgiveness is a present possession.
“I tell you the truth, whoever hears what I say and believes in the One who sent me has eternal life. That person will not be judged guilty but has already left death and entered life.” (John 5:24, NCV)
Today, ask yourself:

Have I taken a few moments to express my gratitude to God for his unspeakable gift of salvation through Jesus Christ?

Your Power Source

Scripture: Psalm 62:11 and 2 Corinthians 12:9 

“God has spoken plainly, and I have heard it many times: Power, O God, belongs to you.” (Psalm 62:11, NLT)
“Each time he said, ‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.’ So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9, NLT)
It is amazing what lengths people will go to in order to gain access to those they perceive as “powerful people.”
The Psalmist had it right. Power belongs to God. He is the one who can bring about the change we need in our lives and in the circumstances we encounter in this turbulent world.
In so many ways we are weak, powerless, and vulnerable. However, we have been born to a living hope. Subject to the sovereign will of God, we are kept by the power of God:
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In God’s great mercy he has caused us to be born again into a living hope, because Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Now we hope for the blessings God has for his children. These blessings, which cannot be destroyed or be spoiled or lose their beauty, are kept in heaven for you. God’s power protects you through your faith until salvation is shown to you at the end of time.” (1 Peter 1:3–5, NCV)
Paul had a chronic physical condition that burdened him, and he prayed to have it removed. A message came from the Lord saying that God’s grace was all Paul he needed to sustain himself. He was told that God’s power works best in weakness. Paul said he would boast about his weaknesses so the power of Christ could work through him.
Is there a lesson for us here?
“But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” (1 Corinthians 1:27, NIV84)
May the power of Christ rest on you and me. Weakness may help make us better candidates for God to use.
Today, ask yourself:

Am I acknowledging my weakness and dependency on God? Is his grace sufficient for me?

10 google adword mistakes you need to avoid

10 Google AdWords Mistakes You Need to Avoid: Beginners Guide

Search is a huge business and it’s only growing.

With 3.5 billion searches a day, that’s 3.5 billion times people are searching for an answer to a problem, and 3.5 billion times that your company can get front and center to offer a solution.

If you and your team aren’t already sold on search marketing, here’s a couple of statistics to get you fired up:

Unfortunately, not all of us can get on that coveted first page organically, and that’s why it’s important to get acquainted with some of the paid search tools like AdWords.

If you're just getting started or are thinking about running a campaign, AdWords can be a little overwhelming. Partially because AdWords itself is huge, and every misstep often means wasted ad dollars and a lower ROI.

That's why we’ve tracked down the 10 biggest names in AdWords to shed some light on the biggest mistakes beginners make to help you get started.

Follow these tips to catapult yourself from an AdWords Freshman to an AdWords Ninja in no time.

Without further adieu, the question that we asked our experts was “what is the most critical mistake you see beginners making with AdWords today?”