Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
Psalm 90:1-2
The march, not the dirge, has ever been the music of Christianity. If we are good students in the school of life, there is much that the years have to teach us. But the Christian is more than a student, more than a philosopher. He is a believer, and the object of his faith makes the difference, the mighty difference.
Of all persons the Christian should be best prepared for whatever the New Year brings. He has dealt with life at its source. In Christ he has disposed of a thousand enemies that other men must face alone and unprepared. He can face his tomorrow cheerful and unafraid because yesterday he turned his feet into the ways of peace and today he lives in God. The man who has made God his dwelling place will always have a safe habitation.
From Tozer's Daily Devotional
Monday, December 31, 2007
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Update
Just a quick update....thanks for asking.
My sister has been home for a few weeks now and seems to finally be recovering from the invasive surgery into her brain. The infection and leakage seem to have been taken care of and all looks good at the site of the surgery.
She has been able to be home over Christmas and enjoyed spending time with family and friends. She is even eating a little better and that is a good thing because she has lost quite a bit of weight due to nausea and vomitting and even this seems to be coming under control somewhat. Appointments with various doctors and experts have kept us busy and yet brought us closer. Thank you for the blessings, Lord!
Hopefully, radiation therapy will begin soon and as we face this next course of treatment, I thank you for your prayers , concerns and offers of support and just anticipate His gentle hand upon her very weakened body for the next few months.
My sister has been home for a few weeks now and seems to finally be recovering from the invasive surgery into her brain. The infection and leakage seem to have been taken care of and all looks good at the site of the surgery.
She has been able to be home over Christmas and enjoyed spending time with family and friends. She is even eating a little better and that is a good thing because she has lost quite a bit of weight due to nausea and vomitting and even this seems to be coming under control somewhat. Appointments with various doctors and experts have kept us busy and yet brought us closer. Thank you for the blessings, Lord!
Hopefully, radiation therapy will begin soon and as we face this next course of treatment, I thank you for your prayers , concerns and offers of support and just anticipate His gentle hand upon her very weakened body for the next few months.
The Joy of Reading
An interesting/fun activity sent out from my dear Belmonite brother in Christ :) I am sure that he won't mind my sharing.
"I want to throw out the gauntlet down here.
All of you are dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ and are avid readers. From time to time I like to ask what people are reading so I can expand my spiritual nutrient supplement for the upcoming year. So if you dare to share list your best FIVE reads of this past year and I think most on this list would like to be copied on your reply."
Ok so,
I am going to stop obsessing and just pick my last five good reads. I also am aware that I tend to be a bit behind sometimes and am finding treasures that some of you may have already read (the hazards of working in a Christian Book Store. I always find something in everything I read so the FIVE best....not easy for me.
No particular order following the lead of the Belmonite :)
The Divine Exchange: My Life for His by Stelman H. Smith
Honor (or Honour if you are Canadian) by Fawn Parish
Being the Body by Charles Colson & Ellen Vaughn
Becoming a True Spiritual Community by Larry Crabb
Wholly Sanctified by A. B. Simpson
Fiction.....if you have read my blog The Shack by William P. Young
Music......Leeland (Sound of Melodies) does it for me this year, Casting Crowns always in the running.
I never was good at following rules.
Isn't nuthin' better than a good book and some tunes in the background...unless it is fellowship with my brothers and sisters. God's Blessings!
In Him,
Feel free to join in the fun....it is a great way to hear about great books.
"I want to throw out the gauntlet down here.
All of you are dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ and are avid readers. From time to time I like to ask what people are reading so I can expand my spiritual nutrient supplement for the upcoming year. So if you dare to share list your best FIVE reads of this past year and I think most on this list would like to be copied on your reply."
Ok so,
I am going to stop obsessing and just pick my last five good reads. I also am aware that I tend to be a bit behind sometimes and am finding treasures that some of you may have already read (the hazards of working in a Christian Book Store. I always find something in everything I read so the FIVE best....not easy for me.
No particular order following the lead of the Belmonite :)
The Divine Exchange: My Life for His by Stelman H. Smith
Honor (or Honour if you are Canadian) by Fawn Parish
Being the Body by Charles Colson & Ellen Vaughn
Becoming a True Spiritual Community by Larry Crabb
Wholly Sanctified by A. B. Simpson
Fiction.....if you have read my blog The Shack by William P. Young
Music......Leeland (Sound of Melodies) does it for me this year, Casting Crowns always in the running.
I never was good at following rules.
Isn't nuthin' better than a good book and some tunes in the background...unless it is fellowship with my brothers and sisters. God's Blessings!
In Him,
Feel free to join in the fun....it is a great way to hear about great books.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
This Day's Thought - A Good One
I sometimes think that the very essence of the whole Christian position and the secret of a successful spiritual life is just to realize two things…I must have complete, absolute confidence in God and no confidence in myself.
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Monday, December 24, 2007
Christ's Message Through Me.
To my friends, brothers, sisters, visitors of the blog.....May this time of the year be an opportunity to draw close to the One True Thing. May Jesus, Immanuel manifest Himself in you and through you and may you come to know that Christ is the center of all your days, all your life not just this man-made day of man-made things.
Blessings upon blessings to each of you.
He loves you so unimagineably. Recognize Him as the God that He is, not the God that we would want Him to be.
Take that deep breath of His Presence and know.....He is God. Take time to hear Him, and to see Him in the stillness that so alludes us at this time of year. It will be a time unmatched by any other thing you may have on your agenda.
He is my Love, my Life, and in Him I find the answer.
Merry Christmas to you all and your loved ones.
Blessings upon blessings to each of you.
He loves you so unimagineably. Recognize Him as the God that He is, not the God that we would want Him to be.
Take that deep breath of His Presence and know.....He is God. Take time to hear Him, and to see Him in the stillness that so alludes us at this time of year. It will be a time unmatched by any other thing you may have on your agenda.
He is my Love, my Life, and in Him I find the answer.
Merry Christmas to you all and your loved ones.
There it is!
Tozer
Trials and Pain: Heartache or Happiness
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. --James 1:2-4
From the trials and triumphs of Paul, we gather, too, that happiness is really not indispensable to a Christian. There are many ills worse than heartaches. It is scarcely too much to say that prolonged happiness may actually weaken us, especially if we insist upon being happy as the Jews insisted upon flesh in the wilderness. In so doing, we may try to avoid those spiritual responsibilities which would in the nature of them bring a certain measure of heaviness and affliction to the soul.
The best thing is neither to seek nor seek to avoid troubles but to follow Christ and take the bitter with the sweet as it may come. Whether we are happy or unhappy at any given time is not important. That we be in the will of God is all that matters. We may safely leave with Him the incident of heartache or happiness. He will know how much we need of either or both.
Trials and Pain: Heartache or Happiness
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. --James 1:2-4
From the trials and triumphs of Paul, we gather, too, that happiness is really not indispensable to a Christian. There are many ills worse than heartaches. It is scarcely too much to say that prolonged happiness may actually weaken us, especially if we insist upon being happy as the Jews insisted upon flesh in the wilderness. In so doing, we may try to avoid those spiritual responsibilities which would in the nature of them bring a certain measure of heaviness and affliction to the soul.
The best thing is neither to seek nor seek to avoid troubles but to follow Christ and take the bitter with the sweet as it may come. Whether we are happy or unhappy at any given time is not important. That we be in the will of God is all that matters. We may safely leave with Him the incident of heartache or happiness. He will know how much we need of either or both.
Delighting in What He Delights In
From John Woodward - http://www.GraceFellowshipIntl.com
How does the Christ-life relate to my affections? If I appropriate my identity in Christ by faith, I need to also cooperate with God's Spirit as He "restores my soul". This process of renewal in the mind, will, and emotions depends on personal surrender to God and trust in the indwelling presence of Christ.
If Christ is my life, I will delight in what HE delights in. My affections will be directed to what is valuable.
How prone the flesh is to delight in the sensual and carnal desires of this fallen world. Why else would James need to rebuke the early church? "Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. . . You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures." (James 4:1-3). Why else would John need to caution us in his first epistle? "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but is of the world." (James 2:15,16).
The true believer has the blessing of a regenerated human spirit--"the new man" (Col 3:10). We have been made partakers of the divine nature (2 Pet 1:4). Yet the soul is still vulnerable to the forces of the world, the flesh, and the devil. "Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul." (1Peter 2:11).
God intends us to allow the "new man" to have dominion over the soul and body by the power of the Holy Spirit. (The natural function of this chain of command was forfeited at the Fall, Gen 3). Instead of being under the control of the body, we must make it our servant (1 Cor 9:27). Instead of being under the dominion of the self-life, we need to reckon ourselves dead to sin's authority and alive to God through the resurrection power of Christ (Rom 6:5-11).
When the Lord Jesus is functioning as my Lord and LIFE, He will redirect my AFFECTIONS.
What should you delight in?
"Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart." (Psalm 37:4).
Delight in God's perfect will-- "I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart."(Psalm 40:8).
Delight in the Word of God-- "I rejoice at Your word As one who finds great treasure." (Psalm 119:162).
Delight in God's moral principles-- "For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man." (Romans 7:22).
Delight in God's comfort--"In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul."(Psalms 94:19).
Delight in the Second Coming-- "Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 1:13).
Delight in the blessing of eternal fellowship with God--"You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your righthand are pleasures forevermore." (Psalm 16:11).
Evan Hopkins wrote,
"We shall seek what we love and delight in. It is where our treasure is that our heart will be also. 'Whom have I in heaven but Thee? and there is nothing upon earth I desire beside Thee.'What are the things we are seeking? Those things that are filling our thoughts and attracting our affections. It is upon these we set our wills and concentrate our energies. It is not difficult to seek what we love."
(Broken Bread, July 30).
How does the Christ-life relate to my affections? If I appropriate my identity in Christ by faith, I need to also cooperate with God's Spirit as He "restores my soul". This process of renewal in the mind, will, and emotions depends on personal surrender to God and trust in the indwelling presence of Christ.
If Christ is my life, I will delight in what HE delights in. My affections will be directed to what is valuable.
How prone the flesh is to delight in the sensual and carnal desires of this fallen world. Why else would James need to rebuke the early church? "Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. . . You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures." (James 4:1-3). Why else would John need to caution us in his first epistle? "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but is of the world." (James 2:15,16).
The true believer has the blessing of a regenerated human spirit--"the new man" (Col 3:10). We have been made partakers of the divine nature (2 Pet 1:4). Yet the soul is still vulnerable to the forces of the world, the flesh, and the devil. "Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul." (1Peter 2:11).
God intends us to allow the "new man" to have dominion over the soul and body by the power of the Holy Spirit. (The natural function of this chain of command was forfeited at the Fall, Gen 3). Instead of being under the control of the body, we must make it our servant (1 Cor 9:27). Instead of being under the dominion of the self-life, we need to reckon ourselves dead to sin's authority and alive to God through the resurrection power of Christ (Rom 6:5-11).
When the Lord Jesus is functioning as my Lord and LIFE, He will redirect my AFFECTIONS.
What should you delight in?
"Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart." (Psalm 37:4).
Delight in God's perfect will-- "I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart."(Psalm 40:8).
Delight in the Word of God-- "I rejoice at Your word As one who finds great treasure." (Psalm 119:162).
Delight in God's moral principles-- "For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man." (Romans 7:22).
Delight in God's comfort--"In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul."(Psalms 94:19).
Delight in the Second Coming-- "Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 1:13).
Delight in the blessing of eternal fellowship with God--"You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your righthand are pleasures forevermore." (Psalm 16:11).
Evan Hopkins wrote,
"We shall seek what we love and delight in. It is where our treasure is that our heart will be also. 'Whom have I in heaven but Thee? and there is nothing upon earth I desire beside Thee.'What are the things we are seeking? Those things that are filling our thoughts and attracting our affections. It is upon these we set our wills and concentrate our energies. It is not difficult to seek what we love."
(Broken Bread, July 30).
Friday, December 21, 2007
Receive The Gift
You can never truly enjoy Christmas until you can look up into the Father's face and tell Him you have received His Christmas gift.
John Rice
From - This Day's Thought
John Rice
From - This Day's Thought
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Monday, December 10, 2007
1 Corinthians 13:5 AMP
On Love
"It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God's love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]."
"It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God's love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]."
In God's Hands
This is a new video by Nelly Furtado - Canadian artist - A huge step up from one of her last works including "Promiscuous". Her possible interpretation of what happens when you neglect, turn away etc. from love. Translate into whatever way you so choose. The video is reminiscent of Shania and Faith's videos....lots of flowing gowns etc. It sucks. ....try listening to the words. God being the source of all love, as He is love.
Friday, December 07, 2007
Be the Center - by Michael Frye
Jesus be the Center.
Be my Hope in my song, Jesus.
Jesus be the Center.
Be the Source in my life, Jesus.
Be the Fire in my heart.
Be the Wind in my sails.
Be the Reason that I live, Jesus, Jesus.
Jesus be my Vision.
Be my Help.
Be my Guide, Jesus.
From This Day's Thought
God cannot give us happiness and peace apart from himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.
C. S. Lewis
God cannot give us happiness and peace apart from himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.
C. S. Lewis
Monday, December 03, 2007
However.....
Romans 12:1 NASB
"Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. "
"Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. "
Unlimited Grace
Warning - This is a very long post.....Sorry. I am just really beginning to understand this whole thing.....truly, from my heart of hearts. It takes time and is such a continuing process to give up some the preconceptions and misconceptions of what has always been....but man, when you catch this you can't help but fall so very desperately in love with Jesus. The Law is good and it has a purpose, but Man was never created to live by principles and the Law....Man was created to live by Life and that Life is Jesus. This study on Romans and just asking for understanding.....true understanding leads me to write this very long post. Skim it if you must.
Open your heart and mind to the Truth and He will reveal it. Don't trust what someone else tells you.....Open the Word and get ready for the Thrills that come from doing just that. If you have already caught it, then together we shout a mighty "AWESOME", to God who we know as Romans 8:28 tells us..... "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."
God's Grace: License or Liberty?
Thoughts by Jim Kirkwood
Author of the above book - Unlimited Grace
Could you and I be trusted if God's back were turned: Must we be watched every moment to ensure our good behavior? Are we believers incapable of handling freedom? Is Law, a system of commands and penalties, the only way for God to govern us? Having been saved, are we now totally incapable of loyalty? Having received the divine nature and been indwelt by God Himself, have we still no capacity for gratitude? Is God's Word "alive and powerful," (Hebrews 4:12) except in the life of the believer?
That God's Grace brings the believer into the sphere of total freedom is the consistent testimony of the Pauline Epistles (Galatians 5:1). That Christians have traditionally shrunk from this great Scriptural Truth is the record of history. Look around you! How many professing Christians do you know who aren't trying to live with one foot in Grace and the other in Law? Look within yourself! Isn't it the hardest thing for you to believe that God is not playing "Tit-for-tat" with you, that He isn't keeping track of your failures and withholding blessing from you until you "make things right?" Look at the people of Paul's day! His footprints weren't cold before they were turning away from the Grace that had saved them to the folly of approaching God on the grounds of human merit.
Two cultists rang my doorbell and, upon hearing me tell of my unalterable position "in Christ," said, "Oh! If you are already saved and tomorrow's sins are already forgiven, then you can do anything you want." I couldn't help but wonder what sin it was that they wanted to commit and only refrained from committing because they thought it would cost them a chance to be saved. Well, we expect that kind of thinking from the cults but it ought to shock us that it is so prevalent among real believers.
Grace is Grace and Law is Law and a broken law demands a penalty, but how does one break Grace? It is unmerited favor, undeserved kindness. Law prescribes limits; Grace is limitless. One might sail off the edge of Law because it is the nature of the Law to have an edge, a boundary, a perimeter. But how would one sail off the edge of Grace when it is limitless? The Law says, "Do this and live," but it says it to people who can't "do this." Grace says, "Stop your doing....lay your deadly doing down and trust". Trust in what your Substitute has already done, and done not for Himself, but for you....for all who cease from their labors and trust in His Saviorhood - trust in His finished work on the cross as the purchase price in full for the sinner's salvation.
The objection will always be raised that this much freedom...total freedom from all condemnation...will be an open invitation to sin. This type of thinking overlooks several things. First of all, that Christ teaches the superior motivation of Grace. Grace is not an incitement to sin, but an inducement to holiness. Our Lord said to the woman taken in adultery, "Neither do I condemn you." If the woman could appreciate the forgiveness of sins at all she could appreciate even more the unconditional forgiveness of sins. If I can appreciate God erasing a mark from my blackboard, would I not appreciate even more His refusing to record a mark?
Second, it is Law and not Grace that incites man's sinful nature and prompts more sin. Law is a system of conditional blessing and cursing. The Law hangs like a Sword of Damocles over the head of the sinning one. It never saved or sanctified one single Israeli in its 1500 year course. The Law has no power to change the nature. Grace brings with it a new nature that cannot sin, that can only respond positively to the indwelling Spirit of God.
" 'Do this and live', the Law commands,
But gives me neither feet nor hands.
A better word the gospel brings,
It bids me 'Fly', and gives me wings."
Everything that God has done for the believer is meant to free us to serve Him. God meant that we should so appreciate our total freedom that we would respond by serving Him. His love for us displayed at Calvary is the perfect motivation for our service (2 Corinthians 5:14).
If you could lose what you have by being bad you must have had it by being good. But the Bible says Christ justifies the ungodly.
Saturday, December 01, 2007
Share the Faith, Baby!
Thanks to Guy from the M Blog who brought this video to light for me. I needed a good laugh tonight and this was it. Sometimes this is how it comes across when we are told to share our faith, and sometimes the people we share with feel like they just got hit by a linebacker. Either way, it again is nothing that we do to share Jesus. He shows Himself in us and through us to those who are open and will see and hear. Anyway, enjoy!
Friday, November 30, 2007
Friday Quotables That Speak To Me
The first quote was brought to light for me from Pastor Mike (on coffee) and is the best quote of the month....perhaps year....but something always stirs me from my self when I check out his blog. Thanks PM. I am inspired to look into that book. :)
"I hope you’ve met at least one Kingdom person in your life. They are surrendered people. You sense that life is OK at their core. They have given control to Another and are at peace. A Kingdom person lives for what matters, for life in its deepest sense. There’s a kind of gentle absolutism about their life-style, a kind of calm freedom. Kingdom people feel like grounded yet spacious people. Whatever they are after, they already seem to be enjoying it - and seeing it in unlikely places. Kingdom people make you want to be like them…. Kingdom people are anchored by their awareness of God’s love deep within."
Richard Rohr: Jesus’ Plan for a New World
It does not require any faith to dress up each week and sit in the same pew, nightclub, or bar, and dance your soul away. Imagine your last hour of living, what would you really say or do?
Be careful how you use the word, “heresy” its most often found in the accusing mouth of a pharisee.
When asked, “Where is the love, unity, power and miracles of the early church”. I reply, “Waiting in the early church for those willing to return.”
The true man of God doesn’t focus on winning the debate but on gaining the truth.
One must truly know God before its possible to blaspheme.
Lord, save me from those who believe they’re blessed with the knowledge of all truth and deliver me into the hands of those who still seek it.
"Communion is strength; solitude is weakness. Alone, the fine old beech yields to the blast and lies prone on the meadow. In the forest, supporting each other, the trees laugh at the hurricane. The sheep of Jesus flock together. The social element is the genius of Christianity."
Charles Spurgeon
Teach us to utter living words
Of truth which all may hear
The language all shall understand
When love speaks, loud and clear
Till every age and race and clime
Shall blend their creeds in one
And earth shall form one brotherhood
By whom Your will be done.
Henry H. Tweedy
God conceals himself from the mind of man, but reveals himself to his heart.
African Proverb
"I hope you’ve met at least one Kingdom person in your life. They are surrendered people. You sense that life is OK at their core. They have given control to Another and are at peace. A Kingdom person lives for what matters, for life in its deepest sense. There’s a kind of gentle absolutism about their life-style, a kind of calm freedom. Kingdom people feel like grounded yet spacious people. Whatever they are after, they already seem to be enjoying it - and seeing it in unlikely places. Kingdom people make you want to be like them…. Kingdom people are anchored by their awareness of God’s love deep within."
Richard Rohr: Jesus’ Plan for a New World
It does not require any faith to dress up each week and sit in the same pew, nightclub, or bar, and dance your soul away. Imagine your last hour of living, what would you really say or do?
Be careful how you use the word, “heresy” its most often found in the accusing mouth of a pharisee.
When asked, “Where is the love, unity, power and miracles of the early church”. I reply, “Waiting in the early church for those willing to return.”
The true man of God doesn’t focus on winning the debate but on gaining the truth.
One must truly know God before its possible to blaspheme.
Lord, save me from those who believe they’re blessed with the knowledge of all truth and deliver me into the hands of those who still seek it.
"Communion is strength; solitude is weakness. Alone, the fine old beech yields to the blast and lies prone on the meadow. In the forest, supporting each other, the trees laugh at the hurricane. The sheep of Jesus flock together. The social element is the genius of Christianity."
Charles Spurgeon
Teach us to utter living words
Of truth which all may hear
The language all shall understand
When love speaks, loud and clear
Till every age and race and clime
Shall blend their creeds in one
And earth shall form one brotherhood
By whom Your will be done.
Henry H. Tweedy
God conceals himself from the mind of man, but reveals himself to his heart.
African Proverb
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
His Life Working In Others
Just worth noting....If you haven't checked out Life at the Mission, lately, do so. I really love this blog...it touches something within that is so real and even though I live a far different life and sometimes wonder why...I so identify and sometimes feel so much the same way on things as they manifest themselves in my life....He has three great posts on the main page...one on Brian McClaren (very interesting indeed), one on a man who drinks and is in a process, and one on church as it is.
Profound and thought and prayer provoking.
Profound and thought and prayer provoking.
Beside The Well
"And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God."
1 Corinthians 6:11
One of my favourite stories in the Word is the woman at the well. Tozer speaks of this in this devotion. My Tozer free month of blogs ended when I read this. It speaks to me of that intimate knowing that Christ has with us. More than anyone, more than ourselves even....He sees and He loves anyway, even those who have not come to a knowledge of Him. It blows me away. What Love, What Grace.
From Tozer Today
"I do not know all of the Savior's reasons for choosing the woman at the well. I know that His revelation of Himself to her constituted an everlasting rebuke to human self-righteousness. I know that every smug woman who walks down the street in pride and status ought to be ashamed of herself. I know that every self-righteous man who looks into his mirror each morning to shave what he believes to be an honest face ought to be ashamed of himself....
Jesus was able to see potential in the woman at the well that we could never have sensed. What a gracious thing for us that Jesus Christ never thinks about what we have been! He always thinks about what we are going to be. You and I are slaves to time and space and records and reputations and publicity and the past-all that we call the case history. Jesus Christ cares absolutely nothing about anyone's moral case history. He forgives it and starts from there as though the person had been born one minute before."
1 Corinthians 6:11
One of my favourite stories in the Word is the woman at the well. Tozer speaks of this in this devotion. My Tozer free month of blogs ended when I read this. It speaks to me of that intimate knowing that Christ has with us. More than anyone, more than ourselves even....He sees and He loves anyway, even those who have not come to a knowledge of Him. It blows me away. What Love, What Grace.
From Tozer Today
"I do not know all of the Savior's reasons for choosing the woman at the well. I know that His revelation of Himself to her constituted an everlasting rebuke to human self-righteousness. I know that every smug woman who walks down the street in pride and status ought to be ashamed of herself. I know that every self-righteous man who looks into his mirror each morning to shave what he believes to be an honest face ought to be ashamed of himself....
Jesus was able to see potential in the woman at the well that we could never have sensed. What a gracious thing for us that Jesus Christ never thinks about what we have been! He always thinks about what we are going to be. You and I are slaves to time and space and records and reputations and publicity and the past-all that we call the case history. Jesus Christ cares absolutely nothing about anyone's moral case history. He forgives it and starts from there as though the person had been born one minute before."
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Ponderings
I have been slowly reading Romans......very slowly and getting lots of great teaching and direction. I love this book of the Word.
Romans 6:23 (NASB)
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
In the context of this verse, Paul was talking to believers, (we use this verse a lot, for the lost, don't we?)....salvation was a done deal for these believers, Hmmm? ... We know that but do we KNOW that. I guess it is all about knowing that eternal life starts at that moment...receive eternal life in Jesus. Appropriate Him. Live Him. Live who you are. Sin is death.... and doesn't it feel like it sometimes when it is chosen by the believer. As a believer, choose Righteousness, choose Grace, choose Jesus, who is Grace.
Romans 12:10 (Amplified Bible)
Love one another with brotherly affection [as members of one family], giving precedence and showing honor to one another.
Someone else pointed out this verse today. Thanks! :) What a very cool verse indeed. What absolute direction in how to be in relationship one with another in unity in Jesus. Living it out, not just talking about it or knowing (head knowledge) about it. I can't wait to re-visit this chapter of Romans!
Romans 6:23 (NASB)
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
In the context of this verse, Paul was talking to believers, (we use this verse a lot, for the lost, don't we?)....salvation was a done deal for these believers, Hmmm? ... We know that but do we KNOW that. I guess it is all about knowing that eternal life starts at that moment...receive eternal life in Jesus. Appropriate Him. Live Him. Live who you are. Sin is death.... and doesn't it feel like it sometimes when it is chosen by the believer. As a believer, choose Righteousness, choose Grace, choose Jesus, who is Grace.
Romans 12:10 (Amplified Bible)
Love one another with brotherly affection [as members of one family], giving precedence and showing honor to one another.
Someone else pointed out this verse today. Thanks! :) What a very cool verse indeed. What absolute direction in how to be in relationship one with another in unity in Jesus. Living it out, not just talking about it or knowing (head knowledge) about it. I can't wait to re-visit this chapter of Romans!
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Letting It Go....
From Tozer Today
Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Matthew 6:10
It may surprise you that Aldous Huxley, often a critic of orthodox and evangelical Christianity, has been quoted as saying: "My kingdom go is the necessary correlary to Thy kingdom come."...
Certainly His kingdom can never be realized in my life until my own selfish kingdom is deposed. It is when I resign, when I am no longer king of my domain that Jesus Christ will become king of my life.
Now, brethren, in confession, may I assure you that a Christian clergyman cannot follow any other route to spiritual victory and daily blessing than that which is prescribed so plainly in the Word of God. It is one thing for a minister to choose a powerful text, expound it and preach from it-it is quite something else for the minister to honestly and genuinely live forth the meaning of the Word from day to day. A clergyman is a man-and often he has a proud little kingdom of his own, a kingdom of position and often of pride and sometimes with power. Clergymen must wrestle with the spiritual implications of the crucified life just like everyone else, and to be thoroughgoing men of God and spiritual examples to the flock of God, they must die daily to the allurements of their own little kingdoms of position and prestige.
Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Matthew 6:10
It may surprise you that Aldous Huxley, often a critic of orthodox and evangelical Christianity, has been quoted as saying: "My kingdom go is the necessary correlary to Thy kingdom come."...
Certainly His kingdom can never be realized in my life until my own selfish kingdom is deposed. It is when I resign, when I am no longer king of my domain that Jesus Christ will become king of my life.
Now, brethren, in confession, may I assure you that a Christian clergyman cannot follow any other route to spiritual victory and daily blessing than that which is prescribed so plainly in the Word of God. It is one thing for a minister to choose a powerful text, expound it and preach from it-it is quite something else for the minister to honestly and genuinely live forth the meaning of the Word from day to day. A clergyman is a man-and often he has a proud little kingdom of his own, a kingdom of position and often of pride and sometimes with power. Clergymen must wrestle with the spiritual implications of the crucified life just like everyone else, and to be thoroughgoing men of God and spiritual examples to the flock of God, they must die daily to the allurements of their own little kingdoms of position and prestige.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Watchman Nee
From Christ The Sum Of All Spiritual Things
"Brethren, God will take away all things in order to give you one Person who is to be simultaneously your humility, your patience, your gentleness, and your love. For Christ is all. And this is what Christianity actually is.
Quite candidly speaking, here lies the basic difference between real and faulty Christianity. Many of God's people are seeking something which seems to be everywhere else except in their own lives.
What most people fail to recognize is that in the spiritual realm there is nothing but Christ."
"When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."
Colossians 3:4 ESV
"Brethren, God will take away all things in order to give you one Person who is to be simultaneously your humility, your patience, your gentleness, and your love. For Christ is all. And this is what Christianity actually is.
Quite candidly speaking, here lies the basic difference between real and faulty Christianity. Many of God's people are seeking something which seems to be everywhere else except in their own lives.
What most people fail to recognize is that in the spiritual realm there is nothing but Christ."
"When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."
Colossians 3:4 ESV
From St. Augustine's Homily
"The deeds of men are only discerned by the root of charity. For many things may be done that have a good appearance, and yet proceed not from the root of charity. For thorns also have flowers; some actions truly seem rough, seem savage; howbeit they are done for discipline at the bidding of charity. Once for all, then, a short precept is given thee: Love, and do what thou wilt: whether thou hold thy peace, through love hold thy peace; whether thou cry out, through love cry out; whether thou correct, through love correct; whether thou spare, through love do thou spare: let the root of love be within, of this root can nothing spring but what is good."
Friday, November 23, 2007
Update
Ok, so today, my sister is having her fourth....yep, fourth operation in this series called...."What is this about, God?" She is not healing well, and they are continuing to open up the incision to the brain to clean and flush and all that which is well beyond my understanding at this point. She is way stronger than me at this point because between surgeries and rushes to the hospital for complications including an unexpected seizure, leakage and extreme nausea and vomitting, headaches and weariness, she continues to hang tough. Her battle is not over but she continues to bear it. Her radiation is in delay mode because with the open incision it is not possible to have it.
I find myself pondering....why pray?.... why ask those who check in here and know the situation to pray? ....God has orchestrated all of this for His purposes and it is all going according to His plan. Before the foundations of the world and all that....
But I am prompted to ask and therefore I do so.
Thanks for the support. :)
I find myself pondering....why pray?.... why ask those who check in here and know the situation to pray? ....God has orchestrated all of this for His purposes and it is all going according to His plan. Before the foundations of the world and all that....
But I am prompted to ask and therefore I do so.
Thanks for the support. :)
The Need for Illumination
But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
1 Corinthians 2:14
The doctrine of the inability of the human mind and the need for divine illumination is so fully developed in the New Testament that it is nothing short of astonishing that we should have gone so far astray about the whole thing. Fundamentalism has stood aloof from the Liberal in self-conscious superiority and has on its own part fallen into error, the error of textualism, which is simply orthodoxy without the Holy Ghost. Everywhere among Conservatives we find persons who are Bible-taught but not Spirit-taught. They conceive truth to be something which they can grasp with the mind. If a man holds to the fundamentals of the Christian faith he is thought to possess divine truth. But it does not follow. There is no truth apart from the Spirit. The most brilliant intellect may be imbecilic when confronted with the mysteries of God. For a man to understand revealed truth requires an act of God equal to the original act which inspired the text....
Conservative Christians in this day are stumbling over this truth. We need to re-examine the whole thing. We need to learn that truth consists not in correct doctrine, but in correct doctrine plus the inward enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. We must declare again the mystery of wisdom from above. A repreachment of this vital truth could result in a fresh breath from God upon a stale and suffocating orthodoxy.
A. W. Tozer (from the Pursuit of Man)
May the Holy Spirit take the inspired text and make it alive and enlighten all of us today. May the Holy Spirit teach and imbed it in all of our hearts and minds as we seek Divine Truth.
1 Corinthians 2:14
The doctrine of the inability of the human mind and the need for divine illumination is so fully developed in the New Testament that it is nothing short of astonishing that we should have gone so far astray about the whole thing. Fundamentalism has stood aloof from the Liberal in self-conscious superiority and has on its own part fallen into error, the error of textualism, which is simply orthodoxy without the Holy Ghost. Everywhere among Conservatives we find persons who are Bible-taught but not Spirit-taught. They conceive truth to be something which they can grasp with the mind. If a man holds to the fundamentals of the Christian faith he is thought to possess divine truth. But it does not follow. There is no truth apart from the Spirit. The most brilliant intellect may be imbecilic when confronted with the mysteries of God. For a man to understand revealed truth requires an act of God equal to the original act which inspired the text....
Conservative Christians in this day are stumbling over this truth. We need to re-examine the whole thing. We need to learn that truth consists not in correct doctrine, but in correct doctrine plus the inward enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. We must declare again the mystery of wisdom from above. A repreachment of this vital truth could result in a fresh breath from God upon a stale and suffocating orthodoxy.
A. W. Tozer (from the Pursuit of Man)
May the Holy Spirit take the inspired text and make it alive and enlighten all of us today. May the Holy Spirit teach and imbed it in all of our hearts and minds as we seek Divine Truth.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
In The Grip Of Grace - Max
We love because God first loved us.
1 John 4:19
Untethered by time, He sees us all....From the hutbuilders to the finger-pointers the the rock-stackers, He sees us. Vagabonds and ragamuffins all, He saw us before we were born. And He loves what He sees. Flooded by emotion. Overcome by pride, the Starmaker turns to us, one by one, and says, "You are My child. I love you dearly, I''m aware that someday you'll turn from Me and walk away. But I want you to know, I've already provided you a way back."
1 John 4:19
Untethered by time, He sees us all....From the hutbuilders to the finger-pointers the the rock-stackers, He sees us. Vagabonds and ragamuffins all, He saw us before we were born. And He loves what He sees. Flooded by emotion. Overcome by pride, the Starmaker turns to us, one by one, and says, "You are My child. I love you dearly, I''m aware that someday you'll turn from Me and walk away. But I want you to know, I've already provided you a way back."
From His Victorious Indwelling -Nick Harrison, Editor
I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments.
Psalm 119:60 KJV
Don't be in a hurry to run ahead of God.
When the Israelites were crossing the Jordan they were told to leave a great space between themselves and the guiding ark, that they might know how to go, because "they had not passed that way heretofore." Impatiently hurrying at God's heels is apt to lead us astray. Let Him get well in front, that you may be quite sure which way He wants you to go, be sure that He does not at that moment want you to go anywhere.
We need to hold the present with a slack hand, so as to be ready to fold our tents and take to the road if God wills. We must not presume continuance, nor strike our roots so deep that it needs a hurricane to remove us.
To those who set their gaze on Christ, no present from which He wishes them to move can be so good for them as the new conditions into which He would have them pass.
It's hard to leave the spot, though it be in the desert, where we have so long encamped that it has come to look like home. We may look with regret on the circle of black ashes on the sand where our little fire glinted cheerily, and our feet may ache and our hearts ache more as we begin our tramp once again, but we must set ourselves to meet the God-appointed change cheerfully, in the confidence that nothing will be left behind which it is not good to lose, nor anything met which does not bring a blessing, however its first aspect may be - harsh or sad.
We need, too, to cultivate the habit of prompt obedience. The above motto is the only safe motto. Slow obedience is often the germ of incipient disobedience.... It's easiest to do our duty when we are first sure of it. It then comes with an impelling power which carries us over obstacles on the crest of a wave, while hesitation and delay leave us stranded in shallow water. If we would follow the pillar, we must follow it at once.
A heart that waits and watches for God's direction, that uses common sense as well as faith to unravel small and great perplexities, and is willing to sit loose to the present, however pleasant, in order not to miss indications which say, " Arise! This is not your rest" - fulfills the conditions on which, if we keep them, we may be sure that He will guide us by the right way, and bring us at last to the city of habitation.
Alexander MacLaren
Psalm 119:60 KJV
Don't be in a hurry to run ahead of God.
When the Israelites were crossing the Jordan they were told to leave a great space between themselves and the guiding ark, that they might know how to go, because "they had not passed that way heretofore." Impatiently hurrying at God's heels is apt to lead us astray. Let Him get well in front, that you may be quite sure which way He wants you to go, be sure that He does not at that moment want you to go anywhere.
We need to hold the present with a slack hand, so as to be ready to fold our tents and take to the road if God wills. We must not presume continuance, nor strike our roots so deep that it needs a hurricane to remove us.
To those who set their gaze on Christ, no present from which He wishes them to move can be so good for them as the new conditions into which He would have them pass.
It's hard to leave the spot, though it be in the desert, where we have so long encamped that it has come to look like home. We may look with regret on the circle of black ashes on the sand where our little fire glinted cheerily, and our feet may ache and our hearts ache more as we begin our tramp once again, but we must set ourselves to meet the God-appointed change cheerfully, in the confidence that nothing will be left behind which it is not good to lose, nor anything met which does not bring a blessing, however its first aspect may be - harsh or sad.
We need, too, to cultivate the habit of prompt obedience. The above motto is the only safe motto. Slow obedience is often the germ of incipient disobedience.... It's easiest to do our duty when we are first sure of it. It then comes with an impelling power which carries us over obstacles on the crest of a wave, while hesitation and delay leave us stranded in shallow water. If we would follow the pillar, we must follow it at once.
A heart that waits and watches for God's direction, that uses common sense as well as faith to unravel small and great perplexities, and is willing to sit loose to the present, however pleasant, in order not to miss indications which say, " Arise! This is not your rest" - fulfills the conditions on which, if we keep them, we may be sure that He will guide us by the right way, and bring us at last to the city of habitation.
Alexander MacLaren
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Let's Hear It For Loud Songs!
"The greater our present trials, the louder will our future songs be, and the more intense our joyful gratitude."
Charles H. Spurgeon
Charles H. Spurgeon
It Gushes From His heart!
(adapted from Winslow's, "The Believer Drawing near to God")
"Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:16
Why is it called a throne of grace?
Because a God of grace sits upon it, and the scepter of grace is held out from it, and all the favors bestowed there are the blessings of grace.
This is just the throne we need!
We are.... the poor, the needy, the helpless, the vile, the sinful, the unworthy.
We have nothing to bring but our deep wretchedness and poverty, nothing but our complaints, our miseries, our crosses, our groanings, our sighs and tears.
But it is the throne of grace!
For just such is it erected.
It is set up in a world of woe, in the midst of the wilderness, in the very land of the enemy, in the valley of tears!
It is a God of grace who sits upon it, and all the blessings He dispenses from it are the gifts of grace. Pardon, justification, adoption, peace, comfort, light, direction; all, all is of grace!
No worth or worthiness in the creature extracts these blessings; no price he may bring purchases them; no tears or complainings or misery move the heart of God to compassion; all is of grace.
God is so full of compassion, and love, and mercy, He does not need to be moved to pour it forth. It gushes from His heart as from a full and overflowing fountain, and flows into the bosom of the poor, the lowly, the humble and the contrite; enriching, comforting and sanctifying their souls.
Therefore whatever your case, you may come.
If it is a throne of grace (as indeed it is) then why not come? To keep away from the throne of grace because of unfitness and unpreparedness to approach it, is to alter its character from a throne of grace to a throne of merit.
Why, stand a long way off?
If the poor, the penniless, the disconsolate and the guilty are welcome here, if this throne is crowded by such; why make yourself an exception?
Why not come too?
What is your case? What is your sorrow? What is your burden?
Ah! perhaps you can disclose it to no earthly ear. You can tell it to God only. Then take it to Him.
Let me tell you for your encouragement that God has His secret audience chamber, where He will meet you alone, and where no eye shall see you and no ear shall hear you but His, where you may open all your heart, and reveal your real case, and pour all your secrets into His ear!
Precious encouragement!
The throne of grace is for the needy!
What a blessing then is the throne of grace!
It is for those who are in need, those to whom all other doors are closed, with whom all other resources have failed, who have nowhere else to look, nowhere else to fly.
To such is the throne of grace always open.
Behold, then, the throne of grace, and draw near!
You are welcome.
Come with your cross, come with your infirmity, come with your guilt, come with your need, come with your wounded spirit, come with your broken heart, come and welcome to the throne of grace!
Come without price, come without worthiness, come without preparation, come without fitness, come in a bad state of mind, come with a hard heart, come and welcome to the throne of grace!
"Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:16
Why is it called a throne of grace?
Because a God of grace sits upon it, and the scepter of grace is held out from it, and all the favors bestowed there are the blessings of grace.
This is just the throne we need!
We are.... the poor, the needy, the helpless, the vile, the sinful, the unworthy.
We have nothing to bring but our deep wretchedness and poverty, nothing but our complaints, our miseries, our crosses, our groanings, our sighs and tears.
But it is the throne of grace!
For just such is it erected.
It is set up in a world of woe, in the midst of the wilderness, in the very land of the enemy, in the valley of tears!
It is a God of grace who sits upon it, and all the blessings He dispenses from it are the gifts of grace. Pardon, justification, adoption, peace, comfort, light, direction; all, all is of grace!
No worth or worthiness in the creature extracts these blessings; no price he may bring purchases them; no tears or complainings or misery move the heart of God to compassion; all is of grace.
God is so full of compassion, and love, and mercy, He does not need to be moved to pour it forth. It gushes from His heart as from a full and overflowing fountain, and flows into the bosom of the poor, the lowly, the humble and the contrite; enriching, comforting and sanctifying their souls.
Therefore whatever your case, you may come.
If it is a throne of grace (as indeed it is) then why not come? To keep away from the throne of grace because of unfitness and unpreparedness to approach it, is to alter its character from a throne of grace to a throne of merit.
Why, stand a long way off?
If the poor, the penniless, the disconsolate and the guilty are welcome here, if this throne is crowded by such; why make yourself an exception?
Why not come too?
What is your case? What is your sorrow? What is your burden?
Ah! perhaps you can disclose it to no earthly ear. You can tell it to God only. Then take it to Him.
Let me tell you for your encouragement that God has His secret audience chamber, where He will meet you alone, and where no eye shall see you and no ear shall hear you but His, where you may open all your heart, and reveal your real case, and pour all your secrets into His ear!
Precious encouragement!
The throne of grace is for the needy!
What a blessing then is the throne of grace!
It is for those who are in need, those to whom all other doors are closed, with whom all other resources have failed, who have nowhere else to look, nowhere else to fly.
To such is the throne of grace always open.
Behold, then, the throne of grace, and draw near!
You are welcome.
Come with your cross, come with your infirmity, come with your guilt, come with your need, come with your wounded spirit, come with your broken heart, come and welcome to the throne of grace!
Come without price, come without worthiness, come without preparation, come without fitness, come in a bad state of mind, come with a hard heart, come and welcome to the throne of grace!
Monday, November 19, 2007
From Elisabeth Elliot
"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly" Psalm 1:1
At a recent convention a young woman told me that her husband had wanted a divorce, but consented to see a Christian counselor before making it final. A member of the team in the counseling center told him that he himself was divorced and very happily remarried. That was all the husband needed. The man to whom he looked for help set the example he was hoping to find. Of course he went ahead and divorced his wife.
The twenty-third chapter of Jeremiah describes what is happening in our country today. The land is full of adulterers. Pastures have dried up. Powers are misused. Prophet and priest alike are godless, doing evil even in the Lord's house. Jeremiah's description of the prophets seems terribly fitting for some of those from whom Christian people are seeking guidance:
"The vision they report springs from their own imagination. It is not from the mouth of the Lord.... To all who follow the promptings of their own stubborn heart they say, 'No disaster shall befall you.' But which of them has stood in the council of the Lord, seen him and heard his word? Which of them has listened to his word and obeyed?" (Jeremiah 23:16-18, NEB).
Here is a good test to apply to any of whom we seek counsel. Has this person stood in the council of the Lord? Seen Him? Heard His word? Listened and obeyed? Note the few who have actually paid a price for their obedience (like Jeremiah who was flogged, imprisoned, dropped into a pit of slime, etc.). These few are the ones to follow.
The chapter goes on to describe prophets who speak lies in God's name, dream dreams, give voice to their own inventions, concoct words of their own, and then say, "This is his very word." They mislead with "wild and reckless falsehoods."
"If a prophet has a dream, let him tell his dream; if he has my word, let him speak my word in truth. What has chaff to do with grain? says the Lord" (v. 28).
Beware of those who are afraid to quote Scripture, who say it's too "simplistic," doesn't apply here, won't work. Beware of the counselor who is "nondirectional." Be cautious when the advice given makes you feel comfortable when you know you're really wrong. "Do not my words scorch like fire? says the Lord. Are they not like a hammer that splinters rock?" (v. 29).
It wasn't only the awesome prophets of the Old Testament who spoke this way. Think of the words of Jesus. Though often He spoke "comfortable words," words that brought peace and hope, He spoke also those words that seared like fire ("Depart from me, I never knew you"; "Get behind me, Satan!") and splintered rock ("You will never get out until you have paid the last farthing"; "Whoever wants to be first must be the willing slave of all").
"The form of words you shall use in speaking amongst yourselves is: 'What answer has the Lord given?' or 'What has the Lord said?'" (Jeremiah 23:35, NEB).
This applies, of course, only to those who care what the Lord wants. Those who have already decided to do their own thing need not apply for truly godly counsel.
At a recent convention a young woman told me that her husband had wanted a divorce, but consented to see a Christian counselor before making it final. A member of the team in the counseling center told him that he himself was divorced and very happily remarried. That was all the husband needed. The man to whom he looked for help set the example he was hoping to find. Of course he went ahead and divorced his wife.
The twenty-third chapter of Jeremiah describes what is happening in our country today. The land is full of adulterers. Pastures have dried up. Powers are misused. Prophet and priest alike are godless, doing evil even in the Lord's house. Jeremiah's description of the prophets seems terribly fitting for some of those from whom Christian people are seeking guidance:
"The vision they report springs from their own imagination. It is not from the mouth of the Lord.... To all who follow the promptings of their own stubborn heart they say, 'No disaster shall befall you.' But which of them has stood in the council of the Lord, seen him and heard his word? Which of them has listened to his word and obeyed?" (Jeremiah 23:16-18, NEB).
Here is a good test to apply to any of whom we seek counsel. Has this person stood in the council of the Lord? Seen Him? Heard His word? Listened and obeyed? Note the few who have actually paid a price for their obedience (like Jeremiah who was flogged, imprisoned, dropped into a pit of slime, etc.). These few are the ones to follow.
The chapter goes on to describe prophets who speak lies in God's name, dream dreams, give voice to their own inventions, concoct words of their own, and then say, "This is his very word." They mislead with "wild and reckless falsehoods."
"If a prophet has a dream, let him tell his dream; if he has my word, let him speak my word in truth. What has chaff to do with grain? says the Lord" (v. 28).
Beware of those who are afraid to quote Scripture, who say it's too "simplistic," doesn't apply here, won't work. Beware of the counselor who is "nondirectional." Be cautious when the advice given makes you feel comfortable when you know you're really wrong. "Do not my words scorch like fire? says the Lord. Are they not like a hammer that splinters rock?" (v. 29).
It wasn't only the awesome prophets of the Old Testament who spoke this way. Think of the words of Jesus. Though often He spoke "comfortable words," words that brought peace and hope, He spoke also those words that seared like fire ("Depart from me, I never knew you"; "Get behind me, Satan!") and splintered rock ("You will never get out until you have paid the last farthing"; "Whoever wants to be first must be the willing slave of all").
"The form of words you shall use in speaking amongst yourselves is: 'What answer has the Lord given?' or 'What has the Lord said?'" (Jeremiah 23:35, NEB).
This applies, of course, only to those who care what the Lord wants. Those who have already decided to do their own thing need not apply for truly godly counsel.
Loved with Joy
17 The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.
Zephaniah 3:17 KJV
Zephaniah 3:17 KJV
There it is!
There is a joy which is not given to the ungodly, but to those who love Thee for Thine own sake, whose joy Thou Thyself art. And this is the happy life, to rejoice to Thee, of Thee, for Thee; this it is, and there is no other.
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo
How's it going?
Romans 12: 9-21 NASB
9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.
10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor;
11 not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;
12 rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,
13 contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.
16 Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly Do not be wise in your own estimation.
17 Never pay back evil for evil to anyone Respect what is right in the sight of all men.
18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.
19 Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord.
20 "BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD."
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.
10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor;
11 not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;
12 rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,
13 contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.
16 Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly Do not be wise in your own estimation.
17 Never pay back evil for evil to anyone Respect what is right in the sight of all men.
18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.
19 Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord.
20 "BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD."
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Don't you know??
Romans 6: 3-11 KJV
3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Yes
It is not after we were reconciled by the blood of his Son that God began to love us, but before the foundation of the world.
John Calvin
John Calvin
To Know Him
Once you become aware that the main business that you are here for is to know God, most of life's problems fall into place of their own accord.
J.I. Packer
J.I. Packer
T. D.
From T.D. Jakes.....I haven't read this man or seen him on too much...but I kind of like his thoughts here. I guess I would add do all he suggests not in your own strength but in Jesus' strength....and let Him be the Grace that He is!
"There are people who can walk away from you. And hear me when I tell you this!
When people can walk away from you: let them walk. I don't want you to try to talk another person into staying with you, loving you, calling you, caring about you, coming to see you, staying attached to you.
I mean hang up the phone.
When people can walk away from you let them walk. Your destiny is never tied to anybody that left. The bible said that, they came out from us that it might be made manifest that they were not for us. For had they been of us, no doubt they would have continued with us. [1 John 2:19]
People leave you because they are not joined to you. And if they are not joined to you, you can't make them stay. Let them go. And it doesn't mean that they are a bad person it just means that their part in the story is over. And you've got to know when people's part in your story is over so that you don't keep trying to raise the dead. You've got to know when it's dead. You've got to know when it's over.
Let me tell you something. I've got the gift of good-bye. It's the tenth spiritual gift. I believe in good-bye. It's not that I'm hateful, it's that I'm faithful, and I know whatever God means for me to have He'll give it to me. And if it takes too much sweat I don't need it. Stop begging people to stay. Let them go!"
"There are people who can walk away from you. And hear me when I tell you this!
When people can walk away from you: let them walk. I don't want you to try to talk another person into staying with you, loving you, calling you, caring about you, coming to see you, staying attached to you.
I mean hang up the phone.
When people can walk away from you let them walk. Your destiny is never tied to anybody that left. The bible said that, they came out from us that it might be made manifest that they were not for us. For had they been of us, no doubt they would have continued with us. [1 John 2:19]
People leave you because they are not joined to you. And if they are not joined to you, you can't make them stay. Let them go. And it doesn't mean that they are a bad person it just means that their part in the story is over. And you've got to know when people's part in your story is over so that you don't keep trying to raise the dead. You've got to know when it's dead. You've got to know when it's over.
Let me tell you something. I've got the gift of good-bye. It's the tenth spiritual gift. I believe in good-bye. It's not that I'm hateful, it's that I'm faithful, and I know whatever God means for me to have He'll give it to me. And if it takes too much sweat I don't need it. Stop begging people to stay. Let them go!"
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
From "This Day's Thought"
"We must believe God great without quantity, everlasting without time, and containing all things without extent; and when our thoughts are come to their highest, let us stop, wonder and adore.
Joseph Hall
Joseph Hall
Sunday, November 11, 2007
The Shack - William P. Young
Okay, so, I now have a new favourite fiction book...and I use the word fiction loosely here....close running to #1 The Gate Seldom Found.....but as I like to think behind that "Gate"....is this "Shack"..... from "The Shack" ....written by William P. Young. The way this book got into my hands is a weaving of Master Design....and that story is way too long to even go into. Suffice it to say that it was brought to my attention through an e-mail from the wonderful Dave over at http://www.movementofgrace.net/ and http://www.gracewalk.org/ because of an e-mail to him from my favourite teacher/pastor/brother in the Lord, Frank Friedmann from way down Louisiana way which he passed on. This book was going to be in my hands one way or another....very cool, Papa.
I could not begin to explain the impact of this book on me ... personally, spiritually, and in light of events of my life right now.... although anyone who has experienced pain and suffering, (isn't that all of us?), would have to find this book a page turner...keep the tissues handy and be prepared to read it until completion. I can't wait to read it again and I just finished it this morning, (started it last night). I can't divulge the story but I am so thinking that Papa is especially fond of me...and you too. Don't let the tragedy the characters have to deal with keep you from seeing what this book is really about. I Loved it! Reading some the articles and interviews on the author just reminded me that I am so thankful that I don't fit into a certain group or flavour of thinking.....I pray that He alone will always be my Impetus.
http://www.windrumors.com/
http://www.theshackbook.com/
http://www.subversiveinfluence.com/wordpress/?p=1418
http://www.windrumors.com/
http://www.theshackbook.com/
http://www.subversiveinfluence.com/wordpress/?p=1418
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Fire Away!
A prayer of Tozer's....may it be ours.
"Lord, it's not hard to see why Satan attacks. May I continue to be enough of a threat to him to merit his attention! Don't ever let me become so anemic in my Christian walk that he doesn't need to bother with me. Amen."
"Lord, it's not hard to see why Satan attacks. May I continue to be enough of a threat to him to merit his attention! Don't ever let me become so anemic in my Christian walk that he doesn't need to bother with me. Amen."
Friday, November 09, 2007
No Compromise
Make My Life A Prayer To You - Keith Green
From Tozer Today
"For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.
Hebrews 12:3
If Satan opposes the new convert he opposes still more bitterly the Christian who is pressing on toward a higher life in Christ. The Spirit-filled life is not, as many suppose, a life of peace and quiet pleasure. It is likely to be something quite the opposite.
Viewed one way it is a pilgrimage through a robber-infested forest; viewed another, it is a grim warfare with the devil. Always there is struggle, and sometimes there is a pitched battle with our own nature where the lines are so confused that it is all but impossible to locate the enemy or to tell which impulse is of the Spirit and which of the flesh....
My point here is that if we want to escape the struggle we have but to draw back and accept the currently accepted low-keyed Christian life as the normal one. That is all Satan wants. That will ground our power, stunt our growth and render us harmless to the kingdom of darkness.
Compromise will take the pressure off. Satan will not bother a man who has quit fighting. But the cost of quitting will be a life of peaceful stagnation. We sons of eternity just cannot afford such a thing.
From Tozer Today
"For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.
Hebrews 12:3
If Satan opposes the new convert he opposes still more bitterly the Christian who is pressing on toward a higher life in Christ. The Spirit-filled life is not, as many suppose, a life of peace and quiet pleasure. It is likely to be something quite the opposite.
Viewed one way it is a pilgrimage through a robber-infested forest; viewed another, it is a grim warfare with the devil. Always there is struggle, and sometimes there is a pitched battle with our own nature where the lines are so confused that it is all but impossible to locate the enemy or to tell which impulse is of the Spirit and which of the flesh....
My point here is that if we want to escape the struggle we have but to draw back and accept the currently accepted low-keyed Christian life as the normal one. That is all Satan wants. That will ground our power, stunt our growth and render us harmless to the kingdom of darkness.
Compromise will take the pressure off. Satan will not bother a man who has quit fighting. But the cost of quitting will be a life of peaceful stagnation. We sons of eternity just cannot afford such a thing.
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Oh the Comfort
Psalm 139:13-18
13 For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb.
14 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written. The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.
17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You.
13 For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb.
14 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written. The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.
17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You.
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
The Evidence
Again from John Woodward and excerpts taken from an Exchanged Life Conference.
"Evidences of Brokenness
1. All rights surrendered
2. Willing to be rejected
3. Transparent - willing to share weakness
4. Vulnerable - willing to share failures
5. A sense of total inadequacy in self strength - 2 Cor 3:5
6. A sense of adequacy in Christ through His strength - Phil. 4:13, 2
Cor. 3:6
7. Trusting God whatever - resting even with external turmoil
8. Obedience out of a love motive because I want to, not because I have
to
9. Recognizing the power in weakness
10. Willing to be weak
11. Willing to fail
12. A readiness to let others receive credit
13. Genuine humility
10. Placing value upon those who have little or no value to yourself
15. A readiness to affirm (build-up) others
16. Teachable
17. Willing to be out of control
18. Willing to be misunderstood
As true believers in Christ we have the assurance that we are united with Him--He lives in us by His Spirit. Yet if we want the full blessing of Christ living in and through us, then we need to say "not I" (Gal 2:20)."
"Evidences of Brokenness
1. All rights surrendered
2. Willing to be rejected
3. Transparent - willing to share weakness
4. Vulnerable - willing to share failures
5. A sense of total inadequacy in self strength - 2 Cor 3:5
6. A sense of adequacy in Christ through His strength - Phil. 4:13, 2
Cor. 3:6
7. Trusting God whatever - resting even with external turmoil
8. Obedience out of a love motive because I want to, not because I have
to
9. Recognizing the power in weakness
10. Willing to be weak
11. Willing to fail
12. A readiness to let others receive credit
13. Genuine humility
10. Placing value upon those who have little or no value to yourself
15. A readiness to affirm (build-up) others
16. Teachable
17. Willing to be out of control
18. Willing to be misunderstood
As true believers in Christ we have the assurance that we are united with Him--He lives in us by His Spirit. Yet if we want the full blessing of Christ living in and through us, then we need to say "not I" (Gal 2:20)."
Again with the Brokenness.....
From John Woodward of Grace Fellowship International
"Jack Taylor said "God has you in the circumstances of his own choosing so He can fix you".
How about this ditty--"God's fixing to fix you, but if you try to fix the fix He's fixing to fix you with, He will find another fix to fix you, until you let the fix He fixed for you fix you." ... So the "fix" we are in (the trials we encounter) are benevolently designed by God through His mysterious providence to "fix us" (by breaking our self-sufficiency and independent will).
Watchman Nee observed two basic barriers to brokenness in the life of the believer. The first is the lack of insight regarding God's providential design behind our difficult circumstances (our "fix"). The second barrier is self-love . Watchman cautioned,"Let us remember that the one reason for all misunderstanding, all fretfulness, all discontent, is that we secretly love ourselves. Many times problems arise due to our seeking a way of escape--an escape from the working of the cross." (Nee, The Release of the Spirit, p.16).
To remove this barrier to brokenness we should sincerely pray: "O my God, I have seen that all things come from You. All my ways these five years, ten years, or twenty years are of You. You have so worked to attain Your purpose, which is none other than that Your life may be lived out through me. But I have been foolish. I did not see. I did many things to deliver myself, thus delaying Your time. Today I see Your hand. I am willing to offer myself to You. Once again I place myself in Your hands." (Nee, p. 16)."
"Jack Taylor said "God has you in the circumstances of his own choosing so He can fix you".
How about this ditty--"God's fixing to fix you, but if you try to fix the fix He's fixing to fix you with, He will find another fix to fix you, until you let the fix He fixed for you fix you." ... So the "fix" we are in (the trials we encounter) are benevolently designed by God through His mysterious providence to "fix us" (by breaking our self-sufficiency and independent will).
Watchman Nee observed two basic barriers to brokenness in the life of the believer. The first is the lack of insight regarding God's providential design behind our difficult circumstances (our "fix"). The second barrier is self-love . Watchman cautioned,"Let us remember that the one reason for all misunderstanding, all fretfulness, all discontent, is that we secretly love ourselves. Many times problems arise due to our seeking a way of escape--an escape from the working of the cross." (Nee, The Release of the Spirit, p.16).
To remove this barrier to brokenness we should sincerely pray: "O my God, I have seen that all things come from You. All my ways these five years, ten years, or twenty years are of You. You have so worked to attain Your purpose, which is none other than that Your life may be lived out through me. But I have been foolish. I did not see. I did many things to deliver myself, thus delaying Your time. Today I see Your hand. I am willing to offer myself to You. Once again I place myself in Your hands." (Nee, p. 16)."
Monday, November 05, 2007
Whispers of the Holy Spirit (goosebumps)
Tozer
"Is Satan giving you a hard time in your life of faith-in the Christian race you are running? Expect it if you are a believing child of God!
Satan hates your God. He hates Jesus Christ. He hates your faith. You should be aware of the devil's evil intentions. He wants you to lose the victor's crown in the race you have entered by faith through grace....
When by faith we have entered this lifelong spiritual course, the Holy Spirit whispers, "Do you truly want to be among the victors in this discipline?" When we breathe our "Yes! Yes!" He whispers of ways that will aid us and carry us to certain victory.
The Spirit tells us to throw off everything that would hinder us in the race. He tells us to be aware of the little sins and errors that could divert us from the will of God as we run. But here is the important thing: He tells us to keep our eyes on Jesus, because He alone is our pacesetter and victorious example."
"Is Satan giving you a hard time in your life of faith-in the Christian race you are running? Expect it if you are a believing child of God!
Satan hates your God. He hates Jesus Christ. He hates your faith. You should be aware of the devil's evil intentions. He wants you to lose the victor's crown in the race you have entered by faith through grace....
When by faith we have entered this lifelong spiritual course, the Holy Spirit whispers, "Do you truly want to be among the victors in this discipline?" When we breathe our "Yes! Yes!" He whispers of ways that will aid us and carry us to certain victory.
The Spirit tells us to throw off everything that would hinder us in the race. He tells us to be aware of the little sins and errors that could divert us from the will of God as we run. But here is the important thing: He tells us to keep our eyes on Jesus, because He alone is our pacesetter and victorious example."
What Does the Lord Require?
Mediocrity is never an option.
Micah 6:8
8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
Tozer
"An effective, Christ-like minister is a constant embarrassment to the devil, a threat to his dominion, a rebuttal of his best arguments and a dogged reminder of his coming overthrow. No wonder he hates him.
Satan knows that the downfall of a prophet of God is a strategic victory for him, so he rests not day or night devising hidden snares and deadfalls for the ministry. Perhaps a better figure would be the poison dart that only paralyzes its victim, for I think that Satan has little interest in killing the preacher outright. An ineffective, half-alive minister is a better advertisement for hell than a good man dead."
My thoughts
A good man dead.....dead to self and alive to Christ as Life is never mediocre and always the victor over the evil one. If that self would just stay dead and let Christ reign....there's the rub.
Micah 6:8
8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
Tozer
"An effective, Christ-like minister is a constant embarrassment to the devil, a threat to his dominion, a rebuttal of his best arguments and a dogged reminder of his coming overthrow. No wonder he hates him.
Satan knows that the downfall of a prophet of God is a strategic victory for him, so he rests not day or night devising hidden snares and deadfalls for the ministry. Perhaps a better figure would be the poison dart that only paralyzes its victim, for I think that Satan has little interest in killing the preacher outright. An ineffective, half-alive minister is a better advertisement for hell than a good man dead."
My thoughts
A good man dead.....dead to self and alive to Christ as Life is never mediocre and always the victor over the evil one. If that self would just stay dead and let Christ reign....there's the rub.
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Update - November 1st, 2007
Just a brief update. My sister had the third operation last Monday. She is now looking at a fourth when the healing is complete. Radiation therapy will also be necessary when the healing is complete. She is at home with my parents for a two week vacation from hospital. She is still very weak and prognosis is really unknown but she welcomes this time at home, for as long as it is. Thanks for all concerns and prayers. The Great Physician has her well in hand.
Isaiah 58: 9-12
I liked these verses so much today that I used two versions to relay the Word. I pray they touch your life today as well. Peace.
Amplified Bible
9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, Here I am. If you take away from your midst yokes of oppression [wherever you find them], the finger pointed in scorn [toward the oppressed or the godly], and every form of false, harsh, unjust, and wicked speaking,
10 And if you pour out that with which you sustain your own life for the hungry and satisfy the need of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in darkness, and your obscurity and gloom become like the noonday.
11 And the Lord shall guide you continually and satisfy you in drought and in dry places and make strong your bones. And you shall be like a watered garden and like a spring of water whose waters fail not.
12 And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of [buildings that have laid waste for] many generations; and you shall be called Repairer of the Breach, Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.
The Message
A Full Life in the Emptiest of Places (9-12)
"If you get rid of unfair practices,
quit blaming victims,
quit gossiping about other people's sins,
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.
You'll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew,
rebuild the foundations from out of your past.
You'll be known as those who can fix anything,
restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,
make the community livable again.
Amplified Bible
9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, Here I am. If you take away from your midst yokes of oppression [wherever you find them], the finger pointed in scorn [toward the oppressed or the godly], and every form of false, harsh, unjust, and wicked speaking,
10 And if you pour out that with which you sustain your own life for the hungry and satisfy the need of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in darkness, and your obscurity and gloom become like the noonday.
11 And the Lord shall guide you continually and satisfy you in drought and in dry places and make strong your bones. And you shall be like a watered garden and like a spring of water whose waters fail not.
12 And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of [buildings that have laid waste for] many generations; and you shall be called Repairer of the Breach, Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.
The Message
A Full Life in the Emptiest of Places (9-12)
"If you get rid of unfair practices,
quit blaming victims,
quit gossiping about other people's sins,
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.
You'll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew,
rebuild the foundations from out of your past.
You'll be known as those who can fix anything,
restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,
make the community livable again.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Prayer for Latin America
Oceans Will Part
If my heart has grown cold,
There Your love will unfold;
As You open my eyes to the work of Your hand.
When I’m blind to my way,
There Your Spirit will pray;
As You open my eyes to the work of Your hand,
As You open my eyes to the work of Your hand.
Oceans will part; nations come
At the whisper of Your call.
Hope will rise; glory shown.
In my life, Your will be done.
Present suffering may pass,
Lord, Your mercy will last;
As You open my eyes to the work of Your hand.
And my heart will find praise,
I’ll delight in Your way,
As You open my eyes to the work of Your hand,
As You open my eyes to the work of Your hand.
Oceans will part; nations come
At the whisper of Your call.
Hope will rise; glory shown.
In my life, Your will be done.
Oceans will part; nations come
At the whisper of Your call.
Hope will rise; glory shown.
In my life, Your will be done.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
His City
"All earthly cities are vulnerable. Men build them and men destroy them. At the same time there is the City of God which men did not build and cannot destroy and which is everlasting."
Augustine, A.D. 410
Augustine, A.D. 410
That about sums it up
"The greatest blessing we ever get from God is to know that we are destitute spiritually."
Oswald Chambers
Oswald Chambers
Monday, October 22, 2007
Grace will see me through
Taken from an article "All Sufficient Grace" put out on their Grace Notes by Grace Fellowship International
by John Gill (1697-1771)
"My grace is sufficient for thee" (2 Cor. 12:9); the Lord always hears and answers His people sooner or later, in one form or another, though not always in the way and manner they desire; but yet in such a way as is most for His glory and their good. The apostle had not his request granted, that Satan might immediately depart from him, only he is assured of a sufficiency of grace to support him under the exercise, so long as it should last.
There seems to be an allusion to the word, "Shaddai," an appellation of God, (Gen. 17:1), and signifies, "which is sufficient": for God is all sufficient, and is a name that belongs to the Messiah. Certain it is, that the grace of Christ is alone sufficient for all His people to all saving purposes, in all their times of need.
by John Gill (1697-1771)
"My grace is sufficient for thee" (2 Cor. 12:9); the Lord always hears and answers His people sooner or later, in one form or another, though not always in the way and manner they desire; but yet in such a way as is most for His glory and their good. The apostle had not his request granted, that Satan might immediately depart from him, only he is assured of a sufficiency of grace to support him under the exercise, so long as it should last.
There seems to be an allusion to the word, "Shaddai," an appellation of God, (Gen. 17:1), and signifies, "which is sufficient": for God is all sufficient, and is a name that belongs to the Messiah. Certain it is, that the grace of Christ is alone sufficient for all His people to all saving purposes, in all their times of need.
Appropriate Thought
From "This Day's Thought".
"A sign you are headed in the right direction on your God-given path is when you come to the end of yourself and you can no longer "make it happen" in your own strength."
Lee Domingue
"A sign you are headed in the right direction on your God-given path is when you come to the end of yourself and you can no longer "make it happen" in your own strength."
Lee Domingue
"Pray for me"
Life has been a little overwhelming (again), as of late. The two previous posts speak to me about the real purpose of all of this. I am so glad that God is here on earth! I think it has been "hell" but in a world without God, without (as Max would say), the touch of Jesus....the world would be in a word....hell.
It seems that I have been having some major attacks of the evil one, all around me; physically, spiritually, emotionally, every 'ally' really that you can think of ....BUT, and certainly not in my own strength, I have been able to keep my eyes on Jesus, throughout each moment of each day....ok, that is not true...but most moments and at the end of the day, they always return to rest upon Him.
Specifically, my sister has been struggling health wise with the aggravation and removal of a brain tumour since well, July..... she is looking at a third operation to be decided this week. It has been very difficult for all of us to be there for her, with life's committments pressing in as well. She is a single woman, only two years older than myself...and so we rally to be there as much as possible and also to take our parents to see her in hospital as well.
There are other issues as well, really too numerous to bring forward and some are sensitive to some of the members of the family but that is neither here or there, as I know Who is in control of all things and sees even the darkest places within each of our lives and loves us despite those things. The Love, He is has sustained me. However, in an effort to stand and stand in the Strength of the only One who I can stand in....and to no longer be concerned with the excess attention, the liar, and master of deception has decided to give to me.....and to stand strong in the Light, I ask as the song by Signature Sound below says very clearly "Pray for me", and I will do the same for all of you who stop by and visit this unkempt and random blog of thoughts of the saints.
It seems that I have been having some major attacks of the evil one, all around me; physically, spiritually, emotionally, every 'ally' really that you can think of ....BUT, and certainly not in my own strength, I have been able to keep my eyes on Jesus, throughout each moment of each day....ok, that is not true...but most moments and at the end of the day, they always return to rest upon Him.
Specifically, my sister has been struggling health wise with the aggravation and removal of a brain tumour since well, July..... she is looking at a third operation to be decided this week. It has been very difficult for all of us to be there for her, with life's committments pressing in as well. She is a single woman, only two years older than myself...and so we rally to be there as much as possible and also to take our parents to see her in hospital as well.
There are other issues as well, really too numerous to bring forward and some are sensitive to some of the members of the family but that is neither here or there, as I know Who is in control of all things and sees even the darkest places within each of our lives and loves us despite those things. The Love, He is has sustained me. However, in an effort to stand and stand in the Strength of the only One who I can stand in....and to no longer be concerned with the excess attention, the liar, and master of deception has decided to give to me.....and to stand strong in the Light, I ask as the song by Signature Sound below says very clearly "Pray for me", and I will do the same for all of you who stop by and visit this unkempt and random blog of thoughts of the saints.
Tozer
Tozer Daily Devotional
Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.
Psalm 34:3
When he says magnify the Lord, he doesn't mean that you are to make God big, but you are to see Him big. When we take a telescope and look at a star, we don't make the star bigger, we only see it big. Likewise you cannot make God bigger, but you are only to see Him bigger....
My brethren, God calls us to magnify Him, to see Him big. A meeting is not big because a lot of people are present. A meeting is big because a number of people see a big God in the meeting. And the bigger God is seen, the greater the meeting. A friend of mine has a little saying, 'I would rather have a big, little meeting than a little, big meeting.' There are a lot of big meetings that are little because the God in them is a small God. And there are a lot of little meetings that are big because God is big in the midst of them....
That is the first thing - magnify God. Your ministry will be little, and you will live and die little unless you have a bigger God.
Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.
Psalm 34:3
When he says magnify the Lord, he doesn't mean that you are to make God big, but you are to see Him big. When we take a telescope and look at a star, we don't make the star bigger, we only see it big. Likewise you cannot make God bigger, but you are only to see Him bigger....
My brethren, God calls us to magnify Him, to see Him big. A meeting is not big because a lot of people are present. A meeting is big because a number of people see a big God in the meeting. And the bigger God is seen, the greater the meeting. A friend of mine has a little saying, 'I would rather have a big, little meeting than a little, big meeting.' There are a lot of big meetings that are little because the God in them is a small God. And there are a lot of little meetings that are big because God is big in the midst of them....
That is the first thing - magnify God. Your ministry will be little, and you will live and die little unless you have a bigger God.
Being the Body
From Charles Colson's book "Being the Body"
"We, too, live in a darkening land. No, we don't suffer the overt repression.... But the long shadows creep from within and without. War and its rumors fill the air... random shootings, in schools and on the streets... economic uncertainties... disdainful voices scorn God... the forces of terror lurking in any seemingly ordinary situation.
And amid it all, Satan spins his snares of weariness and fear, dejection and despair. He tempts God's people to feel trapped, impotent, helpless.
But what does the risen Lord of the church tell His people 366 times throughout the Scriptures?
Fear not!
Fear not!
Fear not!
His perfect love casts out all fear.
Satan's sin of despair denies God's sovereign truth and the way He chooses to work in this broken world. God acts through His people, His Body.......Christ has told us that we are the light of the world. Even as we step forth with our smallest flames of love and truth, Christ's great light will blaze and dispel the darkness... for the darkness cannot overcome it.
So we need not despair. The simple truth is our greatest hope. As we live as His Body on earth, God will use us for His purposes....."
"We, too, live in a darkening land. No, we don't suffer the overt repression.... But the long shadows creep from within and without. War and its rumors fill the air... random shootings, in schools and on the streets... economic uncertainties... disdainful voices scorn God... the forces of terror lurking in any seemingly ordinary situation.
And amid it all, Satan spins his snares of weariness and fear, dejection and despair. He tempts God's people to feel trapped, impotent, helpless.
But what does the risen Lord of the church tell His people 366 times throughout the Scriptures?
Fear not!
Fear not!
Fear not!
His perfect love casts out all fear.
Satan's sin of despair denies God's sovereign truth and the way He chooses to work in this broken world. God acts through His people, His Body.......Christ has told us that we are the light of the world. Even as we step forth with our smallest flames of love and truth, Christ's great light will blaze and dispel the darkness... for the darkness cannot overcome it.
So we need not despair. The simple truth is our greatest hope. As we live as His Body on earth, God will use us for His purposes....."
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Let The Worshippers Arise
This song is amazing. Check out the "Pocket Full of Rocks" version(not available on YouTube, yet anyway). Simple yet powerful. Like He is in so many ways. It takes me to that place, with Him.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
From Os
"Worldly people imagine that the saints must find it difficult to live with so many restrictions, but the bondage is with the world, not with the saints. There is no such thing as freedom in the world, and the higher we go in the social life the more bondage there is."
Oswald Chambers
Oswald Chambers
Friday, October 12, 2007
Full of Grace
Sarah yet again
the winter here's cold, and bitter
it's chilled us to the bone
we haven't seen the sun for weeks
too long, too far from home
I feel just like I'm sinking
and I claw for Solid Ground
I'm pulled down by the undertow
I never thought I could feel so low
oh darkness I feel like letting go
if all of the Strength and all of the Courage
come and lift me from this place
I know I could love you much better than this
full of Grace
full of Grace
my Love
so it's better this way, I said
having seen this place before
where everything we say and do
hurts us all the more
its just that we stayed, too long
in the same old sickly skin
I'm pulled down by the undertow
I never thought I could feel so low
oh darkness I feel like letting go
if all of the Strength
and all of the Courage
come and lift me from this place
I know I could love you much better than this
full of Grace
full of Grace
my Love
the winter here's cold, and bitter
it's chilled us to the bone
we haven't seen the sun for weeks
too long, too far from home
I feel just like I'm sinking
and I claw for Solid Ground
I'm pulled down by the undertow
I never thought I could feel so low
oh darkness I feel like letting go
if all of the Strength and all of the Courage
come and lift me from this place
I know I could love you much better than this
full of Grace
full of Grace
my Love
so it's better this way, I said
having seen this place before
where everything we say and do
hurts us all the more
its just that we stayed, too long
in the same old sickly skin
I'm pulled down by the undertow
I never thought I could feel so low
oh darkness I feel like letting go
if all of the Strength
and all of the Courage
come and lift me from this place
I know I could love you much better than this
full of Grace
full of Grace
my Love
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Tozer
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.... Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Matthew 5:5-8
We have but to become acquainted with, or even listen to, the big names of our times to discover how wretchedly inferior most of them are. Many appear to have arrived at their present eminence by pull, brass, nerve, gall and lucky accident. We turn away from them sick to our stomach and wonder for a discouraged moment if this is the best the human race can produce. But we gain our self-possession again by the simple expedient of recalling some of the plain men we know, who live unheralded and unsung, and who are made of stuff infinitely finer than the hoarse-voiced braggarts who occupy too many of the highest offices in the land. . . .
. . . the church also suffers from this evil notion. Christians have fallen into the habit of accepting the noisiest and most notorious among them as the best and the greatest. They too have learned to equate popularity with excellence, and in open defiance of the Sermon on the Mount they have given their approval not to the meek but to the self-assertive; not to the mourner but to the self-assured; not to the pure in heart who see God but to the publicity hunter who seeks headlines. Man: The Dwelling Place of God, 96-97.
"Lord, I thank You this morning for all the unknown but faithful pastors serving churches in quiet places. We do place a lot of emphasis on the 'personalities' and big-church leaders. Thank You for the 'quiet heroes' and their faithful service; give them great encouragement."
Matthew 5:5-8
We have but to become acquainted with, or even listen to, the big names of our times to discover how wretchedly inferior most of them are. Many appear to have arrived at their present eminence by pull, brass, nerve, gall and lucky accident. We turn away from them sick to our stomach and wonder for a discouraged moment if this is the best the human race can produce. But we gain our self-possession again by the simple expedient of recalling some of the plain men we know, who live unheralded and unsung, and who are made of stuff infinitely finer than the hoarse-voiced braggarts who occupy too many of the highest offices in the land. . . .
. . . the church also suffers from this evil notion. Christians have fallen into the habit of accepting the noisiest and most notorious among them as the best and the greatest. They too have learned to equate popularity with excellence, and in open defiance of the Sermon on the Mount they have given their approval not to the meek but to the self-assertive; not to the mourner but to the self-assured; not to the pure in heart who see God but to the publicity hunter who seeks headlines. Man: The Dwelling Place of God, 96-97.
"Lord, I thank You this morning for all the unknown but faithful pastors serving churches in quiet places. We do place a lot of emphasis on the 'personalities' and big-church leaders. Thank You for the 'quiet heroes' and their faithful service; give them great encouragement."
Statistics???
The election in Ontario made this little bumper sticker a little not so funny.
"42.7% of all statistics are made up on the spot."
"42.7% of all statistics are made up on the spot."
Tozer
"Humility pleases God wherever it is found, and the humble person will have God for his or her friend and helper always. Only the humble are completely sane, for they are the only ones who see clearly their own size and limitations. Egotists see things out of focus. To themselves they are large and God is correspondingly small, and that is a kind of moral insanity."
Friday, October 05, 2007
Forgiven - Done Deal
David Phelps - The End of the Beginning
Tozer
"Brethren, we have been declared "Not Guilty!" by the highest court in all the universe. Still there are honest Christians, earnestly seeking the face of God, who cannot seem to break loose and find real freedom. The grave clothes trip them up every time they try to move on a little faster. Satan uses their past sins to terrify them.
Now, on the basis of grace as taught in the Word of God, when God forgives a man, He trusts him as though he had never sinned. God did not have mental reservations about any of us when we became His children by faith. When God forgives a man, He doesn't think, 'I will have to watch this fellow because he has a bad record.' No, He starts with him again as though he had just been created and as if there had been no past at all! That is the basis of our Christian assurance--and God wants us to be happy in it."
Tozer
"Brethren, we have been declared "Not Guilty!" by the highest court in all the universe. Still there are honest Christians, earnestly seeking the face of God, who cannot seem to break loose and find real freedom. The grave clothes trip them up every time they try to move on a little faster. Satan uses their past sins to terrify them.
Now, on the basis of grace as taught in the Word of God, when God forgives a man, He trusts him as though he had never sinned. God did not have mental reservations about any of us when we became His children by faith. When God forgives a man, He doesn't think, 'I will have to watch this fellow because he has a bad record.' No, He starts with him again as though he had just been created and as if there had been no past at all! That is the basis of our Christian assurance--and God wants us to be happy in it."
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Interesting take...
From Patrick Ogden....one of his older posts, but interesting thoughts he has.
"The Emerging Church is a serial monogamist, always extremely committed to the commitment of the moment, but always drifting, drifting, drifting, so there's a whole pile of sloughed off people, once passionate, now wandering in their own frustrated discontent. The promise is beautiful for the moment, but doesn't last, because visions don't last, because commitments don't last, because leaders who style themselves new Pauls don't last. The only problem is they do not have Paul's ability to go where no one else has gone before. They stir the same pot, driving past each other, flying by each other, rebuilding on top of the smoldering ruins of the previous community."
"The Emerging Church is a serial monogamist, always extremely committed to the commitment of the moment, but always drifting, drifting, drifting, so there's a whole pile of sloughed off people, once passionate, now wandering in their own frustrated discontent. The promise is beautiful for the moment, but doesn't last, because visions don't last, because commitments don't last, because leaders who style themselves new Pauls don't last. The only problem is they do not have Paul's ability to go where no one else has gone before. They stir the same pot, driving past each other, flying by each other, rebuilding on top of the smoldering ruins of the previous community."
Thoughts from Tozer
As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.
Psalm 103:13-14
Repentance should be radical and thorough, and the best repentance for a wrong act, as Fenelon said, is not to do it again....
Is that going to happen?
Brother Lawrence expressed the highest moral wisdom when he testified that if he stumbled and fell he turned at once to God and said, "O Lord, this is what You may expect of me if You leave me to myself." He then accepted forgiveness that had been given, thanked God and gave himself no further concern about the matter.
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Do we hear this?
For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
Psalm 103:11-12
Tozer
Do not let any of the things of the world or past mistakes paralyze your hearts. I believe there are Christians who have allowed some of their past mistakes to paralyze them. You were so bright and cheerful in your spiritual life once, and then you made some tragic mistake or had something happen to you. You got out of it somehow, and prayed and wept your way out of it. But it did something to you, and now you cannot lick it. Past wrongs that have been done to you, past failures, times you thought you were going to win and did not, or present sins or discouragement-these things are not mental at all. They are deeper than that; they are subconscious, and they prevent us from believing.
I most urgently exhort you, and I trust God Almighty to deliver you; to sponge that out of your spirit; to sponge that out of your heart so you are not hindered by unbelief.
Psalm 103:11-12
Tozer
Do not let any of the things of the world or past mistakes paralyze your hearts. I believe there are Christians who have allowed some of their past mistakes to paralyze them. You were so bright and cheerful in your spiritual life once, and then you made some tragic mistake or had something happen to you. You got out of it somehow, and prayed and wept your way out of it. But it did something to you, and now you cannot lick it. Past wrongs that have been done to you, past failures, times you thought you were going to win and did not, or present sins or discouragement-these things are not mental at all. They are deeper than that; they are subconscious, and they prevent us from believing.
I most urgently exhort you, and I trust God Almighty to deliver you; to sponge that out of your spirit; to sponge that out of your heart so you are not hindered by unbelief.
In my weakness
"All God's giants have been weak men who did great things for God because they reckoned on God being with them."
J. Hudson Taylor
J. Hudson Taylor
Remembering forgiveness and grace already given
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9
Tozer on track
Next, are you allowing Satan to magnify the memories of your spiritual failures? He will always keep them before you unless you take your stand and move up in faith.
The devil will whisper, "You didn't get very far along toward the deeper life, did you?"
He will say, "You made a big 'to-do' about wanting to be filled with the Spirit and you really flopped, didn't you?"
He will taunt you with the fact that you may have stumbled in the faith and perhaps more than once! The devil wants you to live in a state of discouraged chagrin and remorse.
Remember, the Bible does not teach that if a man falls down, he can never rise again. The fact that he falls is not the most important thing but rather that he is forgiven and allows God to lift him up!
1 John 1:9
Tozer on track
Next, are you allowing Satan to magnify the memories of your spiritual failures? He will always keep them before you unless you take your stand and move up in faith.
The devil will whisper, "You didn't get very far along toward the deeper life, did you?"
He will say, "You made a big 'to-do' about wanting to be filled with the Spirit and you really flopped, didn't you?"
He will taunt you with the fact that you may have stumbled in the faith and perhaps more than once! The devil wants you to live in a state of discouraged chagrin and remorse.
Remember, the Bible does not teach that if a man falls down, he can never rise again. The fact that he falls is not the most important thing but rather that he is forgiven and allows God to lift him up!
Saturday, September 29, 2007
The Life Straw
I don't know how many of you have seen or heard about the "Life Straw". It came to my attention from again....Relevant magazine (sigh) and so I checked out the site. This is a Danish company and they have created this straw...that filters out harmful bacteria and germs. I am wondering why it took so long? How complicated can it be? It sells for about $3, and can purify water for a year or 185 gallons. How many litres is that? Anywhooo ..... amazing and simple. Ok, check out Relevant as well.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
C. S. Lewis
"We're not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be."
Os
"If we are to be sanctified, it must be by the God of Peace Himself. The power that makes the life of the saint does not come from our efforts at all; it comes from the heart of the God of Peace. Some use the phrase 'to pray through'. What we have to 'pray through' is all our petulant struggling after sanctification, all the inveterate suspicion in our hearts that God cannot sanctify us. When we are rid of all that and are right before God, then God lets us see how He alone does the work.
When our feeble efforts, And from struggling cease, Unconditional surrender brings us God's own peace."
Oswald Chambers from
If Ye Shall Ask included in The Complete Works of Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Lord?
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter."
Matthew 7:21
Tozer
"It is almost unbelievable how far we will go to avoid obeying God. We call Jesus "Lord" and beg Him to rejuvenate our souls, but we are careful to do not the things He says. When faced with a sin, a confession or a moral alteration in our life, we find it much easier to pray half a night than to obey God."
Matthew 7:21
Tozer
"It is almost unbelievable how far we will go to avoid obeying God. We call Jesus "Lord" and beg Him to rejuvenate our souls, but we are careful to do not the things He says. When faced with a sin, a confession or a moral alteration in our life, we find it much easier to pray half a night than to obey God."
Monday, September 24, 2007
Amen is right....
Quote from Rich Mullins courtesy of Joel at Grace Roots .... In memory of the man who was promoted to Glory 10 years ago this month.
"And I think the conclusion of the matter for me was that I think I would rather live on the verge of falling and let my security be in the all-sufficiency of the grace of God than to live in some kind of pietistic illusion of moral excellence."
(Joel says)......Yeah, I had to rewind that part several times to let it sink in...
"Not that I don't want to be morally excellent," he continues, "but my faith isn't in the idea that I'm more moral than anybody else. My faith is in the idea that God... and His love... are greater than whatever sins any of us commit."
"And I think the conclusion of the matter for me was that I think I would rather live on the verge of falling and let my security be in the all-sufficiency of the grace of God than to live in some kind of pietistic illusion of moral excellence."
(Joel says)......Yeah, I had to rewind that part several times to let it sink in...
"Not that I don't want to be morally excellent," he continues, "but my faith isn't in the idea that I'm more moral than anybody else. My faith is in the idea that God... and His love... are greater than whatever sins any of us commit."
Sunday, September 23, 2007
One last song - Casting Crowns
Stop trying so hard....they get it...how many times have you been to the altar? How many times is necessary?
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Jim Palmer
This quote is from Jim Palmer and his article from Relevant Magazine on becoming a "somebody". I am so impressed by his understanding that a "divine nobody", is where it is at! Check it out for more good thoughts! His book Divine Nobodies despite the fact that being a successful author is irrelevant to his true identity (I love that) is a good one. I have been blessed both by his books and thoughts on his blog.
I can't totally root for Relevant Magazine despite the great articles and thoughts they convey because there tends to be a bias against unamerican content especially when it comes to submission of articles for consideration from Canadian "authors". However that being said....do you think I have had some experience in that? :) It is a good thing that I too am unfazed by their rules and guidelines and know that a magazine doth not make me any more or less determined to let His thoughts through me be known, despite the fact they gladly sell their great magazine to Canadians and at a pretty penny might I add. However, I digress. Check out the magazine if you so choose....on-line is a great start :)
Jim's Quote
"It also occurred to me that if “God is love,” and I am an image or reflection of God, then likewise I am love. Maybe living out my spiritual identity is simply being love. It’s not so much what I do, but whatever I’m doing that I am being love. Paul said that even great faith and sacrifice have no value apart from love. Perhaps the purpose of my human journey is to turn love inside out: to receive, accept and depend upon God’s love for me, and allow this love to be expressed as me. No more striving, no more burden to become a “somebody,” no more fear of God’s displeasure or disapproval—just resting and abiding in and being love."
Jim's blog
I can't totally root for Relevant Magazine despite the great articles and thoughts they convey because there tends to be a bias against unamerican content especially when it comes to submission of articles for consideration from Canadian "authors". However that being said....do you think I have had some experience in that? :) It is a good thing that I too am unfazed by their rules and guidelines and know that a magazine doth not make me any more or less determined to let His thoughts through me be known, despite the fact they gladly sell their great magazine to Canadians and at a pretty penny might I add. However, I digress. Check out the magazine if you so choose....on-line is a great start :)
Jim's Quote
"It also occurred to me that if “God is love,” and I am an image or reflection of God, then likewise I am love. Maybe living out my spiritual identity is simply being love. It’s not so much what I do, but whatever I’m doing that I am being love. Paul said that even great faith and sacrifice have no value apart from love. Perhaps the purpose of my human journey is to turn love inside out: to receive, accept and depend upon God’s love for me, and allow this love to be expressed as me. No more striving, no more burden to become a “somebody,” no more fear of God’s displeasure or disapproval—just resting and abiding in and being love."
Jim's blog
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Aren't words great!
"Our mind is where our pleasure is, our heart is where our treasure is, our love is where our life is, but all these, our pleasure, treasure, and life, are reposed in Jesus Christ."
Thomas Adams
Reposed
- the state of being at rest
- peace, tranquility, calm
- to be peacefully calm and quiet
- to lie or rest on something
- to depend or rely on a person
- to rest, to refresh by rest
- to put confidence, trust in a person
- to put under the authority or at the disposal of a person
- to rest or the state of being at rest
- freedom from worry, peace of mind, calmness, tranquility
- to lay oneself down
- to lie while being supported by something
- to place trust in
Thomas Adams
Reposed
- the state of being at rest
- peace, tranquility, calm
- to be peacefully calm and quiet
- to lie or rest on something
- to depend or rely on a person
- to rest, to refresh by rest
- to put confidence, trust in a person
- to put under the authority or at the disposal of a person
- to rest or the state of being at rest
- freedom from worry, peace of mind, calmness, tranquility
- to lay oneself down
- to lie while being supported by something
- to place trust in
Somnolent - Sleepy, Semi-comatose, drowsy, (Asleep in the Light....taken from Keith Green)
Loving Tozer this month.....
That many Christians in our day are lukewarm and somnolent will not be denied by anyone with an anointed eye, but the cure is not to stir them up to a frenzy of activity. That would be but to take them out of one error and into another. What we need is a zealous hunger for God, an avid thirst after righteousness, a pain-filled longing to be Christlike and holy. We need a zeal that is loving, self-effacing and lowly. No other kind will do.
That pure love for God and men which expresses itself in a burning desire to advance God's glory and leads to poured-out devotion to the temporal and eternal welfare of our fellow men is certainly approved of God; but the nervous, squirrel-cage activity of self-centered and ambitious religious leaders is just as certainly offensive to Him and will prove at last to have been injurious to the souls of countless millions of human beings. The Size of the Soul, 81-82.
That many Christians in our day are lukewarm and somnolent will not be denied by anyone with an anointed eye, but the cure is not to stir them up to a frenzy of activity. That would be but to take them out of one error and into another. What we need is a zealous hunger for God, an avid thirst after righteousness, a pain-filled longing to be Christlike and holy. We need a zeal that is loving, self-effacing and lowly. No other kind will do.
That pure love for God and men which expresses itself in a burning desire to advance God's glory and leads to poured-out devotion to the temporal and eternal welfare of our fellow men is certainly approved of God; but the nervous, squirrel-cage activity of self-centered and ambitious religious leaders is just as certainly offensive to Him and will prove at last to have been injurious to the souls of countless millions of human beings. The Size of the Soul, 81-82.
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