The letters of Samuel Rutherford are a wonderful treasury of the devotional
life of the heart that is enthralled and captured by Christ. He was a great,
sturdy man. I remember reading about how when he lay dying in prison in St.
Andrews, Scotland, the king sent a messenger to summon him to appear in court in
London to answer to the charges of high heresy. When the messenger came in
before the old man and announced that the king had ordered him to appear in
court, he said to him in his Scottish fashion, "Gane and tell yere master, I
have a summons from a higher court, and ere this message reaches him, I'll be
where few kings or great folk ever come." It was a stirring rebuke to a man of
earth who thought he could summon a man of faith.
Abraham owned a burial cave in the end. That was all. It is a reminder to
us, and to all men and women of faith in all times, that all we can ever really
own down here is a burial ground in which we may lay to rest all the hopes and
expectations of this life. All we hope for and all the fine things we hope to
have someday, all the experiences we would like to live over again, all these
expectations are buried in the grave.
We are made to be creatures of eternity. The book of Ecclesiastes says that
God "also set eternity in the hearts of men" (Ecclesiastes 3:11). We are not
made to be creatures of time. We are not made to be satisfied with this brief
period of life and then to pass into the endless, silent realms of death. God
has set eternity in our hearts. But the great tragedy is that we can so easily
lose sight of the goal. We begin to be wrapped up in the problems of time, and
we lose the broad view of eternity.
Lord, teach me to live with the same kind of independence as Abraham, who
fixed his eyes on those things that no person could take from him.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Something no one can take
Stirring within....from today's devotional based on Ray Stedman's teaching.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Prayer
From This Day's Thought.
Learning to pray is learning to trust the wisdom, the power, and the love of our Heavenly Father, always so far beyond our dreams. He knows our need and knows ways to meet it that have never entered our heads. Things we feel sure we need for happiness may often lead to our ruin. Things we think will ruin us- if we believe what the Father tells us and surrender ourselves into His strong arms, bring us deliverance and joy.
Elisabeth Elliot
Learning to pray is learning to trust the wisdom, the power, and the love of our Heavenly Father, always so far beyond our dreams. He knows our need and knows ways to meet it that have never entered our heads. Things we feel sure we need for happiness may often lead to our ruin. Things we think will ruin us- if we believe what the Father tells us and surrender ourselves into His strong arms, bring us deliverance and joy.
Elisabeth Elliot
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Stuff happening around the area!
Two Events.....Check them out!
A gathering in Him {text directly taken from the meeting of one blog - it is ok, we are all One in Unity :) }.
Who: Children of the most High and those 'Wanna Be's'
What: A gathering of One in Him
Where: Basement of the Belmont Library (Belmont ON)
When: SATURDAY NIGHT June 21st 7 pm - 'til the Spirit sends us home.
Why: To celebrate His Life in Us; encourage, spur one another in His Community and add others to it
Norm and Amy are led to a gathering in Him here in Belmont. All are invited. No cost. Come to be a part of the priesthood of believers and bring someone who Jesus has put on your heart to do so.
Change your world:
Next week in West Lorne. I will be manning a book table on Wednesday night and am looking forward to a new experience of spiritual proportions. The jury is out.....my heart is open.
A gathering in Him {text directly taken from the meeting of one blog - it is ok, we are all One in Unity :) }.
Who: Children of the most High and those 'Wanna Be's'
What: A gathering of One in Him
Where: Basement of the Belmont Library (Belmont ON)
When: SATURDAY NIGHT June 21st 7 pm - 'til the Spirit sends us home.
Why: To celebrate His Life in Us; encourage, spur one another in His Community and add others to it
Norm and Amy are led to a gathering in Him here in Belmont. All are invited. No cost. Come to be a part of the priesthood of believers and bring someone who Jesus has put on your heart to do so.
Change your world:
Next week in West Lorne. I will be manning a book table on Wednesday night and am looking forward to a new experience of spiritual proportions. The jury is out.....my heart is open.
My Ishmael
Again from the devotional based on the teachings of Ray Stedman.
But God said to him, "Do not be so distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned" (Genesis 21:12).
If Isaac represents the gladsome fullness of the fruit of the Spirit, then Ishmael represents some pet manifestation of our self-life in which we find comfort and delight and that we do not want to surrender. Some place value on what they have long suspected is not what God would have but that they were reluctant to give up. Perhaps it is some long-standing habit that we have been defending. There can be habits or values in our lives that are really some form of self-indulgence. God may allow them for a while, but the time comes when He says, "Now, these have to go." .....
Dr. Barnhouse once wrote, "Early in my ministry, I had the idea that I must strike out against all error wherever I saw it... if error was in some fundamental leader with whom I was in 95% agreement, I swung hard at the 5%." This made Dr. Barnhouse a highly controversial figure, often unmercifully sharp and dogmatic. This zeal for truth became an Ishmael in his life. Then he tells how there came a time when the Spirit of God taught him to love, and he faced the choice—Ishmael had to go. He had to learn to be more understanding and more tolerant of some of the variant views of others.
He wrote, "Some time ago, I published a New Year's resolution expressing regret that I had had differences with men who are truly born again. The results of that resolution were astounding. In the years that followed its publication, my ministry has been transformed." The closing years of his life show much of his mellowing and of the sweetness of the fruit of the Spirit in one who before had been so harsh, critical, and demanding.
I don't know what form Ishmael may be taking in your life, but I know there are times when God says to us, simply, this must go. There can be no manifestation of the life of the Spirit any longer until this is dealt with. Abraham obeyed. Early in the morning, he got up and took bread and a skin of water and, though it cost him heartbreak to do it, sent Hagar and Ishmael out, so that he might have the fullness of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.
Lord, I ask that I would sincerely long to be a completely yielded vessel of Your joy and strength and peace. May I have the grace to cast out Ishmael and find the fullness and joy of Isaac.
But God said to him, "Do not be so distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned" (Genesis 21:12).
If Isaac represents the gladsome fullness of the fruit of the Spirit, then Ishmael represents some pet manifestation of our self-life in which we find comfort and delight and that we do not want to surrender. Some place value on what they have long suspected is not what God would have but that they were reluctant to give up. Perhaps it is some long-standing habit that we have been defending. There can be habits or values in our lives that are really some form of self-indulgence. God may allow them for a while, but the time comes when He says, "Now, these have to go." .....
Dr. Barnhouse once wrote, "Early in my ministry, I had the idea that I must strike out against all error wherever I saw it... if error was in some fundamental leader with whom I was in 95% agreement, I swung hard at the 5%." This made Dr. Barnhouse a highly controversial figure, often unmercifully sharp and dogmatic. This zeal for truth became an Ishmael in his life. Then he tells how there came a time when the Spirit of God taught him to love, and he faced the choice—Ishmael had to go. He had to learn to be more understanding and more tolerant of some of the variant views of others.
He wrote, "Some time ago, I published a New Year's resolution expressing regret that I had had differences with men who are truly born again. The results of that resolution were astounding. In the years that followed its publication, my ministry has been transformed." The closing years of his life show much of his mellowing and of the sweetness of the fruit of the Spirit in one who before had been so harsh, critical, and demanding.
I don't know what form Ishmael may be taking in your life, but I know there are times when God says to us, simply, this must go. There can be no manifestation of the life of the Spirit any longer until this is dealt with. Abraham obeyed. Early in the morning, he got up and took bread and a skin of water and, though it cost him heartbreak to do it, sent Hagar and Ishmael out, so that he might have the fullness of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.
Lord, I ask that I would sincerely long to be a completely yielded vessel of Your joy and strength and peace. May I have the grace to cast out Ishmael and find the fullness and joy of Isaac.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Want of the One Thing -
Again from a devotional based on Ray C. Stedman (1917-1992) teaching.
So both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father (Genesis 19:36).
Before this incident, these two girls were physically virgins, but they were already debauched in their minds. They had long since grown accustomed to obscenity and unrestrained luridness, so, up in the cave on the mountainside, they seized the thinnest tissue of excuses, and the story ends in a foul orgy of drunkenness and incest. Lot had nothing but heartbreak and grief to show for his years in Sodom. The Lord said, "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it" (Matthew 16:25a). So Lot, trying to get the best out of both worlds, lost all and has become for all time the picture of the Christian who is saved, "but only as one escaping through the flames" (1 Corinthians 3:15b). He has nothing but wasted years to look back on and eternity ahead. When you attempt to gain the best of both worlds, you destroy others beside yourself. What was the greatest pang in Lot's heart when he awoke there in the cave in the mountains and learned all that had happened? Do you think it was grief over his lost wealth, his vanished honor, his troubled mind? Don't you think that the greatest, deepest wound of all in that man's heart was the recognition of what he had done to his loved ones in Sodom his little girls, his wife?
Your children are watching you who are parents, and they see your outward respectability, your desire to be right and to do good. But in some of you, they also see that the deepest thing in your life is to get gain or to enjoy pleasure. They see that you will quickly sacrifice a prayer meeting for a night out, that you are always willing to take a bigger salary, regardless of what it may do to the family in terms of new conditions or new circles of friends. They see that the things for which you sacrifice and are willing to skimp and save are not missions or the church or the work of God, but a new car, a new television set, nicer furniture, a longer vacation, or a pretentious home. They are watching, and they see all this.
Bit by bit these children lose interest in the Bible and church. They resolve to get ahead in the world and win the respect of Sodom no matter what moral restraint they have to throw overboard to do it. This is why we see the tragedy of Christian homes where children are turning from God. And the deep sorrow these parents will carry to their grave, the deepest sorrow of their heart, will be that, though they still have their own faith, because of their compromise, they have lost their children. This tragic story of Lot is taking place here and now, in the modern Sodom and Gomorrah in which we live.
Father, thank You for this stern but loving warning from the life of Lot. Help me to make those choices that will result in those I love seeing and wanting all that You are and all that You provide for those who follow You.
So both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father (Genesis 19:36).
Before this incident, these two girls were physically virgins, but they were already debauched in their minds. They had long since grown accustomed to obscenity and unrestrained luridness, so, up in the cave on the mountainside, they seized the thinnest tissue of excuses, and the story ends in a foul orgy of drunkenness and incest. Lot had nothing but heartbreak and grief to show for his years in Sodom. The Lord said, "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it" (Matthew 16:25a). So Lot, trying to get the best out of both worlds, lost all and has become for all time the picture of the Christian who is saved, "but only as one escaping through the flames" (1 Corinthians 3:15b). He has nothing but wasted years to look back on and eternity ahead. When you attempt to gain the best of both worlds, you destroy others beside yourself. What was the greatest pang in Lot's heart when he awoke there in the cave in the mountains and learned all that had happened? Do you think it was grief over his lost wealth, his vanished honor, his troubled mind? Don't you think that the greatest, deepest wound of all in that man's heart was the recognition of what he had done to his loved ones in Sodom his little girls, his wife?
Your children are watching you who are parents, and they see your outward respectability, your desire to be right and to do good. But in some of you, they also see that the deepest thing in your life is to get gain or to enjoy pleasure. They see that you will quickly sacrifice a prayer meeting for a night out, that you are always willing to take a bigger salary, regardless of what it may do to the family in terms of new conditions or new circles of friends. They see that the things for which you sacrifice and are willing to skimp and save are not missions or the church or the work of God, but a new car, a new television set, nicer furniture, a longer vacation, or a pretentious home. They are watching, and they see all this.
Bit by bit these children lose interest in the Bible and church. They resolve to get ahead in the world and win the respect of Sodom no matter what moral restraint they have to throw overboard to do it. This is why we see the tragedy of Christian homes where children are turning from God. And the deep sorrow these parents will carry to their grave, the deepest sorrow of their heart, will be that, though they still have their own faith, because of their compromise, they have lost their children. This tragic story of Lot is taking place here and now, in the modern Sodom and Gomorrah in which we live.
Father, thank You for this stern but loving warning from the life of Lot. Help me to make those choices that will result in those I love seeing and wanting all that You are and all that You provide for those who follow You.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
The Arrogance Arises....
I again have seen a division in a man-made church body. Christian behavior wrapped up in self. Preserving long past rivalries and unrighteousness...... Let me hear some more self-serving stories of how wonderful lives they have had living for God......I choose to live from Him.
What a bunch of hypocrites.
How dare they profess their christianity and then be so hurtful towards others, believers and unbelievers alike. "What a wonderful testimony!"
There is an arrogance in the first families of the "Organized Religious Entertainment Centres", and they need to get real....they need to reach deep inside and find the real Christ within....putting on love, mercy, kindness and all those things that He has brought into our Life because it is Him in our life and nothing else, it is not them in all their years of service, and all their tithing and involvement, that makes them people "of God".
I am kinda p.o.'d if you haven't noticed. It doesn't happen a lot. My saving grace in all of this is that I know that I have a flesh part within me as well that does all kinds of things that are not of Him. BUT, when people live out of the soul - and they are leaders of our young people and they are passing on the junk and the prejudices of themselves to the next generation....it just makes me physically ill.....I cry for these people and the innocents that they are influencing.
God, please..... close the ears of those who hear the inconsistencies of these pharisees....I forgive immediately....but God knows how the wounding of the actions of people who have such a strong claim that they are of Him, because they do, do, do, do all of this ...... it is as straw....burned up as Nothing.....Nothing..... because I cannot see Christ.....and I desire, I long to see Christ in His people.
We have the mind of Christ.......why are there so many mindless people in the church?
I thought I was able to put this in its place and not let it send me reeling. I guess not. The enemy would have me seethe......I surrender this to Jesus. He knows....He knows. May my arrogance for thinking that this could not be me.......be erased....may He show me we all fall short.....we all fall short, indeed.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
The Circumcised Life
From a devotional based on the teaching of Ray Stedman.
Genesis 17:10
Genesis 17:10
"Now let us remember that what was physical and literal to Abraham is intended to have spiritual significance to us. In the New Testament, we no longer read of circumcision of the flesh but of the heart. The heart is the symbol of the soul—the mind, emotions, and will, the whole personality. All believers in Christ are to bear on their hearts the sign of Christ's lordship. The total personality is to be at their disposal.
This is the meaning of heart circumcision: Believers' hearts are totally Christ's to use as He wills—all their emotions, mind, intellect, and will are dedicated and available, ready at the command of Jesus Christ to be used for His purposes. Paul says to the Philippians, "We are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh" (Philippians 3:3 KJV). We are to have no reliance upon ourselves but rely totally upon Him. Every thought, every imagination, is brought into captivity to Christ. That is the circumcised life. "Walk therefore before me, and be wholehearted, blameless." That will be a life of fruitfulness and blessing, a life that is well pleasing to God, for it all springs from the realization that the God who lives within is El Shaddai, the God who is sufficient.
Father, it is quite possible for me to give the impression that I am totally Yours, yet to be quite false to that ideal. Help me to discover the glory of the circumcised life."
Friday, June 13, 2008
Wonders in the Body
Thanks to Guy Muse at the M Blog for leading me to the Real Nutz for Brazil blog which led me to this video. Amazing!
These are both very informative and thought provoking blogs on the lives and thoughts of missionary families in South America. I am always enthralled to read of the lives of my brothers and sisters in Christ around the globe. Tastes of different lives and situations and yet lives that are so completely connected and identified with because of Him and His heart's cry within each of us that know Him (really know Him). It does my heart good to see Him work in so many amazing ways around this world. Not that that is what it is about but I am so appreciative of the blessing that these glimpses provide.
These are both very informative and thought provoking blogs on the lives and thoughts of missionary families in South America. I am always enthralled to read of the lives of my brothers and sisters in Christ around the globe. Tastes of different lives and situations and yet lives that are so completely connected and identified with because of Him and His heart's cry within each of us that know Him (really know Him). It does my heart good to see Him work in so many amazing ways around this world. Not that that is what it is about but I am so appreciative of the blessing that these glimpses provide.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
All For Jesus - Robin Mark
I have a little issue with the title of this beautiful piece of music. My issue - my problem. I would really like to hear a song called "All From Jesus". He will help me work out this theological wording - one day. :)
Pray without ceasing
Quote provided by This Day's Thought.
"We should begin to pray before we kneel down and we should not cease when we rise up."
C. H. Spurgeon
"We should begin to pray before we kneel down and we should not cease when we rise up."
C. H. Spurgeon
Only in Him
From the devotional based on the teachings of Ray Stedman
From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier... (Genesis 13:3).
"As soon as Abram is back in the land, there is the tent and the altar again. There is no tent or altar in Egypt. That is, there is no pilgrim character, no place of worship or cleansing, and no fellowship in Egypt. But even back in the land, Abram must return to the place where he made an altar at the first, and there Abram calls upon the name of the Lord. In other words, time spent in Egypt is wasted time! There was no growth in grace in that land. He had to come right back to where he was when he went down to Egypt. He had material gain to show for the time in Egypt, but nothing but barrenness and weakness spiritually.
Have you discovered how true this is? When you forsake the pathway of faith, when you refuse to walk in fellowship with God, when you depend upon the resources of the world to satisfy the empty hunger of the heart, these are wasted years! They may literally be years. I know of those who have lived almost all their Christian lives in Egypt, and all they have to show for it is a barren, wasted, empty, boring existence.
When Abram at last returned, what did he find? There is no mention of famine when he returns, but I think the famine is still going on. Remember, Abram was driven out of Egypt. He was not yet ready to leave it of his own choice, and this would indicate the famine was still raging in Canaan. Also, the quarrel that soon developed with Lot's herdsmen over the pastureland suggests there was still a severe shortage of feed. But though the famine still continues, Abram is no longer troubled about it. Why not? Because, when he reached the land, the first thing he did was to call on the name of the Lord! This is what he should and could have done when the famine first struck.
The name of the Lord stands for all the resources of God. When we cash a check, we are calling on the name of the person who signed the check. When Abram calls on the name of the Lord, he is discovering the resources of God. He discovers that God is able to meet his needs despite the famine, the trial, or the circumstances. Just as Paul proclaims, "My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19).
May I, like Abram, learn that in Egypt there is nothing but heartache and sorrow and danger for me and my loved ones, but in You is all I need to meet my deepest cry."
From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier... (Genesis 13:3).
"As soon as Abram is back in the land, there is the tent and the altar again. There is no tent or altar in Egypt. That is, there is no pilgrim character, no place of worship or cleansing, and no fellowship in Egypt. But even back in the land, Abram must return to the place where he made an altar at the first, and there Abram calls upon the name of the Lord. In other words, time spent in Egypt is wasted time! There was no growth in grace in that land. He had to come right back to where he was when he went down to Egypt. He had material gain to show for the time in Egypt, but nothing but barrenness and weakness spiritually.
Have you discovered how true this is? When you forsake the pathway of faith, when you refuse to walk in fellowship with God, when you depend upon the resources of the world to satisfy the empty hunger of the heart, these are wasted years! They may literally be years. I know of those who have lived almost all their Christian lives in Egypt, and all they have to show for it is a barren, wasted, empty, boring existence.
When Abram at last returned, what did he find? There is no mention of famine when he returns, but I think the famine is still going on. Remember, Abram was driven out of Egypt. He was not yet ready to leave it of his own choice, and this would indicate the famine was still raging in Canaan. Also, the quarrel that soon developed with Lot's herdsmen over the pastureland suggests there was still a severe shortage of feed. But though the famine still continues, Abram is no longer troubled about it. Why not? Because, when he reached the land, the first thing he did was to call on the name of the Lord! This is what he should and could have done when the famine first struck.
The name of the Lord stands for all the resources of God. When we cash a check, we are calling on the name of the person who signed the check. When Abram calls on the name of the Lord, he is discovering the resources of God. He discovers that God is able to meet his needs despite the famine, the trial, or the circumstances. Just as Paul proclaims, "My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19).
May I, like Abram, learn that in Egypt there is nothing but heartache and sorrow and danger for me and my loved ones, but in You is all I need to meet my deepest cry."
Friday, May 30, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Laminin
Carol sent me this.....had to post it. Very cool!
Add on....Obviously the Louie mentioned was Louie Giglio (I know this now thanks to some faithful readers of the blog) :)
"He (Louie) was talking about how inconceivably BIG our God is..how He spoke the Universe into being...how He breathes stars out of His mouth that are huge raging balls of fire...etc. etc. Then He went on to speak of how this star-breathing, universe creating God ALSO knitted our human bodies together with amazing detail and wonder. At this point I am LOVING it (fascinating from a medical standpoint, you know.) ....and I was remembering how I was constantly amazed during medical school as I learned more and more about God's handiwork. I remember so many times thinking....'How can ANYONE deny that a Creator did all of this???' Louie went on to talk about how we can trust that the God who created all this, also has the power to hold it all together when things seem to be falling apart...how our loving Creator is also our sustainer. And then I lost my breath. And it wasn't because I was running my treadmill, either!!! It was because he started talking about laminin. I knew about laminin. Here is how wikipedia describes them :'Laminins are a family of proteins that are an integral part of the structural scaffolding of basement membranes in almost every animal tissue.' You see....Laminins are what hold us together....LITERALLY. They are cell adhesion molecules. They are what holds one cell of our bodies to the next cell. Without them, we would literally fall apart. And I knew all this already. But what I didn't know is what laminin LOOKED LIKE. But now I do. And I have thought about it a thousand times since (already).... Here is what the structure of laminin looks like...AND THIS IS NOT a 'Christian portrayal' of it....if you look up laminin in any scientific/medical piece of literature, this is what you will see...
Now tell me that our God is not the coolest!!! Amazing!The 'glue' that holds us together....ALL of us....is in the shape of the cross.Immediately Colossians 1:15-17 comes to mind. 'He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created; things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things HOLD TOGETHER.' Colossians 1:15-17 Thousands of years before the world knew anything about laminin, Paul penned those words. And now we see that from a very LITERAL standpoint, we are held together...one cell to another....by the cross. You would never in a quadrillion years convince me that is anything other than the mark of a Creator who knew EXACTLY what laminin 'glue' would look like long before Adam even breathed his first breath!! We praise YOU, Lord!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Add on....Obviously the Louie mentioned was Louie Giglio (I know this now thanks to some faithful readers of the blog) :)
"He (Louie) was talking about how inconceivably BIG our God is..how He spoke the Universe into being...how He breathes stars out of His mouth that are huge raging balls of fire...etc. etc. Then He went on to speak of how this star-breathing, universe creating God ALSO knitted our human bodies together with amazing detail and wonder. At this point I am LOVING it (fascinating from a medical standpoint, you know.) ....and I was remembering how I was constantly amazed during medical school as I learned more and more about God's handiwork. I remember so many times thinking....'How can ANYONE deny that a Creator did all of this???' Louie went on to talk about how we can trust that the God who created all this, also has the power to hold it all together when things seem to be falling apart...how our loving Creator is also our sustainer. And then I lost my breath. And it wasn't because I was running my treadmill, either!!! It was because he started talking about laminin. I knew about laminin. Here is how wikipedia describes them :'Laminins are a family of proteins that are an integral part of the structural scaffolding of basement membranes in almost every animal tissue.' You see....Laminins are what hold us together....LITERALLY. They are cell adhesion molecules. They are what holds one cell of our bodies to the next cell. Without them, we would literally fall apart. And I knew all this already. But what I didn't know is what laminin LOOKED LIKE. But now I do. And I have thought about it a thousand times since (already).... Here is what the structure of laminin looks like...AND THIS IS NOT a 'Christian portrayal' of it....if you look up laminin in any scientific/medical piece of literature, this is what you will see...
Now tell me that our God is not the coolest!!! Amazing!The 'glue' that holds us together....ALL of us....is in the shape of the cross.Immediately Colossians 1:15-17 comes to mind. 'He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created; things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things HOLD TOGETHER.' Colossians 1:15-17 Thousands of years before the world knew anything about laminin, Paul penned those words. And now we see that from a very LITERAL standpoint, we are held together...one cell to another....by the cross. You would never in a quadrillion years convince me that is anything other than the mark of a Creator who knew EXACTLY what laminin 'glue' would look like long before Adam even breathed his first breath!! We praise YOU, Lord!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Open it up
From This Day's Thought.
"A mind once stretched by a new idea never regains its original dimensions."
Unknown
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Liar, Liar, pants on fire!
Again from This Day's Thought
"You and I were created to tell the truth about God by reflecting His likeness. That is normality. How many lies have you told about God today?"
Major Ian Thomas
"You and I were created to tell the truth about God by reflecting His likeness. That is normality. How many lies have you told about God today?"
Major Ian Thomas
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Jesus and Gravity
I am not really one to follow Dolly as others have mentioned....thanks to Nadine and her blog, I found this gem....hope you enjoy as I did. Sometimes I really feel out of the entertainment loop, but that is ok...because someone always brings something wonderful to my attention out there in the blogosphere. Check out Nadine's blogs, she seems like a very special someone out there.
Just when you were hopin'
From This Day's Thought.
"God is more concerned about our character than our comfort. His goal is not to pamper us physically but to perfect us spiritually."
Paul Powell
"God is more concerned about our character than our comfort. His goal is not to pamper us physically but to perfect us spiritually."
Paul Powell
Monday, May 19, 2008
All we need is Love - Love being Christ (of course)
Quote source - This Day's Thought
"Christianity is not a collection of truths to be believed, of laws to be obeyed...Christianity is a person, one who loved us so much, one who calls for our love. Christianity is Christ."
Oscar Romero
1 John 3:14
We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.
Thoughts based on Ray Stedman's Devotions based on his teaching.
It is rather fascinating that the apostle who wrote this has become known as the apostle of love. But if you read the gospel records of John, you will note that this is not his nature at all. He and his brother James earned from Jesus the title "Sons of Thunder" (Mark 3:17) because they were constantly wanting to blast back at those who opposed them. John's temperament was not naturally inclined to show love. But when he was born again, there was born into his heart the life of God, and this man began to show love.
"Christianity is not a collection of truths to be believed, of laws to be obeyed...Christianity is a person, one who loved us so much, one who calls for our love. Christianity is Christ."
Oscar Romero
1 John 3:14
We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.
Thoughts based on Ray Stedman's Devotions based on his teaching.
It is rather fascinating that the apostle who wrote this has become known as the apostle of love. But if you read the gospel records of John, you will note that this is not his nature at all. He and his brother James earned from Jesus the title "Sons of Thunder" (Mark 3:17) because they were constantly wanting to blast back at those who opposed them. John's temperament was not naturally inclined to show love. But when he was born again, there was born into his heart the life of God, and this man began to show love.
Such love is the sign of the new life. It is a love that you not only extend toward those who love you, but toward those who do not love you. It is a love that does not depend upon a reciprocal relationship but loves the unlovely, the unqualified, the ungrateful, the selfish, and the difficult. This, then, is the character of true love, and it is always evidence that a new life has come, the life born of God.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
I have just been convicted by the Holy Spirit that I am as righteous as Jesus Christ!
From Frank Friedman's teaching today. Transformation by receiving Life from the Father.
2 Corinthians 5
"No atonement in the New Covenant Economy. Jesus did not cover our sins. He took them away.
It is only in the receiving of Christ that changes a man.
Jesus died because God reached out to sinful man to reconcile man.
Jesus died for our sins so that we might be made the righteousness of Christ in God. It is all about relationship, intimacy and acceptance by God and by the way we get to go to Heaven. Heaven was made to be a present day reality.
Our message to the world is not that if you mess up you will pay. He has already paid. Our message is to tell what has already be done.
The word (logos) of reconciliation. We have been reconciled! 50 saints to 3 sinners mentioned in the New Testament. Saint means holy one of God.
This is the Good News....something that has been done, not something you have to do. We need to receive what has been done. This is our message - to tell what has been done. We are the ambassadors of God. Freedom! We speak with all authority from God, when we share the Gospel. And He through us leads them to freedom. No shame, no guilt, only freedom.
In Christ, you are the righteousness of God. "
Do you believe?
2 Corinthians 5
"No atonement in the New Covenant Economy. Jesus did not cover our sins. He took them away.
It is only in the receiving of Christ that changes a man.
Jesus died because God reached out to sinful man to reconcile man.
Jesus died for our sins so that we might be made the righteousness of Christ in God. It is all about relationship, intimacy and acceptance by God and by the way we get to go to Heaven. Heaven was made to be a present day reality.
Our message to the world is not that if you mess up you will pay. He has already paid. Our message is to tell what has already be done.
The word (logos) of reconciliation. We have been reconciled! 50 saints to 3 sinners mentioned in the New Testament. Saint means holy one of God.
This is the Good News....something that has been done, not something you have to do. We need to receive what has been done. This is our message - to tell what has been done. We are the ambassadors of God. Freedom! We speak with all authority from God, when we share the Gospel. And He through us leads them to freedom. No shame, no guilt, only freedom.
In Christ, you are the righteousness of God. "
Do you believe?
Friday, May 16, 2008
Going "Dutch"
"The greatest tragedy in life is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer."
F. B. Meyer
Just got into "Intercessory Prayer" by Dutch Sheets as recommended by a brother in Christ (thanks meeting of one) and looking forward to Father opening my spiritual eyes to some of the thoughts in this book. It appears to have some amazing testimonials and some very powerful thoughts on what intercessory prayer is to this author as he has experienced.
Romans 8:26-30 (Young's Literal Translation)
26 And, in like manner also, the Spirit doth help our weaknesses; for, what we may pray for, as it behoveth [us], we have not known, but the Spirit himself doth make intercession for us with groanings unutterable,
27 and He who is searching the hearts hath known what [is] the mind of the Spirit, because according to God he doth intercede for saints.
28 And we have known that to those loving God all things do work together for good, to those who are called according to purpose;
29 because whom He did foreknow, He also did fore-appoint, conformed to the image of His Son, that he might be first-born among many brethren;
30 and whom He did fore-appoint, these also He did call; and whom He did call, these also He declared righteous; and whom He declared righteous, these also He did glorify.
From Chapter 7:
"..... The Lord is saying that we don't always know what needs to happen in a given situation. We don't always know what is necessary or right.
I find myself wondering at times, How do I pray for this person or this situation, Lord? What needs to happen?
At other times I have felt led by the Holy Spirit to pray for someone, yet had no way at that moment of knowing why the person needed prayer.
Sometimes mature intercessors are prompted by the Lord to pray, and not only do they no know what they are praying for, but they also don't know for whom they are praying. They just feel a burden to pray. Talk about a weakness - an inability to produce results. Talk about not knowing what is "necessary, right or proper" in a situation.
What do we do in these circumstances? This is when the Holy Spirit wants to help us. He will lead us as we pray, perhaps revealing things about the situation to us, or bringing Scriptures to our minds so that we can pray them in the situation. He will certainly help us by empowering our prayers. But another way He wants to help us is by literally praying through us as we pray in the Spirit."
And this is where it gets interesting and thrilling to me. Unchartered territory in some ways in my prayer life....the odd and the wonderful......stretching me and opening up the preconceived ways of thinking on things....the way they are supposed to be...or have always been. I like being uncomfortable in this place of uncertainty (this hasn't always been the case :), and I am open now like I have never been before. It used to send me running.....now I am there knowing that it has absolutely nothing to do with me....a vessel in His Hands. Let His Glory Fall.
F. B. Meyer
Just got into "Intercessory Prayer" by Dutch Sheets as recommended by a brother in Christ (thanks meeting of one) and looking forward to Father opening my spiritual eyes to some of the thoughts in this book. It appears to have some amazing testimonials and some very powerful thoughts on what intercessory prayer is to this author as he has experienced.
Romans 8:26-30 (Young's Literal Translation)
26 And, in like manner also, the Spirit doth help our weaknesses; for, what we may pray for, as it behoveth [us], we have not known, but the Spirit himself doth make intercession for us with groanings unutterable,
27 and He who is searching the hearts hath known what [is] the mind of the Spirit, because according to God he doth intercede for saints.
28 And we have known that to those loving God all things do work together for good, to those who are called according to purpose;
29 because whom He did foreknow, He also did fore-appoint, conformed to the image of His Son, that he might be first-born among many brethren;
30 and whom He did fore-appoint, these also He did call; and whom He did call, these also He declared righteous; and whom He declared righteous, these also He did glorify.
From Chapter 7:
"..... The Lord is saying that we don't always know what needs to happen in a given situation. We don't always know what is necessary or right.
I find myself wondering at times, How do I pray for this person or this situation, Lord? What needs to happen?
At other times I have felt led by the Holy Spirit to pray for someone, yet had no way at that moment of knowing why the person needed prayer.
Sometimes mature intercessors are prompted by the Lord to pray, and not only do they no know what they are praying for, but they also don't know for whom they are praying. They just feel a burden to pray. Talk about a weakness - an inability to produce results. Talk about not knowing what is "necessary, right or proper" in a situation.
What do we do in these circumstances? This is when the Holy Spirit wants to help us. He will lead us as we pray, perhaps revealing things about the situation to us, or bringing Scriptures to our minds so that we can pray them in the situation. He will certainly help us by empowering our prayers. But another way He wants to help us is by literally praying through us as we pray in the Spirit."
And this is where it gets interesting and thrilling to me. Unchartered territory in some ways in my prayer life....the odd and the wonderful......stretching me and opening up the preconceived ways of thinking on things....the way they are supposed to be...or have always been. I like being uncomfortable in this place of uncertainty (this hasn't always been the case :), and I am open now like I have never been before. It used to send me running.....now I am there knowing that it has absolutely nothing to do with me....a vessel in His Hands. Let His Glory Fall.
Friday, May 09, 2008
"Lifting up of the mind to God"
From Prayer by Philip Yancey.
"I am learning the difference between saying prayers, which is an activity, and praying, which is a soul attitude, a "lifting up of the mind to God." Praying in that sense can transform every task, from shoveling snow to defragmenting a computer's hard disk."
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances.
Let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise.
...always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.
"I used to read such passages in a fog of guilt, imagining saints who prayed through the night, building up calluses on their knees. I read them differently now, not as a perpetual guilt-trip but as a call to a Godward orientation. Prayer means keeping company with God who is already present. My very concern about the people and issues I pray for actually manifests God's presence within me. I need not jump up and down like a child, shouting, "Look at me!" God is close by, if only I tune in."
Love this, love this...... Cool!
"I am learning the difference between saying prayers, which is an activity, and praying, which is a soul attitude, a "lifting up of the mind to God." Praying in that sense can transform every task, from shoveling snow to defragmenting a computer's hard disk."
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances.
Let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise.
...always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.
"I used to read such passages in a fog of guilt, imagining saints who prayed through the night, building up calluses on their knees. I read them differently now, not as a perpetual guilt-trip but as a call to a Godward orientation. Prayer means keeping company with God who is already present. My very concern about the people and issues I pray for actually manifests God's presence within me. I need not jump up and down like a child, shouting, "Look at me!" God is close by, if only I tune in."
Love this, love this...... Cool!
And you would be....?
More from "Be Encouraged" by Charles R. Swindoll.
"....give God praise! You're among that elite group mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:22-24 as:"
"In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary.
And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen,
while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity."
"Nobodies ...... Exalting Somebody.
Are you one? Listen to me! It's the "nobodies" Somebody chooses so carefully. And when He has selected you for that role, He does not consider you a nobody.
Be encouraged!"
As Jim Palmer calls us ..... divine nobodies.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Someone needs to hear this
1 John 2:11
But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.
From the daily devotional based on the teachings of Ray Stedman.
John says that he who hates his brother is not a Christian. He is "in the darkness," and he has never come out of it. To say you are in the light and yet hate your brother is a basic denial of faith. Such an attitude of hostility, indifference, or unconcern toward another is a mark of an unregenerate life.
The apostle John says that he who hates his brother is in the darkness and does not know where he is going. He has no understanding that this can lead to murder or to mayhem. He goes blindly on, stumbling on in his hateful attempt to do evil to his friend, brother, or companion, whoever it may be. But the result is, he is only damaging himself and all he loves.
Furthermore, he is blinded. John says, "the darkness has blinded his eyes." The word that is used here means "to make insensitive," and it implies that if we live in this way, we ultimately come to the place where we no longer can respond. Hatred grips us and hardens our heart, and it can no longer be softened.
Christians may temporarily succumb to this kind of thing. They can walk in darkness temporarily, but they no longer are children of darkness. The light of God's love has come into their hearts. If they are not aware of a struggle between the expression of hate or have a sense of concern or guilty conscience over their hateful attitude, then they ought to wonder whether they have really passed from death into life. This is something that the Spirit of God will inevitably deal within the Christian and break, and it may sometimes be by very difficult measures.
I remember an occasion when I was counseling with a woman about a physical problem that really had a spiritual basis in her experience. I discovered she hated another person for years. Hate had turned her bitter and rancid and had poisoned all her thoughts. I said to her, "You must find it in your heart to forgive this person, as God has forgiven you."
She looked at me and said, "I can't forgive her; I'll never forgive her!"
I said, "But God says you must. If you can't, then you need to face the fact that you are not a Christian, because if you can't forgive, then you've never been born again."
She looked at me and said, "I guess you're right. I know I am a Christian, and I see I have just been deceiving myself. I need to forgive." And she did! There came a change in that woman's life that was like night turning to day.
Christians can delude themselves into going along with the world's attitude that they cannot forgive. When worldlings hate, they find themselves locked in an unbreakable grip from which they cannot escape. But when the Son of God comes into their lives, the power of the evil one is broken, and they are delivered from this and can forgive. But we still must agree to it. God is not going to make us forgive apart from our own will, though the ability to do so is there.
But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.
From the daily devotional based on the teachings of Ray Stedman.
John says that he who hates his brother is not a Christian. He is "in the darkness," and he has never come out of it. To say you are in the light and yet hate your brother is a basic denial of faith. Such an attitude of hostility, indifference, or unconcern toward another is a mark of an unregenerate life.
The apostle John says that he who hates his brother is in the darkness and does not know where he is going. He has no understanding that this can lead to murder or to mayhem. He goes blindly on, stumbling on in his hateful attempt to do evil to his friend, brother, or companion, whoever it may be. But the result is, he is only damaging himself and all he loves.
Furthermore, he is blinded. John says, "the darkness has blinded his eyes." The word that is used here means "to make insensitive," and it implies that if we live in this way, we ultimately come to the place where we no longer can respond. Hatred grips us and hardens our heart, and it can no longer be softened.
Christians may temporarily succumb to this kind of thing. They can walk in darkness temporarily, but they no longer are children of darkness. The light of God's love has come into their hearts. If they are not aware of a struggle between the expression of hate or have a sense of concern or guilty conscience over their hateful attitude, then they ought to wonder whether they have really passed from death into life. This is something that the Spirit of God will inevitably deal within the Christian and break, and it may sometimes be by very difficult measures.
I remember an occasion when I was counseling with a woman about a physical problem that really had a spiritual basis in her experience. I discovered she hated another person for years. Hate had turned her bitter and rancid and had poisoned all her thoughts. I said to her, "You must find it in your heart to forgive this person, as God has forgiven you."
She looked at me and said, "I can't forgive her; I'll never forgive her!"
I said, "But God says you must. If you can't, then you need to face the fact that you are not a Christian, because if you can't forgive, then you've never been born again."
She looked at me and said, "I guess you're right. I know I am a Christian, and I see I have just been deceiving myself. I need to forgive." And she did! There came a change in that woman's life that was like night turning to day.
Christians can delude themselves into going along with the world's attitude that they cannot forgive. When worldlings hate, they find themselves locked in an unbreakable grip from which they cannot escape. But when the Son of God comes into their lives, the power of the evil one is broken, and they are delivered from this and can forgive. But we still must agree to it. God is not going to make us forgive apart from our own will, though the ability to do so is there.
Monday, May 05, 2008
On Prayer
From Prayer by Philip Yancey
"We pray best when we are no longer aware of praying."
Quote by Cassian
Who are you?
More from Encourage Me by Charles R. Swindoll
"....you were prescribed and then presented to this world exactly as God arranged it."
"In our overly-populated, identity-crisis era, it is easy to forget this. Individuality is played down. We are asked to conform to the "system." Group opinion is considered superior to personal conviction and everything from the college fraternity to the businessman's service club tends to encourage our blending into the mold of the masses."
"...There is an "image" the church must maintain."
"Our fellowship must be warm, but filled with cliches. Our love must be expressed, but not without its cool boundaries. The creative, free, and sometimes completely different approach so threatens the keepers of the "image syndrome" that one wonders how we retain any draft of fresh air blown through the windows of flexibility and spontaneity."
"My mind lands upon a fig-picker from Tekoa...His name was Amos."
Do I write to an Amos? You don't "fit the mold"? Is that what sent you down into the valley of discouragement? You don't sound like every other Christian or look like the "standard" saint...or act like the majority?"
"Hallelujah!"
"What the church needs is a lot more faithful figpickers who have the courage to simply be themselves, regardless......He "arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be" (1 Corinthians 12:18)
In writing this I remember however that there is a oneness in Christ. A union of saints by His Spirit. But our uniqueness remains. He made each of us in utter seclusion. (Psalm 139:13-16)Just me and Him...unique .... a one of a kind....but He longs for us to be one in Him. Communion with Him and each other. But not identical cookie cutter Christians.
"....you were prescribed and then presented to this world exactly as God arranged it."
"In our overly-populated, identity-crisis era, it is easy to forget this. Individuality is played down. We are asked to conform to the "system." Group opinion is considered superior to personal conviction and everything from the college fraternity to the businessman's service club tends to encourage our blending into the mold of the masses."
"...There is an "image" the church must maintain."
"Our fellowship must be warm, but filled with cliches. Our love must be expressed, but not without its cool boundaries. The creative, free, and sometimes completely different approach so threatens the keepers of the "image syndrome" that one wonders how we retain any draft of fresh air blown through the windows of flexibility and spontaneity."
"My mind lands upon a fig-picker from Tekoa...His name was Amos."
Do I write to an Amos? You don't "fit the mold"? Is that what sent you down into the valley of discouragement? You don't sound like every other Christian or look like the "standard" saint...or act like the majority?"
"Hallelujah!"
"What the church needs is a lot more faithful figpickers who have the courage to simply be themselves, regardless......He "arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be" (1 Corinthians 12:18)
In writing this I remember however that there is a oneness in Christ. A union of saints by His Spirit. But our uniqueness remains. He made each of us in utter seclusion. (Psalm 139:13-16)Just me and Him...unique .... a one of a kind....but He longs for us to be one in Him. Communion with Him and each other. But not identical cookie cutter Christians.
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Prayer for Others
From Prayer by Philip Yancey
"The purest form of love is given with no expectation of return. Measured by this standard, earnest prayer for others is a magnificent act of love."
Quote by David Hubbard
Looks like a great place to .......
(catchy name eh?)Excerpts from Encourage Me by Charles R. Swindoll
"You have become acquainted with disappointments, broken dreams, and disillusionment. Crisis seems to be your closest companion. Like a ten-pound sledge, your heartache has been pounding you dangerously near desperation. Unless I miss my guess, negativism and cynicism have crept in. You see little hope around the corner. As one wag put it, "The light at the end of the tunnel is the headlamp of an oncoming train."
"Tired, stumbling, beaten, discouraged friend, take heart! The Lord God can and will lift you up."
On encouragement
"The neighborhood bar is possibly the best counterfeit there is to the fellowship Christ wants to give His church. It's an imitation, dispensing liquor instead of grace, escape rather than reality, but it is a permissive, accepting and inclusive fellowship. It is unshockable. It is democratic. You can tell people secrets and they usually don't tell others or even want to. The bar flourishes not because most people are alcoholics, but because God has put into the human heart the desire to know and be known, to love and be loved, and so many seek a counterfeit at the price of a few beers."
"....Christ wants His church to be....a fellowship where people can come in and say, "I'm sunk!" "I'm beat!" "I've had it!"
"What do you need when circumstances puncture your fragile dikes and threaten to engulf your life with pain and confusion?"
You need a shelter....Where do you find encouragement?"
Friday, May 02, 2008
Seeing Jesus
Devotional by Tozer
John 12:21 NKJV
"Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."
"Toward anything like thorough scholarship I make no claim. I am not an authority on any man's teaching; I have never tried to be. I take my help where I find it and set my heart to graze where the pastures are greenest. Only one stipulation do I make: my teacher must know God, as Carlyle said, "otherwise than by hearsay," and Christ must be all in all to him. If a man have only correct doctrine to offer me I am sure to slip out at the first intermission to seek the company of someone who has seen for himself how lovely is the face of Him who is the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Valley. Such a man can help me, and no one else can."
"Can anyone ask less, Lord? Yet how often do I and others enter with 'only correct doctrine' to offer and a 'hearsay' knowledge of God. Forgive me, Lord, and give me a fresh and new vision of You--so that any pasture I spread will be worth grazing in."
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Relationship - Fellowship
Again from the on-line devotional based on the teachings of Ray Stedman.
1 John 1:1-4 NLT
1 We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life.
2 This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us.
3 We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
4 We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy.
Why is it that some Christians seem to be transformed by contact with Jesus Christ, but others are not? Some Christians, even Christians of long standing, still seem to be very much conformed to the world around them, even deformed in their views and outlooks. Yet all of them stoutly assert that they are Christians, that they too have been born again by faith in Jesus Christ. It is not strange that the world asks, "What is wrong? Why is this condition true?" The secret, John says, is fellowship.
We must understand the difference between relationship and fellowship. Relationship is becoming a member of the family of God by faith in Jesus Christ. It is established by asking Him to come into your life and heart. John makes that clear at the end of this letter. "He who has the Son has life [that is relationship]; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life [he does not have a relationship]" (1 John 5:12). The Christian life starts right there with this matter of relationship. Relationship is accepting Christ; fellowship is experiencing Him. You can never have fellowship until you have established relationship, but you can certainly have relationship without fellowship. Relationship puts us into the family of God, but fellowship permits the life of that family to shine through us. That is what marks the difference between Christians. Fellowship is the key to vital Christianity. That is why this letter, which calls us back to fundamental issues, focuses first on that. The important question is, as a Christian, are you enjoying fellowship with the Father and with His Son?
Father, teach me more of the richness and the glory of this warmth of fellowship with Christ, where everything that I am is made available to Him and I am experiencing all the wonderful joy of everything that He has made available to me.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Never Lose The Hope That Is Ours in Jesus
A.W. Tozer devotional from today.1 Peter 5: 8-9 NKJV
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.
If unanswered prayer continues in a congregation over an extended
period of time, the chill of discouragement will settle over the
praying people. If we continue to ask and ask and ask, like
petulant children, never expecting to get what we ask for but
continuing to whine for it, we will become chilled within our
beings.
If we continue in our prayers and never get answers, the lack of
results will tend to confirm the natural unbelief of our hearts.
Remember this: the human heart by nature is filled with
unbelief....
Perhaps worst of all is the fact that our failures in prayer
leave the enemy in possession of the field. The worst part about
the failure of a military drive is not the loss of men or the loss
of face but the fact that the enemy is left in possession of the
field. In the spiritual sense, this is both a tragedy and a
disaster. The devil ought to be on the run, always fighting a rear
guard action. Instead, this blasphemous enemy smugly and
scornfully holds his position, and the people of God let him have
it. No wonder the work of the Lord is greatly retarded. Little
wonder the work of God stands still!
"Lord, show me Your power today. Increase my faith. Don't ever
let the enemy claim any territory because of my doubt and
unbelief. Amen."
Never think that the desires and prayers of our hearts in whatever congregation of the saints we find ourselves in, are not being answered in one way or another because our One True God who loves as much as He does would never not hear the prayers of His children, but He chooses the time and place to answer and sometimes that answer is not what we like but just what we need. Never lose hope, because our hope always must be in Christ and the finished work of the cross. What a glorious truth!
Friday, April 25, 2008
For Clarification :)
The typical riches of this world are nothing to me.....more so every day.
Matthew 6:21,22 (NASB)
20"But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
2 Corinthians 4:7 (NLT)
We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.
Matthew 6:21,22 (NASB)
20"But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
2 Corinthians 4:7 (NLT)
We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.
Confidence in Him
Hebrews 4:16 KJV
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
From Tozer's on-line devotional.
You can have this confidence in God, and you can have this respect for His will. Do not expect God to perform miracles for you so you can write books about them. Do not ever be caught asking God to send you toys like that to play around with.But if you are in trouble and concerned about your situation and willing to be honest with God, you can have confidence in Him. You can go to Him in the merit of His Son, claiming His promises, and He will not let you down. God will help you, and you will find the way of deliverance.
God will move heaven and earth for you if you will trust Him.
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
From Tozer's on-line devotional.
You can have this confidence in God, and you can have this respect for His will. Do not expect God to perform miracles for you so you can write books about them. Do not ever be caught asking God to send you toys like that to play around with.But if you are in trouble and concerned about your situation and willing to be honest with God, you can have confidence in Him. You can go to Him in the merit of His Son, claiming His promises, and He will not let you down. God will help you, and you will find the way of deliverance.
God will move heaven and earth for you if you will trust Him.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Treasures Await
This is my last post on Authentic Relationships by Wayne and Clay Jacobsen. A great little find and probably a good study book for a group.
A quote from Larry Crabb similar to one that I like that is as far as I know anonymous.
"We are not our problems. We are not our wounds. We are not our sins. We are persons of radical worth and unrevealed beauty."
Not sure where I heard this but it has stuck. My treasure....Christ only, everything else dung.
"You, my friend, are an awesome spirit being of incredible worth and value, fully loved, no matter what."
Philippians 3:8-12 The Message
7-9 The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I'm tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I've dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn't want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God's righteousness.
10-11 I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself. If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it.
Focused on the Goal
12-14 I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Freedom in Christ
"Our churches are filled with people who outwardly look contented and at peace, but inwardly are crying out for someone to love them... just as they are - confused, frustrated, frightened, guilty, and often unable to communicate with their own families. But other people in the church look so happy and contented that one seldom has the courage to admit his own deep needs before such a self-sufficient group as the average church meeting appears to be."
Keith Miller
From Authentic Relationships by Wayne and Clay Jacobsen
"Finding freedom from the tyranny of other people's opinions is one of the greatest joys of life in Jesus. As long as you live for other people's approval, you are owned by anyone who chooses to lie about you. We are to liberate people from the desire for approval rather than exploit it to get them to "act more Christian." Jesus did not come to train a generation of actors but to transform people to live authentically in the world."
"I love John Stott's definition of humility. In an interview with Christianity Today commemorating his eightieth birthday, this weel-known English author and theologian said that humility is "not another word for hypocrisy, it is another word for honesty. It is not pretending to be other than we are, but acknowledging the truth about what we are."
Living authentically is the freedom to be known exactly as we are - strengths and weaknesses rolled into one. People who understand God's heart love this way of life, while others less enlightened will expend their efforts trying to appear better than they really are."
Freedom is all about this to me but also all about knowing exactly who I am in Christ and who I am in and of myself. Thanking Jesus that He knows, He sees, and He is the One who has given me the freedom to live His life out as He lives in and through me, as me. Knowing this and understanding, appropriating this is true freedom.
Couldn't resist this clip.....Freedom....in country....a little different but what a motivational speech!
Keith Miller
From Authentic Relationships by Wayne and Clay Jacobsen
"Finding freedom from the tyranny of other people's opinions is one of the greatest joys of life in Jesus. As long as you live for other people's approval, you are owned by anyone who chooses to lie about you. We are to liberate people from the desire for approval rather than exploit it to get them to "act more Christian." Jesus did not come to train a generation of actors but to transform people to live authentically in the world."
"I love John Stott's definition of humility. In an interview with Christianity Today commemorating his eightieth birthday, this weel-known English author and theologian said that humility is "not another word for hypocrisy, it is another word for honesty. It is not pretending to be other than we are, but acknowledging the truth about what we are."
Living authentically is the freedom to be known exactly as we are - strengths and weaknesses rolled into one. People who understand God's heart love this way of life, while others less enlightened will expend their efforts trying to appear better than they really are."
Freedom is all about this to me but also all about knowing exactly who I am in Christ and who I am in and of myself. Thanking Jesus that He knows, He sees, and He is the One who has given me the freedom to live His life out as He lives in and through me, as me. Knowing this and understanding, appropriating this is true freedom.
Couldn't resist this clip.....Freedom....in country....a little different but what a motivational speech!
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Answer to Prayer
Woo hoo!
My sister had an MRI last week and today we visited with the specialist in London to get the readings. As of today, there are no signs of any further cancerous growths, bits, anything in her body. She still has some strengthening to achieve and a few left-over issues from radiation but things are looking amazingly wonderful.
I thank all who have prayed, thought of and kept her in mind as you have read up on the progress or been reminded by Jesus at whatever times.
We as a family rejoice and I thank God for His Hand in all of this. The dynamics that have ocurred because of this event and the circumstances.....bring me to my knees and I am over the moon with gratitude.
I will take this gift and I share with you all that He gives and takes away but Blessed Be His Name, no matter what the circumstance and the outcome.
Praise You God!
My sister had an MRI last week and today we visited with the specialist in London to get the readings. As of today, there are no signs of any further cancerous growths, bits, anything in her body. She still has some strengthening to achieve and a few left-over issues from radiation but things are looking amazingly wonderful.
I thank all who have prayed, thought of and kept her in mind as you have read up on the progress or been reminded by Jesus at whatever times.
We as a family rejoice and I thank God for His Hand in all of this. The dynamics that have ocurred because of this event and the circumstances.....bring me to my knees and I am over the moon with gratitude.
I will take this gift and I share with you all that He gives and takes away but Blessed Be His Name, no matter what the circumstance and the outcome.
Praise You God!
His Compassion, His Doing
From Authentic Relationships by Wayne and Clay Jacobsen
"More than anything else, Jesus said our acts of kindness and sharing reveal the depth of our relationship with him. Those who are growing to know Jesus will find themselves giving to others in the same way he gives to them. That is why at the end of the age he can measure our love for him by the love we gave to others: "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me" (Matt. 25:35-36). Those who didn't know Jesus questioned his words, asking when they saw him in need and didn't help. Jesus replied, "Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did ot do for me" (v. 45)."
"Our life in Jesus, or the lack of it, is demonstrated by our compassion for people in need. He looks at those actions exactly as if we are, or are not, doing them for him. His compassion is contagious. Once we have experienced it from his hand, there is no way we can hold it to ourselves."
This passage makes me a little uncomfortable in that it almost seems like it is what we are doing, or more so what we are doing for him. Terminology gets in the way of good thoughts some time.
What I prefer to think about what is being said is rather, that our Life which is Jesus, in Him and He in us, allows us to demonstrate His compassion for people in need. Also that our actions are from Him not for Him.
Have you ever been at a gathering of the saints and felt such an overwhelming sense of compassion, of loving concern, a depth of caring that you know is beyond yourself? I was at one such gathering on Saturday night. There was this real power of His Presence within me that totally took me by surprise. He was weeping for the people gathered, who were sharing some "issues", some of their stuff and He took over and priveleged me to feel what I am sure is a very small piece of what He feels for His children. It was awesome and real and it was His gift to me that night, tough as that is to hold on to because people are hurting. He also allowed me to let go of some of my stuff that night and let me only have a concern for others there. That is cool. Every person at this gathering was prayed for intimately.....that cannot happen at the OREC. Well, I shouldn't say can't because God can do anything. I have never seen or witnessed this power to this extent very often and it always has been in a small gathering. It blessed me and when reading this portion of the book, I couldn't help but relate this to that night..... kindness, compassion, and reaching out to people in need....strangers but not so much strangers as our brothers and sisters. God surprised me again as I took my eyes off of myself and looked at others with His eyes and His Love. What a wonderful life you can have when it is Life in Jesus and when He lives that Life in and through you. It is something you just know is happening because my concern in and of myself....never could be that deep.
"More than anything else, Jesus said our acts of kindness and sharing reveal the depth of our relationship with him. Those who are growing to know Jesus will find themselves giving to others in the same way he gives to them. That is why at the end of the age he can measure our love for him by the love we gave to others: "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me" (Matt. 25:35-36). Those who didn't know Jesus questioned his words, asking when they saw him in need and didn't help. Jesus replied, "Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did ot do for me" (v. 45)."
"Our life in Jesus, or the lack of it, is demonstrated by our compassion for people in need. He looks at those actions exactly as if we are, or are not, doing them for him. His compassion is contagious. Once we have experienced it from his hand, there is no way we can hold it to ourselves."
This passage makes me a little uncomfortable in that it almost seems like it is what we are doing, or more so what we are doing for him. Terminology gets in the way of good thoughts some time.
What I prefer to think about what is being said is rather, that our Life which is Jesus, in Him and He in us, allows us to demonstrate His compassion for people in need. Also that our actions are from Him not for Him.
Have you ever been at a gathering of the saints and felt such an overwhelming sense of compassion, of loving concern, a depth of caring that you know is beyond yourself? I was at one such gathering on Saturday night. There was this real power of His Presence within me that totally took me by surprise. He was weeping for the people gathered, who were sharing some "issues", some of their stuff and He took over and priveleged me to feel what I am sure is a very small piece of what He feels for His children. It was awesome and real and it was His gift to me that night, tough as that is to hold on to because people are hurting. He also allowed me to let go of some of my stuff that night and let me only have a concern for others there. That is cool. Every person at this gathering was prayed for intimately.....that cannot happen at the OREC. Well, I shouldn't say can't because God can do anything. I have never seen or witnessed this power to this extent very often and it always has been in a small gathering. It blessed me and when reading this portion of the book, I couldn't help but relate this to that night..... kindness, compassion, and reaching out to people in need....strangers but not so much strangers as our brothers and sisters. God surprised me again as I took my eyes off of myself and looked at others with His eyes and His Love. What a wonderful life you can have when it is Life in Jesus and when He lives that Life in and through you. It is something you just know is happening because my concern in and of myself....never could be that deep.
The other cool thing was that we had some teaching on the passage in Luke 8:41-48, about the woman who touched the hem of Jesus' robe and was healed. He felt power go out from Him to her despite the throng pressing in on Him. I began looking at this passage again and I think He knew who had been healed, don't you think? Why did He ask? She had to step forth once again, openly this time in faith, to acknowledge Him and His power. She had faith. She was healed. Not all are. But she was. She fell before the Lord, trembling it says but she approached Him knowing His power and having witnessed it. All the people around Jesus at this time and she was healed. He is an amazing God!
Just thought I would share!
Picture by Chad Bartlett
Down the Line
From the devotions based on the teaching of Ray Stedman.
From the start, the Scriptures take pains to point out to us that there are only two ways to live. There is the broad way, which many are taking, which looks so logical but leads to destruction; and there is the narrow way, which begins at the point where an individual stands alone before God and must make a decision, the narrow way that leads unto life, as God intended life to be lived (Matthew 7:13-14). Which way are you taking?
Young people are facing the siren call of the world, with its appeal to luxury, comfort, ease, achievement, and acquisitiveness. It is not that Christians cannot use these things. Paul tells us we are to use, but not abuse, the things of the world (see 1 Corinthians 10:23.). But throughout the Scriptures we are warned, "Do not love the world or anything in the world" (1 John 2:15). Do not make anything in the world the center around which you build your life. If this is all-important to you, you are doomed. Jesus said that if you try to save your life on these terms, you will lose it, but if you lose your life for His sake, you will save it (Matthew 16:24-25).
Let God heal the sickness of the human heart with its hunger for self-centeredness and self-exaltation through the working of the gospel, through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ; then you can begin to live. It is the way that leads to life—life as God intended it. It may be that this life will not include in it luxuries and comforts, but they are down the line somewhere. God has these in mind for all His people. All that the heart hungers after will ultimately be supplied in Jesus Christ.
Lord, I choose to take the narrow path—the one that may not be the easy way, but it is the way that leads to life.
From the start, the Scriptures take pains to point out to us that there are only two ways to live. There is the broad way, which many are taking, which looks so logical but leads to destruction; and there is the narrow way, which begins at the point where an individual stands alone before God and must make a decision, the narrow way that leads unto life, as God intended life to be lived (Matthew 7:13-14). Which way are you taking?
Young people are facing the siren call of the world, with its appeal to luxury, comfort, ease, achievement, and acquisitiveness. It is not that Christians cannot use these things. Paul tells us we are to use, but not abuse, the things of the world (see 1 Corinthians 10:23.). But throughout the Scriptures we are warned, "Do not love the world or anything in the world" (1 John 2:15). Do not make anything in the world the center around which you build your life. If this is all-important to you, you are doomed. Jesus said that if you try to save your life on these terms, you will lose it, but if you lose your life for His sake, you will save it (Matthew 16:24-25).
Let God heal the sickness of the human heart with its hunger for self-centeredness and self-exaltation through the working of the gospel, through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ; then you can begin to live. It is the way that leads to life—life as God intended it. It may be that this life will not include in it luxuries and comforts, but they are down the line somewhere. God has these in mind for all His people. All that the heart hungers after will ultimately be supplied in Jesus Christ.
Lord, I choose to take the narrow path—the one that may not be the easy way, but it is the way that leads to life.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Love, for the Day is Near
"Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law."
Romans 13:8 NIV
More from Authentic Relationships
"If we learn to love one another, we will need nothing more. We won't need commitment, we won't fall victim to expectations, and we won't be disappointed when others don't do for us what we have done for them. God's love demands nothing in return. What you will find is that for every thirty or forty people you love like that, one or two just might respond with similar concern for you. These are the ones with whom you will get to experience a depth of spiritual community that is unrivaled by anything else in this world."
"Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law."
Romans 13:8 NIV
More from Authentic Relationships
"If we learn to love one another, we will need nothing more. We won't need commitment, we won't fall victim to expectations, and we won't be disappointed when others don't do for us what we have done for them. God's love demands nothing in return. What you will find is that for every thirty or forty people you love like that, one or two just might respond with similar concern for you. These are the ones with whom you will get to experience a depth of spiritual community that is unrivaled by anything else in this world."
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
In other words .... It isn't about you!
Source: Authentic Relationships
"Jesus didn't lace his relationships with expectations, and he refused to be trapped when others sought to put their expectations on him. He disappointed Mary and Martha by delaying his trip to Bethany when they begged him to come and heal their brother, Lazarus. He didn't tell people all they wanted to know, nor did he heal people just to prove his power. Many misunderstood him, and others got angry with him, yet he just kept loving them as they were, gently pointing them to the truth and letting them decide whether to come or not. He refused to manipulate people even for their own good, and he was not crushed when they turned on him."
"The popular saying is true: "Expectations are resentments waiting to happen." We sabotage many of our relationships by imposing expectations on others or trying to meet theirs. It cannot be done. People who live with expectations will never be satisfied. Of course we can still love those who impose their expectations on us, but we will also have to find peace in knowing that we may never be able to love them in the way they demand it."
"Instead of letting your disappointment rage at whoever has not done what you thought he or she should, ask Jesus to help you trust him to bring whoever you need into your life without demanding that it come your way."
"Jesus didn't lace his relationships with expectations, and he refused to be trapped when others sought to put their expectations on him. He disappointed Mary and Martha by delaying his trip to Bethany when they begged him to come and heal their brother, Lazarus. He didn't tell people all they wanted to know, nor did he heal people just to prove his power. Many misunderstood him, and others got angry with him, yet he just kept loving them as they were, gently pointing them to the truth and letting them decide whether to come or not. He refused to manipulate people even for their own good, and he was not crushed when they turned on him."
"The popular saying is true: "Expectations are resentments waiting to happen." We sabotage many of our relationships by imposing expectations on others or trying to meet theirs. It cannot be done. People who live with expectations will never be satisfied. Of course we can still love those who impose their expectations on us, but we will also have to find peace in knowing that we may never be able to love them in the way they demand it."
"Instead of letting your disappointment rage at whoever has not done what you thought he or she should, ask Jesus to help you trust him to bring whoever you need into your life without demanding that it come your way."
Monday, April 14, 2008
The Soft Place
From Authentic Relationships by Wayne and Clay JacobsenSome of this is what jumped out at me after a visit with "meeting of one" or "walking church" yesterday. There is so much stuff involved in being a "community". It may take us out of our comfort zone and it may make us have to share some of the unpleasantness of our flesh life and our journey thus far. Christ in us....knows all this and helps us continue to grow in that community as we listen to Him and extend His love, His forgiveness and His grace to each other.
I want Him in me to be that pillow, that soft place that safe place for people to fall.
1 Thessalonians 5: 14-22 CEV
14 My friends, we beg you to warn anyone who isn't living right. Encourage anyone who feels left out, help all who are weak, and be patient with everyone.
15 Don't be hateful to people, just because they are hateful to you. Rather, be good to each other and to everyone else.
16 Always be joyful
17 and never stop praying.
18 Whatever happens, keep thanking God because of Jesus Christ. This is what God wants you to do.
19 Don't turn away God's Spirit
20 or ignore prophecies.
21 Put everything to the test. Accept what is good
22 and don't have anything to do with evil.
"Being a soft place to fall does not mean we become a doormat for everyone who wants to walk over us, nor that we ignore people's actions. Forgiving and accepting others simply means that we won't hold them accountable to us for their failures but will continue to respond to them with love and grace. Forgiveness frees us from the destruction others cause. It does not make us a further victim of it."
"We are a soft place to fall when we love people through their failures and hurts as God draws them closer to himself and transforms them from within. We will still speak the truth firmly but will do so with gentleness and patience. One thing that has helped me with particularly difficult people is the realization that hurting people do stupid things. Usually the more stupidly they act, the deeper their pain. When someone lashes out at me or treats me with contempt, I am tempted to respond in kind. When I realize that people who do such things are in incredible pain themselves, it helps me to be patient with them, hoping that my love and gentleness might open a door for their healing."
"For the body of Christ to stay relationally healthy, we will need to jump freely and often into the waters of forgiveness. We all are works of progress overcoming different weaknesses. The better we know one another the more we will need to overlook, but the rewards of doing so are great."
Let me listen to You
A Prayer from Tozer.
1 Samuel 3:10 NASB
Then the LORD came and stood and called as at other times, "Samuel! Samuel!" And Samuel said, "Speak, for Your servant is listening."
Lord, teach me to listen. The times are noisy and my ears are weary with the thousand raucous sounds which continuously assault them. Give me the spirit of the boy Samuel when he said to Thee, "Speak, for thy servant heareth." Let me hear Thee speaking in my heart. Let me get used to the sound of Thy voice, that its tones may be familiar when the sounds of earth die away and the only sound will be the music of Thy speaking voice. Amen.
1 Samuel 3:10 NASB
Then the LORD came and stood and called as at other times, "Samuel! Samuel!" And Samuel said, "Speak, for Your servant is listening."
Lord, teach me to listen. The times are noisy and my ears are weary with the thousand raucous sounds which continuously assault them. Give me the spirit of the boy Samuel when he said to Thee, "Speak, for thy servant heareth." Let me hear Thee speaking in my heart. Let me get used to the sound of Thy voice, that its tones may be familiar when the sounds of earth die away and the only sound will be the music of Thy speaking voice. Amen.
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Arrrrrghhhhh
More thoughts on Pagan Christianity by Viola and Barna.
This book is putting to death a lot of notions I have had. Even at the place of this process that I am at (very slow moving child of God) and knowing that "Church" and "church" are different and "Christ's Body" and what that looks like and all the "Truth" that I have thought that I was coming to understand and have been revealed to me. I am blown away by the things this book presents. One of my favourite passages so far....and I have a few....follows. I don't know if I am exhilarated, disillusioned or disgusted. I ask Father to take me through this book and open my eyes to what He wants to reveal to me, because on my own....I feel like getting back into the cave.
"The fact is that we do many things in our culture that have pagan roots. Consider our accepted calendar. The days of our week and the months of our year are named after pagan gods. But using the accepted calendar does not make us pagans.
So why is the Sunday morning order of worship a different matter than the type of chairs and carpeting we use in the place we worship? Not only is the traditional order of service unscriptural and heavily influenced by paganism (which runs contrary to what is often preached from the pulpit), it does not lead to the spiritual growth God intended. Consider the following.
First, the Protestant order of worship represses mutual participation and the growth of Christian community. It puts a choke hold on the functioning of the body of Christ by silencing its members. There is absolutely no room for anyone to give a word of exhortation, share an insight, start or introduce a song, or spontaneously lead a prayer. You are forced to be a muted, staid pewholder! You are prevented from being enriched by the other members of the body as well as being able to enrich them yourself."
Is this what I have felt for so long in the organized church? This prompting to stand up and be apparently out of order and reach out to the body of Jesus and Jesus, Himself. Why has He always been manifested in small groups and amongst few saints gathered together in my experience. The answer I believe is crystal clear. Sadly, I wonder where is the authentic church lead by Jesus and focused on Jesus and full of the Life of Jesus? Might it be in these small gatherings......?
This book is putting to death a lot of notions I have had. Even at the place of this process that I am at (very slow moving child of God) and knowing that "Church" and "church" are different and "Christ's Body" and what that looks like and all the "Truth" that I have thought that I was coming to understand and have been revealed to me. I am blown away by the things this book presents. One of my favourite passages so far....and I have a few....follows. I don't know if I am exhilarated, disillusioned or disgusted. I ask Father to take me through this book and open my eyes to what He wants to reveal to me, because on my own....I feel like getting back into the cave.
"The fact is that we do many things in our culture that have pagan roots. Consider our accepted calendar. The days of our week and the months of our year are named after pagan gods. But using the accepted calendar does not make us pagans.
So why is the Sunday morning order of worship a different matter than the type of chairs and carpeting we use in the place we worship? Not only is the traditional order of service unscriptural and heavily influenced by paganism (which runs contrary to what is often preached from the pulpit), it does not lead to the spiritual growth God intended. Consider the following.
First, the Protestant order of worship represses mutual participation and the growth of Christian community. It puts a choke hold on the functioning of the body of Christ by silencing its members. There is absolutely no room for anyone to give a word of exhortation, share an insight, start or introduce a song, or spontaneously lead a prayer. You are forced to be a muted, staid pewholder! You are prevented from being enriched by the other members of the body as well as being able to enrich them yourself."
Is this what I have felt for so long in the organized church? This prompting to stand up and be apparently out of order and reach out to the body of Jesus and Jesus, Himself. Why has He always been manifested in small groups and amongst few saints gathered together in my experience. The answer I believe is crystal clear. Sadly, I wonder where is the authentic church lead by Jesus and focused on Jesus and full of the Life of Jesus? Might it be in these small gatherings......?
Monday, April 07, 2008
Reign now
From the devotional based on the teaching of Ray Stedman...The Power of His Presence.
Reign in life--not in heaven--in life, now, at this present time. That means to control events, to govern the effects of life around us, through fulfilling the program of the Father and moving in the direction God determines. Redeemed man is never to be a helpless victim of circumstances.
If you read the events of our Lord's last week in Jerusalem, you will see exactly what I mean.
There He is, moving toward the goal that the Father has ordained, that He should die upon a cross. He sets His face like a flint to go up to Jerusalem and is constantly aiming at that moment He knows to be the Father's program for Him. But notice how He goes toward it in full control of every circumstance. He sends out the disciples to do the work that leads to His arrest. He dismisses Judas to go out into the night. When the soldiers come to take Him, He rebukes them, and they fall to the ground in fear. He could easily have turned and fled, but He waits quietly for them to take Him. The only untroubled person in all that troubled account is the person of the Lord Jesus as He walks in solitary majesty through all those tumultuous events. He was reigning in life. And that is what the Christian is called to do. The circumstances of our lives are sent by the Father--they are the program God has picked out for us--but our attitude in them is to master every event, not being taken by surprise.
How often we live defeated and crippled by life's challenges. Might we all reign in life through Jesus Christ.
Reign in life--not in heaven--in life, now, at this present time. That means to control events, to govern the effects of life around us, through fulfilling the program of the Father and moving in the direction God determines. Redeemed man is never to be a helpless victim of circumstances.
If you read the events of our Lord's last week in Jerusalem, you will see exactly what I mean.
There He is, moving toward the goal that the Father has ordained, that He should die upon a cross. He sets His face like a flint to go up to Jerusalem and is constantly aiming at that moment He knows to be the Father's program for Him. But notice how He goes toward it in full control of every circumstance. He sends out the disciples to do the work that leads to His arrest. He dismisses Judas to go out into the night. When the soldiers come to take Him, He rebukes them, and they fall to the ground in fear. He could easily have turned and fled, but He waits quietly for them to take Him. The only untroubled person in all that troubled account is the person of the Lord Jesus as He walks in solitary majesty through all those tumultuous events. He was reigning in life. And that is what the Christian is called to do. The circumstances of our lives are sent by the Father--they are the program God has picked out for us--but our attitude in them is to master every event, not being taken by surprise.
How often we live defeated and crippled by life's challenges. Might we all reign in life through Jesus Christ.
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Where are these one-anothering people?
How great this would be and where are they? Again from "Authentic Relationships".
"Please notice, however, that Jesus didn't say to "get love from each other." He told them simply to love one another. Whenever we focus on what others can do for us instead of what God might ask us to do for them, we allow self to rule the relationship, and doing so will ultimately bring disappointment and pain."
"Perhaps the greatest freedom of one-anothering is the freedom god gives us not to be focused on ourselves all the time."
"The more you experience the reality of God's love, the more you will find yourself sharing it with others. The last thing I want this book to do is to add to your list of ways a good Christian should act toward others. That misses the point. God doesn't want you to pretend to love others or to make you act like it. He wants to set you so free in his love that it spills out of you and touches others. It is an amazing process."
The last paragraph really sums it up for me......nothing in me or about me....it is all about His love and His Life in me overflowing and lived out to others.
"Please notice, however, that Jesus didn't say to "get love from each other." He told them simply to love one another. Whenever we focus on what others can do for us instead of what God might ask us to do for them, we allow self to rule the relationship, and doing so will ultimately bring disappointment and pain."
"Perhaps the greatest freedom of one-anothering is the freedom god gives us not to be focused on ourselves all the time."
"The more you experience the reality of God's love, the more you will find yourself sharing it with others. The last thing I want this book to do is to add to your list of ways a good Christian should act toward others. That misses the point. God doesn't want you to pretend to love others or to make you act like it. He wants to set you so free in his love that it spills out of you and touches others. It is an amazing process."
The last paragraph really sums it up for me......nothing in me or about me....it is all about His love and His Life in me overflowing and lived out to others.
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
If He lives in and through us.....
Again from "Authentic Relationships".
"Healthy relationships, however, are not created by sitting together in the same building or participating in the same activities, but by capturing Jesus' heart for life-changing relationships. Throughout Jesus' ministry he demonstrated that the simplest acts of love and friendship could reach the most hardened souls and transform them."
"The early believers didn't see themselves as an institution; they saw themselves as a family. Church wasn't something they went to; it was a way of living in relationship with the Father and his other children. Indeed, having learned to love one another, they were unable to restrain themselves from treating others in the world with that same love. It marked them exactly as Jesus said it would - as children of God in a hostile world."
"The world marveled at the early church's ability to live selflessly. They had become others-focused like Jesus, and the world was transformed by it. When the apostles summed up the early believers' lifestyle in their letters, they didn't mention much about their organization or their meetings. Instead, they wrote about their relationships and the joy of treating one another the way God had treated them."
Why is this such a rare thing to find in today's world, church, .......?
"Healthy relationships, however, are not created by sitting together in the same building or participating in the same activities, but by capturing Jesus' heart for life-changing relationships. Throughout Jesus' ministry he demonstrated that the simplest acts of love and friendship could reach the most hardened souls and transform them."
"The early believers didn't see themselves as an institution; they saw themselves as a family. Church wasn't something they went to; it was a way of living in relationship with the Father and his other children. Indeed, having learned to love one another, they were unable to restrain themselves from treating others in the world with that same love. It marked them exactly as Jesus said it would - as children of God in a hostile world."
"The world marveled at the early church's ability to live selflessly. They had become others-focused like Jesus, and the world was transformed by it. When the apostles summed up the early believers' lifestyle in their letters, they didn't mention much about their organization or their meetings. Instead, they wrote about their relationships and the joy of treating one another the way God had treated them."
Why is this such a rare thing to find in today's world, church, .......?
Anyway
Again from Authentic Relationships by Wayne and Clay Jacobsen'
People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Be good anyway.
Honesty and frankness will make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.
People need help but may attack you if you try to help them.
Help them anyway.
In the final analysis, it is between you and God.
It was never between you and them anyway.
From a sign on the wall fo Shishu Bhavan, a children's home in Calcutta.
People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Be good anyway.
Honesty and frankness will make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.
People need help but may attack you if you try to help them.
Help them anyway.
In the final analysis, it is between you and God.
It was never between you and them anyway.
From a sign on the wall fo Shishu Bhavan, a children's home in Calcutta.
Sharing Relationships With Believers
Not about what we "do" out of obligation but what we love to do out of Love. Realizing the difference between going to church and being the Church.
One Anothering (Taken from Authentic Relationships by Wayne and Clay Jacobsen)
Loving one another - John 13:34
Forgiving one another - Ephesians 4:32
Accepting one another Romans - 15:7
Bearing with one another Ephesians - 4:2
Being devoted to one another Romans - 12:10
Honoring one another above ourselves - Romans 12:10
Greeting one another - 2 Corinthians 13:12
Being hospitable to one another - 1 Peter 4:9
Being kind and compassionate to one another - Ephesians 4:32
Sharing with one another - Hebrews 13:16
Serving one another - Galatians 5:13
Carrying one another's burdens - Galatians 6:2
Building up one another - 1 Thessalonians 5:11
Encouraging one another daily - Hebrews 3:13
Comforting one another - 1 Thessalonians 4:18
Stimulating one another to love and good deeds - Gebrews 10:24
Instructing one another - Romans 15:14
Admonishing one another - Colossians 3:16
Praying for one another - James 5:16
Confessing your sins to one another - James 5:16
Being of the same mind toward one another - Romans 12:16
Submitting to one another - Ephesians 5:21
One Anothering (Taken from Authentic Relationships by Wayne and Clay Jacobsen)
Loving one another - John 13:34
Forgiving one another - Ephesians 4:32
Accepting one another Romans - 15:7
Bearing with one another Ephesians - 4:2
Being devoted to one another Romans - 12:10
Honoring one another above ourselves - Romans 12:10
Greeting one another - 2 Corinthians 13:12
Being hospitable to one another - 1 Peter 4:9
Being kind and compassionate to one another - Ephesians 4:32
Sharing with one another - Hebrews 13:16
Serving one another - Galatians 5:13
Carrying one another's burdens - Galatians 6:2
Building up one another - 1 Thessalonians 5:11
Encouraging one another daily - Hebrews 3:13
Comforting one another - 1 Thessalonians 4:18
Stimulating one another to love and good deeds - Gebrews 10:24
Instructing one another - Romans 15:14
Admonishing one another - Colossians 3:16
Praying for one another - James 5:16
Confessing your sins to one another - James 5:16
Being of the same mind toward one another - Romans 12:16
Submitting to one another - Ephesians 5:21
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
"Simply Worship"
I attended a "Simply Worship" night at the Capital Theatre here in town on Friday night. The event is being pushed by Pastor Kyle Rolph(Eastwood) and our very own Kelly (Knox and Bible Club). The Youth Network of Elgin County is really the hosting body and it went over fairly well, however it is not just meant for youth, all are welcome. Let's say I enjoyed it. Two bands played. "Not Home Yet" and the Eastwood Youth Worship Band. No sermon....a little scripture, a few statements of how wonderful our God is and just music to worship by. The youth were tentative but hopefully it will stir their hearts to continue on with this. To be decided but probably the fifth Saturday of any month that has a fifth Saturday. There were probably 100 in attendance give or take....and the theatre could hold 250. Pray that this may evolve into something that God can use as an instrument of His Glory and that more "churches" across the city and county would step up and worship together as His Body in Spirit and in Truth. There were maybe four represented Saturday night. May this be something that walls and denominations are never thought about and that all children of God could enter into without agenda and without fear.
Colossians 2: 2-4 The Message
I want you woven into a tapestry of love, in touch with everything there is to know of God. Then you will have minds confident and at rest, focused on Christ, God's great mystery. All the richest treasures of wisdom and knowledge are embedded in that mystery and nowhere else. And we've been shown the mystery! I'm telling you this because I don't want anyone leading you off on some wild-goose chase, after other so-called mysteries, or "the Secret."
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