"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God."
(Romans 8:28)
We are living in perilous times! It is a time in which the status of professing Christians is going to be proven! Many profess with their mouths that they are Christians; however, not very many that I know well are actually "followers of Christ" (which is what the designation of "Christian" means).
Oswald Chambers in "My Utmost For His Highest" message for December 18 says it well:
"It is only the loyal soul who believes that God engineers circumstances. We take such liberties with our circumstances, we do not believe God engineers them, although we say we do; we treat the things that happen as if they were engineered by men.
"To be faithful in every circumstance means that we have only one loyalty, and that is to our Lord. Suddenly God breaks up a particular set of circumstances, and the realization comes that we have been disloyal to Him by not recognizing that He had organized them. We never saw what He was after, and that particular thing will never be repeated all the days of our life. The test of loyalty always comes just there. If we learn to worship God in the trying circumstances, He will alter them in two seconds when He chooses.....
"We will be loyal to work, to service, to anything, but do not ask us to be loyal to Jesus Christ.... Our Lord is dethroned more emphatically by Christian workers than by the world. God is made a machine for blessing men, and Jesus Christ is made a Worker among workers.
"The idea is not that we do work for God, but that we are so loyal to Him that He can do His work through us—‘I reckon on you for extreme service, with no complaining on your part and no explanation on Mine.’ God wants to use us as He used His own Son.
ARE WE TRULY TRUSTING IN GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY? ARE WE REALLY AVAILABLE TO SERVE HIM EVEN AS HE USED HIS OWN SON....UNTIL DEATH? ARE WE WILLING TO SEEK THE TRUTH, AND EXPOSE THAT WHICH IS NOT?
I don't know about you....I only know that I have no choice other than to be what He has called me to be....so easy in times of affluence and prosperity and peace, but most definitely not "politically correct" in the days we are now living in.
I believe the Word of God when it says:
"God, who made the world and everything in it... is Lord of heaven and
earth.... He gives to all life, breath, and all things. ... [I]in Him
we live and move and have our being." Acts 17:23-26, 28
"Therefore ... let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily
ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the
joy that was set before Him endured the cross..." Hebrews 12:1-2
EITHER WE BELIEVE GOD IS GOD....OR WE DON'T! WE CAN'T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS. THERE'S NO PICKING AND CHOOSING IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE!
I CHOOSE TO TRUST THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD BECAUSE I BELIEVE
GOD IS WHO HE SAYS HE IS!
GOD CAN DO WHAT HE SAYS HE CAN DO!
I AM WHO GOD SAYS I AM!
I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST!
GOD'S WORD IS ALIVE AND ACTIVE IN ME!
Monday, September 29, 2008
Friday, September 19, 2008
CONTAGIOUS JOY
"I prayed to the Lord, and He answered me,
freeing me from all my fears. Those who look
to Him for help will be radiant with joy;
no shadow of shame will darken their faces.
I cried out to the Lord in my suffering, and
He heard me. He set me free from all my fears.
For the angel of the Lord guards all who fear
Him, and He rescues them." (Psalm 34:4-7 NLT)
Do you enjoy watching the televised Olympic games? If you do, you know the joy the winners of an Olympic event experience is contagious. That's one reason millions of people watch the Olympics so religiously. It's not simply to see the drama of the event and the excellence and form of the athletes. It's also to share in the contagious joy of the winners. In Psalm 34 David describes the same type of joy radiating from believers. All those who look to God for help will experience a joy so intense that other people can see it in their faces. David says the reason for that joy is that God has heard and answered our prayers. Our shame has been taken away. We have been set free from all our fears because the angel of the Lord encamps around us. He guards his people. Pray today that the angel of the Lord will set up camp around you and your relationships. Commit your fears and worries to God, and ask him to guard you. He can set you free from your fears and grant you radiant joy as you look to him for help.
freeing me from all my fears. Those who look
to Him for help will be radiant with joy;
no shadow of shame will darken their faces.
I cried out to the Lord in my suffering, and
He heard me. He set me free from all my fears.
For the angel of the Lord guards all who fear
Him, and He rescues them." (Psalm 34:4-7 NLT)
Do you enjoy watching the televised Olympic games? If you do, you know the joy the winners of an Olympic event experience is contagious. That's one reason millions of people watch the Olympics so religiously. It's not simply to see the drama of the event and the excellence and form of the athletes. It's also to share in the contagious joy of the winners. In Psalm 34 David describes the same type of joy radiating from believers. All those who look to God for help will experience a joy so intense that other people can see it in their faces. David says the reason for that joy is that God has heard and answered our prayers. Our shame has been taken away. We have been set free from all our fears because the angel of the Lord encamps around us. He guards his people. Pray today that the angel of the Lord will set up camp around you and your relationships. Commit your fears and worries to God, and ask him to guard you. He can set you free from your fears and grant you radiant joy as you look to him for help.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Are You Filled With Joy?
I have told you this so that you will
be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!
(John 15:11 NLT)
In many ways, we live in bleak times. Millions feel disillusioned with life while millions more feel uncertain about the future—especially young people. Many of you in Generation X have been victims of a great social experiment in which parents who never grew up cast aside time-honored moral values and, in the phrase of the 1960s, did their own thing.
Nevertheless, there is someone to believe in, something to grasp, and someone to trust. You need to go to the next letter of the alphabet, to Y—as in "Why do I exist. Why was I created? And what am I living for?"
According to Jesus, you were created for joy. "These things I have spoken to you," Jesus said, "that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full."
The things Jesus spoke of were His teachings about bearing fruit. We were created to bear fruit for God, which essentially means to become like Jesus: His mind becomes our mind, His purpose becomes our purpose. And there's only one way to produce such luscious fruit, according to Jesus: "Abide in Me" (John 15:4). This is the secret of spiritual growth and the key to overflowing joy. Are you bearing spiritual fruit?
[Adapted from "Breakfast with Jesus" by Greg Laurie (Tyndale House)]
be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!
(John 15:11 NLT)
In many ways, we live in bleak times. Millions feel disillusioned with life while millions more feel uncertain about the future—especially young people. Many of you in Generation X have been victims of a great social experiment in which parents who never grew up cast aside time-honored moral values and, in the phrase of the 1960s, did their own thing.
Nevertheless, there is someone to believe in, something to grasp, and someone to trust. You need to go to the next letter of the alphabet, to Y—as in "Why do I exist. Why was I created? And what am I living for?"
According to Jesus, you were created for joy. "These things I have spoken to you," Jesus said, "that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full."
The things Jesus spoke of were His teachings about bearing fruit. We were created to bear fruit for God, which essentially means to become like Jesus: His mind becomes our mind, His purpose becomes our purpose. And there's only one way to produce such luscious fruit, according to Jesus: "Abide in Me" (John 15:4). This is the secret of spiritual growth and the key to overflowing joy. Are you bearing spiritual fruit?
[Adapted from "Breakfast with Jesus" by Greg Laurie (Tyndale House)]
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Is The Mind of Christ Living In You?
May the mind of Christ, my Savior, live in me from day to day.
By His love and power controlling all I do and say.
May the word of God dwell richly in my heart from hour to hour.
So that all may see I triumph only through His pow'r.
May the peace of God my Father rule my life in ev'rything.
That I may be calm to comfort, sick and sorrowing.
Kate B. Wilkinson (1859-1928)
Many Christians have made the commitment to be more like Jesus—but where do you start? The apostle Paul told the Philippian believers, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5, KJV). And that's just where the hymn "May the Mind of Christ My Savior" begins. But does the mind of Christ become part of us? Kate Wilkinson directs us to Colossians 3:16 for the answer: "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly." In the third stanza Wilkinson returns to Philippians for this promise: "And the peace of God…will guard your hearts and your minds" (Philippians 4:7). And so the song builds.
Christian growth is not instantaneous but gradual. It flows naturally from obeying God's Word. Thomas a Kempis, who wrote the Christian classic The Imitation of Christ, said, "One thing that draws back many from spiritual progress is the fear of the difficulty of the labor of the combat." Don't give up what you have started.
By His love and power controlling all I do and say.
May the word of God dwell richly in my heart from hour to hour.
So that all may see I triumph only through His pow'r.
May the peace of God my Father rule my life in ev'rything.
That I may be calm to comfort, sick and sorrowing.
Kate B. Wilkinson (1859-1928)
Many Christians have made the commitment to be more like Jesus—but where do you start? The apostle Paul told the Philippian believers, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5, KJV). And that's just where the hymn "May the Mind of Christ My Savior" begins. But does the mind of Christ become part of us? Kate Wilkinson directs us to Colossians 3:16 for the answer: "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly." In the third stanza Wilkinson returns to Philippians for this promise: "And the peace of God…will guard your hearts and your minds" (Philippians 4:7). And so the song builds.
Christian growth is not instantaneous but gradual. It flows naturally from obeying God's Word. Thomas a Kempis, who wrote the Christian classic The Imitation of Christ, said, "One thing that draws back many from spiritual progress is the fear of the difficulty of the labor of the combat." Don't give up what you have started.
Friday, September 5, 2008
DO WE TRULY FORGIVE?
Through the years I have been presented with many opportunities to forgive. Sometimes the situation was so severe that it took me some time to forgive and start the process of healing for myself, and eventually for others. I learned that a Christian needs to forgive other people even if they have not repented of their sins. That can be really hard if we let it be. But if we give our burdens over to the Lord, He will carry them and that frees us up to treat other people with love, compassion, and be in the right frame of mind and heart to set them up for reconciliation with Jesus Christ. That does not mean we tolerate their sin. We simply forgive them for what they have done to us, whether perceived or real, and move on to looking for ways to redeem them. We can then present to them the “truth in love” even when we have to rebuke them.
When I found myself having difficulty in “letting go” of an offense (either real or perceived), I asked myself “What would Jesus do?” And, of course, the answer became crystal clear…immediately!
He drew a circle that shut me out –
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But love and I had the wit to win;
We drew a circle that took him in!
(Edwin Markham)
ONE + GOD = A MAJORITY
When I found myself having difficulty in “letting go” of an offense (either real or perceived), I asked myself “What would Jesus do?” And, of course, the answer became crystal clear…immediately!
He drew a circle that shut me out –
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But love and I had the wit to win;
We drew a circle that took him in!
(Edwin Markham)
ONE + GOD = A MAJORITY
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