This is a recent pic of my husband and I last summer on a rare outing of just the two of us .....  

March 31
Heedfulness or Hypocrisy in Ourselves?

MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST, OSWALD CHAMBERS

If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death
—1 John 5:16

"If we are not heedful and pay no attention to the way the Spirit of God works in us, we will become spiritual hypocrites. We see where other people are failing, and then we take our discernment and turn it into comments of ridicule and criticism, instead of turning it into intercession on their behalf. God reveals this truth about others to us not through the sharpness of our minds but through the direct penetration of His Spirit. If we are not attentive, we will be completely unaware of the source of the discernment God has given us, becoming critical of others and forgetting that God says, ". . . he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death."

...One of the most subtle and illusive burdens God ever places on us as saints is this burden of discernment concerning others. He gives us discernment so that we may accept the responsibility for those souls before Him and form the mind of Christ about them (see Philippians 2:5 )...

(my comments on this devotional)

Wow. I only posted a portion of today's devotional, but I think you get the point. As God gives us discernment, the only purpose, the One purpose, is to ask God, that He may give them life rather than allow that sin to work (death in them) and a slow and painful death in their relationship with the Lord !! God's desire is that we would assume the responsibility for this intercession before Him WITHOUT any critical tendencies, without hypocrisy, remembering it is the Spirit of God who gives discernment for the purpose of asking LIFE for those who are committing this sin. Perhaps this is why Oswald describes this part of intercession and becoming Christ-like as a BURDEN. Discernment becomes a burden in the sense that we give no opportunity for critical tendencies, but rather the burden is one that we must labor spiritually speaking, in prayer and supplication ONLY, for the one purpose, that He may give them life.

I have sadly fallen into this trap of old Satan before, i.e. using discernment as an opportunity to become critical and harsh, all in the hope that I could somehow see myself as much more spiritual. (as a tool to further my own agenda of spiritualness) How far that is from what the Lord desires to accomplish. Forgive me Lord I pray. By God's grace may I have steadfast victory & overcome self-motivated agendas and become the living sacrifice that bears the burden of intercession without committing this sin.

May the Lord grant continued desire deep in our heart to travail in prayer and supplication according to the Spirit and keep ourselves from this perverse wickedness. So that as 1 John 5:18 continues to say a couple verses later in this chapter, "but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not."

Keepeth Himself .... we must be diligent to keep ourselves in the Light of His Word, which is the lamp whereby we can keep ourselves ! As God speaks to us today, through this Word, may we be changed and freed from the sin that easily entangles us. God is the one who births spiritual discernment and growth within us ....it is not our working and laboring hard to achieve spiritualness and depth that will keep us, but humbly, we keep ourselves as we instead acknowledge our weaknesses, our sins, our failures and desperate neediness in an honest and transparent child-like state before the Lord as we read His Word. I like what one friend has said, and I quote: "Our greatest captivity is not to any other person or system; it is to self. And the greater bondage here is not the appetites of the flesh we clearly know are sinful, but the agendas we hold for our own good!!" Let us see the root of self when we allow discernment to become opportunities to speak critical and harsh words. This does not bring the life that God intended. We cannot relate to the Lord until we carry this burden of intercession effectively. We must come to realize during this whole process of intercession we are changed as we carry this burden. We can get to the point then where we can help one another discover the depth of a relationship in Christ where we are truly free from contempt, manipulation, expectation. Free from the arrogance of setting ourselves above others. To truly be free, free to treat believers and unbelievers alike, recognizing that part of the freedom Christ offers us is to be real, honest and vulnerable before Him. To feel what you feel; to ask what you need to ask, to be wrong where you are wrong, and to extend that same freedom to others. Grace.

Therein might we instead be changed by the Lord through His mercy, through His Grace. This is the formation of Christ wherein God has begotten us ...and "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to HIS ABUNDANT MERCY hath begotten us again unto a LIVELY HOPE by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." HALLELUJAH!

"And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life."

the Journey

the Journey

March 30
Holiness or Hardness Toward God?

MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST, OSWALD CHAMBERS

He . . . wondered that there was no intercessor . . .
—Isaiah 59:16

"The reason many of us stop praying and become hard toward God is that we only have an emotional interest in prayer. It sounds good to say that we pray, and we read books on prayer which tell us that prayer is beneficial—that our minds are quieted and our souls are uplifted when we pray. But Isaiah implied in this verse that God is amazed at such thoughts about prayer.

Worship and intercession must go together; one is impossible without the other. Intercession means raising ourselves up to the point of getting the mind of Christ regarding the person for whom we are praying (see Philippians 2:5 ). Instead of worshiping God, we recite speeches to God about how prayer is supposed to work. Are we worshiping God or disputing Him when we say, "But God, I just don’t see how you are going to do this"? This is a sure sign that we are not worshiping. When we lose sight of God, we become hard and dogmatic. We throw our petitions at His throne and dictate to Him what we want Him to do. We don’t worship God, nor do we seek to conform our minds to the mind of Christ. And if we are hard toward God, we will become hard toward other people.

Are we worshiping God in a way that will raise us up to where we can take hold of Him, having such intimate contact with Him that we know His mind about the ones for whom we pray? Are we living in a holy relationship with God, or have we become hard and dogmatic?

Do you find yourself thinking that there is no one interceding properly? Then be that person yourself. Be a person who worships God and lives in a holy relationship with Him. Get involved in the real work of intercession, remembering that it truly is work-work that demands all your energy, but work which has no hidden pitfalls. Preaching the gospel has its share of pitfalls, but intercessory prayer has none whatsoever. "

(my thoughts for this devotional)

I understand what Oswald means when he says "get the mind of Christ regarding the person for whom we are praying. "Let this mind be in you, which was in Christ Jesus". Phillipians 2:5 Our great battle is that we have to get our hearts in such a place where we are able to receive HIs thoughts and His mind.
It is often exchanging what I am first inclined to pray , worshipping, thanking and praising the Lord, then receiving from the Lord instead His direction of intercession. It is the Spirit who knows all things and searches all things, even the deep things of God.

An intercessor has a mind and heart that is fixed and surrendered as a vessel, willing to allow the Holy Spirit divine connection to pray fervently through us, not as we will, but as the Lord will's. His desire is for mercy to be poured out and to abound in our hearts and in the circumstances and situations that we are in, even the ones where we find it difficult to pray for His mercy, His Spirit enables us and pours upon us the richness and the vast peace that mercy brings. O H Lord to the merciful the Lord Himself is merciful.

He desires us to trust Him implicity with our lives and the lives of those we love. He watches over us with tenderness and a watchful eye. Though we may even be misunderstood, with God's grace and watchful eye, we are able to see more clearly and pray effectually because it becomes not about us, even in our darkest moments. IThat is exchanged for a heart that insteads becomes one with the Lord and prays according to His Will. It really is amazing and how free we become, free from care and concern over our self and asserting our rights, defending ourselves. We leave this aside as we come instead to know How loved we are and how highly He loves us all. We can trust Him to be our defender and our provider and even our sustainer. When we feel abandoned and alone, if we abide in Him and abide in His Truth, we find that God's peace and supernatural presence keep us, and directs us. We are One with Him. He will never forsake us or leave us the psalmist says.

We can be anchored and steadfast in Him, even when we feel inclined to delve into self pity and condemnation. The truth is we are not condemned nor are we forsaken. We have peace with God because of faith in Christ.
That brings rest and gratefulness, knowing that we are kept in His hand, and nothing can pluck us out of it.

Today I heard that a neighbor (who had moved a way a couple years ago) died last week. I read her obituary.
I have a great joy in my heart knowing she is present with the Lord. She was a rare person who during many trials shadowed during her time on earth, she remained a loving and kind and considerate person. I know this is because she grabbed ahold of her faith through the many trials and held on. She told me that even when she fell down, and failed the Lord, {as she so often felt she did}, she asked the Lord many times, pick me up, dust me off, and keep me going. Those were her exact words. Today she is just such an inspiration to me. Isn't it wonderful to know the Lord is aware of our failures and our weaknesses? That even in our deepest failures and despairs, we can be reminded of the Lord' s love and care and unfailing love. He is longsuffering and merciful towards us and likewise by His grace we too can demonstrate and give those who are hurt by life's hardships and trials, words of a hope and a mercy that may just be what they are in need of at that moment.

the Journey

the Journey

March 29
Our Lord’s Surprise Visits

MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST, OSWALD CHAMBERS

You also be ready . . .
—Luke 12:40


"A Christian worker’s greatest need is a readiness to face Jesus Christ at any and every turn. This is not easy, no matter what our experience has been. This battle is not against sin, difficulties, or circumstances, but against being so absorbed in our service to Jesus Christ that we are not ready to face Jesus Himself at every turn. The greatest need is not facing our beliefs or doctrines, or even facing the question of whether or not we are of any use to Him, but the need is to face Him.

Jesus rarely comes where we expect Him; He appears where we least expect Him, and always in the most illogical situations. The only way a servant can remain true to God is to be ready for the Lord’s surprise visits. This readiness will not be brought about by service, but through intense spiritual reality, expecting Jesus Christ at every turn. This sense of expectation will give our life the attitude of childlike wonder He wants it to have. If we are going to be ready for Jesus Christ, we have to stop being religious. In other words, we must stop using religion as if it were some kind of a lofty lifestyle-we must be spiritually real.

If you are avoiding the call of the religious thinking of today’s world, and instead are "looking unto Jesus" ( Hebrews 12:2 ), setting your heart on what He wants, and thinking His thoughts, you will be considered impractical and a daydreamer. But when He suddenly appears in the work of the heat of the day, you will be the only one who is ready. You should trust no one, and even ignore the finest saint on earth if he blocks your sight of Jesus Christ."

(MY COMMENTS ON THIS DEVOTIONAL)

I love this today.
Jesus Christ wants a relationship with each one of us that is Real and that can touch the very circumstances that we find ourself in day upon day!!
He does not want pretension and hypocrisy. He does not want religious facades and programs. He does not want us to pretend to be Righteous and Holy. He wants us to be real with him, transparent. He wants to strip away every facade that has been built around each one of us so that we may come to know Him , truly as He is !!

We first need to let go of what we deem spiritual religious and Holy, and humbly acknowledge and ask Him to instead reveal Who He Is to us !! If we do that God, will show up perhaps when we least expect him to, but He Will Show UP!! It might not be even in a building on Sunday morning, but it may instead be in your most needy moments that you will come to find that He is there for you, entreating you on a journey of living LOVED by HIM.

As we grow in the reality of HIs Love and the Reality that He is not interested in us pretending any longer, this is tremendous opportunity to truly come to know HIm More and More, where we can begin to grow in trust, yes, child like trust. Trust grows as confidence in His Love for us grows.

the Journey

the Journey

March 1
The Piercing Question

MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST, OSWALD CHAMBERS

Do you love Me?
—John 21:17

"Peter’s response to this piercing question is considerably different from the bold defiance he exhibited only a few days before when he declared, "Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!" ( Matthew 26:35 ; also see Matthew 26:33-34 ). Our natural individuality, or our natural self, boldly speaks out and declares its feelings. But the true love within our inner spiritual self can be discovered only by experiencing the hurt of this question of Jesus Christ. Peter loved Jesus in the way any natural man loves a good person. Yet that is nothing but emotional love. It may reach deeply into our natural self, but it never penetrates to the spirit of a person. True love never simply declares itself. Jesus said, "Whoever confesses Me before men [that is, confesses his love by everything he does, not merely by his words], him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God" ( Luke 12:8 ).

Unless we are experiencing the hurt of facing every deception about ourselves, we have hindered the work of the Word of God in our lives. The Word of God inflicts hurt on us more than sin ever could, (sin is not all powerful but the Word of God is, hallelujah) because sin dulls our senses. But this question of the Lord intensifies our sensitivities to the point that this hurt produced by Jesus is the most exquisite pain conceivable. It hurts not only on the natural level, but also on the deeper spiritual level. "For the Word of God is living and powerful . . . , piercing even to the division of soul and spirit . . ."—to the point that no deception can remain ( Hebrews 4:12). When the Lord asks us this question, it is impossible to think and respond properly, because when the Lord speaks directly to us, the pain is too intense. It causes such a tremendous hurt that any part of our life which may be out of line with His will can feel the pain. There is never any mistaking the pain of the Lord’s Word by His children, but the moment that pain is felt is the very moment at which God reveals His truth to us. "

(My comments on this devotional)
I think it is amazing that God is guiding my train of thought so perfectly this morning, Thank you Jesus ! I can't help but share and I pray you are strengthened and blessed in Him because of it...

Our love confession towards our dear Saviour Jesus Christ pierces through our every deception (about our selves), because it is so powerful, it slices through every deceptive delicacy that we may desire in and of ourselves. This is exactly where the lodging place of the Word of God desires to extend to. The power in the Word of God is sharpened & released when we are willing to do business with God in this painful way, I need to be freed from my self Lord Jesus have mercy upon me !!

Matt 21 As I went and read there-in this morning, this was my thoughts / meditation:
Jesus Christ in our lives, is lifted up, Worshipped as King Lord of All. What happens next is that he desires to cleanse and rid our temples of all that offends Him. The cleansing work he literally did in the temple of overthrowing tables and the seats of them that sold doves (Holy Spirit??) is that not the kind of powerful work we all need to be delivered of the reign of self?
Sounds like a powerful annointing we need amen to get rid of the pollution that stinks up in us . Jesus said My house shall be called the house of prayer but ye have made it a den of thieves. hmmmmm
However the great cleansing in verse 14 brought miraculous supernatural healing power to the broken, needy etc. (isn't that you and I? ) Once they were cleansed and healed, out of their mouths praise was perfected. (I want to give Jesus perfect praise amen)

Do you suppose Jesus hunger in verse 18 was to see faith in the people as he went about ? He had a spiritual appetite, for true spiritual fruit in the people. Thus he cursed the fig tree which was not bearing fruit as a way of showing them that if they believed in their hearts and had faith and did not doubt, they would have a great harvest of spiritual fruitfullness in their lives. And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing ye shall receive.
However many of the religious folks were instead offended by His display of power and truth; they didn't appear to have an appetite for the spiritual. So they challenged his authority (as the religious folks always do) and what Jesus did next, (was just like this devotion said) He , being the Word of God, exposed the deception in their own hearts, He so pierced them and exposed their hearts( he knew was there). Because they chose to please people and serve self, and reign on their own throne, Jesus hid from them the authority that He Had been given and brought to restore upon the earth.

Hello and welcome to my Blog

Hello out there everyone !

Welcome to my blog!!

The most important relationship we can ever have while we are on this earth is to come to know Jesus Christ as our Best Friend !!

We are created in His Image and we have been created for one purpose, and that is to come to know HIM.

I would like to share with you my journey of coming to know Him and be known by Him.

May your faith likewise be stirred to seek the God of the Living as the One True Living God.

He is the Author and the Finisher of our Faith.

I have been on an incredible journey for ten years. Christ found me in one of the many crisis' that life can bring.

I realize that many people are suffering and feel they are without hope. I want to tell you that you too can have a hope that will never fade away through Christ.

He cares about you and He knows you.

You will never find fulfillment in anything life has to offer that can compare to knowing Jesus Christ.

May you be blessed and encouraged to come to know the Lord.

His Plan is that we would know the life He has to offer us.

He has come (into this world) so that we might know that He truly is Life, and Life more Abundantly.

THERE IS LIFE FOUND IN NO OTHER.

HE ALONE IS THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE.