The Assignment

Assignment: You shall be My witnesses throughout the entire world until I return.


I am always amazed and humbled that He would trust His testimony to such flawed people. And yet, He has. We are to live in such a way that His compassion, His grace, His truth, His holiness, His commitment to doing the Father's will is evident in our daily lives. And He entrusts us with His message as well. We must be doers and sharers--both, not one or the other. An impossible task--exce...pt that He has empowered us with the Spirit. Sumitting to the Spirit's control by immersing ourselves in His Word will enable us to live transformed lives--lives that reflect His likeness. And it is the Spirit that takes the spoken message of repentance and salvation and changes men's heart, regenrates the spiritually dead and makes them new creations in Christ. The work and the glory is His alone. And sometimes we must accept the truth that the aroma of Christ that perfumes wherever we go will be rejected by men, not embraced. "My" witnesses we have been commanded to be. His gift of the Spirit empowers us to do so. Only death should keep us from loving obedience to the mission He has given us. Live His life--"and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me." Speak the Gospel--"faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." Do so until He returns or until He takes you Home.

Power

The power of God that spoke the universe into existence, humbled the greatest nations in the world for their wickedness (some of them in one day!), defeated sin and death on the cross and through His resurrection from the dead is the same God whose power protects and sustains you when in the day of trouble you run to Him for refuge. He is the Light in the darkness. Remember what He has done. Rest in His promise for today. Rejoice in expectation of the future He has promised to His children. Live by hope, not by sight.

Foolishness

God's commentary on a fool and his foolishness:


"The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God.' "
"For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools."
...

"But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he is powelress to understand them because they are spiritually examined."
"For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.' "


The Application:


"Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and tthe base things of the world and the despised, God has chosen, the things that are not, that He might nullify the things that are, that no man should boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, that, just as it is written, 'Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.' "


"Thank You, Lord, for saving my soul; thank you, Lord, for making me whole. Thank you, Lord, for giving to me, Thy great salvation so rich and free."

The Lesson

Devotional The Lesson

I happened to stumble upon this little touch of teacher humor (and agony) when going through my papers last week:  Thought my fellow teachers might enjoy it—laugh through the tears?

Then Jesus took his disciples up to the mountain and gathering them around Him, taught them saying:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God . . .

Blessed are the meek . . .

Blessed are the merciful . . .

Blessed are they that thirst after righteousness . . .

Blessed are you when persecuted . . .

Blessed are you when you suffer . . .

Be glad and rejoice for your reward is great in heaven.

Then, Simon Peter said, “Are we supposed to know this?”

And Andrew said, “Do we have to write this down?”

And Phillip asked, “Can I go to the bathroom?”

And James said, “Do we have to show our work?”

And Bartholomew said, “Do we have to turn this in?”

And John said, “The other disciples didn’t have to learn this.”

And Matthew said, “I don’t have any paper.”

And Thomas said, “Will we have a test on this?”

And Judas said, “What does this have to do with real life?”

Then one of the Pharisees who was present asked to see Jesus’ lesson plan and inquired of Jesus, “Where is your anticipatory set and your objectives in the cognitive domain?”

And Jesus wept.

No doubt written by a teacher of some experience.  =)  But there is one thing he or she forgot to mention.  God’s promise to teachers:  “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth, and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so shall My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”

Teachers—rest in the truth and the promise that as you share His truth, it will change lives, just as He intends it to.  And not only in the lives of those you are teaching, but they, too, will spread His truth that you have shared with them to others He brings into their lives.  Oh, it may not be immediate—like the impact of the rainfall.  It may be snow right now piling up on a cold heart.  But when He “turns up the heat,” and the snow melts, there will be seed for the sower and bread for the eater.  Trust His promise. 

Teach on!

Surprised

We should not be surprised when by the Spirit's enabling we live a life that personifies God's truth, and the world reacts in anger and scorn. We should not even be surprised when we personify God's grace and get the same reaction. In fact, we should expect it.
The world has every right to expect that we as children of God lavish them with God's grace, love, and truth. They should be surpised if we don't--no matter how they respond.

Revival

Genuine--culture changing--revival starts from the bottom up. Are we loving our neighbors as He loves us? Praying for those we see as "enemies"? Showing honor to those in authority whether we agree with them or not? Advocating for the poor and oppressed? Giving of our resources to help others. Gathering together to encourage our fellow believers? Humbly serving without any need for applause? Speaking the truth in love? Confessing our sins? Taking off the baskets that gain us the apporval of men, but hide our light? Immersed in the saltless activities of the world?   Revival begins with the faithful walk of the remnant. Walk--or there is no chance for revival. It can't be legislated.

Transformation

We have moments and experiences in our lives that inspire us--and those are good things. To be energized spiritually is a marvelous experience. We do need to be careful to not feel as if those moments were "bad' because the feelings "fade" at times. The good that we were inspired to do in those--and because of--those moments of inspiration are good things. The kingdom has been impacted.
Yet, our prayer should always be that those moments --all our experiences--become tran...sformational not just inspirational. What's the difference? Transformation changes us--the way we think about God and His expectations for our obedience in all things; and consequently, it changes the way we live in every aspect of our lives--daily. Our focus changes from what we desire--what pleases us--to what He desires in all our moments--what pleases Him. Spontaneously. Selfishness--even in its most subtle forms--becomes repugnant to us. Our changed view toward this moment is that my heart's desire right now is that He be preeminent in everything I do--large or small. We develop the mind of Joseph--we have a deep sense that we are living each and every moment in the presence of God.
Again, moments of inspiration have energized people to do positive acts for the kingdom. Even if the "feelings" fade, the good that was done was good. We and others have had our lives touched by His presence.
But transformation changes us from the inside out, from being self-centered to Christ-centered. No matter our feelings, we live as those dedicated to our Fathers' will in every situation. What we want, what pleases us, becomes irrelevant to what He wants from us even in the most mundane moments of each day. "Be transformed by the renewing of your minds." Present all that you are as a daily, complete sacrifice to His will.

Reflections for March 2019

No matter how far you've run from God or how long you've been running, one step can bring you back to His loving embrace.
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The most dangerous step away from God is the first one.
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There is only one Person who can promise you a future where all things will work together for good.
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The only way to be ready for the storms of life is to be living a life of obedience before the storm gets there.  And if you're not in a storm, one's coming.
__________

Sometimes people with the best of intentions make mistakes that hurt you.  Thank them for their intentions--their love for you--and forgive them freely for their mistakes.  Remember God looks at the heart.  Thankfully!
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"Choose you this day whom you will serve."  And it's a choice you have to make every "this day."  The Father of truth and love or the father of lies and hate?  The Savior or the destroyer?  Your choice--today.
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Rest.
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When someone claims that his or her actions are no big deal--no one was hurt, it's a lie.  Every choice is like a stone tossed into the pond--the ripple effects go on and on.
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One of the most powerful things we can do, we so often suppress--giving someone a compliment.
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"You learn with your ears, not your mouth."  (Hillerman)
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