Reuben Morgan
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!
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