It's funny; whenever we start out on our own we either get lost, create havoc, or just really messes stuff up. And yet we still think we know the better way. Don't we know Christ died to make our lives a sweet fragrance to Him. To take us from where we were to where He is?
Look at how perfectly He created this world to begin with. Garden, no cares, perfection with everything, nothing out of place, everything just right. Then along came the serpent, the tempter, and the temptation, to be like God. Don't we have the same temptation today. We run our lives the way we think they should be run, and look at the outcome, and yet we still don't hand it all over to Him, even though He is able. instead we plow ahead, making our own way again and again, never seeing that it just does not work out.
"Lord help us to trust You to take over, and help us to have joy in it, and not still grab it all, and try to take it all back. We are Your workmanship, created in Christ to do good works which You prepared before hand that we should walk in them, (Eph 2:10) Lord and only them may we walk in, not all these things we're asked, or tempted to walk in, but the sweetness of God, all those things, all the things that You prepared for us to walk in, let us only walk in them, and thus be fulfilled, made right, and full of Your peace, Your Love, Your joy! In Jesus Name, Amen!" What we're we created to be? His workmanship. We are made by His hands, the hands of the master, not to do our own will, but now the will of the Father. His purposes, His desires, His visions and dreams. Our lives all about Him and not us! "Lord help us to be about Your business. Your will. Wearing Your wedding garments, (Matt 22:11-14) Your attire, let us shine Your glory, (2Cor 4:6 Is 60:1) witnesses of Your work and Word. Have You not made us to will and do of Your good pleasure? (Phil 2:13) "Let us be content with that, in Your Name, the Name above all names!"
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
The Bride of Christ
Hello everyone! Thank You Lord for Your Word, it is gracious like You, it is holy, like You, and it is worthy of a lot more of our attention, like You are. We Love You Lord, and we lift our voice to worship You, in Jesus Name.
Let us see what kind of bride He is transforming us into: Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.
I would love to have this read in Jerusalem next April when we renew our vows, and Lord help us to be Yours, in every faithful way, in Jesus Name.
Amen.
Let us see what kind of bride He is transforming us into: Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.
I would love to have this read in Jerusalem next April when we renew our vows, and Lord help us to be Yours, in every faithful way, in Jesus Name.
Amen.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
A gospel of He and not we
James 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
I have heard some of these verses quoted so many times. We love some of these, but some of them say things like if we do this, God will do that...we don't like that. God did do everything, it's true, He accomplished all on the cross, He makes all things possible. What does Christ require of us now? To do justly, walk humbly, and by the above verse, submit, resist, draw near, cleanse, purify and humble. We do have to act, but it is because He acted first. We are to Love, with His Love, but because He first Loved us. This is not though a gospel of me, it is still very much a gospel of He.
"To You alone all glory and honor Lord, You are God, and we are Your people." In Jesus Name. Amen.
I have heard some of these verses quoted so many times. We love some of these, but some of them say things like if we do this, God will do that...we don't like that. God did do everything, it's true, He accomplished all on the cross, He makes all things possible. What does Christ require of us now? To do justly, walk humbly, and by the above verse, submit, resist, draw near, cleanse, purify and humble. We do have to act, but it is because He acted first. We are to Love, with His Love, but because He first Loved us. This is not though a gospel of me, it is still very much a gospel of He.
"To You alone all glory and honor Lord, You are God, and we are Your people." In Jesus Name. Amen.
Friday, July 9, 2010
The fruit of the Spirit
We as Christians believe this: Gal 5:22 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control." We also believe verse 5:25 "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." But do we believe or practice the middle verse of 24:" And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." (Thanks Bible Gateway again!) NKJV
Love....Joy..."Lord help me to live by this, help me to live by the Spirit, in Jesus Name."We are taught to be diligent in everything we do,; "Lord help me to be diligent in You, in The Spirit, in the things that You are saying and doing, in Jesus Name, amen."
Love....Joy..."Lord help me to live by this, help me to live by the Spirit, in Jesus Name."We are taught to be diligent in everything we do,; "Lord help me to be diligent in You, in The Spirit, in the things that You are saying and doing, in Jesus Name, amen."
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Have you ever seen the beauty of a storm? Tornado, thunderstorm, rain, snow, the raging sea. They all have their beauty, and danger. I've stood stunned at some of the footage I've seen and yet there is beauty.
Phil 2:13 "for it is God who works in you both to will and do for His good pleasure." Imagine living for someone else's pleasure. But that's what I want to do is to allow God to do His good pleasure in me!
Storms, they come and go, the wreak havoc then they're gone. What good have they done but to accomplish His will?
Lord in me, will and do of You're good pleasure. I want all of You and none of me, in Jesus Name.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
The attributes of God.
We are to have: The attributes of God. His character, His attitude.
We want His peace, His joy, His strength, His power flowing through us, but do we want to display His attributes? Do we even think that's possible? Where did He say in His word that we are not to have His attributes? When He says through Paul, "be imitators of me as I am of Christ." 1Cor 11:1 & Eph 5:1 Is it to mean exactly that, and are we to merely try, or does He not enable us to be able to be imitators of God as beloved children? Why would He ask us to and yet not empower us to? Did He not tell us that He gives us His authority, and yet He does not give us his attributes so we can be faithful representations of Him and His work?
We've all had bad service or a bad attitude from an employee at a restaurant or store we've visited. Does that not reflect directly on the establishment of where they work? And how much more does our attitude need to reflect the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords that we serve?
We all want the fullness of God, there's even movements that talk about that. But do we know that we can indeed fully be imitators of God as beloved children just as Paul talks about in Eph 5:1? It's not as if He were allowed full control of our lives, and if we allowed Him that right everyday, that we wouldn't reflect His personality more is it? If we allowed Him FULL control would He not mold us and shape us into the image He created us to be? To display His glory? To be His hands and feet? To be fully His and none of ourselves? Isn't that what He does in us? What He longs for, and what we should be longing for? And if it is something that He wants, and something that we want, isn't it like Him to be able to perform His Word in us?
He is able, though we are not, to flow through us, to perform all of His works in us completely and fully and; He wants too!! "Lord be our God, be the God that implants in us all the things necessary to be faithful servants in every way, in our hearts, our minds, in every thought word and deed may we reflect You, our King of Kings, our Lord of Lords, the Bright Morning Star, the Alpha and Omega of our lives, in Jesus Name!
Amen!
We want His peace, His joy, His strength, His power flowing through us, but do we want to display His attributes? Do we even think that's possible? Where did He say in His word that we are not to have His attributes? When He says through Paul, "be imitators of me as I am of Christ." 1Cor 11:1 & Eph 5:1 Is it to mean exactly that, and are we to merely try, or does He not enable us to be able to be imitators of God as beloved children? Why would He ask us to and yet not empower us to? Did He not tell us that He gives us His authority, and yet He does not give us his attributes so we can be faithful representations of Him and His work?
We've all had bad service or a bad attitude from an employee at a restaurant or store we've visited. Does that not reflect directly on the establishment of where they work? And how much more does our attitude need to reflect the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords that we serve?
We all want the fullness of God, there's even movements that talk about that. But do we know that we can indeed fully be imitators of God as beloved children just as Paul talks about in Eph 5:1? It's not as if He were allowed full control of our lives, and if we allowed Him that right everyday, that we wouldn't reflect His personality more is it? If we allowed Him FULL control would He not mold us and shape us into the image He created us to be? To display His glory? To be His hands and feet? To be fully His and none of ourselves? Isn't that what He does in us? What He longs for, and what we should be longing for? And if it is something that He wants, and something that we want, isn't it like Him to be able to perform His Word in us?
He is able, though we are not, to flow through us, to perform all of His works in us completely and fully and; He wants too!! "Lord be our God, be the God that implants in us all the things necessary to be faithful servants in every way, in our hearts, our minds, in every thought word and deed may we reflect You, our King of Kings, our Lord of Lords, the Bright Morning Star, the Alpha and Omega of our lives, in Jesus Name!
Amen!
Thursday, July 1, 2010
July 2nd Day of Atonement
Websters on line. Atonement: Being reconciled. Reconciled: To restore friendship
This is what God wants!
Acts Chapter 13 talks about Paul going into the synagog and pronouncing Christ as being raised from the dead, and Jesus being the promised salvation they had been waiting for. The gentiles heard it as well as the Jews, and they all seemed to have accepted it, until the next week when ALL the people in the area came to hear it. When the Jews saw this, they became jealous and stirred the people up, and ended up getting the men cast out of the city.
We have done the same thing today, we're casting out, casting off teachers, apostles, evangelists, prophets and pastors who do not teach what we want them to teach. But worse yet we are raising up for ourselves leaders who don't Love Christ the way we should, and who don't love the sheep they've been entrusted with. There's a love lost there. The kind of Love that Christ died for, the kind that makes all things possible.
As I do this at 1am, I realize that no one may ever read this, but God is reading it even now. Is this the inspired Word of God, or the ramblings of a man? My own thoughts, my own vision of what I think what God wants. i hope not because I trust in Him to speak, not just to me a man, but anyone who trusts in His Name, those of us who have been called according to His purpose, not of our own choosing, but we've been chosen, called, redeemed, and indwelled by His Holy spirit. We must trust in Him to speak, for just as He reminded me this morning; "Lord You have these words of life, where else can I go?" Where else can we go as Peter said to Jesus in John 6 when all the disciples left Him when He started talking about how He was the Bread of Life, and "He who comes to me shall never hunger or thirst." Then they started complaining about this and He said: " Do not murmur among yourselves." He hears us complaining the same way to day. Then Jesus said something very important, that no one comes to Him unless he is drawn by the Father.
Some of the christians in our church just simply haven't been drawn by Him, it's not their fault, they feel like their real Christians in many cases, but the lack of vision, the hearing of the Spirit in our congregations isn't catching all that, it's slipping by, and it needs to stop.
But can we have a body that hears, that sees everything the Spirit see's? He promises that My sheep know My voice (John 10:27) If we know Him, and are known by Him, then we are His, and we hear His voice.
Lord help us to hear, help us to see all that You have for us, and let us not miss anything You say or do, let us be attentive children.
In Jesus Name!
AMEN!!!
This is what God wants!
Acts Chapter 13 talks about Paul going into the synagog and pronouncing Christ as being raised from the dead, and Jesus being the promised salvation they had been waiting for. The gentiles heard it as well as the Jews, and they all seemed to have accepted it, until the next week when ALL the people in the area came to hear it. When the Jews saw this, they became jealous and stirred the people up, and ended up getting the men cast out of the city.
We have done the same thing today, we're casting out, casting off teachers, apostles, evangelists, prophets and pastors who do not teach what we want them to teach. But worse yet we are raising up for ourselves leaders who don't Love Christ the way we should, and who don't love the sheep they've been entrusted with. There's a love lost there. The kind of Love that Christ died for, the kind that makes all things possible.
As I do this at 1am, I realize that no one may ever read this, but God is reading it even now. Is this the inspired Word of God, or the ramblings of a man? My own thoughts, my own vision of what I think what God wants. i hope not because I trust in Him to speak, not just to me a man, but anyone who trusts in His Name, those of us who have been called according to His purpose, not of our own choosing, but we've been chosen, called, redeemed, and indwelled by His Holy spirit. We must trust in Him to speak, for just as He reminded me this morning; "Lord You have these words of life, where else can I go?" Where else can we go as Peter said to Jesus in John 6 when all the disciples left Him when He started talking about how He was the Bread of Life, and "He who comes to me shall never hunger or thirst." Then they started complaining about this and He said: " Do not murmur among yourselves." He hears us complaining the same way to day. Then Jesus said something very important, that no one comes to Him unless he is drawn by the Father.
Some of the christians in our church just simply haven't been drawn by Him, it's not their fault, they feel like their real Christians in many cases, but the lack of vision, the hearing of the Spirit in our congregations isn't catching all that, it's slipping by, and it needs to stop.
But can we have a body that hears, that sees everything the Spirit see's? He promises that My sheep know My voice (John 10:27) If we know Him, and are known by Him, then we are His, and we hear His voice.
Lord help us to hear, help us to see all that You have for us, and let us not miss anything You say or do, let us be attentive children.
In Jesus Name!
AMEN!!!
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