We raise our cups this New Year's eve to our new friends and old friends. We'll take a cup of kindness yet, for Auld Lang Syne. And when Revelations 20 - 22 happens, we'll raise our toast with Adam and Eve in The Shimmering City with Gates wide open where He will wipe every tear from our eyes. Death will be gone for good---tears gone, crying gone, pain gone (Rev 20:14). And the Book of Life will judge how each man and woman has lived their life. I don't want to "miss" exchanging the days of this coming year for worthless stuff. The Bible begins with the Tree of Life in Genesis...the Bible ends with the Tree of Life producing once again.
"Blessed be the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book (Rev 22:10)." That is the immense privilege of walking with you this year for you so long with every fray of your heart to keep His Word...and you do it.
"Let the righteous maintain a straight course and the holy continue on in holiness (Rev 22:11)." Because, He is on His way here! And He is bringing His Payroll with Him. "I'll pay all people in full for their life's work (Rev 22:12)." The Bright Morning Star (Rev 22:16)! "The grace of the Master Jesus be with all of you. Oh, Yes!"
Raising a toast to each of you precious pearls on the eve of a new decade...
You've been so faithful to read His Word.
Now, Keep His Word.
Let the holy continue on in holiness.
May you be more concerned about your holiness than your comfort in 2011.
And to my friend, Larry Crabb, I raise a toast for your life is a living letter to me.
Thank you for 66 Love Letters! I'm alive in ways I have never been because of you. Psalm 50:2 says it's a Beautiful God Who is pouring out of you. And I'll close this year-long blog with a quote from Larry:
"Things are not as they seem.
Evil, though widespread, is not winning.
The Lion's roar will soon be heard.
Until then, Reign with The Lamb.
Live to Love, not Control."
Listening to 66 Love Letters Cover to Cover ~ 2013
Thursday, December 30, 2010
December 30 ... Revelations 17 - 19 "Where Are You?"
DAZZLED FORLORN
Rev 17:8 - "Earth dwellers whose names weren't written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world will be dazzled when they see the Beast that once was, is no longer, and is to come."
DELECTABLE LUXURY GONE
Revelation 18:16 "Everything you've lived for, gone! All delicate and delectable luxury, lost!" That's if your name isn't in the Book of Life.
DECLARATION OF PRAISE
Revelation 19: 1-3 "I heard a sound like massed choirs in Heaven singing, Hallelujah! The salvation and glory and power are God's—His judgments true, His judgments just."
DAY OF REJOICING
Revelation 19:7-9 "Hallelujah! The Master reigns, our God, the Sovereign-Strong! Let us celebrate, let us rejoice, let us give him the glory! The Marriage of the Lamb has come; His Wife has made herself ready. ... The Angel said to me, "Write this: 'Blessed are those invited to the Wedding Supper of the Lamb.'" He added, "These are the true words of God!"
"Where are you?" It's a question asked to Adam after he blew it and tried to hide under fig leaves. It's the same question that resonates in the Book of Revelations. Where are you? What are you struggling with? Are you really happy in life? 66 LL says: "A happy God, a very happy God, created you to be happy. And He has a plan...The happiness God gives in this life (not in the next) is discovered when we feel and embrace the profound disappointment that comes from living in a world that cannot satisfy our deepest desires and when we face and confess our entitled demand that we experience complete satsifaction now. It's then that the Spirit of God puts us in touch with the hope from which springs the faith and love that keep us dancing into other people's lives. And that's our happiness, for now. (It's not the way I expected to pursue happiness.)...It would be a good idea when we hear God asking where we are for all of us to sit quietly enough and long enough to look squarely into the unpleasant reality that nothing that we're enjoying now is guaranteed to last, that things will get rough for all of us before we die, and that the happiness we rightly long for needs a better foundqation than all the good things available in this world." So, where am I? What desires burn brightly in my soul this day AND am I still not satisfied? So am I moving toward God and His Plan A or am I hiding, distant, or neglectful.
Rev 17:8 - "Earth dwellers whose names weren't written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world will be dazzled when they see the Beast that once was, is no longer, and is to come."
DELECTABLE LUXURY GONE
Revelation 18:16 "Everything you've lived for, gone! All delicate and delectable luxury, lost!" That's if your name isn't in the Book of Life.
DECLARATION OF PRAISE
Revelation 19: 1-3 "I heard a sound like massed choirs in Heaven singing, Hallelujah! The salvation and glory and power are God's—His judgments true, His judgments just."
DAY OF REJOICING
Revelation 19:7-9 "Hallelujah! The Master reigns, our God, the Sovereign-Strong! Let us celebrate, let us rejoice, let us give him the glory! The Marriage of the Lamb has come; His Wife has made herself ready. ... The Angel said to me, "Write this: 'Blessed are those invited to the Wedding Supper of the Lamb.'" He added, "These are the true words of God!"
"Where are you?" It's a question asked to Adam after he blew it and tried to hide under fig leaves. It's the same question that resonates in the Book of Revelations. Where are you? What are you struggling with? Are you really happy in life? 66 LL says: "A happy God, a very happy God, created you to be happy. And He has a plan...The happiness God gives in this life (not in the next) is discovered when we feel and embrace the profound disappointment that comes from living in a world that cannot satisfy our deepest desires and when we face and confess our entitled demand that we experience complete satsifaction now. It's then that the Spirit of God puts us in touch with the hope from which springs the faith and love that keep us dancing into other people's lives. And that's our happiness, for now. (It's not the way I expected to pursue happiness.)...It would be a good idea when we hear God asking where we are for all of us to sit quietly enough and long enough to look squarely into the unpleasant reality that nothing that we're enjoying now is guaranteed to last, that things will get rough for all of us before we die, and that the happiness we rightly long for needs a better foundqation than all the good things available in this world." So, where am I? What desires burn brightly in my soul this day AND am I still not satisfied? So am I moving toward God and His Plan A or am I hiding, distant, or neglectful.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
December 29 ... Rev 13 - 16 "My Name is in the Slaughtered Lamb's Book"
Revelation 13: 8,9 - "Everyone on earth whose name was not written from the world's foundation in the slaughtered Lamb's Book of Life will worship the Beast. Are you listening to this? They've made their bed; now they must lie in it."
Revelations 14: 6,7 There is an Eternal Message to preach to all who ARE still on earth, every nation and tribe, every tongue and people. He preached in a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory! His hour of judgment IS COMING. Worship the Maker of Heaven and earth, fresh sea and salt water...Who can fail to fear you, God, give glory to your Name? Because you and you only are holy...
Revelation 16:7 - They poured out the blood of saints and prophets so you've given them blood to drink—they've gotten what they deserve! Yes, the Sovereign Strong will be fair and righteous. Wondering this morning whose blood will be poured out? Really wondering if my blood will be spent for what is right?
Revelations 16:15 - "Keep watch! I come unannounced, like a thief. You're blessed if, awake and dressed, you're ready for me. Too bad if you're found running through the streets, naked and ashamed." I do not want to live this coming year in shame but in surrender to the Savior who is coming again One Fine Day.
Revelations 14: 6,7 There is an Eternal Message to preach to all who ARE still on earth, every nation and tribe, every tongue and people. He preached in a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory! His hour of judgment IS COMING. Worship the Maker of Heaven and earth, fresh sea and salt water...Who can fail to fear you, God, give glory to your Name? Because you and you only are holy...
Revelation 16:7 - They poured out the blood of saints and prophets so you've given them blood to drink—they've gotten what they deserve! Yes, the Sovereign Strong will be fair and righteous. Wondering this morning whose blood will be poured out? Really wondering if my blood will be spent for what is right?
Revelations 16:15 - "Keep watch! I come unannounced, like a thief. You're blessed if, awake and dressed, you're ready for me. Too bad if you're found running through the streets, naked and ashamed." I do not want to live this coming year in shame but in surrender to the Savior who is coming again One Fine Day.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
December 28 ... Rev 9 - 12 "Live to Love Not Control"
Revelation 10
Rev 10: 8 -11The voice out of Heaven spoke to me again: "Go, take the book held open in the hand of the Angel astride sea and earth." I went up to the Angel and said, "Give me the little book." He said, "Take it, then eat it. It will taste sweet like honey, but turn sour in your stomach." I took the little book from the Angel's hand and it was sweet honey in my mouth, but when I swallowed, my stomach curdled. Then I was told, "You must go back and prophesy again over many peoples and nations and languages and kings."
"In The Diary of a Country Priest, Bernanos thought it signficant that jesus did not say, 'You are the honey of the world,' but rather, 'You are the salt of the earth.' Honey makes everything swet. Salt bites as it heals and preserves from further decay." 66 LL.
"Things are not as they seem. Evil, though widespread, is not winning. Faithfulness, though costly, is not futile. Affliction, though continuing, will end. The Lion's roar will soon be heard. Until then, reign with the Lamb. Live to Love, not Control."
Rev 10: 8 -11The voice out of Heaven spoke to me again: "Go, take the book held open in the hand of the Angel astride sea and earth." I went up to the Angel and said, "Give me the little book." He said, "Take it, then eat it. It will taste sweet like honey, but turn sour in your stomach." I took the little book from the Angel's hand and it was sweet honey in my mouth, but when I swallowed, my stomach curdled. Then I was told, "You must go back and prophesy again over many peoples and nations and languages and kings."
"In The Diary of a Country Priest, Bernanos thought it signficant that jesus did not say, 'You are the honey of the world,' but rather, 'You are the salt of the earth.' Honey makes everything swet. Salt bites as it heals and preserves from further decay." 66 LL.
"Things are not as they seem. Evil, though widespread, is not winning. Faithfulness, though costly, is not futile. Affliction, though continuing, will end. The Lion's roar will soon be heard. Until then, reign with the Lamb. Live to Love, not Control."
Monday, December 27, 2010
December 27 ... Rev 4-8 "All-About-Me Syndrome"
Soren Kierkegaard wrote:
"In spiritual matters, a person's ideas must be the building he lives in---otherwise, there is something terribly wrong."
Larry Crabb wrote:
"What's wrong with me? A spirit of entitlement. My demand to be treated well that's so often stronger than my desire to treat others well---an it's-all-about-me syndrome. An addictive attraction to pleasure or relief however I can get it. Insensitivity to my impact on others and self-congratulation for how friendly and thoughtful and funny I can sometimes be ad how helpful I am when it's convenient. I wonder if what most keeps me from going all the way with God is complacency? I think I quietly cherish the illusion that I'm really a pretty decent Christian."
Rev 4:11 Falling prostrate, they threw their crowns at the foot of the Throne, chanting,
Worthy, O Master! Yes, our God!
Take the Glory! the Honor! the Power!
You created it all;
It was created because you wanted it.
Rev. 5:4 "They wept and wept and wept that no one was found able." My tears this day are for myself, not for something so noble as this. And that is called a spirit of entitlement. LORD, have mercy on me, a sinner. Even though I've been treated poorly, are my tears for myself or for my family? Myself. Have mercy!
"In spiritual matters, a person's ideas must be the building he lives in---otherwise, there is something terribly wrong."
Larry Crabb wrote:
"What's wrong with me? A spirit of entitlement. My demand to be treated well that's so often stronger than my desire to treat others well---an it's-all-about-me syndrome. An addictive attraction to pleasure or relief however I can get it. Insensitivity to my impact on others and self-congratulation for how friendly and thoughtful and funny I can sometimes be ad how helpful I am when it's convenient. I wonder if what most keeps me from going all the way with God is complacency? I think I quietly cherish the illusion that I'm really a pretty decent Christian."
Rev 4:11 Falling prostrate, they threw their crowns at the foot of the Throne, chanting,
Worthy, O Master! Yes, our God!
Take the Glory! the Honor! the Power!
You created it all;
It was created because you wanted it.
Rev. 5:4 "They wept and wept and wept that no one was found able." My tears this day are for myself, not for something so noble as this. And that is called a spirit of entitlement. LORD, have mercy on me, a sinner. Even though I've been treated poorly, are my tears for myself or for my family? Myself. Have mercy!
Sunday, December 26, 2010
December 26 ... Rev. 1 - 3 "Listen to the Wind Words"
Rev. 1:1 - Delivered by an angel to John who was very old and alone on the Island of Patmos. John would not have been successful if judged by our ministry standards today. He wasn't surrounded by thousands but, wait, really he was without knowing it. If I obey, I may never know the results.
I long so much for what is true. 66 LL says: "I find myself longing not for more knowledge (though there's so much I don't know) but for all that I've learned and have yet to learn to be 'taken up into my life' by the Holy Spirit. I want to love well no matter how tired I am. I want to love more like Your Son whether I'm crying or I'm fighting another battle."
John listened to God and wrote this message to 7 churches in Asia from the God Who Was, Who Is, and Who Is Always About to Arrive, the Sovereign Strong (1:8).
Dear Ephesus:
Rev. 2:2 -5 "I see what you've done, your hard, hard work, your refusal to quit. I know you can't stomach evil, that you weed out apostolic pretenders. I know your persistence, your courage in my cause, that you never wear out. But you walked away from your first love—why? What's going on with you, anyway? Do you have any idea how far you've fallen? Recover your dear early love. Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches."
Dear Smyrna:
Rev. 2:9 "I can see your pain and poverty—constant pain, dire poverty—but I also see your wealth. And I hear the lie in the claims of those who pretend to be good Jews, who in fact belong to Satan's crowd. Fear nothing in the things you're about to suffer—but stay on guard! Fear nothing! The Devil is about to throw you in jail for a time of testing—ten days. It won't last forever. Don't quit, even if it costs you your life. Stay there, believing. Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches. Christ-conquerors are safe from Devil-death."
To Pergamum
Rev. 2:12 I see where you live, right under the shadow of Satan's throne. But you continue boldly in my Name; you never once denied my Name, even when the pressure was worst, when they martyred Antipas, my witness who stayed faithful to me on Satan's turf. But why do you indulge that Balaam crowd? Enough! Don't give in to them;... Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches.
To Thyatira
Rev. 2:18-19 I see everything you're doing for me. Impressive! The love and the faith, the service and persistence. Yes, very impressive! You get better at it every day. But why do you let that Jezebel who calls herself a prophet mislead my dear servants into Cross-denying, self-indulging religion? ...Then every church will know that appearances don't impress me. I x-ray every motive and make sure you get what's coming to you. Hold on to the truth you have until I get there. Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches."
Dear Sardis
Rev. 3:1-3 I see right through your work. You have a reputation for vigor and zest, but you're dead, stone-dead. Up on your feet! Take a deep breath! Maybe there's life in you yet. But I wouldn't know it by looking at your busywork; nothing of God's work has been completed. Think of the gift you once had in your hands, the Message you heard with your ears—grasp it again and turn back to God...Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches.
Dear Philadelphia
Rev 3:7-10, I see what you've done. Now see what I've done. I've opened a door before you that no one can slam shut. You don't have much strength, I know that; you used what you had to keep my Word. You didn't deny me when times were rough. ...Because you kept my Word in passionate patience, I'll keep you safe in the time of testing that will be here soon, and all over the earth, every man, woman, and child put to the test. ...Keep a tight grip on what you have so no one distracts you and steals your crown.
I'll write names on you, the pillars: the Name of my God...the new Jerusalem coming down out of Heaven. Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches."
Dear Laodicea
Rev. 3:15 -17"I know you inside and out, and find little to my liking. You're not cold, you're not hot—far better to be either cold or hot! You're stale. You're stagnant. You make me want to vomit. You brag, 'I'm rich, I've got it made, I need nothing from anyone,' oblivious that in fact you're a pitiful, blind beggar, threadbare and homeless....Up on your feet, then! About face! Run after God! Look at me. I stand at the door. I knock. If you hear me call and open the door, I'll come right in and sit down to supper with you. Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches."
I long so much for what is true. 66 LL says: "I find myself longing not for more knowledge (though there's so much I don't know) but for all that I've learned and have yet to learn to be 'taken up into my life' by the Holy Spirit. I want to love well no matter how tired I am. I want to love more like Your Son whether I'm crying or I'm fighting another battle."
John listened to God and wrote this message to 7 churches in Asia from the God Who Was, Who Is, and Who Is Always About to Arrive, the Sovereign Strong (1:8).
Dear Ephesus:
Rev. 2:2 -5 "I see what you've done, your hard, hard work, your refusal to quit. I know you can't stomach evil, that you weed out apostolic pretenders. I know your persistence, your courage in my cause, that you never wear out. But you walked away from your first love—why? What's going on with you, anyway? Do you have any idea how far you've fallen? Recover your dear early love. Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches."
Dear Smyrna:
Rev. 2:9 "I can see your pain and poverty—constant pain, dire poverty—but I also see your wealth. And I hear the lie in the claims of those who pretend to be good Jews, who in fact belong to Satan's crowd. Fear nothing in the things you're about to suffer—but stay on guard! Fear nothing! The Devil is about to throw you in jail for a time of testing—ten days. It won't last forever. Don't quit, even if it costs you your life. Stay there, believing. Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches. Christ-conquerors are safe from Devil-death."
To Pergamum
Rev. 2:12 I see where you live, right under the shadow of Satan's throne. But you continue boldly in my Name; you never once denied my Name, even when the pressure was worst, when they martyred Antipas, my witness who stayed faithful to me on Satan's turf. But why do you indulge that Balaam crowd? Enough! Don't give in to them;... Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches.
To Thyatira
Rev. 2:18-19 I see everything you're doing for me. Impressive! The love and the faith, the service and persistence. Yes, very impressive! You get better at it every day. But why do you let that Jezebel who calls herself a prophet mislead my dear servants into Cross-denying, self-indulging religion? ...Then every church will know that appearances don't impress me. I x-ray every motive and make sure you get what's coming to you. Hold on to the truth you have until I get there. Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches."
Dear Sardis
Rev. 3:1-3 I see right through your work. You have a reputation for vigor and zest, but you're dead, stone-dead. Up on your feet! Take a deep breath! Maybe there's life in you yet. But I wouldn't know it by looking at your busywork; nothing of God's work has been completed. Think of the gift you once had in your hands, the Message you heard with your ears—grasp it again and turn back to God...Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches.
Dear Philadelphia
Rev 3:7-10, I see what you've done. Now see what I've done. I've opened a door before you that no one can slam shut. You don't have much strength, I know that; you used what you had to keep my Word. You didn't deny me when times were rough. ...Because you kept my Word in passionate patience, I'll keep you safe in the time of testing that will be here soon, and all over the earth, every man, woman, and child put to the test. ...Keep a tight grip on what you have so no one distracts you and steals your crown.
I'll write names on you, the pillars: the Name of my God...the new Jerusalem coming down out of Heaven. Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches."
Dear Laodicea
Rev. 3:15 -17"I know you inside and out, and find little to my liking. You're not cold, you're not hot—far better to be either cold or hot! You're stale. You're stagnant. You make me want to vomit. You brag, 'I'm rich, I've got it made, I need nothing from anyone,' oblivious that in fact you're a pitiful, blind beggar, threadbare and homeless....Up on your feet, then! About face! Run after God! Look at me. I stand at the door. I knock. If you hear me call and open the door, I'll come right in and sit down to supper with you. Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches."
Saturday, December 25, 2010
December 25 ... II John, III John, Jude - "A Resolve to Love"
GRACE, MERCY, PEACE be with you! Conduct your lives in love! 2 John 1:3, 6
Merry Christmas!
GOOD FORTUNE, GOOD HEALTH
I pray for good fortune in everything you do, and for your good health—that your everyday affairs prosper, as well as your soul! 3 John 1:4
Jude writes to us that we are loved, called and kept safe by Jesus Christ.
RELAX, everything's going to be all right;
REST, everything's coming together.
OPEN your hearts, love is on the way!
FIGHT with All You Have in You! Jude 1:1 -2
Wondering this Christmas Day how to relax and fight?
GUARD AND CHERISH YOUR FAITH
Jude is begging that we fight with everything we have in us for this faith entrusted to us as a gift to guard and cherish. Verse 14 says that one day the Master is coming with hosts of angels in Judgment against those "grumpers" ---those who have followed a religion of whims and lusts. Jude 1: 4
BUILD YOURSELVES UP
Jude 1: 20 -21 But you, dear friends, carefully build yourselves up in this most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit, staying right at the center of God's love, keeping your arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our Master, Jesus Christ. This is the unending life, the real life!
GO EASY on those who hesitate in the faith.
GO AFTER those who take the wrong way.
BE TENDER with sinners, but not soft on sin. Jude 1:22-23.
Jude 1:24 -25 And now to him who can keep you on your feet, standing tall in his bright presence, fresh and celebrating—to our one God, our only Savior, through Jesus Christ, our Master, be glory, majesty, strength, and rule before all time, and now, and to the end of all time.
YES.
May all "our aches be transformed by His Spirit into a consuming awareness of grace and into the joys of passionate hope, or it will seduce you into accepting a reviesed version of God's Story that promises to provide now the relief God promises later."
On This Christmas Day, I wept as I read the following quote in 66 LL. It's my heartmost desire this Christmas. It's what I want for Christmas every day of the new year: "When you see something in another worthy of criticism, before you think further about that person's faults, resolve that your life will beocome an increasingly visible and humble demonstration of love." A resolve to be holy. A resolve to love. 2011.
Merry Christmas!
GOOD FORTUNE, GOOD HEALTH
I pray for good fortune in everything you do, and for your good health—that your everyday affairs prosper, as well as your soul! 3 John 1:4
Jude writes to us that we are loved, called and kept safe by Jesus Christ.
RELAX, everything's going to be all right;
REST, everything's coming together.
OPEN your hearts, love is on the way!
FIGHT with All You Have in You! Jude 1:1 -2
Wondering this Christmas Day how to relax and fight?
GUARD AND CHERISH YOUR FAITH
Jude is begging that we fight with everything we have in us for this faith entrusted to us as a gift to guard and cherish. Verse 14 says that one day the Master is coming with hosts of angels in Judgment against those "grumpers" ---those who have followed a religion of whims and lusts. Jude 1: 4
BUILD YOURSELVES UP
Jude 1: 20 -21 But you, dear friends, carefully build yourselves up in this most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit, staying right at the center of God's love, keeping your arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our Master, Jesus Christ. This is the unending life, the real life!
GO EASY on those who hesitate in the faith.
GO AFTER those who take the wrong way.
BE TENDER with sinners, but not soft on sin. Jude 1:22-23.
Jude 1:24 -25 And now to him who can keep you on your feet, standing tall in his bright presence, fresh and celebrating—to our one God, our only Savior, through Jesus Christ, our Master, be glory, majesty, strength, and rule before all time, and now, and to the end of all time.
YES.
May all "our aches be transformed by His Spirit into a consuming awareness of grace and into the joys of passionate hope, or it will seduce you into accepting a reviesed version of God's Story that promises to provide now the relief God promises later."
On This Christmas Day, I wept as I read the following quote in 66 LL. It's my heartmost desire this Christmas. It's what I want for Christmas every day of the new year: "When you see something in another worthy of criticism, before you think further about that person's faults, resolve that your life will beocome an increasingly visible and humble demonstration of love." A resolve to be holy. A resolve to love. 2011.
Friday, December 24, 2010
December 24 ... I John 1 - 5 "God Is Greater Than My Worried Heart"
DID SOMEONE REALLY SEE THIS HAPPEN?
1 John 1:2 John the Apostle, the beloved disciple of Jesus was there with Him, taking it all in. He heard with his own ears, saw with his own eyes, verified with his own hands...the Life of God took place before His very eyes.
WHO KNOWS MORE ABOUT ME THAN I KNOW ABOUT MYSELF?
I John 3:18 -24 My dear children, let's not just talk about love; let's practice real love. This is the only way we'll know we're living truly, living in God's reality...God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves. And friends, once that's taken care of and we're no longer accusing or condemning ourselves, we're bold and free before God!
AM I MAKING ROOM IN MY LOVE FOR FEAR?
I John 4:17-18 - God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us...There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love.
WHAT BRINGS THE WORLD TO ITS KNEES?
1 John 5:5 - The conquering power that brings the world to its knees is our faith. The person who wins out over the world's ways is simply the one who believes Jesus is the Son of God.
DOES MY STORY DEFINE ME?
"You are Mine. The life that defines My Son now defines you. You are alive in Me. You are alive to Me. you are alive with Me. Inexpressible joy is yours for the asking...on My Spirit's timetable." 66 LL.
1 John 1:2 John the Apostle, the beloved disciple of Jesus was there with Him, taking it all in. He heard with his own ears, saw with his own eyes, verified with his own hands...the Life of God took place before His very eyes.
WHO KNOWS MORE ABOUT ME THAN I KNOW ABOUT MYSELF?
I John 3:18 -24 My dear children, let's not just talk about love; let's practice real love. This is the only way we'll know we're living truly, living in God's reality...God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves. And friends, once that's taken care of and we're no longer accusing or condemning ourselves, we're bold and free before God!
AM I MAKING ROOM IN MY LOVE FOR FEAR?
I John 4:17-18 - God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us...There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love.
WHAT BRINGS THE WORLD TO ITS KNEES?
1 John 5:5 - The conquering power that brings the world to its knees is our faith. The person who wins out over the world's ways is simply the one who believes Jesus is the Son of God.
DOES MY STORY DEFINE ME?
"You are Mine. The life that defines My Son now defines you. You are alive in Me. You are alive to Me. you are alive with Me. Inexpressible joy is yours for the asking...on My Spirit's timetable." 66 LL.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
December 23 ... II Peter 1 - 3 "God Knows How to Rescue Me from Evil"
~TRUST THE TRUTH ~
II Peter 1:2-4 - It's the intervention of our God that is life-changing in experience. May grace and peace be many times over to you as you deepen in your experience. It's His Power that has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness. Not trusting experiences, but trusting Truth. The Way, The Truth, the Life. "You now share in My Nature. You have within you the Power necessary to resist every natural impulse that stands in the way of loving others as I love you. Neither fear, failure, nor temptation is stronger than the Divine Power available to you that can keep you walking the narrow road to life." 66 LL.
~GOD IS RESCUING YOU ~
II Peter 2:9 God knows how to rescue the godly from evil trials. And he knows how to hold the feet of the wicked to the fire until Judgment Day. Last night I awakened from a dream and could barely talk, barely breathe. It's a feeling like I am going to die. More so, a feeling that I am losing touch with reality. Can't explain it. Terrifying. Happens about twice a year. From the moment I cry out to God, it goes away and I fall right back to sleep. So grateful that He is holding me and holding evil back. Deeply moved by this verse in 2:9 with what just happened to me that there is no explanation.
~SO LIVE A HOLY LIFE ~
God's Message: "My Plan for your life is not at risk. I know how to rescue My children from their worst problem, through all their difficulties. II Peter 3:11- Live a holy life. Daily expect the Day of God. What sort of people ought you be in lives of holiness and godliness?
II Peter 1:2-4 - It's the intervention of our God that is life-changing in experience. May grace and peace be many times over to you as you deepen in your experience. It's His Power that has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness. Not trusting experiences, but trusting Truth. The Way, The Truth, the Life. "You now share in My Nature. You have within you the Power necessary to resist every natural impulse that stands in the way of loving others as I love you. Neither fear, failure, nor temptation is stronger than the Divine Power available to you that can keep you walking the narrow road to life." 66 LL.
~GOD IS RESCUING YOU ~
II Peter 2:9 God knows how to rescue the godly from evil trials. And he knows how to hold the feet of the wicked to the fire until Judgment Day. Last night I awakened from a dream and could barely talk, barely breathe. It's a feeling like I am going to die. More so, a feeling that I am losing touch with reality. Can't explain it. Terrifying. Happens about twice a year. From the moment I cry out to God, it goes away and I fall right back to sleep. So grateful that He is holding me and holding evil back. Deeply moved by this verse in 2:9 with what just happened to me that there is no explanation.
~SO LIVE A HOLY LIFE ~
God's Message: "My Plan for your life is not at risk. I know how to rescue My children from their worst problem, through all their difficulties. II Peter 3:11- Live a holy life. Daily expect the Day of God. What sort of people ought you be in lives of holiness and godliness?
December 22 ... I Peter 1 - 5 "Prepare Your Mind for Action not Comfort"
"May everything good from God be yours" this Christmas! Grace and Peace multiplied to you! I Peter 1:3. "For a little while" you are grived by various trials like pulled muscles and pulled heart strings. I Peter 1:6. But I love knowing it is "genuine faith put through suffering, every kind of aggravation, comes out proved genuine. Oh to be a genuine Christian not preparing my mind for comfort but preparing my mind for action I Peter 1:13 - 16. You don't see Him, but you trust Him. "So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready for: "a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, 'I am holy; you be holy.' Call out to Him for help---He's good! So, clean house for you are chosen by God! I Peter 2:1, 9. This world is not your home. I Peter 2:11. "Cultivate inner beauty, the gentle, gracious kind that God delights in." Make my goal: "let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperish beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit." I Peter 3:4 "Friends, when life gets really difficult, don't jump to the conclusion that God isn't on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner." I Peter 4:12-13. So be content with who you are, and don't put on airs. God's strong hand is on you; he'll promote you at the right time. Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you." I Peter 5:6-7.
In closing the book of I Peter, 66 LL has a quote that so speaks to where I am. "Don't deny those desires that nothing in this world can satisfy and embrace only those desires for which they have hope of satisfaction now, in this world, sooner than soon, in less that My little while. Following Me requires groaning, living as a stranger in a world that only can leave you disappointed. But know this: only in the felt and accepted tension of unmet longings will you prepare your mind, not for comfort but for action, for living as a stranger devoted to bringing My Kingdom to earth. Only in tension will you depend enough on My Word and My Spirit to enter the battle whose victory is guaranteed."
In closing the book of I Peter, 66 LL has a quote that so speaks to where I am. "Don't deny those desires that nothing in this world can satisfy and embrace only those desires for which they have hope of satisfaction now, in this world, sooner than soon, in less that My little while. Following Me requires groaning, living as a stranger in a world that only can leave you disappointed. But know this: only in the felt and accepted tension of unmet longings will you prepare your mind, not for comfort but for action, for living as a stranger devoted to bringing My Kingdom to earth. Only in tension will you depend enough on My Word and My Spirit to enter the battle whose victory is guaranteed."
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
December 21 ... James 1 - 5 "Live Well, Live Wise, Live Humble"
COUNT IT JOY
James 1:2 -4 Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.
CALL TO YOUR FATHER
James 1:5 - If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought.
MEET THE CHALLENGE HEAD-ON
James 1:12 Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life.
LET GO OF THE FIGHT DEEP INSIDE
James 3:13 - Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It's the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts.
Quick to Listen. Slow to speak. Slow to anger.
James 4:1-2 Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. You lust for what you don't have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn't yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it.
"Save your soul from a wasted life by listening to Me, by using your tongue to celebrate Me and advance My Plan and by expressing anger only when whatever offends you is offensive to Me." 66 LL
"When your faith leads to a consuming desire to love Me and others at any cost, when your faith is accompanied by a consistent pattern of good works, your life in this world will not be wasted, and your life in the next world will be uniquely blessed." 66 LL
James 1:2 -4 Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.
CALL TO YOUR FATHER
James 1:5 - If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought.
MEET THE CHALLENGE HEAD-ON
James 1:12 Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life.
LET GO OF THE FIGHT DEEP INSIDE
James 3:13 - Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It's the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts.
Quick to Listen. Slow to speak. Slow to anger.
James 4:1-2 Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. You lust for what you don't have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn't yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it.
"Save your soul from a wasted life by listening to Me, by using your tongue to celebrate Me and advance My Plan and by expressing anger only when whatever offends you is offensive to Me." 66 LL
"When your faith leads to a consuming desire to love Me and others at any cost, when your faith is accompanied by a consistent pattern of good works, your life in this world will not be wasted, and your life in the next world will be uniquely blessed." 66 LL
Monday, December 20, 2010
December 20 ... Hebrews 11 - 13 "Transients in this World"
Hebrews 11:1, 3 - This trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It's our handle on what we can't see...By faith, we see the world called into existence by God's word, what we see created by what we don't see.
THE WORLD DIDN'T DESERVE THESE PEOPLE
Hebrews 11:13 -16 - Each one of these people of faith died---Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah--- not yet having in hand what was promised, but still believing. How did they do it? They saw it way off in the distance, waved their greeting, and accepted the fact that they were transients in this world.
Hebrews 11:17 - 29 - By faith, Abraham, offered Isaac back to God....By faith, Isaac reached into the future...By faith, Isaac blessed each of Joseph's sons...By faith, Joseph, while dying prophesied...By faith Moses' parents hid him away...By faith, Moses refused the privileges of the royal house; he chose a hard life with God's people rather than an opportunistic life...By faith, Israel walked through the Red Sea...By faith, the Israelites marched around the walls of Jericho for 7 days....By faith, Rahab, the harlot, welcomed the spies...There are many more---Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets....Through acts of faith, they toppled kingdoms, made justice work, took the promises for themselves. They were protected from lions, fires, and sword thrusts, turned disadvantage to advantage, won battles, routed alien armies. Women received their loved ones back from the dead. There were those who, under torture, refused to give in and go free, preferring something better: resurrection. Others braved abuse and whips, and, yes, chains and dungeons. We have stories of those who were stoned, sawed in two, murdered in cold blood; stories of vagrants wandering the earth in animal skins, homeless, friendless, powerless—the world didn't deserve them!—making their way as best they could on the cruel edges of the world.
Hebrews 11:39 -40 - Not one of these people, even though their lives of faith were exemplary, got their hands on what was promised. God had a better plan for us...
THESE PIONEERS ARE CHEERING US ON
Hebrews 12: 1 -3 - Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!
Hebrews 13: 1-6 - Stay on good terms with each other, held together by love. Don't be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have. Since God assured us, "I'll never let you down, never walk off and leave you," we can boldly quote,
God is there, ready to help; I'm fearless no matter what. Who or what can get to me?
MY PRAYER FOR YOU THIS DAY
Hebrews 13:21 May God now put you together, provide you with everything you need to please Him, and make us into what gives Him most pleasure. All glory to Jesus forever and always! Oh, yes, yes, yes.
THE WORLD DIDN'T DESERVE THESE PEOPLE
Hebrews 11:13 -16 - Each one of these people of faith died---Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah--- not yet having in hand what was promised, but still believing. How did they do it? They saw it way off in the distance, waved their greeting, and accepted the fact that they were transients in this world.
Hebrews 11:17 - 29 - By faith, Abraham, offered Isaac back to God....By faith, Isaac reached into the future...By faith, Isaac blessed each of Joseph's sons...By faith, Joseph, while dying prophesied...By faith Moses' parents hid him away...By faith, Moses refused the privileges of the royal house; he chose a hard life with God's people rather than an opportunistic life...By faith, Israel walked through the Red Sea...By faith, the Israelites marched around the walls of Jericho for 7 days....By faith, Rahab, the harlot, welcomed the spies...There are many more---Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets....Through acts of faith, they toppled kingdoms, made justice work, took the promises for themselves. They were protected from lions, fires, and sword thrusts, turned disadvantage to advantage, won battles, routed alien armies. Women received their loved ones back from the dead. There were those who, under torture, refused to give in and go free, preferring something better: resurrection. Others braved abuse and whips, and, yes, chains and dungeons. We have stories of those who were stoned, sawed in two, murdered in cold blood; stories of vagrants wandering the earth in animal skins, homeless, friendless, powerless—the world didn't deserve them!—making their way as best they could on the cruel edges of the world.
Hebrews 11:39 -40 - Not one of these people, even though their lives of faith were exemplary, got their hands on what was promised. God had a better plan for us...
THESE PIONEERS ARE CHEERING US ON
Hebrews 12: 1 -3 - Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!
Hebrews 13: 1-6 - Stay on good terms with each other, held together by love. Don't be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have. Since God assured us, "I'll never let you down, never walk off and leave you," we can boldly quote,
God is there, ready to help; I'm fearless no matter what. Who or what can get to me?
MY PRAYER FOR YOU THIS DAY
Hebrews 13:21 May God now put you together, provide you with everything you need to please Him, and make us into what gives Him most pleasure. All glory to Jesus forever and always! Oh, yes, yes, yes.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
December 19 ... Hebrews 7 - 10 "Crucify the HOW Question"
NEW PLANS ARE CARVED ON YOUR HEART
Hebrews 10: 16-18 The new plan with Israel, with you, isn't written on paper nor chiseled in stone. No, it's carved on the lining of your heart. "I'll forever wipe the slate clean of your sins." Every Day. Clean Slates.
KEEP A FIRM GRIP ON PROMISES
Hebrews 22 -25 - "So let's do it—full of belief, confident that we're presentable inside and out. Let's keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps His Word. Let's see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the Big Day approaching."
DON'T THROW AWAY YOUR CONFIDENCE
Hebrews 10:32-36 Remember those early days after you first saw the light? Those were the hard times! Kicked around in public, targets of every kind of abuse...nothing anyone did bothered you, nothing set you back. So don't throw it all away now. You were sure of yourselves then. It's still a sure thing! But you need to stick it out, staying with God's plan so you'll be there for the promised completion. Another version says: "Do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised."
CRUCIFY THE "HOW" QUESTION
Martin Luther's Quote in 66 LL: "If you would believe, you must crucify the question, How?" Crabb goes on to say: "Stop trying to figure out what you can do to develop stronger faith (exactly what I was trying to do this day as I kept blowing it), brighter hope (exactly what I was hoping for this day on craigslist as we need a bed for my son), richer love (exactly what I was praying for my time with the relatives next week)." Oh my goodness! I'm stuck in trying to figure out what I can do. The "how" question! "Keep drinking the milk I've poured into your bottle. But come to My Table as an adult prepared to eat meat (5:11-14). I love you too much not to grow you up with solid food." So how do I do that? Crucify that "how" question!
Hebrews 10: 16-18 The new plan with Israel, with you, isn't written on paper nor chiseled in stone. No, it's carved on the lining of your heart. "I'll forever wipe the slate clean of your sins." Every Day. Clean Slates.
KEEP A FIRM GRIP ON PROMISES
Hebrews 22 -25 - "So let's do it—full of belief, confident that we're presentable inside and out. Let's keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps His Word. Let's see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the Big Day approaching."
DON'T THROW AWAY YOUR CONFIDENCE
Hebrews 10:32-36 Remember those early days after you first saw the light? Those were the hard times! Kicked around in public, targets of every kind of abuse...nothing anyone did bothered you, nothing set you back. So don't throw it all away now. You were sure of yourselves then. It's still a sure thing! But you need to stick it out, staying with God's plan so you'll be there for the promised completion. Another version says: "Do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised."
CRUCIFY THE "HOW" QUESTION
Martin Luther's Quote in 66 LL: "If you would believe, you must crucify the question, How?" Crabb goes on to say: "Stop trying to figure out what you can do to develop stronger faith (exactly what I was trying to do this day as I kept blowing it), brighter hope (exactly what I was hoping for this day on craigslist as we need a bed for my son), richer love (exactly what I was praying for my time with the relatives next week)." Oh my goodness! I'm stuck in trying to figure out what I can do. The "how" question! "Keep drinking the milk I've poured into your bottle. But come to My Table as an adult prepared to eat meat (5:11-14). I love you too much not to grow you up with solid food." So how do I do that? Crucify that "how" question!
Friday, December 17, 2010
December 18 ... Hebrews 1 - 6 "TODAY is the Day to Enter His Rest"
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
GRABBING THE PROMISED HOPE...WE HAVE ACCESS
We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. It's an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God where Jesus is our High Priest. Hebrews 6:18-20
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
GRABBING THE PROMISED HOPE...WE HAVE ACCESS
We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. It's an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God where Jesus is our High Priest. Hebrews 6:18-20
Thursday, December 16, 2010
December 17 ... Titus 1 - 3, Philemon "Reveal the Beauty of My Grace"
TITUS
"You are living between two epiphanies. You have no higher calling in this life than to relate for one supreme purpose---to reveal the Beauty of My Grace until the Beauty of My Glory fills you with joy forever." 66 LL
"Your vision of how He has freed you to relate is too low...the Beauty of Grace frees you to reveal that same Beauty---never perfectly but substantially, in the way you relate, especially to people who hurt, disappoint, betray, or assault you." 66 LL
Titus 1:1 - Paul was a servant of God for the faith of God's people and their knowledge of the truth which leads to godliness. Paul was a servant for changed lives.
Titus 2:12-13 God's Grace appeared in Christ training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives this day.
Where our vision is "too low" this day, may we have eyes to see your Grace. I pray for my sisters today that their lives reveal the Beauty of Your Grace!
PHILEMON
Philemon 1:21 - "Confident of your obedience." Paul was confident that Philemon would treat well the slave who stole from him and then bailed on his owner. The question is: How will I relate to those who have wronged me? Will I offer them distance and detachment or forgiveness and freedom? Philemon not only forgave Onesimus but also "received him as a brother."
"Your flesh is strong. My Spirit is stronger! To experience His Strength, you must drop all the trappings of religion, all dependence on the external good things you do that make you feel spiritual enough....all the internal attitudes that make you think you can become all you were meant to be without radical ongoing dependence on My Son."
"You are living between two epiphanies. You have no higher calling in this life than to relate for one supreme purpose---to reveal the Beauty of My Grace until the Beauty of My Glory fills you with joy forever." 66 LL
"Your vision of how He has freed you to relate is too low...the Beauty of Grace frees you to reveal that same Beauty---never perfectly but substantially, in the way you relate, especially to people who hurt, disappoint, betray, or assault you." 66 LL
Titus 1:1 - Paul was a servant of God for the faith of God's people and their knowledge of the truth which leads to godliness. Paul was a servant for changed lives.
Titus 2:12-13 God's Grace appeared in Christ training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives this day.
Where our vision is "too low" this day, may we have eyes to see your Grace. I pray for my sisters today that their lives reveal the Beauty of Your Grace!
PHILEMON
Philemon 1:21 - "Confident of your obedience." Paul was confident that Philemon would treat well the slave who stole from him and then bailed on his owner. The question is: How will I relate to those who have wronged me? Will I offer them distance and detachment or forgiveness and freedom? Philemon not only forgave Onesimus but also "received him as a brother."
"Your flesh is strong. My Spirit is stronger! To experience His Strength, you must drop all the trappings of religion, all dependence on the external good things you do that make you feel spiritual enough....all the internal attitudes that make you think you can become all you were meant to be without radical ongoing dependence on My Son."
December 16 ... II Timothy 1 - 4 "Only One Race Worth Running"
In this book, "Paul seemed to have no illusion that walking the narrow road would carry him around difficulties. I gather he believed that You would use Your Power to protect him through hardships for Your Purposes (Phil 2:23)." 66 LL
"You tell me to count on You for enough strength to stay faithful to Your Purposes no matter what happens." 66 LL. "There is a battle going on between an obsession with my present comfort as the highest value and a commitment to Your Present Purpose as my greatest good." 66 LL.
"With endurance, comes a joy that frees you to endure whatver hardships lie ahead without indulging your still-alive spirit of entitlement by justifying illegitimate relief." 66 LL.
Listen as Paul speaks for the last time before he dies:
"I know Whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day. II Tim 1:12.
"Run away from indulgence. Run after righteousness, joining with those who are in serious and honest prayer before God." II Tim 2:22
"I, Paul, can't impress this on you too strongly. God is looking over your shoulder. Christ himself is the Judge, with the final say on everyone, living and dead." II Tim 4:1
"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." II Tim 4:6
"You tell me to count on You for enough strength to stay faithful to Your Purposes no matter what happens." 66 LL. "There is a battle going on between an obsession with my present comfort as the highest value and a commitment to Your Present Purpose as my greatest good." 66 LL.
"With endurance, comes a joy that frees you to endure whatver hardships lie ahead without indulging your still-alive spirit of entitlement by justifying illegitimate relief." 66 LL.
Listen as Paul speaks for the last time before he dies:
"I know Whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day. II Tim 1:12.
"Run away from indulgence. Run after righteousness, joining with those who are in serious and honest prayer before God." II Tim 2:22
"I, Paul, can't impress this on you too strongly. God is looking over your shoulder. Christ himself is the Judge, with the final say on everyone, living and dead." II Tim 4:1
"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." II Tim 4:6
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
December 15 ... I Timothy 1 - 6 "Guard My Truth"
"You are called to guard My Truth. If in this uncertain world you risk everything on what you know to be true, you will finish well. You will impact others. You will strengthen My Church. You will fight the good fight. All this will happen but only if you risk everything on My Son's return." 66 LL.
One verse, I Timothy 3:15 ties everything together. I want you to know how to conduct yourself in My household, to honor Me as your Father. I want you to accept My Call---along with all My Followers Who listen to My Voice---to become the guardian of the mystery of godliness, the truth with power to expose and defeat the mystery of lawlessness." 66 LL.
"The whole point of what we're urging is simply love—love uncontaminated by self-interest and counterfeit faith, a life open to God. " I Tim 1:5
"Here's a word you can take to heart and depend on: Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. I'm proof—Public Sinner Number One—of someone who could never have made it apart from sheer mercy. I Tim 1:15Deep honor and bright glory
to the King of All Time—
One God, Immortal, Invisible,
ever and always."
The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. . This Christian life is a great mystery~ I Tim 2:1
"Stay at your post reading Scripture, giving counsel." I Tim 4:14
"Keep a close check on yourself. And don't worry too much about what the critics will say." I Tim 5:23.
"A devout life does bring wealth, but it's the rich simplicity of being yourself before God. Since we entered the world penniless and will leave it penniless, if we have bread on the table and shoes on our feet, that's enough. " I Tim 6:6.
"Pursue a righteous life—a life of wonder, faith, love, steadiness, courtesy. Run hard and fast in the faith. Seize the eternal life, the life you were called to, the life you so fervently embraced in the presence of so many witnesses." I Tim 6:12."And oh, my dear Timothy, guard the treasure you were given! Guard it with your life. ... I Tim 6:20. Overwhelming grace keep you."
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
December 14 ... II Thessalonians 1 - 3 "Pray Always"
PRAY THAT GOD MAKES US EVERYTHING WE ARE TO BE
II Thes 1:2 - Our God gives you everything you need, makes you everything you're to be. Justice Is on the Way
PRAY TO BE STEADY AND DETERMINED IN HARD TIMES
We're so proud of you; you're so steady and determined in your faith despite all the hard times that have come down on you. II Thes 1:5 ... You're suffering now, but justice is on the way. When the Master Jesus appears out of heaven in a blaze of fire with his strong angels, he'll even up the score by settling accounts with those who gave you such a bad time.
PRAY THAT GOD MAKES US FIT WITH HIS ENERGY
II Thes 1:11-12 - Pray that our God will make you fit for what he's called you to be, pray that he'll fill your good ideas and acts of faith with his own energy so that it all amounts to something. If your life honors the name of Jesus, he will honor you. Grace is behind and through all of this, our God giving himself freely, the Master, Jesus Christ, giving himself freely.
PRAY FOR A FRESH HEART
THAT I MAY HOLD MY HEAD HIGH & KEEP A TIGHT GRIP
Take a firm stand, feet on the ground and head high. Keep a tight grip on what you were taught, whether in personal conversation or by our letter. May Jesus himself and God our Father, who reached out in love and surprised you with gifts of unending help and confidence, put a fresh heart in you, invigorate your work, enliven your speech. II Thes 2: 15-17
PRAY THAT WE MAY FIND HIS HAND LEADING US IN LOVE AND ENDURANCE
May the Master take you by the hand and lead you along the path of God's love and Christ's endurance. II Thes 3:5
PRAY THAT THE MASTER OF PEACE HIMSELF GIVE YOU PEACE
II Thes 3:16 -May the Master of Peace himself give you the gift of getting along with each other at all times, in all ways. May the Master be truly among you!
Both of the books of II Thessalonians speak of the Second Coming. ""God is talking more about a relational hope in Christ's coming again than about a world-changing missional agenda." That's the opinion of the author of 66 LL. "In this letter, God reveals a powerful hope that frees us from self-centeredness, from demanding anything now, a hope that strengthens us to endure everything God allows and empowers us to walk the narrow road of love, no matter how we are treated." 66 LL. This isn't systematic theology. This is an invitation to dance at His Party.
II Thes 3:18 - The incredible grace of our Master, Jesus Christ, be with all of you!
II Thes 1:2 - Our God gives you everything you need, makes you everything you're to be. Justice Is on the Way
PRAY TO BE STEADY AND DETERMINED IN HARD TIMES
We're so proud of you; you're so steady and determined in your faith despite all the hard times that have come down on you. II Thes 1:5 ... You're suffering now, but justice is on the way. When the Master Jesus appears out of heaven in a blaze of fire with his strong angels, he'll even up the score by settling accounts with those who gave you such a bad time.
PRAY THAT GOD MAKES US FIT WITH HIS ENERGY
II Thes 1:11-12 - Pray that our God will make you fit for what he's called you to be, pray that he'll fill your good ideas and acts of faith with his own energy so that it all amounts to something. If your life honors the name of Jesus, he will honor you. Grace is behind and through all of this, our God giving himself freely, the Master, Jesus Christ, giving himself freely.
PRAY FOR A FRESH HEART
THAT I MAY HOLD MY HEAD HIGH & KEEP A TIGHT GRIP
Take a firm stand, feet on the ground and head high. Keep a tight grip on what you were taught, whether in personal conversation or by our letter. May Jesus himself and God our Father, who reached out in love and surprised you with gifts of unending help and confidence, put a fresh heart in you, invigorate your work, enliven your speech. II Thes 2: 15-17
PRAY THAT WE MAY FIND HIS HAND LEADING US IN LOVE AND ENDURANCE
May the Master take you by the hand and lead you along the path of God's love and Christ's endurance. II Thes 3:5
PRAY THAT THE MASTER OF PEACE HIMSELF GIVE YOU PEACE
II Thes 3:16 -May the Master of Peace himself give you the gift of getting along with each other at all times, in all ways. May the Master be truly among you!
Both of the books of II Thessalonians speak of the Second Coming. ""God is talking more about a relational hope in Christ's coming again than about a world-changing missional agenda." That's the opinion of the author of 66 LL. "In this letter, God reveals a powerful hope that frees us from self-centeredness, from demanding anything now, a hope that strengthens us to endure everything God allows and empowers us to walk the narrow road of love, no matter how we are treated." 66 LL. This isn't systematic theology. This is an invitation to dance at His Party.
II Thes 3:18 - The incredible grace of our Master, Jesus Christ, be with all of you!
Sunday, December 12, 2010
December 13 ... I Thessalonians 1 - 5 "The Holy Spirit Put Steel in your Convictions"
DO I TRUST GOD'S HAND ON MY LIFE?
HE PUTS STEEL IN OUR CONVICTIONS
I Thes 1:2 -5 Every time we think of you, we thank God for you. Day and night you're in our prayers as we call to mind your work of faith, your labor of love, and your patience of hope in following our Master, Jesus Christ, before God our Father. God not only loves you very much but also has put his hand on you for something special. When the Message we preached came to you, it wasn't just words. Something happened in you. The Holy Spirit put steel in your convictions.
DO I ACCEPT THAT GREAT TROUBLES ACCOMPANY THE WORD?
TAKE THE TROUBLE WITH THE JOY
I Thes 1:6 Although great trouble accompanied the Word, you were able to take great joy from the Holy Spirit!—taking the trouble with the joy, the joy with the trouble.
IF GOD IS CLEARING MY ROAD, WONDER WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE?
MAY THE MASTER POUR ON HIS LOVE IN YOUR
I Thes3:11-13May God our Father himself and our Master Jesus clear the road to you! And may the Master pour on the love so it fills your lives and splashes over on everyone around you, just as it does from us to you. May you be infused with strength and purity, filled with confidence in the presence of God our Father when our Master Jesus arrives with all his followers.
AM I TRULY THANKING GOD NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS?
ONLY GOD CAN MAKE US HOLY AND WHOLE
"Walk out into the daylight sober, dressed up in faith, love, and the hope of salvation." I Thes 5:8.
Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live. I Thes 5:18...May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he'll do it! I Thes 5:23-24
WILL I ALLOW MY FRUSTRATION AND WEARINESS TO TURN ME
IN DEEPER DEPENDENCE ON GOD...a quote from 66 LL to close this book:
"Your frustration with everything else, including yourself, makes it possible to turn in deeper dependence to Me. Your weariness requires the strength of supernatural love to continue serving Me. Your haunting sense of futility shuts you up to a kind of endurance that can be sustained only with Hope in My Son's Return."
HE PUTS STEEL IN OUR CONVICTIONS
I Thes 1:2 -5 Every time we think of you, we thank God for you. Day and night you're in our prayers as we call to mind your work of faith, your labor of love, and your patience of hope in following our Master, Jesus Christ, before God our Father. God not only loves you very much but also has put his hand on you for something special. When the Message we preached came to you, it wasn't just words. Something happened in you. The Holy Spirit put steel in your convictions.
DO I ACCEPT THAT GREAT TROUBLES ACCOMPANY THE WORD?
TAKE THE TROUBLE WITH THE JOY
I Thes 1:6 Although great trouble accompanied the Word, you were able to take great joy from the Holy Spirit!—taking the trouble with the joy, the joy with the trouble.
IF GOD IS CLEARING MY ROAD, WONDER WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE?
MAY THE MASTER POUR ON HIS LOVE IN YOUR
I Thes3:11-13May God our Father himself and our Master Jesus clear the road to you! And may the Master pour on the love so it fills your lives and splashes over on everyone around you, just as it does from us to you. May you be infused with strength and purity, filled with confidence in the presence of God our Father when our Master Jesus arrives with all his followers.
AM I TRULY THANKING GOD NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS?
ONLY GOD CAN MAKE US HOLY AND WHOLE
"Walk out into the daylight sober, dressed up in faith, love, and the hope of salvation." I Thes 5:8.
Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live. I Thes 5:18...May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he'll do it! I Thes 5:23-24
WILL I ALLOW MY FRUSTRATION AND WEARINESS TO TURN ME
IN DEEPER DEPENDENCE ON GOD...a quote from 66 LL to close this book:
"Your frustration with everything else, including yourself, makes it possible to turn in deeper dependence to Me. Your weariness requires the strength of supernatural love to continue serving Me. Your haunting sense of futility shuts you up to a kind of endurance that can be sustained only with Hope in My Son's Return."
Saturday, December 11, 2010
December 12 ... Colossians 1 - 4 "Be Content with Second Place"
"I give you, according to my glorious might, the power not to experience the satisfaction you want or the relief from struggle you desire but the power to endure difficult circumstances and to be patient with difficult people." 66 LL. Col 1:11. Seems like I've missed this most of my life. I've believed the satisfaction was for here and I've prayed, cried and begged that God give me relief in the midst of my struggles. Thank you God for opening my eyes. I see so differently now and long for Your Power to endure my difficult circumstances and embrace the difficult people in my life.
God is the one Who rescued me from darkness and set me up in the Light. Col 1:13. He is the One Who holds it all together right up to this moment. Col 1:17.
"Christ is in you, so therefore you can look forward to sharing in God's glory. Col 1:27. Christ! No more, no less. That's what I'm working so hard at day after day, year after year, doing my best with the energy God so generously gives me...Entering into this fullness is not something you figure out or achieve. It's not a matter of keeping a long list of laws. No, you're already in—insiders—through what Christ has already gone through for you, destroying the power of sin. Col 2:17
"Be Content with Second Place. Let the peace of Christ keep you in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. Let the Word of Christ have plenty of room in your lives." Col 3:13, 15.
"Pray diligently. Stay alert, with your eyes wide open in gratitude. Make the most of every opportunity. Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out." Col 4:6.
"Place no hope in the experience of satisfaction now. If you do, you are shifting away from the hope held out in the gospel of My Son. You will then disfigure the Christian life into a search for a fullness of felt spiritual reality and complete freedom from evil's power that together promise to provide the life you've always wanted in this world." 66 LL.
God is the one Who rescued me from darkness and set me up in the Light. Col 1:13. He is the One Who holds it all together right up to this moment. Col 1:17.
"Christ is in you, so therefore you can look forward to sharing in God's glory. Col 1:27. Christ! No more, no less. That's what I'm working so hard at day after day, year after year, doing my best with the energy God so generously gives me...Entering into this fullness is not something you figure out or achieve. It's not a matter of keeping a long list of laws. No, you're already in—insiders—through what Christ has already gone through for you, destroying the power of sin. Col 2:17
"Be Content with Second Place. Let the peace of Christ keep you in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. Let the Word of Christ have plenty of room in your lives." Col 3:13, 15.
"Pray diligently. Stay alert, with your eyes wide open in gratitude. Make the most of every opportunity. Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out." Col 4:6.
"Place no hope in the experience of satisfaction now. If you do, you are shifting away from the hope held out in the gospel of My Son. You will then disfigure the Christian life into a search for a fullness of felt spiritual reality and complete freedom from evil's power that together promise to provide the life you've always wanted in this world." 66 LL.
December 11 ... Philippians 1 - 4 "The Expulsive Power of a New Affection"
66 LL reads my heart:
"For Me To Live is Christ." Phil 1:21
In Any Circumstance. That means anything, any place! Fill in your circumstances!
Or is it for me to live is ___________ life coming together for me, being able to get on top of things, managing what has come my way, everything working out well for me and my family. For me to live is...
Christ first. Spiritual Blessings first. Earthly Blessings second.
"Have this mind in you, the mind of Christ. The Energy working in you is God's Energy. Phil 2:4, 13.
"There is an Energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure. Jesus can fill my mind and direct my will. You can empty yourself of parading success, winning recognition, depending on good treatment from others."
"That I may Know Him and the power of His Resurrection." Phil 3:10
"The desire to know Christ can trump all other desires. Phil 3:10.
Christ displaces worry at the center of our life (4:7) Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through Anything in the One who makes me who I am. (4:13)
God's Power is sufficient to resurrect you from the death of a terror-driven, entitlement-justified, self-protective style of relating TO a life of a grace-released, humility empowered, self-giving style of relating. In emptiness and brokenness changed by My Spirit into thirst and gratitude."
"We are all not yet what we long to be...(3:12).
So this is my prayer:
that your love will flourish
and that you will not only love much
but love well (1:9-11).
Live a lover's life.
Carry the light-giving Message into the night
So let's keep focused on that goal,
those of us who want everything God has for us.
If any of you have something else in mind,
something less than total commitment,
God will clear your blurred vision—you'll see it yet! (3:15).
There's far more to life for us. (4:20).
We're citizens of high heaven!
We're waiting the arrival of the Savior.
Receive and experience
the Amazing Grace of Jesus Christ,
deep, deep within yourselves." (4:23).
Thomas Chalmers called it "the expulsive power of a New Affection."
Transform us this day from the power of self-made lives to the power of God.
May we learn a little better this Christmas what it means not only to love much but to love well from any place, any circumstance.
"For Me To Live is Christ." Phil 1:21
In Any Circumstance. That means anything, any place! Fill in your circumstances!
Or is it for me to live is ___________ life coming together for me, being able to get on top of things, managing what has come my way, everything working out well for me and my family. For me to live is...
Christ first. Spiritual Blessings first. Earthly Blessings second.
"Have this mind in you, the mind of Christ. The Energy working in you is God's Energy. Phil 2:4, 13.
"There is an Energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure. Jesus can fill my mind and direct my will. You can empty yourself of parading success, winning recognition, depending on good treatment from others."
"That I may Know Him and the power of His Resurrection." Phil 3:10
"The desire to know Christ can trump all other desires. Phil 3:10.
Christ displaces worry at the center of our life (4:7) Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through Anything in the One who makes me who I am. (4:13)
God's Power is sufficient to resurrect you from the death of a terror-driven, entitlement-justified, self-protective style of relating TO a life of a grace-released, humility empowered, self-giving style of relating. In emptiness and brokenness changed by My Spirit into thirst and gratitude."
"We are all not yet what we long to be...(3:12).
So this is my prayer:
that your love will flourish
and that you will not only love much
but love well (1:9-11).
Live a lover's life.
Carry the light-giving Message into the night
So let's keep focused on that goal,
those of us who want everything God has for us.
If any of you have something else in mind,
something less than total commitment,
God will clear your blurred vision—you'll see it yet! (3:15).
There's far more to life for us. (4:20).
We're citizens of high heaven!
We're waiting the arrival of the Savior.
Receive and experience
the Amazing Grace of Jesus Christ,
deep, deep within yourselves." (4:23).
Thomas Chalmers called it "the expulsive power of a New Affection."
Transform us this day from the power of self-made lives to the power of God.
May we learn a little better this Christmas what it means not only to love much but to love well from any place, any circumstance.
Friday, December 10, 2010
December 10 ... Ephesians 4 - 6 "The Gospel is Simply Irresistible"
GOD DESIRES FOR ME TO WALK,
BETTER YET, RUN ON THE NARROW ROAD
Eph 4:2 -4 "I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don't want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don't want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences. You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly." ... No more pretense (v. 25).
GOD DESIRES FOR ME TO WAKE UP FROM MY SLEEP
Eph. 5:2, 5 "Keep company with God and learn a life of love...You can be sure that using people or religion or things just for what you can get out of them—the usual variations on idolatry—will get you nowhere, and certainly nowhere near the kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of God. Wake up from your sleep. Climb out of your coffins. Christ will show you the light! So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times!"
GOD DESIRES TO HELP ME IN MY FIGHT TO THE FINISH
Eph. 6:11-13 - "This is no afternoon athletic contest that we'll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels. Be prepared. You're up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them."
Paraphrased from p. 262 in 66 LL from the Book of Ephesians:
DISCERN what's more wrong in you than in the churches you're familiar with
DESCEND into the deep darkness of corruption in your own soul
DISCOVER the power to grasp how wide, how long, how high, how deep is My Son's Love
"The Gospel to me is simply irresistible. Being the man I am, full of pride and envy and hatred...to me, the Gospel of the Grace of God is simply irresistible." Pascal
"Pure Grace & nothing but Grace be with all who love our Master, Jesus Christ." Eph. 6:24.
BETTER YET, RUN ON THE NARROW ROAD
Eph 4:2 -4 "I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don't want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don't want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences. You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly." ... No more pretense (v. 25).
GOD DESIRES FOR ME TO WAKE UP FROM MY SLEEP
Eph. 5:2, 5 "Keep company with God and learn a life of love...You can be sure that using people or religion or things just for what you can get out of them—the usual variations on idolatry—will get you nowhere, and certainly nowhere near the kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of God. Wake up from your sleep. Climb out of your coffins. Christ will show you the light! So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times!"
GOD DESIRES TO HELP ME IN MY FIGHT TO THE FINISH
Eph. 6:11-13 - "This is no afternoon athletic contest that we'll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels. Be prepared. You're up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them."
Paraphrased from p. 262 in 66 LL from the Book of Ephesians:
DISCERN what's more wrong in you than in the churches you're familiar with
DESCEND into the deep darkness of corruption in your own soul
DISCOVER the power to grasp how wide, how long, how high, how deep is My Son's Love
"The Gospel to me is simply irresistible. Being the man I am, full of pride and envy and hatred...to me, the Gospel of the Grace of God is simply irresistible." Pascal
"Pure Grace & nothing but Grace be with all who love our Master, Jesus Christ." Eph. 6:24.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
December 9 ... Ephesians 1 - 3 "The Utter Extravagance of His Work---Endless Energy, Boundless Strength"
PREDESTINED
You and I have been on His Mind since Genesis.
Ephesians 1:4-5 "Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ.
PRAYED FOR
Don't just thank God for your friends but ask Him to grant them a grasp of the immensity of this glorious way of life.
Paul prayed for his friends but did more than just thank God for them. He asked God to do Eph 1:16 - to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength!
PICKED UP
Where I am drowning in sinful thoughts and attitudes, make me alive in Christ Alone!
Ephesians 2:6-7 "Immense in Mercy and with an Incredible Love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah.
PIECED TOGETHER
Someone is holding all the parts of my life together.
Ephesians 2:21 Now he's using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day—a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home.
PLANTED
Paul's response to the Incredible Riches of His Grace is to go to his knees...
Eph 3:14-21 "My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you'll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God. God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.
Glory to God in the church!
Glory to God in the Messiah, in Jesus!
Glory down all the generations!
Glory through all millennia! Oh, yes!
You and I have been on His Mind since Genesis.
Ephesians 1:4-5 "Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ.
PRAYED FOR
Don't just thank God for your friends but ask Him to grant them a grasp of the immensity of this glorious way of life.
Paul prayed for his friends but did more than just thank God for them. He asked God to do Eph 1:16 - to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength!
PICKED UP
Where I am drowning in sinful thoughts and attitudes, make me alive in Christ Alone!
Ephesians 2:6-7 "Immense in Mercy and with an Incredible Love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah.
PIECED TOGETHER
Someone is holding all the parts of my life together.
Ephesians 2:21 Now he's using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day—a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home.
PLANTED
Paul's response to the Incredible Riches of His Grace is to go to his knees...
Eph 3:14-21 "My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you'll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God. God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.
Glory to God in the church!
Glory to God in the Messiah, in Jesus!
Glory down all the generations!
Glory through all millennia! Oh, yes!
December 8 ... Galatians 4 - 6 "The Central Issue Is Not What You and I Do"
WHAT MATTERS IN YOUR LIFE TODAY?
"What matters is something far more interior: Faith expressed in Love." Gal. 5:3
DO I LONG FOR CHRIST TO BE FORMED IN OTHERS?
Do you know how I feel right now, and will feel until Christ's life becomes visible in your lives? Like a mother in the pain of childbirth. Gal. 4:19
WHO CUT IN ON YOU?
Gal. 5:7 You were running superbly! Who cut in on you, deflecting you from the true course of obedience?
Gal. 5:16 - "Live freely, animated and motivated by God's Spirit. Then you won't feed the compulsions of selfishness." Really?
DO I JUST HOLD IDEAS IN MY HEAD OR WORK OUT THEIR IMPLICATIONS?
Gal. 5: 25 -26 Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives.
CAN I SAVE THE CRITICAL COMMENTS FOR MYSELF?
Galatians 6:1 - Save your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day's out.
DO I WORK FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL?
Gal. 6:9-10 - So let's not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time, we will harvest a good crop if we don't give up, or quit. Right now, therefore, every time we get the chance, let us work for the benefit of all,
CAN I SEE THE CENTRAL ISSUE IN ALL OF THIS?
Gal. 6:12 - They want an easy way to look good before others, lacking the courage to live by a faith that shares Christ's suffering and death. Can't you see the central issue in all this? It is not what you and I do—submit to circumcision, reject circumcision. It is what God is doing, and he is creating something totally new, a free life! All who walk by this standard are the true Israel of God—his chosen people.
May what our Master Jesus Christ gives freely be deeply and personally yours, my friends. Oh, yes! Gal. 6:18.
"What matters is something far more interior: Faith expressed in Love." Gal. 5:3
DO I LONG FOR CHRIST TO BE FORMED IN OTHERS?
Do you know how I feel right now, and will feel until Christ's life becomes visible in your lives? Like a mother in the pain of childbirth. Gal. 4:19
WHO CUT IN ON YOU?
Gal. 5:7 You were running superbly! Who cut in on you, deflecting you from the true course of obedience?
Gal. 5:16 - "Live freely, animated and motivated by God's Spirit. Then you won't feed the compulsions of selfishness." Really?
DO I JUST HOLD IDEAS IN MY HEAD OR WORK OUT THEIR IMPLICATIONS?
Gal. 5: 25 -26 Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives.
CAN I SAVE THE CRITICAL COMMENTS FOR MYSELF?
Galatians 6:1 - Save your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day's out.
DO I WORK FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL?
Gal. 6:9-10 - So let's not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time, we will harvest a good crop if we don't give up, or quit. Right now, therefore, every time we get the chance, let us work for the benefit of all,
CAN I SEE THE CENTRAL ISSUE IN ALL OF THIS?
Gal. 6:12 - They want an easy way to look good before others, lacking the courage to live by a faith that shares Christ's suffering and death. Can't you see the central issue in all this? It is not what you and I do—submit to circumcision, reject circumcision. It is what God is doing, and he is creating something totally new, a free life! All who walk by this standard are the true Israel of God—his chosen people.
May what our Master Jesus Christ gives freely be deeply and personally yours, my friends. Oh, yes! Gal. 6:18.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
December 7 ... Galatians 1 - 3 "The Applause of God or Man"
Galatians 1:10
Am I currying the favor of God or man? Whose applause am I listening for?
Am I currying the favor of God or man? Whose applause am I listening for?
Is my goal popularity? Do I have this upside down?
"It's what's happening IN you that matters, not what's happening TO you. My Sn has set you free to makechices that will release yu from your compulsions. Only when you see deeply enough into yur heart to recognize the corrution beneath the compulsions will you discoer freedom. Pray like David: 'Seach me, Oh God...see if thereis any offensive way in me' Psa 139:23-24. There is! You need to see it. Not many do." 66 LL
Galatians 2:20
My name was in His Heart from the beginning. HE intervened. Now, the life you see me living is not "mine," but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. To go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God. I refuse to repudiate God's grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.
"It's what's happening IN you that matters, not what's happening TO you. My Sn has set you free to makechices that will release yu from your compulsions. Only when you see deeply enough into yur heart to recognize the corrution beneath the compulsions will you discoer freedom. Pray like David: 'Seach me, Oh God...see if thereis any offensive way in me' Psa 139:23-24. There is! You need to see it. Not many do." 66 LL
Galatians 2:20
My name was in His Heart from the beginning. HE intervened. Now, the life you see me living is not "mine," but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. To go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God. I refuse to repudiate God's grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.
Galatians 3:2 "How did your new life begin? Was it by working your heads off to please God? Or was it by responding to God's Message to you?" Are you going to continue this craziness? For only crazy people would think they could complete by their own efforts what was begun by God. Did you go through the pain for nothing? Does the God who lavishly provides you with his own presence, his Holy Spirit, working things in your lives you could never do for yourselves, does he do these things because of your strenuous moral striving or because you trust Him to do them in you? Carrying out such a moral program should make it plain that no one can sustain a relationship with God that way. The person who lives in right relationship with God does it by embracing what God arranges for him. Rule-keeping does not naturally evolve into living by faith, but only perpetuates itself in more and more rule-keeping.
Monday, December 6, 2010
December 6 ... II Corinthians 10 - 13 "CELEBRATE Limitations & Strength"
COMPARING, GRADING, AND COMPETING
If you are comparing, grading, and competing (II Cor 10:12), you miss the point. "What we are hoping for is that as your lives grow in faith, you'll play a part within our expanding work." No comparing and competing anymore for Paul...now he tells of being at death's door time after time II Cor 11:23-27. Jailed. Beaten. Dying. Flogged. Shipwrecked. Immersed. Robbed. Betrayed. Endangered. Used. Sleepless. Hungry. Blasted. And carrying the burdens of others. No competing here.
CHRIST'S STRENGTH COMING INTO ITS OWN IN OUR WEAKNESS
Paul goes on to say: II Cor 12:7-10 I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan's angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn't think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me, My grace is enough; it's all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness. Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ's strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.
CELEBRATE EVERY TRIUMPH OF TRUTH IN YOU
We don't just put up with our limitations; we celebrate them, and then go on to celebrate every strength, every triumph of the truth in you. II Cor 13:9-11. We pray hard that it will all come together in your lives. Be cheerful. Keep things in good repair. Keep your spirits up. Think in harmony. Be agreeable. Do all that, and the God of love and peace will be with you for sure. The amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God, the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit, be with all of you. And so ends II Corinthians. What lingers with you? For me, it's the words: "relational sin" "relational comfort."
"Live for your relational comfort, and your joy will be shallow and temporary. It will not free you to love. Live to know the truth of My Story of forgiving love, and you will be deeply unsettled by how profoundly you need forgiveness. You will then suffer the slow death of your entitled demand that you be treated well. But you will discover, slowly but surely, the power of My ongoing forgiveness and Presence to change you into a person who loves."
If you are comparing, grading, and competing (II Cor 10:12), you miss the point. "What we are hoping for is that as your lives grow in faith, you'll play a part within our expanding work." No comparing and competing anymore for Paul...now he tells of being at death's door time after time II Cor 11:23-27. Jailed. Beaten. Dying. Flogged. Shipwrecked. Immersed. Robbed. Betrayed. Endangered. Used. Sleepless. Hungry. Blasted. And carrying the burdens of others. No competing here.
CHRIST'S STRENGTH COMING INTO ITS OWN IN OUR WEAKNESS
Paul goes on to say: II Cor 12:7-10 I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan's angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn't think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me, My grace is enough; it's all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness. Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ's strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.
CELEBRATE EVERY TRIUMPH OF TRUTH IN YOU
We don't just put up with our limitations; we celebrate them, and then go on to celebrate every strength, every triumph of the truth in you. II Cor 13:9-11. We pray hard that it will all come together in your lives. Be cheerful. Keep things in good repair. Keep your spirits up. Think in harmony. Be agreeable. Do all that, and the God of love and peace will be with you for sure. The amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God, the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit, be with all of you. And so ends II Corinthians. What lingers with you? For me, it's the words: "relational sin" "relational comfort."
"Live for your relational comfort, and your joy will be shallow and temporary. It will not free you to love. Live to know the truth of My Story of forgiving love, and you will be deeply unsettled by how profoundly you need forgiveness. You will then suffer the slow death of your entitled demand that you be treated well. But you will discover, slowly but surely, the power of My ongoing forgiveness and Presence to change you into a person who loves."
Sunday, December 5, 2010
December 5 ... II Corinthians 5 - 8 "Exchange Exile for Homecoming"
Three Thoughts from Tents to Tough Times to Turn Turn Turn!
TENTS
One Day, our tents will be folded away and replaced by resurrection bodies. It's what we trust in but don't yet see that keeps us going. Don't let a few ruts in the road stop you. But neither exile nor homecoming is the main thing. Cheerfully pleasing God is the main thing, and that's what we aim to do, regardless of our conditions. ... That's why we work urgently with everyone we meet to get them ready to face God. Christ's Love has the first and last word in everything we do. II Cor 5: 10-14.
TOUGH TIMES
People are watching us as we stay at our post, alertly, unswervingly . . . in hard times, tough times, bad times; when we're beaten up, jailed, and mobbed; working hard, working late, working without eating; with pure heart, clear head, steady hand; in gentleness, holiness, and honest love; when we're telling the truth, and when God's showing his power; when we're doing our best setting things right; when we're praised, and when we're blamed; slandered, and honored; true to our word, though distrusted; ignored by the world, but recognized by God; terrifically alive, though rumored to be dead; beaten within an inch of our lives, but refusing to die; immersed in tears, yet always filled with deep joy; living on handouts, yet enriching many; having nothing, having it all. Enter this wide-open, spacious life. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren't small, but you're living them in a small way. II Cor 6:10-13
TURN TURN TURN
Let the distress bring you to God, not drive you from him. The result was all gain, no loss.
Distress that drives us to God does that. It turns us around. We never regret that kind of pain. And now, isn't it wonderful all the ways in which this distress has goaded you closer to God? You're more alive, more concerned, more sensitive, more reverent, more human, more passionate, more responsible. Looked at from any angle, you've come out of this with purity of heart. My primary concern was not for the one who did the wrong or even the one wronged, but for you—that you would realize and act upon the deep, deep ties before God. II Cor 7: 9 - 11
TENTS
One Day, our tents will be folded away and replaced by resurrection bodies. It's what we trust in but don't yet see that keeps us going. Don't let a few ruts in the road stop you. But neither exile nor homecoming is the main thing. Cheerfully pleasing God is the main thing, and that's what we aim to do, regardless of our conditions. ... That's why we work urgently with everyone we meet to get them ready to face God. Christ's Love has the first and last word in everything we do. II Cor 5: 10-14.
TOUGH TIMES
People are watching us as we stay at our post, alertly, unswervingly . . . in hard times, tough times, bad times; when we're beaten up, jailed, and mobbed; working hard, working late, working without eating; with pure heart, clear head, steady hand; in gentleness, holiness, and honest love; when we're telling the truth, and when God's showing his power; when we're doing our best setting things right; when we're praised, and when we're blamed; slandered, and honored; true to our word, though distrusted; ignored by the world, but recognized by God; terrifically alive, though rumored to be dead; beaten within an inch of our lives, but refusing to die; immersed in tears, yet always filled with deep joy; living on handouts, yet enriching many; having nothing, having it all. Enter this wide-open, spacious life. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren't small, but you're living them in a small way. II Cor 6:10-13
TURN TURN TURN
Let the distress bring you to God, not drive you from him. The result was all gain, no loss.
Distress that drives us to God does that. It turns us around. We never regret that kind of pain. And now, isn't it wonderful all the ways in which this distress has goaded you closer to God? You're more alive, more concerned, more sensitive, more reverent, more human, more passionate, more responsible. Looked at from any angle, you've come out of this with purity of heart. My primary concern was not for the one who did the wrong or even the one wronged, but for you—that you would realize and act upon the deep, deep ties before God. II Cor 7: 9 - 11
Friday, December 3, 2010
December 4 ... II Corinthians 1 - 4 "God's Unfolding Grace, Face Forward"
In 66 LL, Crabb says: "One thing that I got out of Your first thirty-nine letters was the idea of relational sin. Every time I don't love You or anyone else perfectly, I'm relationally sinning. I don't need to have an affair or kill someone or lose my temper to violate real love." He goes on to say that he breaks Your moral law every day and so do I! But instead of receiving judgment, God will never be angry at us again---there is forgiveness of our every sin because of what we read in His 66 Love Letters.
II Cor 4:16 -18 "So we're not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There's far more here than meets the eye."
More than meets the eye...when we go through suffering...
II Cor 1:6 -7 "When we suffer for Jesus, it works to our benefit. If we are treated well, given a helping hand and encouraging word, then that spurs us on, face forward, unflinching. Your hard times are also our hard times. When we see that you're just as willing to endure the hard times as to enjoy the good times, we know you're going to make it, no doubt about it." There have been times I didn't think I would make it! In those times, "we all are forced to trust God totally—not a bad idea since he's the God who raises the dead!" (1:9-10). ... You and your prayers are part of the rescue operation—I don't want you in the dark about that either. I can see your faces even now, lifted in praise for God's deliverance of us, a rescue in which your prayers played such a crucial part.
More than meets the eye...God is carving into our human lives...
II Cor 2:14 -16 "In the Messiah, in Christ, God leads us from place to place in one perpetual victory parade. Through us, he brings knowledge of Christ. Everywhere we go, people breathe in the exquisite fragrance. Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God—an aroma redolent with life." God opens doors and manifests life through clay pots. 2 Corinthians 3:3 Your very lives are a letter that anyone can read by just looking at you. Christ himself wrote it—not with ink, but with God's living Spirit; not chiseled into stone, but carved into human lives—and we publish it.
More than meets the eye...Incomparable Power is within you...
II Cor 4:7 -12 "We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That's to prevent anyone from confusing God's incomparable power with us. ... We've been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we're not demoralized; we're not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we've been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn't left our side; we've been thrown down, but we haven't broken. ... While we're going through the worst, you're getting in on the best!"
II Cor 4:16 -18 "So we're not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There's far more here than meets the eye."
More than meets the eye...when we go through suffering...
II Cor 1:6 -7 "When we suffer for Jesus, it works to our benefit. If we are treated well, given a helping hand and encouraging word, then that spurs us on, face forward, unflinching. Your hard times are also our hard times. When we see that you're just as willing to endure the hard times as to enjoy the good times, we know you're going to make it, no doubt about it." There have been times I didn't think I would make it! In those times, "we all are forced to trust God totally—not a bad idea since he's the God who raises the dead!" (1:9-10). ... You and your prayers are part of the rescue operation—I don't want you in the dark about that either. I can see your faces even now, lifted in praise for God's deliverance of us, a rescue in which your prayers played such a crucial part.
More than meets the eye...God is carving into our human lives...
II Cor 2:14 -16 "In the Messiah, in Christ, God leads us from place to place in one perpetual victory parade. Through us, he brings knowledge of Christ. Everywhere we go, people breathe in the exquisite fragrance. Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God—an aroma redolent with life." God opens doors and manifests life through clay pots. 2 Corinthians 3:3 Your very lives are a letter that anyone can read by just looking at you. Christ himself wrote it—not with ink, but with God's living Spirit; not chiseled into stone, but carved into human lives—and we publish it.
More than meets the eye...Incomparable Power is within you...
II Cor 4:7 -12 "We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That's to prevent anyone from confusing God's incomparable power with us. ... We've been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we're not demoralized; we're not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we've been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn't left our side; we've been thrown down, but we haven't broken. ... While we're going through the worst, you're getting in on the best!"
Thursday, December 2, 2010
December 3 ... I Corinthians 15 - 16 "Anchored in Hope"
As we close the book of I Corinthians, a book Paul wrote to move into the lives of people who were living more like Corinthians than Christians, my thoughts turn to what Crabb alluded to in his corresponding chapter. Crabb wrote: After more than 50 years as a Christian, I thought I 'd be so much different than I am, so much more patient and caring and self-controlled. Me too! I thought I would have a legacy to leave. Thought my ministry would be stable and set and something. But, it's not. I'm not. But wait a minute, something happened in my life four years ago that has so awakened me forever. I hit a depression not common to man and God stepped in. That's all I can say. I'm a little more solid than ever, a little more so wanting to trust Him! Somehow, in those very dark nights, hope burned bright enough to sustain my fledgling faith. Oh, that HE would release His Love through me for those I fail to love well.
"The more you attempt to hold on to your confidence in the goodness of the story I am telling while at the same time acknowledging all that is bewildering and maddening and shatteringly disappointing in this life, the more you will be confronted with the ongoing moment of decision, to trust or not to trust." 66 LL. God has moved me from shattering circumstances. Only He could have done it. My circumstances are probably still shattering in some ways but it doesn't matter now. This isn't about overcoming circumstances. His Story is loving and His Plan is on course and "His Spirit speaks into deep places in my heart that only terrifying doubts render accessible." I understand that a tad bit more. Thank you, God! "And in that place, He will anchor you in Hope." On my face, broken before God for He is anchoring me in hope. So what's stirring in your heart as you close the pages of I Corinthians?
HERE I AM
I Cor. 15:10 "Because God was so gracious, so very generous, here I am. And I'm not about to let his grace go to waste." God gave me the work to do. God gave me the Energy to do it.
AWAKEN TO HOLINESS
I Cor 15:34 "Think straight. Awaken to the holiness of life. Ignorance of God is a luxury you can't afford in times like these. Aren't you embarrassed that you've let this kind of thing go on as long as you have?
MAKE ROOM FOR THE MASTER
I Cor 16:13 "Keep your eyes open, hold tight to your convictions, give it all you've got, be resolute, and love without stopping...Make room for the Master! Your Master Jesus has his arms wide open for you. I Cor 16:23
"The more you attempt to hold on to your confidence in the goodness of the story I am telling while at the same time acknowledging all that is bewildering and maddening and shatteringly disappointing in this life, the more you will be confronted with the ongoing moment of decision, to trust or not to trust." 66 LL. God has moved me from shattering circumstances. Only He could have done it. My circumstances are probably still shattering in some ways but it doesn't matter now. This isn't about overcoming circumstances. His Story is loving and His Plan is on course and "His Spirit speaks into deep places in my heart that only terrifying doubts render accessible." I understand that a tad bit more. Thank you, God! "And in that place, He will anchor you in Hope." On my face, broken before God for He is anchoring me in hope. So what's stirring in your heart as you close the pages of I Corinthians?
HERE I AM
I Cor. 15:10 "Because God was so gracious, so very generous, here I am. And I'm not about to let his grace go to waste." God gave me the work to do. God gave me the Energy to do it.
AWAKEN TO HOLINESS
I Cor 15:34 "Think straight. Awaken to the holiness of life. Ignorance of God is a luxury you can't afford in times like these. Aren't you embarrassed that you've let this kind of thing go on as long as you have?
MAKE ROOM FOR THE MASTER
I Cor 16:13 "Keep your eyes open, hold tight to your convictions, give it all you've got, be resolute, and love without stopping...Make room for the Master! Your Master Jesus has his arms wide open for you. I Cor 16:23
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
December 2 ... I Corinthians 12 - 14 "Bankrupt Without LOVE"
I Cor. 12 - Gifts! ... But now I want to lay out a far better way for you ... The Way of Love is found in I Cor 13. "Go after a Life of Love as if your life depended on it---because it does." I Cor 14:1.
"If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled."
I Cor 13:13 "But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation:
TRUST steadily in God,
HOPE unswervingly,
LOVE extravagantly.
And the best of the three is love."
What would it look like if I really loved my husband, my children, my world? 66 LL says it beautifully on page 246: I would turn away from holding a spirit of entitlement and deal decisively with my blatant sin. I would serve selflessly, not for recognition. And I would steer clear of every form of blatant or subtle forms of idolatry---so I wonder what that really looks like?
"Only in dark nights will hope burn bright enough to sustain your faith and release your love." Not many Christians I know who are talking about dark nights---they are trying to get out of the dark rather than find Him, find Hope in the darkness...and trust! "Let what you see drive you to the precipice of unbelief." Now that's a different thought for today! HE will speak to those deep places in our hearts this day and HE will anchor you in true hope, real love!
"If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled."
I Cor 13:13 "But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation:
TRUST steadily in God,
HOPE unswervingly,
LOVE extravagantly.
And the best of the three is love."
What would it look like if I really loved my husband, my children, my world? 66 LL says it beautifully on page 246: I would turn away from holding a spirit of entitlement and deal decisively with my blatant sin. I would serve selflessly, not for recognition. And I would steer clear of every form of blatant or subtle forms of idolatry---so I wonder what that really looks like?
"Only in dark nights will hope burn bright enough to sustain your faith and release your love." Not many Christians I know who are talking about dark nights---they are trying to get out of the dark rather than find Him, find Hope in the darkness...and trust! "Let what you see drive you to the precipice of unbelief." Now that's a different thought for today! HE will speak to those deep places in our hearts this day and HE will anchor you in true hope, real love!
December 1 ... I Corinthians 9 - 11 "One Master. One Race. One Prize. One Life."
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.
“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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)