Pray for One Another

 ^13-15Get along among yourselves, each of you doing your part. Our counsel is that you warn the freeloaders to get a move on. Gently encourage the stragglers, and reach out for the exhausted, pulling them to their feet. Be patient with each person, attentive to individual needs. And be careful that when you get on each other's nerves you don't snap at each other. Look for the best in each other, and always do your best to bring it out.
 ^16-18Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.1 Thessalonians 5:13-18

Rock of Refuge

In you, Lord, I have taken refuge;  let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness. Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge,  a strong fortress to save me^..  Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me. Psalm 31:1-3

Steady the Knees

Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come,  he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.” Then will the eyes of the blind be opened  and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Isaiah 35

When we steady our knees and trust God, He will do the miraculous. Stand strong and wait for Him. At the right time, He will come!

Lay down my life

Jesus does not ask me to die for Him, but to lay down my life for Him. Peter said - "I will lay down my life for Thy sake" and he meant it; his sense of the heroic was magnificent. It would be a bad thing to be incapable of making such a declaration as Peter made; the sense of our duty is only realized by our sense of the heroic. Has the Lord ever asked you - "Wilt thou lay down thy life for My sake?" It is far easier to die than to lay down the life day in and day out with the sense of the high calling. Oswald Chambers

Come Unto Me

Matthew 11:28 Do I want to get there? I can now. The questions that matter in life are remarkably few, and they are all answered by the words - "Come unto Me." Not - Do this, or don't do that; but - "Come unto Me." If I will come to Jesus my actual life will be brought into accordance with my real desires; I will actually cease from sin, and actually find the song of the Lord begin. Have you ever come to Jesus? Watch the stubbornness of your heart, you will do anything rather than the one simple childlike thing - "Come unto Me." If you want the actual experience of ceasing from sin, you must come to Jesus. Jesus Christ makes Himself the touchstone. Watch how He used the word "Come." At the most unexpected moments there is the whisper of the Lord - "Come unto Me," and you are drawn immediately. Personal contact with Jesus alters everything. Be stupid enough to come and commit yourself to what He says. The attitude of coming is that the will resolutely lets go of everything and deliberately commits all to Him. ". . . and I will give you rest," i.e., I will stay you. Not - I will put you to bed and hold your hand and sing you to sleep; but - I will get you out of bed, out of the languor and exhaustion, out of the state of being half dead while you are alive; I will imbue you with the spirit of life, and you will be stayed by the perfection of vital activity. We get pathetic and talk about "suffering the will of the Lord!" Where is the majestic vitality and might of the Son of God about that? Oswald Chambers

God working in you

Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. 13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.

Joy in Refuge

Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him! Psalm 34:8

Panic or Inspiration

It is much easier to do something than to trust in God; we mistake panic for inspiration. That is why there are so few fellow workers with God and so many workers for Him. We would far rather work for God than believe in Him. Am I quite sure that God will do what I cannot do? Have I had any spiritual work done in me at all? The degree of panic is the degree of the lack of personal spiritual experience. Oswald Chambers

Listen

Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live. Isaiah 55:3 Listen, really listen to God, He is speaking all the time. We really listen, focus, press in when we NEED to hear something specific from the Lord. But He is speaking all the time. We miss the day to day minute to minute voice of the Lord. Commit today to pay attention, really listen throughout the day and see what a difference it will make in your relationship with God and in the way the day goes. Listen...

UNDISTURBED RELATIONSHIP

At that day ye shall ask in My name "At that day ye shall ask in My name," i.e., in My nature. Not - "You shall use My name as a magic word," but - "You will be so intimate with Me that you will be one with Me." "That day" is not a day hereafter, but a day meant for here and now. "The Father Himself loveth you" - the union is so complete and absolute. Our Lord does not mean that life will be free from external perplexities, but that just as He knew the Father's heart and mind, so by the baptism of the Holy Ghost He can lift us into the heavenly places where He can reveal the counsels of God to us. "Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name. . . ." "That day" is a day of undisturbed relationship between God and the saint. Just as Jesus stood unsullied in the presence of His Father, so by the mighty efficacy of the baptism of the Holy Ghost, we can be lifted into that relationship - "that they may be one, even as We are One." Oswald Chambers

Choose this day whom you will serve.

We have the choice every day to make our own decisions or listen to God for His choice. We think we are smart enough to know what God wants so we make decisions based on what we think instead of listening for His voice. We are quick to listen on most big decisions but on the little ones we think we can guess the right answer. Who can know the mind of the Lord? A life of surrender must be surrendered in every decision every day. Today, Lord, I choose to listen before I act.

Keeping focused

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter 1:3-5 Remember what Christ has done! When we focus on resurrection of Jesus, our living hope, all the issues of life pale in comparison. Going back through the Scriptures explaining what Christ did for us revives our faith and hope! Focus on Him!

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. Romans 15:4 The Word of God gives us hope. Time spent studying Scripture and people of the Bible brings encouragement for our walk with God. Others have gone before us and paved the way. We can learn so much through the victories and failures of the Saints. God's loving character is displayed in every story. What He did for them, He will do for us. Trust Him to guide your every step and you will not be disappointed.

Prayer

Intercession leaves you neither time nor inclination to pray for your own "sad sweet self." The thought of yourself is not kept out, because it is not there to keep out; you are completely and entirely identified with God's interests in other lives.

Discernment is God's call to intercession, never to fault finding. Oswald Chambers

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Ephesians 6:18

Heaven is Our Home

That's why we live with such good cheer. You won't see us drooping our heads or dragging our feet! Cramped conditions here don't get us down. They only remind us of the spacious living conditions ahead. It's what we trust in but don't yet see that keeps us going. Do you suppose a few ruts in the road or rocks in the path are going to stop us? When the time comes, we'll be plenty ready to exchange exile for homecoming.

But neither exile nor homecoming is the main thing. Cheerfully pleasing God is the main thing, and that's what we aim to do, regardless of our conditions. Sooner or later we'll all have to face God, regardless of our conditions. We will appear before Christ and take what's coming to us as a result of our actions, either good or bad. 2 Corinthians 5:6-10

We get so caught up in life here on earth and trying to make it a good, happy life. This is not our home, we are here to complete a mission. Heaven is our home. Let's keep the main thing - pleasing God. It's time we got busy doing the work of the Lord instead of working for life here on earth. Take up our cross daily!

Christ Is the Perfect Sacrifice

So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. 12 With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever. Hebrews 9:11-12

Yes, Amen

For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory. 2 Corinthians 1:20

A perfect Heart

Are there some things in connection with your bodily life, your intellectual life, upon which you are not concentrating at all? You are all right in the main but you are slipshod; there is a relapse on the line of concentration. You no more need a holiday from spiritual concentration than your heart needs a holiday from beating. You cannot have a moral holiday and remain moral, nor can you have a spiritual holiday and remain spiritual. God wants you to be entirely His, and this means that you have to watch to keep yourself fit. It takes a tremendous amount of time. Some of us expect to "clear the numberless ascensions" in about two minutes. Oswald Chambers

But the high places were not taken away out of Israel; nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days. 2 Chronicles 15:17

Trust

"But as for me, I trust in You." Psalm 55:22-23
Trust is not easy. Our brain battles against trust. Yet we trust a rope to hold us as we bungee jump off a cliff. We trust a chair when we sit down. We trust a hand extended to help us down. Yet, we struggle with trusting God. Is it because we can't see Him, or we don't know Him? Blind faith without understanding is necessary to complete trust. Yes Lord, I give up control yet again, and trust You.

All I have seen teaches me to trust the creator for all I have not seen.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Plan

Romans 6:20-21 (MSG)
As long as you did what you felt like doing, ignoring God, you didn't have to bother with right thinking or right living, or right anything for that matter. But do you call that a free life? What did you get out of it? Nothing you're proud of now. Where did it get you? A dead end.

God has a better plan. We were not meant to do what ever we felt like doing. True freedom is in following God's purpose for our lives. God gives us parameters and guidelines with choices. Just like a child needs boundaries and guidance, we need insights into our future and direction. There is comfort, safety and freedom in knowing there is a plan.

Burning Hearts

Luke 24:32 They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?”

There are times when reading scripture that the words jump off the page at me and pierce my heart and soul. In these moments I know God is speaking directly to me. Surely, that was the experience described in Luke 24:32. God is always speaking, whether through His written word or His spoken word. We have to be alert and listening to hear Him speak. A burning heart is a sign that God is speaking. Does your heart burn this morning?

Complete Identification

"Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God's grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily." Galatians 2:21

We try so hard to be good and to keep the rules of being Christians. We can't, we will fail in some part and disappoint ourselves. When we are crucified with Christ we become righteous through His sacrifice. Until we commit to be truly His, crucified with Him, we will fail at doing good. Total abandonment of self, our will and desires is necessary for our salvation and our righteousness. Only then will we be able to do good, serving God and others in self-sacrifice. This is Christ-like living. Not because we have to but because we want to please God in everything. Loving Him more than life itself is glorious!

“What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn't work. So I quit being a "law man" so that I could be God's man. Christ's life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not "mine," but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that. Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God's grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.” Galatians 2:20 MSG

Proverbs 23:26 "My son, give me your heart and let your eyes delight in my ways."

God wants our whole heart turned toward Him. In our earthly mind we find things/people who seem so important to our lives and necessary to complete us. In this passage of Scripture God is reminding us that He wants all of our heart. Only when we give Him our all can we be truly satisfied. Out of a satisfied heart we can serve people unconditionally. When we love others out of the abundance of God's heart it is true and good, holy and right. God draws us to Himself because He is a jealous God, but He also draws us to himself to show us how to truly love others. Human love will fail sooner or later, God's love never fails. His love is patient, kind, longsuffering, endures, never quits. This love is what we long for.

Shields

I sat next to a nice lady on the plane and we chatted about this and that. It's interesting how we can have a great conversation and walk away with very little information revealed about each other. We shield ourselves, protecting against what? Are we afraid of hurt, an attack against who we really are? Or do we just need more training on how to communicate? Maybe both are correct. Trivial talk to me is a waste of time, yet necessary to bridge the gap with people. How do we break down the shields and truly get to know that person next to us? When the lady on the plane realized I wanted to know about her, she opened her shield just a little and let me see inside. A process for sure, slower than I would like, but rewarding at the end of the day.

The root of Faith

Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One Who is leading. It is a life of Faith, not of intellect and reason, but a life of knowing Who makes us "go." The root of faith is the knowledge of a Person, and one of the biggest snares is the idea that God is sure to lead us to success.

The final stage in the life of faith is attainment of character. There are many passing transfigurations of character; when we pray we feel the blessing of God enwrapping us and for the time being we are changed, then we get back to the ordinary days and ways and the glory vanishes. The life of faith is not a life of mounting up with wings, but a life of walking and not fainting. It is not a question of sanctification; but of something infinitely further on than sanctification, of faith that has been tried and proved and has stood the test. Abraham is not a type of sanctification, but a type of the life of faith, a tried faith built on a real God. "Abraham believed God."

Hebrews 11:8

Surrender

To become one with Jesus Christ, a person must be willing not only to give up sin, but also to surrender his whole way of looking at things. Being born again by the Spirit of God means that we must first be willing to let go before we can grasp something else. The first thing we must surrender is all of our pretense or deceit. Surrender, our lives are not our own. We have been purchased by the blood of Jesus.The world looks different through the eyes of surrender.

Galatians 2:20

My Only Hope

I look up to the mountains— does my help come from there? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth!

Overflowing Love

And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows. 13 May he, as a result, make your hearts strong, blameless, and holy as you stand before God our Father when our Lord Jesus comes again with all his holy people. Amen. 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13

Servants Like Christ

Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:26-28

Here I am. Send me.

1 It was in the year King Uzziah died[a] that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. 2 Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 They were calling out to each other, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Heaven’s Armies! The whole earth is filled with his glory!”
Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke. Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. 7 He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.”
Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?”

I said, “Here I am. Send me.”
Isaiah 6:1-8

All Creation proclaims His glory!

The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world. Psalm 19:1-4

Find New Strength

Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The LORD is the everlasting God,the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding.He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:28-31

The Glory

His lightning flashes out across the world. The earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth. The heavens proclaim his righteousness; every nation sees his glory. Psalm 97

Open Gates

Open for me the gates where the righteous enter, and I will go in and thank the Lord. These gates lead to the presence of the Lord, and the godly enter there. I thank you for answering my prayer and giving me victory! Psalm 118:19-21

Open Our Eyes

Reading for Tuesday 10th January 2012
THE OPENED SIGHT

To open their eyes . . . that they may receive . . .

This verse is the grandest condensation of the propaganda of a disciple of Jesus Christ in the whole of the New Testament.

The first sovereign work of grace is summed up in the word - "that they may receive remission of sins." When a man fails in personal Christian experience, it is nearly always because he has never received anything. The only sign that a man is saved is that he has received something from Jesus Christ. Our part as workers for God is to open men's eyes that they may turn themselves from darkness to light; but that is not salvation, that is conversion - the effort of a roused human being. I do not think it is too sweeping to say that the majority of nominal Christians are of this order; their eyes are opened, but they have received nothing. Conversion is not regeneration. This is one of the neglected factors in our preaching today. When a man is born again, he knows that it is because he has received something as a gift from Almighty God and not because of his own decision. People register their vows, and sign their pledges, and determine to go through, but none of this is salvation. Salvation means that we are brought to the place where we are able to receive something from God on the authority of Jesus Christ, viz., remission of sins.

Then there follows the second mighty work of grace - "an inheritance among them which are sanctified." In sanctification the regenerated soul deliberately gives up his right to himself to Jesus Christ, and identifies himself entirely with God's interest in other men.

Acts 26:18

Waiting

Yet I am confident I will see the Lord’s goodness while I am here in the land of the living. Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord. Psalm 27:13-14