1/27/11

He is the Source

God is the source of all that is me. Nothing in me has been because I've mustered it up. God is the One that created my heart and fills it up as well. Sometimes it is easy to say that God is everything - but to really live it out. What does that translate into real life? It means that I have access to the Source of patience when my two-year-old defies me 100 times before 10:00am. It means that I have the wisdom to know what next step needs to be taken because the Source is inside me, guiding me. I have the freedom to love those who have hurt me because love itself has filled my heart and is transforming it to look like His.

I abide in Christ and in doing so I find rest, and the peace of God which passes all understanding fills my heart and life. - John Hunter

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
Give her the reward she has earned,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.
Proverbs 31:30-31

He is the Source.
Of everything.
Strength for your day.
Wisdom for your task.
Comfort for your soul.
Grace for your battle.
Provision for each need.

Understanding for each failure.
Assistance for every encounter.
Jack Hayford

1/26/11

Trust God's Process

Listen to my instruction and be wise; do not ignore it. Proverbs 8:33

God is hear. I have joyously discovered that He is always "up to something" in my life, and I am learning to quit second-guessing Him and simply trust the process. - Gloria Gaither

The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death. - Prov. 13:14

You can never change the past. But by the grace of God, you can win the future. So remember those things which will help you forward, but forget those things which will only hold you back. - Richard C. Woodsome

Easier said than done. Yet- God commands me to Trust Him. I think that may be the purpose and reason fora ll of the heartache we go through. During all of the confusing times that we don't know what is going on in the world, [babies dying, cancer, suicide bombers, flooding], we are command to Trust His ways....His process.  I've found that without Him, life just doesn't make sense at all. Life is too hard to live without Him. Yes - trusting God's process means trusting Him, who He is and His character. If you are questioning God's process in your life right now - remind yourself of Who He is.  Don't think of a person you can lean on because eventually everyone, and I mean EVERYONE lets you down....so trust in God....Trust in His Love, Joy, Justice, All-Knowing, and All-Powerfulness!

1/22/11

Speak Carefully

For attractive lips, Speak words of kindness.
Sam Levenson

Kind words are like honey -
sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.
Proverbs 16:24

Sometimes it is necessary for us to speak.
At other times it is important that we be quiet.
Wisdom comes with knowing the difference.
Mrs. D.E. Clay

Gold there is, and rubies in abundance,
but lips that speak knowledge are a rare jewel.
Proverbs 20:15

Talking comes by nature, silence by wisdom.
American Proverb

Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue
keeps himself out of trouble.
Proverbs 21:23

The art of listening is something that I am just a novice in! Not really my strong point. Silence is not my cup of tea. So many times I have misstepped simply by speaking. God is whittling away my talkative nature. He is showing me how encouraging, helpful, and prudent it is to just listen. I always admired the verses in Proverbs that spoke about the tongue and especially when to speak. It seems a very hard hill for me to climb sometimes. Yet - it is a path I know God wants especially for me.  Not only do I want to simply stay out of trouble - I want to the "honey to the soul" for those around me.

1/21/11

A Bright Light

But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,

That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.
Proverbs 4:18

"We can get a right start only by accepting God as He is and learning to love Him for what He is. As we go on to know Him better we shall find it a source of unspeakable joy that God is just what He is."
A.W. Tozer

Even a child is known by his doings,
whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.
Proverbs 20:11

I want to be a light - shine in the darkness surrounding me.  Yet through the hardships and frustrations that cloud my everyday it seems like I am only a dying ember. O to be a raging fire!  The Lord brings us to places where we see that at best, we are only a dying ember. Providing no warmth, no light - only the hope of something. With Christ, living in me, shining through me - only then and only He can revive the dying embers of my heart and life.  Only Christ can be the Light. - John 1:9



1/18/11

The Common Sense of Faith

"True friendship with God...means being so intimately in touch with God that you never even need to ask Him to show you His will...all of your seemingly commonsense decisions are actually His will for you, unless you sense a check in your spirit." - Oswald Chambers

My son, let them not vanish from your sight;

Keep sound wisdom and discretion,
So they will be life to your soul
And adornment to your neck. - Proverbs 3:21-22

"Faith declares what the sense do not see, but not the contrary of what they see. It is above them, not contrary to them." - Blaise Pascal

We sometimes think that faith will no doubt, at some point or another, lead us down a path devoid of common sense. Although God will from time to time draw us to do things contrary to common sense - by no means will this always remain a mystery. Most often as we do this thing that "doesn't make sense" - it starts to make sense and we begin to see the bigger picture.  If we never come to that conclusion...then that is where we must have trust and faith.  We might not understand something, yet following God in it anyway is how we show that we trust Him.  We must be careful to use what sense God has given us. Yet, balance that out with the humble attitude that as humans we do not know everything and we may be asked of God to do some things that we do not understand. If we are intimate with Christ, this will never be a problem.  When we are intimate with Christ, abiding in Him, trusting Him in - faith is possible (maybe not easy, but possible). 





1/17/11

The Tablet of Your Heart

"Those who are steadily learning how to love are enabled to do this because the very love of God, Himself, has been put into our hearts." - Eugenia Price

Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
Then you will win favor and good name
in the sigh of God and man.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.
-Proverbs 3:3-6 NIV

What is written on my heart? As I look inside, examine my heart, I see many, many things. I see scars where I have been hurt, disappointed, and abandoned (by people). I see healing, where God has mended those scars. I see love and grace that has miraculously been bestowed to me. I see a heart that longs to follow God. When is says "let love and faithfulness never leave you" - I don't think that it means my  love or my faithfulness - but God's. As I draw near to God, I do so at times in desperation to just survive the hard things. And sometimes I draw near to Him because I am just in Love with Him!  I see Him clearly (His faithfulness, mercy, judgment, love, etc) and want to be loved by Him more dearly! :)

1/16/11

Sin Can Find Us

"They are well kept whom God keeps,
but woe unto those who go forth into the world,
or even dare to walk their own house unarmed.
Those who think themselves secure
Are more exposed to the danger than any others.
The armour-bearer of Sin
is Self-confidence.
In stagnant waters noxious creatures swarm,
And neglected soil soon yields a dense tangle of weeds and briars. Oh for the constraining love
of Jesus
to keep us active and useful!
Satan can climb housetops,
And enter closets,
And even if we could shut out that foul fiend,
Our own corruptions are enough to work our ruin
Unless Grace prevent."
- C.H. Spurgeon

1/14/11

The Rebel

The Rebel

His hand, the size of my palm
The curly locks need trimmed
His yes sparkle with mischief
The clothes are a little unkempt.

As he wakes each morning
Til he lays down to slumber
My boy will involve himself completely
In many different types of blunders.

My subvert will creep along
Creating the most awful mess
Crayon marks on Bibles and books
Causing me an abundance of stress.

Towers broken to pieces
Picture frames cast down on the floor
Clothes thrown into the filled tub
My patience is rocked to the core.

Tears will well-up inside
As he doesn't get to eat what he wants
Fists pound hard on the table
For what he wants to eat for lunch.

All day long, the interruptions come
While on the phone, he needs a snack
No, I can't feed the baby,
He wants his juice - just like that!

Invariably my rebel waits
To drive me mad with his demands
With his endless destructive ways,
With his "nos!" at the turn of every hand.

My miniature rebel needs to obey
Cries my restless heart
No, he needs more than that
Punishment is only a part.

My wee-little rebel needs grace.
A holy God He has offended.
More than to be exiled,
He needs his own tiny heart mended.

Chastisement must be married to love.
My pint-sized rebel deserves the gallow,
But has been granted pardon instead
And my hands are there to endow.

As he terrorizes the cat
And wets, with tears his face
My delicate rebel will be given
A reprieve; a measure of love and grace.

The Grace extended to me,
Came while I was still a rebel
And the Love that sustains me,
Is administered to a pride-filled prodigal.

Let God's grace fill me.
Let it cover my life.
So that I may bestow it on my son,
Showing love, in the midst of strife.

1/9/11

Psalm 139 and Chambers

"O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You understand my thought from afar.
You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
It is too high, I cannot attain to it....
Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
f I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me.
If I say, "Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,"
Even the darkness is not dark to You,

And the night is as bright as the day
Darkness and light are alike to You." - Psalm 139
“Your whole spirit . . . .” The great, mysterious work of the Holy Spirit is in the deep recesses of our being which we cannot reach. Read Psalm 139 . The psalmist implies— “O Lord, You are the God of the early mornings, the God of the late nights, the God of the mountain peaks, and the God of the sea. But, my God, my soul has horizons further away than those of early mornings, deeper darkness than the nights of earth, higher peaks than any mountain peaks, greater depths than any sea in nature. You who are the God of all these, be my God. I cannot reach to the heights or to the depths; there are motives I cannot discover, dreams I cannot realize. My God, search me.”


So as He searches, I can rest.  I can rest in Him.  I don't have to have everything figured out or solved.  He has it all...and He has my very best interests in His mind.  I have no need to try to figure out all the whys.  I have a God who loves me beyond intimacy and desires that I love Him too.

Lord, help me love you more.  Draw me close to You.

1/7/11

Intimacy with Jesus

I love Oswald Chambers and his My Utmost for His Highest book.  After doing an entire study on the True Vine, I still have more to learn on my abiding and intimacy with Jesus:

January 7 - "Friendship is rare on earth. It means identity in thought and heart and spirit....We receive His blessings and know His Word, but do we know Him?...When once we get intimate with Jesus we are never lonely, we never need sympathy, we can pour out all the time without being pathetic. The saint who is intimate with Jesus will never leave impressions of himself, but only the impression that Jesus is having unhindered way, because the last abyss of his nature has been satisfied by Jesus. The only impression left by such a life is that of the strong calm sanity that Our Lord gives to those who are intimate with Him."

Oh to be intimate like this!  I can think of one person in my life who has left such a lasting impact on my life.  Every time I talked with her, shared with her and spilled my heart out to her, I was pointed to Jesus.  Through her I saw Jesus and God and all of the truths of scripture that I needed to hear for whatever I was going through. 

I long to be that sort of friend and person to those around me!  I long to be intimate with Jesus, yes, selfishly because I need Him to fill up the "abyss" of my heart.  And secondly, so that filling could overflow to others.

1/4/11

Prevailing Prayer

I...ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatsoever ye shall ask of the father in my name, he may give it you. - John 15:16

"It is because we so little live the true branch life, because we so little lose ourselves in the Vine, abiding in Him entirely, that we feel so little constrained to much prayer, so little confident that we shall be heard, and as result we do not know how to use His name as the key to God's storehouse...Beloved disciple, seek above everything to be a person of prayer. Here is the highest exercise of your privilege as a branch of the Vine; here is the full proof of your being renewed in the image of God and His Son; here is your power to show how you, like Christ, live not for yourself, but for others; here you enter heaven to receive gifts for men; here your abiding in Christ has led to His abiding in you, to use you as the channel and instrument of His grace." - Murray

Abiding Fruit

I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain. - John 15:16

"There is work that leaves its mark for generations or for eternity. In it the power of God makes itself lastingly felt.....The more of man with his wisdom and power, the less of stability; the more of God's Spirit, the more of a faith standing in God's power....What is the secret of bearing fruit that abides? The answer is simple,. It is as our life abides in Christ, as we abide in Him, that the fruit we bear will abide....The purpose is His, He will carry it out; the fruit is His, He will bring it forth; the abiding is His, He will maintain it." - Murray

It seems that the theme of this passage is the abiding
Hard truths are revealed in John 15. 
Hard things are commanded of a Christian:
bear much fruit,
fruit that will remain...etc. 

Yet not without hope are these truths and commands given: 
Our hope comes in the abiding. 
Drawing close to Christ and living a life in direct communion with Him
automatically produces fruit,
and fruit that abides!

The idea of resting and working are reconciled in this passage and expounded upon
in Andrew Murray's book, The True Vine.

Election

Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit. - John 15:16

"The branch does not choose the vine or decide on which vine wit will grow. The vine brings forth the branch, as and where it will. Even so Christ says: 'Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you'...If He had not chosen us, we would never have chosen Him....If we want to know Christ as the true Vine, the sole origin and strength of the branch life, and ourselves as branches in our absolute, most blessed, and most secure dependence upon Him, let us drink deeply of this blessed truth: 'Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you'...I chose you. Lord, teach me what this means - that You have set Your heart on me and chosen me to bear fruit that will abide and to pray prayer that will prevail. In this Your eternal purpose my soul would rest itself and say:" - Murray

We pride ourselves on being Christians...but what did we really have to do with choosing that?  What do we have to boast in?  What place does pride have in our lives?  Nothing.  It was nothing of us, and all of God. I pray that I will see both sides of the coin: God choosing me....and then me accepting His choice. 


Sometimes we get bogged down in all the questions that arise from the idea of election, like what about free will and how about that relative that God seemingly hasn't "chosen"? 


What if we simple just believed (because it is clearly taught) and rested in the idea of election.  Rest in the fact that my heavenly Father has CHOSEN me....let that sink in~even when I was dead in my transgressions, God chose me.  What a sense of peace and comfort.  How often do I say "No one cares..." What foolishness!  God cares...enough to choose me. 

1/1/11

Christ's Friendship: Its Intimacy

Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth; but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you. - John 15:15

"Friendship delights in fellowship. Friends hold council. Friends dare trust to each other what they would not for anything have others now.  What is it that gives a Christian access to this holy intimacy with Jesus? That gives him the spiritual capacity for receiving the communications Christ has to make of what the Father has shown Him? 'Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.' It is loving obedience that purifies the soul. That refers not only to the commandments of the Word, but to the blessed application of the Word to our daily life...I have called you friends. What an unspeakable honor! What a heavenly privilege! O Savior, speak the word with power into my soul: 'I have called you My friend, whom I love, whom I trust, to whom I make known all that passes between My Father and Me.'" - Murray

Fellowship...friendship...abiding....
To abide more and draw closer to my Lord, who calls me friend.
That is a good goal for 2011. 
Who knows that lies ahead.....well, my Friend does!
I'm only learning to:
Hold His hand.
Trust His Words.
Obey His loving commandments.
Live my life that is pleasing to Him.
Let me strive and will to do more this coming year...
no matter what circumstances come!