Paul was overwhelmed with the sense of his indebtedness to Jesus Christ, and he spent his life to express it. The greatest inspiration in Paul’s life was his view of Jesus Christ as his spiritual creditor. Do I feel that same sense of indebtedness to Christ regarding every unsaved soul? As a saint, my life’s spiritual honor and duty is to fulfill my debt to Christ in relation to these lost souls. Every tiny bit of my life that has value I owe to the redemption of Jesus Christ. Am I doing anything to enable Him to bring His redemption into evident reality in the lives of others? I will only be able to do this as the Spirit of God works into me this sense of indebtedness.

I am not a superior person among other people— I am a bondservant of the Lord Jesus. Paul said, “. . . you are not your own . . . you were bought at a price . . .” ( 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ). Paul sold himself to Jesus Christ and he said, in effect, “I am a debtor to everyone on the face of the earth because of the gospel of Jesus; I am free only that I may be an absolute bondservant of His.” That is the characteristic of a Christian’s life once this level of spiritual honor and duty becomes real. Quit praying about yourself and spend your life for the sake of others as the bondservant of Jesus. That is the true meaning of being broken bread and poured-out wine in real life.

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Journal Entry for Today-JDV

July 15, 2010

I am restless…waiting on the Lord is hard work. I cannot see Him working, I do not know in my human mind that He is working; I simply must trust Him and take Him at His word. I know I am not capable of doing that…….but I know I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me.

And God says………..” Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary. Wait on me. Recall when you rushed out on your own ahead of me? Recall how those circumstances and their conclusions ended? Recall when you knew absolutely, positively that you were in My will and my timing and how you were able to move forward through any and all circumstances?

Rest and trust in Me, and I will bring it to pass. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on your own devices. Trust and obey and be at peace. I am your God and I know you future…a future for good. If I did not spare My Son, will I deny you any good thing?

Trust, rest, and be at peace. And while you wait let me touch others through you. Many of whom I touch through you and you do not even know it. You are sometimes unaware, you are simply trusting in me…… while others can see and know My love and grace by watching Me live through you.

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From Charles Stanley’s  In Touch devotional for today: 

 If you want to know what God is doing in your life, obey Him. Often, you won’t understand the intricacies of the plan, but you can trust the goodness of His heart. Rest assured that all He does is purposeful and for your benefit. So step forward in faith, and you will see His faithfulness.

This verse reveals the humiliation of being a Christian. In the natural realm, if a person does not hit back, it is because he is a coward. But in the spiritual realm, it is the very evidence of the Son of God in him if he does not hit back. When you are insulted, you must not only not resent it, but you must make it an opportunity to exhibit the Son of God in your life. And you cannot imitate the nature of Jesus— it is either in you or it is not. A personal insult becomes an opportunity for a saint to reveal the incredible sweetness of the Lord Jesus.

The teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is not, “Do your duty,” but is, in effect, “Do what is not your duty.” It is not your duty to go the second mile, or to turn the other cheek, but Jesus said that if we are His disciples, we will always do these things. We will not say, “Oh well, I just can’t do any more, and I’ve been so misrepresented and misunderstood.” Every time I insist on having my own rights, I hurt the Son of God, while in fact I can prevent Jesus from being hurt if I will take the blow myself. That is the real meaning of filling “up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ . . .” ( Colossians 1:24 ). A disciple realizes that it is his Lord’s honor that is at stake in his life, not his own honor.

Never look for righteousness in the other person, but never cease to be righteous yourself. We are always looking for justice, yet the essence of the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is— Never look for justice, but never cease to give it.

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Journal Entry for Today-JDV

July 14, 2010

Sometimes I wonder why I do the things I do. I mean I am a Christian aren’t I? Then why can I be on the mountaintop one minute and then in the valley the next minute, having failed miserably at being a Christian? Why is it that I do some of the same stupid things over and over again? Where is my maturity, my growth as a believer?

And God says…….  ”Just like you wrote in your book, being a believer has no hierarchy of attainment. You do not start out in 1^st grade and matriculate up the “Christian scale” of growth to high school and then college. You do not enter into My service as a private and then progress to corporal and then on and on and up to Captain Christian and beyond. You enter in need of a Savior and continue to need a Savior the rest of your days.

You can only operate as a believer with the strength, power and courage of Jesus when you allow Jesus to live through you. You are a human being with all the weakness of a human being. When you are not connected to Me allowing the Spirit of God to live through you, you are vulnerable. This does not mean you are not responsible, it simply means you are responsible for doing your part by allowing Me to live through you. I will do everything else. You can do nothing apart from Me.

Stay connected to Me and stay holy even as I am holy.

Our soul’s personal history with God is often an account of the death of our heroes. Over and over again God has to remove our friends to put Himself in their place, and that is when we falter, fail, and become discouraged. Let me think about this personally— when the person died who represented for me all that God was, did I give up on everything in life? Did I become ill or disheartened? Or did I do as Isaiah did and see the Lord?

My vision of God is dependent upon the condition of my character. My character determines whether or not truth can even be revealed to me. Before I can say, “I saw the Lord,” there must be something in my character that conforms to the likeness of God. Until I am born again and really begin to see the kingdom of God, I only see from the perspective of my own biases. What I need is God’s surgical procedure— His use of external circumstances to bring about internal purification.

Your priorities must be God first, God second, and God third, until your life is continually face to face with God and no one else is taken into account whatsoever. Your prayer will then be, “In all the world there is no one but You, dear God; there is no one but You.”

Keep paying the price. Let God see that you are willing to live up to the vision.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvnVjLX_hRE

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Journal Entry for Today-JDV

July 13, 2010

Sometimes I wonder where you are or if you are even there in my life. I wonder if you hear my prayers and cries for some indication that you are there inside of me and my circumstance. I know from your word that you are there….it is just that sometimes I don’t see the changes occurring in my circumstances and life. And because I cannot see the impact you are having in my circumstances I sometimes get discouraged.

And God says…”You cannot define God working with your senses; My ways are not your ways…a thousand years is like a single day to Me. What is or is not happening in your life and surroundings is not for your review or even your experience…yours is to trust and obey. I am at work in your life, I have told you this. I am and will do immeasurably more in your life than you could ever imagine, however, you cannot pull your faith up out of the ground like a plant to use your senses to determine if and where I am working in your life.

Trust Me for the faith to wait and for the hope you need in day to day living. Simply stay connected and know I am with you. There is no need for you to know what and how I am working. I will make you aware when you need to react or experience the work I have done on your behalf. In the meantime, stay connected and reach out and let Christ live through you to others…..Trust and obey.

Keep your eyes on Jesus, trust Me and listen for the Spirit inside of you and you will never be discouraged. You cannot be discouraged when you are looking into the very eyes of love.

Reconciliation means the restoring of the relationship between the entire human race and God, putting it back to what God designed it to be. This is what Jesus Christ did in redemption. The church ceases to be spiritual when it becomes self-seeking, only interested in the development of its own organization. The reconciliation of the human race according to His plan means realizing Him not only in our lives individually, but also in our lives collectively. Jesus Christ sent apostles and teachers for this very purpose— that the corporate Person of Christ and His church, made up of many members, might be brought into being and made known. We are not here to develop a spiritual life of our own, or to enjoy a quiet spiritual retreat. We are here to have the full realization of Jesus Christ, for the purpose of building His body.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzKOrlPuWzo&feature=related

Am I building up the body of Christ, or am I only concerned about my own personal development? The essential thing is my personal relationship with Jesus Christ— “. . . that I may know Him. . .” ( Philippians 3:10  ). To fulfill God’s perfect design for me requires my total surrender— complete abandonment of myself to Him. Whenever I only want things for myself, the relationship is distorted. And I will suffer great humiliation once I come to acknowledge and understand that I have not really been concerned about realizing Jesus Christ Himself, but only concerned with knowing what He has done for me.

My goal is God Himself, not joy nor peace, Nor even blessing, but Himself, my God.

Am I measuring my life by this standard or by something less?

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July 12 2010

Today’s devotional spoke to me through the Spirit of God to remind me that I have no business slipping in and out of churches like I am sampling the fare and then making a critical decision about whether or not I want to participate wholly in the corporate body, as “they” define it. God wants me to worship and belong to a corporate body. I don’t get to “pick and choose”. It is God’s choice and His will.  I must let go of my preconceived views about my role in the body. God will define my role and direct me.

And God says….”I have provided a body for you and you for that body. Neither is complete without the other. I engage the world through the body and the individuals in those bodies assembled for corporate worship. You can no longer stay on the periphery of a church. You must be engaged so I can use you to help grow the body.

It is not unlike steering a moving car. Once you are engaged in the body, I can steer you much more easily as you experience the engagement of MY Spirit in the corporate lives of many believers. And as you engage in the corporate lives of believers you can deliver more miracles…you will have the opportunities to deliver more of Me. Go be a vital part of MY body.

Do you have even the slightest reliance on anything or anyone other than God? Is there a remnant of reliance left on any natural quality within you, or on any particular set of circumstances? Are you relying on yourself in any manner whatsoever regarding this new proposal or plan which God has placed before you? Will you examine yourself by asking these probing questions? It really is true to say, “I cannot live a holy life,” but you can decide to let Jesus Christ make you holy. “You cannot serve the Lord . . .”— but you can place yourself in the proper position where God’s almighty power will flow through you. Is your relationship with God sufficient for you to expect Him to exhibit His wonderful life in you?

“The people said to Joshua, ’No, but we will serve the Lord!” ( Joshua 24:21 ). This is not an impulsive action, but a deliberate commitment. We tend to say, “But God could never have called me to this. I’m too unworthy. It can’t mean me.” It does mean you, and the more weak and feeble you are, the better. The person who is still relying and trusting in anything within himself is the last person to even come close to saying, “I will serve the Lord.”

We say, “Oh, if only I really could believe!” The question is, “Will I believe?” No wonder Jesus Christ placed such emphasis on the sin of unbelief. “He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief” ( Matthew 13:58 ). If we really believed that God meant what He said, just imagine what we would be like! Do I really dare to let God be to me all that He says He will be?

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Journal Entry for Today

July 9, 2010

Like most occasions when God wants to tell me something, I hear it over and over again in many, many ways. I hear a song, read a devotional, or a brother tells me the same message in a different way. When I am listening for God I can hear Him. And lately He has been telling me that He can live through me if I simply let Him. He has been telling me that I can have all of God that I want. My requirement is to simply want Him and let Him live through me. It does not occur in the past or in the future, it occurs right now as I listen and acknowledge His presence.

And God says…”I am here with you all the way, all the time. Simply trust…..and obey. Even when you feel as if you cannot believe, that it is too grand or too remarkable or you are too undeserving, I will help you in your unbelief. Simply ask, and you will receive. Even when you cannot see the vision or know the result, believe. When all you know is a void …believe. And when you feel you cannot believe, trust Me to give you the faith to believe.”

“Let Me be your all in all, in the moment. Trust and obey, and let Me transform you. I will give you the passion, hope and faith you need to live life more abundantly.”

A person’s will is embodied in the actions of the whole person. I cannot give up my will— I must exercise it, putting it into action. I must will to obey, and I must will to receive God’s Spirit. When God gives me a vision of truth, there is never a question of what He will do, but only of what I will do. The Lord has been placing in front of each of us some big proposals and plans. The best thing to do is to remember what you did before when you were touched by God. Recall the moment when you were saved, or first recognized Jesus, or realized some truth. It was easy then to yield your allegiance to God. Immediately recall those moments each time the Spirit of God brings some new proposal before you.

“. . . choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. . . .” Your choice must be a deliberate determination— it is not something into which you will automatically drift. And everything else in your life will be held in temporary suspension until you make a decision. The proposal is between you and God— do not “confer with flesh and blood” about it ( Galatians 1:16  ). With every new proposal, the people around us seem to become more and more isolated, and that is where the tension develops. God allows the opinion of His other saints to matter to you, and yet you become less and less certain that others really understand the step you are taking. You have no business trying to find out where God is leading— the only thing God will explain to you is Himself.

Openly declare to Him, “I will be faithful.” But remember that as soon as you choose to be faithful to Jesus Christ, “You are witnesses against yourselves . . .” ( Joshua 24:22 ). Don’t consult with other Christians, but simply and freely declare before Him, “I will serve You.” Will to be faithful— and give other people credit for being faithful too.

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Journal Entry for Today-JDV

July 8, 2010

The messages were very clear this morning…..from the Joyce Meyer book that spoke about asking God to give me passion and internal motivation for His will, to the music and devotional for the morning. Oswald Chambers says we must choose to do His will. Joyce Meyer says that we can choose His will and then ask God to change us from the inside so that we conform to His will. And as He changes us from the inside, I expect He will also instill us with a passion for His will and vision for our lives.

And God says……”I have a plan for your life, for you to be happy, passionate and committed to a mission operating in My will. However, you must make the choices. I know your human nature and the enemy fight against doing My will, and I know you struggle and search for My will like it is some kind of hidden treasure you must seek, but that is not the way. My will is spelled out in My word. Trust and obey……Love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind and soul, and love your neighbor as yourself. Everything else rests upon these two commandments.

If you seek Me and seek your life in Me, the stepping stones of your life and the passion that lights your way will make your “one step at a time directions” very clear; every day at precisely the right time.

I am the God I am, not the God of what was or what will be. Live in Me right now, and everything else becomes clear and purposeful, as you are filled with passion for the life I live through you, one moment to the next.  

If we are going to live as disciples of Jesus, we have to remember that all efforts of worth and excellence are difficult.  The Christian life is gloriously difficult, but its difficulty does not make us faint and cave in—it stirs us up to overcome.  Do we appreciate the miraculous salvation of Jesus Christ enough to be our utmost for His highest—our best for His glory?

God saves people by His sovereign grace through the atonement of Jesus, and “it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” ( Philippians 2:13 ). But we have to “work out” that salvation in our everyday, practical living (Philippians 2:12). If we will only start on the basis of His redemption to do what He commands, then we will find that we can do it. If we fail, it is because we have not yet put into practice what God has placed within us. But a crisis will reveal whether or not we have been putting it into practice. If we will obey the Spirit of God and practice in our physical life what God has placed within us by His Spirit, then when a crisis does come we will find that our own nature, as well as the grace of God, will stand by us.

Thank God that He does give us difficult things to do! His salvation is a joyous thing, but it is also something that requires bravery, courage, and holiness. It tests us for all we are worth. Jesus is “bringing many sons to glory” (Hebrews 2:10 , and God will not shield us from the requirements of sonship. God’s grace produces men and women with a strong family likeness to Jesus Christ, not pampered, spoiled weaklings. It takes a tremendous amount of discipline to live the worthy and excellent life of a disciple of Jesus in the realities of life. And it is always necessary for us to make an effort to live a life of worth and excellence.

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Journal Entry for Today-JDV

July 7, 2010

I don’t want to hear about how difficult life will be and is for believers. I don’t want to hear about the pain and suffering and turmoil of this world and how we must endure and rise above it all. Like most other human beings, I gravitate away from pain and toward things that please me.  

I know that when I am inside a difficult time God is with me, I know that nothing can reach me that has not first touched His hands. Nevertheless, I would like to avoid the pain and suffering side of life, if possible. When I am inside a trial God comforts me, but I would rather not know and anticipate more of the same coming toward me.

When I read about the pain and suffering I will endure as a believer, I sometimes pause and wonder if there is another way. Even if I cause the pain for myself I ask God to take me out of it. Why can’t I understand that the reality is that in this life there will be pain and suffering? Why can’t I simply get prepared and endure it and take it like a “good soldier?”

And God says…  “One of the reasons I do not show you the future is that I do not want to engage your fear of pain and suffering. Even though you know I am with you inside of your trials, it is your nature to want to resist pain and attempt to avoid discomfort. I want you to avoid fear, and when you allow Me to lead your life, your fear is cast out by My love, perfect love casts out fear.

It is your nature to try and avoid the pain and suffering of this world, but you need to understand that trials help you get focused on Me. When you are inside trials from which you cannot escape, using your own power and strength, you turn to Me. And over time, you learn to turn to Me before the trials, and from there you learn to turn to Me all the time because the world is full of trials and trouble you will not be able to avoid.

I will not remove you from the trials; however, I will use them to help shape you into the man I want you to become. Perhaps you have noticed that over the past trials you have begun to look more and more like Jesus. It is inside the trials that you come to the end of yourself and learn to trust Me completely, and when you trust Me completely, you are just like Jesus. 

We always have a vision of something before it actually becomes real to us. When we realize that the vision is real, but is not yet real in us, Satan comes to us with his temptations, and we are inclined to say that there is no point in even trying to continue. Instead of the vision becoming real to us, we have entered into a valley of humiliation.

Life is not as idle ore,
But iron dug from central gloom,
And battered by the shocks of doom
To shape and use.

God gives us a vision, and then He takes us down to the valley to batter us into the shape of that vision. It is in the valley that so many of us give up and faint. Every God-given vision will become real if we will only have patience. Just think of the enormous amount of free time God has! He is never in a hurry. Yet we are always in such a frantic hurry. While still in the light of the glory of the vision, we go right out to do things, but the vision is not yet real in us. God has to take us into the valley and put us through fires and floods to batter us into shape, until we get to the point where He can trust us with the reality of the vision. Ever since God gave us the vision, He has been at work. He is getting us into the shape of the goal He has for us, and yet over and over again we try to escape from the Sculptor’s hand in an effort to batter ourselves into the shape of our own goal.

The vision that God gives is not some unattainable castle in the sky, but a vision of what God wants you to be down here. Allow the Potter to put you on His wheel and whirl you around as He desires. Then as surely as God is God, and you are you, you will turn out as an exact likeness of the vision. But don’t lose heart in the process. If you have ever had a vision from God, you may try as you will to be satisfied on a lower level, but God will never allow it.

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Journal Entry for Today-JDV

July 6, 2010

 I awoke singing a new Christian song, not even realizing I was singing the words in my head. I grabbed Joyce Myers’ Book, “I Dare You” and began to read about how we are to be passionate about our lives and the purpose for our lives. She quoted Solomon from Ecclesiastes and reminded me that even Solomon was not satisfied in having and doing everything without passionate purpose. I prayed and asked God, once again, to give me that sense of purpose; to give me a passionate purpose.

And God says…”You are not quite ready for the passionate purpose that I have for you. You are still in training. There is no hurry, we have forever. It is my purpose and my mission I have for you, don’t you know that I will bring it to pass. Together in purpose, we have eternity. Know now that you are aligned with me in seeking my will for your life. All you are to do right now, this minute is trust and obey. I will lead you into My purpose for your life. After all, it is MY purpose, and your life is mine in Christ Jesus. Rest in Me, and know that I will complete the good work that I began. Your life is now MY Life, it is MY Purpose, and MY time…rest in Me, I will bring it to pass.

Don’t plan without God. God seems to have a delightful way of upsetting the plans we have made, when we have not taken Him into account. We get ourselves into circumstances that were not chosen by God, and suddenly we realize that we have been making our plans without Him— that we have not even considered Him to be a vital, living factor in the planning of our lives. And yet the only thing that will keep us from even the possibility of worrying is to bring God in as the greatest factor in all of our planning.

In spiritual issues it is customary for us to put God first, but we tend to think that it is inappropriate and unnecessary to put Him first in the practical, everyday issues of our lives. If we have the idea that we have to put on our “spiritual face” before we can come near to God, then we will never come near to Him. We must come as we are.

Don’t plan with a concern for evil in mind. Does God really mean for us to plan without taking the evil around us into account? “Love . . . thinks no evil” ( 1 Corinthians 13:4-5  ). Love is not ignorant of the existence of evil, but it does not take it into account as a factor in planning. When we were apart from God, we did take evil into account, doing all of our planning with it in mind, and we tried to reason out all of our work from its standpoint.

Don’t plan with a rainy day in mind. You cannot hoard things for a rainy day if you are truly trusting Christ. Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled . . .” (John 14:1 ). God will not keep your heart from being troubled. It is a command— “Let not. . . .” To do it, continually pick yourself up, even if you fall a hundred and one times a day, until you get into the habit of putting God first and planning with Him in mind.

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Journal Entry for Today-JDV

July 5, 2010

I woke up a bit out of sorts….sore and a little more than still tired. Oh I got enough sleep, but riding that 10 miles on Saturday took its toll.

My legs were still a bit rubbery, and unusual for me; I seemed to be taking a while to wake up. I reached for praise and connection with my Lord, and it felt a little “disconnected”. I wonder why? What had I done to break the connection? Why couldn’t I “feel” the connection?

Why couldn’t I “feel” the Spirit of God inside of me? Where was it? Why must I struggle to find it?

And God says… “I am with you always…., nothing can separate you from my love…I have made it very clear in My word in deed that I am always with you, regardless of how you feel about it. You will be constantly under attack from the enemy, especially as you continue to seek me in all things and before you step out into anything. The enemy sees your obedience, and is angry about your happiness and faithfulness. You need not “feel” the Spirit to know that I am there, however, whenever your spirit senses a “distance” between us; know that it cannot exist unless you allow it through your lack of faith. There is never a distance because I have never moved except to be even closer to you.  

The enemy will try to make you believe that there is a distance between us, resist him and he will flee.

There is power and strength in My word and your worship, praise and reliance on me. Within worship, praise and reliance you will always find and “feel” the connection because within the worship, praise and reliance your faith is strengthened.

Fretting means getting ourselves “out of joint” mentally or spiritually. It is one thing to say, “Do not fret,” but something very different to have such a nature that you find yourself unable to fret. It’s easy to say, “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him” ( Psalm 37:7  ) until our own little world is turned upside down and we are forced to live in confusion and agony like so many other people. Is it possible to “rest in the Lord” then? If this “Do not” doesn’t work there, then it will not work anywhere. This “Do not” must work during our days of difficulty and uncertainty, as well as our peaceful days, or it will never work. And if it will not work in your particular case, it will not work for anyone else. Resting in the Lord is not dependent on your external circumstances at all, but on your relationship with God Himself.

Worrying always results in sin. We tend to think that a little anxiety and worry are simply an indication of how wise we really are, yet it is actually a much better indication of just how wicked we are. Fretting rises from our determination to have our own way. Our Lord never worried and was never anxious, because His purpose was never to accomplish His own plans but to fulfill God’s plans. Fretting is wickedness for a child of God.

Have you been propping up that foolish soul of yours with the idea that your circumstances are too much for God to handle? Set all your opinions and speculations aside and “abide under the shadow of the Almighty” ( Psalm 91:1  ). Deliberately tell God that you will not fret about whatever concerns you. All our fretting and worrying is caused by planning without God.