When I think of April, I think of Showers.\u00a0 This morning, I thought of April showers, and the contemporary worship song, \u201cLet It Rain\u201d came to my mind.\u00a0 \u201cLet it rain,\u00a0 Let it rain\u2026 Open the floodgates of Heaven\u201d.<\/p>\n
I think it is time for God to open the floodgates here at Church In The Acres.\u00a0 When I think about floodgates of heaven in the Bible, I am reminded of Malachi 3:10 when the Lord tells us to tithe and then God says, \u201cand see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Is this April going to be a time for God to throw open the floodgates of blessing on Church in the Acres?\u00a0 I think that is what we should all pray for! But let\u2019s pray it with the right motives!<\/p>\n Let\u2019s look at Luke 11:9-10.\u00a0 It tells us: So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.<\/strong> Luke 11:9-10<\/em><\/p>\n Note that the word \u201cask\u201d<\/em> is immediately followed by the words \u201cwill be given\u201d<\/em>; that directly after the word \u201cseek\u201d<\/em> are the words \u201cyou will find\u201d<\/em>; and that quickly after the word \u201cknock\u201d<\/em> is assurance that it will be opened. I think it is important, however, that our motives must be right.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s ok for us as a church to ask for God to bless us, because God tells us to ask.\u00a0 And if our motives are to ask for blessing so that we can be a blessing, I think our hearts are in the right place!<\/em><\/p>\n Most Christians are familiar with the term \u201cblessed to be a blessing.\u201d The actual reference is from the Biblical story of Abraham.\u00a0 God told Abraham that He would bless Abraham and would bless the nations through Abraham and his offspring.<\/p>\n Have you ever considered that the reason you have something is so you can use it to be a blessing to others? Or have you thought you have good skills because God wants you to bless others through those abilities? Or that you are a good cook because God gave you that ability to be a blessing to others? The scripture says that the unique gifts are gifts we should steward well by using them to serve others. We are blessed to be a blessing, and this includes our financial resources, our spiritual gifts, and our natural abilities. When we recognize all our gifts and abilities as a blessing from God, we use them to benefit and serve others. We become good stewards of the blessings we have received, and God will likely bless us even more so that we can be a greater blessing to others!<\/p>\n Lets pray for God to bless us as a church even more, so that we can bless others around us even more!<\/p>\n It is so good to be your Pastor!<\/p>\n In The Lord\u2019s service till the last fish is caught, <><<\/p>\n Pastor Chris<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When I think of April, I think of Showers.\u00a0 This morning, I thought of April showers, and the contemporary worship song, \u201cLet It Rain\u201d came to my mind.\u00a0 \u201cLet it rain,\u00a0 Let it rain\u2026 Open the floodgates of Heaven\u201d. I think it is time for God to open the floodgates here at Church In The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2503,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-connection-article"],"yoast_head":"\n