Friday, April 17, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
wow. me and God just had some serious down-to-the-nitty-gritty time. yikes!!! i have wasted SO much of the last 3 years of my life. It all started because my fire for Christ offended someone I dearly loved. And little by little I withdrew. What about the commands of our Jesus are NOT offensive to the world? After all, is it not the Word that says that this world is at EMNITY AGAINST our God?!!!? We CANNOT be a friend of the world and a friend of God NOR can we love the things of this world AND the things of God. "Blessed is the man who walks NOT in the counsel of the ungodly NOR stands in the path of the sinner NOR sits in the seat of the scornful BUT his delight is in the LORD and ON HIS LAW he meditates DAY AND NIGHT"!!! Um, yeah, so is it just me, or is television and music and media and "common sense" not the "counsel of the ungodly and the path of sinners and the seat of the scornful"????? If the world has been crucified to me and I to the world (Gal 6:14), if my mind is set ABOVE (Col 3:1-3), if I am to NOT be conformed to this world (Ro 12:1-2), If the world WILL hate me as it hated my Jesus (Jn 15:18-19), If this world is at enmity against God (James 4:4), If I am to NOT love the things of this world (1 Jn 2:15), If ALL that is in this world is passing away (1 Jn 2:16) and all I live for of this world is wood, hay, and stubble that will be burned up and I will have to account for all the time I WASTED on wood hay and stubble...and hold account for NOT spending all that time on things that will last...ie: souls, eternity, things of heaven, the life of Christ!!!!! (1 Co 3:12-15) then why OH WHY oh why do we spend day after day focused on finances and debt, health and careers, college and retirement, homes and stability?????? These are fine and good, but WHEN WE DIE, THIS WILL DIE TOO!!!!!!! These things WILL NOT ENTER ETERNITY WITH US! But to save a soul, to spread the gospel, to know His glory...THIS WILL SURVIVE FOREVER AND EVER AND EVER! Tell me, if I live my life in "reckless" abandon, as a "fool" for Christ, with loss of all "common sense" according to this world, tell me, if I live my days by faith so that I am free to FOCUS ON THE THINGS OF HEAVEN, to worry more about the abused child, the man who has no hope, the tribe who has never heard the name of Christ, the beggar who is empty and every single man, woman and child who is "WITHOUT HOPE and WITHOUT CHRIST IN THE WORLD"....tell me....if I live for THAT, is my God BIG ENOUGH to take care of me, to take care of my clothes and meals and all that jazz??????? No, REALLY. I know, common sense, plan your future. Right. The world can do that. But WE ARE CALLED TO A HIGHER CALLING! If you don't agree, or this makes you uncomfortable, than please dear friend, take this up with Christ. His own words: "I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, nor about your body, what you will wear; IS NOT LIFE MORE THAN FOOD AND THE BODY MORE THAN CLOTHING? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather; yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of MORE VALUE than they? Which of you, by worry (or laboring!) can add one cubit to his stature? So WHY do you worry about clothing?!!? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: They do not spin nor toil!; and yet even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these! Now if GOD so clothes mere grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow passes away, will HE not MUCH MORE clothe YOU? O ye of little faith! Therefore DO NO worry, saying 'what shall we eat' or 'what shall we drink' or what shall we wear'!!! FOR AFTER ALL THESE THINGS THE UNGODLY SEEK. BUT YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN KNOWS THAT YOU NEED ALL THESE THINGS. SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD and these THINGS will be GIVEN TO YOU. Therefore DO NOT worry about tomorrow." Mt 6:25-34, the words of Jesus our Lord, the same yesterday, today, and forever!!!!!
Now please, someone tell me, is do we not slave and stress and save money to clothe ourselves and save for retirement and FEED our families? Um, wait. hold on. I believe He said to NOT spend time asking what we will WEAR or EAT...hmmm......and to NOT SEEK these things. And forgive me, but retirement ends at death, friend, does it not? So why are we not more concerned and spending more time BEYOND RETIREMENT, AFTER DEATH...you know, the eternity part? And why are we not broken and concerned that NO MAN WILL PERISH. See, the clothes and tvs and houses and money and cars and food will perish. period. And the man and woman and child who do not believe on the name of Christ will PERISH, seperated from the LIVING GOD forever. period. And YOU can do something about it.
So Christ is a "fool" or the wisdom of this world is not so wise. Take your pick.
Now please, someone tell me, is do we not slave and stress and save money to clothe ourselves and save for retirement and FEED our families? Um, wait. hold on. I believe He said to NOT spend time asking what we will WEAR or EAT...hmmm......and to NOT SEEK these things. And forgive me, but retirement ends at death, friend, does it not? So why are we not more concerned and spending more time BEYOND RETIREMENT, AFTER DEATH...you know, the eternity part? And why are we not broken and concerned that NO MAN WILL PERISH. See, the clothes and tvs and houses and money and cars and food will perish. period. And the man and woman and child who do not believe on the name of Christ will PERISH, seperated from the LIVING GOD forever. period. And YOU can do something about it.
So Christ is a "fool" or the wisdom of this world is not so wise. Take your pick.
Friday, March 27, 2009
We just watched Tears of the Sun. At the beginning of the movie we had a discussion of how frustrated this movie makes us....it makes you want to DO something, to join the Navy SEALS or something. As the movie progressed, my mind is going crazy. I have to unload all my thoughts, so please forgive!
The movie ends with a quote by Edmund Burke "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing". There are good men, many good men, doing something every day be it in the Navy, the Seals, the Army, the Air Force, the Marines, etc. They save life after life around the world. For what? A person to breathe breath another day, another year, maybe sixty? Brother and Sister, do you not understand??? Many people say that God left Africa long ago, among many places around the world which are lost in darkness. this lie cannot, must not win. But to overcome this evil, more must be done than all the Armed Forces on the world can do. WE have a life, a life that cannot be killed or taken or overcome by any rebel, nor gorilla, nor war, nor famine!!!! A life that CANNOT BE DESTROYED. We have freedom. We have truth. We have CHRIST. We have, not just refuge, but ETERNAL refuge. We have a mission ~ to bring this life, our Savior, Christ, to the darkness, to the world. Not to save them for another 5, 10, or 20 years....for all eternity!!! Why are we giving our life for war when we can give our life for LIFE?...to bring eternity to the world? We are called to a HIGH CALLING, we are touched with a divine Spirit, we have ALL WE NEED for life and godliness....and all someone else needs as well, someone who has never heard, who has never had the opportunity to believe. Romans asks how one can believe when they have not heard and how can they hear without a preacher? I put this question to YOU, friends and family, body of Christ. Paul also tells us that Christ died for all that we who live should NOT live for ourselves, but die to ourselves and live for others. Gal 2:20 says that we have been crucified with Christ, dead to our selfish wants, and that, by faith, it is not us, but Christ who lives through us. What are we doing with HIS life? Watching tv? Reading books? Shopping? Saving money? What about saving lives? The God who gave His life to save us from the hell we deserve longs and desires that NONE should perish. What about the child in the African jungle, the woman in the village deep in Papua New Guinea, the baby in the streets of Mexico, the little girl sold into prostitution in Cambodia, the homeless man in the city in America, that rich woman who passes him by on the street, dying couple in China? What of them? While we save thousands, they beg for mercy to give them just a piece of bread. They send hundreds of letters to the nearby village begging, crying, pleading for a missionary to bring them God's talk. They KNOW they are dying. WE know they are dying. In Hotel Rowanda a journalist captures video of hundreds being slaughtered. The hotel managers sees and exclaims that this must be wonderful for now people in America will see what is happening and will send help. The journalist replies that the people in America will shake their heads and say what a shame it is then go back to eating their dinner!!! UGH! We know people are dying to an eternity of separation from GOD, hope life freedom and glory. The truest and worst DEATH. WE KNOW. Will you go back to your supper or your custard or your malls or your parties OR will you live WORTHY of the calling to which you were called, making the most of the life Christ gave, the death He died, the resurrection, the hope and glory and grace and mercy ~ mercy that gives YOU life and freedom. Freedom abused or freedom used for eternal glory?
You have a calling. You have a mission. Wherever you are, Whatever your today brings...do not let things of this world become what is important, do not lost sight of the mission, do not take the grace of God and the life of Christ in vain!!!!!!!
Will you do something? Or shake your head after the movie, wipe the tears away and return to your dinner???
The movie ends with a quote by Edmund Burke "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing". There are good men, many good men, doing something every day be it in the Navy, the Seals, the Army, the Air Force, the Marines, etc. They save life after life around the world. For what? A person to breathe breath another day, another year, maybe sixty? Brother and Sister, do you not understand??? Many people say that God left Africa long ago, among many places around the world which are lost in darkness. this lie cannot, must not win. But to overcome this evil, more must be done than all the Armed Forces on the world can do. WE have a life, a life that cannot be killed or taken or overcome by any rebel, nor gorilla, nor war, nor famine!!!! A life that CANNOT BE DESTROYED. We have freedom. We have truth. We have CHRIST. We have, not just refuge, but ETERNAL refuge. We have a mission ~ to bring this life, our Savior, Christ, to the darkness, to the world. Not to save them for another 5, 10, or 20 years....for all eternity!!! Why are we giving our life for war when we can give our life for LIFE?...to bring eternity to the world? We are called to a HIGH CALLING, we are touched with a divine Spirit, we have ALL WE NEED for life and godliness....and all someone else needs as well, someone who has never heard, who has never had the opportunity to believe. Romans asks how one can believe when they have not heard and how can they hear without a preacher? I put this question to YOU, friends and family, body of Christ. Paul also tells us that Christ died for all that we who live should NOT live for ourselves, but die to ourselves and live for others. Gal 2:20 says that we have been crucified with Christ, dead to our selfish wants, and that, by faith, it is not us, but Christ who lives through us. What are we doing with HIS life? Watching tv? Reading books? Shopping? Saving money? What about saving lives? The God who gave His life to save us from the hell we deserve longs and desires that NONE should perish. What about the child in the African jungle, the woman in the village deep in Papua New Guinea, the baby in the streets of Mexico, the little girl sold into prostitution in Cambodia, the homeless man in the city in America, that rich woman who passes him by on the street, dying couple in China? What of them? While we save thousands, they beg for mercy to give them just a piece of bread. They send hundreds of letters to the nearby village begging, crying, pleading for a missionary to bring them God's talk. They KNOW they are dying. WE know they are dying. In Hotel Rowanda a journalist captures video of hundreds being slaughtered. The hotel managers sees and exclaims that this must be wonderful for now people in America will see what is happening and will send help. The journalist replies that the people in America will shake their heads and say what a shame it is then go back to eating their dinner!!! UGH! We know people are dying to an eternity of separation from GOD, hope life freedom and glory. The truest and worst DEATH. WE KNOW. Will you go back to your supper or your custard or your malls or your parties OR will you live WORTHY of the calling to which you were called, making the most of the life Christ gave, the death He died, the resurrection, the hope and glory and grace and mercy ~ mercy that gives YOU life and freedom. Freedom abused or freedom used for eternal glory?
You have a calling. You have a mission. Wherever you are, Whatever your today brings...do not let things of this world become what is important, do not lost sight of the mission, do not take the grace of God and the life of Christ in vain!!!!!!!
Will you do something? Or shake your head after the movie, wipe the tears away and return to your dinner???
What are YOU doing with the life of Christ?
Thursday, March 26, 2009
"[God's] sacred intent for you and me is nothing short of absolute abandonment to Jesus Christ, entire searation from the pollution of the world, and ardent worship of our King with every breath we take" ~Leslie Ludy
"we who love our Lord and whose affections are set on Heavenly things voluntarily and gladly lay aside the things that charm and ravish the world, that, for our part, our hearts may be ravished with the things of Heaven, that our whole being may be poured forth in constant and unreserved devotion in the service of the Lord who died to save us!!!" ~Amy Carmichael
"It is a tremendous freedom to get rid of all self-consideration and learn to care about only one thing-the relationship between Christ and ourselves!" ~Oswald Chambers
"Yet indeed I count all things loss for the excellence of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ" ~ Philippians 3:8
"His divine power has given to us ALL THINGS that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of HIM who called us by glory and virtue, by which we have been given exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." ~2 Peter 1:3-4
"Since then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth." ~Col 3:1-2
What a beautiful thing it is to know Christ. I am constantly amazed, astounded that we, wretched, mortal us, can know Jesus in all His holiness and perfect beauty and glory and perfection. Not only so, but we are partakers of His very nature! And knowing Him, knowing Him leads to freedom. Knowing Him reminds us that we are not bound to this world or anything it holds!!!! This week, my tests for my health were postponed a month. At first, this was hard. The pain and fatigue can be so overwhelming. And further, our finances are in a rut which is not helped, even worsened, by my not being able to work. *sigh* But then, I look to Christ. I pause life and all it's burdens, I look to Him and forget. In order to look at something, we must tear our gaze away from all else. It is the same with Christ. We cannot look to Him and this world at the same time. When I see His face, I realize that I am not bound to this world, nor this checking account, NOR THIS BODY!!!! What can man or finances or pain do to me? If God be for us, tell me friend, who or what can be against us?!!? I have had many tell me that I can't make it another month, but my God knows. I am not bound to this body, which means even in this trial I can know my Jesus more and more and I can count this body, tests, dr's, meds, ALL THINGS loss for the excellence of knowing Christ. Yes, we must live in this world. But we must NOT let our hearts and minds and hopes be entangled with it in such a way that there be anything we cannot live awhile longer, or forever, without! Even pain can only push us deeper into the arms of Christ. Even fatigue can show that it is His strength, not mine, that is my life' breath. Even this, Lord, even this. Whatever your trial today, know that you are not bound by it. You may see it, you may feel it....but look to Jesus, friend. Let His face and His glory cause all else to fade away. And as these trials press in our lives, let's allow them to only push us deeper into Him, remembering that we are called to a higher Kingdom!
"that we may know Him"
"we who love our Lord and whose affections are set on Heavenly things voluntarily and gladly lay aside the things that charm and ravish the world, that, for our part, our hearts may be ravished with the things of Heaven, that our whole being may be poured forth in constant and unreserved devotion in the service of the Lord who died to save us!!!" ~Amy Carmichael
"It is a tremendous freedom to get rid of all self-consideration and learn to care about only one thing-the relationship between Christ and ourselves!" ~Oswald Chambers
"Yet indeed I count all things loss for the excellence of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ" ~ Philippians 3:8
"His divine power has given to us ALL THINGS that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of HIM who called us by glory and virtue, by which we have been given exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." ~2 Peter 1:3-4
"Since then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth." ~Col 3:1-2
What a beautiful thing it is to know Christ. I am constantly amazed, astounded that we, wretched, mortal us, can know Jesus in all His holiness and perfect beauty and glory and perfection. Not only so, but we are partakers of His very nature! And knowing Him, knowing Him leads to freedom. Knowing Him reminds us that we are not bound to this world or anything it holds!!!! This week, my tests for my health were postponed a month. At first, this was hard. The pain and fatigue can be so overwhelming. And further, our finances are in a rut which is not helped, even worsened, by my not being able to work. *sigh* But then, I look to Christ. I pause life and all it's burdens, I look to Him and forget. In order to look at something, we must tear our gaze away from all else. It is the same with Christ. We cannot look to Him and this world at the same time. When I see His face, I realize that I am not bound to this world, nor this checking account, NOR THIS BODY!!!! What can man or finances or pain do to me? If God be for us, tell me friend, who or what can be against us?!!? I have had many tell me that I can't make it another month, but my God knows. I am not bound to this body, which means even in this trial I can know my Jesus more and more and I can count this body, tests, dr's, meds, ALL THINGS loss for the excellence of knowing Christ. Yes, we must live in this world. But we must NOT let our hearts and minds and hopes be entangled with it in such a way that there be anything we cannot live awhile longer, or forever, without! Even pain can only push us deeper into the arms of Christ. Even fatigue can show that it is His strength, not mine, that is my life' breath. Even this, Lord, even this. Whatever your trial today, know that you are not bound by it. You may see it, you may feel it....but look to Jesus, friend. Let His face and His glory cause all else to fade away. And as these trials press in our lives, let's allow them to only push us deeper into Him, remembering that we are called to a higher Kingdom!
"that we may know Him"
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the gospel of peace and glad tidings of good things (Ro 10:15)!!!!!! Wooooooo :) I am overwhelmed tonight by the beauty of the body of Christ. How so many can be overflowing with HIS Spirit and life......and all in the same room!!!! How two or three....or 10 can gather in His name and He is here, in the midst!! How the body is meant to encourage, and He does this work through them, through us. It is incredible. It is beautiful. It is breathtaking. It is truly grace ~ a gift I do not deserve ~ to be a part of this, this body, this gather of Christ, in the midst of so many who have rights to stand before the throne, who have His life to live, and His Spirit to produce fruit. Why me, Abba? How often I fail, yet how faithful YOU are. Even here, through your people, so often unfaithful, Your faithfulness is SEEN! I praise God for those who pick up the weapon of prayer day after day. I praise God for those who encourage and challenge, who push me onward to Christ and deeper in truth, who refuse to let me settle or slumber or grow weary, who pick up the burdens and help me get them to Christ's feet when I am too weak to drag them, and myself, there!!!!!May we never forget our need of the body & our responsibility to be the body to others! May we live worthy or our calling. May we pour out for one another in action and in prayer, never forgetting we have access to the very throne of God, the throne of grace to HELP in time of need....ours & others. May we remember we are bondservants. We are free from self and flesh and world, all bondages and chains...free to serve and love and together to LIVE, live life. May we cast off the works of the darkness and put on the amour of light (Ro 13:12)!!! May we live knowing that "NO man lives to himeself and no one dies to himself....if WE live, we live to the Lord and if we die we die to the Lord!!!" (Ro `14:7-8) All men serve someone, let's serve our Jesus and each other. "The love of Christ COMPELS us, because we KNOW this: that if ONE died for all, then all died. And He died for ALL that those who live no longer live for themselves BUT FOR HIM who died for them"! Christ's love compels us!!!! Not circumstance, Not trial, Not others perfection nor failures....CHRIST'S love. We are compelled, called....we live in light of CHRIST and HIS love. And further, since He died for all, should we not LIVE for all??? Dying to ourselves and living to Him and to others???? Be compelled, dear brother and sister in CHrist! As The body surrounded me tonight, surround another. What would this city, this world look like if we were surrounded in prayer, encouraged in truth, and challenged to live all out for CHrist by others....THEN turned and did such to another. What would a chain reaction of "not I but Christ", that "I may decrease and HE may increase" do? It gives me shivers and shouts just thinking of it!!!! Yay :)
Today is beautiful. It didn't start out so. Hmm....It did. I didn't see the beauty though. One cannot see beauty when blinded by circumstance! Humbling thought, eh?
In fact, now that I consider it, I have missed alot of beauty and truth lately. How dreadful to be caught up in our own miserable worlds instead of Christ.....or maybe the dreadfulness is making our world anything but Christ!!!!!
I suppose when one looks at an object, all the things around-anything but that single object, are out of focus. So if our "object" is Christ, then circumstances and the world are out of focus, blurred, irrelevant. But when our focus shifts....Christ cannot be clear when we are staring at things of this world. Oy!!!
So, that's where I've been of late. Lost in my circumstances and thus not seeing my Savior on His throne and me in Him. In turn, I have not seen circumstances for what they are - temporary, which I am NOT bound by or to. Circumstances do not bind the believer. We are hidden far above this place, in Christ at the right hand of the Father. We are free. We are conquerors. Whether we clear our debt, whether a doctor can give this weary body answers, whether all the things in my life work out......it matters not. Unless I choose it. If that is my focus, then I suppose I enslave myself, for I lay my life on the line of the outcome. But God forbid that ever be so!!!! The moment I look to Christ, who has come to save me "from this present evil age", it matter not a bit what comes of my life's circumstance. For I have Him, whom I cannot lose. I have a home with eternal foundations. And this world and all it holds, this life and the circumstances that come and go, they can only deepen my in Christ, show me HIS victory, conform me to His image, remind me that it is "not I, but Christ" who lives, that this flesh is mortal and our only life is "that the life of Jesus may be manifested in this mortal body". And this world's worst case scenario - death, can only free me to have not a single hindrance in loving my Beloved, my Life, my Savior. And the world's best case scenarios can only free me from stress to have the time to fall madly in love with Him. Why, oh Why do we let this world's concerns govern our time and thoughts??? We are called to a higher calling, touched with a diviner Spirit, as Amy Carmichael once said! We have so MUCH MORE than this world can ever offer. It's best or it's worst...who cares. What would our lives become if every waking thought were to be how we can know Christ and serve Him? How beautiful it would be. How free we would feel. The circumstances that consume our thoughts and burden our hearts and keep us from intimacy with Him....are they only as powerful as our choice, however much we focus on then is how much power they have?
Oh friend!!! Today is a new day. When "we walk in the light, as HE is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from ALL". This is a new moment. Let us be "partakers of the divine nature", as we are called....as we ARE. Let's live lives that are far beyond the bounds of this world. And the circumstances that DO come, let them be worthwhile, worthy of our time......as we look to Christ, let trial and circumstance send us running to Him, falling at His feet, diving into His truth and letting Him live HIS life in us. If today shows my weakness, praise God, for that is when HIS power is made perfect in me. His power made perfect!!!!! not in heaven, but in ME!!!! His life manifested, not in angels or the strong or the rich or the healthy or the perfect, but in THIS mortal flesh.
Let's live worthy of our calling!
(see: Col 3:1-3; Ro 8:37; Gal 1:4; Gal 2:20; 2 Co 4:8-11; 1Jn 1:7; Eph 4:1; Ps 143:4-6)
In fact, now that I consider it, I have missed alot of beauty and truth lately. How dreadful to be caught up in our own miserable worlds instead of Christ.....or maybe the dreadfulness is making our world anything but Christ!!!!!
I suppose when one looks at an object, all the things around-anything but that single object, are out of focus. So if our "object" is Christ, then circumstances and the world are out of focus, blurred, irrelevant. But when our focus shifts....Christ cannot be clear when we are staring at things of this world. Oy!!!
So, that's where I've been of late. Lost in my circumstances and thus not seeing my Savior on His throne and me in Him. In turn, I have not seen circumstances for what they are - temporary, which I am NOT bound by or to. Circumstances do not bind the believer. We are hidden far above this place, in Christ at the right hand of the Father. We are free. We are conquerors. Whether we clear our debt, whether a doctor can give this weary body answers, whether all the things in my life work out......it matters not. Unless I choose it. If that is my focus, then I suppose I enslave myself, for I lay my life on the line of the outcome. But God forbid that ever be so!!!! The moment I look to Christ, who has come to save me "from this present evil age", it matter not a bit what comes of my life's circumstance. For I have Him, whom I cannot lose. I have a home with eternal foundations. And this world and all it holds, this life and the circumstances that come and go, they can only deepen my in Christ, show me HIS victory, conform me to His image, remind me that it is "not I, but Christ" who lives, that this flesh is mortal and our only life is "that the life of Jesus may be manifested in this mortal body". And this world's worst case scenario - death, can only free me to have not a single hindrance in loving my Beloved, my Life, my Savior. And the world's best case scenarios can only free me from stress to have the time to fall madly in love with Him. Why, oh Why do we let this world's concerns govern our time and thoughts??? We are called to a higher calling, touched with a diviner Spirit, as Amy Carmichael once said! We have so MUCH MORE than this world can ever offer. It's best or it's worst...who cares. What would our lives become if every waking thought were to be how we can know Christ and serve Him? How beautiful it would be. How free we would feel. The circumstances that consume our thoughts and burden our hearts and keep us from intimacy with Him....are they only as powerful as our choice, however much we focus on then is how much power they have?
Oh friend!!! Today is a new day. When "we walk in the light, as HE is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from ALL". This is a new moment. Let us be "partakers of the divine nature", as we are called....as we ARE. Let's live lives that are far beyond the bounds of this world. And the circumstances that DO come, let them be worthwhile, worthy of our time......as we look to Christ, let trial and circumstance send us running to Him, falling at His feet, diving into His truth and letting Him live HIS life in us. If today shows my weakness, praise God, for that is when HIS power is made perfect in me. His power made perfect!!!!! not in heaven, but in ME!!!! His life manifested, not in angels or the strong or the rich or the healthy or the perfect, but in THIS mortal flesh.
Let's live worthy of our calling!
(see: Col 3:1-3; Ro 8:37; Gal 1:4; Gal 2:20; 2 Co 4:8-11; 1Jn 1:7; Eph 4:1; Ps 143:4-6)
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
" Those who catch the vision are ready to follow the Lamb wherever HE leads, and as they follow, in this spirit of joyful adventure, their path becomes clear before them and they are given power to fulfill their high calling! They are those who have the courage to break through conventionalities, who care not at all what the world thinks of them, because they are entirely taken up with the tremendous reality of Christ!!!"
~Bishop Bardley
I absolutely LOVE this quote!!! How incredible and passionate and beautiful!! What better life to live? We are called to such a glorious, such a high calling as this! How easy to be distracted by things of this world, things seen. Yet when we SEE Christ, how DULL this world and all its entertainments and diversions become. Dull!!! As one's eyes focus upon Christ, all else fades away. And REALITY He is! Not distant, but ours!!! And He is just waiting to make Himself known to us and manifest Himself through us...you & I! However, we must be courageous friend, bold enough to be different, to be set apart from this world. Ready and willing to not care what the world thinks of us!!! We long for approval and security, to fit in, yet was it not our Lord who told us that we WILL BE HATED by the world, for they hated Him!!! So I ask, do we want to be like our Lord or like the world? We cannot have both!!!
~Bishop Bardley
I absolutely LOVE this quote!!! How incredible and passionate and beautiful!! What better life to live? We are called to such a glorious, such a high calling as this! How easy to be distracted by things of this world, things seen. Yet when we SEE Christ, how DULL this world and all its entertainments and diversions become. Dull!!! As one's eyes focus upon Christ, all else fades away. And REALITY He is! Not distant, but ours!!! And He is just waiting to make Himself known to us and manifest Himself through us...you & I! However, we must be courageous friend, bold enough to be different, to be set apart from this world. Ready and willing to not care what the world thinks of us!!! We long for approval and security, to fit in, yet was it not our Lord who told us that we WILL BE HATED by the world, for they hated Him!!! So I ask, do we want to be like our Lord or like the world? We cannot have both!!!
Thou art the Lord who slept upon the pillow
Thou art the Lord who soothed the furious sea
What matters beating wind and tossing billow
If only we are in the boat with Thee
Hold us in quiet through the age long minute
While Thou art silent and the wind is shrill
Can the boat sink while Thou, dear Lord, are in it?
Can the heart faint that waiteth on Thy will?
~Amy Carmichael
Thou art the Lord who soothed the furious sea
What matters beating wind and tossing billow
If only we are in the boat with Thee
Hold us in quiet through the age long minute
While Thou art silent and the wind is shrill
Can the boat sink while Thou, dear Lord, are in it?
Can the heart faint that waiteth on Thy will?
~Amy Carmichael
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