His Victorious Indwelling .... today

For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the spirit of Sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs - heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. Romans 8:15-17 It is indeed a wonderfully blessed thing to be a Christian, for a Christian is a man "in Christ" - he is "in the Spirit," and has the Holy Spirit dwelling in him. The Spirit is in him who believes in Jesus, and gives him an experiential sense of that which is now his, and what will be his. Nay more, the Spirit being in him, the next thing is his mouth is opened, and he cries, "Abba, Father." But more than that, the Holy Spirit ministers to us, and shows the things of Christ to us, and brings us into the enjoyment of the Lord's love, and the Father's love, and ministers to us the comfort of the fact that we are the children of God. More still - "If children," then we are "heirs"; "heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together." Co-heirs, co-sufferers, co-glorified with Christ - that is really the word here. We are side by side with Christ. We are sons of God, even as He is the Son of God - not in His eternal Sonship, but in the place he took in grace as Man, and which He brings those into who believe in Him. As He said to Mary, "I ascend to my Father, and your Father, to my God and your God." The Holy Spirit comes down, to give us the sense, and knowledge, that we are co-heirs, co-sufferers, and that we shall be co-glorified with Him. W.T.P. Wolston

For Mikey :)

"Caves are not the ideal place for morale building. There is a certain sameness to them all, no matter how many you have lived in. Dark. Wet. Cold. Stale. A cave becomes even worse when you are its sole inhabitant....and in the distance you can hear the dogs baying. But sometimes, when the dogs and hunters were not near, the hunted sang. He started low, then lifted his voice and sang the song the little lamb had taught him. The cavern walls echoed each note just as the mountains had once done. The music rolled down into deep cavern darkness that soon became an echoing choir singing back to him. He had less now than when he was a shepherd, for now he had no lyre, no sun, not even the company of sheep. The memories of the court had faded. David's greatest ambition now reached no higher than a shepherd's staff. Everything was being crushed out of him. He sang a great deal. And matched each note with a tear. How strange, is it not, what suffering begets? There in those caves, drowned in the sorrow of his song and in the song of his sorow, David became the greatest hymn writer and the greatest comforter of broken hearts this world shall ever know." From Gene Edwards book "A Tale of Three Kings".

Consumed

From the dawn of time.....there is no such thing for Father....He was and is and will always be....but from forever (?) your Father, do you know Him as Father? He has known you and loved you. Yep, He is not waiting for you to get it together, today or tomorrow or ever....He is waiting, lovingly, patiently for you to come to Him with your empty hands and broken self so that He might live and give His life to you. For this life you know will never be the same. It will be His life....your life now everlasting and yet hidden in Him, eternally His. He is loving you from within and from without and surrounding you, enveloping you and encompassing you. Awesome eh? Let Him. You can never feel alone, when you have come to the Father and when Jesus has indwellt you. Let Him consume you. Let Him.

His Victorious Indwelling

I love my God with no love of mine, For I have none to give; I love thee, Lord; but all the love is Thine, For by Thy life I live. I am as nothing, and rejoice to be Emptied and lost, and swallowed up in Thee. Jeanne Guyon

From Dear Lillian

Have you ever doubted His love for you? Especially on a bad day when you were doing everything wrong? Our sinfulness can raise serious doubts in our minds about His love, can it not? Did you ever ask yourself, "What is God ever going to do with a believer as poor as I am?" Well, if you done this, you have wasted an awful lot of time worrying for nothing. God chose you long before you were born. And long before you were born, He also took care of your sinful state. Can you grasp this? He took care of your sinful state before He created anything! When did He do this? At a place where He took care not only of sin, but death, too! A place where the Lamb who was slain was before the foundation of the worlds (Rev. 13:8). A marvelous thing happened back in the eternals that was to take care of all of our needs.

Gene Edwards again shares these previous thoughts through his book.... "Dear Lillian". Does this just blow you away? Can you even begin to wrap your mind around this? Somebody started this train of thought and it is charging onward in my mind....the Lamb was there before all creation with the Father, Eternally aware .... The Lamb that would lift us from the fall by the cross and Father gave this Lamb because of His Perfect Love. Can you think on this and not be awed to tears....the works of His Hand....His Power... His Glory.

Pierced my heart...

Okay, so I cannot keep quiet for long...This book by Edwards..."A Tale of Three Kings"....oh my ....it is touted as a study in brokenness...let's leave it there shall we? Anywhoooo....it spoke to my heart as some books that come along "completely by accident", tend to do. Read it and weep folks....I did!
The dedication of the book ....

"To the brokenhearted Christians coming out of authoritarian groups, seeking solace, healing and hope. May you somehow recover and go on with Him who is liberty.

And to all brokenhearted Christians:

May you be so utterly healed that you can still answer the call of Him who asks for all because He is all."

There will be more said on this book....to be sure.

Once again

Ok, so He reminds me again. I am one that needs a lot of reminding. What I know is one thing. When am I going to learn to lay the feelings down. I find myself continuing to say ..."I know you are God, and I know You alone are going to work our Your purpose in me BUT....I am so frustrated and impatient and disheartened." I have so many big questions. The whys and the hows in situations and circumstances. I truly am getting sick of myself....the anger, the bitterness, the cynicism, the fear...the death....not very pretty fruit....at all. I just can't understand that in Job's case that God can just create a second family and everything's all better....I can't understand that Joseph can spend years and years and years waiting out faithfully God's purpose in all that yucky stuff.....I find myself faltering after what.....say 5 years back in this journey and I am losing confidence in His planning ....But I am reminded....AGAIN... to not lose hope. Check out the blog on walkingchurch this morning. Did you happen to catch Charles Stanley this morning...I did for 10 minutes... that was enough....God speaks at the time and place we need it to bring us back into the encircling arms of His great love and plan for our lives. He needs to keep a heavy hand on me...I need it...I need to continue on realizing that He is my hiding place...that there is preservation in the trouble in that place...that there is that peace....the waters rise around me but He assures me that they will not overcome me. His eye is upon me...I will be instructed as I wait.....to hear....His teaching comes as it comes in His time, not mine. Others speak His desire and plan to me because He can do this...He can make me wait, and make me come to a complete understanding...but not today, maybe.... I am His, a mess in the process as Frank quotes all the time. Like this blog....big spaces....I have done something...messed it up...I cannot understand where these empty spaces are coming from....like the spaces inside me that are in need of filling up....and I in my own strength....nope, it isn't going to happen....I need the guidance of One far more capable...to be my strength....to fill the spaces .... He is here and waiting for me, ahead of me....knowing just what I need and loving me to that place, where He knows that if I listen to the instruction, if I stay with Him through the places of difficulty that He knows all about and knows how my heart aches for a resolve.....He will bring me to that place, that purpose, that plan and I shall look back astonished and amazed.....it has been made even better and I am on my face, overwhelmed by His glory and how He has brought to completion His plan and purpose by using me as again that broken vessel and how beautiful His glory shines through those cracks in just that.

What??

Aren't these images similar to figuring out this life of Christ in our own strength? I am so thankful that He reveals the Truth to me because there is a lot of junk out there and somedays I feel that He is laughing out loud at the latest and greatest thoughts of the latest and greatest thought-producer. There is just too much out there. It is no wonder some people run as far and as fast as they can away from this religiosity. It shows so much as big business, IF, you allow yourself to be distracted from the real focus. It reminds me that I can back up my self-made thoughts with some "preacher of the day", but if I get lost in all of that.....I am lost in all that. I am aware that there are so many man-made philosophies, and it at times is a daunting task to read through but when you ask for God's help....it all becomes clear. Some of it is just that. Man's attempt to rewrite God's Word. Nope, it will never fly with me.....I chose to stand on the edge of confusion and trust my God who is not the Author of confusion. He leads me to clarity by His Spirit. This is one thing that I am sure of.

Christ's Church

Thinking about church and 'The Church', today. Some thoughts from my treasured devotional. I love this thought about Christ's love for the Church...that is us, me and you who live from Him. We are the Church because of Him. I love this life that is from Him. Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it. Ephesians 5:25 KJV "It never says Christ loved the world; nor does it say God loved the Church. It says, "Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it." If we want to know what are Christ's interests to-day - where the circle of His interests are to-day, we have the answer in this beautiful passage before us: it is the Church. The Lord thinks everything of the Church. The circle of His interests all center there in this present day. He loved it and gave Himself for it, and He is engaged in active service on high today on behalf of it; and He is going to take it to glory to be with Himself soon, and then bring it back and display it in all the brightness and splendor of His own glory with which He will adorn it, when it will shine forth as the Holy City, New Jerusalem, having the glory of God - the Bride, the Lamb's wife. It is an immense thing, for our souls to get hold of that, and to find ourselves in the power of it. Especially is it needful for those who are young in the ways of the Lord. It is a great thing for us all to see that the affections of the Lord's heart flow out at the present time to His Church and not to the world. William Easton Just a short addition from today's....."And so the summons of the Gospel is not that we behold what is impossible for us in Christ, and reach forth to it; but rather that we behold what is accomplished for us in Christ, and appropriate it and live in it"...... and this phrase that I hear the true Church saying so oftern, ...."In Christ Jesus we work no longer for life, but from life." A. J. Gordon

Today's Reminders

Devotionals So for those of you that are into Oswald Chamber's "My Utmost for His Highest", today, do you want to add an Amen to mine? And, if you are into Harrison's "His Victorious Indwelling", well, my, my, my.....Here is a snippet from Rosalind Rinker's entry today... "The entire matter of hearing God's voice can be greatly simplified if we remember that the Kingdom is within and the King is in His Kingdom. The Spirit of the Lord dwells within. Within the real me, within the real you dwells the Presence of God. 'Not I, but Christ lives in me,' wrote Paul, recognizing this inner Presence in his own being. We never have to go out looking for Him; He's never away from us, always near to us. God is never preoccupied, always attentive and aware." I hope this never becomes old for me. He is there and letting me know it today! Thank You, Jesus....thank You Father.....thank You Holy Spirit.... You control the life You have given me because You are Life.

Isaiah 58:10-11

KJV If thou draw out they soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy lifht rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: and the Lord shall guide thee continually, an satisfy they soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. The Message If you are generous with the hungry and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out, Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness, your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight. I will always show you where to go. I'll give you a full life in the emptiest of places - firm muscles, strong bones. You'll be like a well-watered garden, a gurgling spring that never runs dry.