For me, writing is a blessing, it is theraputic and it also allows me to express myself in a way I am most comfortable. I love writing, so much so that God has really placed it on my heart to spend more time with Him (yeah He does that, it's part of the whole loves us thing).
For the month of March, I'll be doing something a little different from my normal routine of life; mixing it up if you will. I love going through the book of Proverbs. Each verse is almost like a teaching all by itself. Proverbs is like the hard candy of the bible or as a friend once put it "The P90X of the bible." It isn't something you can just read once and never return to, Proverbs requires you to sit and suck on the hard candy to get all you can out of it.
This is exactly what I am going to do. Every day in the month of March, I plan on reading through a chapter in the morning and picking a verse or two that the Lord puts on my heart and writing about it. I wanted to share it with you guys because originally when I started this blog, I was very adamant about sharing with others what the Lord was showing me and doing in me. I want to do it again.
I'm never really sure who reads this blog or not, but I rest in the fact that God's word never returns void and He uses us to accomplish His good works. He puts in us according to His good pleasure works that would glorify Him. Imagine, the almighty God, creator of the universe, choosing to use the most disobedient of His creation to do His work...love Him.
Pray for me this month, that I stick to what I have placed before God as something I want to do for Him. I pray it blesses someone and that at the end of the day we all grow a little wiser, a little more faithful and that we see His love.
Habakkuk 2:2 Then the LORD answered me and said: “ Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it. 3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry. 4 “Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith.
Psalm 40:10 I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth From the great assembly.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
Useful?
This morning Oswald Chambers got me good. For a while now, he has been speaking on something we so often miss in our own lives and it is a dangerous seed indeed; so dangerous and important, that Jesus spends most of the gospels combatting such a belief: pharisaism. All of us can have hints of it in our lives and if kept unchecked they can lead us into dangerous places. This disease can take the purest act and turn it into the most prideful, self-driven deed that exists. This is why it is so important for us to recognize it in us and give it over to God.
Here is the quote from Chambers this morning:
Holiness is a wonderful thing for us to go after, however, it can't be our ultimate goal. Our ultimate goal ought to be showing that love, grace and mercy to others in response to it first being shown to us. So often we (and I am first) get caught up in wanting to be the "best" Christian, that we lose sight of Christ crucified. Never let anything stand in the way of you and the cross. God is the one that will sanctify us, not our works, those are just evidence of sanctification. God's will for us is to continually be sanctified (1 Thess 4:1-3) and abound more and more in Him.
Let's all be careful not to make personal sanctification our end goal. Because in that phrase "personal sanctification" there is implied focus on the wrong thing: myself. Don't ever get so caught up in showing people what God has done in you that you fail to show them God and the best way to do this is love.
These verses came to mind as I read the devo, I pray they bless you and help make you better equipped for kingdom business. :D
About our righteousness
Isaiah 64:6 But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.
His work
Zech 3:4 Then He answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, “Take away the filthy garments from him.” And to him He said, “See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes.”
5 And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head, and they put the clothes on him. And the Angel of the LORD stood by.
On our driver
Col 1:27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Our compelling argument
2 Cor 5:14 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died;
Here is the quote from Chambers this morning:
Concern over our personal holiness causes us to focus our eyes on ourselves, and we become overly concerned about the way we walk and talk and look, out of fear of offending God. “. . . but perfect love casts out fear . . .” once we are surrendered to God (1 John 4:18). We should quit asking ourselves, “Am I of any use?” and accept the truth that we really are not of much use to Him. The issue is never of being of use, but of being of value to God Himself. Once we are totally surrendered to God, He will work through us all the time.
Holiness is a wonderful thing for us to go after, however, it can't be our ultimate goal. Our ultimate goal ought to be showing that love, grace and mercy to others in response to it first being shown to us. So often we (and I am first) get caught up in wanting to be the "best" Christian, that we lose sight of Christ crucified. Never let anything stand in the way of you and the cross. God is the one that will sanctify us, not our works, those are just evidence of sanctification. God's will for us is to continually be sanctified (1 Thess 4:1-3) and abound more and more in Him.
Let's all be careful not to make personal sanctification our end goal. Because in that phrase "personal sanctification" there is implied focus on the wrong thing: myself. Don't ever get so caught up in showing people what God has done in you that you fail to show them God and the best way to do this is love.
These verses came to mind as I read the devo, I pray they bless you and help make you better equipped for kingdom business. :D
About our righteousness
Isaiah 64:6 But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.
His work
Zech 3:4 Then He answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, “Take away the filthy garments from him.” And to him He said, “See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes.”
5 And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head, and they put the clothes on him. And the Angel of the LORD stood by.
On our driver
Col 1:27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Our compelling argument
2 Cor 5:14 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died;
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Alarm Clocks....*sigh*
I don't think their exists in time a more annoying sound than that of my alarm clock. What is interesting is the sound itself could be a song, a beep, an obnoxious explosion, regardless of the noise, it woke me up and I wish the machine which made the noise would die. Serioulsy am I the only one that hates waking up in the morning? I mean, it isn't so much I hate my life (quite the opposite), as much as it is I hate waking up.
The alarm clock reminds me I can't sit in tranquil sleep all day, it reminds me I have things to tend to, it reminds me I'm not in heaven yet, needless to say, it tells me a lot of things I wish I could sleep through.
Alarm clocks aren't limited to just waking up though, sometimes it makes or breaks that meal you have slaved hours over, or it determines how punctual you want to be to an event. Though not always friendly, alarm clocks serve the purpose of reminding us we need to do something.
Job 1:20 Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped.
Something struck me about this verse as I read it. Job's alarm clock went off. It was time to get to work. What do I mean? Well recall that earlier in the chapter in what seemed to be seconds, Job lost everything to his name with the exception of his health (which he would lose not 5 verses later). Job's response is something I can't honestly say I would do, in fact for me, I may have a fist pumping moment at God and say "What the..?!?!" but not Job, though there was plenty of agony and confusion to be felt, that didn't in any way stop him from doing what he knew had to be done.
So what about you? What do you do when your alarm clock goes off? You know, the one that goes off when some random thought comes into your head and now you decide whether or not you want to dwell on it, or the one that goes off when you are unsure of what to do next, or how about the one that goes off when you don't hear anything from God in response? All of us have built into us alarm clocks. They remind us when it is time to seek His face. They have names like worry, fear, doubt, discouragement, anxiety, nostalgia, guilt, shame, self-condemnation, unforgiveness and so on. What some of us tend to do is exactly what we do every morning when we wake up, we hit snooze. Rather than respond to these alarms the way we are supposed to, we hit snooze and just ignore them, only to find that when it is time to act, we don't have enough time or confidence and then we end up losing or missing out on something huge.
Everyone worries, everyone fears, everyone has their doubts. It is normal, just don't sit there. Take action. If God has spoken, then your response should be to bring those things to light and claim those promises. Claim grace, claim peace, claim redemption. Don't let these things just remain as concepts in your mind, concepts are easily manipulated, make them realities. Live based on them, don't just think about them. Grace is a beautiful thing, however, if I leave that sitting in my head, I can easily excuse or explain away certain things and end up missing out due to what I call "analysis paralysis".
Understand something, God is constant, and His love abounds more than you and I can think or imagine. In those moments where you feel dry, or you feel as though your losing it, remember this: He will never leave you nor forsake you.
"Oh ye of little faith, why did you doubt?" Mark 4:40. How many times does He have to ask us that before we start getting it? When are we going to begin living by faith and not sight? (2 Cor 5:7).
God's command to us when we get these ways is this: Take every though captive (2 Cor 10:5). In Psalm 34, we get a beautiful picture of what happens when we continue seeking Him despite all of the above mentioned feelings,
Psalm 34:4 I sought the LORD, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears.
I like that it almost personifies fears. It is almost as if fears is a person from whom we can be delivered so long as we allow there to be only one type of fear in our lives, the fear of the Lord (Prov 1:7).
So the next time your alarm goes off, stop what your doing and respond to it, "Arise you who are asleep..." and pray.
The alarm clock reminds me I can't sit in tranquil sleep all day, it reminds me I have things to tend to, it reminds me I'm not in heaven yet, needless to say, it tells me a lot of things I wish I could sleep through.
Alarm clocks aren't limited to just waking up though, sometimes it makes or breaks that meal you have slaved hours over, or it determines how punctual you want to be to an event. Though not always friendly, alarm clocks serve the purpose of reminding us we need to do something.
Job 1:20 Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped.
Something struck me about this verse as I read it. Job's alarm clock went off. It was time to get to work. What do I mean? Well recall that earlier in the chapter in what seemed to be seconds, Job lost everything to his name with the exception of his health (which he would lose not 5 verses later). Job's response is something I can't honestly say I would do, in fact for me, I may have a fist pumping moment at God and say "What the..?!?!" but not Job, though there was plenty of agony and confusion to be felt, that didn't in any way stop him from doing what he knew had to be done.
So what about you? What do you do when your alarm clock goes off? You know, the one that goes off when some random thought comes into your head and now you decide whether or not you want to dwell on it, or the one that goes off when you are unsure of what to do next, or how about the one that goes off when you don't hear anything from God in response? All of us have built into us alarm clocks. They remind us when it is time to seek His face. They have names like worry, fear, doubt, discouragement, anxiety, nostalgia, guilt, shame, self-condemnation, unforgiveness and so on. What some of us tend to do is exactly what we do every morning when we wake up, we hit snooze. Rather than respond to these alarms the way we are supposed to, we hit snooze and just ignore them, only to find that when it is time to act, we don't have enough time or confidence and then we end up losing or missing out on something huge.
Everyone worries, everyone fears, everyone has their doubts. It is normal, just don't sit there. Take action. If God has spoken, then your response should be to bring those things to light and claim those promises. Claim grace, claim peace, claim redemption. Don't let these things just remain as concepts in your mind, concepts are easily manipulated, make them realities. Live based on them, don't just think about them. Grace is a beautiful thing, however, if I leave that sitting in my head, I can easily excuse or explain away certain things and end up missing out due to what I call "analysis paralysis".
Understand something, God is constant, and His love abounds more than you and I can think or imagine. In those moments where you feel dry, or you feel as though your losing it, remember this: He will never leave you nor forsake you.
"Oh ye of little faith, why did you doubt?" Mark 4:40. How many times does He have to ask us that before we start getting it? When are we going to begin living by faith and not sight? (2 Cor 5:7).
God's command to us when we get these ways is this: Take every though captive (2 Cor 10:5). In Psalm 34, we get a beautiful picture of what happens when we continue seeking Him despite all of the above mentioned feelings,
Psalm 34:4 I sought the LORD, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears.
I like that it almost personifies fears. It is almost as if fears is a person from whom we can be delivered so long as we allow there to be only one type of fear in our lives, the fear of the Lord (Prov 1:7).
So the next time your alarm goes off, stop what your doing and respond to it, "Arise you who are asleep..." and pray.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Happy Birthday
A year ago today, I started a blog for the sake of having a blog, little did I know then what an impact it would have on me even a year later today. Looking back on my posts and just remembering where I was and where I am now has been pretty awesome.
I am no saint, not even close, but I'm a little closer than I was last year, though some days it doesn't feel that way. God has shown me a lot in this last year and has done so much more.
I think the hardest lesson I am learning right now though is living by faith and not by sight. Something I have picked up on in myself and something I pray God helps me work out is this idea of focusing on the glory moments rather than just being faithful in the little.
Zechariah tells us not to despise the small things and he couldn't be more right. 2 Cor 5:7 has been a huge staple in my life these last few weeks. Sometimes we get so caught up in the results of what God has done in us that we forget God. Sometimes we get so used to Him spoon feeding us encouragement that we forget He isn't always going to operate that way. When we pray "God give us more faith," He does just that and as Jesus reminds us in John 15, often it requires pruning and sometimes that means He may not say much to us. That doesn't mean He isn't there, that doesn't mean you lost Him. It just means He is giving you what you asked for, more faith.
God's grace has been an issue for me as well. Accepting it I have found is harded than I thought. When your mind is bent on working for your stuff and the flesh says you have to go out and get on it, it truly is a situation of death to self. I heard an interesting quote this morning from Bob Coy, (I'll paraphrase), God is in the business of blessing us and giving us gifts that we should put to use and give back to Him for His glory, the one thing though that God can't give us is obedience, that originates in us. God can't force us to obey, He can only take things from us and that isn't obedience, that is chastening.
I'm learning that God isn't always going to work the way you think He is, and just when you think (because we all do at some point) that you have it figured out, He may have had something else in mind.
Love isn't as easy as everyone paints it out to be, in fact, it is sometimes a hard decision to make, especially when your flesh is always looking out for itself. Love is centered around being others-centered. For an example, see the cross of calvary.
Most of our problems and questions can be answered at the cross and by that I mean that our tribulations, our trials, those things about us we hate, they can all be left at the foot of the cross.
Don't think you have it all, it will hurt so much more when you realize you don't.
God isn't done with you, it is a lifelong process, that's why we are called to run with endurance. If it were to run with speed then many of us would have died by now...
You aren't always going to feel God. The Euphoric feelings will come and go, you will have your ups and downs, valleys and mountain tops. Thankfully, our faith is based on a constant, consistent Person, not our own hearts....(could you imagine it the other way around...?)
The devil is a jerk and he knows what he is doing, God is bigger though.
It has been a sweet year, plenty more lessons this year I am sure. Hopefully God has some serious rain on the horizon for us all. If you're in a desert right now, be of good cheer, it is nice to know that this isn't eternity for us, and that is something we need to remind ourselves of everyday...
Happy Birthday blog!
I am no saint, not even close, but I'm a little closer than I was last year, though some days it doesn't feel that way. God has shown me a lot in this last year and has done so much more.
I think the hardest lesson I am learning right now though is living by faith and not by sight. Something I have picked up on in myself and something I pray God helps me work out is this idea of focusing on the glory moments rather than just being faithful in the little.
Zechariah tells us not to despise the small things and he couldn't be more right. 2 Cor 5:7 has been a huge staple in my life these last few weeks. Sometimes we get so caught up in the results of what God has done in us that we forget God. Sometimes we get so used to Him spoon feeding us encouragement that we forget He isn't always going to operate that way. When we pray "God give us more faith," He does just that and as Jesus reminds us in John 15, often it requires pruning and sometimes that means He may not say much to us. That doesn't mean He isn't there, that doesn't mean you lost Him. It just means He is giving you what you asked for, more faith.
God's grace has been an issue for me as well. Accepting it I have found is harded than I thought. When your mind is bent on working for your stuff and the flesh says you have to go out and get on it, it truly is a situation of death to self. I heard an interesting quote this morning from Bob Coy, (I'll paraphrase), God is in the business of blessing us and giving us gifts that we should put to use and give back to Him for His glory, the one thing though that God can't give us is obedience, that originates in us. God can't force us to obey, He can only take things from us and that isn't obedience, that is chastening.
I'm learning that God isn't always going to work the way you think He is, and just when you think (because we all do at some point) that you have it figured out, He may have had something else in mind.
Love isn't as easy as everyone paints it out to be, in fact, it is sometimes a hard decision to make, especially when your flesh is always looking out for itself. Love is centered around being others-centered. For an example, see the cross of calvary.
Most of our problems and questions can be answered at the cross and by that I mean that our tribulations, our trials, those things about us we hate, they can all be left at the foot of the cross.
Don't think you have it all, it will hurt so much more when you realize you don't.
God isn't done with you, it is a lifelong process, that's why we are called to run with endurance. If it were to run with speed then many of us would have died by now...
You aren't always going to feel God. The Euphoric feelings will come and go, you will have your ups and downs, valleys and mountain tops. Thankfully, our faith is based on a constant, consistent Person, not our own hearts....(could you imagine it the other way around...?)
The devil is a jerk and he knows what he is doing, God is bigger though.
It has been a sweet year, plenty more lessons this year I am sure. Hopefully God has some serious rain on the horizon for us all. If you're in a desert right now, be of good cheer, it is nice to know that this isn't eternity for us, and that is something we need to remind ourselves of everyday...
Happy Birthday blog!
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