Prayer Verse: "how good God is"

Our prayer verse for this week is Psalm 34: 8-9 (this morning from The Message)

8 Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see—
how good God is.
Blessed are you who run to him.

9 Worship God if you want the best;
worship opens doors to all his goodness.

Love Him

Pray the promise of Deuteronomy 30:6 this morning:

The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.

Love for God

In Part 1 of a series on Romans 8:32-38 entitled "All Things for Good" John Piper writes about "love for God". In part he says:

"In other words, what I am saying is that love for God is a matter of the heart’s esteem for God before it produces anything else. It is something internal and involves spiritual emotions. It is not, in essence, a deliberated choice or a deed. It is more like a reflex of the heart to the perfections of God revealed especially in Christ. If you equate the deeds of love with the essence of love you will produce hypocrites – people who imitate the deeds and claim to love God when their hearts are far from him. If you equate love for God with love for his gifts, you produce hypocrites – people who are very glad to feel forgiven and declared righteous and delivered from hell and heaven-bound, but have no pleasure in God himself. They don’t love God. They just don’t want to have bad guilt feelings or go to hell."

Shine

Meditate on verse 6 this morning from 2 Cor 4

For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness,"made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

Look at the repetition of "light" and "shine". We have His light in our hearts and by that we know the glory of God. Amazing -- we know the glory of God and we see God's glory in Christ. And then because we have this wonderful light verse 7 reminds us that it is all about God:

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

Entrenched Strongholds

Neil Anderson's Daily in Christ Devotional

March 27

WHEN STRONGHOLDS BECOME ENTRENCHED

No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier (2 Timothy 2:4).

Once your consideration of a temptation has triggered an emotional response leading to a Plan B choice, you will act upon that choice and own that behavior. You may resent your actions or claim that you are not responsible for what you do. But you are responsible for your actions at this stage because you failed to take a tempting thought captive when it first appeared at the threshold of your mind.

People who study human behavior tell us that if you continue to repeat an act for six weeks, you will form a habit. And if you exercise that habit long enough, a stronghold will be established. Once a stronghold of thought and response is entrenched in your mind, choosing to act contrary to that pattern is extremely difficult.

Like environmental stimulation, a stronghold of the mind can be the result of a brief encounter or a prevailing atmosphere. For example, a woman goes into a deep depression every time she hears a siren sound. It turns out that she was raped 20 years earlier while a siren was wailing in the distance. In the weeks and months after the rape, the sound of a siren triggered traumatic memories. Instead of resolving that conflict, she relived the tragedy in her mind, deepening the emotional scars and locking herself into a thought pattern she cannot seem to break. That's a stronghold.

Other strongholds are the result of a prevailing pattern of thinking and responding. Imagine, for instance, a nine-year-old boy whose father is an alcoholic. When the father comes home drunk and belligerent every night, the boy is simply scared stiff of him. He scurries out of sight and hides. As the boy continues in his defensive reaction to his hostile alcoholic father, he forms a pattern of behavior. Ten years later, when he faces any kind of hostile behavior, how do you think he will respond? He will run away. His deeply ingrained pattern of thinking and responding has formed a stronghold in his mind.

Father, don't allow the enemy to deceive me into weak-willed actions that dilute my testimony and effectiveness as a believer.

Copyright © 2006 Freedom in Christ All Rights Reserved Taken from Daily in Christ by Neil T. Anderson and Joanne Anderson

Why Aren't Women Like Men

Christian Working Woman Transcript

Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - Why Aren’t Women Like Men

Men and women were created for different purposes–men for work, women for relationship. This doesn’t mean we have rigid roles from which we can never escape. It just means we often approach life situations quite differently.

Differences in Our Brains

You’ve probably heard of the right brain/left brain theory. From the right side of our brain we are creative, impulsive, emotional. From the left side we are rational, problem solving, logical.

Men are typically very left brained. Women tend to be more right brained, but we have a bridge between the right and left brain that men do not have. In other words, we have more ability to move over to the rational side than men have to move over to the emotional side.

Men are generally more analytical and spatially astute than women. Women, on the other hand, tend to function with a general capacity for both, affording them the ability to integrate emotions with the rational process of analytical thought. Men, in contrast, can disassociate themselves from their feelings and operate out of the left side of the brain. That’s why a man will often say, ″Don’t take it personally,″ and we women wonder how else you can take it!

Women recognize emotional nuances in voice, gesture and facial expression. We’re far more perceptive. Men don’t pick up on non-verbals like women do.

A woman may cry more often because she receives more emotional input, reacts more strongly to it, and expresses it with greater force. Crying women make men very uncomfortable and helpless. They just want to get out of there! Women encourage tears. It’s okay to cry, we tell each other. We almost enjoy crying.

When a woman is crying or upset, a man may ask, ″What do you want me to do?″ He truly doesn’t know what to do. She says, through her tears, ″Nothing.″ So he does nothing. But she didn’t mean nothing. She thought he could read her mind, her face, her body language, her tears. He heard her words–″nothing″–and that’s what he did.

God created us differently for very good reasons. Sin came into the picture to spoil God’s good creation, but we have the power, as sons and daughters of God, to recapture the real harmony and interdependence that God meant when he created men and women. But in order to do that, we do need to understand and accept our differences–and not only accept them, but appreciate them.

Prayer

Our problem is that we assume prayer is something to master the way we master algebra or auto mechanics. That puts us in the "on-top" position, where we are competent and in control. But when praying, we come "underneath," where we calmly and deliberately surrender control and become incompetent... The truth of the matter is, we all come to prayer with a tangled mass of motives altruistic and selfish, merciful and hateful, loving and bitter. Frankly, this side of eternity we will never unravel the good from the bad, the pure from the impure. God is big enough to receive us with all our mixture. That is what grace means, and not only are we saved by it, we live by it as well. And we pray by it.

Richard J. Foster

Why Can't A Woman Be More Like a Man?

Christian Working Woman Transcript

Monday, March 26, 2007 | Why Aren't Women Like Men?

In the musical My Fair Lady, Henry Higgins discovers that understanding Eliza Doolittle is not easy, and in frustration he sings: Why can’t a woman be more like a man? The tongue-in-cheek lyrics make us laugh, as we see once again this universal struggle that men and women have in understanding each other.

While it’s absolutely certain that men and women are designed by God quite differently, it is also true that one design is not better than the other. Both men and women were created in the image of God, and Paul wrote to the Galatians that there is neither male nor female in the Body of Christ, for we are all one in Christ Jesus.

Accepting and understanding the differences in how God has created us is the key to enjoying the differences, appreciating them and dealing with them. Before the fall these difficulties in communicating with and understanding the opposite sex did not exist. But sin corrupted God’s good creation, so we now deal with the effects that sin has had on all our relationships.

The good news is that Jesus came to set us free from the curse of sin, and as those who confess Jesus as Savior, we have a marvelous opportunity to demonstrate how God intended the two genders to complement and benefit each other. And we have the power to do it because of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. But we do have to work at it.

Let’s consider the different purposes for which God created men and women. Men were created for work:

Genesis 2:15~
The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

He was created for a job. From the beginning, Adam’s first experiences were without human companions. Adam focused on his work, on the tasks before him. Ask a man to describe himself, and he is likely to do so in terms of his job and his achievements. Women were created for relationship:

Genesis 2:18~
The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him’

She was created to be a helper suitable for the man. From the beginning, Eve’s first experiences were in human relationship. She was created married, she never went without companionship, and relationships have been the priority for women ever since Eve.

Adam was all about completing tasks and achievements. Eve was all about relating and helping.

This doesn’t mean that women never work or men never relate, but it is an insight into the reason we are different. From the very beginning, we were created for different purposes, but we were created for interdependence, not independence. God created us to need each other. We should celebrate the differences, because they are good.

Sermon

Aaron preached yesterday on Exodus 20:7 -- "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name."

He focused on the word "misuse" in the commandment and told us that means "not using properly" with the application that many claim to believe in God but don't act like it.

Key thought: Knowing we live in a covenant relationship with the creator of the universe should change our behavior.

Prayer Verse

Our prayer verse for this week is Psalm 34: 8-9

Taste and see that the LORD is good;
blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

Fear the LORD, you his saints,
for those who fear him lack nothing.

I like the first part of verse 8 -- "taste and see" -- and when you do you will find that "the Lord is good". To know God is to love Him.

Prayer Verse

Our prayer verse for this week is from Jeremiah 29:13

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

I am thinking this morning about our seeking of God and that God is so good to us that He even gives us a desire to seek Him.

" ... for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose." Philippians 2:12

"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him ... ." John 6:45

Never Stop Learning

To those who are open to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But to those who are not listening, even what they have will be taken away from them.” MARK 4:25

People often talk about “where they received their education.” They usually mean “where they went to school.” Speaking of receiving an education in these terms suggests that an education is complete once graduation has been achieved. It also assumes that while people are in college they are busy being educated, while quite often they have insufficient time to attend classes without interrupting their social life! Peter Drucker, the management expert, said that an educated person is someone who has learned how to learn and never stops learning. Perhaps we should not talk about where we received an education but about how our education is progressing.

This was the thrust of Jesus’ teaching about the lamp, the basket, and the bed (Mark 4:21). When a light “comes” into a room it is not promptly placed under a basket or a bed. The purpose of light is to be seen and to make sight possible. To hide a lamp would be counterproductive. It would not only fail in its objective of lighting the room, but the law of unintended consequences would apply: The lamp would light the house—on fire! Jesus’ next saying is “Everything that is now hidden or secret will eventually be brought to light” (4:22). This suggests that while the objective of bringing light is not to hide it, that is precisely what happened in his ministry! The hidden things will be revealed, but only to those who take the trouble to listen.

There is no problem in ascertaining what Jesus expected people to listen to and what the secret is that would be revealed: “the secret about the Kingdom of God” (4:11). Jesus was telling his disciples that, in his own coming into the world, there had been a great revelation of God’s purposes and his kingdom, but there was still much more to be revealed—the lamp was still under the bucket and the bed. His disciples must constantly be open to new discoveries of his plans and purposes. In other words, they must not stop learning!

Jesus promised, ”To those who are open to my teaching, more understanding will be given” (4:25). In other words, those who listen to what Jesus tells them receive even more insight into God’s eternal purposes. But Jesus also warned, “To those who are not listening, even what they have will be taken away from them.” Those who do not pursue God’s self-revelation find the little they had learned slowly disappears.

God has no intention of leaving the message of the kingdom under a bed. He puts it out in the open where Christian disciples never stop learning. And they never graduate.

Stuart Briscoe

Prayer Verse

Our prayer verse is from Jeremiah 29:13

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

---

To get the context here are the surrounding verses:

10 This is what the LORD says: "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile."

Devoted

Have you ever heard someone described as a devoted father or husband or wife or (you get the idea)? I think of seeing a tombstone with part of the epitaph reading "devoted husband". Devoted means in part that you "concentrate on a particular pursuit."

So in a way I was surprised (but I shouldn't have been) to read that God tells us to be "devoted prayers".


"Devote yourselves to prayer ..." Colossians 4:2a

Faith

Neil Anderson's Daily in Christ Devotional

March 22

THE ONLY LIMIT TO FAITH

Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ (Romans 10:17).

When people struggle with their faith in God, it's not because their faith-object is insufficient. It's because people have unreal expectations of God. They expect Him to operate a certain way or answer prayer a certain way — their way, not His — and when He doesn't comply they say, "Forget You, God." But God doesn't change; He's the perfect faith-object. Faith in God only fails when people hold a faulty understanding of Him.

If you want your faith in God to increase, you must increase your understanding of Him as the object of your faith. If you have little knowledge about God and His Word, you will have little faith. If you have great knowledge of God and His Word, you will have great faith. Faith cannot be pumped up by coaxing yourself, "If only I can believe! If only I can believe!" Any attempt to push yourself beyond what you know about God and his ways is to move from faith to presumption. You choose to believe God according to what you already know to be true from His Word. And the only way to increase your faith is to increase your knowledge of God, your faith-object (Romans 10:17).

"Well," you may say, "that means there's a limit to our faith." Yes, there's a limit. But God isn't controlling it; you are. As the object of your faith, He is infinite. The only limit to your faith is your knowledge and understanding of God, which grows every time you read your Bible, memorize a new Scripture verse, participate in a Bible study, or meditate on a scriptural truth. Can you see the practical, tangible potential for your faith to grow as you endeavor to know God through His Word? It's boundless!

Furthermore, it is important to know that God is under no obligation to us. There is no way you can cleverly word a prayer so that God must act on your behalf. If God declares something to be true, you simply believe Him and live according to what is true. If God didn't say it, no amount of faith in the world will make it so. Believing doesn't make God's Word true; His Word is true, therefore I believe it.

Dear Lord, increase the boundaries of my faith today as I increase my understanding of You through Your Word.

Copyright © 2006 Freedom in Christ All Rights Reserved Taken from Daily in Christ by Neil T. Anderson and Joanne Anderson

"Want To" vs "Ought To"

Excerpt from When the "Want To" and the "Ought To" Don't Match by John Piper

"If your "want to" does not conform to God's "ought to," what can you do to have peace? I see at least five possible strategies.

...

You can seek, by the means of grace, to have God give the "want to" so that when the time comes to do the "ought to," you will "want to." Ultimately, the "want to" is a gift of God. "The mind of the flesh is hostile to God . . . it is not able to submit to the law of God" (Romans 8:7). "The natural man cannot understand the things of the Spirit of God . . . because they are spiritually appraised" (1 Corinthians 2:14). "Perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth" (2 Timothy 2:25).

...

Therefore we must pray for a new heart. We must pray for the "want to" - "Incline my heart to Your testimonies" (Psalm 119:36). He has promised to do it: "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes" (Ezekiel 36:27). This is the new covenant bought by the blood of Jesus (Hebrews 8:8-13; 9:15)."

Choose Grace

Today's Devotional from Joni and Friends

"See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many."
-- Hebrews 12:15

I love it when the gang rolls up its sleeves to help a neighbor. That happened recently when a new family moved into our church community. Friends from the congregation set aside a Saturday, donned their grubbies, and brought brushes, ladders, and paint to spiff up the place. Ken and I arrived early, he with his white painting pants on and me with a bucket of paint on my lap. But as I wheeled through the front door, I realized my wheelchair presented an obstacle to people on ladders and stools.

I had a choice. Was I going to feel sorry for myself because I couldn't take part? Or was I going to listen to Hebrews 12:5 and let no bitterness take root?

Sighing, I grabbed hold of God's grace and tried to figure a way I could participate. I glanced out the living room window and noticed a planter with nothing in it. It looks pretty drab, I thought. I bet my friends would appreciate a couple of geraniums. I drove to a nursery, got one of the clerks to help, and then came back with a bag of soil and a few plants. It wasn't hard to find someone looking for an excuse to escape the paint fumes inside and eager to do some planting. Soon, the red geraniums were potted to welcome the new tenants.

We make little choices for grace every day. Because every day stuff happens. Your friend shows up late for the carpool. The bag boy drops your eggs. A friend forgets to say “thank you” for the gift you gave him. Your neighbor's dog leaves his calling card on your front lawn. How do you respond?

Perhaps today you are pressed up against one of those choices. Take hold of Hebrews 12:15. Choose grace. It's always the better way.

* * * * *

Help me, Father God, to release bitterness. Then enable me to grab onto grace — for my sake and for those around me.

From More Precious Than Silver, April 6, by Joni Eareckson Tada, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1998.

Speak Today

A good plan for today:

"I'm not ashamed to let you know
I want this light in me to show
I'm not ashamed to speak the name of Jesus Christ."

I'm Not Ashamed by Newsboys

What's In Your Hand

The Purple Cellar: What's in Your Hand (Part 2)

And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
(Mark 10:17 ESV)

Have you ever had the responsibility of reviewing resumes for a job opening? If you have, then you understand what it means to find the candidate who looks perfect on paper. You line up all the job requirements with the candidate’s qualifications and… it’s seems to be a perfect fit!

If we had to come up with our own description of the ideal person to come running up to Jesus, the rich young man that we meet in Mark 10 would have that perfect resume. Certainly the disciples perceived him as the ideal candidate. He was enthusiastic, respectful, wealthy, confident, and self-assured. He was a religious leader, and he made a diligent effort to obey the whole law. This was a hard-working, upstanding, moral member of Jewish society, and he came with a perceptive question. “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”

But the confidence with which the young man approaches Jesus is telling. He came to Jesus with his arms outstretched and full of his own accomplishments. It was by underestimating God’s perfection that this young man was able to assert that he had kept the whole law. We commit the same sin of pride by bringing God down to our level, compromising His standards and measuring Him by our performance. We avoid the light of His holiness because it shows our sin. The young man who looked like the perfect candidate didn’t grasp that God’s law searches the heart to reveal what motivates us and cuts in deep to show that even the good things that we do are stained black by sin. Even though he asked “what must I do?” this young man didn’t really think that there was anything that he lacked.

Jesus put His finger on the condition of this young man’s heart: he was confident and comfortable. Money consumed him, so that when the Savior of the world answered his question, he wouldn’t walk away from what he loved to gain eternal life. His heart – and the object of his worship – was exposed.

There’s a lot of this rich young man in us. We are all consumed by something. When God exposes the idolatry of our hearts it is painful, but the pain is sweet because it is an opportunity for mercy. It is only when we see our hearts in the light of God’s law that we cry out to Him. That is when, by God’s grace, we can throw down our empty accomplishments and follow Jesus, weak and empty-handed.

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.
(Phil 3:7-9 ESV).

Posted by Jennifer Redman

The Middle of the Story

I ... join hands with others ... singing God-songs at the top of my lungs, telling God-stories.
Psalm 26:8, The Message

"We enter a world we didn't create. We grow into a life already provided for us. We arrive in a complex of relationships with other wills and destinies that are already in full operation before we are introduced. If we are going to live appropriately, we must be aware that we are living in the middle of a story that was begun and will be concluded by another. And this other is God."

Run with the Horses

God's Message for Each Day by Eugene Peterson

Prayer Verse

Our prayer verse for this week is from Jeremiah 29:13

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.


Did you ever play "hide and seek" as a child? If you did and you were hidden then you didn't want to be found. God wants to be found -- in fact promises that we will find Him -- and He gives us a "finding strategy" -- look with the heart. But the seeking is not a casual seeking, God says "with all your heart". We need to want God. Something I think about often is whether I want God more than I want other things -- even other good things. I want to be serious about this God-walk. I want to pursue God with all my heart because He is the "greatest treasure".

Sunday Evening Devotional

Chris presented the devotional Sunday night and spoke from two passages:

2 Cor 4 : 1-15 Treasures in Jars of Clay

key thought: the message is more beautiful than the messenger (verses 6-7)

key action: our job is to "believe and speak" (v. 13)

1 Samuel 17 David and Goliath

key verse: ".. for the battle is the Lord's .. " (v. 47)

Accusation and Conviction

Neil Anderson's Daily in Christ Devotional

March 20

ACCUSATION AND CONVICTION

The sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation; but the sorrow of the world produces death (2 Corinthians 7:10).

A graphic example of the contrast between accusation and conviction is found in the lives of Judas Iscariot and Simon Peter. Somehow Judas allowed Satan to deceive him into betraying Jesus for 30 pieces of silver (Luke 22:3-5). When Judas realized what he had done, he was so remorseful that he hung himself. Was his suicide the result of Satan's accusation or of God's conviction? It had to be accusation because it drove Judas to kill himself. Accusation leads to death; conviction leads to repentance and life.

Peter also failed Jesus by denying Him. It apparently began with pride as the disciples argued over who was the greatest among them (Luke 22:24-30). Jesus told Peter, "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat" (verse 31). That's right — Jesus allowed Satan to put Peter through the mill because Peter had given the enemy a foothold through pride. But Jesus also looked at Peter and said, "I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers" (verse 32).

Peter vowed to die with Jesus, but Jesus told him that he would deny Him three times (verses 33, 34) which he did. The remorse Peter felt was every bit as painful as that which Judas experienced. But Peter's sorrow was from conviction which led to his eventual repentance and restoration to Christ (John 21:15-17). When your feelings of remorse drive you from God, you are being accused by Satan. Resist it. But when your sorrow draws you to confront Christ and confess your wrong, you are being convicted by the Spirit. Yield to it through repentance.

According to Revelation 12:10, Satan's continuing work is to accuse the brethren. But the good news is that Christ's continuing work is to intercede for us as He did for Peter (Hebrews 7:25). We have a persistent adversary, but we have an even more persistent, eternal advocate who defends us before the Father on the basis of our faith in Him (1 John 2:1).

I rejoice, Lord, that You are constantly defending me against accusation before the Father.

Copyright © 2006 Freedom in Christ All Rights Reserved Taken from Daily in Christ by Neil T. Anderson and Joanne Anderson

Prayer Verse

Our prayer verse for this week is Jeremiah 29:13

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.


---
"When you come looking for me, you'll find me. "Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I'll make sure you won't be disappointed." God's Decree. The Message

If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. New Living Translation

Sermon

Aaron was sick yesterday so we had three men speak on three scriptures:

John 6:35-51 "For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." v. 40

1 Peter 1:3-9 "Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls." v. 8-9

1 John 4:7-12 "Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us."

My summary of these three passages is that it is all about love. Just as the song says:

"We've got CD sets and videos, radio and TV shows
Conferences, retreats and seminars
We've got books and magazines to read on everything from A to Z
And a web to surf from anywhere we are
But I hope with all this information buzzing through our brains
That we will not let our hearts forget the most important thing

Is love, love, love, love, love
It's all about love, love, love, love, love
Everything else comes down to this
Nothing any higher on the list than love
It's all about love"

From Steven Curtis Chapman "All About Love"

The Father's Will

I was thinking about how many people I know who are so talented, so gifted, so intelligent and yet without Jesus. This analogy came to mind: suppose you are driving a car and you understand how the accelerator works, how the a/c works, how the radio/DVD works, how the sun roof works, how to open the trunk, how to lock the doors, how to use the remote to adjust the mirrors, etc. Further suppose you are driving toward a cliff and you have yet to figure out the brakes. In fact, you think they are irrelevant. Then how important will the a/c, radio, sun roof and so forth be?

Jesus said "For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." John 6:40

Pray to have the heart of God for those who don't know Him.

Prayer Verse

Our prayer verse for this week has been from Jude 24-25

To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

This morning I'm thinking about glory. As in He will present us "before his glorious presence" or "to .. God our Savior be glory". Glory ("very great praise, honor or distinction") might be one of the most frequently used descriptors of God in the Bible. I'm not sure because I haven't counted, but I do see many, many references to God's glory. For example:

Now, our God, we give you thanks,
and praise your glorious name. [1 Chronicles 29:13]

Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things;
let this be known to all the world. [Isaiah 12:5]

to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. [Ephesians 1:6]

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


Notice that these verses describe His glorious name, glorious things, glorious grace and glorious riches.

Glory!

Placed Into Christ

Neil Anderson's Daily in Christ Devotional

March 16

PLACED INTO CHRIST

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me (Galatians 2:20).

All unbelievers have an old nature which is characterized by sin. Before you came to Christ you were one of those individuals. You were a sinner because it was your nature to sin. This "natural man" cannot accept or understand the things of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:14).

What happened to the old you at salvation? You died—not the physical you, of course, but that old inner self which was empowered by the old nature you inherited from Adam (Romans 6:2-6; Colossians 3:3). What was the method of execution? Crucifixion with Christ. Paul announced in Galatians 2:20: "I have been crucified with Christ." And in Galatians 6:14, Paul disclaimed any right to boast "except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." At salvation you were placed into Christ, the one who died on the cross for your sin. Being in Christ, your old self died with Him there.

Notice the remarkable difference. In Adam you had an old self; in Christ you have a new self. In Adam you had a sin nature (Ephesians 2:1-3); in Christ you are a partaker of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). In Adam you were in the flesh (Romans 8:8); in Christ you are in the Spirit (Romans 8:9). In Adam you could only walk after the flesh; in Christ you may choose to walk after the Spirit or after the flesh.

Aren't you glad to be a new creature in Christ?

Thank You, Jesus, that You have set me free from my old sin nature and that I can choose to walk after the Spirit today.

Copyright © 2006 Freedom in Christ All Rights Reserved Taken from Daily in Christ by Neil T. Anderson and Joanne Anderson

Forgive

God wants to transform and renew our minds so we can think the thoughts of Christ about the person we are to forgive.

Jesus, when Peter asked You, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times? You responded, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times” (Matthew 18:21-22). In the parable of the unmerciful servant, the only person in the end who was imprisoned and tortured was the one who would not forgive (Matthew 18:33-34). Help me to see the monumental price of unforgiveness. It is so enslaving and torturous. According to Matthew 18:35, You may allow me to suffer the same kind of repercussions if I refuse to forgive from my heart someone who has sinned against me.

Beth Moore

Praying God’s Word

Work Principles: Part 2 | Hard Times

Christian Working Woman Transcript

Friday, March 16, 2007 - Work Principles From King David – Part 2

If I asked you what was King David’s greatest moment for God, you might first think of how he killed Goliath. But I would propose to you that the way David handled his years of running from Saul and living in caves were truly his shining moments, and that brings us to the final principle.

Principle # 10: Hard times offer opportunities for great growth.

For all those years that David had to live like a fugitive, he must have wondered if he would even survive, let alone rise to the throne. It would have been easy enough for David to doubt God’s promise to him then. That ceremony when Samuel anointed him as king—that must have seemed like a dream during those cave years.

I think David’s greatest moments are those times when he had an easy opportunity to kill King Saul, who was trying to kill him, and he refused to do so because he knew it was wrong to touch the Lord’s anointed king, and Saul was still the king. His soldiers urged him to take advantage of his opportunities to kill Saul; they even suggested that God had set it up for him. But David would not violate his conscience and do something that went against his principles. To me, those are David’s greatest moments for God.

It was those cave years that shaped David’s character and built into him a strong commitment to do what was right. It was those cave years that produced some of his most powerful psalms, words that have comforted millions through the ages. It was during those cave years that David learned a lot about leadership and motivation, as his small army of misfits had to be made into a fighting force.

If you are in the midst of some hard times right now, have you asked God what He wants you to learn through these difficult days? Paul wrote to the Galatians: "Have you suffered so much for nothing–if it really was for nothing?" Everybody has hard times, but not everybody learns from them and grows through them. That is our choice–will we become bitter or better?

I pray that your hard times will produce great growth in your life, and you’ll see your ashes turned into beauty.

Prayer Verse

Our prayer verse for this week is Jude 24-25:

To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

As I was meditating on these verses this morning I was thinking about the truth that God is able to present us before Him without fault and with great joy. He is able.

For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God. Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. [2 Corinthians 1: 20-22]

Work Principles: Part 2 | Jealousy

Christian Working Woman Transcript

Thursday, March 15, 2007 - Work Principles From King David – Part 2

Proverbs 27:4 tells us that “Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?” Who indeed? King David learned how difficult it was to stand before jealousy. As we look at principles from the life of King David, this one stands out strong:

Principle #9: Jealousy will ruin you.

Saul’s jealousy of David led to his ruin. And it was unfounded jealousy, irrational jealousy. But it so obsessed him that it led him to acts of insanity and periods of deep depression.

True, David enjoyed some fame after he killed Goliath, as the women sang, "Saul has killed his thousands but David his ten-thousands," but there was no reason for Saul to be worried about this young man. After all, Saul was still the king, and he should have been greatly relieved to have the Goliath problem solved. So why all this jealousy?

Jealousy springs from insecurity and/or discontentment. If you are insecure about yourself, if you don’t have full knowledge and confidence of who you are in Christ, if you are discontented with who you are or where you are or what you are doing, you become an easy target for that green-eyed monster, jealousy. And it is a monster!

Jealousy made Saul miserable, and it will do the same to you. Jealousy caused Saul to act like a spoiled brat, to make a fool of himself, and to behave in a very immature way. And it will do the same to you and me. Jealousy causes people to imagine things that are not true and to obsess over them. It makes people suspicious and causes wrong conclusions to be drawn.

Proverbs 6:34 says, “For jealousy makes a man furious, and he will not spare when he takes revenge.”

Saul brought on his own destruction by his jealousy, which made him so furious that he repeatedly tried to kill David with his own spear, and then launched a campaign with his soldiers to track David down and try to kill him. And eventually it took over his mind and drove him insane.

Who can stand before jealousy? Don’t let one twig of jealousy take root in your own heart. It can drive you crazy! Appreciate how God has created you and ask God to teach you to be content with who you are and where you are.

Designed by God

UpWords, March 15, by Max Lucado

“If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies.”
I Peter 4:11 NKJV

God shaped you according to your purpose. How else can you explain yourself? Your ability to diagnose an engine problem by the noise it makes, to bake a cake without a recipe. You knew the Civil War better than your American history teacher. You know the name of every kid in the orphanage. How do you explain suck quirks of skill?

God. He knew young Israel would need a code, so he gave Moses a love for the law. He knew the doctrine of grace would need a fiery advocate, so he set Paul ablaze. And in your case, he knew what your generation would need and gave it. He designed you. And his design defines your destiny. Remember Peter’s admonition? “If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies.”

1 of 365 devotionals in Grace for the Moment, Volume 2
Originally printed in Cure for the Common Life

Prayer Verse

Our prayer verse for this week is Jude 24-25

To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

In these verses God is recognized for His glory, majesty, power and authority. These verses are also referred to as doxology or praise. Recognition of and understanding of the attributes of God should lead us to worship (which is a reason we need to be in the Word). If not, then we probably don't really see God for who He is. To know God is to worship Him! "Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness." [Psalm 150:2]

Grace Given Me for You

Surely you have heard about the administration of God's grace that was given to me for you ... Ephesians 3:2

Two thoughts about this verse:

1. God's grace is given to us and it includes specific gifts.

I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace given me through the working of his power. Although I am less than the least of all God's people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. [Eph 3:7-9, emphasis added]

But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says:
"When he ascended on high,
he led captives in his train
and gave gifts to men." (What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. [Eph 4: 7-13, emphasis added]

2. The reason you have been given this grace is for others.

Surely you have heard about the administration of God's grace that was given to me for you [Eph 3: 2, emphasis added]

Work Principles: Part 2

Christian Working Woman Transcript

Wednesday, March 14, 2007 - Work Principles From King David – Part 2

Have you ever tried to be the Lone Ranger and do everything on your own, refusing to accept or seek help from others? Sometimes we get the mistaken idea that we have to prove we are able to do it ourselves! Reminds me of children at ages two and three who are discovering their independence, and some of their first sentences are "I can do it myself!"

None of us can do it ourselves. We need the Lord, and we need each other. The Body of Christ is designed to be a support system for believers, where we encourage and help each other as needed. In looking at the life of King David, another principle we learn is

Principle #8: We all need help and encouragement.

Shortly after David is catapulted into fame because he killed Goliath, Jonathan and he become best friends. It was an unlikely friendship, since Jonathan was the son of Saul and by all accounts, should have been considered next in line to the throne. Yet he and David became one in spirit and they made a covenant to be there for each other.

The friendship of David and Jonathan is legendary. What a wonderful gift at just the right moment. David needed a good friend. His brothers weren’t going to fill that role for him; that was obvious in the way they treated him when he faced Goliath. He needed someone he could completely trust; a confidant and counselor.

Even though David was strong and brave and successful, he still needed a friend. We all need friends. God created us to need each other. He intends for us to support each other and be there for each other. Friendships are a gift from God.

Proverbs 27:17 says, “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” Friendships should make us better. Do you have friends who inspire you to do more and be more? Who encourage you and cheer you on? Are you that kind of friend to others?

If you’re trying to be the Lone Ranger, or perhaps shyness or fear keeps you from forming close friendships, I would strongly urge you to pray that God will help you break that pattern and bring one close good friend into your life. Not just anyone, but someone who will spur you on in your faith journey, one who will lift you up not bring you down.

And remember–if we want to have a friend, we must be a friend. We reap what we sow, so if you need a friend, sow friendship in the life of someone else. Give your time and love and help to someone else, and it will come back to you.

No matter how busy we are or how strong we are or how successful we are or how independent we are, we all need help and encouragement, just like David did.

Prayer Verse

Our prayer verse this week from Jude 24-25

To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

These verses are labeled in most Bibles as doxology, which means "an expression of praise to God". I see within this praise at least two parts. One part is what God does for believers. The second part is describing God and His attributes. Both are great reasons to praise God!

-------------
The Message

And now to him who can keep you on your feet, standing tall in his bright presence, fresh and celebrating—to our one God, our only Savior, through Jesus Christ, our Master, be glory, majesty, strength, and rule before all time, and now, and to the end of all time. Yes.

New Living Translation

Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault. All glory to him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are his before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time! Amen.

ESV

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

The Key Ingredient

From The Purple Cellar

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Daily Devotional: The Key Ingredient

I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. —Philippians 4:12

Paul shows us that contentment is something we must learn, just as much in times of prosperity as in times of trouble. Resting contentedly in God during prosperous times is often a challenge because it is during such times that we are most tempted to trust in ourselves or our circumstances rather than in God. But it is just as true that painful seasons of life can threaten to mar our contentment. Certainly for some of us trials and troubles are the times when we tend most to cling to God, but for others of us personal crises and the difficulties of daily life easily steal our peace and joy. Often that’s because trials of one sort or another tempt us to question God's goodness. If we allow our doubts to fester, we’re toying with unbelief. The writer to the Hebrews warned, “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.” (Heb. 3:12). Our unbelief turns us away from God, which, quite naturally, will rob us of comfort and contentment.

God is good and compassionate toward all people and all creatures he has made; however, when things go wrong, God’s true character isn’t always visible to us. That’s where trust comes in. The exercise of our faith means making a choice to believe God is who he says he is in the Bible, even when circumstances make him seem otherwise. Are we experiencing a painful trial or difficulty in our life? If so, we do well to turn away from any temptation to doubt the goodness of God. We can take him at his Word, claim his promises, and pray that he will make us very sure of his fatherly love. Contentment is sure to follow if only we will believe!

Posted by Lydia Brownback

The Wind Blows

Joni and Friends

Today's Devotional

“‘The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.’” — John 3:8

I love the winds of March. The smell of the wind bearing the fragrance of early Spring blossoms. The feel of the wind blustering and straining against the string of a kite. The sound, whispering through the pines, or snapping damp sheets on a line. Jesus must have loved the wind. I can picture him feeling a cool breeze touch his face and then, hearing the murmur of leaves, gesturing toward a nearby tree and commenting, “the wind blows... you hear its sound... you cannot tell where it comes from... So it is with the Spirit.”

Little wonder Jesus likened the wind to the Spirit. Wind moves. So does the Spirit. It — or I should say, he — never stays still. He is always moving and making his presence known. And if this Holy One lives at the center of our lives, we will see, feel, and at times, almost smell and hear the effects. The Spirit is constantly doing something in us. Just as we can see the effects of the wind in the trees (although we cannot see it), others will observe and appreciate the effects of the Spirit in our lives.

It’s absurd to suppose you can have the Spirit of Christ within you and not see, feel, and experience his presence. The Holy Spirit will produce holy living. Paul says in Galatians 5:22 that, “the fruit [or evidence] of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”

Step outside on a breezy March morning and notice that the wind marks its movement by what it touches. In its wake it leaves freshness and cleansing. As you allow the Spirit to touch your life, others will mark his presence and breathe deeply of his fragrance. They will give thanks to God... and thanks to you.

* * * * *

I sense your stirrings in my life, Lord. Move powerfully in me. Blow a fresh breeze through my soul and sweep away anything that displeases you. May I be different for it, and may others see and notice your touch.

From More Precious Than Silver, April 6, by Joni Eareckson Tada, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1998.

Work Principles: Part 2

Christian Working Woman Transcript

Tuesday, March 13, 2007 - Work Principles From King David – Part 2

In the Bible we're frequently told that we should be humble, but humility doesn't seem to be the way to get ahead in the business world. How can a Christian be humble and still be successful? David is a good example of a strong man of God, courageous and brave, and truly humble.

Through his whole life from the time he was anointed to be king, David maintained a truly humble attitude about himself. Yet he was a bold and courageous leader, and he was very successful in the place where God had put him. Here’s the next principle from the life of King David:

Principle #7: Humility and assertiveness are not exclusives!

That simply means that we can be truly humble, as Christians are supposed to be, and still be assertive, still be leaders, still be the kind of people who step up to the plate and face the giants. You see, the world system defines humility as weakness, but true humility is anything but weak.

True humility is recognizing who you are in comparison to who God is, and acknowledging that God is the source of your strength, your gifts and abilities, and your successes. It is a teachable spirit and an attitude of total dependence on God.

When David faced Goliath, he said, You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. . . All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s and he will give all of you into our hands. (1 Samuel. 17:45, 47).

David is assertive, but he fully recognizes his total dependence on God.

God is not looking for namby-pamby people who hang their heads and talk about how inadequate they are. He’s looking for Christians who are not afraid to get into the fight and do the hard things, but who do so solely in God’s strength, at His command, and for His glory.

So, remember this principle from David–Humility and assertiveness are not exclusives–and be ready to stand up against your giants. But never, never do it in your own strength. That is a recipe for disaster. But if you always recognize that the battle is the Lord’s, not yours, then you’re headed for victory in Jesus.

World Prayer

If you need a way to be reminded to pray for others then go to Operation World - Pray Today web page and find a daily prayer list.

Prayer Verse

Our prayer verse for this week is Jude 24-25

To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

We can compare these verses with last week's prayer verses in Jude

But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

In this week's verses it is "him" who is doing the keeping and last week it was "you" who is doing the keeping. So which is it?

I think John Piper had some good insight in writing about this in "Learning to Pray in the Spirit and the Word, Part 1"

"Sometimes you need the end of the story to know the full meaning of the beginning. So look at the famous doxology in verses 24-25. "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy. . ." Now we have our perseverance attributed not to ourselves, but to someone else. Who is this? The next verse makes it crystal clear. Verse 15: ". . . to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen."

So the one who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make sure you arrive in the presence of God blameless and with great joy is "God our Savior through Jesus Christ." So God the Father is the ultimate keeper and he acts "through Jesus Christ" because the death of Jesus is the purchase price and foundation of all grace, including the grace of keeping us – that is, the grace of perseverance.

So back to verse 1. "Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ." The main thing to see here is that it is not we who are keeping in verse 1 or verse 24. It is God the Father through Jesus Christ. God called us, God sets his saving love upon us, and God keeps us. So now we have two truths about our being kept safe for eternal life as Christians – just as we saw last week from Romans 6:22-23. There we saw that sanctification was something we do. Here we see that our perseverance to eternal life is God's doing (we are "kept," verse 1; God is able to keep us, verse 24; and it is our doing – verse 21, keep yourselves in the love of God).

Over and over in the Bible we see this: God's action is decisive; our action is dependent. And both actions are essential. So I urge you again to resist the mindset that cynically says, "If God is the decisive keeper of my soul for eternal life (verses 1, 24), then I don't need to 'keep myself in the love of God'" (verse 20). That would be like saying, since God is the decisive giver of life, then I don't need to breathe.

No. No. Breathing is the means that God uses to sustain life. So the command to breathe is the command to fall in with the purposes and patterns of God to give and sustain life. This is what I mean by the term, "means of grace." "Grace" is the free keeping-work of God to sustain our spiritual life that leads to everlasting joy. The "means of grace" is our "keeping ourselves in the love of God." God's "keeping" inspires and sustains our "keeping." His keeping is decisive and our keeping is dependent on his."

Sermon: The Choice

Aaron spoke yesterday on the Ten Commandments and talked about the choices that we make. Often we are faced with taking short-cuts and easy outs on the path to doing God's will. We rationalize and think that it won't really matter because after all this will get us to what God wants just a little faster and with less pain.

For example, Matthew 4, Jesus' third temptation:

"Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. "All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me."

Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'"

In these verses we see satan offering a short-cut to giving Jesus what He came to do .. reclaim fallen creation. That is the way satan works .. trying to meet a valid need through an invalid way. But if Jesus had accepted the offer He would have broken the relationship with the Father.

So the quote from the sermon I want to remember is: "when we choose instant success over a broken relationship with the Father we get neither."

Plan B

Neil Anderson's Daily in Christ Devotional

March 12

THE SOURCE OF PLAN B

Let not [the doubting] man expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways (James 1:7, 8).

When you continue to vacillate between God's Plan A and your Plan B, your spiritual growth will be stunted, your maturity in Christ will be blocked, and your daily experience as a Christian will be marked by disillusionment, discouragement and defeat. Where do Plan B thoughts come from? There are two primary sources.

First, your flesh still generates humanistic thoughts and ideas. Your flesh is that part of you which was trained to live independently of God before you became a Christian. At that time there was no Plan A in your life; you were separated from God, ignorant of His ways, and determined to succeed and survive by your own abilities.

When you were born again, God gave you a new nature and you became a new person, but nobody pressed the CLEAR button in your brain. You brought with you into your new faith all the old Plan B habits and thought patterns of the flesh. So while your new self desires to live dependently on God and follow Plan A, your flesh persists in suggesting Plan B ways to live independently of God.

Second, there is a person active in the world today who has opposed Plan A in God's human creation since the Garden of Eden. Satan and his demons are relentless in their attempts to establish negative, worldly patterns of thought in your mind which will in turn produce negative, worldly patterns of behavior.

The essence of the battle for the mind is the conflict between Plan A, living God's way by faith, and Plan B, living man's way by following the impulses of the world, the flesh and the devil. You may feel like you are the helpless victim in this battle, being slapped back and forth like a puck in a match between rival hockey teams. But you are anything but helpless. In fact, you are the one who determines the winner in every skirmish between Plan A and Plan B.

Thank You, Lord, that I can live above the world, the flesh and the devil as long as I choose Your plan for my life.

Copyright © 2006 Freedom in Christ All Rights Reserved Taken from Daily in Christ by Neil T. Anderson and Joanne Anderson

Work Principles: Part 2

Christian Working Woman Transcript

Monday, March 12, 2007 - Work Principles From King David – Part 2

Have you ever tried to be like someone else? It never works, does it? Here is principle #6:

Principle #6: Don’t try to be someone else; be who God has created you to be.

When David volunteered to take on Goliath, the giant, Saul reluctantly agreed to let him do it–only because no one else was willing to face this nine-foot killing machine. Then Saul tried to tell David how to do it. "Here," he said, "put on my armor, take my sword." And David tried, but he immediately recognized that he couldn't use Saul's armor. "I cannot go in these," he said to Saul, "because I am not used to them." So, he took them off, found his five smooth stones, got his slingshot in his hand, and faced Goliath.

You know the story: He takes aim at Goliath's head, hits him in the right place, and knocks him out. Then he cuts of Goliath's head with his own sword, and claims victory.

How did David defeat Goliath? By using his own slingshot. That's what he was good at; that's how he had defeated the lion and the bear; that's the gift God had given him and taught him how to use. If he had tried to defeat Goliath in Saul's armor, with a sword, he would never have won, and David was wise to realize that.

If you’ve ever tried to do your job the way someone else does it, you’ve probably had some hard lessons to learn. I remember as a college student trying so hard to change my personality and be like another girl at school who I thought was the ideal Christian girl. Surely God would want me to be like her, I reasoned, and I tried to copy her ways, her smile, her personality. It was a disaster, and it took me many more years to learn that I didn’t have to be like anyone else in order to be who God wants me to be.

Use your own slingshot. It may not be the conventional way to do things; others may tell you it won't work. But if that's how God is leading you, don't be intimidated by what others think. Go with what God has given you.

Notice that David got creative. Everybody else thought that in order to defeat Goliath, a man would have to put on armor and defeat him in a face-to-face sword fight. But David said, "There's other ways to skin a cat." He got "outside the box," as we say, and pushed the envelope, and by faith faced a giant and killed him.

So, if you’ve been trying to kill your giants in someone else’s armor, let me encourage you to use your own slingshot and don’t try to be anyone else.

Wholly Lean on Jesus' Name

One of my favorites:

"My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name."

The Solid Rock by Edward Mote

Membership

From Common Law Church by Suzanne Hadley

"When senior pastor Mark Dever preached his first sermon at CHBC in October of 1994, the church had 130 members — most of them in their 70s and 80s. Today, the church is thriving with nearly 550 members of all ages and 800 in attendance on Sunday mornings.

How did Dever accomplish the envious task of attracting Capitol Hill's young and influential? Not through slick programming or a coffee shop atmosphere. "By God's grace," Dever says, "through the singing of old hymns and the preaching of hour-long expositional sermons, young people started coming. Strangely enough." And don't forget membership.

Visit CHBC's Web site, and you will see a "How to Join" button. Membership is clearly a priority. Reading through the requirements for membership — the confession of conversion, the signing of a doctrinal statement and covenant, an interview with the pastor and elders, a voting in at the members' meeting — one might bristle at the seeming exclusivity. The process seems formal and calculated. Judgmental even.

But spend a few minutes talking with 47-year-old Dever, and his passion for the value of such a process becomes clear. "There are a lot of churches you can go to where your Christianity is still a very private affair," Dever says. "I don't think church is supposed to be like that."

Dever, author of Nine Marks of a Healthy Church and executive director of 9Marks Ministries, believes church membership is a biblical mandate. Without the establishment of a covenant, he points out, how can a church enact the command to break fellowship with an unrepentant sinner?

"We have to realize it's possible for us to deceive ourselves," Dever says. As an example, he cites the circumstances recorded in 1 Corinthians 5, where a man who was in the church was sleeping with his father's wife.

"That guy clearly thought he was a Christian," Dever says. "How is he supposed to know he's not unless the church is part of it?" This provides support for church membership, because, according to the 9Marks Ministries Web site, "Formal exclusion presupposes formal inclusion."

A church's responsibility to its members doesn't end with accountability and discipline, Dever points out. It must also provide an environment that encourages, celebrates, instructs and loves."

Diversion

Excerpt from a posting "Short Attention Span Theatre" on Between Two Worlds

"This discussion reminded me of some wise words on diversion from Douglas Groothuis (Professor of Philosophy at Denver Seminary), writing on Why Truth Matters Most in JETS (September 2004) and taking his cues from Pascal:

In the middle of the seventeenth century in France, Blaise Pascal went to great lengths to expose those diversions that kept people from seeking truth in matters of ultimate significance. His words still ring true. In his day, diversion consisted of things like hunting, games, gambling, and other amusements. The repertoire of diversion was minute compared with what is available in our fully-wired and over-stimulated postmodern world of cell phones, radios, laptops, video games, omnipresent television (in cars, restaurants, airports, etc.), extreme sports, and much else. Nevertheless, the human psychology of diversion remains unchanged. Diversion consoles us—in trivial ways—in the face of our miseries or perplexities; yet, paradoxically, it becomes the worst of our miseries because it hinders us from ruminating on and understanding our true condition. Thus, Pascal warns, it “leads us imperceptibly to destruction." Why? If not for diversion, we would “be bored, and boredom would drive us to seek some more solid means of escape, but diversion passes our time and brings us imperceptibly to our death.” Through the course of protracted stupefaction, we learn to become oblivious to our eventual oblivion. In so doing, we choke off the possibility of seeking real freedom.

Diversion serves to distract humans from a plight too terrible to encounter directly—namely, our mortality, finitude, and failures. There is an ineluctable tension between our aspirations and our anticipations and the reality of our lives. As Pascal wrote,

Despite [his] afflictions man wants to be happy, only wants to be happy, and cannot help wanting to be happy. But how shall he go about it? The best thing would be to make himself immortal, but as he cannot do that, he has decided to stop thinking about it.

Pascal unmasks diversion as an attempt to escape reality, and an indication of something unstable and exceedingly out-of-kilter in the human condition. An obsession with entertainment is more than silly or frivolous. It is, for Pascal, revelatory of a moral and spiritual malaise begging for an adequate explanation. Our condition is “inconstancy, boredom, anxiety.” We humans face an incorrigible mortality that drives us to distractions designed to overcome our worries:

Man is obviously made for thinking. Therein lies all his dignity and his merit; and his whole duty is to think as he ought. Now the order of thought is to begin with ourselves, and with our author and our end. Now what does the world think about? Never about that, but about dancing, playing the lute, singing, writing verse, tilting at the ring, etc., and fighting, becoming king, without thinking what it means to be a king or to be a man.

Pascal notes that “if man were [naturally] happy, the less he were diverted the happier he would be, like the saints and God.” Diversion cannot bring sustained happiness, since it locates the source of happiness outside of us; thus, our happiness is dependent on factors often beyond our control, so that we are “liable to be disturbed by a thousand and one accidents, which inevitably cause distress.” The power may go off, the screen freeze, or the cell phone connection may break up. Worse yet, our own sensoriam may break down as sight dwindles, hearing ebbs, olfactory awareness fades, and all manner of bodily pleasures become harder to find and easier to lose. As the Preacher of Ecclesiastes intones, “Remember your creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come, and the years draw near when you will say, ‘I have no pleasure in them’ ” (Eccl 12:1).

Diversions would not be blameworthy if they were recognized as such: trivial or otherwise distracting activities performed in order to temporarily avoid the harsh and unhappy realities of human life. However, self-deception often comes into play. In the end “we run heedlessly into the abyss after putting something in front of us to stop us seeing it.” According to Pascal, this condition illustrates the corruption of human nature. Humans are strangely not at home in their universe. They cannot even sit quietly in their own rooms. “If our condition were truly happy we should feel no need to divert ourselves from thinking about it.” Woody Allen highlights this in a scene from the movie “Manhattan.” A man speaks into a tape recorder about the idea for a story about “people in Manhattan who are constantly creating these real unnecessary neurotic problems for themselves because it keeps them from dealing with more unsolvable, terrifying problems about the universe.”

The compulsive search for diversion is often an attempt to escape the wretchedness of life. We have great difficulty being quiet in our rooms, when the television or computer screen offers a riot of possible stimulation. Postmodern people are perpetually restless; they frequently seek solace in diversion instead of satisfaction in truth. As Pascal said, “Our nature consists in movement; absolute rest is death.” The postmodern condition is one of oversaturation and over-stimulation, and this caters to our propensity to divert ourselves from pursuing higher realities."

Work Principles

Christian Working Woman Transcript

Friday, March 09, 2007 - Work Principles from King David - Part 1

No doubt you’ve heard the story of David and Goliath since you were a child. It’s a great story of the underdog–this young shepherd boy–going up against a nine-foot giant and winning. But you know, David had been unknowingly preparing for this huge battle as he tended those sheep.

Principle #5: Little battles in life get us ready for the big battles.

While tending those sheep, David had faced lions and bears as he rescued his sheep from their mouths. He had learned great courage in those small battles. He had also learned how to use a slingshot. Hour after hour sitting on those hills in Bethlehem, he had perfected his shot. Can’t you imagine a young boy like David, aiming that stone at a certain point over and over again, until he had the technique down perfectly?

So, those little battles he had faced, which no one knew about but him, were now giving him the experience and courage he needed to face a really big battle–defeating a huge giant. David’s private victories had prepared him for this public victory.

In the parable of the talents, Jesus taught us that before He will entrust us with big things, He tests us to see if we’re faithful in small things. To the two faithful servants in the parable, the master said, Well, done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things (Matthew. 25:23).

Maybe you’re in the "little things" category right now, and you’re itching for bigger and better things. But the question is, have you been faithful in the little things? Are you doing the job you have now with all your heart to the best of your ability? Can you be trusted to do the little things well? If not, God is not likely to entrust you with bigger things–and, by the way, neither is your employer!

It seems people want to have the big job without earning their right for it. I’ve had people ask me how they can have a radio program like this, expecting it to be a fairly easy and quick thing to do. But for me, it started with five women in my home on Monday evenings for many years, and then a small ministry at my church, and then God began to open wider doors. But they came slowly as I proved faithful in the small things.

So, if you are eager to rise to higher levels, that’s great. It’s good to have goals and ambitions, but remember to be faithful where you are now so that you can be trusted with bigger and better things. The little battles in life get us ready for the big ones!

Prayer Verse

Our prayer verse for this week from Jude 20-21:

But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

This morning I notice the command to "keep yourselves in God's love". It is directed to u -- our action: keep. As John Piper discusses this verse he talks about the idea of perseverance.

"Now keeping Christians safe for eternal life is what this book is really about. That is, this little letter from Jude is about perseverance – it's about how to fight the good fight and take hold of eternal life (1 Timothy 6:12), and how to finish the race and keep the faith (1 Timothy 4:8), and how to endure to the end and so be saved (Mark 13:13). And verses 20-21 say: This perseverance is something you do. You build yourself and others up on the foundation of faith. You pray. You keep yourselves in the love of God.

But that is only part of the context. At the beginning and the end of this little book, there is another truth, a deeper truth about perseverance – or about "keeping." Look at verse 1: "Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ." Notice the word, "kept." Here is the idea of perseverance again, only here at the beginning it is not the Christian who is keeping himself. He is being kept."

Conforming to the Image of God

Neil Anderson's Daily in Christ Devotional

March 8

CONFORMING TO THE IMAGE OF GOD

For this is the will of God, your sanctification (1 Thessalonians 4:3).

In a personal sense, God's will for our lives is that we conform to the image of God, something the apostle Paul makes clear in 1 Thessalonians 4:3: "For this is the will of God, your sanctification." In his letter to Roman Christians, Paul writes, "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son" (Romans 8:29) and adds in 1 Timothy 1:5, "The goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith." Divine guidance will never come to those whose primary goal is not first and foremost conforming to the image of God.

There is no instruction in the Bible concerning career choice, where we live, or who we should marry. There is, however, an abundance of instruction on how we're to relate to our employer and behave on the job we already have (Colossians 3:22-25). And there is much about how to relate with one another (Colossians 3:10-14) and live with our families (Colossians 3:18-21).

The Bible overwhelmingly instructs that to do God's will means living in harmony with God and man: "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the great and foremost commandment. And a second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets"(Matthew 22:37-40).

The whole purpose of the Bible is to teach us how to have a relationship with God and live in harmony with one another. We do this by assuming our responsibilities for today and trusting God for tomorrow.

I'm not sure the Lord cares primarily whether you are a carpenter, teacher or doctor. But He does care what kind of carpenter, teacher or doctor you are. Determine to be the person He has called you to be. No one can prevent you from being God's person except you.

Lord, I want to be Your person today, to live in harmony with You and with those around me.

Copyright © 2006 Freedom in Christ All Rights Reserved Taken from Daily in Christ by Neil T. Anderson and Joanne Anderson

Apprenticeship

"The first objective is to bring apprentices to the point where they dearly love and constantly delight in that "heavenly Father" made real to earth in Jesus and are quite certain that there is no "catch", no limit, to the goodness of his intentions or his power to carry them out."

"A Curriculum for Christlikeness", The Divine Conspiracy, p. 321.

The Truth Project

"In a recent study, the Barna Research Group revealed a stunning statistic that continues to reverberate throughout the evangelical world. Only 9 percent of professing Christians have a biblical worldview.¹

Because of this, today's believers live very similarly to non-believers. A personal sense of significance is rarely experienced, we spend our money and time on things that fail to satisfy and we begin to wonder what life's ultimate purpose really is. We are, in short, losing our bearings as a people and a nation.

To counter this slide within the body of Christ, we are launching one of the most ambitious and powerful projects in the history of our ministry—Focus on the Family's The Truth Project."

From "What is the Truth Project?"

1. The Barna Update, "A Biblical Worldview Has a Radical Effect on a Person's Life," December 1, 2003.

Convergence

This is a description of a movement to bring together Charismatic, Evangelical/Reformed and Liturgical/Sacramental.

"Described as the Convergence Movement, or "Convergence of the Streams," this emerging movement appears to many, both observers and participants, to be another contemporary evidence of God's continuing activity in history to renew, replenish and unify His people in one heart and purpose in Christ. Arising out of a common desire and hunger to experience the fullness of Christian worship and spirituality, the Convergence Movement (also referred to in the remainder of this article as "CM") seeks to blend or merge the essential elements in the Christian faith represented historically in three major streams of thought and practice: the Charismatic, Evangelical/Reformed and Liturgical/Sacramental. An increasing number of local congregations and leaders from many backgrounds are finding "treasures old and new" in the spiritual heritage of the church universal.

The following table, developed by the leadership of Hosanna Church of the King located in the Kansas City metropolitan area, illustrates the essential elements and ingredients being drawn upon by the majority of those participating in the movement at this point:

Paradigm of Ministry

Liturgical/ Sacramental	Evangelical	Charismatic
Theology	Biblical Foundation	Five-fold Ministry and Government
Orthodoxy	Personal Conversion	Power of the Spirit
Universality	Evangelism & Mission	Spiritual Gifts
Liturgical Worship	Pulpit-Centered Worship	Charismatic Worship
Social Action	Personal Holiness	Kingdom
Incarnational understanding of the Church (based on theology, history, and sacramental elements of thought)	Biblical and Reformational understanding of the Church (pragmatic and rational)	Spiritual, Organic, and functional understanding of the Church (dynamic and informal)

The blending or converging of these traditions is seen by those involved as the work of God the Holy Spirit imparting a spiritual operation of grace best captured in the vision of Psalm 46:5,6: "There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the Holy Place where the Most High dwells." Thus, the "city of God" is seen as the Church, the river as the action and flow of God's Presence through His Church and the many "streams" as expressions of the one river's life that have developed or broken off from the main river through history, all of which are necessary to enrich and make glad the city with the fullness of God's life, power, purpose and Presence. These tributaries now seem to be making their way back toward the main stream."