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.

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."

Because of Grace

Grace is not a reward for faith; faith is the result of grace.

Unknown

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

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."

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."

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?

A Casting Crowns Morning

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

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

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.

Unattended Ground

From Tozer

Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, till He comes and rains righteousness on you.
Hosea 10:12

What God in His sovereignty may yet do on a world-scale I do not claim to know. But what He will do for the plain man or woman who seeks His face I believe I do know and can tell others. Let any man turn to God in earnest, let him begin to exercise himself unto godliness, let him seek to develop his powers of spiritual receptivity by trust and obedience and humility, and the results will exceed anything he may have hoped in his leaner and weaker days.
The Pursuit of God, 70-71.

Communion

Thanks to Mark over at madetopraisehim

"One of the greatest, most overlooked but highest weapons of spiritual warfare
Don't you want to have in your arsenal one of the greatest and highest weapons of spiritual warfare? Watch James Goll now ..."

A video from James Goll on ......guess what? Communion. God is good.
Sometimes someone like Mark doesn't even know how cool this post was to someone like me at this particular time of my life. So thanks...I am not so good at trackbacks, pinging etc...but didn't want this cool message to be missed by anyone who needed to see it. :)

Awesome Photography

Couldn't not share this one....powerful and majestic and music by U2

But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
Isaiah 40:31

Tozer

But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
Matthew 6:6

Tozer Today
Nothing can prevent the spiritual rejuvenation of the soul that insists upon having it. Though that solitary man must live and walk among persons religiously dead, he may experience the great transformation as certainly and as quickly as if he were in the most spiritual church in the world.

The man that will have God's best becomes at once the object of the personal attention of the Holy Spirit. Such a man will not be required to wait for the rest of the church to come alive. He will not be penalized for the failures of his fellow Christians, nor be asked to forego the blessing till his sleepy brethren catch up. God deals with the individual heart as exclusively as if only one existed.... Every prophet, every reformer, every revivalist had to meet God alone before he could help the multitudes. The great leaders who went on to turn thousands to Christ had to begin with God and their own soul. The plain Christian of today must experience personal revival before he can hope to bring renewed spiritual life to his church.

Christ is Life

Good advice from John Woodward

"Identification with the Lord Jesus Christ, or the abundant life, is not sinless perfection."
Charles Solomon

Slipping over the line into performance based faith.

We should watch out for stumbling blocks which could distract us from our vital focus upon Christ as our life (Rom 5:10). Beware of peer pressure. Even Christian fellowship can trigger unhealthy comparisons and competitions. For example, the apostle Peter withdrew from eating with his Gentile fellow believers when members of the Jerusalem church arrived (Gal 2:11,13). If peer pressure can cause us to view others according to the flesh, it can cause us to view ourselves apart from our identity in Christ also. Beware of legalistic teaching. If Bible teachers have a works orientation to Christian living, we are liable to shift our focus off of the dynamic of Christ living through us. Remember why Paul needed to correct the Galatian believers (Gal. 3:1-3). We also need to resist worldly values. We can revert to evaluating our lives by the world's temporal value system, instead of focusing on our glorious position in God's kingdom (Rom. 12:2,2; Col. 1:13).

The episode of Peter walking on the water to Jesus is so instructive (Matt. 14:22-33). As long as we keep looking unto Jesus as our Saviour, Lord, Sanctifier and Life-Giver, we can walk supernaturally. If we allow self to gain control, or permit our faith's focus to be distracted from Christ, then like Peter, we begin to sink. Praise God that He is there to lift us up again when we reaffirm our trust in His all sufficient strength and grace! Let's keep on track by looking unto Jesus continually (Heb. 12:1,2).

ATHIRST

As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
Psalm 42:1-2a

"In this hour of all-but-universal darkness one cheering gleam appears: within the fold of conservative Christianity there are to be found increasing numbers of persons whose religious lives are marked by a growing hunger after God Himself. They are eager for spiritual realities and will not be put off with words, nor will they be content with correct "interpretations" of truth. They are athirst for God, and they will not be satisfied till they have drunk deep at the Fountain of Living Water.

This is the only real harbinger of revival which I have been able to detect anywhere on the religious horizon. It may be the cloud the size of a man's hand for which a few saints here and there have been looking. It can result in a resurrection of life for many souls and a recapture of that radiant wonder which should accompany faith in Christ, that wonder which has all but fled the Church of God in our day."

From Tozer Daily Devotional

No confusion

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it."

Isaiah 30:21

The New International Version

Another Good One

The Isaacs -

Oh my.....

I then shall live as one who's been forgiven;
I'll walk with joy to know my debts are paid.
I know my name is clear before my Father;
I am His child, and I am not afraid.
So greatly pardoned, I'll forgive another;
The law of love I gladly will obey.

I then shall live as one who's learned compassion;
I've been so loved that I'll risk loving, too.
I know how fear builds walls instead of bridges;
I'll dare to see anothers point of view.
And when relationships demand commitment,
Then I'll be there to care and follow through.

Your kingdom come around and through and in me,
Your power and glory, let them shine thru me.
Your Hallowed Name O may I bear with honor,
And may Your living Kingdom come in me.
The Bread of Life, O may I share with honor,
And may You feed a hungry world thru me.

TEXT: Gloria Gaither, 1981
MUSIC: Jean Sibelius, 1899
TUNE: FINLANDIA

He is where you are.

From Tozer today

"I never saw anything result from trying to import God. He does not fly over in a jet. He says, "I am Jehovah; I am with you. I am where you are; I am here now. Call on me."

Amen to that!

Vince Gill

A great song to have communion by..... :)

God has planted eternity in the hearts of men. Ecclesiastes 3:10 (TLB)

From When God Whispers Your Name by Max

It doesn't take a wise person to know that people long for more than earth....
We have our moments. The newborn on our breast, the bride/groom on our arm, the sunshine on our back.....God flirts with us..... Those moments are appetizers for the dish that is to come. "No one has ever imagined what God has prepared for those who love him" (1 Corinthians 2:9). What a breathtaking verse! Do you see what it says? Heaven is beyond our imagination....
At our most creative moment, at our deepest thought, at our highest level, we still cannot fathom eternity.

His

Jeremiah 1:5 Holman Christian Standard Bible.

"I chose you before I formed you in the womb; I set you apart before you were born. I appointed you a prophet to the nations."

HOPE

I hope that I will always be for each person what he or she needs me to be.
I hope that each person's death will diminish me, but that fear of my own will never diminish my joy of life.
I hope that my love for those whom I like will never lessen my love for those whom I do not.
I hope that another person's love for me will never be a measure of my love for him or her.
I hope that everybody will accept me as I am, but that I never will.
I hope that I will always ask for forgiveness from others,but will never need to be asked for my own . . .
I hope that I will always recognize my limitations, but that I will construct none.
I hope that loving will always be my goal,but that love will never be my idol.
I hope that everyone will always have hope.

Henri Nouwen