WOW!

it is 10:45 pm and I wanna share some stuff that God is doing so here goes! 1st-God has been so good to me! He woke me up this morning! My heart is beating...my lungs have breath and I am able to tell of his goodness via my eyes seeing the computer...my fingers typing words and my heart exploding with joy! I have a relationship with Jesus Christ! He alone is worthy! I have a wife that I love that also loves me that displays Gods love in ways that I have a hard time communicating! My family, friends and church are amazing...and I can go on and on and on! So yeah....God has been so good to me! 2nd-My dear friend Justin Hanneken and my new friend Jeremy Willet wrote a book called carried that you need to read! Now..I read a lot and I share books that I read and music that I listen too with a lot of people and some might think that I am sharing this book only because my friends wrote it...but truth be told you should read it because God gave the book to us to encourage, challenge, inspire and call us to walk out what God has called us too! I have put off blogging about this book because I believe in the potential it has to impact peoples lives so much that it is hard to describe it...but I am telling you...you need to read this book! All the proceeds from the book go to missions! It is a book that won't take up too much of your time to read it..but it has the potential to directly impact the direction of your life! The book is full of truth from the word of God and testimonies and stories of things God has done and is doing in the world through people who choose to make a conscious decision to follow Jesus and walk out what they talk about!!! So...that is a short blurb about the book but check it out for yourself! I would let you borrow my copy but I have had 3 copies given to me and I have given them all away! Buy a book for yourself...buy one to be a blessing to someone else...all the money will go to reach the world through missions outreach! The carried.book.tour came to our youth group at Dagsboro Church of God to start off the tour and I promise you..God will impact your life through this book! Go Check out www.carriedbook.com 3rd-this week a year ago my friend Pastor Jeremy Ferruccio came to my house almost 3 hours away from his home in Salisbury and helped us pack all we had into a little yellow box truck and moved us to the eastern shore...the next part of what God was calling us to! We moved with just enough money for our security deposit, a house not sold, lots of questions including where we would go to church and where we would serve, lots of doubts from people we loved just because it was hard to support such a blind move with no proof of assurance...but GOD was in it! I remember pulling up to the light right before the intersection of our new apartment and my wife was on the phone with her sister and she started to cry and she told her sister Ashley that she did not know why she was crying...but all she knew was that she was just really happy! It is hard to share all God has done in this blog..but 1 thing is for sure..God is with us! I know as a christian God is always with us..but moving away from all that we knew that was comfortable his presence seemed to be magnified as we stepped away from our home to move and literally walk by faith! God has blessed us through prayer from friends and family, financial blessing through people and places we never expected and doors that only God could open! 1 last thing on this whole move thing! No one can put their thumb print on us or take credit for all God has done! He alone can rescue..he alone can save as the Matt Redman song says..and he alone is worthy of our praise! He challenged us to step out in faith..he made a way..he gets the glory and he is just getting started! Hallelujah Jesus!!!! 4th-In December I got a chance to share from the word of God on a Sunday morning at Dagsboro Church of God our new church! My brothers, parents and grandparents came to visit that Sunday! That afternoon my grandmother made a statement...she said 'Jimmy is smiling more now then I have ever seen him smile before! He smiles more!' I did not think much about that at the time but a few weeks ago when I was reading 'wide awake' -Erwin McManus.. one morning when I was working out a statement brought back her words! Page 98 when he was trying to explain character transformation McManus says this.. 'Transformation is the ability to get up in the morning and look in the mirror and like the person you are becoming.' So...WOW! God is growing Amber and I so much we are actually starting to show in the natural through a smile or tears of joy that which he is doing on the inside! We are in this process of transformation...and we have by no means arrived but we are in this process and I can say as we have stepped out in faith..we are starting to like the people we are becoming because we are decreasing..God is increasing and we are believing God is going to use us for his glory! So...like this blog is not long enough I want to share something for you! Don't Quit!!! Don't give up!!! The 1st Pastor we served under as youth pastors..Pastor Chris Dutruch shared about how the darkest part of the night comes right before the Sun breaks through on the horizon! I don't know how long you have struggled or how long you have been waiting for a break through...but my friend...if you have breath and a heart beat..you still have an opportunity to follow him! God is so mindful of you and he is not finished with you! Hold on! Don't quit! Also...we still have rough days sometimes...but we can not forget what God has done! For in seasons of drought and lack we have to remember even though we don't feel like there is hope...that does not change the fact that God is still God and he is still in control and he is still worthy and he can still do more then we could ever even ask...and HE IS HOPE! So...don't forget and don't give up...but DO NOT QUIT! Read Philippians 1:6! be blessed and encouraged! thanks for reading! -jimmy akers

a challenge...

that I have been pondering the last few days! James 4:17 (NKJV) ¹⁷ Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. With New Years Resolutions in mind I have been thinking a lot about goals for 2010 and past goals that were never achieved! Dave Ramsey shares a quote all the time on his radio/TV show that hits me heavy every time I hear it! "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over again and expecting a different result!" Then I read the above scripture in James and I look at past failures and have come to the conclusion that almost if not all of my past regrets come from me not doing something or not doing what I said I was going to do! I always used to say that I was afraid of failure and that was my excuse for not trying...but really I was just being lazy! I have little regrets about the things I actually worked at and failed! So... What has God been challenging you to do? Maybe your response or lack of response to what you feel called to do has not been a sin...but I know God is ready for me and you to step up! He tells us that He has called us to do great things...that he knew us before we were formed in our mothers womb...that the hairs on our head are numbered...and yet we settle all the time with just getting by! I am tired of it! Are you? What is he calling you to do? What has he called you to do that you have been not doing...even to the point where your lack of responding to his call has become disobedience and has become sin? I know we don't like to talk about words like obedience, or discipline (I know I don't)...but I wonder why that is? Is it because we like to settle? We like to stay comfortable? We feel satisfied with our lack of achievement? I know this blog has become more of a rant...but this is what God is trying to deal with me about right now! I am sure that I am not alone! And know that if any of this is challenging you...you too are not alone! Be encouraged...God is mindful of you! Not only does he want the best for you...I believe he has more for you and I then we realize! I wrote down some goals for 2010 that I am praying will become more than just words! The categories include my relationship with: God, my wife Amber, family and friends! Also physical, financial, education, ministry, music, travel and purchases. I know that the last 3 sounds selfish and trivial but they are things that I have been thinking about so I figured there is no harm in writing them down! To know what is right...to know what we are being called to...and to choose to do those things...to choose to take the 1st step...I believe...those choices to move forward in the things of God will not only make him smile...but more importantly will draw us closer to him! Thanks for reading...it has been a while and I have a lot going on in my dome! In the same words that Joe Sangl writes in his book 'I was broke. Now I'm not.'... let's hear the Lord say to you and me everyday... Pssssttt...I believe in you!