Archive by Author | Jacob Ricker

See It? Hear It? It’s His Glory!

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“The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship.” Psalms 19:1 (NLT)

“Seek My face, and you will find fulfillment of your deepest longing. My world is filled with beautiful things; the are meant to be pointers to Me, reminders of My abiding Presence. The earth still declares My Glory to those who have eyes that see and ears that hear.” Sarah Young ~ “Jesus Calling”

This morning I am starting my first day of vacation camping at the lake. I am up before anyone else Read More…

Finding “Rare” Coin!

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As a kid I remember sitting in class at Amboy Elementary waiting for my prize for selling candy or some other contest at school. The teacher called my name and I got up and walked towards her with anticipation. With great excitement I reached out and received my prize. I looked down and I saw something that was round and silver with a lady on the front of it. I knew it was some kind of coin, but this coin was unlike the quarters, dimes, nickels or even the silver half-dollars that I had seen before. I later found out that it was a Susan B. Anthony dollar. As a young boy I thought I had something very rare, and I started looking for other types of coins. I found more Susan B’s, which wasn’t as valuable as I thought, along with some silver dollars and a couple of half-dollars with Kennedy on the front of them. However, I did come across another “rare” coin Read More…

The Examined Life

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Robert Fulghum wrote in his book All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten: “The examined life is no picnic…”

Oh how true are these words! I don’t like looking at my life and seeing all of the junk that is there. How about you? You would probably answer that with a big NO WAY! The important question is, why not? Because if we do and we are really honest, then we will have to admit to ourselves Read More…

LIAR, LIAR – The Lies satan Wants Us to Believe!

Liar, Liar, Pants on fire!  The pants of this person are definitely on fire because he is the father of lies, and that is the devil himself.  And he is in overdrive.  There are certain things that satan wants us to believe that are true when the facts prove that they are just right down lies! There is one lie that I have heard over and over again. I have seen it on Facebook recently and it needs to be exposed!

The lie that needs to be exposed is: “God will never give you more than you can handle.” Read More…

The Best Question to Ask…

Asking the Right Questions to the Right Person will always get you the right answers!
If you and I were created for something more, it sure would be nice to know what that something is, right? Right!

So, how do you know what you have been created for? Good question, no actually great question! It is a question that needs to be asked! Better yet, it is a question that needs to be answered! I am so glad you asked!

Just like any good teacher, the best answer seems to always be a question! Haha… Don’t you just hate when someone answers your question with a question? I do… but sometimes it is necessary.

So my question for you is: Do you KNOW the One who created you for a purpose? That’s right, do you KNOW Him?

A couple of years ago I read a passage of Scripture that spoke volumes to me on knowing God. King David was drawing near to the end of his life and is about to turn over his kingdom to his son, Solomon. David gives some of the best advice that a father could give his son. He says to his son: “And Solomon, my son, learn to know the God of your ancestors intimately.” 1 Chronicles 28:9 (NLT)

There are a couple of words that stand out in this verse: know and intimately. The word know in the Hebrew is Yada, which means to know by experience. There are all kinds of ways that we can know someone by experience. When we come into contact with people, we have an experience with them. So how are you to experience God? David answers that question. We are to experience Him intimately! Intimate means a close, deep relationship; it is a closeness that is intertwined with understanding, confidence, and total acceptance. To Know God is to have an intimate experiential knowledge of Him!

There are a lot of people who know about God or may know God as an acquaintance but do not know Him in a personal and intimate way. However, there is a major difference between an acquaintance of God and intimately knowing God. Think about it in the terms of a marriage or dating relationship. How close would you be to your spouse or boyfriend/girlfriend if you only talked to them once a month or even once a week? Do you really think you would know them very well? Probably not. The reason why you married your spouse or are dating someone is because you developed a deep and personal relationship with them. This relationship did not happen overnight and it didn’t happen by causally meeting them every once in a while. It took time to learn about them, right? Right! The same is true with God. We must spend time with our Heavenly Father and get to know Him intimately!

So how does knowing God intimately relate to the purpose in which we were created for? Well, if you don’t know the Creator of our purpose very well, then we will never know exactly what He created us for in any area of our life! The only way to find out your purpose in this life is to get to know God by experiencing Him through a close, deep and yes intimate relationship. As you grow closer to Father, as you keep seeking Him and asking Him your purpose in this life, I promise He will show you what purpose He created you for! So see, it is about asking the questions to the right person!

So have you asked the Right questions to the Right Person? Let me know what you think! Or if you would like for me to be praying for you in finding your purpose I would love to, just let me know!

Ah, a Masterpiece!!!

Created for Something More… sounds like a great idea, right? We like the idea of having a purpose in our life, yet there are many of us out there that question if we have a purpose in our lives. I questioned this for years! I remember sitting out on the curb in front of my house the night before I was to graduate from high school talking to my best friend Jason. We were talking about our futures. That fall, Jason was headed off to the University of Arkansas to purse his degree in the field of computers and I was heading to ASU – Beebe for a business degree. I remember telling Jason that I believed he was going to make all of his dreams come true because he was a dream maker, a leader who would do great things. He made a comment similar to mine and I told him that he was crazy. I told him I was just a follower. The reason why I told him that is because I didn’t see any real value or worth in my life. That was in May of 1992, and for the next 7 years I would live my life without purpose….why? The answer is for the same reason why everyone else lives their lives without purpose; I did not realize that God created me for something more!

Last week I shared Ephesian 2:10 with you as the foundation for this blog.

“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long.” (NLT)

I love this verse! It is so powerful and so uplifting! It whispers volumes as to how God feels about you and me! Can you hear it? Listen closely… You, yes you, you are God’s masterpiece! Did you catch that? You are a masterpiece! When I hear the word masterpiece I think of art work like paintings by the master painters’ such as da Vinci, Michelangelo and Bernini. These great artists created some of the world greatest art. According to Paul, you and I are the greatest masterpieces of all time! We are the Master Artist masterpiece! God created us! We are so special to Him. Just like there is only one Mona Lisa, there is just one of you in this world! He created you just the way you are! There is no one that has the same personality as you. No one looks just like you (even if you are an identical twin, you really are not truly identical!). No one with the same gifts, talents, desires, and passions as you. There is no one just like you! The truth is, God created you just the way you are for Him! You are special and unique. He took His chisel and chipped away at you until you were just the way He wanted you. Then He picked up His paint brush and gently stroked of color the your skin, eyes and hair to His liking. When God finished He stood back and smiled to Himself and said: “Ah another Masterpiece!”  That’s right; the Creator said that about you!

Do you see yourself as God’s Masterpiece? Why or why not?

Created For a Purpose!

Monday morning, the alarm goes off, you hit the snooze thinking, “Oh I don’t want to get up”, and then roll back over and go back to sleep. After hitting the snooze button 3 times, you drag yourself out of bed and head for the shower. You shower, brush your teeth, get dress and fix your hair. Once dressed for work you grab a small bite to eat and pour yourself a cup of joe. While finishing up breakfast you try to watch a little of Good Morning America so that you can be an informed person then head of to work. You work all day, come home, eat dinner, watch a little TV and then off to bed. Tuesday morning repeat the same thing… Wednesday, repeat… the next week, repeat … weeks turn in to years of doing the same thing. It is as if life is stuck on “repeat’ just like a song on your iPod.  Does this sound familiar? Then you wake up one morning and ask the question: Is this all life has to offer? You have? Yep, me too.  I believe that a lot people ask this very question daily. Maybe not verbally, but maybe mentally. Either way people ask the question.

So, is that all life has to offer; repeating the same things day in and day out? Only to think that there is nothing more in this life but just live the normal life. The answer is no! I believe that we were created for something more! As I matter of fact, I know we are!

A few months ago I preached a message called “Created for I Refuse Moments”. For the message I used Ephesians 2:10 as the Scripture reference. Eph. 2:10 says: “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long.” (NLT) Notices first of all we God masterpiece! Secondly we are a new person when we place our faith in Jesus. All of that sounds great, right? But for what purpose? That purpose is so that we can do good works that God the Father planned for us even before we were a twinkle in our parent’s eyes. That is amazing to me! That doesn’t sound like the same ole’ same ole’ to me, does it you? And before you ask yourself the big question, let me answer it before hand: Yes, God wants to use you!

So that is what this is blog all about! Showing you to that God has created you for something more! I will be sharing passages of Scriptures, stories and personal experiences on how God created everyone for something!

Question? Do you believe that God has created you for a purpose?

Please join in the discussion as we look at how each one of us is “Created for Something More”

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Coming Soon!

Hey everyone… Glad you stopped by! I will have a new post soon! I hope you come back soon! JR