A Plan

God has a plan for our life. When you stop to think about it, that's beyond remarkable. Why would the eternal, omnipotent God include me in His plans? But He has. Everything that has happened in my life is part of the plan--part of the preparation necessary for what He intends for me to do for His kingdom. And He is molding me for the future and for today. Since I am still here, I have not yet reached "the moment" that He has planned for me. I'm still in "training"--in preparation. Where I am now--or where I've come from--are often not what I would choose if I was making the plan. But the circumstances of my life are the divinely appointed catalysts for what He needs me to do. And the beauty of His plan rests in His ability to see the plan with eternity in view. I, in my finitness, see only now. He sees forever. Could He do it without me? Of course, but that is not His plan. I am His plan. And He is confident that I will do it. When I embrace His plan for my life as it is today, I embrace the beauty and eternality of the plan He has for me for tomorrow. God has a plan for my life. My life! If I revel in that amazing truth, my life will be His masterpiece, His poetry, His good pleasure. And "Whatever God does, it will be forever."

Ricochets for October 2015

He loves you.
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His question: Do you believe that I not only can but am willing?

Our prayer: Yes, Lord, I believe. Help Thou my unbelief!
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The two greatest hindrances to spiritual growth are legalism and obeying as you please. Both abuse the marvelous wonder of grace.
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Genuine faith is to care for the widows and orphans. Care as in action. How genuine is our faith?
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 "Go into all the world and make disciples." Any ministry that has anything else as its number one priority is in disobedience to Jesus command to His disciples.
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Nothing is more unfair than treating everyone the same.
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The foundation of our faithfulness: Great is Thy faithfulness.
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 God calls the broken-hearted to spend the rest of their lives ministering to those who have a broken heart.
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 Humility in action: "Not returning evil for evil, or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead."

Immaturity

Spiritual immaturity has one foundation: the failure to truly understand the depth of God's redeeming love--the greatness of my Savior's sacrifice on my behalf on that cruelest of crosses. When I understand His love, unwavering discipleship is a joyous act of love to Him. How can I not love Him?! To know Him is to love Him and to love Him is to obey Him regardless of the cost.

Lord impress upon my heart--daily--that You "came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the worst."

Filled

'''And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit."

The more alcohol a man consumes the more the alcohol controls him--his speech, his walk, his thinking, his mannerisms. And such a "filling" leads to dissipation--the wasting away of one's life.
The more a man is filled with the Spirit, the more the Spirit controls him--his speech, his walk, his thinking, his mannerisms. And such a filling leads to an abundance of joy and contentment, a cup running over--an abiding in His presence.
And though alcohol is the illustration Paul uses because it's so clear to mankind, anything that one uses to "fill" up his or her life other than the Spirit leads to a life of wasting away--emptiness. And it's such a subtle, almost unconscious emptying. Is anything more frightening then pursuing a life filled with emptiness?
One gets filled with the Spirit by feasting on the Word--the rain and snow of Heaven, the meat and milk of the spiritual diet, and the source of the Fountain of Life that resides, springs up, flowing within us.

The question is obvious: What are you filling up your life with?

And yes, Paul wrote this command to the Christians in the church at Ephesus.

A Solution

Sometimes when the present looks and feels overwhelming. And the future--whatever that is--"looks" bleak, I find there is only one solution. I just start remembering all the times He has blessed me in my past beyond what I could ask or think. And wow! is that a long list!! And thus I am reminded--faithful then, faithful now, faithful forever. That's the wonder of my God and Father and of my loving Savior. The same "yesterday, today, forever, Jesus is the same. All may fail, but Jesus never. glory to His name."

Life

No thirst. No life.
No hunger. No life.
No growth. No life
No struggle. No life.
No fruit. No life.

Thirst. Life.
Hunger. Life
Growth. Life
Struggle. Life.
Fruit. Life.

By Grace

"For by grace are you saved, through faith, and that not of yourself; it is the gift of God"

"Not by works of righteousness that we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us."

"By the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."

"For there is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus."

"I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but by Me."

"If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."