12

"What is it to you if he remains till I come. You follow me." Jesus (Jn 21:22) We need to not worry about "the other" why does everything have to be a competition? Why is it my kingdom come instead of His kingdom come? Why do I think I have to defend even His kingdom, can't He do that? Who can stand against The Lord? Who can take something out of His hands? Can someone slip past all the angels, sneak up behind the throne (Is there a behind the throne?) and sneak off with one of God's promises, or a little part of His kingdom?
There was a time when people where healing some people, or casting some demons out, and the disciples asked Jesus if they should stop them, and Jesus said to let them alone, If we're not against Him, we're for Him. Also there was a time when the disciples wanted to call down fire from heaven to consume people and Jesus said that they didn't know what they were asking. I think we have an amazing amount of authority and we've been calling down way to much fire on people's heads.
My daughter is really struggling, and God convicted me this morning that I'm not willing to carry her burdens, the the scripture instructs us to carry one another's burdens. oops! Even if their in sin Lord? He who is without sin cast the first stone. Even if it's annoying....don't get an answer for that one.
If someone comes to us in their flesh, or with their sin, doesn't God say we can retain the sins of another? But do we want to? NO!! But He does! He wants to get rid of their sins, of their burdens, yet we aren't willing to help them carry theirs? Well it's their fault. What kind of a response is that?
Was it His fault He had to go to the cross? NO! But He did it for us anyway, and so must we carry one another's burdens. (Gal 6:2 Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.) A good translation will say bear one another's burdens, and it literally means "the idea of removal" man, I got to remove that mess? YES!!
So Lord help us to remove the mess off people's lives, but let us do it in love and patience, in Jesus Name!
Here's an adendum!
Matthew 7 >>English Standard Version

Judging Others
1“Judge not, that you be not judged. 2For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
6“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.Ask, and It Will Be Given
7“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!The Golden Rule
12“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Oohh, convicting!

11 I think!

This one got me this morning! Hebrews 12 in short: let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith
Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed. 14 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: 15 looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;

Lord let me persue peace with all men!
In Jesus Name!

Day 10

Why would I want to eat something that's not digestible? Yet that's what I do. All the sin that the enemy offers me is like things that are not supposed to be digested spiritually. Some have likened it to eating dung! Yucky! "Lord let me eat what you set before me, let me have in my hands the very things You've set there, and not the prickly sin things that I am not supposed to consume, even the food I eat that's extra that I do not need, that is someone else's food, let me not indulge in my self, and so that what is in my hand that is offered to others can be the sweet things of God, not those indigestible sins that the devil offers, in Jesus Name!"

"Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." John the Baptist

8 & 9 "Behold The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." John the baptist. I have always loved it when John said this about Jesus. I don't know what it is about it but it's really sweet to me. Behold, hey look, The Lamb of God, now there's a title, The Lamb of God.

Oh Lord thank you for being The Lamb of God, and for taking away my sin.

Day 7, in The Lord!

Here we go, day 7! So there's a Jars of Clay song called Two Hands. One of the lines in the chorus goes; "With one hand I pull You closer with the other I push You away, what if I had two hands doing the same thing?" And when I was addressing these kids in Wells MN I told them that they were using their two hands to feed starving children, and at the end almost 700 kids with their two hands made over 60,000 meals!

What if we had two hands serving the Lord all the time? Or like the Matthew West song The Motions, asks "What if I had given everything instead of going through the motions?" " I don't want to go one more day without your all consuming passion inside of me, I don't want to spend my whole life asking what if I had given everything, instead of going through the motions?"
What a powerful message, and God has an answer; "Give me everything, and don't try and take it back because I want everything everyday for the rest of what you call life!
Amen, Lord please have everything, let me become less, so that you can become more!

Great faith you have!

Day 5 & 6. Hebrews 11 talks about Gideon, Rehab, and dozens of other hero's that had the faith, the 12 starts out with: 1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Thanks again biblegateway.com!) So then, are we them? Do we have that kind of faith as well? Yes. Cause it was God who gave it to us, and He does not give in measure, He gives liberally!
I was able to pack food yesterday with k-12 from Wells school, then in the afternoon went to Sandstone Fed prison and packed with one of the most excited groups I've ever seen. The only difference between some of them and some of us is they got caught for doing something bad! We do bad stuff all the time, and some of the thoughts we have, we should be locked up for.
Buy yet God gave us this faith to walk in, this great faith that makes prisoners free men!
Thank you Lord!
So gracious

Day 4 "A real fast"

So here we are, day 4, "A real fast" The longest I've ever fasted for before was 2 weeks, or 14 days, right before I got married. I was 19, and I knew God wanted this marriage to be His way and not mine, He wanted me devoid of me and all His, as He does now!!
The time has come to be at the end of self.
It's weird, The Lord saves us, redeems us, uses His power and glory in and through us, sends His peace, His joy which gives us strength, all kinds of wonderful things that would be amazing for anyone to have, and for some reason we think we can pick and choose, like it's some weird shopping list; check the things I want today, pick em up, use them till their gone, WHAT'S WRONG WITH US!!?
God's an all together package, it's like wanting the sugar frosted doughnuts without the frosting; it comes with it! We can't pick and choose what WE want and don't want for us, that's His job, and just like in a union shop we are not to tell the Man in charge what to do! (Or not to do)
It's hard giving up total control, but it's something He wants. He wants it all. Nothing left, but His children full of His grace and mercy, full of His peace, wow and amen!!