Job

The testimony of the life of Job

All those who live godly will suffer persecution. All. Will.
You are the battleground.
The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
I know that in my flesh I will see God--I will stand in His presence clothed in His righteousness. One day I will see Him!
You are His gold. His refining fire makes you more like Him.
It is the height of arrogance to assume that you know why someone else is going through suffering. God hates such arrogance.
Faith is more important than prosperity.
He knows the way you take. And He has prepared your path for your good and His glory.
The height--the depth--of spiritual blindness--to not see the incomparable wonders of His nature in the awesomeness of His creation.
When I truly "see" the majesty of my God, why doesn't matter.
He humbles so that He can exalt.
Let patience have its perfect work.
Lovingly intercede for your fiercest critics so that God will bless them.
One person's faith makes a difference.

Noah

Testimony of the life of Noah:

God is patient. We must be too--even if no one responds in a positive way.
God's patience may run out. When it does . . .
God is our refuge in the storm.
Faith, the fear of the Lord, and patience are inseparable.
God is the One we must please.
God is just as glorified when He judges as when He gives grace.
Grace.

Seek

 We live in a world that is desperately thirsty for meaning. The problem is not just that they have turned from Him--"the fountain of living water"--but that they have built for themselves "broken cisterns that can hold no water." Pray that their eyes will be opened to the brokenness of their cisterns so that they can return to the Fountain of Living Water. And through your life show them--as the panting deer--where your thirst is daily satisfied.
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"Seek the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake His way, and the unrighteous his thoughts. And let him return to the Lord, and He will have compassion on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon."

He will--not might--have compassion.

He will--not might--abundantly pardon. Abundantly.

"Who is a pardoning God like Thee? Or who has grace so rich and free?"

Measuring

"When they measure themselves by themselves, and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding." Beware of self-made standards of righteousness. Those standards are the paving stones on the path that leads to a total misunderstanding and total misrepresentation of the person of Christ--to the erecting of an false image that looks an awful lot like me. Can you think of a more spiritually devastating path for the child of God? "For if anyone think he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself."
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 The problem with the world today is not its wickedness. The problem is the baskets placed over the lights. How much love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control does the world see in my life? First, in how I treat my fellow members in the household of God? And then how I interact with the lost? "If we live in the Spirit, let us walk in the Spirit. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another."
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 The person I most need to be delivered from is myself. "If any man will be my disciple, let him deny himself." Why are we so stubborn in trusting in our own wisdom and our own planning when they invariably end up creating such a mess? Lord deliver me from self-justification and self-reliance.

Those Days

On those tough days. On those hard days. On those "I don't understand" days. On those "I don't think I can do this" days. On those "I don't want to do this anymore, Lord" days. (I always add "Lord." Hmm.)

And I have more of those days than I care to admit--especially to myself. He already knows. And cares--with a concerned heart not a judgmental heart.

On those days--this is the truth that strengthens me:

"There is a green hill far away, outside a city wall,
Where the dear Lord was crucified Who died to save us all.
Oh, dearly, dearly has He loved, and we must love Him too,
And trust in His redeeming blood, and try His work to do."

Lord

Lord, keep me from the pride that is content with the way things are.
Lord, keep me from the selfish callousness that places "I want" over "they need."
Lord, keep me from trying to find my joy in the worthless nothings of this material world.
Lord, keep me from the spiritual pride that prays for judgment on others instead of interceding for pardon and mercy and a repentant heart.
Lord, keep me from the impudence that quenches the Spirit's conviction in my soul, that tries to quiet His loving prodding with the false lie that "I'm fine the way I am."

Lord, help me to be absorbed in the music--the psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs--that fills my thoughts and my heart with the Spirit's presence.
Lord, help me to willingly be a pillar that those I love can rest on, draw strength from, and thus, become all that you intend for them to be.
Lord, help me to be the enemy of indifference.
Lord, help me in the gloom, in the darkness, in the shadows to be your flickering candle.
Lord, help me to love good by seeking first the kingdom of God day by day.

May you be the Lord of my life as Your love and the sense of Your Presence keeps me from having a divided heart. May I never forget that divided loyalty is disloyalty.

Keep me.
Help me.

I can do nothing without You.

Lord.

Weary

 "The Son of Man came into the world not to be ministered to, but to minister to others." Never forget that your entire life, lived before men, is your ministry. Every second of every day.

"And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary."

"But as for you brethren, do not grow weary of doing good."

"But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart"

Feeling weary? Don't gaze at the seemingly impossible challenges of the ministry He's called you to. Don't gaze at the people in the ministry--yes, they are in need of just as much mercy as you are. Don't gaze at tomorrow or back at yesterday. What can you possibly do about those days? Set your affections, your heart, your love on the beauty of your Savior--whom having not seen you love. He never changes. He's always faithful. Every seed He's enabled you to plant will one day bring the harvest. Every one. We labor not in vain. Feeling weary? With unveiled face gaze on Jesus who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despised the shame and is set down at the right hand of the Father--work completed. And as you gaze on Him, the Spirit will transform you into the Son's image, and the Father will use you--just as He used His Son to glorify His Name..


 

Two Outs

As someone has said, "God often waits until the bottom of the ninth, two outs, and the worst hitter coming to bat--you." Things become possible when they appear to be impossible. Hope springs from such moments. Why? So the only testimony can be, "Isn't God wonderful!"

God's Purpose

God's purpose in every situation is to turn it into a blessing--the blessing of a transformed life. In other words, God's purpose in every situation is to make you a blessing to others.

The Motions

Nothing is more heart-breaking to our God of love than for us to go through all the motions of worship and then live an unrighteous life the rest of the week. Nothing is more deadly to the kingdom's mission either. Some people will go to church tomorrow with a heart of stone; not knowing Christ as their Savior the Word will have--can have--no impact on their lives. Pray that the Spirit will call them--today is the day of salvation. Some will listen to the Word tomorrow and be moved emotionally but as soon as they discover that being obedient to what they heard taught will bring them into conflict with the world, they will refuse to obey. Pray that God will instill them with the courage to count the cost and still be faithful. Some will sit under the teaching of God's Word, but be intent on living "the best of both worlds"--trying vainly to be immersed in the world and still follow Christ. No man can serve two masters. The only fruit they will produce is worry and a luke-warm God-sickening, lifestyle. Pray that they will seek first the Kingdom of God and let Him take care of the other stuff. Some will sit under the Word and pray that with the Spirit's enabling they will daily be empowered to take up their cross and follow Him--live a life of faithfulness no matter what. What heart will you bring?

Nothing is more heart-breaking to our God of love than for us to go through all the motions of worship and then live an unrighteous life the rest of the week. And nothing is more deadly to the kingdom's mission either.

Faithfulness

Faithfulness knows that love and obedience cannot be separated.
Faithfulness endures because of joy.
Faithfulness understands that it must be done one step at a time, moment by moment.
Faithfulness is never in a hurry; it is patient.
Faithfulness does not demand earthly reward or recognition.
Faithfulness begins each day on its knees.
Faithfulness does not view acts of kindness as a distraction from steadfastness.
Faithfulness needs no followers.
Faithfulness is diligent.
Faithfulness while running the race, always stops to help the injured runner and stays focused on the example of the One who finished the race with joy.
Faithfulness strives for excellence not merely success and makes no excuse for failure.
Faithfulness is not too proud or too stubborn to accept a helping hand of love.
Faithfulness in deep poverty gives abundantly.
Faithfulness is not concerned when it sees everyone else headed in the opposite direction.
Faithfulness is careful to not take even one step to the right hand or the left.
Faithfulness leaves the consequences in the hands of his sovereign, loving, ever-faithful Father.
Faithfulness knows that the principle of sowing and reaping is a declaration of God's compassionate love.
Faithfulness finishes.

"Faithful is He who calls you, and He will also bring it to pass. Brethren, pray for us."

Spiritually Prosperous

Spiritually prosperous--the only true prosperity--are those who humbly recognize that all the beauty and goodness that resides within them is a gracious gift from God their Father. Moment by moment they demonstrate to all the richness of kingdom membership--godliness with contentment.
Spiritually prosperous are those who show their broken heart for the broken world and the broken people in that world. The God of All Comfort will daily immerse them in a sense of His presence and will, one day, wipe all tears from their eyes.
Spiritually prosperous are those who use the strength that God gives them to gently and meekly stoop down to lift up the fallen. As His servants, they will one day live and reign with Him--the Perfect Servant.
Spiritually prosperous are those who seek their satisfaction in the milk and meat of the Word--eagerly obeying its righteous commands. They will be continually filled with the Spirit.
Spiritually prosperous are those who tenderheartedly, in kindness, forgive all others as they themselves have been freely and unconditionally forgiven by Him. They will deeply sense the wonder and love of His daily intercession on their behalf before the Father.
Spiritually prosperous are those whose heart's desire is to have a heart like His--to be more and more like Him--pure in motive and action. One day, clothed in the incorruptible righteousness of their righteous Advocate, they will stand redeemed in the very presence of the Holy God--eternally accepted in The Beloved.
Spiritually prosperous are those who live a quiet, tranquil life, uncontentious, maligning no one, adverse to self-defense, interceding even for their enemies, they, themselves, living, as an enemy of strife and division. They will be recognized as children of the Sovereign Lord--King of Kings, Almighty God, Ruler of His universe.
Spiritually prosperous are those who as they become more and more like Him and less and less like the world in which they live are found worthy to suffer joyfully for His sake.
Spiritually prosperous are those who as His salt in a world whose tendency is toward rottenness and as His light in a world that loves its darkness daily make His presence felt by all with whom they interact--who, in whatever they do--glorify His matchless Name.

LORD

A Prayer:

LORD:

Help me to understand the sorrow in Your heart when I sin.
Teach to embrace the deep love that fills the affliction that You send my way
When I miss Your presence, may I eagerly, expectantly, seek You with all my heart
May I rest in the wonder that Your choice is always to love.
Remind me of the strong link between grace and repentance
Thank You for Your gentle protections
Let those who observe my life see kindness and loyalty
May others understand that my patience is rooted in my unwavering confidence that You are working in the lives of those I love--in the lives of those You love, those we love.
Thank You that You proclaim Yourself to be the God of Jacobs--of rascals like me.
Help me to consistently pray for those in authority in this nation to which You have sent me as Your ambassador of love--help me to pray without ceasing because a nation's power is no greater than its faith in Thee.
May I rejoice that my weakness doesn't disappoint You--that it is the reason You love me.
Teach me to find my satisfaction only in Thee.
Empower me to daily in some small way demonstrate to my--our--students Your image. I would have them see Jesus.

Best Advice

Just got home from teaching a Bible study. I was trying to think how long I've been doing that. Long time! All ages of people. Missouri once or twice. Ohio. Georgia. South Carolina--lots of difference places. Churches. Homes. Schools--naturally. I even sneak Bible into my English classes. One thing I continue to learn. There's so much more that I need to learn. Every time I teach, He teaches me something new. His mercies are new every morning. No one can even begin to know Him and to live a victorious Christian life who is not in the Bible. Study. Growth demands it. Be enriched--saturate yourself with the Book. That's the best piece of wisdom I could ever give to anyone.

In Charge

Everyone claims to be in charge. In charge of their finances, in charge of their lives, in charge of their bodies, in charge of their classrooms, in charge of the government. In charge, in charge, in charge. . . Nope. But you are totally responsible to the One who gave you those finances, those lives, those bodies, those students, and those positions of authority. Responsible, responsible, responsible. . . Totally. And their won't be any excuses accepted.

Poison

A society, a culture, a nation, an individual that is unjust is sowing poisonous weeds in its "crops." Their lack of compassion for the needy will be the death of their prosperity.

"Sow with a view to righteousness. Reap in accordance with kindness."

Joyless

When there is no joy in my life, it's because my love for Him has waxed cold. When I lack contentment, it's because I am embracing another god--self-love. "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." Those things I want, those things I must have--be they tangible or intangible--have become my idol. "Little children, guard yourselves from idols." Don't let anything become a substitute for God and His loving and wise will for your life. When you find yourself empty and in need of God's strengthening joy to face your trials, those idols will be absolutely useless to help you. Useless.

The Fear of the Lord

The reason the fear of the Lord is so essential is because if I fail to reflect with reverence on how my choices affect my relationship with Him, disobedience becomes easy. And then when I disobey and the consequences are not immediate, I begin to despise God. "The fool has said in His heart there is no God."

"But they shall be like the chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore, the wicked shall not stand in the day of judgment." As someone has said, "It's payday someday."

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."