When someone intentionally and maliciously hurts you, the reason is simple: God needs another Joseph.
_______________
Caleb spent 45 years wandering and battling just so he could get his
hands on those giants and prove that with God's help those giants had no
chance. Man, was that 46th year marvelous. Well, not so much for
those giants.
Keep being faithful.
_______________
Yes, God needs you to be precisely the individual that He created you to
be. Why? Because the individual He created you to be fits perfectly
into the precise place He needs you to complete the body so it can do
its work in the kingdom. Together is the essence of Christianity.
_______________
The spiritual wrestling match is fought on one's knees. "We wrestle not against flesh and blood."
_______________
He lived a life "full of grace and truth." That's not fifty percent
grace and fifty percent truth. His life always reflected fully,
lovingly, and uncompromisingly grace and truth. We must live the same
way if people are going to behold His glory in us. Anything less and
all they will see is us. That's not such a "pretty picture."
_______________
We always get impatient with God when He calls on us to wait. Yet,
waiting is the foundation of a faith that can soar in the winds of
adversity. No waiting in our lives. No eagle's wings. "Wait, I say,
on the Lord."
_______________
Jesus asked, "Will I find any faith when I come?" Yes, He's asking that question of you and me. Will He?
_______________
Praise is a lifestyle.
_______________
The struggle is evidence that you are right where God wants you.
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Little Cloud Prayers
Elijah was promised that if he prayed it would rain. So he prayed,
and there wasn't even a cloud in the sky. Did he quit praying? Did he
doubt God's promise? Not a chance. He prayed again. Still nary a
single cloud. This time he quit praying? Not a chance. Prayed again.
Elijah's servant: "Well, there's at least one little cloud, Elijah."
Elijah: "Run for it; a monsoon's coming."
Elijah's servant: "Well, there's at least one little cloud, Elijah."
Elijah: "Run for it; a monsoon's coming."
And the monsoon came.
Don't stop praying, trust in the promises of God. And when you see that "little cloud" of promise? Wait until you see the showers of blessing that are right behind that cloud.
"There shall be showers of blessing--this is the promise of love; there shall be seasons refreshing, sent from the Savior above. Showers of blessing, showers of blessing we need; mercy drops round us are falling, but for the showers we plead."
Keep praying til you see that little cloud.
Don't stop praying, trust in the promises of God. And when you see that "little cloud" of promise? Wait until you see the showers of blessing that are right behind that cloud.
"There shall be showers of blessing--this is the promise of love; there shall be seasons refreshing, sent from the Savior above. Showers of blessing, showers of blessing we need; mercy drops round us are falling, but for the showers we plead."
Keep praying til you see that little cloud.
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
Remember
Spiritually and physically exhausted?
Deeply burdened?
Confused by your circumstances?
Depressed?
Teetering on the edge of despair?
Deeply burdened?
Confused by your circumstances?
Depressed?
Teetering on the edge of despair?
Remember His Cross:
All of your sins have been completely and eternally forgiven--removed from My presence as far as the East is from the West.
Remember His Commitment:
The work I began in you I will finish until the day you stand in My very presence fully accepted in Me, the Beloved.
Remember His Call:
Deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow Me.
Remember His Confidence:
My grace is sufficient for you. My stength is made perfect through your weakness.
Remember His Companionship:
Take My yoke upon you, learn of Me. Together--shared--the yoke is easy, the burden light, the soul at rest. Cast your care on Me. No one cares for you like I do.
All of your sins have been completely and eternally forgiven--removed from My presence as far as the East is from the West.
Remember His Commitment:
The work I began in you I will finish until the day you stand in My very presence fully accepted in Me, the Beloved.
Remember His Call:
Deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow Me.
Remember His Confidence:
My grace is sufficient for you. My stength is made perfect through your weakness.
Remember His Companionship:
Take My yoke upon you, learn of Me. Together--shared--the yoke is easy, the burden light, the soul at rest. Cast your care on Me. No one cares for you like I do.
Too Often
Too often we as believers look at the culture, at the world around us,
and cry out against it's evil when what we should be doing is falling on
our knees and pleading with God, "Lord, I hide my faith behind so many
baskets; my saltiness is so lacking; please enbolden me to let my light
shine. Please enable me to create in others a thirst for You. May
others see that the good that is in me is totally the outworking of Your
grace and love active in my life. May Christ be seen in me."
Saturday, September 12, 2015
When
When the Lord's answer to your prayer is the one thing you didn't want to happen, the following are still true:
He loves you just as deeply, unconditionally, and lavishly as He always has.
He doesn't make mistakes.
He is filled with empathy for your every tear and for your sense of disappointment.
He has placed His confidence in you that your response to His will---to your circumstances--will bring glory to His name.
He will never leave you nor forsake you.
He is going to bring people into your life that you might encourage them to trust His love and wisdom as they experience similar sorrows and disappointments. And He will do so for the rest of your life.
All things work together for good--even if the good is not revealed to you until you stand in His presence. And hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant."
It will be worth it all to have followed Him.
He loves you just as deeply, unconditionally, and lavishly as He always has.
He doesn't make mistakes.
He is filled with empathy for your every tear and for your sense of disappointment.
He has placed His confidence in you that your response to His will---to your circumstances--will bring glory to His name.
He will never leave you nor forsake you.
He is going to bring people into your life that you might encourage them to trust His love and wisdom as they experience similar sorrows and disappointments. And He will do so for the rest of your life.
All things work together for good--even if the good is not revealed to you until you stand in His presence. And hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant."
It will be worth it all to have followed Him.
Thursday, September 10, 2015
The Heart
Love the Lord your God with all your heart.
As a man thinks in his heart, so he is.
Out of the abundance of his heart, a man speaks.
A broken and a contrite heart Thou will not despise, O Lord.
Let the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.
Create for me a clean heart, O God
Incline my heart to Thy testimonies
Thy word I have treasured in my heart that I might not sin against Thee
Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
"Search me O God, and know my heart today; try me, O Savior, know my thoughts I pray; see if there be some wicked way in me; cleanse me from every sin, and set me free."
Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart.
As a man thinks in his heart, so he is.
Out of the abundance of his heart, a man speaks.
A broken and a contrite heart Thou will not despise, O Lord.
Let the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.
Create for me a clean heart, O God
Incline my heart to Thy testimonies
Thy word I have treasured in my heart that I might not sin against Thee
Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
"Search me O God, and know my heart today; try me, O Savior, know my thoughts I pray; see if there be some wicked way in me; cleanse me from every sin, and set me free."
Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart.
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Doers
"Be doers of the word and not hearers only."
Don't miss the balance here. It does not say that "hearing" is unnecessary, let alone "wrong." Remember, "faith comes by hearing." Jesus said multiple times, "He that has an ear to hear, let him hear." Mary was told that the one necessary thing was to sit at His feet and hear what He had to teach. Hearing His Word spoken by others or moving in our hearts by the Spirit's wooing as we read the Word is vitally important. Vitally.
Doing is necessary because it reflects the depth of my love for Him, my confidence--my faith--in His promises, the steadfastness of my hope, and my passion for His will. If I just hear and don't do, the life of Christ in me will never be seen. The radiance of "Christ in you, the hope of glory" will be mere words and lack the Spirit's power to transform others by my testimony to His faithfulness--"I live, but yet not I. Christ lives in me. And the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the power of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me."
Feast on the Word--through Bible teaching, preaching, reading, studying, singing spiritual songs. Be a hearer. But never stop there. Let Christ live through you. It's really a simple choice. Do I want to be a stagnant, complacent Christian? Or do I want to walk in the Spirit and so fulfill the loving law of Christ? Do I want to love the Lord my God with all my heart and love my neighbor as He loves me? Then, I must be a doer of the word, and not a hearer only. Must.
Don't miss the balance here. It does not say that "hearing" is unnecessary, let alone "wrong." Remember, "faith comes by hearing." Jesus said multiple times, "He that has an ear to hear, let him hear." Mary was told that the one necessary thing was to sit at His feet and hear what He had to teach. Hearing His Word spoken by others or moving in our hearts by the Spirit's wooing as we read the Word is vitally important. Vitally.
Doing is necessary because it reflects the depth of my love for Him, my confidence--my faith--in His promises, the steadfastness of my hope, and my passion for His will. If I just hear and don't do, the life of Christ in me will never be seen. The radiance of "Christ in you, the hope of glory" will be mere words and lack the Spirit's power to transform others by my testimony to His faithfulness--"I live, but yet not I. Christ lives in me. And the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the power of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me."
Feast on the Word--through Bible teaching, preaching, reading, studying, singing spiritual songs. Be a hearer. But never stop there. Let Christ live through you. It's really a simple choice. Do I want to be a stagnant, complacent Christian? Or do I want to walk in the Spirit and so fulfill the loving law of Christ? Do I want to love the Lord my God with all my heart and love my neighbor as He loves me? Then, I must be a doer of the word, and not a hearer only. Must.
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