It means to put the Lord Jesus Christ first and foremost in your life... above all else, above husband, children, neighbors and especially your job. Oh, woe to me ... No! Why not? Because, Christ asks us to love Him FIRST!!!!! - to love who He is = God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, first!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When you do that, you will have so much more love in your life and enough for all others.
Lead the way in the good news! Don't be a wall flower. Our culture/society has been and continues to be an immigrant society having 'liberty' first and foremost. That means, we put individual freedom first and thus can only be hold together by social contract... don't tread on me and I won't tread on you. In that light, we don't approach people boldly with the good news.
Because of our American culture, we all too often think.... "Oh, they won't want to hear or they would ask me". We are a society that likes to be asked first what we want, what we think etc. as if it is a display of that 'liberty' we cherish. So, we apply this in our walk with the Lord. However, Christ asks to to be bold about our walk with Him and to boldly love and get others on that same walk. Yes, same... not the one for them which is different from the one for you/me. That is another cultural character of Americans called relativism.
Check with the Word of God - The Bible. We are asked to love Him first and foremost and then to love all others therefrom. We are told what a Christian household looks like and what a Christian marriage looks like. We are told what behaviors lead to sin and deeper into sin as in away from the Lord our God who so boldly wants to embrace us as His!
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
Wednesday, June 15, 2016
Secrets of the Secret Place ~ Desparate for God!
Sharing with you ...
When you are made desperate for God, your pursuit of God takes on a different quality. When its personal survival that's at stake, you begin to seek Jesus in a different way. You get a look in your eye that appears half crazed to others. You're willing to go anywhere or do anything. No price tag is too high.
Banal sources of entertainment, such as television and movies have to go. Invitations to parties are spurned. Others start to pull away because you're not as much fun as you used to be. But it's irrelevant to you because you're desperate for God.
Nothing else matters right now except touching the hem of Jesus' garment. Desperate people don't struggle with the same distractions and hindrances as the general population. A desperate person would never say, "I struggle to find time for the secret place (time/space for God)," or "I get easily distracted by the everyday demands." Such petty distraction could never hind someone who is desperate. The normal hindrances of life don't even faze a desperate one because single-focused intensity of the pursuit.
When you begin to seek God with this kind of desperation, powerful spiritual winds begin to blow around your life. You're setting off a storm! Things begin to change inside you at an unprecedented rate. Angelic activity (both good and evil) surrounding your life becomes intense, even thought you may not be aware of it. You gain the attention of heaven and hell. Issues that simmered on low for many years suddenly come to a head, screaming for resolve. You find yourself surrounded by suspicion and reproach. God has you in His accelerated class, and the speed of change and transition surrounding your life is dizzying.
And, what's happening on the inside? You're coming alive to the word of God! His word is feeding and sustaining you. New insights are electrifying and carrying you. the closeness of His presence begins to intoxicate you. The revelation of His love for you is redefining your relationship with Him. The understanding of His heart and purposes is giving you a whole new perspective on the kingdom of God. You're becoming addicted to the glories of the secret place!
* This excerpt was taken from ~ "Secrets of the Secret Place", by Bob Sorge: 2001- 114-115.
When you are made desperate for God, your pursuit of God takes on a different quality. When its personal survival that's at stake, you begin to seek Jesus in a different way. You get a look in your eye that appears half crazed to others. You're willing to go anywhere or do anything. No price tag is too high.
Banal sources of entertainment, such as television and movies have to go. Invitations to parties are spurned. Others start to pull away because you're not as much fun as you used to be. But it's irrelevant to you because you're desperate for God.
Nothing else matters right now except touching the hem of Jesus' garment. Desperate people don't struggle with the same distractions and hindrances as the general population. A desperate person would never say, "I struggle to find time for the secret place (time/space for God)," or "I get easily distracted by the everyday demands." Such petty distraction could never hind someone who is desperate. The normal hindrances of life don't even faze a desperate one because single-focused intensity of the pursuit.
When you begin to seek God with this kind of desperation, powerful spiritual winds begin to blow around your life. You're setting off a storm! Things begin to change inside you at an unprecedented rate. Angelic activity (both good and evil) surrounding your life becomes intense, even thought you may not be aware of it. You gain the attention of heaven and hell. Issues that simmered on low for many years suddenly come to a head, screaming for resolve. You find yourself surrounded by suspicion and reproach. God has you in His accelerated class, and the speed of change and transition surrounding your life is dizzying.
And, what's happening on the inside? You're coming alive to the word of God! His word is feeding and sustaining you. New insights are electrifying and carrying you. the closeness of His presence begins to intoxicate you. The revelation of His love for you is redefining your relationship with Him. The understanding of His heart and purposes is giving you a whole new perspective on the kingdom of God. You're becoming addicted to the glories of the secret place!
* This excerpt was taken from ~ "Secrets of the Secret Place", by Bob Sorge: 2001- 114-115.
Monday, June 6, 2016
I will have no other gods before Me!
Remember that you live in a fallen world: an abnormal world tainted by sin. Such frustration and failure result from your seeing perfection in this life. There is nothing perfect in this world except Me. That is why closeness to me satisfies deep yearnings and fills you with joy. I have planted longing for perfection in every human heart. This is a good desire; which I alone can fulfill. But most people seek this fulfillment in other people and earthly pleasures or achievements. Thus, they create idols, before which they bow down. I will have no other gods before Me! Make Me the deepest desire of your heart. Let Me fulfill your yearning for perfection. *Exodus 20:3; Psalm 37:4 ~ Sarah Young "Jesus is Calling"!
We go about our day seeking the things of this world and we never feel truly happy. That is because, this is a fallen world. We blame others for our unhappiness. We think that they owe us, they have caused our trouble, our sorrow, our grief. It us by our own doing that we are unhappy. Because, we seek the things of this world. We call out the sin in others, we fail to cast the log in our own eye. In this light, we are not truly saved. We may think that we sin against others but we sin against God in our judgment and unforgiveness, in our bitterness we toss out the true joy we seek.
Praise the Lord who did not let their teeth tear us apart! We escaped like a bird from a hunter's trap. The trap is broken, and we are free! Our help is from the Lord who made heaven and earth. ~ Psalm 124: 6-8.
We go about our day seeking the things of this world and we never feel truly happy. That is because, this is a fallen world. We blame others for our unhappiness. We think that they owe us, they have caused our trouble, our sorrow, our grief. It us by our own doing that we are unhappy. Because, we seek the things of this world. We call out the sin in others, we fail to cast the log in our own eye. In this light, we are not truly saved. We may think that we sin against others but we sin against God in our judgment and unforgiveness, in our bitterness we toss out the true joy we seek.
Praise the Lord who did not let their teeth tear us apart! We escaped like a bird from a hunter's trap. The trap is broken, and we are free! Our help is from the Lord who made heaven and earth. ~ Psalm 124: 6-8.
Wednesday, June 1, 2016
Florence Nightingale ~ Deny the Self and Put Aside all Vanity!
Yes, deny the self and put all vanity aside. This is difficult for western women especially young women and including all those who think they are modest Christians. The story of Florence Nightingale is one worth reading to young women and old alike. Florence was born in Florence Italy in 1820 to wealthy British parents. She was expected to marry up and continue the upward mobility for herself and family. Advice we might expect to hear from parents today.
From a very young age, Florence Nightingale was active in philanthropy, ministering to the ill and poor people in the village neighboring her family’s estate. By the time she was 16 years old, it was clear to her that nursing was her calling. She believed it to be her divine purpose.
When Nightingale approached her parents and told them about her ambitions to become a nurse, they were not pleased. In fact, her parents forbade her to pursue nursing. During the Victorian Era, a young lady of Nightingale's social stature was expected to marry a man of means—not take up a job that was viewed as lowly menial labor by the upper social classes. When Nightingale was 17 years old, she refused a marriage proposal from a "suitable" gentleman, Richard Monckton Milnes.
Nightingale explained her reason for turning him down, saying that while he stimulated her intellectually and romantically, her "moral…active nature…requires satisfaction, and that would not find it in this life."
It is in Matthew that we learn what it means to follow Christ. Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me. For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” Then Jesus told His disciples, "If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.…Matthew 16:23-25.
Florence at a young age knew that this world of things, of marriage, prestige, wealth and status would pass away. She was committed to others and their comfort while in this world, as we in Christ are in it but not of it. "If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you" ~ John 15:19.Yes, do not run after things of this world... "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them" ~ 1 John 2:15.
"...those who weep, as if they did not; those who are joyful, as if they were not; those who make a purchase, as if they had nothing; and those who use the things of this world, as if not dependent on them, for this world in its present form is passing away" ~ 1 COR 7:30-31.
"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will" ~ Romans 12:2.
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From a very young age, Florence Nightingale was active in philanthropy, ministering to the ill and poor people in the village neighboring her family’s estate. By the time she was 16 years old, it was clear to her that nursing was her calling. She believed it to be her divine purpose.
When Nightingale approached her parents and told them about her ambitions to become a nurse, they were not pleased. In fact, her parents forbade her to pursue nursing. During the Victorian Era, a young lady of Nightingale's social stature was expected to marry a man of means—not take up a job that was viewed as lowly menial labor by the upper social classes. When Nightingale was 17 years old, she refused a marriage proposal from a "suitable" gentleman, Richard Monckton Milnes.
Nightingale explained her reason for turning him down, saying that while he stimulated her intellectually and romantically, her "moral…active nature…requires satisfaction, and that would not find it in this life."
It is in Matthew that we learn what it means to follow Christ. Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me. For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” Then Jesus told His disciples, "If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.…Matthew 16:23-25.
Florence at a young age knew that this world of things, of marriage, prestige, wealth and status would pass away. She was committed to others and their comfort while in this world, as we in Christ are in it but not of it. "If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you" ~ John 15:19.Yes, do not run after things of this world... "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them" ~ 1 John 2:15.
"...those who weep, as if they did not; those who are joyful, as if they were not; those who make a purchase, as if they had nothing; and those who use the things of this world, as if not dependent on them, for this world in its present form is passing away" ~ 1 COR 7:30-31.
"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will" ~ Romans 12:2.
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Thursday, May 26, 2016
A Reading from the Book of Colossians!
Living as Those Made Alive in Christ ~
Since,
then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things
above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your
life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Put
to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual
immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But
now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger,
rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here
there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian,
Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
Therefore,
as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with
compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let
the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish
one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the
Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And
whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the
Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Instructions for Christian Households ~
Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
Fathers,
do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Male, female... He created them!
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them ~ Genesis 1:27.
God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth"…Genesis 1:26-28.
Don't be led astray by a fallen 'corrupted' world. If you think you were not created male or female, then God is not the voice you hear. Its the voice of the a fallen world that thinks man has all the answers...
God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth"…Genesis 1:26-28.
Don't be led astray by a fallen 'corrupted' world. If you think you were not created male or female, then God is not the voice you hear. Its the voice of the a fallen world that thinks man has all the answers...
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Jesus Christ is our Blessed Hope ~ In Him, we are Free Indeed!
Yes, even in this fallen world, Jesus Christ is our everything! In Him, we are free indeed ~ John 8:36.
Jesus told us "do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And, why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet, I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here to day and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry saying, "What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or What shall we wear?" For pagans run after all these things and yet your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself " ~ Matthew 6: 25-34.
" We have born in the likeness of the earthly man, so also shall we bear the likeness of the heavenly man. I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed!" 1 COR 15: 49-51.
Jesus told us "do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And, why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet, I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here to day and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry saying, "What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or What shall we wear?" For pagans run after all these things and yet your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself " ~ Matthew 6: 25-34.
" We have born in the likeness of the earthly man, so also shall we bear the likeness of the heavenly man. I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed!" 1 COR 15: 49-51.
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