355 - “Called and Kept” Jude 1

 

White and Tried. This life. Go your way til the end of this year, til the end of all days. 

"Amid the crash of matter and the wreck of worlds,
the Lord Jehovah will preserve His own." C. Spurgeon
We need not fear.  Let us go on our way.
Find rest for our souls.  This world knows so little.
When have we truly been at rest in our souls?

Go.
Rest.
Stand.
This is your lot.
This is your life.
No fiery furnace.  No den of lions.
Can keep us from walking with God.
May we become a parade of pleaders who won't let go.

Who will keep on.
To the end of our days.

 100 Years Ago … Charles Spurgeon wrote:
May we live - "calm resolute in duty, brave in conflict, patient in suffering,
let us go, keeping to our road, and neither swerving from it nor loitering in it." (Spurgeon)

Jude 1:24 ~ Now to Him Who is able
to keep you from stumbling and
to present you blameless before 
The Presence of His Glory with Great Joy.
To the Only God, our Savior
Be Glory, Majesty, Dominion, Authority
Before all time and now and Forever.  Amen

PHOTO:  Thinking about the end of times, the mountains laid low, the earth burned up. Jude 1:1,2 ~ To those who are called and kept...
May Mercy, Peace, and Love be multiplied to you.

354 - Surrounded by Thunder and Whispers and Oxygen and a Voice” 2 Timothy 1-4

                                                                         

But this.  This Word of God.  I gave this to my children.  Early.  Surrounded by the Sound of Thunder and Whispers and Oxygen and that Voice.  And I have to hold on to that.  And I have to let go ownership of anything but the Grace of God on our lives, our family, our ministry, our world.

"But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Word of God, which is able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." 2 Tim 3:15

Let us all grapple with this Word of God.  Bring it to their minds, O God!

"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work."  2 Tim 3:17

Fight the good fight.

Finish the race.

Keep the faith.

2 Tim 4:7

It's a verse I have prayed for my youngest boy since the day he went to college. 

PHOTO:  This Word of God—-may it have run of our house as the sun sets on this year.

353 - “Faith is Proof of Things Not Seen” Hebrews 9-13

                                                                        

Let's count Him faithful this year.

"Faith is assurance of things hoped for,
proof of things not seen."  Heb 11:1

Even people like Sarah herself
because she counted him faithful Who had promised. 

Even people like Abel, taken from this world,
His faith still speaks loudly.

We write and speak and talk conclusory.
People in motion tend to stay in motion.
Unless an equal or opposite force intercepts, interjects.
The Bible is history, prose.
It gives reasons why the conclusory statements are made.
Sarah believed,
Abel believed,
you believe,
I believe,
because we add it all up and count The One
as faithful no matter the barren circumstances.

We are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses.
Let us lay aside every weight and sin which so easily besets us.
So can we lay aside what bothers, what weighs on us
because of all those witnesses who have gone before?

Let us run with patience the race that is set before us.
Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith.

PHOTO: Ran a mile or so and found this little church and bent low in prayer and hope. Run patiently. Run better than the last mile. Race well. 

352 - “We Are All Ships At Sea” Hebrews 5-8

                                                   

Things are not really as they seem.

There are Things God is doing that we know not of.

There are Things we are doing that will not be what they are today.

There is Someone greater than every person on the face of this earth.
There is an Anchor for our soul, safe and secure. Heb 6:19.

"We are in this world as a ship at sea, tossed up and down, and in danger of being csast away.  We need an anchor to keep us sure and steady."  Matthew Henry

Gospel Hope.

Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest.  Heb 6:11.

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.  Heb 6:12.

There is a sure look for Good Things promised in His Favor.  Love.  Desires.  Values.  Comfort.  God's purposes for our eternity.  Set your affections above not banely below.  Go forward in the "doctrine" of Christ.  Fall Forward in the Truth.  Taste the Truth.  Drink it in!  Urge your conscience full throttle froward to live by the truth.

And never forget Hebrews 1:3 God upholds all things by the word of His power. Things, as they seem this day, are really not what they will be. I may be stuck thinking that this is just a horrible situation when it really may not be anything but the watercourse directed by God in our lives.    

351 - “TODAY, if you hear His Voice” Hebrews 1-4

                                                                 

Hebrews 1:2 - God holds everything together by what he says—powerful words!  Hebrews 1:2

WATCHING GOD WORK...DON'T REFUSE HIS PLAN "A"
"So, my dear Christian friends, companions in following this call to the heights, take a good hard look at Jesus. He's the centerpiece of everything we believe...now, if we can only keep a firm grip on this bold confidence...Today, please listen; don't turn a deaf ear as in the bitter uprising, that time of wilderness testing! Even though they watched me at work for forty years, your ancestors refused to let me do it my way." Hebrews 3:1-10.  A Christmas hope...watching God work His Plan A and finding my rest in God Alone.

ENTERING HIS REST….DATE IS SET FOR “TODAY”
We have received the same promises as those people in the wilderness, but the promises didn't do them a bit of good because they didn't receive the promises with faith. If we believe, though, we'll experience that state of resting.   Hebrews 4:2.  God keeps setting the date back to "Today" ...  And so this is still a live promise. It wasn't canceled at the time of Joshua; otherwise, God wouldn't keep renewing the appointment for "today." The promise of "arrival" and "rest" is still there for God's people.  Hebrews 4:7-10.

LISTENING TO GOD...HIS WORDS LAY US OPEN
God means what he says. What he says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon's scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey. Nothing and no one is impervious to God's Word...We have a high priest with ready access to God.  Hebrews 4:12 -15 Today.
If you hear His Voice.
Do not harden your hearts.
Today. Heb 3:15

The Author of our Salvation suffered.
It's a peculiar thing to glory in the Cross.
Peculiar to arrogant minds beneath this.
It's our Savior. 
The Perfect Sacrifice. 
Sinless.
Not us.
But when we are first tempted.
We have been provided for, a way out.

Today.
If you hear His Voice.

The Lord is Mighty to save.  He will save us!
He will be God to us!  He will be our All!
The Mighty One!  For the least of all.  For the worst of all.
The Lord is in our midst, Zephaniah 3:17
the Mighty One to save.
He will rejoice over us.
No matter what has happened to us---what shame, contempt, dishonor---
the LORD will honor us.  He will take care of His own.

In this life there will be tribulation.
Many are the troubles of the righteous,
but the LORD delivers him from all.
We can always rejoice in the love of our God.
No matter what befalls.

PHOTO: The Sun peeked over the horizon and the brilliance silently screamed. 

350 - "Joy Unspeakable in Difficulties" 1 Peter 1-5

                                  

We have so much cause to rejoice.
But some of us are stuck.
Some of us are strapped.
Some of us are sinking.
Now, for a little while,
you have been "put to grief" in various trials.
I Peter 1:6

"Though now you don't see Him,
yet believing,
you rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable
and full of glory."
I Peter 1:8
Yes, those moments that cannot be conjured.
The joy even in the midst of difficulties---
well there are no words in the English dictionary
to describe what God has done and is doing.

So we move forward in the theme of this book:
in holiness and in brotherly love.

How can I move in the mess I am in?  How can I rejoice in these all-consuming trials we face---the ones common to man.  Am I even asking the right questions?  So many verses focus on enduring trials not eliminating them---and how to endure, persevere, revel, rejoice.  Father, we ask for Your Guiding Hand of Grace.

PHOTO: Problems crashing against the wall of our hearts. We still have an Anchor. 

349 - "Pay Attention to Yourself" I Timothy 4-6

I Tim 4:12-16 Let no man despise your youth; but be an example to those who believe, in word, in your way of life, in love, in spirit, in faith, and in purity. Until I come, pay attention to reading, to exhortation, and to teaching. Don’t neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the elders. Be diligent in these things. Give yourself wholly to them, that your progress may be revealed to all. Pay attention to yourself, and to your teaching. Continue in these things, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you. 

What is the point here. 

Pay attention to reading, exhortation, teaching. 

Don't neglect the gift. 

Be diligent. 

Give yourself wholly. 

Pay attention to yourself, to your teaching. 

There is no more significant hour than right- now. 

Thousands of years ago, You told us "pay attention to yourself."  Father, what happened to us?  We are a people who do not listen; who weigh not the words about our lives; who live detached from the reality of how we come across.  How will we know if we do not pay attention to what we are reading, hearing, teaching, saying.  Oh Father, help us!

PHOTO:  It used to be a dump.  Now, it's a landmark.  What happened.  People cared.  They paid attention.  Do I really know how I am coming across to people every day?  

348 - "The Captain of our Soul" I Timothy 1-3

The goal of this command is love,
out of a pure heart
and a good conscience
and sincere faith.
I Tim 1:5
So wage the good warfare.
And the warfare is against sin.
And we have a Captain of our soul,
an Author of our salvation.

Here it is.
A charge.
This church had the Scripture to give them direction how to pray.
And so do we.
Petitions, prayers, intercessions, givings of thanks, made for all men,
especially those who are in authority,
that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness.
I Tim 2:2
There it is again.  Lead a quiet life.

We long to make petitions, prayers, and intercessions that we truly may live a quiet life in all godliness.  It's a beautiful thing.  To be able to rest from all the striving to be somebody in this life.  To trust the Captain of our soul.  Thank you for giving us the Word as our counsel and direction for our lives.  This day.  Always.

PHOTO:   This Word of God.  It was the same texts that they had thousand of years ago.  Same counsel.  Same direction.  Same life.  And it is ours for the reading every single day.  We read the Word and the Word reads us.  Photo Credit:  Flickr Commons.  

347 - "After You've Done Everything, Stand" Ephesians 5-6; Titus 1-3

Put on that full armor of God
so that when evil creeps by,
You may be able to stand your ground!
And.
After you have done everything to stand.
Stand firm:
Truth buckled around your waist.
Righteousness braced in place.
Peace fitted on feet.
Faith lifted like a shield.
The Word embraced on like helmets.
Mystery declared through prayer.
Eph 6:13-17

"Pray in the Spirit on all occasions
with all kinds of prayers and requests."
All kinds.  No limit here.

My struggle is not against my family, my world.  My struggle is against the rulers and powers of this dark world.  Therefore.  Help me stand my ground today.

PHOTO:   Stood at this remote state park on one of those days when I had done everything to stand.  Still standing on truth.

346 - "Immanuel---God With Us" Ephesians 1-4

345 - "The Text Rightly Divides" Philemon; Colossians 1-4

                                                       

Rightly dividing this Word of God.
I cannot get away from the text changing our lives.
Every time we hear the Word of God, that text should stir up and birth holiness.
This Word comes to you.
This Word brings forth fruit.  Col 1:6
And love emanates. 
No worldly love based on pleasures and feelings and compatibility.
Love in the Spirit based on genuine grace-filled full-fledged falling-forward.
The text rightly divides.

"For which I labor, striving according to His Working,
which works in me mightily."  Col 1:29

O God! It is Your Power which works in me mightily---that is unbelievable.  May we all deeply know this day that You are at work in each of us.  Make our souls prosper, O God. Col 2:1

PHOTO:  Home. No More. Rightly divide this Word O God!

 

344 - "Let the Word Have the Run of Your House" Philippians 1-4

                                                  

What if we don't like the place where we are.
The things that are happening to us.
The things that are not happening to us.

Paul writes,
"I have no one else like-minded (like Timothy), who will truly care about you." Phil 2:20.
So.
What if what we have to offer----no one really wants it.  What do we do then?

Well, we rightly divide the Word of God.

Let the Word of God have run of your house.
We live by the Truth, longing for holiness, serving out of dutiful hearts.
With willing hearts.
With full-faced front lives on the line.
With upright words.
With motives turned outward to all.

We may prefer affirmation---someone notice what I'm doing; someone throw me a word.
We may prefer comfort---don't let the other shoe fall, no---no more.  Enough.
We may prefer peace---being safe at all costs; no bad reports.

"This I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and all discernment; so that you may approve the things that are excellent."  Phil 1:9-10

May we choose Truth, Holiness, and Service over our own selves. 

COME BOLDLY:  Timeless Prayers
When life doesn't fall like we thought it would, may we fall face forward before You and stand in Grace to live and fall face forward in this muddled world of ours. For, You give no armor for our backs.  Help us to stand forward and tall today.  Be the Lifter of our heads that we may plow forward through tears. Show us, this day, how our love can abound a little more than yesterday.  May we live by the Truth, walk in Holiness, and sacrifice in Service rather than living for our own affirmation, our own comfort and our own safety.

PHOTO: It's a spot I frequent where God does stuff in the rain for me. Rain! Rain!  
 

343 - "Shipwrecked in the Harbor of my Heart" Acts 27, 28

Shipwrecked----got any of your own shipwrecks?
Stripped----feel like you've lost a few things?
Favored----finding favor with the captain of the prison, unheard of!

Paul was given undisturbed freedom to preach the Gospel on this island to a barbarous people.  This was no small thing for God to do.  This island welcomed the shipwrecked.  May we find favor where we are shipwrecked today. We all have equal standing at the foot of the Cross. Beat above this world, oh heart of mine.  

276 people could see a land they had never seen before.  Acts 27:39.

For two deadly weeks, the ship weathered the Northeaster, a tempestuous terrible wind.

Yet.

All make it safely to shore.

But.

First, they shipwreck in the harbor.

Some commentaries speak of the story as a metaphor of our own journey.  

"The ship that had weathered the storm in the open sea, where it had room, is dashed to pieces when it sticks fast. Thus, if the heart fixes in the world in affection, and cleaving to it, it is lost. Satan's temptations beat against it, and it is gone; but as long as it keeps above the world, though tossed with cares and tumults, there is hope for it." Matthew Henry.

Things may not be all right in this life.  We may just shipwreck right smack dab next to shore.  What is security?  Tribulations will come but they also will pass.  In God's time.

PHOTO:  No sun by day.  No stars by night.  A very dark night of the soul.  Violent storms.  Two weeks without food.  Yet, not a hair on their head perished.  

342 - “It Is Not Enough To Have Your Eyes Opened” Acts 25-26

                                                           

Is my hope in what this world offers me this day? 

I hope all goes well here.

I hope I am appreciated.

I hope there will be a break.

I hope this ends soon.

All hopes rooted in the earth.

What hope do I hold this is rooted in God.

The God Who raises people from the dead.

"And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our ancestors that I am on trial today."  Acts 26:6

Expose the roots rotten to the core of this world.  

Raise the roots that boast hope in what You have promised.  

" A world that lies in wickedness must be sanctified and reformed; it is not enough for them to have their eyes opened, they must have their hearts renewed; not enough to be turned from darkness to light, but they must be turned from the power of Satan unto God. "  Matthew Henry. 

"For I have appeared to you for this purpose ... 

to open their eyes, 

so that they may turn from darkness to light and 

from the power of Satan to God." 

 Acts 26:18.

Paul makes a persuasive point:  "none of these things have been done in a corner."  How can we possibly not think about what Jesus did and let it impact us?  

I am persuaded we do not wrestle well with this life of ours.  How many times we hear in a day, "Everything is going to be just fine."  This message Paul preaches is not a popular message.  There are no steps to figure out life.  Herod Agrippa II said it himself:  "If Paul had not appealed to Caesar, he could have been released."  Even Agrippa knew that Paul abandoned his life to the the will of God.  Surrendered.  Forever.

This persuasion of Paul is gripping.  May we be willing to surrender even if it means things are not going to be okay in our day.  This is no prosperity Gospel I read.  Change my mindset.  Renew my heart to care most about You and not what is happening to me.

PHOTO:  Pondering what it means that everything may not be all right in this life.  Cancer, rape, multiple miscarriages, loss. We are here for Him—-to become “little Christs” as C.S. Lewis says. My youngest looking out on his future at a ranch in Marble Falls. We don’t know what life holds for us but  . . . 

341 - “I Strive Not I Will” Acts 24

                                                           

It's how we live.  "I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man." Acts 24:16. 
I strive.  Not, I will.
I strive.  Telling word.
Before God.
Before man.
I strive.  

This Paul is found to be a "pestilent fellow." Acts 24:5.  A powerful follower with an eye to the Audience, the only Audience, that counts.  What am I really living for?  Is it the approval of men? 

The speech of Tertullus reveals an accomplished man, unrest in his ways.  

He looks to punish Paul for the good he is doing. 

What truly matters here in this life?  Upside down.  What if we think that what we think and do is right and it's really not.  Do we have people in our lives who can offer us

Father, turn my life right side up.  This life of men is strongly pulled by the methods of this world who values accomplishment and accolades. 

PHOTO:  Pondering this.  Picture what it looks like to be successful---do I have to have that?

340 - “Reveal A New Attitude Toward Suffering” Acts 20:4 - 23:35

                                                          

"We are not alive in this world in order to experience God or to enjoy the blessings of a comfortable life. If that were God's purpose, He would have brought you into His Presence in heaven the moment you were forgiven and adopted into His family. Your purpose until you die is to reveal a new attitude toward suffering and a new agenda in prayer that flows out of your new purpose in life that makes sense only if you claim your new hope of resurrection." Larry Crabb 

In all of this opposition in these chapters, they pray not for protection from suffering but for boldness in testifying. They were committed to their new-found purpose and dependent on God's power. Opposition like this would sideline most. Not Paul. May we live with eyes fixed on our purpose for being here. "I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me---the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace." Acts 20:24 

All those hardships, sleepless nights, shipwrecks, merciless beatings. "None of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of the Grace of God." Acts 20:24

The Kingdom stirs in this heart. And it's a beautiful calling. This Gospel of Grace. And it is this Grace that builds us up. Acts 20:32. We all need to be built up this day, this moment.

PHOTO:  The Hill Country.  Reflecting on this Gospel of Grace\ and a new attitude toward suffering. 

$3,000 was taken out of our hand today and I lost it. I wonder why. 

339 - “Only One Unpaid Debt” Romans 13-16

                                                       

Owe no one anything, except to love one another.  Romans 13:8.  Our time is always drawing near.  We are one day closer to the day when we see Jesus face-to-face.  "It is already time for you to awaken out of sleep." Romans 13:11.  If we are spiritually dead, what good comes from our lives?  Why do we neglect the commandments of God and not give deep pensive thought to what stirs within?  

Paul teaches us everyday life-giving truths we must face every single day. 
* Wake up
* Consider your busy times
* Mind your own ways
* Mend your own pace
* Make yourselves ready
* Dress your own souls
The time is now.  This moment.  This day in our history.  What will we do with this Christ?   Far too many slumber in spiritual deadness, neglecting the tugging of their souls for God.  When it's really dark in our houses and hearts, what do we entertain?  We are either moving toward Light or stumbling in the dark.  

Observe what we must put on; how we should dress our souls. Put on the armour of light. 

For none of us lives to himself.  Romans 14:7

Now to Him Who is able to establish you according to my Good News and the preaching of Jesus Christ...and by the Scriptures is made known for obedience of faith."  Romans 14:25.

It is our God Who establishes us.  I have no better words to use for the weighty Shawl of Light we must find in our every days.

COME BOLDLY:  Timeless Prayers
Dear Father, There are way more of us spiritually dead than Christ followers will ever admit.  What can we do to wake up?  This frozen state of mind, these icy words, these chilling thoughts, these apathetic brain freezes, this dead-as-a-doornail heart---thaw out every one of us!

PHOTO:  Sitting by a tiny sea.  Not very deep water. But oh the depths of God!  Thinking about what it means to walk fully awake, fully alive, drenched in Light.

338 - “Making Your Life Better or Drawing Closer” Romans 9-12

                                                                        

1 Chronicles 25:9 - Twenty-four men are part of this remnant and they are needed to worship God in the temple.  Each had 12 sons and brothers.  Amazing plan.  Fast Forward.

Each of us is part of that chosen remant today.  Part of God's Plan A.  Romans 11:5 - a "chosen remnant of grace" for this moment to worship our God.  Repentant Worship! " I Chronicles 22:1 shows this restored community that everything, even their failures, points them to the priority of putting Me first in their lives.  My Son made that possible.  He is your ticket to the party.  You will enjoy that hope only in the temple."  66 LL.  And where is the Temple today?  I Cor. 6:19-20 says our body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit.  Not our own!  Bought with a price!  Therefore glorify God and worship Him alone~

"When you feel empty tomorrow, when life's troubles and disappointments continue, you will be tempted to devote more energy to making your life better than to drawing closer to Me.  It is not easy to practice the priority of rebuilding the temple over rebuilding your life.  And it's difficult even to know when you're violating it."  So, what captures my energy this day?  Am I trying to make my life better or more concerned about drawing near to God?

PHOTO:  Bev at Rockport.  Desiring to devote more energy to drawing closer to God rather than making my life better.

337 - “Wordless Groans” Romans 5-8

                           

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. Romans 8:18-19.

And the Spirit Himself intercedes for me in wordless groans. Romans 8:26.  That is so dear.  

We are never left to ourselves in all our infirmities---from Job to Paul.  Many.  Terrific trials. 
"The Holy Spirit is the spring of all desires toward God, which are often more than words can utter" right smack dab in the middle of what we face this day.

Nothing can come between our soul and glory.  

We stand slapjacked in sheer awe.  Swallowed up in mid-air.  

Wondering about all this height and depth, length and breadth

of the Love of Christ.  

That I may See You between my soul and Glory.  

That I may wonder about all this height and depth of your love; about the length and breadth of your love.

That I may hear and speak wordless groans.

PHOTO: Quarries Lake where I go to listen. Where I go to wonder. Where I go to pray.  

336 - “Serve The Creator Not the Creature” Romans 1-4; Acts 20:1-3

                                                    

We open a book today, the Book of Romans, that Paul writes to one church in Rome.  Paul had never crossed into the city yet his heart of obedience floods through the Roman gates.  This letter to the Romans is inspired by God.  Every weighty word.  A theology of obedience of faith. Love for these people whom Paul had not even met.  A Vision for their holiness because---they "served the creature rather than the Creator." Rom 1:25.  

God gave all of us a Book.  2 Kings 22:10.  Yet, these Romans' vision was like the words of a book that were sealed shut. Isa 29:11.  They draw near to God with their mouth and honor Him with their lips but their hearts are far from Him.  Isa 29:13.

Oh God, thank you for this Book.  
And I praise you for my friends who are faithful to You.
And I pray for each friend who reads here about your Vision, your inspired words.   For what we weep for this day, for our deep cares, may your Vision not delay.  Come Lord Jesus on all of us that we may serve Our Creator and not created things.  Draw our hearts near to You! Paul proves that Jews and Gentiles stand upon the same level ground before the justice of God. Rom. 2:10. What I may not see, God directs. Leave the matter in his lap.  

Father, things may be passing us by. May we seek things above. May I make my ambition to lead a quiet life. I Thes 4:11. This lull that I face, lighten my darkness. I trust. 

PHOTO: The sun sets over ATX, over the Barbour of my soul. Things are not right. God has grasped me tight in this Place. I trust. Let. It. Go.  

335 - “An Abiding Place of Peace” 2 Corinthians 12-13

                                                                 

"Finally, brothers, rejoice. Be perfected, be comforted, be of the same mind, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s love, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all." 2 Cor 13:13. 

"God is the Author of peace and Lover of concord; 

He has loved us, and is willing to be at peace with us. 

And let it be our constant aim so as to walk."  M. Henry.

How do you live in peace?

Live holy. Live wholly. 

Dear Giver of Life & Author of Peace,

Grant us this day an abiding place of peace we know not. 

Help us live genuine and gentle and giant. 

To God be the Glory. Peace that is greater than all our sin. 

PHOTO:  Standing at this shoreline watching the sunrise. Oh to know what peace looks like when those you love walk away. 

334 - “DO NOT APPLY” 2 Corinthians 10-11

People are cruel sometimes.  Life deals hard blows as the sun rises, even to Paul.  There are times in all of our lives when God does not take away our troubles but leaves them in tact. Yet, God gives enough Grace to face what would have destroyed us. 

 "Grace signifies the goodwill of God towards us, and that is enough to enlighten and enliven us, sufficient to strengthen and comfort in all afflictions and distresses." His Strength is made perfect in our weakness. His Grace lives and multiplies in us. When we are weak, then we are strong in Grace. 

 Dear Friend, I've never felt so weak yet so strong. Go to Christ to receive from Him the Divine Power to war not according to your flesh but with Divine Power. I've never seen both of these verses together: 10:4 and 12:8. Warring in the flesh. II Corinthians 10:4. Warring in the Divine Power. Grace multiplying in our admitted weaknesses, signifying the goodwill of God to me to wake me up and get me back on my feet and strengthen me and comfort me where I sit this night.

Therefore...what's the therefore there for?

We demolish
every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God.
2 Cor 10:5

There are a thousand stories all around me.  Yet. 
They cannot disprove or make me doubt. 
They cannot silence me, confound me, confuse me. 
Because we live not by circumstance or attitude.  We live by faith. 
All those standards of this world, DO NOT APPLY. 
They are full of air, high-towering thoughts that don't count for eternity. 
Cast down those things you've crowned. 
Be enlightened by the Only One Who matters. 
In all our service, we bow down.  

And God says:  "My Grace is sufficient for you, for Power is perfected in weakness." II Corinthians 12:8. Not in strength.  Well-content was Paul---with weakness, insults, distress, difficulties.  "For when I am weak, then I am strong." The Good Hand of God has been strong to us in so many ways, even difficulties.   

PHOTO:  The sun rises this morning on all our calamities and confusion and circumstances. Are we well-content?

333 - “Look Off. Commend Yourself As A Servant of God” 2 Corinthians 5-9

                                                             

We are servants of God. May we remember that honor in any trial.  
For in this world, we live by faith. 2 Cor 5:7
In the next world, we will live by sight. Not yet, though.

So, we always make it our aim to be well pleasing to our Lord.

For what constrains us? It's the Love of God that constrains this day. 2 Cor 5:14.

But, in everything, commend yourself as a servant of God. 2 Cor 6:4.
And live aware of your impact on others. What stirs within you.

And look at things Unseen. Look off.

For, the Goodness of this God we serve can never be proved by the circumstances we face today. Good or bad. All the bad can never conquer the Goodness of God in all of our lives.  

PHOTO: The tracks around the corner. This journey. Servants of God. All that is wrong will never conquer God's Goodness towards me.

332 - “The Great Divide” 2 Corinthians 1-4

Looking Back

on the Labyrinth of Afflictions.

II Corinthians 1: 1 - 6.  

God comforts us in our afflictions.
God delivers us from all of our afflictions.
And we bless Him for both comfort & deliverance.
Quiet this conscience of mine in this affliction in which I sit.
Calm the raging passions flooding my mind with how I think it should be.

One of the most unbelievable experiences I have had was when II Corinthians 1:8-10 happened to me.  I was burdened excessively, beyond my strength, so that I despaired even of life.  A troubled childhood, violence, gang rape, addictions, miscarriages, and then it happened---burdened excessively.  January 13, 2006.  "Indeed [I] had the sentence of death within so that I would not trust in [myself] but in God Who raises the dead."  II Cor. 1:8-9,  He did! He raised me up from the dead.  I didn't think I was going to make it through.  Oh! Make no mistake, He raised me up to life that I've never known.  More alive than I've ever been.  More aware of the sin within than ever and I now know how to handle even that by His Grace. It's called "The Great Divide." [Oswald Chambers] I have set my hope on God, not on this world.  And He will YET deliver me even more. 

Oh! What a Beautiful God!  I wouldn't trade what I went through for anything.  It was so God working good in my life.  Always. 

"God produces a providential crisis where we have to decide---FOR or AGAINST, and from that point the "Great Divide" begins.  If the crisis has come to you on any line, surrender your will to Him absolutely and irrevocably."  Oswald Chambers My Utmost for His Highest January 1.

So…Go after a life of love as if your life depended on it, because it does. I Cor 14:1 The Message.
Love breathes in all the air of your life,
and exhales the grace and comfort that
we have been comforted with. 2 Cor. 1:4.
No selectivity in going after love.
Every moment today where I have not love,
it is relational sin ruling in my heart.
May we go after this life 
and face the hard.
"Let what you see, drive you to the precipice of unbelief.
Let what you feel bring you to the brink of despair.
If God exists, He is Good,
His Story is Loving,
His plan is on target.
The Holy Spirit will speak into the deep place in your heart
that only terrifying doubts render accessible.
And in that place, He will anchor you in Hope."  66LL

PHOTO: The place I go to pray for love after the Great Divide…
It was You, O God, who split open the sea by your power.  Psalm 74:13.  The Great Divide.  It is You, O God, splitting open this chapter with Hope in the midst of this turmoil.  Thank you for the great divides in our lives.  Thank You!

331 - “Be Steadfast, Immovable, Abounding in Work” 1 Corinthias 15-18

                                                        

This letter to Corinth ends with resurrection.
Without this hope that 
what has begun in this life for you and for me
will be brought to completion in the next,
then we would have no confidence in what we see.
There is no full revelation of God here.
The unfolding story goes on.
Will I trust in this trial that
the Unfolding of God is going forth.
I Cor 15:10 by the grace of God,
I am what I am."Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." I Cor 15:58

All because of the Resurrection.  It's doctrine that changes every facet of our lives. 

The Resurrection has great effect on believers. The doctrine should change every facet of our lives. 

Here is Paul directing a carnal Corinth church. Not the loveliest of crowds.

Paul asks the Corinthian church to do three things: (1) be steadfast, (2) be immovable, and (3) always abound in the work of the Lord.

Stable. Standing. Sure. Settled. Steadfast. Situated smack dab in the will of God. Hold fast in your faith. 

PHOTO: Just went to this Art Wall overlooking my city. Thinking about how I let too much move me in this place where I breathe. Let it go. That phone call. That word. Hold fast. 

330 - “Feel The Sacred Heat” I Corinthians 12-14

 

   

I. am. nothing. I Corinthians 13:2

One ounce of charity is more than moving mountains.
He is going to disown us if we deny what is going on in our lives.
You can't stand some people.
You avoid your mom.
You don't want to relate to the throw-aways,
especially to the elderly, like me.
We are quick to serve---sometimes.
Let's go feed the homeless and do our part.
Your hands may be open and your heart may be closed.
If you have no true love for God and goodwill to man,
the most costly things you do in life will avail you nothing.
Even suffering.  Even martyrdom.
"The outward carriage may be plausible,
when the inward principle is very bad.”
Our principle may work us up to the hardest,
but we might never embrace the True Love.
Do we feel the "sacred heat" in our hearts?
Do I enter into the secrets of my own heart?
Do I treat others with ill will
in open defiance to the law of love?

These beautiful gifts. The Grace of Love.
Patience. Kindness. Faith-filled. Sacrificial. I Cor 13:1-3.
Never self-seeking to the hurt or neglect of others.
Most scholars agree that what is meant by "charity" in this chapter is not our "common use" of the word *love*.  

"Love in its fullest meaning is True Love to God and man." Matthew Henry. Volumes could be penned about the glorious gifts of love.  For it looks like Christ and nothing can contain all the words that could have been written about Him.  

In our day, love looks like wide-open hands, lavish-generous acts, beautiful encouraging words.  But.  Without Love, all our good behavior accounts us for nothing.  Noisy gongs.  Clanging cymbals.  Shallow words.  Empty lives.  We sit to eat and fellowship; we stand to live hollow ways.  It is a heart issue:  everything, all-encompassing, done from Love to God and goodwill to all men.  

We cannot withhold our hearts from God, from our husband, from our children, from our families, from our friends, from our ministry, from our church, from our neighbors, from our world nor from any stranger.  If we do, we live a delusion, "looking for acceptance and reward for our good works which is as scanty and defective as they are corrupt and selfish."  Matthew Henry

Oh! to live a life of Divine Love!  It is our calling.  A call to never give up loving.  

Matthew Henry posed the question: "Let us ask whether this Divine love dwells in our hearts. Has this principle guided us into becoming behavior to all men? Are we willing to lay aside selfish objects and aims? Here is a call to watchfulness, diligence, and prayer."

PHOTO: Sunrise on the Lake. This Grace of Love. Clean slate every rise. 

329 - “Cling to Me As I Am or Reshape Me” I Corinthians 9-11

                                           

NO MORE MANAGING OUR LIVES:  I Cor 9:23
“Run in such a way as to get the prize … a crown that will last forever. I do not run like a man running aimlessly. I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” Paul is a free man writing this letter to Corinth. Running hard for the finish line. He lived by the letter of the law at one time. No more. This is not about how to live behavior-wise, how to manage our lives, but how to live from the heart. One Master. One Race. One Prize. One Life to Live. 

DEFEATED BY TEMPTATION: I Cor 10: 5-6. 
The same thing could happen to us. We must be on guard so that we never get caught up in wanting our own way as the Israelites did. “No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; He'll never let you be pushed past your limit; He'll always be there to help you come through it.” I Cor 10:13

NO WITCH HUNT FOR SIN:  I Cor 10:23
“Because of God's immense generosity and grace, we don't have to dissect and scrutinize every action to see if it will pass muster." But the point is not to just get by. We want to live well, but our foremost efforts should be to help others live well. And our Beautiful God’s Kindness will lead us to repentance. Romans 2:4

Hold fast to Him!  "The change I bring about comes slowly."  66 LL. An author once said:

"Either cling to Me as I AM or
reshape Me into who you want Me to be."
Larry Crabb

I've seen a few suns set in this life.  And as I read about the church in Corinth, something stirs within. 
The stakes are high to find a place for my Lord and not try to make Him fit into my life, my expectations, my rights.  Those who suffered well, are singing in the midst.  Their passion for God is all-consuming.

And it didn't matter how hard Paul or Peter fell.  They preached to themselves the Gospel of Grace as Tripp called it:  "Today in your private, life-interpreting conversation, will you preach to self the gospel of God's grace?"

"Do you study the Scriptures?  Let the Scriptures study you."  Tim Keller.  Let the Scriptures reveal our motives, our plans, and our curved-in thoughts in the midst of grocery shopping and eating sushi.

PHOTO:  Another sun sets on the 360 Bridge as I worship you and pray for You to move in all of our lives.

328 - “Providence Is Calling” 1 Corinthians 7-8

 

Divine Providence has called me.  And that makes all the difference in how I view this life of mine.

"Our comfort and happiness depend on what we are to Christ, not what we are in the world."  Matthew Henry.  But this celebrity society where I live wants me to be somebody special.  This ministry world where I live says leave a mega mark on the Kingdom of God.  And what if my life is ordinary and holy?

It is our privilege to be content with where and how and who and when God calls.  "God has called us in peace."  I Cor 7:15.  Make it our amibition to lead a quiet life.  Abiding where we have been placed by Divine Providence.

"Only as the Lord has distributed to each man, as God has called each, so let him walk."  I Cor 7:17.  "Let each man stay in that calling in which he was called."  I Cor 7:20.  "You were bought with a price.  Don't become servants of men."  I Cor 7:23.

 May we serve no man but You.  For this calling on our lives, we are marked and grateful.  Forever.  Help us this day to know a little bit deeper that it is Your Divine Providence that has placed us right where we are.  May we find our contentment in you, not in ministry or success or approval of man.  Help us all, dear God.

PHOTO:  Sitting on this tiny island reflecting on these thoughts. It is a narrow road we are on. 

327 - “Not Everything Is Beneficial” 1 Corinthians 5-6

 

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. 

I Cor 4:20

So what's the point?
It's not our well-spoken, high-sounding speech.
It's about the power that stirs within each of us.
Is it the power of God! 

Corinth is like the U.S.
They valued the gift of gab.
They held, like us, "a love for power of discourse."
God loves godliness

Matthew Henry commentary says:
"The power of the Spirit of God attests to the presence of the Kingdom of God in a church or in an individual."

I will not be mastered by anything.  

I Cor 6:12
May we all be controlled this day by the power of God.

May we all hear the stirrings of your Spirit and be used to bring in the Kingdom.  In our own lives first.  In our churches.  In our world.  It's all about power not words.  May we find Your strength, Your power, this day and always.

These Corinthians.
So ready to say:  All things are lawful for me.
But that does not mean that we can put ourselves in situations where the power of our own desires---things here on earth consume us---whatever it is that brings dishonor to God's Name.  May we and our children and friends not be brought under their power.

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies." I Corinthians 6:19-20

“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything. I Cor. 6: 12"Make it our business, to the latest day and hour of our lives, to glorify God with our bodies, and with our spirits which are His."  Matthew Henry

PHOTO:  Colorado. Black Mountain surrounding me. What surrounds my thoughts?

326 - I Corinthians 1-4

 

Called to follow Christ, not Paul, not anyone, but Him.  I Cor. 1:12
And we are where we are today because we follow Him.
God called us to pastor this little church.
And at 11:30am that morning, I sat in tremendous fear that something had gone wrong.
I was startled by an unknown voice in the church hall. 
And at that same moment, 60 miles away, a shooter entered another Baptist church.
Many are feared dead. 
Sometimes we try to evaluate our lives by what we see with our own eyes,
and we conclude that God is not protecting us in this troubled world.
But, the truth is, God is superintending all things, but not fixing every problem, righting every wrong to us, nor protecting us from everything in harm's way.  If He wanted to protect me from everything that happened, He would take me home.
The world spins on.
 God is ever Present and sees the chaos. 
And He has promised this:
"You have promised to change me, to make me enough like Your Son that I'll be able to love You and love others no matter what goes on in me or in my life.  No matter what struggle with or how many bad  things happen to me."  66LL.
So, we put our hand to the plow with tears streaming down for Sutherland Springs.
Our confidence is in You.  Our hope is in You.  Our trust is in You.
No Matter What. 
"The greater the Love,
the greater the Grief." C.S. Lewis

We can do what we think is right 
and wink at sin and blush at nothing.
My trembling speech and message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

I Cor 2:3-4,5.  Divine Power accompanying the Word of God brings men to believe in Him!

"A man may have no doubt that the sun shines, that the wind blows, that the tides rise, that the blood flows in his veins, that the flowers bloom, and that this could not be except it was from God, while he may have no power to explain these facts; and no power to meet the objections and cavils of those who might choose to embarrass him."  Matthew Henry.  Believe what you cannot understand.

325 - “Greater Than Any Fall Into Sin” Acts 18:19 - 19:41

                                                                  

Let us not be dismayed; the Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters; he can still the rage whether it be in my own heart or those I disturb. Acts 19:41. There is so much noise in my life.   My God is mightier." 

Father, the town is disrupted by disputes.  The proconsul is called on to settle the disputes.  Even the town clerk's reasoning shows that the Gospel aligns with the Roman law.  It is no disruptor of order.  And we all know the scene too well in our own hearts.  Reasoning flies out the window.  Father, disrupt our lives for good.  Make us keepers of the truth.  

Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? Acts 19:2 

The Holy Spirit is on all of us who believe. We must trust Him. Trust Truth. Not experience nor better versions nor even the blessings of this life. Trust Him. It is the power of the Holy Spirit within that is greater than anything we face; greater than any suffering; greater than any fall into sin.

PHOTO:  And, a sacred stone fell from the sky.  And, the city became a keeper of the stone.  

324 - “Grace Grows Greater” 2 Thessalonians 1-3

 

That sun will rise and grow brighter by noonday.

Just as that grace will increase and grow greater.

Grace isn't planted just one time and left alone.

The God of Peace Himself grows Grace this day.

In 2 Thessalonians 3, Paul gives thanks for the increase of grace. Where there is grace, God will increase it even more. "The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day." Pr 4:18. Shining more and more unto the Perfect Day. "We are as much indebted to God for the improvement of grace, and the progress of that good work, as we are for the first work of grace and the very beginning of it...we have as much dependence on the Grace of God for increasing the Grace we have as for planting Grace we have when we had it not." Matthew Henry.  Dependent on Grace for our next step not just the first step.  May God multiply Grace upon Grace to you this weekend. 

"May the Lord of Peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance.  The Lord be with you all!"  II Thes. 3:16.

We constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith.  We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.  2 Thess 1:11-12.  This is "owing" not to any sliver of worthiness in our lives.  It is all owing to God.  Just like the unworthy tax collector, Zacchaeus in all of us---the "free" grace of God counts you and me and Zacchaeus worthy.  The good pleasure of His Goodness wants us to live fulfilled.  All those desires for goodness---He wants them filled.  And that work of faith with power---Matthew Henry writes that it is not only an "operative grace," but it is a work of God.  His operation that He works in me and in you.  What an operation we are a part of!  And the Author of it all will be the Finisher---by His Mighty Power.  "The same hands which laid the foundation of it, raise it up, carry it on, and give the finishing strokes" to all of our desires, all done by the power of God.

PHOTO:  Quarries Lake where I go to pray. Rise up Grace! Grow Greater!

323 - “God Is Tender Toward Suffering” I Thessalonians 1-5

                                                   

I Thes 1:1 - Paul says grace to you. Oh, this day, may grace abound in the pounding of our hearts. "For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you...your faith toward God has gone forth." 

 I Thes 1:8. Is there any other way to truly live? 

 May the words of my mouth this day, 

this urgent matter at hand, 

may it be the Word, 

may my faith be known, 

not my dilemma.

For we have all turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God. And wait for Him. I'm not waiting on any man. I Thes 1:9.  Not waiting on any report.  Those are just words on a paper.  I have the true Word, the Living Word. 

And we accept this Word for what it truly is. The Word of God. Not the word of man.

Hope for a new chapter.  Hope for a better me.  Hope for new strength.  

I Thes 4:11 that you make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, and to do your own business ...

"It is very desirable to have a calm and quiet temper, and to be of a peaceable and quiet behaviour. Satan is busy to trouble us; and we have in our hearts what disposes us to be unquie; therefore let us study to be quiet." 

I think about this verse like every day. Am I moving quiet in my mind? Am I living quiet in my heart?

The news came swift on that day —- December 13, 2013 —-  and as sudden as the day closed, a newly diagnosed tumor. I was prepared for it as I went through the door of the oncologist's office. I knew. I'll visit a surgeon today. I did. The surgeon says it is nothing to be concerned about. That was exactly 10 years ago. I'm still here.   

PHOTO: Walked this pensive Pacific shore. Make it my own business to lead a quiet life.