The Restoration Road

Restoring Flow

derek — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 21:16:29 +0000

Are you attempting to restore yourself? Have your efforts left you dissatisfied and unrestored?

Paul wrote about the futility of self-resoration and the hope discovered in the only true Restorer: “At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:3-7).

Jesus Christ lived, died, was buried, resurrected, ascended into heaven, and provided His Spirit to live through those who fully surrender their hearts and lives to Him. God never intended for us to restore ourselves by making hardened, cracked cisterns. Rather, He designed all of life as an opportunity to release the Spirit of Christ in us as we drink from the Spring of Living Water. Flow has always been the design of the Designer.

Today, surrender your self-restoration attempts to the One who can wash you clean, make you new, and give you hope.

For more, watch: Season 1 : Episode 20 : Living Water

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Into the Deep with Robert Rogers (Part 1)

derek — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 21:13:13 +0000

Episode 81: Into The Deep with Robert Rogers from mitchkrusetv on Vimeo.

Living Water For Thirsty Souls

derek — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 19:09:15 +0000

Is your soul thirsty for God? Jesus said that anyone who fully surrendered to Him would experience the Living Water of the Holy Spirit flowing from his heart: “On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of Living Water.’ But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:37-39 NKJV).

Jesus’ words were spoken in a loud voice during the last feast of the year, in the temple, where a crowd of hundreds of thousands had gathered. At the Feast of Tabernacles, the priests would lead the people out each day to their source of water, a process they repeated for seven days. They would come through the water gate that surrounded Jerusalem with a gold pitcher of water, and pour it on the altar to commemorate God leading them and providing physical water through the Exodus. Then they would pray for the autumn rains for their crops.

God’s answer to those prayers far exceeds physical rain. He pours out Living Water that refreshes thirsty hearts by restoring their foolish desires to wisdom. The Restorer’s ripple effect flows to you and me. Today, fully surrender your heart to Him and experience the flow of Living Water.

For more, watch:
Season 1 : Episode 20 : Living Water

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Holy Humor with David Dean

derek — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 04:00:00 +0000

Episode 80: Holy Humor with David Dean from mitchkrusetv on Vimeo.

Successful Relationships

derek — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:56:38 +0000

What’s your definition of success? Often, we keep score by power, prestige, or profit. Author and speaker, John Maxwell, defined his measurement of success as: “Those who know me best will love and respect me the most.” How would embracing this definition transform your relationships?

Years ago, when I owned an auction business, I decided to make this my benchmark of success. As a recovering workaholic and money addict, I began to prioritize the most sacred relationships that I had neglected, searching for ways that I could travel less or even schedule my family to accompany me on business trips. We became the beneficiaries of the Holy Spirit realigning and restoring our relationships to His original design.

Solomon taught, “A greedy man brings trouble to his family, but he who hates bribes will live” (Proverbs 15:27). Is it time for you to start living? Change your definition of success from power, prestige, or profit to one that prioritizes your relationships with your family. God will restore them to His original design.

For more, watch:
Finding God’s Vision with George Del Canto
The Kingdom Racing Story with George Del Canto

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Leading the Passive Resistive Through Listening

derek — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 04:00:13 +0000

Episode 79: Leading the Passive Resistive Through Listening from mitchkrusetv on Vimeo.

Reclaiming Relationships

derek — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:48:11 +0000

Where do you draw the boundaries for your relationships? Whom do you let in, and whom do you keep out?

Sometimes, we draw the lines too loosely. Solomon observed: “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24). In Hebrew the phrase “many comparisons” and the word “ruin” come from the same root. It is a picture of hardening our hearts toward God’s design for our relationships. This often occurs when we hang around those who entice us to sin in our areas of weakness.

Still other times, we draw the lines too tightly, only wanting to be around those who mimic our beliefs, so that we feel comfortable. However, Paul continually communicated that we should make the most of every opportunity to reach outsiders (Colossians 4:5-6; 1 Corinthians 5:10; 9:22). Otherwise, we risk leveraging every relationship for our selfish benefit.

What would happen if you would surrender your relationships to God’s boundaries?

Today, reclaim all of your relationships for advancing the heart of Christ in them. Search for ways to help your friends experience the Spirit of the Restorer. You might even begin studying the Bible with some of them. Focus on how you can apply your relationship with God to your marketplace encounters. In your conversations with your customers, employees, competitors, and vendors, be transparent about your journey on Restoration Road. You will discover that many people are on the same journey you are traveling.

For more, watch: Found with Larry Lance

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Leading the People Pleaser through Listening

derek — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 04:00:22 +0000

Restored Relationships

derek — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 20:15:40 +0000

What is the true purpose of your relationships? We often leverage connections with our friends, business associates, spouses, and children for our benefit only. John offered a different way, one that would allow the flow of the Holy Spirit into our relationships: “We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves god must also love his brother” (1 John 4:19-21).

God calls us to self-sacrificial love. Today, find someone, anyone in your world, with whom you share part of your time, talent, or treasure to advance the kingdom of Christ. Write a note, meet a need, or give a gift. You will love God through genuinely loving others, bringing His eternal purpose to your relationships.

For more, watch: Teen Desires with Kelsey Kruse & Ryan Bollier

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Leading the Complainer Through Listening

derek — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 04:00:07 +0000

Compartmentalizing God

derek — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:26:07 +0000

Have you compartmentalized God? We often limit God to a particular worship style, in a specific building, during one hour, on a certain day of the week, or even a quiet time, a Bible study, or a small group. Then we take control of the other 167 hours of the week. Mankind has been doing this since the first sin. However, the spiritual was not fashioned for religion, but for relationships. God created a different design for His people, one that allowed the Holy Spirit to saturate all of our hearts all 168 hours a week:

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates” (Deuteronomy 6:4-9).

Today, memorize these verses and recite them twice a day, the pattern of its original audience, a pattern that was maintained for millennia. God will release the Holy Spirit in your spiritual life, as you give Him every moment that encapsulates every act as a spiritual one.

For more, watch: Episode 20: Living Water

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Leading The Aggressive Through Listening

derek — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 04:00:03 +0000

Captive Thoughts

derek — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 18:39:16 +0000

What dominates your thoughts? The apostle Paul wrote: “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). The problem is pretense that we can be god in our own lives. Through the prophet Jeremiah, God said, “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water” (Jeremiah 2:13). Clay holds water.

A heart of clay shows us that we must release the Holy Spirit in our minds. If we continue to rely on our own knowledge, we will watch as another cistern begins to crack as the Living Water escapes. “Taking captive every thought” means that we identify any destructive idea or image in our minds that flows from a licentious sand or legalistic stone cistern of pride. “Making it obedient to Christ” means that we surrender it to Him, experiencing His perspective, His mind, His wisdom. Identifying and surrendering destructive thoughts to the Restorer will transform our emotions that tend to follow our beliefs.

In order to release the water of the Holy Spirit in the clay chamber of your intellect, read the Bible everyday and allow the Word to permeate your thoughts. As you get into the Word, the Word will get into you. You will be empowered to take captive every thought and make it obedient to the Restorer as His Living Water transforms your mind.

For more, watch: Episode 20: Living Water

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Leading Difficult People Through Listening

derek — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 04:00:51 +0000

Outlets

derek — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 21:55:43 +0000

What is your outlet? At first, you might describe a hobby or a hideaway, if anything at all, but God designed us to have outlets for His restoration to flow to others.

Everything in the Dead Sea dies because it has no outlet. Contrasted, the Sea of Galilee brings life because its outlet allows it to experience flow. God designed the same for our lives. The apostle Peter wrote: “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Peter 4:10).

A couple decades ago, I was invited to view our local homeless shelter’s new facility. The first person who greeted me was a four year-old girl playing on the floor. She was the same age as my daughter. For the first time in my life, I realized that a child in DeKalb County could be homeless. After my tour, I went back to my office and wrote a check to the shelter that stretched my sacrificial cardiac muscles. I experienced the flow of the Holy Spirit’s water, that day.

When our clay hearts recognize God as the inlet of our financial resources, we seek ways to help those in need.

Today, thank Christ for being your inlet of resources and ask Him for guidance to discover your outlet.

For more, watch:
Episode 20: Living Water

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Auction Stories with Dean & Stuart Kruse

derek — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 21:50:02 +0000

Don’t Forget God

derek — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 05:56:31 +0000

Have you forgotten God? Read carefully what God said to His people through Moses: “Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God…You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today” (Deuteronomy 8:11, 17-18).

God blesses us financially, yet we often forget Him. We tend to measure success and failure all in terms of money: our accomplishments and our shortfalls as well as our profits and our losses. Consequently, we hinder the Holy Spirit’s work, putting us in a position to lose everything.

However, on our dirt road toward restoration, God calls us to release our financial resources for the advancement of His kingdom.

Today, remember God and surrender your heart to Him, including your financial decisions. He will make you new, again.

For more, watch:
Episode 27: God’s Ins, Outs, Ups, and Downs of Resources, Part 1
Episode 28: God’s Ins, Outs, Ups, and Downs of Resources, Part 2
Episode 29: God’s Ins, Outs, Ups, and Downs of Resources, Part 3
Episode 30: God’s Ins, Outs, Ups, and Downs of Resources, Part 4

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The Christmas Card with Brian Brooker

derek — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 04:00:30 +0000

The Restorer’s Water: Social/Emotions

derek — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 05:37:04 +0000

God said, “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water” (Jeremiah 2:13). A social cistern contains friends, business associates, spouses, and children to be leveraged for our benefit only.

John offered a different way, one that would allow the flow of the Holy Spirit to all of our relationships. It’s called love: “We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For any one who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother” (1 John 4:19-21). God calls us to the flow of self-sacrificial love.

Reclaim all your thirsty relationships for God with the quenching flow of the Living Water.

For more, watch The Restoration with Mitch Kruse, Episode 20: Living Water.

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Wisdom in Conflict Management Styles

derek — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 04:00:02 +0000