Showing posts with label Christian Living. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christian Living. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Give It All To God!

Someone, including me, needs to hear this periodic reminder.

This is something God continues to remind me time and time again, including in the midst of the challenging season I've been facing.

Always remember

Give it all to God.
He knows exactly
what you need.
He knows exactly
what you're going through.
He's got you covered, always!


You're in my prayers!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Randolph Koch

P.S. Please pass on this encouragement to others who may be encouraged that God hears their prayers.

Here's one place that lists where you can connect with A Shepherd's Heart:
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Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Taking Steps Of Faith (Regardless Of Whether You Have It All Figured Out.)

My Friend,

I don't know about you but sometimes I freeze in my steps because I kind of want all the details before I move forward or sort of "to be in control" of things. I like to know as much details as possible and sometimes I get stuck with the "analysis paralysis" because I'm focusing more on rethinking things too much instead of doing what I should do first, which is seek God first.

I also tend to be a "perfectionist" at times and don't complete something as soon as I should because I fall into the false idea that it needs to be somehow "perfect" when there is no such thing! I'm sure I'm the "only one" who struggles with things like this. ;-)

While there is wisdom in planning, what matters most is seeking God through prayer and through His Word for each plan, dream, goal, and step of faith as the first step for anything we do.

I encourage you to seek Him through prayer, His Word, and through seeking Godly counsel as needed, then take the step or leap of faith knowing Jesus is The One directing your path. Even if you're afraid, you will know His peace as you do what He's calling you to do. We will never have it all figured out, but we know The One Who does have it all figured out.
Just like when Peter stepped out of the boat after he asked Jesus, "If it's you Lord, tell me to come to you on the water." and Jesus said, "Come" (See Matthew 14:22-33), Jesus was calling Peter to take a step of faith. While water was familiar, Peter had never walked on water before and instead of keeping his eyes on Jesus, he looked at the stormy waters and started to sink. He did the right thing though by crying out to The One Who was able to save Him, Jesus, and Jesus came to His rescue but Jesus said "Come" with no further instructions and while Peter did, again, he didn't keep His eyes on Jesus as he stepped out of the boat in faith.

We're not too different from Peter and each day God is calling you and I to take steps of faith. Sometimes, it's full on scary to take that step of faith, but none-the-less, Jesus knows and will help us, He is calling us regardless of whether or not we have all the details. We're supposed to live by faith and not by sight. (See 2 Corinthians 5:7)

Whatever you're facing today, whether a major decision, something you've put off for a while that you know He has called you to do, or whatever it is, remember this: IF you put your trust in The Lord, (and not in yourself alone) you don't have to have all the details to move forward... just take one step of faith at a time with or without the details.

Here are a few of the many passages to read, study, and take steps of faith regarding: Proverbs 3:5-6, Philippians 4:13, and Hebrews 11:8.

Your brother and servant in Christ,
Randolph Koch

P.S. Please pass on this encouragement to others who may be encouraged that God hears their prayers.

Here's one place that lists where you can connect with A Shepherd's Heart:
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Thursday, January 07, 2021

God Always Hears Your Prayers!

My Friend,

Be encouraged that God always hears your prayers no matter what.
It doesn't matter if they are "perfectly" worded. It doesn't matter if they are long or short or somewhere in between.
What matters is that you commit yourself to prayer and humble yourself as you approach Him filled with confidence and faith.
Your heart and countenance matters more than eloquent prayers of any length.
Also, be encouraged that even when we don't have the words to say or don't know how to pray, The Holy Spirit always intercedes for us. (See Romans 8:26-27.)
Just pray knowing He always has time for you and always hears your prayers.
Read, study, be encouraged by, and take to heart Hebrews 4:16, Romans 8:26-27, and Matthew 6:7 which are some of the many verses about this.
Your brother and servant in Christ,

Randolph Koch

P.S. Please pass on this encouragement to others who may be encouraged that God hears their prayers.

Here's one place that lists where you can connect with A Shepherd's Heart:

Tuesday, September 01, 2020

Focus On Jesus, Not The Storm.

Hello Friend,

It was during a storm that Peter saw someone walking from the shore over the crashing waves to the boat he was in. 

Once He recognized that it was Jesus, he said, "Lord, if it’s you,” “tell me to come to you on the water.” Then Jesus said. "come." and then Peter stepped out of the boat. 

Note, he was the only one who had faith enough to step out of the boat.

Once he started walking toward Jesus, Peter made one error though, he took his eyes off of Jesus and looked instead on his circumstances. Then he started to sink into the water and of course Jesus saved him.

We're kind of like Peter sometimes because even though we know what we should do, instead of fixing our eyes on Jesus, we fix our eyes on our circumstances and then our troubles get worse in the process. 

My friend, We need to fix our eyes on Jesus as much as possible and not the storms of life.

Read, Study, and pray about Matthew 14:22-33.

Then ask yourself, am I willing to step out in faith, keeping my eyes on Jesus no matter my circumstances?

Let's pray for one another that we will keep our eyes on Jesus.

Your Brother and Servant in Christ, 

Randolph Koch 


P.S. Please prayerfully help me with my first ever fundraiser for my little ministry which I've extended for 1 additional month as I'm trying to raise just enough for some basic resources to serve you with.

Please share this small fundraiser with your church family and friends. Please help A Shepherd's Heart meet the goal of it's first ever fundraiser. 

Here's the link to the main fundraiser site: www.fundly.com/a-shepherd-s-heart-2020-fundraiser


Or here are 3 other options to help in this friends helping a friend fundraiser:

  1. You can use Cash App and send your gift to user name $ashepherdsheart or if you haven't used Cash App before, if you use this link https://cash.app/app/GHCJWXG we'll both receive $5! 

  2. Use PayPal sending to giving@ashepherdsheart.org.

  3. Use PayPal's Venmo app by sending to @ashepherdsheart

You're continued prayers and sharing this fundraiser with friends and family would be greatly appreciated!

#faith #hope #truth #wisdom #life #Jesus #Bible #GodsWord #heart #mind #soul #strength #HolySpirit #encourage #encouragement #Christian #Christianity #Christfollower #ashepherdsheart #ReShare #livelifeonpurpose #keepyoureyesonJesus

Wednesday, August 19, 2020

How Shall We Respond? A Little Q&A About Our Current Times.

Hello! 

From time to time I'll receive questions from those God has blessed me with the opportunity to serve. 

Recently I received another thoughtful question from someone regarding how we as followers of Christ should respond to current events going on in our world. 

My response isn't "profound" by any means and others may have a different perspective on this, but, I thought it might be an encouragement to you in some way and a starting point as you seek The Lord for similar things. So, with the permission of the person who asked the question, and with their name omitted, here is the question and prayerful answer. 

Your Brother and Servant in Christ,

Randolph Koch


Question: 

"Hello brother in Christ. I have an honest question. No underlying motive in asking, just looking for an honest answer on your perspective. As a man who appears to be grounded in Biblical truth as far as I can tell through what you post, what is your stance on America's current state and the church's, the body of Christ, needed response in light of all that is going on? Are we being too "quiet", too fearful, are we speaking up as we should into the myriad of issues?  It seems there is much, "mixed", for lack of a better word, response from the church. Do we need to be a bit more fierce, is there too much fear of man in the church as a whole? Ok more than one question and they are some loaded questions lol."

Answer: 

Thursday, May 28, 2020

We're All A Work In Progress.

My Friend, We're all a work in progress.
 
If anything has reminded me of this, it's been taking the accident recovery day by day.
 
Besides the shut down for the Corona Virus, these last two weeks has caused me to slow down.
 
It's caused me to do things differently, (like getting dressed ðŸ˜‚) or caused me to not do certain everyday things, like mowing the lawn, because right now...I can't.
 
It's frustrating at times and riddled with pain, but, at the same time it's making me more and more less self-reliant and more reliant on God and others.
 
This period of time reminds me of life in general as we're all a work in progress... and progress, healing, goals, and progressive sanctification takes time.
 
Life is all a process and really a product of God's grace and provision.
 
Let's be thankful that God isn't finished with us yet. He's still on the throne, He's our provider, The Great Physician and will see us through.
 
Let's pray for one another that we we don't fight being a work in progress.
 
Thank you for your prayers and know that you are in my prayers too!
 
As I continue to recover from the accident, I'll assess when to begin posting again somewhat regularly in the future via social medial and here on my A Shepherd's Heart website. 
 
Your Brother and Servant in Christ, Randolph Koch

#ashepherdsheart #ReShare #livelifeonpurpose #faith #hope #truth #wisdom #life #Jesus #Christian #Christianity #Christfollower

Friday, April 12, 2019

Spiritual Warfare: Submit, Resist, and he will Flee!

Read: Ephesians 6:10-18 and James 4:7

Some time ago, I went through a Spiritual Warfare 101 Bible study (by Chip Ingram) with a small group/community group that met every other week. 

I really gained a lot from the Bible study and I wanted to share some brief thoughts with you about it as it's not a topic that we often talk about in The Church but none-the-less it's in His Word and a very real battle. (See Ephesians 6:12-13 and other passages) 

Also, as a word of caution, some often over-spiritualize spiritual warfare and we have to remind ourselves to be in God's Word and seek Him often as not everything is "spiritual warfare". (I have very real examples of this but to keep this post brief, I won't  take the time share here.)

We need to look at and treat spiritual warfare Biblically and not let our emotions overshadow what is or isn't spiritual warfare. We need to guard against over-spiritualization of important and very real matters such as this.  

Ok, side note/disclaimer stated, now let's get into what I aim to briefly share. :-) 

Monday, February 22, 2016

A Prayer for the Brokenhearted - Monday, February 22, 2016

Read Psalm 34:18 ESV, Psalm 147:3-6 ESV and Romans 8:27-28.

Dear Heavenly Father,

I pray for those who are, have been or will be brokenhearted. Unfortunately and sadly it's inevitable because this life is hard many times and we live in a broken world but we still know You'll work things together for good! 

Whatever causes the times of being brokenhearted in each case, may You:

-Minister to us and lift us up that we may shift our focus on You.

-Help us understand how close You are to the brokenhearted.

-Help us to never forget that You've never promised that life will be easy but You we do know that you are faithful, Holy and know what's best for us through what you allow to impact us including the choices we make sometimes. 

-Help us to learn and grow through these times and may we experience Your peace even amidst these hard times of brokenness.

-Help us cling to You and cry out to you all the more as You're faithful and true.

-Help us to experience Your Joy amidst the pain and heartache. 

-Turn our brokenness into another step toward being complete in You!

-Help us understand that being brokenhearted is temporary...and You can turn what seems like ashes into something beautiful in the process.

-Help us on the really tough days...simply get out of bed and see that day, no matter how tough it is, no matter the devastation we feel, as a gift from you, a new start, a chance to do things better, differently...including striving to do our part in whatever the circumstances to not make the same mistakes or choices again if we indeed contributed to that circumstance leading to our hearts breaking. 

-Help others make good choices too.

-Help us to avoid being brokenhearted in the first place if possible. 

-Help us to see our complete need for You and that You know us by name (and have known us by name even before we were born) and have been drawing us to Yourself since the day we were born! 

-Help us to turn toward You and receive Your free gift of salvation (if we haven't already) and walk with You all the days of our lives. In this sense our hearts are born broken because of sin and You're the great physician and healer of our hearts. 

-Help us to remember that You're the great physician and healer of our hearts.

-Help us especially during these hard times to pray as we should and read, study and abide in Your Word as we should.

I praise You and thank You and ask all these things in the name above all other names, Jesus, Amen.

-rlk



How to be saved: http://ashepherdsheart.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-romans-road.html

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

"The Fiery Sermon"

This is such a great illustration and it's so true! There are also multiple applications within this...Check it out...then let's pray for one another! 
"The Fiery Sermon"
by Greg Bradon

A member of the church, who previously had been attending services regularly, stopped going. After a few weeks, the pastor decided to visit him.

It was a chilly evening. The pastor found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire. Guessing the reason for his pastor's visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a comfortable chair near the fireplace and waited.

The pastor made himself at home but said nothing. In the grave silence, he contemplated the dance of the flames around the burning logs. After some minutes, the pastor took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone then he sat back in his chair, still silent.

The host watched all this in quiet contemplation. As the one lone ember's flame flickered and diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it was cold and dead.

Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting.The pastor glanced at his watch and realized it was time to leave. He slowly stood up, picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire. Immediately it began to glow, once more with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it.

As the pastor reached the door to leave, his host said with a tear running down his cheek, 'Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the fiery sermon. I will be back in church next Sunday.'

We live in a world today, which tries to say too much with too little. Consequently, few listen. Sometimes the best sermons are the ones left unspoken.

Monday, March 17, 2014

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's day!

Even if you’re not a wee bit Irish, there is a lot we can learn from the life of Patrick.

There are a lot of legends/myths about Him but it’s good to separate fact from fiction and today I’m sending a few links to articles about his life which you’ll find below. Also, if you ever have an opportunity to watch an hour long docudrama about his life that was narrated by Liam Neeson, I’d highly recommend it.

Here’s a selection of articles for your edification:

Here's An Old Irish Blessing:

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Have an excellent day!

Blessings in Christ,

rlk


AND IF YOU READ THIS FAR…HERE’S A BIT O’HUMOR:
http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/WImPKUil5HIgd0Ua?cmpid=jj_fb_self