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Thursday, October 23, 2008

repent

repentance, true revival begins with it,
i spent my quiet time this morning reading the 4 gospel accounts of the crufixion, what God did next was a true gift from Him
as i began to pray for my family
a spirit of repentance came over me and i deeply repented with tears for failing to be a true and good reflection of our True and Good God, for my wife and for each child, individually, slowly, i repented; incidents came back to my memory and repentance and tears flowed and then a desire to pray for my wife's dad came over me
and the prayer was broken and compassionate, that just as Abraham interceded for Lot and the angels, literally pulled him out of his evil surroundings, that same prayer rose up in me, not so much from evil surroundings as from hell and death, it was a truly blessed time a gift from God's perfecting love

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

pain, sorrow

just a link to a writing that adds another facet to the diamond of seeking to understand our loving God, His sovereignty, and our pain and sorrow.

http://www.rzim.org/USA/Resources/Read/ASliceofInfinity/TodaysSlice.aspx?aid=8861

Monday, October 13, 2008

offend

Matthew 17:27 "However, so that we do not offend them (cause them to stumble) , go to the sea and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for you and Me."

I needed the truth in this verse this morning. Jesus explains to Peter very clearly that He should not have to pay the "temple tax", but then He gives instructions on how Peter can get the money and pay for the both of them. In explaining why He is doing this Jesus says a very profound thing, "so that we do not cause them to stumble." Sometimes in the Christian life it is not about being "right" it is about "considering your brother above yourself" doing a thing just so that they do not stumble in their walk with God. So here you are walking in freedom to be and do as God leads, but then He "shortens the leash", not because what you are doing is wrong, but because what you are doing will cause another one "to stumble." Do you love them and Him enough to put aside your "freedom" for "love's sake?"

Saturday, October 11, 2008

too big

this is too big for one meal, so i suggest you snack and come back to it and just enjoy it little by little

Part 1:

Oswald Chambers Oct 11th

AFTER GOD'S SILENCE - WHAT?
"When He had heard therefore that he was sick, He abode two days in the same place where he was." John 11:6
Has God trusted you with a silence - a silence that is big with meaning? God's silences are His answers. Think of those days of absolute silence in the home at Bethany! Is there anything analogous to those days in your life? Can God trust you like that, or are you still asking for a visible answer? God will give you the blessings you ask if you will not go any further without them; but His silence is the sign that He is bringing you into a marvellous understanding of Himself. Are you mourning before God because you have not had an audible response? You will find that God has trusted you in the most intimate way possible, with an absolute silence, not of despair, but of pleasure, because He saw that you could stand a bigger revelation. If God has given you a silence, praise Him, He is bringing you into the great run of His purposes. The manifestation of the answer in time is a matter of God's sovereignty. Time is nothing to God. For a while you said - "I asked God to give me bread, and He gave me a stone." He did not, and to-day you find He gave you the bread of life.
A wonderful thing about God's silence is that the contagion of His stillness gets into you and you become perfectly confident - "I know God has heard me." His silence is the proof that He has. As long as you have the idea that God will bless you in answer to prayer, He will do it, but He will never give you the grace of silence. If Jesus Christ is bringing you into the understanding that prayer is for the glorifying of His Father, He will give you the first sign of His intimacy - silence.

If we can grasp what he is saying here we will be a light in the deep darkness coming upon the face of the earth, we will perservere in the faith and remain steadfast in our trust. We will bring great Joy to His heart and glory to His Name!!! what else is there, really ??

Part 2

eugene peterson on anger
Anger is a most useful diagnostic tool. When anger erupts in us it is a signal that something is wrong. Something isn't working right. There is evil or incompetence or stupidity lurking about. Anger is our sixth sense for sniffing out wrong in the neighborhood. What anger fails to do, though, is to tell us whether the wrong is outside or inside us. We usually begin by assuming that the wrong is outside us- our spouse, or our child, or God has done something wrong, and we are angry. But when we track the anger carefully, we often find it leads to wrong within us- wrong information, inadequate understanding, underdeveloped heart.


Part 3

Matthew chapter 12 was where God met with me this morning. Turns out my love for being right, for being the one with the right answer/ information "condemns the innocent" Matthew 12:7. I deliver the right words in the wrong way... a beautiful present hidden in a box covered with manure. Matthew 12:36 says the words we are warned not to speak are not "bad" words they are "careless or useless" words. Words that originate in my heart not the heart of God.

Make me God to be the "meekest man on earth" a bond-servant, doing and saying what You, the Lord, would have me to do and say.

Part 4

A good prayer for others
"Lord, meet _________ where he/she is and take them on to the next step in Your Plan for their life, unhindered by any work of satan in Jesus' Name. amen.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

how to get thru

found this gem at the end of a sermon by a person battling cancer

I want to close with a poem that I like very much from the British poet Minnie Louise Haskins, born in 1875. King George VI made this very famous in his Christmas broadcast of 1939--you realize that's at the beginning of World War II--in which he quoted Minnie Louise Haskins's poem:
I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year,"Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown."And he replied, "Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God.That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way!"