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."

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."

Prayer

Sung by Sarah McLachlin

God Will Reign Down Sweet Rest 'Til We Fly Away

Signature Sound - Gotta Love This!

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."

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."

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.

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.

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

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!

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

And again...

From "This Day's Thought"

"It is one of the ironies of the ministry that the very man who works in God's name is often hardest put to find time for God. The parents of Jesus lost Him at church, and they were not the last ones to lose Him there."

Vance Havner

Revisiting the oldies but goodies

May I just say how much I enjoy the album and artist featured in the sidebar under music I am listening to. It is like the revisitation of some of the best music of my life......so many songs today feature lyrics from the 60's, 70's, and 80's. I just love it....it takes me to a place of idealism, revolutionary thinking, and a new understanding of who I was, where I was, and what I was. Hmmmm, sounds like the same place I am at today....just a more mature model. :) God has been patient and faithful. I truly always expected nothing less.

"This Day's Thought"

"The calm which puts us to sleep may be more fatal than a storm which keeps us wide awake."

William Plumer

Ouch...Mr. Tozer

Talkin' about 'witnessing' just yesterday, and how some would just run you over with it, I still believe we are called to witness by going and being...not just by saying and doing..... and here is what Tozer says to me today.

"Too much of our Christian witnessing is unconvincing because we have not been convinced. We are ineffectual because we have not yet capitulated to the Lord from glory. It is like the proselyte making proselytes....

Perhaps this is happening because we are trying to plan how everything should happen. Everyone of us reads a little how-to book on witnessing. We try to do it the way we have been taught. But it is perfunctory and without any contagious element. If angels can weep, they must weep salty tears upon seeing a proselyte who has never really met the Lord making another proselyte who will also never meet the Lord. Faith Beyond Reason, pp. 101-102

"Out of the abundance of a heart filled with love for You let me speak today. Let me see You this morning in a way that will cause me to leave this prayer time with a renewed passion to minister. Amen."

Back to Crabb

My temporary busyness and craziness took me away from some of the routines of my day and now fortunately I am getting back to some time of my own. I continue in reading some of the books that were left at the wayside during that busy time.
Crabb's book "Becoming a True Spiritual Community" is one such book. I have come to a Tozer quote about mystics....I will now continue to find out what Crabb says about "choosing the path of mysticism and what can pour out of us into others" ....Cool eh? The quote below....hmmm resonates within me.

"The "mystic" refers to that personal spiritual experience common to the saints of Bible times and well known to multitudes of persons in the post-Biblical era. I refer to the evangelical mystic who has been brought by the gospel into intimate fellowship with the Godhead. His theology is no less and no more than is taught in the Christian Scriptures. He differs from the ordinary orthodox Christian only because he experiences his faith down in the depths of his sentient being while the other does not. He is quietly, deeply and sometimes almost ecstatically aware of the Presence of God in his own nature and in the world around him. His religious experience is something elemental, as old as time and the creation. It is immediate acquaintance with God by union with the Eternal Son. It is to know that which passes knowledge." (from The Christian Book of Mystical Verse by Tozer.)

Jesus is Hope

Weeping for those without Hope. (From Tozer's Devotional, Today)

The testimony of the true follower of Christ might well be something like this: The world's pleasures and the world's treasures henceforth have no appeal for me. I reckon myself crucified to the world and the world crucified to me. But the multitudes that were so dear to Christ shall not be less dear to me. If I cannot prevent their moral suicide, I shall at least baptize them with my human tears. I want no blessing that I cannot share. I seek no spirituality that I must win at the cost of forgetting that men and women are lost and without hope. If in spite of all I can do they will sin against light and bring upon themselves the displeasure of a holy God, then I must not let them go their sad way unwept. I scorn a happiness that I must purchase with ignorance. I reject a heaven that I must enter by shutting my eyes to the sufferings of my fellow men. I choose a broken heart rather than any happiness that ignores the tragedy of human life and human death. Though I, through the grace of God in Christ, no longer lie under Adam's sin, I would still feel a bond of compassion for all of Adam's tragic race, and I am determined that I shall go down to the grave or up into God's heaven mourning for the lost and the perishing.

Entering...

"A great many people are trying to make peace, but that has already been done. God has not left it for us to do; all we have to do is to enter into it."

D. L. Moody

Back to my full-time job, finally!

To everyone who said a prayer for me while I was on strike, I thank you. The strike is officially over and we return to work after seven weeks of "labour disruption". Now if you would, just say a prayer that all may return (the people we serve, the managers and ourselves... the membership), with renewed energy and forgiveness in our hearts. It was a rough seven weeks for some more than others....the battle was hard-fought and at times made no real sense to this weary soul, but we have come through with a few scars and now the rebuilding begins. I received some lovely letters from some who walked with me on the picket line. No matter where we are .... the mission field is there!

Walk Score

I checked into the walk score site and our tiny city got a little better score than on coffee did for walking to specific places (27) but we are small. An interesting aside....the bookstore listed on the site after I typed in my address...the one I work in! Do I walk every time I go to work ....hmmmm.

Grace......amazing

Brother Joel, over at Grace Roots, shared a wonderful couple of videos featuring Mark Lowry and Jay Baker (son of the Jim and Tammy Faye notables). Very cool to see how this young man has endured and come through with such a sense of realness and understanding of the world around him. I have seen a video on new ways to "do church", and he was also featured in that film as well as many other notable and very "successful" churches....not so much about the church in my mind anyway but about the heart (Christ's heart), of the people involved. When looking around.....what is it about ....really?

On me...P.M. :)

Well, I just wanted to say that "on coffee", has really been outdoing himself as of late sharing with us some great quotes and thoughts well worth noting and ruminating on. It is hard to pick just one so mosey on over there and take a look for yourself.
Michael Horton, Thomas Merton, Jim Wallis, Robert Gelinas, and Shane Claiborne were a few of my favourites as I drifted through cyber space this week.

Photo by oldstersview.wordpress.com/.../cup-of-coffee.jpg

There is nothing like Your Love - Hillsong United

Father True and Merciful
Bound to Me With Love
Adopted In
Free From All Sin
Jesus Saviour, Glorified
Your Offering None Could Give
I Stand Before You
Humble and In Awe

And All
To You God
For All You Are To Me

There is Nothing Like
There is Nothing Like
Your Love
Your Love

Holy Spirit Gift of God
Teach My Soul To Soar
I Love You Forever
I Love You Forever
I Love You Forever Lord

All I need is You, Lord - Hillsong United

Left my fear by the side of the road

Hear You speak, won't let go

Fall to my knees as I lift my hands to pray

Got every reason to be here again

Father's love that draws me in

And all my eyes wanna see is a glimpse of You

All I need is You

All I need is You Lord is you Lord

One more day and it's not the same

Your spirit calls my heart to sing

Drawn to the voice of my Saviour once again

Where would my soul be without Your Son

Gave His life to save the earth

Rest in the thought that You're watching over me

All I need is You

All I need is You Lord Is You Lord

You hold the universe

You hold everyone on earth

You hold the universe

You hold

You hold

Who Is Sufficient?
By John Woodward

In Galatians 1:15,16 Paul recorded God's purpose in calling him to
salvation. "But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's
womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I
might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with
flesh and blood . . ."

Notice that salvation involves more than missing hell and gaining
heaven. God intends to reveal His Son in and through the believer (Rom
8:29). This process of sanctification should not be limited to personal
development--God has commissioned us. We are to be making disciples.
Paul accepted this mandate, " that I might preach Him (Christ) among
the Gentiles." We are to be growing in spiritual maturity and
faithfully using our spiritual gifts and opportunities to spread the
gospel. When we grasp this high calling, how can we help but sigh- "And
who is sufficient for these things?" (2 Cor 2:16).

Later in Galatians Paul affirms how believers should be energized to
fulfill God's will. "He (the Holy Spirit) who worked effectively in
Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised also worked effectively in
me toward the Gentiles (2:8). Paul and Peter had tremendously fruitful
ministries because they were clean and yielded vessels for God to
empower for His sovereign purposes.

How can we fulfill God's plan for our lives? We must learn again and
again that God's strength is made perfect in our weakness. Selwyn
Hughes, of Crusade for World Revival, echoes this basic and vital
lesson. "It is noteworthy that throughout the ages God's greatest
servants have made clear that their success was due not to their own
efforts but to the grace that God imparted to them . . . I have seen
Christians suffer a breakdown as a result of trying to live the
Christian life in their own strength. We live dangerously when we try
to do Christ's work using natural energy alone. On one occasion I was
present at a dinner given in honour of a certain bishop. During the
after-dinner speeches I heard a layman make a terrible blunder when he
declared: 'Bishop, we are both doing God's work; you in your way, and I
in His.' Question yourself at this very moment and ask: Am I doing
God's work in my own way or in His? 'A Christ not in us, imparting His
grace to us,' said the great preacher William Law, 'is the same as a
Christ not ours'. . . Is this why so many of us fail to go as deeply
with God as we ought? We have received Christ but we do not allow Him
to diffuse Himself through all our faculties, to animate us with His
life and Spirit." (E.D.W.J., 1/14/95.)

Are we frustrated by a "power shortage"? Acknowledging our inability is
a huge step forward to being equipped with God's strength to fulfill
His will.

His will....not mine

Today's calendar post...

"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
John 15:7

Effective prayer, that which is born of the Spirit, does not rip verses out of context and fling them at the feet of God's footstool, demanding that God come through. Effective prayer comes when we abide in Him and His words abide in us, and we ask according to His will.

Prayer is to be a way of life; a constant communion that causes you to commit everything to your Father for His leadership, His anointing, His provision according to His way and according to His time. Live as Jesus lived.

"Jesus therefore answered and was saying to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner."
John 5:19

"Where are you?"

He Is Waiting

"Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?"
Genesis 3:9

Adam and Eve had just sinned. They had eaten of the forbidden fruit and were hiding from God. Yet God, who is omnipresent and omniscient, asked them where they were. God knew, but did they? Pause and take a good look at where you are, and why you're there.

If you think you can hide something from God, you're wrong. Confess it. Get it out in the open with God and walk with Him again in faith's obedience.

(From my daily calendar) Interesting timing.

Welcome to the Aussies bouncing in....:)

Hello from Canada to all my mates down under. You made my day, but where have you been? Seems like I have been waiting forever for you to give me a shout out! Welcome and Blessings are yours from my little blog here. Sorry, the drugs are kicking in. :)

picture thanks to http://img160.imageshack.us/img160/6182/funny003rf5.jpg

It is You from Hillsong's For This Cause

Some kind soul directed me to this song today. It is one I have not heard and I could not hear it all, but the words speak to me. Seeing that I have had a severe case of sciatica today and for the last few days you can imagine the blessing this brought me. Thanks.

Words and Music by Darlene Zschech

Lamp unto my feet,
Light unto my path,
It is You.
Jesus, it is You.
This treasure that I hold,
More than finest gold,
It is You.
Jesus, it is You.
With all my heart,
With all my soul,
I live to worship You,
And praise forever more,
Praise forever more.
Lord, everyday I need You more.
On wings of heaven I will soar with You.
You take my brokenness,
Call me to Yourself.
There You stand,
Healing in Your hands.

Say Cheese!

From Tozer today.
Nehemiah 8:10

We are missing the mark about Christian victory and the life of joy in our Savior. We ought to be standing straight and praising our God!

I must agree with the psalmist that the joy of the Lord is the strength of His people. I do believe that the sad world is attracted to spiritual sunshine--the genuine thing, that is.

Some churches train their greeters and ushers to smile, showing as many teeth as possible. But I can sense that kind of display, and when I am greeted by a person who is smiling because he or she has been trained to smile, I know I am shaking the flipper of a trained seal. When the warmth and joy of the Holy Spirit are in a congregation, however, and the folks are spontaneously joyful, the result is a wonderful influence upon others....

I have said it a hundred times: The reason we have to search for so many things to cheer us up is the fact that we are not really joyful and contentedly happy within....But we are Christians, and Christians have every right to be the happiest people in the world.

Confused?

From Larry Crabb's book....Becoming a True Spiritual Community.

"Confusion isn't always a bad thing. If we're not confused about anything it's likely we're grasping the truth about nothing important. Developing convictions about vital matters is never easy and, until heaven, is an ongoing, never finished process."

"The upside of confusion is openness. Confused people listen better, not always, but more often than people whose minds are made up. Those folks listen only in order to critique, to see if someone else is on the right track, namely theirs. Confused people are more likely to combine kindness with whatever convictions emerge out of their confusion. And, because of their eagerness for meaningful dialogue with honest people, the convictions they develop tend to speak to the realities of life as it really is lived."

Start bailing

A good thought from This Day's Thought. Reading about Spiritual Community makes me think this is very related. :)

"To say, my fate is not tied to your fate, is like saying, your end of the boat is sinking."

Hugh Downs

More on ...Larry Crabb's

Okay, so the first part of the book Crabb is going to talk about..."a way of thinking about spiritual community. What it means to really as he calls it "turn our chairs toward each other" (you have to read the book to get the analogy of that), and pour out the life in our hearts into our brothers and sisters, and to let them pour into us. It is sometimes more difficult to receive than to give. In spiritual communities, people do both."

The big question....."What makes a spiritual community unique?"

Interesting question....back to the book.

A Profound Vision of What the Church Can Be...

Becoming a True Spiritual Community formerly known as The Safest Place on Earth by Larry Crabb is a book I 'happened' along at the 'store' and couldn't pass by. I did not read this book in 1999 when it came out under the first title....totally different place then, yep, for sure.

Today, He is speaking through this book to me. Expect some quotes as I journey on.

"Even when a few of us gather together to relate, do we somehow manage to keep our souls to ourselves, never really meeting, neither giving nor receiving what is most wanted?"

Crabb says that he, "wants us to talk with each other, not merely to make conversation, but to make a difference, to be caught up in another sphere, the world of the Spirit, where first things are first and second things are second."

"I think that's what the writer to the Hebrews had in mind. He told us to never stop getting together with other Christians. And, when we do get together, to say and do things that stir a flame into a fire, to arouse the life God's Spirit has placed within us so we can go on through dark nights or pleasant mornings with our eyes fixed on unseen reality."

"In real community people know each other; they relate in ways only God's Spirit makes possible."

"Churches are rarely communities.".......

Interesting thoughts from an 8 year old book. Leaving off here with this..."They know that God gives them His Spirit and works miracles both in them and among them, not because they cleverly make it happen, but because they revel in their dependence and learn to hear the Spirit's voice (see Galatians 3:5)."

Sounds familiar...almost like the gate that is seldom found.

In A Squirrel Cage???

Tozer Today

Til I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.
1 Timothy 4:13

In an effort to get the work of the Lord done we often lose contact with the Lord of the work and quite literally wear our people out as well. I have heard more than one pastor boast that his church was a "live" one, pointing to the printed calendar as a proof-- something on every night and several meetings during the day. Of course this proves nothing except that the pastor and the church are being guided by a bad spiritual philosophy. A great many of these time-consuming activities are useless and others plain ridiculous. "But," say the eager beavers who run the religious squirrel cages, "they provide fellowship and they hold our people together."

To this I reply that what they provide is not fellowship at all, and if that is the best thing the church has to offer to hold the people together it is not a Christian church in the New Testament meaning of that word. The center of attraction in a true church is the Lord Jesus Christ....

If the many activities engaged in by the average church led to the salvation of sinners or the perfecting of believers they would justify themselves easily and triumphantly; but they do not. My observations have led me to the belief that many, perhaps most, of the activities engaged in by the average church do not contribute in any way to the accomplishing of the true work of Christ on earth. I hope I am wrong, but I am afraid I am right.

Michael Frost

Brought to my attention by Biscotti Brain
Interesting thoughts

Becoming the poor



Jesus Etiquette



Jesus: Man of the Streets

hmmmm

From This Day's Thought

"Not only do we not know God except through Jesus Christ; we do not even know ourselves except through Jesus Christ."

Blaise Pascal

So there you go

Thanks to Jim's blog for this

How and what others think and feel about me is none of my business. I am only responsible for giving unconditional love and acceptance to everyone; and then going my way in peace, detached from their response and opinion of me.

Gary Vacca

Low moral enthusiasm?

From Tozer's Devotion for today

"Were some watcher or holy one from the bright world above to come among us for a time with the power to diagnose the spiritual ills of church people there is one entry which I am quite sure would appear on the vast majority of his reports: Definite evidence of chronic spiritual lassitude; level of moral enthusiasm extremely low...."

"It is true that there is a lot of religious activity among us. Inter- church basketball tournaments, religious splash parties followed by devotions, week-end camping trips with a Bible quiz around the fire, Sunday school picnics, building fund drives and ministerial breakfasts are with us in unbelievable numbers, and they are carried on with typical American gusto. It is when we enter the sacred precincts of the heart's personal religion that we suddenly lose all enthusiasm."

"So we find this strange and contradictory situation: a world of noisy, headlong religious activity carried on without moral energy or spiritual fervor."

Canada's Really Big.... Giggle

Happy 140th Canada!!

Happy Canada Day!

The Pocket Book of Prayers

This has been a great little book edited by Jim Palmer.

Disturb us, Lord, when

We are too well pleased with ourselves,

When our dreams have come true

Because we have dreamed too little,

When we arrived safely

Because we sailed too close to shore.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,

To venture on wider seas

Where storms will show your mastery;

Where losing sight of land,

We shall find the stars.

We ask you to push back

The horizons of our hopes;

And to push into the future

In strength, courage, hope, and love.

Sir Francis Drake

God of your goodness,

give me yourself,

for you are sufficient for me....

If I were to ask anything less

I should always be in want,

for in you alone do I have all.

Julian of Norwich

Strike!

So today, I am dealing with an issue of "what the heck am I doing?" and is this where you want me, Lord? On a picket line, with my co-workers as we are on strike. This became effective Saturday evening at midnight. Yes, so I am reading one of my favourite blogs "Today at the Mission", and the blog is about a wedding attended. I feel a little out of sorts today in the same way only different, if you know what I mean. It isn't about the opulence or the surrealness of the whole thing....it is just a feeling of displacement, of not belonging amongst the throng of those who truly believe in their cause, and their work ethic and their long justifications and their real needs. Bottom line is we live a blessed life. It is hard to be a part of something and yet be separate. I don't doubt for a moment that this need for a strike is a very real need....I just can't get overly excited or interested in something that is beyond my understanding of where I am placed in this life....it is more than about the money....it is about touching the lives of every single person around me by being the vessel that Jesus would use. Is He able to use me here? I know He can in some way, but what a strange experience. I have worked at this job for a very long time..................this is my main means of support, not my second and more "meaningful" part-time job at the christian book store. :) I don't know... It was a tough day out there today in more ways than one....very warm and very loud and negative in a lot of ways. Let me sleep on this one tonight....ZZZzzzz

All Things....means all things!

A good quote for me today. From Today's Thought.

"You can't control the length of your life, but you can control its width and depth. You can't control the contour of your face, but you can control its expression. You can't control the weather, but you can control the atmosphere of your mind. Why worry about things you can't control when you can keep yourself busy controlling the things that depend on you?"

Unknown

With Philippians 4:13 in mind, of course.

" I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency]."

Amplified Bible

From Jim's Prayer Book

Dear Lord,

So far today I've done all right...

I haven't gossiped, lost my temper,

been greedy, grumpy, nasty,

selfish or over-indulgent.

I'm very thankful for that.

But in a few minutes, Lord,

I'm going to get out of bed,

and from then on,

I'm going to need a lot of help.

Author Unknown

check it out here

Two Great Sunday Thoughts

Oswald Chambers from My Utmost for His Highest

"The golden rule for your life and mine is this concentrated keeping of the life open towards God . . . The rush of other things always tends to obscure this concentration on God. . . Never be hurried out of the relationship of abiding in Him."

Tozer from That Incredible Christian

"It remains only to be said that worship as we have described it here is almost (though, thank God, not quite) a forgotten art in our day. For whatever we can say of modern Bible-believing Christians, it can hardly be denied that we are not remarkable for our spirit of worship. The gospel as preached by good men in our times may save souls, but it does not create worshipers.

Our meetings are characterized by cordiality, humor, affability, zeal and high animal spirits; but hardly anywhere do we find gatherings marked by the overshadowing presence of God. We manage to get along on correct doctrine, fast tunes, pleasing personalities and religious amusements.

How few, how pitifully few are the enraptured souls who languish for love of Christ....

If Bible Christianity is to survive the present world upheaval, we shall need to recapture the spirit of worship. We shall need to have a fresh revelation of the greatness of God and the beauty of Jesus. We shall need to put away our phobias and our prejudices against the deeper life and seek again to be filled with the Holy Spirit. He alone can raise our cold hearts to rapture and restore again the art of true worship."

What the....???

Church

From Today's Thought

From the trenches....

"You don't see the church on Sunday morning any more than you see the army when it's on dress parade."

Bill Popejoy

Have I mentioned....?

I love this blog that He lead me to.....from Jim's blog and this is his latest post.

“The strain of constant judgment is virtually intolerable. It is curious that an ability so debilitating would be so deeply cherished.”

Who is your authority? On what basis do you “judge” yourself? Do you judge yourself based on your behavior…in comparison to others…your ego…your perception of “success”…your physical appearance…your religiosity…your spiritual progress?

What if you listened to the voice of God deep within you? Would it scare you to hear God does not judge you based on these criteria? Would it scare you to hear God does not judge you at all in terms of ranking you based on the above things? Do you think your judgment of yourself should trump God’s?

What if the voice of Perfect Love said that you could never improve or diminish the perfection of who you are, and that in every moment you were “judged” as perfect in God’s eyes…every second, of every minute, of every hour…perfect in God’s estimation.

How great is that???

I like it!

From Today's Thought

"The Christian has been transplanted into a new soil and a new climate, and both soil and climate are Christ."

James Stewart

Today

Following by Dr. John Woodward - Grace Fellowship International

In His insightful book, The Father Heart of God, Floyd McClung Jr. emphasizes the grace of God which should flow in our Christian fellowship. "As we love and accept and forgive one another as brothers and sisters in Christ, God's love flows through us to heal one another.Through our brothers and sisters in God's family, God provides the kind of love and acceptance that frees us from our fears and allows us to experience greater wholeness as people. We can be committed to others without fear of rejection. We can accept others in spite of their weakness. We can forgive others even when they hurt us . . . All this is true because of God's grace. It is His grace, His undeserved love,that does this for us. We don't have the ability in ourselves to be so loving, but God enables us to love. We don't have have the ability in ourselves to heal one another, but through us God heals others. Every Christian has this ministry. Each of us can be a grace-giver'.

"If we miss out on the expression of God's love though fellow believers, Christ's sufficiency is our safety net. Paul had a lapse of Christian support shortly before his martyrdom. "At my first defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them. But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me,. . . (2 Tim 4:16,17). Our Lord Jesus was disappointed in his sleepy prayer partners at Gethsemane, but an angel was sent to strengthen Him. (Luke 22:43). Our Lord will never leave or forsake us! (Heb 13:5).

I was tagged by Joel over there at the grace roots blog....

Rules
1. Those tagged will share 5 Things They Dig About Jesus.

2. Those tagged will tag 5 people.

3.Those tagged will leave a link to their meme in the comments section of this post so everyone can keep track of what's being posted. (not really sure what this means....but I will try to do it right....try, try, try.....it really can be all about the trying, can't it? :)Thanks Joel....for still being there and checking in, now and again.


Here are 5 things I dig about Jesus:

1. Jesus laid down His life for us, so that He could give His life to us, so that He could live His life through us.

2. I have total forgiveness because of Jesus.

3. Jesus is the solution for every need of my heart.

4. Jesus cares for me in a way that I cannot even begin to imagine.

5. I live under grace that came from Jesus (and that really is Him).


Now I tag:
1. oncoffee
2. mikey'sgodtalk
3. the M blog
4. madetopraisehim
5. "For such a time as this"

I don't think that too many will respond, but that's ok....it is all good.

Habakkuk 3:16-19 KJV

16 When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops.

17 Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:

18 Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

19 The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.

Tozer on worship

Today...

Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. --Ephesians 5:8-10

I have to be faithful to what I know to be true, so I must tell you that if you will not worship God seven days a week, you do not worship Him on one day a week....

Too many of us try to discharge our obligations to God Almighty in one day--usually one trip to church. Sometimes, nobly, we make it two trips to church, but it's all on the same day when we have nothing else to do--and that's supposed to be worship. I grant you, sir, that it can be true worship, provided that on Monday and Tuesday and the other days you also experience the blessings of true worship.

I do not say that you must be at church all of the time--how could you be?

You can worship God at your desk, on an elevated train, or driving in traffic. You can worship God washing dishes or ironing clothes. You can worship God in school, on the basketball court. You can worship God in whatever is legitimate and right and good....

So that's all right. We can go to church and worship. But if we go to church and worship one day, it is not true worship unless it is followed by continuing worship in the days that follow.

But today is only Saturday...

Tozer's devo for today.

But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him. Habakkuk 2:20

"So I've got to tell you that if you do not worship God seven days a week, you do not worship Him on one day a week. There is no such thing known in heaven as Sunday worship unless it is accompanied by Monday worship and Tuesday worship and so on....

We come into God's house and say, "The Lord is in His holy temple, let us all kneel before Him." Very nice. I think it's nice to start a service that way once in a while. But when any of you men enter your office Monday morning at 9 o'clock, if you can't walk into that office and say, "The Lord is in my office, let all the world be silent before Him," then you are not worshiping the Lord on Sunday. If you can't worship Him on Monday you didn't worship Him on Sunday. If you don't worship Him on Saturday you are not in very good shape to worship Him on Sunday."

Jim's Prayer Book

Saint Anselm

Let me seek You in my desire,
Let me desire You in my seeking.
Let me find You by loving You,
Let me love You when I find You.

Be Thou My Vision

From Jim Palmer's Prayer Book

A couple more gems today but really check out his posting for June 12/07 on his blog site. A like-minded brother. What a cool catalyst this little prayer book has been!

Gregorian Chant

Come, Holy Spirit
Bend what is rigid in me,
Melt what is frozen.


John Bell

Here is a gaping sore, Lord;
half the world diets,
the other half hungers;
half the world is housed;
the other half homeless;
half the world pursues profit,
the other half senses loss.
Redeem our souls,
redeem our peoples,
redeem our times.

Making Beautiful Music

From Tozer:
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless." --Genesis 17:1

Without argument, most things are at their best when they are fulfilling their purpose and design.

For instance, a piano is made with a specific purpose: to produce music. However, I happen to know that someone once stood on a piano in order to put a fastener of some kind in the ceiling. Some artistic women have used piano tops as family picture galleries. I have seen piano tops that were cluttered filing cabinets or wide library shelves.

There is an intelligent design in the creation of a piano. The manufacturer did not announce: "This is a good piano. It has at least 19 uses!" No, the designer had only one thought in mind: "This piano will have the purpose and potential of sounding forth beautiful music!"...

Do not miss the application of truth here. God was saying to Abraham, "You may have some other idea about the design and purpose for your life, but you are wrong! You were created in My image to worship Me and to glorify Me. If you do not honor this purpose, your life will degenerate into shallow, selfish, humanistic pursuits.

Iona Abbey Prayer

From The Pocket Book of Prayers - Edited by Jim Palmer, (a great collection of short little prayers, that are gems and inspire thought and action). Check out his blog. Interesting guy!







Lord of the excluded,

Open my ears to those

I would prefer not to hear,

Open my life to those

I would prefer not to know,

Open my heart to those

I would prefer not to love,

And so open my eyes to see

Where I exclude You.

Praise In All Things

It ain't easy grace. From Frank Friedman, today.

"Grace assures success in obedience."

"Our performing good works in a New Covenant economy pleases God."

"I love you, my child, but I do not love your behaviour." That is the way God would say it, in speaking about our lack of true and total worship to God. And He isn't talking about the music!"

He spoke about Juan Ortiz's analogy.....we give the beginning sputterings of a car starting....God gives the VROOOOM it needs to move forward. Always our choice to accept His leading.

Easy to get caught up with "I don't have to do a thing"......and stay there. What a wondrous thing it is to step with His prompting, of course, but letting Him know, yep, today I hear and I obey. Now, God ......"manifest Yourself, through me.". You know??

Kenyan Prayer

From the cowardice that dare not face new truth

From the laziness that is contented with half truth

From the arrogance that thinks it knows all truth,

Good Lord, deliver me.

Boast in the name of the LORD, our God

Psalm 20 NASB

1 May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble!
May the name of the God of Jacob set you securely on high!

2 May He send you help from the sanctuary
And support you from Zion!

3 May He remember all your meal offerings
And find your burnt offering acceptable! Selah.

4 May He grant you your heart's desire
And fulfill all your counsel!

5 We will sing for joy over your victory,
And in the name of our God we will set up our banners
May the LORD fulfill all your petitions.

6 Now I know that the LORD saves His anointed;
He will answer him from His holy heaven
With the saving strength of His right hand.

7 Some boast in chariots and some in horses,
But we will boast in the name of the LORD, our God.

8 They have bowed down and fallen,
But we have risen and stood upright.

9 Save, O LORD;
May the King answer us in the day we call.

Without Him, we are all just idiots.

Tozer Today

He really had me laughing at his wording in this devotion today. Maybe that has something to do with dealing with high-school and university students in my home this week.
His references .....hmmmm ....gangsters, communists, sinners, .....young people......it just made me laugh. :) But for His Grace, go I.

"Without worship we go about miserable; that's why we have all the troubles we have. You wonder why young people act like such idiots. Some young people have a lot of energy and don't know what to do with it, so they go out and act like idiots; and that's why gangsters and Communists and sinners of all kinds do what they do. They are endowed by God Almighty with brilliant intelligence and an amazing store of energy, and because they don't know what to do with it they do the wrong thing. That's why I'm not angry with people when I see them go off the deep end, because I know that they have fallen from their first estate along with Adam's brood and all of us together. They haven't been redeemed and so they have energy they don't know what to do with; they have capacity they don't know how to use. They have skills and don't know where to put them, and so they go wild and police have to arrest 16-year-olds and put them in jail. If they had been taught that they came into the world in the first place to worship God and to enjoy Him forever and that when they fell Jesus Christ came to redeem them, to make worshipers out of them, they could by the Holy Ghost and the washing of the blood be made into worshiping saints and things would be so different."

Wishes

From Today's Thought

"I wish you then, a very rich, deep, true, straight, and simple growth in the love of God, accepted and willed gently but greatly, at the daily hourly cost of self."

Friedrich Von Hugel

A beautiful wish!

"Astonished Reverence"

From Tozer's devotional today. MMMMmmm....rich!

" Man is better qualified to appreciate God than any other creature because he was made in His image and is the only creature who was. This admiration for God grows and grows until it fills the heart with wonder and delight. "In our astonished reverence we confess Thine uncreated loveliness," said the hymn writer. "In our astonished reverence." The God of the modern evangelical rarely astonishes anybody. He manages to stay pretty much within the constitution. Never breaks over our bylaws. He's a very well- behaved God and very denominational and very much one of us, and we ask Him to help us when we're in trouble and look to Him to watch over us when we're asleep. The God of the modern evangelical isn't a God I could have much respect for. But when the Holy Ghost shows us God as He is we admire Him to the point of wonder and delight. "

And from yesterday....
" The simple truth is that worship is elementary until it begins to take on the quality of admiration. Just as long as the worshiper is engrossed with himself and his good fortune, he is a babe. We begin to grow up when our worship passes from thanksgiving to admiration. As our hearts rise to God in lofty esteem for that which He is ("I AM THAT I AM"), we begin to share a little of the selfless pleasure which is the portion of the blessed in heaven. "

Isaiah 35:3-4 NIV

Take heart....

3 Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way;

4 say to those with fearful hearts, "Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you."

Chuckle

"Said the frustrated exchanged life believer to the long time good old baptist fundamentalist believer....."After all, we are both doing the Lord's work -- you in your way and I in His." :)

"...It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me."

Galatians 2:20 NASB
Again, I hear loudly.....we are the Church, the Body of Christ.

From a great posting....on "Awakening" called "Who Shall Build A House For Me? Read it all. I love finding these treasured sites and to see so much of what I am feeling playing out in the world around me. I pray that He might use this vessel, again, broken and battered as it is to live His life out of - to those who cross the path of it.

"House church isn't the answer to these ills in the church. A return to a pilgrim mentality that we are just passing through is in order. We are a people on a journey toward home. To stay and camp in one area for too long is detrimental to our moving forward into the "promised land of God" called heaven. When we get comfortable, we first pitch a tent. Then we plant a field. Then we build a wall. Then we replace the tent with a permanent structure. Then we build a city around our permanent structure. All along we are losing our compass reading. We are pointed toward the earth, rather than toward our eternal home. The things of the earth become more precious than the things of eternity. We want to stay here, rather than longing for being with God fully in eternity. Again, all the while, the Father weeps over our misplaced priorities."

(I interject here, to make note of the number of "we, we, we's that are in this way of doing life. Nothing that I do....but what He does in and through me...sorry, but it stands out like a purple elephant to me :) )

"Simply ask yourself, "Am I too comfortable here in this strange land called earth?" If so, then ask the Spirit to reorient you back to Jesus and His vision of the people of God on a journey toward home. And, while you are at it, invite the lost to get on the narrow road with you by entering through faith in Christ "

Praising Him Today

Music Today:

Worship today, music wise was provided by this wonderful C.D. from Hillsong that I continue to go back to over and over again. It is reverant, peaceful and helps bring me to that place where my focus is totally and wonderfully on Jesus. When I am slipping just outside that focus, this C.D. brings me back there.

Today's Scripture: Psalm 45 10 - 11 (NIV)

10 Listen, O daughter, consider and give ear: Forget your people and your father's house.
11 The king is enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord.

From Matthew Henry's Commentary:

The psalmist's tongue was guided by the Spirit of God, as the pen is by the hand of a ready writer. This psalm is touching the King Jesus, his kingdom and government. It is a shame that this good matter is not more the subject of our discourse. There is more in Christ to engage our love, than there is or can be in any creature. This world and its charms are ready to draw away our hearts from Christ; therefore we are concerned to understand how much more worthy he is of our love. By his word, his promise, his gospel, the good will of God is made known to us, and the good work of God is begun and carried on in us.

Psalm 139 NASB

From Matthew Henry's Commentary

The believer expects weariness and ill treatment on his way to heaven; but he shall not stay here long : walking with God by faith, he goes forward on his journey, not diverted from his course, nor cast down by the difficulties he meets. How blessed it is to sit loose from things here below, that while going home to our Father's house, we may use the world as not abusing it! May we always look for that city, whose Builder and Maker is God.

1 O LORD, You have searched me and known me.

2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar.

3 You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.

4 Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, You know it all.

5 You have enclosed me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it.

7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?

8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.

9 If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,

10 Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me.

11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night,"

12 Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day (Darkness and light are alike to 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.

19 O that You would slay the wicked, O God; Depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed.

20 For they speak against You wickedly, And Your enemies take Your name in vain.

21 Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?

22 I hate them with the utmost hatred; They have become my enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts;

24 And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.

Thoughts from Guy on the M Blog Today (well actually from Friday.....but I came across it today), with thanks. Check it out! Interesting thoughts from the book "The Way Church Ought To Be", by Robert Lund.

Rethinking the nature and function of ekklesia

Praying that all who check out my blog today, would realize the amazing blessing that is upon their lives already......May He reveal Himself to each one today in an awesome and real way!

On Ephesians

Third take of 10 Quick Takes on Ephesians 5:21/22-33 by Chris Spinks.

I love reading this blog. It has interesting and thought provoking views on the Scriptures. Very cool! Check it out!

"On the subject of modern interpretations, I have always been perplexed by something. Wives are told to submit to husbands. That’s in the text. No way around it. Husbands are told to love wives. Fine. Rarely any problem for we modern folks on this. Here’s the thing though: I imagine most people would agree that wives ought to love their husbands as well. Right? We understand the ideal marriage as one where both partners love each other. But, the Ephesians text only calls on the husband to love. We easily understand a reciprocation of this love from the wife’s end. Why do we not also just as easily understand a reciprocation of the submission from the husband’s end? Indeed, v. 21 is quite explicit about it. Yet I would imagine if we were to ask a “traditionalist” to describe a good marriage, he (purposefully exclusive language!) would say something about love between the husband and wife and the submission of the wife to the husband. Why no submission between the husband and wife? I’m perplexed."

"I'm Not Who I Was"

By Brandon Heath

So many books.....

Thanks to Guy Muse and his blog, a new book came to my attention.

Lots of good quotes....like this one.

"The quickest way to "church the un-churched" may very well be to un-church the Church."

Hmmmmmmm

Doing?

From Today's Thought


"What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Who are You?

From Lifetime Guarantee

Defining a Hypocrite

By Preston Gillham

"I found a great theological truth in, the dictionary of all places. "Hypocrite" is defined as a person who acts contrary to who they really are. Considering what God says about you is it possible that you are a hypocrite?
Do you know what God says about Believers? He says we are saints, that we are righteous, holy, and forgiven. That doesn't mean we're perfect but it does mean we're new people! Act like a saint and it will be in keeping with what God says you are... whether you feel like it's true or not.
You must understand who you are as a child of God if you ever hope to act like it. You will act like the person you believe yourself to be. Once you understand who you truly are, you'll behave as you never thought possible."


Never hurts to be reminded!

From Eric Michael Bryant

Peppermint-Filled Pinatas - breaking through tolerance and embracing love

"More and more people seem to have the same attitude as the bumper sticker I see on cars around town: "Jesus, protect me from your followers." Who is to blame for this anti-Christian bias?....."

"We have created an environment where we are seen as judgmental, irrelevant, mean, and hypocritical."

"For far too long, the world has been made aware of what we as Christians hate rather than whom we love. When asked what Christians believe, most people would begin creating a "Don't Do" list. People are far more aware of what Christians are against than of what we support. Rather than hearing a call for true freedom, people feel unloved by Christians and therefore unloved by God because of our behavior."

Good thoughts and I am just starting the book.......always good to be reminded once in a while what this life really looks like to those who have not surrendered their lives to God as of yet.