Gal. 6:14

"But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." Gal. 6:14

It's only by GRACE that the world is "crucified unto me". It is only the cross that has made this so....that the world is "crucified unto me, and I unto the world."

But, the world to me is "dead". I care not much for it, by God's grace. The "glitter" holds very little charm for me....

I, also, am "crucified" unto the world. They look at me as something "strange and odd", out of place. It is if I am just "dead", not there.

I love this verse! It is so true!

And I am humbled to realize that GOD is the One who has made it so. Why me and not others? Why is the world "dead" to me? Praise be to God!

Crucified with Christ

"I am CRUCIFIED with Christ..."

"For THY SAKE we are KILLED all the day long...."

"For we which live are alway delivered unto DEATH for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be MANIFEST in our mortal flesh."

"For if we be DEAD with him we shall also live with him."

----------------------------------------------------------------------

A DEAD PERSON DOESN'T HURT ANYMORE!

So maybe I'm not fully "dead" yet...?

Sometimes I get my feelings hurt...

Cleansed by the Word

From Ps. 1, John 15:1-3, Eph. 5:26-27...

About being CLEANSED by the WORD OF GOD...

The man who spoke put his hands in mud...and then later put his muddy hands in a bucket of water to make his point.

The point was also made that no matter how old we are, we still need to be daily cleansed by the Word...(He mentioned his grandfather who died at 96 who still said even then that he was learning new things and being regularly cleansed by the Word.)....

Another thought was given...that we need not only to READ the Word each day, but we need to stay there until we are CLEANSED...

Jer.2:13

"For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water." Jer. 2:13

This is a verse that Piper quotes a lot... The "cisterns" are the things of this world....things that we are tempted to believe hold that cool, refreshing water...but they are BROKEN...

There is no true satisfaction in anything that is worldly. Our only true satisfaction is in Christ...the true, "fountain of LIVING WATERS"!

Gal. 1:4

"Who gave himself for our sins, THAT HE MIGHT DELIVER US FROM THIS PRESENT EVIL WORLD...." Gal. 1:4

Jesus died...Why?

To deliver us from this evil world! How insightful!

Can hardly wait! :)

Amen and Amen!

II Cor. 13: 7a, 9b

"Now I pray to God that ye DO NO EVIL.....and this also we wish, even your PERFECTION." II Cor. 13:7a, 9b

Looked up the word "perfection"...

It took me back to another word which meant "to complete thoroughly, i.e. REPAIR....or ADJUST....restore."

I thought this was a very interesting definition. I certainly need to be "repaired" and "readjusted" :)

...Someday, ah, yes, I will be completely and thoroughly restored and made PERFECT! This is our goal....that God will work perfection in us!

Willing in the Day of His Power

"Thy people shall be WILLING in the day of THY POWER..."Ps. 110:3

Ah, YES! When God's POWER comes in one's life, they will be WILLING to place all on the altar and surrender all to God...and love him with their whole heart!

This morning as I was praying and walking my log, tears came to my eyes once again....

As I looked beyond the town to the mountains that were beyond...and looked up through the trees to see the bright sunshine, I was just reminded once again that we NEED the SUN...and we need the SON.

May He shine brightly in our hearts today!

May His POWER come on us so that we are willing!

Piper's Message on Love/Hate

From Rom. 12:9...

"Let LOVE be without dissimulation. ABHOR that which is evil; cleave to that which is good."

If you can't hate, you can't love...

Piper basically says....

If you really love someone, you will HATE what is hurting/killing them...

Some of his quotes....

"Genuine love must hate....in order to be love."

"Let love be genuine....Abhoring......"

"Love...Aboring."

Definiton: "Abhor...intense, inward objection..."

"You cannot be a wishy-washy,lovey-dovey, greasy, relational, not-hating anything person, and be a loving person."

Love is not always smooth.....Sometimes it involves negatives...

"If you don't hate anything in this world, you can't possibly love, because things are killing people....destroying people... dishonoring God. If you can't hate, you can't love. Love has hate in it....."

"Love is hating what is destroying people..."

"When you decide what dishonors God... you HATE it!"

"You were made to enjoy...and to display the worth of Christ to others... Therefore anything in private that you cleave to...that corrupts your enjoyment of Him or obscures your display of him is unloving to others
...even if they know nothing about it...."

This message was very good!

I ABHOR what is destroying people's lives and.... I want to DELIGHT in GOD! Amen!

Lay HOLD on Eternal Life

I Tim. 6:11-12 says, "...O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, LAY HOLD on eternal life...

To "lay hold" means to "seize"...to take the kingdom of God by force.

There are going to be many who want to make it to heaven, and they will be "crowding at the door", but they won't be able to get in....because they just aren't SERIOUS enough about it. They try to get in the "wrong way" with a "la-de-dah" attitude, and they just won't make it in. Those who are TRULY saved by grace will have the enabling grace to "run HARD after God", don't you think?

At least I want to "run HARD after God"! Who will go with me?

Hope

I listened to a sermon on Sabbath by Piper, and he more or less said that loving others is so important...but that we can think we are loving someone but not really be loving them at all....BECAUSE in whatever we do, love also involves helping a person to savor the Lord Jesus Christ and HOPE in God.

He mentioned Rom. 15:13... "Now the God of HOPE fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost."

HOPE is so important in our lives! Without it, we cannot go on. HOPE is what brings the joy and peace, isn't it?

I am also reminded about the verse in Heb. 6:19 that says that HOPE is the "anchor of the soul". It's the thing that stablizes us and gives us strength to go on.

HOPE is a wonderful thing! Hoping in God...knowing that he will answer our prayers....knowing that he will fulfill the promises (yes, even specific ones) that we feel He has promised us through the scriptures....is a wonderful thing!

I'm reminded of Rom. 15:4 that says "FOr whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we though patience and comfort of the the scriptures might have HOPE."

The O.T. scriptures contain promises even for us as N.T. believers....We can apply them to our lives and take the promises for ourselves. Praise the Lord! Amen!

Thinking of Rom. 4:18, too, where it is said that Abraham "who against hope believed in hope". Even if something seems so IMPOSSIBLE, still we can have hope because God is a BIG God!

My Heart's Cry

God is my TREASURE, but not as much as I would like....

Listening to sermons by Dr. John Piper at www.desiringGod.org have inspired me for years to "run hard after God"....but...

My heart desires Him more...and more!

I love most of those sermons by Piper, but I only wish he preached more on holiness, the outward as well as the inward life. For therein lies the truth... not one, but both are important!

True holiness is sadly lacking in most of the churches today, and apostacy is already here...

Where are the people who are truly undistracted by this world and its glitter? Where are the people who prize a deep relationship with God far above anything and everything in their lives...who truly make God their TREASURE?

Where are the people who are crying to God for revival? If you are a woman with a heart like this, I'd like to meet you. :)

The times when I have felt the Lord's presence the most in my life were times of great trial....the death of my toddler and the "deepest night" with my illness.

God is good, and I have often prayed, "Whom have I in heaven but Thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee. My flesh and my heart fail, but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever." Ps. 73: 25-26

I have longed and prayed for revival, in my own heart and in the hearts of those I love....

This morning as I was out walking my log and praying, I looked up at the most beautiful "picture"....the sun shining on the gorgeous trees with fall colors and the blue, blue, blue sky in the background. And the Lord gave me a prayer for today,

"Make us as holy and pure and spiritual, Lord, as the sky is BLUE. Amen!"

I Tim. 4:15

Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. I Tim.4:15

Our meditations on the Word of God should so change our lives....and that others will see that we are DIFFERENT....that we have profitted by our study/meditation.

The word "profiting" carries with it the idea of progress or advancement in the Christian faith....So in other words...our meditations should cause us to be more Christlike, i.e. full of love, joy , peace, longsuffering, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance....etc.

This is something I need to think and pray about today..

Definition of sin by Mrs. Wesley

"Whatever weakens your reasoning, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes away your relish for spiritual things, in short, if anything increases the authority and the power of the flesh over the spirit, that to you becomes sin, however good it is in itself."

Knowing the LOVE of Christ

"And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." Eph. 3:19

The key to being Spirit-filled? KNOWING the LOVE of Christ :)

Everlasting Arms

The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them. Deut. 33:27

I just love the picture of God holding me in His arms...FOREVER and always.....and as the enemy (the devil and all his demons) rises and advances against me.....

The Lord continues to hold me with one of His arms, and He holds out the other one and SPEAKS....."DESTROY THEM!"....and the enemy and his hosts fall to the ground and are not able to touch me at ALL! :)

Amen!

Glorifying God in Your Spirit

"For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." I Cor. 6:20

We often apply this verse in thinking about not doing things that will hurt our bodies, i.e. smoking, drinking, taking drugs, etc.

Do we often think about how our spirits are affected and hurt? How can we glorify God with our SPIRITS? What will hurt our spirits?

Narrow Way

How many of you have read Pilgrim's Progress? The mention was made this morning about the main character in Pilgrim's Progress who had a great burden on his back...the burden of sin. He was heavily weighted down by it...and ran from the City of Destruction when he knew of the way to get rid of the burden, although his family was crying "Come back! Come back!" Have we ever had a heavy weight of sin upon us? I'm afraid many so called "Christians" in America are like Pliable who just decided to follow Christian... but who haven't ever felt a heavy burden of sin on their backs. The comment was made that in order to be saved, you have to know yourself as "LOST" first. Today's "easy believism" in so many ways is not the "narrow path" but rather a broad way...He gave the illustration of a big barn with a big wide door that is opened whenever the hay truck backs in. But there is also a smaller door within the big door that you can walk through without opening up the big door..... Narrow is the Way to life.... Someone also sent me a message today that I listened to that emphasized that so much of the "so called Christianity" of today is a humanistic, "ME" religion....promising life and peace to everyone without real repentance. Shouldn't we serve God not for us but for HIM???

What Kind of Mind Do You Have?

Rom. 1

Was really impressed how the reprobate man is where he is because he has a "reprobate mind"...and the reason he has this is because he did not "retain God in his knowledge"....

It all starts in the mind, doesn't it?

Meditating also on being "spiritually MINDED" versus "carnally MINDED"....

Yes, it all starts in the MIND...

II Cor. 11:3 gives a warning that we should be careful not to let our minds get "corrupted"....

Hmmmmmm......

Thinking....

Pull Up the Weeds

When I went out to my log this morning after a season of time , it almost looked like a different place. The path up the hill was almost hidden, and the mimosas we're sprung up everywhere - even overhanging my log in places.

The devil sows the weeds to choke out spiritual like, and the mimosas taking over my "strait and narrow way log of life" was illustrative to me of this truth.

Pull up the weeds! Pull out the sins! Cut back the limbs (that's what I did) :) )....that I might see and move freely once again and walk on my log, the "narrow way" ! Amen!

Don't Wanna Turn Cold....

Do you ever feel like your heart is "all over the place"?

Do you ever feel that it is so hard to stay focused and to love God with ALL your HEART?

"Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax COLD." Mt. 24:12

This is happening NOW, and I don't want to be a part of it! Sometimes I feel like the "spirit of the age" is affecting my heart and mind more than I realize, and I don't even have a T.V. Yet I see and hear and FEEL the evil/deception and Christianity's lukewarmness all around me. Do you feel this way?

Do you often wish that you could "flee as a bird to the mountain" away from all the modern "stuff" that creates distraction and corrupting "noise"?

"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves..proud....unholy....despisers of those that are good....lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away. II Tim. 3: 1-5

I don't want to live a "form of godliness" that is not REAL.....

I don't want to be cold....

And what does it mean "from such turn away"?

Exhorting One Another

My mind is just racing this morning....as it often is...

So much I want to share that the Lord has laid on my heart... :)

I assume that all of you are very concerned also about what's going on in our country...and the difficult times that are probably coming.

More than ever we need to heed this verse in Heb.10:24-25...

"And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another; and SO MUCH THE MORE, as ye see the day approaching."


I believe Christ is coming back soon, and as things seem to get more difficult, this8all the more reason why we need to SHARE WITH ONE ANOTHER IN THE WORD...often....SO MUCH THE MORE, yes?
**-
Here's the definition for "exhorting" from Strong's concordance....

"call near, i.e. invite, invoke (by imploration, hortation or consolation): beseech, call for (be of good) comfort, desire, (give) exhort (ation), intreat, pray.

Btw, I keep forgetting the definitions of "imploration" and "hortation". :)

Imploration....earnest supplication

Hortation....giving advice to encourage

Some of us here do "homechurch" simply because our local churches are full of worldliness and deception...

SO....we must still do this verse, yes? Online, yes? :)

We need to encourage one another not to lose hope....to encourage one another to stay in the Word and prayer, to encourage one another not to lose hope.....

Spurgeon Quote

"It is blessed to eat into the very soul of the Bible until, at last, you come to talk in Scriptural language, and your spirit is flavored with the words of the Lord, so that your blood is Bibline and the very essence of the Bible flows from you."

Job 11:18

And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; yea, thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt take thy rest in safety.

This verse has been a blessing to me in the past....

I shall DIG in the WORD...and there find my hope and safety. Amen!

Jer. 15:16

"The words were found, and I did eat them; and they word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts." Jer. 15:16

Don't Let the Word Get CHOKED out...APPLY It

Mk. 4 :19 talks about cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things...that CHOKE the Word in our lives. Then the Word becomes "unfruitful" in our lives.

In other words, we read and hear the Word....yet we may not really stop and consider and meditate...and then we let things (even sometimes GOOD things) DISTRACT us....and it CHOKES the Word...and we are not changed thereby.

I don't want that to happen..... I want to be changed daily....

We must always be on guard so that the Word we "hear" each day is really HEARD by the spirit and....is not choked....but rather that we APPLY it. What things tend to CHOKE the Word in your life?

The thing that at times happens here is that I don't linger long enough...or meditate enough to "Get a Word from God for the day"...or sometimes these "other things" choke....things like getting caught up with helping the kids...or something.

O.K. So how did I APPLY this verse in my life today? By God's grace I took time to "meditate" on this verse and write these things out to YOU....because in sharing with others it becomes more "cemented" in my own heart and mind.

How have you applied a verse in your life today?

Message by Keith Daniels

Keith mentioned the quote of someone who said...

"Ye are the world's seasoning...to make it tolerable to live in!"

I think this is why the world is becoming more intolerable to live in. The Christians are no longer being salt and light.

Keith said if people can't hear the Word, they may still hear our "lives"....

He gave a testimony of how once his workplace grieved him day after day...

Once a man from his work got in the car to ride somewhere with him...and as they got out on the freeway the man started crying and saying, "Let me out of the car." He made Keith stop and let him out...and the reason was that he said Keith's LIFE condemned him....He was actually weeping and groaning by this time, but he couldn't stand to be with a man whose life condemned him.

This really made me stop and think. Am I walking close enough to God that someone might respond like that?

II Thess.2:11-12

And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

I was just impressed with the truth that the Wicked one will DECEIVE so many....

And it's a great concern to me.....

Even "professing Christians" will be deceived (v.3)....because they had pleasure in unrighteousness.....

This is very grievous....

We must have holiness in our lives in order to see the Lord, so I want to truly understand what that means. Don't you? Heb. 12:14

This is so serious....as I believe we are already in or very much near the "Great Deception".

Eph. 6:24

Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.

Something to seriously consider..

Obviously there are some that don't love Him in sincerity.....................

Phil. 2:15

"That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world: Holding forth the word of life." Phil. 2:15

Whoa!

Blameless...Without rebuke????

Do we understand what this means?

This means that nobody should be able to look at our lives and see any of our faults! YIKES!

The Lord really spoke to my heart today on this....

Who are the people who mention my faults? My DH...my children...my mom and dad.

I need to "hear" what they have to say....I need to "listen"...and I need to WORK on these specifics things, by God's grace....

So that I can grow to be "WITHOUT REBUKE...BLAMELESS"!!

O.K.

So what are the 3 things you/I need to work on?

Phil. 2:16

"Holding forth the Word of Life: that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain." Phil. 2:16

"Holding" means "to hold upon...by imp. to retain....with impl. of #3563 the intellect, i.e. mind, pay attention to....

If I'm HOLDING forth the Word.... it means I'm "meditating" on it... using my mind...holding it in my mind....meditating on it. :)

And if I'm holding FORTH the Word....it means I'm SHARING it, yes?

I hope that at the end of my life I'll be able to say that I have not laboured in vain....

How about you?

Idols

What is your idol?

Big question, huh?

I read this morning from Ezekiel 14:3-5...

"Son of man, these men have set up their idols IN THEIR HEART, and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their face....

I the Lord will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols; That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all ESTRANGED FROM ME through their IDOLS."

IDOLS....

Anything can have our "heart" and be an idol to us...yes, even good
things!

There were idols in my heart in my early marriage...idols of"beautiful, frilly curtains, perfectly matched things, pictures of my beautiful babies on the wall, beauty in the home"

The Lord had to take these idols down....

I believe my DH and children have been idols in my life as well...Yes, the "perfect family idol"....The Lord had to destroy that one, too...

If we are truly God's children he won't allow the idols to stay in our
hearts...

I also think of Mt. 15:8...

"This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me
with their lips; but their HEART IS FAR FROM ME."

There are so many things that have people's hearts.....a business, music, "to be the perfect Prov. 31 woman", perfect children, an immaculate house,and on we could go...

The question is "Where is my HEART?" What do I think about most? What takes up most of my time? Is God totally leading in it and in the middle of it or not? Is He FIRST? Are my thoughts continually drawn to Him?

I also read Ps. 10:4 this morning...

"The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after
God: GOD IS NOT IN ALL HIS THOUGHTS."

Very interesting, huh? A wicked person doesn't have God in all his
thoughts.

Do we have God in all our thoughts?

Searching questions!

Well, I was talking to a friend this awhile back about marriage for our children, and she said, "The most important thing is that the prospect is a man that loves God with all his heart!"

Well, how can you tell if a person really loves God with all his heart? By what he talks about! Are His thoughts and words centered on God and on His Word?

Good gauge to go by, I guess...and unfortunately I don't know very many young men anywhere like that, do you?

Meditating.....

Comments?

Holiness

Heb. 12:10..."Follow.....holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord."

Jonothan Edwards said... "Holiness is universal agreement with the will of God in behavior and attitudes"

..... Interesting... It's the "outward" and the "inward"....The behavior and the attitudes both!

The attitudes are VERY important, but so many people today seem to think it's only " what's in the heart that counts!"

BUT what you DO is important, too!

He also talked about pursuing holiness with zeal and diligence....

It isn't so easy in this "lazy, entertainment crazed 21st century" to pursue holiness with zeal and diligence....perhaps mainly because it is such a LONELY path to take.

Prov. 25:2

"It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter." Prov. 25:2

How do we know what is right and wrong? How do we know what is truth?

We are "kings and priests" of God.... and God will speak to us through His Word....

But many things are concealed in the Bible......

The Bible does have the answers! But God wants us to SEARCH!

Does God speak to you DAILY from His Word?

Does God speak to you DAILY from His Word...even in a small way?

Is there at least one verse that you can "hang on to" and apply to your life each day?

Here is my challenge for you....for me... Let us not leave our daily Bible reading until we have a verse...a thought....to share with someone else that day! :)

Rev. 3:2-3

Rev. 3:2-3 "Be watchful and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die...Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent."

"Be watchful" means to keep spiritually AWAKE!

The "spirit of the age" is one of noise and confusion that blocks out the "still small voice" of God. It seems almost everyone is being lulled into a state of spiritual slumber just like an old man who falls asleep as he watches the T.V. screen at midnight. He cannot keep his eyes open...

There is an "urgent message" for the true Christians in our day - STAY AWAKE! Fight against the spiritual slumber where all around you people are "conking out" - just like heads that are beginning to nod and eyes that are shutting as the preacher drones on and on...on a hot, lazy afternoon after a big meal.

WAKE UP! WAKE UP! STRENGTHEN the things which remain! STRENGTHEN the little spark of life within you! The word "strengthen" means "To set fast, turn resolutely in a certain direction, CONFIRM, stablish, stedfastly."

It's a battle! It's a spiritual fight! WAKE UP, oh ye sisters...ye that are true saints of God! "Hold fast, and repent!" "Fast" means "possess", seize, retain, keep in memory". These are words of action, and we must get serious - or we'll fall asleep and become a part of the "great falling away". ( II Thess. 2:3)

How can we keep from falling asleep?

1.Prayer
2.Deep study of the Word and applying it to our lives
3.Comforting and exhorting one another
4.Witnessing

A Real Christian-Quote by Tozer

"A real Christian is an odd number anyway.

He feels supreme love for One whom he has never seen,

talks familiarly every day to Someone he cannot see,

expects to go to heaven on the virtue of Another,

empties himself in order to be full,

admits he is wrong so he can be declared right,

goes down in order to get up,

is strongest when he is weakest,

richest when he is poorest,

and happiest when he feels worst!

He dies so he can live,

gives away so he can keep,

sees the invisible,

hears the inaudible.

and knows that which passes knowledge.

The man who has met God is not looking for something-he has found it.

He is not searching for light-upon him the Light has already shined!..."

Man's Chief End

"Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever!"

I Tim. 4:15

"Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee."

I think the progression here is interesting. In being able to truly help someone spiritually, the first step is "meditation" in the Word.

"Meditate" means "to take care of - revolve in the mind..."

REVOLVE IN THE MIND....

Think through the issues. Ask the questions. Search for answers. Meditate!

Then...give thyself WHOLLY to the scriptures! WHOLLY...COMPLETELY! Let God and His Word be your LIFE! Apply it and let it CHANGE your life! :)

Why? So that thy PROFITING (i.e. progress, advancement in the kingdom of God) will appear to all. So that others will SEE that the scriptures are changing your life and making you a holy person!

And the EXAMPLE of a life lived with true and holy doctrine....the example of a life lived saturated and changed by the holy Word of God....will change the lives of others, too! Amen!

Lay HOLD on Eternal Life

I Tim. 6:12 says..."lay HOLD on eternal life".

To lay hold means "to seize". This reminds me of Mt. 11:12, ".....the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force."

The word "violence" here means "to crowd oneself into". There are going to be many people that crowd heaven's door, but there is going to be no entrance for them...because they were trying to get in the "wrong way"...by works or whatever... rather than through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

But then, only those whose hearts are really changed and made holy will be those with "true faith". There IS a spurious faith, a "false one" that is not real. The REAL one produces holiness in the life and a "whole-heartedness" for God. "Follow peace and HOLINESS without which no man shall see the Lord."

Mt. 11:12 seems to indicate that those who really make it to heaven will be those who are violent (i.e. a "forcer"). Doesn't this imply that we cannot at all live a "half-hearted" Christianity? We must be SERIOUS, totally serious! Lukewarmness Christ will spew out of his mouth! Where is MY heart? How serious am I about living whole-heartedly for Christ?

Am I DISTRACTED? My prayer is that God will give me grace to lay aside all weights that keep me from running HARD after God! And you?

Commitment of a Young African Pastor

I'm part of the fellowship of the unashamed.

I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made.

I'm a disciple of Jesus Christ.

I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still.

My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure.

I'm finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colourless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap living, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity.

I don't have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded.

I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer, and labour by power.

My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way rough, my companions few, my Guide reliable, my mission clear.

I cannot be bought, deluded, or delayed.

I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won't give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, preached up for the cause of Christ.

I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work till He stops me. And when He comes for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me…my banner will be clear!

{This is a commitment found in the office of a young African Pastor in Zimbabwe}

Psalm 1

My bible was open to Psalm 1 this morning....

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night."

I was impressed once again of the sharp contrast here....

Which will we choose?

The counsel of the ungodly....worldly newspapers, magazines, music, radio, movies, etc. VERSUS the Word of God.....

In moments of leisure, which will we choose?

What is our DELIGHT? Day and night?

Puppy on the Log

I was walking my log and meditating again this morning, and our puppy...who is getting bigger...is beginning to be a real nuisance! He's watched me walk this log so much... and he is finally big enough to get on it and walk it too! :)

Today he was really being a nuisance and was in my way! I kept knocking him off, and then he would jump back up and nip at my heels....nip at my heels...nip at my heels!

The log to me is a picture of the "straight and narrow way" that I must keep walking "no matter what"... and the dog is a picture of the flesh and the devil in my way...and the sins and "weights" of Heb. 12:1. I MUST lay them aside...and resist! I must "keep on keepin' on" walking this straight and narrow path...by God's grace. Amen!