As I am getting ready for my surgery – there is just a little bit of Panic coming and it can be overwhelming at times.   Allot of prayer and a few pills have been helping – but one of my main helps is in my friends.   Several of them have called me to remind me that is will be OK and again to tell me of the one who is in Charge and that he will get me through all of this.
One of my Great Friends (Tom C) sent me some awesome words of wisdom with allot of scripture to go with it and I would like to share parts of his wisdom.    It came in several parts – so I am going to share a few of them and why they have helped me.
 

1.  Why does He heal us? He loves us, He promised, so we can serve Him here on earth: Love Him and love our neighbor.  So many reasons. So cool!   –                  Matt 8:16. He drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick.
   1. a.   When I eventually get through my surgery (2 knee replacements) – I will be able to serve Christ in a bigger way and to know it is through his love that all of this can be accomplished is so reassuring.
2. Oh, ho, so good.  See it.  Yesterday in Isaiah, he promised healing.  Today (when Jesus walked the earth) He gave healing to all.  Forever (right now and forever) He heals us now.  In His name. Amen. Amen means “so be it” – not, man I hope this works.                                 Matt 9:2-6 (portions). When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.” … “Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But so you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins ….”
   1. a.   To know that Christ is here today as he was in the Past gives me hope and to know that I am forgiven no matter what doubts I have as I go forward brings me pure Joy…   AMEN
3. We don’t create or build our faith.  He does.  It’s not any of our work.  It’s all His!                              Acts 1:8. “… You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.”
   1. a.   This one was great – to know that Faith will be given to me by what Christ does through me….   So many times we believe that we have to do so many things to get Faith – but he has already given it to us – we just need to use it. 

    These are just a few words of wisdom that were given to me by a great friend who knew that I needed them…   He was right and these great words are what helps me keep my focus on the real reason of my molding that Christ has me going through.
  “Keeping my focus on Jesus is what is going to make this all worth it and in the end  I will get to experience a great relationship with him through it all.” 
Bobbyg
Radical Truth and Grace from a friend – I could have not asked for anything greater.

I recently had coffee with a great Pastor friend of mine (Max) and we had a great visit…..   He prayed for my upcoming surgery that my anxiety would go away and be covered by God’s presence…  (Please keep praying for that – I am writing this as 3:43 in the morningJ).   But during our conversation we got on the topic of “Who are we supposed to Trust?”
Well the right answer is we are to Trust the lord our God with all our Heart:              Proverbs 3:5-6 – (NIV) –⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; ⁶ in all your ways submit to him,    and he will make your paths straight.
This is a great passage and it is the one we should be taking – but how many times do we put our trust in someone else.   A great friend – our Pastor – our Spouse – our children – our leaders and the people who surround us.  The big question is:     Should we put our trust in the people that surround our daily walk?
I have had to really ponder on this after my talk with Max – because we had talked about that we should not….   But what does that mean.    When we put our Trust in the people around us – we then put these expectations on them that they have not asked for.   Is this fair?   Will they fail?   When we put trust and expectations on someone – most likely they are not going to meet what I have set them up for – and that is not fair to them.
So there has to be some type of balance and that is why I am up writing this so early in the morning.   We as people naturally put trust in the ones that surround us and that is not a bad thing – they have earned it.   What we need to be careful about is putting expectations on that trust – and when we do that our response has to be one of Radical Truth and Grace when they do not meet it.    The Truth is that they did not ask for what we have expected out of them and if they do not meet those expectations – we need to Love them even more…   It was not their fault but ours.
So Remember –  we should be putting our trust in Jesus Christ our Lord and he will guide our paths straight.   Always be obedient in the direction he is taking you….
Bobbyg

I am currently getting ready to have both of my knees replaced and just the thought of what I have to go through is giving me anxiety.   Do I really want to go through with what it takes to accomplish this – I know that eventually my knees will not hurt anymore – but the pain I have to go through to get there – Is it worth it…   At 2am in the morning I have been asking this allot – and my prayers go up and his answer comes back at me.
Christ keeps reminding me of what he went through for us and it was worth all the pain he suffered.   So my answer has to come up to – yes no problem – mine is minor compared to his – and he will be with me all the way.
So now comes the real questions….      What is it that God wants you to go through to accomplish his will.    God is always at work molding us to be like him and some times that requires Pain – but most of the time it requires us just giving up our time for a purpose he has designed for us to do.   I was thinking back to the time when a nephew of mine wanted a little bit of my time – and it was just too inconvenient at the moment to give it.  Man have I blown it – what if Christ would say I just do not have time for you….   Where would I be?   Of course Christ does not do that and that is the example that I need to be willing to take when the moments come that he requires me to accomplish his will.
To be in tune with Christ – we must be looking for those moments that he has put in front of us to accomplish his will – it takes practice.    Is God calling on you to give some time up for a friend – help in the church – heal a relationship (Forgiveness and Grace) – pray for someone – or maybe it is just sitting down to talk with a nephew.
I must say as I go forward in the path that he has chosen for me at the moment that my Relationship with Christ is growing in ways that I could not imagine.   It is only through Christ that I can to do what is required of me and he promises to be with me through it all….
Bobbyg

I blogged this a while back – but would like to repost it………….   Matthew West is coming and it was one of his songs that inspired me to write it…                               Bobbyg
In my work I get to travel allot and during this time I get some great quite/praise time.   One of the topics that I have been doing allot of pondering on – is Forgiveness and very often the Word Grace is included with this because of how hard forgiveness can be.
Have you ever had someone-church-or situation that has been so terrible to you or your family that you have convinced yourself that it does not deserve Forgiveness?  You have even gone so far as to convince yourself that God is Ok with it and you are justified for your feelings.   I have one of those occasions and carried it for almost 20 years until a young friend of mine (Ryan) got my attention.   We were around a camp fire and the conversation of forgiveness came up so I told my story (a most convincing one) of the situation that happened and that I would rather see the person dead then forgive them – and God was OK with that.  The young friend proceeded to ask the question – What Jesus would do?  (OK – so our friendship was going really south now – just kidding…)  It took about 2 days for this to take hold and then GOD started working.
Matthew West has a song out called Forgiveness – below are some of the words.
      “It’s the hardest thing to give away – And the last thing on your mind today –  It always goes to those that don’t deserve –  It’s the opposite of how you feel –  When the pain they caused is just to real – It takes everything you have just to say the word…  Forgiveness
            It flies in the face of all your pride – It moves away the mad inside – It’s always anger’s own worst enemy -Even when the jury and the judge –  Say you gotta right to hold a grudge –  It’s the whisper in your ear saying ‘Set It Free’   Forgiveness
Show me how to love the unlovable – Show me how to reach the unreachable – Help me now to do the impossible – Forgiveness
It’ll clear the bitterness away – It can even set a prisoner free – There is no end to what it’s power can do -So, let it go and be amazed – By what you see through eyes of grace – The prisoner that it really frees is you
            I want to finally set it free – So show me how to see what Your mercy sees – Help me now to give what You gave to me  Forgiveness.
These words are powerful and right on…   I wish this song had come out about 20 years ago.    But as I pondered the wisdom of my young friend – I had to start praying to God about this person who had done my family a great wrong.  As one of Lyrics from a Tenth Avenue West song states “Oh, Father won’t You forgive them -They don’t know what they’ve been doing -Oh Father, give me grace to forgive them -Cause I feel like the one losing”.
I had to pray just these words – and my prayers were that someday this person would know the Love of Jesus and be in Heaven.  I am not sure I was able to pray for me to forgive this person – but to have God forgive them.  From that day forward God started talking to me in a whole new way – I had finally set it free and the communication between GOD and me was not being blocked.  There were times I would actually look around to see if there was someone next to me talking – but it was the spirit within me opening new doors of communication that I could not have thought possibleJ.
Now comes that terrible word Grace (giving someone something they do not deserve) and it is really a hard gift to grasp and live.   I like to give the illustration that a very wise Pastor (Jeff) stated in one of his Sermons – but I use a $2 bill to explain it.  In my travels I eat out allot – so when I go to the bank I always buy all their $2 bills and use them as Tips.  I tell everyone that the person who gets the most $2 bills is the worst waitress of the day – I give them something they do not deserve.  Try it sometime – it changes you and the other person.  But this is something that does not come easy or naturally – you will have to discipline yourself and it will take practice.  “Giving Grace”
My very good friend (Nick) has this saying from a Book title “Love Wins” and he lives it.  Nick explained that one of the best ways to witness to someone is with Love.  Instead of telling them that if they do not Change their ways they will go straight to Hell.  But instead tell them that God loves them and wishes that all would be in Heaven with him – then go on to explain how that works.  Love always wins….
**”If I speak in tongues of men and of angels but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.”                                    1 Corinthians 13:1
One of the things that I have been trying to live is:  Do they see Jesus in me – and whatever I do points to him.  (Another song lyric – you can see I do allot of worship in my travels – but most of it is in prayer).  I have to continually examine myself to see if I am truly living this – it takes allot of discipline and practice.
 So Please go forward today and ask the question “What would Jesus DO?”
 Bobby G

I had a great time this last weekend at COH (Convoy of Hope) – it went well beyond any expectations of mine.  I was able to help head up the Front Line (as we call it at GMM) and we recorded @ 4,305 people coming through the front gate.  We had a great team there to greet everyone and give them a Hand out or two.
Towards the end there was a family that wanted to leave – but not through the area that was set up for the exit.  I was at an area along with A Mom and her young daughter which we could open up for people to exit.  As this family was exiting they handed us back 2 of the tickets we had given to them for FREE Groceries and wanted us to give them to someone who would use them.   Then there response was that they refused to go through a Prayer tent to receive Groceries – they did not believe in that Religious stuff and it was terrible.  (They were extremely unappreciative of the reason for COH).
The young daughter was upset over their response (She knew this was a great event and had great purpose) – her Mom had stated that one of the main objectives of this event was for these people and that we needed to pray for them.   I agreed – but I also added that I was glad it was us that they spoke to when they left – they had a message to give someone and we were that someone.
Now my question to myself a couple of days later was…   We said that we needed to Pray for this family – But did I???  That one hit me hard – I said we needed to but I failed to follow-up – I did pray for them today.
So here is where I would like to challenge everyone – When we say that we need to or are going to pray for someone —   DO WE?  As I was going to Fort Collins today I thought back to the many times that I stated about praying for someone of something and failed…    I am challenging myself from now on to make sure that does not happen again and my prayers need to be specific to the needs of what God is going to accomplish.
**I have to tell you that 2 great friends of mine and a Pastor knew of some struggles that I am going through presently called me up and prayed over the phone with me….  POWERUL Prayers…    (Paul – Mike and Bill – THANK YOU).   But they did something about the Prayer Power that God has given them…   We must do the same.
So today – think of someone or something to Pray for and DO IT>>>>>>
Bobbyg

I watched a Chic Flic with my wife the other night and I have to say – The older I get the easier it is to Tear up…  Just is not right….  This is not what getting older should mean… we are to get tougher and meaner – Grumpy old Men should have been the movie we watched.
But this was a Christian Based movie and one of the main themes throughout the Drama – was people getting a second chance…   Here are a couple of insights that I was able gain from watching this tear enhancer;

1.  God meets people where they are and works there.   You are not required to better yourself before God can work in your life.   Two of the characters (one a drug addict and the other was plain mean) – God met them where they were and circumstances caused them to seek him.   The circumstances were not what we would choose to go through – but at the end a relationship was built and Christ became the center point.
2. The other part that got my attention was who God used…   There were several different types (Christians and Non-Christians) – but it made me aware that we need to stay focused on how Christ is working through us.  We may be the person God uses to help someone get a second chance and bring healing.  So we must be aware of the people around us and listen to the direction that the Spirit is giving us.   “It Takes Practice and being alert to recognize the promptings”.

There is one other area that got my attention:   I have been raised in a Christian Home and never thought that I would need a Second Chance.  This movie showed that even Devout Christians need Second Chances.  Our relationship with Christ can be enhanced to a Level that we could never experience if we are open to change and willing to go down a different path that Jesus has opened up for us to take.   Sometimes we believe that we are doing everything right and there is no need for change – but when we are in tune with the Spirit – there should be constant change.
**Recently Christ has shown me that I need a much deeper relationship with him to get through the path that he is taking me.   There have been several times that I have cried out to him to help me through what I am experiencing presently.  He has taken that Burden and I see the need for a second chance on my part to know that he is in control and will get me through.  We as Christians believe that we can do it on our own and we get comfortable in thinking this.  To fulfill what Jesus is going to work through us – we must seek him and be willing to go down the path he has given us to take.
**”We all get Second Chances”  It is what Brings Life….
Bobbyg

GMM (Gods Mighty Men) in Action – what does that actually mean – well let’s talk about it.   Pastor Shawn yesterday was talking about Jesus having compassion for the people and that required Action – not just a feeling.   This will be our fifth year for GMM and I was thinking about the Themes God has given us for each conference and they all require Action – you must be going forward.  GMM has always taught that we must being going forward in what Christ would have us do.
1^st Year:  “How Big is Your God” –  One of the talks that year was about Jonathan and his Armor Bearer and the Action he had taken in trusting in God.   Jonathan had taken Action knowing that he had a really Big God and he was not going to stay under a tree with Saul.  So he went forward and defeated the enemy – we must do the same – even if it means going forward a little recklessly (there is a song about this).  We have a Really Big God…
2^nd Year:   “Alive in Christ” – One of the main areas I looked at when this theme came out is – “Do they see Jesus in me?”…   Recently I have tweaked that into “What did Jesus Say”.
https://godsmightymen.com/2013/08/03/wwjd-or-what-did-jesus-say   when you read the word and look at what Jesus said and did – He took Action…   If we are to be Christ like – we cannot just sit there and look good – we must demonstrate what Good is…
3^rd Year:  “Driven by the Power of the Holy Spirit” –   The word Driven is Action in its self and requires that we do what the Spirit is prompting us to do.   Being in tune with the Spirit takes allot of practice and requires Obedience and there is no other way.
4^th Year:  “Activate Your Faith” – I really enjoyed this year’s Theme….  It looks different for everyone.  When I try to explain what that means to me this year – I like to use the example of when the Spirit Prompts you to do something – take Action and do it.   Recently I had the pleasure of visiting Choe – He has been prompted to bring in Christian Artists to Cheyenne to Help Christians in their Relationship with Christ.   Awesome Ministry and you will start to see a few more Christian Artists coming here because of his Passion.  **Reminder:  Matthew West and others are coming October 8^th – https://godsmightymen.com/matthew-west-in-concert – Buy your tickets now.
5^th Year:   “Radical Truth and Grace” – This will be our Theme for Next Year (2014).  This is another one that will have a different take for everyone.  When I look at this – I think of Christ all the way…   One of the Best examples I like to give is when Christ is coming up to a group of people who are about to Stone a Sinner and his response is…  To the one who has no sin – cast the first stone.  No one did…..    Christ did not come to condemn us to an eternal Death – but to love us and forgive us…   but there is Action on our part to receive this.
So today as you go Forward – Take Action and see what Christ is telling you to do and “DO IT”.
Bobbyg
 

I read this article in this morning’s News Paper and the Topic was “Consider: What did Jesus Say?” – So I started reading it. In the first paragraph the author commented on people having problems with Work – Spouses – Everyday problems and they would murmur WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) – then she stated that this does not work for her.   This is normally the time that I go onto the next Article – this has to be one of those Liberal Articles that is going to Bash Christianity.   But I kept reading.
The Article was excellent – it actually hit home with what I am dealing with at work…    The WWJD has been a tough topic for me at the Work Place – I am always looking at myself in Mirror and wondering do they see Jesus in me – even in spite of my difficulties at work.   Well the Article went on to Say that Jesus probably did not have one of those Radical People to work with or for – so most of the time we would answer “I Do not know what Jesus would do?”  Then at that point we would be put some extremely high expectations on ourselves that we could not achieve.
Here comes the better question:  “What did Jesus say?”  –  The answers are there and we may not like what he has instructed us to do.  In my case at work (which the article addressed) – Jesus has stated to Love your Neighbor as your Self – Well I am OK with that – my co-worker is not my Neighbor…   Then she went on to explain in the Article about the Good Samaritan – Our Neighbor is the Person in Front of us.         OK – I am ready to go onto the next Article in the newspaper……  The meat of the Article was right on – we do need to seek what Jesus has said and apply it to our daily walk.   I will now have to go to work on Monday with a whole new perspective on my situation with my co-worker and it will be tuff – but Obedience is required on my part if I am going to have an extreme relationship with Jesus.
The last paragraph of the Article summed it up greatly:  “In Short, Jesus put his own works into Practice.  He walked the talk – and that’s what we should do.”
        So the next time the question comes up “What Would Jesus Do?”   ask the Better Question:   “What did Jesus Say?”  and go forward in Obedience to what you have learned.
 Bobbyg
If you would like a copy of the Article you can email me and I will send you a copy 🙂 –  rogudahl@wyoming.com

Instead of the normal blog – I would like to announce some activities that are up and coming….     Cheyenne is starting to bring events and concerts in and if we would like to keep them coming – then we need to support the efforts or the hard working people who are bringing them in.
1^st Event that I would like to present is Convoy of Hope…   There is a big team behind the scenes putting this event together with several churches coming together in unity to support it.  The event will be held on August 24^th and the objective is Feed people and present the gospel – with many other activities for everyone to enjoy…   https://godsmightymen.com/convoy-of-hope – you can check out the details on this Web Site…  *I am sure they are still looking for help.
2^nd Event is a Christian Concert coming up on October 8^th..    Matthew West – a Christian Artist with some really awesome songs…   along with Side Walk Prophets and Jason Castro…   This is going to be a great Concert and tickets will go on sale August 2^nd at the Civic Center.
https://godsmightymen.com/matthew-west-in-concert
These are some great opportunities for us to support our community and support the people who are working hard to put them together.
Bobbyg —   Call me if you have any questions on either event…          307-631-1464
 
 
 
 

So people are out loud in public confessing their sins, when it gets to me I want say Pass, but a month later I was told I actually said Hi my name is Jay and I am addicted to porn (don’t ever remember saying it). Then comes the conference feeling real uneasy, but by this time the Holy Spirit has me just where He wants me, as the conference goes on I realize I cannot run or hide anymore nor do I want to, by the time the alter call comes around I can’t wait to get down there and give all to God. Well I did give it ALL to My Lord and Savior right there and He took every bit of my sin and cast it away as far as the east is from the west never for it to return.
What seemed like a life time of hiding and being ashamed has now been a New beginning. Feeling for the first time as a Christian unashamed of the Gospel. I continue to be healed, though God has taken away my sin there is still plenty of work to be down.
My encouragement for any brother in sin is to Please turn it over to the ONE TRUE HEALER JESUS CHRIST, I never thought I could or would be healed but you can, if you swallow your pride and let Christ be the center of your life. Get involved in a recovery group contact me if you need help, talk to your Pastor, someone you trust, just start the healing NOW!!
Worship is alive in me not only do I have my own concerts (just YouTube any Christian artist) and jam away.
My theme song for life has become HELLO MY NAME IS by Matthew West (who will be here in Cheyenne October 8th) the song and the story behind it is me and I am so proud that now I don’t introduce myself as Jay a porn addict, but Hello my name is Jay A CHILD OF THE ONE TRUE KING.
In Christ glorious name,
Jay C. Goldberg