I think it takes a great deal more grace to suffer God's will than it does to do God's will. If a person lies in a bed of sickness and suffers cheerfully and is ptting hope to practice, that person is as acceptable to God as if they were out working in His vineyard. Amen! D. L. Moody

I think the great evangelist was -and is - right. In fact, I wonder if more people are witnessed to positively by my God-given composure and grace in the midst of the pain, than by any sermon I could ever preach or lesson I could ever teach. Paul and Silas sang praises to God at mid-night in a Roman jail after an unfair and illegal whipping and a whole family was broght to Jesus. It's when the pressure is on that people are watching. Father, please cause us not to let you down!

Read full post >>

I have a specific need/issue that has laid heavy on my heart for some time and that I have been praying about. God is using the words of two servants of His to speak to me and I believe they speak to all in need who turn to their God for help. Lloyd John Ogilvie shares:

The . . . greatest miracle, next to Christ, is what happens to a person who comes to know Christ personally. When we commit our lives to Him and invite Him to live in us, our days are filled with a constant succession of surprises. He is Lord of all life, has unlimited power, and can arrange events and circumstances to bless us. Our only task is to surrender our needs to Him, and then leave the results to Him. Christ did not use the word 'miracle.' He talked about the 'works of God.' Wherever He went, He did 'works' which defied both the expected and the anticipated. The reason was that He was the power of God, the 'fullness of the Godhead bodily' (Colossians 2:9 NKJV) . . . Where do you need a miracle - what to you seems impossible? Persist! Don't give up. At all costs make your way to the Master. Tell Him your need, and then leave it with Him. Even greater than the miracle you seek will be the miracle you become by seeking Him, touching Him, and experiencing His matchless love.

Then this inspired wisdom from Oswald Chambers:

. . . we have to learn to make room for God -to give God 'elbow room.' We calculate and estimate, and say that this and that will happen, and we forget to make room for God to come in as He chooses. Would we be surprised if God came . . . in a way we had never looked for Him to come? Do not look for God to come in any particular way, but look for Him. Expect Him to come, but do not expect Him only in a certain way. However much we may know God, the great lesson to learn is that at any minute He may break in. We are apt to overlook this element of surprise, yet God never works in any other way. All of a sudden God meets life . . . Keep your life so constant in its contact with God that His surprising power may break out on the right hand and on the left. Always be in a state of expectancy, and see that you leave room for God to come in as He likes.

Going to the God Who loved me so much that He sent Jesus to be my Savior with this problem; trusting this God - who promises in His Word that if I will put Him and His interests first in my life He will take care of all my needs - to take care of this specific need; putting no restrictions on Him, but with expectancy and even excitement waiting to see what He says is the best way to take care of this concern that will bring the most glory to Him and best take care of me and mine - this, I believe, is what prayer, faith, and spiritual victory is all about. This is also what grace is all about - for I can't do any of this in my own strength. But He can - and will - and does - as I wait on Him.

Read full post >>

Imperfect happiness that can be had in this life can be acquired by man by his natural powers . . . but man's perfect happiness consists in the vision of (God), the Divine Essence . . . Man is made happy by God alone, if we speak of perfect happiness. Thomas Aquinas

Our prayer must always be, than, 'Father, help me to see you today more clearly than I ever have before. And, help me to want to see you today more clearly - at whatever price - than I ever have before!'

Read full post >>

Would you please join with me in prayer for a lady named Carol who is struggling with the disease of cancer in her body. Would you believe with me that God is able to touch and heal this disease right now and bring glory to His Name in the healing?

Read full post >>

My Lord and my Creator,
you bear with me and nourish me - be my helper.
I thirst for you, I hunger for you, I desire you,
I sigh for you, I covet you;
I am like an orphan deprived of the presence
of a very kind father,
who, weeping and wailing, does not cease to cling to
the dear face with his whole heart.
So, as much as I can, though not as much as I ought,
I am mindful of your passion,
your buffeting, your scourging, your
cross, your wounds,
how you were slain for me, how prepared for burial and buried;
and also I remember your glorious
resurrection,
and wonderful ascension.
All this I hold with unwavering faith,
and weep over the hardship of exile,
hoping in the sole consolation of your
coming, ardently longing for the glorious
contemplation of your face. St. Anselm

Read full post >>

I was reading my Bible today when Ps. 31:9 spoke to me:

How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you, which you bestow in the sight of men on those who take refuge in you. NIV

It is never God's will to bless anyone in private. He wants to take care of us, but He wants to do it in such a way that everyone around sees what He does, can do, and will do for anyone who will 'take refuge in Him'. It is also never God's will for anyone whom He blesses to want to be blessed in private, quietly, as if in isolation. One of the reasons that God blessed David as He did was David's total willingness and desire to tell his world what God - and God alone - had done for him. David found himself in many tight spots in his life - some of his own making, some not - but he was never embarrassed to go to God for help. He was just as ready to give God the glory. Is it any wonder that God continued - even in spite of David's failures - to publicly bless this man? Our prayer should be, God, please make me to want to trust in You; please make me to want to take refuge in You; please make me to want to wait for the help in my life that is already mine in Jesus Christ; but, just as much Father, please make me to want my world to see you working and saving and leading my life so that they will want to know and trust you as well.

Read full post >>

Just as our love for God begins with listening to God's word, the beginning of love for other Christians is learning to listen to them. God's love for us is shown by the fact that God not only gives us God's Word, but also lends us God's ear. We do God's work for our brothers and sisters when we learn to listen to them. . . Christians who can no longer listen to one another will soon no longer be listening to God either; they will always be talking even in the presence of God. . . Those who cannot listen long and patiently will always be talking past others, and finally no longer will even notice. Those who think their time is too precious to spend listening will never really have time for God and others, but only for themselves and for their own words and plans. Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Read full post >>

I was reading my Bible today and Ps. 30:10-12 spoke to me:

Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me; O Lord, be my help. You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever.

When you read these words you get the strong impression that turning to God for help for the needs of his life was not something new, strange, or different to David. In fact, one of the striking characteristics of all of David's psalms (songs) is the intimacy between he and his Maker that is strongly shown. David had a personal relationship with his God. He gave God total credit for his victories, went right to God seeking forgiveness for his sins and failures, vented freely to God about the aches and pains and personal problems of his life - in fact, you get the strong impression that David considered God to be, not just his Creator, God, and Lord - but his closest relationship, his most important 'connection.' Whatever David's genetic poetic and musical abilities, the closer he walked with God, the easier it was for him to sing of and to his Lord. When we allow this same God to be the help for us in our lives that each of us desperately need - the help that He already is, for all of our problems are already solved for us in Jesus - than He gives us songs to sing, as well. His joy truly becomes our strength.

Read full post >>

How fitting that the name 'Emmanuel' means 'God with us.' Jesus embodied what God's plan had been all along - to be with us. From the beginning of time, this had been God's desire. Genesis 3:8 tells of God walking with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Then sin separated this first man and woman from Him . . . So He sent His Son, Jesus, as the ultimate sacrifice for sin; then He sent His Holy Spirit, 'the Spirit of truth' to live with us and be in us (John 14:17 KJV) . . . God wants to share our lives and be invited into our hearts. He wants to laugh at our jokes and hang out in our homes. He enjoys our kids and understands our weaknesses. When others leave or reject us, He will stay. When we're angry with Him, He won't turn away. We go through nothing alone. God is with us in our doubts, in our confusion, and even in our darkness. This has always been His plan.Debbie Carsten

Read full post >>

I was reading my Bible today and Ps. 28:6-8 spoke to me:

Praise be to the Lord, for he has heard my cry for mercy. The Lord is my strength and shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song. NIV

Thousands of years later, in a totally different place, time, culture and - basically - universe, the one thing with which we can identify with this great king of Israel, is David's praise for his God - for his God is our God. And the God who heard his cry for mercy, still hears perfectly and compassionately and powerfully today. And the God whose strength made Him the best shield that David could ever have, is still in the strong, shielding business today for His children and friends. And the God who responded to David's trusting overtures in the issues of his life, is still an 'Easy Mark' - I say that with all the respect that I can state it with, but its true - for anyone who will entrust Him with the stuff of their lives. Paul wrote: 'I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I've committed unto Him against that day!' And the God who put the joy of the Lord in David's heart and made him 'the Sweet Singer of Israel' still makes hearts glad today, whatever may be going on around about. Have you talked to Him lately?

Read full post >>

What is emphasised throughout the New Testament is that . . . all the images and motifs of revelation and response, are fulfilled in Jesus. 'We have found him,' say the Evangelists and apostolic writers echoing Philip; this is He . . . In Jesus the promise is confirmed, the covenant is renewed, the prophecies are fulfilled, the law is vindicated, salvation is brought near, sacred history has reached its climax, the perfect sacrifice has been offered and accepted, the great priest over the household of God has taken his seat at God's right hand, the Prophet like Moses has been raised up, the Son of David reigns, the kingdom of God has been inaugurated, the Son of Man has received dominion from the Ancient of Days, the Servant of the Lord, having been smitten to death for his people's transgression and borne the sin of many, has accomplished the divine purpose, has seen light after the travail of his soul and is now exalted and extolled and made very high. F. F. Bruce

Read full post >>

I was reading my Bible today and Ps. 27:1 spoke to me. It reads

The Lord is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life - of whom shall I be afraid? NIV

This is what this verse says to me: though I live in a world every bit as fearful, disjointed, chaotic and dangerous as David's world was, I also can know the same release from fear's hold that he found. David is saying : 'Because the Lord is my life; and since the Lord is my life; and really only when the Lord is my life - who or what out there can really terrorize me? Of course the answer to that question - to use the phrase of one of the radio announcers for the old Kansas City Athletics baseball team - is a great, big goose-egg - nothing, no one, no thing!

800 or years later or so the disciples remembered Jesus claiming to be David's God - 'Before Abraham was,' Jesus told the pharisees, 'I am!' - and making the same promises to do for them what Yahweh had done for David and all the Old Testament believers. Jesus said

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God (the Father); trust also in me. In my Father's home are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. John 14:1-3 NIV.

But until that second return time, Jesus eased the disciples' minds by giving them - and us - this promise for now

If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever - the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. John 14:15-18 NIV

Jesus told His disciples, whether its 'Me in Person through all eternity, or whether its the Person of my Holy Spirit with you in this life right now, I will be here to supply all of your needs and to give you rest'

So then, the early church felt totally free to share with its age - and all ages to come - the liberating good news of the Gospel: Jesus - today, right now, in more ways that are real than any human could ever imagine - IS ALIVE!!! Therefore, we can

Rejoice in the Lord always (St. Paul tells us) I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Phil. 4:4-7 NIV

Friends, He is here - and He has already taken the problems that so fill us with angst in His nail-pierced hands. The question is, will we wait to see what our Stronghold, our Light and Life, has already done for us - or will we buy into the fear once again?

Read full post >>

I'm praying today for a person who is suffering from Bell's Palsey on the left side of their face. I don't know this person at all and don't have any idea even if they are a believer, but I believe the promise of Ps 27:1 - 'The Lord is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life - of whom shall I be afraid?' NIV - applies to our lives today and specifically to this life and this situation. I'm asking God to be this person's peace and this person's stronghold and this person's healing right now and to bring glory to His Name in all and whatever He does. Will you join me in asking God for faith for healing for this person and this problem? Thank you and God bless!

Read full post >>

Commenting on 2 Corinthians 1:20, New King James Version - 'For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.' - E. Stanley Jones writes:

All the promises God makes in nature, in Scripture, in history, and in the longings of personal experience find their yes in Him. The New Testament speaks of 'the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.' Jesus is the upward call of God - calling us from the lower to the higher, the incomplete to the complete, the imperfect to the perfect. Everything in Jesus is upward. Everything outside Jesus is downward. An African after he was converted renamed himself 'After.' Everything to him was 'After' - after death, after sin, after sorrow, after frustration, after alienation. Now everything had promise in it - had a future. In sin there is no future - it is the way to decay and death. Jesus is the Yes to all the promises of God made everywhere. There are thirty-three thousand promises in the Scriptures, and Jesus is the Yes to every one of them. He writes 'Yes' in His own blood on every promise. If you come in His name, you can have them cashed in experience.

Read full post >>