. . . strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men —Acts 24:16

God’s commands to us are actually given to the life of His Son in us. Consequently, to our human nature in which God’s Son has been formed (see Galatians 4:19), His commands are difficult. But they become divinely easy once we obey.

Conscience is that ability within me that attaches itself to the highest standard I know, and then continually reminds me of what that standard demands that I do. It is the eye of the soul which looks out either toward God or toward what we regard as the highest standard. This explains why conscience is different in different people. If I am in the habit of continually holding God’s standard in front of me, my conscience will always direct me to God’s perfect law and indicate what I should do. The question is, will I obey? I have to make an effort to keep my conscience so sensitive that I can live without any offense toward anyone. I should be living in such perfect harmony with God’s Son that the spirit of my mind is being renewed through every circumstance of life, and that I may be able to quickly “prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2 ; also see Ephesians 4:23).

God always instructs us down to the last detail. Is my ear sensitive enough to hear even the softest whisper of the Spirit, so that I know what I should do? “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God . . .” (Ephesians 4:30). He does not speak with a voice like thunder— His voice is so gentle that it is easy for us to ignore. And the only thing that keeps our conscience sensitive to Him is the habit of being open to God on the inside. When you begin to debate, stop immediately. Don’t ask, “Why can’t I do this?” You are on the wrong track. There is no debating possible once your conscience speaks. Whatever it is— drop it, and see that you keep your inner vision clear.

Journal DJR

5 13 11

Good morning Lord,

I guess what you are saying is that knowing what to do and doing it as a Christian is easy if we do it your way and impossible if we try any other way?

You got it.   Just do what I did and John recorded in 5:19.   Only do what you see the Father doing or hear the Father saying.   You may say, “well, I dont hear that well or see that clearly.”    It’s true your vision will be cloudy and your hearing impaired in this world which clamors for your attention … Unless you purpose in your heart to make seeing and hearing (me) your top priority.   Then it becomes easy, easier at least.   It will take practice because you have many years and lots of education in the ways of the world which are not my ways and wont lead to me.

Matthew 11:28 (New Living Translation)

28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

You will find it hard work and a heavy load trying to figure out the best thing to do using logic and investigation and study.  It cannot be done.   Just come to me.  I guarantee,  It’ll be easier.    And we’ll have fun….

(Same Song, With Narnia Footage … Good Theology)

If these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful . . . —2 Peter 1:8

When we first begin to form a habit, we are fully aware of it. There are times when we are aware of becoming virtuous and godly, but this awareness should only be a stage we quickly pass through as we grow spiritually. If we stop at this stage, we will develop a sense of spiritual pride. The right thing to do with godly habits is to immerse them in the life of the Lord until they become such a spontaneous expression of our lives that we are no longer aware of them. Our spiritual life continually causes us to focus our attention inwardly for the determined purpose of self-examination, because each of us has some qualities we have not yet added to our lives.
Your god may be your little Christian habit— the habit of prayer or Bible reading at certain times of your day. Watch how your Father will upset your schedule if you begin to worship your habit instead of what the habit symbolizes. We say, “I can’t do that right now; this is my time alone with God.” No, this is your time alone with your habit. There is a quality that is still lacking in you. Identify your shortcoming and then look for opportunities to work into your life that missing quality.
Love means that there are no visible habits— that your habits are so immersed in the Lord that you practice them without realizing it. If you are consciously aware of your own holiness, you place limitations on yourself from doing certain things— things God is not restricting you from at all. This means there is a missing quality that needs to be added to your life. The only supernatural life is the life the Lord Jesus lived, and He was at home with God anywhere. Is there someplace where you are not at home with God? Then allow God to work through whatever that particular circumstance may be until you increase in Him, adding His qualities. Your life will then become the simple life of a child.

Journal DJR

May 12, 2011,    Good Morning, Lord

The idea of moving past habits sounds good, especially in context of the end of the worship music today … But scary at the same time.   Because the habits have been the things that have kept me at least as connected to you as I am.   I’m afraid I would just wander off and go my own way without the habits to help me keep on track.   I’m speaking of the good habits … of course the not so good ones, I’ll take all the help I can get in getting rid of those.

A good habit like observing the Sabbath as I suggested to all my children seems so good and godly … or CO2 … But even those can become worshipped.   Consider the Pharisees and the fundamentalists of all religeons … they have elevated their habit above the relationships both vertical and horizontal and therefore violate both

Got it.   So you’re not saying to skip the Sabbath or CO2 or working out or …. Just to keep them in their proper place.

Yes,  As long as the habits are serving to promote our connection, they are good and may continue.   Keep them until you can step up higher.   That means following me thru connection, like John mentioned in 5:19

(Message) 19-20So Jesus explained himself at length. “I’m telling you this straight. The Son can’t independently do a thing, only what he sees the Father doing. What the Father does, the Son does. The Father loves the Son and includes him in everything he is doing.

(NLT) 19 So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does.

Then, with that tight a connection,  all things that are essential will get done.   Dont worry about it.  When we’re that tight, you dont need a habit.    Remember you are to worship the Father, not the habit of however you previously found the Father.   The difference may seem subtle but it makes all the difference.    It takes practice, but focusing on connection, combined with instant obedience is the key to this.   Keep on coming.

. . . add to your . . . brotherly kindness love —2 Peter 1:5, 7

Love is an indefinite thing to most of us; we don’t know what we mean when we talk about love. Love is the loftiest preference of one person for another, and spiritually Jesus demands that this sovereign preference be for Himself (see Luke 14:26). Initially, when “the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit” (Romans 5:5), it is easy to put Jesus first. But then we must practice the things mentioned in 2 Peter 1 to see them worked out in our lives.
The first thing God does is forcibly remove any insincerity, pride, and vanity from my life. And the Holy Spirit reveals to me that God loved me not because I was lovable, but because it was His nature to do so. Now He commands me to show the same love to others by saying, “. . . love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12). He is saying, “I will bring a number of people around you whom you cannot respect, but you must exhibit My love to them, just as I have exhibited it to you.” This kind of love is not a patronizing love for the unlovable— it is His love, and it will not be evidenced in us overnight. Some of us may have tried to force it, but we were soon tired and frustrated.
“The Lord . . . is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish . . .” (2 Peter 3:9). I should look within and remember how wonderfully He has dealt with me. The knowledge that God has loved me beyond all limits will compel me to go into the world to love others in the same way. I may get irritated because I have to live with an unusually difficult person. But just think how disagreeable I have been with God! Am I prepared to be identified so closely with the Lord Jesus that His life and His sweetness will be continually poured out through Me? Neither natural love nor God’s divine love will remain and grow in me unless it is nurtured. Love is spontaneous, but it has to be maintained through discipline.

Journal DJR
Good morning, Lord.
It’s clear that I cant love as you loved without your love empowering me. Oswald said that Love is spontaneous but must be maintained by discipline … That’s where us humans can be tempted to build a “religeon” and forget about the relationship … with you and the other humans that we are to love. Is there any way to not fall into this trap and continue to love you and love people as your 2 commandments say?
The only way is to stay close to me. That doesn’t mean in a building or even in a routine that you develop. But closely walking with me and watching me for signals on how to love in any situation. When you see the signals or hear the whisper …. Go for it. Act. Dont Wait. Obey my voice quickly. Then you will keep getting better at it. And dont beat yourself up. You wont get this perfected until you get here. But stay in the fight.

Where there is no revelation [or prophetic vision], the people cast off restraint . . . —Proverbs 29:18

There is a difference between holding on to a principle and having a vision. A principle does not come from moral inspiration, but a vision does. People who are totally consumed with idealistic principles rarelydo anything. A person’s own idea of God and His attributes may actually be used to justify and rationalize his deliberate neglect of his duty. Jonah tried to excuse his disobedience by saying to God, “. . . I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm” (Jonah 4:2). I too may have the right idea of God and His attributes, but that may be the very reason why I do not do my duty. But wherever there is vision, there is also a life of honesty and integrity, because the vision gives me the moral incentive.

Our own idealistic principles may actually lull us into ruin. Examine yourself spiritually to see if you have vision, or only principles.

Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, Or what’s a heaven for?

“Where there is no revelation [or prophetic vision]. . . .” Once we lose sight of God, we begin to be reckless. We cast off certain restraints from activities we know are wrong. We set prayer aside as well and cease having God’s vision in the little things of life. We simply begin to act on our own initiative. If we are eating only out of our own hand, and doing things solely on our own initiative without expecting God to come in, we are on a downward path. We have lost the vision. Is our attitude today an attitude that flows from our vision of God? Are we expecting God to do greater things than He has ever done before? Is there a freshness and a vitality in our spiritual outlook?

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May 9, 2011

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

I wonder how I missed the parallel? For years I have been learning  lessons from trials and suffering. As my brother Dave said, turning to God out of need and staying there out of love.  And then lesson after lesson about living and staying in need totally dependent on God. However, there is another way to be certain of staying dependent on God, and that is having a vision so mighty, large, and magnificent that only God can bring it to pass.

And God says…”That is the lesson for today and many, many days. It is the lesson for your future. In trials you are totally dependent on Me because you can see no other way out or through your circumstance. With a magnificent and amazing….’over the top…’  vision you are also totally dependent on Me. As you travel nearer and nearer the vision, I begin to unfold more and more of it so that you stay dependent on Me looking forward to a vision and conclusion (s) that can only be accomplished by Me. Dreams and visions that can only be brought to pass by the Lord your God. Delight yourself in the Lord and I will give you the desires of your heart. Acknowledge the Lord in all your ways and I will make your paths straight.  Seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you.”

May 04, 2011

. . having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus . . . —Hebrews 10:19

Beware of thinking that intercession means bringing our own personal sympathies and concerns into the presence of God, and then demanding that He do whatever we ask. Our ability to approach God is due entirely to the vicarious, or substitutionary, identification of our Lord with sin. We have “boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus.”

Spiritual stubbornness is the most effective hindrance to intercession, because it is based on a sympathetic “understanding” of things we see in ourselves and others that we think needs no atonement. We have the idea that there are certain good and virtuous things in each of us that do not need to be based on the atonement by the Cross of Christ. Just the sluggishness and lack of interest produced by this kind of thinking makes us unable to intercede. We do not identify ourselves with God’s interests and concerns for others, and we get irritated with Him. Yet we are always ready with our own ideas, and our intercession becomes only the glorification of our own natural sympathies. We have to realize that the identification of Jesus with sin means a radical change of all of our sympathies and interests. Vicarious intercession means that we deliberately substitute God’s interests in others for our natural sympathy with them.

Am I stubborn or substituted? Am I spoiled or complete in my relationship to God? Am I irritable or spiritual? Am I determined to have my own way or determined to be identified with Him?

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May 4, 2011

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Yesterday I was firm and focused with another believer Lord. Perhaps I was even stern and unyielding. He was torn about what to do, vacillating back and forth about his next steps. And while I prayed and continue to pray for him, Lord, I told him I could not work with him as long as he was vacillating, Lord I told him I would not be an option in his evaluation of options and that if he wanted my support for his decision (s) he would have to make a decision, stick to it and ask for my support.  I told him I could support him then, but was unable to move back and forth with him as he vacillated.

And God says…”He is moving back and forth unable to make a decision because he is afraid. His fear of making the wrong decision, fear of dwindling resources  are all basic issues of faith and trust in Me. He is in the boat in the storm and afraid to step out with Me onto the water. You have been exactly where he is many time. And you are right; you cannot help him until he makes the decision to trust me…..Faith means taking the right action even though you do not know the outcome. There must be risk for faith to grow.”

“Trust in the Lord in all your ways. Do not rely on your own abilities and understanding and I will make your paths straight. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you. ”