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!
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