Friday, April 28, 2006

Relentlessness and Tenderness

"The Lion who will kill all that separates us from him; the Lamb who was killed to mend that separation -- both are symbols and synonyms for Jesus. Relentlessness and tenderness; indivisible aspects of the Divine Reality."


Brennan Manning, Reflections for Ragamuffins, p. 118.

The Weapon of Prayer

Elizabeth Elliot Devotional

News came one day which indicated that a matter I
had been praying about had deteriorated rather
than improved. "What good are my prayers,
anyway?" I was tempted to ask. "Why bother? It's
becoming a mere charade." But the words of Jesus
occurred in my Bible reading that very morning
(and wasn't it a good thing I'd taken time to
hear Him?): "If you, bad as you are, know how to
give your children what is good for them, how
much more will your heavenly Father give good
things to those who ask him?" (Matthew 7:11,
NEB).

Are you as often tempted as I am to doubt the
effectiveness of prayer? But Jesus prayed. He
told us to pray. We can be sure that the answer
will come, and it will be good. If it is not
exactly what we expected, chances are we were not
asking for quite the right thing. Our heavenly
Father hears the prayer, but wants to give us
bread rather than stones.

Prayer is a weapon. Paul speaks of the "weapons
we wield" in 2 Corinthians 10:4-5. They are "not
merely human, but divinely potent to demolish
strongholds" (NEB). The source of my doubts about
its potency that morning was certainly not the
Holy Spirit. It was the unholy spirit, the
Destroyer himself, urging me to quit using the
weapon he fears so intensely.

Fear

Transcript, The Christian Working Woman

Friday, April 28, 2006

Why is it important for us to deal with these pockets of fear? Because any area of fear is an area where we are not trusting God, and without faith it is impossible to please God. So, when I have a pocket of fear, I know that God is very displeased since it shows I don't have faith in that area.

You'll remember that Abraham, that great man of faith, had a pocket of fear when he was in Egypt with his beautiful wife. He feared the Egyptian men would kill him in order to have his wife, so he asked her to lie for him. That led to a very disgraceful episode in the life of Abraham. How could such a man of faith have such a pocket of fear?

Well, Abraham found himself in this predicament because he was not totally obedient. God never intended for him to go to Egypt ; that was Abraham's idea to avoid a famine. Again, Abraham couldn't trust God to feed them in a famine, so he came up with his own plan and did it his way–by going to Egypt . One fear led to another, and that caused Abraham to sin. Disobedience will get us into these places of fear, and fear will cause us to disobey.

John wrote that "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear... The one who fears is not made perfect in love" (I John 4:18 ). So, that pocket of fear reveals an area where our love of the Lord is not perfect. Perfect love is synonymous with perfect trust. I can't say I love Jesus with all my heart, soul and mind if I have a pocket of fear. I may love Jesus a lot, but the pocket of fear reveals an area where my love for him is not strong enough, and therefore my faith is weak.

Back to Jesus–loving Him supremely, making Him Lord in every area of our lives, focusing our thoughts on Him, spending time in His presence, knowing His Word better and better. This will drive out those pockets of fear. When we dwell in any pocket of fear, we tend to spend less and less time with Jesus, less and less time in His word, and more and more time focused on ourselves. That just makes the fear worse, and destroys our faith even further.

What is your pocket of fear today? Will you bring it out in the open, confess it, find scripture to counteract it, and then focus on loving Jesus more perfectly in that area? If so, that fear will have to go, and you'll be free from the control it has over you know. Truth sets you free, and Jesus is Truth. I urge you to pursue His victory over the pockets of fear in your life. You will please Him when you do.

Warmth and Sunlight

His face was like the sun shining in full strength.
Revelation 1: 16, RSV

"When Moses returned from the mountain of revelation, his face was shining so brightly that the people could not look on it. The Aaronic benediction prays, "The Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you" (Num 6: 25, RSV). In Christ the blessing of God is made personal in the shining face: "His face was like the sun shining in full strength." God in Christ is warmth and sunlight."

Reversed Thunder


Warmth and Sunlight, God's Message for Each Day by Eugene Peterson.

Unreserved, Unqualified, Undaunted

"God wants my unreserved love, my unqualified devotion, my undaunted trust."

Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life, p. 397.


Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.
Job 13: 15, KJV

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Change Agents

You have faith, and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

James 2: 18


"Faith and action are inseparable. Sadly, many Christians today gladly profess their faith yet show little action. They are passively cowering in fear of the world, waiting for the rapture. But we are under orders to storm the gates of hell. We are to be change agents in the world, taking a stand, living by faith, and moving forward for God. Ask Him to enable you to live according to the truth of God's Word."

Neil T. Anderson, Freedom in Christ.

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Compel

"The Apostle Paul wrote that Christ died that we should no longer live for ourselves but for Him (2 Corinthians 5: 15). To live no longer for ourselves but for Him is the essence of discipleship. That phrase sums up all we could include under the headings of disciplines, holiness, and service. But what is it that will motivate us to live not for ourselves for for Him? Paul said it is the love of Christ: "For Christ's love compels us" (2 Corinthians 5: 14).

...

It was not the thought that "I ought to do this or that" or a feeling of guilt for not doing something that motivated Paul. Rather it was his overwhelming sense of Christ's love for him that spurred him on."

The Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges.


----------------

14Christ's love has moved me to such extremes. His love has the first and last word in everything we do.

Our firm decision is to work from this focused center: One man died for everyone. That puts everyone in the same boat.

15He included everyone in his death so that everyone could also be included in his life, a resurrection life, a far better life than people ever lived on their own.

2 Corinthians 5: 14-15 (The Message)


14For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

2 Corinthians 5: 14-15 (NIV)

God Saves from Sin

"If your sins are blood-red, they'll be snow-white."

Isaiah 1: 18 (The Message)


"I have sinned against the Lord" (2 Sam. 12: 13, RSV) is a sentence full of hope. It's full of hope because it's a sentence full of God.

The Latin phrase felix culpa, usually attributed to Augustine, puts the hope in a slogan: "O happy sin!" Only when I recognize and confess my sin am I in a position to recognize and respond to the God who saves me from my sin. If I'm ignorant of or indifferent to my sin, I'm ignorant of or indifferent to the great and central good news: "Jesus saves!" "

Leap Over a Wall

God Saves from Sin, God's Message for Each Day by Eugene Peterson.

Talk to Yourself

Talk to yourself today. Look at these verses from Lamentations and notice that the writer "called to mind" and "spoke to himself" about the reality of God's nature. Do two things today: Call to Mind and Talk to yourself. The result will be hope.


Lamentations 3: 21-24

Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:

Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.

They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him."



Encourage

"I know of no one more needed, more valuable, more Christ-like, than the person who is committed to encouragement."

Encourage Me, p. 85


We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. ... if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

Romans 12: 6, 8 (NIV)

Justification

Joni's Devotional

“Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.”
-- Romans 5:18

Someone once said that Jesus, when he hung on the cross, bore the weight of the sins of more than 40 billion people in the space of nine hours. We haven’t a clue to that horror; let alone the love. We can only drop to our grateful knees that Jesus justifies. Amazing love! How can it be that “he forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:13b-14).

Your justification happened at the cross. It means God has acquitted you of your sins, vindicated and pronounced you righteous in his eyes. You are as much justified the hour you first came to Christ by faith as you will be for all eternity. It’s a finished and complete work — a special reference to your person, to your position before God. When the Father looks at you, he looks through rose-colored glasses, stained red because of the blood of Christ. Jesus is “our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let him who boasts boast in the Lord’” (I Corinthians 1:30b-31).

Pause today and boast in Jesus. Boast in his love. Boast in his mercy. Boast that he has given you a title to heaven and boldness to enter in. When it comes to your justification, he’s it!

* * * * *

Not the labors of my hands can fulfill Thy law’s demands; could my zeal no respite know, could my tears forever flow, all for sin could not atone; thou must save and Thou alone. You, Christ, are my justification. Thank you.

The Power of Darkness

Elizabeth Elliot Devotional

When the chief priests, temple officers, and
elders came to the Garden of Gethsemane to arrest
Jesus, they succeeded only because a sovereign
God permitted them to succeed. Jesus pointed out
that He was teaching daily in the Temple, yet
they never laid a finger on Him. Now they were
after Him with swords and staves. "But this is
your hour, and the power of darkness is yours"
(Lk 22:53 JBP). Who gave them that hour? Who
allowed them the power to capture Him? It was
God, without whose leave not even a sparrow can
fall to the ground. God is omnipotent, never
slumbering, just, righteous, and forever in
control. He was not taken by surprise. All was
working then, as it is always working, into a
pattern for good.

Our own difficulties often appear to be random.
Our tragedies look wildly uncontrolled. They are
not. They are subject. Limits are set. God is
quietly at work, standing in the shadows,
ceaselessly watching over His children.

"The light shines on in the dark, and the
darkness has never mastered it" (Jn l:5 NEB).

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Your Day

"Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God's grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God's grace."

Jerry Bridges, The Discipline of Grace.

Three Ways

The lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
1 John 2: 16

"There are only three ways Satan can entice you: the lust of the flesh (physical appetite and gratification), the lust of the eyes (self-interest and testing God's Word), and the boastful pride of life (self-exaltation). Satan used all three to deceive Eve, and she failed. But Jesus met Satan's threefold strategy head-on and succeeded triumphantly (Matthew 4: 1-11). In Christ, we have the resources and power to do likewise."

Neil T. Anderson, Freedom in Christ.

Be Honorable

11Dear friends (Beloved), I urge (appeal to, beg, invite, request) you, as aliens (Dispersion related) and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your (whole person) soul. 12Live such good lives (beautiful, good, noble) among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong,

they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

1 Peter 2: 11-12 (NIV)


The goodness and beauty of our lives should silence our critics. Even in the midst of trials, our good works and beauty should be evident.



What is the environment the church faces today?

How important is example and “right living in the Body of Christ?”



The “separated” life of a Christian, a true believer, is one of the most powerful means God has of convicting the world of its sin.



Jimmy Turner

Endless Possibilities

You are Christ's body -- that's who you are! You must never forget this.
1 Corinthians 12: 27, The Message


"Important in any community of faith is an ever-renewed expectation in what God is doing with our brothers and sisters in the faith. ... We refuse to predict our brother's behavior, our sister's growth. Each person in the community is unique; each is specially loved and particularly led by the Spirit of God.

A community of faith flourishes when we view each other with this expectancy, wondering what God will do today in this one, in that one. ... They are new persons each morning, endless in their possibilities."

A Long Obedience


Endless Possibilities, God's Message for Each Day by Eugene Peterson

Pockets of Fear

Transcript, The Christian Working Woman

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

What is your pocket of fear? One thing we know from scripture is that fear is not of God. Second Timothy 1:7 assures us that God does not give us a spirit of fear, so whatever you are I are fearful about, it's not coming from the Lord. Of course, we have an enemy who loves to scare us to death about anything he can, because when we are fearful, it means we're not trusting God.

Remember, we may have great faith in some areas, and still have pockets of fear where we find it difficult to trust God. What is your pocket of fear?

Maybe it's money; it often is. Are you fearful of not having enough, of losing your job, of losing your house, of going bankrupt, of not being able to afford what you need or want? Frankly, this often is a pocket of fear for me. I am responsible for this ministry, and we depend on financial support from our listeners. Sometimes I find myself thinking: "What if enough money doesn’t come in? How will you pay your staff? You could lose your house, all your assets, and everything you own–you could go through all that in no time flat. What in the world will you do then?" That's a pocket of fear for me.

Here's what I've learned to do with this pocket of fear, when it starts to possess me. I say, "Okay, imagine the worst–no money, have to shut down the ministry, no income, no house, no savings. Will God desert you then? Do you not believe He can and will take care of you even if you experience total financial loss?" Then I make myself–and note that it is usually an act of my will, not my emotions–I make myself claim a promise from the Bible.

Some good ones to use for this pocket of fear are:

"Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear... Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet you heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" (Matthew 6:25-26)

"And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19

By exposing that pocket of fear to the light, by bringing it out in the open and forcing ourselves to face the fear, it loses its teeth. It can't bite us any longer, because we've accepted that the worst may and could happen, and if it does, God's Word is still steadfast and He will deliver us.

A good first principle in dealing with pockets of fear is to bring them out in the open and talk to God about them. Then find a verse of scripture to counteract that pocket of fear.



Monday, April 24, 2006

Who Is A God Like You

Amazing God!

------------------------------------------

18 Who is a God like you,
who pardons sin and forgives the transgression
of the remnant of his inheritance?
You do not stay angry forever
but delight to show mercy.

19 You will again have compassion on us;
you will tread our sins underfoot
and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.

Micah 7

-------------------------------------

Reminds me of a fragment of the Indescribable (by Chris Tomlin) lyrics:

You see the depths of my heart and You love me the same
You are amazing God

Too Hard?

Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: "I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?

Jeremiah 32: 26-27

A Smooth Path

Elizabeth Elliott Transcript

The work of heavy highway equipment is to smooth
the way for travelers by exalting valleys, making
low the mountains and hills, straightening the
crooked. Obstacles--trees, rocks, houses, even
mountains themselves--are put out of the way.
This is what the Lord can do for his travelers
(it is promised by the prophet Isaiah), but He
does it without fuss, and in response to the one
who simply thinks of Him: "Think of Him in all
your ways, and He will smooth your path" (Prv.
3:6 NEB).

The mind can build barriers, produce huge
obstacles, collide with boulders of
impossibility. Strangely and wonderfully, when we
turn our thoughts to Him with whom nothing is an
impossibility (and to turn thoughts takes an act
of will), He smoothes the path for us. We find it
possible, maybe even easy, to move forward.

Don't waste time, energy, perhaps sleep-time,
thinking of all those rocks in the way. Think of
Him. Think of Him! You may find your path
suddenly smoothed.

We Live in Hope

I have it all planned out--plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.
Jeremiah 29: 11 (The Message)


"Hope acts on the conviction that God will complete the work he has begun even when the appearances, especially when the appearances, oppose it.

Every person we meet must be drawn into that expectation. Every situation in which we find ourselves must be included in the kingdom that we are convinced God is bringing into being. Hope is buying into what we believe. ...

It is, of course, far easier to lanquish in despair than to live in hope, for when we live in despair we don't have to do anything or risk anything. If we live in hope, we go against the stream."

Run with the Horses


We Live in Hope, God's Message for Each Day by Eugene Peterson.

Levels

I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him. ... I have written to you, young men, because ... the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
1 John 2: 14

"John describes three levels of Christian growth: "Little children" (1 John 2: 12) describes believers who, through the cross, have overcome the penalty of sin but aren't mature. "Young men" have overcome the evil one; that is, they have overcome the power of sin. And "fathers" have a deep personal knowledge of God."

Neil T. Anderson, Freedom in Christ.

What's the Difference?

From Aaron's sermon yesterday:

The manger (Jo 1: 14 "The Word became flesh ..")

The cross (2 Cor 5: 21 " .. so that we might become the righteousness of God")

The empty tomb (Jo 14: 6 "I am the way ..")

Friday, April 21, 2006

Empty Jars

Dr. David Reid, Talks for Growing Christians, on 2 Kings 4: 1-7

--
2 Kings 4 (NIV)

3 Elisha said, "Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don't ask for just a few. 4 Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side."

5 She left him and afterward shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. 6 When all the jars were full, she said to her son, "Bring me another one."
But he replied, "There is not a jar left." Then the oil stopped flowing.

---

Practical application:


"You must be emptied before you can be filled."


Challenge:

"How empty is your vessel? Review your life, even for a day (longer, if you are really into this), and try to be objective -- list things you did that were self-centered. Review again, and list things that were God- centered. Again, how empty is your vessel? Let God fill it."

Emptied and Filled

Christ Jesus ... emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.

Philippians 2: 5-7, NRSV


"St. Paul's description of Jesus, "emptied himself," is often cited as the center point in the work of Incarnation, the making of our salvation.

Emptying is prelude to filling. The Son of God empties himself of prerogative, of divine rights, of status and reputation, on order to be the one whom God uses to fill up creation and creatures with the glory of salvation. A bucket, no matter what wonderful things it contains, is of no use for the next task until it is emptied."

The Contemplative Pastor

Emptied and Filled, God's Message for Each Day by Eugene Peterson.

What Shall I Do?

Elizabeth Elliott Devotional

It is not always possible to know whether the
source of an idea or deed is God or Satan, since
God sometimes covers Himself in cloud and Satan
is often an angel of light. It is, however,
always possible to trust the Shepherd who has
promised to lead us in paths of righteousness. We
must do the thing that appears to be right to do
at the right time and do it by faith. That is, we
do it with an honest desire to obey God and a
willingness to have what He wills us to have, or
not to have what He does not will us to have. If
it were not for uncertainties, we would have no
need to walk by faith.

Show me the way that I must take;
to Thee I offer all my heart.
Teach me to do thy will for thou art my God.
Keep me safe, O Lord, for the honor of thy name.

--(Ps 143:8,10,11 NEB)

Led by the Spirit of God

If by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.


"During the years you lived independent of God, your worldly experiences programmed your brain with thought patterns, responses and habits that are alien to God. So even though the old self is gone, your flesh -- your preprogrammed propensity for sin -- remains. But now, as a child of God who declares total dependence on God, you are free to put to death those fleshly deeds and obey Christ."

Neil T. Anderson, Freedom in Christ.

Thursday, April 20, 2006

The Life God Blesses

David Jeremiah identifies 6 characteristics of the life God blesses based on Acts 9: 32-43.

A life marked by ministry (v. 32-33)

"But after decades of reading the Bible and biographies of people who accomplish great things for God, it seems God uses busy people." [p. 116]

32Peter went off on a mission to visit all the churches. In the course of his travels he arrived in Lydda and met with the believers there. 33He came across a man--his name was Aeneas--who had been in bed eight years paralyzed.

A life marked by humility (v. 34-35)

"Beginning at Pentecost until his death in Rome, Peter was simply an instrument of Jesus Christ. And that is another characteristic of the people God uses -- people who humbly serve the Lord to bring glory to Him."

34Peter said, "Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and make your bed!" And he did it--jumped right out of bed. 35Everybody who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him walking around and woke up to the fact that God was alive and active among them.

A life marked by availability (v. 36-39)

"Because Peter had taken the opportunity to minister to Aeneas in Lydda, he was called to minister to a woman named Dorcas in Joppa. ... You do what God sets before you and soon find yourself called here and there to do additional work. ... Be available, like Peter, to travel ten miles from Lydda to Joppa when the Lord calls."

36Down the road a way in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha, "Gazelle" in our language. She was well-known for doing good and helping out. 37During the time Peter was in the area she became sick and died. Her friends prepared her body for burial and put her in a cool room. 38Some of the disciples had heard that Peter was visiting in nearby Lydda and sent two men to ask if he would be so kind as to come over. 39Peter got right up and went with them. They took him into the room where Tabitha's body was laid out. Her old friends, most of them widows, were in the room mourning. They showed Peter pieces of clothing the Gazelle had made while she was with them.

A life marked by dependency (v. 40-41)

"If we don't live in dependency on the Lord, nothing is going to happen in the long run in our lives. If you want God's blessing, you have to be dependent on Him."

40Peter put the widows all out of the room. He knelt and prayed. Then he spoke directly to the body: "Tabitha, get up."

She opened her eyes. When she saw

Peter, she sat up. 41He took her hand and helped her up. Then he called in the believers and widows, and presented her to them alive.

A life marked by productivity (v. 42)

"Everywhere Peter went he left a trail of good fruit born for the Lord. .. the gifts we do have should be used in just as productive a manner as Peter used his."

42When this became known all over Joppa, many put their trust in the Master.

A life marked by flexibility (v. 43)

"Yet Peter was willing to break that social barrier and stay in the home of Simon the tanner while he was in Joppa. Peter knew that the person God blesses is not a person of prejudice."

43Peter stayed on a long time in Joppa as a guest of Simon the Tanner.


The Life God Blesses, The Church in Action - Volume 2, David Jeremiah

We Take God Seriously

If GOD doesn't guard the city,

the night watchman might as well nap.

Psalm 127: 1, The Message



"The main difference between Christians and others is that we take God seriously and they do not.

We really do believe that he is the central reality of all existence.

We really do pay attention to what he is and what he does.

We really do order our lives in response to that reality and not to some other."



A Long Obedience


We Take God Seriously, God's Message for Each Day by Eugene Peterson.

Our Shepherd

Elizabeth Elliott

Bishop Leslie Newbigin, in his South India Diary,
tells of the union of churches which took place
in South India in 1947. It was the culmination of
nearly fifty years of prayer and work on the part
of Indians and missionaries. At the second synod
a memorable sentence was spoken: "The demand to
know where we are going is one which no Christian
has a right to make." The bishop writes, "In a
very real sense we do not know where we are
going, but we are trying to meet day by day the
plain requirements of God's will. This means a
constant effort to bring every part of church
life and practice to the test of conformity with
the Gospel."

It is not for the flock of sheep to know the
pasture the Shepherd has in mind. It is for them
simply to follow Him. If they knew that his plans
included a valley of deep shadow, they would
panic. Keeping close to the one they have learned
to trust is all that is necessary. He will
faithfully provide rest, refreshment, correction,
and protection as the needs arise. His
accompanying presence is guaranteed, all the
way--even through the darkest shadows--to the
house of the Lord.

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Concern with Truth

"Our concern with truth is an inevitable expression of our concern with God. If God exists, then he is the measure of all things, and what he thinks about all things is the measure of what we should think. Not to care about truth is not to care about God."

John Piper, A Godward Life, p. 106.

Prayer

I like this prayer. A phrase that has remained in my mind for many years is "may our religion be filled with gladness and may our worship of Thee be natural." It's called the Cadet Prayer.


O God, our Father, Thou Searcher of human hearts, help us to draw near to Thee in sincerity and truth. May our religion be filled with gladness and may our worship of Thee be natural.
Strengthen and increase our admiration for honest dealing and clean thinking, and suffer not our hatred of hypocrisy and pretence ever to diminish. Encourage us in our endeavor to live above the common level of life. Make us to choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong, and never to be content with a half truth when the whole truth can be won. Endow us with courage that is born of loyalty to all that is noble and worthy, that scorns to compromise with vice and injustice and knows no fear when truth and right are in jeopardy. Guard us against flippancy and irreverence in the sacred things of life. Grant us new ties of friendship and new opportunities of service. Kindle our hearts in fellowship with those of a cheerful countenance, and soften our hearts with sympathy for those who sorrow and suffer. Help us to maintain the honor of the Corps untarnished and unsullied and to show forth in our lives the ideals of West Point in doing our duty to Thee and to our Country. All of which we ask in the name of the Great Friend and Master of all. - Amen

No Evidence of Progress

Elizabeth Elliott Devotional

At times nothing seems to be happening. So it
must be for the bird that sits on her nest.
Things are apparently at a standstill. But the
bird sits quietly, knowing that in the stillness
something vital is going on, and in the proper
time it will be shown. It takes faith and
patience for the bird, and such faith and
patience never seem to waver, day after day,
night after night, as she bides the appointed
time.

Restless and doubtful we wonder why we have
nothing to show for our efforts, no visible
evidence of progress. Let us remember the perfect
egg--unchanged in its appearance from the day it
is laid. But while the bird waits faithfully,
doing the only thing she is required to do
throughout those silent weeks, important things
are taking place.

I wait for the Lord. My soul waits,
and in His word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord more
than watchmen for the morning.
--(Ps 130:5, 6 RSV)

The Object of Our Faith

Let them know that you, whose name is the LORD—
that you alone are the Most High over all the earth.

Psalm 83: 18, NIV


"The New Age movement attracts people who are disillusioned with organized religion and Western rationalism. They desire spiritual reality but don't want to give up materialism, deal with moral problems, or come under authority. But New Age faith has no object, and it depends entirely on self. In contrast, we look to God alone for all that we are and do; He is the object of our faith and life today."

Neil T. Anderson, Freedom in Christ.


Don't Be Impatient

"The periods of seclusion Saul went through in his life got increasingly long. First, he was secluded for three days in Damascus after his conversion. Then, he went to Arabia for three years, cut off from the life of the church. And then he spent what appears to be a seven-year period (the Bible does not say exactly) in Tarsus before being summoned by Barnabas to come to Antioch (Acts 11: 25).

We often think that the apostle Paul was converted on the Damascus road and started writing epistles and planting churches the next day. But it didn't work that way. God had to set Paul apart three times to give him the knowledge and wisdom he needed to be an apostle. Don't be impatient. Let God do the deep work in your life that is needed in order for you to be a useful tool in His hand."

p. 110, Aftershocks of Conversion, The Church in Action (Volume 2) by David Jeremiah.

His Will

God wants us to know and do His will; therefore, He is actively engaged in the process of revealing it.
Stress Fractures, p. 231.

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 12: 2, NIV

Prayerful Agents

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Matthew 6: 33, NKJV


"In honor of His own Son whose death made possible the full invasion of divine power into the impossibilities of earth, God will do nothing apart from the prayers of the people His Son redeemed. The power is His; the privilege is ours.

We who are in Christ have no reason to fear or surrender to hell's program. We have been redeemed to be prayerful agents of God's blessings, authority, and power on earth; to pray for the earthly manifestation of His heavenly righteousness and will.

That will happen when we seek God's kingdom first."

Like Dew Your Youth


Prayerful Agents, God's Message for Each Day by Eugene Peterson.


Tuesday, April 18, 2006

High Stakes

Joni's Devotional for Today

When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise. The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked is of little value.”— Proverbs 10:19-20To the apostle Paul, it must have seemed as though his life was spinning out of control at times. How could he avoid shipwrecks? He had no control over the phony apostles who were jealous of him and slandered his reputation. He never asked to be dumped over the city wall in a basket. He couldn’t help it when that demon-possessed girl followed him around Philippi shouting obscenities.

Yet for all his lack of control over his wild and crazy circumstances, there was one thing Paul could control. His attitude. He realized his response could either greatly advance Christ's gospel or seriously set it back. In other words, there was much more at stake than simply Paul's life. Other lives would be influenced by his godly response to trials. The reputation of the gospel was on the line. Angels were watching. God was taking notice.

Now, I'm not in prison like Paul. There are no chains biting into my ankles. But I do have a wheelchair and, like Paul, I can't claim direct responsibility for this particular circumstance. But I am responsible. I will be held accountable for my attitude.

You may not be responsible for that irritating phone call from your neighbor or that your wife can't balance the checkbook — but you are responsible for your response, and you will be held accountable by God for the choices you make. There's much more at stake here than simply your comfort zones. Others can be influenced to make eternal decisions. Angels are observing. So is God. Sometimes we demonstrate better responsibility for our attitude when we enlist the help of others. Ask a trusted friend to hold you accountable, to help you make the right choices. Ask your friend to nail you when he or she observes you handling a certain tough time with a complaining or grumbling spirit.

Feel uneasy with the idea? If so, remember this — Someone far greater than your friend is watching.

* * * * *
Before a word comes off my tongue, may I first check it out with you, Lord.

The Monday After Easter

Long but good.

The Monday After Easter

"If God were real, he'd make himself known. He'd come here and tell us. He'd come here and show us. He'd show us that he cared!"

by David W. Henderson


This past Monday morning, the day after Easter, I went to lunch in the company lunchroom with my boss, Tom Anderson. After we got through the line with our trays and sat down, I asked him how his weekend went.

"It was all right. The usual Easter weekend: going to church, brunch with the family, you know. How was yours?"

"Mine was great! I finally persuaded my family to let me stay home from church on Easter. So while they went to church I grabbed my clubs and headed out for eighteen holes at the club!"
Tom grinned and then was silent for a moment. He turned to me with a different, more serious look on his face. "What do you think about all this Easter business?" he asked.
"Doesn't make much sense to me," I said. "You get all dressed up and go sit on a hard bench for an hour and then go home. I sure don't see any point to it."

"No, I'm not talking about going to church on Easter. I mean Christ and the Resurrection and all that. What do you think about that?"

"It's a bunch of garbage as far as I'm concerned. But, why do you ask?"
"Aw, I don't know. I've just been thinking about it the past few days. There was an article in the paper on Saturday about the Resurrection. Maybe you saw it. Two guys were debating whether it really could have happened. Well, that got me thinking about it. And then some of the things the preacher said yesterday got me going too. I guess I'm just trying to figure out what really happened. I mean, I'm with you; there's no way anybody can rise from the dead. But something must have happened to get the apostles so excited. Did you ever hear of a book called Passover Plot?" he asked.

"Yeah. I read it when I was in college."

"I read it too, but it's been awhile," he went on. "Interesting book. What was the theory that guy had? Wasn't it something about Christ collaborating with some secret disciples in Jerusalem and prearranging everything so it would look like he was fulfilling all those prophecies?"
I chuckled. "Yeah, and he had Himself drugged on the cross and taken down while he was still alive so he could appear to his disciples later and make it look like he rose from the dead."
"Seems a little farfetched, but it's an interesting theory," he said.

Just then a man came up, holding his lunch tray. "Mind if I join you?" he asked. I looked at him for a second and then told him it was all right. This guy was about as out of place as he could be, standing there covered with dirt and grease. This was the section where management sat. He must have been new, one of the guys who worked out in the shop. God only knows why he didn't go sit in the corner with the rest of his buddies from the floor.

He was a short, skinny kind of guy, with long, stringy hair and a scraggly beard, and he was dressed in a dirty old shirt and jeans. I noticed as he leaned over to put his tray on the table that his fingers were all nicked and cut.

Tom and I glanced at each other, and then Tom said, "Well, we can finish that conversation some other time. Say, what's the status on the Dataplus system? Have you finished a mock-up of that brochure yet?"

Before I had a chance to answer, the man who'd come and sat down with us said, "I'm sorry to have interrupted your conversation. Please continue. What were you talking about before I sat down?"

"Nothing, really," said Tom. "It can wait."

But the man gently persisted. "No, please, go on. When I was standing in the lunch line I saw the two of you talking about something with a great deal of energy. I would very much like to know what you were talking about."

I sighed, looked over at Tom, and then reluctantly answered. "Well, to be honest, we were talking about the, uh, Resurrection. But we were just about finished. Big worthless hoax anyway, as far as I'm concerned."

"You don't believe it happened? How interesting . . . " he said.

The last thing I wanted to do was get into a conversation with this guy. But almost against my will I found myself saying, "What do you mean? You don't mean to say that you believe it happened, do you?"

"Certainly it happened. There's no question about it. I find it fascinating that, in spite of the incredible weight of evidence in support of it, somebody can completely write it off."

This guy was really starting to bug me. I couldn't believe how naive he was. "What are you talking about? What makes you so sure it happened? There's no way you can prove it."
"Not if you've already made up your mind that it can't be true. But for the person who is willing to let the evidence determine whether Jesus really rose from the dead, the evidence is overwhelming."

"You don't know what you're talking about. It's all a bunch of medieval legend."
He looked at me for a long moment and then reached into his tattered shirt pocket and pulled out a small Bible. Gently, he said, "Did you know that the Old Testament, from beginning to end, predicted the coming of Jesus—His birth, His ministry, His death, and even His resurrection?" And then, starting with Genesis, he went through the Bible and showed me passages that talked about Christ. Exodus, Deuteronomy, the Psalms—we looked at them all.

He finished by turning to a chapter in Isaiah, which he said predicted the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus seven hundred years before it happened: "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering . . .. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed . . .. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence . . .. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied."

And then, he looked at me with those gentle eyes of his.

Tom got up, grabbed his tray, and said, "I think it's time we got back to work. Don't you, Cleo? I'll be waiting upstairs to talk with you about the Dataplus project." And he left.

But I wasn't ready to leave. I wasn't about to let some religious fanatic come in and ruin my lunch like this. "Those verses don't mean a thing to me," I said. "A little planning ahead, a little coincidence, a little glossing of the text, and it comes out looking like a miracle. Well, I sure don't call that ‘overwhelming evidence'!"

The dirty shophand across from me silently flipped ahead in his Bible to the New Testament. "Now wait a minute," I said. "You aren't going to try to use the New Testament for evidence, are you? Everybody knows that the New Testament wasn't written until a couple hundred years after Jesus died. And by then, there wasn't anybody who could deny all the lies. There isn't a scrap of accurate information in there."

Still looking at the pages, the man quietly said, "Cleo, we have better evidence for the life of Jesus than we do for the life of Napoleon. The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, as well as most of the rest of the books in the New Testament, were all written within about forty years of Jesus' death. That's just one generation. That means that when the gospels were written there were hundreds of eyewitnesses to the events who were still living. They could easily deny—or confirm—the facts that were recorded there. We can trust what we have in the New Testament to be true. These things are true, Cleo. These things are true."

"Listen," I said, "people will believe anything they want to. Those disciples had just seen all their hopes and dreams nailed to a cross. They were in no condition to deal with reality in an objective way. They would have done or said anything to keep on hoping, even if that meant believing a lie."

The man looked me straight in the eye and said, "Cleo, do you know what happened to the twelve disciples after this?"

"Yeah, they went right on believing the lie, and then they started foisting their beliefs on unsuspecting people like me."

"Cleo, six of the disciples were crucified, another was stoned to death, two were killed by the sword, two more were stabbed to death by arrows or spears, and another was exiled for the rest of his life—all because they believed that Jesus Christ was a man who was also God, and that he had risen from the dead. Would you be willing to be tortured and killed for something you weren't absolutely sure about? Jesus Christ rose from the dead."

I still wasn't buying it. "Look," I said, "the minute your blood stops flowing, your body starts to decompose. In just five minutes without oxygen your brain cells start to degenerate. And within eight hours your body's as stiff as a board. You've got about as much hope of bringing a chair to life as you do a body that's been sitting in a tomb for three days. I tell you, it's impossible. The laws of nature just don't allow it."

"Cleo, you talk about laws of nature like they're fixed and irreversible physical laws. Did it ever occur to you that the laws of nature are simply a way of talking about God's consistent way of involving himself in creation? God can do whatever He wants to. Nothing is impossible for God, Cleo. Nothing."

"You think you've got it all figured out, don't you? All right, if you think you've got all the answers, let me ask you this: What difference does it make? Tell me that. What difference does it make if Jesus rose from the dead or not? What difference does it make if Jesus ever lived? Who cares about an ignorant carpenter who lived two thousand years ago? It sure as heck doesn't make any difference to me."

As gently and as quietly as ever he began to speak. But this time tears filled his eyes. "Cleo, have you ever wondered what God was like? Have you ever wondered what it would be like to see him, to touch him, to know him? Have you ever wondered if he knew you? If he loved you? If he ever cared?"

I had had enough. I bolted to my feet, shoved my finger in his face, and said, "I don't know who you are, and I don't care. I hope I never see you again. But let me tell you something, you religious nutcake. One day when I was a little boy I prayed to your God. I gave Him a chance. I asked Him to make Himself known, to show Himself, to show me that He was real, to say something to me—anything. ‘Just let me know you're there!' And do you know what happened? Do you know what your God did? Nothing. Nothing! Don't you go talking to me about a God who cares. He doesn't! He couldn't care less. If God were real, He'd make Himself known. He'd come here and tell us. He'd come here and show us. He'd show us that He cared!"

I grabbed my tray and glared at him. His head was bowed in his hands. Then he pulled his hands away from his face and looked at me in pain, huge tears in his eyes. And for the last time, I heard that gentle, quiet voice: "He has, Cleo. He has . . .. "

Monday, April 17, 2006

Thinking ...

Remember Jesus Christ ...
2 Timothy 2: 8, NIV

"When I think about the Lord."

How would you complete this sentence?

-----------------------------------------

"How He saved me,
How He raised me,
How He filled me with the Holy Ghost,
How He healed me to the uttermost;
When I think about the Lord;
How He picked me up and turned me
Around,
How He placed my feet,
On solid ground.

It makes me wanna shout,
"Hallelujah, thank you Jesus!
Lord You're worthy of all the glory,
And all the honor and all the praise." "


James Huey, When I Think About the Lord

Instruction of the Lord

Bring [your children] up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Ephesians 6: 4

"Many of Satan's seductive activities are aimed at our children. How can we win such a war? First, we need to teach them to be aware of the influences of New Age, occultism, and Satanism. Second, we need to parent in a way that helps our children grow spiritually strong in Christ. And third, we need to protect our children from spiritual assault through prayer and surrounding them with a godly environment."

Neil T. Anderson, Freedom in Christ.

Invisible Blessings

Elizabeth Elliott

Being very much of the earth--earthy--we always
want tangible, visible things--proofs,
demonstrations, something to latch onto. If we
always had them, of course, faith would be
"struck blind." When Jesus hung on a cross, the
challenge was flung at Him: Come down! He stayed
nailed, not so that spectators would be satisfied
(that miracle, his coming down, would have been a
great crowd-pleaser), but that the world might be
saved.

Many of our prayers are directed toward the quick
and easy solution. Long-suffering is sometimes
the only means by which the greater glory of God
will be served, and this is, for the moment,
invisible. We must persist in faith. God has a
splendid purpose. Believe in order to see it.

"Our troubles are slight and short-lived, and
their outcome an eternal glory which outweighs
them far. Meanwhile our eyes are fixed, not on
the things that are seen, but on the things that
are unseen" (2 Cor 4:17, 18 NEB).

Leave It with God

... Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.
Matthew 5: 48, The Message


"Saul made life difficult for David, but he didn't destroy him. If David had allowed Saul's hate to determine his life, he would have been destroyed. He maybe wouldn't have been killed, but he certainly would have been damned -- reduced, cramped, and constricted by vengeance. When he was being chased down by Saul, he prayed his distress and anger and left it with God, Saul's sufficient judge. Saul's hate, instead of narrowing David and reducing him, in fact provided conditions in which he became large, expansive and generous."

Leap Over a Wall

Leave it With God, God's Message for Each Day by Eugene Peterson.

Easter Sunday

I think we had a wonderful time of glorifying God yesterday and giving honor to Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Andrew preached from 1 John and Romans and painted the picture for us that we are either in darkness or in light -- there is no "gray" area, and he said that "Easter is about being raised with Jesus to walk in newness of life." My key thought to remember: we are slaves to God (righteousness -- see Rom 6:18).

Friday, April 14, 2006

Two Choices

"On a daily basis we're faced with two simple choices. We can either listen to ourselves and our constantly changing feelings about our circumstances, or we can talk to ourselves about the unchanging truth of who God is and what He's accomplished for us at the cross through His Son Jesus."

Living the Cross Centered Life by C. J. Mahaney, p. 38.

Good Friday, or Holy Friday

Friday of Holy Week has been traditionally been called Good Friday or Holy Friday. On this day, the church commemorates Jesus’ arrest (since by Jewish customs of counting days from sundown to sundown it was already Friday), his trial, crucifixion and suffering, death, and burial. Since services on this day are to observe Jesus’ death, and since Eucharist is a celebration, there is traditionally no Communion observed on Good Friday. Also, depending on how the services are conducted on this day, all pictures, statutes, and the cross are covered in mourning black, the chancel and altar coverings are replaced with black, and altar candles are extinguished. They are left this way through Saturday, but are always replaced with white before sunrise on Sunday.

There are a variety of services of worship for Good Friday, all aimed at allowing worshippers to experience some sense of the pain, humiliation, and ending in the journey to the cross. The traditional Catholic service for Good Friday was held in mid-afternoon to correspond to the final words of Jesus from the cross (around 3 PM, Matt 27:46-50). However, modern schedules have led many churches to move the service to the evening to allow more people to participate. Usually, a Good Friday service is a series of Scripture readings, a short homily, and a time of meditation and prayer. One traditional use of Scripture is to base the homily or devotional on the Seven Last Words of Jesus as recorded in the Gospel traditions.

Father, forgive them . . . (Luke 23:34)
This day you will be with me in paradise (Luke 23:43)
Woman, behold your son . . .(John 19:26-27)
My God, my God . . . (Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34)
I thirst. (John 19:28)
It is finished! (John 19:30)
Father into your hands . . . (Luke 23:46)

Some churches use the Stations of the Cross as part of the Good Friday Service. This service uses paintings or banners to represent various scenes from Jesus’ betrayal, arrest, trial, and death, and the worshippers move to the various stations to sing hymns or pray as the story is told . There is a great variety in how this service is conducted, and various traditions use different numbers of stations to tell the story (see The Fourteen Stations of the Cross).

Another common service for Good Friday is Tenebrae (Latin for "shadows" or "darkness"). Sometimes this term is applied generally to all church services on
the last three days of Holy week. More specifically, however, it is used of the Service of Darkness or Service of Shadows, usually held in the evening of
Good Friday. Again, there are varieties of this service, but it is usually characterized by a series of Scripture readings and meditation done in stages while lights and/or candles are gradually extinguished to symbolize the growing darkness not only of Jesus’ death but of hopelessness in the world without God. The service ends in darkness, sometimes with a final candle, the Christ candle, carried out of the sanctuary, symbolizing the death of Jesus. Often the service concludes with
a loud noise symbolizing the closing of Jesus’ tomb (see The Empty Tomb). The worshippers then leave in silence to wait.

Some churches observe communion on Good Friday. However, traditionally Eucharist is not served on Good Friday since it is a celebration of thanksgiving. Good Friday is not a day of celebration but of mourning, both for the death of Jesus and for the sins of the world that his death represents. Yet, although Friday
is a solemn time, it is not without its own joy. For while it is important to place the Resurrection against the darkness of Good Friday, likewise the somberness
of Good Friday should always be seen with the hope of Resurrection Sunday. As the well- known sermon title vividly illustrates: "It’s Friday. But Sunday’s a’comin’!"

Jimmy Turner

The Cross -- the Center

I am going to boast about nothing but the Cross of our Master, Jesus Christ.
Galatians 6: 14, The Message


"The single, overwhelming fact of history is the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. There is no military battle, no geographical exploration, no scientific discovery, no literary creation, no artistic achievement, no moral heroism that compares with it. It is unique, massive, monumental, unprecedented, and unparalleled. The cross of Christ is not a small secret that may or may not get out. The cross of Christ is not a minor incident in the political history of the first century that is a nice illustration of courage. It is the center.

The cross of Christ is the central fact to which all other facts are subordinate."

Traveling Light


The Cross - The Center, God's Message for Each Day, Eugene Peterson.

Sunday Is Coming

On this Good Friday we anticipate Sunday. A tradition that I encountered some years ago that I think is very meaningful is that on Sunday the believers greet each other as one says "He is risen" and another responds "He is risen indeed".

But the truth is that Christ has been raised up ... (verse 20)

12Now, let me ask you something profound yet troubling. If you became believers because you trusted the proclamation that Christ is alive, risen from the dead, how can you let people say that there is no such thing as a resurrection? 13If there's no resurrection, there's no living Christ. 14And face it--if there's no resurrection for Christ, everything we've told you is smoke and mirrors, and everything you've staked your life on is smoke and mirrors. 15Not only that, but we would be guilty of telling a string of barefaced lies about God, all these affidavits we passed on to you verifying that God raised up Christ--sheer fabrications, if there's no resurrection.

16If corpses can't be raised, then Christ wasn't, because he was indeed dead. 17And if Christ wasn't raised, then all you're doing is wandering about in the dark, as lost as ever. 18It's even worse for those who died hoping in Christ and resurrection, because they're already in their graves. 19If all we get out of Christ is a little inspiration for a few short years, we're a pretty sorry lot. 20But the truth is that Christ has been raised up, the first in a long legacy of those who are going to leave the cemeteries.

1 Corinthians 15: 12-20

Outtruth him

You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.
John 8: 32

"You don't have to outshout or outmuscle Satan to be free of his influence. You just have to outtruth him. Truth is the liberating agent. Believe, declare, and act upon the truth of God's Word, and you will thwart Satan's strategy."

Neil T. Anderson, Freedom in Christ.

God Is In Charge

"It helps me if I remember that God is in charge of my day -- not I.
Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life, p. 244.

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord; and he delighteth in his way.
Psalm 37: 23, KJV

Thursday, April 13, 2006

God's Grand Ideas

"I have put my words in your mouth. ... I have set you this day over nations."
Jeremiah 1: 9-10, RSV


"There is an enormous gap between what we think we can do and what God calls us to do. Our ideas of what we can do or want to do are trivial; God ideas for us are grand.

It is not our feelings that determine our level of participation in life, nor our experience that qualifies us for what we will do and be. It is what God decides about us. God does not send us into the dangerous and exacting life of faith because we are qualified; he chooses us in order to qualify us for what he wants us to be and to do."

Run with the Horses


God's Grand Ideas, God's Message for Each Day by Eugene Peterson.

Detours

Elizabeth Elliott

When Pharaoh let the people go, "God did not
guide them by the road towards the Philistines,
though that way was the shortest.... God made
them go round by way of the wilderness towards
the Red Sea" (Ex 13: 17, 18 NEB).

The direct route would save time as well as wear
and tear on the people, but God had something
infinitely more important than economics in
mind--He wanted the people to be able to sing the
song of praise of chapter 15--"The Lord is my
refuge and my defence...my deliverer. He is my
God and I will glorify Him; He is my father's God
and I will exalt Him" (Ex 15:2 NEB). They sang
this song because they had firsthand experience
of God's power and deliverance. Pursued by all
the chariots and horses, cavalry and infantry of
Egypt, they had passed through the Red Sea in
safety and seen the enemy drowned. They would
have missed this glorious lesson if they had
taken the short road.

When we are puzzled by delays and detours, let us
think about the great purpose of life: to glorify
God. The lessons He wants to teach us "in the
wilderness" are priceless means of providing us
with a song we could not otherwise have sung: "In
Thy constant love Thou hast led the people!" (Ex
15:13).

God's Will - Part 4

Transcript, Christian Working Woman

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Are you having some difficulty discovering God's will? Those of us who are born from above have a God-given desire to know and do God's will. But a lot of unbiblical thinking has infiltrated our minds and sometimes we have the wrong idea about what God's will is.

For example, lots of people think God's will is some specific life or set of circumstances or choices that we must discover, and if we don't do it right, we've blown it. In other words, there is one person for me to marry, one school I should attend, one career I should pursue, one place I should live, one ministry I should have, etc. And I've got to find that one set of circumstances. If I miss it, I've blown it for life and missed God's will.

I don't find anything in Scripture which teaches that God's will for my life is one path and only one, and I must make sure I make perfect and flawless decisions at every point so I don't miss God's will. Believing that would be a frightful way to live, because I would fear at every point that I might read the road signs incorrectly or not hear God's voice clearly.

God is far more interested in who we are than where we are or what we do. His will is for me to become more and more like Jesus through close communion and fellowship, through His Word, through obedience and a growing faith. I believe there are other paths I could have taken and still have been in God's will.

He is using me now in this ministry, in writing books, in speaking to groups, as well as my church involvement. I love what I'm doing, but God could and would use me if I lived in another part of the country, never saw a radio studio, never wrote a book. I think I would still have the gifts I have, but they would be used in a different setting.

Furthermore, as I more and more am filled with his Spirit, the desires of my heart will be His desires. So, in a sense, God's will becomes my own desires. I can do what I want to do because I can trust Him to give me good desires, good ambitions, good goals. It's the life of Christ living in me.

But let me tell you, you've got to get in motion if you want to know God's will. I think many times we ask God to give us the road map from here to the end, and we don't want to start until the path is clear. God almost never works that way. It's one step at a time, and I find that God gives me clear understanding of His will when I'm already involved and moving.

What are you doing today that is helping others to know Jesus? What are you involved in that is eternally significant? You won't know God's will for your life sitting on the sidelines. Get involved; God uses people who are already moving.

Maundy Thursday

There are a variety of events that are clustered on this last day before Jesus was arrested that are commemorated in various ways in services of worship. These include the last meal together, which was probably a Passover meal, the institution of Eucharist or Communion, the betrayal by Judas (because of the exchange with Jesus at the meal), and Jesus praying in Gethsemane while the disciples fell asleep. Most liturgies, however, focus on the meal and communion as a way to commemorate this day.

During the last few days, Jesus and His disciples had steadily journeyed from Galilee toward Jerusalem. On the sunlight hillsides of Galilee, Jesus was popular, the crowds were friendly and the future was bright. Even his entry into Jerusalem had been marked by a joyous welcome. But in Jerusalem there was a growing darkness as the crowds began to draw back from the man who spoke of commitment and servanthood. There was an ominous tone in the murmuring of the Sadducees and Pharisees who were threatened by the new future Jesus proclaimed.

Even as Jesus and his disciples came together to share this meal, they already stood in the shadow of the cross. It was later that night, after the meal, as Jesus and His disciples were praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, that Jesus was arrested and taken to the house of Caiaphas the High Priest. On Friday He would die.

There is some difference in the chronology of these events between the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) and John’s account (see Synoptic Problem). In the Synoptics, this last meal was a Passover meal, observing the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt when death "passed over" the Hebrew homes as the tenth plague fell upon the Egyptians. Yet, in John’s account the Passover would not be celebrated until the next day. And while the Synoptics recount the institution of Communion during this final meal, John instead tells us about Jesus’ washing the disciples’ feet as a sign of servanthood.

In any case, this Thursday of Holy Week is remembered as the time Jesus ate a final meal together with the men who had followed him for so long. We do not have to solve these historical questions to remember and celebrate in worship what Jesus did and taught and modeled for us here, what God was doing in Jesus the Christ. And the questions should not shift our attention from the real focus of the story: the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Traditionally in the Christian Church, this day is known as Maundy Thursday. The term Maundy comes from the Latin word mandatum (from which we get our English word mandate), from a verb that means "to give," "to entrust," or "to order." The term is usually translated "commandment," from John's account of this Thursday night. According to the Fourth Gospel, as Jesus and the Disciples were eating their final meal together before Jesus’ arrest, he washed the disciples' feet to illustrate humility and the spirit of servanthood. After they had finished the meal, as they walked into the night toward Gethsemane, Jesus taught his disciples a "new" commandment that was not really new (John 13:34-35):

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, you also ought to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

The colors for Maundy Thursday are usually the colors of Lent, royal purple or red violet. Some traditions, however, use red for Maundy Thursday, the color of the church, in order to identify with the community of disciples that followed Jesus. Along the same line, some use this day to honor the apostles who were commissioned by Jesus to proclaim the Gospel throughout the world.

The sharing of the Eucharist, or sacrament of thanksgiving, on Maundy Thursday is the means by which most Christians observe this day. There is a great variety in exactly how the service is conducted, however. In some churches, it is traditional for the pastor or priest to wash the feet of members of the congregation as part of the service. Increasingly, churches are observing some form of the Passover Seder as a setting for the Eucharist of Maundy Thursday (see Introduction to a Christian Seder and Haggadah for a Christian Seder). Some churches simply have a "pot-luck" dinner together concluded with a short time of singing and communion.

In some church traditions all of the altar coverings and decorations are removed after the Eucharist is served on Maundy Thursday. Since the altar in these traditions symbolize the Christ, the "stripping of the altar" symbolizes the abandonment of Jesus by his disciples and the stripping of Jesus by the soldiers prior to his crucifixion. This, like the darkness often incorporated into a Good Friday service, represents the humiliation of Jesus and the consequences of sin as a preparation for the celebration of new life and hope that is to come on Resurrection Day. Some churches only leave the altar bare until the Good Friday Service, when the normal coverings are replaced with black.

However it is celebrated, the Eucharist of Maundy Thursday is especially tied to the theme of remembering. As Jesus and his disciples followed the instructions
in the Torah to remember God’s acts of deliverance in their history as they shared the Passover meal together, so Jesus calls us to remember the new act of deliverance in our history that unfolds on these last days of Holy week.

Jimmy Turner

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Prayer for You

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.

Ephesians 1:17, NIV

Surprising Victories

It is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Philippians 2: 13, NSRV



"In Jonah's escapist disobedience the sailors in the ship prayed to the Lord and entered into a life of faith (Jon. 1: 16). ... In Jonah's angry disobedience, the Ninevites were all saved (Jon. 3: 10).

God works his purposes through who we actually are, our rash disobedience and our heartless obedience, and generously uses our lives as he finds us to do his work.

He does it in such a way that it is almost impossible for us to take credit for any of it, but also in such a way that somewhere along the way we gasp in surprised pleasure at the victories he accomplishes."

Under the Unpredictable Plant


Surprising Victories, God's Message for Each Day by Eugene Peterson.

God's Will

From Christian Working Woman

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

God's will –do those words strike a note of fear or confusion in you? I'm Mary Whelchel, and it seems many times we struggle with God's will for our lives because we're afraid of it. We fear that what God wants us to do will be too hard, require too much sacrifice, too demanding, not what I want, not what will make me happy!

You remember the story of the rich man who came to Jesus and asked what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus told him to sell everything he had and give it to the poor and he would have treasure in heaven. Then he could follow Jesus.

Now, Jesus didn't tell him this to make him miserable, but because Jesus knew this would bring him fulfillment and peace. He wanted him to have God's best–eternal treasures, instead of settling for the meager riches of earth.

The rich man gave lip service to doing the will of Jesus, but backed out when he learned the price tag. What would people think if he gave everything away? What would his family do? Besides, that was his money and why should he have to give it away in order to follow Jesus? Didn't make sense! So, his answer was no.

He wanted the will of God to fit within his pre-planned agenda. He leaned to his own understanding and decided that keeping his money was the right thing to do. But we read in Mark 10 that he went away sad! He chose not to do God's will, and it caused him great sadness. Had he opted for eternal treasures, he would have been free and happy.

Don't you imagine he spent many days wishing he'd followed Jesus, knowing he'd missed the important things of life? I don't believe he ever enjoyed his money again; it was a burden to him. He chose it because he was afraid to do what Jesus told him to do. But Isaiah 53:6 tells us when we go our own way, we go astray. He chose his own way, went terribly astray and was very sad.

Have you been giving lip service to wanting God's will in your life, but in reality you've been scared to death of allowing Him to call the shots? That fear is totally unfounded and unreasonable, and it's a trick of the enemy to keep you from all the riches that God has for you.

He's the God of all the universe, with all power, knowledge and wisdom; He loves you more than anyone else ever will and wants only the best for you, and He never makes a mistake. If He asks you to do something that looks like it's too hard or requires too much sacrifice, remember the rich man. He kept his riches, but he lived a very sad life.



Interrupted Plans

From Elizabeth Elliott

We like things to go smoothly and as planned.
Very often unexpected things intervene, and our
plans go awry. We think we've got "problems."
There is another level at which everything that
happens is being engineered. "God has no
problems," Corrie ten Boom said, "only plans."
When ours are interrupted, his are not. His plans
are proceeding exactly as scheduled, moving us
always (including those minutes or hours or years
which seem most useless or wasted or unendurable)
"toward the goal of true maturity" (Rom 12:2
JBP). Believe God. Turn the interruptions over to
Him. He is at the controls.

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

The Word

The Alpha and the Omega

What better way to start a day than with the One who is the beginning! Jesus Christ made the world, placed the stars in the heavens, put the planets in motion, formed the sun and created the beauty of every sunset and the glory of every sunrise."I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." — Revelation 1:8 NKJV

Jimmy Turner

Daily Devotions

Daily devotions played an important part in my childhood. Every day before supper,
and before we went to services on Sundays, my grandmother would read the Bible to me,
and my grandfather would pray. We even had devotions before going to pick cotton in the
fields.

Prayer and the Bible became a part of my everyday thoughts and beliefs. I remember such
comfort and peace while reading the Bible. Its teachings became a way of life and helped me
in dealing with my day-to-day problems.

Rosa Parks

Monday, April 10, 2006

Elephant in the Church

From Dallas Willard:

“Nondiscipleship is the elephant in the church. It is not the much discussed moral failures, financial abuses, or the amazing general similarity between Christians and non-Christians. These are only effects of the underlying problem. The fundamental negative reality among Christian believers now is their failure to be constantly learning how to live their lives in The Kingdom Among Us. And it is an accepted reality. The division of Christians into those from whom it is a matter of whole-life devotion to God and those who maintain a consumer, or client, relationship to the church has now been an accepted reality for over fifteen hundred years.”


And then this:

“Consumer Christianity is now normative. The consumer Christian is one who utilizes the grace of God for forgiveness and the services of the church for special occasions, but does not give his or her life and innermost thoughts, feelings, and intentions over to the kingdom of the heavens. Such Christians are not inwardly transformed and not committed to it.”


(From The Divine Conspiracy, pp. 301, 342)

Knowing God's Will

Transcript, Christian Working Woman

Monday, April 10, 2006

One of the areas where we Christians seem to be confused is how we can know God's will for our lives. Let me share with you some of the reasons that I believe we struggle with this.

First, we think God's will is some kind of a mystery; a heavenly game of hide and seek that God is playing with us. But God doesn't send us on a treasure hunt to find His will. He wants us to know it more than we want to know it. Consider Romans 12:2 which says "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will."

It doesn't say, "Then you'll be able to make a good guess and hope you've found what God's will is for you." No, it is clear that we should be able to know the perfect and pleasing will of God–no mystery, no treasure hunt, no confusion.

And in Ephesians 5:17 we read "Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is." Paul is saying that when we don't know God's will, we are foolish or unwise. It's not God's fault; it's our own foolishness.

And Proverbs 3:5 and 6 tells us to "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." Again, we are promised that God will show us His way, not maybe or hopefully or if you know how to read the road signs and decipher His hidden code.

There are many unbiblical ideas about how you'll know what God's will is for your life. Some think it has to be a traumatic or emotional experience, where you are moved in some mystical way. Lots of people talk about putting out their fleeces, based on Gideon's experience as found in Judges 6. They set up a test for God: If this happens or that doesn't happen, then I'll know God has shown me exactly what to do.

Well, if you'll study that story about Gideon, you'll find that when Gideon asked God to do a miracle with the fleece, it was because Gideon hadn't believed what God already had promised him. It was because of his weak faith that Gideon put out a fleece, not because he didn't know what God wanted him to do.

Knowing God's will is not necessarily an emotional experience, a "calling," a light that strikes you or a bush that burns. Oh, true, sometimes God uses unusual ways to talk to us, but those are rare exceptions. Most of the time He reveals His will through His Word to those who are living in obedience and saturating their lives daily with His truth. And always His will for us will be in total agreement with the written Word of God.

Knowing God's will in your life is not difficult. It is an inevitable result if you fulfill the prerequisites.

Friday, April 07, 2006

Love the Lord your God

"God wants our arms around Him. God wants to hear us say, 'I love You, Father. I trust You. Whatever You want to give me I accept. I need You. I cling to You. I adore You.'"

Growing Deep in the Christian Life, p. 116.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

Mark 12: 30 NIV

Thursday, April 06, 2006

Grace and Love

The foundations of the City walls were garnished with every precious gem imaginable: ... The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate a single pearl. ...

Revelation 21: 19, 21 (The Message)


"St. John gives us a vision of heaven, for if we have no vision of heaven, we will almost certainly be leveled to a monochrome existence -- colorless do-gooders who see everything in terms of black and white, whose lives are drab with moral drudgery. But the life of grace and the love of Christ are nothing if not extravagant. ...

The light of heaven is not a blur of a forty-watt bulb, hanging naked in the night. It is colors, light that reveals the specific hue and texture of everything in creation. In the light we are surrounded by and washed in an exuberant Niagara of color."

Reversed Thunder


Grace and Love, God's Message For Every Day by Eugene Peterson.

Salt and Light

Clearly Jesus was using the metaphors of salt and light in a positive sense.
He was telling people to be like salt by living a life that causes others to thirst
for God, that spices up the world, and that retards the moral decay of society.
And just as light exposes and attracts, Jesus was saying, "I want you to live
the kind of life that illuminates my truth for people, that shines my compassion
into dark places of hopelessness and despair, and that draws people toward
me—because I, ultimately, am the light of life."
Lee Stroebel


Avoid Pity Parties

Transcript, Christian Working Woman

Thursday, April 6, 2006

If pity parties are pitiful, and they are, how do we avoid them?

1--Change your attitude about pity parties.
What I would hope is that you will get really fed up with pity parties, as you see how much damage they are doing to you and to everyone around you. Ask God to give you holy anger about pity parties, to see them as He sees them, and to get sick and tired of feeling sorry for yourself.

2--Refuse to think about the bad reports; think only about the good reports!
In Philippians 4:8 we are told to think about things that are of a good report. Usually when we are having a pity party, we are thinking about some bad report. It has helped me greatly to tell myself over and over again, when I'm tempted to feel sorry for myself, "Mary, stop thinking about the bad reports. Think about some good reports."

3--Think about Jesus and all that He endured.
Hebrews 12:2 says "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus..." By a set of your will, stop thinking about poor me, and think about Jesus–fix the eyes of your heart on Him. Think about how He suffered such awful indignity and pain for you, and you will be embarrassed to feel sorry for yourself when you compare your situation to His.

4--Get busy doing something constructive.
Don't just sit there; do something! This is one time you need to get involved in constructive activity that will take your mind off of your hurt feelings and shut down that pity party.

5--If you have something against someone else, either go to them and get it out in the p pen, or put it behind you.
Here's a good suggestion: Write down on a piece of paper exactly what is bothering you, how your feelings have been hurt, and what you would like to say to that person. Then wait two days, and pray for wisdom.

After two days re-read it, and if you still believe you should go to that person, then decide how to tell the truth in love, make sure you're not acting in anger, and go at an appropriate time.

If you're not willing to do that, or it no longer seems that important, tear up that piece of paper and say to the Lord, "I'm putting this behind me; it is in the past and You will take care of it from this point on." The worst thing in the world is to keep brooding about it. Either do something or put it behind you

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Live Freely

Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you. 1 Peter 5: 7 (The Message)


"The personal dimension of the gospel is good news about ourselves. ... No matter how well we manage to provide an appearance of competence and happiness, if we are filled with anxieties and guilt and hopelessness, we cannot make it. ...

God's love and our salvation are completely expressed and fully accomplished in Jesus Christ. That is good news. As we receive him, we live freely and not apprehensively. We live in open praise and not in piggish greed. Our lives are changed from being obsessed with guilt and ridden with fear to being spontaneous and filled with hope. That's good news!"

Traveling Light

Live Freely, God's Message for Every Day by Eugene Peterson.