Today is my 74th birthday, so I want to make some declarations!
(1) God has never failed me!
(2) Jesus grows sweeter as the days go by.
(3) I have peace like a river, all because of Him.
(4) What a friend I have in Jesus!
(5) Holy Spirit, You are welcome in my life.
(6) Holy is the Lord God Almighty.
(7) My faith has found a resting place in Jesus.
(8) By His stripes I am healed, spirit, soul and body.
(9) I will take time to be holy.
(10) God's Word is a light to my path.
(11) Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will
live in the house of the Lord forever.
(12) Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound!
(13) Great is God's faithfulness.
(14) I am a soldier of the cross.
(15) God's grace is sufficient for all my needs!
(16) How great You are!!
If you will notice, each declaratiion is a song title. I could go on and on with declarations but I will just end this blog with another song filled with declarations.
YOU ARE MY ALL IN ALL
You are my strength when I am weak, You are the treasure that I seek, You are my all in all. When I fall down You pick me up, when I am dry, You fill my cup, You are my all in all.
Taking my sin, my cross, my shame, rising again I bless Your name, You are my all in all. Seeking You as a precious jewel, Lord, to give up I'd be a fool;, You are my all in all.
Jesus, Lamb of God, Holy is Your name!
Monday, March 7, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Keep On Keeping On
I think, as a believer, having a steadfast heart is one thing that brings great joy to the heart of God. As a child I, like Daniel, (Dan.1:8), determined to walk with the Lord all the days of my life. Since that time there has never been a time I desired to "sow some wild oats." Satan opened many doors I could have walked through, and out of fellowship with Jesus, but the love of the Father constrained me to be steadfast to my commitment to Him. I have not regretted one lost sinful opportunity presented me and I am so grateful God has kept me from many pits into which I could have fallen.
Paul likens the Christian life to running a race, with God predetermining a personalized course with the finish line in eternity. The course is full of obstacles (pain, trials, heartaches, etc.) and we must persevere by focusing on Jesus and not letting the obstacles distract us from our goal – winning the race. Only steadfast plodding wins the crown.
David sinned greatly in his lifetime but he not only was remorseful for his sin but he repented and God called him, "a man after God's own heart" (Acts 13:22). Psalms 51:17 said, "A broken and contrite spirit He would not despise." In Psalms 57:7, David said, "My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is steadfast and confident." God blessed him for his steadfast heart.
Isaiah was prophesying of Jesus in Isa.50:7, "For the Lord helps me; therefore have I not been ashamed or confounded. Therefore have I set My face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame." Even in the garden before His death Jesus was steadfast in his commitment to the will of the Father, "Not my will but Thine." He was steadfast all the way to the cross and death.
The first Christians were steadfast in their devotion to being “discipled” in the faith (Acts 2:42). When you become new creations in Christ your desire to walk and fellowship with him is insatiable. All things become new - the Word is exciting, prayer time is sweet as honey and just being in fellowship with Jesus and other Christians grows and perpetuates a desire to be steadfast in the faith because we love Him and want to be with Him. If we fail we have to confess and receive His forgiveness and recommit to the steadfast walk with Jesus. Being ‘steadfast’ and ‘failing’ may seem like an oxymoron but steadfastness is of the spirit and failing is of the flesh. The Father knows our heart. The Father remembers our commitment and knows our weaknesses but sees our steadfast heart so we can confidently draw close to His throne that we may receive mercy for our failures (Heb.4:13-l6). May the Father find us faithful!
May the words from this song be our theme, "I am determined to follow Jesus, No turning back, no turning back!"
Paul likens the Christian life to running a race, with God predetermining a personalized course with the finish line in eternity. The course is full of obstacles (pain, trials, heartaches, etc.) and we must persevere by focusing on Jesus and not letting the obstacles distract us from our goal – winning the race. Only steadfast plodding wins the crown.
David sinned greatly in his lifetime but he not only was remorseful for his sin but he repented and God called him, "a man after God's own heart" (Acts 13:22). Psalms 51:17 said, "A broken and contrite spirit He would not despise." In Psalms 57:7, David said, "My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is steadfast and confident." God blessed him for his steadfast heart.
Isaiah was prophesying of Jesus in Isa.50:7, "For the Lord helps me; therefore have I not been ashamed or confounded. Therefore have I set My face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame." Even in the garden before His death Jesus was steadfast in his commitment to the will of the Father, "Not my will but Thine." He was steadfast all the way to the cross and death.
The first Christians were steadfast in their devotion to being “discipled” in the faith (Acts 2:42). When you become new creations in Christ your desire to walk and fellowship with him is insatiable. All things become new - the Word is exciting, prayer time is sweet as honey and just being in fellowship with Jesus and other Christians grows and perpetuates a desire to be steadfast in the faith because we love Him and want to be with Him. If we fail we have to confess and receive His forgiveness and recommit to the steadfast walk with Jesus. Being ‘steadfast’ and ‘failing’ may seem like an oxymoron but steadfastness is of the spirit and failing is of the flesh. The Father knows our heart. The Father remembers our commitment and knows our weaknesses but sees our steadfast heart so we can confidently draw close to His throne that we may receive mercy for our failures (Heb.4:13-l6). May the Father find us faithful!
May the words from this song be our theme, "I am determined to follow Jesus, No turning back, no turning back!"
Saturday, February 26, 2011
One of God's Equations
Two of my favorite verses in the Bible are, Psalms 37:4-5, "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart," and "Commit your way to the Lord, roll each care on Him, trust and be confident also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass." To commit anything is to "roll away." When you roll anything you release it out of your control. To commit my way (manner of life) to the Lord is to release my life into His control and trust and be confident in Him that He is able to keep me; that He is able to provide for me; that He knows what is best for my welfare.
In verse four, when I "delight" in Him, means I am "soft and pliable" to His will. Then I can easily commit to Him and trust Him. Then He will give me the yielded desires of my heart. This is one of God's equations:
yielded will
+committed life
+trust in God
=desires fulfilled
There are no coincidences or happenstances in the life of a child of God. The Father delights in giving us the desires of our hearts when we are delighting in Him. The hard part is yielding, committing and trusting. Trusting in one's self is our biggest sin. The Father does not interject Himself into our will but waits until we choose to yield to Him. His equations never fail!
In verse four, when I "delight" in Him, means I am "soft and pliable" to His will. Then I can easily commit to Him and trust Him. Then He will give me the yielded desires of my heart. This is one of God's equations:
yielded will
+committed life
+trust in God
=desires fulfilled
There are no coincidences or happenstances in the life of a child of God. The Father delights in giving us the desires of our hearts when we are delighting in Him. The hard part is yielding, committing and trusting. Trusting in one's self is our biggest sin. The Father does not interject Himself into our will but waits until we choose to yield to Him. His equations never fail!
Friday, February 25, 2011
No Illegal Aliens
There are no illegal aliens in Heaven. the only reason anyone is there is because they are citizens. No alien can scale the "pearly gates," of the New Jerusalem, nor be good enough, nor work their way in. The only way in is to be born again of the Spirit, and be adopted into the Family of God. This gives you instant citizenshiip.
We were aliens and strangers to the Father Who holds the "Book of Life," that has all the names of the citizens of Heaven written in it. The citizens names are also written on the palm of His hand. He will know them by virtue of their being adopted into the family of God, they are His children, all because of their acceptance of Jesus' blood to cleanse their sins.
On the day I became a citizen of Heaven, I stood before the Judge of the universe, God the Father, and Jesus was at my side pleading my case. I hear Him say, "She was guilty but I have paid the price for her citizenship (redemption) and she accepted that payment and I am now her elder brother."
The Father accepted me in the Beloved. My name is in the Book! I am now a child of the King and Jesus is my elder brother and I sit with Him, in spirit,at the right hand of the Father. Jesus is preparing a new home for me, with many rooms in my new country of citizenshiip - Heaven. I won't take occupancy until the Father is ready for me, but I am homesick for my new birth country! Lord Jesus, come quickly!
SWEET BY AND BY
S.Fillmore Bennett
There's a land that is fairer than day, and by faith we can see it afar.
For the Father waits over the way, to prepare us a dwelling place there.
In the sweet by and by, we shall meet on that beautiful shore.
We were aliens and strangers to the Father Who holds the "Book of Life," that has all the names of the citizens of Heaven written in it. The citizens names are also written on the palm of His hand. He will know them by virtue of their being adopted into the family of God, they are His children, all because of their acceptance of Jesus' blood to cleanse their sins.
On the day I became a citizen of Heaven, I stood before the Judge of the universe, God the Father, and Jesus was at my side pleading my case. I hear Him say, "She was guilty but I have paid the price for her citizenship (redemption) and she accepted that payment and I am now her elder brother."
The Father accepted me in the Beloved. My name is in the Book! I am now a child of the King and Jesus is my elder brother and I sit with Him, in spirit,at the right hand of the Father. Jesus is preparing a new home for me, with many rooms in my new country of citizenshiip - Heaven. I won't take occupancy until the Father is ready for me, but I am homesick for my new birth country! Lord Jesus, come quickly!
SWEET BY AND BY
S.Fillmore Bennett
There's a land that is fairer than day, and by faith we can see it afar.
For the Father waits over the way, to prepare us a dwelling place there.
In the sweet by and by, we shall meet on that beautiful shore.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
THE PERFECT TEN
THE PERFECT 10
Do we truly desire to be like Jesus? If we do, that involves giving up our will in everything. When the last dregs of Jesus' humanity were being wrung from His soul, He cried out, "not my will but Yours, My Father." As we try to follow His example and teaching (Mt.6:10) we must first relinquish our will then ask the Father to teach us "to do Your will." In His Word He has taught us:
1) Be filled with the Spirit(Eph.3:18)
2) Yield yourself completely (Rom.6:19b)
3) Wait for the Lord (Isa.40:31)
4) Walk by faith (II Cor.5:7; Eph.5:15)
5) Put on God's whole armor (Eph.6:11-18)
6) Stand (Eph.6:13)
7) Pray without ceasing (Eph.6:18)
8) Be thankful always (I Thess. 5:18)
9) Rejoice always for all things (Phil.4:4)
10)Love (I Cor.13)
If we learn and practice these ten things we will be like Jesus.
O TO BE LIKE THEE!
Thomas O. Chisholm
O to be like Thee, blessed Redeemer, this is my constant longing and prayer.
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures, Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.
O to be like Thee, full of compassion, loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting, seeking the wandering sinner to find.
O to be like thee, while I am pleading, pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love. Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling, fit me for life and heaven above.
O to be like Thee! O to be like Thee, Blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art!
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness.
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.
Do we truly desire to be like Jesus? If we do, that involves giving up our will in everything. When the last dregs of Jesus' humanity were being wrung from His soul, He cried out, "not my will but Yours, My Father." As we try to follow His example and teaching (Mt.6:10) we must first relinquish our will then ask the Father to teach us "to do Your will." In His Word He has taught us:
1) Be filled with the Spirit(Eph.3:18)
2) Yield yourself completely (Rom.6:19b)
3) Wait for the Lord (Isa.40:31)
4) Walk by faith (II Cor.5:7; Eph.5:15)
5) Put on God's whole armor (Eph.6:11-18)
6) Stand (Eph.6:13)
7) Pray without ceasing (Eph.6:18)
8) Be thankful always (I Thess. 5:18)
9) Rejoice always for all things (Phil.4:4)
10)Love (I Cor.13)
If we learn and practice these ten things we will be like Jesus.
O TO BE LIKE THEE!
Thomas O. Chisholm
O to be like Thee, blessed Redeemer, this is my constant longing and prayer.
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures, Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.
O to be like Thee, full of compassion, loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting, seeking the wandering sinner to find.
O to be like thee, while I am pleading, pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love. Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling, fit me for life and heaven above.
O to be like Thee! O to be like Thee, Blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art!
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness.
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Jesus Is All in All
I am a word person and I really like the word "all" because it includes me. "We are conquerors in all things (Rom.8:37)." "I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me (Phil.4:13)." " The righteousness of God is to all & upon all that believe (Rom.3:22)." My God shall supply all my need (Phil.4:19)." "Casting all your care on Him for He cares for you. ((I Pet.5:7)." These are just a few of the all promises that include me and I choose to believe them and prove the Father to be faithful in keeping them all.
Marilyn Meberg said, "Our love for God and in our trust of Him, we receive from Him all we are not." I am not a lot of things but Christ in me is my hope of glory and He makes up all the slack. He is my All in All!
I read a verse on the front of one of our Christmas cards by an unnamed person. "God knew our greatest need. If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist. If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer. But our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us a savior."
I began to think of how Jesus is our All and All - He is all we need.
To the lost, He is the Way (Jn.10:14:6). To the builder, He is the Foundation (I Cor.3:10-15) and Chief Cornerstone (Eph.2:20). To the old, He is the New Nature (Eph.4:24). To the defiled, He is the Pure One (Luke 1:35). To the hungry, He is the Bread of Life (Jn.6:35, 48). To the condemned, He is the Righteous Judge (Jn.8:16). To the bound, He is the Liberator (Jn.8:36). To the helpless, He is the Good Sheperd (Jn.10:11). To the blind, He is the Light (Jn.12:35,36; 1:4). To the thirsty, He is the Water of Life (Jn.4:10,14). To the deceived, He is the Truth (Jn.14:6). To the dead, He is Life (Jn.14:6; 10:10). To the searcher for God, He is the Exact Image of the Father (Jn.14:7-10). To the hopeless, He is the Anchor of the soul (Heb.6:19; I cor.15:19-20; Gal.5:5). To the depressed, He is their Joy (Ps.16:11). To the weak, He is our Strong Rock (I Cor.10:4) and Almighty God (Ex.3:14; Isa.26:4). To the searcher, He is the Wonderful Counselor (Isa.9:6). To the one in turmoil, He is the Prince of Peace (Isa.9:6; Eph.2:14). To the needy, He is the Provider (Ps.23:1; Phil.4:19). JESUS IS OUR ALL IN ALL!
Marilyn Meberg said, "Our love for God and in our trust of Him, we receive from Him all we are not." I am not a lot of things but Christ in me is my hope of glory and He makes up all the slack. He is my All in All!
I read a verse on the front of one of our Christmas cards by an unnamed person. "God knew our greatest need. If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist. If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer. But our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us a savior."
I began to think of how Jesus is our All and All - He is all we need.
To the lost, He is the Way (Jn.10:14:6). To the builder, He is the Foundation (I Cor.3:10-15) and Chief Cornerstone (Eph.2:20). To the old, He is the New Nature (Eph.4:24). To the defiled, He is the Pure One (Luke 1:35). To the hungry, He is the Bread of Life (Jn.6:35, 48). To the condemned, He is the Righteous Judge (Jn.8:16). To the bound, He is the Liberator (Jn.8:36). To the helpless, He is the Good Sheperd (Jn.10:11). To the blind, He is the Light (Jn.12:35,36; 1:4). To the thirsty, He is the Water of Life (Jn.4:10,14). To the deceived, He is the Truth (Jn.14:6). To the dead, He is Life (Jn.14:6; 10:10). To the searcher for God, He is the Exact Image of the Father (Jn.14:7-10). To the hopeless, He is the Anchor of the soul (Heb.6:19; I cor.15:19-20; Gal.5:5). To the depressed, He is their Joy (Ps.16:11). To the weak, He is our Strong Rock (I Cor.10:4) and Almighty God (Ex.3:14; Isa.26:4). To the searcher, He is the Wonderful Counselor (Isa.9:6). To the one in turmoil, He is the Prince of Peace (Isa.9:6; Eph.2:14). To the needy, He is the Provider (Ps.23:1; Phil.4:19). JESUS IS OUR ALL IN ALL!
Saturday, February 19, 2011
The Summum Bonum
Webster defines "summum bonum" as, "The supreme good from which all
others are derived." I Cor.13 tells us of all the gifts given by the Holy Spirit 'love' is the greatest, the most to be desired. Love is the summum bonum of all gifts, both material and spiritual. A material gift, given out of love, exemplifies the spiritual gift of "giving one's self." Our gift of love can be a word or deed to fulfill another's need, maybe at great sacrifice of one's self. Love means, "giving" (Jn.3:16). You can give love by giving time, energy, money and encouragement. Giving of one's self to others never diminishes us but enhances and grows our worth and potential to give more.
Mercy, forgiveness, unselfishness, patience, kindness, joy, hope, Truth, etc. - each is one of the facets from the beautiful jewel of love, and love comes from God. All other gifts will eventually fail but "love never fails!"
others are derived." I Cor.13 tells us of all the gifts given by the Holy Spirit 'love' is the greatest, the most to be desired. Love is the summum bonum of all gifts, both material and spiritual. A material gift, given out of love, exemplifies the spiritual gift of "giving one's self." Our gift of love can be a word or deed to fulfill another's need, maybe at great sacrifice of one's self. Love means, "giving" (Jn.3:16). You can give love by giving time, energy, money and encouragement. Giving of one's self to others never diminishes us but enhances and grows our worth and potential to give more.
Mercy, forgiveness, unselfishness, patience, kindness, joy, hope, Truth, etc. - each is one of the facets from the beautiful jewel of love, and love comes from God. All other gifts will eventually fail but "love never fails!"
The Christian's love prayer:
MAKE ME A BLESSING
(George Schuler)
Out in the highways and byways of life,
Many are weary and sad;
Carry the sunshine where darkness if rife,
Making the sorrowing glad.
Tell the sweet story of Christ and His love,
Tell of His pow'r to forgive;
Others will trust Him if only you prove
True, every moment you live.
Give as 'twas given to you in your need,
Love as the Master loved you;
Be to the helpless a helper indeed,
Unto your mission be true.
Make me a blessing, make me a blessing!
Out of my life may Jesus shine;
Make me a blessing, O Savior, I pray,
Make me a blessing to someone today.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)