Fight For It

Fight For It
09/21/2009
Be kind, for everyone you know is facing a great battle.

A true community is something you will have to fight for. You’ll have to fight to get one, and you’ll have to fight to keep it afloat. But you fight for it like you bail out a life raft during a storm at sea. You want this thing to work. You need this thing to work. You can’t ditch it and jump back on the cruise ship. This is the church; this is all you have. Without it, you’ll go down. Or back to prison.

Suddenly all those “one another’s” in Scripture make sense. Love one another. Bear one another’s burdens. Forgive one another. Acts of kindness become deeply meaningful because we know we are at war. Knowing full well that we are all facing battles of our own, we give one another the benefit of the doubt. Leigh isn’t intentionally being distant from me – she’s probably under an assault. That’s why you must know each other’s stories, know how to “read” one another. A word of encouragement can heal a wound; a choice to forgive can destroy a stronghold. You never knew your simple acts were so weighty. Its what we’ve come to call “lifestyle warfare.”

We check in regularly with one another, not out of paranoia (“Do you still like me?”), but in order to watch over each other’s hearts. “How are you doing?” But be careful about what you are looking for from community. For if you bring your every need to it, it will collapse. Community is no substitute for God. I left our annual camping trip absolutely exhausted and disappointed. As we drove home, I realized it was because I was looking to them to validate me, appreciate me, fill this aching void in my heart. Only once in ten days did I take time to be away with God, alone. I was too busy trying to get my needs met through them. Which is why community cannot live without solitude.

(Waking The Dead , 199, 200 )

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Until We Are Broken, Our Lives Will Be Self-Centered 08/30/2009

Until We Are Broken, Our Lives Will Be Self-Centered
08/30/2009

True strength does not come out of bravado. Until we are broken, our life will be self-centered, self-reliant; our strength will be our own. So long as you think you are really something in and of yourself, what will you need God for? I don’t trust a man who hasn’t suffered; I don’t let a man get close to me who hasn’t faced his wound. Think of the posers you know—are they the kind of man you would call at 2:00 A.M., when life is collapsing around you? Not me. I don’t want clichés; I want deep, soulful truth, and that only comes when a man has walked the road I’ve been talking about. As Frederick Buechner says,

To do for yourself the best that you have it in you to do—to grit your teeth and clench your fists in order to survive the world at its harshest and worst—is, by that very act, to be unable to let something be done for you and in you that is more wonderful still. The trouble with steeling yourself against the harshness of reality is that the same steel that secures your life against being destroyed secures your life also against being opened up and transformed. (The Sacred Journey)

Only when we enter our wound will we discover our true glory. As Robert Bly says, “Where a man’s wound is, that is where his genius will be.” There are two reasons for this. First, the wound was given in the place of your true strength, as an effort to take you out. Until you go there you are still posing, offering something more shallow and insubstantial. And therefore, second, it is out of your brokenness that you discover what you have to offer the community. The false self is never wholly false. Those gifts we’ve been using are often quite true about us, but we’ve used them to hide behind. We thought that the power of our life was in the golden bat, but the power is in us. When we begin to offer not merely our gifts but our true selves, that is when we become powerful.

(Wild at Heart , 137–38)

Yes We Do Have a Good Heart

I can not agree more with John Eldrege I am so tired of always hearing the people in the church say that they are wicked and have a bad heart.  Even the passage that they refer to says  I will give them a new heart.  While things are not perfect hear on earth we can rest in that God is doing something in our hearts and its good.   Look at what God see’s in us.

What God Sees When He Sees You
08/29/2009

Your sin has been dealt with. Your Father has removed it from you “as far as the east is from the west” (Ps. 103:12). Your sins have been washed away (1 Cor. 6:11). When God looks at you he does not see your sin. He has not one condemning thought toward you (Rom. 8:1). But that’s not all. You have a new heart. That’s the promise of the new covenant: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws” (Ezek. 36:26 –27). There’s a reason that it’s called good news.

Too many Christians today are living back in the old covenant. They’ve had Jeremiah 17:9 drilled into them and they walk around believing my heart is deceitfully wicked. Not anymore it’s not. Read the rest of the book. In Jeremiah 31:33, God announces the cure for all that: “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” I will give you a new heart. That’s why Paul says in Romans 2:29, “No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit.” Sin is not the deepest thing about you. You have a new heart. Did you hear me? Your heart is good.

What God sees when he sees you is the real you, the true you, the man he had in mind when he made you. this was taken from John Eldredges Waking the Dead Ransomed Heart Devotional on 8.29.09

The Power of Addiction by John Eldredge Ransonmed Heart

The Power of Addiction
08/11/2009
This is the power of addiction. Whatever the object of our addiction is, it attaches itself to our intense desire for eternal and intimate communion with God and each other in the midst of Paradise—the desire that Jesus himself placed in us before the beginning of the world. Nothing less than this kind of unfallen communion will ever satisfy our desire or allow it to drink freely without imprisoning it and us. Once we allow our heart to drink water from these less-than-eternal wells with the goal of finding the life we were made for, it overpowers our will, and becomes, as Jonathan Edwards said, “like a viper, hissing and spitting at God” and us if we try to restrain it.

“Nothing is less in power than the heart and far from commanding, we are forced to obey it,” said Jean Rousseau. Our heart will carry us either to God or to addiction.

“Addiction is the most powerful psychic enemy of humanity’s desire for God,” says Gerald May in Addiction and Grace, which is no doubt why it is one of our adversary’s favorite ways to imprison us. Once taken captive, trying to free ourselves through willpower is futile. Only God’s Spirit himself can free us or even bring us to our senses.

(The Sacred Romance , 133–34)

Who I Am In Christ

Who I Am In Christ

 Matthew 4:19; Mark 1:17—I am a fisher of men.
 Matthew 5:13—I am the salt of the earth.
 Matthew 5:14—I am the light of the world.
* Matthew 28:19; Luke 14:27; John 8:31; 13:35; 15:8; Acts 6:1, 7; 11:25-26, 29; 14:20-22; 16:1—I am a disciple of Christ.
 Luke 24:48; Acts 1:8—I am Christ’s witness.
* John 3:16-18; 10:28-29; 17:3; Romans 5:21; 6:23; 1 John 5:11—I have eternal life in Christ.
 John 8:32, 36—I am set free from sin in Christ.
 John 10:10—I have abundant life in Christ.
 John 14:26; 16:13—I have been taught all things by the Holy Spirit.
 John 14:27; 16:33—I have peace in Christ.
 John 15:3—I am clean in Christ.
 John 15:4, 5, 8, 16; Romans 7:4—I bear much lasting fruit in Christ.
 John 15:5—I am a branch abiding in Christ the Vine.
 John 15:11—My joy is complete in Christ.
 John 16:33—I have overcome the world in Christ.
 John 17:16—I am not of this world.
 Acts 2:44; 4:32—I am a believer.
 Acts 5:20—I have new life in Christ.
 Acts 8:3; 2 Corinthians 1:1—Together with all the saints, I am God’s Church.
 Acts 11:26—I am a Christian, a little Christ.
* Acts 13:39; Romans 3:24, 26, 28, 30; 4:25; 5:1, 9, 18; 10:10; 1 Corinthians 6:11; Titus 3:7—I am justified freely and fully.
 Acts 20:32; 1 Corinthians 6:11—I am sanctified.
 Romans 1:6—I am called to belong to Christ.
* Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 6:1, 2; 2 Corinthians 1:1; Ephesians 1:1; Philippians 1:1; 4:21, 22; Philemon 4; Jude 3—I am a saint.
* Romans 3:24; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14—I am redeemed in Christ.
* Romans 3:21-26; 4:3, 5, 6, 9, 22, 23, 24; 5:17, 19; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 3:9—I have been credited with Christ’s righteousness.
* Romans 5:17—I am a recipient of God’s abundant provision of grace.
* Romans 5:18—I have new life in Christ.
 Romans 6:2—I am dead to sin.
 Romans 6:3—I am baptized into Christ’s death.
 Romans 6:4—I am buried with Christ in his death to and over sin.
 Romans 6:4—I have been raised to new life in Christ.
 Romans 6:5—I am united with Christ in his resurrection.
 Romans 6:6—My old self is crucified with Christ.
 Romans 6:6—My body of sin has been done away with.
 Romans 6:6—I am no longer sin’s slave.
 Romans 6:7—I have been freed from sin in Christ.
 Romans 6:8—I died with Christ to sin.
 Romans 6:8—I live with Christ.
 Romans 6:11—I am dead to sin.
 Romans 6:11—I am alive to God.
 Romans 6:13—I have been brought from spiritual death to spiritual life.
 Romans 6:14—Sin shall not be my master.
 Romans 6:14—I am not under law, but under grace.
 Romans 6:18, 22—I have been set free from sin.
 Romans 6:19—I am a slave to righteousness, righteousness masters my being.
 Romans 6:22—I am a slave to God.
 Romans 7:4—I have died to the law.
 Romans 7:6—I serve Christ in the new way of the Spirit.
 Romans 7:22—My inner being delights in God’s law—his holy standards.
 Romans 7:25—In my innermost mind, I am a slave to God’s law.
 Romans 8:1—I will never suffer condemnation because I am in Christ.
 Romans 8:2—I am set free from the law of sin and death in Christ.
 Romans 8:4—I have met the righteous requirements of the law in Christ.
 Romans 8:5—My mindset is on spiritual affections and passions.
 Romans 8:9—I am not controlled by the flesh, but I am controlled by the Spirit.
 Romans 8:29—I am predestined to be conformed to the image of the Son.
 Romans 8:37—I am more than a conqueror in Christ.
* Romans 9:23—I have been prepared in advance by God to be glorious.
 Romans 10:9, 10, 13—I am saved in Christ.
 Romans 15:14—I am full of goodness in Christ.
 Romans 15:14—I am complete in knowledge in Christ.
 Romans 15:14—I am competent to disciple others in Christ.
 Romans 15:16—I am sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
 Romans 15:16—I am acceptable to God in Christ.
 1 Corinthians 1:2—I am sanctified in Christ Jesus.
 1 Corinthians 1:2; Ephesians 5:26; Colossians 3:12—I am holy in Christ.
 1 Corinthians 1:8—I am blameless in Christ.
 1 Corinthians 1:30—I am wise in Christ.
 1 Corinthians 1:30—I am holiness to God in Christ.
 1 Corinthians 2:16—I have the mind of Christ.
 1 Corinthians 3:9—I am God’s fellow worker.
 1 Corinthians 3:9—I am God’s field.
 1 Corinthians 3:9—I am God’s building.
 1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 2 Corinthians 6:16—I am God’s sacred temple.
* 1 Corinthians 6:11—I am washed in Christ.
 1 Corinthians 6:19—I am the temple of the Holy Spirit.
 1 Corinthians 6:20—I have been bought and redeemed with a price.
* 2 Corinthians 2:14—Christ always leads me in a triumphal victory march.
 2 Corinthians 3:6—I am a competent minister of the new covenant in Christ.
 2 Corinthians 3:10—In Christ I have surpassing, lasting glory.
 2 Corinthians 3:18—I am a growing reflection of the Lord’s glory.
* 2 Corinthians 3:18—I am increasingly being transformed into Christ’s likeness.
 2 Corinthians 4:16—I am being renewed inwardly day by day in Christ.
 2 Corinthians 5:17—I am a new creation in Christ.
 2 Corinthians 5:18—I am a minister of reconciliation.
 2 Corinthians 5:20—I am Christ’s ambassador.
 2 Corinthians 5:21—I have the righteousness of God in Christ.
 2 Corinthians 8:9—I am spiritually rich in Christ.
 2 Corinthians 11:2—I am Christ’s spiritually pure virgin.
 Galatians 1:4—I have been rescued from this present evil age.
 Galatians 2:20—I am crucified with Christ.
 Galatians 3:13-14—I am redeemed from the curse.
 Galatians 6:1—I am spiritual in Christ.
 Ephesians 1:1—I am faithful in Christ.
 Ephesians 1:4—I have been chosen to be holy in Christ.
 Ephesians 1:4—I have been chosen to be blameless in Christ.
* Ephesians 1:17-19—I have God’s resurrection power actively working in me.
 Ephesians 2:5—I am alive with Christ.
 Ephesians 2:5, 8—I am saved by grace.
 Ephesians 2:6—I have been raised up with Christ.
 Ephesians 2:6—I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realms.
 Ephesians 2:10—I am Christ’s workmanship, his opus, his poem, his masterpiece.
 Ephesians 2:10—I was prepared in advance in Christ Jesus to do good works.
 Ephesians 2:15—Together with all the saints, I am a new person in Christ.
 Ephesians 2:21—Along with all the saints, I am God’s holy temple.
* Ephesians 2:22—I am a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
* Ephesians 3:16—I am strengthened with power through God’s Spirit.
* Ephesians 3:17—Christ dwells in my heart.
 Ephesians 3:17—I am rooted and established in love.
 Ephesians 3:18—I have power to grasp God’s great love for me in Christ.
 Ephesians 3:19—I am filled to the measure of all the fullness of God in Christ.
 Ephesians 3:20—Christ’s immeasurable resurrection power is at work within me.
* Ephesians 4:13—I am maturing to the full measure of the fullness of Christ.
 Ephesians 4:22—My old self is put off in Christ.
 Ephesians 4:23—I have been made new in the attitude of my mind in Christ.
 Ephesians 4:24—My new self is put on in Christ.
 Ephesians 4:24—I am created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
 Ephesians 5:8—I am now light in the Lord.
 Ephesians 5:9—The fruit of my life is goodness, righteousness, and truth.
 Ephesians 5:26—I am cleansed in Christ
 Ephesians 5:26—I am washed in Christ.
 Ephesians 5:27—Together with the Bride of Christ, I am presentable, radiant, ​without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.
 Philippians 2:1—I am united with Christ.
 Philippians 2:1—I am in fellowship with the Holy Spirit.
* Philippians 2:13—God works in me to accomplish his good purposes.
 Philippians 2:15—I am blameless and pure, a child of God without fault.
 Philippians 2:15—I shine like the stars in the universe in Christ.
 Philippians 3:9—I have a righteousness that comes from faith in Christ.
 Philippians 3:10—Christ’s resurrection power conforms me to his image.
 Philippians 3:20—My citizenship is in heaven.
 Philippians 4:13—I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
* Philippians 4:19—God meets all my needs through his riches in Christ Jesus.
 Colossians 1:2—I am a holy and faithful brother/sister in Christ.
* Colossians 1:12—I am qualified to share in the inheritance of the saints.
* Colossians 1:13—I have been rescued from the dominion of darkness.
* Colossians 1:13—I have been transported into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son.
* Colossians 1:22—I am holy in God’s sight, without blemish, and free from accusation.
 Colossians 2:10—I have been given fullness in Christ.
 Colossians 2:11—My old sinful nature/man/self/person has been put off.
 Colossians 2:12—I have been buried with Christ in baptism.
 Colossians 2:12—I have been raised with Christ from the dead.
 Colossians 2:13—God made me alive with Christ.
 Colossians 2:14-15—In Christ, sin is defeated and disarmed in my life.
 Colossians 2:20—I died with Christ to the world.
 Colossians 3:1—I have been raised with Christ.
 Colossians 3:3—I died with Christ.
 Colossians 3:3—My life is now hidden with Christ in God.
 Colossians 3:9—I have taken off the old self with its practices.
 Colossians 3:10—I have put on the new self in Christ.
* Colossians 3:10—The new me in Christ is being renewed in knowledge in the image of the Creator.
 1 Thessalonians 3:13—I am blameless and holy before God’s presence.
 1 Thessalonians 5:23—God is sanctifying me through and through.
 1 Thessalonians 5:23—God keeps my whole spirit, soul, and body blameless.
 2 Thessalonians 2:14—I am called to share in the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.
 2 Timothy 1:7—God placed within me his spirit of power, love, and wisdom.
 2 Timothy 2:3-4—I am a good soldier in Jesus Christ.
 2 Timothy 2:5—I am a victorious athlete in Jesus Christ.
 2 Timothy 2:6—I am a disciplined, hard working farmer in Jesus Christ.
 Titus 3:5—I am saved, washed, re-birthed, and renewed in Christ and by the ​Spirit.
 Hebrews 1:3—I am purified from sin in and by Christ.
 Hebrews 2:10—I am brought to glory in and by Christ.
 Hebrews 2:11—I am made holy in and by Christ.
 Hebrews 7:25—I am saved completely.
 Hebrews 8:10; 10:16—God’s law is in my mind, written on my heart.
 Hebrews 9:12—I have eternal redemption in Christ.
 Hebrews 9:14—My conscience is cleansed in Christ.
 Hebrews 9:15—I am set free from sin in Christ.
 Hebrews 9:26-27—My sins are done away with and taken away in and by Christ.
 Hebrews 10:2—I am cleansed once for all, guiltless in Christ.
 Hebrews 10:10—I have been made holy once for all by Christ’s sacrifice.
 Hebrews 10:14—I have been made perfect forever in and by Christ.
 Hebrews 10:22—I am cleansed and washed in Christ.
 1 Peter 1:3—I am born again, given new birth in Christ.
* 1 Peter 1:18-19—I am redeemed from my old empty way of life by Christ’s precious blood.
 1 Peter 1:22—I am purified by faith in Christ.
 1 Peter 1:23—I have been born again of imperishable seed.
 1 Peter 2:5—I am a living stone, being built into a spiritual house.
 1 Peter 2:5—Along with all the saints, I am a holy priesthood.
 1 Peter 2:9—Along with all the saints, I am a chosen people.
 1 Peter 2:9—Along with all the saints, I am a member of a royal priesthood.
 1 Peter 2:9—Along with all the saints, I am a citizen of a holy nation.
 1 Peter 2:9-10—Along with all the saints, I am a people belonging to God.
 1 Peter 2:9—I am called out of darkness into Christ’s wonderful light.
* 2 Peter 1:3—God’s Divine power has given me everything I need for life and godliness.
* 2 Peter 1:4—Through God’s great and precious promises I participate in the Divine nature.
* 2 Peter 1:4—Through God’s great and precious promises I have escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
* 1 John 2:20—I have an anointing from the Holy One and I know the truth.
* 1 John 4:4—I have overcome the world, the flesh, and the Devil because greater is he who is in me, than he who is in the world.
 1 John 4:4, 6—I am from God.
 1 John 4:7; 5:1—I am born of God.
 1 John 5:4-5—Born of God, I overcome the world by faith in Christ.
 Jude 24—I stand before God’s glorious presence without fault and with great joy.
 Revelation 1:5—I am freed from my sins by Christ’s blood.
* Revelation 1:6—God has made me, together with all the saints, a kingdom of priests.
* Revelation 19:7-8, 14—Along with all the saints, I am the pure Bride of Christ, clean, white, and righteous.

Are You Thirsty?

Are You Thirsty?
07/16/2009
In the gospel of John, Jesus extends the offer to anyone who realizes that his life just isn’t touching his deep desire: “If you are thirsty, come to me! If you believe in me, come and drink! For the Scriptures declare that rivers of living water will flow out from within” (John 7:37–38 NLT). His message wasn’t something new, but it confounded the religious leaders of the day. Surely, those scripturally learned Jews must have recalled God’s long-standing invitation to them, spoken seven hundred years earlier through the prophet Isaiah,

Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.
(55:1–2)

Somehow, the message had gotten lost by the time Jesus showed up on the scene. The Jews of his day were practicing a very soul-killing spirituality, a lifeless religion of duty and obligation. Desire was out of the question. No wonder they feared Jesus. He came along and started appealing to desire. To the weary, Jesus speaks of rest. To the lost, he speaks of finding your way. Again and again and again, Jesus takes people back to their desires. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Matt. 7:7). These are outrageous words, provocative words. Ask, seek, knock—these words invite and arouse desire. What is it that you want? They fall on deaf ears if there is nothing you want, nothing you’re looking for, nothing you’re hungry enough to bang on a door over.

(Desire, 37–38)

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Set Up for Disappointment

Set Up for Disappointment
07/12/2009
Choosing love will open spaces of immense beauty and joy for you, but you will be hurt. You already know this. You have retreated from love countless times in your life because of it. We all have. We have been and will be hurt by the loss of loved ones, by what they have done to us and we to them. Even in the bliss of love there is a certain exquisite pain: the pain of too much beauty, of overwhelming magnificence. Further, no matter how perfect a love may be, it is never really satisfied . . . In both joy and pain, love is boundless. (Gerald May, The Awakened Heart)

Desire is the source of our most noble aspirations and our deepest sorrows. The pleasure and the pain go together; indeed, they emanate from the same region in our hearts. We cannot live without the yearning, and yet the yearning sets us up for disappointment—sometimes deep and devastating disappointment. One storm claimed the lives of eight of Krakauer’s companions in the Everest disaster of 1996. Should they not have tried? Many have said they were foolish even to begin. Do we reach for nothing in life because our reaching opens us up to tragedy? Because of its vulnerable nature, desire begins to feel like our worst enemy.

Taken From Ransom Heart Daily Blog on 7.12.09

The Unwavering Intensity of Desire by John Eldridge

The Unwavering Intensity of Desire
07/11/2009
I am haunted by the stories of people who make the summit of Everest. Such incredible devotion is required, such total focus of body, soul, and spirit. Reaching the top of the world’s tallest mountain becomes for those who try the central driving force of their lives. The goal is so remarkable and the journey so uncertain. Many climbers have been lost on the mountain. Those who reach the summit and return safely are among a rare and elite group of mountaineers in the world. Why do they do it? How do they do it?

John Krakauer recounted the desperate tale of the ill-fated ’96 expedition in his book Into Thin Air: “There were many, many fine reasons not to go, but attempting to climb Everest is an intrinsically irrational act—a triumph of desire over sensibility.” It is a feat begun in desire that can be accomplished only through desire. Krakauer explained how one of his climbing partners attained the summit: “Yasuko had been propelled up the mountain by the unwavering intensity of her desire.”

Desire—it’s the only way you will ever make it. Take marriage, for instance. Or singleness. Either makes for a far more difficult and arduous ascent than Everest, in large part because it does not seem so. The struggles are not heightened and focused into one month of do or die; rather, they stretch on across a lifetime. So it is with any act of faith or of hope—anything, in other words, that makes a life worth living. How can we possibly sustain such an intrinsically irrational act as love if we’ve killed our desire?

(Desire , 18–19)

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My King of Old

My King of Old
July 9, 2009

“The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun. Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter.” (Psalm 74:16-17)

The 74th Psalm is a sad lamentation over the apparent triumph of the enemies of God, but its central verse is a beautiful statement of faith: “For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth” (Psalm 74:12). Then, in support of his faith, the psalmist remembers the mighty creative acts of God in ancient times, giving assurance that He could, indeed, work salvation in these present times.

Those who believe that man is the measure of all things, sufficient unto himself, ignore how dependent all people are on God’s provisions. The very rotation of the earth, with its cycle of day and night, has set the basic rhythm of biological life, and it was God–not man–who “divided the light from the darkness” (Genesis 1:4).

There is even the testimony in Genesis that God “prepared the light” before He prepared the sun (Genesis 1:3, 14), thus rebuking all those who later would worship the sun as the source of the earth and life.

God also “set all the borders |or ‘boundaries’| of the earth.” This refers both to the emergence of the continental land masses after the Flood, and then also to the enforced scattering of the peoples from Babel into all the world, when He “determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation.” (Acts 17:26).

He has even made “summer and winter, and day and night |that| shall not cease” (Genesis 8:22). God did all this–not man! Evolutionary humanism is futile foolishness, and one day soon God will answer the cry of the psalmist: “Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily” (Psalm 74:22). HMM

From Institute for Creation Research July 9 2009

Christ: Our Example

Christ: Our Example
May 9, 2009

“For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps.” (1 Peter 2:21)

Some have tried to pattern their lives after that of Jesus, simply by asking in every situation, “What would Jesus do?” But in the context of our text, the primary “example” which He left us was nothing less than His own sacrificial death!

Note the context: “For this is thankworthy |same word as ‘grace’|, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully . . . if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, yet take it patiently, this is acceptable |also the same word as ‘grace’| with God” (1 Peter 2:19-20).

To follow Christ’s example, therefore, is to be willing to endure unjustified suffering–even defamation and persecution–with grace and patience.

But that is not all; we must also do it in silence! “Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not” (1 Peter 2:23). “As a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7).

It is a natural reaction to want to strike back at one who has slandered or injured us, especially if such an act was an insulting response to kindness. But such a “natural” reaction was not Christ’s reaction. He could have called “twelve legions of angels” (Matthew 26:53) to His defense, but He chose to suffer in silence.

And why would He do such a thing? First, if He had not done so, we would have been lost in our sins forever. He “bare our sins in his own body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24).

Second, He left us an example, that we “should follow his steps.” He was not just silent in His sufferings; “He suffered for us!” If we would really be like Him, we must be willing to suffer quietly on behalf of others, even when they are the ones who deserve it. This is acceptable with God! HMM Taken from the Daily Devotion from Creation Institute.

A Spiritual Lobotomy 04/01/2009 from the Sacred Romance John Eldredge

Being unable to defeat God through raw power, Satan’s legions decide to wound God as deeply as possible by stealing the love of his Beloved through seduction. And having “seduced them to his party,” to ravish them body and soul; and having ravished them, to mock them even as they are hurled to the depths of hell with God himself unable to save them because of their rejection of him. This is Satan’s motivation and goal for every man, woman, and child into whom God ever breathed the breath of life. Like a roaring lion, he “hungers” for us.

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. (1 Peter 5:8–9)

God could have given up on the love affair with mankind. He could have resorted to power and demanded our loyalty, or given us a kind of spiritual lobotomy that would take away our choice to love him. Even now, he could easily obliterate our Enemy and demand the allegiance of our hearts, but the love affair that began in the laughter of the Trinity would be over, at least for us. And Satan’s accusation that the kingdom of God is established only through raw power would be vindicated.

(The Sacred Romance , 104–5)

Knowing God’s Voice

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by Charles F. Stanley

How does the Holy Spirit guide us? How much does He control our actions? Does He still speak to believers, or was personal communication only for Biblical times?

God does not want us to be confused about this vital area. In talking to His disciples about the Holy Spirit, Jesus said, “When He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come” (John 16:13, emphasis added).

Let’s consider four key truths about the leadership of the Holy Spirit:

1. The Holy Spirit will guide us.

Jesus doesn’t promise that the Holy Spirit will control us. He says He will guide us.

Granted, there are times when I wish the Holy Spirit would control me. For instance, when I am tempted. Or when I become so task oriented that I become insensitive. Or when it’s a beautiful Saturday afternoon and I need to study, but everything in me wants to grab my camera and head for the mountains. Life would be much easier if the Holy Spirit would take control of me.

But He is our guide, not our controller. We never lose our ability to choose to follow His leading. As a result, we are always responsible for our words and actions.

2. The Holy Spirit is a trustworthy guide.

The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, helps believers discern between what is true and what is not; what is wise and what is foolish; what is best and what is simply OK. Each day is full of decisions. Most of our decisions concern issues not clearly spelled out in the Scriptures, for example, where to attend school, whether to hire a particular applicant, how much to budget for vacation, on and on it goes.

As you are inundated with the details of everyday living, the Holy Spirit will guide you. He will give you that extra on-the-spot sense of discernment you need to make both big and small decisions. As you develop a greater sensitivity to His guidance, you will worry much less about the decisions you make. Why? Because the Holy Spirit is a trustworthy guide.

3. The Holy Spirit is God’s mouthpiece to believers.

The Holy Spirit does not speak on His own. Like Christ, this member of the Trinity has willingly submitted to the authority of the Father. Everything He communicates to us is directly from the Father: “He will not speak on His own initiative” (John 16:13).

Our heavenly Father has chosen to communicate to His children through the Holy Spirit (Acts 11:12). He is God’s mouthpiece to believers. When the Father chooses to speak directly to you, it will be through the Holy Spirit.

When you think about it, this really makes perfect sense. After all, where does the Holy Spirit reside? In you! And in me! Therefore, He is the perfect candidate for communicating God’s will to Christians. Living inside us, He has direct access to our minds, emotions, and consciences.

4. The Holy Spirit speaks.

The question of whether God still speaks today is one that has spawned numerous books, articles, and lectures. It is not my purpose to present a tightly woven argument about why I believe He still speaks today. Suffice it to say, I do believe God, through the Holy Spirit, communicates directly with believers. No, I don’t write these revelations in the back of my Bible and call them inspired. Neither do I run around telling everybody what “God told me.”

My experience is that the Holy Spirit, at the prompting of the heavenly Father, still communicates with believers today. How does He do that? The Holy Spirit indwells me. He doesn’t need my ears. What He needs is a listening heart and a renewed mind.

The book of Acts records several occasions when the Holy Spirit spoke to Paul and Peter (11:12; 13:2; 16:6; 20:23). It can’t be denied that those men had a special gift and call on their lives. But the same Holy Spirit who indwelt those men indwells every believer. Just as they needed divine direction at critical times in their lives, we need it today.

In his letters to the Christians in Rome and Galatia, the Apostle Paul refers to believers as “led by the Spirit” (Rom. 8:14; Gal. 5:18). If we are going to be led by the Holy Spirit, we can only assume that He is willing (and able) to communicate with us.

How does God communicate with us today? The Lord speaks through the voice of His Spirit, who resides within us. We may have to seek His face for a season; other times, we can sense His direction immediately. No matter what, the Holy Spirit is a trustworthy guide.

Adapted from “The Wonderful Spirit-Filled Life,” by Charles F. Stanley, 1992. pp. 166-168.

The Crown of Creation (from John Eldredges Blog)

The Crown of Creation
03/28/2009

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God sets his own image on the earth. He creates a being like himself. He creates a son.

The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. (Gen. 2:7)

It is nearing the end of the sixth day, the end of the Creator’s great labor, as Adam steps forth, the image of God, the triumph of his work. He alone is pronounced the son of God. Nothing in creation even comes close. Picture Michelangelo’s David. He is . . . magnificent. Truly, the masterpiece seems complete. And yet, the Master says that something is not good, not right. Something is missing . . . and that something is Eve.

The Lord God cast a deep slumber on the human, and he slept, and He took one of his ribs and closed over the flesh where it had been, and the Lord God built the rib He had taken from the human into a woman and He brought her to the human. (Gen. 2:21–23 Alter)

She is the crescendo, the final, astonishing work of God. Woman. In one last flourish creation comes to a finish not with Adam, but with Eve. She is the Master’s finishing touch. How we wish this were an illustrated book, and we could show you now some painting or sculpture that captures this, like the stunning Greek sculpture of the goddess Nike of Samothrace, the winged beauty, just alighting on the prow of a great ship, her beautiful form revealed through the thin veils that sweep around her. Eve is . . . breathtaking.

Given the way creation unfolds, how it builds to ever higher and higher works of art, can there be any doubt that Eve is the crown of creation? Not an afterthought. Not a nice addition like an ornament on a tree. She is God’s final touch, his pièce de résistance. She fills a place in the world nothing and no one else can fill.

(Captivating , 24–25)

John Eldridge Awakward Love

Awkward Love
03/19/2009
Honest communication in love is the only way to live and grow in friendships. There are ebbs and flows. There may be real hurt and disappointment. But with the grace of God firmly holding us, it is possible to nurture and sustain deep friendships. We are designed to live in relationship and share in the lives of other women. We need one another. God knows that. We have only to ask and surrender, to wait, to hope, and, in faith, to love. We must also repent.

For a woman to enjoy relationship, she must repent of her need to control and her insistence that people fill her. Fallen Eve demands that people “come through” for her. Redeemed Eve is being met in the depths of her soul by Christ and is free to offer to others, free to desire, and willing to be disappointed. Fallen Eve has been wounded by others and withdraws in order to protect herself from further harm. Redeemed Eve knows that she has something of value to offer; that she is made for relationship. Therefore, being safe and secure in her relationship with her Lord, she can risk being vulnerable with others and offer her true self.

To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket—safe, dark, motionless, airless—it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable . . . The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers . . . of love is Hell. (C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves)

(Captivating , 181–82)

What Is Seen Is Temporary, but What Is Unseen Is Eternal

What Is Seen Is Temporary, but What Is Unseen Is Eternal
03/16/2009

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“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Cor. 4:16–18)

The first line grabs me by the throat. “Therefore we do not lose heart.” Somebody knows how not to lose heart? I’m all ears. For weare losing heart. All of us. Daily. It is the single most unifying quality shared by the human race on the planet at this time. We are losing—or we have already lost—heart. That glorious, resilient image of God in us is fading, fading, fading away. And this man claims to know a way out.

So, how, Paul—how? How do we not lose heart?

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. (2 Cor. 4:18)

What? I let out a sigh of disappointment. Now that’s helpful. “Look at what you cannot see.” That sounds like Eastern mysticism, that sort of wispy wisdom dripping in spirituality but completely inapplicable to our lives. Life is an illusion. Look at what you cannot see. What can this mean? Remembering that a little humility can take me a long way, I give it another go. This wise old seer is saying that there is a way of looking at life, and that those who discover it are able to live from the heart no matter what. How do we do this? By seeing with the eyes of the heart. Later in life, writing from prison to some friends he was deeply concerned about, Paul said, “I pray . . . that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened” (Eph. 1:18). ”  John  Eldredge Waking the Dead

The True Charisma March 15, 2009 from Institute for Creation Research

The True Charisma
March 15, 2009

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” (Colossians 3:16)

One of the words which has come into wide use (actually misuse) in our generation is the word “charisma,” along with its derivative “charismatic.” We speak of a politician as having charisma, or a charismatic personality, for example. Another common use of “charismatic” refers to those who practice speaking in tongues. But these are not the true meanings of these words, at least not in terms of their original usage.

This latter usage, in particular, comes from the inclusion of tongues as one of the “gifts” of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:1, 28). The Greek word is charisma. It does not mean “tongues,” and neither does it mean an outgoing and articulate manner. It simply means “gift,” or better, “free gift,” a classic example being Romans 6:23: “the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Charisma, in turn, comes from charis, which means “grace,” and is usually so translated. For example, in the words of our text, if the “word of Christ dwell|s| in us richly,” we shall be “singing with grace in |our| hearts.” Furthermore, just a few verses further on, we are admonished to “let your speech be always with grace” (Colossians 4:6). Then, Paul concludes the Colossian epistle with: “Grace be with you. Amen” (v. 18).

Thus, true grace in our hearts will produce grace in our speech, and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ will always be with us! This is the true charisma! A truly charismatic person is a gracious person–one to whom “God is able to make all grace abound” so that he or she, “always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8). HMM

Stand Fast from The Institude for Creation Research

Stand Fast
March 9, 2009

“Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold to the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.” (2 Thessalonians 2:15)

Liberals commonly question the authority of the Scriptures on the assumption that they were based on ancient traditions.

However, the word “traditions” itself as used here conveys no such idea. It means simply “that which has been delivered.” Paul used the same word in defining the gospel. “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3). Paul did not add or subtract anything to what he had received directly from God. “For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ” (Galatians 1:12).

He was making the same claim to the Christians at Thessalonica. He had first taught them “by word” when he preached there in person (Acts 17:1-4), then later by “our epistle,” in his first letter. Now, in his follow-up letter to them, he was reminding them that, in both instances, he (as an apostle) had communicated to them only those things he had directly received from God by divine revelation. Therefore, it was indeed vital that they should “stand fast, and hold” these great truths “which ye have been taught.” Paul was asserting that God had directly communicated, through him, the new truths which He wanted them to have.

Before the New Testament was written, much had to be conveyed verbally to the early church, through the apostles and prophets. Later, the portions of those teachings that were of permanent application were inscripturated (compare Acts 17:3 with 1 Corinthians 15:3-4). The end result of this marvelous process was the inerrant Bible we have today, and it is this completed revelation of God that we must hold fast. HMM

TheTrue Self

Todays Group at Malvern Institute

Today at group I covered the SPEARS model for decision making as well as self esteem from Gods eyes. We took a look at the way God formed us and fashioned us and said it was good. We are not a mistake and do belong hear. AS Christians we even have a birth right that allows us to be adopted into the family of God through Christ. For more information on Malver go to www.lighthousenetwork.org and for more information on SPEARS check out the Mark 12.30 Project while your at LightHouse Networks web page.

Ransomed Heart (Thought for the Day) From John Eldredges web page

What Does He Want From Us? 
11/04/2008

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The gospel says that we, who are God’s beloved, created a cosmic crisis. It says we, too, were stolen from our True Love and that he launched the greatest campaign in the history of the world to get us back. God created us for intimacy with him. When we turned our back on him he promised to come for us. He sent personal messengers; he used beauty and affliction to recapture our hearts. After all else failed, he conceived the most daring of plans. Under the cover of night he stole into the enemy’s camp incognito, the Ancient of Days disguised as a newborn. The Incarnation, as Phil Yancey reminds us, was a daring raid into enemy territory. The whole world lay under the power of the evil one and we were held in the dungeons of darkness. God risked it all to rescue us. Why? What is it that he sees in us that causes him to act the jealous lover, to lay siege both on the kingdom of darkness and on our own idolatries as if on Troy—not to annihilate, but to win us once again for himself? This fierce intention, this reckless ambition that shoves all conventions aside, willing literally to move heaven and earth—We’ve been offered many explanations.

From one religious camp we’re told that what God wants is obedience, or sacrifice, or adherence to the right doctrines, or morality. Those are the answers offered by conservative churches. The more therapeutic churches suggest that no, God is after our contentment, or happiness, or self-actualization, or something else along those lines. He is concerned about all these things, of course, but they are not his primary concern. What he is after is us—our laughter, our tears, our dreams, our fears, our heart of hearts. Remember his lament in Isaiah, that though his people were performing all their duties, “their hearts are far from me” (29:13 italics added). How few of us truly believe this. We’ve never been wanted for our heart, our truest self, not really, not for long. The thought that God wants our heart seems too good to be true. 

Church is not a Building ( From John Eldrege)

Church Is Not A Building
09/24/2008
Church is not a building. Church is not an event that takes place on Sundays. I know, its how we think of it. “I go to First Baptist.” “We are members of St. Luke’s.” “Is it time to go to church?” Much to our surprise, that is not how the Bible uses the term. Not at all. When the Scripture talks about church, it means community. The little fellowships of the heart that are outposts of the kingdom. A shared life. They worship together, eat together, pray for one another, go on quests together. They hang out together, in each other’s homes. When Peter is sprung from prison, “he went to the house of Mary the mother of John…where many people had gathered and were praying” (Acts 12:12).

Anytime an army goes to war or an expedition takes to the field, it breaks down into little platoons and squads. And every chronicle of war or quest will tell you that the men and women who fought so bravely fought for each other. That’s where the acts of heroism and sacrifice take place, because that’s where the devotion is. You simply can’t be devoted to a mass of people; devotion takes place in small units, just like a family.

We have stopped short of being an organization; we are an organism instead, a living and spontaneous association of individuals who know one another intimately, care for each other deeply, and feel a kind of respect for one another that makes rules and bylaws unnecessary. A group is the right size, I would guess, when each member can pray for every other member, individually and by name.

This is the wisdom of Brother Andrew, who smuggled Bibles into communist countries for decades. It’s the model, frankly, of the church in nearly every country but the U.S. Now, I’m not suggesting you don’t do whatever it is you do on Sunday mornings. I’m simply helping you accept reality – that whatever else you do, you must have a small fellowship to walk with you and fight with you and bandage your wounds. This is essential